Following Baek San-Kyung, the rest of Baek Mu-Gun’s followers also faced So Yeon-Hwa one by one. There wasn’t much difference in the outcome. However, the remaining five members were less skilled than San-Kyung. It wasn’t because they put in less effort. They were weaker than him in the first place. The gap between them still stood as they received the same guidance and put in a similar amount of effort. What was important was that they all exceeded Mu-Gun’s expectations.

It was proof that they didn’t neglect their training while Mu-Gun was on a journey. Mu-Gun was determined to raise these six as his close aides, which was why he decided to teach them intensively. However, he didn’t intend to blindly spoon-feed them. It was understandable if they lacked talent, but it was absolutely unacceptable for them to be lacking in effort.

To receive preferential treatment as his close aides, they had to put in as much effort as they received. If they showed even a slight hint of laziness, Mu-Gun would mercilessly throw them away. He asked Yeon-Hwa to spar with them as a kind of test to check if they were qualified. Fortunately, they all worked hard enough to get a passing score.

“Everyone seems to have trained hard while I was away. I should give you a reward proportional to that.”

“You’ve already given us a lot.” Nak Il-Bang responded.

“Should I not give you all a reward, then?”

“If you do give us one, we’d be grateful.”

At Il-Bang’s remarks, Mu-Gun smiled and said, “The reward you’ll all receive is an internal energy...