The Martial God with Psychic Powers

A rumor began circulating in the Western region.
It started from a new recruit who had entered Cheongseok High Division.

“It seems Cheongseok submitted to Baekyeong in the South.”
…That was the rumor.
At first, the other high divisions in the West dismissed it as nonsense.

It was simply too absurd to believe.
But the rumor began evolving, growing more detailed.
Now people whispered that the top student of Cheongseok looked visibly shaken whenever Baekyeong was mentioned—or that last year’s second-ranked Cheongseok student was now attending Baekyeong.

Even then, people just laughed it off.
If he had been a senior last year, he should’ve graduated. Why would a graduate still be in a high division?
Some continued to ignore it as a false rumor, but others—those who needed to confirm the truth with their own eyes—headed to Baekyeong.

And there, they saw it.
Jo Deok, who had been Cheongseok’s second-ranked student the year before, now wore the uniform of Baekyeong High Division.
So the rumor was true?

But how could someone who had been a senior last year still be a senior in Baekyeong?
They began digging deeper.
They scouted the area, questioned nearby students, even conducted stakeouts.

Eventually, they uncovered the truth.
He had been held back and was repeating a year.
So the mystery of why Cheongseok’s second-ranked hadn’t graduated was resolved.

Now they needed to understand why he had transferred to Baekyeong instead of remaining in Cheongseok.
That too soon became clear.
One of Baekyeong’s intermediate students proudly spoke up.
Last year, they’d subdued Cheongseok.

It was true.
Cheongseok had truly lost to Baekyeong, and since then, they’d been quietly living under its shadow.
When this fact spread, the high divisions across the Western region were deeply unsettled.

Cheongseok had always been considered the weakest among them—but losing to a Southern division? That was an intolerable blow to the Western region’s pride.
The first to act was Baekseok High Division, the one closest to Cheongseok.
 

****
A man lay pinned under someone’s foot, groaning in pain.
“Incredible. No wonder you got wrecked by those Southern brats.”

The man speaking with disdain was Son Baek Gi, the top student of Baekseok High Division in the West.
The one crushed underfoot was Baek Cheon, the top student of Cheongseok, grimacing as he replied:
“You… You won’t be able to handle Baekyeong either. Once you feel their power for yourself, you’ll understand. Why we’re like this.”

Son Baek Gi pressed harder with his foot.
“Gkk—!”
Baek Cheon squirmed in pain, trying to pry the foot off. Son Baek Gi looked down at him, irritated.

“What are you even saying? Right now, the one crushing Cheongseok isn’t Baekyeong—it’s Baekseok. Catch a clue, yeah?”
His expression was filled with disgust.
Then, releasing the pressure, he stepped back and said,

“That’s enough. No point in talking about it—we’ll just go see for ourselves. Lead the way.”
“W-Where?”
“Baekyeong.”

“Y-You’re really going there?”
“Sigh. Do you have a death wish? Lead the way. Now.”
“O-Okay…”

Baek Cheon actually felt a strange sense of relief.
“Yeah, you go get a taste too.”
 

****
“That’s the place?”
“Y-Yeah. That’s Baekyeong.”

“Call them.”
“Huh?”
“Go call them. I’m about to show them the full force of the West.”

“A-Alright…”
Following Baek Cheon to Baekyeong High Division, the students from Baekseok swaggered in with fierce expressions.
“Doesn’t look like much.”

“Even the ones walking around look pathetically weak.”
“This place is known more for its bookworms.”
“Books? Please. In the Martial God sect, strength is truth.”

“Damn right.”
“Pathetic. To think they lost to a place like this…”
Son Baek Gi clicked his tongue, watching Baek Cheon run off into the distance with a contemptuous look.

Meanwhile, Baek Cheon was rushing toward Baek Yaksa.
He’d been told to head there if anything happened.
When he arrived, he looked around frantically.

“There it is!”
His eyes landed on an old, weathered bell.
He rushed over and struck it with all his strength.

