Regressed by the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 1

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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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I had been sent backward by the Cheonma.
Geonkkon (1)
……To put it plainly: year-round, every moment, when summoned I must come—a bodyguard and messenger and assassin and strategist and godfather to his successors, the sole member among the Eight Great Demons beneath the Cheonma who possessed neither children nor a faction of his own.
“Geonkkon.”
My body responded first.
I was ninety years old now.
I had lived a long time—
Though I could hardly say such a thing about her.
Beneath the moonlight, the Cheonma still bore deep crimson hair, Cheon Yuweol.
A hundred years old, yet her skin was smoother than any maiden’s, and her eyes clearer and fiercer than moonlight itself.
She rolled those blood-red eyes and looked down at me through the iron bars.
“Why did you do it?”
A question heavy with unspoken meaning.
To my silence, the Cheonma—usually so sparing with words—spoke at unusual length.
Over seventy years of my loyal service. My betrayal.
On the surface it appeared an unplanned ambush, which had nearly proven far more dangerous for her.
Though it had ultimately failed.
“You need only have remained as you were. The Ganho knelt beneath my feet, the new Emperor trembled at the thought of crossing my will, and Sip-man Daesan became the central stronghold of all beneath heaven. Had you grown bored, you could have toured the realm each winter and ransacked the world each spring like sifting through grain, and rooted out the seeds of any who dared challenge me.”
I ground my teeth with a low growl.
“Tell me how many times.”
Facing death as I was, standing before the Cheonma—that absolute being of destruction with all creation beneath her feet—I could lay bare my true heart.
“I hated it.”
“Given your circumstances, I shall permit informal speech this once.”
“Yes.”
The meek reply escaped my lips unbidden.
Decades of habit were… infuriating.
“Why did you do it? I granted you all things. The most beautiful women in the realm, every rare treasure and legendary blade from the martial archives, authority and power to eclipse all but myself. Even my own successors schemed in the shadows to earn your trust. What was lacking?”
“……”
Lacking…
By her account, nothing was truly lacking.
This had never been about want.
“Long ago, it was you who came seeking me. Absurd. Do you regret it now? Did you hunger to sit in my seat?”
“Yes, I grew greedy. So greedy I nearly lost my mind with regret. I even fantasized about Regression—that myth whispered through the ages—if only it were real.”
The Cheonma waved her hand at my words.
Everyone was to leave.
Then the torches flickered briefly.
The group that guards the Cheonma in darkness, the mightiest force within the Cheonma Church itself.
The Am-cheonsa-sin-gwi, whom I had personally directed and trained, withdrew.
“Has this place been tolerable?”
In the Cheonma’s dispassionate voice, a note of something like regret flickered and faded.
“It could hardly be otherwise. Still, it serves well enough as a place for honest discourse. There are no watching eyes or listening ears. Even the Am-cheonsa-sin-gwi, whom I have commanded, cannot be easily trusted, so this is indeed the best we can do.”
“Then so it is. None will suspect anything in interrogating a criminal.”
“And have you…… found them?”
“Some. Under the pretext of rooting out those who conspired with your impulsive rebellion, I have quietly gathered and captured all those who were secretly assembling their forces. Half the Eight Great Demons are implicated, and my own children joined hands to overthrow me. Because of you, I was able to dispose of them before they could coalesce. But…”
The moment his words trailed off, I was certain.
“You did not capture the true architect. Then this shall happen again. No—the shadow behind all of this moves far ahead of us.”
I clicked my tongue in frustration.
It was a stratagem that required even her right arm’s sacrifice.
Without it, the internal discord could not have been quelled so swiftly.
To drag out a civil war would only magnify external threats.
But the most crucial thing had been overlooked.
“You do not believe the true architect lies among those purged today.”
“None of them possessed the authority to make me overlook her and rally all—none had such prestige. Moreover, half of those who became my eyes and ears in an instant have vanished or turned to corpses. Such results lie beyond the reach of internal operatives.”
“The Imperial Palace? The Orthodox sects fractured and splintered once more? The righteous factions blinded by greed? Or perhaps the lingering resentment of the countless martial masters she has forced to kneel?”
“Based on what I have learned thus far…”
…………
“The previous Church Master, whom you beheaded with your own hands, stirs once more. I have not found perfect proof to convince you, but I am certain of it in my bones.”
Anyone hearing that their own father had returned from death and moved to slay them would hesitate to speak easily.
Most would stumble back in shock and recoil.
Usually one would reveal a crack in their resolve.
But the Cheonma only laughed instead.
“Hehe.”
An intense, scalding heat—as if a volcano were about to erupt—wrapped around her.
Then the Cheonma withdrew a handkerchief stained with blood and pressed it to her mouth.
Cough—
A considerable amount of blood seeped into the handkerchief with that brief spell of hemoptysis.
“Curious. For quite some time, you’ve moved like someone who knows me well.”
“Poisoned… you, my lord? When did this happen?”
“Until now, you alone knew my weakness. I killed everyone else who did.”
It was true. Despite his extraordinary talent and cultivation, there existed one weakness to the Heavenly Punishment that could not be overcome.
