Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 179
>Chapter Title: Path Forward (4)
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About a month before the Demonic Path Academy graduation ceremony.
One of the five great clan houses of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and the prestigious family that produced the current Heavenly Demon. Something extraordinary was unfolding in the Hyeok-ryeon Clan.
Hyeok-ryeon Hwan, the eldest son of Clan Head Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang and the young clan head himself, had finally emerged after over three years of secluded training.
“Young Clan Head!”
“You’ve changed so much you’re unrecognizable, Young Clan Head!”
Even as the retainers showered him with praise, Hyeok-ryeon Hwan simply nodded with a face heavy with gravitas, then headed somewhere.
He was on his way to the clan head’s hall to inform his father and clan head, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, that his seclusion was over.
As he neared the clan head’s hall, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang’s voice echoed from within.
“Come in.”
Hyeok-ryeon Hwan nodded with a look that said it was just as expected.
Even after breaking through the wall in his secluded training, his father had sensed his energy in an instant, as always.
Entering the clan head’s hall, Hyeok-ryeon Hwan clasped his hands in salute toward the clan head.
“I greet the Clan Head.”
“Good. Sit comfortably.”
Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang accepted his greeting curtly, then spoke the moment his son sat down.
“You’ve broken through the wall.”
“It’s thanks to you, Clan Head.”
“Good. A couple more breakthroughs like that, and I could hand over my position to you.”
“How could mere ascension to Transcending Demon possibly displace you, Clan Head?”
The Demonic Cult operated by the law of the strong.
A prime example was the tradition called the battle for the cult leader’s throne. The strongest claimed the title of leader and cultivated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Naturally, the five great clan houses followed a similar tradition.
The strongest in the clan became the clan head.
And thanks to over three years of secluded training, Hyeok-ryeon Hwan had reached the realm just shy of Transcending Demon.
As Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang said, a couple more breakthroughs, and he’d reach a level where he could enter Transcending Demon with the Blood Shadow Eighteen Swords.
But the current clan head, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, was a man who had entered Transcending Demon nearly twenty years ago.
Freshly ascended or not, he was no opponent.
Thus, their conversation resembled those in royal or imperial courts elsewhere.
The emperor or king proposing abdication to an accomplished child, only for the crown prince or heir to startle and protest that someone like himself could never dare displace His Majesty and ascend the throne.
At least, that’s how it appeared on the surface.
Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang let out a light sigh at his son’s steady, curt responses, always addressing him as Clan Head.
“You’re still holding the secluded training against me?”
“Not at all, Clan Head. I’m simply acting in a manner befitting the position of young clan head, as you yourself have said.”
Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang swallowed another sigh at his son’s curt words.
Hyeok-ryeon Hwan’s seclusion hadn’t been voluntary.
Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang had forcibly shut him in a cave, with the command not to emerge until he broke through the wall.
The attitude so different from before entering seclusion. No matter how he looked at it, it felt less like playing the part of young clan head and more like sulking, but Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang decided to let it slide for now.
“Be that as it may, you’ve broken through the wall, so that’s fortunate. Keep refining yourself relentlessly and ascend to Transcending Demon.”
“I shall, Clan Head.”
Hyeok-ryeon Hwan saluted once more with clasped hands and left the clan head’s hall.
“Young Clan Head!”
“Congratulations on completing your seclusion!”
Each time he passed retainers on the way, he nodded to them with a stern face.
The second place he arrived at was his own residence, a sort of young clan head’s hall granted to him as young clan head.
And there, waiting for him, was the woman who had shouldered his duties as young clan head in his absence.
“Madam!”
“Husband!”
The couple, reunited after over three long years, exchanged heated gazes.
It was a sight that would have shocked Il-mok.
For on the face of the once venomous Cheong-hwa Madam bloomed a radiant smile, like any other woman.
“You’ve endured much in my absence, Madam.”
“As the future matriarch of the great Hyeok-ryeon Clan, it was only natural.”
Their words were ordinary, but the gazes they exchanged carried a scorching intensity. A heated promise that something would happen tonight.
They lingered like that, sharing their reunion for quite some time.