GONG—
They’d said to ring the bell there if anything urgent came up.
Before long, students wearing Baekyeong uniforms began to arrive.

“What the hell? What are you doing here?”
The one who stepped forward was Go Seung.
Normally, Baek Cheon would’ve been terrified, but today, he was glad to see him.

“Ba-Baekseok High Division is invading!”
“Where? Cheongseok?”
“No! Here!”

“What? What are you talking about? Out of nowhere?”
“They said losing to you made Cheongseok a disgrace to the West, so now they’re here to restore the region’s honor.”
“Oh? What timing. We were just planning our Western campaign, wondering where to start.”

“…What?”
“It’s about time we started. The High Division Unification.”
“You’re… really doing that?”

“Why? Think we can’t?”
“N-No! That’s not what I meant…”
“Whatever. Where are they? Lead the way.”

“You’re going right now?”
“Obviously.”
“Shouldn’t we at least inform the others? That Baekseok is invading—”

“To deal with Baekseok? Not worth it. Just lead the way.”
Baek Cheon felt a flicker of anxiety.
Was this really okay?

“Why? You worried?”
As Baek Cheon nodded, Go Seung grinned and threw an arm over his shoulders.
“I’ll show you how strong we really are.”

 
****
Baek Cheon stared in stunned disbelief.

Son Baek Gi lay collapsed on the ground, foaming at the mouth.
One move.
Go Seung had taken him down with a single move.

“…Seriously? He’s even weaker than I thought. Ugh, I didn’t even get to enjoy the hit.”
He was strong.
Truly, terrifyingly strong.

And yet… he wasn’t even Baekyeong’s top student?
That’s got to be a joke.
He assumed they were mocking them.

The students of Baekseok, who had just witnessed their top student crushed in one blow, stood frozen, too stunned to act.
“What? You all not coming?”
After seeing something like that, who would dare move?

“Which one of you is the second-ranked?”
All eyes turned to one student.
“You?”

“…Yeah.”
“Looks like this fight’s already over. You still want to go? If you do, hurry up and come at me.”
Having witnessed Go Seung’s devastating strike, Baekseok’s students had already lost the will to fight.

Even the students behind Go Seung looked powerful.
Finally, the second-ranked Baekseok student spoke up.
“We lost.”

It was an anticlimactic end to the confrontation.
The real shock was that Son Baek Gi hadn’t been weak—he was Apex-Level, First Star.
And yet, he was defeated in a single move.

What kind of monster was Go Seung?
“Our top student will be here soon. Declare your surrender to him directly.”
“Wait—what? You’re not the top student?”

Go Seung grinned.
“Sadly, I’m not strong enough.”
Gods…

The second-ranked student glanced at Baek Cheon—who stood there, grinning smugly.
Moments later…
The true top student of Baekyeong arrived.

Wearing an intermediate student’s uniform.
The second-ranked Baekseok student looked at him in disbelief.
Go Seung added casually,

“What? Surprised the top student’s just an intermediate? Age doesn’t matter. The strongest takes the top spot. And unfortunately for me, that guy’s stronger.”
And there was nothing strange about it.
Because Go Seung was absolutely right.

In Mushincheon, strength is rank.
“I am Sunwoo Baek, top student of Baekyeong High Division,” he introduced politely.
The courtesy made him seem even more impressive.

“I-I’m Im Gwanpyeong, second-ranked of Baekseok High Division…” the boy replied.
Sunwoo Baek glanced around and then spoke directly.
“Well, I suppose the situation is already clear, so I’ll be blunt.”

“Yes, sir.”
“From today, Baekseok High Division of the Western region falls under our command. Do you acknowledge this?”
“I… I’m sorry, but our top student is still unconscious…”

Sunwoo Baek nodded.
“I see.”
Then he motioned to Jang Woon beside him.

Jang Woon pulled out a pill from his sleeve and forced it into Son Baek Gi’s mouth.
A few moments later, Son Baek Gi opened his eyes.
With a dazed expression, he looked around.

