My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 158

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

Episode 158. It Is Not Yet Over
The Cheonma Sinjiao, located deep within Shipman Daesan.
Within it, the Leader’s Hall of Cheonma Palace, nested in the very heart of the sect.
Upon a jade throne in that vast chamber, its walls and ceiling carved entirely with the likenesses of demons, sat a gaunt, middle-aged man with a long beard.
It was Gwok Cheon-hu, the Leader of Cheonma Sinjiao, known as the Heaven-Breaking Demon Emperor.
Yet at this moment, his face bore an expression of profound displeasure.
“Speak. What am I still lacking to become the Cheonma?”
His cold gaze fixed upon a woman standing before him.
She was a beauty with a stern visage, dressed in white priestess robes.
She was Wi Seol-rin, the priestess who conducted the sacred rites of Cheonma Sinjiao.
“There is but one thing I can tell you, Lord Leader.”
Wi Seol-rin opened her mouth without the slightest intimidation at Gwok Cheon-hu’s fierce aura.
Her unwavering dark eyes met his.
“Since ancient times, all those called Cheonma have ever illuminated the Heavenly Path with flame. If you are to be called Cheonma, Lord Leader…”
“You mean I must light the Heavenly Path.”
“That is correct.”
Wi Seol-rin answered with an expression of serene dignity.
Gwok Cheon-hu’s face twisted.
That answer about lighting the flame—he had heard it hundreds of times over.
In all of Cheonma Sinjiao’s history, only two had ever been called Cheonma after the first.
Both had been hailed as the supreme master of their age.
Yet for more than a century now, no Cheonma had arisen.
And Gwok Cheon-hu desired to become the new Cheonma.
Among the Twelve Supremes, he considered himself the strongest, and thus believed himself the supreme master of the present Martial World.
Yet absurdly, because of this talk of the Heavenly Path and such things, the priestess insisted he was not yet the Cheonma—and this deeply vexed him.
Only the priestess could proclaim the birth of a Cheonma.
Thus Gwok Cheon-hu had been pressuring her.
But such pressure had no effect whatsoever on the priestess Wi Seol-rin.
There was no definitive method passed down for illuminating the Heavenly Path.
What was known was that one might infuse Internal Energy into the Heavenly Path, or alternatively, that offering the Thousand-Day Prayer there would cause the flame to ignite.
Of course, he had tried everything.
Yet no matter what he did, no flame had ever appeared in the Heavenly Path.
What on earth was lacking?
“This is an ancient tradition and law decreed by the First Cheonma who founded Cheonma Sinjiao. No matter how exalted you are as the Leader, you cannot be exempt from this law.”
Wi Seol-rin, having read his thoughts, cut him off sharply.
Her voice carried not mere refusal, but a coldness that suggested the matter was beyond discussion.
She too, no matter how great his authority as Leader, could never yield on this matter.
Proclaiming the Cheonma.
This was her sacred duty.
Whether living or dead, her entire existence was devoted to safeguarding this calling.
A tense silent battle ensued between the enraged Gwok Cheon-hu and the immovable Wi Seol-rin.
Yet it was brief; soon, all expression drained from Gwok Cheon-hu’s face.
With an expressionless gaze fixed upon Wi Seol-rin, he nodded slowly.
“Very well. You may go.”
“Yes.”
Once again, the silent contest between the Leader and the priestess ended with the Leader yielding ground.
Wi Seol-rin bowed her head and departed from the Leader’s Hall.
The door closed with a soft click.
“A most inflexible woman, that priestess of ours.”
The members of the Ten Demon Stars, who had been listening to the exchange all along, began to speak one by one.
“What is this talk of tradition? When the Leader is already all but supreme in the Martial World. Tsk.”
“The priestess has lost her discernment.”
They all clucked their tongues in reproach of the priestess.
And soon their conversation followed its usual pattern, taking the Leader’s side.
“Fear not, Lord Leader. The Heavenly Path will soon be alight, and you shall become the Cheonma that none can deny.”
And yet.
On any other occasion, the Leader would have continued his fury or changed the subject, but today he remained silent.
He still stared at the door through which Wi Seol-rin had departed.
“Lord Leader…?”
“Something…”
Slowly, his lips parted, and words spilled forth that defied belief.
“It seems the time has come to dispose of her.”
……!
The eyes of the Ten Demon Stars widened.
They understood at once what his words meant.
He was about to cross a line that not a single Leader before him had ever dared approach.
In the Cheonma Sinjiao, there was only one being whom one could not command or treat carelessly—the Divine Maiden.
