AR Chapter 22
Just Teach Me Secretly
by BlossomTLAbsolute RegressionAfter leaving the Heavenly Demon Literature Pavilion, I first went to the Heavenly Demon Pavilion.
“I’ve returned.”
Father, who had been quietly looking down at me, beckoned me to come closer.
“Come nearer.”
I walked forward five steps.
“A little more.”
This time, three steps.
“More.”
I walked right up to the steps.
Father was examining me. He must have been curious about what martial art I had learned, but since I walked without using the Wind God’s Four Strides, he couldn’t discern anything from my movements.
“What martial art did you learn in the Heavenly Demon Literature Pavilion?”
“It’s a secret.”
As if he had expected me to respond this way, Father unhesitatingly released his demonic energy.
“I won’t ask twice.”
The demonic energy that flew at me was on a completely different level from what the demon ghosts had sent earlier. It wasn’t just a stinging pain, but a feeling of falling into a dark abyss. My body grew cold, and the flow of my true energy naturally slowed.
Since I had no intention of hiding it from Father in the first place, I answered honestly.
“I learned a foot technique.”
“What kind of foot technique?”
“The Wind God’s Four Strides.”
This was a silence born of shock.
Soon, the demonic energy that had been briefly withdrawn enveloped me again.
“Cut the nonsense.”
“It’s true.”
The demonic energy pulled me into an even deeper abyss. Even as the demonic energy rose to my neck and engulfed my face, my gaze towards Father remained unwavering, hiding nothing.
I sank endlessly into the swamp-like abyss. My breath was cut off. Although I believed he wouldn’t actually kill me, an unavoidable fear of suffocation overwhelmed me.
At that moment.
It felt as if something enormous was watching me from within the darkness.
‘!’
The moment our eyes met, everything that had been pressing down on me disappeared, and I found myself standing at the edge of the red carpet in the Heavenly Demon Pavilion.
Father, having withdrawn his demonic energy, commanded:
“Show me the martial art you claim to have learned.”
Father still didn’t believe it was the Wind God’s Four Strides.
“What will you give me in return?”
Father’s expression was one of disbelief. In his life, no one had ever made demands of him with conditions.
“I’ll let you live.”
I stepped back to the center of the hall with a faint smile.
Then I slowly demonstrated the Wind God’s Four Strides.
As the Shadow Stride unfolded, Father abruptly stood up. He had noticed from the first step that this was different from other martial arts.
I completed all the moves of the Wind God’s Four Strides.
Although Father rarely showed emotions, he couldn’t hide his shock now. Since it was a lost martial art, even Father must have seen the Wind God’s Four Strides for the first time today, but he clearly recognized how extraordinary this martial art was.
“Where did you learn the Wind God’s Four Strides?”
Now Father believed that this foot technique was indeed the Wind God’s Four Strides.
“I learned it in the Heavenly Demon Literature Pavilion.”
Whoosh.
In an instant, Father crossed the space and grabbed my neck, coldly asking:
“Do you dare lie to me?”
He was about to break my neck right then and there. It was the first time Father had laid hands on me, and that emotion was anger.
But I wasn’t angry. Father is sincere about martial arts. That’s why he’s in that position and so strong. I understand this side of Father.
“There was no Wind God’s Four Strides in the Heavenly Demon Literature Pavilion.”
A cold energy that felt like it would freeze my entire body was transmitted through Father’s fingertips. It was a different sensation from being submerged in the abyss earlier.
“I definitely learned it there.”
“Lies!”
“Can you confidently say you’ve seen all the secret manuals there? It could have been shelved in a different bookcase, not the one for foot techniques.”
“Then you knew the Wind God’s Four Strides was there!”
“I didn’t know.”
“Liar!”
“I really didn’t know. I discovered it by chance while trying to learn another martial art.”
I firmly denied this part. There was no other way to explain it. Of course, Father wouldn’t believe me.
Father withdrew his hand from my neck and asked again.
“Where was it?”
