The Martial God with Psychic Powers

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Even if he is the Martial God's grandson, he's still just a High Division student.
He’s only just joined the High Division, and yet you’re telling me he’s stronger than Seong Baekcheon, who’s at the Fourth Star of the Hwagyeong Realm?
Do you seriously believe that?

You must have held back because he’s the Martial God’s grandson.
That was the assumption.
But apparently, that assumption had shown on his face.

Seong Baekcheon gave a small laugh and said,
“I can see exactly what you’re thinking.”
“…Sir?”

“You’re thinking I went easy on him. Am I wrong?”
“…Yes, that’s what I thought.”
“Right. I would’ve thought the same, too—if I hadn’t experienced it for myself.”
Seong Baekcheon spoke as he recalled what had happened with Yeon Woo Jin.

“He subdued me with a formless force. I couldn’t do anything. Nothing at all.”
“Is that really true?”
“It is. He’s the real deal. He truly is the next Lord of Mushincheon.”

“Then why is he competing in the Lesser Heavenly Lord’s Selection?”
“If you ask me, it’s called a competition, sure—but in reality, I think it’s about cultivating talents to place at his side.”
“…I—I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

“You mean the part about cultivating talents?”
“N-No… before that… You said… Lord?”
“Ah—oops! Hahaha!”

“…Lord Munju?”
“Yes. That’s right. I’ve decided to serve him as my lord.”
“Gasp! Is that true?”

“It is. And not just me—the Shin Clan is also serving him as their lord. Are we, the Snow Mountain Sect, going to sit back and let the next generation be overtaken by the Shin Clan?”
“Whaaat? T-The Shin Clan is serving him too?”
“Yes. From what I’ve heard, a large number of factions are already under his command. He’s been seizing control of Mushincheon quietly, without anyone realizing it.”

The branch director stared at Seong Baekcheon with a dazed expression.
“We had no choice but to let Seaak go when he insisted on joining Baekyeong instead of Jungcheon. Turns out, it was a blessing in disguise. Hahaha! You never know where fate will take you.”
A blessing in disguise?
How is submitting under someone else’s command a blessing?

Seong Baekcheon looked at the branch director and said,
“You look like you still don’t understand. But once you get an audience with him, you’ll understand what I mean.”
“I merely follow your will, Lord Munju. I only worry… whether the elders of the main sect will accept your decision…”

“You’ll have to persuade them. And if not, I’ll ask the lord for help. If they meet him, the elders will surely understand the magnitude of what I’ve decided.”
Seong Baekcheon said to the branch director,
“I’ll be leaving now.”

“You won’t meet with the young lord?”
“No need. Don’t even tell him I was here.”
“…Understood.”

“Take good care of Seaak.”
“I’ll serve him with all my heart.”
Seong Baekcheon patted the branch director on the shoulder, then turned and departed down the path.

 
****
In the director’s office of Jungcheon High Division, the instructors had gathered with grim expressions.

“The caliber of this year’s entrants is far too low.”
“Agreed. And there are too few of them as well. At this rate, next year we’ll be no different from an average High Division.”
“Jungcheon’s prestige is fading fast. We need to implement extraordinary measures.”
The director of Jungcheon High Division listened gravely to the instructors’ complaints.

“What is the root cause?”
“It’s Baekyeong.”
“Yes. With rumors spreading that Baekyeong has unified Mushincheon High Divisions, all the gifted ones flocked there.”

“Even those who should have enrolled in Jungcheon went there instead.”
“Last year it was the young lord of the Shin Clan who enrolled there. This year, even the heirs of top-ranked sects chose them over us.”
“So what do you propose we do?”

“Submit a petition to upper management. Let Jungcheon operate like the other High Divisions.”
“Operate like the others?”
“Yes! If things were the way they should be, it would be our Jungcheon students basking in the glory of Mushincheon’s unification.”

