Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: The Father's Shattered Dantian
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Wi Seongcheon ran without looking back. The sounds of the festival nearby didn't reach his ears. His ears and mind were filled with the words the Black Demon King had told him.
It was the Heavenly Demon who had crushed the Cheonhwa Sect Leader's dantian.
That was all he knew, he'd said. The Black Demon King said no more, and Wi Seongcheon didn't stay there any longer.
As if he'd expected it all along, the Black Demon King just chuckled and didn't stop Wi Seongcheon as he leaped over the railing.
His head was spinning. Why would the Black Demon King lie? There was no reason. What would he gain from such a lie? To toy with Wi Seongcheon? That Black Demon King, Bailimowon?
Reason doubted the Black Demon King's words, but instinct told him they were true.
That made Wi Seongcheon's heart pound even harder. His blood raced with his heartbeat, impatience rising. His footsteps quickened accordingly.
The Cheonhwa Sect Leader's lodgings were in a standard inn next to the guesthouse for honored guests. He could have stayed in the guesthouse as a guest invited by the Tai Chi Sword Lord, but the Leader himself had requested a regular room. He didn't want to attract attention or cause awkwardness.
"Young Master?"
Chief Steward Woo's face showed surprise at Wi Seongcheon bursting through the door. Wi Seongcheon whipped his head around without a greeting. The spacious room reeked of alcohol, and empty bottles littered the floor—not just one or two.
Cheonhwa Sect Leader Wi Juseok lay half-reclined in the middle of it all. His face was flushed with drink, his eyes glazed over. Seeing it, Wi Seongcheon collapsed to his knees without realizing.
"...What is it?"
Wi Juseok asked in a languid voice. Hearing it made Wi Seongcheon's chest churn even more. He plopped down right there.
Realizing something was gravely wrong from his son's expression and aura, Wi Juseok sat up straight. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Wi Seongcheon.
"What happened?"
"...I met the Black Demon King."
Wi Juseok's face twisted at the words. He clicked his tongue and raised his hand.
Crunch.
Wi Juseok bit down on his fingertip.
"Damn that old bastard."
Wi Juseok grumbled in a low voice. Clear liquid dripped from his extended finger. It wasn't blood. The alcohol he'd been drowning himself in fell to the floor, intensifying the room's boozy smell.
It was vastly different from how other martial artists expelled their drunkenness.
"From your face, I can guess what that Black Demon King old bastard blabbed."
"Who is Blood Victory?"
Wi Seongcheon glared at Wi Juseok as he asked. Chief Steward Woo let out a long sigh and sat down beside Wi Juseok. Wi Seongcheon's eyebrows shot up.
"You're Blood Victory, Chief Steward?"
"Decades ago, that's what they called me."
"You love booze and meat! You're even married!"
"...Ahem. It's true I trained in Buddhist arts, but that doesn't make me a real monk."
"You shaved your head and wore robes!"
"I never formally received the Buddhist name."
Chief Steward Woo said, looking embarrassed. Wi Seongcheon glared at him in disbelief.
But in his mind, it made sense. Chief Steward Woo had been the sect's steward since Wi Seongcheon was young, sparring with him, but his skills were far beyond what a mere steward needed.
The first burst of qi Wi Seongcheon had ever seen was from Chief Steward Woo.
"Is Dokgo really your father?"
Wi Seongcheon glared at Wi Juseok, eyes bulging. Wi Juseok, pressing the wound on his fingertip, stared back with eyes cleared of drunken haze, then slowly nodded.
"Twenty years ago, that's what they called me."
"What the hell have you been doing...?!"
"If you know the nickname Dokgo, you should know what I did."
Wi Juseok said quietly.
"Just like the rumors say. I wandered the Demonic Realm, fighting demons. I beat Exploding Blood Demon—one of the Ten Demons—to death. I tore off its head and hung it on the walls of Cheonghae."
"So why the hell did you...?"
"There were several reasons."
Wi Juseok shrugged.
"I told you. Your great-grandfather... my grandfather, Cheonhwa Gun, died in the Demonic Realm. And my father, Wi Seonak, died there too."
"Were you avenging them?"
"That was one reason. I said there were several. To avenge them, to test myself. But the biggest was for the Cheonhwa Sect's destiny."
At the word "destiny," Wi Seongcheon's face stiffened.
"What does that mean?"
