“Father?”
The word slipped out unintentionally.
Realizing I had said it, I was so shocked that I almost covered my mouth.
Did he hear me? My father turned his head toward me.
Our eyes met.
My father’s eyes widened.
Was he surprised to see me suddenly appear? That thought crossed my mind.
‘Ah.’
But I quickly realized that wasn’t the reason.
The reason for his reaction was probably—
‘It must be because of the way I look right now.’
My body had reverted to its original appearance after releasing the Form Shifting Technique.
Though remnants of my previous transformation lingered, there was a significant change in my appearance.
Until just moments ago, I’d been marveling at my reborn form.
And now, here I was, standing in front of him looking like this—it was no wonder my father was surprised.
Moreover—
‘What is this place?’
I took a glance around.
How deep underground had this place been built?
Even though I’d descended quickly through a hole, the amount of time it took suggested that it was made at a considerable depth.
Not to mention, the faint poison and the scent of blood mixed into the air were unpleasant.
An aura thickly pervaded the space, mingled with heat.
Just sensing it made the hairs on my body stand on end.
The atmosphere was that oppressive, almost suffocating.
What is this situation? What’s going on here?
I narrowed my eyes as I looked ahead.
Why was the Celestial Master, bleeding, kneeling down?
And why was the Tang Clan’s Elder looking as if he’d lost his senses?
‘I was planning to deal with that old man tomorrow.’
I had already arranged my movements in advance.
There was no point in waiting any longer, so I had asked Nahi to prepare a secluded place where I could capture and interrogate him quietly by tomorrow.
‘This complicates things.’
Now, what am I supposed to do?
‘Did Father do this?’
Did he take down the Elder? Did he leave the room and just go on a rampage?
‘Father…?’
I couldn’t understand it easily.
I was certain my father wasn’t someone who acted impulsively, without any plan or reason.
But here he was, unleashing his fury like this.
Could it be…
‘…because of me?’
Because I nearly died from poisoning by the Tang Clan?
Did my father suddenly appear after days of absence and cause this upheaval because of that?
‘…’
I couldn’t tell.
If it were any other father, he might indeed respond that way if his child had been harmed.
But I thought my father was different from those kinds of people.
‘No way.’
The circumstances pointed in that direction, but still, the thought seemed unlikely.
Besides, how would my father even know that the Elder was behind it?
Even if he arrived in Sichuan yesterday at the earliest, could he really have figured out everything in such a short time?
‘That’s impossible.’
Even if he knew everything, acting with such certainty is another matter.
Where did such confidence come from?
[Where would it come from? It’s a simple answer. At least, for a martial artist, that is.]
‘…Noya?’
In response to the question that surfaced in my mind, Noya calmly provided the answer.
[Strength. What else does a martial artist need?]
Once he knew about the incident, his core motivator to take action was his strength.
For a martial artist, it’s ultimately their power.
Strength vast enough to bear any responsibility.
‘Though it may seem somewhat brutish, it’s the simplest truth.’
And at least in Zhongyuan, it was the most crucial truth.
Which means—
‘…He simply unleashed it, is that it?’
I knew my father was strong.
Though I wasn’t sure exactly how strong.
At the very least—
‘Stronger than me.’
Stronger than I had been in my previous life. And perhaps, not weaker than the Heavenly Demon.
That’s what I believed.
But—
‘…If he did this to the Celestial Master…’
I looked at the Celestial Master, kneeling on one knee before my father.
White beard stained with blood, his shoulder looking unnaturally damaged.
It was likely injured from a powerful blow.
Based on the circumstances, my father seemed to be the one who put the Celestial Master in that state.
‘Even if he caught him by surprise, could he really do that?’
I recalled a time in the past when my father ambushed the main hall of the Black Night Palace, killing a martial artist of the Hwagyeong level.
I wondered if this might be something similar.
‘But, even if that’s the case… the Celestial Master seems far too intact.’
Judging from the concentration of inner energy in the air, there had indeed been a battle.
