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145
For four months, our life was deeply peaceful.
We woke in the morning, ate together, and trained in martial arts all day. At night, once every three days, one of them would take a turn training in internal energy with me.
Since the three of them were extremely sensitive about the internal energy training, I set a ten-day rotation.
Days 1 and 4 were Sagong Hee.
Days 2 and 5 were Dokgo Yeon.
Days 3 and 6 were Lee Si-a.
"Hold on. Why am I on the third and sixth days?"
"I asked the heavens. Your order is 3 and 6."
"Isn't that a bit unfair? You leave at dawn once a week and don't come back until the next morning! So on the sixth night, I'm stuck training internal energy all night?"
"Well, it's not like you don't pass out every single time and wake up late after the sun is high in the sky. Sunday is my day off—I'm human too, you know."
Lee Si-a glared at me with dissatisfied eyes, but I just shrugged and played dumb.
"I'm clearly human as well. Shouldn't I need to save up at least a day's worth of internal energy?"
"Hmm... for someone who says that, it didn't seem like you were holding much back...."
"Dear physician. You wouldn't happen to be going out to act like a lust demon, would you?"
"As if. I barely have time to roam the world's famous mountains and scrape together all sorts of spirit medicines—where would I find the time to woo women?"
One day a week, whenever I went out, I'd bring back a massive amount of medicinal herbs. Most of the income for our Cheon Family Estate came from the herbs I gathered by putting in the legwork.
'If I get caught going to see Paeng Yuwol, I'm completely screwed.'
...and so, I was laying down a smokescreen. I knew the rough locations of all the herbs, and I could gather as many as I wanted by seeking out nature's energy. But I deliberately pretended it took a long time to hide the truth.
On the seventh day,
I flew through the sky from Hubei to Hebei. Racing from dawn for half a day without rest, I arrived in Hebei and buried my face in Paeng Yuwol's chest to rest.
- I'm happy you visit so often, but... it's troublesome if you come panting like this every time and ask for my breast.
- So you're saying you hate it?
- I'm saying that by the time you're due to arrive, my lord, I keep getting wet.
Paeng Yuwol and I shared the clouds and rain for just two or three short hours every ten days, but that brevity made it strangely more tender. After giving her and Wol-a the internal energy from the spirit medicines I'd gathered on the way to Hebei, I recovered my strength reasonably and returned straight to Hubei.
Then on the eighth, ninth, and tenth days, the rotation went back to Sagong Hee, Dokgo Yeon, and Lee Si-a. After spending four months like that, living with the three of them, I finally understood exactly why Paeng Yuwol had asked me to keep her existence a secret.
"Sister, my period came. Why is that?"
"...Don't tell me it's a phantom pregnancy, is it?"
"Right? It's not like he doesn't finish inside during my period."
I had to state it clearly once more in response to the three women's growing suspicions.
"Don't even think about having a child until you at least reach the Harmony Realm!"
The Harmony Realm.
The Profound Realm was too far off, and the peak realm was too soon. The point at which Dokgo Yeon's body would be sufficiently mature was precisely the Harmony Realm, and by then, having a child would cause no harm whatsoever to her martial arts training.
When I said that, Sagong Hee remarked,
"My lord. Wouldn't it be better to be pain-free for ten months straight and then hurt all at once, rather than hurting once every month?"
I was at a loss for words at Sagong Hee's logic. At least Lee Si-a was hesitant to have a child because of the Heavenly Demon's path, but...
"My lord. Just how many children can a person have?"
She said she wanted to bear the child of the one she loved; Dokgo Yeon had no aversion to childbirth itself. In fact, because of her sense of duty to continue the bloodline of the Dokgo Clan, she was even more proactive about making babies.
"...Th-then, I can't lose either."
Perhaps the anxiety that she might fall behind the other two women clouded her judgment. Lee Si-a said that if both Sagong Hee and Dokgo Yeon had children, she would have one too.
