Chapter 181: Career Path (6)

Wi Jin-hak burst into boisterous laughter as he watched the conversation between Baek Un-hak and Il-mok unfold.

"Hahaha! Looks like our youngest has pulled off something big again without me even knowing about it. Haha!"

He looked as pleased as if he'd accomplished the feat himself.

"I'll be honest with you. I've heard countless rumors about the Eighth Young Master, but I always considered them somewhat exaggerated. However, thanks to this recent matter with my Cheon, I have truly come to realize that the Eighth Young Master is a genius.”

"Haha! Our youngest really is an outstanding fellow. How could we not be tempted to have him on our side?"

Suddenly, both Baek Un-hak and Wi Jin-hak started singing Il-mok's praises. Meanwhile, the Chief of the Law Enforcement Hall kept staring at Il-mok with greedy eyes that practically dripped with desire; it’s clear that he has not given up yet.

In the middle of this warm atmosphere, the previously silent Hyeokryeon Hwan finally spoke up.

"Eighth Young Master, I'd like to ask you something."

"Please, go ahead, Young Lord Hyeokryeon."

"What do you think of our Seon-ah?"

"..."

Il-mok looked at Hyeokryeon Hwan like he was completely insane.

***

Hyeokryeon Hwan had been in a daze ever since he witnessed his daughter abandon him completely and run straight to Il-mok.

By the time he finally snapped back to his senses, various conversations had already taken place around him.

And so, Hyeokryeon Hwan had decided to quietly observe the conversation to determine just what kind of scumbag this lecher who dared to covet his daughter truly was.

And then it hit him.

'This lecher... he's actually this capable?'

Of course, he'd heard about Il-mok's exploits through his wife. On top of that, he vaguely remembered his daughter occasionally singing Il-mok's praises.

Yet, consumed by a bitter jealousy, the more his daughter praised him, the more negative preconceptions about this Il-mok character had piled up in his mind.

Until he came here today to meet Il-mok, the image Hyeokryeon Hwan had painted in his head was of some incompetent delinquent street thug with bleached yellow hair and sun-darkened skin.

Yet, the reality could not have been more different.

Two of the most notable figures within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult were lavishing all sorts of praise upon the Eighth Young Master in an attempt to win him over.

The Family Head of the Baek Family was actually showing a young man far beneath him in station with proper courtesy.

At this point, there is no need to doubt the Eighth Young Master's abilities.

But that wasn't enough to satisfy this overprotective father.

'Fine. I'll acknowledge the Eighth Young Master's capabilities. But I can't just hand over my daughter to some lecher, no matter how capable he is!'

A man's abilities matter when it comes to ensuring a daughter's peaceful married life, but so does his character.

"What do you think of our Seon-ah?"

He asked Il-mok with the most serious expression in the world, like a father-in-law testing his prospective son-in-law on their first meeting.

Of course, from Il-mok's perspective, this was absolutely ridiculous.

No matter how much Seon-ah had grown over the past two years, she was still fifteen by local standards. In the modern world Il-mok was familiar with, she'd be at most a middle school sophomore or high school freshman.

‘Is he trying to get me arrested?’

He could practically hear the sound of handcuffs clicking. How was he supposed to think about someone like that?

"I think of her as a cute little sister."

"Little sister? So you don't think of her as a woman?"

When Hyeokryeon Hwan pressed him, Il-mok decided to nail this down once and for all.

"I don't consider any woman who hasn't reached her prime years as a woman, Young Lord Hyeokryeon."

Prime years.

Just as a man's twentieth year is called his coming-of-age, this term referred to a woman's twentieth year, which was supposedly her most beautiful age.

The word alone was enough to make fire dance in Hyeokryeon Hwan’s gaze.

'This damn thief! I won’t give away my daughter until she's thirty, and he's already thinking about taking her at barely twenty!'

For the doting father, the age of twenty was way too young.

And Hyeokryeon Hwan wasn't the only one whose eyes lit up with fire.

‘How foolish of me! He likes women in their prime, so setting him up with Xiao Hong was bound to fail!'

