The Heavenly Demon Who Reigns

Thump-.

Mihwa came out of Cheon Myeong's room with an empty tray in her hand.

How long had she been walking like that?

Mihwa was startled by a voice that suddenly came from the side.

"Mihwa."

"Kyaa-!"

Mihwa barely caught the tray she was holding with a low scream.

Relieved that she hadn't dropped the tray, she raised her head, and Soyeon Sang was standing there.

"Phew... you scared me."

"I have something to ask."

"If it's something like that, why did you call me so scarily instead of calling me normally?"

"I did call you normally."

So this is how he usually talks.

Mihwa belatedly realized that fact.

"What are you curious about?"

"What is the Young Master doing in his room right now?"

It had already been about half a month since Cheon Myeong's party had returned from Muhyang.

In the end, Soyeon Sang couldn't find out the exact reason why Cheon Myeong had gone there, but since he hadn't been able to train properly while going to Muhyang, he had thought that Cheon Myeong would step up his training from the moment he returned.

However.

Contrary to Soyeon Sang's expectations, Cheon Myeong's training time had actually become shorter than before.

Originally, he would have shown himself training in the yard from morning until sunset, but these days, he only trained in the yard in the morning and then shut himself in his room and never came out.

'At a time when he should be working harder to make up for the wasted time, what on earth is he doing cooped up in his room...'

So Soyeon Sang couldn't help but feel frustrated.

Although he had not said anything to Cheon Myeong for about half a month and had just been observing the situation.

In the end, he couldn't stand it and had caught Mihwa, who was going in and out of Cheon Myeong's room to bring him meals, and was asking her like this.

"The Young Master?"

Mihwa brought her finger to her chin as if pondering Soyeon Sang's question.

And she soon answered the question.

"I think he's reading a book."

"Reading... a book?"

"Yes."

"...Has he been reading a book every time you've entered his room recently?"

"I think so."

"..."

At Mihwa's words, Soyeon Sang closed his mouth as if he had lost his words.

To think he was reading a book inside, not even training his internal energy.

He could have understood if he had been cooped up in his room since the afternoon to focus on his internal energy training, but hearing that he was just reading a book, Soyeon Sang's expression couldn't help but contort slightly.

"...Do you know what kind of book it is?"

"I don't know about that either..."

"...I see."

"Is that all you're curious about?"

"Yes."

When Soyeon Sang answered, Mihwa bowed lightly and walked on her way again.

And Soyeon Sang silently looked in the direction of Cheon Myeong's room.

Frankly, he wanted to go into Cheon Myeong's room right away and yell at him, asking what he was doing, but he didn't actually do that.

'He's reading a book... what on earth is he thinking?'

If he was reading a martial arts book, he thought he could understand to some extent.

But no matter how much of a martial arts book it was, the act of reading a book would be the same.

For a great master, just reading a martial arts book would be enough training, but that was not the case for Cheon Myeong.

Now was the time to increase his internal energy or train his body even a little, but Soyeon Sang couldn't understand Cheon Myeong, who was just reading a book in his room.

'Is it related to his trip to Musan?'

What Cheon Myeong had obtained from Musan were only the inner cores of spiritual beasts and the medicinal herbs that grew there.

Especially the medicinal herbs, he had brought back an enormous amount, to the point where it was safe to say that he had searched the entire area of Musan.

'Inner cores and medicinal herbs...'

Could it be that he was trying to make elixirs with them?

But Soyeon Sang soon shook his head.

'There's no way the Young Master would know how to make elixirs.'

Even in the Heavenly Demon Martial Library, there would be no book that described how to make elixirs.

Thinking so, Soyeon Sang felt that he had become even more clueless about what Cheon Myeong was doing in there.

"...Should I just watch for now?"

This was not the first time Cheon Myeong had acted in a way he couldn't understand.

Hadn't he decided to silently follow Cheon Myeong every time?

Since he had made that decision from the moment he lost the bet, Soyeon Sang decided to trust and wait for Cheon Myeong this time as well.

"..."

Soyeon Sang watched Cheon Myeong's room silently for a while.

And he soon turned his body and returned to his own room.

* * *

Flicker-.

In the darkness, only the light from the lamp was illuminating the room.

And the sound of a book being turned at regular intervals.

Even though the night was deep, Cheon Myeong was reading a book, relying on the lamplight.

"..."

After returning from Muhyang, Cheon Myeong had been focusing on learning the Medical Supplement Manual.

That didn't mean he had completely given up on his martial arts training.

He finished his energy circulation and external training in the morning, and in the afternoon, he went into his room and learned the Medical Supplement Manual.

It was a life that could truly be called studying by day and reading by night.

Since he had been continuing to read books until dawn, the amount of time Cheon Myeong slept a day recently was only about two hours.

Of course, even if he read books while reducing his sleep like that, it was almost impossible to fully learn the knowledge of the Medical Supplement Manual in half a month.

For now, Cheon Myeong was reading the Medical Supplement Manual with the feeling of just skimming through it once.

"..."

At that moment, Cheon Myeong's two eyes, which had been reading the book, widened.

And Cheon Myeong brought his face so close that his nose was almost touching the book.

After reading the book further in that state, a smile of joy soon spread across his lips.

