Obtaining Heavenly Demon Martial Arts in the Magic Era - Chapter 60

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

60
Time flows onward.
‘How long has it been?’
He’d stopped counting the sparring matches once the numbers climbed past three digits.
Fight, lose, and fight again—a relentless cycle of desperate learning, all to pass through.
Somewhere around the fortieth opponent, something shifted.
‘I think… I’m beginning to understand. The meaning of this test.’
Cheon Do-hyeon felt it too.
‘Martial Technique evolves with each generation.’
The same skill employed differently.
The emphasis, the focus—all of it changes.
‘The Divine Techniques of the Heavenly Demon must be woven together organically. You’re wielding each one as if it were a separate tool.’
One Heavenly Demon spoke of the flow between techniques.
‘Do you still have Inner Force Energy left? When you deploy a technique, do it with care—strike with the resolve of absolute victory!’
Another taught him about the power behind Divine Techniques.
‘Little one, every time you use a technique, you’re announcing yourself like a merchant hawking wares: “Alright, now I’m bringing out my great technique!”
A truly threatening technique must come when the opponent least expects it.’
One more offered wisdom on concealment.
At first, he understood nothing. After absorbing each overwhelming demonstration,
‘One says this, then immediately the opposite—the instructions keep changing!’
He’d been nothing but confused.
Yet to pass the test, he had to embody the examiner’s intent perfectly,
so he swallowed his frustration and forced his body to learn through sheer effort.
And then—
as these accumulated teachings layered from the first generation through the fortieth, he finally perceived it.
‘None of them found the true answer either.’
From the first Heavenly Demon to those of the forty-something generations, the grain of martial technique had shifted with the times.
No single technique held the same understanding across all of them.
The Heavenly Demon was a divine being of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.
Among all the Murim, he was numbered among the strongest, the most fearsome.
Even they had failed to derive a single correct answer from the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique.
So then, why perform the Succession Ceremony at all?
As the ritual progressed, what became dimly clear was…
‘Perhaps the Succession Ceremony means…’
to witness the Divine Techniques of every generation,
‘and discover your own understanding.’
With that realization, his sparring with each Heavenly Demon became far richer.
He tried to inscribe in his body the subtleties they sought to impart,
and labored to observe their techniques for as long as possible.
‘This is as far as I go.’
“Wait—what you just used wasn’t in the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique. Could I see it one more time?”
‘…Ha-ha-haha! What an interesting young thing. Let me teach you something. The Heavenly Demon Divine Technique is…’
Through this, he learned a new truth.
‘By now you’ve grasped it—the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique is a secret manual compiled by each Heavenly Demon. It’s rewritten anew with each succession. What you hold in your hands now… in modern terms, you might call it Heavenly Demon Divine Technique version 47.’
“…!”
Some removed certain Divine Techniques from the compilation along the way,
while others created and added entirely new ones.
Thus it was endlessly revised and refined—the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique.
In other words, the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique in Do-hyeon’s hands
‘was the version his father had compiled…!’
And now, as Cheon Do-hyeon underwent his transformation into the new Heavenly Demon,
he walked the very path that Cheon Song-gyeong had once walked,
standing at the moment when he must create his own version of the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique.
A deep hum resonated through the air—
Though Cheon Do-hyeon didn’t realize it, the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique cradled in his embrace
was undergoing subtle changes with each sparring match against his predecessors.
‘When you have time later, take out the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique and have a look. Something interesting will be happening.’
These were the parting words of Moo-young, the senior of the forty-first generation,
and with that, he drew the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique from his breast.
“What? Why is it so thick now!”
The thickness of the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique had grown exponentially.
Because he couldn’t meet the conditions to progress and was bound by the restriction that he couldn’t turn pages arbitrarily,
he had confirmed only up to the Absorption Technique, the Heavenly Demon Phantom Step, the Heavenly Demon Descent Step, and the Heavenly Demon Sword Technique.
But then,
the Heavenly Demon Hidden Step and the Heavenly Demon Divine Fist—
between the martial techniques that Cheon Do-hyeon could access,
the fist art displayed by Gwang-pae, the third Heavenly Demon, and the divine technique shown by Moo-young, the forty-first, had been added.