And from the density, it seemed to have taken place just moments ago.
That made it even stranger.
‘It hasn’t been long since Father left.’
Though I moved swiftly, barely any time had passed—maybe less than a quarter of an hour.
‘In that brief span, he reduced the Celestial Master to this state?’
Furthermore, my father’s appearance was unchanged from when he left the room.
No signs of fatigue, just as pristine as before.
If a battle really took place,
‘…Then he must have completely crushed him.’
It would be safe to say that he utterly overwhelmed the Celestial Master, a man renowned as one of the Three Lords of Heaven.
Gulp.
The thought brought a dry swallow to my throat.
This was no mere display.
‘I better never try to defy him.’
I suspected that my father had lived while concealing his true power, but I hadn’t expected it to be on this level.
…I definitely should avoid provoking him in the future, a resolution that settled naturally in my heart.
‘Anyway, that aside.’
I glanced past the exhausted Celestial Master and looked toward my father.
My father was slowly approaching the Celestial Master, his left hand unclenched.
It glowed in a vivid red, a faint heatless shimmer rising from it.
I could immediately tell.
How much inner energy was gathered in that palm.
The sight alone made me suppress a gasp of surprise.
‘That…’
I’d seen it before.
Only once, on that day in my previous life when I fought my father.
It was the same power I saw back then.
‘…The pinnacle of the Gu Flame Wheel Technique.’
The final secret art of the Gu family’s martial techniques.
Only those who mastered the Gu Flame Wheel could wield it.
“Third son.”
“…!”
At my father’s voice, I trembled instinctively.
“I’m sure I told you to wait, didn’t I?”
“Ah, that… I apologize….”
My father shifted his gaze from me back to the Celestial Master.
The look in his eyes was anything but ordinary.
‘Is he… planning to kill him?’
The Celestial Master?
Oh, that’s no good.
‘What should I do?’
It would be troublesome if the Celestial Master died at my father’s hands here.
It wasn’t that I was trying to act virtuously now.
The reason was simple.
‘I still haven’t learned anything.’
I still didn’t have the information.
The Celestial Master’s presence in this strange place seemed related to the Elder, and besides,
‘The Divine Doctor’s words also matter.’
I remembered the Divine Doctor’s warning to be cautious around the Celestial Master.
As I mulled over a way out, searching for a solution, my father spoke up.
“How did you find me?”
“Pardon…?”
“It should have been impossible with the Fire Wheel Star in place.”
Fire Wheel Star?
My father’s words made me recall the small sun floating in the sky.
Was that what he called the Fire Wheel Star?
So that means—
‘I was right about why I couldn’t sense him.’
It was exactly as I’d suspected, the same power Noya had spoken about—the manifestation of intent.
It was that which had concealed his presence.
“How did you find your way here?”
“…I burned the link and created resonance.”
My father’s gaze flickered with intrigue upon hearing my answer.
“Resonance… So there was a method like that.”
‘Huh?’
I froze, catching a glimpse of my father’s expression.
‘…Is he smiling?’
It looked like the corners of his mouth were slightly raised.
I only saw that expression for a moment.
“Well done.”
“…!”
My father unexpectedly praised me.
Hearing it, I couldn’t help but feel a bit pleased.
Crunch!
“Kuh…!”
But then, my father grabbed the Celestial Master’s face.
Oh no!
“Father…! Wait…!”
Fwoosh!
A massive scarlet flame burst out, radiating light.
The Celestial Master’s body became engulfed in flames.
Even though it was fire, the color was intensely red—so red that it seemed impossible for such a flame to exist.
‘This is bad.’
I bit my lip as I watched. The Celestial Master had finally burned to death.
Enveloped in flames of that magnitude, not even his bones would remain.
As I began to feel a surge of panic, my father turned his gaze back to me.
His eyes met mine as I stood there with my mouth agape, and he spoke.
“Don’t worry, he’s not dead.”
“…What?”
My father’s words made me give him a bewildered look.
He’s engulfed in these impossible flames, yet he’s not dead…?