“But wasn’t that restriction put in place because of the massive power gap between Jungcheon and the others?”
“That may have been ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) true in the past. But now, if this continues for a few more years, no one will want to enter Jungcheon at all.”
“We can’t let that happen! Jungcheon is supposed to be the crown jewel of Mushincheon!”

“Restricting Jungcheon’s activities goes against the spirit of Mushincheon itself. If we want true recognition as the strongest, we have to allow challengers to face Jungcheon head-on!”
“Exactly! Even if we don’t go out to conquer the other Divisions, we should at least be allowed to accept challengers!”
“If they truly want to claim supremacy, then they should be forced to conquer even Jungcheon. That’s what real unification means!”

At the barrage of passionate arguments, the director thought deeply, then nodded.
“Accepting challengers… That might just work. Very well. I’ll bring this to the military advisor.”
At the director’s reply, the instructors’ faces brightened.

At the very least, their concerns had been heard.
The director, too, was well aware that the situation at Jungcheon was dire.
At this rate, the High Division could drop to the level of a second-rate school within a few years.

I can’t let that happen. I worked myself to the bone to earn this position.
The director had no intention of watching Jungcheon crumble.
 

The instructors weren’t the only ones who sensed how dire things had become.
The students of Jungcheon High Division were aware of it, too.
“The new recruits this year are pathetic.”

“Seriously. The so-called ‘first seat’ among the underclassmen is only at the Fourth Star of the Apex-Level Realm.”
“Last year’s underclassman first seat, Danmok Jin, was at the Eighth Star. Compared to that, the standard has halved.”
“At this rate, once we graduate, Jungcheon will be nothing more than an ordinary High Division.”

“I’d be embarrassed to brag about being from Jungcheon.”
As the students grumbled, someone listened in silence.
It was Hyeok Ryeonho, the current first seat of Jungcheon High Division.

Then he spoke.
“I’ve been preparing something because of this situation.”
“…Preparing what?”

“We’ll show the world the true power of Jungcheon. Then, we’ll draw the talent back.”
“But how? Jungcheon isn’t allowed to take action.”
“True, we’re restricted from initiating anything. But there’s no rule saying we can’t respond when someone else attacks us.”

“…Huh?”
“All we need to do is provoke Baekyeong into attacking us. And when they do, we crush them—utterly. Then the world will start looking up to us again.”
“You think they’ll attack us? They’re already basking in enough fame.”

“We’ll manipulate public opinion to make them. Cowards always shrink before a real opponent. The prep work’s already underway.”
The students’ faces lit up at Hyeok Ryeonho’s words.
“Knew you had something up your sleeve, First Seat.”

“So you weren’t just sitting on your hands.”
“We were blaming you, thinking you were doing nothing while everything fell apart. Sorry about that.”
Hyeok Ryeonho smiled faintly at their apologies.

“Now that you know, help me.”
“Yeah! We’ll do anything we can.”
The once unruly students of Jungcheon were finally rallying together as one.

And watching them, Hyeok Ryeonho smirked to himself.
Should I be thanking those Baekyeong bastards?
Hard to believe these kids are actually listening to me now. Heh…

They’d all been too prideful about their family names to fall in line before.
Now, he was thinking this might be the perfect opportunity to make them truly his own.
 

****
The director of Jungcheon High Division had gone to visit the Deputy Strategist.
He had come to plead his case to the vice-military advisor of Mushincheon—because Sima Cheon, the true military strategist of Mushincheon, was not someone he could meet with privately.

“Deputy Strategist, if this continues, the reputation of Jungcheon will hit rock bottom. No one will want to enroll.”
The director was clinging to the Deputy Strategist, pouring out his frustrations.
The Deputy Strategist wore a troubled expression.

“So what is it you want?”
“Please allow Jungcheon to operate like the other High Divisions.”
“That’s not possible. You know very well why Jungcheon was created in the first place.”

“Of course I do. Better than anyone. But… the reality is that this year's new recruits are far below expectations. The very students who should’ve entered Jungcheon have all flocked to Baekyeong.”
At those words, the Deputy Strategist’s expression grew even more conflicted.
“Please, speak to the Strategist on this. If nothing is done, Jungcheon will vanish. Or at the very least, let me meet him. I’ll explain it myself.”

