Ascension of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 5

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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 5

“Hmm, the family history… those are records of dead people so I don’t need to know them, and mechanical arts and formation arts are unnecessary…”

Zhuge Munhyeon, who had entered the Ten Thousand Books Pavilion, quickly passed by after only glancing at the classification charts marked on the bookshelves.

To others, each and every one of those would be books of precious value, but his interest was focused on just one thing.

“Ah! Here it is.”

The most secluded corner of the first floor archive.

That place was full of dust and didn’t even have oil lamps prepared, as people’s footsteps had only reached up to that point.

Zhuge Munhyeon smiled as he looked at a bookshelf that was particularly small compared to the others and had only a few books on it.

The Martial Arts Section.

“Sohye.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“Please bring an oil lamp here.”

“Pardon? You’re going to read there instead of at the desk?”

“Yes.”

At Zhuge Munhyeon’s answer, Sohye hurried over and hung up an oil lamp to brightly illuminate the surroundings, then said in surprise.

“Oh my! Young Master. There’s so much dust here!”

“That’s true.”

“Oh dear, this won’t do. Please move aside.”

“Huh?”

“If your respiratory system gets damaged by the dust, I’ll be the one getting scolded.”

“So, Sohye. There’s really no need to go that far…”

“This is very important to me, you know? I’m the one responsible for taking care of your health. Are you telling me to get yelled at by Miss for no reason?”

Sohye stubbornly pushed Zhuge Munhyeon aside and began cleaning the dust.

There were others who managed the archive…

And he had never once seen his kind mother scold Sohye.

She was simply using Mother as an excuse because she disliked him sitting in a dirty place.

Because she knew he wouldn’t be stubborn if she did that.

‘Really, this girl is quite persistent too.’

Zhuge Munhyeon, who had stepped back, couldn’t help but chuckle.

He had never seen anyone who wasn’t family care for him like this.

“But doesn’t the Ten Thousand Books Pavilion get cleaned? They say these are precious books, yet they left them until dust accumulated like this.”

“Indeed.”

“But what kind of books are these?”

Sohye tilted her head curiously.

She couldn’t read.

So that was fortunate.

Even if Father or Mother asked, all she could say was that he had been reading books.

What if they happened to ask him?

He could just recite the Bright Heart Treasure Mirror, Analects, Mencius, and so on in order.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t known them until now, he just hadn’t done it.

Above all, if Father, who wanted him to excel academically, found out that he was learning martial arts, he might not allow him access to the Ten Thousand Books Pavilion.

“Are you done cleaning?”

“Ah, yes! Please sit down now.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

At Zhuge Munhyeon’s words, Sohye smiled broadly and stepped back.

She seemed pleased by the words of gratitude.

It wasn’t just once or twice either.

Come to think of it, in the past he had rarely said thank you to anyone.

Because he had never really received help or expected help from others.

But now it was familiar.

Since he vividly remembered everything from the moment of birth, he knew how much help his parents and Sohye had given him.

Perhaps his parents from his previous life had been the same?

They would have given birth to him and raised him…

He didn’t know through what circumstances he had ended up in the Demonic Sect, but seeing that he had survived until then, he might have received quite a lot of help.

It would have been nice if he could have remembered like he could now.

‘I’ve become unnecessarily sentimental.’

That too was one of the changes that had occurred in his new life.

The thing called emotions.

In his previous life, he hadn’t really had emotions to speak of.

Wasn’t the Demonic Sect a place where everyone was no different from enemies?

Surviving – in childhood he had only thought about that, and afterwards he had only thought about defeating the strong and becoming stronger, so there hadn’t even been time to feel emotions.

‘It feels like I’m learning how to live all over again.’

Feeling someone else’s emotions because of himself wasn’t so bad.

Because it felt like becoming a little closer to someone emotionally.

He was learning so many things he had never known in his lifetime during the short seven years of this life.

“Phew.”

Putting aside his idle thoughts, Zhuge Munhyeon took out a book and opened it.

Small Heavenly Star Technique.

It was a martial arts manual shelved together with its companion techniques, Small Heavenly Star Palm and Small Heavenly Star Sword Technique.

“Even if it’s a basic martial art, still, they really gave it such a carelessly chosen name.”

Zhuge Munhyeon chuckled and turned the cover.

