There was no need to go far for the hunting grounds.
The mountain behind the Main Sect was famously rugged, and with defensive formations and mechanisms installed everywhere, it was a place no one could enter in the first place.
In this deserted place, there were only two people: my father and me.
'Ah, I guess there are three of us.'
Father's bodyguard, Hwi, was likely following us, hidden somewhere.
I called him Uncle Hwi.
I saw him often when I was young, but as I grew older, I had fewer chances to see him.
Hwi, the bodyguard my father trusted absolutely.
If I had Lee Ahn, then Father had Hwi.
I drew up my energy and scanned the surroundings, but I couldn't find any trace of Hwi.
As expected of a master who had reached the highest level of mastery in the art of stealth.
Of course, even this Hwi... died at the hands of Hwa Mugi that day.
The first thing my father said to me that day was this:
"What is all that cumbersome luggage?"
I was carrying a leather pouch as large as my own body.
"They are things I'll need for a few days."
"A few days? I plan to be here for only one day before going back down."
"But you never know, do you? You might find hunting with me so enjoyable that you'll want to stay for a few more days."
Father's expression blatantly showed his inner thought: "As if that would ever happen."
"You have some wild dreams."
Not even an hour had passed since I'd been with Father, but I realized something I hadn't known before.
It was that my memory of my father was quite distorted.
I remembered my father as a man of very few words.
But Father spoke much more than I had thought.
"You were better than I thought."
He was evaluating my performance against Gu Pyeong-ho in the sparring match.
Although my movements lacked inner energy, the skills I had accumulated in my life before regression must have shown through.
I didn't bother trying to deceive my father.
"I was hiding my skills."
"So it seemed."
Riding the mood, I added a joke.
"I'm not a hissing cat, but a beast hiding its claws."
Father stopped in his tracks and looked back at me.
"If you're a beast, why hide your claws?"
"Ah, I hadn't considered that point of view."
"That's why you're a cat."
As he was about to turn away, Father suddenly asked.
"What level of mastery have you reached in the Flying Heaven Sword Technique?"
The Flying Heaven Sword Technique is a martial art passed down to those of the Heavenly Demon's bloodline.
While it couldn't compare to the Nine Calamities Demon Art, which is passed down only to the Heavenly Demon, it was considered a supreme martial art on a similar level to those practiced by the Demon Sovereigns.
Of course, learning a higher-level martial art didn't automatically make one stronger.
Depending on who wielded it, even a weaker martial art could be used to kill someone with a stronger one.
Judging that I couldn't deceive Father, I answered honestly.
"I have achieved Great Mastery."
At that moment!
Piiing!
A stream of finger wind shot out from the tip of Father's finger and grazed my cheek.
If I hadn't instinctively turned my head to dodge, it would have pierced a hole in my cheek.
Father asked with a surprised look.
"You really have achieved Great Mastery!"
I rubbed my stinging cheek from the force of the finger wind and asked in a shout.
"My goodness! You shot a finger wind without even believing me. What if I hadn't been able to dodge?"
"You would have paid the price for lying. If you had achieved Great Mastery, you would have been able to dodge."
"A scar wouldn't suit this handsome face that resembles you, Father!"
After snorting once, Father started walking again.
'No wonder my past self was scared of him.'
What father in the world would shoot a finger wind at his own son without hesitation? And at his face, no less! It was an attack that wouldn't have killed me, but would have left a large wound if I hadn't dodged.
Walking ahead, Father spoke without looking back.
"To reach Great Mastery at your age... is remarkable."
In my past life, I only achieved Great Mastery well into my thirties, so it was natural for Father to be surprised.
In any case, since Father was serious when it came to martial arts, that compliment was the highest praise.
"Thank you."
After that, we climbed the mountain for a long time without any conversation.
If we were in a room like this without any conversation, it would have been suffocating.
But the act of climbing a mountain was different.
Just walking silently felt like having a wordless conversation.
It was I who broke the long silence.
"Who did you learn to hunt from?"
After a brief pause, Father spoke.
"I learned from my older brother."
"Did I have an uncle?"
"He died. At my hands, when he was your age."
A moment of silence followed.
Instead of offering polite words of comfort, I spoke my honest thoughts.
"You did well."
Father stopped walking and looked back at me with a sharp gaze.
"If you hadn't, I wouldn't have even been born."
After staring at me coldly for a moment, Father started walking again.