In fact, the Leaders of old had even sought the Divine Maiden’s counsel when the Cheonma Sinjiao faced crisis, such was the reverence afforded to her station.
But Gwok Cheon-hu was different.
He had no need for a Divine Maiden who refused to acknowledge him as the Cheonma.
The Ten Demon Stars exchanged wary glances.
Yet the hesitation was short-lived.
“All shall unfold as the Leader wills.”
“We follow the Leader.”
As Gwok Cheon-hu watched the Ten Demon Stars bow before him, a cruel smile played across his lips.
“By now, the matter should be settled.”
How would it have gone?
Gwok Cheon-hu harbored not the slightest doubt that those he had sent to the Peng Estate in Hebei would succeed.
It was only natural.
With that level of force, he could easily wage open war against the Murim League itself.
Anticipation stirred in him.
Once this matter ended and news spread that the Peng Estate in Hebei had vanished from the Martial World, he wondered how the Orthodox Factions would respond.
Whatever they did, it would be entertaining.
Gwok Cheon-hu craved war above all else.
So if possible, he harbored a great desire to initiate that very war as the new Cheonma.
War.
The thought of how much blood would be spilled because of it made laughter bubble up in his throat unbidden.
Soon, his gaze—lingering amid that languorous atmosphere of mirth—turned toward the ceiling.
Hmm?
In that instant, his eyes snapped wide.
Carved into the ceiling were ornamental stones symbolizing the Leader of the Cheonma Sinjiao and the Ten Demon Stars who served as his support.
But beyond the Black Demon Stone that had already shattered, four other stones now lay cracked and shattered as well.
When had this happened?
And there could be only one meaning to it.
They had failed? With that force?
Even with the former Leader, now a monster, among them?
Ha!
Gwok Cheon-hu exhaled an involuntary gasp.
This was the complete opposite of what he had anticipated.
Confusion flooded Gwok Cheon-hu’s face.
It was truly unbelievable.
What in the world was happening?
And what exactly did the Peng Estate in Hebei possess?
***
Late into the night.
Peng Mugang stood gazing out the window, lost in thought.
‘That fellow is something else.’
Peng Mugang’s mind conjured the face of Yeo Un-hwi.
The face of a man whom he had now put his reservations to rest and accepted wholly as family.
Certainly, he had been an unsatisfactory match at first.
No matter how blunt Peng Mugang was, no matter how ill-suited to showing affection toward his children, Peng Seo-yeon had always been his pride and joy.
And this man had fled in the dead of night with his daughter.
How could Peng Mugang have looked upon such a man with favor?
Even when his daughter returned.
Even when his heart had softened toward his sole granddaughter.
Even as his grievances with his daughter gradually dissolved.
Peng Mugang had found it difficult to open his heart to Yeo Un-hwi alone.
Though his peculiar temperament played a part, Peng Mugang believed that such caution was hardly excessive for a parent with children.
And so Peng Mugang had tormented Yeo Un-hwi.
He made excuses about observing his abilities, about this and that, but in truth, placing a scholar ignorant of martial arts into the position of leader of Baeklang Dae was less a matter of testing him and more an act of deliberate torment.
Peng Mugang had wanted nothing more than to see Yeo Un-hwi return early, begging him to stop whatever he was doing.
In the end, such a thing never came to pass.
Somehow, beneath Yeo Un-hwi’s hand, only the Baeklang Dae had undergone a complete metamorphosis.
Gradually, the way Peng Mugang looked at Yeo Un-hwi began to shift.
The past fades away in the embrace of happy times, as it always does.
In the laughter of his daughter and granddaughter, Peng Mugang’s hardened heart began to let Yeo Un-hwi seep slowly inside.
At times, catching himself treating the man with such casual familiarity, Peng Mugang would start in surprise.
Yet there remained one thing that kept him from fully unbolting the door to his heart until the very end.
It was his own instinct that Yeo Un-hwi was hiding something.
It didn’t feel dangerous, exactly—so why did it gnaw at him so?
What could he possibly be concealing?
And today, Peng Mugang had finally learned the answer.
In the moment when the Demonic Sect plunged the Peng Estate into dire peril.
Yeo Un-hwi appeared and saved them all.
Displaying an impossible Mu-wi.
Peng Mugang had never been so startled in his life.
And he came to know not only the circumstances by which he gained such power, but another secret besides.
That he had regressed from the past—an unbelievable tale.
And had he not seen what he saw, he surely would not have believed it.
Had he not witnessed the light in Yeo Un-hwi’s eyes.
The eyes of a man who spoke of having lost his wife and daughter.
