Reincarnation of the Blood Demon - Chapter 20

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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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The Blood Demon’s Return
Chapter 20
Blood Heaven
Juk Unhwi squinted as he gazed upon Sword Mountain.
Atop the peak—formed by countless layered blades—a middle-aged man in crimson robes stood in solitude, his gaze lifted toward a sky heavy with dark clouds.
…….
He had been certain he was only a short distance from the Sect Leader’s original position, yet now it appeared they stood dozens of paces apart.
There was only one reason such a thing was possible.
This was not reality.
‘The Inner Realm—the Mind’s Realm.’
This landscape before him was the Sect Leader’s inner world, his Mental Imagery World.
‘What does he carry in that heart of his, descendant?’
What thoughts occupied a mind that could harbor such darkness within?
The Sect Leader, who had been gazing quietly skyward, lowered his head and looked upon Juk Unhwi.
The moment their eyes met once more.
A deafening crack split the air—!
The Blood Sea suddenly fractured into five paths and began to writhe with violent force.
For an instant, he mistook the Sea itself for movement, but that was not it.
‘Something… approaches.’
An invisible force drew near, splitting even this vast Blood Sea asunder.
The moment he grasped what it was, Juk Unhwi’s pupils contracted sharply.
‘Not mere Qi. This is…….’
Sword Intent.
Pure will to cut, honed to its absolute extreme.
Five formless blades tore through the crimson tide, halting mere inches from where Juk Unhwi stood.
As if they could cleave him in two whenever the Sect Leader willed it.
‘Formidable indeed.’
Though this Inner Realm was not reality and he existed only as a Spirit Body, the human flesh is governed by soul and spirit.
Should one suffer grave spiritual trauma in such a place, the physical body in reality would not remain unscathed.
Juk Unhwi’s brow furrowed deeply.
Yet this was not alarm—it was profound fascination.
‘Not Blood Sect Martial Arts……?’
More precisely, something built upon that foundation.
As the founder of the Blood Heaven Divine Sect, he could recognize it.
How intricately woven this world had become.
And what elements comprised it.
‘This Sword Intent differs completely from the Blood Sect Martial Arts I created five hundred years past.’
If his own Demon Heaven Blood Sea Technique was an overwhelming tidal wave overturning the world through sheer violence, then the Sect Leader had forged a single blade—one that could split even that tide asunder.
Only now did Juk Unhwi understand why the Sect Leader’s Inner Realm took this form.
The Blood Sect Martial Arts that served as root and foundation—the Blood Sea itself.
And upon it, the towering Sword Mountain that rose without end.
Juk Unhwi regarded the Sect Leader with gravest seriousness.
‘You intend to touch the heavens by blade alone.’
Astonishment mingled with a hollow laugh.
‘Should I return to my prime and face this wretch in reality rather than in thought…….’
Victory could not be assured.
At least in the realm of the ‘blade,’ this distant descendant surpassed even his former self.
“Ha.”
A smile brimming with competitive spirit rose to his lips.
Never had he imagined that his descendant’s vision pointed in a direction so entirely unlike his own.
Yet this, too, he found acceptable.
‘There is no law that says there is only one path.’
To dismiss one who did not follow his way would be the height of foolishness.
For one who had reached such heights through a means so different from his own surely merited praise rather than scorn.
‘I thought only of decline.’
Juk Unhwi’s eyes softened.
For the first time since his return, he felt genuine pride in his descendant.
Juk Unhwi truly acknowledged his heir, while the Sect Leader gazed at him in quiet stillness.
‘But that is one matter.’
Those softening eyes grew sharp once more.
Acknowledging his descendant was one thing.
But he had never turned away from a fight he had chosen to walk into.
‘Drawing me into the Inner Realm was a mistake.’
Though the Third Young Master Juk Unhwi’s body had not yet fully matured, his mind remained that of Juk Sahyeok in his prime—the master of Blood Heaven.
