Chapter 123: A Wall That Can Be Broken
“Aigoo, Mugyeok-i. What in the world happened? Come on, bring it in here.”
Cheol Mu Geuk greeted us with a fidgety expression. To be precise, he was greeting Mugyeok-i.
I’d heard through Cho Ryang that if there was pure, clean fire, it could heal the wounds.
And there was no one better suited for pure, clean fire than Cheol Mu Geuk, so I’d brought it all the way to the Iron Family.
Mugyeok-i was currently loaded onto a cart being pulled by Cheol So Pyeong. It seemed too weak to fly on its own power or even shrink in size.
“Aigoo, these beautiful wings all mangled up like this.”
Cheol Mu Geuk kept calling out “Mugyeok-i, Mugyeok-i,” which felt a bit odd and eerie, but he seemed genuine. It looked like a lot of affection had built up over time.
“Young Master Sado. What happened?”
“Treatment first.”
“Right. It said cheonghwa would do the trick. So Pyeong, set it down over there and light the forge.”
“Yes, Father.”
Mugyeok-i was placed down in one corner of Cheol Mu Geuk’s smithy.
Whoosh!
Cheol So Pyeong worked the bellows, igniting the forge.
In the meantime, Cheol Mu Geuk approached Mugyeok-i and drew upon the power of the Flame Fire Jade.
Blue flames rose from Cheol Mu Geuk’s body, and the weakly lying Mugyeok-i slowly turned its head toward him.
Swish!
The blue flames began flowing toward Mugyeok-i like a stream of water.
Piiik!
As the blue flames were sucked into Mugyeok-i’s beak, its wounds started to heal.
“The wounds are healing. What a relief.”
With that, Cheol Mu Geuk glanced at me and nodded toward a chair. I sat down.
“I was grinning ear to ear thinking we’d share some drinks since you showed up, but what’s this mess?”
“Tell me about it.”
“So, what happened?”
“Someone tried to hunt Mugyeok-i.”
Crack!
A vein bulged on Cheol Mu Geuk’s forehead. Thanks to his rejuvenation, health wasn’t an issue, but the vein was throbbing noticeably.
“Who the hell dares to go after my Mugyeok-i?!”
Piiik!
“Aigoo, sorry. Mugyeok-i-ah.”
The sudden surge in cheonghwa output startled Mugyeok-i into a cry, and Cheol Mu Geuk fussed, dialing back the power.
It felt like watching a comedy duo with Mugyeok-i.
After soothing Mugyeok-i, Cheol Mu Geuk turned back to me.
“Just who’s the bastard? Who’d dare hunt the Mugyeok-i that this Cheol Mu Geuk cherishes?”
Even if the heads of the Mad Demon Six Families hadn’t ventured into the outer heavens or beyond, it was still the Six Families that ruled the Divine Cult.
Incurring the wrath of one such family head meant you couldn’t live out your days in peace within the cult.
Unless you were a transcendent powerhouse, that is.
“I have a suspect in mind.”
“Who? I’ll go give ’em a piece of my mind right now.”
“My guess is someone outside the hierarchy.”
“……Outside the hierarchy?”
I nodded.
“As you said, for someone to target Mugyeok-i under the protection of the Sado Family and the Iron Family without hesitation suggests a lack of information.”
“Right.”
“More importantly, they dealt this much damage to a powerful divine beast that flies freely through the skies.”
“So who?”
“Song Yang Geon.”
“Song Yang Geon?”
Cheol Mu Geuk tilted his head.
“Who’s that?”
“Song Nam Gi’s son.”
“Ah!”
Cheol Mu Geuk nodded as if it clicked.
“Song Nam Gi was one hell of an archer. Heard he went into seclusion after severe internal injuries. His son, eh?”
“That’s right.”
“Makes it even more outrageous.”
Cheol Mu Geuk spoke with lingering anger.
“That Song Nam Gi knelt and begged for days, so I made him a bow, and now his son uses it to shoot at Mugyeok-i?”
That was the moment.
Snap!
As if understanding Cheol Mu Geuk’s words, Mugyeok-i chomped down on his head with its beak.
It looked like Mugyeok-i’s beak had become Cheol Mu Geuk’s hat.
“Heh heh, this little guy. So cute.”
The absurdity nearly broke my character, but I barely held it together.
“Anyway. Why would this Song Yang Geon target Mugyeok-i?”
“Not sure about that, but one thing’s clear: he struck first.”
“Could the vice leader be up to something? Word’s spreading fast about you beating Yu Il O. Probably his doing.”
Separated from me briefly, Cheol Mu Geuk had escaped the curse of diminished intellect and reached a similar conclusion.
“Maybe, maybe not.”
Not likely, though. Not the Song Yang Geon I knew.
How do you know him? I won’t pry into the secret, but what kind of guy is he?
Hmm, how to put it.
I mulled over how to describe Song Yang Geon and finally settled on something fitting.
A purely mad bastard?
What’s that mean?
There’s a saying: the scariest person in the world is someone who’s read only one book.
Someone who thinks that one book holds the absolute truth.
That’s Song Yang Geon.
What book?
A novel based on the First Heavenly Demon.
……A novel?
