Chapter 98. The Meeting
The last day of the Six Families Assembly.
Only the clan heads were seated for the assembly. Since today’s plenary session would conclude the assembly by deciding the Divine Cult’s policies, only the clan heads had entered, without any other family members in attendance.
“What did the Demonic Physician say?”
“He told me to take good care of my health.”
“That is it?”
“What more do you need?”
Cheol Muguk narrowed his eyes at me.
“It is not that I do not trust you, I do not trust the Demonic Physician. That old man is a madman in his own right. If he has taken an interest in you, there must be a reason.”
“Even if mad, he cannot compare to you, Cheol Clan Head.”
“Tsk, insolent brat.”
Cheol Muguk made a sour face as if I were annoying. But I could not tell him what had happened with the Demonic Physician.
“He said, ‘How are you even alive,’”
According to his diagnosis when he took my pulse, this body should have died long ago.
Even with jeolmaek, one should at least faintly sense the flow of true energy, he said.
Qi that every human possesses, even if not a martial artist who has learned internal energy,
Innate true qi.
He said he could not feel even a grain of innate true qi in this body.
Then he stared into my face, checked with his hand whether I was breathing, even told me to open my mouth and stuck his head close.
His conclusion was that he did not know either.
Saying he had never experienced such a case, he took a vial of my blood from his medicine case. He said he would study it.
I could more or less understand.
“The origin of this body, or the Heavenly Demon Divine Art…”
Sado Hwan’s body is not an ordinary human body. It is an artificial flesh made not by conception and birth, but by the power of treasured relics, implements, and a grand law.
So it might lack innate true qi.
Another hypothesis is that the energy of our Heavenly Demon Divine Art devoured even the innate true qi. The energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art does not leave any other energy alone.
[Until now there was not the slightest sign of that. I clearly felt innate true qi.]
If, as Skybreaker says, that is true, we can form a new hypothesis, the influence of the Soul Separation Technique.
Perhaps, as the soul was being changed by the Soul Separation Technique, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art fully opened its eyes. Or perhaps the Soul Separation Technique itself consumes innate true qi. From the start, is it not absurd to move a soul without side effects?
‘It feels unsettling, but for now there is no problem, so…’
Rather than clinging to an unknown problem, it was right to focus on the present. However it turns out in the end, the Demonic Physician will investigate and prescribe on his own anyway.
***
“You all arrived first. I apologize for being late.”
Chu Taesu opened the door to the assembly hall and came in. As always, he was floating a little above the ground.
“As the Demonic Physician diagnosed, Clan Head Jin Yeongryeong is unable to attend today’s assembly, so we will proceed with the meeting with the remaining five clan heads. A majority would be even better.”
It seemed Chu Taesu tossed that as a joke of sorts, but no one laughed.
Instead, Gwak Riyeon spoke up.
“I assume, as always, that Chu Clan Head has organized the pending issues. Is that right?”
Chu Taesu nodded at Gwak Riyeon’s words.
“That is correct. I prepared in advance to spare you all the trouble.”
Snap!
Chu Taesu flicked his fingers. Then paper appeared in the empty air, fluttered, and flew to each clan head, alighting on the table like butterflies.
“Thank you.”
“There are five pending issues to handle this time in total. Please read.”
I read down the paper.
“1. Investigation of the appearance of a Fire Bird in the Red Dragon Domain.”
Almost at the same time as I read the first agenda item,
“Chu Clan Head. What do you think you are doing?”
Hyuk Mun asked Chu Taesu, his hand trembling.
“What do you mean?”
“Why is a matter of our Red Dragon Domain listed among the meeting’s pending issues?”
By domain, it is a concept akin to a fief. The Divine Cult’s prestigious families or great clans were granted fiefs by the Heavenly Demon, or their places of origin, and those were called Domain.
If it is the Red Dragon Domain, that is the land of the Red Dragon Hyuk Clan. To investigate it, in other words, meant to violate their territory.
