Chapter 725
“Let’s talk.”
I nodded slightly at the telepathic transmission that dug into my ear and loosened the reins. The beast, understanding the gesture, slowed down, and Jeok Cheon-Gang, riding alongside me, opened his mouth.
“Is it true the Heavenly Lord is taking a particular interest in you?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. That’s strange. This old man is hearing this for the first time.”
“Probably. I’m telling you for the first time too.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“You didn’t ask.”
Honestly, even as I answered, I figured I’d get hit at least once.
But Jeok Cheon-Gang just stared blankly at me—already braced like lightning—and muttered to himself in an oddly calm voice.
“You don’t speak if I don’t ask? …Well, that’s not entirely wrong.”
Why is this old man suddenly like this?
“Hey, Old Man?”
“Why?”
“Um… are you sulking?”
“What? Sulking? This old man?”
“…Yeah.”
Jeok Cheon-Gang laughed like he’d heard the greatest joke in his life.
“What reason would I have to sulk? I’m not a five-year-old child. Sure, there was plenty of time to talk about it over the past four days, and sure, this old man didn’t ask because he was thinking of you, but that’s not important, so don’t worry about it. In the end, isn’t the one who didn’t ask the fool? Hahaha.”
“People of the Jianghu say there should be nothing to hide between master and disciple, but that doesn’t apply to us, so don’t worry about it. When you think about it, this old man needed a successor to continue the Blazing Fire Sect, and you needed martial arts, so we helped each other. It’s ridiculous to talk about affection between master and disciple in this day and age.”
“I even rushed all the way to the Southern Barbarian, risking my life, and plucked out perfectly good hair to hide my identity, but this old man is fine. It didn’t even fall out anyway, and it’ll grow back soon, so of course, that’s right?”
“What reason would I have to sulk just because I didn’t hear some damn story? From the beginning, the thirsty one has to dig the well. If I waited, thinking you’d tell me when the time came, wouldn’t I just wither and die like this old man? Hahaha.”
Watching Jeok Cheon-Gang laugh like some divine immortal, I thought.
‘He’s really sulking a lot.’
Can a person sulk this much?
At this rate, he could get ranked number one on Forbes’ list of the world’s biggest sulkers.
“I remember the day I first met you. I wasn’t in my right mind back then because of old age, which is why they say you should die when you get old—”
A suffocating pressure.
I forced my lips apart toward Jeok Cheon-Gang, who was barreling ahead like a runaway train.
“What I said earlier was a joke, and I couldn’t say anything because I was out of my mind. I needed to sort out my thoughts, you know.”
“Hmm.”
Jeok Cheon-Gang’s eyes narrowed. Regaining some of his usual self, he asked gruffly.
“So, was what you said about the Heavenly Lord a joke too?”
“That’s the truth, unfortunately.”
“The basis?”
I told Jeok Cheon-Gang the general story.
He’d already heard it once while we were staying at the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, but unlike the brief summary back then, I went into far more detail this time.
And after hearing everything, Jeok Cheon-Gang frowned.
“Those bastards tried to capture you?”
“Yeah. But when they realized it wouldn’t work, they tried to kill me. The Great Snow Demon and Black Hand Demon Fist in the Poison-Blooded Land… and the Southern Demon Empress too.”
“Was the order to capture you alive the Heavenly Lord’s command?”
“That’s…”
After turning the memories over for a moment at Jeok Cheon-Gang’s question, I shook my head.
“I don’t think so.”
“Why?”
“If the Heavenly Lord had given that order, the Southern Demon Empress wouldn’t have tried to kill me, even if she was facing her end alone.”
“Loyalty that surpasses life…? Hard to believe.”
“It wasn’t simple loyalty.”
I answered quietly, recalling everything that still lingered about the Southern Demon Empress.
The look in her eyes then. Her expression in that moment. The voice filled with joy, and everything she said.
What I felt from her that day couldn’t be summed up by the word loyalty.
That was…
“It was fanaticism. To the Southern Demon Empress—no, to Dark Heaven—the Heavenly Lord is a living god.”
“Everyone in Dark Heaven fears and reveres the Heavenly Lord. If he gave an order to capture me alive no matter what, that’s a divine command no one can resist.”
Even the Blood Lord, who was monstrously strong. Even the Eastern Heavenly Demon.
Even the Southern Demon Empress, who met her end this time, prostrated herself in the Heavenly Lord’s name, calling herself a servant.
Each and every one of them was a monster capable of tearing an ordinary master apart with their bare hands. And the Heavenly Lord was the king and god those monsters served.
“I can’t be sure, but… the Southern Demon Empress seemed to try to capture me alive just because the Heavenly Lord showed interest.”
“Just to win the Heavenly Lord’s favor?”
As I nodded quietly, Jeok Cheon-Gang let out something like a groan.
“A fanatic…”
The rest of the words scattered into the wind.
Riding the tiger, Jeok Cheon-Gang watched the scenery flowing past in silence, then suddenly spoke.
“Have you ever seen the Demonic Sect?”
“Do I look like I’m around sixty?”
“Of course not. It’s only natural you haven’t seen it at your age. You were born long after the Great War of Justice and Evil ended.”
