The Dark King's Exile
The Dark King, Dang Hyeong.
One of the Sacred Heavens, the Thirteen Seats. A man so dangerous that, regardless of the realm he had reached, he was called the worst figure in the martial world.
It was not because his temperament was foul. It was because the poisons and hidden weapons he wielded were that lethal.
Even someone who had studied the Tang family’s arts for only a year could kill hundreds with a handful of poisons.
The pinnacle of such Tang family martial arts was none other than Dang Hyeong. He was Dang Gwan’s father, the previous family head, and the greatest master in Tang family history.
Naturally, the level of danger he posed was beyond imagination. If he set his mind to it, he could wipe out an entire sect in less than a quarter of an hour.
An ultra-high-risk individual in the martial world. A master of a prestigious clan whose strength and ruthlessness were little known to the world.
Yet he was the absolute master everyone in the world considered the most dangerous in the martial realm.
That was Dang Hyeong.
“The current state of the Tang family, though I have not seen it myself, can be inferred to be very poor. And with an extremely high probability.”
“……”
“Did you see the men we fought this time? Every one of them belonged to the Sichuan Three Clans. And they possessed countless first-rate assassins.”
“……”
“That is not a force one could gather in just a year or two. Especially among them were those who, though not part of the Three Clans, had mastered their martial arts. Each one was worthy of being called a peak expert.”
“……”
“At minimum, ten years. It means there were traitors in every sect in Sichuan that was strongest, most renowned, and most influential.”
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes gleamed.
“I do not know about the Qingcheng and Emei sects. But the Tang family has both the current family head and the previous family head. With your abilities, it would have been difficult not to notice something like this happening.”
“……”
“Yet the fact that it happened means there must be a reason.”
Dang Gwan, who had been silently looking down at Yeon Hojeong, sat back down.
He called for the waiter.
“Do you have Wuliangye?”
“Y-yes!”
The waiter was extremely tense. Dang Gwan’s presence was intimidating enough, but this was the man who had rented out the entire tavern for two days.
“Bring out everything you have.”
“Yes!”
A moment later, the waiter returned with ten bottles of Wuliangye.
Yeon Hojeong clicked his tongue.
“Drink all that and your insides will melt.”
“Shut up.”
Dang Gwan filled Yeon Hojeong’s cup.
Placing the bottle on the table, he held out his own empty cup.
“Pour.”
Truly consistent.
Yeon Hojeong smiled and filled Dang Gwan’s cup.
Dang Gwan emptied it in one go.
“How much do you know about the Sacred Heavens realm?”
Yeon Hojeong shook his head.
“Only as much as everyone else.”
More precisely, only what he himself had achieved.
During his time as the Black Dark Emperor, Yeon Hojeong had been strong enough to contend for supremacy under heaven. While many had broken through to the Mugeuk realm and gained power that could topple the heavens, few possessed combat ability equal to his.
Among those few were Moyong Gun and Dang Gwan. Their martial prowess was nearly on par with Yeon Hojeong’s. It was not a matter of realm, but of combat effectiveness.
That was Yeon Hojeong’s martial way. A man who maximized raw fighting power while discarding lofty enlightenment or ideals.
But other masters were different.
Depending on the martial arts they cultivated and the values they pursued, their martial ways manifested in entirely different forms.
Though their levels were similar, their directions differed, and because their directions differed, their combat abilities varied greatly. It was an extremely subtle difference, yet that minute gap was enough to decide victory or defeat with ease. Their martial arts existed on a completely different plane.
Nevertheless, there were masters who reversed the tide of battle through sheer will despite such clear differences.
Even those who had broken through the Mugeuk realm were not free from the essence of combat.
Victory or defeat hinged on the smallest details, and the slightest difference could bring easy victory or crushing defeat.
That was why Yeon Hojeong both knew and did not know the Sacred Heavens realm well.
It was only natural, since each pursued different things. Of course, he clearly understood the common aspects shared by those who had reached that realm.
“I do not know.”
Dang Gwan held out his cup again.
Yeon Hojeong refilled it.
Dang Gwan’s face, as he toyed with the full cup, looked somehow bitter.
“I have never reached that realm. Naturally, I do not know what it is like.”
“Of course.”
“In any field, the higher one ascends, the harder it becomes to explain to others. Because the meaning becomes ambiguous.”
“It does.”
“Up to the intermediate level, one can define it with words, but once one enters the advanced realm, it cannot be described in speech. Yet the fact that people have reached that realm means they have realized something beyond what can be expressed in words.”
Yeon Hojeong agreed with Dang Gwan’s words.
People spoke of peak experts and the wall of the supreme realm, but the actual definition of such realms differed from person to person.
How much more so for the Mugeuk realm?
That the current martial world could rival the golden age three hundred years ago was because there were thirteen masters in the Central Plains who had broken through to the Mugeuk realm.
Even producing one such master per generation was considered extraordinary for the Mugeuk realm.
It was merely called the Mugeuk realm because an easy name was needed; those who had not reached it could not know what it truly meant.
“You just said you know as much as the world knows. You are wrong. Unless one has reached that realm, no one in the world knows anything about Mugeuk.”
Yeon Hojeong smiled inwardly.
“I suppose so.”
After silently staring at his cup for a moment, Dang Gwan emptied it.
“Not knowing about Mugeuk is directly connected to my perception of the man called Dang Hyeong.”
He had said Dang Hyeong.
Not “Father” or “the previous family head,” but Dang Hyeong.
