Around six hundred years passed.
During that ti, many events occurred in the cultivation world.
A young boy who found a secret manual on a cliff founded a sect called the Azure Heaven Creation Sect and opposed the Jo Clan's influence. The marriage alliance between the Jo Clan, the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, and the Black Ghost Valley began to weaken as a new generation took over leadership in those two sects.
And around that ti...
The head of the Jo Clan and the Council of Elders convened another eting.
"The era of our Jo Clan has arrived."
The Heavenly Being stage cultivators of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, Black Ghost Valley, and other demon race factions all ascended to the upper world with the recent opening of the Ascension Gate.
However, the Heavenly Being stage cultivators of the Jo Clan, who possessed Extraordinary Pattern Law Talent, did not ascend.
It was because of their Heavenly Punishnt.
Thus, the Jo Clan naturally beca the foremost power on the continent, possessing the greatest number of Heavenly Being stage cultivators.
Over the six hundred years, the number of Heavenly Being stage cultivators in the Jo Clan had increased to ten.
The Clan Head spoke confidently.
"Now, without a doubt, the Jo Clan is the greatest on the continent. We can bring any sect to its knees by force. But the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, Black Ghost Valley, and others...sects with deep foundations that have senior mbers who ascended to the higher realms. If we forcefully annex them and those seniors descend, it would be disastrous. Therefore, we must proceed more moderately and absorb them gradually."
"What thod do you think is best?"
"The mass marriage alliance we held six hundred years ago. Back then, we arranged widespread marriages between lower-ranked disciples of the clans and sects, forming a light alliance. But this ti, we will establish an even stronger alliance. We will arrange marriages between Core Formation Elders from each sect and clan, slowly bringing them into the Jo Clan!"
"Hoo...that sounds good."
"As expected of the Clan Head!"
"Truly, the genius who evolved the Three-Pattern Law into the Two-Pattern Law in the shortest in record ti...thanks to Clan Head, our Jo Clan is experiencing an unprecedented golden age..."
Kwang!
Inside the eting hall where the Clan Head and the Grand Elders were gathered.
The door to the eting hall suddenly burst open, and soone walked in.
The Clan Head furrowed his brow and shouted.
"Who do you think you are!? How dare you barge into the Elder Council eting...?"
"Everyone, quiet!"
The hunchbacked figure who had entered the hall shouted loudly.
"From now on, I, Jo Yeon, a descendant of the Jo Clan, have sothing to say."
"Hmm...?"
It was Jo Yeon.
After scanning the eting hall with glossy eyes, he ran a hand across his face.
Tststststststs!
As the pattern on Jo Yeon's face beca visible, everyone in the hall was shocked.
"This, this, this..."
"One-Pattern Law Talent!!!"
They all shot to their feet, grinning with joy.
"Amazing! A One-Pattern Law Talent has appeared..."
"How many thousands of years has it been since this happened!? Haha! Hahaha! Truly, the age of the Jo Clan is upon us!"
The Clan Head, his face brimming with excitent, shouted.
"With a One-Pattern Law Talent, we don't need marriage alliances or anything else. We can just conquer everything! Haha! Well done, well done! Your na...yes, it was Jo Yeon! You've done well, this—"
"Shut up for a mont. I can't hear properly."
"...?".
But Jo Yeon, showing no interest in the clan head's words, placed a hand to his ear as if focusing on a distant voice.
Jo Yeon's eyes flashed as he spoke.
"Good, good. Then I will give you one last chance. Clan head! And mbers of the Elder Council! Do you rember the na of my wife, Wol Ha-eun, who died six hundred years ago?"
At those words, the clan head and the Grand Elders exchanged puzzled glances.
As the higher ups of the Jo Clan, they knew most of the Elders at the Core Formation stage and above.
But none of them rembered Jo Yeon ever being married.
"...Who is that?"
The clan head asked, puzzled.
Jo Yeon's eyes twitched.
"...Yes. Ignorance is not a sin. I will enlighten you. My wife was a martial artist. She was the disciple and adopted daughter of Wol Bi, the martial artist of Five Energies Converging to the Origin from the Wol Clan of Byeokra..."
"Wait, wait..."
The clan head shook his head as if he had a headache and interrupted Jo Yeon's words.
"What you're saying right now is...that pet from six hundred years ago was your wife? Well, I understand if you have strange preferences, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't ntion acts like bestiality in such an official setting. After all, this is a gathering of elders, is it not?"
The clan head was displeased, but seeing the single pattern erging on Jo Yeon's face, he gritted his teeth.
"So, if you could just show a bit more formality..."
"You all have two choices."
Jo Yeon crossed his arms and spoke confidently.
"First, you and I mobilize everything we have to find a way to see my wife again and beg for her forgiveness. Second, you go directly to where my wife is and ask for her forgiveness."
"..."
A chill spread through the eting hall at Jo Yeon's words.
"So, you're saying we either resurrect the dead or die ourselves?"
The clan head shook his head in disbelief.
"Haha. You're going too far with your jokes. Just because you lost one pet..."
Crack!
