CHAPTER 06

“Are you really our Cheon?”

The beautiful, youthful-looking woman, who appeared to be only around forty despite being well over sixty, asked with an expression as though she had seen a ghost.

Heo Cheon bowed his head while kneeling on the floor.

“Mother, it is your unworthy son. Please forgive me for being such an unfilial son.”

“……”

Heo Cheon’s mother, Madam Jo, slowly rose from her seat and approached him.

Heo Cheon wondered if she was about to embrace him in an emotional reunion.

Smack!

Instead, a fiery slap landed squarely on his back, instantly bringing him to his senses.

“You ungrateful, unfilial brat!”

Smack!

“If you were alive, you should have told us you were alive!”

Smack!

“You should have let us know ages ago!”

Smack!

“And you still call yourself a son after doing this? A son?!”

There was a limit to how heartless someone could be.

Couldn’t he at least have sent word about where he was, what he was doing, and how he was living? That way, his family wouldn’t have had to worry so much.

Madam Jo continued raining blows on his back without pause, spewing out words nonstop like a rapper dominating the stage.

Heo Cheon cried out in alarm.

“M-Mother! P-Please calm down and listen to me! If you keep hitting me like that, you’ll only hurt your own hands!”

He wasn’t merely trying to save face.

Even during the War Between the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions, Heo Cheon’s martial prowess had been difficult to match. His external cultivation had already reached the realm of an iron body and copper skin back then, so it went without saying how tough he was now.

At this point, Madam Jo wasn’t hitting human flesh so much as striking a metal plate made of alloy.

Even so, the fact that she continued beating his back without stopping was proof of just how furious she was.

“Mother! R-Right now, you might not feel the pain because of the adrenaline!”

Smack!

“Yes! If my son had sent even one messenger pigeon! I wouldn’t have had to suffer this much heartache!”

Heo Cheon was genuinely worried that his mother’s palms would be injured before this ended.

Fortunately, Chief Steward Im Ho-pil stepped in before that happened.

“Madam, please calm down. I fully understand how you feel, but regardless of what happened, hasn’t he returned safe and sound? Please put aside your anger now.”

“Huff, huff…”

Breathing heavily, Madam Jo glared at Heo Cheon.

Under that fierce gaze, Heo Cheon immediately lowered his eyes.

No matter how powerful a martial artist might be, everyone became helpless before their parents.

Moreover, it was obvious to anyone that Heo Cheon was in the wrong, making it even harder for him to raise his head.

He remained bowed like a condemned criminal for quite some time.

Then, after regaining her strength, Madam Jo raised her hand once again.

“Mother!”

Heo Cheon hurriedly tried to stop her.

But the swollen hand did not strike his back.

Instead, it gently caressed his face.

“I’m sorry, Cheon. I’m truly sorry that, despite searching for you for so long, I could never find you. Can you please forgive this inadequate mother of yours, even now?”

“……!”

They say parents become infinitely weak before their children.

Heo Cheon was unquestionably the one at fault for running away, yet Madam Jo apologized first, saying she was sorry that she had failed to find her lost son sooner.

Faced with such overwhelming maternal love, Heo Cheon could do nothing but hold back his tears.

Once the tense atmosphere had somewhat eased, Heo Jung-man, who had been silently watching the reunion between mother and son, finally spoke.

“So, where have you been all this time, and what have you been doing?”

Faced with his father’s straightforward question, Heo Cheon looked slightly troubled.

“Uh, that’s a little difficult to explain right now. Could I tell you about it little by little?”

“Hmm. All right.”

Heo Cheon avoided giving a proper answer and vaguely brushed the question aside, but Heo Jung-man did not press him any further.

It was already astonishing enough that Heo Cheon had returned as an incredible martial arts master.

More importantly, the Martial Alliance itself had officially informed them that he had died in battle, yet he had miraculously returned alive.

It was only natural for anyone to assume that whatever had happened during his years away must have been extraordinary.

Heo Jung-man figured that Heo Cheon would tell them himself when the time was right.

Still, just in case, he added one more thing.

“Cheon, don’t forget that I’m already approaching seventy.”

“Yes. By the way, she’s the one, right?”

Heo Cheon pointed toward a girl of about ten who was half hiding behind Heo Jung-man while staring at him with bright, curious eyes.

Her slender oval face and distinct features were the spitting image of her mother, Madam Jo.

That was why he recognized at once that she was his biological younger sister.

At Heo Cheon’s question, Madam Jo gave him a reproachful look.

“You’re a grown man now. Is that any way to speak?”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Mother.”