Even if it was beginner level, this was something else.

Above all, there was another reason why he had to learn Zhuge martial arts instead of demonic arts.

Namely, Ascension to Immortality.

For now he would have to live as a martial artist of the Zhuge family, but someday he might ascend to that realm again and look beyond it.

Even for that time, demonic arts would not be a good choice.

Originally, demonic arts focused only on becoming stronger, so they showed very rapid achievement.

But because of that, a unique energy called demonic qi accumulated like sediment inside the body, which acted as a major obstacle during Ascension to Immortality.

Therefore, to achieve the Spiritual Body state that made Ascension to Immortality possible, one had to go through one more stage, which was Purification.

Making the energy possessed by the spirit into its purest state.

“That took the longest time.”

When training in Taiji Cave, he had devoted the most time to that part.

Why would he bother to repeat the wrong path?

This was a newly obtained life.

Becoming as strong as in his previous life would be sufficiently possible with Zhuge martial arts too, so he would fasten that first button with the orthodox martial arts of the Zhuge family.

“Let’s see, hmm…”

Perhaps because it was a martial arts manual he was seeing after such a long time?

Even knowing it was a beginner’s book, he quickly became absorbed in its contents.

Perhaps because of the experience accumulated in his memory and the knowledge he had gained from studying martial arts, even without anyone explaining or separate commentary, he understood the content as he read.

Meanwhile, the content was quite interesting.

That made sense, because seeing martial arts manuals from other families was an uncommon experience even in his previous life. It was full of things that couldn’t be known through martial duels alone.

It was at some moment when he was putting his heart and soul into each character, deeply comprehending the content.

‘Huh?’

An elderly man of considerable age was looking at him with a pleased expression.

A hazy figure.

‘True intention …’

Such cases exist.

When concentration is unknowingly maximized, entering a state of selflessness and approaching the thoughts contained within a book, the author appears as if teaching the thoughts from when they created it, like being intoxicated by confusion.

If it had been his first experience, he would have been startled with wide eyes!

But not me.

In my previous life, I had already experienced this several times.

A hallucination created by one who seeks to understand meaning.

The old man is an illusion.

All the questioning and answering through the mind is ultimately self-questioning and self-answering.

However, it’s difficult for true intention to manifest in physical form.

‘Small Heavenly Star Technique… This is better than I thought?’

He turned the pages and contemplated the passages while having a mental dialogue with him.

The old man spoke and Zhuge Munhyeon listened.

And Sohye, watching this scene while holding her breath to avoid interference, could only feel pleased.

Only the sound of turning pages could be heard in the quiet Bookshelf Area.

‘He’s really amazing, you know? His concentration is tremendous. Who would see him as seven years old?’

Recently, when gathering with Servant Girls from other pavilions, there had been much talk about Zhuge Munhyeon.

Saying he was a shooting star that briefly sparkled, or that the Artists’ blood had consumed the Zhuge blood.

‘Those damn fools don’t even know how brilliant our young master is. No, where else would you find someone who speaks so clearly about their thoughts and so logically at seven years old? Is that all? What about his considerate nature? Those who know nothing are just babbling nonsense.’

No matter what anyone said, Sohye was only proud of the fact that she served him.

Perhaps because of this, whenever she saw Servant Girls whispering bad things about Zhuge Munhyeon, she would grab them by the hair.

‘Just try babbling thoughtlessly one more time? I’ll pull out every strand of your hair.’

Making this secret resolution, Sohye waited for Zhuge Munhyeon to finish reading.

How much time had passed?

Growl.

Her stomach was making a fuss.

Since eating and living were the most important things in the world for her, she was relatively good at keeping meal times.

It would soon be time for lunch.

Glancing over, Zhuge Munhyeon was still absorbed in his book.

‘He must be hungry…’

She needed to tell him the time, but since she didn’t want to disturb his concentration, Sohye quietly slipped out of the Bookshelf Area.

And when quite a bit more time had passed.

“Phew, I finally finished reading it all.”

Zhuge Munhyeon, who had been so concentrated that he wouldn’t have noticed if someone died beside him, closed the book with a relieved expression.

Stars begin to shine, the Milky Way moves in secret.

Heaven’s stars resonate, dawn’s brilliant stars.

