Reincarnation of the Blood Demon - Chapter 10

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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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Blood Demon Reincarnation
Chapter 10
Your status just rose
“——Young Master!”
Almost the moment Juk Un-hui sent the wall flying, a figure burst through the door.
It was his escort, Ju Yi-gyeom.
Gone was his usual languid demeanor—he stood with a sharp expression, sword already drawn.
After quickly surveying the chamber, Ju Yi-gyeom’s gaze fixed on Juk Un-hui, whose left hand streamed blood.
“……I thought we might be under attack.”
Ju Yi-gyeom’s expression eased, but he cast a glance beyond the shattered wall and clicked his tongue.
“So it was you, Young Master. I nearly made a terrible mistake.”
The aura that had just erupted was unmistakably alien and savage.
True, there had been no sign of intruders approaching the hall, yet one could never be too careful. It hadn’t been an attack after all—but what he saw was far more startling.
‘……Is this what cultivation looks like?’
What in the world had he been doing to reduce the chamber to this state?
And there was one thing that should not have been possible.
‘The frost…….’
Though it was nowhere near the season for it, an impossibly bitter cold dominated the room.
As Ju Yi-gyeom narrowed his eyes, Juk Un-hui let out a soft laugh.
“Your reflexes are sharp. I’d thought you’d be dozing outside by now.”
“A man on wages hardly falls asleep on duty. Though…….”
Ju Yi-gyeom’s eyes sharpened.
“That seemed rather excessive for cultivation. Were you planning to destroy everything you’ve just built?”
It was then that Ma Hyeol-jin and the Red Snake Faction members came bursting in with clattering footsteps.
“What—what is this! What’s happening!”
“This cold…….”
Alarmed by the noise and the bitter chill, they laid eyes on
“It’s freezing.”
The young master, standing with his injured left hand clasped close, blood pouring freely.
The upper garment he’d been wearing was nowhere to be found—torn to shreds.
In sharp contrast to the cold, wisps of hot steam rose from the young master’s bare chest and shoulders.
Though his frame was plainly lean and unremarkable, the commanding presence that enveloped his entire body silenced any thought of speech.
While the Red Snake members stood frozen, Juk Un-hui casually bound the wound with a torn strip of cloth.
“It’s nothing. I simply miscalculated the force.”
“With all respect, the aura seemed far too fierce for a simple miscalculation. What manner of display was that?”
“Enough. My head’s already spinning—don’t make it worse.”
“……Yes, sir.”
Ju Yi-gyeom pressed his lips together with a grimace, and when Juk Un-hui noticed Ma Hyeol-jin standing motionless, his brow furrowed.
“Who said you could enter without permission.”
“I—I apologize. I thought something had happened…….”
Ma Hyeol-jin lowered his head at once, but his eyes darted around the room.
Shredded pieces of the upper garment and the Faction Leader’s collection of luxuries lay scattered everywhere, while the wall—not merely punctured but utterly shattered—had discolored completely and was crumbling to dust.
A sight to make one’s hair stand on end.
‘What in the world did he do?’
In barely any time at all, he’d managed to destroy the entire furnishings. And this inexplicable cold—what was that about?
Even Juk Un-hui, the one who had wrought this devastation, seemed genuinely bewildered.
‘I had no idea it would be this strong.’
A boy of unusual constitution who had only just reached Initial Mastery Stage—how much Evil Qi could have accumulated in his body?
He’d judged it not especially dangerous, and he hadn’t even extracted all of the Evil Qi.
Yet the results were far from trivial.
‘In terms of Internal Power……nearly a decade’s worth.’
To expel such an aura in a single burst—he’d nearly sent himself to the underworld.
Looking at the punctured wall, he found it had pierced through two or three layers of stone and left deep scars far beyond.
It was only because he’d directed it to an empty space that the damage was contained; had it struck a person, they would have been obliterated instantly.
All he’d meant to do was improve his constitution, yet he’d inadvertently created an Absolute Technique.
‘Since it’s the inverse of Star Absorption…….’
The Reverse Star True Force.
Yes, that was the proper name.
‘Though only I can use it, it seems.’
An ordinary person would have had their entire upper body torn apart in the process of releasing such power.
Yet this bizarre body had only suffered a punctured palm and hairline fractures in the bone.
‘It looks like frostbite set in as well… but fortunately it’s minor.’
Likely the energy hadn’t lingered in his body but had been expelled immediately, which made such a thing possible.
Juk Un-hui, marveling anew at this impossible durability, turned his gaze away.
“It’s cold indoors. Put this on.”
Ma Hyeol-jin had by then slipped off his own black long robe and held it out respectfully.
“Ha.”
Juk Un-hui chuckled softly as he donned the robe, then opened his mouth.
“Hyeol-jin.”
“Yes, Faction Leader.”
“Take the men and clean this up properly.”
“Understood.”
Then, as an afterthought, he added:
“Starting today, that’s your position.”
“… Yes?”
In an assembly of every Red Snake Faction member, the succession ceremony proceeded without incident.
“Come now, let’s give the new Faction Leader a round of applause.”
Perfunctory applause filled the Fang Zhu Hall, and Ma Hyeol-jin responded with an awkward expression.
