DEB 92

Everyone averted their gaze, pretending to be busy with something else. 

Huiyun didn’t ignore the irreverent atmosphere emanating from his disciples.

“What’s going on with you all?”

“Well… Yasha, do we really need to train?”  

“Yeah, didn’t we already finish our training?”  

“Finished your training? That’s an interesting way to put it. But haven’t your skills actually declined since then?”

“Uh… well, actually, we’ve been hiding our true strength until now.”  

“…Hey, that’s a bit much.”

Ash tried to come up with an excuse, but it was so unconvincing that even his fellow disciples didn’t back him up. 

When Huiyun looked at him as if he’d said something utterly ridiculous, Ash scratched his head awkwardly.

“Guess that didn’t work.”  

Did you really think it would?  

Huiyun sighed in disbelief. He hadn’t expected them to still be so immature.

“When the non-aggression pact ends, who knows what the demons will do? You need to strengthen your power as much as possible to avoid the worst-case scenario.”

“Yeah, but….”

What’s the problem?

It was strange that they were trying to slack off despite knowing everything. 

Huiyun scrutinized their expressions again. 

Vina was frowning slightly, Moot looked completely spaced out, Zenith seemed a bit worried, and Vita had his hand on his forehead as if he’d made a huge mistake. 

Even Verita, who smiled brightly when their eyes met, seemed to be enjoying the situation a bit too much.

Seeing that four out of the six disciples looked displeased, Huiyun figured there must be a reason they were reluctant to train. 

Thinking it over, Huiyun began to eliminate possible reasons until one remained, making him swallow nervously.

Could it be…?

“Is it that you don’t like my training methods?”

“Oh no, Yasha, that’s not it at all!”  

“Hmm, it’s not exactly that…”  

“Yasha, I didn’t say anything! It was all that red dragon over there!”

Huiyun’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his disciples, sensing this, quickly tried to offer explanations. 

Ash, noticing their reactions, grabbed the back of his neck in frustration.

“Hey, you all are too much! You leave me to handle it all, and now you’re stabbing me in the back?”

“Idiot! Yasha can hear you!”  

“Oh.”

In his outburst, Ash’s voice made a creaking sound, and he slowly turned around to see Huiyun. Ash’s reaction made Huiyun realize the truth, and he chuckled softly.

“Thanks, Ash.”

“No, no, no! Yasha, listen to me! It’s not that I don’t like your training…!”

Ash frantically tried to explain, but Huiyun was too deep in thought to really hear him.

Was there a problem with my training methods?

Huiyun thought back over his memories but couldn’t pinpoint anything specific, so he tilted his head in confusion. 

Realizing he couldn’t figure it out on his own, he decided to ask his disciples directly. 

Their expressions became noticeably uncomfortable.

“It’s not exactly a problem, but…”  

“Yasha, you’re a bit…”  

“Extreme.”

Vina, who had been standing back and observing, chimed in after Zenith spoke. 

Huiyun widened his eyes in surprise.

“Extreme? Me?”

Everyone’s eyes dropped to the ground before they collectively turned toward one person. 

Realizing that five pairs of eyes were now fixed on him, Ash grumbled about being thrown under the bus again.

The others, accustomed to his complaints, simply gestured for him to go ahead and explain. 

Sighing, Ash leaned his head against Huiyun, which felt heavier than usual as if burdened by deep thoughts.

“Okay, Yasha, think about it. How did you first teach me to control fire?”

This was an easy question to answer. 

After all, Huiyun had just been reflecting on his training methods.

“Dragons are all born with a strong affinity and potential for a specific element. I simply taught you how to maximize that affinity.”

“Yasha, be direct.”  

“I threw you into the fire.”

“……”

A moment of silence fell over the disciples as if they were mourning.

“Alright, next. What about when you gave Vina his powers?”

“You locked me in a library for three years, saying it was the best way to enhance the power of memory. …Though, thanks to that, I did manage to absorb and remember the information from over 10,000 books, so I can’t really complain.”

Another heavy silence fell between the disciples and Huiyun.

“Next, Moot.”

“You took me to the dragons’ graveyard and nearly killed me fifteen times, saying I needed to become more familiar with death to wield it.”

“But you survived, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Yasha. But if you hadn’t healed me with your blood, I would have died. Though thanks to you, I lived and awakened my abilities.”

Moot smiled faintly. Since there didn’t seem to be any hard feelings toward him, Huiyun looked at his other disciples.