All three women were physically ready to bear children, though it was still a bit early.
The only thing holding us back was my own mental readiness. The three of them desired happiness as women, but with them, I wanted to enjoy happiness more as a man than as a father—rather than the joy and fulfillment of fatherhood.
- Having children recklessly is not the proper way of a husband.
My master had said so. One must be wary of simply having them and seeing what happens, all while claiming it's to make a woman happy.
"A child... that's nice. But once you're pregnant, the Mating Thousand-pound Hammer will be impossible."
"Ah."
"The Heavenly Demon Cowgirl Position would be out too."
"Tsk."
"We couldn't do it hard from the front, and could you even manage it hard from behind?"
"......."
I barely managed to persuade them. I strongly asserted that they must first reach the Harmony Realm to avoid pain during pregnancy and have a safe birth.
"Let's take more time to expand the Cheon Family Estate before having children. Won't we need rooms for the children? One or two buildings won't be enough."
"Well, if it's for that reason, it can't be helped."
Fortunately, the three of them shelved their plans to become mothers early.
"Instead, so that you can all reach the Harmony Realm quickly, I'll help with all my might."
...Somehow, I ended up even busier, but I diligently helped the three of them.
"Bi-cheon, can you use Shaolin martial arts? At the level of a Harmony Realm master."
"Nothing I can't do. I can manage it at the level of the top five powerhouses among the Baekpal Nahan."
To prepare for a time when she might have to fight the White Path's Murim, she would face the Young Heavenly Demon using White Path martial arts—or something along those lines.
"Dear physician, are the Hwangbo Clan's martial arts possible for you? At a level similar to mine... a peak-level master."
"Not the mid-peak stage, but barely entering the peak level is possible. However, can I draw on the Heavenly Demon Divine Art as well? If I do, it would be about the same."
Perhaps she would one day have to swing her sword at White Path warriors. She, the Sky-Shattering Divine Sword, would stand against them as a White Path warrior herself—or something like that.
"My lord, please counter my I-ok Cheongeunchu this time. Eek!"
"You're supposed to be training, not doing this! You naughty breasts!"
Smack. Smack.
When they couldn't focus on martial arts training, I would sternly scold them.
To help them reach the Harmony Realm as fast as possible, I pushed the martial prowess of all three to its utter limit.
Sometimes I sparred with them directly, and other times, I taught them as someone who knew their martial arts better.
For Sagong Hee, as the Taiji Sword Empress.
For Lee Si-a, as the future Heavenly Demon.
For Dokgo Yeon, as the Sky-Shattering Divine Sword.
Coming face-to-face with their own futures, the three of them experienced a clear 'wall,' and they gave everything they had to break through that wall.
Thanks to that, their martial arts improved day by day.
Regrettably, four months wasn't enough for a peak-level expert to immediately break through to the upper peak, or for Dokgo Yeon, already at the upper peak, to reach the Harmony Realm and announce she'd have a child right away.
And there were several helpers who aided in this.
"Everyone, please have some snacks."
"Thank you, Jin Sa-wol."
So that the three could focus on martial arts, Jin Sa-wol came by the Cheon Family Estate every day to prepare meals. Thanks to her, we never missed lunch or dinner and could always eat our fill.
"Though there have been times she trained in martial arts while preparing the food...."
"Husband, at least for breakfast, I want to make it for you!"
Since Dokgo Yeon stubbornly insisted on always making breakfast, I left everything for that meal to her.
I tried to help her, but Dokgo Yeon wanted to personally take charge of the entire household of the Cheon Family Estate.
"My lord, I'll help with the meal."
"Just put the water on the stove and go."
"Bi-cheon, isn't there anything for me to do?"
"Watch the Heavenly Demon cook."
While the sun was rising, we combined our meals with martial arts training.
We put that much heat into martial arts training over four months, and while we created an environment where one could learn nothing but martial arts, unexpected variables began to emerge one by one.