"I'm not telling you about that. The destiny is inherited by the sect leader, and you're not the leader yet. Didn't that damn Black Demon King tell you?"
"...He said he doesn't know about the Cheonhwa Sect either."
"Right. Even that savage Black Demon King never heard it from me."
Wi Seongcheon clamped his mouth shut. He knew no matter what he said here, his father wouldn't reveal the Cheonhwa Sect's destiny.
"Is the destiny killing the Heavenly Demon?"
But it was easy to guess. Cheonhwa Gun and Wi Seonak had wandered the Demonic Realm and died. The world said it was just their pursuit of glory, but if it was for destiny, it all fit together.
Wi Juseok didn't answer and just shrugged. Wi Seongcheon bit his lower lip at the shameless gesture. Destiny wasn't just about the goal.
Why.
The reason was what mattered. But Wi Juseok had no intention of explaining.
"...The Heavenly Demon crushed your dantian, he said."
Wi Seongcheon asked in a suppressed voice. Chief Steward Woo's face darkened, but Wi Juseok just smacked his lips.
"Damn that old bastard. He really spilled everything."
"Is it true?"
"It's true."
Wi Juseok answered. Wi Seongcheon shot to his feet and strode toward his father.
Wi Juseok slowly extended his hand, meeting his son's wide eyes. Wi Seongcheon steadied his trembling and gripped his father's wrist.
No inner energy.
Wi Seongcheon's legs gave out, and he collapsed. Memories of sparring with his father flooded back.
Wi Seongcheon had never once beaten him. His father never burst with qi like Chief Steward Woo or showed flashy moves. With utterly simple, practical motions, he dismantled Wi Seongcheon's attacks, twisted his joints repeatedly, and slammed him to the ground.
Along with those memories.
It hit him anew that only his father, Chief Steward Woo, and his brother had handled his training opponents for qi clash methods like Qi Explosion Point, Dark Scripture, Return Flow, and such. His father had strictly only done body technique spars.
"...How can this... be..."
"Surprising, huh?"
Wi Juseok smiled faintly.
"It's a miracle I didn't die. Or rather, I couldn't die."
"What the hell happened?"
"I can tell you this much. Like you heard from that Black Demon King old bastard, twenty years ago I was called Dokgo. After beating Exploding Blood Demon... I got arrogant."
Wi Juseok smiled bitterly.
"I met Blood Victory—Chief Steward Woo—when I killed Exploding Blood Demon. He was on the verge of death, defeated by it, and I happened to find him."
"I owe my life to the Leader then."
Chief Steward Woo said quietly.
"If he'd been a moment later, I'd have been torn apart and ended up in Exploding Blood Demon's gut."
"Don't talk about gruesome stuff."
Wi Juseok frowned.
"Anyway. I saved Chief Steward Woo unintentionally, and after that, he followed me to repay the life debt. After hanging Exploding Blood Demon's head on Cheonghae's walls... I headed deep into the Demonic Realm."
"You went to the Demonic Cult."
"No."
Wi Juseok shook his head.
"I didn't even reach the Demonic Cult. The 'real' Demonic Realm... was a nightmare. Living there every day was hell."
The Demonic Cult's stronghold was in the Shin River region. The demonic beasts there were far more ferocious, stronger, and numerous than those in Cheonghae or Gansu.
The landscape of land eroded by thick demonic qi, plants rooted there, and roaming beasts couldn't be mistaken for anything of the human world.
That was the Demonic Realm.
"My goal was the Demonic Cult. And the Heavenly Demon. I sought the Cult and wanted to meet the Heavenly Demon, but I failed."
"Then how..."
"The Heavenly Demon came to me."
Wi Juseok's lips twisted into a smile.
"It was a strange day."
Broad daylight was as dark as night. The Demonic Realm's bizarre weather was nothing new, but that day's darkness was unnaturally thick and ominous.
On such pitch-black days, demonic beasts rampaged especially viciously. But that day was truly odd. The beasts didn't move.
Even as Wi Juseok and Blood Victory approached, the beasts didn't bare their fangs or drool—they just lay flat on the ground, unable to lift their heads.
"Why is he the Heavenly Demon?"
Every time he recalled that day, Wi Juseok felt the agony of his crushed dantian again. It was a past he never wanted to relive, yet a nightmare that haunted his dreams repeatedly.
"Because he receives the worship of all demons and scorns even the heavens... that's why he's the Heavenly Demon. That's when I knew."
