Chapter 654
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 654
Chapter Title: That Was Exactly the Problem
"What?"
Yeon Ha-min let out a startled cry.
For her, this was completely unheard of.
A heart demon she herself was unaware of.
Yeon Ha-min hadn't sensed its presence at all.
Her training had always progressed smoothly.
Though her recent achievements had stalled, she chalked it up to the natural slowdown that came with advancing realms.
Ha Seol-ran was just as shocked by the sudden mention of a heart demon.
She hadn't suspected such a thing either.
All eyes in the room turned to Ha Mu-baek.
"You probably just thought your growth had plateaued."
Yeon Ha-min nodded slightly at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"But you need to pinpoint the cause of that stagnation. For your next breakthrough—is it quietly building a solid foundation beneath the surface, or truly standing still with nothing accumulating?"
An anxious look crossed Yeon Ha-min's face as she spoke.
"Then mine is..."
"The latter."
Ha Mu-baek stated it firmly.
Crack.
It felt like the sound of Yeon Ha-min's expression shattering echoed through the room.
That was how great the shock was.
"That's..."
"The cause."
The room fell silent once more as Ha Mu-baek cut off Yeon Ha-min's attempt to speak.
He was about to reveal the heart demon's origin.
"It's the Moonfall Sword Dance."
Yeon Ha-min's face twisted in even deeper shock at his words.
It couldn't be helped.
This was the technique her father, Yeon Baek-un, had prepared just for her.
To think it had birthed her heart demon.
For Yeon Ha-min, it was a bewildering chaos she had no idea how to accept.
Such a reaction was only natural.
"Ah..."
Jin Na-yeon let out a soft gasp, as if she understood something.
"So that technique was passed down to Ha-min."
Her voice held a note of deep emotion.
"Your father once mentioned it to me in passing. He said he'd acquired the Moonfall Sword Dance—a perfect match for Ha-min—and arranged for it to reach her when the time was right."
That arrangement was Yeon Baek-jin.
He hadn't even told his wife about it up to that point.
Even amid her confusion, Yeon Ha-min was startled.
She hadn't known her mother was aware. Her mother had never breathed a word of it.
As if reading her daughter's heart,
Jin Na-yeon gripped Yeon Ha-min's hand tightly.
"I didn't tell you, lest you cling to false hope. I'm sorry, dear."
Only then did she understand her mother's choice.
Truly.
Until Yeon Ha-min escaped the Yeon Clan and entered the Dragon Training Pavilion, that place had been hell.
If she'd known back then about the technique her father had arranged...
What might have become of her now?
She surely would have failed to obtain it, trapped in an even deeper hell.
The only reason she'd gained her father's prepared technique was because she'd come to the Dragon Training Pavilion and met Ha Mu-baek.
It hit her anew.
The man before her—her corps leader and instructor—was truly the benefactor who had saved her life.
"Your father's bequeathed technique. That was exactly the problem."
Ha Mu-baek continued calmly.
"At first, it allowed astonishing progress. Especially since it fit you like a glove."
As Ha Mu-baek said, Yeon Ha-min's initial mastery of the Moonfall Sword Dance had been nothing short of miraculous.
Hadn't she displayed its prowess at the Summer Combat Festival?
"With the Summer Combat Festival, the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest... all those back-to-back experiences after acquiring it, you never noticed. Even I didn't, at first."
Ha Mu-baek added that confession at the end.
If even he hadn't realized, there was no way Yeon Ha-min could have—
No matter that it concerned her own cultivation.
"But recently, Seol-ran brought it up, and that's how I knew."
At the unexpected revelation, Yeon Ha-min's gaze shifted to Ha Seol-ran.
"When I asked her about her vacation plans, she said she wanted to visit Ha-min's mother."
Ha Mu-baek was openly sharing what Ha Seol-ran had asked him to keep secret.
He had no choice.
To explain Yeon Ha-min's heart demon.
"Seol-ran..."
Ha Seol-ran's face flushed red under Yeon Ha-min's startled gaze.
She shot her brother a resentful look.
It was true that Ha Seol-ran had subtly pushed for Yeon Ha-min to return to the Yeon Clan.
She knew she'd even brought it up with their corps leader.
But to think it came up during her own vacation discussion...
"Seol-ran has her own reasons for that. Anyway, after hearing it, I examined you and saw it clearly. The heart demon."
"Heart demon..."
Yeon Ha-min murmured again.
"Your heart demon was your mother."
Yeon Ha-min and Jin Na-yeon both jolted in surprise.
"Originally, it was the Yeon Clan itself. But that spurred your growth rather than hindering it. You had a clear goal: revenge."
He was right.
For Yeon Ha-min, the Yeon Clan was simply a target for vengeance—nothing more.
"After Yeon Baek-ryang died, that eased somewhat. But the clan endured, so your vengeful thirst lingered. Then, acquiring the Moonfall Sword Dance changed things."
Ha Mu-baek wet his throat with some tea and continued.
"The father who passed it to you was a Yeon. Though you're not truly one yourself."
Yeon Ha-min trembled faintly.
"This is just my guess, but perhaps revenge against the clan gave way to longing for your father. And that longing extended to your mother—and your loneliness."
Yeon Ha-min pondered Ha Mu-baek's explanation, reflecting deeply on her past.
Was it truly so?
"As I said, the chaos of constant real combat kept you from noticing. Only after settling in Seobok did it fully manifest, halting your growth."