“Ah, I put it first because it is the easiest matter… is it not to your liking?”
“I am not arguing order. Matters of the Red Dragon Domain must be handled by our Red Dragon Hyuk Clan. This is interference in internal affairs.”
“Interference in internal affairs, such a hurtful thing to say. It was a decision we could not help.”
“We?”
Chu Taesu continued.
“It has already been over half a year since a giant, fire breathing bird appeared in the Red Dragon Domain. Yet you still have not dealt with it. You have not forgotten that right beside the Red Dragon Domain are our Sun and Moon Domain and the Nine Yin Domain, have you?”
“I said I would catch it! Oh, I see, are you in league with the Gwak Clan to pull something?”
“So, did you catch it?”
Chu Taesu spoke, eyes sly.
“You did not catch it. Or is it that you could not catch it?”
Grrrk!
Hyuk Mun gnashed his teeth.
I briefly wondered, could the Demonic Physician treat teeth as well, since it did not feel like that man’s teeth would remain intact.
“At this rate, it looks like the entire Fourth Demon Domain will be burned before it is caught, so is this not obviously a necessary discussion? As you know, the Fourth Demon Domain is the Divine Cult’s largest breadbasket.”
“I will catch it. I said I will catch it myself if I must.”
“I have already spoken with Clan Head Gwak in advance, but from the end of the assembly, you must take care of it within one day and one night. If you fail to catch it within that time…”
“If we fail?”
“Whether it is personnel from the other of the Six Demon Families, or an external figure, someone will set foot on the Red Dragon Domain’s land.”
“That will not happen.”
Hyuk Mun gnashed his teeth once more.
“Can you use hard qi in your teeth as well?”
***
‘You are curious, right. Should I ask Saweol?’
[Do not ask anything using my body, I beg you.]
The past Dark Blood Bai Clan, too, made a school with claw arts. If you can wield hard qi through fingernails, then surely it is possible through teeth as well?
“Those who agree with agenda item one, please raise your hands.”
Chu Taesu and Gwak Riyeon raised their hands. I also, well, had no reason not to agree, so I raised my hand,
“May I make a proposal to Hyuk Clan Head?”
“What proposal is that.”
Even Hyuk Mun, who always gnashed his teeth and spoke informally, spoke respectfully to Cheol Muguk. Though it still felt like he was grinding his teeth.
“That Fire Bird, if you capture it alive, I will reward you generously. If not, then at least its spirit core. In return, I will give one heaven grade treasured relic and one dragon grade treasured relic that I personally crafted.”
“I will do my best.”
Soon, Cheol Muguk also raised his hand and cast a vote in favor.
“By majority, the handling plan for the first agenda item has passed.”
The Six Families Assembly’s method was far more democratic than I had expected.
[Monster.]
“What?”
[Read the paper to the end.]
At Skybreaker’s grave tone, I finished reading the paper Chu Taesu had handed out.
Other political matters of the Divine Cult were either hard for me to know, or not things I needed to care much about.
“5. Heavenly Demon’s Marriage.”
Heavenly Demon’s Marriage, that is, the Heavenly Demon’s marriage.
‘The Heavenly Demon’s marriage? To whom?’
Lee Seryeong’s fiancé had been Sado Gwang. But now that Sado Gwang had vanished, Lee Seryeong had no one to marry.
‘In the original, she did not exactly get married either…’
Of course, in the original, because of memories with Mujin’s shell, that is, Sado Hwan, she showed an obsessive attitude toward him, but that was not marriage.
I could not focus at all.
For the other agenda items, I was basically nothing more than a voting machine. Roughly, I agreed with motions presented under the lead of Gwak Riyeon or Cheol Muguk, and for the rest, I cast yes or no votes following Skybreaker’s opinion.
“It is already the last agenda item.”
“Heavenly Demon’s Marriage, huh.”
Gwak Riyeon stroked her sleek jaw as she spoke.
