Chapter 397: Final Realm (3)
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The Heavenly Demon continued to show me battles across various places. People despairing, fighting, dying, and raging.
It was not merely the border between Hebei and the Great Desert. Rebellions and government forces, martial artists trying to seize a share amidst the chaos, and the Demonic Cult instigating them—the entire Central Plains was in the midst of war.
“Look. This is the world. How beautiful is this.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke with a proud tone.
This was the world the Heavenly Demon dreamed of. A world where everyone struggled against everyone else. A world of survival of the fittest taking place while excluding social norms and morality.
“Why are you so obsessed with survival of the fittest?”
I asked. I could not understand. Humans were different from animals. Without social norms, laws, and morality, it would become a chaotic world.
I did not think the Heavenly Demon was so foolish as to be unaware of that.
“Because that is what best fits human nature.”
“Nature? That damned fighting spirit and wrath?”
“Indeed. And because nothing is as unfair as social norms, laws, and morality. Though they emerged while denying human nature, at the same time, they are distorted powers that contain human base nature as it is.”
The Heavenly Demon continued speaking.
“When I was young, I had a father who was a peasant farmer. My father was not a particularly good man. He was just an ordinary person. Until I was seven, we were truly an ordinary household. A small plot of field and a reasonably sturdy house. Of course, that house had been passed down since my great-grandfather. We were not wealthy, but we were not so lacking as to beg from others.”
I stopped my attacks and listened to the Heavenly Demon’s words. In any case, with the martial arts I possessed, I could not catch the Heavenly Demon, who continually only evaded.
Rather, I sought to understand the person that was the Heavenly Demon.
“While living like that, when my eighth birthday came, everything changed. A Great Merchant of the region desired our house and field. Saying our land was geomantically favorable. He probably wanted to build a villa. It was certainly a place with good scenery. Not quite an exquisite landscape, but that merchant seemed simply fixated on that place.”
“Because no one is as sensitive to geomancy as merchants.”
I nodded. Of course, there were people like me who had no particular interest in geomancy, but the vast majority of merchants tended to rely heavily on superstitions like geomancy and sacrificial rites.
“My father opposed it. It was not that he particularly wanted to protect it because it was his great-grandfather’s house. The merchant simply undervalued our land and house price. Because the breed called merchants are demonic creatures whose souls have been devoured by money.”
I felt a slight sting. Indeed, because merchants earned money by undervaluing other people’s property as much as possible and exaggerating their own, they strongly tended to have such inclinations.
And sensing what was to happen next, I grew even more uncomfortable.
“What followed is an obvious story. Merchants usually end up colluding with figures like the local magistrate of that region, do they not? The authorities immediately began harassing us by finding absurd faults. Father even went to the Judicial Officer of the prefecture to ask him to judge right from wrong, but not much changed. Where in the world is there a person who shows not a single speck of dust when dusted off? Ultimately, our land and house came to be confiscated by the government office.”
“……Mm.”
I let out a low groan. Though I had never done such a thing, I knew very well about such methods of merchants. They were methods that people close to me had also frequently utilized.
“Clearly, within the legal framework, there was no issue. Naturally, was there? That is why I said: Nothing is as unfair as laws and norms. It is practically depriving people of even the opportunity to fight. Even my father had his house and land seized without even being able to put up a proper fight.”
In the Heavenly Demon’s voice, wrath was contained. Though it was clearly a story from long ago, that wrath remained alive.
“So what do you think my father did?”
Out of nowhere, the Heavenly Demon posed a question to me.
“……Well, did he not resign himself and build a new life?”
I said. In truth, even as I said it, it was somewhat shameless. Because that was closer to a hope rather than my prediction.
Regarding the abuse of laws and norms committed by those who possessed power, I was by no means innocent. For in my previous life, I too had colluded heavily with officials and reaped immense profits from it.
Because everyone did so.
Because if one did not do so, one would fall behind in this world.
Even if that were true, before the Heavenly Demon right now, my words could only become an excuse.
Clearly, as I bypassed laws and expanded my merchant company, I must have seized someone’s livelihood as well.
“Hehe. In truth, that would have been rational. However, Father did not do so.”
The Heavenly Demon smiled faintly.
“Father was a man filled with wrath. They say that generation after generation, our ancestors had a madness of being unable to suppress wrath.”
At those words, my eyes opened wide. A madness passed down through blood. It was identical to my family history.
“So Father seemed unable to bear the wrath. He began taking revenge on the person who seized his house and land. First, he burned the county government office, entered the house of the merchant company lord who took his land, and stabbed all his family members to death with a blade. Finally, he attempted to kill even the prefecture’s Judicial Officer, but failing only in that, he died by the hands of government soldiers.”
I was lost for words. Because I had not expected him to go to such an extreme.
“Of course, it was not to the extent of applying collective punishment, but we received disapproving gazes as the family of a murderer and came to leave for another region. At that time, Mother told me: Be proud of Father. Even without Mother saying so, I was already doing so.”
“……I see.”
