The Heavenly Killing Star
Thud!
Tang Cheonwi landed lightly on the ground.
"Grandfathers, I'm here."
The Three Elders greeted him all at once.
"Come in, come in."
Blood Elder spoke with a kindly face.
"Have you all been well?"
This time Yin Elder answered.
"We live the same dull lives as always. Lately, though, things have gotten interesting enough that it's not so bad."
Yin Elder's alias was the Silent Bird. He had once been the head of the Yin Agency, and even now every scrap of clan intelligence still found its way to his ears.
"You already heard?"
Finally Poison Elder opened his mouth.
"Heh heh. You dragged Cheong down a peg, did you? You're the only bold brat in this family who would dare pick a fight with her."
Even though it was their own nephew who had been put in his place, the Three Elders were laughing. They clearly did not mind. If anything, their faces said they were proud of him.
"You held back, though. Cheong's still breathing, after all."
Yin Elder looked him over as he spoke.
"Where's Grandfather?"
"He's inside. Best not to go see him right now."
"Why?"
"The hoe he forged didn't please him, so he's refining it all over again."
Poison Elder chimed in from the side.
"Never poke him when he's like that. Now then—what brings you here?"
"I was sentenced to three months in Poison Forest Valley for disturbing the clan."
"To any other child that would be a death sentence. For you, Cheonwi, three months is nothing."
The very air of Poison Forest Valley was thick with poison. Anyone without resistance would die before half a day passed. It was a terrifying place—yet to a poison master it was a paradise. Training here would let one grow stronger at a frightening pace.
Blood Elder asked casually, "Why not stay shut away for two or three years and come out when you're finished?"
"I still have things I must do. Once they're done, I'll take your advice and enter closed-door training in the Ten Thousand Poison Cave."
"Things you must do…"
Blood Elder said nothing more.
"Um…"
"Speak freely."
"While I'm here I was thinking of trying to make an antidote for the Soul-Sealing Extreme Poison. I'd like the three of you to help me."
"…!"
"An antidote for the Soul-Sealing Extreme Poison?"
"You're saying you can create an antidote for that poison?"
The Three Elders were stunned at the same moment.
"I put it a bit grandly. I just want to study detoxification techniques."
Of the three old men, Poison Elder looked the most delighted.
"I'll help you myself. When it comes to knowledge of poisons, no one can match me."
Poison Elder, known as the Medicine Immortal, was most passionate about the study of medicinal herbs and poison plants. He had never had anyone with whom he could discuss such knowledge; the moment Cheonwi said he wanted to study it, the old man brightened as if it were his own great work.
"Before that, shouldn't we make Poison Forest Valley grow an even greater variety of poison and medicinal herbs?"
Poison Elder looked puzzled. There were few places on earth that grew rarer poison plants than Poison Forest Valley.
"The only places with rarer poison herbs than here are the Southern Man and Mount Heaven. You mean to bring seedlings from those places?"
Tang Cheonwi turned a bright smile on Poison Elder.
"I have another method."
"Speak."
"We make Poison Forest Valley into the nest of the Yin Spirit Ice Fox."
"The nest of the Yin Spirit Ice Fox?"
And with that he showed the three grandfathers the beast.
"Kkiing?"
The Yin Spirit Ice Fox put on an innocent face. Poison Elder nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Hah!"
Yin Elder even stammered.
"Th-the Yin Spirit Ice Fox?!"
How could they not be shocked when the sovereign of Mount Heaven sat in their grandson's palm?
Blood Elder frowned and muttered, "A male Yin Spirit Ice Fox…"
"A m-male!"
"Hah… hahaha."
The two elders were left speechless. A spiritual beast this rare standing right in front of them had stolen their words.
Speaking for the other two, Blood Elder asked, "You mean to use that Yin Spirit Ice Fox to make rare spiritual herbs bloom in Poison Forest Valley."
"Yes. The Yin Spirit Ice Fox is a spiritual beast with mystical power, after all."