There’s this novel called Heavenly Demon’s Mementos.
If it were accurate records, maybe, but Song Yang Geon had grown up on a novel cobbling together rumors about the First Heavenly Demon.
Purely mad bastard confirmed.
But he wasn’t just any madman.
Song Yang Geon was one of the top three who racked up the most achievements when the Divine Cult warred with the orthodox sects.
Obviously, the cult was short on numbers compared to the orthodox world.
Song Yang Geon’s exploits had turned that absolute disadvantage into a relative one.
So he’s no one to underestimate.
While I chatted idly with Pa Cheon, Cheol Mu Geuk, who’d been staring blankly at me, spoke up.
“Young Master Sado. Activate the Guardian Armament once.”
I pretended to clear my throat and subtly drew blood on Pa Cheon’s blade.
Awkward situation, but Cheol Mu Geuk’s attention was elsewhere.
“As expected. Young Master Sado, what the hell have you been up to?”
“What do you mean?”
Forgetting his head was still in Mugyeok-i’s beak, Cheol Mu Geuk said gravely.
“There are fist marks on the Guardian Armament’s iron wall. Two of them.”
“Ah.”
I hadn’t paid it much mind, but as the creator, Cheol Mu Geuk had noticed even in bracelet form.
“Did you switch from sword to fists or something? What kind of internal energy level leaves fist marks on Cloud Demon Iron?”
“Dangerous?”
“The thinned spots might be. Sword qi won’t scratch it, but gang qi could punch through.”
“Just repair it.”
“You think repairing a treasure artifact is that simple?”
“Thought it’d be easy for a Heavenly Grade blacksmith.”
Cheol Mu Geuk puffed up proudly at my words.
“Even so, some things can’t be rushed. Can’t use cheonghwa right now anyway.”
He gestured at Mugyeok-i. I nodded.
The Guardian Armament mattered, but so did Mugyeok-i. Its flames could purify my mental vulnerabilities.
“Then handle the treatment.”
“About time.”
Seemed Mugyeok-i had taken a liking to nibbling Cheol Mu Geuk’s scalp.
I idly wondered if even after rejuvenation, he’d end up with bald spots.
And so, I left Mugyeok-i’s treatment to the Iron Family and returned.
“No, I said it’s impossible! Do you think the family head has time to meet just anyone?”
At the Sado Family’s main gate, guards were arguing with a young man.
That bow on his back. Isn’t that Song Yang Geon?
Almost simultaneously with Pa Cheon’s words, Song Yang Geon’s head snapped toward me.
He glanced between the plaque in his hand and me, then grinned.
That was the moment.
[!?]
Song Yang Geon was suddenly right in front of me.
Truly astonishing speed.
Pa Cheon sounded shocked, and rightly so.
Archers get called cowards for attacking from afar where they can’t be seen.
But that’s because they’re weak up close, naturally.
To overcome that, archers master footwork to the extreme.
To escape any approaching foe at a moment’s notice.
“You’re Sado Hwan?”
“Yes.”
“Pleased to meet you! I am Song Yang Geon!”
Song Yang Geon was hyped way too much.
What’s with that speech pattern?
According to Heavenly Demon’s Mementos, the First Heavenly Demon always spoke so boldly.
Not that kind of speech, though.
I agreed with Pa Cheon.
If there was zero info on the First Heavenly Demon, fine, but I already knew from the Demonless Wall that he was a modern Korean.
No modern Korean talks like that.
“What’s your business?”
“By my reckoning, the Heavenly Demon Sovereign of this age is the world’s greatest beauty!”
“……And?”
“Any man born must take the greatest beauty as his bride!”
“So?”
“I failed to catch the bird I was hunting, so no betrothal gift yet, but I can always catch another later. I challenge you, defeat you, and become the new fiancé!”
Song Yang Geon bared his teeth in a wide grin.
Truly a purely bold and mad bastard.
The problem was—
His aura was no joke.
“I, Song Yang Geon, formally challenge you!”
The bigger problem: this wasn’t private. He was shouting at the main gate, packed with onlookers.
The Sado Family was the headquarters, and with all the traffic these days, too many eyes.
No Sa Wol around either.
Monster.
Yeah.
I’ve been thinking since the Iron Family.
Pa Cheon continued gravely.
Accept the challenge.
Not ready yet. Forgot? This is your body.
I hadn’t mastered Domination Ward yet. No one-shot kill possible.
Does a warrior always fight at peak condition?
Not always, but.
Fight. Win. Overcome like that, and you become a true warrior.
Pa Cheon’s words shook my heart.
He was right.
Just dodging forever, and eventually, you hit an unbreakable wall.
Now was the time.
Song Yang Geon was Super Peak, but an outsider who’d trained in the boonies.
Raw physical prowess maybe top-tier, but experience lacking.
Me and Pa Cheon together? A wall we could shatter.
But if we’re doing it, make it perfect. Spectacular.
So no one else dares take us lightly.
Three days. Enough.
“Fine. I accept.”
“Excellent! Let’s start right now!”
“No.”
I said,
“Three days from now. At the Sado Family’s training grounds, before witnesses.”
Song Yang Geon grinned back.
“Is this the dojo-breaking from the book? Excellent!”