Chapter 143: The Fathers-in-Law (2)
Chapter 143: The Fathers-in-Law (2)
"Hello...?"
"..."
When I came to my senses, I was kneeling before the ruler of the Heavenly Mountain.
To be honest, no one had actually told me to kneel, but the moment I saw that old man's face, my body just moved on its own.
I’d like to make the excuse that it couldn't be helped because my middle dantian was currently on strike.
The Heavenly Demon ignored my greeting, staring down at me with an incredibly inscrutable expression.
It was a look that seemed halfway between being amused and being annoyed. Personally, I was desperately hoping it wasn't the latter.
If this old man suddenly decided to unleash his 'Heavenly Demon Divine Art,' I’d be having dinner with the Sword Demon in the afterlife tonight.
"Father."
Unable to watch any longer, Hwa-yeong stepped in as the relief pitcher.
With a perfectly composed posture, she began to speak in a calm, steady voice.
"I do not plan to return to the Heavenly Mountain alone."
...She wasn't a relief pitcher after all.
I hurriedly turned to look at Hwa-yeong, and past her, I saw a horrified Murong Cheong.
For the record, she was kneeling too. I have no idea why she’s even here.
"Your excursion has been long. You have achieved enough."
"I have not yet accomplished everything."
"What more do you seek to achieve?"
The Heavenly Demon's presence grew even more intense. For a split second, Hwa-yeong’s fingers actually dug into the ground.
If I felt this much pressure just standing beside her, I couldn't even fathom the weight of the burden pressing down on her.
What was even more terrifying was that the Heavenly Demon wasn't even using some grand martial art.
Without even a hint of circulating internal energy, in a state of total serenity, he was crushing Hwa-yeong—a master in the mid-stage of the Peak Realm—simply by expressing his displeasure.
With a pale face, Hwa-yeong stammered out her reply.
"I intend to fulfill an old vow."
"I was under the impression the marriage proposal had been annulled."
"Why should the West Grand Preceptor of our Cult be swayed by such a unilateral decision?"
"That is true."
Wait, sir. Why is that true...?
"I understand the West Grand Preceptor's intent. However, how can one hold a wedding alone? The West Grand Preceptor is the one who must shoulder the future of the Cult, and that boy has inherited the Blade Emperor's legacy. If you wish to fulfill your intent, there is something he must first understand."
The Heavenly Demon's gaze finally landed on me. For a moment, my heart hammered against my ribs as if it were screaming.
A gaze that seemed colorless and transparent, yet also felt as if every color had been mixed together until it turned a dead, hollow black, looked down upon me. Even the simple act of breathing felt like it was fading into a daze.
Within that void, the Heavenly Demon’s voice sank low.
"Will you join the Cult?"
I almost said yes without thinking.
He was the leader of the largest Demonic Cult in the Central Plains. 'Heavenly Demon' was not merely a title for the strongest.
He was the existence that corrupted high priests and made them forget enlightenment and transcendence. He was the demon who prevented liberation, the very symbol of the Five Aggregates.
There is a certain atmosphere such a being radiates. The unique presence of an absolute ruler whose every word feels like it must inevitably come to pass.
It wasn't simply the threat of a predator who held the power of life and death; it was the command of a sovereign that made one kneel from the depths of their soul.
My knees trembled. My mind grew distant, and just as my head was about to nod against my will—
—Kiiing!
A star shone.
Somewhere beyond the sky. In the dim twilight of a dawn that had yet to break.
It felt as if a hard shell blocking the back of my head had crumbled away.
With a sudden sense of clarity, my blurred vision snapped back into focus.
I saw the old man.
"I see. So this is what it takes for you to intervene."
I saw only the old man.
Without anyone else around, standing in a cold wilderness with his hands behind his back, the old man looked down at me with a faint smile.
"The Heavenly Command Star... You were born under a rare star, child."
"What... what just happened?"
"I have veiled the eyes of heaven. That is all, so do not worry."
I looked around. The deep blue sky of pre-dawn was being painted over by black ink-clouds.
The walls of Pahyeon were still visible in the distance, as were the tents pitched by the warriors of the Heavenly Mountain and the campfires between them.
However, there was no sign of people. The only presence I could feel was the old man before me.
No, rather... I’d say the old man's presence had simply erased everyone else's existence.
The flames of the campfires were frozen as if preserved in amber. Time itself seemed to float above them like dust.
This was not a landscape a human could create.
"Are you even human...?"
