Regressed by the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 5

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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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Regressed by the Demon Emperor.
Geon Gon (5)
The Golden Chamber occupied over fifty thousand square meters of land within the Capital City itself, with the grand manor alone spanning twenty thousand square meters.
Merchants, stable hands, clerks, servants, couriers, gem appraisers—over three thousand personnel dwelled there permanently.
Beyond that, the number of people coming and going through the manor was as countless as grains of sand.
It was precisely why I did not immediately flee the Golden Chamber, surrounded as it was by enemies, right after my regression.
Without any effort, I could seize tremendous financial power and redirect it to wherever I needed it.
And there were the opportunities—those that might have existed in this place in the past, or those that genuinely existed at this very moment.
It was only natural that I, once a member of this place and someone who had considered vengeance in earnest, knew the past and future of the Golden Chamber in intimate detail.
Though I never dreamed the Golden Chamber would collapse while I was sharpening the blade of my revenge—
In any case, in memories past, I had sought out opportunity.
In a place like this.
“The weather’s tiresome.”
Geon Pyeong, who had ridden alongside me on horseback after I halted my mount at the hilltop, spoke with irritation. The ground squelched underfoot thanks to the heavy snow that had fallen through the night.
“You’re provoking me over a mere five-thousand-square-meter highland pasture and one girl?”
I did not answer, instead fixing my gaze on the roughly five-thousand-square-meter pasture grassland, still blanketed in unmelted snow.
Most people occasionally recall opportunities they let slip in the past, their mouths watering with regret.
Of course, this applied to me as well.
A humble pasture atop a rise.
Yet for me, this was far more than a simple grassland.
“Right, that’s how it’ll be. In exchange for handing over half the funds I’ve amassed to you, you’ll cede to me full authority over this pasture and Seol Ha. Of course, all of this is contingent on you obtaining Mother’s permission.”
At this point, Geon Pyeong was planning business expansion by geometrically increasing mining output, and was in the midst of funneling vast sums of capital.
It was a transaction made possible by targeting that very weakness.
Geon Pyeong, unaware of this, would surely have judged that I was pushing hard simply to acquire one woman, Seol Ha.
To purchase five thousand square meters of remote outer pasture with funds sufficient to buy a thousand square meters of land on the Capital City’s outskirts was, by any measure, a poor bargain.
In the end, there was no solid basis for it except the reason of obtaining Seol Ha.
“Is she worth that much?”
“Who was the one who came crawling here for a single woman?”
“Mind your tongue. Before you disappear without a trace where neither rat nor bird will find you.”
“I belong to Mother. You think I’ll vanish like dust the way that wretch Geon Gon will?”
“The soon-to-be discarded one talks too much.”
“Draw up the contract.”
The functionaries we had brought exchanged deed documents regarding the contract.
“Get out.”
“It’s my land now, so you’ll take it?”
“Bah, rotten luck. Everything sticks to you.”
Geon Pyeong spat and turned his horse’s head.
“Let’s go!”
Geon Pyeong’s entourage swept away with him like an ebb tide.
“The rest of you, return as well. I’ll remain here to speak with Gam Mok for a time.”
Presently, left alone, I broke through the snowy field and rushed down the hillside toward the pasture below.
*
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“Heh, I’m afraid this is all I have to offer.”
Gam Mok, who had just drawn warm milk from the dairy cow, kept watchful eyes on my expression.
If a second young master suddenly appeared and announced himself as the new owner, asking to receive a cup of milk, anyone would harbor peculiar thoughts.
“It has a fine flavor. I’ve heard the quality of milk produced here is quite remarkable, even for a horse pasture.”
“Yes, sir. We keep so few dairy cows that production is limited—barely enough to distribute as gifts of appreciation. Heh. The costs of maintaining the dairy cows barely offset what little we produce.”
“I see. And how are the horses faring?”
“Our numbers have decreased somewhat from last year. Two horses died, I’m afraid.”