The supreme of all ages.
Heavenly Demon Hyeok Wolun was such a being. The Demonic Realm's savage beasts couldn't raise their heads, prostrating in worship. When they saw the Heavenly Demon descending from the sky.
"I wanted to gouge out my eyes."
Wi Juseok said calmly. Blood Victory, who followed him, couldn't even stand. The man who never backed down against the Realm's savage beasts and demons bent at the waist the moment he beheld the Heavenly Demon.
Blood Victory prostrated, clutching his head, chanting scriptures and calling to Buddha.
"I forced myself to move and challenge him."
Wi Juseok let out a long sigh.
"That's why I'd come to the Demonic Realm. I... longed to meet the Heavenly Demon, but when I did, do you know what I thought first?"
"...No idea."
"I regretted it."
Wi Juseok wore a bitter expression as he stroked his abdomen.
"I regretted coming here. I should've stopped after killing Exploding Blood Demon."
Sometimes, it's better not to do it and just give up.
That's what Wi Juseok had said while watching Dang Heeran and Dang Seona's match. Now Wi Seongcheon understood why.
"If I hadn't met the Heavenly Demon, I could've made excuses. If he hadn't come to me, I could've comforted myself. If I hadn't fought him, I..."
Wi Juseok closed his eyes.
"I wouldn't have despaired."
"...Was the Heavenly Demon that strong?"
"He was a being who could make the whole world despair."
Wi Juseok replied.
"Explaining his strength... is hard. I fought him, but I still can't comprehend it. What I felt in that fight was immense despair, distrust in everything I'd learned, and my own powerlessness... that's all."
Wi Juseok watched his fingertip tremble.
He clenched it to hide the shaking.
"Soon enough, I was rolling at the Heavenly Demon's feet."
Only then did the Heavenly Demon speak.
"He said it was enjoyable. Yeah, in the end, that's all I gave him: enjoyment. Then he asked."
Do you have a wife?
Children?
Disciples?
"I said no."
Wi Juseok bared his teeth in a grin.
"It was a lie. Your mother was back at the Cheonhwa Sect. Before I left, she was already pregnant. Just in case, I asked Great Master One Light Buddha to protect her, then departed."
"You left Mother behind...!"
"That's how desperate I was. I wanted to end it all in my generation. I failed, in the end."
Wi Juseok slowly shook his head.
"The Heavenly Demon looked into my eyes for a moment. I screamed at him to kill me."
Wi Seongcheon's eyes widened.
"If I died there, the Cheonhwa Sect would end. I told you, I wanted to end it in my generation. Even if I couldn't fulfill the destiny, my death would mean no successors. That's why I left Jua behind."
Jua.
Wi Seongcheon trembled at his mother's name, unheard in so long.
"When Jua told me she was pregnant with you, I decided to go to the Demonic Realm. I resolved to kill the Heavenly Demon. I loved Jua. And you, unborn in her belly. I didn't want my child dragged into this damned fate."
But the Heavenly Demon.
"Didn't kill me. He saw through my lie. In the end, my dantian was crushed. That's how... I survived."
As Wi Juseok writhed, vomiting blood, the Heavenly Demon turned to Blood Victory.
'Take him.'
'Bear a child.'
'Raise a disciple.'
'And someday, again.'
The Heavenly Demon left those words and departed. With his dantian crushed, Wi Juseok screamed in agony, spewing blood.
Death should have come, but Wi Juseok didn't die.
"I survived like that and returned to the Cheonhwa Sect. My qi and blood were in chaos, my internal injuries severe, but I didn't die. Ironically, the Heavenly Demon's power that flowed into me kept me alive through that long journey from the Demonic Realm."
Wi Juseok paused, letting out a long sigh.
"I'm a lousy father."
Wi Seongcheon stared at Wi Juseok without a word.
"When I returned, Jua was full-term. She was always frail. No matter the medicine or physicians, her illness couldn't be cured."
"...I know."
Wi Seongcheon replied in a choked voice.
"Jua said it. If I couldn't finish it, it couldn't be helped."
Please.
Wi Juseok clutched his wife's pale, bloodless hand and wept.
"Jua was strong. Stronger than me, the sect leader... I wanted to end it all in despair, but Jua said to carry on the hope."
In the end, she gave birth to Wi Seongcheon and quietly passed soon after.