Emptiness, rage, detachment, sorrow, resignation…….
That emotion was something no one could feign—it rent the very heart of anyone who beheld it.
If he himself had lost his wife, daughter, and son in such a way, what would have become of him?
In that moment, Peng Mugang understood: this man must have lived a terribly arduous life.
There was but one thing he could say to him.
‘You’ve endured so much.’
And in that instant, he accepted Yeo Un-hwi.
As one of the Peng Estate, as family, as a son-in-law and a son.
And,
‘The Destiny of Musin, they say.’
Hyeok Jong-hu—the supreme master of all ages.
That name had already become legend in the annals of the Martial World.
Those who had witnessed him firsthand recorded that if he so chose, nothing in heaven or earth could stand against him.
When he drew his blade, the sky split; when he stamped his foot, the earth trembled.
Tales heard since childhood, mythic in their telling.
Naturally, Peng Mugang had always believed there was exaggeration in such stories.
But after witnessing Yeo Un-hwi’s power today, he understood.
There had been no exaggeration in the accounts of Musin that had come down through the ages.
Though it brought Peng Mugang joy to know his son-in-law possessed such formidable strength, it also filled him with worry.
The man was someone for whom protecting family and loved ones was everything in life.
Yet Peng Mugang feared that the power of Musin would not permit him such simple peace.
Great strength carries great responsibility in its wake.
Much less the strength of Musin…….
“Hah…….”
Clouds drifted across the moonlight, heavy and dark.
Like the deep, heavy sigh that escaped Peng Mugang’s lips.
***
Dawn broke.
It was the hour when his wife Peng Seo-yeon and daughter Yul-i slept deeply.
Yeo Un-hwi slipped quietly outside and made his way to the Garden.
“You’ve arrived.”
Jin So-baek was waiting for him there.
He looked far more pleased than usual.
There were various reasons, certainly, but above all, this affair had crystallized his resolve.
To stake everything on the man called Yeo Un-hwi.
Bae Cho-jin was in complete agreement with him on this.
If anything, he was even more fervent.
‘From now on, the Martial World will revolve around him! This is when our Hao Wen must wager everything, I truly believe. No, my mind is made up. Let us proceed.’
Though he was the master of Hao Wen, Jin So-baek could not quite fathom why a mere disciple was deciding the future his organization should take—yet his own heart burned with the very same conviction.
From the start, a person must know when it’s time to stake their life on a decision.
There was something odd about the way Jin So-baek kept grinning, yet Yeo Un-hwi owed him much gratitude.
He had done far more than expected.
If Jin So-baek hadn’t moved swiftly to inform Yeo Un-hwi that the Demonic Sect was heading toward Hebei.
Or if he hadn’t passed word to the Peng Estate, leaving them defenseless against the Sect’s assault.
The situation would certainly have been far worse than it was.
Moreover, Jin So-baek had done more than that—he’d even rushed to mobilize elite forces from Hao Wen to aid them.
“I’m grateful. I’ve incurred a considerable debt from this affair.”
Yeo Un-hwi felt certain that joining hands with Jin So-baek had been the right choice.
Though it cost a fair sum, the man more than proved his worth.
“Why speak of such things, sir? It’s only natural. Haha!”
“Is that so? Natural, you say. Well, I was planning to offer you a special bonus for this job, but if that’s how it is—”
“When the flow of work is reliable, efficiency rises! Our patron clearly understands these matters. Such a bonus—I shall certainly not refuse it. Haha!”
At Jin So-baek’s response, Yeo Un-hwi let out a soft laugh.
Then Jin So-baek spoke again.
“Ah, and to be safe, I’ve also stationed Hao Wen forces at each of the other Great Clans’ estates. We cannot predict what the Demonic Sect might do, after all.”
At this very moment, the fighting strength of each Great Clan was gathered in Hebei at the Peng Estate.
Each clan was left virtually defenseless.
That was why Jin So-baek had acted so quickly.
Truly excellent.
And yet—
“No, there’s no need for that.”
“Sir?”
“We can’t simply live in fear of the Demonic Sect’s next move forever, can we?”
“What are you suggesting, then?”
“We eliminate the source.”
Eliminate the source? What did that mean—
Jin So-baek’s eyes widened.
“You don’t mean to say…”
“Yes.”
Yeo Un-hwi’s gaze turned toward the distant sky.
“A debt must be repaid. Thoroughly.”
There was no reason to delay further.
He was done with sitting idle and enduring their strikes.
Now they would learn precisely what they had touched.
His eyes had gone cold and bright.
This battle was far from over.

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