The Iron Blood Patriarch’s Chilling Lesson
“From the tavern? What on earth are you talking about?”
The elder, with his stern, pinched expression, furrowed his brow deeply.
The man delivering the report looked thoroughly awkward. His mind was so tangled he did not even know where to begin explaining the chain of events.
“You don’t need to ask?”
“I-I’m saying... there was a clash between Third Young Master and Prince Cheon Mutan, and as a result, Fourth Young Master was injured and is now being treated and resting in his quarters.”
“Injured? Explain in detail.”
“It seems he pushed his internal energy too hard and damaged his internal organs.”
“Serious, was it?”
“According to the physician, if he focuses on healing and regulating his breathing, he should recover in the near future.”
Jin Ritae, elder of the Iron-Blood Devil Family, swallowed a sigh and shook his head.
“So it doesn’t seem to be life-threatening. Then what about Cheon Sohyeon?”
“That’s the thing... when Third Young Master arrived at the tavern, he wasn’t there. According to the workers, he left the place without any serious injuries.”
“What?”
At the unexpected answer, displeasure flashed across Jin Ritae’s face.
“You mean Fourth Young Master lost to that half-dead wretch?”
“If I may be so bold... that appears to be the case.”
Bang!
The sound of a hand slamming the table rang out viciously.
“They must have bullied people into spreading some nonsense! For all his faults, he’s still a prince, so he’d have some pride left. Isn’t that it?!”
“We checked with nearby merchants, and their accounts all matched. Even Jin Gyu, who was assigned as his escort, gave the same testimony.”
Fsssh.
In an instant, blood-red demonic energy began seeping from the seat of honor in the study.
Crack.
The family had originally intended to make plans once they heard that Cheon Sohyeon had awakened, but that had only ever been a precaution for the unlikely case.
After such a long period of recuperation, there had been a slim possibility that Cheon Sohyeon might grow fearsome on the strength of his innate talent and block Iron-Blood’s path forward.
And he’s already recovered his strength?
Unless the density of his life was so different from ordinary men’s that he could carve the same span of years into fleeting instants, such a thing should have been impossible. Forget recovering his martial power—just stabilizing his internal injuries should have been more than enough to exhaust him.
Crack!
The armrest of the chair Jin Ritae had grabbed crumpled apart like paper.
That meant the anxiety that had taken root in his chest had, after all, come to pass.
“Did you make sure to silence them?”
“I’m sorry. While we were taking care of the mouths, the Law Enforcement Hall rushed in...”
Jin Ritae hurled the shattered armrest away and roared.
“What in the world were you doing? You can’t even handle a trivial matter like that properly!”
“I-I’m sorry.”
This was the worst possible situation.
If word of Prince Cheon Mutan’s defeat spread through the cult, what would happen then?
Not only would the Iron-Blood Devil Family’s prestige be damaged, it would also become an indelible humiliation that would haunt the Fourth Young Master’s future dominance.
Thud!
Jin Ritae rose roughly from his seat.
“Does the Patriarch know?”
“Yes. Upon hearing the news, he headed straight to the Fourth Young Master’s quarters.”
Whoosh—
Jin Ritae’s figure blurred for an instant. With a burst of furious lightness art, he left the elder’s hall and headed for the Fourth Young Master’s quarters.
He strode into the bedchamber without hesitation, and there before him were Cheon Mutan, pale-faced and seated on the bed, and the Iron-Blood Patriarch looking down at him.
“Patriarch, right now—”
“Wait. I’m not finished.”
Jin Muhwi’s gaze, which had briefly shifted to Jin Ritae, returned once more to Cheon Mutan. There was something subtle in those eyes—something that might have been concern, or perhaps disappointment.
“Fourth Young Master.”
Cheon Mutan, hoarse from strain, rasped out a reply.
“...Yes.”
“How do you feel?”
Cheon Mutan’s fingertips twitched.
Is he mocking me?
The thought flashed through his mind. It was not a question anyone who knew how he had been brought low could ask lightly.
If the physicians who had just left had said something like this, he would not have been satisfied until he had taken their heads.
But this had come from his maternal grandfather, the lord of the Iron-Blood Devil Family, and so he had no choice but to answer.
“...I’m furious.”
“Furious? Why?”
“I had the upper hand throughout the match. But then he ruined the fight with those ridiculous tricks...”
“Ridiculous tricks? Be specific. Was there outside interference?”
Cheon Mutan shook his head.
