Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 7

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 7
Master?
He meant for Un Hyeon to teach Yeon Woo martial arts?
“Ah, of course not the Namgung Family’s Internal Method. This child will become a martial artist of the Shin Gyo.”
At the words “a martial artist of the Shin Gyo,” Un Hyeon’s brow twitched.
Un Hyeon had made a promise to Yeon Woo.
That he would take him to Jungwon without fail. That he would bring him to Jungwon and show him the delicacies of the world.
“I’ll teach him the Internal Method. So you focus on training this child’s External Training—and if you have time, teach him some Sword Way. You’re the finest swordsman in Jungwon, after all.”
Yet Un Hyeon’s expression remained dark.
Am Yeong Ma Gun, noticing that his proposal had not sit well, quirked the corner of his mouth and added more.
“If you don’t like it, you can die.”
……
Though he called it a choice, Un Hyeon had never truly had one.
His own life meant nothing to him.
What mattered was Yeon Woo’s life.
All he wanted was for this pure child’s life not to be taken because of anyone—himself included.
Un Hyeon nodded quietly.
Am Yeong Ma Gun smiled as if he’d expected nothing less, then rose from his seat.
When he raised his hand, martial artists in black robes appeared from nowhere and took position behind him.
So many warriors had been concealed all this time.
Un Hyeon was struck anew with amazement.
“Clean this mess up, will you? Ah, don’t kill them.”
At Am Yeong Ma Gun’s command, the warriors took the masked men who lay sprawled in the courtyard away somewhere.
Watching them go, Un Hyeon exhaled a sigh of relief.
‘Taking them away without killing them means…’
He would uncover who was behind those sent to kill Yeon Woo.
What fortune. Truly….
‘What a mercy….’
Thump.
Un Hyeon lost consciousness and collapsed.
Am Yeong Ma Gun, who had been watching his subordinates, looked down at Un Hyeon.
Crackle—crackle—
Smoke from the charring meat drifted gently on the breeze.
As if the entire sequence of events where life and death hung in balance had been nothing but illusion, the night air, heavy with darkness, remained perfectly still.
* * *
In the early dawn when cool air had settled, it was Un Hyeon who opened his eyes first.
Breath in….
When Un Hyeon’s eyes opened, what met them was a familiar ceiling.
The very ceiling he had first seen when he’d nearly died at the hands of the betrayers from Jungwon and lived to tell of it.
“Did you move me?”
Un Hyeon spoke, his voice hoarse and raw.
A faint laugh came from his right side.
“As if. I had my men do it.”
Un Hyeon turned his gaze from the ceiling toward the source of the voice.
Am Yeong Ma Gun.
He sat in the corner of the room with his legs crossed and arms folded across his chest.
Un Hyeon wanted to ask where Yeon Woo was, but in that moment his voice caught as if blocked, and only his lips moved soundlessly.
Yet somehow Am Yeong Ma Gun understood anyway.
“The boy’s sleeping. He’ll be out cold for a full day, so he won’t wake until tonight.”
That so.
Un Hyeon let his gaze fall quietly.
Something was set down at his pillow with a soft tap.
It was a small box, no bigger than a palm.
Un Hyeon looked toward Am Yeong Ma Gun with questioning eyes.
“Spirit Medicine. And this is good medicinal material for recovering from internal injuries.”
Un Hyeon’s gaze grew even more suspicious.
The one who’d brought him to this state was himself giving medicine to heal it?
What manner of madness was this—inflicting illness then offering cure?
“I was your enemy when I did that. Now we share the same purpose, so we’re companions, aren’t we?”
Companions, nonsense—!
How in the world was he supposed to answer?
“People’s thoughts are all predictable enough.”
Could he actually read minds with the Mind Reading Art?
Un Hyeon’s gaze clouded with confusion.
Amused by such a reaction, Am Yeong Ma Gun let out a soft chuckle.
“Take the Spirit Medicine right away. Decoct the medicinal ingredients over the course of a month and drink them. You need his body healed before you can teach him anything, don’t you?”
Only then did Un Hyeon recall the conversation he’d had with Am Yeong Ma Gun before losing consciousness.
“In five years, when the Maryong Pavilion opens. That’s when you, the Sword Emperor, will become this boy’s master.”
Un Hyeon had accepted it to save Yeon Woo’s life, but he still hated it.
It wasn’t that he disliked teaching Yeon Woo.
The purpose of teaching him was to send him to the Maryong Pavilion five years from now.
‘To teach martial arts so that I might drive a child to his death. What treachery could be more abhorrent than this?’
If he could not teach him well enough, if Yeon Woo never went to the Maryong Pavilion as a result, then he would sooner live as a cripple as he was.
“I anticipated that too.”
In that instant, as Am Yeong Ma Gun flicked his finger, Un Hyeon’s upper body rose of its own accord.
……!
Un Hyeon tried to look at Am Yeong Ma Gun in alarm, but even his head would not turn.
Soon, a single Pill the size of a fingernail, wrapped in gold, appeared before his eyes.
Un Hyeon’s mouth opened of its own will, and the Pill entered his mouth.
What followed was not difficult.