In a realm without substance, he could summon forth whatever he wished.
Juk Sahyeok at the height of his power.
Rumble—
The world of Sword Mountain and Blood Sea shuddered ominously.
“……!”
The Sect Leader’s brow twitched as Juk Unhwi smiled with terrifying savagery.
‘You showed me first, so I’ll show you in turn.’
In that instant.
Whoosh—
Tearing through the dark clouds of Sword Mountain and Blood Sea, Blood Rain poured down.
Like a waterfall announcing the world’s end, the cascading Blood Rain sent the water level of the Blood Sea—which had barely reached his ankles—surging upward with terrifying speed.
This was the history of struggle that Juk Sahyeok, the greatest master under heaven, had built and accumulated.
Rumble, rumble—!
Juk Sahyeok’s Mental Imagery World invaded the Sect Leader’s Mental Imagery World.
The collision of two separate realms filled the space with continuous, deafening roars.
The sky stained crimson.
The horizon’s boundary became meaningless.
There was no way to distinguish where sky ended and sea began.
It was Blood Heaven.
Crack—
Even the Sword Intent aimed at Juk Unhwi scattered in an instant, and he stood upon the rising Blood Sea, fixing his gaze upon the Sect Leader.
“Now our perspectives align somewhat.”
By then, Juk Unhwi’s Blood Sea had flooded halfway up Sword Mountain.
Though it was certainly a stunning spectacle, Juk Sahyeok’s Blood Heaven was not a quiet world destined to end here.
Roar—!
As blood rain poured down like sheets, the Blood Sea suddenly surged violently, transforming into a massive tidal wave that crashed down upon him.
As if intent on swallowing Sword Mountain whole, its ferocity was utterly savage.
‘Can you withstand this, my descendant?’
Contrary to Juk Unhwi’s unspoken question, the colossal wave overwhelmed Sword Mountain completely.
The space fell silent as if everything had been submerged beneath the sea.
.
.
.
Then, from the heart of the Blood Sea, a clear light suddenly bloomed outward.
—A high-pitched ring.
In that moment.
Shriek—————!
An impossibly sharp Sword Intent rose up, splitting the blood-red tidal wave straight down the middle.
Divided into two halves, the wave lost its force and scattered.
Between the falling blood and spray, their eyes met.
‘Magnificent.’
Juk Unhwi’s gaze turned grave, filled with genuine admiration.
The Sect Leader still stood proudly at the summit of Sword Mountain, regarding him with cool detachment.
Yet he could not hide his shock—those cold eyes that had remained unmoved throughout now burned wide open.
“You…….”
The Sect Leader tried to speak, but the world that had collided so violently had already reached its breaking point.
Crack-crack-crack—
Spiderweb fractures spread across the entire Inner Realm.
Shatter—————!!
With a deafening roar, the world flashed white.
* * *
When he opened his eyes, what met his gaze was the Sect Leader’s Hall once more.
The sound of waves and rain, the Sword Mountain—all had vanished.
“…….”
“…….”
The gazes of the Sect Leader, seated upon his crimson throne, and Juk Unhwi, standing rigidly below, entangled once more in the empty air.
A brief silence fell, and the Sect Leader opened his mouth.
“……My son.”
“Yes.”
The Sect Leader asked with a reluctant expression.
“What in heaven’s name do you think about all day?”
“…….”
Hearing his own thoughts spoken aloud through another’s mouth struck him as oddly unsettling.
Juk Unhwi fell silent for a moment, his expression awkward. He simply had nothing else to say.
After a brief consideration, he scratched his head and replied.
“I’ve simply tried to live earnestly.”
“……!”
In that instant, ripples flickered once more across the Sect Leader’s eyes.
To Juk Unhwi, it had been an offhand remark, but the Sect Leader heard it in an entirely different light.
The Sect Leader gazed at Juk Unhwi for a moment, then slowly nodded.