“Hmm, I see. Then it seems you needn’t worry about such things going forward.”
“Yes?? I beg your pardon.”
Gam Mok’s eyes darted wildly left and right.
Then he prostrated himself flat on the ground.
“If you order us to leave in the depths of winter, the herders under my charge and their families will be cast out into the snow. Please, I beseech you, allow us to remain until spring. Have mercy just once—”
It seemed he had misunderstood.
He appeared to think that the new owner would replace all personnel under Gam Mok’s authority.
“I harbor no such intention. The previous owner had no close dealings with those managing the pasture anyway, so it hardly troubles me.”
His expression, which had seemed ready to break into tears, improved slightly from before.
“But then, that remark just now…….”
“Since it’s winter, there’s no need to concern yourself with pasturing, and your duties must have lightened considerably, haven’t they?”
“That’s… true. I’ll apply myself more diligently going forward.”
“No. That’s not what I mean.”
……
I spoke calmly to him, whose confusion was plain to see.
“Let me ask you a few things first. Among the horses you’ve pastured recently, has the number showing aggressive behavior increased? I suspect it’s connected to the deaths as well.”
Gam Mok’s breath caught at my sudden question, and surprise crossed his face.
“How could you possibly know that……?”
“Your staff has kept quiet about it well enough—there’s no fault on their part. My ears are simply a bit sharper than most.”
“Ah……”
“One more thing: after you’ve been forced to kill the aggressive horses, have the stable hands who were near them suffered from severe fevers?”
Gam Mok nodded rapidly, up and down.
There was nothing more to hear.
The confirmation was sufficient.
“Could you guide me to the places where the aggressive horses were primarily grazing?”
“Of course. Though the path is treacherous, and I’m uncertain whether it would be suitable for you, sir……”
“No problem. Since we’re on the subject, let’s go at once.”
I fastened my outer coat and pushed myself up from my seat; Gam Mok hurried after me, scrambling to keep pace.
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The snow fell again, and as we ventured deeper, we arrived at a dizzying cliff that seemed as though we might plummet at any moment.
It was the most remote corner of the Horse Pasture.
The snow grew heavier by the moment, making it increasingly difficult to maintain visibility.
“Sir, shouldn’t we turn back now? If more snow accumulates, the path home will be cut off.”
“Go ahead and return. I’ll look around here alone and make my way back afterward. Just give me those things I asked you to bring.”
“How could I possibly presume to—”
Reluctant to leave, he hesitated; I pushed him gently from behind and sent him on his way, then set about searching in earnest through the snow.
Since I hadn’t yet reached a level of cultivation that could withstand the cold, the foul weather was an obstacle to my search.
Ignoring the biting cold that threatened to freeze my hands, I swept through the snow with both palms.
After digging for some time.
A vine of pale blue gradually revealed itself.
Even buried in snow, its vitality was distinctly vivid.
“Clear Blood Vine.”
It was called by this name because of its appearance—like blood flowing through blue light.
But Clear Blood Vine doesn’t simply appear overnight. It only emerges as a byproduct when the Thunder-Hidden Azure Dragon Grass grows nearby.
The reason the horses had grown violently aggressive and non-martial folk nearby suffered from severe fevers was entirely due to Thunder Qi flowing from the horses that had consumed the Clear Blood Vine.
I quickly gathered the trailing Clear Blood Vine that pulled out in succession and stuffed it into a leather pouch until it was full.
“Excellent. Just as I anticipated.”
The Thunder-Hidden Azure Dragon Grass won’t be discovered in the Golden Chamber until approximately seven years from now.
It will be around the time the true Chaotic Period begins.
The Lord’s sudden death.
The Great Consort’s rise to power.
The division among his three sons, lacking in capability.
The emergence of various hostile forces and outstanding figures that threaten them—all of this leads the Golden Chamber down the path of decline.