The Pill dissolved rapidly the moment it entered his mouth, vanishing somewhere without need to be swallowed.
Yet Un Hyeon could feel it.
……!
A tremendous surge of energy beginning from the Crown Point cascaded down like a waterfall, sweeping through his entire body.
A vast force that would require immediate Cultivation Breathing or risk falling into Demonic Deviation.
An energy that an ordinary martial artist could not possibly withstand was beginning to consume Un Hyeon.
Whoosh—
Un Hyeon’s body lay straight again.
Un Hyeon had no choice but to begin Cultivation Breathing at once.
Before entering the breathing meditation, the Am Yeong Ma Gun he glimpsed was grinning with satisfaction, chin propped on hand.
Un Hyeon closed his eyes.
He began to soothe and coax the foreign energy invading his body, slowly making it his own.
Whoooooosh—
The energy spread rapidly through his meridians.
In an instant, all the internal injuries throughout his body were mended and his depleted vitality recovered swiftly.
As Un Hyeon continued his meditation, Am Yeong Ma Gun’s voice reached his ears.
“While you were asleep, I examined the boy’s body a little.”
Though all his attention was focused on the breathing meditation, Un Hyeon’s ears caught Am Yeong Ma Gun’s words.
“I’m not sure if you knew, but that boy was born with the Extreme Demon Heavenly Strength Body.”
……!
He nearly lost control of his energy and fell into Demonic Deviation.
The sound of Am Yeong Ma Gun chuckling reached his ears.
“From your reaction, I take it you didn’t know? That’s strange—you should have noticed something. Have you never examined him once?”
Un Hyeon’s clenched lips trembled slightly.
He had already known Yeon Woo was a special child.
What ordinary child would return day after day with rare medicinal herbs and sacred plants, traversing those treacherous mountains as if they were his own front yard?
Apart from his keen sense of smell, Yeon Woo possessed strength and bone structure superior to other children.
His inborn body was so exceptional that “exceptional” itself seemed an understatement.
But the Extreme Demon Heavenly Strength Body?
“I’ve heard of it before, but this is my first time seeing it directly. I was quite surprised.”
What manner of constitution was the Extreme Demon Heavenly Strength Body?
It was a body that could only be formed by possessing both the Blood King Demonic Bone, suited for learning Demonic Martial Art, and the Heavenly King Sacred Bone, suited for learning Orthodox Martial Art.
In simple terms, it meant a body capable of learning both Demonic Martial Art and Orthodox Martial Art, which possess opposite natures.
“Those born with the Extreme Demon Heavenly Strength Body do not experience personality changes from learning Demonic Martial Art, nor are they consumed by Demonic Energy, or so they say.”
There would be no risk of his character warping from Demonic Energy consumption, no grip of madness, no violent rampage.
For those who practice Demonic Martial Art, it was a body that completely eliminated the danger of losing oneself—truly the flesh of a Demon God.
“However, the prerequisite is that he must learn Orthodox Martial Art first.”
The Extreme Demon Heavenly Strength Body was born to maximize Demonic Martial Art.
Yet if he began learning Demonic Martial Art, his growth would be so rapid that without a proper foundation, he risked being consumed by Demonic Energy even more swiftly.
For this reason, when learning martial arts, one must first master Orthodox Martial Art, and only then Demonic Martial Art, to properly realize the strengths of such a body.
“So here’s the thing—I need to change the terms a bit.”
Un Hyeon’s brow furrowed slightly.
“You’ll teach the boy martial arts. Not just External Training, but Internal Method as well.”
For a child who could become the strongest of Ma Gyo merely by mastering Orthodox Martial Art, Un Hyeon’s presence was nothing short of providence.
What demon cult disciple would ever learn martial arts from an Orthodox Way master—and one called the finest swordsman in Jungwon at that?
“Whether you teach the boy or not, he’ll end up at Maryong Pavilion. And there, he’ll learn Demonic Martial Art.”
Learn Demonic Martial Art without first mastering Orthodox Martial Art, and there were only two outcomes: death, or corruption by Demonic Energy faster than anyone else, descending into madness.
“If you don’t want that, you’d better teach him properly. If you want the boy to live.”
The moment Am Yeong Ma Gun finished speaking, Un Hyeon’s precariously wavering aura began to settle, growing calm and stable.
The situation had changed.
Now that Yeon Woo possessed the Extreme Demon Heavenly Strength Body, Un Hyeon had no choice but to teach him martial arts.
Without mastering Orthodox Martial Art, the boy’s very life hung in the balance—what need not have been done had become something that absolutely must be done.
Understanding this, Un Hyeon accepted the situation swiftly.
…….
Watching Un Hyeon’s aura stabilize, Am Yeong Ma Gun’s lips curved upward.
“I’ll handle the assassins targeting the boy. You focus on his training.”
An Extreme Demon Heavenly Strength Body appears perhaps once in a thousand years, if that—a talent beyond price.
I can’t let such a precious talent die before he ever gets to shine, now can I?
“I’m counting on you from here on.”
Am Yeong Ma Gun watched Un Hyeon, who sat with his chin resting on his hand, steadily centering his aura, and let a smile escape.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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