First, Sagong Hee's case.
"My lord, the sect leader is looking for me, so I'll be back shortly."
"Travel safely. Be sure to tell me what it was about when you return."
Sagong Hee, outwardly, had to carry out her duties as the Taiji Flower.
- Hyeon-ta, are you going to keep calling Gyeon-hui away?
- Grandmaster, I'm sorry, but please cooperate a little with the Wudang Sect's affairs. Please try to understand my position, caught in the middle.
No matter how much I pestered Sa Jeong-hu to minimize the occasions Sagong Hee had to step forward, there were a few things that only she could do.
"My lord. May I go and hold friendly sparring matches with the elders?"
"Go and come back victorious."
For example, acting as a teacher who personally instructs the elders in the Taiji Wisdom Sword.
"My lord. The eldest daughter of the Xin family estate requested a sparring match."
"A sparring match? Is that truly necessary?"
"She was pretty, you know?"
"...Shall we at least go and spectate?"
It was necessary to deliver a proper education to the arrogant wenches who dared to scheme against the Taiji Flower before even facing the Six Phoenixes.
"At night I'm busy, and during the day, my sect keeps calling for me.... Haah, my time is being stolen away more than I expected."
So it was difficult for Sagong Hee to train purely in martial arts at the Cheon Family Estate.
From morning until evening, three days out of every ten, she 'commuted' to the Wudang Sect, traveling back and forth between home and her sect.
As for whether the other two could concentrate all their time on martial arts—that wasn't the case either.
Lee Si-a's case.
"It's strange... that bastard must be up to something for sure."
Lee Si-a used all her free time—any time not spent on martial arts training—to search for the schemes of Grand Duke Ju-ji.
"Jin Sa-wol. Was there really nothing else like that in Shaanxi?"
"Yes. I even tried gathering information through old connections, but no such events occurred."
"Ugh... this is strange. Why is that bastard still so quiet?"
There was a limit to gathering information in Hubei. Yet she wasn't able to go outside either.
"Bi-cheon, can't we bring just one more of the Ten Demons to our side?"
"Who?"
"Su-ma. If it's her, she'd definitely make it easy to get information from other places. She could easily converse with the Flame Demon in Sichuan and the Ice Demon in Henan too."
Su-ma, the Beast Demon.
True to her title, she is a Demon who handles beasts.
Especially the sorcery of transforming into a bird that flies through the sky—it is unparalleled.
Her intelligence capabilities are so tremendous that you could say thirty percent of the Demonic Cult's information network comes from Su-ma.
"With just Su-ma, I could easily talk to the Flame Demon and Ice Demon. The messenger pigeons Su-ma controls wouldn't be caught by anyone."
Lee Si-a wanted to turn Su-ma, one of the Earth Qilin Three Demons, into the Flying Heaven Water Demon.
"That bastard... I'm dying to know what he's doing."
Getting stronger through martial arts training was good, but as the next Heavenly Demon, she did not want to be outdone by Grand Duke Ju-ji.
"Su-ma is an elusive existence. You won't find her without laying a trap. And even with a trap, she probably won't come to Hubei."
I calmed Lee Si-a down. Lee Si-a, too, was well aware of how difficult Su-ma was to catch.
"Then how about we go catch the Thunder Demon instead? She's definitely a woman, right? How about it, why not make her your handmaiden too. Honestly, aren't you a little tempted?"
Lee Si-a didn't know exactly what kind of being Su-ma was. But she did know for certain that the Thunder Demon was a woman.
"That's true, but the Thunder Demon is also a considerably meticulous and cautious one. If Su-ma requires a trap, then to catch the Thunder Demon, you'd have to travel quite far."
"Ugh...."
Lee Si-a wanted to make the Earth Qilin Three Demons her own people. After turning the Flame Demon and Ice Demon into her personal handmaidens, Lee Si-a had gained a considerable surge in confidence.
