Chapter 294: Vanity?

The Demonic Heart Tribulation was proving difficult to overcome, even this minor manifestation spawned from a mere wisp of Tribulation Qi.

Here, he found himself married again.

In addition to the Fox Maiden Su Linlin and Junior Sister Huang Ying, Senior Sister Yu Junyao had also moved into his residence. Three wives—he had exceeded all expectations.

He even had a son now.

Patriarch Gu He had advised him to enter the mortal world and experience the myriad facets of life, but Chen Luo doubted the necessity of such a journey. Through his cultivation of the Demonic Heart Art, he felt he had gained a far more profound understanding of life’s complexities than mere worldly immersion could provide.

“Enough!” Chen Luo interrupted the women’s chatter, stepping into the courtyard. There, kneeling on the ground, was a small boy with a bruised and swollen face.

It was his son, Chen Yuanzhi.

Unlike his companions, Chen Luo felt the Demonic Heart Art within him suddenly surge to life upon seeing the boy. A familiar sensation flooded his mind.

A Pass Transcendence!

Chen Yuanzhi was a Pass Transcendence.

The aura emanating from him was identical to that of Elder FusionSpirit from their previous encounter. This baffled Chen Luo. He hadn’t entered the Heavenly Tribulation this time; he had simply adjusted the flow of his cultivation technique according to the Demonic Heart Ancestor’s teachings, and then witnessed this bizarre scene unfold.

It was as if the technique itself had simulated a Demonic Heart Tribulation.

“Father, I know I was wrong!” Chen Yuanzhi pleaded, his voice trembling. “Please forgive me this once. I promise I’ll never anger Master again. Starting tomorrow, I’ll study diligently, strive for academic success, and bring honor to our ancestors!”

Noticing Chen Luo’s arrival, Chen Yuanzhi, still kneeling on the ground, immediately began confessing his wrongdoing. His practiced manner suggested this wasn’t his first apology; the words flowed effortlessly, as if rehearsed a thousand times. Only he himself knew the true extent of his remorse.

Chen Luo looked at his “son” and realized he looked vaguely familiar. He recalled the apprentice he had taken on earlier that day: Li Fugui, Butcher Li’s son.

During this Demonic Heart Tribulation, the brat is playing my son? Chen Luo thought.

He neither struck the boy nor acknowledged his apology. Stepping past him, he strode into his study and closed the door behind him.

Silence descended upon the room. The women dared not tell the child to rise without Chen Luo’s permission.

The kneeling boy seethed with resentment. Though he wouldn’t dare disobey his “father” by standing up, he bitterly cursed the old tutor for making such a fuss. So what if he fell into the latrine? he thought. A good wash would have fixed it.

Several days later, the “Exploding Master Incident” was smoothly resolved. With both families offering generous silver and land deeds, the tutor magnanimously pardoned them, though he made it clear he would never accept their children as pupils again. Unwilling to find new tutors for these troublemakers, the families instead used their connections to hire two martial arts instructors to drill the boys and burn off their boundless energy.

Martial arts training was nothing like studying. If you slacked off, the instructors would beat you mercilessly.

After the troublemaking youngsters were expelled from school, they were all sent to the martial arts hall. Every day, the instructors beat them until they howled in pain.

“Abandoning scholarship for martial arts… his life is ruined,” Patriarch Wang muttered, sitting beside the training ground and watching his son and the Chen family’s boy practice their forms. He couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

He had once hoped his son would excel in his studies, pass the imperial examinations, and bring glory to the family. But the boy lacked ambition, and after all his wandering, he had returned to the martial world.

In the Holy Dynasty, civil officials controlled the military. No matter how skilled a martial artist became, he remained subservient to scholars. Military officers held far less prestige than their civil counterparts; even a seventh-rank civil official could command a fifth-rank general to bow his head. This disparity was even greater in the imperial court.

“Life is long. How can temporary setbacks define a child’s entire future?”

“Without academic success, there’s no path to officialdom. Without official rank, even the finest martial arts skills are meaningless,” Patriarch Wang thought bitterly, watching his son. Disappointment gnawed at him. He wondered if he should take two more concubines while he still had the strength to father another heir.

Chen Luo smiled faintly and remained silent.

The rhythm of agrarian society was glacial, with decades, even centuries, passing without significant change. When change did come, it often meant the fall of dynasties. But such matters were of little concern to local gentry like Chen Luo.

Having fully embraced his role, Chen Luo made no changes, managing the family affairs just as his predecessor, Master Chen, had done. Beyond overseeing the family’s estates, his primary focus was nurturing the younger generation of the clan. Ambitious youths were admitted to the clan’s schoolhouse, while those less inclined to study were placed in the county militia, ensuring they could at least earn a living.

This pattern extended beyond the Chen family to other prominent gentry clans like the Wangs and Zhous. Their influence was deeply entrenched in the region; even newly appointed County Magistrates had to first curry favor with these powerful families before attempting to govern.

Time flowed relentlessly, and a decade passed in the blink of an eye.

In those ten years, strands of white began to appear in Chen Luo’s hair, marking his transition to middle age. Though his posture remained upright, the bloom of youth had faded.

“Master,” the First Madam said, her face etched with worry, “Yuanzhi spends all his time brandishing swords and spears. He’s grown so old, yet no one has even proposed a match for him.”

Chen Yuanzhi was her son, a troublesome youth who showed little promise and was a constant source of concern.

