Heavenly Demon Divine Saint - Chapter 107

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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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Chapter 107
Crunch, crunch.
Hyegong and Cheon So-hyun stepped into the cave located at the deepest point of the formation within the abandoned temple.
Ominous.
Whether it was the solemn spiritual force radiating from the 108 Arhat Formation, or some instinctive rejection—my senses began to tangle and twist.
With each step, the ground seemed to sink like a swamp beneath my feet, and dizziness as if the entire world had inverted scrambled my sense of direction.
‘…Damn it.’
Yet Cheon So-hyun recognized where this place was.
The size and shape of the cave were disturbingly familiar.
‘No… it can’t be.’
I pressed forward into the cave, denying the thought.
The longer I ventured through the darkness, the more intense the pressure filling the space became.
“I sense an extraordinary presence. It’s a bit late to ask now, but… is this truly a place fit to show to outsiders?”
“It would be difficult for an outsider.”
“Pardon?”
“If Hye Gwang has taken him as a successor, then to me he is like a disciple. Knowing this, did not the Cheon patron enter through the Mountain Gate? It is sufficient that what is experienced here does not leave these walls.”
“Ah… yes, of course.”
There was unwavering trust in the Abbot Senior Brother’s tone. A certainty that he would not have chosen a wicked man as his successor.
In other words, it was trust in Hye Gwang.
Shortly after, the two reached a vast natural cavern.
It was truly overwhelming in scale, but what astonished Cheon So-hyun was not the majestic size itself. In a corner of the cavern, a golden auspicious light flickered precariously, pushing back the darkness, and captured his gaze.
“Master Abbot, what in the world is that…?”
“Look more closely.”
An answer suggesting I would naturally come to understand. Cheon So-hyun staggered forward like a man possessed.
‘This place….’
A familiar space. It was a cave located in the remotest reaches of Songshan’s outer regions, yet it was unmistakably familiar.
It could not have been otherwise.
‘Wall-facing meditation… this is the cave where I performed wall-facing meditation.’
As I approached the source of the golden radiance, I felt the fear I had been trying to deny transform into reality.
Cheon So-hyun’s lips trembled slightly.
Golden radiance. At its center sat a monk in lotus position.
Powerfully built. Truly imposing in frame.
Muscles carved like diamond, their definition stark beneath the golden glow. Closed eyes, firmly sealed lips, an aura of overwhelming dominance emanating from the still posture like an active volcano.
Like a mountain range given human form. At that overwhelming presence, I nearly stumbled backward.
“This is… what on earth has happened…?”
Divine Fist of the Realm. In other words, my former self. Hye Gwang’s body remained motionless in lotus position, as if fallen into deep meditation.
“As you see, it is Hye Gwang’s complete sarira.”
“…Sarira?”
Hyegong nodded.
“The dharma body of an eminent monk—something that can only be left behind when one reaches Nirvana and can claim to have glimpsed a fragment of the Buddha, when the merit accumulated moves even the heavens.”
Cheon So-hyun steadied his trembling breath with great effort.
“Then… you decided to seal the chamber because of those remains? I’ve heard that departed Martial Monks often leave sarira behind.”
“Extend your spiritual perception. You’ll understand the difference.”
Cheon So-hyun drew out his energy like a fine, sharp thread and meticulously scanned Hye Gwang’s physical form.
Immediately, his eyelids trembled.
“…!!”
True Qi.
Pure energy was leaking out faintly. Like a hairline crack in a brimming vessel, true qi was trickling forth in the smallest amounts.
“You’re saying… there’s still dharmic power remaining within the sarira?”
“That’s right.”
“How is that even possible…!”
It was impossible. Merely maintaining his earthly form while emanating a subtle radiance was already miraculous.
Yet to possess the vital energy from his lifetime as well?
Did that mean his Dantian hadn’t dispersed?
To that questioning gaze, Hyegong answered softly.
“The dharmic power that filled his entire meridian network became the force sustaining his physical form. A state where the distinction of Dantian became meaningless… he achieved the realm of the Vajra Dharma Body at the end of his life.”
Cheon So-hyun’s pupils trembled as though struck by an earthquake.
Vajra Dharma Body.
The ultimate realm that Bodhidharma, the founder of Shaolin, took as his koan, and the ideal of martial arts. In Shaolin’s history spanning over a thousand years, it was a realm no one had ever reached.
“The sarira of a great master can be called the crystallization of a lifetime’s cultivation. Merit accumulated through a pure mind, compassionate conduct, and wise enlightenment—it maintains form even after consciousness fades. That is the true essence of sarira.”