"Aren't more than half the Demons already on your side? Set your mind at ease."
The Ten Demons on Bi-cheon's side numbered six total: Blade, Bandit, Illusion, Lust, Flame, and Ice. She already had more than half the Ten Demons in her grasp—
"A majority isn't enough. Not just six—I need the remaining four Demons to all be my people."
"Your greed runs deep."
"What's wrong with the Heavenly Demon being a little greedy? I'm a woman who will seize the whole world, let alone just a hundred thousand demonic practitioners."
Lee Si-a wanted to make every single one of the Ten Demons her own martial artists. She wanted to completely purge Grand Duke Ju-ji's faction from the Demonic Cult.
"Sister Si-a. Are you hoping to conquer the Central Plains?"
At Lee Si-a's ambition, Dokgo Yeon pretended not to care, but was actually paying quite a lot of attention. After all, as the daughter of the Murim Alliance Leader, she was generally inclined to avoid plunging the Central Plains into chaos.
"I'm not interested in that. What I'm interested in is something else. And if you really want to get technical, I'd have to occupy the Demonic Cult first to keep the demonic practitioners from running wild in the Central Plains, wouldn't I?"
"So, by becoming the leader, you intend to crush everyone who advocates invading the Central Plains with sheer force."
"Exactly. If the Heavenly Demon refuses to invade the Central Plains, they'll have to follow. If they don't like it, they can just leave the Demonic Cult."
Lee Si-a did not wish for a Great Righteous-Demonic War.
"That's why I need to completely root out that bastard Ju-ji's plots...."
Regrettably, that was an impossible task from within the Cheon Family Estate. The worries and distractions that plagued Lee Si-a became factors that hindered her growth.
And then there was Dokgo Yeon.
"Husband, do you have any more laundry to do?"
"Husband, would you teach me how to make five-spice jangyuk?"
"Husband, what should I prepare for tonight's drinks?"
"Husband, Sister Si-a is about to dry the laundry! Please help me!!"
Dokgo Yeon, together with Jin Sa-wol, took charge of the household chores of the Cheon Family Estate.
Because she was so innately responsible, Dokgo Yeon concentrated on domestic work in parallel with her martial arts training.
And sometimes, there were moments when she couldn't even focus on the housework.
"Husband, I have a favor to ask. Do you know of Hwangbo Hye-ji?"
"I know of her. Is she not the legitimate daughter of the Hwangbo Clan?"
"...She's my friend... well, the thing is...."
Hwangbo Hye-ji.
She is a woman I know of as well, and as it happens, she is also connected to none other than Lee Si-a.
"Hye-ji is apparently being forced by her family to marry a man she doesn't want. But this marriage... it doesn't seem like a normal one."
"What? A political marriage? And with some local powerful family's wastrel, not even a martial arts clan? ...I feel like I've heard this somewhere before? It reeks of that bastard's doing."
The shadow of Grand Duke Ju-ji had fallen over the Hwangbo Clan.
"Husband, would you be willing to help Hye-ji too?"
"Me? You do know what it means when you ask me for help, don't you?"
The Hwangbo Clan.
To root out the Grand Duke's scheme cast over that place, ordinary methods would fall short.
"Husband, please kidnap Hye-ji too."
"Are you telling me to violate Hwangbo Hye-ji?"
"I guarantee it—if Hye-ji opens her heart to you, my lord, she's the type who would leave her clan."
"...It seems it is time for the Sky-Soaring Lust Demon to step forward."
Four months.
It was indeed about time for the Lust Demon to begin moving in earnest.
And then.
"My lord. The sect leader said something to me today.... I think this requires a bit of discussion."
"About what?"
"I received an invitation."
"An invitation?"
"Yes."
The Murim's Number One Flower, the Taiji Flower Sagong Hee, had received a formal invitation.
"Where to?"
"Mount Hua."
From one of the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Mount Hua Sect.