Ascension of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 215

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 215

“Ow, my back.”

During the banquet, I was called aside and had to listen to nagging the entire time.

Damn Beast Palace.

I wondered why the council elder and grand elder’s gazes seemed unusual, but they had sent a separate letter to Mother.

They even wounded my pride by asking what made me inferior to the Taoist.

She really knows how to handle her son.

I almost said, ‘I’m inferior to that guy? I’ll go find a woman to marry right now!’

But what could I do?

I couldn’t promise marriage just to make Mother happy.

So I just listened quietly and got hit again.

For keeping my mouth shut.

She scolds me for talking back when I speak, and scolds me for ignoring her when I don’t… what am I supposed to do?

I don’t know where that person who always listened calmly and respected her son’s opinions has gone.

She might as well call Mujin and Dan Yeonhwa and tell them she can’t approve of their romance.

They’re the ones dating, so why is she taking it out on me?

Eventually, unable to contain her anger, she wrapped cloth around her head and lay down dramatically.

I know she’s not really sick.

She went ‘Ahhh…’ and collapsed dramatically, so I rushed to support her in shock and quite coincidentally(?) ended up checking her pulse.

It was beating quite vigorously…

It was a kind of protest.

Sigh, I can’t tell her my goal is Ascension to Immortality…

But I can’t give in this time.

They say no parent can defeat their child in the end.

“Munhyeon, are you alri…”

“…ght?”

“Ahem!”

When I glared at him, Father, who had been looking at me pitifully, quietly averted his gaze.

Traitor.

Birds of a feather flock together, and crabs side with lobsters.

Father couldn’t have been unaware of Mother’s feelings, and he must have participated in that plan.

Even so.

While his son was getting beaten so helplessly, suffering through nagging, he didn’t think to help and just coughed awkwardly while looking away.

“Young Master went too far.”

“What do you mean too far? Should I marry someone I don’t love?”

“She cried.”

“What?”

“Every single day. I saw it from beside her.”

“…”

“Hoping you would meet a good match, praying you would return safely.”

At Sohye’s words, Zhuge Munhyeon just pouted.

“You know. Madam’s age…”

“I know, I know.”

That’s why she was in a hurry.

That’s why she was anxious.

Late marriage, advanced maternal age, and difficult labor.

Because she learned of that happiness too late, she didn’t want her child to do the same.

At his irritated grumbling, Sohye smiled broadly and handed him new clothes.

The clothes he was wearing weren’t Zhuge Family attire.

“Change your clothes. The Family Head is looking for you.”

What Sohye offered was a snow-white crane robe.

Though it was typically worn by descendants who hadn’t reached adulthood, Zhuge Munhyeon, whose affiliation wasn’t separately determined, still wore such clothes.

“Why does the Family Head want me?”

“Well, I wouldn’t know.”

Sohye, who had accepted his unreasonable irritation without showing any displeasure, looked at Zhuge Doyun.

Meaning if he wanted to ask, he should ask Father.

“Ahem! He seems to have something to discuss with you.”

“Discuss?”

“Yes.”

“…”

I thought for a moment.

It’s work.

I don’t welcome it.

But staying by Mother’s side would only mean listening to nagging the whole time.

If she were truly sick, I wouldn’t spare any effort in caring for her, but now that I knew she was feigning illness to change her son’s mind…

“No, if there was such urgent business, you should have told me earlier!”

“Huh?”

“If the Family Head is looking for me, it can’t be a small matter, right? It must be something very important! For the family! That kind of thing, right?”

“Ah, well… the Gaebangju is here too, but I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily…”

“What? Even the Gaebangju is waiting? This really isn’t an ordinary matter after all. Though I haven’t been back long, how could I be leisurely about family matters? Let’s hurry.”

“…”

Zhuge Munhyeon hurriedly changed clothes, barely properly fastening his fluttering sleeves before grabbing Zhuge Doyun’s sleeve and pulling.

“What are you doing? We need to go quickly.”

“R-right.”

As Zhuge Doyun stood up.

“Mother, though you are ill, since the Family Head urgently seeks me, I shall go and return shortly.”

With those words, Zhuge Munhyeon pulled his father’s sleeve and left the manor as if fleeing.

Fight?

You have to be able to fight to fight.

No matter how strong I become, no, even if I achieve Ascension to Immortality…

How could I endure Mother’s Back-Breaking Palm, and how could I withstand her Thousand Repetitions technique (nagging) with her high mastery of vocal arts?

The person who created the Thirty-Six Stratagems said it.

When nothing else works, running away is the best option.