“….”
“However, apart from such sacred achievement, the sarira of a great master becomes a double-edged sword for those left behind.”
Cheon So-hyun could not bring himself to speak further and clamped his mouth shut.
He grasped immediately what Abbot Senior Brother meant to convey.
When the Buddha himself entered parinirvana, eight kings raised armies to claim his sarira, turning their weapons upon one another.
Humans are capable of waging wars of greed to possess the crystallization of merit.
If even kings praised as sages would do so, what of warriors?
Those in Jianghu who would raise winds of blood over a single volume of secret techniques left by some unknown master, who would not hesitate at the destruction of entire clans?
‘Damn it….’
Cheon So-hyun’s expression twisted into despair. Could there be a moment in one’s life more bewildering than this?
The Vajra Dharma Body transcended even sword-immunity or diamond-indestructibility—it was a realm beyond mortals.
A sarira harder than ten-thousand-year-old ice and containing purer dharmic power than any force in the world was the most dangerous temptation to warriors.
“Human greed knows no distinction between right and wrong. To some, the sarira of the Vajra Dharma Body will appear as a divine weapon. To others, it will seem a peerless blueprint that could advance martial cultivation by decades. And to the wicked, it will gleam as an elixir unparalleled in all the world.”
Even setting aside such greed, those who had formed karmic debts with Hye Gwang would likely seize the opportunity to cause chaos and desecrate his memory.
“…So you decided to seal the chamber?”
Hyegong nodded slowly.
“One must prevent foreordained destruction, must one not? The chaos that this humble monk, the temple’s disciples, all sentient beings in the world, and Hye Gwang himself would not wish for—we decided to honor him and wait until his dharmic power is exhausted.”
Cheon So-hyun stared at the physical form before him with unfocused eyes.
‘Damn it, is all of this my fault?’
The reason the Demonic Sect had begun to consider the Great Sect was Shaolin’s sealing of the chamber.
Throughout the long history of Jianghu, the sect perpetually regarded as the greatest under heaven had vacated its position, and the Demonic Sect had seized this opportunity to forge a plan for dominion over the Demonic Realm.
Cheon So-hyun could not regard all these circumstances as unrelated to himself.
While one might dismiss it as an act of force majeure, a guilt and sense of debt that could not be severed no matter how hard he tried constantly weighed upon him.
Yet that was not the end of it.
Shaolin’s closure of its gates had ultimately been to preserve that relic.
The senior brothers continuously poured their vital energy into the 108 Arhat Formation to suppress the dharmic power from leaking away.
Cheon So-hyun’s shoulders trembled violently. Self-reproach, guilt, and countless confusions surged like waves, sweeping across his entire being.
At that moment, Hyegong’s voice pierced through to his ears.
“Let it go.”
“…Pardon?”
Hyegong was now regarding him with penetrating, profound eyes.
“Do not surrender your composure to mere phantoms without substance. Your Master would not wish for the karmic connection he finally found to be troubled because of him.”
Hyegong had already become certain that Cheon So-hyun was Hye Gwang’s disciple. Even if he were not, Hyegong believed without doubt that he had forged a deep karmic bond with him.
It was not merely because he possessed a nameplate inscribed with Hye Gwang’s distinctive Diamond Indestructible Body technique, nor because Jin Gong-han had tested and verified him before guiding him here.
Mind transmitted to mind.
There exist many things in this world that are conveyed without being spoken aloud. The suffering Cheon So-hyun displayed was no less than the sorrow Shaolin felt at losing family.
It was that sincerity, which could never be feigned, that had brought him to this place.
“Karmic connection is truly a wondrous thing. It seems severed, yet it reconnects, and even when one believes it is the end, such joyful moments arrive—truly wondrous and precious.”
Hyegong’s voice was low and deep, resonating through the depths of the listener’s heart like the toll of an ancient bell.
“When I heard that you had entered the Mountain Gate, I felt not alarm but joy. It seemed as though the karmic bond with Hye Gwang had not yet been severed.”
Cheon So-hyun’s shoulders flinched slightly.
“…Is that so.”
“Indeed. To see you visit as a guest even while the temple gates are sealed—what more need be said?”
Hyegong smiled and withdrew a nameplate from his robes. The golden tablet he offered bore the two characters for Hye Gwang inscribed upon it.
“I hope you, too, will cherish the karmic bond with your Master.”