"That depends entirely on the intent of the observer. Are you facing a man, or are you facing a demon?"
"You seem closer to the latter..."
"Do not be deluded by what you see."
The old man laughed warmly.
"You must not be deluded by what you see, what you hear, what you say, or what you do. To stand tall and whole on your own—that is the only virtue that proves a human is human."
As the old man moved his hand, the clouds began to spread wider. A metallic rattling sound followed. Looking closer, those weren't even ink-clouds.
Massive iron chains were gathered together, blanketing the sky. It looked as if they were hiding something beyond... or rather, as if they were veiling this very moment from whatever lay beyond.
As if noticing my gaze, the old man continued.
"Do you believe in Heavenly Mandate?"
He wasn't asking because he wanted an answer. Just like all old men.
The Heavenly Demon had merely phrased it as a question before continuing his own thought.
"The common folk say that the great deeds of kings and generals of old were performed because they received the Heavenly Mandate. Yes, there are such people from time to time. Heroes who inherit the will of heaven to achieve greatness."
"I have heard of this. Stories that the Hegemon-King of Chu was born under the Heavenly Killer Star, and that Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han was born under the Heavenly Solitude Star."
"Indeed. There have been such individuals throughout the long history of the Central Plains. But was the Blade Emperor one of them?"
"Pardon...?"
"The Blade Emperor, the Divine Monk, the Sword Immortal... were those called the Three Venerables of the World such people? Do you think Yuanyuanzi of Wudang or Bodhidharma of Shaolin achieved what they did by following the orders of heaven?"
I had never heard such a thing. To begin with, stories about people being 'born under a star' were nothing more than myths and legends.
My grandfather told me he read the traces of the Heavenly Command Star in me. But that was a ridiculous notion.
Was the achievement of one born under the Heavenly Command Star somehow overwhelmingly superior?
No, absolutely not. From the moment I was born until now, I have been constantly compared to the achievements of the Family Head.
—The Family Head was the only one to master the Thunderbolt Blade at that age.
—His age upon reaching the Peak Realm is comparable to the Patriarch of Mount Pingdan.
Purely in terms of innate talent, genius, and passion for martial arts, there were seniors who surpassed me in every way, and they hadn't even inherited some mythical constitution.
They had simply achieved what they could through their own efforts.
If so, how ridiculous was this 'born under a star' constitution?
The Heavenly Demon’s eyes crinkled softly.
"Indeed. There is no such thing as Heavenly Mandate. The stars do not guide man. They only desire the fruit borne through that man."
The Heavenly Demon waved his hand. Time began to flow slowly again. As the flames started to crackle, the Heavenly Demon’s voice echoed faintly.
"The Heavenly Killer Star desires death, and the Heavenly Solitude Star desires calamity. The Heavenly Command Star is a star that symbolizes troubled times. Is the will of heaven not so clear? Heaven is the domain of ghosts and gods who take pleasure in the calamities of man."
That is why the 36 Heavenly Stars and 72 Earthly Fiends of Taoism are called the Demonic Army. Their sum is 108. In Buddhism, the number of worldly agonies is exactly that same number.
The Heavenly Demon.
The demon born among humans who sneered at heaven and mocked enlightenment reached out his hand toward me and said:
"Therefore, if you submit to your Heavenly Mandate, you will never be able to dream of the next realm."
"Why is that? If I were to believe the bizarre claim that heaven has a will, wouldn't it be more helpful to such beings if I gained even greater power?"
"Because the path of martial arts does not descend from heaven; it ascends toward it."
Utilizing muscles, acupoints, and bone structure to swing a weapon.
Those swinging motions forming a single lineage.
Every bit of effort accumulated through sweat finally completing oneself.
That entire process is called martial arts, and thus, the words used to describe the end of that path are Enlightenment, Transcendence, Ascending to Immortality, or Summoning Heaven.
One could say all martial arts are a long journey from the earth to the heavens.
Therefore, one who has stepped onto this long road must not act by receiving the will of heaven, but must defy the laws of heaven to establish and cultivate the laws of man.
It is called the Harmony Realm because one can break free from the harmony defined by the world and force their own microcosm upon the universe.
As he spoke, a single black chain fell from the Heavenly Demon’s fingertips onto my head.
"Ugh...!"
"Until the day you can walk on your own... I shall imprison your fate."
The chain pierced my head. It delved into my mind where the upper dantian is located, tightly wrapping around and locking the Baihui acupoint that had been open toward the sky.
Along with a terrible headache, I felt a strange sensation of falling.