“It was being used as a prop under a bookcase.”
“Then how did you discover it?”
“I found it while trying to straighten the crooked prop.”
Father, pondering whether to believe this, was about to call a subordinate to bring it but stopped.
“You’ve already destroyed the important parts of the manual, haven’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“Because that’s what I would have done.”
Father, who had been glaring at me for a moment, returned to his throne as quickly as he had flown towards me.
“Recite the incantation.”
As expected! This is our Father.
My goal isn’t to defeat Father and take the Heavenly Demon’s position. I’m not planning to wait for that Hwa Mu-gi bastard in the same situation as last time.
Killing him is important, but the purpose of my regression was to save Father and the people of the Heavenly Demon Pavilion.
I won’t let revenge be the entirety of this regression. Revenge is the reason for the regression, but the purpose is to live this life happily.
After killing Hwa Mu-gi, I plan to wander the world freely and enjoy life until Father hands over his position.
That’s when my real life begins. I’ll live a life without restraints with this young body. The title of my autobiography will be ‘Life is Like a Sword Dance Drama[1]’.
Therefore, teaching Father the foot technique is no problem at all.
Of course, not for free.
“I refuse.”
To save Father the trouble of flying towards me again in anger, I quickly said:
“Nothing in this world is free.”
“I remember the secret technique I taught you in the hunting grounds was free.”
“That was payment for the alcohol you drank in the hunting grounds.”
Father looked dumbfounded at my brazen words.
“How did you manage to hold back all this time? Such an impudent brat.”
“One can only act up when they’re grown. Now I’m taller than you, Father. I’ve been gritting my teeth and holding back until I grew this tall.”
I didn’t back down from Father even once.
Father, I can’t beat you. You have no idea how much I’ve been through. I’ve faced death so many times.
“Is there something you want?”
“Since I’m giving you a martial art incantation, it would be fair to receive a martial art incantation in return. Ideally, I’d like to learn the Nine Calamities Demonic Arts, but since that’s probably difficult, I’ll settle for the Heavenly Demonic Defense Art[2].”
A moment of silence fell.
The Heavenly Demonic Defense Art was, as the name suggests, a protection technique passed down only to the Heavenly Demon as an exclusive martial art.
“Impossible!”
“This is the Wind God’s Four Strides. Strictly speaking, I’m getting the short end of the deal.”
“The Heavenly Demonic Defense Art can only be learned by the Heavenly Demon and their successor.”
“You can just teach me secretly. Anyway, the Heavenly Demonic Defense Art is a technique that never shows when activated, so others will never know.”
It was a martial art that would never be known outside.
I could sense Father’s dilemma. If he got serious, became angry, and pressured me strongly, I would eventually have to tell him. But Father didn’t do that. Father was Father.
In any case, it was a martial art I absolutely had to obtain from my position. Learning the Heavenly Demonic Defense Art was like gaining an extra life.
“Please think about it and let me know.”
As I was about to turn around after politely bowing, Father’s voice reached me.
“But the Wind God’s Four Strides comes first.”
Surprisingly, Father had decided to pass down the Heavenly Demonic Defense Art.
He’s really going to teach me the Heavenly Demonic Defense Art?
I thought that perhaps Father might want me to become the successor. Or is he not concerned because he thinks I’ll die anyway facing the Eight Demon Supremes?
“Alright.”
“Why do you accept so readily? I might just take the Wind God’s Four Strides and not teach you.”
“Because you’re not the type to do something so shameful in front of your son.”
A sneer flashed across Father’s lips. Using the word ‘shameful’ was my strongest move. How could Father not understand my intentions?
‘I’m sorry, Father. But I can’t just hand over the Wind God’s Four Strides for nothing, can I?’
Fortunately, Father’s reaction wasn’t too bad. He’s the type to appreciate demanding compensation more than naively offering the martial art incantation.
“Very well. Tell me the incantation.”
“Yes.”
I taught Father the incantation of the Wind God’s Four Strides.
