Go Wol was working in his room.
He was budgeting how and where to spend the funds obtained from the matter with the Debt of the Immortals.
Calculating, organizing, planning.
The work was endless.
Just then, the person who made this repetitive hardship a little less difficult rushed in.
“The Second Young Master and the Fist Demon are returning to the sect.”
At the Wind Heaven Sect Leader's words, the brush in Go Wol’s hand paused for a moment before starting to move again.
“When?”
“It seems they intend to leave right now.”
Watching Go Wol, who was still focused on his work, the Wind Heaven Sect Leader asked.
“Aren’t you sad that the Second Young Master is leaving?”
“Sad? He’s a busy man. When it’s time to go, he must go.”
“I’m going with him.”
Go Wol remained absorbed in his work.
“I’m really going! I’m not joking!”
“If you go, Cult Leader, I’ll return as well.”
He had just been acting petulant because Go Wol was only working, but Go Wol's reaction was unexpected.
He really meant he would return with him.
“Really?”
“Yes. If you go, I go too. I won’t do this alone.”
A smile formed on the Wind Heaven Sect Leader’s lips.
“Even if it’s just empty words, it feels good. Forget it, where would I go? You have to finish your work.”
“I’m telling you, let’s go.”
“It’s fine. I’ve already been there and back.”
With just one word from Go Wol, the Wind Heaven Sect Leader had flown all the way to the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect and back.
“Besides, it’ll be chaotic if you go back now.”
“Why?”
“The Second Young Master says he’s going to kill the second-in-command of the Unorthodox Alliance.”
Go Wol flinched in surprise.
Of all the news the Wind Heaven Sect Leader had brought since entering the room, this was the most shocking.
“Yelü Han?”
“Yes, that bastard!”
The Wind Heaven Sect Leader knew about Yelü Han.
He had even met him in the past.
“Even for the Second Young Master, that man won’t be an easy opponent.”
Go Wol had never met him personally.
However, just from the rumors, he was well aware that Yelü Han was not someone to be taken lightly.
But that wasn’t the problem.
“The Cult Master will never allow it anyway.”
The Wind Heaven Sect Leader recalled what Geom Mugeuk had said before.
About his Demonic Path.
About his attitude toward evil.
“If the Second Young Master becomes the Heavenly Demon… he will change a lot.”
Go Wol paused his brush strokes for a moment and said.
“Hasn’t he already changed a lot?”
And they themselves were at the center of that change.
Just then, Geom Mugeuk came in.
“It seems our Cult Leader has already delivered the news of my departure. I should be on my way.”
“Travel safely.”
“Leaving you behind to suffer again.”
“There isn’t much work left now. I’ll wrap it up nicely and return.”
“What about the funds?”
“I believe I can finish with the money collected from the Debt of the Immortals.”
“That’s good. Let’s keep in touch through dispatches.”
“Yes. Please take care of yourself, Young Master. Oh, and you can use the completed information network for the region anytime.”
Geom Mugeuk felt reassured just hearing those words.
If the information networks of the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion and Go Wol were combined, he himself would become the one to obtain the fastest and most extensive information in the martial world.
“Have you thought of a name for this intelligence organization?”
“Please decide, Young Master.”
“I’d like to name it Silver Moon, after your name. What do you think?”
Go Wol’s eyes wavered.
He was grateful for Geom Mugeuk's consideration in insisting on using his name.
“I like it very much. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.”
“I should be the one thanking you. I’m sorry for entrusting you with such a difficult task from the very beginning.”
“I’m grateful that you entrusted me with such a great responsibility from the start.”
While Geom Mugeuk and Go Wol were saying their goodbyes, the Wind Heaven Sect Leader and the Fist Demon also shared a brief farewell.
The Wind Heaven Sect Leader greeted the Fist Demon first.
“It was good to see you this time.”
“I didn’t know you were so devoted to my disciple, Cult Leader. I thank you.”
In truth, the Wind Heaven Sect Leader wasn't close to any of the Demon Sovereigns.
He had been somewhat close to the Demon Buddha, but their relationship had already soured.
He had a chance to get close to the Fist Demon this time, but they hadn’t shared any deep conversations, maintaining a needless distance.
“Let’s have a drink next time we get the chance.”
The Wind Heaven Sect Leader was sincere.
“Hey, Second Young Master. Make sure you get that permission.”
This, too, was sincere.
*
I ran with the Fist Demon, using our lightness arts.
On the way here, we had taken our time, enjoying ourselves and slacking off, but on the way back, we truly dashed at a frightening speed.
We ran without rest until nightfall.