The Chief of the Law Enforcement Hall quickly started racking his brain, trying to remember if any of his subordinates' or acquaintances' children were around that age.

“Hahaha! It seems our youngest has quite firm preferences!”

The First Disciple laughed heartily and mentally ran through a list of women in that age group.

***

That night, news of what happened at Windrock Palace reached the Heavenly Demon's ears.

"Hahaha. So Jin-hak, the Chief of the Law Enforcement Hall, the Family Head of the Baek Family, and Young Lord Hyeokryeon all went to see our youngest?"

"That is correct, Lord of Ten Thousand Demons."

When the Hidden Guard Pavilion Master replied with a bow, the Heavenly Demon stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“Hmm. What do you think of this, then? Shall we expand the scale of the Hall of the Demonic Way’s graduation ceremony?”

“Forgive me. This foolish servant is too dull to dare presume your meaning.”

“Haha, currently, the students at the Demonic Way are required to present a performance at the graduation ceremony, do they not? How about expanding the influence and increasing the number of spectators at the graduation ceremony? That way, the various institutes within our Divine Cult can pick up prospective talents more efficiently.”

Only then did the Hidden Guard Pavilion Master grasp the Heavenly Demon's intent and speak with a face full of admiration.

“The Supreme One intends to have the heads of various institutions and martial organizations attend the ceremony directly and recruit students right there?"

"Exactly. Going further, our educational infrastructure is set to expand significantly in the coming years. We could also have kids who are about to enter the Hall of the Demonic Way attend these ceremonies to boost their motivation."

It's hard to come up with completely new ideas, but incrementally improving upon what already exists is not so hard.

Thanks to Il-mok creating a new educational system and foundation, the Heavenly Demon was driving various additional changes every day.

Of course, this meant groans of pain echoed throughout the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's main headquarters and various parts of Xinjiang, but that wasn't the Heavenly Demon's concern.

After all, he was a man who believed that pain was a necessary companion to progress.

While contemplating various other inspirations, the Heavenly Demon suddenly put on a pleased expression.

“On that subject, you mentioned our youngest talked about his preference for women?"

“Yes. It is said he revealed that he is only interested in women who have reached their prime years. Because of that comment, the Chief of the Law Enforcement Hall and First Disciple seem to be moving about busily."

“Hehehe, I'm truly curious what kind of woman would suit our youngest."

The Heavenly Demon had the expression of a grandfather thinking about his grandson who'd reached marriageable age.

He wasn't worried that his youngest disciple would become obsessed with women and neglect his training.

This was a world where it was natural for heroes to have multiple wives and concubines. And when you are an eighteen-year-old genius who’d started breaking free from Extremity, such concerns were pretty much pointless.

Even when he was supposedly womanizing at the Hall of Demonic Way, hadn't he still managed to reach the Extremity?

"Hmm?"

When his thoughts reached this point, the Heavenly Demon frowned and spoke.

"But if he likes women who've reached their prime years, how did the story about him womanizing at the Demonic Way even come about?"

The Heavenly Demon was starting to have doubts about Hall Master Yeom Ga-hwi's handling of affairs.

***

The next morning.

Unaware that gossip about his personal preferences was spreading throughout the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Il-mok awoke from his sleep.

At the same time, Jin Hayeon's voice came from beyond his door.

“I have prepared water for you to wash with, Young Master.”

After washing his face with the water she'd prepared and finishing the breakfast she'd brought, Il-mok was enjoying some leisure time when new visitors arrived at Windrock Palace.

The first to greet him was someone Il-mok had never seen before.

"Hidden Guard Pavilion First Squad Leader Dam Bin pays her respects to the Eighth Young Master."

She appeared to be in her late thirties and was neatly dressed in servant's clothing similar to Jin Hayeon's.

Following her, a number of rather familiar faces offered their greetings.

"We pay our respects to the Eighth Young Master."

"We pay our respects to the Eighth Young Master."

Though they saluted Il-mok, the men's and women's eyes were fixed on someone else.

It was Ouyang Mun and Ju Seo-yeon.

"E-Eighth Young Master, I-I pay my respects."