Father closed his eyes quietly and recited the incantation.
After three hours had passed, Father began to demonstrate the Wind God’s Four Strides.
I watched without blinking.
The Wind God’s Four Strides that Father demonstrated was both similar to and different from what I had shown.
It was as if Father was saying:
This is how I interpret this martial art.
I engraved every single movement of Father’s Wind God’s Four Strides into my mind. Not to imitate it exactly, but to understand which parts were different from mine and why. I knew that the level of martial arts mastery is determined by how one interprets these subtle differences.
After demonstrating all the moves, Father quietly sank into thought.
I too fell into deep meditation, comparing the Wind God’s Four Strides Father had just demonstrated with the one I had shown.
I need to learn.
Father’s attitude towards martial arts. The way of thinking and depth of interpretation of the best.
Finally, Father emerged from his meditation.
“This is truly an excellent martial art.”
For Father to say it was an excellent martial art, this was high praise indeed.
“You can’t swallow it back even out of a guilty conscience, can you?”
Father snorted, but this time there was satisfaction mixed in.
Now I’ve created the biggest variable since my regression.
Can Hwa Mu-gi really defeat Father who has now learned the Wind God’s Four Strides?
Of course, I plan to take down Hwa Mu-gi myself, but teaching Father the Wind God’s Four Strides like this was a kind of contingency plan.
Father kept his promise.
“I will now pass down the Heavenly Demonic Defense Art. I’ll only say it once, so memorize it well.”
Before listening to the incantation, I sat down in a cross-legged position.
Because Father would really only say it once, I wasn’t going to memorize it with my head, but with my body by directly applying the incantation. This is something that shouldn’t be attempted unless you’re a master like me.
Father began to pass down the incantation of the Heavenly Demonic Defense Art.
“Gently move your inner energy from the Myeongmun point to Sinyu, Jisil, and Wiyu. The true energy at this time should be as light as snow falling on a leaf. Speed is crucial from Biyu to Ganyu to Gyeokyu. Increase the speed as if walking, running, then lightly taking flight, and when you reach Sinju, Pungmun, and Gokwon, pour it out powerfully like a waterfall rushing down…”
The incantation was difficult from the start. The difficulty level was truly extreme. Even while moving my true energy according to the incantation, my heart was pounding. I almost resented Father for not stopping me from directly applying such a difficult incantation, knowing how challenging it was.
Naturally, I faced several crises. I managed to overcome the smaller ones, but near the end, I encountered a major crisis.
Suddenly, my true energy reversed course and went berserk, threatening to burst my meridians. The taut meridians felt like they would rupture at any moment. If I hadn’t strengthened my meridians with the Thousand Meridians Reinforcing Technique earlier, I would have surely suffered severe internal injuries.
‘Mastering the Thousand Meridians Reinforcing Technique was a preparation for today. Then I won’t die today!’
On the edge of a cliff where falling meant mania, internal injuries, and death, I fought back as the embodiment of positivity.
And I believed.
That I wasn’t destined to die while learning martial arts from Father.
Was it because my belief came through?
The true energy that had been raging like a wild horse settled down. The inner force flowed through the meridians it was supposed to, and having overcome the crisis, I was able to complete the final incantation of the Heavenly Demonic Defense Art.
“Phew…”
I slowly opened my eyes while regulating my breathing with a long exhalation.
Father was standing by the large window of the Heavenly Demon Pavilion, looking outside.
Did he know about the great crisis I had just faced?
If I had fallen into mania, would he have helped me?
Until I heard the words “From now on, you are the next Heavenly Demon” from Father’s mouth, I couldn’t be certain of anything.
Whether aware of my thoughts or not, Father spoke about the greatness of the Heavenly Demonic Defense Art while looking out the window.
“When your life is in critical danger, the Heavenly Demonic Defense Art will activate on its own. If you master it in the future, you will never die.”
As I heard those words, one question arose in my mind.
‘Then why did you pass away, Father?’