Dang Gwan shook his head.
“I cannot define the Dark King.”
“Why is that?”
Yeon Hojeong asked with a serious expression.
“Even so, you are father and son, are you not? I do not know what happened in the past, but you must have built some kind of relationship, whether through affection or conflict. How can it be so ambiguous?”
Dang Gwan held out his cup.
Yeon Hojeong refilled it once more.
“Father was dissatisfied with me.”
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes gleamed.
After emptying his cup, Dang Gwan gazed out the window.
“Father was a terrifying ruler. There has never been a time as frightening and suffocating as his reign among all the family heads in history.”
“……”
“Thanks to him, the family’s notoriety increased several times over. But Father did not care about such things. He was absorbed in making the family stronger and greater. And to do that, he believed stricter family laws and thorough settling of grudges were necessary.”
“……”
“But after breaking through the Mugeuk realm, Father’s thinking changed.”
Dang Gwan’s eyes deepened.
“He realized that a legal system so airtight that not even a needle could pass through, and an unwavering settling of grudges, might be good for the moment but would ultimately cast the family’s future into darkness.”
“……”
“Father was human too. Though he suddenly realized the truth, he could not destroy in an instant the politics he had built up until then.”
“Of course.”
“And unfortunately, the time came for me to inherit the family head position.”
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes deepened.
Even without hearing the full story, he could imagine how great the conflict between father and son must have been.
Dang Gwan gave a wry smile.
“I was young then too. I had quite an impulsive heart. You did the same thing, so why tell me to avoid absolute power? Was it so hard to hand over the family head position?”
“……”
“The family’s politics had a high degree of participation from the previous generation. Though they had stepped back from the front lines, the previous generation conducted some level of oversight to prevent mistakes by the current central figures and to provide guidance.”
“That is not a good custom.”
“It is not. That is one of the bad habits that arise when blood ties become too strong.”
Dang Gwan shook his head.
“As soon as I became family head, I corrected that first. I completely blocked the previous generation from participating in politics.”
“There must have been strong backlash.”
“There was. And I threw all those who protested into prison.”
Dang Gwan’s eyes flashed.
“A bad habit is just a bad habit. I cannot forgive anyone who defies the family head’s orders, whether they are from the previous generation or the current one.”
“……”
“As an example, I even imprisoned the previous head elder, Father’s younger brother and my uncle.”
Yeon Hojeong sighed.
Dang Gwan shook his head.
“Father understood me. But understanding and emotion are different realms.”
“……”
“After that, my relationship with Father nearly collapsed completely.”
Yeon Hojeong, who had been quietly watching Dang Gwan, spoke as if tossing the words out.
“It seems the previous family head had a special love for his grandchildren.”
“Even if he disliked his child, he did not dislike all of his own blood. After his relationship with me deteriorated, he paid close attention to my children.”
“I see.”
Now he understood. Why the relationship between this father and son was such a mess.
Was the reason Dang Gwan disliked Dang Hyeong simply because he pressured him to change the previous family laws?
No. Familial affection was not so fragile that it could be severed by something like that.
Even before that, the rift between father and son had already deepened beyond repair. If Dang Gwan’s words were true, Dang Hyeong must have been extremely strict with his own children as well.
In the end, this was not a matter of who was right or wrong. Fundamentally, unless they understood each other, the relationship between the two could never be restored.
Yeon Hojeong asked cautiously.
“I understand that your relationship is not good. Then what do you think about the previous family head not knowing about this situation?”
“He does not know.”
“Are you certain?”
“I am.”
“How can you be so certain?”
Dang Gwan closed his eyes.
“Because he has confined himself.”
“Confined……”
“It was his own way of showing respect to me. At the same time, it was also anger toward me. No matter how much of a family head one is, having one’s siblings imprisoned by one’s own child’s hand would not feel good.”
“It is complicated.”
“Since then, Father has never once left his place of confinement.”
Yeon Hojeong nodded.
“I understand everything you have said.”
Dang Gwan gave a wry smile.
“You really do not hold back with someone like you.”
“It is a good thing to learn as much as possible about the operational environment before entering an operation.”
After emptying his cup, Yeon Hojeong asked.
“I have one question.”
“……”
“If we start by restoring your relationship with the previous family head, would you refuse?”
Dang Gwan closed his eyes.
Yeon Hojeong continued.
“I still do not know the details of the Tang family’s situation. But if we assume the worst, we should use every means available……”
“I would not refuse.”
“Pardon?”
“Improving my relationship with Father…… is not a bad thing.”
“Then……”
“But even if we improve our relationship, I do not want Father to get involved in this matter.”
“Family Head.”
“It is not because of my personal pride. That is simply the life of those who carry the Tang family’s blood. While we do not hesitate to use any means necessary to settle grudges, there are also principles that must never be broken before that.”
Dang Gwan’s eyes were firm.
“He probably will not get involved in this situation either. Not unless I die.”
Yeon Hojeong sighed and leaned back in his chair.
“Sometimes you are so bold it is almost shocking, but in matters like this, you are unbearably stubborn.”
“I have no intention of seeking others’ understanding.”
“Damn it.”
Yeon Hojeong refilled Dang Gwan’s cup.
“Order some food.”
“I thought you were going in?”
“Do you think I can rest at a time like this? Stop being difficult and order already.”
Dang Gwan frowned.
“You rude brat.”
Truly, in all the world, there was only this one man who would speak to the Tang family head in such a manner.