The Dragon-Scale man looked up at the sky.
Why did that endlessly blue sky feel so hateful today?
He wished it would rain instead.
SKRRRRT—.
Leaving behind the tears that flowed before he knew it, he regenerated his wing.
“Why are you crying? It’s not as if I asked you to do something difficult.”
When the Dragon-Scale man had tried to commit suicide, Jeok Wigang had recited the Revival Mantra, yet left the vanished wing alone. That alone showed just how vicious this human was.
“Hmm. It doesn’t feel like revival energy.... Fascinating.”
That monster’s gaze turned toward his leg.
A gaze that clearly wanted something.
Fine. Better than letting the monster do it.
SHAAK—.
The Dragon-Scale man cut off his own leg.
Then he regenerated it again.
“Oho.”
Jeok Wigang watched him again, as though intrigued.
“Hmm. I think I roughly understand the method.”
Already?
He had only seen it twice.
“Fascinating. This bastard’s body is crawling with unbelievably tiny insects. They regenerate his body back to its original state.”
Good heavens.
That was true.
He could see them?
The Undying Cicada Worms.
That was the identity of the insects inside the Dragon-Scale race’s bodies.
As long as breath remained in them, the worms regenerated every wound.
Jeok Wigang examined the severed leg.
The worms were still writhing.
“I should take this and study it.”
He held the leg and recited a mantra, and a black space appeared in the air.
Seeing that, the Dragon-Scale man flinched in shock.
“S-subspace?”
“Why are you so surprised? Ah! Right. You said you knew magic too, didn’t you? Wow. You’re useful in a lot of ways. I really did well keeping you alive.”
N-no.
His usefulness had increased.
Now there really was no way to escape that monster.
“You might commit suicide while I’m gone.”
It seemed he intended to place a restriction on him.
But even though the Dragon-Scale man knew it, he could not avoid it.
He was caught in an instant, and the restriction was placed.
“Now you can’t even dream of suicide.”
All hope vanished.
Now, only one hope remained.
That the dimensional passage to White Horse Heaven would open.
Surely, if he fled there, Jeok Wigang could not chase him.
Yes.
Since there was at least one hope left, he would endure.
“What? Are you planning to run there once the White Horse Heaven dimension opens?”
“Eek!”
He was genuinely startled.
Could he read minds too?
When the Dragon-Scale man looked at him as though he were truly staring at a monster, Jeok Wigang spoke with a slightly displeased expression.
“I don’t like that look.”
“Ah! I-I apologize. I was so surprised that.......”
“What? Were you surprised that I know White Horse Heaven?”
“Yes. How do you know White Horse Heaven?”
“That fellow over there came from White Horse Heaven too.”
“What?”
He was startled again.
To think the Commander he had tried to kill was a fellow member of White Horse Heaven.
A companion had been close enough that he could have tripped over him.
Ye Yahyeon scratched his head and revealed his identity.
“Rank sixty-two, Poison-Mandate Divine Demon.”
Poison-Mandate Divine Demon.
He had heard of him.
He seemed to remember hearing that he was another one who used poison, like himself.
“Why did you not say so earlier? If you saw my changed form, you should have known my identity.”
“I knew. That you were Dragon-Scale. But... I did not want to humiliate myself by saying we were from the same White Horse Heaven while begging for my life.”
At the words “begging for my life,” the Dragon-Scale man felt pathetic.
Was he not begging for his life right now?
“Ah, Big Brother is an exception. The difference is so overwhelmingly vast that there is nothing to be ashamed of or anything else.”
At Ye Yahyeon’s words, the Dragon-Scale man also nodded.
“I am the Silver Dragon Divine Demon.”
Jeok Wigang’s voice sounded.
“Exchange names later and decide what you are going to do.”
The Silver Dragon Divine Demon thought for a moment, then sighed and said,
“I will follow you.”
There was nothing he could do.
He could not run away, and he could not die.
There was exactly one thing he could do now.
Follow.
“Try running away if you want. Chasing you down does not sound bad either.”
Was that supposed to be something he could say right now?
