I Became the Academy’s Genius Shikigami Summoner – Chapter 256

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓𝟔

“Let’s hear some of the details. It seems like aside from the specially invited taoists, they’re going to be selecting people through a test in three days.”

Jang Ri-gyeong spoke, putting down the bundle he’d been carrying.

As soon as he’d arrived in the city, he’d gone off somewhere saying he had business to attend to. It seemed like he’d gone to find out some information about the Pyeong Clan’s taoist recruitment.

“How big of a scale is it?”

“There are about six specially invited people, and more than eight times that many people who came here just from hearing the rumors. And there seem to be quite a few familiar faces.”

If what Jang Ri-gyeong said is true, then it’s no wonder that there’s such a large crowd gathered.

Even in these chaotic times, there are nearly forty exorcists gathered in a single city.

Of course, there’s probably a mix of good and bad among them, but even so, Jang Ri-gyeong said it was an unusually large scale.

“It’s hard to imagine what they’re trying to do by gathering this many people. . . . . . . . .”

Even though Jang Ri-gyeong and his group were confident in their abilities, this was something out of the ordinary, and they seemed to be troubled by it, especially since they had recently encountered the overwhelming existence known as Gonha.

“What do you think, brother? Do you think we should just leave?”

Cheol-woong asked calmly, and I thought about it for a moment before giving him my answer.

“I don’t know yet. Since they’re selecting people through a test in three days, I think it would be fine to wait and see what the criteria are before we decide.”

“That’s true.”

In any case, we still had three days, so I stayed in the inn and helped Jang Ri-gyeong and his group with their training to pass the time.

Jang Ri-gyeong and his group were incredibly grateful, but the stories I heard from them in the process became flesh and blood to me, so it wasn’t such a bad trade.

「𝙎𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙪-𝙥𝙖𝙞. . . . . . . . .」

I heard a lot of interesting stories, but the one that interested me the most was that.

The Satou-pai that Cheol-woong had mentioned in his story last time.

If I remember correctly, it appeared in Echinacea Lianqi’s setting book that was released as a spin-off.

「𝙒𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙟𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙮𝙤𝙠𝙖𝙞?」

That alone made it possible to infer roughly what time period this world was copying.

Echinacea Lianqi shared the same goal as Ho-chung, but this era was long before the two of them first met.

In the original work, Ho-chung was just about to set off on a journey to seal yokai when he encountered Yoo Ha-on and her group, but that was probably still a long way off in the future.

In other words, this era is when the young Ho-chung was still training hard in Jinyeon Mountain.

That’s what I guessed.

「. . .𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨.」

With the information I had now, there was no way I could figure out what the difference meant.

First, I’ll increase my own strength and find my group and meet Ho-chung.

I’d think about it again after that.

“We’re ready.”

“Yes, let’s go now.”

For now, I had to focus on the task at hand.

I cleared my mind, got to my feet, and slowly started walking.

To check out the Pyeong Clan’s test and the exorcists who had gathered for it.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

“What is your name?”

“Jang Ri-gyeong and five others. We submitted our names three days ago.”

“Ah, here it is. Go in and wait for a while.”

Thanks to Jang Ri-gyeong who submitted the names of our party including me, we were able to head to the examination hall prepared by the Pyeong Clan without much difficulty.

There were already quite a few exorcists who had taken their seats inside, and they all had a murderous aura, giving off the vibe of having overcome numerous life-or-death struggles.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the faces of my colleagues including Yoo Ha-on, but since not everyone had gathered yet, I calmly checked their information.

「𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙥 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙪𝙜𝙚.」

While there were truly outstandingly skilled individuals here and there, there were also some weaklings who made me wonder why they had come here at all.

And among those currently present, the two at the top were:

A rough-looking man wearing a bamboo hat and twirling coins on a string, and a woman wearing luxurious clothing that completely concealed her appearance.

【Jang-sam】

▶Level 59

【Shin Pyo-eul】

▶Level 62

「. . . 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡.」

Considering the times, I had expected this to some extent, but honestly, they were skilled to an astonishing degree.

No matter how you looked at it, to have such talented individuals among the mere exorcists who had gathered after hearing the rumors, the saying that heroes are born in times of chaos was not without merit.

I felt a bit overwhelmed and glanced at Jang Ri-gyeong and his party who were looking around from the back.

『Their level is really low, as expected.』

“. . . . . . .”

If you just thought about it, Jang Ri-gyeong and his party were also a group of skilled individuals who could save the people from the clutches of yokai, but seeing them now, they weren’t exactly at a level where they could be overly confident.

I didn’t know if it was just a coincidence that skilled individuals had gathered here, but I thought that perhaps there were several other exorcists somewhere in this era who were even more outstanding than them.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.」

Feeling my competitive spirit rising somewhat, I checked the information of the remaining individuals and sat down to close my eyes and rest.

After some time passed like that, a middle-aged man who appeared to be from the Pyeong Clan appeared before us with an escort.

「𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡. . . . . . .」

It was regrettable, but there was nothing I could do. It wasn’t like I had expected too much in the first place.

