Heavenly Demon Divine Saint - Chapter 9

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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 9
Crack!
Sa Ma-ryang swiftly deflected the palm strike hurtling toward his face.
Having continuously honed his martial arts even while mastering medicine, he deftly blocked the palm technique.
“Are you serious?”
“I’m always serious.”
In terms of inner energy, I was clearly at a disadvantage. No matter how rapidly I’d elevated my martial prowess, my body had been bedridden for over half a year.
‘But that doesn’t mean I’m without options.’
Cheon So-hyun brushed aside our locked hands and began drawing upon all the martial techniques I’d accumulated over time.
Crack.
Cheon So-hyun ground my teeth together as I unfurled the Great Luo Palm with both hands.
The Great Luo Palm—unlike Shaolin’s conventional martial techniques that pursued gradual mastery, it featured steep initial progress but diminishing returns at its peak. It was a palm method with such characteristics.
I hadn’t favored it in my past life, but with my current inner energy, it was the optimal and best approach, so I pressed Sa Ma-ryang with the Great Luo Palm.
Boom!
The impact that shook the valley sent Sa Ma-ryang stumbling backward repeatedly. His expression hardened visibly.
‘He’s already recovered to this extent?’
A rigid force transmitted directly through our connected hands. As the attending physician who had continuously monitored his condition, Sa Ma-ryang was even more flustered.
“Your martial prowess… you’ve elevated it far more steeply than anticipated. That’s an unfamiliar palm technique—what martial art is it?”
“Stop your prattling and face me with full strength. You said you’d directly stop this rebellion and treason, didn’t you?”
Boom!
Cheon So-hyun’s eyes flickered with darkness.
Drawing upon my martial techniques, I unleashed the Great Luo Palm in rapid succession. It wasn’t a martial art I should have revealed in the heart of the Demonic Sect, yet I paid it no mind.
‘Amitabha Buddha!’
Due to the long isolation, the Demonic Sect rarely had opportunities to encounter Shaolin’s martial arts. But even if they had encountered them countless times, it wouldn’t have mattered.
Martial Monk—the one called Divine Fist beyond being the greatest martial artist in the Realm. A master who had reached the pinnacle of a single discipline, transcending the forms and patterns of martial arts themselves.
I had refined and transformed Shaolin’s martial arts to suit my temperament, and atop that, demonic energy now layered itself.
I was certain that even if a group of bald-headed senior brothers came rushing over, they wouldn’t recognize it.
Boom!
Sa Ma-ryang, pushed back in a sliding motion, clenched his teeth firmly. The situation had already become unfavorable. I couldn’t afford to be pushed back any further.
“I must act with discourtesy. Please forgive me.”
Sa Ma-ryang gathered his inner energy and attempted a counterattack. He struck Cheon So-hyun’s palm technique from the side and, gliding with his footwork, burrowed into close range.
Boom!
Then he unleashed a punch directly at my face. Cheon So-hyun swiftly blocked it with my hand, but Sa Ma-ryang didn’t lose momentum.
Rotating with the direction of force to narrow the distance further, he aimed at my entire body while rapidly extending his fists.
Thrusting, sweeping, striking downward—the relentless combinations left no room to breathe, and Cheon So-hyun’s brow furrowed deeply.
‘What is this man?’
I thought he was a pale scholar absorbed in medicine? I expected the match to end pathetically, but Sa Ma-ryang’s martial arts were surprisingly respectable.
Footwork, palm techniques, and leg techniques—his entire body moved with seamless balance and no wasted motion, each technique connecting with increasing speed.
Sa Ma-ryang’s voice dropped low.
“Young Master, please say this was a jest. That you were merely making your usual mischievous joke, and then nothing will come to pass.”
“Well, I don’t have a habit of lying.”
Cheon So-hyun drew a deep breath, scraping together every ounce of demonic energy from his dantian as he launched his counterattack.
Thud.
Cheon So-hyun stamped his foot down with precision, driving it deep to block Sa Ma-ryang’s movement before unleashing a palm strike.
Boom!
As Sa Ma-ryang’s hand collided with empty air, I felt the solid force of his inner power through the contact.
‘Amitabha Buddha!’