"Do you truly believe it's possible? Even a spiritual beast cannot do everything."
"I need the spiritual herbs if I'm going to make an antidote for the Soul-Sealing Extreme Poison."
"So even if making the herbs bloom fails, you mean to try."
"Yes."
"Then try. The more experience the better."
"Thank you, Blood Elder Grandfather."
"We three have something to discuss for a moment. We'll step away."
Before he could even answer, the three grandfathers vanished like ghosts, leaving him alone.
Then Hwancheonjihwan's voice rang in his ear, flustered.
"You—you! How did you know the Yin Spirit Ice Fox could make spiritual herbs bloom?"
That, too, had been knowledge from Hwancheonjihwan. The ring had bragged endlessly that only it knew the secret. Cheonwi had met the fox in his previous life, yet he had never thought of using it to grow spiritual herbs. Back then he had been far too busy training his martial arts alone to bother with such things.
A friend taught me.
"What? I'm the only one who knows that… Is it that friend you said you'd introduce me to last time?"
That's right.
"What kind of bastard knows about the Yin Spirit Ice Fox?"
Someone as smart as you who also has a foul mouth.
"Hmph. There's no one in the world smarter than me. When are you going to introduce that bastard, anyway?"
You'll find out later.
"I'm curious what kind of guy he is. I'd love a knowledge contest. Of course I'd win."
Hwancheonjihwan was itching to fight Cheonwi's past self. Meanwhile Bongsin kept piling praise on him without pause.
"Master is truly amazing!"
"An ordinary human would never think of using the Yin Spirit Ice Fox like this."
"I can't wait to see spiritual herbs bloom in this Poison Forest Valley. With Master, even making the Heavenly Limit Primordial Lotus flower should be possible."
The Heavenly Limit Primordial Lotus—the legendary lotus that held the light of the primordial beginning, a peerless spiritual herb that purified all poisons. Bongsin's faith in Tang Cheonwi ran that deep.
Hwancheonjihwan, thoroughly displeased, snapped at the boy.
"Hey, you little Bongsin—"
Clang! Clang!
The ring of metal echoed from the forge. The three elders burst in.
Bang!
"Eldest Brother, disaster!"
Blood Elder was a man who almost never lost his composure. The moment he flung open the forge door with such agitation in his voice, Tang Bi swallowed the anger he had been about to unleash.
"What disaster?"
"The Yin Spirit Ice Fox has chosen Cheonwi."
Tang Bi's eyes went wide. He had not expected that.
"Don't tell me it's a male?"
"It is."
"Heavenly Killing Star… Of all things, the direct bloodline of the Tang Clan has been born under the Heavenly Killing Star."
The Heavenly Killing Star was the destiny of a slaughtering demon. Those born under it were almost always branded public enemies of the martial world and killed. Not a single person born under the Heavenly Killing Star had ever died a peaceful death.
"Youngest, send word to Jegal Mu at once. Tell him I need to see him."
"Understood."
Yin Elder's figure sank into the earth—a ghostly movement.
Blood Elder spoke, voice thick with worry. "What are we to do?"
"We must find out who the Ziwei Star is."
The Ziwei Star was fated to kill the Heavenly Killing Star. The two must never be allowed to meet. One of them would die.
"And if… that Ziwei Star is not on our side, but with them?"
For an instant Tang Bi's eyes gleamed. A murderous light. The scorching forge suddenly felt like an ice cavern; cold swept through the air.
"Then we will have no choice but to clash with those bastards."
"You must not!"
Blood Elder opposed him at once. Poison Elder was of the same mind.
"Elder Brother, you are still poisoned by the Soul-Sealing Extreme Poison. No matter how monstrous your inner energy is, if you fight them the suppressed poison will erupt and you will lose."
"If we are to protect the children, this is the only way."
Outside the forge door, Tang Cheonwi wandered here and there with the Yin Spirit Ice Fox, as if searching for a place that pleased him.
