Episode 847 You’re probably still watching me now.
The training continued.
Geommu-geuk was building up his efforts day by day, with the firm belief that he would achieve the Twelve Great Stars.
Because the best were literally teaching the best to the best.
All that remains now is effort.
I know this from experience. Water continues to heat up, then suddenly boils over in the final moment. If you can’t endure the heat and stop, all that’s left is for it to cool down.
But it was so hot right now. I wanted to give up right away.
“Haa, haa.”
Geommu -geuk lay on the floor, panting for breath.
Geom Woo-jin stood beside him, his hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the distance.
The intensity of his training was steadily increasing. It was to the point where he was worried about his father, who was teaching him.
Thud, thud.
Then raindrops started falling one by one.
Swaaaaaaah.
Soon a shower began to fall.
“Oh! It’s raining. Why is it raining all of a sudden!”
How can you have such a natural reaction when it was the rain you caused?
“Father, would you like to take a break over there?”
Before I knew it, a small pavilion had appeared at the back.
Geum Woo-jin smiled faintly and walked toward the spot. An invisible aura surrounded him, so the rain didn’t wet him even a single drop.
Swaaaaaaah.
Two people sat side by side and watched the rain fall.
“Would you like a drink? The stewardess made me some pancakes today.”
Dude, you had it all planned out! Yeah, you gotta have a day to slack off.
“Let’s have a drink after a long time.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Geommu-geuk flew over and brought back alcohol and pancakes.
The two drank alcohol in the pavilion, accompanied by rain and pancakes as side dishes.
In fact, even before his return, Geommugeuk had never been alone with someone for this long. His father would have felt the same way. Geommugeuk didn’t find this time awkward or burdensome at all.
It wasn’t just because of the efforts I’d made so far. The effort to make my father feel as comfortable here as if he were outside had eliminated that awkwardness.
Where could there be any room for awkwardness? I was always busy creating new spaces, striving to make them at least a little more charming.
Swaaaaaaah.
Just sitting quietly and watching the rain felt good.
Then, Geommugeuk cautiously spoke.
“I know I might lose all the points I’ve worked so hard to build up, but I have a question I really want to ask.”
It was a question that had never been raised before.
“What kind of person was your mother?”
Perhaps he had anticipated his son would ask him this question someday? The father wasn’t surprised by the sudden question.
“When I was very young, I asked my older brother about my mother.”
Both of them were very young and never thought about fighting over succession.
“My brother told me then, ‘Father hates it, so don’t ever bring that up.’”
At that time, my brother was also young.
“I haven’t taken it out since that day.”
He’d lived like a being he couldn’t mention.
He had no memories of his mother, so he felt no deep longing for her. Furthermore, with the arrival of Hwamugi, his entire life had been focused on stopping him.
Now that Hwamugi was dead, he felt it was time to ask his father.
Father said nothing. He simply stared silently at the falling rain.
Geommu-geuk didn’t press any further. He’d tell me when the time was right.
Swaaa …
* * *
“Give me another bottle of alcohol.”
At the words of the martial arts leader Jin Pae-cheon, Jeom So-i quickly ran over and gave him some alcohol.
“Here it is! Enjoy your meal!”
Jinpaecheon was in a bustling inn.
On his way back to the Murim Alliance, he stopped by the tavern again.
Even when he went to help the Cheonma Shingyo, he stopped by the tavern and enjoyed a brief escape, where no one recognized him.
Back then, he had been restless, but now he was calmly enjoying the moment.
This time, too, no one recognized him. Who would have imagined the leader of the martial arts world drinking alone in a bar like this? Even if they met someone they knew, they’d tilt their head and pass by.
Jinpaecheon was watching the people in that noisy place, with people eating, drinking, chatting, families eating, and parades going by.
Then, Jinpaecheon saw a boy standing on the roadside, staring into the inn. The boy, who looked like a beggar, was holding his younger brother’s hand tightly.
Jinpaecheon gestured for the child without hesitation.
He gave her a wary look, then quickly brought his younger brother in.
At the entrance, the owner tried to shoo the children away.
“I called you. Let me in.”
The owner could tell at a glance that this was no ordinary man, so he quickly sent the children to him.
“This old man ordered so much food that he won’t be able to finish it all. It’s a shame to throw it away, so would you mind helping him out?”
Even though the younger sibling didn’t know, the older one seemed to know why he said such things.
“thank you.”
The boy fed his younger brother first. He stopped his younger brother, who was eating hurriedly.
“Slowly! Eat slowly.”
Only after taking care of his younger brother did the boy eat.
“How old are you?”
“Twelve.”
“Where are your parents?”
“They are deceased.”
