The Heavenly Demon Who Reigns

Cheon Myeong was training today as well, in order to regain his former body as soon as possible.

However, there was something different from usual.

Until now, he had always trained only in his room, but today he had come out to the yard since morning.

Of course, he was only doing basic training, so it was possible to do it in his room.

But wasn't there such a thing as mood?

Even if he did the same training, it felt better to train in the yard than in the stuffy room.

Whoosh-.

And when the wind blew like this from time to time, it couldn't feel any better.

A freshness that he could never have felt if he had been in his room.

It was Cheon Myeong's first time training in the yard today, but he thought it would be okay to continue training here in the future.

'It would be nice to have a training ground... well, I should be grateful for this now.'

The yard was also quite large, so at a glance, it looked similar to a training ground.

If there was something that bothered him a little, it was that the height of the wall was not that high.

But still, it was manageable as the inside couldn't be seen unless one deliberately stood on tiptoe from the outside.

Slosh-.

Every time Cheon Myeong sat down and stood up, the water in the gourd dipper sloshed.

Originally, a gourd dipper was used to easily draw and move water, but Cheon Myeong was now using it as a training tool.

Thanks to this, the weight had become heavier, so it was much more difficult than when he was not carrying anything.

And that would lead directly to the growth of his body.

"Ugh..."

He had increased the weight for the first time today, and it was indeed very difficult.

If he had known it would be this difficult, should he have filled the water only halfway?

Cheon Myeong had such thoughts, but he somehow endured it with grit and was able to finish all the target numbers.

"Hoo..."

Cheon Myeong put down the gourd dipper with a light sigh.

His upper body was completely drenched in sweat.

'It feels like I've gone back to when I first started training.'

Fifteen days since he started training.

Perhaps because he had also been circulating his energy steadily, he no longer thought that the training he had been doing was that difficult.

That's why Cheon Myeong had increased the weight.

If it's not difficult, is it training?

The human body is really simple, so it may be difficult at first, but if you consistently maintain a certain level, you will gradually adapt to it.

On the other hand, if you continue to train at the same level, your body will have no choice but to stay there, so when your body reaches a certain level, you need to increase the training intensity.

"..."

Now was that time, so Cheon Myeong had increased the training intensity in his own way.

His current level was so pathetic that he struggled even while carrying a gourd dipper full of water on both sides.

Thinking so, Cheon Myeong felt that he still had a long way to go.

'Should I rest a bit...'

Appropriate rest is as important as appropriate training.

Cheon Myeong sat down right there and looked up at the sky.

'Come to think of it, was his name Soyeon Sang?'

The escort warrior who came here with him when he left Heavenly Mountain.

He knew that he was a person assigned by Cheon Jin from the Guardian Hall.

And that was all the information Cheon Myeong knew.

Because they had lived together here for two years, but he had no memory of having a long conversation.

Soyeon Sang himself was not a talkative person, and the past Cheon Myeong also rarely spoke to Soyeon Sang because of his timid personality.

'A master who is afraid of his escort warrior... the previous owner of this body was a truly pathetic guy.'

The more he thought about the past, the more sighs came out, so let's stop thinking about it.

Anyway, Cheon Myeong had a lot of things to ask Soyeon Sang when he returned.

It had been two years since he left Heavenly Mountain.

In that amount of time, the atmosphere there would have changed considerably.

Soyeon Sang said that he occasionally visited Heavenly Mountain, so wouldn't he know the current atmosphere of the Demonic Cult better than he did?

It would be better to have some grasp of the changed atmosphere than to know nothing when he returned to Heavenly Mountain.

'It seems like it's about time for him to come back.'

No matter how far the distance from here to Heavenly Mountain was, it was about time for him to return when he roughly calculated from the day he left.

As he was resting and looking at the sky like this, Cheon Myeong suddenly had that thought.

Clank-.

At that moment, the sound of a door opening was heard from the main gate.

As soon as he heard the sound, Cheon Myeong lowered his head.

Then, he could see a man standing beyond the open gate.

"..."

Was he in his mid-forties? The man's face was full of gruffness, to the point where one could feel that he was difficult to approach at a glance.

But more than that, as soon as Cheon Myeong saw the man, another thought came to him first.

'He's strong.'

Since he had lost all his strength now, Cheon Myeong couldn't tell exactly what the man's level was.

But there is such a thing as a martial artist's intuition.

Even if he had lost all his strength, that sense was still alive.

Cheon Myeong was roughly estimating the skill of the man in front of him, Soyeon Sang, in his mind.

On the other hand.

'What on earth is this situation?'

Soyeon Sang was not showing his emotions on his face, but he was in a very bewildered state.

Why was Cheon Myeong sitting on the ground in the yard as soon as he entered the main gate?

He probably didn't come out to greet him after a long time.

Not only would that not happen, but he wouldn't be completely shirtless like that when greeting someone.

"...Ahem."

A dry cough to calm his mind.

After finishing such preparations, Soyeon Sang cautiously opened his mouth to Cheon Myeong.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can't you tell by looking? I'm training."

"...Did you say training?"

This time, Soyeon Sang was so surprised that his emotions were showing on his face.

Two things surprised Soyeon Sang.

One was that Cheon Myeong was training.

He had never seen him train since he had been in charge of Cheon Myeong's escort.

Because he had only shown the appearance of having already given up on the life of a martial artist, Cheon Myeong's words that he was training now were bound to be unexpected.

And the other one was.

'He's speaking informally to me.'

Of course, it was natural for Cheon Myeong to speak comfortably to Soyeon Sang in terms of their positions.