"Sacrificing our lives to protect the Tang Clan would not be so bad."
"It would only be temporary."
"After we are gone, the Tang Clan might fall even more miserably."
That was precisely why they had been living like dead rats in Poison Forest Valley. As long as they still drew breath, the clan was safe. Once they died, the story changed. Those bastards' claws would close over the Tang Clan. The present Tang Clan could not withstand Gu Ju. His shadow already stretched across them.
"For now all we can do is hope the Ziwei Star appears on our side."
"That Jegal bastard did say there was a candidate for the Ziwei Star within the Tang Clan."
"We hoped Cheonwi was the Ziwei Star… but now that he has been revealed as the Heavenly Killing Star, we can only desperately pray that Yuhyeon is the one."
There was only one hope left. Tang Yuhyeon had to be the Ziwei Star. Only then would the Tang Clan survive, and everyone with it.
"First I must meet Jegal Mu as soon as possible."
"Youngest will bring word. Just wait a little longer."
Tang Bi's eyes would not leave his grandson.
What am I to do…
"Why are they acting like that?"
"Why do you think? Because you're the master of the Yin Spirit Ice Fox."
"Ah—because I'm the Heavenly Killing Star?"
"Exactly. The Heavenly Killing Star is fated to die by the Ziwei Star."
A snort of laughter escaped him.
Fated to kill or be killed by the Ziwei Star? Don't make me laugh. Far from dying to the Ziwei Star, he had been the one who killed it.
I came back so the same things from my previous life wouldn't happen again.
If anything, he almost wished the prophecy had come true. For Yuhyeon's sake he would have died gladly—after first sending every last bastard who had caused Yuhyeon's death straight to hell, of course.
"But if it were you, you'd just devour the Ziwei Star instead."
Just as Cheonwi was about to frown at Hwancheonjihwan's words, Bongsin said something that snagged his attention.
"Don't use such vulgar words like 'devour,' Hwancheon-ah. Master will be able to change fate itself."
"You think fate is that easy to change?"
"The fact that Master, a Heavenly Killing Star, was able to awaken you is already proof that fate is changing, isn't it?"
"…"
Hwancheonjihwan was left speechless. An irrefutable point—one that might even deny its own existence.
"You govern life and death, so a Heavenly Killing Star shouldn't be able to wake you. Isn't that right?"
Hwancheonjihwan was the Ring of Returning Heaven, the treasure among the Three Great Treasures of Wulin that governed space-time. Because of that, those of the Blood Star destiny were not supposed to be able to stimulate and awaken it. Yet Tang Cheonwi had done exactly that. Fate was already shifting.
"Ah, whatever."
"Pfft, getting all prickly for nothing. Master, don't worry. Fate exists to be changed."
Bongsin offered comfort. The corner of Tang Cheonwi's mouth lifted. He cast the tangled thoughts aside.
"I intend to do everything I can."
"So cool! A Heavenly Killing Star who overcomes destiny—I can already see the grand epic!"
Cheered on by Bongsin, he walked toward the place where the rare poison herbs grew.
"Kkiing!"
The fox settled in one spot. A pond ahead, a waterfall to the side, rare poison and medicinal herbs mixed together behind them. The Yin Spirit Ice Fox had precisely found the point where yin energy gathered most densely.
"Seoreum, scatter your yin energy from here. I'll circulate my energy beside you."
"Kkiing!"
The creature answered that it understood.
"When the haze starts rising from my body, combine it with your yin energy and spread it far and wide."
"Kkiing-kkiing!"
It nodded confidently, as if to say leave it to me.
At once Tyrant Blood Poison Qi rose from his dantian. The poison energy slowly poured forth, mingled with the Yin Spirit Ice Fox's yin energy, and began to spread outward in every direction.
With Tyrant Blood Poison Qi and the Yin Spirit Ice Fox's yin spiritual energy, we can make the spiritual herbs bloom.