In the next mont, the clan head was split in half and killed.
Not only his body, but even his Nascent Soul was cleaved in two in a single strike, leaving no possibility of revival.
"...!"
"What in the world...?"
"Is this an attack!?"
As the Grand Elders panicked, Jo Yeon shouted again.
"Everyone quiet! Quiet! Sit down!"
"You disrespectful brat, a clan elder has just died and you dare—"
Kwang!
The mont one of the Grand Elders were about to shout at Jo Yeon.
As expected, the Grand Elder's body was also split in two, just like the clan head.
Only then did the Grand Elders fall silent, staring at Jo Yeon.
It was because they could see that the Grand Elder who spoke was killed at Jo Yeon's re gesture.
One of the Grand Elders asked in a trembling voice.
"You...you...just now. Did you kill the clan head and a Grand Eld-."
Pukwak!
The Grand Elder who opened their mouth was also split in two and killed.
Jo Yeon, his eyes gleaming wildly, looked around at the Grand Elders and muttered.
"I told you to be quiet. I can't hear [the voice] properly."
"..."
"This is your last chance. Will you help find a way to resurrect my wife, or will you all die?"
For a mont, silence reigned over the Grand Elders.
And then—
Kwaaaang!
The ceiling of the hall was blown away, and ten Heavenly Being stage Supre Grand Elders of the Jo Clan appeared.
"We ca because the clan head was killed, and what is this...!"
The appearance of the Heavenly Being stage Supre Grand Elders brought hope to the eyes of the Grand Elders.
"E-Elders!"
"You've arrived just in ti! This madman is trying to stage a rebellion!"
"That Jo Yeon bastard killed the clan head! Please, elders, punish him!"
The Jo Clan's Heavenly Being stage cultivators glared at Jo Yeon and shouted.
"You bastard! Do you realize your cri?"
Kurururung!
The heavens roared.
Heaven and Earth spiritual energy trembled.
A terrifying pressure weighed down on the entire area.
However, even under the imnse pressure, Jo Yeon sneered.
"...I definitely said this was the [last chance]. Isn't that right, dear?"
The next mont, the Heavenly Being Supre Grand Elders and the Nascent Soul Grand Elders were startled to see a woman standing behind Jo Yeon, erging from the shadows.
"Grand Perfection Heavenly Being!"
"When did such a high person appear...?"
Ignoring the loud Jo Clan, Jo Yeon turned around and gently stroked the woman's cheek.
The woman resembled Ha-eun.
She looked just like she did in the final monts Jo Yeon had shared with Ha-eun.
Though there was no burn scar on her face, there were pockmarks, and though she appeared intelligent, her face was angular.
Not exactly a beautiful face.
She wore a pure white robe, and like when Jo Yeon and Ha-eun had first beco lovers, her face was veiled by a plain cloth, hiding her appearance.
Jo Yeon caressed her cheek.
It was cold.
He stared at the puppet in Ha-eun's form and murmured quietly.
"Just end it all for . [Dear]."
The next mont, [She] beca light and soared into the sky.
Wielding short spears in both hands, [She] rushed at a Heavenly Being Supre Grand Elder, splitting him in half and killing him in a single strike.
"H-Heok...!"
"This is insane..."
The realm of Jo Yoen’s body was rely at the Grand Perfection Core Formation stage, but she was a puppet who partially rose to the Grand Perfection Heavenly Being stage over six hundred years.
A masterpiece completed by pouring in all his obsession.
Jo Yeon, who had completed [Her], burst into maniacal laughter and shouted.
"Now, then. Let it all be annihilated! My clan!!!"
The Jo Clan burned.
And a great massacre ensued.
It was caused by just one Grand Perfection Heavenly Being stage puppet.
The tragedy was wrought by the puppet known as [Her].
"P-Please, spare ! Please spare !"
Jo Yeon smiled as he watched the clan's Elders being dragged before him.
"Throw them in."
In addition to [Her], Jo Yeon began controlling puppets at the Nascent Soul-level to systematically destroy the clan.
One Grand Perfection Core Formation Elder was thrown whole into a refining furnace by a Nascent Soul-level puppet.
"GUAAAAAAAH! Guuurgh...grk..."
After so ti.
The Grand Perfection Core Formation Elder erged from the Jo Clan's refining furnace as a single pill.
It was the Emotion Advancent Pill, the pride of the Jo Clan.
Gulp!
Jo Yeon swallowed the Emotion Advancent Pill.
It was originally a pill made from grinding down mortals, taking several years to refine, but when it was made from cultivators, the refinent was completed in an instant. Jo Yeon smiled in satisfaction as he observed the quickly finished pills.
"H-Hey, Jo Yeon. You, you rember , right? I treated you so well..."
Jo Yeon looked at the late-stage disciple who had fed Ha-eun to him, now dragged before him.
With a gentle expression, Jo Yeon ordered the puppet.
"Rip out his tongue."
Then, taking out nurous healing pills and elixirs he had taken from the Jo Clan's treasure vault he said,
"And feed these to him, so he regenerates. Repeat it until his mind breaks."
