Reincarnation of the Blood Demon - Chapter 40

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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’s Reincarnation
Chapter 40
After Three Days Apart, Regard With New Eyes
Namhwa Prefecture, Jeok Myeong Palace.
Whoosh—
Each time Jeok Unhui’s hand traced a lazy arc while he lay sprawled across the Training Hall floor, the fist-sized Metal Orb rose and fell in rhythmic motion.
The sensation was weighty, yet imbued with the peculiar chill of ten-thousand-year steel that seeped deep into the marrow.
Tsk.
Jeok Unhui caught it mid-movement and examined the sphere closely.
Its surface was unmarred, smooth—to all appearances nothing more than an ordinary pearl.
Yet its true nature was the key to unlocking a Hidden Chamber.
In life, Jeok Sahyeok had left countless arrangements in preparation for disaster—contingencies for his own death or the collapse of the Blood Heaven Sect, insurance at least to preserve the sect’s lineage in the worst of circumstances.
‘If the key still exists, then the arrangement must be intact as well.’
Jeok Unhui’s brow furrowed slightly.
‘I know I left behind information about the arrangement.’
Yet it appeared that no one in the sect—not even the sect members themselves—knew of the arrangement, much less the nature of the key.
‘The knowledge simply didn’t pass down?’
It was common for teachings left by predecessors to deteriorate or break their lineage over time.
But the arrangement Jeok Sahyeok had left behind was insurance against the sect’s final days, the highest priority for protection. It was not something that would easily be severed without specific cause.
Which meant.
‘One of the past Sect Lords deliberately chose not to pass it on.’
Only the Sect Lord could control the most sensitive secrets within the sect.
‘But why, then?’
Another question surfaced, yet as it had always been, brooding over it yielded little enlightenment.
The weight of all he did not know pressed down upon him anew. Suppressing the discomfort, Jeok Unhui tucked the key away in his robes.
‘Regardless, the fact that no one knows the key exists—that’s a blessing.’
Should it become known that this worthless Metal Orb was in fact the key to a hidden relic, or worse, that the relic belonged to the legendary Jeok Sahyeok of the Blood Heaven Sect—
A blood-soaked chaos would sweep through the Central Plains without question.
Such complications were tedious. He much preferred to operate alone.
‘Of course, it’s not as though I can search for it immediately.’
Jeok Unhui was currently under Seclusion within Byeol Palace.
At minimum, he had to remain confined here for a hundred days, so any recovery of his arrangements would have to wait for later.
“A hundred days……”
Jeok Unhui stared vacantly at the ceiling.
While confinement for more than three months would ordinarily be suffocating, it was nothing to a martial artist accustomed to Closed-door Cultivation as a matter of routine.
‘First, this wretched Malevolent Qi.’
He would purge the lingering Malevolent Qi causing internal injuries, then stabilize the Bright Moon, and advance toward the next stage of the Bright Moon Ultimate Scripture.
None of these tasks could be accomplished in a hundred days by any ordinary measure. Most martial masters would require years to tackle even one.
Yet.
“I can do it. I know I can.”
Jeok Unhui’s eyes closed firmly as he settled into a lotus position.
* * *
Day ten of his Seclusion.
“Report.”
Beyond a thin door from which cold radiated, a shadow seated in lotus position spoke softly.
Ju Igyeom had always found it remarkable that Dae Gongja sensed his approach instantly, but now he lowered his head and made his report.
“Two branch divisions of the Ghost Soul Pavilion have been destroyed, and their leaders—Unit Commander Wi Jeongyong and Jin Yun—are dead. Following this incident, the Marong Faction has withdrawn from the Ghost Soul Pavilion.”
Yuk Jangro had sacrificed two branch divisions and two unit commanders in exchange for Dae Gongja’s withdrawal from the Ghost Soul Pavilion.
‘As expected.’
Even a great prince could not emerge unscathed from a savage Blood Battle with Yuk Jangro, nor had that ever been the intention.
To completely annihilate Yuk Jangro would leave him wounded, unable to contend with the rivals lurking in every shadow. It was a matter of pragmatism.
Leading the Marong Faction directly against the Ghost Soul Pavilion was best understood as a bold declaration of will.
