Chapter 256
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 256
Chapter Title: Cheon Luri, Cheon Yuri (4)
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From the very beginning.
From that moment when he became an illegal intruder who smashed through the wall of the training chamber and a nude observer.
In Geum Sihyeon's mind, the incantation on Cheon Luri's back was always etched like a fire brand.
It wasn't that he was fixated on her soft, plump, snow-white back. No, it was more like, what the hell is that incantation? Why does she have it carved there? If it's a tattoo, it must have hurt like crazy.
When their relationship wasn't close yet, those were the scattered thoughts that started it all.
When Luri bit his nape.
When they began drawing physically and psychologically closer.
When Luri's uncontrolled demonic qi occasionally threatened to rampage.
In all those moments, great and small, Geum Sihyeon quietly wondered, pondered, and worried in his heart about the true nature of that incantation.
But.
He knew well that sometimes it was better not to ask first.
And because he believed that someday Cheon Luri would explain it to him herself.
Until now, he had never asked first.
But.
Now, he had to know.
After all, "There should be no secrets between husband and wife" was one of Geum Sihyeon's core tenets.
It was precisely because he upheld that tenet so firmly that he could shamelessly yap things like, "I'm building a harem with this girl and that girl, you cool with it?" every time he got tangled up with a new woman.
"Luri. I've got something I'm curious about."
"Yeah?"
"That thing carved on your back... exactly, what does it mean?"
It was a very cautious question.
But Luri's answer was crystal clear.
"I don't know either."
"......"
Geum Sihyeon's faith was rewarded.
The fact that Cheon Luri wasn't hiding any secrets from him—she simply didn't know herself and thus hadn't said anything!
"Dyu......"
In the wake of the extreme shock, Geum Sihyeon's language skills briefly devolved below even Cheon Luri's level in a momentary mishap.
But his next response was swift.
If Cheon Luri didn't know.
Then drag in someone who did and beat the answers out of them.
"I figured you'd ask sooner. You're pretty late to the party, huh?"
Gazing at Cheon Yuri's brazen smile.
Geum Sihyeon couldn't shake the urge to slap that impertinent cheek silly, just like he sometimes wanted to do with Cheon Luri.
But if he did that, the little angel demurely perched on his lap would probably activate Heavenly Demon mode and tear him to shreds.
Letting out a sigh, Geum Sihyeon simply shot her a heavy, sunken gaze.
"The temperature difference is too extreme. Aren't you being a bit too dismissive of the Cult Leader?"
"I was just coming back from whipping the elders on Heavenly Mountain into shape."
"Oh my, impressive. So cool."
Cheon Yuri giggled.
And then.
She began undressing with utmost naturalness.
"Wait, why──"
Geum Sihyeon startled to his feet in alarm.
But with Geonri impassively stroking Cheon Luri, he couldn't budge, forced to simply watch Cheon Yuri's casual striptease.
Of course, there was no seductive intent behind the action.
Once fully nude.
Cheon Yuri turned her back to him, revealing her own back.
There.
Was the exact same incantation as on Cheon Luri's back—not a single stroke out of place.
Cheon Yuri casually draped her clothes back on, loosely covering her upper body.
"Hehe."
She turned back around with a smile tinged with an odd aura.
"As you can see, hmm, just as you and Luri are connected, Luri and I are connected through this incantation."
Demonic Primordial Infant Great Law.
Human life is finite, yet the path of martial arts one must walk approaches infinity.
One's life force, inner power, pure vital energy.
By devoting it all utterly, transforming and birthing one's Primordial Infant as a split soul—that was the great law.
Of course, the separated other self was ultimately a completely independent being.
Aside from the fact that their minds were linked, nothing else was the same—and if their relationship soured extremely, even that link could sever.
In other words.
It offered no benefit to the caster.
And instead only gnawed away at their lifespan.
But if that great law had any singular meaning.
"The completion of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and the breakthrough of the Heavenly Demon Grotto..."
"Right. It was the desperate wish of the entire Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the entire Cheon Clan. I, too, am Mother's Primordial Infant. ...Of course, the cult followers don't know this."
It was a sacrifice to shatter the limits of martial arts that could only be passed from master to disciple, reaching ever higher realms.
Geum Sihyeon listened to the entire explanation with a hardened expression.
"To sum it up."