Yeon Ha-min nodded faintly as Ha Mu-baek finished.
Come to think of it, that rang true.
"I'm so sorry..."
Jin Na-yeon murmured guiltily, but Ha Mu-baek shook his head.
"The ones at fault are the Yeon Clan."
His declaration was absolute.
"That's why I plan to escort Lady Jin to Seobok."
Jin Na-yeon and Yeon Gong-hu both looked stunned.
"Truth be told, that's why I came along."
Ha Mu-baek spoke of the grave matter as if it were nothing.
"Hmm."
Yeon Ja-kyeong opened his eyes and tilted his head.
Something tantalizingly close eluded his grasp.
That voice still nagged at him annoyingly.
"A mere heart demon. Tch."
Clicking his tongue, Yeon Ja-kyeong left the underground training chamber and ascended.
He planned to wash off the sweat-soaked grime from his body, rest a day, then resume training.
Lately, he'd been utterly immersed in cultivation, neglecting all else.
And nothing had gone awry for it.
If anything, his oversight of the alliance leader might loosen.
But even that held no meaning.
Facing Ha Mu-baek had made it clear.
Overwhelming him with raw power or crushing him with forces—both futile.
True might could shatter any faction.
I can't read that bastard's mind.
Revenge against the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult.
If not that, who knew where he'd strike next.
When the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest fell, Yeon Ja-kyeong had worried briefly.
He knew the man well.
Given his nature, he'd surely left evidence of their secret pact and dealings.
Yet.
He never imagined Ha Mu-baek would raze the Blood Cult's stronghold with his own hands.
Fury toward the cult must have driven him, but...
It had conveniently erased traces of Yeon Ja-kyeong's covert transactions with them.
To think he'd owe Ha Mu-baek a debt.
His alliance with the Blood Cult stemmed from that man too, after all.
To obtain the White Radiance Flower Herb, key ingredient for the Qi-Sealing Poison meant to suppress his inner energy.
But even that poison proved useless against him.
Pushing aside idle thoughts, he returned to his quarters to find urgent news from the clan.
"Hm?"
Unsealing the tightly wrapped missive, he scanned the contents.
"That girl has returned... and with him in tow?"
Him meaning Ha Mu-baek.
"A clan meeting per family law on punishing Yeon Ha-min... and they seek my opinion."
Yeon Ja-kyeong pondered briefly.
If Yeon Ha-min had come alone, no dilemma.
But with Ha Mu-baek? That changed everything.
Ha Mu-baek had kept the girl under his wing since her Fierce Dragon Corps days in the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Now, as Heavenly Eye Pavilion Fierce Dragon Corps Leader, she served directly beneath him.
And from his Hocheon Corps days, the man had been fiercely protective of his subordinates.
He weighed both sides' intentions.
His third son Baek-pung, who sent the missive—and Ha Mu-baek.
Yeon Ha-min's reason for returning was obvious.
Her mother was there, her sole remaining blood kin.
"Come to think of it, that Baek-pung..."
Yeon Ja-kyeong frowned.
Memories of arranging his marriage resurfaced.
"So much time has passed, yet he still hasn't shed that lust. Tch, tch."
Yeon Ja-kyeong knew his sons' natures well.
Eldest Baek-ryang's twisted desires, second Baek-un's uprightness, third Baek-pung's excessive pride.
"He still won't admit it's obsession born of inferiority."
Yeon Ja-kyeong muttered with pity.
He knew better than Yeon Baek-pung himself how the man felt about Jin Na-yeon.
In his youth, Yeon Baek-pung had been Yichang's premier playboy, a devastatingly handsome charmer.
One smile from him, and no woman kept her sash tied.
Except one.
Right there in the clan.
A notorious womanizer, he didn't waste smiles on just anyone.
But one chance encounter with the maid Jin Na-yeon sparked his pursuit of a night together—and failed.
Had he forced her, it might've ended differently, but he stubbornly relied on his charms and kept failing.
Unable to accept it, he eventually claimed his lust for her was love.
Thus obsessed, he'd fiercely rejected all political marriages.
And that fixation on Jin Na-yeon lingered to this day.
Time to check the clan's recent state again.
"You there."
At Yeon Ja-kyeong's call, his attendant warrior appeared from outside.
"Fetch Dong Ju-san."
Dong Ju-san.
The sinner who accompanied Yeon Baek-ryang to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest and survived.
Yet Yeon Ja-kyeong kept him close and used him.
Even though he'd led his eldest to death.
How much time passed?
"Clan Head. Dong Ju-san reporting."
A thin voice sounded.
"Enter."
Dong Ju-san's appearance was pitiable.
Scarce more than a living corpse.
One eye and ear gone, leg lame.
Emaciated frame, one arm blackened and dead.
Yet he lived.
"How fares the clan?"
Yeon Ja-kyeong asked coldly.
"Yes. Currently, the clan is..."
Dong Ju-san's innate talents had spared him execution; Yeon Ja-kyeong used him alive for that very skill.
The current Yeon Clan situation poured from Dong Ju-san's lips.
Yeon Ja-kyeong appeared to have delegated fully to Yeon Baek-pung, but through Dong Ju-san, he monitored every move.
"As expected, he hasn't let go of that lust. Now he's even acknowledging it as such..."
Yeon Ja-kyeong muttered after hearing it all.
Whether his patience had reached its limit, or the taste of temporary young clan head power emboldened him.
Yeon Baek-pung was starting to use his authority to pressure Jin Na-yeon.