A distance that had taken several days to cover on the way here was traveled in just half a day.
“Let’s camp here for the night. Please have a seat for a moment.”
I skillfully cleared the surroundings.
First, I made a comfortable place for the Fist Demon to sit by laying out leaves.
I was grateful to him.
I had never imagined he would approve of this matter.
Considering his relationship with my father, he should have been the Demon Sovereign most opposed to it, but he had prioritized his relationship with me.
While the Fist Demon had his eyes closed and was performing energy circulation, I lit a campfire in front of him.
I caught some game and cooked it.
Before we left, I had stopped by a tavern to buy some necessary spices, so I was able to serve a rather tasty meal.
“You brought spices too?”
“Of course. This is the most important thing on a long journey. How does it taste?”
“It’s delicious.”
“Do you know whose recipe these spices are from?”
“It tastes like something the Cult Master would make.”
I was startled by his words.
“Have you eaten my father’s cooking before?”
“I’ve had it a couple of times in the past. There was a time when the Cult Master and I traveled around a lot. We fought a great deal back then.”
For a moment, I imagined my father and the Fist Demon.
Two men, the Heavenly Demon and the Fist Demon.
An image of my father in his youth comes to mind.
Next to him, I see the young Fist Demon.
The boy who fought in the fighting ring became the Fist Demon, and the young man who chose that boy became the Heavenly Demon.
I pictured the two blunt, manly, and most aggressive men in the martial world roaming the martial world.
They would have feared no one, and they would not have been intimidated by anyone.
Just as I fought back-to-back with the Evil Heart Laughing Demon, the two of them must have fought while relying on each other.
And at night, they would have lit a campfire like this and had wine and meat.
They probably wouldn’t have said much.
Perhaps the Fist Demon was now recalling his younger days during this camping trip with me.
“I have wine here, too.”
I took out the wine I had brought and poured him a cup.
Sharing a cup of wine with the Fist Demon across the campfire was enjoyable.
“The return journey is the more important part of a trip.”
“Why is that?”
“Do you know when a journey is finally complete? It’s when you open the door to your room, think, ‘Ah! I’m finally back!’ and throw yourself onto your bed. So, we are now running toward that final moment. This is more important than the excitement of departure.”
The Fist Demon looked at me with a strange expression.
“How do you know that so well?”
My past life was a series of long journeys.
And I had no room to return to.
My room back then was the yard of the Ghost Spirit Master’s house.
Seeing his surprised face when I brought the materials for the Great Art, I had felt a brief moment of relief, thinking, Ah! I did it!
“This journey with you, Master, was wonderful.”
I get along well with this straightforward and quiet man.
I may be talkative, playful, cheerful, and loud now, but my original self was very similar to the Fist Demon.
“By the way, when you return, you should start by reducing the time you spend training with the Iron Fists.”
The Fist Demon, perhaps intending to do so already, asked me for specifics.
“Should I participate in only one per day? White Fists today, Blue Fists tomorrow. Like that.”
“No. Then you would have to see them every day, Master. Don’t do that. Just oversee all four places in a day as usual, but only participate once every five days.”
“Five days?”
“For the other four days, do whatever you want, Master. Make that time entirely your own.”
“What about the Late Night Training Session?”
“Do as you please with that. Come if you want to come, rest if you want to rest.”
The Fist Demon nodded.
This slacking-off journey had changed his life.
I look forward to the results of that change.
When day broke, we ran and ran again.
When our inner energy ran low, we would sit together and recover it through energy circulation.
Like that, we ran without pause and returned to the sect.
*
When I returned to the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, my father was in the Iron Workshop.
The Main Sect’s Iron Workshop boasts the largest scale in the martial world.
Inside the enormous Iron Workshop, hundreds of shirtless men were melting iron and hammering steel.
The sweltering heat, the smell of sweat, and the smell of iron.
Clang! Clank! Claang!
I’ve always found the sound of hammering steel pleasant to hear.
It held the perilous intensity of sword clashing against sword.
That's why the sound always feels so heated.
The men who met my eyes bowed their heads in greeting.
I gave them a light nod in return as I walked through the place.
In the distance, I could see my father.
Even here, with so many people coming and going, his presence was distinct.
In a picture where everyone else seemed black and white, my father alone was a clear, red dot.
My father was standing with Master Craftsman Guo, the head of this Iron Workshop, who was also called the Divine Hand.
Master Craftsman Guo was showing my father a newly forged sword.
Whenever he created a new weapon, he always sought my father’s opinion before mass production.
The two of them were so seriously inspecting the sword and talking that I waited for a moment at a slight distance.