I was a coward today, but I felt no shame at all.

* * *

The Great Hall of the Zhuge Family, Waryong Hall.

The place that was usually filled with retainers had its doors closed today, forbidding all visits.

But it wasn’t empty of people.

Family Head Zhuge Dowon, Young Family Head Zhuge Munho, Military Strategy Hall Master Zhuge Doyun, Heavenly Strategy Master Zhuge Doeung, Hyeonho Dan Leader Zhuge Domyeong, and Gaebangju Purple Ghost.

And Zhuge Munhyeon as well.

All the key figures of the family had gathered.

I thought I’d only meet the Family Head, but it was essentially a small-scale retainer meeting with only core personnel.

“Munhyeon.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you for Mungi’s matter.”

Zhuge Domyeong spoke with a frowning face.

He looked angry as always, but now I could see that emotion a little.

How grateful he is.

For helping his son Mungi.

“A letter came?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll do well, so don’t worry too much.”

“Mm….”

After Zhuge Domyeong nodded, Zhuge Dowon, who had come down from the head seat on the platform to sit together at the round table, casually asked.

“What do you think?”

“….”

At those words, Zhuge Munhyeon looked at the stack of papers neatly piled in front of him.

They were carrier pigeon messages sent from various Beggar’s Sect locations.

He had already roughly read through their contents.

“Is this certain?”

“Yes. The Gaebangdo you asked to investigate the Demonic Sect’s movements sent this directly.”

“Mm….”

He had forgotten.

It seemed the Gaebangdo he met in Dangyang County hadn’t forgotten his request and had carried it out.

His name was… Ahem!

The name isn’t what’s important.

What matters is that he didn’t forget and accomplished the task.

“According to Maeng Jin….”

“Ah! Maeng Jin! Right, it was Maeng Jin?”

“Huh?”

“Yes?”

“Suddenly….”

“…Please continue.”

“….”

When he suddenly burst out in exclamation, Purple Ghost looked at him with a puzzled expression.

He was just happy to learn the name while pondering for a moment. Don’t mind it.

“So what does Maeng Jin say?”

“…Movement of displaced people toward Yuwen Pass has increased, and the atmosphere was so strange that when he checked the nearby areas, some of those he saw matched the appearances of kidnapped individuals.”

“….”

“Also, he occasionally saw some of those leading the processions returning to the Central Plains. Most were members of the Chaein faction.”

“Hmm….”

“He says he couldn’t confirm the situation beyond Yuwen Pass. The moment one crosses there, the possibility of being caught in the Demonic Sect’s inspections greatly increases….”

Yuwen Pass.

A gateway located at the edge of Gansu Province.

Cross there and you’re immediately in Mado territory.

As Purple Ghost said, it would have been difficult for Maeng Jin to infiltrate beyond Yuwen Pass.

Just as the Central Plains had done, Mado would guard their borders too.

Especially if a new Sect Leader had ascended, inspections would be even more strengthened.

The moment his identity as Gaebangdo was discovered, they’d cut his throat without interrogation.

The purpose wouldn’t matter.

There’d be no need to know who sent him.

That identity alone would be judged as a spy investigating the Demonic Sect.

It would be a road of no return.

“He did well. There’s no need to take unnecessary risks.”

“I apologize.”

“Not at all. Neither the Bang Leader needs to apologize, nor does Maeng Jin need to feel sorry. Information about the Demonic Sect can be sufficiently gathered through traveling merchants as well.”

“Thank you for understanding. For now, given the situation, I told him to observe a bit more from the vicinity of Yuwen Pass.”

“Yes.”

Zhuge Munhyeon nodded and fell into thought for a moment.

Before long, the playful lightness disappeared from his expression, leaving only seriousness.

Kidnapping….

It was a story he had already heard in Sichuan.

That inspections had begun due to kidnappings occurring simultaneously recently.

If the kidnapped individuals crossed Yuwen Pass as Maeng Jin said, their only destination would be the Demonic Sect.

It was something that happened occasionally.

It was one of the ways Mado procured talent.

They would kidnap children under ten years old, stuff them into spaces smaller than chicken coops, and examine their talent and viciousness.

Most would die and one or two would survive to be put into the next training.

They would fall while climbing cliffs, die in venomous snake caves.

Watching those who perished like that, they would become accustomed to death. They would become numb like that.

Only a few who survived to the end would grow into iron-blooded Mado practitioners who could take or discard lives without a shred of emotion.

But it didn’t end there.

Sometimes they would fall into demonic nature and burn themselves to death, or lose their lives on the battlefield fighting without retreat during missions.

