Chapter 59
Chapter 59
Translator: Penny
Chapter 59
Triumphant General Returns Home in Splendor.
Who was he? That was him. He should have kept things moderate. Even he thought he had gone too far.
Merit, merit, merit, merit... Others struggled to achieve even one, yet he had accumulated so many.
"Munhyeon!"
The Patriarch rushed out barefoot, his dignity and prestige forgotten.
What did such things matter now?
After visiting his maternal family, he had expanded their territory to Danggangu. He had taken on the Secret Cave Restoration for a pittance and forged friendly relations with Wudang.
The Patriarch and Elders swarmed around him, eager to praise his achievements.
The celebrations continued.
With one good fortune piling upon another, the scale of the festivities was beyond description.
But...
"Already leaving, Munhyeon?"
"I'm tired. You drink more."
Zhuge Munho, his tongue already slurring, grabbed Munhyeon's sleeve, but Munhyeon slipped away from the banquet early.
Everyone saw him off with regret, but this wasn't the time for drinking and revelry.
The Hyeoncheonbirok.
How long had he endured, longing to read it?
To make matters worse, the Wudang Daoists had insisted on escorting him near Yungjungsan as a gesture of gratitude, preventing him from secretly opening it even once.
With his hard-earned reputation at stake, revealing his hidden copy of the Hyeoncheonbirok would only damage mutual trust.
Besides, every Esteemed Elder he met, drunk and repeating the same platitudes, had nothing new to offer.
'You are Zhuge's future! You've done so well!' Over and over and over... Even in the best of moods, how many times did they have to repeat the same things?
With a sigh, he brushed aside their empty praise and coldly shook off their grasping hands before hurrying home.
"Huh? Why are you back so early? Today's banquet is practically being held in your honor, Young Master!"
"I want to read."
"Huh?"
"Tell people I'm sleeping if they come. I need to concentrate. Got it?"
"...I will."
Zhuge Munhyeon offered a vague excuse to the puzzled Sohye before retreating to his room. He locked both the door and windows securely, then sat down at his desk.
"Young Master... does he really love books that much? He could take a day off, you know..."
Sohye shook her head with a smile and settled down in front of Zhuge Munhyeon's tightly shut door, her work in hand.
He had told her to keep people from disturbing him, so of course she would. Isn't he her pride and joy?
The thought of how else she could praise her Young Master filled her with contentment.
Unaware of Sohye's feelings, Zhuge Munhyeon opened the Hyeoncheonbirok with trembling hands.
The calamity had vanished.
It wasn't as intense as before, but it still infuriated him.
Even though he had already read this passage.
The following entry vividly captured Yu Gilcheon's terror when he had visited Mount Wudang.
How angry must he have been to curse so openly in his diary? But this is quite entertaining. Is this the thrill of secretly reading someone else's diary?
And then, the next page...
He had corrected a few characters in a crucial passage.
Huh? Did I misread that? Nonsense...
Zhuge Munhyeon blinked, then slowly reread the passage with meticulous care.
But.
"Th-this... you fucking bastard!"
He finally understood why he had been "ejected" instead of ascending.
Yu Gilcheon, you madman! He corrected the characters? Is that why I failed to ascend?
This was enough to make his blood boil.
His hands trembled violently as he gripped the book, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
But the target of his mounting rage had already died—he had witnessed it with his own eyes.
He never knew I was like this... He had even sat before his corpse, conversing like a friend, and arranged for his remains to be enshrined in the Patriarch Hall, all before he was even questioned!
"Agh! Seriously!"
With no outlet for his frustration, his anger remained unresolved.
"Young Master, what's wrong? Is something the matter?"
"...Ah, no. It's nothing."
Startled by the loud outburst, Sohye called out from outside the room.
"Just bring me a glass of cold water."
"Yes, Young Master."
After her cheerful reply, he drank the refreshing cold water, but it took a long while before he finally calmed down.
"Haa... That bastard is truly despicable. How could he even think of changing the words? People's lives were at stake! And you call yourself a Daoist?"
Yet, part of him couldn't help but marvel.