The gap in our inner strength was painfully apparent, yet he remained undeterred. Inner power’s importance could be explained until one’s mouth grew weary, but it was far from the sole determinant of martial prowess.
“Cough!”
With a single move, Sa Ma-ryang was driven backward, coughing violently. He widened the distance between them, his expression bewildered.
‘…What was that?’
The sudden shift in the exchange had caught him off guard, allowing a strike to land on his abdomen. That radical transformation left Sa Ma-ryang thoroughly shaken.
Techniques, refined through endless practice, shed their excess and simplify their movements, eventually converging into an optimal form.
As unnecessary motions vanish, the efficiency of power maximizes, yet conversely, one becomes bound by that very framework.
After thousands upon thousands of repetitions, the flow continues inertially, resisting any deviation.
Thus, Sa Ma-ryang had discerned the technique by reading the angles of his upper body, the direction of his weight distribution, and the trajectory of his hands.
Yet when the form suddenly twisted, he had allowed a strike through.
Like a river changing course when it meets a stone, the trajectory had transformed, carving a new path.
‘He’s not bound by form or technique… Is such a thing even possible?’
Even if bound by a framework, martial artists labor to refine their techniques precisely because power diminishes the moment one deviates from the prescribed form.
Yet the Third Prince’s palm technique showed no interruption in flow. Rather than weakening, its power intensified, carrying immense weight.
“Why are you lost in thought? Having second thoughts now?”
“…!”
Sa Ma-ryang hastily moved to block the palm strike rushing toward his face.
Boom!
And Cheon So-hyun’s arm bent with fluid grace.
After striking Sa Ma-ryang’s shoulder with a broad palm, he wrapped the man’s arm like a serpent as he reflexively retreated.
“…!”
He immediately pressed the vital point at the elbow to disrupt the flow of qi, pouring all his strength into his grip to suppress him.
But.
‘I cannot retreat.’
Sa Ma-ryang’s trembling arm held firm. He squeezed the power from his dantian, gathering his strength to force through the gap.
“I’ll end this now.”
Sa Ma-ryang immediately drove his knee upward. His leg technique pierced through the wall of air, targeting Cheon So-hyun’s abdomen.
At that moment, Cheon So-hyun pulled the grasped arm with all his might.
“Yes, let’s do this.”
Sa Ma-ryang’s center of gravity wavered. Cheon So-hyun seized the opening without hesitation, striking his chest with a sweeping blow before immediately driving a fist into his abdomen.
“…!”
As breathing became difficult, Sa Ma-ryang’s openings multiplied.
Cheon So-hyun regarded him with darkened eyes and asked.
“You’re even putting on a shabby act now, you fool. What are you doing?”
“…I merely did my best. Acting? What do you mean by that?”
“Not about martial prowess—I mean your opposition to the Great Undertaking. You’ve been eyeing me suspiciously this whole time, haven’t you?”
Sa Ma-ryang regarded him with a hardened expression, his gaze piercing as though he had seen through every hidden thought. The man’s lips parted with difficulty.
“…Before this ends, I wish to hear your true intentions, sir. Why do you oppose the Great Undertaking?”
“There’s no need to ask why. It’s something that must not come to pass.”
“Yet it is a grand aspiration cherished by all our followers. How can you say it must not happen?”
“Whether it’s an aspiration or not is irrelevant. What matters is human life.”
“Human life?”
“How many will die in the Sect’s advance? A hundred? A thousand? I’d wager the numbers would become meaningless to count. We’re not opening the gates for pleasant conversation, after all. Blood calamities will erupt across the Realm.”
Sa Ma-ryang’s brow furrowed.
“Such consequences are an inevitable sequence and process of the Great Undertaking. To oppose it for merely that reason….”
Cheon So-hyun cut him off with a firm voice.
“Those who die won’t be martial artists alone. The powerless, those ignorant of martial arts, will be swept away most pathetically.”
Sa Ma-ryang’s brow tightened slightly. As he pressed his lips firmly together, Cheon So-hyun let out a soft laugh.
‘As expected.’
Reasons for preventing the Demonic Sect’s advance came to mind by the dozens. Yet the reason I mentioned human life was simple.