“Your prayer is rather impressive.”
“You flatter me.”
“This time I shall overlook your achievement. No further disrespect will be tolerated.”
That stern, glacial gaze.
The momentary wavering had been an illusion—the Sect Leader’s demeanor turned cold and precise once more.
Juk Unhwi decided to withdraw as well.
“I shall remember your words.”
“Your request is granted.”
“!”
He had expected further debate, but the approval came far too easily.
Judging by the Sect Leader’s manner, it seemed he had intended to grant it from the start.
‘Then he could have simply said so from the beginning—what pettiness.’
Juk Unhwi bowed deeply, thinking of a notion that would make the Sect Leader retract the permission immediately if he knew of it.
“My gratitude.”
The moment he received formal authorization to establish a private organization.
“Is there anything else?”
At that, Juk Unhwi, who had been thinking, spoke as if he had suddenly remembered something forgotten.
“Those bandits outside our sect—we ought to eliminate them soon.”
“Why?”
“A faction called the Black Moon Sect engaged in human trafficking, and these brigands were their primary clientele. There are likely still victims remaining.”
“Was someone precious to you among them?”
“No.”
“You would risk friction with the Green Forest for something so trivial?”
To that question, Juk Unhwi answered immediately, as if the Sect Leader were asking something obvious.
“Those who behave like bastards deserve to be beaten—that’s the natural order of the world, isn’t it?”
“……!”
The Sect Leader’s eyebrows trembled slightly. Since becoming a Demon Blood cultivator, this was the first time he had heard such blunt speech.
The Sect Leader regained his expression and spoke as if asking him to reconsider.
“They serve as a buffer between our sect and the orthodox factions. The monthly tribute they pay is considerable.”
In reality, the Green Forest’s Xinglong Mountain Stronghold was positioned squarely between the Blood Sect and the orthodox powers, maintaining a precarious balance between the two.
“If you were to strike them suddenly, the Martial Alliance would certainly grow suspicious.”
The Blood Sect’s tolerance of the parasites infesting its own territory was not born of incompetence.
It was simply more advantageous to leave them be than to cast them out.
Of course, Juk Unhwi was not one to concern himself with such calculations.
“Weeds are not harmful merely because they are weeds.”
What offends the eye is torn out and destroyed.
Was that not the doctrine of the Blood Sect?
“And when has this sect ever feared the Martial Alliance?”
“……!”
The Sect Leader maintained his silence for a moment, as if turning over Juk Unhwi’s words, then murmured softly.
“……You have changed greatly. Or perhaps I simply never knew you to begin with.”
Then the Sect Leader met Juk Unhwi’s gaze and spoke slowly.
“Do not underestimate the Green Forest. Though they may appear at first glance to be a rabble, they are a force that has endured through long years. There must surely be some hidden strength they conceal.”
A statement tantamount to consent.
Though the Green Forest was vastly inferior to the Blood Sect, this would be the Third Young Master’s first venture into the martial world.
It was a warning not to let his guard down.
Juk Unhwi let out a sharp laugh and tapped the sword at his waist with a decisive gesture.
“Have no concerns, sir. I am a man who gives his all, regardless of how slight my opponent may be.”
At those words, even the Sect Leader’s mouth, which had remained coldly set until then, twitched slightly at the corners.
Wearing an expression that bordered on a wry smile, the Sect Leader granted his approval.
“I, too, have long found those wretches distasteful.”
With that said, the Sect Leader turned his gaze toward the great doors of the Blood Demon Hall.
Creak—
In that instant, something groaned as if being dragged, and the massive doors swung wide. It was the Guest Expulsion Order.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
After offering a bow and turning to go, the Sect Leader’s quiet voice reached Juk Unhwi’s ears.
“I have never hated you.”
Juk Unhwi, who had paused for a moment, continued walking without turning back.
Then he answered softly in kind.
“Take care of yourself. We shall meet again.”

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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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