My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 144

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 144. Dream
“How is it progressing?”
In a darkened room.
The man in the red robe spoke in a voice grating like metal on steel.
Then a completely different voice—refined and composed—answered from across the darkness.
“The fifth seed has just been planted within the Sadao Alliance.”
“They say you’ve been scattering seeds far too liberally—sowing them even in unremarkable targets from whom full bloom seems impossible, useless as they are.”
“Look at the forest, not the trees. What I desire right now is something else.”
“And what is that?”
“Chaos.”
“Chaos?”
The man in the red robe furrowed his brow as he repeated the word.
“Yes. The Demonic Path currently stands unified and rigid—bound by the Sadao Alliance as its nexus, held fast by the Black Martial Emperor’s iron grip above. I seek chaos to create fractures in that very foundation.”
As he spoke, the man’s face twisted into a smile that was utterly unsettling.
It was a look that could only be described as madness.
“And while we’re at it, if we can continuously harvest energy from the seeds scattered in the tumult, well—that would be the icing on the cake, wouldn’t it?”
“Hmm.”
But the man in the red robe’s response suggested skepticism—as though questioning why one would make things so complicated.
“Why not simply eliminate the Black Martial Emperor?”
“Impossible.”
“Why?”
“The reason is simple. The balance of the Martial World would collapse in an instant—far too soon. The situation would spiral beyond control into utter catastrophe. We would invite total chaos upon ourselves. The time is not yet. That card must be kept in reserve for that day.”
“But you said you want chaos?”
“I said I would use chaos as a tool, given the circumstances. I did not say I desire a situation wholly beyond my control.”
Timing is everything.
Which is why he had lived quietly all these long years as one among the Sadao Alliance.
The time had not yet come.
But now that time was drawing near.
He was the one who had begun to act on what he had deferred for that day.
In truth, the Sadao Alliance had grown restless of late, troubled by the Demonic Beings born from the seeds of destruction.
And because the Black Martial Emperor had invited the Baeklang Dae into the Sadao Alliance, even those who had shown boundless faith and loyalty to him were now beginning to voice grievances both large and small.
The arrival of the Baeklang Dae had been entirely unplanned for them and thus unwelcome, yet paradoxically, the consequences were proving favorable.
“I see.”
The man in the red robe nodded, as if he understood the reasoning.
Yet his expression still showed displeasure with the way his counterpart conducted affairs.
He despised complexity—working through layers upon layers was precisely his torment.
“But remember: we must also prepare the Holy Body for the day when that one returns.”
“Of course. Only—such caution causes delays. At times, methods like mine are necessary.”
“You’ve spent so long scheming that you’ve changed. Once you would have simply shattered every obstacle in your path. Now you speak like this?”
The man in the red robe let out a chilling, high-pitched laugh.
It was a noise so grating that anyone hearing it would recoil, yet his companion seemed wholly unmoved as he replied.
“My methods have not changed. It only appears that way because of my current form.”
“I see. Very well then. I shall remember it that way. I will visit again.”
“Do not come and go too frequently—unwanted attention may become necessary to address.”
“Hmph. Who here could possibly trace my footsteps? Even the Black Martial Emperor could not.”
“Perhaps not.”
The man in the red robe then dissipated like smoke.
As though he had never been there at all.
Soon only a single silhouette remained alone in the room.
He turned slowly to gaze out the window.
When he thought about it, he had hidden himself away here for quite a long time.
He had formed many connections along the way.
Here he had found his master, his friends, even family.
His life had taken deep root within the Sadao Alliance.
Yet not once had he forgotten.
Forgotten why he was here.
He recalled his purpose again.
Yes, no matter how much blood was spilled or what sacrifice was required, it mattered not.
Only—
“For the Eternal Age of Dark Chaos.”
The lone silhouette left behind narrowed her eyes with a feral gleam, muttering beneath her breath.
***
Mm.
Late into the night.
Yeo Un-hwi was dreaming.
Boom!
Crash!
Within an ancient fortress, a black banner bearing the visage of a yellow demon lord had been planted.
Countless corpses lay strewn about, packed together in endless mounds.
Each of them wore the black martial uniform of a unified army.
And remarkably, the fallen bodies were gradually dissolving into black ash from the distance inward, vanishing without a trace.
Death that left no mark behind.
Obliteration. Yes, that was the only word that fit what he was witnessing.
What in heaven’s name was unfolding in this place?
Then it happened.
“Kghaack!”
From the fortress’s innermost sanctum, someone had just vomited forth a spray of blood.
A middle-aged man of striking appearance—beard and eyes crimson as his hair—clad in the armor of a battlefield commander, collapsed where he had been fighting.
Had anyone known him, their jaw would have dropped at the sight.
For his defeat was something extraordinary indeed.
“Hack, cough…”
In all his years of life, there had been scarcely a moment when he’d been brought to his knees like this.
Save for his master, there was no being in all the world before whom he should kneel.
And if he did not wish it, he believed no one in creation could force him down.
For he had been born strong from the moment of his birth.
A man destined to stand above all others.
His epithet was the Blood Beard Demon Emperor.
When once the Martial World trembled in terror before the name of Dark Chaos, it was always he who led the charge.
Seven absolute masters—called the Seven Stars of the Martial World and once lords of all under heaven—were all slain by this single man.
Thereafter, the Central Plains’ Martial World, shaken to its core, collapsed before Dark Chaos’ name in the blink of an eye.
Dark Chaos was formidable.