"So I tried to fulfill my duty as sect leader."
If you don't want to learn, you don't have to.
His father's words when he first began learning martial arts as a child.
"But even now, I don't know if I should entrust the Cheonhwa Sect's destiny to you... I wanted to give you choices I never had. So I even broke the taboo."
"...Taboo...?"
"Heavenly Net Prohibition."
Wi Juseok pointed to his head.
"The Cheonhwa Sect heir undergoes blood path development for Return Flow, training in Cheonhwa Ilryeon Gong, and the special Heavenly Net Prohibition. I had it from my father too. I can't tell you the details of the destiny and truth because of it. Breaking the prohibition means vomiting blood and dying."
Wi Seongcheon's pupils shook violently.
"Not placing it on you was my wish... and because most who knew the Cheonhwa Sect's truth are gone. Too much time has passed. Or maybe no more expectations for the sect. And thanks to Great Master One Light Buddha's tacit approval. And, though I hate to say it, the Heavenly Demon Hyeok Wolun was too strong."
"No way..."
"It's true. You think I don't want to tell you? But with the Heavenly Net Prohibition, I can't speak of the destiny and truth before you become leader. Ideally, I'd hope you never become one."
Wi Juseok smiled bitterly.
"That's why I sent you to the Heavenly Academy. You didn't know the world, so see it, broaden your horizons... and when you must decide someday, I hoped your experiences would help."
"...What about Brother...?"
"That answer falls under the Heavenly Net Prohibition too."
"Why the hell?!"
"The Heavenly Net Prohibition doesn't just silence talk of the Cheonhwa Sect. It compels behavior. Me and previous leaders enduring scorn quietly, acting only in the Demonic Realm— that's because of it."
Wi Seongcheon let out a hollow laugh, strength draining from him.
"Why the hell... why impose that on the Cheonhwa Sect?"
"Son."
Wi Juseok called in a melancholic voice.
"Ask no more. If you're that curious, become the sect leader properly."
"Then right now!"
"You already forgot yesterday? You're weaker than me. Weaker than me with a crushed dantian, yet you want to be leader? Absurd."
Wi Seongcheon stared at his father, speechless.
"...What do you want me to do?"
"What you want."
Wi Juseok shook his head.
"No need to rush. There's still time. As long as I live when I should have died, I'll fulfill my duty. The Demonic Cult hunkers in the Realm—for now, the world has time. During that time... do as you please. Forget this talk."
Wi Seongcheon ground his teeth, then took and exhaled a deep breath.
Sorry.
It's not that I won't— I can't. Don't resent me too much.
You'll understand when you become leader. And... you'll even feel grateful.
I wasn't free like you. Thanks to that, this mess, but. Ahem. Tournament starts tomorrow? You've come far—put on a good show.
He recalled his father's words after the opening ceremony. Not free. When he became leader, he'd understand. He'd feel grateful.
Wi Juseok had broken the taboo by not placing the Heavenly Net Prohibition on Wi Seongcheon.
"Father."
"What."
"I respect you."
Wi Seongcheon staggered to his feet.
"But I don't get it. I don't understand most of it. Still, even if I don't understand... I'll force myself to accept what you say."
Wi Seongcheon's eyes dulled darkly.
"You told me to see the world, experience it."
"Yeah."
"You said to follow my will."
Wi Juseok nodded.
"What I want is to make the Cheonhwa Sect's name resound. Demonic Cult, Heavenly Demon— that's too far for me to feel real."
"That's fine."
Wi Juseok smiled bitterly. Wi Seongcheon steadied his breath again.
"I'll beat Little Buddha."
"If you can."
"I'll become Heavenly Dragon, not Hiding Dragon."
"That'd be good."
"Then. I'll become Cheonhwa Sect Leader."
Wi Seongcheon spat, glaring at Wi Juseok.
"Then, I'll understand you. Know what the Cheonhwa Sect is. So... I'll put my questions aside. The present matters more."
"That's it."
Wi Juseok said again.
"That's enough."
Wi Seongcheon glared a bit longer, then prostrated deeply.
"...Please stay healthy."
Wi Juseok burst into laughter.
"If it looks like I'll die, at least pass the leader position first."
His added words made Wi Juseok laugh louder.
"Barring a bolt from the blue, I won't drop dead suddenly."
Wi Seongcheon forced a smile at the reply.
"Damn that old bastard."