"I found it...!"

Cheon Myeong said, moving his head back to its original position.

The reason why Cheon Myeong had been skimming through the Medical Supplement Manual until now was to quickly find the part he needed.

Since the amount was so vast and the content was so deep, it would take at least half a year for even Cheon Myeong to learn it perfectly from beginning to end.

That's why Cheon Myeong had tried to find the part he needed now first and learn it.

"To think it was in the last volume."

How could he be so unlucky?

The total number of volumes was eight, but because the content was so profound, it took two days per volume just to skim through it.

And tonight, on the fifteenth day.

In the last eighth volume, Cheon Myeong was able to find the content he wanted, the part where the manufacturing method of elixirs was written.

'Still, I'm glad I found it quickly.'

The reason why Cheon Myeong had tried to find the manufacturing method of elixirs as soon as possible was simple.

If he had been looking for it leisurely, he might not have been able to use the inner cores he had obtained.

Of course, an inner core was not something that spoiled easily like meat, but you never know.

In the end, since it was the same that it had come from the body of a spiritual beast, the sooner the better, the effect of the inner core could be perfectly maintained.

In the current situation, even a slight loss of the inner core's effect would be a huge loss for Cheon Myeong.

Since he didn't want to experience such a thing, Cheon Myeong had been reading through the Medical Supplement Manual even while reducing his sleep.

'Now I just need to find the elixir manufacturing method that matches the characteristics of the inner core.'

Although Cheon Myeong had found the part he wanted, that part alone was quite substantial.

And from now on, he would have to read it carefully, not in the way he had been reading it so far.

It seemed that he would not be able to sleep tonight.

However.

'Let's start.'

As if he had forgotten all about sleep at the thought of having found a way to make himself stronger, Cheon Myeong read the book, concentrating on each and every letter with sparkling eyes.

And how much time had passed like that?

The door opened, and Mihwa came in with a tray of breakfast.

"...?"

As soon as she came in, Mihwa noticed something strange.

It wasn't that strange for Cheon Myeong to be up first when she brought breakfast, but it was the first time in a while that she had seen him reading a book in the morning.

Moreover, wasn't the lamplight still burning?

Just by looking at that, she could tell that Cheon Myeong had stayed up all night reading a book.

"Young Master! Did you stay up all night reading a book?"

"..."

"Young Master?"

Cheon Myeong, who did not react to Mihwa's words and kept his eyes on the book.

Then, Mihwa put down the tray and approached Cheon Myeong with a puzzled look.

And at that moment.

"This is it!"

Cheon Myeong slammed the desk with those words.

At Cheon Myeong's sudden action, Mihwa was startled and fell on her butt.

And Cheon Myeong finally seemed to have noticed that Mihwa was there and raised his head.

"Why are you on the floor?"

"Ouch... that's because you suddenly scared me, Young Master!"

"Really?"

"Yes."

Mihwa got up from her seat, rubbing her butt with her hand.

Mihwa thought that Cheon Myeong would say something like 'are you okay' to her, but Cheon Myeong said, as if he didn't care that Mihwa had fallen.

"Mihwa, there's something you need to prepare for me right now."

"Something to prepare?"

"Wait a minute."

Cheon Myeong said that and suddenly took out paper, a brush, an inkstone, and an ink stick.

And after dipping the brush in the ink, he began to quickly write something on the paper.

'What is he doing now?'

Was he writing a poem?

Since he had often written poems for her in the past, Mihwa thought so for a moment, but she soon saw Cheon Myeong's appearance and thought that was not the case.

Who would write a poem in such a rushed manner?

Seeing him write with ink even on his face, he seemed to be in a great hurry.

Thump-.

Cheon Myeong finally put down the brush and held out the paper to Mihwa.

Mihwa took the paper in a daze and skimmed through what was written on it.

"What... is this?"

"Get me what's written there by today."

"What? All of these?"

"Yes."

"..."

The letters filled the paper.

Just as they were written densely, the number of items Cheon Myeong was requesting was enormous.

'What on earth is he going to use these for?'

Reading it roughly, they were all items that would be used in a pharmacy.

If this was a big city, it wouldn't be that difficult to get them, but the problem was that this was a small village.

Even if she went to the market, would she be able to get them all?

If she couldn't get them here, she would have to go to the next village, but then it would be impossible to get them all by today.

"Young Master, I don't think I can get them all by today..."

"Please."

"B-but..."

"You're the only one I can ask for this, Mihwa."

"..."

Thump-.

He had no one else to ask but her.

When Cheon Myeong said that to her, Mihwa's heart pounded strongly for a moment.

'I have to get them all by today, no matter what!'

Isn't that the duty of a lady-in-waiting?

Since there were few cases where Cheon Myeong relied on her like this, Mihwa felt that she had to complete Cheon Myeong's request no matter what.

"Leave it to me!"

Mihwa said confidently and hit her chest with her fist.

Although she coughed a little because she had hit it too hard.

Cheon Myeong saw that and said to Mihwa with a brightened face.

"Thank you, Mihwa is the best."

Heh-.

Her mouth was wide open.

Even after leaving the room, Mihwa's mouth did not close easily.

(End of Chapter)