They had all gained strength and survived, so wasn’t that enough?

As these thoughts crossed his mind, the disciples continued recounting their past experiences.

“You told me I needed to understand the weight of protecting the world, so you had me lift a mountain.”

“You gave me a barren land and told me to fill it with life. It took 150 years, but I eventually turned it into a flourishing garden.”

As the fairy twins finished speaking, Huiyun began to realize he might have been too harsh. 

Silence fell again as the disciples seemed lost in thought until Verita, with his usual radiant smile, patted Huiyun on the back.

“But I was okay with it, Yasha!”

“Verita, you didn’t really receive any powers from me aside from foresight.”

“……!”

As if deeply shocked, Verita clung to Huiyun’s arm.

“That’s too much, Yasha! Please grant me some powers too!”

Exasperated by Verita’s exaggerated reaction, Huiyun pried his arm free.

“Since the gods are looking out for you, there’s no need for me to give you any powers. Besides, it’s not like I didn’t give you any powers at all.”

“Oh, right! You did train my combat instincts through foresight by ambushing me for about five years! I’m satisfied with that!”

“…….”

Huiyun realized that when someone as eccentric as Verita expressed satisfaction, it usually meant the training had been particularly intense. 

Finally aware that his training methods might have been too extreme, Huiyun looked at his disciples, who were giving each other consoling pats on the back and cleared his throat.

Alright.

Now that I know the problem, I just need to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

“Looking back, my past methods were a bit rough. But now, I plan to refine your skills rather than push you to extremes since you’ve already awakened your abilities.”

“How do you plan to do that?”

“By going step by step, from the basics to advanced techniques. Like climbing from 1 to 10.”

Huiyun softened his voice and smiled. 

His disciples murmured among themselves, clearly unsettled by his seemingly kind expression.

“Oh, that sounds like something I can handle.”  

“As long as it doesn’t feel like being thrown off a cliff, I’m in.”  

“Maybe I’ll give it a try.”

Fortunately, the reaction was positive. 

Satisfied, Huiyun noticed that despite spending less time in the other world than expected, it was still just midday, so he sent a message to Huigang.

Huiyun: Everything went well, but I’m going to stop by Ash’s guild training room for a bit before coming back.

Huigang: Ash’s guild training room? Why? Did something happen?

Huiyun: No, just thought some training might be needed.

Huigang: So you’re going to train the S-ranks, right?

Huiyun: Yes.

Huigang: …Alright. Take care…

He seemed a bit hesitant.

Wondering about the pause in the conversation, Huiyun decided it must have been his imagination and put his phone away.

Soon, the American teleporter who followed Verita transported Huiyun and the disciples to the underground training room of Ash’s guild. Once there, Huiyun had the disciples warm-up, starting with Ash to assess his current level.

“Ash, create five fireballs and detonate them one after another. Make sure the explosion’s power increases with each one.”

“That’s easy.”

With a confident smile, Ash lined up five fireballs inside the protective barrier that Zenith had set up and triggered them one by one. 

Each fireball was caught in the explosion of the previous one, increasing in intensity until Zenith’s barrier began to shake.

“Well done.”

“Of course.”

Ash grinned proudly. Huiyun nodded and gave the next instruction.

“Now, control the flames more precisely. Embed a smaller but stronger flame inside the main one and set them to explode with a delay. Ensure that the initial explosion doesn’t affect the inner flame.”

“Isn’t that a bit too advanced all of a sudden?”  

“Don’t worry if you can’t do it; just give it a try.”  

“I never said I couldn’t.”

Ash’s expression turned serious as he focused on executing the task. 

The control was flawless, so Huiyun immediately gave another command.

“Now, create fifteen of these double-layered fireballs, placing each one at the locations I specify.”

“……”

The man fell silent, concentrating as he positioned the fifteen fireballs where Huiyun indicated. Ash’s fingers began to tremble slightly.

Knowing that he needed to raise the difficulty level even higher to accurately assess Ash’s limits, Huiyun released his power of domination.

“Well done. Now, make sure those flames don’t explode when I touch them. If any of them detonate, we’ll start over from the beginning….”

As he spoke, Huiyun noticed how unusually quiet the room had become and looked around. 

His disciples were staring at him with expressions full of unease.

“…Sighhhhhhhhhhh.”

Moot let out a long sigh.  

“Why? What’s wrong?”  

“…Sigh.”

Vina sighed on top of that. Huiyun blinked in confusion, unsure of what was going on.