Something unexpectedly common and easy to obtain—yet once refined through a particular method, it became a terrible poison to the Cheonma, with a compatibility so vile as to progressively harden flesh and vital channels.
It was a spirit herb called Cheongwol-cho.
For most, it was a spirit herb that aided the accumulation of inner strength; for the Cheonma, it was a toxic plant with the worst possible affinity, one that caused Gi-yeok—a reversal of vital energy—gradually petrifying body and blood.
I had poured all my efforts outward, neglecting to keep watch over the Cheonma’s condition.
No—I had been careless. Complacent.
Knowing her strength as I did.
“Forgive me. The fault is mine.”
“You understand well. You should have persisted more relentlessly, made greater effort. Instead of constantly pestering me with talk of retirement, you made me waste years chasing after you.”
“…….”
She had tapped the iron bars with her long, pale fingers—a casual gesture—but now she gripped them as though she would crush them to dust.
“Yet I ask you this.”
“…….”
“Had you stood at the same starting point as I, do you suppose you could have dared to surpass me?”
“How could I presume such a thing?”
“I know your true heart is otherwise.”
I am a martial artist with competitive spirit too.
If I were to speak plainly, the answer would be altogether different.
“You yourself did not hold everything in your grasp from the beginning, my lord. Your exceptional talent bloomed through time and opportunity—afforded by varied circumstances and support long before you met me.”
“That is something one cannot know until the cards are laid bare. Let me make you a proposal.”
A spark of light kindled in the Cheonma’s otherwise dull eyes.
“Become someone I should fear. Can you do this? Then my father too would be thrown into uncertainty by your existence.”
“To live like this, waiting only for death?”
The Cheonma drew a Talisman from her hand.
It was an unremarkable Talisman.
“A Talisman to exchange for my very soul. It took me a long time to obtain. A precious Secret Text I acquired alone. And it so happens that today is the ‘time’ when Yeokcheon opens—something that occurs only once every few centuries.”
The Cheonma spoke in increasingly cryptic tones, and I could only laugh hollowly.
“You believe in such unfounded rumors—legends of Regression?”
“Once, rumors that the Cheonma Church had returned again were mere hearsay. Yet I existed all the while. You were one of the few who believed that rumor. You found me, did you not? Then why do you not believe this? You, who even suspect your dead father has been revived.”
“…….”
“When one abandons illusion, limits and frameworks arise. You are not as you were before.”
Left speechless, I received the Talisman as the Cheonma smiled and offered it.
“Stain it with your blood and tear it. Then, you shall.”
The Cheonma flicked her hand, and I was caught in a sudden gust, hurled so near I could feel her breath.
Bang—
My face struck the iron bars, and I met the Cheonma’s crimson gaze.
“You will regress.”
The Cheonma was no amateur deceiver.
Thump. My heart shuddered.
“…….”
“Though your starting point may not be identical to mine due to our age difference, you will have ample opportunity in the future. Moreover, if you return to the appropriate time, your latent strength will evolve enough to threaten me.”
“Why not go yourself, my lord?”
“The Talisman’s medium is me. I cannot go of my own will. Besides, your going will be far more effective in throwing my father into confusion—should he truly have been revived.”
“My judgment may be flawed.”
“Do you believe it is?”
“No.”
“Then my choice will prove wise once again.”
“Indeed, except for your taste in men, you have always been wise.”
“There was once a time when I considered making you my Doban, but had I made that choice then, you would not have dared utter such nonsense just now.”
A Doban—that is to say, a husband.
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“Are you saying that knowing what became of the men who passed through the Master, you still speak such words?”
Every last one met cruel, barbarous deaths.
They had brought it upon themselves entirely.
Through greed that exceeded their vessel’s capacity.
And at the end of their lives stood I, bearing the Heavenly Master’s command.
Why else would I be called the Yeom-wang of the Doban?
“Ordinary men grow tiresome.”
“To be honest, I am at least better than they were.”
She was indeed a malevolent spirit.
No—the very king of malevolent spirits.
Her reasoning had some merit, at least.
“So you enjoyed it too, then.”
Did it show?
The Heavenly Master’s eye for men was atrocious, in truth.
Or perhaps she simply never looked at all.
Every one of them arrogant, their capabilities falling short of their pride, lacking all discernment and virtue—in any case.
“I may never return to your side again. After my Regression, I shall have no need of your aid.”
“Then I gain a new adversary. Better than living idle for decades, then dying helpless.”
“I shall live freely, protecting what I desire and making my own choices. My martial prowess must grow formidable, and the wealth I accumulate must overflow—more than yours.”
“That, then, is the path of the Absolute Being. Your years have made you simple in your speech.”
“Tell me, are you harboring some naive hope that I will return to the Heavenly Master’s side after my Regression? I have not the slightest intention of doing so.”
She opened her eyes wide.
“Will you choose me still?”
The Heavenly Master laughed, a low chuckle.
“Go, then. Do as you will.”
She provoked me with those crimson eyes.
I seized the Talisman as though snatching it from the air, clutching it in my palm.
“Do not regret this.”
An intense exhilaration, surpassing all the countless emotions and thrills I had known throughout my life, made the fine hairs on my body stand on end.
I stained it with blood.
……
I tore it apart.

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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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