Even if it wasn't a genuine Ascension Method, who could have predicted that altering a few characters would transform it into the Rebirth Method? Regret was futile; what was done could not be undone. He knew the Rebirth Method, but not how to return to the past...
Zhuge Munhyeon barely managed to suppress his anger and flipped another page.
To prepare for the Passing, I too created a Secret Cave and mastered the Ascension Method. Since I'd already gathered the resources, I couldn't simply discard them.
"Damn bastard."
How could a Daoist stoop to such treachery? Giving me a fake while mastering the real thing himself.
His fist trembled violently.
"Fine, then. You've achieved Ascension, have you? Just wait. I'll ascend someday and hunt you down myself."
Zhuge Munhyeon gritted his teeth, his resolve hardening.
Another reason to achieve Ascension had been added.
I'll destroy you—I swear it!
With barely steady hands, he turned to the next page.
Within those pages lay Yu Gilcheon's regrets.
Alas, how tragic! The saying "fortune and misfortune are intertwined" proved painfully true. He had believed that everything would improve after his death... but the atmosphere in the Central Plains was ominous. The Alliance had collapsed, and everyone had become enemies.
A snort escaped him as he read the condensed account of events that had transpired between his death as the Heavenly Demon and his entry into the Secret Cave.
Yu Gilcheon seemed to have concluded that the chaos in the martial world was a direct consequence of his death.
"Serves you right! You got exactly what you deserved!"
He felt like he would go mad with frustration if he couldn't find some satisfaction in this.
But then...
The next section, which chronicled the shifting tides of the era, completely extinguished his anger.
One day, as I continued my Ascension cultivation, they came.
They? What was this nonsense?
Non-human entities. Cultivators who called themselves Half-Immortals. They shattered mountain peaks with their bare hands and crossed vast rivers in a single stride. They claimed the Ascension Method had been flawed from the beginning. Since the Heavenly Demon could not be allowed to claim the seat of the heavens, they had deliberately spread a corrupted version.
"What?"
His heart began to pound.
Half-Immortals? Such beings existed? They said that while one could achieve a Spirit Body through the Purity Restoration process as described in orthodox cultivation texts, further cultivation would lead to Annihilation—a path of scattering and vanishing. Practicing the same methods would inevitably lead to death...
"..."
He was speechless.
Annihilation instead of Ascension? Then these Half-Immortals had intended to kill him...
With trembling hands, he turned the page once more.
In the end, the Heavenly Demon was destined to die from the beginning. And they reclaimed the Ascension Method—no, the Annihilation Method. For countless years afterward, regret lingered within me like sediment. How could Ascension be controlled by another? How could it require someone else's permission? Moreover, they did not appear as immortals. Though they called themselves Half-Immortals, to my eyes they were merely monsters, fiends, and ghosts. Therefore, I leave this record behind. Someone must know about them... But since they have already transcended, indiscriminate disclosure could lead to chaos. I seal the entrance to the Secret Cave, forbidding all access. If anyone reads this again, they too will believe it is the will of Heaven.
O Fated One, remember this: There exists a world where beings we cannot comprehend live... And they may be even more dangerous than the Heavenly Demon, a true calamity. Prepare and prepare again to safeguard the world's peace and tranquility...
He read up to that point.
Exactly to that point.
Zhuge Munhyeon, his face expressionless as he stared down at the page, sighed and slammed the Hyeoncheonbirok onto the floor.
"Haa... Damn it!"
I thought there'd be something useful here! So this half-baked, dragon-wannabe bastard created the Ascension Method to kill me? What? O Fated One? What about the world's peace and tranquility?
"Ughhhhh!"
Overwhelmed by unbearable fury, Zhuge Munhyeon smashed every piece of furniture in the room and stomped viciously on the Hyeoncheonbirok.
There were times when anything could be forgiven.
This was especially true when someone who had achieved great merit threw a tantrum.
After all, no one was hurt—just the furniture in the room was smashed and the walls were broken.
