Chapter 8
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 4.1
Chapter Title: Heavenly Mechanism Child
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"What a relief."
An Yeong let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that her son had finally emerged from his room.
It would be a lie to say she hadn't been worried all this time.
However, her concerns differed from those of Song Hwa, who had delivered the news, or the people around her.
She had heard something directly from her son.
No matter how strong the backing of the Jang Family Clan, it wasn't enough on its own to make commerce thrive.
Because of this, she hadn't been able to spend much time with her son.
An Hoe had seized upon this very point.
He intended to use it to create a situation where he wouldn't step out of his room for a long while once he returned.
"While I'm at it, I should fabricate the circumstances that impressed the White Crane Elder too."
And so, the fabricated figure of the Heavenly Mechanism Child was born.
An Hoe sought out his mother early in the morning, just before completing the Seventh Layer Multiple Refinement Array.
Her son had never come to her so early before.
An Yeong was surprised but pleased.
"Is something the matter?"
An Hoe shook his head and replied.
"Since the White Crane Elder left without asking me anything further, I came to you."
"..."
An Yeong fell silent for a moment.
It wasn't for any other reason that she hadn't inquired.
She simply feared it might trouble her son.
As if reading her inner thoughts, An Hoe continued.
"I have no intention of hiding it from you, Mother."
"Thank you."
An Hoe began spinning his tale.
"It was when I was five years old. I was reviewing the lessons I'd learned that day in front of my quarters when an old man I'd never seen before came to visit me."
After his mother left the family, few people sought him out.
Excluding the servants, it was only the occasional scholars sent by his grandfather, Jang So, for his education.
Yet this old man had come for him.
"He examined me briefly and then said, 'At last, I've found the Ziwei Star!'"
"Ziwei Star..."
It was the star also known as Polaris, the reference point of the Big Dipper.
Due to its shape dominating the constellations, it was regarded as the star of emperors.
An auspicious star, and to hear it applied to her own son drew An Yeong deep into the story.
"He seemed greatly pleased and introduced himself as the Heavenly Mechanism Child."
"Heavenly Mechanism Child?"
A literal translation would mean "one who knows the energies of heaven," a truly grandiose title.
An Hoe pressed on with his narrative.
"He also said he had inherited the energies of the Taiwei Wall."
"What is the Taiwei Wall?"
An Hoe nodded emphatically and explained.
"It's a term from ancient times, one of the Three Walls. The Ziwei Wall, Taiwei Wall, and Tianshi Wall.
The Ziwei Wall—or Ziwei Star—is the king of the heavens, while the Tianshi Wall can be seen as the city where that heavenly king resides.
The Taiwei Wall is the king's palace, serving to assist the Ziwei Star."
"Hmm..."
An Yeong let out a low hum.
The scale of the story far surpassed anything involving the Jang Family Clan.
A naive child might welcome such a special destiny.
But one who had weathered life's storms and come to know the world would realize how harsh such a fate truly was.
Seemingly oblivious to her feelings, An Hoe continued indifferently.
"There was a reason the one bearing the Taiwei Wall's energies sought me out. Ominous stars—the Di Kuai Star, Di Mo Star, and Tian Sha Star—had appeared in the world."
"Ah!"
The very names evoked dread, drawing a gasp like a groan from An Yeong.
An Hoe glanced at his mother, hesitated briefly, then resumed.
"It was a truly horrific event. Even one of those three emerging would plunge the world into chaos, but all three had appeared, forcing him to defy the heavens and seek me out early."
"...Why? Why?"
In her maternal instinct to protect her child, An Hoe took her hand reassuringly and said.
"Mother, it's alright. The world may seem chaotic, but it ultimately flows according to natural order."
"Natural order..."
"Yes. It flows according to natural order."
An Yeong calmed slightly at the words "natural order," and An Hoe continued.
"Bearing the Ziwei Star's energies means embodying heaven's will. No matter how malevolent the energies of the Di Kuai, Di Mo, and Tian Sha Stars, they cannot escape heaven's natural order."
They would wither and crumble before it.
"Don't worry. I need only follow the preparations the Heavenly Mechanism Child has made for me."
"Might I meet this Heavenly Mechanism Child someday?"
An Yeong wanted to ask him what she could do to help and whether her son could truly handle such perils.
"...Not at the moment."
Since the figure was entirely fabricated, An Hoe had no choice but to reply thus.
An Yeong nodded in understanding, though with regret.
Seeing his mother accept it so readily, An Hoe felt relieved and went on.
"With the Heavenly Mechanism Child's help, I awakened to my destiny early and was able to follow him. However, for a time, I must hide myself from heaven.
"What do you mean by that?"
"The laws of natural order apply not only to evil."
Peeking into heavenly secrets, regardless of the Heavenly Mechanism Child's intentions, deviated from natural order.
An Hoe explained that the repercussions reaching him were inevitable.
"Fortunately, the Heavenly Mechanism Child taught me how to avoid it."
He then told her he wouldn't leave his room for a while starting that day.
Only then did An Yeong understand why her son had come to reveal this "truth."
She reached out, embracing her son—who maintained his calm demeanor—and said.
"If it gets hard, please tell me."
"...Yes, Mother."
