Chapter 22 - You Can Teach Me in Secret

After leaving the Heavenly Demon Library, I went straight to Heavenly Demon Hall.

“I’m back.”

Father gazed down at me in silence, then beckoned me forward.

“Come closer.”

I took five steps forward.

“A little closer.”

Three steps this time.

“Closer.”

I walked right up to the stairs.

Father was examining me. He must have been curious about what martial art I had learned, but since I walked without using the Wind God’s Four Steps, my movements could tell him nothing.

“What martial art did you learn in the Heavenly Demon Library?”

“It’s a secret.”

As though he had expected that response all along, Father released his demonic qi without hesitation.

“I won’t ask twice.”

The demonic qi that swept over me was on an entirely different level from what the Saber Fiends had unleashed earlier. Rather than stinging or hurting, it felt as though I were sinking into a dark abyss. My body grew cold, and the flow of my true qi slowed of its own accord.

I had never intended to hide it from Father anyway, so I answered honestly.

“I learned a footwork art.”

“Which one?”

“The Wind God’s Four Steps.”

The silence that followed was born of surprise.

Then the demonic qi, briefly withdrawn, engulfed me again.

“Enough nonsense.”

“It’s true.”

The demonic qi dragged me deeper into the abyss. Even as it rose to my neck and submerged my face, my eyes concealed nothing as I looked at Father.

I sank endlessly into that swamp-like abyss. I could barely breathe. Surely he wouldn’t kill me, I thought, but an uncontrollable fear of suffocation swept over me.

At that moment, I felt as though something enormous were watching me from the darkness.

‘!’

The instant our eyes met, everything pressing down on me vanished, and I was standing at the edge of Heavenly Demon Hall’s red carpet.

Having withdrawn his demonic qi, Father spoke in a commanding tone.

“Show me the martial art you claim to have learned.”

He still didn’t believe it was the Wind God’s Four Steps.

“What will you give me in return?”

Father looked incredulous. No one in his life had ever demanded something of him with conditions attached.

“I’ll let you live.”

With a faint smile, I backed away and stood in the middle of the great hall. Then I slowly demonstrated the Wind God’s Four Steps.

As I performed the Dark Shadow Step, Father sprang to his feet. He had recognized from the very first step that this was unlike other martial arts.

I went on to finish all the forms of the Wind God’s Four Steps.

Father rarely showed his emotions, but now he could not hide his shock. Since it was a lost art, this must have been his first time seeing the Wind God’s Four Steps as well. Yet he recognized exactly how remarkable it was.

“Where did you learn the Wind God’s Four Steps?”

Now he believed that this footwork art was indeed the Wind God’s Four Steps.

“In the Heavenly Demon Library.”

WHOOSH!

Father crossed the distance in an instant, seized me by the throat, and asked coldly,

“Do you dare lie to me?”

He was ready to snap my neck at any moment. This was the first time Father had laid a hand on me, and the emotion behind it was anger.

But I wasn’t angry. Father took martial arts seriously. That was why he occupied that seat, why he was so powerful. I understood that side of him.

“The Wind God’s Four Steps was not in the Heavenly Demon Library.”

A cold force flowed through Father’s fingertips, threatening to freeze all the blood in my body. It felt different from sinking into the abyss earlier.

“I did learn it there.”

“You’re lying!”

“Can you swear that you’ve read every one of those secret manuals? It might have been on a different bookcase, rather than the one for footwork arts.”

“Then you knew the Wind God’s Four Steps was there!”

“I didn’t.”

“Liar!”

“I truly didn’t know. I came across it while intending to learn another martial art.”

On this point, I denied everything. There was no other way to explain it. Of course, Father wouldn’t believe me.

Father released my throat and asked again.

“Where was it?”

“It was being used to prop up a bookcase.”

“How did you find it, then?”

“I found it while trying to straighten it because it was crooked.”

Debating whether to believe me, Father started to summon a subordinate to fetch it, then stopped.

“You must have already destroyed the important portions of the manual.”

“How did you know?”

“I would have done the same.”

After glaring at me for a moment, Father returned to his throne as swiftly as he had flown toward me.

“Recite the formulas.”

Just as I’d expected! That was my father for you.

My goal wasn’t to defeat Father and take his place as the Heavenly Demon. Nor did I intend to wait for that bastard Hwa Mugi with everything exactly as it had been last time.

Killing him mattered, but the purpose of my regression was to save Father and the household of Heavenly Demon Hall.

I would not let revenge become the whole of this second chance. Revenge was the reason I had returned to the past; the purpose was to live happily in this life.

After killing Hwa Mugi, I intended to roam the world and enjoy myself, free of obligations to the Cult until Father handed his position over to me.

That was when my real life would begin. With this young body, I would live without anything holding me back. My autobiography would be titled Live Like Geom Mugeuk.

Thus, I had no objection to teaching Father the footwork art.

Not for free, of course.

“No.”

To spare my angry father the trouble of flying at me again, I quickly added,

“Nothing in this world is free.”

“As I recall, the secret technique I taught you at the hunting grounds was free.”

“That paid for the liquor you drank there.”

Father looked incredulous at my shameless reply.

“How did you manage to hold your tongue all this time, when you’re this shameless?”

“I had to grow up before I could talk back. I’m taller than you now. I gritted my teeth and held it all in until I grew this big.”

I refused to give Father the last word.

You can’t beat me, Father. You have no idea how much I’ve suffered, how many times I’ve narrowly escaped death.

“Is there something you want?”