The physician, summoned by his worried mother, examined his bloodshot eyes and labored breathing. He declared it was a flare-up of Heart Fire, aggravated by recent ordeals, and prescribed absolute rest—utter nonsense.
What a quack... Since he couldn't find anything physically wrong, he had blamed it on a mental ailment. I'll make sure he's never called again.
Under his mother's watchful eye, Zhuge Munhyeon, now forced into absolute rest, reopened the Hyeoncheonbirok, its pages still bearing the clear imprint of his footprints.
Would he give up just because trials and tribulations had struck?
"Half-Immortal? What utter nonsense."
Control Ascension? Who do these bastards think they are? Why is a Half-Immortal called a Half-Immortal? Because they failed to Ascend and remain trapped in this world, they can't even be called human anymore. That's why they're called that. It must just be jealousy. They're afraid I'll achieve what they couldn't.
But what could they do?
Thanks to that bastard Yu Gilcheon changing a few characters, it resulted in Rebirth instead of Annihilation.
Of course, he couldn't have predicted this.
How could he have imagined that what he created would become the Rebirth Method?
Perhaps this was a new opportunity.
A fresh body with at least a century of life ahead of him.
Just wait and see. I will find the Ascension Method, no matter what. I'll also hunt down those Half-Immortal bastards who tried to kill me and sever their heads one by one. But I can't act recklessly. Aren't they said to be capable of shattering mountain peaks with their bare hands and crossing the Yellow River in a single stride? At my current level, I'd die without even getting to curse them. No, no. That's exactly the kind of challenge that makes a fight worthwhile.
In Zhuge Munhyeon's eyes, which were fixed on the Hyeoncheonbirok, a flicker of madness seemed to dance.
After all, competition was what made things interesting.
Try and stop me. This too is a contest. At least the path from Purity Restoration to Spirit Body was the right one, right? Then that's enough. I can always figure out the rest later. They call themselves Half-Immortals, so if I capture and torture them, they'll spill something eventually.
Having uncovered the hidden truth, Zhuge Munhyeon didn't succumb to despair; instead, his competitive spirit ignited.
After all, fighting a formidable opponent was far more thrilling than facing an easy one.
"Am I supposed to thank that bastard Yu Gilcheon now?"
He had given Zhuge Munhyeon the chance at rebirth and revealed the existence of an even stronger enemy blocking his path to Ascension.
In any case, he would change his objective.
From now on, he would hunt down these Half-Immortals instead of pursuing the Ascension Method.
Well, the end result will be the same anyway.
With a wry smile, Zhuge Munhyeon began to meticulously revise his plans.
He couldn't rely solely on his own strength.
If these Half-Immortals were as powerful as rumored, could he truly defeat them alone?
His allies needed to become stronger too.
Only then would they fight alongside him.
Setting this new goal brought him a sense of clarity and purpose.
And...
"Damn it, I was trying to save this..."
Zhuge Munhyeon retrieved the Ziyang Pill he had received from Wudang.
It wasn't as potent as a Taiqing Pill, but it would undoubtedly help. Those fools who scoffed that tossing a pebble into the vast ocean would make no difference were ignorant. At least they wouldn't know if one more pebble had been added... There was no harm in taking it.
"Sohye!"
"Yes?"
"Make sure no one approaches my room. Not Father, not Mother. You understand?"
As he spoke with fierce determination, Sohye, who had just entered the room, squinted at him suspiciously.
Her eyes were filled with doubt.
He understood why.
She worried he might start smashing things again while reading in his room. This girl...
"No, absolutely not."
"..."
"I'm serious! I'm completely healed. Look, I'm perfectly fine."
"Hmm..."
After finally convincing Sohye, who remained skeptical, to leave, Zhuge Munhyeon sat down cross-legged and swallowed the Ziyang Pill without hesitation.
Whoosh!
As the pill melted and slid down his throat, it began to radiate intense heat.
Truly the essence of Wudang's pill refinement techniques. Such an immediate effect after swallowing it...
Zhuge Munhyeon slowly absorbed the Ziyang Immortal Qi.
To fight those Half-Immortal bastards, I need to reach at least the Aura realm.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny