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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Heavenly Martial Body
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Heavenly Martial Body.
No one present was ignorant of what those words signified.
Silence descended upon the room.
"Is it true?"
Moyong Taese's voice was steady as he asked again.
"It is."
"Are you absolutely certain?"
Gam Seoin, the Medicine King Hall Master, responded without the slightest hesitation.
"I stake my reputation on it."
"...What cruel trick of fate is this? I thought him nothing more than a lowly bastard son."
Moyong Taese's hand trembled as it stroked his beard.
He took a step back.
The room was gripped by shock, but I was the most stunned of all.
During the journey here, confined and carried like cargo, I had vomited nothing but foul-smelling black blood.
Nameless's words echoed in my mind: my body had been reconstructed using the Heavenly Demon's flesh.
Moyong Taese pressed a hand weakly to his forehead.
"A Heavenly Martial Body... What a disaster. I meant to uphold neutrality at all costs, yet this happens. Even if I'd resolved to stain my hands with blood, a Heavenly Martial Body... A potential treasure of our Moyong Family, and I nearly..."
"Elder."
Gam Seoin clasped his hands together and spoke.
"No matter how much we value orders from above, if he is truly one of the Moyong Family, you know what the right path is."
Moyong Taese's eyes swirled with turmoil.
"I should have refused Lady Yeo's pleas outright. If only I hadn't known..."
His sighs continued.
"To verify his identity personally before the deed, for cleaner resolution... Who could have foreseen this? What jest of the heavens."
All eyes upon him sank into heavy silence.
"Very well. Listen closely."
The wavering in his gaze steadied, returning to the deep, resolute look from when I first saw him.
His hand rose slowly.
Everyone watched it with bated breath.
His next words would decide everything.
Moyong Taese nodded as if resolved.
"From this moment, every member of this household will—"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The Eighth Elder's residence was vast.
An endless stretch of walls enclosed a garden paved with white pebbles, steeped in utter tranquility.
I had finished bathing and changed into clean clothes.
Gam Seoin nodded toward me and led the way.
"This way."
The grand estate was deathly still, not a soul in sight.
'They've all evacuated the manor.'
So that's what he meant by issuing an official decree. Not a single servant remained from those I'd glimpsed earlier.
The silence was so profound I could hear the tiniest speck of dust rolling across the floor.
The doors opened to reveal Moyong Taese seated at the head of the room.
"I wonder if I spoke too hastily."
Gam Seoin left those cryptic words behind.
"No. This must be heaven's will."
"If that is your judgment, Elder."
Gam Seoin bowed and withdrew.
The doors closed.
Now, only Moyong Taese and I remained in the chamber.
"Sit."
Moyong Taese lifted a pot from the table and poured tea into cups, one before me and one for himself.
Silence seeped into the room like ink.
'This is the Moyong Family's Eighth Elder.'
Among everyone I'd met in my life, he had to be the pinnacle of mastery.
To his eyes, I must seem less than a fly.
A tangible surge of inner energy emanated from his body, pressing down on me.
It was a ferocious aura that felt like it could crush my throat.
I gritted my teeth and endured.
"Not a hint of intimidation."
A glint of surprise flickered in Moyong Taese's eyes.
"What else is there but death? Though I have no intention of dying quietly."
My words held no bravado.
Walking a tightrope.
This must be how it felt to balance on a wire above a stage.
I had crossed the river.
Now, there was only forward.
"And if I decided to kill you right now, as before? What would you do then?"
Like one amused by a mouse's futile struggles, Moyong Taese stroked his beard and asked.
"I don't know. But one thing's certain—I won't just bare my neck and wait."
"Even if it's meaningless flailing?"
"Even if it's meaningless."
I had sworn it before my frozen mother's corpse.
Burn chasing the sun if I must, but never accept the frog's fate of being devoured by the snake without a fight.
Moyong Taese's expression, with me right before him, seemed endlessly conflicted.
"Very well. Let's examine your body first. Roll up your sleeve."
He checked my pulse, probed my frame and bones, and his face grew even darker.
"No doubt about it. Even I can tell at a glance... so unmistakably clear."
It bordered on regret.
"One question. Have you ever formally trained in martial arts?"
"No, never formally."
"Why? With a body like that?"
Gazing at his genuinely puzzled expression, a flicker of anger welled up inside me.
I swallowed it down.
"There was never any opportunity."
Moyong Taese seemed to realize his slip too late.
He fell silent for a long while.
Steam rose from the cup before him, dispersing into the air and fading away.
"I misspoke."
Moyong Taese said dryly.
The tea had gone ice cold.
"Did you know about your innate physique?"
"No."
It wasn't a lie.
Once Nameless possessed me, my body was rebuilt upon the Heavenly Demon's original form.
I couldn't possibly know the details of my own body.
Paradoxically, Moyong Taese now understood my physique better than I did.
"So you've never had a chance to build proper inner energy? Even at your age?"
"Yes."
"...Hoo."
Moyong Taese sighed and closed his eyes.
I couldn't guess his thoughts.
I only caught his faint murmur, barely audible.
"To let a treasure like this rot away over petty squabbles..."
He cradled his forehead.
There was no pretense in his regret.
As a pure martial artist, he genuinely mourned the missed potential of a shining gem.
"Well, better late than never. Gam Seoin spared me a lifetime's regret."
Moyong Taese drank the cooled tea, his throat parched.