“Wh-What the hell…?”
Go Seung answered, “What do you think? You got knocked out by me.”
“T-That’s impossible! What trickery did you use?!”

“Trickery?”
Go Seung’s face twisted with irritation.
He had clawed his way to this power through endless slaughterfields.

To call it “trickery” was an insult.
Looking toward Sunwoo Baek, Go Seung spoke.
“Looks like this guy needs a few more hits.”

Sunwoo Baek gave a small nod.
“Show him. Make the gap unmistakable.”
Grinning, Go Seung turned to Son Baek Gi.

“If you’re bitter, come at me again.”
“I was going to!”
He turned to his group and shouted:

“What are you all doing just standing there?! Attack!”
But not a single one moved.
Son Baek Gi looked around in confusion.

“What the hell is wrong with you?! Move!”
No matter how he shouted, they didn’t budge.
Then Im Gwanpyeong quietly spoke.

“We’ve lost. It’s over.”
“What do you mean over?! We haven’t—”
SMACK—

“Urgh!”
Son Baek Gi reeled from the impact, staggering.
Go Seung’s palm, the size of a pot lid, had struck him.

“You bastard! Striking someone mid-sentence—coward!”
SMACK—
“Gaaah!”

This time, it was the other cheek.
“If I finish them in one strike, this kind of hassle happens. From now on, I’ll make sure to etch the gap into them before ending it.”
SMACK— SMACK—

“Argh! Ugh! You… you bastard—!”
Even as he was beaten, Son Baek Gi tried to resist.
But as the pain mounted, that too faded.

“S-Stop…”
“Stop what? We’re just getting started.”
SMACK— SMACK—

“P-Please, stop…”
“What, you ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) came to fight and now you’re whining after this little bit?”
Face swollen and bruised, Son Baek Gi finally pleaded.

“A-Alright! From now on, Baekseok belongs to Baekyeong!”
He finally declared surrender.
The students of Baekseok didn’t look humiliated—they looked relieved.

Relieved that they wouldn’t have to fight Baekyeong.
 
****

Yeon Woo Jin looked down at Baekseok’s written pledge with an incredulous expression.
“So let me get this straight—we didn’t even do anything, and they showed up and gave us this on their own?”
“Well, they did come to fight,” Sunwoo Baek said. “But Go Seung-sunbae dropped their top student in one strike.”

Yeon Woo Jin didn’t seem to be listening.
He was deep in thought, then suddenly spoke.
“Wait… maybe we don’t even need to track them down. If we just provoke them a little, they’ll come to us.”

He smiled.
“Let’s think. What could we do to really piss off the Western region and make them come charging in?”
Gong Yacheon offered an idea.

“How about spreading a rumor? That the Western region is already being occupied by the South. That they’re basically Southern dogs now.”
At that, Jo Deok chuckled.
“If that rumor spreads, they might really come running. The Western brats can’t stand the idea of being below the South.”

Now with a first-hand testimony from a Western native, Yeon Woo Jin smiled and nodded.
“Perfect. Gong Yacheon, Jo Deok-sunbae—you two go start spreading the rumor. Make it just provocative enough.”
“Got it.”

 
****
Even after the rumor spread, nothing happened.

“What the hell? Why isn’t there any reaction? Did we even spread it properly?”
“Yeah, the rumor’s definitely out there.”
“Then why no response?”

“No clue.”
“What exactly did the rumor say?”
“That the West can’t hold up against the South anymore.”

Listening in, Gwak Pyeong chimed in with his own insight.
“Hm… now that I think about it, they probably dismissed it as nonsense. Responding to the rumor would be like admitting it’s true. That’s how they see it.”
Yeon Woo Jin nodded.

He’d come to the same conclusion.
Which meant they needed a stronger push.
“Spread it further. And once it’s common knowledge across the West, let’s leak one more rumor.”

“What kind?”
“That Baekyeong from the South has already subdued both Cheongseok and Baekseok… but the rest of the Western high divisions are too afraid to move. That they’re staying quiet because they’re scared Baekyeong might actually show up if they say anything.”