She was left in the care of a relative, abused, and ran away with her younger sibling in the middle of the night.
How many days can this child survive in this harsh world with her younger sibling?
Jin Pae-cheon stopped talking to the boy, telling him to eat in peace.
When the children had finished eating, Jin Pae-cheon wrote something on a piece of paper and gave it to the boy.
“Do you know where the Murim Alliance branch is around here?”
“Yes, I saw it on my way here earlier.”
“Then go to the Murim Alliance branch. If you deliver this letter, you’ll get a job that will keep your younger brother from starving.”
The boy was smart and perceptive. If he had been told to go somewhere else, he wouldn’t have gone, but if it was a branch of the Murim Alliance, he wouldn’t have sold himself off to anyone.
“Don’t be afraid, just go. Trust this old man. Understand?”
“Thank you.”
After bowing, the boy left with his younger brother.
A man walked over and sat down where the two children had left.
It was Jin Ha-gun.
“Your Majesty, I am so glad you returned safely.”
Jin Ha-gun hadn’t slept peacefully for a single day since Jin Pae-cheon left. He’d regretted asking his grandfather for nothing.
So, when I received an urgent telegram from my grandfather, asking me to meet him here, I couldn’t express how happy I was. I was even happier that he was safe than that the Thousand-Slayers had been defeated.
“Send your men to make sure those kids get to the branch safely. And tell the branch staff about it.”
“Yes.”
Jin Ha-gun relayed the order to his demon-killing unit, who were waiting outside. As
Jin Ha-gun sat down again, Jin Pae-cheon calmly relayed the results of the battle.
“There were many fights, but in the end, it was the Demon Lord who defeated the Thousand-Sal Castle, and it was the Young Lord who stopped his final counterattack.”
Jinpaecheon told his grandson his honest feelings.
“I worried about their strength during the fight, and I worried afterward. I worried that the Demonic Cult Leader might be trying to unleash a vain dream of a true demonic war. All the way here, that was all I could think about.”
But a little while ago, while feeding the children, I remembered something I had forgotten.
Jin Pae-cheon asked his grandson.
“If you were sitting here, would you have called those children over and fed them?”
Jin Ha-gun didn’t worry. It must have been so.
“Yes, I guess so.”
“Yeah, that’s us.”
Jin Pae-cheon’s trust in his grandson had deepened significantly during the process of making Jin Ha-gun the leader of the clan. Now, he no longer deceived himself for the sake of appearances.
“This old man was so overwhelmed by the powerful martial arts of the Demonic Cult that he momentarily forgot who we were. He was only worried about the war.”
The worry and anguish that had been on Jinpaecheon’s face had already disappeared.
“As long as we have the heart to keep that child from losing his younger brother’s hand, we won’t give up. It wasn’t the herbivore that defeated the Demon Lord’s Nine-Handed Demonic Cult that protected the martial arts world for so long, but that heart, shamefully, I forgot for a moment.”
Jinpaecheon’s voice was filled with firm determination.
“Remember this. It’s not just those children we must protect, but everyone who tries to protect them. We will protect them all. That’s why we exist. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
“From now on, this old man intends to work even harder.”
Looking into Jinpaecheon’s clear, shining eyes, Jin Ha-gun had this thought.
Do people age gracefully as they get older? No. Cool people age gracefully, and uncool people become uncool old men.
“I will definitely become a great leader like my grandfather.”
Jinpaecheon smiled, took off the sword he was holding, and handed it to his grandson.
“Take your sword.”
* * *
Today, a showdown between the nine-armed magicians was taking place.
Annihilation vs. Annihilation.
Chorrrrrrrrrrrr.
The demons split apart on both sides simultaneously.
Geommu-geuk opened his eyes wide, looking at the demons lined up before him. He had performed the Great Destruction Technique countless times, but the one his father was performing now was something he had never seen before.
“Was this a herbivore that could transform like this?”
Surprisingly, my father’s Great Destruction consisted of two lines.
Originally, the demons lined up in a single line, but after forming the Twelve Great Stars, they were able to form two lines.
“Are these guys really that obedient?”
The number of splitting enemies also increased, so it really felt like an army of evil spirits was lined up.
“This is foul play, Father!”
But as soon as those words left his mouth, his father’s demons surged forward.
Quaquaquaquaquaquaquaquaquaquaqua.
Even the evil spirits of the sword dance rushed forward without fear.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaah!
The demons in the sword dance and the demons in the first row collided and were destroyed.
However, the demons in the second row then surged forward.
Boom! Kwaang!
The hemp wall erected in front of the sword dance theater blocked the terrifying incoming evil spirits.
What was his plan? Today, Father was pushing forward with more powerful internal energy than ever before.