“When he realized he couldn’t beat me head-on, he kept batting my attacks away and pushing me back, dragging the fight into something filthy. If I meet him again with swords in hand, I’ll definitely—”
Jin Muhwi let out a laugh that sounded almost empty.
“Ha... hahahahaha.”
At the sudden laughter, Cheon Mutan lifted his head.
...!
He felt a chill of terror sink straight through his heart.
Jin Muhwi was glaring at him with a face twisted like a demon from a nightmare.
Rumbling energy surged out from Jin Muhwi and began shaking the entire building.
Overcome by the ferocity of that pressure, Jin Ritae hurriedly stepped in.
“P-Patriarch! If you keep raising your power any further, the Fourth Young Master will—”
Flash!
Blood-colored light blazed in Jin Muhwi’s eyes.
“I thought you would one day become this cult’s sky. And yet you are so foolish.”
“...Foolish, did you say?”
“Before you vow revenge, why not first grasp the situation? Why do you think you’re still alive?”
His aura grew ever colder.
“Because the physicians treated your internal injuries? Because the family immediately brought you good medicine?”
Jin Muhwi’s killing intent became steadily more chilling.
“If you truly think that, then speak now. I’ll twist your neck so you don’t entertain such foolish hopes.”
“...!”
Cheon Mutan, who had remained silent, gradually flushed red.
It was not because of the oppressive pressure crushing his body or the severe atmosphere radiating from Jin Muhwi.
It was because he had only now realized why he was still alive.
...Did Cheon Sohyeon spare me?
Blood seeped from the bite of his own lips. Rage and humiliation, impossible to endure, twisted together and swept through his entire body.
Escaping death and continuing to live should have been a cause for joy.
After all, it meant he could still plan for the future.
But the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was different.
In the demonic martial world, where cruelty and the law of the strong were carved into the very bones of the land, sparing a defeated enemy was no different from an insult.
And if that defeated enemy happened to be a rival for succession, there was nothing more to say.
If he had been spared out of ignorance, because his opponent had failed to consider the consequences, he would not have been this enraged.
But damn it, Cheon Sohyeon was far from ignorant...
Crack!
Which meant, in the end, that he had not even been regarded as a rival.
Was there any humiliation greater than that? The fact that only he had cared about Cheon Sohyeon, only he had treated him as competition, kept his emotions boiling hotter and hotter.
Then it happened.
Wooooong!!
Cheon Mutan’s face turned white as paper.
The vast surge of fury struck his Hundred Meetings Point, drawing out the movement of his dantian. Demonic energy roared out of the dantian and shook his acupoints as it ran wild.
His qi and blood tangled together, leaving him on the verge of deviating into qi deviation at any moment.
...!!
Wooooong!
The Iron-Blood Patriarch, watching him, gathered all his internal power to his fingertips and pressed several points along Cheon Mutan’s body.
Cough!
Cheon Mutan spat out a handful of blackened blood and collapsed on the spot.
Jin Ritae was startled by the movement, which looked almost like a killing technique, and sucked in a sharp breath, but he quickly composed himself.
...So even in a situation like this.
Jin Muhwi gathered his inner power and steadied his rough breathing.
“It won’t be perfect, but it should achieve the intended purpose.”
Jin Ritae checked Cheon Mutan’s pulse.
Thump. Thump!!
The flow of true energy was not stopping or weakening, but instead pounding even more violently.
The Crimson Yellow Qi has completely taken root.
With the Fourth Young Master’s level of attainment, this was a realm he would need at least five more years of training to even hope to approach.
To perform transferred power through physical contact in such a short moment...
Transferred power through physical contact was the art of passing internal energy through bodily contact.
If the injected power exceeded what the body could withstand, it became a heavy-handed inner martial method that would instead rupture the internal organs, so it was not a technique one could attempt lightly.
He deliberately provoked an overflow of emotion.
As Cheon Mutan’s immature demonic energy erupted, it struck his acupoints with force, and in that process Jin Muhwi had poured his own true energy into the expanded meridians.
The Iron-Blood Patriarch looked at the Fourth Young Master and let his red gaze glimmer.
“Do not forget what you’re feeling now. Today’s defeat is something you can pay back whenever you wish.”
* * *
At the edge of a cliff where the pale moonlight wavered.
Amid the deep darkness, a man sat in full lotus posture, his eyes shining coldly.
With every breath he exhaled, the air trembled, and though the long robe draped over him was a deep red, the stains of blood were still clearly visible.
He looked as if he were making a tremendous effort to suppress his turbulent emotions. Yet no matter how he regulated his breathing, the killing intent radiating from him showed no sign of fading.