And there was Jeong Hyeon, stuttering and shrinking back.

It was quite a bizarre combination.

"Good to see you, Squad Leader Dam Bin. Young Warrior Ouyang. Miss Ju, Miss Jeong, welcome. But what brings you here so early in the morning?"

Il-mok knew that Ju Seo-yeon and Jeong Hyeon had joined the Hidden Guard Pavilion. Ju Seo-yeon went without saying, and Jeong Hyeon had mentioned several times near the end of their Demonic Way days that she'd be joining the Hidden Guard Pavilion.

Il-mok just couldn't figure out why these four had come together.

In response to Il-mok's question, Dam Bin spoke on behalf of the group.

"The three of us have come to serve you alongside Hayeon starting today."

"Then how did Young Warrior Ouyang end up coming with you?"

"We just happened to meet at the entrance."

"..."

Il-mok looked at Ouyang Mun with his mouth agape.

'This guy's really something else.'

While Il-mok was letting out a hollow laugh, Dam Bin spoke again.

"Both Jeong Hyeon and Ju Seo-yeon are new recruits to the Hidden Guard Pavilion and need training, but they have connections with you from the Demonic Way, so they've been assigned here together. Hayeon and I will do our utmost to teach them so they won't interfere with serving you."

Dam Bin's extremely respectful manner left Il-mok feeling somewhat awkward.

'Did I get too used to life at the Hall of the Demonic Way?'

All students were equal there, and instructors around Dam Bin's age had been his superiors.

And right after graduating from the Demonic Way, he'd been meeting with people like his master, the Chief of the Law Enforcement Hall, his senior disciple brother, and the head of the Baek Family in succession, so this kind of extreme courtesy felt strange in many ways.

“Ahem. I will be in your care.”

Once Il-mok gave his permission, Dam Bin turned to address Jeong Hyeon and Ju Seo-yeon, who were standing behind her.

"This senior will teach you from now on, so greet her properly."

The person Dam Bin pointed to was Jin Hayeon.

Obviously, Ju Seo-yeon cupped her fists with an absolutely delighted expression, while Jeong Hyeon stammered through her greeting.

"We pay our respects to Senior Jin Hayeon!"

"W-we pay our r-respects to S-Senior Jin Hayeon."

To the surprise of some, Jin Hayeon replied to their greetings in a tone that was a little gentler than usual.

"Last time, I was too busy nursing the Young Master to properly greet you both. I look forward to working together."

This was the reason why Jin Hayeon, a practitioner of the White Hand Demonic Art, harbored a faint sense of goodwill toward the two of them, and it was also the reason they had been assigned as Il-mok’s attendants and guards the moment they joined the Hidden Guard Pavilion.

It was because these two had contributed the most to Il-mok's survival during the fanatic attack.

“I am in your debt, so if you ever need instruction, do not hesitate to ask.”

At Jin Ha-yeon's words, Ju Seo-yeon's clear eyes practically sparkled.

Ju Seo-yeon had no intention of letting Jin Hayeon’s offer of goodwill end with mere words.

“I have a request, Senior Hayeon!”

"Speak."

"As a token of appreciation for our hard work that day, could you give me just one hug?"

"...?"

Though puzzled by this unexpected request, Jin Hayeon approached Ju Seo-yeon and spread her arms without much thought.

'Oh shit.'

Il-mok tried to stop Jin Ha-yeon, but he was a step too late.

"You worked hard."

Jin Hayeon was already hugging Ju Seo-yeon with her characteristically expressionless face.

"..."

And Ju Seo-yeon had turned into a statue of bliss, completely lost in ecstasy.

It was a face that made you wonder if she had practiced Daoist Art instead of Demonic Art and achieved immortal enlightenment.

'Sorry, Miss Jin.'

While Il-mok was silently apologizing to Jin Hayeon, a dark shadow approached him.

"Young Master Il-mok, I will definitely risk my life to protect you as well. If you ever need to go somewhere dangerous, please just say the word."

But a dark and insidious desire squirmed in the eyes of the spirited Ouyang Mun.