Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Six Years
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“My son!”
Namgung San-yeong had borne two children with Dang Ho-san.
Her eldest, the daughter Dang Gyu-jin, had already displayed such exceptional talent that not only the main Tang Clan house but even the Nine Schools kept a close eye on her. In the martial world of Sichuan, there was no one who didn’t know the name Thousand Leaves Fairy.
Her second child, Dang Yu-chang, was no different. Though he couldn’t quite match his sister, he had proudly earned the moniker Dark Shadow Prodigy as an outstanding young talent.
The Tang Clan Manor praised the siblings as tiger father, tiger children, saying they did not tarnish their father’s reputation but rather brought even greater glory to it.
To Namgung San-yeong, who shared little harmony with her stone-hearted husband, they were her proudest extensions of herself.
“Have you been well in the meantime?”
“When exactly did you emerge? Did you achieve what you set out to do?”
Ahead of the family head’s visit, Dang Yu-chang had requested six months of secluded training. He couldn’t bear to show any weakness before the Dark Venerable.
“I’ve managed a minor accomplishment in the Dark Shadow Qi, though it’s still lacking.”
“Excellent, my son! I knew you could do it!”
Namgung San-yeong pulled Dang Yu-chang into a fierce embrace.
The Dark Shadow Qi was considered one of the Tang Clan Manor’s ultimate arts, as it allowed the user to melt into shadows like a phantom once activated.
For him to have achieved even a minor accomplishment in it was cause for immense pride.
After enjoying that brief reunion.
One of Namgung San-yeong’s eyebrows twitched at the words Dang Yu-chang brought up.
“I’ve heard about that bastard. He spewed some vile nonsense at you, didn’t he, Mother?”
“…Don’t even mention that wretch. He shows no gratitude for being raised, daring to act with such insolence! I won’t let it—”
“That’s precisely why I’m bringing it up.”
“Hm?”
“If he truly has some backer pulling strings, digging into it now would only be beating the grass to startle the snake. That wouldn’t do, would it?”
Beating the grass to startle the snake.
“You’re right. If someone in the Nine Dragons Branch Family is nibbling away at us, we must root them out completely. So, what’s your plan?”
“At the family head’s visit, I’ll recommend the bastard to him.”
“…What?”
Dang Yu-chang covered his lips with his folding fan and smiled.
It was utterly unexpected. Namgung San-yeong’s eyes widened involuntarily.
“Then his backer would be thrilled to raise their head alongside him, no? I don’t know how they plan to use the bastard, but—”
“They’ll probably drug him to fake some plausible level of cultivation. Naturally, to claim their share, the backer will have to show themselves… and that’s when we strike them all down in one fell swoop, right?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
Namgung San-yeong read her son’s intentions and burst into roaring laughter.
“Hohohoho! What a splendid plan. If we pull that off, no matter how the child thrashes about, he’ll fall from the family head’s favor and get expelled from the clan.”
“Precisely.”
“But listen. This could backfire and burden our Nine Dragons Branch Family. If the family head grows furious thinking we can’t even control one child and are mired in internal strife…”
“It all depends on how well we package it. We’re simply nominating the bastard out of brotherly love. If he causes an incident, all the blame will point straight at him.”
In the process, the Dang Yu-chang siblings would stand out in sharp contrast, shining even brighter.
“‘Incident’? How do you plan to make that happen?”
At Namgung San-yeong’s question, Dang Yu-chang smiled slyly. It was a smile just like his mother’s.
After hearing the full scheme, Namgung San-yeong let out a deep sigh, equal parts satisfied and regretful.
“Sigh! If only your sister would wise up like you. She’s sharp about everything else, but when it comes to that child…”
“It’s because her heart is kind. But after this, won’t her thinking change?”
The eldest, Dang Gyu-jin, was the only one in the Nine Dragons Branch Family who held any goodwill toward Un-hwi. That had always been a thorn in Namgung San-yeong’s side.
Creak!
At that moment, the door suddenly slid open. It was the head maidservant.
“I apologize for the intrusion, but there’s urgent news to report.”
“What is it?”
“In ten days, the eldest young miss is scheduled to arrive at Nine Dragons County.”
“Gyu-jin? She said she’d come for the event—looks like she’s finally on her way. Hohoho. So what’s the problem?”
“W-well, the thing is—”
“Out with it!”
Namgung San-yeong furrowed her brow in unease. The head maidservant bowed her head lower.
“I don’t know where she heard it, but the young miss flew into a rage upon learning about the White Hall—”
“What?”
Namgung San-yeong’s eyes blazed with fury.
At that moment, she failed to notice a spider crawling up the windowsill.
* * *
Shk! Shshk—
In the cramped room of the White Hall, I had spent the past two months without stepping outside even once, diligently continuing my training.
I moved my body with ferocious intensity.
The momentum was savage, like a tiger charging full-tilt at prey to rip out its throat.
Pababap!
Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes. One of the advanced basic techniques passed down among ronin, it treated the entire body—fists, palms, fingers, and feet—as lethal weapons, making it incredibly tough to master.
In fact, screams of protest were erupting from all over my body.
Forcing unused muscles to move, the sharp, staccato motions straining my ligaments considerably.
But there was no better martial art for rapidly tempering the body I had steadily improved up to now.
The result of daily Soul Cleansing Pills clearing my meridians and acupoints, combined with extreme muscle training pushing me to my limits.
But.
—By any chance, the Heavenly Demon God Church? It’s only been six years since the Heavenly Demon of the era vanished, hasn’t it?
I had no time to rejoice in these changes.
It was because of the Jianghu history I’d learned through Hyeong-sam.
Six years!
A full six years had passed.
Since ‘Yeon Un-hwi’ died.