“Now, shall we move somewhere else and talk?”
The Silver Dragon Divine Demon nodded.
“By the way, you. What is your name?”
“...Son Gang.”
“Good. Son Gang. Let’s get along from now on.”
*****
Son Gang transformed into a human form.
“You’re handsome.”
“Th-thank you, Big Brother.”
Before he knew it, he was calling Jeok Wigang Big Brother.
And Jeok Wigang was able to hear in detail about all the things Son Gang had done.
Most of the reason the imperial palace had fallen into this state was entirely because of Son Gang.
After hearing this, Jeok Wigang gave a small laugh and said,
“If I had known first that you were from White Horse Heaven, I would have gone looking for you before anyone else. Then things would have been easier.”
Son Gang lowered his head deeply.
“What are you going to do about Noble Consort Man?”
“I will drive her out.”
“How will you drive out a woman who gave birth to a child of the imperial line?”
“The child she bore is not actually His Majesty’s.”
“What? Then whose child is it?”
“It must be the seed of one of the other men she slept with.”
“Slept with?”
“She is so obsessed with men that she cannot sleep if she goes even a single day without one. So I disguised several men as eunuchs and brought them into the palace.”
BWAAK—.
“Kek!”
When Jeok Wigang smacked him in the head, Son Gang clutched it and groaned in pain.
“Good grief! You really did every single thing, didn’t you?”
“I-I apologize.”
“You are certain he is not the Emperor’s bloodline?”
“Y-yes. His Majesty has never once shared Noble Consort Man’s bed.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Even after I fed him an aphrodisiac, he refused to join his body with Noble Consort Man to the end.”
“Why?”
“This is only my thought, but I believe he truly loves the Empress. That is why even when he was not in his right mind, he seemed to reject any woman who was not the Empress.”
At Son Gang’s words, Jeok Wigang grinned.
As expected, he had judged Zhu Seogi correctly.
“Damn it. If I had known things would resolve this easily, I would not have bothered making the Western Depot.”
“What? The Western Depot?”
“I’m making it right now to keep you lot in check.”
Son Gang had not known at all.
Wait. The eunuchs who had vanished whenever he sent them over—surely?
“What? Are you worried I used the eunuchs you sent?”
He really was a ghost.
“That’s right. Right now, those bastards are working hard to build the organization’s structure in secret.”
“Huh.......”
“Since I already made it, I’ll use it for now. If it causes problems, I can disband it later.”
“I will manage it.”
Jeok Wigang shook his head.
“No. You have to travel with me.”
“Yes....”
“There is something else you must do.”
“What is that?”
“You have to guard my home.”
“What?”
What was this now?
Was he telling {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} him to become a watchdog?
“I’m saying you have to guard the family I treasure most. What work could be more important than that?”
Ah. He had misunderstood.
Something felt strange in his heart.
This man was entrusting an enemy like him with protecting the people he treasured most.
If it were Son Gang, could he do that?
Absolutely not.
Son Gang looked at Jeok Wigang.
This was a being whose vessel itself was different.
“If you entrust it to me, I will protect them with all my heart.”
“You had better. The other White Horse Heaven bastards do not know, do they?”
“From what I have heard, a few of them have hidden themselves among the martial sects of the Central Plains. They will likely move when the time comes.”
“And you do not know which sects?”
“No.”
“That is troublesome.”
It was not as if there were only one or two sects in the Central Plains.
“Would they have gone to major sects? What do you two think?”
Ye Yahyeon thought for a moment, then said,
“If it were me, I would go to a small sect and raise it according to my tastes.”
“And you?”
“I am the opposite. I would go to a major sect, take an important position, and slowly absorb it.”
He should not have asked.
Now the possibilities had widened to include even the small and mid-sized sects of the Central Plains.
He could not go around checking all of them one by one.
Then there was only one method.
I have no choice but to make our side stronger.
First came the True Martial Sect.
He would have to research a way to make the True Martial Sect strong.
Training hard without condition did not make one strong.
One grew strong only by satisfying the conditions required to possess great power.
