Ha Jin felt a chill race down his spine. The warmth of moments ago had evaporated without a trace.
'Why......?'
He couldn't begin to understand what had gone wrong, and could only furrow his brow. He forced an awkward smile and carefully tried to smooth things over.
"I'm sorry? What do you mean? I was simply worried that you might get into trouble, Master......"
"Hmph. You believed yours truly would seal her lips over such trifling restrictions?"
"Pardon?"
How did it come to this?
Ha Jin's concern had been entirely sincere. The perfectly reasonable worry of a disciple: what if his master violated exam regulations and ended up in a difficult position?
But the Mad Demon, unfortunately, operated on an entirely different wavelength.
To her, Ha Jin's words sounded like: "At the end of the day, you're just another person bound by the Divine Sect's rules—someone with clear limits." An insult, plain and simple. A catastrophic failure to read the Mad Demon!
One of the five great Demon Lords of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect—and he was treating her as though she were on the same level as some exam proctor?
This was an act that struck directly at the Mad Demon's reverse scale: her pride. Ha Jin, seeing the madness building toward him, scrambled to think.
'What went wrong? Which part?'
He replayed his words and actions one by one. By any standard of common sense, nothing had been out of line. Then, like a bolt of lightning, one possibility flashed through his mind.
Wait. Could it be?
Who was the person before him? The Mad Demon. Someone who must never be approached with common sense. His perfectly reasonable consideration might have felt profoundly humiliating to her. This was entirely his own mistake.
'My head hurts, seriously. I need to de-escalate this somehow......'
Just as Ha Jin recognized his error and was desperately trying to salvage the situation, the Mad Demon spoke first.
"Fine. Since you seem to doubt this master's authority, I shall enlighten you as a special courtesy."
Ha Jin was momentarily stunned. Was she really going to reveal information that even the instructors had kept secret, just like that?
Of course, before Ha Jin could say a word, the Mad Demon had already opened her mouth.
"The second-stage trial—the Demon Path Eight Extremes Formation—consists of a total of twenty teams executing the formation directly against yours truly. And only fifty percent of them will survive my hand and pass the trial!"
The ominous word "survive" prompted Ha Jin to ask reflexively.
"The ones who fail—they don't die, do they......?"
If so, this was the Demonic Sect at its bloodiest.
Killing half the cadets—or crippling them—in a mere exam, and announcing it as though it were nothing? No normal mind could comprehend such a place.
The Mad Demon shook her head, of course.
"What nonsense. Why would I kill them? They'll all go on to serve as the Divine Sect's warriors."
"Oh? Right, of course."
Ha Jin breathed a sigh of relief and settled his thoughts. Then, as calm returned, the Mad Demon's current state caught his eye.
'Come to think of it, she's being extremely generous with the trial details.'
The Mad Demon was rattling off critical exam information purely because her pride had been stung. Who the opponent was, what the pass criteria were—all of it.
'This might actually work in my favor.'
Ha Jin's eyes gleamed. Other cadets would face the trial blind, but he had already secured every piece of information.
An intelligence advantage was a powerful weapon in any situation.
Watching the Mad Demon enthusiastically spill secrets, Ha Jin felt a curious hypothesis forming.
'If I poke her pride, will she spill even more information?'
It was only a hypothesis for now. But if it proved true, the Mad Demon could become an invaluable asset going forward. While Ha Jin was silently profiling the Mad Demon, she suddenly asked.
"By the way, disciple—have you decided on your team?"
The question brought to mind the dining hall commotion. So-yeon's proposal, and Do Gyeong's subsequent maneuvering.
He couldn't take everything Do Gyeong said at face value—a nagging suspicion had been bothering him. For that reason, Ha Jin decided to consult the Mad Demon and posed his question.
"I'll likely be teaming with a Transcendence Hall cadet named So-yeon. A few Thousand Days Hall cadets also offered to join."
He trailed off, testing the Mad Demon's reaction.
"Do you happen to know this cadet called So-yeon, Master?"
The instant So-yeon's name left Ha Jin's mouth, the Mad Demon's face scrunched up.
"Tch! Of all people, the Blade Demon's daughter?"
She clicked her tongue, irritation rising visibly. Ha Jin probed further at the blatant displeasure.
"Yes, she approached me first."
"That girl offered to team with you? I don't like it one bit."
"Is her reputation bad?"
The Mad Demon shook her head.
"No. Quite the opposite, in fact. She's the spitting image of her father—a boringly textbook warrior who walks the straight and narrow. The type who lives and dies by rules and principles, without an ounce of flexibility."
"Oh?"
Hearing the Mad Demon's assessment, Ha Jin could have slapped his knee.
The freewheeling, do-as-she-pleases Mad Demon, and the by-the-book So-yeon. The two were the very definition of natural opposites. Ha Jin, meanwhile, had gotten everything he needed.
'If she's that by-the-book, having her in the same team isn't bad at all.'
Strict adherence to rules wasn't exactly thrilling, but compared to the ticking time bombs that populated the Demon Path Hall—cadets who might go off at any moment—she'd be far more stable.
'At the very least, the odds of her doing something reckless and putting the team in danger are slim.'
The more he considered it, the more satisfied he was with this teammate.
***
The Mad Demon, still wearing a disgruntled expression, asked.