"Listen well. Though my insight is limited, your body is exceptionally rare, even in the vast rivers and lakes."
I focused intently, not missing a word.
No one could be trusted.
No one would ever take my side.
As always, my only asset was my body, and my own strength would be the sole, most powerful means to protect myself.
The path ahead would surely be treacherous.
Thus, every detail about my foundational asset—my body—was invaluable before facing those perils.
"Your meridians are pristine, akin to a body shed and reborn. Including the Ren and Du channels, your musculature and bones possess utmost elasticity. Untainted by any杂乱 inner arts, it's remarkably pure. True, your age makes starting anew late. But... we'll manage. Yes, it will be resolved."
His final words felt more like self-reassurance than advice to me.
"In the past, I once begged entry as a disciple to various sects, solely to learn martial arts."
I hesitated, then spoke.
"But having grown without systematic inner cultivation from childhood, they said my dantian must be ossified and turned me away at the gates. So honestly... I'm skeptical of myself."
It was a humiliating memory, and I'd debated even mentioning it.
"Turned away as a prospective disciple?"
"Yes. Beaten by the gatekeeper servant and dragged out."
"What?!"
Moyong Taese's reaction was explosive.
"Which insolent sect dares deserve annihilation?! A minor faction laying hands on a member of one of the Five Great Families, the Moyong Family...!"
His roar cut short as he recalled his own attempt to kill me moments ago, and he bit his lip.
"...Right. I have no right to say that. To your eyes, I must seem utterly mercenary even now. Of course. After trying to kill you, only changing my mind upon learning of your talent... I can imagine your thoughts."
"..."
"Once more, I'm sorry for what happened earlier."
I couldn't even resent him for shifting stance upon seeing my body.
After all, I was merely a bastard son. Yet the Moyong Family's great elder apologized sincerely.
"No need. I understand. This world grades people by their utility, after all."
"...If you put it that way."
Moyong Taese gazed bitterly at the steaming cup.
His hand rested on the cold teapot.
A subtle haze flowed from his fingers.
In an instant, it heated the porcelain pot, bringing the contents to a boil again.
'Inner energy...?'
My eyes widened at the sight of a man heating water with his inner power.
Noting my reaction, Moyong Taese asked calmly.
"From your look, this is your first time seeing inner energy in action."
"Yes. Was that inner energy just now, heating the water?"
His gaze upon me brimmed with complexity.
Countless expressions crossed his face in three breaths.
At the end, having composed himself somewhat, he smiled faintly.
"Yes. These are trifles once you systematically learn martial arts. And your earlier experience isn't wrong. But no need for despair, because... Your name is Moyong Bi, correct?"
It was the first time.
The first time someone from the Moyong Family had called my true name.
"...Yes."
I didn't know why that alone nearly brought tears.
I clenched my teeth and held back.
"Yes. It's true that without cultivating inner energy, an unused dantian hardens with age, crippling efficiency even with superior methods later."
"I see."
"But reduced efficiency doesn't mean no growth. Moreover, by my judgment, beyond your gifted body, you possess something else."
"..."
The tension I'd slightly loosened pulled taut again.
'He couldn't have noticed.'
As a righteous faction member, no matter how friendly he seemed, there was one fact I had to conceal absolutely.
The remnant of the Heavenly Demon dwelling in my body.
This, I must hide at all costs.
Moyong Taese was firmly orthodox.
In the Martial World, where demonic remnants were not just despised but intolerable, discovering one in me—Heavenly Martial Body or not—would mean a blade through my heart.
I had to conceal it, no matter what.
"Moyong Bi, have you ever pondered what makes a genius, as the world calls it?"
His next words veered unexpectedly.
"Pardon?"
"I believe three qualities define a genius."
Moyong Taese held up three fingers.
"First: innate physical talent. Without the body to manifest all martial arts, limits are inevitable. Second: a background providing timely, flawless support for growth. Third and last: an obsessive hunger and drive for progress. Most who were hailed geniuses but fell short?"
He jabbed one finger emphatically.
"Lacked the third."
"Ah."
"I've lived long years. Seen many with innate gifts, backed by prestigious clans. But those with the first two invariably missed the third. It's natural, really. Those with talent and backing can't grasp the rage, sorrow, and hunger of the talentless. That's why true geniuses are so rare, I concluded."
Moyong Taese pointed that single finger straight at me.
"You missed your prime, true. But aside from that minor flaw, you have it all. Especially those boiling eyes of yours—they burn fiercer than a starving tiger's, like a wildcat with nothing but malice left. You'll overcome that flaw."
My fists, clenched on my lap, trembled faintly.
Recognition.
The man who beat me at minor sects' gates—the Moyong Family's Eighth Elder, one of the Five Great Families—had acknowledged and encouraged me.
How to describe this feeling?
Gazing at my thrilled expression, Moyong Taese declared.
"I won't kill you. I'll let you live."
His words snapped the taut string of my pulse.
"However."
Before relief could settle, he continued.
"There's a condition."
"A condition?"
Of course. I knew it couldn't end so simply.
Nothing in this world is free.
I swallowed hard.
His next words were the truth.
I resolved not to flinch, no matter what, and to calmly assert my value in rebuttal.
I wouldn't stick out my neck waiting for the axe.
"Just one condition."
Moyong Taese's eyes burned with resolve.
"Moyong Bi, become my disciple."