In the martial world, there was such a thing as a fated opportunity.
If one obtained a fated opportunity, one became strong.
In that case?
I can just become the fated opportunity.
He only needed to create fated opportunities.
Spirit medicines?
He could make them.
Divine weapons?
He could make them.
Martial arts?
He could make those too.
Bone-and-Body Rebirth?
He could do it for them.
Well, all of that is stuff I can do.
Jeok Wigang thought lightly about things that would have made anyone else shudder.
We also need famous physicians.
They needed many people who could heal the injured.
Making sure their fighting strength did not decrease was also an important issue.
Should he learn medicine too?
Who was the most famous divine physician in the Central Plains again?
On top of that, they needed to establish bases throughout the Central Plains so they could prepare to respond to White Horse Heaven at any time.
There truly was no end to what needed to be done, but he had to do it.
For his family’s safety and happiness.
I wonder if Wiun is doing well.
The heir of the True Martial Sect, Jeok Wiun.
He absolutely could not be weak.
He had to become even stronger than Grandfather.
Suitable training.......
As Jeok Wigang thought, he looked at Son Gang and Ye Yahyeon.
Then he grinned.
There is no training as certain as real combat.
If the opponents were from White Horse Heaven, he would definitely grow even stronger.
In the process of experiencing real combat, he might overcome life-and-death crises. Or he might actually die.
Still, it had to be done.
Did people not say that a person became stronger after crossing the threshold of death?
If he crossed the line between life and death countless times, then at some point, he would surpass Grandfather.
Jeok Wigang would have to create a mantra that could revive him at any time, even if his breath stopped.
That will not be easy.
It seemed he might have to surpass the Nine-Book Cycle after all.
He had not done it because it was bothersome, but for the sake of making his younger brother stronger, and to raise the martial world’s fighting strength, he had to.
And while he was at it, he could make those two stronger as well.
Watching Jeok Wigang look their way and smile gloomily, Son Gang and Ye Yahyeon felt a strange unease.
Meanwhile, Jeok Wiun, who was training diligently at the True Martial Sect—
“Achoo!”
Suddenly sneezed.
“What was that? I suddenly got chills. Did I train too hard?”
Rubbing his body here and there at the sudden chill, he tilted his head in confusion.
*****
That evening.
Jeok Wigang went to see Zhu Seogi.
“Your Majesty! The Grand Secretary of the Cabinet requests entry!”
At the news that Jeok Wigang had come, Zhu Seogi sprang to his feet and shouted,
“Show him in at once!”
Grrrrk—.
The door opened, and as Jeok Wigang hurried in and tried to bow, Zhu Seogi rushed over and stopped him.
“You do not have to do this cumbersome thing every time you see me.”
“There is etiquette.”
“I will abolish that etiquette. So do not do it.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you for listening.”
“Your grace is boundless, Your Majesty.”
“What brings you here at this hour? Has some problem arisen in the palace?”
“No. Everything is running very well, so you may set your worries aside.”
“Hahaha! As it happens, I have been reviewing all the policies coming up to me, and they could not be more perfect. It feels as though they are scratching every place that itched. Hahaha!”
“I am truly glad they please you, Your Majesty.”
“Please me? More than that! Hahaha!”
After laughing in good spirits, Zhu Seogi asked again,
“Then why have you come to see me?”
“It concerns Noble Consort Man.”
At the words “Noble Consort Man,” the smile on his face hardened in an instant.
“Mm. I had forgotten about her.”
If Jeok Wigang had come, it was surely no ordinary matter.
“Yes.... What is it? Has she done something?”
“I believe you should prepare to cast Noble Consort Man out.”
“Wh-what do you mean? No matter how wickedly she behaved, she is still the woman who bore my child.”
“That child is not of Your Majesty’s bloodline.”
“Not of my bloodline? But I certainly shared her bed.”
“Do you remember that time?”
At Jeok Wigang’s question, Zhu Seogi shook his head.
“I must have drunk too much. I do not remember it clearly.”
“There was testimony that Your Majesty did not lay a single hand on her body.”
“What does that mean?”