"So who else is on your team?"
"Ah, a Thousand Days Hall cadet named Do Gyeong, and......"
"I don't care about the Thousand Days Hall lot."
The Mad Demon cut Ha Jin off and spoke with irritation.
"I'm asking who the other Transcendence Hall cadet joining your team is. It'll be two from the Transcendence Hall and six from the Thousand Days Hall per team."
The Thousand Days Hall cadets held little interest for the Mad Demon. Ha Jin caught the intent of her question and answered briefly.
"Yun Geom."
The instant that name was spoken, the Mad Demon's face twisted far more severely than it had at So-yeon's mention. Her brow furrowed deep.
"Why on earth would you team up with an arrogant wretch like him? Anyone else would be better."
"Do Gyeong—the teammate I mentioned—said Yun Geom's skill is so outstanding that it'd be better to have him as an ally. Is he really that bad?"
He trusted Do Gyeong to a degree, but not unconditionally. The man might seem relatively normal, but he was still a Demonic Sect member who hadn't yet shown his true colors.
Right now, it was wiser to trust the judgment of the Mad Demon, who had spent far longer inside the Demonic Sect. And to his question, the Mad Demon conceded with reluctant irritation.
"Haah, fine. His skill is exceptional, I'll give him that. He's the damn Sword Demon's son—that bloodline isn't going anywhere."
Her distaste extended beyond the son Yun Geom to the father, the Sword Demon. But the Mad Demon's annoyance didn't last long.
Willful as she was, she didn't let emotions dictate everything. If she did, she'd never have been able to lead the Mad Demon Sect in the first place.
"Hmph. That Do Gyeong fellow used his head well enough."
She nodded grudgingly, arms folded.
"Yun Geom is certainly head and shoulders above the rest in skill. Especially in a formation trial like this, having one strong anchor is advantageous in many ways."
The Mad Demon looked at Ha Jin and offered advice as his master.
"You may ally with him through the second-stage trial. He has enough utility for that."
"I see."
"But remember this. That one is utterly unfit for a long-term partnership. A wild colt that trusts nothing but its own strength will inevitably buck its rider."
Ha Jin nodded at the Mad Demon's counsel.
"I had no plans for a long-term partnership anyway."
This was the truth. He had never, from the very start, intended to walk alongside anyone in this Demon Path Hall into the future. The future he envisioned was extracting what he needed, then escaping the Demon Path Hall.
"Good thinking. Anything else you wish to ask yours truly?"
"Let me think...... Oh! That reminds me, Master. When will you be giving me the spiritual medicine you promised?"
He asked the question as naturally as though it had just occurred to him. The Mad Demon heaved a long, deep sigh.
"Good grief, you brat. You really know how to squeeze every last drop."
"A promise is a promise, isn't it? Master."
Ha Jin put deliberate emphasis on the word "Master," and the Mad Demon let out a hollow laugh. Rather than genuine annoyance, there was a glint in her eyes that said she found his audacity rather entertaining.
"Heh heh, you did promise, after all. Surely the great Mad Demon wouldn't go back on her word?"
At his shameless grin, the Mad Demon finally threw up both hands in surrender, shaking her head.
"Fine, fine. I'll give it to you, so stop nagging. I'll bring it during the Demon Path Eight Extremes Formation's mid-term review, before the second-stage trial proper. Satisfied?"
This was also an unspoken pressure: don't slack off on training if you want the medicine.
"In the meantime, practice coordinating with your teammates. If you show me sloppy work, forget the spiritual medicine—you'll die by yours truly's hand."
"Excuse me......?"
It was closer to bluster than genuine threat—there was no killing intent behind it. The Mad Demon tossed one final reminder not to be lazy, then left the training yard without looking back.
Once the Mad Demon was gone, silence returned. Ha Jin had no further reason to stay either. He headed for his assigned quarters in the Thousand Days Hall.
'I've secured the spiritual medicine, and I've found a lead for solving my mana shortage.'
It was fortunate that the Boundless Heart Method now let him use inner arts as a catalyst for magic. As his cultivation level rose, his inner arts would grow—and if his level increased, wouldn't his mana expand exponentially?
'But how do I raise my level? In the novels, they just trained a lot......'
He'd figure that out gradually under the Mad Demon's guidance. His thoughts settled into order. All that remained was the second-stage trial, one month away.
'Time to start studying the Demon Path Eight Extremes Formation.'
The formation was the trial's core. Familiarizing himself with it in advance was essential. No matter how talented his teammates were, if he himself was ignorant of the formation, proper coordination would be impossible.
'If I want to at least run through it roughly, I'll need to go outside and physically practice the movements.'
Even solo, mimicking each position's movements should help him build some intuition. He tucked the reference booklet under his arm and stepped outside his quarters.
And the instant he emerged onto the first floor of the Thousand Days Hall dormitory—
WHOOSH—!
Something massive traced an arc through the air directly in front of him. Ha Jin instinctively dodged sideways.
"Gah!"
The object grazed past him and slammed into the wall with a heavy thud before crumpling to the floor. It was a cadet.
'What now?'
Ha Jin's eyes narrowed. His gaze followed the trajectory back to its origin. A man was walking out from that direction.
"That's what happens when you don't know your place. Tsk tsk."
Who's this one supposed to be?