All those countless deaths.

How could Mado bear them all?

With children born in Mado territory alone, maintaining their forces was impossible.

There’s no law that such talented and vicious children would be born every time.

So they kidnapped.

Children from the Central Plains.

Children raised through brutal training and brainwashing would forget their past and grow into Mado’s core military strength.

In a way, it was children from the Central Plains dreaming of conquering the Central Plains and raising Mado’s banner.

He himself had been the same.

He couldn’t remember his hometown or parents.

In fact, it was unclear whether he had even been from the Central Plains.

‘That’s why I stopped it….’

It was quite a long time ago.

When he became Sect Leader and earned the title of Heavenly Demon through the ‘All Under Heaven Martial Tournament,’ he strictly forbade the kidnapping acts committed in the Central Plains.

He didn’t want to increase lives like his own.

He knew all too well how fucking terrible such a thing was.

Resistance?

There was none of that.

Who would dare challenge him?

It wasn’t for nothing that he had dueled against All Under Heaven.

While it was true he had the desire to become stronger, internally there was also the purpose of completely controlling the Demonic Sect.

The name Heavenly Demon.

It meant having authority that no one could challenge his words.

He had continuously suppressed them while protecting Mado.

So they could become sufficiently strong within that framework.

Whether conscious of the Heavenly Demon’s name, neither Mado nor the Central Plains carelessly crossed boundaries.

But it had started again.

Mado’s talent procurement.

He understood.

Having gone through a long civil war, they must have lost many masters.

The military strength of the Twelve Heavens and the six families called Mado Yuk Je that supported Mado must have weakened.

There probably was no other way.

For survival, to make Mado’s power strong again, talent procurement through kidnapping was inevitable.

However.

‘Why… isn’t it just children?’

Zhuge Munhyeon frowned deeply as he shuffled through the pile of message scrolls.

There weren’t only messages sent by Maeng Jin.

After confirming that the kidnapped people had crossed Yuwen Pass, the Beggar’s Sect used information networks throughout All Under Heaven to identify the personal details of those abducted.

While information from places within their reach couldn’t tell the whole story, it could serve as a sample.

‘This is strange. Women could be used as servant girls, but you can’t raise grown men and old people as martial artists. There’s no need for workers either.’

There were more than one or two puzzling aspects.

There were even numerous cases where entire families were kidnapped and taken to Mado.

‘What the hell are these bastards scheming?’

Suddenly, he recalled the conversation he’d had with that bastard called Great Evil whom he’d fought in Sichuan.

The new sect leader.

A bastard of similar age and similar strength to himself.

He must possess tremendous talent.

This wasn’t self-praise.

If he was like himself, who had achieved growth in an instant through reincarnation with memories as the Heavenly Demon, then the current sect leader was truly a bastard with remarkable talent.

But.

‘He became sect leader through talent alone?’

That was also puzzling.

The Demonic Path, based on the law of the strong, places the strongest person in the sect leader’s position.

One must possess strength that no one can challenge.

No matter how weakened Mado’s forces had become, there would still be numerous Gang Qi masters.

The Twelve Celestial Lords were like that, and Yuk Je, the owner of the Six Demonic Houses, would be the same.

Yet those bastards serve a fresh young sprout as sect leader?

That’s nonsense.

For that to make sense.

‘Mado has definitely chosen change. They even call themselves the lowly Demonic Sect now…’

It must have been change for survival.

Rather than having the old ones occupy positions, they focused on someone who could become stronger in the future.

They must have chosen a talent who could lead a better future and placed him on the sect leader’s throne.

He could only think that way.

Whether that was the correct answer, he didn’t know…

“I think Mado might be in the process of gathering strength once again.”

“That might be the case.”

Zhuge Munhyeon nodded, agreeing with Zhuge Dowon’s words.

Ten years? Or perhaps twenty years?

Mado, having gathered its strength, would surely seek to express it.

That target would be the Central Plains.

Conquering the Central Plains was Mado’s long-cherished wish, after all.

‘Ah! These bastards… could the reason they kidnapped others besides children be… to create something like jiangshi?’

Somehow his thoughts had reached that point.

What couldn’t these bastards do, having already permitted the use of the forbidden Demon Possession Scripture?

If Mado subjugated another branch they had extremely despised, the Blood Sect, it seemed quite possible.

‘Damn it, I have no clue what these cursed descendants are up to.’

He felt like immediately storming into the Demonic Sect, grabbing the new sect leader by the collar, shaking him, and demanding answers.

What are you guys doing right now?

…he wanted to ask.

That was only his feeling, though.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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