Heavenly Demon Divine Saint - Chapter 112

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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 112
The Demon?
Cheon So-hyun’s brow furrowed.
So Ma In was the adversary who had dealt defeat to Arahan.
Could this person be connected to the Demonic Sect?
The more I turned the details over in my mind, the more questions multiplied.
From the account of wielding flames only to then emit an aura as frigid as ice and snow, The Demon must surely have been born with a yin-yang dual constitution.
Positive and negative energies—opposing forces dwelling within a single body, freely manipulated. I found myself naturally intrigued by this fact. The difference was clear, yet I too harbored both Buddhist law-force and demonic qi within myself.
Was there nothing more?
The final pages, brimming with martial philosophy and self-reflection, contained none of the answers I sought.
I would search further. There had to be more.
Cheon So-hyun returned the Biography of Arahan to its place and began rifling through the library shelves.
But the search proved fruitless. The Janggyeong Pavilion itself was such a vast archive that examining it entirely seemed impossible.
There was no help for it.
Cheon So-hyun abandoned the search and made for the study room prepared in one corner of the archive. I decided to ask the Pavilion Keeper directly.
Through the gap in the study door, I could see the Pavilion Keeper.
Scratch, scratch.
He had the Hye Gwang Divine Fist spread before him, wielding his brush with fearsome intensity. He wore an entranced smile that seemed utterly delighted.
His concentration ran so deep he hadn’t noticed my approach, so I knocked upon the door.
“Keeper Beop Gang.”
Beop Gang started in surprise and turned his head.
“Ah, Patron Cheon. Have you already finished your selection?”
“Not quite. I came because I had something to ask you.”
Beop Gang rose from his seat to greet me.
“I see. Please, ask whatever you wish.”
A man who had managed the Janggyeong Pavilion for decades would surely have intimate knowledge of every text in the archive.
“I wish to read the continuation of the Biography of Arahan. It seemed like material that wouldn’t fit in a single volume. Is there perhaps a separate location where it’s kept?”
It was an unexpected request. His expression grew complicated—he seemed both startled and uncomfortable.
“Is this a difficult request?”
Beop Gang paused before answering.
“Not at all. Only… I am surprised. May I ask why you are curious about the continuation?”
“To be honest, it is simple curiosity.”
“Curiosity, you say?”
“Yes. Arahan left a profound mark upon the Buddhist Order, did he not? Yet in his youth, he seemed to have wandered considerably. I wish to see how he navigated through such turmoil and affliction.”
“As you say, Arahan left a deep imprint in many ways. However… his biography is filled with suffering. If you seek passages that might serve as guidance for practice, it may instead prove poisonous. It surely would.”
“Poisonous?”
Beop Gang nodded slowly.
“The afflictions and delusions of that era are recorded in their entirety, capable of shaking the hearts of those who practice. All the more so for Martial Monks who hold him in reverence.”
“Then it should be fine, should it not? I am no Martial Monk, and I wish to read it.”
My resolve would not be shaken by mere words on a page. What did it matter? It was all in the past.
At that resolute declaration, Beop Gang rose from his seat.
“Then please wait a moment.”
Beop Gang walked to a corner of the study room and pushed against the wall. With a heavy sound, the wall rotated, revealing an aged-looking library shelf.
‘Interesting—I didn’t know such a thing existed here.’
The wall was entirely filled with books.
Beop Gang scanned the shelves briefly, then withdrew a single volume and restored the wall to its original position.
“Please accept this. The Records of Arahan are originally divided into two volumes.”
“Is there a reason you keep them separately?”
“They have been revealed only to successive abbots throughout the generations. The diary you have already seen conveys sufficiently who Arahan was and the posture with which he began to contemplate martial arts. There was no reason to make the subsequent records public.”
Beop Gang asked in a low, measured tone.
“Would it be acceptable for you to read it here in this place?”
“Well, that’s not difficult at all.”
“Then please read at your leisure. Should you appear mentally disturbed at any point, I will intervene to stop you.”
What could be written there to warrant such caution?
He was warning me as gravely as if handing over a demonic manual, yet there was no reason to hesitate.