How could my father not have wounds in his heart left by the strife between brothers? I saw it many times in my past life.
The stronger a person appeared on the outside, the deeper the wounds in their heart.
That's why I had blurted it out like that, as if lancing a boil.
There was a lesson I learned in my past life.
You can bury a corpse, but don't bury the wounds of the heart.
That was probably why I could hear such words from Father.
"At that time, I... couldn't find a way."
I knew what he meant.
He couldn't find a way to win the fight for succession without killing his brother.
My answer was firm.
"Don't expect it from me either."
Father glanced back at me.
His gaze was even colder than before, but I said what I had to say.
"I can't do what you couldn't do, Father. And you should give me a brother worth worrying about before saying such things. You know, don't you? How vile and cruel my brother is."
"You're quick to curse him behind his back."
"He deserves to be cursed."
In fact, this wasn't enough.
Thinking about the things my brother would do to become the successor in the future.
"He's suffering on the frontier, and you're just sitting in comfort, cursing him."
"Someone of the First Young Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect's stature wouldn't suffer even if he were locked in the deepest cell of the Underground Thunder Prison, let alone the frontier."
My brother was currently active under Father's orders.
At this time, my brother hadn't yet revealed his true colors, and since he was quite capable in his own right, Father trusted him more than me.
Not only that, but many demonic practitioners within the sect were trying to align themselves with him.
"My brother will never give up the position of successor. Trying to become the successor while letting him live is foolish arrogance."
My father's expression as he looked at me was filled with the feeling of, 'So this is the kind of child you were?'
My gaze answered steadfastly. 'Yes!'
Father started walking again.
I did not marry in my past life.
So I don't know exactly what kind of emotions a child brings to a man.
That's why I'm curious.
What kind of existence am I to my father?
How long had we been climbing the mountain like that?
"Shh."
I raised my head at my father's signal.
Father was pointing his finger straight ahead into the distance.
"Do you see it?"
I opened my eyes wide, but all I could see was the dense forest; nothing else was visible.
"I can't see it."
"I can."
"What's over there?"
"Dinner."
"Then we must catch it."
As I took out the bow hanging from my leather pouch, Father stopped my hasty action.
"How do you plan to catch something you can't even see? First, close your eyes and feel your surroundings."
"Yes."
Masters gauge their opponents by the fluctuations in the surrounding air.
This is what is commonly known as an opponent's aura.
There was only one aura to be felt in the vicinity, my father's aura.
It was calm.
And that's why it was frightening.
I knew better than anyone how ferocious that aura became when he was angered.
A typhoon capable of overturning the world slumbered within that peaceful sea.
"Now, send out a single stream of energy. Just one stream."
I did as Father instructed and emitted a single stream of energy.
"Slowly, without breaking the flow of energy. Think of your body as a skein of thread and slowly draw it out."
In my life before regression, I had never sent out such a thin, thread-like stream of energy before.
There is a clear reason for emitting energy.
To overwhelm an opponent's presence with my own aura.
But now, I was emitting energy in a way I had never imagined.
"Thinner. It must not break!"
This was also the first time I learned that energy emitted from the body could travel this far.
"More, more, more."
If my father hadn't been beside me, encouraging me, I would never have been able to extend my energy so far.
And the next moment, my energy touched something.
"Did it touch?"
Father realized that my energy had touched something just as quickly as I did.
"Yes. I can feel it."
"What does it feel like?"
"It feels like a tree."
Surprisingly, I had a feeling of what it was.
It was truly just a feeling, so I don't know how to explain it.
But it was definitely a tree.
"Scan the area around it. Slowly."
It felt as if the thread from the skein was about to run out and slip away.
But I didn't lose my focus.
I extended my energy even further to explore the surroundings.
Then, I discovered a living energy beneath the tree.
"Is it perhaps a wild boar?"
When Father didn't answer, I slowly opened my eyes.
Father was staring at me with a surprised expression.
"Or is it a bear? The bristles were stiff and the body was long, it felt like a wild boar."
"It is a wild boar."
I looked towards the spot my energy had reached.
It was still not visible to my eyes.
I had located a wild boar in the forest far away.
"It's not easy to sense it from this distance on the first try."
Even after experiencing it himself, Father seemed to find it hard to believe.
Thinking about it, the technique from a moment ago wasn't just a miscellaneous skill needed for hunting.
It was a formidable secret technique that could be applied to martial arts.
"You were originally planning to tease me when I failed, weren't you?"