It stemmed from how Sa Ma-ryang approached medicine. The attitude he had consistently displayed would have been impossible unless his true purpose was saving lives.
“What are you, anyway?”
“…Pardon?”
“Why have you been putting on an act that doesn’t even work? You’re embarrassing yourself.”
Sa Ma-ryang’s eyes twitched.
“…You knew all along.”
“Who do you take me for a fool? It would be strange not to know. A physician well-versed in blood vessels not using concealment techniques, nor harboring killing intent or even enmity in his moves.”
“….”
“If you weren’t trying to deceive your opponent, then you were deliberately putting on an act, wouldn’t you say?”
A heavy silence hung between them.
Sa Ma-ryang’s face grew complicated as his eyes darted about. His deliberation was so transparent that Cheon So-hyun waited quietly for his answer.
Soon, Sa Ma-ryang bowed his head.
“I apologize. I presumed to assess your true intentions without permission. My disrespectful words and conduct surely deserve no forgiveness. Yet had I not confirmed it this way….”
“Enough. Tell me the circumstances. Why did you do something so ill-suited to you?”
“…In truth, I harbor doubts just as you do.”
“And you thought I’d already seen through you?”
Sa Ma-ryang nodded.
“Yes. When you mentioned the Military Council, I wondered if you had already discerned my reservations, or if perhaps you yourself harbored doubts about the Great Undertaking. However, it seemed unlikely that a descendant of the Cheon Family would oppose it….”
“So you pushed to find out regardless.”
“That is correct.”
Sa Ma-ryang swallowed before continuing.
“Still, preventing the Great Undertaking will be a difficult path, no matter who you are. Even calling it a thorny road would be an understatement. Are you truly resolved in your determination?”
Cheon So-hyun let out a soft laugh.
“I never thought it would be easy. Even if I ran around in all directions, there’s a high chance of failure. Without an exceptional ally by my side, I wouldn’t even be able to start.”
Sa Ma-ryang met my gaze. His eyes were resolute, as if he had already decided on a direction. Reading his intent, Sa Ma-ryang finally offered a faint smile.
“An exceptional ally, you say… You’re giving me too much credit.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? I never said it was you.”
Sa Ma-ryang’s eyes widened in surprise as he made a strange sound.
“Ah…! Hmm, ahem! My apologies.”
The embarrassed, unpretentious smile he wore was identical to the Physician I had known before.
“Anyway, why are you opposed to this? If it’s the same as defying the Cult Leader as you say, it would be a difficult thought for the disciples to harbor.”
“To summarize, it’s for the sake of human life. My opinion is similar to yours. The problem is that I haven’t yet found a strategy worthy of the name… No matter which direction I consider, it feels like starting from the bottom, leaving me at a loss.”
“Even so, things will be different now.”
“Yes?”
“The same words and actions will carry different weight from now on, won’t they?”
Sa Ma-ryang’s pupils trembled slightly.
To oppose the expansion into the Central Plains. It was a sin equivalent to betraying and trampling upon the disciples’ desires. One could call it a heretical thought, barely worthy of being harbored, yet Sa Ma-ryang understood it keenly.
‘If it’s the Third Prince, things are different.’
The Cheon Family.
The divine bloodline that had become the pillar of the Heavenly Demon Cult throughout its long history. Their footsteps were always followed by the disciples’ praise and faith, so expressing dissent could not easily be made an issue.
It would be impossible to quell the Sect’s intention of expanding into the Central Plains with mere words, but the words of such noble blood could not help but make even the leadership of the Sect listen.
‘Did you know from the beginning?’
It was a completely unexpected response. Didn’t it mean that just as I had observed the Master, the Master had also gauged me?
‘…A descendant of the Cheon Family?’
From the moment of birth, he had been raised receiving the worship and praise of all the Divine Sect’s people. Yet despite that, he had taken the trouble to share his thoughts with me and understand my heart, and I felt a surge of emotion wash over me.
But contrary to such admiration.
“Is this fool still not properly enlightened? What are you doing? Sleeping?”
“…Yes?”
Cheon So-hyun’s brow furrowed sharply.
“You’re standing in front of a person and thinking so intently about something—have you no manners?”

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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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