“Since I’m giving you martial formulas, it would be fair to receive martial formulas in return. Ideally, I’d like you to teach me the Nine Calamities Demonic Art, but that seems unlikely. I’ll settle for the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art.”

Silence fell for a moment.

As its name suggested, the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art protected the body. It was an exclusive martial art passed down only to the Heavenly Demon.

“Absolutely not!”

“I’m offering the Wind God’s Four Steps. Strictly speaking, I’m getting the worse end of the deal.”

“Only the Heavenly Demon and his successor may learn the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art.”

“You can teach me in secret. It activates without any outward sign anyway, so no one will ever know.”

It was a martial art that would never be exposed to outsiders.

I could sense Father’s hesitation. If he grew stern and angry and put enough pressure on me, I would ultimately have to tell him. But he did not. Father was still my father.

In any case, given my circumstances, this was an art I absolutely had to obtain. Learning the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art would be like gaining an extra life.

“Please think it over and let me know.”

I bowed politely and was about to turn away when Father’s voice reached me.

“But the Wind God’s Four Steps comes first.”

Amazingly, Father had decided to teach me the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art.

He was really going to teach it to me?

Perhaps he wanted me to become his successor. Or did he simply not care, since I was bound to die fighting the Eight Demon Supremes anyway?

“Agreed.”

“Why accept so readily? I could take the Wind God’s Four Steps and teach you nothing.”

“You aren’t the sort to do something that shameful in front of your son, at least.”

A sneer flickered across Father’s lips. Calling it shameful was the strongest move I could make. How could he fail to see what I was doing?

‘I’m sorry, Father. But I can’t just hand over the Wind God’s Four Steps for nothing, can I?’

Fortunately, his reaction wasn’t too bad. He was the sort to think more highly of me for securing payment than for foolishly offering up the formulas.

“Very well. Tell me the formulas.”

“Yes.”

I gave Father the formulas for the Wind God’s Four Steps.

He quietly closed his eyes and mulled them over.

After three two-hour watches had passed, Father began performing the Wind God’s Four Steps.

I watched without so much as blinking.

His Wind God’s Four Steps was the same as mine, yet different.

It was as though he were saying: This is how I interpret this martial art.

I etched every single movement of Father’s Wind God’s Four Steps into my mind. I did not intend to imitate it exactly. Which parts differed from mine, and why? I knew that one’s level of martial understanding was determined by how one interpreted those subtle differences.

After completing the forms, Father sank quietly into thought.

I too entered deep meditation, comparing the Wind God’s Four Steps he had just performed with my own.

I had to learn his approach to martial arts—the way the greatest master thought, and the depth of his interpretation.

At last, Father emerged from his meditation.

“A truly fine martial art.”

Coming from Father, “a fine martial art” was the highest praise.

“Now your conscience won’t let you pocket it without paying, will it?”

Father snorted, but this time there was satisfaction in it too.

I had now introduced the greatest change since my return to the past.

Could Hwa Mugi defeat Father now that he had learned the Wind God’s Four Steps as well?

Of course, I intended to take Hwa Mugi down myself, but passing the Wind God’s Four Steps on to Father was a precaution.

Father kept his promise.

“I will now teach you the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art. I will recite it only once, so memorize it well.”

Before listening to the formulas, I sat down in the lotus position.

Since Father really would recite them only once, I intended to memorize them not merely with my mind, but with my body by putting them directly into practice. No one short of a master of my caliber should attempt such a thing.

Father began imparting the formulas of the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art.

“Gently move your internal qi from the Gate of Life point through Kidney Shu, Will Chamber, and Stomach Shu. Here, your true qi must be as light as snow settling on a blade of grass. Speed is crucial as you pass through Spleen Shu, Liver Shu, and Diaphragm Shu. Increase your speed as though walking, then running, then taking lightly to the air. Upon reaching Body Pillar, Wind Gate, and Crooked Wall, pour it forth as powerfully as a crashing waterfall...”

The formulas were unabashedly difficult from the outset. Their difficulty was truly extreme. Even as I moved my true qi according to them, my heart kept lurching with alarm. I almost resented Father for not stopping me from putting them directly into practice when he knew how difficult they were.

Naturally, I encountered several crises. I navigated the smaller ones well, but near the end I faced a major one.

In an instant, my true qi reversed its flow and ran wild, threatening to burst my meridians. They stretched taut, as though they might rupture at any moment. Had I not strengthened them earlier with the Thousand-Meridian Strengthening Art, I would certainly have suffered severe internal injuries.

‘Learning the Thousand-Meridian Strengthening Art was preparation for this very day. That means I won’t die today!’

At the edge of a cliff where a fall meant qi deviation, internal injuries, and death, I became the very embodiment of optimism and fought back.

I also believed that I was not destined to die while learning martial arts from Father.

Had my faith prevailed?

The true qi that had bucked like a wild horse settled down. My internal energy flowed along the meridians it was meant to follow, and with the crisis behind me, I was able to complete the final formula of the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art.

“Whew...”

With a long breath, I brought the full circulation cycle to a close and slowly opened my eyes.

Father stood at Heavenly Demon Hall’s great window, gazing outside.

Had he known what a grave crisis I had gone through?

Would he have helped if I had succumbed to qi deviation?

Until I heard him say, “From now on, you are the next Heavenly Demon,” I could be certain of nothing.

Whether he knew how I felt or not, Father continued gazing out the window as he spoke of the greatness of the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art.

“When your life hangs by a thread, the Heavenly Demon’s Body-Protection Art activates on its own. If you someday attain complete mastery of it, you will never die.”

The instant I heard those words, a question arose in my mind.

‘Then why did you die, Father?’