After the Exploding Master Incident, she hired several more tutors for her son, but without exception, the mischievous boy drove them all away. Ironically, he showed a keen interest in martial arts, mastering impressive spearmanship under the family’s Master. Every morning at dawn, he would venture out with his gang of ruffians, becoming notorious as the county’s resident bully.

Recently, she had arranged several marriage proposals for him, but the moment prospective families heard his reputation, they shook their heads, unwilling to let their daughters marry him.

“There’s no rush,” Chen Luo said.

“No rush? The Wang family’s son already has two children!”

Chen Luo tuned out the usual family gossip. His gaze remained fixed on the young man practicing spear techniques in the courtyard, his vision piercing through the walls to the distant sky.

Ten years had passed, yet he still couldn’t discern the true nature of this Demonic Heart Tribulation. Chen Yuanzhi, the one undergoing Tribulation Transcendence, was unlike Elder FusionSpirit; he neither faced a Heavenly Tribulation nor possessed the elder’s overwhelming desires.

He seemed like an ordinary layabout, content with food, drink, and aimless wandering.

It was difficult to label him as truly “evil.” In fact, the boy was fiercely loyal to his friends, constantly preaching about brotherhood and occasionally intervening against the powerful to aid the weak.

“Father, I’m finished training,” Chen Yuanzhi announced.

After finishing a set of spear techniques, Chen Yuanzhi stood in the courtyard, leaning on his weapon, his burly frame radiating heat. With his imposing physique, he resembled a fierce mountain bandit, exuding an aura of raw menace.

“Is there anything you want to do?” Chen Luo asked, watching his “son.”

“Anything I want to do?” Chen Yuanzhi paused, puzzled by his father’s question. After a moment’s thought, he replied earnestly, “I want to become a great official, drink from large bowls, and feast on large slabs of meat!”

Chen Luo smiled faintly and didn’t press further.

His true ambition? Perhaps not.

“Third Brother Luo invited some heroes over today. I’m going to join them for drinks this afternoon and won’t be back,” Chen Yuanzhi announced, lowering his spear. He walked to the side, wiping sweat from his body with a towel, making sure to tell his mother his plans so she wouldn’t wait up for him again.

“Heroes? What heroes? You’re coming with me to the Li Family today.”

The First Madam’s face paled instantly. Forgetting her intention to scold Chen Luo, she rushed forward, desperate to stop her son.

“I’m leaving now,” Chen Yuanzhi said, tossing the words over his shoulder as he swiftly flipped over the gate and vanished outside, leaving his mother shouting after him.

Chen Luo didn’t look back. He turned and walked out of the courtyard, gazing up at the sky.

The wind howled, whipping through the churning clouds.

Calamity was brewing.

Just as Chen Yuanzhi had predicted, he stayed out until midnight, returning staggeringly drunk, reeking of alcohol, and swaying unsteadily on his feet.

Creak.

The gate swung open. Chen Yuanzhi stumbled a few steps before his legs gave way, and he clung to a nearby pillar, vomiting violently until he finally regained his composure. He straightened up and wobbled into the courtyard.

The moment he entered, he saw an unexpected figure: his father.

Unlike his usual stern demeanor, his father sat quietly in the courtyard, a document resting on the stone table beside him. The handwriting suggested it was penned by his uncle-in-law, Magistrate Tan.

“Come sit and sober up.”

Chen Luo gestured to the stone bench beside him. The courtyard was vast and empty, he having dismissed all the servants, leaving only himself and his “son.”

“Father?” Chen Yuanzhi’s drunken stupor vanished instantly.

He feared nothing in the world, except his father. Though Chen Luo rarely scolded him, the dread ran deep, perhaps rooted in childhood trauma. Whenever he saw his father, Chen Yuanzhi couldn’t help but feel a pang of fear.

“You’re no longer a child,” Chen Luo said, pointing to the appointment letter on the table. “I’ve arranged a position for you at the County Magistrate’s Office through your uncle. Report there tomorrow.”

This was the identity he had secured for his “son,” a test of his influence over the Heavenly Tribulation.

“Alright,” Chen Yuanzhi muttered, his face betraying his displeasure. He opened his mouth to protest, but despite his visible dissatisfaction, only a single word escaped.

The next morning, Chen Yuanzhi stood yawning in his father’s study, his face creased with reluctance as he listened to Chen Luo’s stern warnings. Had it been his mother, he would have defied her, but disobeying his father was unthinkable.

“You mentioned wanting to become an official before,” Chen Luo said, bringing up the subject for the second time. “Can you tell me why you want to be an official?”

He needed to understand the source of this wisp of Tribulation Qi.

The Demonic Heart Ancestor had said, “Obsessions have no inherent good or evil,” a sentiment Chen Luo agreed with. However, he needed to grasp the subtle differences between mere obsessions and true Demonic Hearts. Only by understanding this distinction could he confidently navigate his own Demonic Heart Tribulation.

“I just thought being an official would be impressive. Everyone would be afraid of me,” Chen Yuanzhi said, scratching his head. He hadn’t expected his father to remember his casual remark. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have mentioned becoming an official. Wouldn’t it be much more fun to just join the mountain bandits?

“Fear?” Chen Luo frowned, beginning to form a rough hypothesis about the nature of Chen Yuanzhi’s “Demonic Heart.” It was likely rooted in vanity or similar emotions. If one couldn’t control such emotions and stay true to oneself, it would be easy to become lost in them.

“Securing this position cost a considerable sum. When you report to the County Magistrate’s Office, listen carefully, work diligently, and speak sparingly. Once your apprenticeship is complete, return to my side, and I’ll teach you how to manage the family affairs.”