‘If he surrendered two branch divisions, then Yuk Jangro sustained a considerable blow as well.’
A branch division with a unit commander was a critical stronghold within the Ghost Soul Pavilion’s structure.
In essence, Yuk Jangro was abandoning and withdrawing from a significant portion of the pavilion’s external influence.
“Furthermore, Dae Gongja has formally brought the matter of Yuk Jangro’s removal before the Elder Council.”
Yet Dae Gongja appeared unsatisfied.
This time he was reaching again—not through force, but through political leverage.
“He does spare no effort.”
Jeok Unhui chuckled softly, then shifted his tone as he posed his next question.
“How are the Jeok Unhui Unit faring?”
“They continue their training at Heungnyong Mountain Base. Ma Hyeoljin is overseeing them in my stead for now. We’ve kept only a minimal contingent in Namhwa Prefecture to maintain the sect.”
“Good. Push them harder. They have far to go yet.”
If his own path was to grow busier ahead, his subordinates would need to rise to meet the pace.
Should necessity demand it, he was prepared to intervene personally.
After all, why was the Blood Sect called the Blood Sect?
‘Because you train until you cough blood—that’s the Blood Sect.’
In truth, not a single one of the disciples he had trained had escaped that trial.
‘These young ones lack discipline. Pure discipline.’
Had the members of the Jeok Unhui Unit known what their leader was thinking, they would have been appalled; instead, Jeok Unhui simply closed his eyes once more.
This had been his pattern for the past ten days.
He had heard the news flowing in. Now there was nothing but cultivation.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
Ju Igyeom bowed deeply and withdrew.
Beyond the closed door, a cold, black-tinged mist began to seep slowly inward.
* * *
The thirtieth day of seclusion.
‘What in the…’
Ju Igyeom, drawing near the Training Hall, recoiled in surprise.
From the narrow gap between the thin doors of the Training Hall where Jeok Unhui dwelt, a dark-blue vaporous miasma was seeping forth like fog.
The moment it touched his skin, he felt a bone-deep chill—one unsettling enough that he found himself unconsciously rubbing his forearms.
The source of this phenomenon was unmistakable.
‘His Cultivation Aura has grown again.’
The old saying held perfectly: After Three Days Apart, Regard With New Eyes.
As though living in a different stream of time altogether, his spiritual method continued to sharpen without pause.
“Speak.”
Yet the man himself issued commands as calmly as ever.
Ju Igyeom, who had begun to open his mouth in admiration, quickly collected himself and began his report.
“The offensive against Elder Yuk has grown fiercer. The Crown Prince has released evidence secured from the Hwan Soul Sect, and as a result, even the neutral elders have begun to turn against him in unison.”
“What of my second brother?”
“Initially he protested that the pressure was excessive, but the moment suspicions arose that the First Prince was implicated in Sorcery, he severed ties with Elder Yuk immediately and cut all contact.”
“How remarkably steadfast in brotherhood. Truly, my brother through and through.”
Progress was smooth.
The Crown Prince was tearing into Elder Yuk far more viciously than Jeok Unhui had anticipated, and the other candidates for Minor Sect Leader—the First Prince, Dae Jangson, and the rest—could not even involve themselves. The grounds the Crown Prince had established were simply too solid.
The Crown Prince would certainly corner Elder Yuk. And that served Jeok Unhui’s interests directly.
When the hundred days of seclusion came to an end, Elder Yuk’s influence within the sect would have collapsed so thoroughly that he could barely raise his head.
When that came to pass, Elder Yuk would have no choice but to gamble desperately, no matter the cost.
He would need to demonstrate that he still mattered. He knew, with absolute clarity, that the alternative was death.
And so, when Elder Yuk exposed his weakness once more through his own desperation—
‘I will step forward and collect the price of his life.’
The cost of daring to move against him was steep.
Whenever that day came, Elder Yuk would die by his hand.
Jeok Unhui smiled with genuine malice.
“That day cannot come soon enough.”
Who could have known
that the one holding the Blood Sect’s fate in a single hand was none other than the Third Prince, confined to Byeol Palace, holding his breath in silence?
‘How did I even come by such a scheme? When? How?’
