Heavenly Demon Divine Saint - Chapter 29

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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 29
Unam Peak, Yi Ma-je’s Dwelling.
“Just a bit more! A bit more! We’re almost there!”
“Nnnngh!”
I gritted my teeth and pushed the central pole all the way through.
Thud!
With a dull sound of the metal weight attached to the stone settling into the rack, I exhaled roughly.
Kang Hyun clapped and laughed loudly.
“Excellent, Your Highness! A new record! A new record!”
“Ha! Did you think I’d lose to some hunk of metal?”
“Will you move on to the next one right away?”
“Of course. Let’s just rest for half a quarter hour and move on.”
“Then I’ll give it a try in the meantime.”
“Go ahead.”
How many days had it been now? I was training external martial arts in Yi Ma-je’s Dwelling, synchronized with Kang Hyun’s breathing.
Ordinarily, training is a process of overcoming oneself, so there would be no need to synchronize breathing with another person.
“Nnngh! Ugh! Your Highness! P-please…!”
“You can do it! Grit your teeth and push through!”
“I-I can’t. I’m going to die… Ugh!”
After being crushed beneath increasingly heavier stones several times, I finally reconsidered my approach.
“Pathetic wretch, losing to a mere hunk of metal. You’ll go hungry today—not even a bowl of rice is worth wasting on you.”
“Cough… I thought I was going to die. But I’m the one who cooks the rice.”
“Quiet. Get it ready.”
“Yes, sir.”
Of course, under normal circumstances, I could have lifted this weight easily with one hand.
However, Kang Hyun and I had strictly forbidden the use of inner energy while training in the Training Ground.
The goal was to draw out the body’s inherent strength—to focus solely on building raw physical power.
Because of this, there were times I found myself crushed and flailing about like before, but in extreme situations, squeezing out strength for survival led to rapid growth.
‘Thanks to that, I’ve improved considerably.’
Nearly a month of training had woven my muscles tightly together, and my body had become far more solid. I couldn’t claim it was magnificent by any measure, but compared to before, the change was undeniably remarkable.
“Phew. If you’ve rested enough, shall we begin?”
“Yes.”
Kang Hyun picked up something that looked like a shield and held it out in front of him.
It was a scale from Poison Horn Demon Beast.
When Kang Hyun had gone to fetch Yi Ma-je and Dokgak Wang, he’d brought it back to gauge whether I could handle it alone, and now I was using it.
I hadn’t managed to break it yet, nor even bend it, but that didn’t matter.
I was nearly ready.
“You said you’d try a different method today. How are you planning to do it?”
“Let’s see… This should work.”
I lifted a pole with no stones attached to it.
Whoosh! Whoosh!!
Then, spinning like a windmill, I thrust the staff into the empty air.
For a moment my center of gravity lurched forward, but my lower body, honed through relentless training, remained rooted to the earth like an ancient tree.
“Oh? You’ve mastered staff technique as well?”
“I have.”
Shaolin’s essence shines brightest in the Eighteen Arhats Palm, but naturally that wasn’t everything. The Janggyeong Pavilion housed the secret manuals of all Eighteen Weapons Under Heaven.
In my past life, I had devoted myself so deeply to the Eighteen Arhats Palm that I never studied other martial arts, but when it came to staff technique, I had enough insight to offer guidance to the Masters.
-Ah, please stop now! Why do you keep taking others’ things and tormenting them…
-Tormenting? Let me show you what real tormenting looks like.
‘Tsk tsk, and he calls himself a Buddhist.’
When there is no ‘self’ to begin with, where could my possessions possibly exist?
I erased the image of that Master spitting his words at me so carelessly, and focused entirely on the movements of my body.
With each step forward, I extended the staff, leaned back, generated elasticity, and continued the forms. This was Shaolin’s staff technique—the Demon-Subduing Staff.
“Let’s test it. Come at me properly.”
“Yes, I’m coming, Your Highness!”
Kang Hyun gripped the scales and thrust them forward. I steadied my breathing, then swung the iron staff with fierce force.
Boom!
The moment the staff collided with the scales, a heavy impact transmitted through both my hands. My palms, forearms, and shoulders began to tremble violently.
Clang!
My grip weakened from exhaustion and I lost hold of the staff, but…
“Success, Your Highness!”
A massive hole had been driven through the scales that had seemed as solid as a fortress wall.
* * *
Yi Ma-je rose at dawn as always and made his way to the Training Ground.
After settling his breathing and completing his meditation, he took up his staff and continued his practice.
Then he suddenly sensed something amiss. There was only one presence felt from his Dwelling.
‘So it was merely words after all.’
Just then, Kang Hyun emerged from the Dwelling and bowed respectfully.
“Did you sleep well, Master?”
“Yes.”