“Because the Supreme One’s fiancé, Sado Gwang, died, ah, my apologies, Sado Clan Head.”
“It is of no concern.”
“Thank you for your understanding. In any case, because Sado Gwang is dead, the vacancy must be filled, must it not?”
“Well.”
Cheol Muguk spoke with a reluctant expression.
“Is there a law that says the Supreme One must have a betrothal?”
“That is not so, but it is also true that we must cultivate an heir, is it not? Have you forgotten, the time of the Heavenly Demon Blood Massacre. The trials the Divine Cult had to suffer for lack of a proper successor.”
“You were not even there then.”
“One need not see with one’s own eyes to know. Anyway, separate from the Supreme One’s overwhelming strength, since that bloodline itself is that of an outsider, I believe our Six Demon Families should step forward.”
“Tsk. How long ago was that, and you still speak of outsiders.”
“I merely stated the facts.”
An outsider, huh.
Well, considering Lee Seryeong’s origins, from the standpoint of the Divine Cult’s upper echelon, they may have treated her as an outsider.
“I intend to select from among the Six Demon Families’ young men, those who are healthy and virtuous, and have them present themselves before the Supreme One.”
“I oppose it. The Supreme One’s path is not for us to decide, but for the Supreme One to decide personally.”
Cheol Muguk cast a vote against as soon as he finished speaking.
“I think the same as Cheol Clan Head.”
Gwak Riyeon also cast a vote against.
“I cannot miss such a fine opportunity. I am in favor.”
Hyuk Mun, in favor.
As the one who presented the motion, Chu Taesu was of course in favor, and the only one left was me.
I was, of course, opposed.
[Oppose, that is right.]
The moment Sado Gwang died, almost as if she had been waiting, Lee Seryeong called me out and spoke of a promise.
If the Heavenly Demon truly decided to marry, it would be obvious who the target would be.
For me, the fewer points of contact with the Heavenly Demon, the better.
“Regrettably, the last agenda item is defeated.”
After handling the last agenda item, Chu Taesu clapped, clap!
“Then let us conclude the Six Families Assembly. There were many happenings, but… as you know, everything except the plenary session’s policy decisions must be kept confidential.”
“With how flamboyantly things were done, will confidentiality even be possible?”
“Ha ha ha… We will do what we can, up to where we can, I suppose?”
And thus the Six Families Assembly was wrapped up, in a manner of speaking, in great success.
When I came out of the assembly hall, Saweol and Tak Horak were waiting. Tak Horak’s face was still somewhat pale.
“Let us go, home.”
At my words, smiles bloomed on Saweol’s and Tak Horak’s faces.
These Divine Cult folks, they really do love home.
The first place Chu Taesu headed after boarding the earliest boat off the Island of Restless Souls, Janhondo, was not the Sun and Moon Chu Clan’s main house.
A lofty stairway that led to the sky, and what lay at its end.
The place Chu Taesu’s steps reached was the Heavenly Demon Palace.
“What is this about?”
“I have come to pay respects to the Supreme One. Not in a personal capacity, but in the capacity of the Sun and Moon Chu Clan’s clan head.”
Gu Jin-gyeong wore a displeased look.
A sly fellow.
That was Gu Jin-gyeong’s appraisal of Chu Taesu. Ever smiling as he plotted, he felt very much like the same sort as the dead Sado Gwang.
Thus, in his heart, he wanted to reject entry to the palace out of hand, but since Chu Taesu invoked the status of clan head, he had no grounds to refuse.
“Leave that unclean thing.”
“Of course, it must be so.”
Snap!
Chu Taesu flicked his fingers. The guardian who had followed from Janhondo, his face covered, knelt on one knee on the Heavenly Demon Palace’s steps.
“Is this sufficient?”
“And stop that technique as well.”
Chu Taesu’s feet, which had been floating in the air, touched the ground.
“How about now?”
“Go in.”
Chu Taesu’s figure disappeared into the Heavenly Demon Palace.