‘With each match, the divine techniques were…’
accumulating.
‘It’s as if…’
the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique was reverting to its unedited state.
#
After facing fifty or so incarnations of the Heavenly Demon, Do-hyeon’s body and spirit were in tatters.
Yet in his mind, new Martial Principles were steadily taking root.
‘Take this.’
‘And receive this too.’
‘This one’s difficult. Learn it slowly.’
Each of their teachings flowed into Do-hyeon like tributaries of a river,
and they were already swelling into an ocean.
He closed his eyes and consolidated the insights he had learned and absorbed so far.
‘There’s too much…’
He grew anxious that he might forget these precious, unrepeatable experiences,
but he forced himself to steady his mind.
In truth, before now, he had never prepared like this before a match.
But he wanted to be fully prepared for the next opponent.
Because the next-generation Heavenly Demon was…
‘Didn’t I tell you? Didn’t I say I would always be with you?’
Since they were in the Mental Realm, the previous Heavenly Demons could manifest in whatever form they desired.
So most of them had restored their bodies as they were in their prime.
But the man before him bore the appearance of an elderly man past sixty.
A black martial robe.
Deep creases around his eyes.
……
And that appearance was
the driving force that had allowed him to endure the harsh trial called the Succession Ceremony.
A presence he had wanted to see, no matter what trials he had to bear.
A name that haunted him with longing.
‘Why are you standing there like that? Have you already forgotten grandfather’s face?’
It was Cheon Woo-hyeok, the fifty-sixth Heavenly Demon and Do-hyeon’s grandfather.
A stifled sound escaped him.
The moment he saw that face, tears spilled forth without resistance.
A face he thought he would never see again.
“You’ve grown so much younger that I didn’t recognize you. Why were you being so greedy?”
‘I did a bit of grooming just to see my grandson’s face.’
A playful remark tumbled out.
Everything in him wanted to run forward immediately, to clasp him in an embrace,
to abandon all these trials and contests and shout, crying inconsolably, how much he had missed him.
‘Do-hyeon.’
Cheon Woo-hyeok looked at Do-hyeon.
‘Let grandfather see how much you’ve grown.’
……
As if he had read his heart, he spoke with eyes that seemed to counsel patience.
‘Not now. There will be another opportunity.’
That was what he seemed to be saying.
When Cheon Woo-hyeok extended his hand into empty air,
a Fist Gauntlet with intricate ornaments suddenly appeared on his fist.
He had trained in worldly martial arts under his grandfather Cheon Woo-hyeok,
and through that process had engaged in countless matches,
yet he had never had the chance to truly witness his grandfather’s martial technique.
So the present moment felt both familiar and strange.
‘So Grandfather was a master of the fist arts….’
This realization came as a shock.
Do-hyeon drew forth his most reliable weapon.
Snap-snap-snap!
The Three-Section Staff expanded fully in three stages.
“Here I come…!”
『…I’m coming.』
The stances of both fighters mirrored each other perfectly in that instant.
The angle and posture of each footfall.
The shape of their bodies as they propelled forward.
Even the shift in balance.
Do-hyeon had trained every subtle movement under Woo-hyeok’s instruction and mastered it flawlessly.
Crash—boom—boom—
In the center of the Training Ground, Woo-hyeok’s fist and Do-hyeon’s Three-Section Staff extended simultaneously and collided.
The black Inner Force Energy clashed in rapid succession.
Crash-boom, crash-boom, crash-boom-boom—
The Training Ground could not withstand the impact and began to shatter.
Both fighters moved at a speed the naked eye could scarcely follow.
From a distance, they looked like a video with dropped frames.
Their intense exchange of blows could be gauged by the sporadic explosions tearing through the Training Ground floor, as if it were being pounded by artillery.
『You’ve become quite capable. Shall I turn up the heat a bit?』
In truth, cold sweat was breaking across Do-hyeon’s brow.
Woo-hyeok’s martial prowess was on par with Gwang-pae, the Third Heavenly Demon, once hailed as the greatest master of the fist arts.
And now he wanted to escalate further?