Then Cheong-hwa Madam, who knew her husband all too well, broached the subject delicately.
“Are you looking for Seon-a?”
It was a subtle shift in his eyes, but she hadn’t missed how they occasionally scanned the hall’s interior.
“Ahem. Y-yes.”
Hyeok-ryeon Hwan replied in an awkward tone.
“I’ll lead the way. Let’s go together.”
“Are you sure that’s alright? Isn’t Seon-a in the middle of cultivating the Blood Fox Crimson Claw Art right now?”
“She must greet her father after so long, mustn’t she? And a brief talk with Seon-a should be fine.”
“It seems Seon-a has overcome the side effects of the Blood Fox Crimson Claw Art!”
Hyeok-ryeon Hwan exclaimed brightly, but Cheong-hwa Madam responded with a reluctant expression.
“Y-yes.”
Even as her mother, she wasn’t entirely sure if “overcome” was the right word.
But with his head already full of thoughts of Seon-a, Hyeok-ryeon Hwan missed his wife’s subtle reaction.
“Let’s go.”
In the end, guided by Cheong-hwa Madam, Hyeok-ryeon Hwan set off to see his daughter, who now lived separately.
This too was due to the side effects of the Blood Fox Crimson Claw Art.
To think his daughter, barely over ten, had to live apart from him.
“At the very least, she should stay in her father’s arms until she’s thirty!!”
Hyeok-ryeon Hwan swallowed his indignant cry.
The reason his father had forcibly put him into seclusion.
It was because he was an extreme doting father on his daughter.
It wasn’t just interfering with her training.
It hindered his own training as well.
Even time meant for cultivating the Blood Shadow Eighteen Swords, he spent endlessly clinging to his daughter.
Finally exploding after enduring his pathetic behavior, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang had thrown him into the cave.
Thanks to that, he had broken through the wall, but he felt no gratitude toward his father for it.
“For my daughter, I’d gladly give my life!”
The reason he had broken through the wall was purely for his daughter Seon-a.
With the single-minded resolve to see her adorable face again, he had devoted himself to the sword like a madman and succeeded.
Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang was mistaken.
He had hoped the seclusion would rid Hyeok-ryeon Hwan of his obsession with his daughter, but instead, it had only worsened.
It was an understandable mistake. As clan head of the Hyeok-ryeon Clan, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang viewed his son’s condition as akin to the side effects of the Blood Fox Crimson Claw Art.
But Hyeok-ryeon Hwan’s doting on his daughter had nothing to do with demonic arts—it was simply pure paternal love.
It wasn’t the sort of thing that vanished just because he hadn’t seen her face for a while or his demonic cultivation advanced. If anything, it only deepened.
‘Oh no. Control your expression.’
On the way to see his daughter after over three years, Hyeok-ryeon Hwan kept having to pull down his grinning lips.
‘If I draw attention again, that damned father of mine might lock me back in the cave.’
The reason Hyeok-ryeon Hwan had acted so curt and stern since emerging from seclusion.
It was purely to avoid being thrown back into the cave.
To ensure nothing interfered with reuniting with his daughter, he grimly managed his expression as he headed onward.
Guided by Cheong-hwa Madam, they arrived at a training ground set up in one corner of the Hyeok-ryeon Clan.
There she was.
His daughter, whose hair had turned red from the influence of the Blood Fox Crimson Claw Art.
“Haat!”
With a shout, she swung her similarly reddened nails.
A child’s growth was truly swift. Three and a half years felt long, but how had that tiny girl grown so much?
Moisture already gathered in Hyeok-ryeon Hwan’s eyes, but he didn’t rush to her.
He even stopped his wife from calling out to Seon-a, instead watching his daughter’s devoted training with a proud expression.
And the moment Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a exhaled deeply after repeating until her inner energy was spent.
“Hoo.”
Clap, clap, clap.
He applauded thunderously, palms nearly bursting, to celebrate his daughter’s achievements.
Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a turned at the sudden applause, her eyes widening.
“Father?”