"Yeah."
"You're like split bodies of each other. The Cult Leader's flesh was born first, but in essence, it's more contained in Luri."
He summarized it at an easy level even Cheon Luri could grasp.
"As expected of my Geum hubby. Neat and tidy. If I may add, even though I look like this, I'm still a virgin, you know? Makes sense since I didn't give birth."
At Cheon Yuri's gratuitous TMI that only a niche few would care about, Geum Sihyeon averted his gaze and sighed.
Normally.
Cheon Luri, who burned with possessive jealousy, would declare "Mine!" with a growl at Cheon Yuri around this point.
But.
"Mom's fine."
"Hey, damn it, not you too—what are you even saying in this situation...!"
Luri was the heroine who had already forged a lion's pact with Myo Narang, Moyong Seol, and Seo Dohee, expanding her small joys and little Heavenly Demon imperialism to the point of sharing even with outsiders.
How could such magnanimous Luri not yield Geum Sihyeon to Cheon Yuri?
Of course, just for a little while. Very briefly.
It was the concept of lending out her possession.
As the room's atmosphere suddenly veered into strange territory, Geum Sihyeon expressed his regret by picking up Cheon Luri and tossing her at Cheon Yuri.
"Hmph."
Luri, now settled on Cheon Yuri's lap, snorted in dissatisfaction.
But the words from Geum Sihyeon's mouth were enough to freeze the room solid.
"...We'll talk about that later. So, does that mean Luri has to live her whole life with that rampaging demonic qi?"
"It was our fate."
"......For something like the Heavenly Demon Divine Art? For mere martial arts?"
Cheon Yuri's expression hardened slightly.
"You... wouldn't understand. You're too damn smart."
Even her manner of address had changed as she snapped back.
"What does intellect have to do with it?"
Geum Sihyeon calmly met her eyes with pity, his expression unchanging.
"You've been to Heavenly Mountain yourself. It's barren beyond belief, a hellish place to survive. For the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, branded a demonic sect, to return to the Central Plains, the existence of the Heavenly Demon was essential."
"That's the cult's problem."
"The cult's problem is my problem."
"Even so, it's too... far too heavy a burden for one person to bear."
"One person──"
"Luri, and you, Cheon Yuri—both of you. How can a human life not outweigh perfecting martial arts?"
At Geum Sihyeon's words.
Not only Cheon Yuri.
Cheon Luri momentarily went blank as well.
But unlike Cheon Yuri, who couldn't grasp the meaning.
Cheon Luri dimly sensed she understood.
Geum Sihyeon was the one who had always seen her not as the Little Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but as Cheon Luri herself.
That's why she felt curiosity toward him, drawn to him, and ultimately pounced.
Above martial arts, organization, grand causes.
People. Herself. That mattered most.
Others might not get it.
But Geum Sihyeon had every right to say it.
Thus.
Cheon Luri reached out and touched the cheek of the dazed Cheon Yuri.
At the same moment.
"The Heavenly Demon of this era decrees: From now on, the Cheon Clan is forbidden from cultivating the Heavenly Demon Divine Art via the Demonic Primordial Infant Great Law. Do not sacrifice the present for the future—live fully in the now."
Geum Sihyeon, altering his tone, declared in a low but firm voice.
That decree didn't just strike at the core—it tickled a long-embedded sorrow deep in Cheon Yuri's heart.
"Ha, hahaha......"
A decree from the Heavenly Demon of the era—how could a mere Cult Leader defy it?
However.
"But then... what about me?"
Even now, she was sending purely refined energy to Cheon Luri through the incantation while wholly absorbing the turbid demonic qi that rampaged and gnawed at her insides.
In other words.
From the moment the Primordial Infant split, her life had been lived solely for Cheon Luri.
Her head bowed, murmuring almost to herself as she gazed down at Cheon Luri's round head.
"That's why I'm here right now—to figure that out together."
Not the voice of the self-proclaimed Heavenly Demon from moments ago.
But the usual voice of her husband, Geum hubby, Geum Hyunmun Lord Geum Sihyeon.
Cheon Yuri lifted her head and met his eyes.
Unlike moments ago, when she remained calm even with emotions synced to Cheon Luri.
Somehow, in this space where a trace of sorrow had slipped away.
Her heart began to pulse, bit by bit, differently from usual.