Chronicles of the Reincarnated Demon God

Chapter 5: Six Years

“My son!”

Namgung Sanyeong had two children with Tang Ho-san.

The first child, daughter Tang Gyu-jin, was already known throughout Sichuan’s martial arts world as the Thousand Leaves Fairy. She showed such exceptional talent that not only her own family but also the Nine Sects had their eyes on her.

The second child, Tang Yu-chang, was similarly gifted. Though not comparable to his sister, he was an outstanding genius who had proudly earned the title of Dark Shadow Prodigy.

The Tang clan often praised the siblings as “a tiger father will not beget a dog son,” saying they not only lived up to their father’s reputation but brought even more glory to it.

To Namgung Sanyeong, who had a poor relationship with her stone-faced husband, they were her proudest extensions of herself.

“Have you been well?”

“When did you come out? Did you achieve what you wanted?”

Before the Clan Leader’s visit, Tang Yu-chang had volunteered for six months of closed-door training. He couldn’t show any weakness before the Dark Venerable.

“Though insufficient, I reached the initial stage of the Dark Shadow Qi.”

“Outstanding, my son! I knew you could do it!”

Namgung Sanyeong embraced Tang Yu-chang tightly.

The Dark Shadow Qi was counted among the family’s supreme techniques because, once unleashed, it made one as stealthy as a shadow.

To achieve even the initial stage was indeed worthy of pride.

After their brief reunion, Namgung Sanyeong’s eyebrow twitched at Tang Yu-chang’s next words.

“I heard about that bastard. They say he spoke insolently to mother??”

“…Don’t even mention that vile creature. After all the effort we made to raise him, he dared to show such an attitude! I won’t stand for—”

“That’s precisely why I bring this up.”

“Hmm?”

“If he truly has someone backing him, trying to investigate now would only alert our enemies, like scaring a snake by beating the grass. We can’t let that happen, can we?”

Beating grass to scare a snake – a cautionary idiom about alerting one’s target.

“Yes, you’re right. If someone is undermining our Nine Dragons Branch, we must root them out completely. So what do you have in mind?”

“During the Clan Leader’s visit, I’ll recommend the bastard to the Clan Leader.”

“…What?”

Tang Yu-chang covered his lips with his folding fan and smiled.

This was completely unexpected. Namgung Sanyeong’s eyes widened involuntarily.

“Then won’t his backers raise their heads in approval as well? Though I’m not sure how they plan to use the bastard—”

“They’ll likely feed him some medicine to temporarily boost his cultivation level to make his abilities seem impressive. Of course, they’ll have to reveal themselves to claim their share… That’s when we’ll catch them all at once?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Namgung Sanyeong burst into laughter after understanding Tang Yu-chang’s plan.

“Hohohoho! Now, that’s quite a scheme. Indeed, it doesn’t matter what that bastard planned; he’ll fall from the Clan Leader’s favor and be expelled from the clan!

“Exactly.”

“However,  this could potentially become a burden for our Nine Dragons Branch. The Clan Leader might be angered, thinking we can’t even educate our own children and are plagued by internal strife.”

“That depends on how we present it. We simply recommend the bastard out of brotherly affection, but if he causes trouble, all blame will fall on him.”

Moreover, in the process, her children would stand out even more in comparison.

“‘Trouble,’ you say? What do you have in mind?”

At Namgung Sanyeong’s question, Tang Yu-chang smiled sinisterly, a smile that resembled his mother’s.

After hearing all the detailed schemes, Namgung Sanyeong let out a deep sigh that was both satisfied and somewhat regretful.

“Haah! If only your sister would come to her senses like you. She’s sharp about everything else, but when it comes to that child…”

“That’s because she has such a pure heart. But after this incident, won’t her perspective change?”

Tang Gyu-jin, the eldest, was the only one in the Nine Dragons Branch who was favorable towards Un-hwi. This always troubled Namgung Sanyeong.

Creak!

