“That’s right. He’d already started gathering everyone with ties to the young master and even formed a group to make him the successor.”
“Can we join that group too?”
“You’re already in it.”
“If the young master becomes the next Lord of Heavenly Martial Castle, we won’t have to worry about the castle anymore.”
“Right. It’ll probably prosper even more than it does under the current Lord of the Castle.”
“Would the Lord of the Castle be able to beat the young master?”
At Jin Seokmyeong’s question, everyone fell silent.
Gu Yaheuk spoke carefully.
“Even for the Lord of the Castle... wouldn’t it be difficult?”
“No way. The Lord of the Castle is on a completely different level from us.”
“Exactly. He’s in the Divine Transformation Realm. Even if dozens of men like us attacked together, we still wouldn’t be able to win.”
“But the young master wasn’t even using his full strength, and he still drove the three of us back one-sidedly.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“One thing is certain. He’s already this strong at his age. Once he enters his prime later on, there’s no telling how strong he’ll become.”
“That’s true. But I heard he uses sorcery too. Is he actually good at it?”
“Good at it? He used that sorcery to heal my son’s shattered dantian.”
“...Hah. There really is nothing he can’t do.”
“He absolutely has to become the Lord of Heavenly Martial Castle.”
“Let’s stop talking and go see the Lord of the Castle. We should meet him and discuss what comes next.”
“Let’s do that.”
*****
Having earned the full amount he had been aiming for, Jeok Wigang was preparing to leave.
He had only meant to stay a few days, but somehow it had turned into several months.
Behind him, Jeok Mugun stood there grinning from ear to ear.
Heh heh heh. The boy’s made not just the Eight Stars of Heavenly Martial Castle, but even the upper leadership, into his own people. What a remarkable lad.
When all those people had come flooding in yesterday, Jeok Mugun had been genuinely startled.
Every last one of them had said the same thing.
Jeok Wigang had to be made the next successor.
He couldn’t help laughing.
The boy kept insisting he didn’t want the seat, and yet he went around captivating people like this.
And on top of that, the newly appointed strategist was his grandson’s closest friend.
The man was so capable that the military office, which had been in chaos, had stabilized within days of his appointment.
And hardly a day went by without him coming in to report another proposal for restructuring Heavenly Martial Castle, each one cleverer than the last.
He had come again this morning. Jeok Mugun had suggested they see Wigang off together, but the man had shaken his head and said that stabilizing Heavenly Martial Castle came first for now. That, he said, was the best way to help Jeok Wigang, so Jeok Mugun should simply pass along his regards.
The more Jeok Mugun thought about it, the more it seemed that Jeok Wigang becoming the next Lord of Heavenly Martial Castle was simply fate.
There was no need to get impatient. If he just left things alone, the boy would probably end up becoming Lord of the Castle on his own.
Just in case, he had made sure everyone kept a tight seal on the rumors.
If Wigang felt burdened and declared he wouldn’t become Lord of the Castle after all, that would become a real headache.
“Grandfather?”
“Hm?”
“Aren’t you looking a little too delighted to be seeing me off? I’m kind of hurt.”
Jeok Mugun jolted.
“Ah? N-no, that’s not it. I was just remembering how the Eight Stars of Heavenly Martial Castle and the upper leadership all came in yesterday in a group and did nothing but praise you.”
At Jeok Mugun’s words, Jeok Wigang smiled.
“Don’t start resenting me for emptying your men’s purses.”
“Resent you? For what? That’s money you earned yourself through your own hard work. It’s not as if you threatened them and demanded payment. They came carrying it themselves because they wanted to give it to you. Besides, they all said the weapons you made weren’t just worth five hundred gold taels. They said they wouldn’t be taking a loss even if they paid two thousand. You sold them far too cheaply.”
“I think the prices were fair.”
“You would make a terrible merchant.”
“I know. Still, it worked out well, didn’t it? I’m happy because I made money, you’re happy because Heavenly Martial Castle’s overall strength has gone up sharply, and they’re happy because they got stronger.”
“Ho ho ho. I see. A deal that left everyone satisfied.”
“Yes.”
“While you are in the Imperial Capital, I’m thinking of making a trip to the True Martial Sect.”