Moved by the earnestness of the director’s plea, the Deputy Strategist finally relented.
“Very well. Wait here. I’ll go and ask the Strategist.”
At that, the director’s face lit up.

“Ah—understood! I won’t budge from this spot!”

 
Sima Cheon tilted his head in curiosity as the Deputy Strategist suddenly entered.
“What brings you here at this hour? Has something happened?”

“There’s been a petition regarding Jungcheon.”
“Jungcheon? What about it?”
“The director came personally, begging us to lift Jungcheon High Division’s activity restrictions.”

“What nonsense is that? The reason we separated Jungcheon from the general High Divisions in the first place was because the disparity in skill was too great.”
“I told him the same. But apparently, things have changed over there.”
“Changed how?”

The Deputy Strategist relayed the director’s words to Sima Cheon, just as he had heard them.
“I see… so all the talented students have gone to Baekyeong?”
“Yes. It’s gotten to the point where people are saying Jungcheon is fading while the era of Baekyeong begins.”

“That… is a problem.”
“What shall we do?”
Sima Cheon fell deep into thought.

This was most likely a temporary phenomenon.
Right now, Baekyeong has Yeon Woo Jin—a monstrous prodigy.
Should I just make Baekyeong the new Jungcheon?

That thought flickered through Sima Cheon’s mind.
What if we held an annual year-end tournament to determine the strongest High Division?
That idea wasn’t bad.

The real issue was that all the students were clustering around Baekyeong.
We can’t let them choose their High Divisions. They’ll need to be assigned randomly.
That would solve the issue.

And what about Jungcheon?
Woo Jin has his sights set on Jungcheon as well… if we lift the restrictions now, it’ll give him legitimate cause to strike.
As his teacher, it was only right to support his disciple.

But if the restrictions were lifted outright, Jungcheon would take it as a signal and go on a rampage, crushing the surrounding High Divisions to expand its own power.
That would bring chaos to Mushincheon’s High Division system.
That couldn’t be allowed.

Didn’t the director ask if they could at least accept challengers?
That wasn’t a bad idea.
Baekyeong would end up taking Jungcheon anyway.

And with that, Jungcheon would vanish naturally.
Yes. Let’s use this opportunity to bring all the High Divisions to equal standing. Honestly, Jungcheon’s enjoyed too many privileges already.
From now on, the core of Mushincheon would no longer be Jungcheon, but the students of Baekyeong led by Yeon Woo Jin.

Baekyeong’s fame would only continue to rise with time.
Having made up his mind, Sima Cheon said to the Deputy Strategist,
“Go tell them—permission to accept challengers will be granted.”

The Deputy Strategist’s face brightened.
Now he had something to bring back to the director that would preserve his dignity.
“Ah—understood. I’ll deliver the message.”

Watching the Deputy Strategist rush out with a delighted look, Sima Cheon let out a soft laugh.
Let’s see how hard they struggle. Whether Jungcheon can possibly defeat Baekyeong. Kekeke, this should be fun.
With that thought, he left the room, thinking he should tell Yeon Woo Jin right away.

 
****
Upon hearing Sima Cheon’s report, Yeon Woo Jin smiled faintly.

“Thank you, Master. I’ve been needing a legitimate excuse, and you’ve scratched right where I itched.”
“Kekeke. Is that so?”
“Yes. Jungcheon’s already sent someone to our side.”

“Sent someone?”
“They planted their people among our incoming freshmen. It’s obvious what they’re after. They want to provoke us just enough that we’ll make the first move. Since they can’t initiate anything themselves.”
“Where are those kids now?”

“In the training hall.”
“…Training hall?”
“Yes. They’ve got some decent talent. I’m planning to steal them.”

Yeon Woo Jin grinned.
“I’m grateful, really. They went and delivered fine talents to me on a silver platter.”