Cheon So-hyun immediately began reading this volume of the Records of Arahan.
Smooth sailing.
Everyone but me appears to walk a path of smooth sailing.
After experiencing defeat and steeling my resolve, I devoted myself to creating martial techniques.
I established my enlightenment and retraced the techniques I had learned, striving with utmost dedication to reach ever greater heights.
My Master rejoiced greatly, saying I had finally come to my senses, yet my heart remained nothing but confused.
The Demon’s martial arts will not fade from my mind. No matter how many times I contemplate and recall them, I cannot devise any means to stand against him.
Is it that I am lacking as a Warrior?
Or is it that the martial arts of the Buddhist Order simply cannot reach him?
Either way, it is difficult to accept.
From whichever perspective, I resolved to seclude myself until victory was achieved.
Cheon So-hyun’s eyes narrowed.
‘Has he fallen into demonic obsession?’
He created martial techniques with an obsession bordering on madness.
If one was insufficient, he pursued two; if two would not suffice, he pursued ten. Endlessly contemplating, he created countless techniques, refining and polishing them, leaving behind secret manuals.
His resolute will was palpable throughout, yet his writing style had changed markedly from before.
The confusion he could not quite conceal seeped through the lines, appearing almost like someone struggling against fear.
And after he left the Mountain Gate to test his achievements, his afflictions only deepened.
He suffered defeat once more.
The disparity was even more devastating than before, and he ultimately lost an arm.
All his cultivation and diligence, his will and effort, lost their luster before the Demon’s innate talent. The gap he had thus far presumed was merely a fragment of the truth.
I was lacking.
I must cultivate further.
My aging Master wept, saying this was enough and that I should stop, yet I harbor no such intention.
I must not stop. I must record everything about him and seek methods to counter him, preparing myself to stand against him.
Cheon So-hyun felt his confusion laid bare as he turned the page.
The world had begun calling that Demon the Cheonsin.
His name was unknown, his identity a mystery.
Whether he even hailed from the Central Plains was doubtful. His very nature was so devoid of emotion that even his followers knew little of substance about him.
How could one possibly contend with such a being?
The answer proved surprisingly simple.
Pass it to future generations. Abandon the notion of confronting him directly.
To endure is to survive. To avoid being swept away and brought to one’s knees, one must persist with shameless stubbornness, waiting for the moment when fortune shifts.
‘The Cheonsin, then…’
I could not shake the thought that Arahan’s adversary was connected to the Demonic Sect. Though his followers called him the Cheonsin, to those who opposed him he was merely a demon—would he not have been called the Heavenly Demon?
As Cheon So-hyun closed the tome, Beop Gang set down his brush and looked up at him.
“What are your thoughts?”
“Hmm, quite harrowing indeed. The terror of that era comes alive vividly, yet it is remarkable. Truly, Arahan was the great master we have heard of.”
“…Remarkable, you say? Does this not read like the history of a defeated man?”
Displeasure flickered across Cheon So-hyun’s eyes.
“Defeated?”
“Arahan never freed himself from his fear of the Cheonsin, not even in his final breath. His last recorded act was imparting teachings to his disciples before leaving the temple to face the Cheonsin. He burned away all he possessed, yet ultimately could not overcome him.”
“I beg to differ. Calling this the history of a defeated man is hardly reasonable, is it?”
Beop Gang questioned as though hearing such words for the first time in his life.
“…Hardly reasonable?”
“When Arahan lost an arm, he must have already accepted that he could never defeat the Cheonsin. Yet he still left behind his martial arts. He spent his remaining years with a single resolve—that though he would fall, future generations would triumph.”
Arahan was a man tormented by confusion, struggling against anguish until the very moment his life ended, unable to cast off his afflictions.
Yet what was remarkable was that even amid despair and terror, he never ceased creating something.
“By laying the foundation with the martial arts Arahan left behind, Shaolin rose to become the First Under Heaven Sect. Whatever the Cheonsin may have left behind, the Buddhist Order ultimately achieved its goal of victory through its own martial arts. How is that the history of a defeated man?”