“That’s a good idea. Ah, and please don’t tell my parents I’m strong.”
“Hm?”
What was that supposed to mean?
“They still don’t know. They think my body is weak, so all I do is study.”
Weak?
The idea was ridiculous.
How in the world had he hidden that all this time?
“They don’t know any of it?”
“My younger sibling knows.”
“That sounds suffocating...”
“You can’t tell them. I’m going to tell them myself, so just go and make up with Father.”
“Fine. Understood.”
There was no need to rush.
He would wait patiently until the meal was fully cooked.
That was the conclusion Jeok Mugun came to.
After finishing all his preparations, Jeok Wigang smiled and said,
“I’m all set. Grandfather, thank you for taking such good care of me while I was here.”
“What do you mean, taking care of you? Now you’re the one saying hurtful things. Come whenever you like. Think of this place as your home. Understood?”
“Yes. I’ll come visit again next time.”
“Good. That’s how it should be.”
When they stepped outside, Taecheon and Chu Sohwan were already waiting, fully prepared to depart.
After loading the baggage onto the ox cart, Jeok Wigang walked up to Jeok Mugun and embraced him.
“Keep training hard while I’m gone.”
“Ungh. Fine, I will.”
“Then I’ll be off.”
“Go on, then. Do well.”
As he watched the ox cart roll farther and farther away while Jeok Wigang waved, Jeok Mugun felt an odd emptiness settle into him.
If he had followed his heart, he would have gone with him.
But he held himself back.
He still had too many things he needed to do.
*****
“So? Have you both been training hard?”
Taecheon and Chu Sohwan nodded with confident expressions.
While Jeok Wigang had been busy with matters at Heavenly Martial Castle, he had ordered them to train together while he trained Yeomhwa.
Using mantra, he checked both of their realms.
A smile rose at the corner of his mouth, as if he liked what he saw.
“Congratulations on reaching the Transformation Realm. You really did work hard.”
“Thank you. It is all thanks to you, young master.”
“What do you mean, thanks to me? This is the result of Taecheon’s own hard work.”
“No, sir. If it hadn’t been for the elixirs you gave me, I could never have achieved this.”
At Taecheon’s words, Jeok Wigang grinned.
The elixirs had only served to restore Taecheon’s exhausted stamina.
He had given him quite a lot of them, and the fact that Taecheon had used them all meant he had cut back even on sleep to keep training.
Now that he had stepped into the Transformation Realm, he would continue advancing smoothly for quite a while.
After checking Taecheon’s condition and finding it satisfactory, Jeok Wigang looked at Chu Sohwan.
Chu Sohwan had already been a master of the Profound Realm to begin with, and he had advanced two whole stages, from three-star to five-star.
Considering how much more effort it took to raise one’s level after reaching the Profound Realm, Chu Sohwan too must have pushed himself to a brutal degree.
“You both worked hard. Thank you. You lived up to my expectations.”
“No. We are still lacking.”
“We’ll keep striving.”
Jeok Wigang was happy every single day.
Part of it was because he had such good people by his side, and part of it was because everything at Heavenly Martial Castle had been resolved so well.
What kind of things would be waiting at the imperial palace this time?
He found himself looking forward to it.
“All right, then. Let’s head for the Imperial Capital.”
“Yes, sir!”
*****
“Huff... huff... huff!”
Hair hanging wild, bare feet slick with blood.
His clothes were torn to shreds, and blood flowed from wounds all over his body, staining him red.
Any ordinary person would have collapsed from the pain alone, but the old man seemed barely aware of it. His face was filled only with terror as he fled frantically through the brush.
After running like that for a long time, his foot caught on something and he pitched forward.
A moment later, he plunged over a cliff.
“AAAGH!”
Convinced he was about to die, he squeezed his eyes shut.
Then—
Thump.
He felt someone catch him in their arms, and he opened his eyes.
“Are you all right, sir?”
When he turned his head, he saw a handsome young man looking down at him with worried eyes.
“Th-thank you.”
At the ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ old man’s words of gratitude, the young man gently set him down on the ground.
The old man’s body was covered in wounds.
“Forgive me for having to leave like this without even repaying the savior who saved my life. If we meet again someday, I will repay this kindness without fail.”