His words might have seemed astonishing, yet amid it all, his mother's concern for him touched An Hoe deeply.
He had also felt some guilt over the deception.
But it wasn't an outright lie.
The Ziwei Star and Heavenly Mechanism Child were fabrications, but the rest was true.
In awakening to the truth, An Hoe had naturally learned to read the heavens, and on the day of his regression, he had sighed at the grim future ahead.
'That really startled me. Who could have known the Di Kuai Star, Di Mo Star, and Tian Sha Star would appear in the same era?'
As he had said, even one of these ominous stars would engulf the world in chaos.
For three to emerge in one era was unprecedented.
It wouldn't end with mere turmoil.
The natural order itself might reverse into an age of utter chaos.
"This world's true history must have been quite tumultuous too..."
He sighed thus, yet not a trace of worry marred his face.
Di Kuai Star, Di Mo Star, Tian Sha Star—whatever they were called, what he faced were mere incarnations of these ominous stars.
They could scarcely compare to the Demon King, the incarnation of the cosmic origin known as the evil god, whom he had confronted.
"The Tian Sha Star is the problem..."
Among the 36 Heavenly Penal Stars and 72 Earthly Penal Stars, the Tian Sha Star vied for the top spot in malevolence.
If it fully blossomed, it transcended mere incarnation to become the star itself.
A horror on the level of the Demon King.
"Fortunately, full blossoming is unlikely."
For the Tian Sha Star to reach that state, it required absorbing five incarnations of ominous stars.
No matter that the Di Kuai and Di Mo Stars shared an era with it, they wouldn't easily submit.
"The best course is to eliminate them early."
Not easy, but far from impossible for An Hoe.
Finding them would take time, but he could do so before it was too late.
Having thus smoothed over his situation with his fabricated tale for An Yeong, An Hoe later produced a book from his bosom.
"Jade Flower Art?"
It was similar yet different from what he'd taught Song Hwa—this version tailored for his mother.
Naturally, this Jade Flower Art too aimed to gather fresh vital energies to forge a suitable body.
"It's one of the arts the Heavenly Mechanism Child taught me."
"From him!"
An Yeong showed great interest upon hearing it came from the enigmatic Heavenly Mechanism Child.
She examined it closely, then voiced a doubt.
Given the source, she expected a profound art, yet its level seemed unremarkable.
"No need to think it strange. The Jade Flower Art is merely a foundational exercise for cultivating the Jade Maiden Heart Scripture."
"Jade Maiden Heart Scripture?"
An Yeong sensed its extraordinary nature from the "scripture" in the name.
Seeing this, An Hoe smiled and said.
"It's even greater than you imagine, Mother. Please cultivate it diligently."
"Do you think I don't understand my son's heart in giving me this? I'll practice it diligently."
It was An Yeong's candid admission—she had no intention of holding her son back.
An Hoe smiled broadly at his mother's immediate grasp of his intent and nodded.
"It's mealtime already. Shall we eat together?"
"Hahaha. Truth be told, that's why I came early."
"Well done."
An Yeong smiled happily at her son's words, then hurriedly ordered the meal served.
The shared lunch was pleasant.
The food was delicious, but above all, their simple conversation brought joy.
After that time, mother and son wouldn't meet for over eight months.
Not out of longing withheld, but because she feared disturbing her son, who tread a difficult path.
During that period, An Yeong threw herself even more into her work.
And true to her promise, she devoted herself to the Jade Flower Art her son had given her.
Her progress surpassed expectations; soon, she neared the Small Accomplishment stage.
At last, she could end the wait that had made each day feel like a year.
"How have you been, Mother?"
"...How could I have been well?"
Having heard the news only recently, An Yeong welcomed her son, who had bathed and purified himself before coming, with open arms.
Song Hwa, unaware of the full circumstances, smiled brightly from behind.
The family head's somber face had finally bloomed after so long.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
An Yeong inspected her noticeably grown son from all angles.
To An Hoe, this attention wasn't embarrassing but simply welcome.
'It's these moments that were hardest before. How wonderful.'
At his pre-regression age, even harboring such thoughts would have shamed him.
A short while later, they shared the prepared lunch.
An Hoe was startled to hear what had transpired while he secluded himself in his room.
"The White Crane Elder became Prime Minister?"
Depending on the era, a prime minister typically meant the official assisting the sovereign in overseeing state affairs.
For the long-retired White Crane Elder to assume such a post was astonishing.
"That's not all to be surprised about. Less than three months after ascending to prime minister, he succeeded in suppressing the rebels hiding in Goyang County."
"Is that so? As expected of the White Crane Elder."
His feat in purging hidden rebels in such a short time was even more shocking than his appointment.
Yet An Hoe wasn't surprised.
He had been the one to tip off about the rebels, after all.
An Yeong, ignorant of this, found her son's composure odd but didn't dwell on it.
Instead, she described how the White Crane Elder was steering state affairs.
'As expected of Master White Crane.'
After suppressing the rebels, the White Crane Elder had returned the tally of military authority granted by the king and received instead the tally of judicial authority for officials.
Where the former granted generals discretion in wartime, the latter permitted punishment of ministers.
It signaled that the external fires had been quenched; now, he would address internal issues.