Yeowun ran it multiple times, but the result was the same each time. The counter sword formation couldn’t counter the Sword Force of the Sky Demon and ended in a tie. What he couldn’t understand was that on the last sword movement, the Sword Force added a spin which created a powerful sword attack, but it was blocked.
‘Nano, how many counter sword movements were left on the pedestal?’
[There was a total of 130 completed sword tracings, and the last sword formation cut the corner of the pedestal after the 24th movement.]
‘Ah...’
He now understood the reason for this. Cutting such durable stone was not possible with a sword. It required powerful qi concentration within the sword. The last sword movement wielded such power that could defend against the mighty sword attack from the Sword Force of the Sky Demon.
‘So, he figured he couldn’t defend it with just simple sword movements anymore.’
Yeowun was able to see the reason behind everything now. The last attack from the Sword Force of the Sky Demon was too powerful to be countered by a mere combination of sword movements.
‘That’s why it is a tie.’
The reason for cutting off the corner of the stone was probably unleashing his rage that he couldn’t counter the last movement. It was amazing that a talented swordsman challenged the ancestor in the way of the sword and became angry that he couldn’t overcome it.
‘It meant he was really focusing on it.’
Yeowun thought a lot of things while watching these two sword skills.
‘Maybe I don’t understand their sword movements well enough yet...’
Yeowun thought that maybe he was just looking at the tip of the iceberg when he thought of these sword movements.
“Whew...” Yeowun sighed. After observing these sword movements, the fourth formation of either swordskill required his physical body to grow and to also increase his martial art power.
‘So, I need to become stronger.’
The third and fourth sword movements had been transferred, but his understanding and power couldn’t support him enough to allow him to use them. So in order to pass the fifth test, get his unique sword, and use the latter part of the formations, he needed to become a grandmaster level warrior. But that was not an easy task either.
‘Maybe I need to focus on my training like these people did.’
He wasn’t sure what the grandmaster level was like yet. Lee Hameng told him not to hurry, and that was probably correct.
‘Let’s take it slow. My current way of doing things do not help me understand.’
Yeowun was able to become powerful much faster than the others due to Nano’s help, but becoming more powerful required more than that. After thinking about it for about an hour, Yeowun made a decision.
‘Let’s go to the closed room.’
The closed room was the new location that opened up after the third test. This was the place where one could lock themselves in and train alone.
‘If I go in there, I need to do something beforehand.’
He was not going to come out until he was satisfied with his training, so he needed look after his members too. His forces also needed to grow in power before the academy closed. If he needed to fight the six clans, he couldn’t do it alone as the six clans represented at least 40% of power in the cult.
‘I have to get stronger with them.’
Even if they couldn’t be strong like him, his members couldn’t be weak either. Therefore, they required better martial arts skill. Unlike the Six Swords who mostly came from high-ranked clans, the other members had not learned such good martial arts.
‘It will take a long time to copy it down on paper.’
There was a total of 34 members left after the third test. Making copies of those master-level martial art books he scanned would take a long time.
‘Let’s get it ready.’
When Yeowun got out, he went to an instructor who managed the supplies. When he was back at the training room, he had over 300 pages of paper along with a lot of ink and brushes.
“What? Why do you need so much?”
Yeowun had the rank of the Squad Leader, so he was allowed to use much supplies as he wanted, but the instructor didn’t seem to understand. Yeowun couldn’t say the truth so he lied and got it.
“Hm... this is going to take a while.”
He knew it would be long, but it was longer than he expected. He used all waking hours for two weeks straight in order to copy down all the books he wanted to give.
“Whew.”
Writing for two weeks made him exhausted. 102 books were copied in front of him. He only needed to give one book each of the members, but why did he copy so much? This amount was enough to give at least three of each to everyone.
“Now, I just need to gather them up.”
After the third test, Yeowun only met with his members at dinner time. The fourth test on were individual tests, so most of the cadets spent time training privately, which applied to Yeowun’s members also. They could have dined separately, but Ko Wanghur, Hu Bong, and Ja Wumin insisted that they eat together to form bonds between members.
At dinner time, Yeowun’s members gathered together to eat. After dinner was done, Yeowun had all of his members gather at the dormitory where his old members were staying. They all gathered, not realizing what Yeowun was going to announce. They were chatting between each other while they waited. Soon, Yeowun appeared with over a hundred books in his hands.
“What!”
“Master! Let me help you!”
Hu Bong and Jin Guuk helped Yeowun place down many books. Yeowun then glanced over at the thirty-four members.
“I have an announcement to make.”
The members all became silent and focused on Yeowun.
“I am going into the closed room beginning tomorrow.”
“What?”
Most of the cadets were shocked to hear this. They did hear from Yeowun that the requirement for going for the fifth test was to become a grandmaster, but they didn’t think Yeowun would go into such training already.
Ko Wanghur, who expected it from Yeowun, asked, “Master, do you have a set amount of time you plan to spend in there?”
“Honestly speaking, I don’t have a set date. A year... two years... I will stay as long as I need before I am satisfied with my training.”
Ko Wanghur then saw Yeowun’s determination and smiled.
“I see. I hope Master earns the achievement you seek.”
Wanghur bowed. Bakgi and the other members also bowed. Nobody wanted to say no to training to reach a higher level. Besides, this wasn’t only Yeowun’s problem. These members might also need to train in a closed room after they passed the fourth test. Throughout the entire history of the academy, only a handful of cadets had ever passed the sixth test. So in most cases, the fifth test was the last test. It required a long period of training and effort.
“Thank you. So before I go, I wanted to give you guys some homework.”