"Because you should have failed, naturally."
"I am your son, Father."
"Even I couldn't do it on the first try."
"But am I not of the Heavenly Martial Body?"
At the mention of the Heavenly Martial Body, Father's gaze changed slightly.
At that time, I held this resentment towards Father regarding my Heavenly Martial Body.
—You, who pursue strength so ardently, who even holds a martial tournament to find talent capable of crushing your own children in your search for a strong successor, why did you neglect me, someone with a Heavenly Martial Body? Why didn't you support me?
I even thought that perhaps Father was jealous of me.
Yes, my past self was that petty.
But now I know.
That the world does not move according to my wishes alone.
That it wasn't about demanding special treatment for my Heavenly Martial Body, but about using this body to make myself special.
I know now that only when everyone's expectations and desires are placed upon that specialness does the Heavenly Martial Body truly become a blessing from the heavens.
"What are you doing? Do you plan on starving tonight?"
I drew my bow forcefully and shot an arrow toward the place where I had felt the energy.
Piiing.
In the darkness, a campfire was burning, and above it, well-prepared wild boar meat was cooking.
"When did you learn to butcher an animal?"
"I learned from a book."
"For someone who learned from a book, you seem quite skilled."
Father, I've probably caught and eaten hundreds of wild boars myself.
I subtly changed the subject.
"That thing you're sitting on, I prepared it for flattery. It was worth the effort of lugging it all the way here."
Father was sitting on the tiger fur I had brought in my leather pouch.
At my boasting, the corners of Father's lips curled up slightly.
It's hard for a sneer to look so good on a person's face, but Father managed that difficult feat effortlessly.
"Did you say you wanted to hunt with me because you wanted to get on my good side and become the successor?"
"No. I know well that such things don't work on you, Father."
"It's a relief that you know."
"I can be chosen as the successor even without your help, Father."
"You're quite confident."
"Of course, my greedy, cruel, and ill-tempered brother will get in my way."
"There you go, badmouthing him behind his back again."
"I have to. How often do I get the chance to openly criticize him in front of the judge who scores us?"
Father, if you truly wanted peaceful brotherly love within the family, you should have decided from the beginning.
The successor is so-and-so, don't get any funny ideas.
Isn't the fight for succession something that causes fighting, killing, and all sorts of chaos even when it's decided like that?
"Why did you say you wanted to hunt with me?"
"There are two reasons. First, to learn something, anything, to become stronger. I think I've succeeded with the first one."
"And once you're stronger?"
At Father's provocative gaze, which seemed to ask if I would aim for his position, I quickly replied.
"My reason for wanting to become stronger isn't to become the Heavenly Demon. You are still hale and hearty, Father, and I don't want to waste my youth chasing after the title of Heavenly Demon. I'll be satisfied if I can just become the successor and learn the Heavenly Demon's martial arts."
Considering our age, in Father's eyes, both my brother and I would seem ridiculously unqualified to be the successor yet.
In reality, Father chose my brother as the successor about ten years from now.
As I am now, I can't wait for ten years.
Being a hidden talent is not enough.
It's time to take the awl out of the bag and start poking around everywhere.
That's why I must receive the Nine Calamities Demon Art as soon as possible and achieve Great Mastery.
No, I must reach a level beyond that.
Since even Father, who achieved Ten-Star Great Mastery, was defeated by Hwa Mugi, I must achieve Twelve-Star Great Mastery.
"Sometimes I imagine it. What if I come across someone in life I really want to beat to death, but I can't? How frustrating would that be? I want to get stronger just so I don't have to face that."
Father's expression didn't change, so I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"And the second reason?"
"I wanted to spend time alone with you, Father. It's the first time, isn't it?"
A sneer deepened on Father's lips again.
"That's some cheap sentimentality that will get you killed."
"How could it be cheap when I'm with the greatest under heaven? If we sing a song, it would be the greatest song under heaven, and if we drink wine, it would be the greatest wine under heaven. Even if we take a dump..."
"That's enough."
"Yes! I'll keep my mouth shut for an hour."
My eyes met my father's, and I smiled cheerfully.
It was probably the first time I had ever smiled in front of my father.
Though Father just coldly turned his head away.
'When I thought of Father, I had no memories to speak of.
Frightening memories aren't real memories, are they? In this life, I won't let my memories be so desolate.
But don't get too happy about it.
I'm doing this for myself, not for you, Father.'