“Grandfather, wait a moment….”
[Absorption Divine Technique—Absorption Demonic Domain]
It wasn’t called the Absorption Technique.
Which meant Woo-hyeok had brought the Absorption Technique to its apex.
And the martial art now unfolded before Do-hyeon’s eyes
was the ultimate form of the Absorption Technique that he himself must one day reach.
Whoooooosh—
The ambient energy twisted around Woo-hyeok as its center.
Whenever he moved, all the surrounding Inner Force Energy surged toward him and was drawn in.
“The Absorption Technique—continuous vacuum?”
The Absorption Demonic Domain was an application of the Absorption Technique’s vacuum that Do-hyeon had only deployed sparingly, now manifested as a constant state…!
‘I need to create distance.’
He reasoned that such an overwhelmingly broken technique couldn’t have an infinitely wide domain.
So he tried to retreat,
『Where do you think you’re going?』
[Heavenly Demon Descent Step]
Do-hyeon was well acquainted with this divine technique. But its power was on another level entirely.
Rummmmmmmble—
A crushing pressure bore down on Do-hyeon.
Up to this point, he recognized the Heavenly Demon Descent Step well. But—
“……!”
A phantom appeared.
An illusion where Woo-hyeok’s body swelled like that of a giant, crushing down upon Do-hyeon.
Crack—crack—
The eyes of Woo-hyeok gazing down at Do-hyeon
held the cold indifference of someone flicking a finger to squash an insect before them.
A murderous intent stripped of all feeling.
The terror and oppression radiating from that gaze sent cold sweat cascading across Do-hyeon’s entire body.
His body pressed into the ground.
And a fear far greater than the crushing pressure consumed him.
‘I’m… going to die…!’
Whoooosh—
The moment his will to resist vanished altogether.
Thud—
He found himself giving ground to Woo-hyeok.
To yield distance to a fist master was to mean—
‘Don’t worry. This is the Mental Realm—you won’t die.’
Black Wave Single Strike.
With those final words, consciousness slipped away.
“Haaa—ghk!”
When he came to again,
he gasped for breath like a man pulled fresh from the depths of water.
He pushed himself upright, and there before him stood Cheon Woo-hyeok, regarding him with a tender smile.
‘There’s still much for you to learn from your grandfather, isn’t there? What do you say—will you train, though it will take time?’
He resolved his differences with Cheon Woo-hyeok.
The two conveyed through fists what a hundred words could not,
leaving behind a wisdom deeper than any sparring match.
After the trial ended,
‘There will come a time when we meet again. Have no fear.’
he spoke of days yet to come.
Yet his voice carried a note of concern.
‘The next trial should rightly fall to your father, Cheon Song-gyeong, but……’
His words trailed away as if some unspoken circumstance lay hidden beneath them.
‘Do not despair too greatly if you cannot meet him……’
The moment those words left his lips, Cheon Woo-hyeok’s body went limp like a puppet with its strings cut.
A brief silence fell.
Cheon Do-hyeon swallowed hard.
Now only the final ceremonial steps remained.
The Heavenly Demon who would come next—his immediate predecessor.
The one who had compiled the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique that Do-hyeon had spent his life perfecting.
The one who had united the Martial Alliance,
and fallen in glory during the Great Purification Operation, becoming a legend.
And his own father.
The 57th Heavenly Demon, Cheon Song-gyeong……
‘Mm, mm. You’ve worked hard, heir.’
“……Why have you appeared, First Sovereign?”
Instead of the meeting he had anticipated, the First Heavenly Demon, Moo-geuk, had manifested.
‘Your trial is concluded.’
“But I have not yet encountered the 57th Heavenly Demon.”
‘Hmm, so it is.’
At those words, Moo-geuk stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Then, as if a realization had struck him, he spoke.
‘Heir. The Succession Ceremony permits only those Heavenly Demons who have ascended properly to the Mental Realm to participate.’
“……”
‘If you have not met the 57th Heavenly Demon here in the Mental Realm, then it must be one of two things. Either he did not ascend properly for some reason,’
and from Moo-geuk’s lips came a shocking conjecture.
‘or he is still alive.’
“……!”

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