No matter how much of an age difference there was, Cheon Myeong's status was higher.

However, because of his timid personality, Cheon Myeong had always used honorifics to Soyeon Sang until now.

Of course, he had said a few times at the beginning that it was okay to speak comfortably.

But as Cheon Myeong continued to use honorifics to him, Soyeon Sang had also accepted it as it was.

"..."

A reunion after almost half a month.

Soyeon Sang couldn't help but feel that the Cheon Myeong in front of him was as unfamiliar as a different person.

"Did you have a good trip to the main headquarters?"

"...Yes, I did."

"Really? You seemed a little late, so I thought something might have happened."

"..."

Soyeon Sang was still not used to Cheon Myeong's appearance.

The appearance of him being awkward with him was nowhere to be seen, and now he was treating him very comfortably, as if he had always done so.

Of course, that didn't mean he felt bad about it.

It was just that he wasn't used to it.

Having been called with honorifics for two years, he couldn't immediately get used to being spoken to informally like this all of a sudden.

"You're back?"

At that moment, Mihwa, who had noticed Soyeon Sang's presence, came out from the kitchen.

As Mihwa came out, Soyeon Sang hurriedly approached her.

And he said in a whisper, so that Cheon Myeong couldn't hear.

"Let's talk over there for a moment."

"What?"

"Follow me."

Soyeon Sang said that and walked ahead.

Mihwa followed Soyeon Sang with a bewildered face.

Cheon Myeong watched the scene quietly from behind and smirked.

'He seems quite flustered.'

Cheon Myeong also knew why Soyeon Sang was reacting like that.

It's understandable to be flustered when you come back after a long time and your master has completely changed.

He probably dragged Mihwa over there to ask what had happened in the meantime.

'It's not a problem I need to worry about much.'

He didn't need to act like the previous owner of this body here.

Cheon Myeong thought so and began to move his body again.

* * *

Soyeon Sang took Mihwa to the shed.

And there, he was able to hear roughly what had happened during the half a month he was gone.

"...That happened?"

"Yes."

"..."

Soyeon Sang, who was about to leave the shed as soon as he heard the story from Mihwa.

Feeling that something was strange, Mihwa asked Soyeon Sang.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to kill those guys."

"What?"

Since she hadn't finished her story yet, Mihwa realized that Soyeon Sang was misunderstanding something.

Grab-.

Mihwa barely caught up and grabbed Soyeon Sang's clothes.

Then, Soyeon Sang stopped walking for a moment and looked at Mihwa.

"Wait a minute!"

"Why are you stopping me?"

"I think you have some misunderstanding, that matter has already been resolved!"

"I was planning on taking care of those guys someday. If you're going to try to stop me in a half-hearted way, stop it."

"That's not it, it's really been resolved!"

"..."

It seemed there were more circumstances he didn't know about.

With that thought, Soyeon Sang decided to listen to Mihwa's story more.

And when he heard that Cheon Myeong had defeated the Yakhyeon gang single-handedly, Soyeon Sang's eyes widened as much as when he had seen Cheon Myeong earlier.

"Is that true?"

"Yes, the Young Master defeated all of them."

"No, that's impossible..."

Is this possible?

Of course, the past Cheon Myeong could have easily subdued such guys.

But since he had lost all his internal energy due to Qi Deviation, he should be in the same state as a normal person who has not learned martial arts.

No, rather, he was weaker than most people.

"...When did the Young Master start training?"

After a slight silence, Soyeon Sang asked Mihwa.

"It was right after he woke up from being beaten by the Yakhyeon gang."

"..."

"From then on, something... I'd say the Young Master has changed a little from before."

"He's changed?"

"He seems like the usual Young Master, but he also doesn't seem like it... it's hard to express in words."

Soyeon Sang seemed to know what those words meant.

Because he could tell that Cheon Myeong had changed quite a bit even in the short time he had seen him.

'Was he so angry about losing to those guys that he decided to start training again?'

For now, he had no choice but to think so.

If that was true, what Yakhyeon had done to Cheon Myeong could be called a blessing in disguise.

If he became aware of his status as the son of the leader and devoted himself to martial arts training as before, it was something to be welcomed.

'But even if the Young Master devotes himself to training again now...'

The Demonic Cult is currently in a state of chaos.

Since the successor candidate, Cheon Myeong, had lost all his strength due to Qi Deviation, it was a situation where it was safe to say that he had withdrawn from the candidacy.

Moreover, Cheon Myeong's younger brother, Cheon Seong, was not showing much talent in martial arts.

No matter how much one inherited the bloodline of the leader, if one had no skill, one could not become the next leader.

That's why a fierce competition was taking place for the position of successor, with candidates being selected from among the children of the Five Great Demonic Families.

"..."

Could Cheon Myeong, who had already withdrawn from the front line, catch up with the children of the Five Great Demonic Families even if he followed them late?

Even if he did catch up, it was as clear as day that there would be considerable checks from that side.

'If the Young Master started training for that purpose...'

It might be for Cheon Myeong's sake to advise him to give up.

Especially considering Cheon Myeong's personality, it didn't seem like he could survive in such a competition.

Thinking so, Soyeon Sang's face was not very bright.

"I understand."

Saying that, Soyeon Sang left the shed.

If he talked to Cheon Myeong, he would be able to know his intentions in more detail.

And if Cheon Myeong had really started training for the reason he thought, he was planning to give him sincere advice.

'That would be right.'

Because he knew how desperate a hopeless hope could be.

Soyeon Sang decided to be thoroughly cold for now.

(End of Chapter)