Cheon So-hyun traced the cool surface of the nameplate with his fingertips before placing it in his robes.
He could keenly feel that not only Abbot Senior Brother, but all of Shaolin possessed unwavering resolve regarding the temple’s closure.
Yet it could not continue this way. Though he understood their resolve, they could not maintain indefinite closure.
If time dragged on and the Demonic Sect emerged, calamity would befall the realm.
Cheon So-hyun, quietly observing Hye Gwang’s physical form, hardened his resolve.
“Once the relic’s energy is completely dispersed, the closure ends then, does it not?”
“It must be so. We cannot keep the gates sealed indefinitely. However, I cannot guarantee the duration. To exhaust all the power—vast as an ocean—would require at least five years.”
“Then could we not forcibly disperse the energy without waiting? Even a Diamond Indestructible Body must have pores, and it should be possible to employ methods by striking the acupoints.”
At his unrestrained question, Hyegong let out a laugh.
“What is so amusing?”
“I find myself thinking that I have discovered a successor who resembles me so closely. Perhaps that is why I overstepped my bounds so uncharacteristically. Haha.”
“…”
“I understand your intention, but it is an impossible task. The robustness of the Diamond Indestructible Body permeates not only the exterior but also the three meridians within, solidly. To penetrate it, one must comprehend all the martial techniques Hye Gwang mastered. And even that is merely the beginning. No method, regardless of what is attempted, would avail.”
Shaolin had already explored and attempted various approaches from within.
Ultimately, suppressing the energy with the 108 Arhat Formation to prevent it from leaking was the best conclusion they had reached.
“Then… would it be alright if I examined it myself?”
Hyegong nodded.
“Indeed. You’ll need time to settle your mind as well.”
Cheon So-hyun approached the Sarira in long strides, then placed both hands over the luminous shoulders.
That was the moment.
“…!!”
A deafening boom erupted.
A tremendous surge of energy poured from Hye Gwang’s body with a thunderous roar. A terrible, searing pain seeped into his palms.
A protective rebound from the guardian qi. The Diamond Indestructible Body was mounting a violent resistance.
“…Hm?”
Hyegong expressed his bewilderment at the strange phenomenon.
Until now, Hye Gwang’s Sarira had shown no reaction and remained still. Yet now, a protective qi was rising to block all approach.
“W-wait, Cheon benefactor, what are you—”
“My head’s ringing. Please be quiet.”
A grinding sound escaped between clenched teeth.
Cheon So-hyun swallowed a groan. He struggled to maintain composure, but the situation was dire. When he tried to withdraw his hands, his palms remained fixed as if glued in place, immovable.
‘Damn it.’
An uncontrollable, monstrous force—Hye Gwang’s dharmic power held him fast.
Dangerous. The purest dharmic power in the Realm was racing through his meridians, ravaging everything within without mercy.
The problem was that the qi rooted deep within his meridians was demonic in nature.
Before dharmic power that could be called the pinnacle of Demon-Slaying Manifestation of Truth, demonic qi was nothing but evil to be eradicated. Like a runaway carriage sweeping through his meridians, the rampaging dharmic power brought a searing heat across his entire body, and his consciousness began to crumble.
‘…This is dangerous.’
In a flash, Cheon So-hyun’s eyes grew cold and sharp. Even amid pain intense enough to shatter his mind, his gaze burned with brilliant clarity.
‘If I cannot break free, then perhaps…!’
Wall-facing meditation. What had he cultivated at the end of his life, and before that, what secret techniques had he forged his protective qi from? He knew this better than anyone in the Realm.
‘Prajna Great Ability and Anicca Great Ability, Sinew Changing Classic, Marrow Washing Scripture, Jade Diamond Technique… and even the profound insights of the Seventy-Two Arts.’
Lightning flashed through Cheon So-hyun’s mind as various incantations blazed forth—Shaolin secret techniques he had never mastered due to harboring demonic qi.
Though he could not manifest them directly, he had forgotten not a single incantation, nor the direction and intention toward which that qi should flow.
A deafening roar erupted.
Tremendous energy whirled across Cheon So-hyun’s entire body. A colossal vortex of intertwined gold and black light shook the entire Cave.
Stalactites from the ceiling rained down, and the impact left the ground etched with spider-web fractures.
Shock flashed across Hyegong’s eyes.
The radiance wavered. A transformation was beginning in the Sarira that had been radiating golden light.
‘…Absorption?’
Astonishingly, the brilliant qi that had been hovering around Hye Gwang’s entire body was being drawn into his grasp.

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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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