Is he implying he’s still alive, if only barely, though he might die soon?
As his grim tone brought a slight cold sweat to my brow,
“I burned away the unnecessary.”
My father explained, as if to clarify.
The unnecessary? I still didn’t understand.
“Had it been anyone else, I would have burned him to death. But for the sake of your betrothed, I’ll let it go.”
“…Ah.”
Hearing my father’s words, I remembered belatedly.
The Celestial Master was part of the Namgung family.
Caught up in the situation, I’d momentarily forgotten.
‘Right… He shouldn’t be killed, even for that reason.’
That thought crossed my mind.
But even if I’d remembered, would I have done anything about it?
My thoughts, cold and detached despite the situation, denied that I would have intervened.
I had always been ruthless, but after my transformation, I felt even less humane.
Suppressing the nauseating sensation, I asked my father.
“…Father.”
“Speak.”
“The Celestial Master aside, what’s with the Elder…?”
I gestured toward the Elder.
Unable to flee, he simply sat trembling as he watched the burning Celestial Master.
“…”
My father’s gaze shifted to the Elder.
Meeting his eyes, the Elder began to shake uncontrollably.
“I heard he poisoned you.”
Hearing him say it so casually made me clench my fist.
My father’s words meant he had come because I had been poisoned.
This unfamiliar emotion made me avert my gaze slightly.
“…How did you know it was him? You haven’t been here long.”
I hadn’t even told the Poison King about it yet.
My plan was to apprehend the Elder and extract all the information before saying anything.
But how had my father known to suspect the Elder?
To my question, my father simply replied,
“I didn’t.”
“What?”
An unexpected answer.
“…What do you mean…?”
Just now he said the Elder had poisoned me, yet now he says he didn’t know?
“That’s quite different from what you said earlier…”
Seeing my confusion, my father provided a more detailed explanation.
“The only thing I was certain of was that one of the Elders was responsible.”
“…So?”
“So I planned to capture all the Elders and verify it one by one.”
“…”
Listening to my father’s words made my mind go blank.
What did I just hear?
So…
‘…Not knowing exactly who, he planned to capture all the Elders?’
It was a statement overwhelming in many ways.
As I tried to gather my scattered thoughts, my father looked at the Elder and continued.
“It took half a day. The time spent tracking the presences of the Tang Clan’s Elders.”
Half a day.
Only then did I understand where my father had been when he suddenly disappeared.
The time had been used to memorize the presences of all the Elders within the vast Tang Clan.
“That’s why I sought out the one I found most suspicious. Judging from your reaction, I was correct.”
“…Yes.”
As he spoke, my father walked over to me.
“I’ve sent a message to the Poison King, so he should arrive soon.”
When did he manage to do that?
“The Celestial Master’s flames will die out before the Poison King arrives, so don’t worry.”
In other words, he warned me not to interfere.
Not that I had any intention of doing so, intimidated as I was by the flames.
My father slowly approached me and finally stopped in front of me.
His cool gaze swept over me.
Feeling his eyes on me made me break out in a cold sweat.
Though I had just made an excuse about my transformation,
how could I explain my current appearance?
I regretted it immediately.
‘Damn it, I shouldn’t have come looking for him.’
I should have listened and waited. Now I was about to get scolded for acting recklessly.
There was no excuse to be made.
My eyes, now tinged with a faint blue hue.
The blue tint in my hair, the scales marking my skin, my enlarged frame.
I might be able to pass off the size as a result of the transformation.
But the rest? No chance.
As I scrambled to think of a plausible explanation, my father spoke.
“This…”
I closed my eyes tightly.
There was no avoiding it.
Just as I was bracing myself to be reprimanded,
“…I see.”
Startled by the change in tone, I opened my eyes slightly.
The emotion in his voice was unmistakable.
It was an emotion I’d never felt from my father before.
In his voice, which seemed as calm as usual, I could clearly sense it.
“You truly are…”
That emotion was unmistakably—
“…your mother’s child.”
It was longing.