At the indignant tone, the wrinkles around Beop Gang’s eyes trembled slightly.
His bearing, his philosophy, the insight he possessed—truly, he was worthy of being called the successor of the Divine Fist.
“…Profound words indeed. Your wisdom is correct, benefactor. A single resolve—to fall in one’s own time yet triumph in the ages to come. That was Arahan’s life and his martial legacy.
Beop Gang bowed as if asking for a moment’s patience, then turned toward one corner of the study.
He pressed against the wall, revealing a hidden bookshelf, and between the volumes, he opened what appeared to be a wooden panel in the wall itself.
‘There is more hidden here?’
Beop Gang approached with an ancient-looking tome, a smile gracing his lips.
“Do read this as well.”
Cheon So-hyun accepted the book with a bewildered expression.
[Arahan’s Luminous Body.]
His expression transformed instantly into one of confusion. It was a martial art even he, from his previous life, had never encountered.
“I have never seen this martial art before… What is this?”
“Though Arahan was renowned for his martial prowess, in truth he was like the very root from which we scholar-monks grew. By his command, we began organizing, preserving, and maintaining the scriptures—this was the beginning of the Scripture Repository. Following his wishes, we have kept not only his records but his martial arts separately as well.”
“Then this is…”
Beop Gang nodded.
“A secret manual passed down through generations to each abbot. A martial art compiled by Arahan in the twilight of his life—an incomplete technique.”
As he gestured for me to examine it, Cheon So-hyun carefully turned the first page.
A soft rustle.
‘How different.’
The Arahan Light Body was fundamentally different from the other martial arts Arahan had left behind. Rather than enlightenment regarding martial technique, it was a record of his confusion, affliction, and suffering laid bare without filter.
I naturally came to understand why it could not be made public to the outside world. It was not a martial principle worthy of transmission to Shaolin’s Martial Monks.
From the beginning, I had not been overwhelmed by Cheonsin.
A surge of vital energy.
Whenever Cheonsin engaged in combat, he invariably entered an awakened state.
Even his lightest palm strikes unleashed power reminiscent of the changing seasons, and each time I found myself on the defensive.
The source of this awakening was not difficult to deduce.
The circulation of yin and yang. By masterfully manipulating the impossible with his own will, he had achieved the unorthodox technique of defying heaven.
I resolved to retrace that martial art and establish the answer.
By opposing the defiance of heaven, I aimed for the natural way.
‘…Was he seeking the answer in Cheonsin’s martial arts?’
The Arahan Light Body contained insights into Cheonsin’s techniques. Before spirit and flesh could wither, he had poured his all into seeking a final means to achieve victory over him.
Yet it did not unfold as intended. It was an impasse from the very first step.
‘The problem lay in obtaining opposing forces.’
However, for Cheon So-hyun, this passage resonated in an entirely different way.
‘If this is the case….’
A bluish gleam flickered across his eyes.
A force opposing Buddhist dharma. That very objective which Arahan had attempted countless times and failed to achieve was already contained within his body.
“If you have taken interest, would it not be fitting for you, Benefactor Cheon, to complete it yourself?”
“…Pardon? Me?”
Beop Gang nodded.
“Since you comprehend the intention woven into the martial art so completely, should karmic fortune align, you will surely find a path forward as well.”
“Is that not something anyone who has read the records would understand?”
Beop Gang wore a benevolent smile.
“To speak candidly… I made this decision after witnessing the insights you left in the Hye Gwang Divine Fist. The meaning contained in each phrase is profound and deeply suggestive. I could not help but marvel at my conviction that it would become a beacon of light for future Martial Monks.”
“….”
“This too is a precious karmic connection. Should you complete it and return it to the Main Temple, I would be truly grateful.”
Cheon So-hyun gazed down at the tome for a moment. The final legacy left by Arahan, a life marked by frustration and affliction.
Though an incomplete technique, it possessed boundless potential beyond any other martial art.
“Well, if you speak with such conviction….”
The corners of his mouth rose faintly. He had obtained a secret manual beyond even his wildest hopes.
“I shall attempt to complete it.”

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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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