The Great Consort intended to sell the Thunder-Hidden Azure Dragon Grass, a Martial Family Treasure, to secure additional funds, but a group called the Black Dragon Tyrants, who coveted it, ambushed her and stole the Thunder-Hidden Azure Dragon Grass.
The Great Consort dies as a result.
The important thing is that a member of the Sichuan Tang Clan is implicated in this incident.
In any case, it has nothing to do with me.
What matters is that the Thunder-Hidden Azure Dragon Grass—one of the priceless Martial Family Treasures—now lies before me.
A Spirit Herb that is absolutely essential for the second stage of the Heavenly Tribulation Escape Technique.
I carefully removed the root membrane and stored it in a small wooden box, which I tucked inside my chest.
Then I took the sturdy cord Gam Mok had given me, bound it tightly around a rock, and wrapped it around my waist along with the pouch secured against my body in multiple loops.
I fixed sharp-edged iron-soled shoes firmly around my ankles—sufficient for descending the cliff.
Time to go down.
*
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Through the falling snow, I made my way along a small cave that opened halfway down the cliff face.
The deeper I ventured inward, the sharper the wind-pressure became—yet once I’d gone sufficiently far, the air stilled altogether.
There was no need for a fire lamp.
In the profound darkness, something shone with an unmistakable blue radiance.
Clear Blood Vine, tightly bundled and stuffed into a pouch.
The closer it drew to the Thunder-Hidden Azure Dragon Grass, the brighter it blazed—luminous as Clear Fire itself.
When I began to hear water trickling faintly along the narrow, dark walls of the cave, the passage that had been barely wide enough for a single body suddenly opened into a vast chamber.
And in the measure of the Clear Blood Vine’s glow, the Thunder-Hidden Azure Dragon Grass scattered throughout the cave bloomed with a light as bright and steady as moonlight, welcoming me.
“Not four stems—ten? Ten Thunder-Hidden Azure Dragon Grass? Fortune smiles on me.”
Before the Regression, I’d gathered that only four or so existed in this place, yet now I stood face to face with ten. I’d never dared dream of such abundance.
This exceeded all my expectations.
Without another glance around, I loosened my robes and stepped toward the Thunder-Hidden Azure Dragon Grass.
The moment for my second great leap in cultivation had arrived.
But then—
A presence. Someone in the darkness watching me.
Cold dread crept up from my heels.
*
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“So you granted his wish?”
“Yes, Mother. He clutched at the hem of my robe and pleaded so earnestly—how could I deny mercy to my brother?”
Geon Pyeong finished recounting all that had passed between him and Geon Aseong, then added a few more words.
His pride wouldn’t permit him to leave it there.
Somehow it didn’t feel like defeat at all.
After all, it was only some five thousand acres of pastureland—land worth scarcely anything—and a single martial artist of unremarkable talent.
“You lost. Badly.”
“No, Mother. It was not—”
“What you wanted from me was clear: that woman, Seol Ha. You wished to have under your command a master of such caliber that she could become the Thousand-Person Enemy within the Golden Chamber itself. That is why I sent your brother to persuade her. Yet instead you renounce all claim to her.”
“……”
Beyond losing that woman, you failed to seize the advantage. You were outmaneuvered by your own brother and gave up five thousand acres of Horse Pasture into the bargain.”
“Useless land. Not nearly expansive or fertile enough for breeding horses on any significant scale. But in exchange, I secured the funds I required—and paid dearly for that worthless acreage.”
“I am well aware of the facts.”
“……”
“Do you think your brother understood this?”
“That fool was too besotted with the woman to—”
“Which only proves how highly he valued her. I thought enough of his devotion to let him live. That alone should tell you her true worth.”
“……”
“In the end, who obtained what they desired most?”
Geon Pyeong made no reply, only clenched his fists until blood welled beneath his nails.
“Leave now. Witnessing your foolishness convinces me to extend your younger brother’s lifespan a little further.”
Geon Pyeong bowed in silence and withdrew.

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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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