“Listen. If laws and norms had not existed in the first place, it was not something that would have happened. They thought Father would not dare to take revenge. Because they followed laws and norms. And they thought those laws and norms would protect them. But is it not strange? Driving a person’s life to ruin, yet being so at ease is unreasonable. That is why I feel it: This world needs to maintain vigilance toward one another. If one touches someone, they must harbor the thought that they too could die. Only then will people become more courteous, and will it not become a righteous world?”
For an instant, I almost nodded at the Heavenly Demon’s words. It was not that I agreed with the Heavenly Demon’s logic. It was simply that I came to understand how the person that was the Heavenly Demon had become his current self through the circumstances, past, and experiences he had faced.
It was understandable that the Heavenly Demon disliked the laws and regulations arbitrarily made by humans. That was why he believed one had to return to primal instincts.
The Heavenly Demon was not insane. In the Heavenly Demon’s life, it was believable that this was a righteous world.
Between the world I believed to be right and the world the Heavenly Demon believed to be right, I could not be certain that my thoughts were superior.
Was it not also a thought I had crafted based on my experiences until now?
“I think I know what dilemma you are pondering. It must be difficult to say I am wrong. That is correct. I too have no intention of saying you are wrong. You are not foolish. Clearly, having undergone rational and logical processes, you harbor such thoughts. Where would superiority or inferiority lie in that?”
“Those are correct words.”
I nodded. I had also been thinking along those lines.
“However, unfortunately, the world is one. Your world and my world cannot coexist.”
“If this war drags on, the empire vanishes, and the world falls under demonic hegemony, it will be my victory. Then I can simply ascend. In just the time I spent talking now, ten thousand people must have died.”
“If I kill you before then, is it my victory?”
“One must see it that way. However, I am one who has discarded martial arts. I have no intention of competing with you through martial force.”
“What is martial arts in your view?”
I asked. The Heavenly Demon flinched, as if he had not expected to hear such a question.
“Well.”
“Are you not also a martial artist? A high-ranking one at that. You cannot say you have no thoughts on it.”
“Then since you are also a martial artist, reveal your thoughts first.”
“At first, I thought martial arts was the simplest method to subjugate an opponent. I thought it held no meaning beyond that method.”
As the Heavenly Demon wished, I laid out my thoughts regarding martial arts.
“Other people’s views on martial arts would differ. A soldier’s martial arts would pertain to swordsmanship and archery, while a general’s martial arts would mean the art of war. But a martial artist’s martial arts is somewhat different. It is part of seeking the Dao.”
“Is that the influence of Wudang Sect?”
“One could view it that way. The limits of the body are closely connected to the limits of the mind. Surpassing the limits of the body enables one to surpass the limits of the mind as well. Surpassing limits in that manner—that is martial arts.”
“I also agree.”
The Heavenly Demon nodded. He could not help but do so. For the Heavenly Demon was also a martial artist who had reached a supreme realm. A martial artist of such standing was bound to hold the same thoughts as me.
Confirming that our views on martial arts aligned, I nodded.
“So I thought about it. Martial arts is a single option. There are various methods in seeking the Dao, but it is merely one of those methods. That is why I cannot compete in martial arts with you who have abandoned martial arts. Because martial arts is not superior to other things. Is that not right?”
“You know precisely.”
“However, what if we compete with something that is not a method? What is essential, which both you and I possess. Could we not distinguish superiority and inferiority with that?”
I smiled. The Heavenly Demon’s expression stiffened slightly. He was doing his utmost to evade my martial arts. Yet it seemed he had not anticipated that I would propose competing with something other than martial arts.
“Did you bring a Go board or something?”
The Heavenly Demon made a joke with a contorted face.
“No, for Go is also an art that only those who learned it can play. That would not be fair. I wish to have a fair fight with you. To clash our respective worlds, it would only be fair to compete with what both of us possess.”
“What is that?”
“Before that, let me ask one thing. Was what your father used when he killed the merchant company lord martial arts?”
At my inquiry, the Heavenly Demon’s expression grew even stranger. He seemed completely unable to grasp what intention lay behind my question.
“Though others might not know, you and I would not think so. The same goes for universal martial artists.”
I continued speaking.
“Should that not rightfully be viewed as humanity’s inherent violence?”
“……Ha, haha.”
The Heavenly Demon laughed. Only then did he seem to realize my intention.
“You are proposing not a clash of martial arts, but a dogfight. Entrusting ourselves to instinct.”
“Indeed. Martial arts can be discarded, but the violence and wrath possessed by humans are instinctual nature. I have accommodated your opinion in that way as well.”
“What an honor.”
The Heavenly Demon laughed heartily.
I laid down the invisible sword and all my energy. I, too, had let go of martial arts. It was simply the preparation for me, a person named Muk Hui-yeong, to clash with the Heavenly Demon.
A fight where our souls clashed. The Heavenly Demon I knew had no reason to refuse that. As I expected, the Heavenly Demon nodded readily.
The final duel between the two strongest in the martial world was decided as a bare-handed brawl devoid of any form or technique.