Even the formal address from his daughter, who once called him “Daddy, Daddy,” only made Hyeok-ryeon Hwan smile contentedly.
“Hahaha. My daughter has changed beyond recognition in just three years.”
“You seem to have achieved great success yourself, Father. Congratulations.”
Hyeok-ryeon Hwan beamed happily even at her polite, distant reply.
“Hahaha. Truly impressive.”
Her formal demeanor struck him as proof she was overcoming the Blood Fox Crimson Claw Art’s side effects.
Now a fifteen-year-old young lady, his daughter smiled demurely at her father’s praise.
“I’ve trained my utmost to stand by Brother’s side.”
“…Brother?”
Hyeok-ryeon Hwan’s thoughts froze at the unfamiliar term from his daughter. He turned to his wife.
“Did we have a son?”
Cheong-hwa Madam sighed deeply at her husband’s deranged remark.
* * *
Cheong-hwa Madam led the statue-still Hyeok-ryeon Hwan back to the young clan head’s hall.
Shortly after, she explained everything to Hyeok-ryeon Hwan, who had barely escaped his heart demon.
“The ‘brother’ Seon-a mentioned refers to the new youngest disciple taken in by the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons.”
“In fact, three years ago, while Seon-a was deep into cultivating the Blood Fox Crimson Claw Art, she grew close to that youngest disciple.”
“Fortunately, even after that youngest disciple entered the Demonic Path Academy, Seon-a never rampaged or fell into Demonic Deviation. She just waits anxiously for him…”
Cheong-hwa Madam’s explanation came in brief, sporadic bursts.
She had no choice.
Each detail sent her husband tumbling back into heart demon territory.
Hyeok-ryeon Hwan finally heard it all just shy of spitting blood, then shouted without composing himself.
“No! How could you let such a lecher approach Seon-a!”
Il-mok was branded a lecher in an instant.
And at her husband’s scolding after three and a half years apart, Cheong-hwa Madam’s face soured.
“Are you, who’s been absent for over three years, seriously scolding me now?”
Hyeok-ryeon Hwan instinctively sensed it. The heated night reuniting with his wife after three and a half years was in danger of freezing over like the ice crystals of an eternal glacier.
“I-I wasn’t scolding! I’m s-sorry! Right! I meant Father! What was Father thinking, letting a lecher near a child suffering side effects!”
To preserve marital harmony, he casually threw his father under the bus.
Cheong-hwa Madam felt a surge of irritation but accepted the excuse for the sake of rekindling things with her long-absent husband.
“Even Father had no choice. The Supreme Lord of Ten Thousand Demons took that youngest disciple’s side.”
“!!!”
For her startled husband, Cheong-hwa Madam shared tales of the Eighth Young Master.
What the youngest young master had accomplished over the past three years, and how dearly the Heavenly Demon cherished that disciple.
Right after hearing it all, Hyeok-ryeon Hwan said with utmost seriousness.
“To think the great one has become a hopeless doting father! This demands severe punishment for we of the Silver Wing Pavilion who serve the Supreme One, Madam!”
Coming from a fellow doting father, it carried no conviction.
* * *
A month had passed since Hyeok-ryeon Hwan emerged from seclusion.
Much had happened in that time.
He’d tried recreating memories with his long-lost daughter by suggesting a bath together, only to be treated like a madman.
He’d visited her quarters for a precious talk, only to be turned away at the door—unbeknownst to him, it was the exact time Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a received Il-mok’s doll.
Well, aside from such minor incidents, things were going decently with his daughter.
Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a visited the young clan head’s hall every morning to pay respects, and at least shared meals with her parents.
The problem was only when her training time or doll reception was interrupted—she treated the interrupter like a lifelong enemy.
Thus, today Hyeok-ryeon Hwan was leaving the clan for Wind Rock Hall.
To meet the youngest young master graduating from the Demonic Path Academy today.
‘This is all because of that damned youngest young master.’
To dare seduce his daughter while he was away. He absolutely couldn’t let it slide.
‘Until my daughter comes of age. Yes, at least until thirty, no one can covet my daughter!’
Killing intent and demonic energy poured relentlessly from his eyes.