Juk Un-hui’s first action after becoming Faction Leader of the Red Snake was cultivation, and the second was succession.
A historic day—when the faction changed leaders twice in a single day.
“I… Faction Leader.”
“You’re the Faction Leader now.”
“Ah, yes. Third Young Master, are you truly certain I should become the Faction Leader?”
“What’s so great about being Faction Leader of the Red Snake? I’m the Third Young Master of the Main Sect.”
“Ah, yes. Of course, but…”
With countless threats looming ahead, he had no time to waste playing Faction Leader in this backwater corner.
Ma Hyeol-jin seemed to possess decent aptitude, so it was most ideal to hand it over to him.
Ma Hyeol-jin’s face bloomed with unexpected fortune.
‘They say even a broken clock is right twice a day. I just struck gold sitting still!’
In truth, he held no deep affection for the Red Snake Faction.
It had merely been the most plausible power base for earning a living in this area.
Yet he’d never dream of throwing himself into the Blood Sect’s Main Branch.
Every disciple dreamed of it, but the Main Branch only accepted those who showed early brilliance among the disciples.
‘I don’t have that caliber.’
Ma Hyeol-jin knew his own limits well.
Now, if he could just settle his finances and open a modest inn somewhere quiet, his retirement would be secure.
Those loyal to him he could hire as staff, and those who weren’t he could simply offer severance to—a clean break for everyone.
Just as he was painting this rosy future, a thunderbolt of speech fell upon him.
“And who said you were being released as independent?”
“Pardon?”
“The Red Snake Faction will be absorbed into my military force. Which means it will become the Red Snake Troop. You’re no longer a Faction Leader—you’re a Troop Commander.”
“… Yes?”
To Ma Hyeol-jin, who doubted what he’d just heard, Juk Un-hui continued brazenly:
“You should be grateful. You’ve risen from mere leader of a third-rate faction to Troop Commander of the Third Young Master’s personal military force. That’s a promotion.”
It was true.
If only that Third Young Master weren’t a man with no power, no backing—a leaf drifting on the Yangtze about to sink.
‘My… my retirement…’
Ma Hyeol-jin’s face went pale, and Juk Un-hui broke into a grin.
“What, you don’t like it?”
“No, no. I’m delighted… truly.”
“If you’re happy, you should smile. I almost got the wrong idea.”
“Ha, ha… haha…!”
For a time, only the hollow laughter of a man who’d lost all hope echoed through the Fang Zhu Hall.
* * *
After the Red Snake Faction Leader succession ceremony, in the Juk Myeong Palace of Namhwa County.
“Are you really letting him have all of it like that? What if the bastard steals everything and runs?”
It was Ju Yi-gyeom, who had until now remained silent, who spoke.
He was almost certainly referring to the wealth and manpower possessed by the Red Snake Faction.
As always, Juk Un-hui answered with an indifferent tone.
“Then it was only ever worth that much. It’s not valuable enough to stake everything defending.”
For Juk Un-hui, who had already tasted the position of the realm’s greatest master, a mere regional sect held little appeal.
Rather, it was the talent within its ranks that captured his interest.
‘Most of them seemed like chaff… but perhaps one or two might prove useful.’
Ma Hyeol-jin, the newly appointed Faction Leader of the Red Snake Faction.
Among them, the one whose mind worked rather well.
Though it remained mere intuition for now, Juk Un-hui trusted his own judgment. Of course, no small part of this confidence stemmed from an indifference that would persist even should he prove wrong.
“If you’re truly so concerned, then observe him awhile.”
With a soft chuckle, Ju Yi-gyeom gave a dismissive shake of his head.
“No, sir. You are not one to act carelessly.”
The manner suggested less genuine conviction than a desire to let the matter drop through sheer apathy.
For a moment, Juk Un-hui considered whether this man truly served as a bodyguard at all, though such concerns were hardly his custom to dwell upon.
“In any case, when did you master the Ice Technique? Such arts are exceedingly rare even within our sect…”
At Ju Yi-gyeom’s sharp inquiry, Juk Un-hui shook his head firmly.
“Not the Ice Technique.”
“Pardon?”
“Merely an uncontrolled mass of qi. One cannot call such a thing martial art.”
It was simply the process of expelling the qi accumulated within his body to the outside.
Only that the qi was so overwhelming that it produced destructive power beyond imagination.
‘If I could master Evil Qi completely, perhaps it would be different…’
Otherwise, to call mere qi dispersal a martial art would be absurd.
“I see…?”
Ju Yi-gyeom’s expression remained uncertain, as though the explanation had not quite taken hold—but Juk Un-hui paid this no mind.
“At any rate, go now. I truly need some rest.”
“Yes, sir. If there is anything else you require, summon me.”
With a respectful bow, Ju Yi-gyeom withdrew from the chamber.
Alone at last, Juk Un-hui turned his gaze from where his attendant had stood to regard his quarters anew.
‘Needlessly sprawling.’
The Juk Myeong Palace, the Third Prince’s secondary residence situated in the heart of Namhwa County, was considerable in scale, yet the scarcity of occupants lent it a desolate air.