“Filthy trash.”
Along the borders of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, unbelievers often tried to intrude.
There were the foolish, ignorant ones who overestimated their own martial prowess and sought to test the cult’s fearsome reputation, and there were the despicable criminals called public enemies who committed crimes too vile to speak of and then threw themselves at the cult.
Occasionally, spies from the orthodox and black paths also slipped in to gather intelligence on the cult’s movements.
Though not a single unbeliever had ever returned alive, the number of intrusions had recently grown more frequent.
The ceaseless probing of the cult’s situation seemed to hint at some kind of omen.
War clouds were gathering beneath heaven.
It doesn’t matter.
The man drew another deep breath and steadied his heart. He had decided that whatever happened outside the cult was none of his concern.
All he needed to care about was ensuring that the foolish would not disturb the Cult Leader’s mood.
Then—
“Left Guardian, as ordered, we have brought the spy to the Maero Prison. He is on the verge of death, so it may take some time before we can identify him.”
Even though no reply had come, the report from the subordinate with gray hair continued.
“Also, two hours ago, the Chief Military Strategist sent someone to the Law Enforcement Hall.”
“Speak.”
There was a sharp edge in Gwangmyeong Jwasa’s tone.
The fact that someone so notoriously busy had specifically sent a man to the Law Enforcement Hall was unsettling.
“It was a report that the Fourth Young Master had harmed Third Young Master at a tavern outside the inner walls. It sounded absurd, but since the source was the source, we sent our people to verify it. There really was a clash.”
Gwangmyeong Jwasa’s gaze shifted to the man.
“You’re saying the Iron-Blood Devil Family violated orders.”
Cold killing intent lingered quietly in his clear eyes.
“...!”
He had just warned the Great Four Devil Families to exercise restraint so that unnecessary chaos would not arise. That was because an unimaginable degree of protection had been bestowed upon Third Young Master.
In other words, this was no different from disobeying the Cult Leader’s order.
Rumble...
The man was pressed down by the approaching pressure and answered in a trembling voice.
“There were no signs that the family interfered. It seems they fought solely with their own martial power.”
“They fought with martial power?”
“Yes. All the testimonies matched. The Fourth Young Master was injured, lost consciousness, and by then Third Young Master had already left the area.”
“You’re saying the Fourth Young Master lost?”
“That is correct.”
Gwangmyeong Jwasa’s expression hardened.
The condition he had seen Third Young Master in at Cult Leader’s Palace was not the condition of someone fit to fight anyone.
Hadn’t his steps been so unsteady they looked uneven even on the way he walked?
And yet he had brought down the Fourth Young Master...
Has he achieved true attainment?
It meant that Third Young Master had gone beyond barely setting foot into Muryeong Shingong and had actually achieved real attainment.
If he had not steadied his entire body with the breathing method of the divine art, such a feat would have been impossible.
This was not something one could brush aside. If the art was as difficult and profound as said, then even rare geniuses of the ages were not allowed to enter its gates.
What was strange was that Third Young Master had achieved this on his own, without any help at all.
Gwangmyeong Jwasa’s eyes flickered red.
“Why did the Chief Military Strategist send someone?”
“That is... it was confirmed he had been at the tavern before the clash broke out.”
“The Chief Military Strategist was at the tavern?”
“Yes. It seems he met with Third Young Master.”
Gwangmyeong Jwasa narrowed his eyes in silence.
The Military Council was the organization that held the greatest real authority within the cult, backed by the Cult Leader’s recognition.
Because of that, even newly admitted members of the cult often sought meetings with its upper echelon to build ties.
And yet the man at the very pinnacle of that hierarchy had gone to a tavern to meet Third Young Master?
“The Iron-Blood Devil Family is likely to bear a grudge and retaliate. Please issue orders.”
The man bowed even lower. As a squad leader of the Law Enforcement Hall, he had to prevent the disaster of a successor being killed.
“How did you handle the aftermath?”
“I ordered control measures so the news of the Fourth Young Master’s defeat would not spread.”
“That is enough. If it’s the Iron-Blood Patriarch, he’ll know how to turn it into an opportunity. Inform them that the matter is being kept quiet and tell them to let it pass.”
“Yes.”
Just as the subordinate who had finished reporting was about to withdraw, Gwangmyeong Jwasa called him back.
“Has the Mahwandan been prepared?”
“We’ve entered the final procedures. Should we send it directly to Third Young Master’s quarters?”
After a brief silence, Gwangmyeong Jwasa said,
“Tell them to bring it to me.”