—That’s why we believe the Heavenly Demon God Church is currently fractured into the Nine Great Demonic Clans, locked in civil war—
I had considered that the Reincarnation Wheel Divine Tribulation might involve a time discrepancy from actual events.
But I never imagined the gap would be this wide.
I had naively assumed it would be at most a couple of months.
The world had already transformed completely from what I knew.
The Church was in the midst of civil war, the Demonic Alliance factions rising independently.
The Central Plains were biding their time, waiting for a chance to eliminate the Heavenly Mountain.
It was a chaotic era.
One where anything could explode at any moment without surprise.
My mind grew impatient.
I needed to escape this Nine Dragons Branch Family as soon as possible, even a day sooner.
That obsession to learn more precise details about the Church’s situation swirled in my head.
“…No. Not yet.”
But I soon shelved the thought.
Moving rashly in ‘Dang Un-hwi’s’ identity could lead to irreparable disaster, and even in haste, now was the time for restraint.
I had to grasp the situation slowly and wait for an opportunity.
The Church’s schism surely involved those Huai-something bastards meddling.
“The only feasible option is contacting a secret branch. But that’s far too risky.”
There would be secret Church outposts in Sichuan too, so visiting one might yield more details.
I might even learn the whereabouts of my missing master.
That was it.
The only attempt currently worth my while.
But I couldn’t settle for that.
It might not reveal his location. So I needed more information.
A way to access high-level intel related to my master without drawing attention.
Only one method came to mind.
“The Dark Venerable’s visit.”
The visit of the giant counted among the Ten Great Masters of the world alongside my master.
Was there no way to make good use of it?
Tap!
“Whew—”
After executing all twelve forms. My long exhalation carried a heavy stench of blood.
My movements still felt very crude.
Reviewing the flaws, I deployed Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes once more.
My goal: mastery of Violent Tiger Twelve Strikes.
I still had a long way to go.
* * *
How long had I been immersed in martial arts?
My body sagged like a waterlogged cotton ball.
I dumped the last of my nearly depleted Soul Cleansing Pills into my mouth, sat cross-legged again, and circulated the Lone Dragon Heart Formula.
Now as familiar as my own body, my inner energy began to flow along its path.
One full revolution, two, three…
With each circuit, it expelled impurities and fatigue from my body.
This allowed me to maintain stamina without separate meals.
Of course, unlike the rumors, I didn’t abstain completely.
When I finished circulating my energy and opened my eyes, a swarm of spiders had placed a stack of hard rice cakes before me.
“What’s this? This again? I told you to bring something else! I’ll get sick of it. Want to go hang with your spider pals for real?”
I scowled, and the lead spider flinched in terror.
“Th-the kitchen guards have been t-tripled lately! Sneaking anything out, this from the seclusion hall is the best I could do! Believe me, Little Cult Leader!”
In truth, I hadn’t turned all the elders with Soul Cleansing Pills.
The weak-willed ones easy to manipulate, or those coerced into the council’s schemes—I had set them aside to use like this, most usefully.
Implant a intent in spiders or ants, and they became excellent covert delivery agents for food and water.
They even scouted and reported internal branch affairs.
“Ugh, this tastes like absolute shit. Any new developments? Like how far the Dark Venerable has come.”
Chewing the tasteless hard rice cake, I asked. The lead spider nodded vigorously, saying yes.
“Dang… Yu-jang? Yu-cheong?”
“Dang Yu-chang, obviously.”
After a few months as spiders, their intelligence seemed to regress too.
“Oh, right! That was the name! Anyway, that son—Dang Yu-chang or whatever—finished his seclusion and returned.”
“About time. The Dark Venerable’s visit is right around the corner per schedule. Surely that’s not all?”
“N-no! That punk seems to be plotting something with the lady against you, Little Cult Leader.”
“Plotting?”
Intrigued, I gestured for details.
The lead spider, finally brightening, spilled everything it had seen and heard.
“They’re planning to screw me over at the event? Because they think I have a backer?”
“Exactly!”
“Kids these days, writing fanfiction.”
A hollow laugh escaped me, but from the mother-son duo’s perspective, it wasn’t an unreasonable conclusion.
The pushover they’d toyed with easily was suddenly turning the tables with fire in his eyes—they’d assume he had backing.
As if they’d ever guess the Heavenly Demon God Church’s Little Cult Leader had possessed him?
That would be the rational judgment.
“What now, Little Cult Leader? You’re not one to sit idle.”
“If I play it right, this could paint a nice picture.”
Nothing easier than turning an exposed plot against them with a backstab.
“Recommend, recommend.”
But I soon grew indifferent.
“No need for me to do anything special, really.”
“Wh-what? What do you mean?”
“Do I have to explain it to you?”
“N-no! Just curiosity, pay it no mind. Ha, haha!”
My mercurial temperament, hot and cold like boiling water, must feel like dunking in ice and scalding baths to him.
Even when using them, occasionally stepping on their toes like this keeps them aware of their place. Evil demonic outlaws are rooted in backstabbing, after all.
Anyway, my conclusion remained the same.
No need to act right now.
They’d recommend me to the Dark Venerable themselves, no?
As if I, the former Little Heavenly Demon, wouldn’t catch his eye?
If anything, I’d just keep playing along subtly, ensuring their plan stayed on track.
Better yet, I could leverage this to get selected for the special task force.
Then fake death during brutal training to switch identities, or become the Dark Venerable’s disciple to infiltrate Central Plains martial society’s core.
That would make accessing top intel easier, speeding up the search for my missing master.
Plenty of options.
So what I needed to do now was simple.
Peak my physical condition in the next few days.
I prepared to resume training.
“…Ruthless.”
The lead spider shook its head in dismay.
Reincarnation Demon God Chronicles