A groan leaked from Taecheon’s mouth.
He couldn’t believe it—his arm wrapped in internal qi had taken that kind of shock, and his body had lifted off the ground and skidded backward through the air.
‘This can’t be happening. He shouldn’t be able to use internal qi.’
But the throbbing pain in his forearm told him it was real. Taecheon stared at me with a look that said unbelievable.
“Just now you wrapped a little internal qi around your arm to ‘protect’ me, didn’t you? You’d better do it properly. If you don’t want that arm broken.”
Taecheon clenched his teeth.
‘So he really is strong. If I think about it, a man as cold to himself as Jeok Wigang wouldn’t say that kind of thing lightly... How could I serve him for so long and still not know this much? Pathetic. I’m the one who got careless and underestimated him. I need to reflect.’
“Here I come again.”
He’s coming.
Taecheon tried not to block my fist but to avoid it.
THUD—
“Gkh!”
‘When—?!’
He hadn’t even seen it coming.
THUD—
A fist rammed into his ribs and his mind went hazy. Even with internal qi defending, the impact and pain crashed in all the same.
“Attack me too, Taecheon.”
“Gkh! M-me, too?”
“Yeah. That’s how you train.”
“Sir?”
“You didn’t know? Starting today, you and I are going to fight like this every day with our lives on the line.”
“Lives...?”
“Mm. From now on I’m going to attack with the resolve to kill you. If you want to live, you’d better give it everything.”
Murderous intent rolled off me in waves. I had no internal qi, and yet that killing air made Taecheon’s whole body break out in gooseflesh. As I stepped in, his body reacted on its own.
SWISH—
His sword was already out and cutting for me.
Ah! Startled, he tried to recall the blade, but it was too late.
“No—!”
The point drove straight for a vital spot.
THUD—
“A—no!”
Taecheon panicked as the sword stabbed into me.
“I’m fine.”
“Wh— Young Master, are you all right?”
“Yeah. Something like this can’t inflict any real damage on me.”
“Sir?”
“So attack as you please. My body is... stronger than Vajra-unbreakable.”
Stronger than Vajra-unbreakable? That’s not something a person says. And yet the body that had been struck by the sword was perfectly intact. He was confused. It felt like a dream; his thoughts wouldn’t line up.
And then—he saw me sprinting in from afar.
Fine. Today, I’ll confirm every last bit of what the Young Master really is.
With that resolve, Taecheon began to face me with his full sincerity.
****
COUGH!
Every time Taecheon, slumped on the ground, coughed, blood sprayed out. He’d overextended at the end and suffered a serious internal injury—something that would require at least two months of bed rest.
“I’m sorry, Young Master. It’s my incompetence...”
I smiled at the sight of Taecheon blaming himself even now.
An apex-class master had been turned to rags, and I—who supposedly had no internal qi—was unscathed.
“Now you understand my strength?”
Taecheon nodded with effort.
“Yes. You are truly strong. But you must always be careful. The martial world is crawling with people more monstrous than I am.”
“Like the Four Heavenly Demon Lords?”
“How do you know of them?”
“I heard.”
“Yes. It crawls with monsters like that.”
“I’m stronger than the Four Heavenly Demon Lords.”
“They aren’t merely strong. Their power reaches the heavens.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Sir?— COUGH!”
Taecheon hacked and spat blood again. I went to him, murmured an incantation, and ran my hand along his injuries.
“Return qi into the meridians; calm the soul, level the wound; severed blood, continue the form; revert to the root, restore life.”
“Young Master, what are you... Huh?”
The pain eased, little by little. It was definitely something I had done.
“Young Master?”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore, does it?”
“What did you do?”
“Healed you with my art.”
Taecheon looked at me in shock.
“You’ve learned the arts?”
“Mm. Not being able to learn martial arts is inconvenient in more ways than one. So I searched for something that could replace martial arts. What I found were the arts.”
“To handle them this well... You must have talent there too.”
He didn’t ask where I learned. He only marveled—and was glad—that I handled them so well. Taecheon had clean forgotten about the Four Heavenly Demon Lords in the process.
“Do your parents know you’re this strong?”
“No. If they found out, they’d raise a fuss to name me the successor on the spot.”
“That’s true.”
“So they can’t know. If they knew, it’d get annoying.”
“Ah...”
“In True Martial Sect, the only ones who know my strength are you and Wigun.”
“The Successor knows as well?”
“Mm.”
“The Successor... his rapid growth—is that why?”
“Right. We crossed blades often. He worked like a madman to beat me.”
Jeok Wigun is a genius. And that genius bled for it too. So people praised Jeok Wigun. Now Taecheon knew why that genius had bled.
“Come out.”
At my words, I felt a presence; Taecheon instantly set his stance to strike at a moment’s notice.
And then—a man in a black mask was prostrated before me.
Taecheon started. He hadn’t noticed the approach, even at this distance.
“This is Milyeong. It’s been about twelve years since we tied our fates, hasn’t it?”
“That is correct, my lord.”
“Twelve years?”
“Mm. Remember? The day we went to the Hao Clan to buy information.”
“Yes. I remember.”
“That day the Hao Clan stuck this one on my tail.”
“The Hao wretches dare—!”
I calmed Taecheon’s anger with a word.
“It’s fine. Thanks to that, I gained a good subordinate.”