“Master.”
Yi Ma-je answered indifferently, continuing to swing his staff.
“What is it?”
“About an hour ago, the Third Prince departed.”
“I know.”
“That is… what you’re thinking and what I know seem to be slightly different.”
When Yi Ma-je lowered his staff and looked at him, Kang Hyun continued.
“The Third Prince has gone to harvest Solitary Herb.”
“…He’s already left?”
“Yes, he said he was finally getting the hang of it, so he departed at dawn.”
Yi Ma-je’s eyebrows rose at an angle.
He was aware that the Third Prince had pierced through the scales using the Seal Technique.
However, that was ultimately all it amounted to. There was no way he could contend with the beast merely by piercing a single scale.
The Poison Horn Demon Beast was a spiritual creature covered from head to tail in scales as hard as steel.
‘Has he succumbed to impatience and acted recklessly?’
Just as Yi Ma-je swallowed a silent sigh, Kang Hyun withdrew a wooden box and offered it to him.
“And he left this for you.”
“What is it?”
Click.
As Kang Hyun opened the box, a medicinal herb radiating pristine white luminescence revealed itself. Yi Ma-je regarded him with a rare expression of astonishment.
“As you can see, it is Solitary Herb. Moreover, it appears to be of superior grade—if you already possessed one, why did he depart…?”
He hardened his expression and asked again.
“Where are the scales of the Poison Horn Demon Beast?”
* * *
Boom!
I sprinted along the mountain ridge, staff gripped in one hand. As my physical cultivation ascended, the spiritual energy circulated through my meridians with accelerating velocity.
“Hehehehe. Excellent!”
At last, my inner and outer cultivation had achieved a harmonious balance. With each thrust against the earth, explosive force surged forth. My body, tempered by external cultivation, was finally channeling the energy properly.
Boom! Boom!
I traversed the mountain path with renewed elasticity in my lightness technique, and after an extended run, I arrived at a place shrouded in pale mist.
‘Is this the place?’
The sight of rocks tinged with verdant hues confirmed I had found the right location.
“Phew, where are you?”
I wiped the sweat from my brow and surveyed the surroundings.
I detected the presence of the Poison Horn Demon Beast among the towering trees and boulders, yet it was nowhere to be seen.
‘Since the mist hasn’t dissipated, it must be in this region somewhere…’
Once I ventured into that mist, my inner cultivation would be useless. I freely poured my spiritual energy through my palms, heating my iron staff to blazing white intensity before stepping into the mist.
That was when it happened.
“…What, what is this?!”
It felt as though I had inhaled poison itself. Pain radiated from the tip of my nose throughout my entire body.
The white flames atop the staff extinguished in an instant.
I reflexively attempted to draw upon my energy, but only a suffocating sensation of blocked meridians flooded through me—nothing responded to my will.
My inner cultivation’s circulation had been obstructed.
‘This fast?’
Faced with this bizarre situation, I immediately retreated beyond the mist, and my spiritual energy surged forth with its usual ferocity.
‘It has no effect outside.’
The creature seemed to be a spiritual being guarding its own domain, so I would be safe beyond its reach.
‘In any case, I must first locate the Solitary Herb.’
I reaffirmed my objective and took another step forward.
“Let’s go.”
I pushed through the misty fog, my eyes wide open as I searched for the Solitary Herb gleaming with pure white radiance among the lush vegetation.
I turned over rocks and examined trees, moving slowly and meticulously through every crevice lest I miss it.
After advancing without any particular success, the moment I reached the central area.
Whoooooosh—
“…!”
A sound like a ghost wailing echoed from somewhere. It was an eerie noise that made my entire body bristle with goosebumps and set all my senses on edge.
Gulp.
‘So it’s the Poison Horn Demon Beast.’
Yet when I looked around, the Poison Horn Demon Beast was nowhere to be seen. In an instant, startled by the eerie sound coming from behind me, I spun around, but all I saw was the thick, swirling mist.
Whoooosh—
A sound like it was toying with its prey.
‘This bastard thinks it can play games with me…’
Irritated at being treated like a plaything, I felt heat surge through me unbidden.
“If you’re going to interfere, slither out here now, you snake! I’ll tear you apart from top to bottom and make snake soup out of you….”
Screeeech!
Before I could finish speaking, the eerie sound pierced the air again.
Louder than before and much closer.
“Where are you?!”
Drip.
As I looked around frantically, liquid dripped onto my head from above. I slowly looked up.
‘No way…’
It couldn’t be, could it?
Through the dense foliage, I caught sight of something gleaming with silver radiance.
For a moment I was confused whether it was floating in mid-air, but looking more carefully, that wasn’t it. The part coiled around the tree was brown, but only the scales above shimmered with silver light.