Jo Yeon, with a relaxed gaze, began refining the entire Jo Clan into pills and swallowing them.
'They said she was turned into three hundred pills and fed to the late-stage disciples and higher ups.'
No one knew exactly who had consud Ha-eun.
Thus, Jo Yeon made one decisive choice to retrieve Ha-eun, who had entered the bellies of his clan mbers.
"You will all beco one with ."
A decision made to completely beco one with Ha-eun.
Jo Yeon endlessly consud the Emotion Advancent Pills, which had surpassed even the highest grade due to being made from cultivators.
"Don't worry."
And, the more Emotion Advancent Pills he ate.
The more of his clan he devoured, the greater the madness took root in Jo Yeon's mind.
"I will never forget any of you."
Jo Yeon used all his consciousness to rember every single mber of his clan, screaming and wailing before him.
After all, they were his blood relatives.
"You will all...beco one with my world."
Jo Yeon firmly imprinted the images of the screaming people into his consciousness.
It was to bear the original sin of devouring his clan.
And with each person he consud.
Jo Yeon felt the noise in his head grow louder.
His mind gradually filled with endless shouting and screams.
Crunch!
At last, Jo Yeon devoured all the mbers of his clan.
The late-stage disciple, who had gone mad after having his tongue ripped out again and again, was the last to enter Jo Yeon's belly.
"Heh, heh heh..."
Unlike six hundred years ago when he had been half-mad, Jo Yeon was now completely insane.
Hearing the resentnt and hallucinations of his clan mbers, he shed tears.
"Are you alright over there, dear?"
He said, hugging [Her] lovingly.
"Look, look. Didn't I tell you? That our clan mbers aren't truly evil people. Look. In the end, they're racking their brains with , trying to find a way to et you again, right? Isn't that so?"
Pretending to listen to the empty air, Jo Yeon laughed.
"Ahh, see, my clan mbers are responsible people. They're saying how they'll be one with like this and et dear again to apologize...et dear again...again..."
Mumbling nonsense while grinning at the empty air, Jo Yeon grabbed [Her] body.
Then, he shouted.
"Again...I want to see you again!"
He raised his voice in agony, looking up at the sky.
"Again, again, if I could go back to that mont. If I could return to the mont when I t you, I would never hesitate. Even if it ant dying together, I would run away with you while holding the wedding. We swore that we would die on the sa day, at the sa ti, didn't we? Right? So, I, I...again..."
In his eyes, the mont he first t Ha-eun was reflected.
Every mont he shared with her flashed by.
He recalled the words she had said to him.
—It's only strange because you perceive it that way...but in my eyes...yes. It's wonderfully mysterious, in a way that's quite fascinating and beautiful.
Strange (怪奇/bizarre) and wonderfully mysterious (奇妙) are, essentially, differences in perception.
For so reason, those words lingered in Jo Yeon's mind.
Jo Yeon let out a voice filled with pain.
"Again! Again, even if just once, I will...recreate that mont!"
From the ruins of the Jo Clan, one hunchback who had lost everything and gone mad,
Having consud beyond the limits of the Emotion Advancent Pills, he reached a place transcending even the One-Pattern Law Talent and vowed to recreate the one mont that had been the most valuable in his life.
He swore before [Her].
"Even if just once!!!"
That day.
Jo Yeon hugged [Her] in his embrace and was determined.
Even though there was no difference between bizarre and wonderfully mysterious, he resolved that he would beco a bizarre monster henceforth.
Recognizing himself as a monster, even if it ant pouring out countless sacrifices,
He would wait for the day he could see her again.
Only then, he believed he would return not as a bizarre monster, but as Jo Yeon from that wonderfully mysterious and beautiful ti...
He made that resolution.
"I am..."
Looking at [Her] in his arms, he muttered.
"The father (父君) of monsters (怪物)"
Contemplating his bizarre and hideous self within his madness...
Jo Yeon thus beca the Mad Lord (怪君).
[TL/N: I ntioned way back that Mad Lord really ans Bizarre/Strange Lord. Monster (怪物) also ans 'freak', and the first hanja ans strange/bizarre. 부군(父君), which was just translated as father, is a formal and respectful way of calling soone their father in historical tis. It can be translated literally as father lord. Hence, put together, it creates Bizarre/Strange Lord.]
Author's Note: In yesterday's note, I announced that the Mad Lord episode would be finished in one chapter...
However, as I added more emotional depth, the length increased, and it ended up becoming three chapters.
I have no excuse if you accuse of indulging in a character I favor.
However, I really wanted to share about the character known as Mad Lord with my readers.
I am well aware that lodramatic elents can be seen as a drawback in regression and cultivation stories.
But even though it may be dripping with lodrama, I wanted to express this character called the Mad Lord.
You could say it was the author's inability to suppress their own desires over the consideration of the readers.
If there were any readers who found it boring, I sincerely apologize as a web novel author for not providing a faster-paced developnt.
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks and love to the readers who have read up to this point.
Always thankful, and once again, thank you.
Reviews
All reviews (0)