“This time I almost died…….”
For a moment, Geommu-geuk was speechless. A shadow began to fall over the area where he and his father were.
“No way? No way?”
Behind my father, the Heavenly Demon Spirit rose, rising.
There wasn’t even a warning. Immediately after his arrival, dozens of sword-shaped auras began to appear in the air behind him, like stars.
The Seventh Form of the Nine-Handed Demonic Sect, the Creation of the World of Demonic Spirits.
The sword dance was able to escape from there without looking back and using the flashing light.
Swish swish swish swish
swish swish swish! Boom bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!
A powerful blast of energy poured down from behind the fleeing swordsman.
“No matter how much you try to create a magical world, I can’t catch you!”
At that very moment.
Aaaa …
A gigantic Thousand-Year-Old Demon Spirit rushed toward Geommu-geuk at terrifying speed. It was the Eighth Form of Demon Spirit Charge.
The eyes of the Heavenly Demon Spirit, who had caught up with the sword dance at an incredible speed, turned white. He was about to unleash his ancient Heavenly Demon Lordship.
Father, why are you doing this? I’m dying!
“Save me, Cheonmahon!”
Of course, it was a cry calling out to his own heavenly spirit.
The sword dance drama erected a wall of hemp.
Jiiiiiing!
The demonic wall of the Mahonjijon was being breached. If it had been breached, it wouldn’t have been an attack that could be blocked with self-defense techniques.
Neither Father nor the Heavenly Horse Spirit stopped. Geommu-geuk could sense this emotion in his father’s cold gaze.
If you don’t find the number, you die!
Next moment!
Flash.
The strong energy that had penetrated the wall collided with the pure white light.
Kwaaaaang!
The surroundings shook as if an earthquake had struck, accompanied by a tremendous bang. Dirt and dust from the overturned floor rained down like corn.
Where the dust had cleared, there stood the Sword Dancer. Surprisingly, even the Mahonjijon was unharmed.
“I imitated what my father did, and it worked.”
The Sword Dance Theater unleashed the Heavenly Demonic Mystery. This wasn’t the Heavenly Demonic Mystery that annihilated everything, but the Heavenly Demonic Mystery that my father had used to create the Sword of Light to slay the Fire Weapon. It was the very same Heavenly Demonic Mystery that he had unleashed by creating it as a sword! He had destroyed the strongest move with the strongest move.
“It was imitated because it was a situation where I was about to die.”
My father smiled strangely.
“Can you imitate that if you try to imitate it?”
Amazing words came out of my father’s mouth.
“You have achieved the twelve great stars.”
Because he had achieved the Twelve Great Stars, he was able to transform and use the Heavenly Demon Extermination.
“It was already done a few days ago. You knew that, right?”
The sword dance bowed its head deeply.
“Yes, I knew.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to spend a few more days with you, so I didn’t tell you. I’m sorry.”
How could I scold my son for deceiving me? Everyone in the world was struggling with me, but my son was the only one who wanted to be with me, even if it was just for a few days.
In fact, the two men felt the same way. Geumwoojin had also learned a few days earlier that his son had attained the Twelve Stars.
“You finally made it.”
“Yes, you finally did.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks to you, Father, I’ve been able to easily accomplish a great task that took me a lifetime to accomplish. Thank you so much.”
Geommu-geuk bowed his head in gratitude.
Though he didn’t show it, Geom Woo-jin was just as pleased as his son.
“It’s thanks to your hard work. You’ve worked hard.”
The two stood side by side, gazing at the distant horizon of the plains. As the sun was setting, the crimson sunset beautifully colored the world.
“This is the last time here.”
After standing there for a while and looking at the sunset, Geum Woo-jin suddenly spoke.
“You are the only person I have ever loved.”
“!”
Geommu-geuk looked at his father in surprise.
Longing flickered in his father’s eyes as he gazed at the sunset. It was truly the first time he had seen such eyes.
Geommugeuk sighed in relief without realizing it. What would his father think of his mother? Did he perhaps hate her? Did he regret meeting her? Did he have some untold story? He worried about all sorts of things.
But now it didn’t matter.
If my father had truly loved me.
“I think he was the coolest person in the world.”
The gaze of Geum Woo-jin as he looked at his son deepened.
“I would have loved to see you.”
As long as my father lives with my mother in his heart.
“You must be watching me even now.”
A wave of unspeakable passion flashed across Geumwoojin’s face.
As if trying to conceal his emotions, Geumwoojin turned his head and gazed into the distant sunset.
“Let’s go now.”
“Yes, Father.”
Geommugeuk snapped his fingers. It was the most exhilarating and satisfying moment since he’d unleashed his space-time teleportation technique. “Snap!”