The old man cupped his fists and bowed in thanks, then started moving again, limping badly.
Judging by his condition, he was not going to get far.
THUD—
Sure enough, he collapsed after only a few more steps.
He had already been exhausted, and the shock from the fall had drained what little strength he had left.
“Young master, what should we do?”
The man who had saved him was Taecheon.
“Put him in the cart. If someone collapses in front of us and we just leave him there, that wouldn’t be right.”
“Understood.”
Taecheon carefully lifted the fallen old man and laid him in the cart.
Jeok Wigang examined him from head to toe.
“Hm. Nothing appears to be seriously injured. His stamina was already bottomed out, and the shock from that fall hit him on top of it. Looks like all his strength just drained away. If he gets a good long sleep, he should wake up.”
“He looks like a man with a story. Judging by his clothes, he doesn’t seem like an ordinary person.”
The cloth of his garments, though ripped and tattered, was a high-grade silk no commoner could have afforded.
“It looks like someone is chasing him.”
“What?”
“I can hear footsteps all over that mountain. Rushed footsteps. Most likely men looking for this old man.”
“Could the old man be a villain?”
“No. I didn’t sense even a trace of evil qi from him. But the men searching the mountain are overflowing with it. That tells us everything we need to know.”
Jeok Wigang swept his gaze across the mountain.
“They’ll never imagine the old man fell off a cliff. Let’s go.”
“Yes, understood.”
The ox cart, carrying the old man, slowly began moving again.
*****
“He’s not in the east!”
“He’s not in the west either!”
“He’s not in the north!”
“The south side is a cliff!”
A man listened to the reports coming in from all directions.
He wore a dark blue official robe embroidered with silver-thread scales, and at his hip hung an elegant guard saber.
“There’s no sign of him? How does that make any sense? We all saw him enter this mountain!”
“Yes! We definitely saw him!”
“We spread a full dragnet, and you’re telling me you still couldn’t find one old man? What, did that damned bastard fly into the sky? Or burrow into the earth?”
The man raging at them was a Martial Inspector of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
“There must be somewhere we missed! Search the mountain again, inch by inch!”
“We came up in layered formations and sealed the entire area off. There’s nowhere he could have escaped!”
“And yet you still didn’t find him! Enough excuses. Search again! Do you think our superior will forgive us if we go back like this after failing to catch one exhausted old man?”
“U-understood! We’ll search the whole mountain again!”
They were just about to resume the search under the Martial Inspector’s orders when—
“There are signs someone jumped from the cliff over here!”
“What?”
The Martial Inspector sprinted toward the cliffside.
“Look here! There are bloodstains and scrape marks where a body slid down. He must have missed his footing and slipped over the edge.”
“Damn it! What are you all standing there for? Check below the cliff immediately!”
“Yes, sir!”
******
Below the cliff, hundreds of men from the Embroidered Uniform Guard searched the entire area from end to end, but no corpse was found anywhere.
“You still haven’t found him?”
“There’s no body.”
“Then what, you’re saying he fell from that height and escaped alive? An old man who doesn’t know martial arts? Do you think that’s possible?”
“With the trees so dense and rooted everywhere, if he was lucky, there’s no reason he couldn’t have survived.”
“I don’t want speculation. Bring me proof that he’s alive!”
“We found something!”
At someone’s shout, the Martial Inspector hurried over.
But there was no corpse there either.
Instead, there were bloodstains on the ground and signs that someone had collapsed there.
Near the traces, wheel tracks led off into the forest.
“So he really did survive by sheer luck, collapsed here, and then happened to be found by someone passing by in a cart?”
“I-it appears so.”
“That damned old man really is lucky.”
“Shall we pursue?”
“Why do you keep asking obvious questions? Move!”
“Yes, sir!”
They hurried to follow the wheel tracks—
RUMBLE—
“What now?!”
ROOOOAR—
A torrential downpour suddenly crashed from the sky.
The pounding rain erased the wheel tracks in an instant.
“AAARGH! You damned heavens!”
The furious Martial Inspector pointed up at the sky and bellowed at the top of his lungs.
After raging like that for quite a while, he finally seemed to calm down a little. Letting out a harsh breath, he said,
“Spread the men out wider and find that cart. We must find it. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Move!”