I sighed and shook off my disappointment, and the middle-aged man who had been looking over the people gathered in the hall opened his mouth.

“I am Pyeong Won-myeong, in charge of the Janggak Department of the main family. As the time has come, we will now select the Taoist priests who will be entrusted with the main family’s request.”

Although he used words that could be perceived as somewhat rude, far from expressing any dissatisfaction, the Taoist priests were rather surprised.

From their reaction, I could tell that Pyeong Won-myeong was quite a famous figure.

“Wait a moment, could we hear the details of the request first? It seems like it’s about time you told us.”

“Unfortunately, that is impossible. The details of the request will only be conveyed to those whose skills have been proven and who have given a definite answer that they will accept it.”

There was some grumbling at his words.

It certainly wasn’t a normal situation, and it wasn’t exactly a good story for the Taoist priests.

“Are you saying that you can’t even give us a simple explanation? Then how are we supposed to accept such a suspicious request?”

“Let me just say that I swear on the honor of the main family that it is not against the Way. If you cannot accept the conditions, you may leave this place now.”

Although many people groaned at what could be seen as an overbearing statement, no one actually left their seats. I was the same.

「𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚.」

In that case, I would have to break off my relationship with the Pyeong Clan, but that wouldn’t be a major problem. I had to travel a long way in the future anyway, so they wouldn’t be able to follow me and cause trouble.

“I take it that everyone understands. Then the first test will begin immediately. Go ahead and try to break through that formation and reach the other side.”

As soon as he said that, the presences of the Taoist priests and Pyeong Won-myeong’s group who had been gathered around disappeared.

Before I knew it, I was the only one left in the hall.

“A barrier technique.”

『It seems to have been deployed by a fairly high-level chanter. I can’t see any obvious gaps.』

It was an amazing technique, just as he had said.

I knew from the knowledge of the original work that the sorcery of the past was in no way inferior to that of the present, but it was only now that I truly felt it.

「𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡. . . . . . .」

It was likely that the sorcerer had not set up the technique directly but had rather created a spell formation in advance in the surrounding space, including the examination hall.

It was truly a full-scale test.

『Well, even so, there are many ways to break it, right?』

“Since we’re here, I’d like to take a closer look.”

This was an opportunity to see the sorcery of the past with my own two eyes, beyond the knowledge that I already had.

I spent a long time walking around, not sensing any presence, and thoroughly examining the structure of the technique.

And I was able to roughly understand its structure.

「𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮.」

Perhaps it was thanks to the knowledge of ancient sorcery that I had learned, or perhaps it was because I had gained even keener eyes through the trials of the Blue-White Soul Mirror.

After I had examined the components of the technique to my satisfaction, I retraced my steps and completely shattered the formation.

Clang!

『Judging from how easy it was to break despite its level of completion, it seems like it was just made for the purpose of this test.』

“I think so too.”

If a technique of this level were to really attack me, I would probably have to be a bit nervous.

As I broke through the formation created by the barrier, I saw Pyeong Won-myeong and his group looking at me with surprise.

“Amazing. Do you mean to say that you completely figured out the path?”

“Isn’t that what you set this up to check?”

“There are many ways to do it, but yours was the most perfect solution.”

Whether it was respect for my skill or not, Pyeong Won-myeong’s overbearing attitude had also softened considerably.

Right after that, Shin Pyo-eul appeared a short distance away, as if she had also broken through the barrier, and began to look at me with interest.

And as if to block her gaze, Jang-sam jumped out from the middle.

“Oh my, I didn’t know I would suddenly experience such amazing sorcery.”

“. . . We already have three who have passed. This is good news.”

Although he didn’t give me any particular praise, perhaps because his method of solving it was different from mine, Pyeong Won-myeong couldn’t hide his joy and nodded his head with satisfaction.

Like that, an hour passed, and only about 30% of the original group had managed to break through the barrier.

Of the Taoist priests from Daehwa-rym, only Jang Ri-gyeong and Cheol-woong had passed. Unfortunately, it seemed that the others had fallen short.

Pyeong Won-myeong looked at the faces of those gathered and continued speaking.

“The second test is simple. Those who are ready will take turns stepping forward and defeating the shikigami in front of you. It has been designed so that it will not inflict fatal wounds, but be careful, as you could end up bedridden for several days if you’re not careful.”

I glanced ahead and saw a shikigami that looked like a demon from hell blocking our way with a huge iron club.

Its level was a whopping 54.

Even the Elder Water Ghost as it was now, having grown through repeated battles, would not be able to easily defeat it.

Most of the Taoist priests were unable to bring themselves to step forward in the face of its imposing presence, and even the most outstanding Jang-sam and Shin Pyo-eul seemed to be in no hurry to act, as if they intended to watch the battles of the others first.

The atmosphere of everyone just watching each other continued, and just as I was about to step forward in resignation, someone suddenly raised their hand and jumped forward. He was a man who seemed to be in his mid-40s and had a level of around 40.

“What are you all so scared of? If that’s the case, then I’ll just go ahead and take care of it!”

As the man said that, the demon’s iron club slowly began to creak.

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