At good subordinate, Milyeong answered, voice choked with feeling.
“Too much praise! This humble one still has many shortcomings, my lord!”
I’d raised Milyeong to now, feeding him Spirit Pills I made. I was making very good use of what I’d learned from the Four Heavenly Demon Lords—then I combined it with the information I’d collected over twenty years and developed it further. If the Four knew, they’d tear their hair out.
“Introduce yourselves and get along. Taecheon outranks you, so treat him with full respect.”
“By your command!”
Grateful that I’d sorted out the hierarchy for them, Taecheon was moved; I snorted a laugh watching him.
All right—time to get moving, see the world a bit. I wanted to experience the wide Central Plains. Before, I hated the world and holed up in the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) mountains, but not now. I wanted to live enjoying life properly. If I could pick up news of my younger “brothers” while I was at it, all the better.
The problem was my parents. They’d never permit travel, calling it dangerous. So I’d already asked permission on the grounds that I would sit for the civil examinations. As a martial artist I had no future, so I said I’d establish myself and win a name. They didn’t like it, but they allowed it in the end. They wanted to assign several people to me; I declined. Taecheon was enough. I would make him stronger while we traveled.
****
“Don’t skip meals.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Make sure you pull up the covers when you sleep.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“If anything dangerous happens, run away quickly.”
“Yes, Father.”
“You never know when martial artists will flip, so avoid them if you can.”
“Yes, Father.”
Jeok Rihyeon and Yu Hwayeon fussed over me in voices full of worry.
Someone watched with a less-than-pleased expression.
‘Oh, Father, Mother. You worry for nothing. There’s no one in the Central Plains who can do anything to my brother.’
He was frustrated. He wanted to say it, but if he did, his brother wouldn’t let it slide. Better to stay frustrated than to take that painful fist. When he saw me coming toward him after saying our farewells to everyone, Jeok Wigun flinched.
I grinned and hugged him tight. From afar, it would’ve looked beautiful. To Jeok Wigun, not beautiful at all.
‘If your accomplishments when I return don’t please me, you know what happens, right?’
CHILL—
Gooseflesh raced over his skin. Everyone praised his speed of progress, but I was the exception.
‘You should be at Fire-Form by then. Understood?’
‘I—I’ll try.’
‘You’ll give it everything you have.’
‘O-okay.’
Satisfied with Wigun’s answer, I pressed something into his hand.
‘Take one pill each month and circulate your qi. Got it?’
He nodded. Wigun knew very well the efficacy of the pills I handed him. I patted my younger brother’s shoulder and gave my last parting words.
TAP TAP—
“I’ll be off.”
“Mm. Brother—travel safe.”
****
Heavenly Martial Castle, the lord’s office.
An old man with a massive frame and the gaze of a tiger read the report in his hand with interest.
“Not yet twenty, and already apex-class... That brat.”
A smile tugged at his lips—then his face hardened again.
“If he had met a better bloodline than some True Martial Sect, an even greater super-prodigy might have been born. Tch.”
Frowning as if displeased, the old man was Jeok Mugun, Heavenly Martial Emperor—lord of Heavenly Martial Castle and head of the One Emperor and Eight Kings.
The papers in his hand were a report concerning True Martial Sect.
“I was disappointed the first one didn’t even have a dantian, but the second has martial talent—at least that’s a relief.”
Jeok Mugun scratched his jaw.
The reason he watched Jeok Wigun with interest was to find the next heir to Heavenly Martial Castle. There were candidates within the Castle, but not enough. He needed something to put the fear of heaven into those internal candidates. To inherit Heavenly Martial Castle required a venomous heart and strong power.
The personality written in the report for Jeok Wigun was full of edge. His passion for martial arts was outstanding. He was born with talent, but didn’t stop there—he bled for it. So he’d surpassed Peak before the age of twenty. He’d need to hear the exact realm himself to be sure, but Peak at that age—impressive no matter how he looked at it.
He was not a talent that should be languishing in a mere True Martial Sect.
“What do you think?”
Jeok Mugun asked the strategist who’d been listening quietly.
“I also believe he’s better suited to Heavenly Martial Castle than to True Martial Sect.”
“As expected, eh? This won’t do. We’ll bring him.”
“He’s already become True Martial Sect’s successor—how will you bring him?”
“We give the boy the choice. Will he remain the sect master of True Martial Sect, or will he aim to be the heir of Heavenly Martial Castle and vie for first under heaven? What would you choose?”
“If I were born with martial talent, I’d vie for first under heaven. It would also put the other heirs on edge.”
“Wouldn’t it? I think so too. It’s been a while—I should go see my son’s face.”
Better to speak in person than send someone. That brat would agree. Heavenly Martial Castle offered a better environment for his son than True Martial Sect did. If need be, he’d fold True Martial Sect under Heavenly Martial Castle outright. It was practically subordinate already. For the growth of Heavenly Martial Castle, Jeok Mugun would do anything. Even if his son came to hate him—it didn’t matter. For the safety of the martial world, he would do anything.
Just then, he’d heard that remnants of the Four Heavenly Demon Lords were holed up in Sorrow-Cloud Valley. Originally he’d planned to send subordinates, but in case one of the Four might be there, he decided to go himself.
“Tomorrow we’ll stop by Sorrow-Cloud Valley, then head to True Martial Sect. Make preparations.”
“Yes!”