The man who wields the sword best in the world and the man who makes the sword best in the world were exchanging opinions.
Could there be a more moving scene in this Iron Workshop?
If a newly forged sword like this was approved, it would be mass-produced to replace the swords of the Main Sect’s martial artists.
Usually, the Iron Workshop improved its swords about once every five years, or at most, once a decade.
These improved swords are distributed to all the martial artists of the Main Sect.
Although they could use other swords at their own discretion, most of the Main Sect’s martial artists use the swords produced by the Main Sect’s Iron Workshop.
That’s how good the quality is.
Just then, my father turned this way.
Our eyes met.
You’re here? Yes, I’ve returned.
A short, simple, but very welcome greeting with our eyes.
I greeted my father in a booming voice.
“Have you been well? Your son has completed his important duty in the Central Plains and has returned.”
Then my father said to me.
“Important duty? I heard you went to slack off with the Fist Demon.”
“I have no idea who is spreading such disgraceful rumors.”
Of course, it was me.
Whenever I leave the Central Plains, I periodically send news of myself through the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion.
I have to maintain this cooperation so that I can receive their active help when I need it later.
Master Craftsman Guo looked at us with a slightly surprised expression.
The sight of my father and me conversing so casually must have been unexpected.
“Come here and look at the new sword.”
I examined the sword my father handed me.
After inspecting it closely, I shared my thoughts.
“It’s slightly lighter than the previous sword. And the length is just a little bit longer.”
When I noticed it at once, a look of admiration flickered in Guo’s eyes.
“It’s a subtle difference, but you recognized it.”
“Of course, I’ve trained with your swords so much, Elder.”
“What do you think of it?”
“Lately, I’ve been using my fists more than my sword, so I honestly don’t know.”
I laughed it off like that.
If I had to, I could make a suggestion, but with my father here, was there a need?
My father conveyed his thoughts to Master Craftsman Guo.
“It would be good if it were just a little bit lighter. The length is perfect as it is.”
“I understand, Cult Leader.”
My father’s thoughts were the same as mine.
On top of that, he pointed out something I hadn’t even considered.
“Narrow the grain on the sword’s handle a little. It seems more slippery than before.”
“I understand, Cult Leader.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“I will contact you again when it is complete.”
My father left the Iron Workshop, and after bidding farewell to Master Craftsman Guo, I followed him.
The men standing in my father’s path all stopped what they were doing and bowed.
Their respect and fear for my father were like the hot fire they handled.
“When did you arrive?”
“I just got here.”
“What about the Fist Demon?”
“He will arrive in about half an hour.”
“Didn’t you come together?”
“He suggested we have a lightness arts race at the end.”
After a brief pause, I spoke to my father.
“I… have become the Fist Demon’s disciple.”
My father’s steps paused for a moment.
I had told him about this in advance and even received his permission, but I still felt nervous for some reason.
I wonder what my father is feeling.
Is he displeased? Or indifferent? Or does he think it’s a good thing?
No matter how hard I try to see my father clearly, it’s truly difficult to know his heart.
This matter certainly had some meaning for him, but he didn’t reveal any emotion about it.
“What about the Fist Technique?”
“I have been taught the Thunder Asura Fist up to the sixth form.”
“It seems that man still doesn’t know your cunning nature. He should have taught you the final two forms after seeing how you behave.”
“Father. It’s because masters act with such needless spite that martial arts are lost to the world.”
We walked across the Grand Martial Arts Arena toward the Heavenly Demon Hall.
The demonic practitioners passing by bowed to my father in greeting.
“Father. I have a favor to ask. It’s a very important matter.”
We stopped in the middle of the Grand Martial Arts Arena.
I wanted to speak here in this open space rather than in the Heavenly Demon Hall.
This was a matter of the Central Plains, an affair outside the Main Sect.
“I want to kill Yelü Han of the Unorthodox Alliance. Please grant me your permission.”
It was a situation where a harsh rebuke could have come down.
But instead of a rebuke, his characteristic sneer formed on my father’s lips.
“Absolutely not!”
He even added “absolutely” before “not.” With that firm refusal, my father turned and walked away.
“I will start working to earn your permission from now on. That’s what I wanted to tell you.”
My father walked on without a word.
His back was telling me: no matter what effort you make, I will not grant permission.
I had declared war on my father.
From now on, I had to somehow convince him.
Perhaps getting his permission would be more difficult than killing Yelü Han.
In any case, watching my father’s back as he walked toward the Heavenly Demon Hall, I felt like I had truly returned to the sect.
“Ah! It’s good to be home!”
I had returned to my joyful home, where giant demon statues swung their swords and blades from all directions.