A single star awakens in the dark night sky and mixes among countless stars like those in the galaxy, but eventually reveals itself and resonates, finally becoming a star that illuminates the heavens.

Small Heavenly Star Technique.

It was martial arts created by modeling the birth and growth process of stars, with the meaning of becoming an existence that is small for now but will shine greatly someday.

Although it didn’t contain advanced martial techniques, it was a Foundation Technique containing ancestral wisdom that could easily support whatever was built upon it.

‘Tsk tsk, to leave such good martial arts neglected in the dust of Ten Thousand Books Pavilion…’

He could guess the reason.

It would have been slow.

They would have been impatient.

Rather than building a foundation and then moving to the next process, they would have wanted to learn something better from the start.

That would have seemed more efficient.

But it’s fool’s gold.

For now, the achievement of whatever replaced it would seem better, but once reaching a certain level, the weak foundation wouldn’t be able to firmly support the tall tower built upon it.

That’s exactly why Zhuge Martial Arts was weak.

Because they couldn’t wait.

Because they didn’t know that flower buds filled to bursting would someday bloom magnificently.

‘Pitiful fools, they couldn’t recognize treasure right before their eyes. It’s because they were too smart. With greed to replace it with something better, they were obsessed only with immediate benefits, so they couldn’t see its true nature.’

Seeing it neglected like this, the Creator would return from the grave and beat the ground in regret.

These damn fools, I wracked my brains to create this and you treat it like this? they would say.

It was a seven-year-old clicking his tongue in frustration.

But how could he leave it like this?

He had already seen its true nature.

Of course he had to change it.

“You should be grateful to me. The Small Heavenly Star Technique you created might now be remembered as a Peerless Divine Technique. By me, Zhuge Munhyeon.”

Zhuge Munhyeon muttered to himself as he closed the book, and someone in the void smiled in response.

“Um, young master.”

Was it because he had been concentrating too much?

Sohye, who had been waiting beside him the whole time for a chance, spoke when she saw him close the book, startling him.

“Are you finished?”

“Yes.”

“Oh my, I really waited for a long time.”

Sohye looked tearful.

“You were concentrating so much I couldn’t even talk to you…”

“Ah…”

She was holding a small Small Table covered with Wrapping Cloth.

It seemed she had quietly gone out to bring food while he was reading, so as not to disturb him.

“They said other food wasn’t allowed, so I only brought Rice Cake and Tea Water, but while waiting, the Rice Cake hardened and the tea got cold.”

He felt unnecessarily sorry for her frowning face.

Hearing the quiet growling sounds, it meant not only he but she had also gone hungry.

“You should have eaten first.”

“How could I eat alone when you were going hungry, young master?”

“You could have just eaten.”

“That’s absolutely not allowed! Eating by myself while leaving you behind is something that could never happen.”

At her resolute appearance, Zhuge Munhyeon ended up sighing.

What a useless conviction.

But that conviction secretly pleased him.

Perhaps because someone was thinking of him.

“Let’s eat.”

“We can’t.”

“Huh?”

“I told you the Rice Cake hardened? It’s hard.”

“What does that matter? We just need to fill our stomachs.”

“It’ll hurt your teeth.”

That’s nonsense.

Although most were baby teeth, he was a seven-year-old whose spirit could chew and swallow stones.

“And besides, the day is already ending.”

“Already?”

“Just how long were you concentrating? You didn’t even notice time passing.”

“Ah, that’s…”

At Sohye’s scolding, Zhuge Munhyeon made an awkward expression.

Since the Martial Arts Section was located in such a secluded corner where sunlight didn’t reach, he had to rely on the oil lamp and didn’t even realize it had grown dark outside.

He must have been quite excited after grasping the true meaning of the Small Heavenly Star Technique.

“You’re suffering needlessly because of me.”

“Please don’t say that. I’m actually more worried about you, Young Master. Even though you’re taller than your peers, skipping meals during your growth period…”

“…”

“Let’s go quickly. I’ll prepare a delicious dinner for you.”

“Alright.”

Zhuge Munhyeon grinned and left the Ten Thousand Books Pavilion together with Sohye.

The first day.

Thoroughly studying one martial arts manual was sufficient.

Even though it was a beginner’s text that had been neglected and abandoned, for Zhuge Munhyeon who had obtained its true essence, it was a moment that could be called nothing less than a fateful encounter.

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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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