“It’s fine. Just don’t talk like that from now on. More importantly, Jinhwa, come over and say hello. He’s your elder brother.”

At Madam Jo’s call, the girl approached with small, hesitant steps and awkwardly bowed her head.

“…Hello. I’m Heo Jinhwa. It’s nice to meet you, Big Brother.”

Her tone sounded more like the respectful greeting one would give to an elder than something between siblings, but Heo Cheon understood.

They had literally met for the first time today, and in terms of their actual ages, their difference was closer to that between a father and daughter.

Honestly, if Heo Cheon’s appearance hadn’t remained so youthful compared to his actual age, it would have been perfectly natural for her to call him “Mister” when meeting him for the first time.

So her name is Jinhwa.

Taken literally, it meant “precious flower.”

Even her name made it easy to imagine how delighted her parents had been at the birth of their daughter, and how dearly they cherished and loved her.

They named me Cheon because they wanted me to become a man as great as the heavens. Father’s naming sense really hasn’t changed.

It was straightforward, with just a drop of slightly embarrassing sentimentality added to it.

After a brief moment of thought, Heo Cheon smiled and said,

“Nice to meet you, Jinhwa. You must have been pretty surprised when some stranger you’ve never seen before suddenly told you he was your brother, right? I was surprised too when I saw my cute little Jinhwa. So let’s just call it even. Okay?”

“Call it even?”

Heo Jinhwa tilted her head in confusion.

Seeing her reaction, Heo Cheon realized his mistake.

Ah, right. That was Konglish, wasn’t it? Good grief, this habit of mine.

He had adapted to life in Korea a little too well.

It had been the same when he spoke with the Chief Steward yesterday. Every now and then, expressions he had picked up in Korea would slip out without him realizing it.

He decided he needed to fix the habit as soon as possible and quickly corrected himself.

“Oops, that came out wrong. I just meant that we should consider ourselves even. You know, neither of us owes the other anything. Jinhwa, don’t go around using expressions like that, okay?”

“Yes, Big Brother…”

Heo Jinhwa shyly nodded.

Then she hesitated for a moment before apparently reaching her limit and scurried behind Madam Jo, quickly hiding herself.

She peeked out from behind her mother and looked at Heo Cheon.

When their eyes met, Heo Cheon couldn’t help but smile.

The others watching them were wearing warm smiles as well.

Now I understand why everyone kept going on and on about having a daughter.

If it had been a little boy acting like that, he might have found it annoying.

But because it was such a pretty little girl, she simply looked adorable.

And the fact that they shared the same blood only made the feeling stronger.

Thanks to that, even though Heo Cheon had never married, it felt as though he had suddenly gained a daughter he had never had before.

Having apparently read his feelings, Heo Jung-man casually remarked,

“She’s cute, isn’t she? If she were your daughter, she’d be even cuter.”

“……!”

The remark jolted Heo Cheon awake as though someone had dumped cold water over his head.

In an instant, he understood the true meaning behind his father’s seemingly casual words.

He hurriedly said,

“Father, just so we’re clear, I personally believe in meeting someone naturally, all right? So please don’t secretly arrange a matchmaking meeting for me or anything like that. If you do, even by some small chance… I’ll pack my bags and leave immediately.”

“……Tch.”

At Heo Cheon’s warning, Heo Jung-man openly clicked his tongue in disappointment.

Madam Jo and Chief Steward Im Ho-pil, who had been quietly watching, looked equally disappointed.

Only Heo Jinhwa tilted her head, having no idea what was going on.

Phew. So this is the marriage pressure everyone talks about. I nearly got into serious trouble because I let my guard down.

Heo Cheon was forty-five years old this year.

Just as he had been in Korea, by the standards of the Central Plains, he was unquestionably an old bachelor.

Martial artists often married late because they devoted themselves to training, so late marriages were not particularly unusual among them.

But even taking that into consideration, Heo Cheon was extraordinarily late.

Naturally, it was only to be expected that the people around him would start subtly pressuring him to marry.

But if he didn’t want to, he didn’t want to.

Even though I look like this, I had my share of flirtations with several women back in Korea. There’s no way I’m going to come here and get forced into a marriage!

Thanks to his martial arts, he had retained his youthful appearance, so for now, he wanted to enjoy the freedom of being single rather than settle into married life.

However, if he simply insisted on living alone without doing anything else with his life, there was no doubt the people around him would look at him unfavorably.

He had already thought of something to do.

He was just wondering how to bring it up when—

“Anyway, Cheon, what are you planning to do with your life from now on?”