Suddenly, the door opened. It was the head maid.

“Forgive my intrusion, but I have urgent news to report.”

“What is it?”

“We received word that the First Young Miss will arrive at Jiulong County in ten days.”

“Jin-ah? She said she’d come for the ceremony, so she’s finally arriving. Hohoho. But what’s the problem with that?”

“Well, that is—”

“Speak!”

Namgung Sanyeong narrowed her eyes in anxiety. The head maid lowered her head.

“I’m not sure where she heard it from, but Young Miss is said to be furious upon hearing about the White Cloth Pavilion—”

“What?”

Namgung Sanyeong’s brows shot up.

At that moment, she failed to notice a spider climbing up the window.

* * *

Shik! Swish swish—

In the cramped room of the White Cloth Pavilion. For the past two months, I had been diligently training without stepping outside.

I moved my body vigorously.

The force contained the ferocity of a tiger pouncing on its prey with all its might to tear out its life.

Pa-ba-ba-bak!

The Raging Tiger Twelve Strikes (暴虎十二拍). One of the high-level basic techniques passed down among wanderers of the jianghu. It was extremely difficult to master as it required treating the entire body—fists, palms, fingers, and feet—like weapons.

In fact, screams of agony were erupting from various parts of my body.

Forcefully using unused muscles and making sharp, disconnected movements put considerable strain on the tendons.

But there was no better martial art for quickly training the body that I had been steadily improving.

Each day, I consumed the Dead Soul Pills, and as a result, my body was strengthened through extreme training, and my blood vessels and meridians were cleansed from impurity bit by bit.

But…

—The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, you say? It’s only been six years since the current Heavenly Demon disappeared, hasn’t it?

I had no time to rejoice in these changes.

Because of the recent martial world history I learned through Hyeong-sam.

Six years!

A whole six years had passed since ‘Yeon Un-hwi’ died.

—Because of that, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult is currently in civil war, with the Nine Great Demon Sects divided against each other—

I had considered there might be a discrepancy between the actual flow of time and the success of the Primordial Spirit’s Wheel of Reincarnation.

But I never expected the gap to be this large.

It was my mistake to complacently assume it would only be a month or two at most.

The world had already completely changed from what I knew.

The Divine Cult was in the midst of a civil war, and the Demonic Path Coalition was attempting to establish separate powers.

The Central Plains were watching closely for an opportunity to invade the Tianshan Mountain Range.

It was an era of chaos.

A time when anything could explode at any moment.

Because of this, my heart grew anxious.

I needed to leave this Nine Dragons Branch as soon as possible.

The obsession with needing to learn more about the Divine Cult’s situation lingered in my mind.

“…No. Not yet.”

But I soon dismissed such thoughts.

Moving carelessly under the identity of ‘Tang Un-hwi’ would only lead to irreversible consequences. Even if urgent, now was the time for self-restraint.

I needed to carefully assess the situation and wait for an opportunity.

The Society, or whatever they were called, was surely involved in the Divine Cult’s division.

“The only possible attempt would be contacting the secret branch. But even that’s too risky.”

There must be a secret Divine Cult branch in Sichuan too, where I could learn more detailed information.

I might even discover the whereabouts of Master, who was said to be missing.

That’s it.

The only thing I can attempt at present.

But this is not enough.

Even that might not help find their whereabouts. So I needed more information.

A way to obtain high-level information related to Master without catching the Society’s attention.

Only one method came to mind.

“The Dark Venerable’s visit.”

The visit of a giant who was counted among the Ten Great Masters alongside Master.

Could there be a way to utilize this well?

Crack!

“Whew-”

After performing all twelve movements, my long exhale was heavily laced with exhaustion.

The movements were still quite rough.

I practiced the Raging Tiger Twelve Strikes again while reviewing the points that needed correction.

The goal was complete mastery of the Raging Tiger Twelve Strikes.

There was still a long way to go.