“Why ask when you already know?”
“I just had that thought. That it might be better to fight the Demonic Sect from back then again.”
“……”
“Of course, they were fanatics too. But their leader, the Heavenly Demon, was ultimately still human, and the ten thousand Demonic Path under him knew that. To them, the Heavenly Demon was their leader—not a god.”
I understood what Jeok Cheon-Gang was trying to say.
To the Demonic Sect, the Heavenly Demon was flesh and blood.
But to everyone in Dark Heaven, the Heavenly Lord was a god.
That’s why they’d fight for their god.
They’d fight without fear of death, and they’d smile as they died, even with countless spears and swords buried in their bodies.
“It’ll be a more terrible war than ever before.”
Jeok Cheon-Gang stared at me with heavy eyes and continued.
“And it’ll be even worse for you.”
“Because the Heavenly Lord is watching me?”
“Whether you wanted it or not, you’ve already drawn more attention than you should have. Even now, your name is echoing somewhere in the world.”
“Three Stars and Ten Kings are old names. But you’re different. You have talent unprecedented in all of history, and no one can deny that someone barely past twenty is already this strong.”
Jeok Cheon-Gang’s eyes held undisguised admiration—and anxiety.
“That’s why the Heavenly Lord is watching too. And he’s already confirmed your infinite potential, and the true nature hidden within you, once.”
“…Thunder Prison of the Sichuan Tang Clan.”
“Yes. Using the power of an unknown supernatural force, he saw you through the eyes of the Eastern Heavenly Demon.”
How could I forget?
The stone dust falling over my head, the stone walls splattered with blood.
And the words of the Eastern Heavenly Demon standing tall and looking down at me—no, of the Heavenly Lord who briefly borrowed his servant’s body.
Interesting. Interesting.
He was definitely laughing.
Even as his body turned to ash and scattered, he didn’t forget to leave me with a final greeting.
Let’s meet again next time.
Jeok Cheon-Gang watched me take a small, deep breath in silence, then spoke.
“Perhaps… the Heavenly Lord may be vaguely guessing at secrets you’ve never told anyone.”
“That’s why I have to ask you now.”
In a world that felt frozen, as if someone had pressed pause, Jeok Cheon-Gang slowly parted his lips.
“Can you tell this old man everything you’ve been hiding?”
—
Jeok Cheon-Gang raised his head and looked at the sky.
The rain that had poured for four straight days was gone, and the sky was blue and clear—nothing like the chaos in his heart.
‘The Immortal Realm…?’
A voice no one could hear scattered through his thoughts. What else was there to say? How was he supposed to understand any of it? He had lived a long life, yet now it all felt futile.
‘If you were by my side, I’d have been able to untangle this mess much faster.’
Jeok Cheon-Gang recalled a friend who had passed away a few months ago.
A monk who liked alcohol and meat, and a man called the Dharma King because he loved humanity more than anyone else.
But he shook his head.
The Dharma King was no longer in this world, and even if he were, he wouldn’t have been able to read anything by looking up at that blue sky.
‘He said the weather was already distorted. He said the sky no longer gives anyone answers.’
At the same time, the Dharma King had foretold a great war.
He said an energy that even confused the sky would spread across the world, sweeping the four directions like fire.
But that wasn’t all.
‘The owner of the new star.’
A new star that rose, illuminating the chaotic sky.
The Dharma King had marked a young man as the owner of that new star, and Jeok Cheon-Gang, who went to Mount Hua, had allowed that young man to carry on the lineage of the Blazing Fire Sect.
“……Hah. I thought he was just a crazy monk who liked to talk nonsense.”
A chuckle mixed with an empty murmur faded away. Jeok Cheon-Gang, feeling the cool wind sweep over his body, turned his eyes to the side.
A beast running relentlessly even now, and a man lying on the saddle with his whole body strapped down tight with sturdy leather.
No—his only disciple.
‘That wicked bastard. He caused all this trouble and now he’s sleeping like a baby.’
It was absurd, but after hearing the general story from Jin Taekyung, Jeok Cheon-Gang no longer had the strength to be shocked.
Another world completely separated from Murim.
And a young man who traveled between that place—like the Immortal Realm—and Murim itself.
He couldn’t understand all of it, but Jeok Cheon-Gang accepted that every unbelievable story he’d heard was true.
‘Then could it be… this guy is the Little Divine Immortal?’
At the moment the thought passed through his mind, the drool hanging from Jin Taekyung’s mouth slapped onto Jeok Cheon-Gang’s cheek.
Splatter.
Strength naturally gathered in his fist.
But instead of punching his sleeping disciple in the forehead, Jeok Cheon-Gang sighed and adjusted his sloppy posture.
‘Yeah. You’ve worked hard, so sleep.’
No, no.
Jeok Cheon-Gang muttered in a voice so low only one person could hear.
“Have a good trip.”
(T/N : Woooooooooohhh. Waiiiiiiiiit, Im so stoke right now. Jeok Cheon-Gang now knows Taekyung’s secret! I thought it would take a couple more arcs before we get this. And on that note, I think murim arc is done. We are going to modern arc now.)