Gasping for air, I lifted my head to look up at the old man.
With eyes that still held an ambiguous intent—whether it was kindness or malice—I asked.
"Why are you giving me such a teaching?"
"Ten years ago, if not for you, the West Grand Preceptor would not have lived."
He was talking about the time I spent with Hwa-yeong in Beijing.
"She would have died as a demonic person before reaching her current realm. You are the West Grand Preceptor's 'humanity.' Consider this my repayment for that."
"I... will not go... to the Heavenly Mountain!"
Go to the Demonic Cult and live as Hwa-yeong’s live-in son-in-law until I die? Absolutely not.
I didn't want to do that.
I was going to become the Head of the Peng Family. I had sworn to take everything of the Hebei Peng Family into my hands and become the wall of this clan so that those who relied on the Peng name would not die in vain.
Currently, the Peng Family's prestige in the Central Plains was guaranteed only by the martial power of the Blade Emperor, my grandfather. What would happen to the future of the next generation?
Whether it was my eldest brother or my second brother, the moment they inherited the position of Family Head, the family's future would be over.
Even if that weren't the case, what about the forces of the White Lotus Cult and the Noble Consort acting in the shadows of Beijing?
Now that the Sima Alliance's power had been greatly reduced following the fall of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Alliance, could the Black Path Demonic Alliance even maintain its strength if the Peng Family's martial power wasn't what it used to be?
And before all that.
Was my vow to make the Hebei Peng Family an Orthodox Martial Sect, to take control of the distinction between Righteous and Demonic, and to govern the world just a moment of bravado?
No, it wasn't. It wasn't like that.
If I had only chased the easy path, I would have refused to become a martial artist from the moment I was born as the fourth son.
I could have lived a comfortable life just by relying on the Demonic Cult as a live-in son-in-law.
But I was born with the Peng bloodline, growing up in this godforsaken era.
The soft traces of the 21st century were long forgotten, and I had to admit I was captivated by the sense of omnipotence I felt as I built my realm and raised my martial prowess with my own strength.
I had become a martial artist. I was no longer an ordinary job seeker from the 21st century. Though the distinction had been blurry for a while, if there was one thing I could say for certain now—
I am Peng Hyeon-hwi.
"If I am to become the Head of the Hebei Peng Family, I cannot follow you to the Heavenly Mountain..."
"Then do so."
Just before I lost consciousness, the Heavenly Demon’s hand covered my head. Slowly, gently.
Like the touch of a grandfather stroking his grandson.
"If you have established your own will, then walk it yourself, even if you run aground. That is the path those who do not follow the laws of heaven must show."
In the Heavenly Demon’s eyes, which I saw for the last time, his intent was now clearly readable.
It was a small glimmer of expectation mixed with satisfaction.
Im Hwa-yeong, who had heard everything, bit her lip slightly and closed her eyes.
If her husband's will was such, she could not force him to accompany her.
Indeed, how could one cage a bird, and how could one raise a swimming fish in a bowl?
It wasn't a man like that whom she loved. Had she not fallen for the man who always walked ahead with confidence and laughed cheerfully even amidst countless storms?
Therefore.
"Does the West Grand Preceptor have any preparations left?"
"Yes."
She lifted her head to look at the Heavenly Demon. In her hand, she already held a human skin mask—the identity of Cheon Hwa-ryeong of the Jiangnan Heavenly Merchant Guild.
"I have thought of a way for a long time. There is a suitable path."
"And what is that?"
"If you need me to continue the Cult's lineage, is it not enough that I simply provide a successor?"
"...What...?"
For the first time, confusion appeared on the Heavenly Demon’s face.
Feeling a small sense of satisfaction, Im Hwa-yeong continued.
"Is there any reason it must be me?"
As long as they were born of the Im bloodline and could accept demonic energy, that was enough.
If so, did it matter if it wasn't Im Hwa-yeong, but Im Hwa-yeong’s child?
At those words, the Heavenly Demon felt a sense of bewilderment for the first time in a very long time.
"I will send the firstborn to the Heavenly Mountain."
Hearing this, the Heavenly Demon slowly turned his head to look at the unconscious Peng Hyeon-hwi.
After struggling with his impulses for a moment, he nodded and turned away.
"The West Grand Preceptor may do as she wishes. However, the Cult will give the West Grand Preceptor a grace period of five years to achieve her intent."
"That will be more than enough."
That day, before the sun reached its zenith, the warriors of the Heavenly Mountain slowly departed from Pahyeon.