Powerful enough to overturn every notion of strength he had ever known.
It had seemed no one could stand against Dark Chaos, against the Blood Beard Demon Emperor.
But his might had come to an end here.
At the hands of the golden-eyed man before him.
The Martial God, Hyeok Jong-hu.
The sole being who had ever brought Dark Chaos to heel.
He stood over the Blood Beard Demon Emperor with an expressionless face.
“So you are the Martial God, I hear. Truly impressive.”
The Blood Beard Demon Emperor stared at the golden-eyed man standing above him with eyes shot through with blood.
He had not been careless.
The Blood Beard Demon Emperor had thrown everything he had into the battle against the Martial God, who had suddenly appeared alone at the fortress where his forces were garrisoned.
But the outcome was utter defeat.
No—it was so one-sided it was barely worth calling a battle or struggle at all.
Not a single one of the Blood Beard Demon Emperor’s attacks had landed true.
And in merely three exchanges—three exchanges alone—he had been rendered combat-ineffective.
It was inconceivable.
He who believed he could never be defeated by anyone save ‘that one.’
And yet he had fallen in the span of just three exchanges.
Rather than fill him with rage at such overwhelming power, it drew out a bitter laugh.
So such monsters truly existed.
But above all, there was something the Blood Beard Demon Emperor wished to know from the Martial God.
“How did you do it?”
“Do what.”
At the Blood Beard Demon Emperor’s cryptic question, the Martial God raised an eyebrow slightly.
“All this time, even among so many of us, you discerned which of us were genuine. Because of that, countless of our plans failed. How was such a thing possible? There were no traitors among us.”
No matter how much he turned it over in his mind, he could not fathom it.
Though the Martial God’s strength astounded him, the Blood Beard Demon Emperor was most curious about that very point.
Even now, facing his end.
The golden-eyed man gazed at his opponent quietly for a moment, then spoke again.
“Mutual Opposition.”
“Mutual Opposition?”
“My Heaven Martial God Technique deals exclusively with the most refined and purified righteous energy. And that refinement is embodied throughout my entire being. Because of it, I can sense your Dark Chaos energy—which stands in complete opposition to mine—more clearly than anyone else. But that is all.”
In truth, even as the Martial God, he had not known this from the beginning.
Nor had he ever intended it.
It merely felt like destiny.
As if Heaven itself had prepared him to face an invasion of Dark Chaos that no one else could stop.
At his words, the Blood Beard Demon Emperor burst into wild laughter.
“Kheh—what did you say? Krahahaha! Is that—is that all?”
“It is the truth.”
Crack!
“Don’t be absurd!”
The Blood Beard Demon Emperor’s face twisted with such profound frustration that he drove his fist down against the ground.
But it posed no threat whatsoever to the Martial God.
He knew that fact well enough himself.
“We were so close—so close! Why did Heaven unleash such a monster upon this world? Why?”
He spoke with bloodshot eyes, his voice trembling with hatred and resentment toward the Martial God.
“You! If not for you and that cursed Heaven Martial God Technique, I could have achieved everything! He would not have needed to lift a finger—I alone would have been enough! But because of you, just one of you!”
At this, the Martial God smiled coldly.
“You do not care in the slightest that innocent people have died because of you.”
“Hah! In any history, it has always been customary to sacrifice pawns for the greater cause. That too is merely their inborn destiny.”
“Nonsense. Who gave you the right to call their lives mere pawns?”
“That is…….”
“I did not stand against you for the sake of some grand cause. I simply could not bear to watch innocent people die unjustly.”
“For such a trivial reason!”
“Your words are no longer worth hearing.”
The Martial God’s eyes began to glow gold once more.
“All shall follow in your wake—do not complain further. Return to the earth, Blood Beard Demon Emperor.”
“Ughhhh—He will punish you for this, surely!”
“Will He, indeed.”
The Martial God smiled.
As though he knew such a thing would never come to pass.
That absolute certainty made the Blood Beard Demon Emperor’s blood run cold.
“Kraaaaahhh……!”
As brilliant golden light erupted from the Martial God’s hands like a burst of sun, Yeo Un-hwi’s eyes opened.
Mmm.
Yeo Un-hwi slowly pushed himself upright.
“A memory of the Martial God?”
It had been a long time since he had dreamed the Martial God’s dream.
Ever since acquiring the Martial God’s fortune, Yeo Un-hwi occasionally experienced dreams like this.
The feeling was hard to describe.
It was as if the Martial God was teaching him, one by one, the things he needed to know at the proper time.
Which meant that the information contained in today’s dream was exactly what Yeo Un-hwi needed right now.
Hmm.
Yeo Un-hwi began to carefully sift through the dream he had just experienced.
His thoughts grew more tangled.
Yet one thing became unmistakably clear.
The aura that emanated from the being the Martial God had called the Blood Beard Demon Emperor.
It was identical to what he had felt when Dang Gu-hwi, the treacherous son of the Sichuan Dang Family whose life he had ended, had become a Demonic Being.
Which meant—
“So Dark Chaos was behind all of it. All of it?”
He had just uncovered the hidden hand behind the Dang Gu-hwi incident, which had remained unsolved until now.
According to what Jegal Gil had said, the same thing had occurred within the Murim League.
And just days ago, Yeo Un-hwi had sensed that same aura in the Sadao Alliance.
“So it is as I thought.”
Yeo Un-hwi’s eyes grew cold and sharp.
Dark Chaos was stirring to life once more across the entire Martial World.

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