Had it learned to disguise itself to guard the Solitary Herb?
‘Damn it… is that a snake or a dragon?’
Kyaaaaaaack!
The Poison Horn Demon Beast, its tongue flicking, shrieked and lunged at me.
Boom!
I quickly retreated backward. The ground where it struck trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
“Alright, I’ve been waiting for you!”
I regained my balance and thrust my staff forward with fierce momentum. A strike from the Demon-Subduing Staff technique struck directly against the densely packed scales.
But.
Thud.
The impact sound was light.
It had almost no effect—as if I’d merely scratched its back.
But it didn’t matter. I had prepared for this.
“You picked the wrong opponent, you snake!!”
Boom!
I gripped the iron staff firmly and stepped into True Angle. As the iron staff, superheated with Spiritless Energy, bit into the scales, brilliant white smoke erupted.
Kyaaaaaaagh!
Poison Horn Demon Beast thrashed in agony. Now that I’d confirmed its scales were vulnerable to heat, I drove the staff deeper with renewed force to subdue it.
Then.
Kwakwakwakwang!
‘What… what is that…!’
A massive tail shattered through trees and came crashing toward me in an instant. One direct hit and I’d be done for, so I desperately raised the staff to block.
Bang! Screeeech!
A terrifying recoil surged through the iron staff as it collided with the tail. The staff, bent like a bowstring, finally couldn’t withstand the impact and flew far away.
I, still gripping the staff tightly, was sent flying backward by that force. My vision inverted as I crashed, and I heard the sickening sound of trees splintering on impact.
“Cough… cough!”
Only after destroying several trees could I finally stop. My breath caught in my throat from the overwhelming impact, but I managed to get up.
Kyaaaaaaagh!
And Poison Horn Demon Beast charged at me with even fiercer momentum.
‘This won’t do.’
I kicked off the ground and leaped upward.
Poison Horn Demon Beast’s head tore through the earth as it passed beneath my feet, and I rotated my body once before landing on top of it.
“You picked the wrong person to mess with, you bastard!”
Thang! Thang! Thang! Thang!!
I clamped my thighs firmly around its body and rained down blow after blow with the staff.
The creature writhed and thrashed, but I clung on relentlessly, pounding at its scales. After several powerful strikes, the scales finally crumpled and silver fragments flew upward.
‘This is it!’
I drove the glowing red staff into the exposed flesh where the armor had been torn away. As the staff seared through the tissue and dug deeper.
Screeeeeech!
Poison Horn Demon Beast let out a deafening roar and reared up.
“…Huh?”
I wasn’t sure if a snake without limbs could even rear up, but in any case, its head was shooting skyward like it was ascending to heaven.
“Grrrrrrgh.”
I felt my chest heave in the fierce wind. I barely grabbed a passing branch to escape before looking up.
“…!”
Kyaaaaaaagh!
The creature, now at a dizzying height, swelled its body and radiated killing intent. It was far more enraged than before, its aura dripping with murderous fury.
“Damn it, now it wants me to catch that…?”
Kyaaaaaaagh!
The moment Poison Horn Demon Beast’s body plunged toward the ground, I kicked off a branch and launched myself into the air.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!
The earth trembled as if a meteor had fallen, and I was struck by the tail coming from an unexpected angle, sent flying once more.
“Cough!”
I spat out a mouthful of blood as I got to my feet.
Kyaaaaaaagh!
Having decided to end this, Poison Horn Demon Beast charged with its jaws wide open.
The iron staff was already snapped in half. In an instant, I was left with nothing but my bare fists.
“Heh.”
Laughter escaped my lips unbidden.
Of course, it wasn’t despair or a fleeting glimpse of mortality that seized me.
Boom!
“We’re outside the mist now, you stupid serpent!!”
I drew upon my full strength, channeling the Limitless Qi through my body. Twisting my ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders in sequence, I drove a single devastating punch straight into Poison Horn Demon Beast’s skull.
Crack!
The massive body lurched from the impact of my fist, and as I twisted my wrist, an explosion erupted—sending the creature hurtling through the air before it crashed hard against the ground.
“Phew.”
As I swept away the dust cloud, I saw Poison Horn Demon Beast lying belly-up, gurgling weakly.
“A creature not even worth a single punch, yet it dared to act so arrogant.”
Intoxicated by the exhilaration of vanquishing the spiritual beast after such a fierce battle, I suddenly remembered what I had forgotten—and turned my head.
‘That’s right. The Solitary Herb!’
But the ground was torn and gouged, the entire area devastated beyond recognition. Only the tragic remnants of battle remained—finding even a single weed among the wreckage seemed impossible, let alone the Solitary Herb.
“Heh… what am I to do now.”
Should I tell Yi Ma-je that this harvest has been ruined?

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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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