* * *

How long had I been immersed in martial arts?

My body was as limp as a soaked noodle.

I put the few remaining Dead Soul Pills into my mouth, sat cross-legged again, and operated the Poison Dragon Heart Technique.

Internal energy began circulating along the now familiar path as if it had become one with my body.

First circulation, second circulation, third circulation…

As the internal energy circulated several times, it expelled impurities and eased the fatigue from my body.

This way, I could maintain my physical strength to some extent without eating.

Of course, contrary to what others knew, it wasn’t that I ate absolutely nothing.

When I opened my eyes after finishing the energy circulation, a group of spiders placed fasting pills before me.

“What, this again? I told you to bring something else! I’m sick of it. Do you really want to follow your friends?”

When I frowned, the leader spider flinched.

「The, the kitchen security has been ti-tight lately! This was the best we could secretly get from the closed training hall! Please believe us, Young Lord!」

Actually, I hadn’t turned all the elders into Dead Soul Pills.

I had set aside some who were originally weak-willed and easy to control, or those who had unwillingly participated due to Society’s threats, and was using them quite effectively like this.

By implanting their soul in spiders or ants, they became excellent delivery workers who secretly brought food and water.

As a bonus, they would discover and report internal situations of the branch.

“Ugh, this really tastes awful. Is there any new information added? Like how far the Dark Venerable has come?”

I asked while chewing the tasteless fasting pill, and the leader spider nodded vigorously.

「Tang… Yu-jang? Yu-cheong?」

“It’s Tang Yu-chang.”

After living as spiders for a few months, it seems their intelligence has also regressed.

「Ah, right! That was the name! Anyway, that son called Tang Yu-chang or whatever returned after finishing his closed-door training.」

“It was about time. According to the schedule, there’s not much time left until the Dark Venerable’s visit. Surely that’s not all?”

「N-No!! It seems that fellow and the Madam are plotting something against you, Young Lord.」

“Plotting?”

My interest piqued, I motioned for him to continue.

The leader spider, now with a brightened voice, spilled everything it had seen and heard.

“They plan to set me up during the ceremony? They think I have some backing?”

「That’s right!」

“Those bastards are making up stories.”

Laughter escaped my lips, but from their perspective, it wasn’t strange for them to reach such a conclusion.

The pushover who used to comply so easily was now suddenly rebelling, so they naturally assumed I had someone to rely on.

Never in their wildest dream could they imagine that the Young Lord of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult possessed this body.

That would be the rational judgment.

「What will you do now, Young Lord? You’re not the type to sit still.」

“If used well, this could paint quite a nice picture.”

Nothing is easier than using a completely exposed plot to strike back.

“Recommendation, they say.”

But soon, my interest waned.

“Well, I don’t think there’s any need to do anything special.”

「H-Huh? What do you mean?」

“Do I need to explain everything to you?”

「N-No! I-I was just curious, so don’t mind me. Ha, hahaha!」

My mood swings must have felt like a torturous experience for him.

Even when using them, you need to step on them occasionally to make them recognize their place. Fundamentally, those who thread on the Demonic Path are a bunch of backstabbers.

Anyway, my conclusion remained the same.

There was no need to do anything right now.

They’re going to recommend me to the Dark Venerable on their own, aren’t they?

How could I, who was the Lesser Heavenly Demon, fail to catch the Dark Venerable’s eye?

Even if I were to do something, it would be enough to just play along with their thoughts while secretly laying the groundwork.

Rather, it might be good to use this opportunity to get selected for the special forces.

After that, I could either fake my death during extreme training and change my identity or become the Dark Venerable’s disciple and approach the core of the Central Plains martial world.

That would make it easier to access high-level information, making it much simpler to find my missing Master’s whereabouts.

There were many possibilities.

So there was only one thing I needed to do right now.

To bring my physical condition to its peak within a few days.

I prepared to train again.

「…Intense.」

The leader spider shook his head with a weary look.