Ju Igyeom, watching it all unfold from close range, could only furrow his brow in incomprehension.
* * *
The fiftieth day of seclusion.
By now, the Training Hall had fallen under a truly terrible cold.
A Malevolent Qi that seemed to emanate from the North Sea Ice Palace itself—no, from something far more primal still.
…….
Ju Igyeom grimaced, his eyes narrowing.
He too was a martial artist who had approached the Bloodline Heaven cultivation, and so he could sense it, however dimly—
what exactly was happening beyond that Training Hall.
“My lord, I have arrived.”
Ju Igyeom stepped closer still.
The voice from beyond the Training Hall, which had always been the first to notice and respond, had long since fallen silent. The reason was simple: Jeok Unhui had begun to turn inward, sinking ever deeper into his own cultivation.
By now Ju Igyeom was accustomed enough to this that he paid it no mind and continued to speak.
“Just as you said, Lord. He’s avoided complete dismissal, but the Ghost Soul Pavilion has issued a three-year Sealing Order against him. Yuk Jangro himself may move about, but only within his private domain.”
Having exhausted every ounce of political capital merely to preserve his life, Yuk Jangro had nonetheless failed to block everything.
The Blood Sect was a killing ground where the entire landscape shifted within a year. Three years of frozen authority was not merely a setback—it was a death blow.
Hearing this, Jeok Unhui answered quietly.
“I understand.”
So few words, and each one carried the weight of someone far away, lost in thought.
Ju Igyeom saw it then—a certainty that this would be their last conversation for some time.
“Please, take care of yourself.”
He spoke with genuine feeling, then withdrew.
The Training Hall fell once more into shadow, the black-blue mist descending.
* * *
Ju Igyeom’s premonition proved correct. There were no more words exchanged.
When he called out, there came no answer. Knowing his lord had entered a critical phase, Ju Igyeom did not press further.
And so time moved swiftly forward.
.
.
.
Sixty days. Seventy days——.
The Training Hall would freeze with terrible, biting cold, then surge into sweltering heat.
As though he cycled between the Yang-Strong Technique and the Polar Yin Technique.
.
.
.
Eighty days. Ninety days——.
Yet all these fluctuations shared one truth.
With each passing day, the cold bit deeper, the heat burned hotter.
Crack. Crack——
Rumble.
The very air cried out.
The Training Hall, caught between extreme frost and extreme fire, twisted as though screaming.
Like a dragon from myth stirring awake. Something extraordinary was taking place.
And when all that time had passed——.
* * *
At last, the promised hundredth day.
Ju Igyeom stopped before the Training Hall’s door as he had done every day.
“…….”
Neither cold nor heat emanated from within.
When he cast out his perception, nothing extraordinary registered. The hall seemed merely an ordinary room.
Which meant——
‘He has achieved Great Achievement.’
For reasons Ju Igyeom could not fathom, Jeok Unhui’s body had been torn apart by Conflicting Energies—a quantity so staggering he had not dared examine it fully.
He had honed those warring forces to their sharpest edge, then woven them together in perfect harmony.
In a single hundred days.
‘Is such a thing even possible for a human?’
An oppressive sense of awe, born from something beyond comprehension, weighed down his entire being.
As Ju Igyeom stood frozen, a familiar voice reached his ears.
“Report.”
The same tone. The same voice. As though nothing had changed at all.
Ju Igyeom began his account slowly.
“Friction has arisen between the Gongdong Faction and the Jeok Unhui Unit. There has been no bloodshed yet, but the situation teeters on the brink.”
“The Gongdong Faction?”
As he spoke, the door to the Training Hall swung open.
The wooden door, worn through countless trials, crumbled to dust—yet no one’s attention lingered there.
“……Huh.”
He stood in the doorway.
His robe hung in tatters, exposing a chest etched with muscle like flint.
He had grown three inches taller, and his pale skin now thrummed with a vitality unlike anything before.
Shhhk——
With a stroke of his hand, Sword Qi gleamed and fell, and his wild, tangled hair was severed in one clean motion to the floor.
“The outside air feels good.”
No longer did he wear the appearance of a weak third prince.
Yet his eyes still burned with that fierce, unwavering light.
“Show me the way.”
Jeok Unhui smiled.

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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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