Heo Jung-man’s perfectly timed question gave Heo Cheon the opening he needed.

“Oh, about that. First, I’m planning to completely overhaul all of the martial arts techniques of our manor.”

“All of our martial arts?”

“Is that really what you intend to do, Young Master?”

Heo Jung-man and Im Ho-pil both brightened at Heo Cheon’s words.

If someone of Heo Cheon’s caliber revised their martial arts, the Heo Family Manor’s techniques would undoubtedly advance by at least one level, if not more.

There was no need to explain how tremendous a benefit that would be for a small-to-medium-sized martial family like the Heo Family Manor.

“Yes. In particular, I want to start with the Clear Void Heart Method. Would it be all right if I worked on that first?”

“The Clear Void Heart Method?”

Heo Jung-man’s eyes widened.

The Clear Void Heart Method was the foundation and very essence of the Heo Family Manor.

Therefore, improving it had been the long-cherished dream of every Manor Lord in the family.

However, Heo Jung-man had already experienced what happened when he recklessly attempted to improve the Clear Void Heart Method.

He had ended up unconscious for four years.

As a result, he knew better than anyone just how difficult and dangerous such an undertaking was.

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

At Heo Jung-man’s worried question, Heo Cheon chuckled.

“Have you already forgotten? Who was it that cured Father when you were on the verge of death?”

“Ah, this old father of yours asked an unnecessary question.”

For someone to perform the Circulating Qi and Passing the Acupoints Technique on another person, it was essential to first understand the flow of the target’s internal energy.

If one ignored the flow of internal energy and recklessly performed the technique, there was a high chance of twisting the energy channels incorrectly or making the patient’s condition even worse.

That was why Heo Cheon had repeatedly studied the Clear Void Heart Method manual before treating his father.

And the fact that he had successfully treated Heo Jung-man was also proof that he now completely understood the Clear Void Heart Method.

“Very well. Then go ahead and do whatever you think is best. If you need anything, just tell your father.”

“Yes, Father.”

Heo Jung-man lightly patted Heo Cheon on the shoulder as he answered confidently, looking at him with a proud and reassured expression.

He’s really grown up.

He was happy, but as a father, he could not help regretting that he had missed the opportunity to witness his son growing into the man he had become.

According to the records passed down through the family, the founder of the Heo Family Manor had learned the Clear Void Heart Method from an unnamed Daoist of the now-defunct Quanzhen Sect.

That was why the Clear Void Heart Method belonged to the Daoist school of martial arts.

As it happened, Heo Cheon’s own sect also primarily practiced an internal energy cultivation method of a similar lineage.

Therefore, there was no need for him to search for another Daoist-style internal cultivation method. He could simply choose something suitable from what he already knew.

That was also why Heo Cheon had been so confident when he told his father that he could improve the Clear Void Heart Method.

The Unhindered Heart Method should be the most suitable.

The Unhindered Heart Method was one of the cultivation techniques passed down through Heo Cheon’s sect.

Although it was not quite a secret supreme art restricted to the Sect Leader or senior disciples, that was only a relative distinction. In the martial world, it was certainly worthy of being called an exceptional technique.

In a sense, he was leaking one of his sect’s martial arts to outsiders.

But Heo Cheon did not care.

After all, he was the sect’s sole successor and the current Sect Leader. Moreover, his master had already given him permission in the past to use any of the sect’s martial arts as he pleased, with the exception of the sect’s secret supreme arts.

In any case, the Unhindered Technique, which was gentle yet profound, complemented the Clear Void Heart Method quite well, as the latter pursued stability despite its slow nature.

If the two were combined, there would be nothing but synergy. There was no reason for the combination to cause harm.

However, no matter how similar two cultivation methods were, combining two different martial arts into one was far from easy.

And it wasn’t enough to simply create a new set of cultivation formulas.

He had to thoroughly verify whether operating qi according to the new formulas would cause any side effects, determine how much energy would accumulate in the dantian after each circulation, and check whether the new method conflicted with any of the existing martial arts of the Heo Family Manor.

Of course, he could have taken shortcuts if he wanted.

But considering that his father and younger sister would eventually be practicing the technique themselves, he could not afford to treat the process carelessly.

Thus, Heo Cheon devoted himself completely to developing the new cultivation method without making a single compromise.

Except when he needed to relieve himself or eat, he did not set foot outside his room.

And then, on the twentieth day since he had secluded himself in his room—

At the dead of night, when everyone else was asleep, the end of the arduous journey finally came into sight.