Only through the diligent labor of a handful of servants did it maintain decent condition; had they been absent, it would have long since become indistinguishable from an abandoned ruin.
Compared to other princes whose residences boasted martial retinues numbering in the hundreds, this was pitiful indeed.
It spoke volumes of the Third Prince’s standing within the Blood Sect.
‘Why would the Sect Master abandon his own son to this extent?’
Even had the Third Prince been a cripple awaiting death, there seemed no justification for such callous neglect—it appeared a deliberate exclusion altogether.
The placement of Ju Yi-gyeom had likely been the Sect Master’s doing, yet that man bore suspicious marks throughout.
‘What were you thinking, old man?’
The memory Juk Un-hui had gleaned of the Sect Master’s first impression, drawn from the Third Prince’s own recollections, hardened his gaze.
‘Whatever noble cause you harbored, I shall watch carefully.’
Should the Blood Sect have truly devolved into an organization callous enough to discard its own blood without compunction…
Then he himself would step forward to set things right.
And then, at last, the Blood Sect would recognize the return of Hyeol-cheon.
‘But that aside…’
The chill fading from his eyes, Juk Un-hui turned his gaze downward to his bandaged palm.
Above the puncture wound, dried blood pooled in a dark circle.
‘The Evil Qi has decreased considerably.’
Unlike before, when even breathing had been a burden, qi now flowed through his body and his mind felt light.
This differed markedly from the temporary effects induced by expedients like Blood Explosion Thunder.
The malignant qi corroding his body had genuinely departed.
This alone must have extended his lifespan by several years.
‘Yet much remains.’
Though he had expelled a decade’s worth of Evil Qi, a vast reservoir still coiled within his frame, unvented.
So diffusely scattered that even he could not account for it all, yet the mass of qi that had accumulated numbered perhaps dozens of times what he had expelled today.
Through direct experience, he now understood that this Demonic Blood Origin Body was a far more formidable constitution than he had supposed.
‘Is there no other way?’
He could expel it as he had today, certainly, but extracting it thus piecemeal was itself a dangerous undertaking.
The process itself carried risk, and were he to come under assault during purification, he would be defenseless.
Moreover, Evil Qi accumulated even as he sat here now.
Periodic purging became necessary, then—yet a lifetime spent discharging cannon-fire from his palms held scant appeal.
‘Though uncommon in nature, this too is a form of internal power, without question.’
Then it could be harnessed.
‘If I could master the Evil Qi completely and build it deliberately as my own strength…’
As Ju Yi-gyeom had said, only then would he truly possess a martial art worthy of the name Ice Technique.
‘For now, one of my goals is to create a proper Evil Qi Cultivation Method.’
Yet Juk Un-hui’s thoughts did not stop there.
‘Even if I construct such an Evil Qi Cultivation Method, if it cannot harmonize with the Demonic Heaven Blood Sea Technique, its efficiency will plummet.’
Evil Qi and Blood Demonic Qi were fundamentally opposed; at best, if their forces did not collide when used together, that alone would be fortunate.
There was only one way to resolve this.
‘I will need the Divided Mind Technique.’
The Divided Mind Technique was originally an auxiliary method learned to support the mastery of two different martial arts simultaneously.
Yet such martial teachings were rare to begin with, and among those few Divided Mind Techniques that existed, those capable of delivering substantial utility were exceedingly uncommon.
‘Such things would be useless.’
What Juk Un-hui sought was something greater.
Not only Righteous Pure Qi and Blood Demonic Qi, but Evil Qi as well.
He needed a supreme secret art capable of encompassing all the energies in the world.
‘The ones I can recall, at least…….’
The Primordial Unity Qi Cultivation of the Gongdong School.
The Demon Dissolution Chaotic Heaven Technique of the Demonic Sect.
And the Greedy Wolf Dual Soul Heart Method, the exclusive art of the Sadoryeon Sect Master.
If his memory served, those three were the most renowned Divided Mind Techniques in the martial world.
Of course, after five centuries, who could say what had changed.
All things transformed with the passage of time, and martial arts were no exception.
‘What I once knew may have vanished, or entirely new Divided Mind Techniques may have emerged.’
Should he manage to acquire such a technique, much would change.
‘The death energy that fills this body—if Evil Qi is Yin, then the Blood Demonic Qi of the Demonic Heaven Blood Sea Technique is Yang.’
Human blood was itself a substance directly connected to life.
More than fire or sunlight, more than any warm and bright thing in the world, blood alone could be called the energy closest to Yang vitality and the force of life itself.
If he could master both Evil Qi and Blood Demonic Qi simultaneously through a Divided Mind Technique…….
‘He could achieve the harmony of Yin and Yang.’
A state he had never reached in his previous life, where he had already peaked with the Demonic Heaven Blood Sea Technique as his supreme technique.
Of that, he was certain.
‘If I can only master Evil Qi properly, I can ascend far higher than in my previous life.’
All manner of thoughts and possibilities swirled through his mind.
A sensation hovering on the edge of grasping something.
“Haah…….”
Juk Un-hui closed his eyes and entered a state of meditation.
And after that, a long time passed.

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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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