The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 12

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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 12
Crack!
In that instant, a spray of blood scattered from near Bu Eunseol’s shoulder blade.
Where the spinning sword’s edge made contact, a chunk of flesh was cleanly severed by the ferocious rotational force.
“Hah!”
For an ordinary human, such a vicious wound would have drawn screams of agony, yet Bu Eunseol responded instead with a sharp battle cry, unfurling her sword technique.
‘Just a bit more…’
Drawing upon the Beast Path, I brought my face closer to control the spinning blade.
Whirrrr.
The blade’s edge grazed my cheek and forehead as it passed, but I paid it no mind, spinning my body and sword faster still.
‘Just a touch faster!’
Deploying the Tidal Heaven technique once more, my legs began to rotate.
That rotational force traveled from my waist through my shoulders, arms, and to my fingertips.
Whirr, whirrrr.
Spinning with the ferocity of a top, I thrust the iron sword forward with all my strength.
Boom!
In that moment, a violent gust erupted, and an entire section of the Martial Hall’s wall shattered completely.
Crumble, crumble, crumble.
Iron-hard wood, harder than steel, was torn like paper amid the dust, and I knelt on one knee, sword fallen from my grip.
“Hmm.”
At Cheon Woon Gwang’s grunt, I struggled to rise to my feet.
“My apologies.”
Staggering upright, I retrieved the iron sword from the floor.
“Let me try once more.”
A bloodthirsty gleam ignited in my eyes.
Even if I were to carve away every inch of flesh from my body, I would never cease my sword technique.
“Enough!”
For four days straight, this scene had repeated without fail.
Cheon Woon Gwang, exhausted by my relentless ferocity and obsession, waved his hand.
“You may stop now.”
“But…”
“That’s enough. It seems you’ve already grasped the essence of the Hwawoo Lightning Sword.”
My wounds ran so deep for two reasons.
First, I had not yet achieved sword-body unity—the ability to control the blade with the precision and delicacy of my own hand.
“The Hwawoo Lightning Sword requires rapid body rotation to alternate between swift-strike and chain-strike forms. Moreover, all techniques are designed to circle the blade around the body, making them impractical in actual combat.”
Cheon Woon Gwang’s eyes narrowed as he observed me, drenched in blood and gasping for breath.
“Yet you’re attempting to apply every sword form in real combat.”
The second reason.
I had infused every technique with killing intent and sharpness, as though facing a mortal enemy.
“As if you were trying to kill someone.”
Bu Eunseol, breathing heavily, answered with a grave expression.
“Swordplay was never meant for such purposes.”
“Do you harbor killing intent within your blade?”
“Not at present.”
“Not at present?”
Bu Eunseol bit her lip briefly, her eyes flashing with sharp brilliance.
“Right now, I simply wish to survive.”
“Hmm.”
Cheon Woon Gwang, who had been silent for a moment, nodded gravely.
“So you’re the one who survived alone in the Second Hall. I see.”
Among all the disciples training on Hell Island, only Bu Eunseol truly understood the weight of a name called the Ten Demon Experts.
“Your name.”
For the first time, Cheon Woon Gwang felt curious about a disciple’s name.
“What is your name?”
“Bu Eunseol.”
“Excellent.”
Everything about her was excellent.
Having mastered the Beast Path, she possessed exceptional senses and reflexes.
Beyond that, she possessed a peculiar talent for transforming ordinary sword forms into lethal killing strikes.
Though her frame appeared lean, her legs stood with an unwavering stability as if the heavens themselves could not shake them, and her eyes burned like a sun frozen in time.
Most of all, she possessed an unshakeable resolve to master the sword art by any means necessary.
‘When will I ever encounter such a peerless martial prodigy again in my lifetime?’
Something scorching suddenly erupted within Cheon Woon Gwang’s heart.
It was the desire to truly transmit the sword knowledge he had realized and achieved—not merely the Hwawoo Lightning Sword passed down by sect orders, but his own enlightened mastery.
“Mm.”
Cheon Woon Gwang, whose eyes had dimmed momentarily, opened his mouth as if he had made a decision.
“You are currently walking down a mistaken path.”
Looking down at Bu Eunseol, who kept her lips sealed, he continued.
“To master Demonic Path martial arts, one requires an inherently strong killing aura. However, this can become a great obstacle to mastering our sect’s sword techniques.”
“I do not understand your meaning.”
“The Hwawoo Sword is as profound and subtle as the martial arts of Shaolin. This is not only because it encompasses all sword techniques scattered throughout the Demonic Path, but also because it has abandoned the killing sword rooted in the Demonic Path.”
Killing aura and killing sword.
Bu Eunseol understood none of this distinction. Sensing this, Cheon Woon Gwang began explaining the sword once more.
“Do you know why the sword is called the cure for all ailments?”
Bu Eunseol had a thought forming, but she shook her head.
“I do not know.”
“Because a single blade can express the transformations and sharpness of all weapons.”
Cheon Woon Gwang spoke again.
“What is the pinnacle of the sword? Our sect, in pursuit of ascending to ever greater heights, abandoned the killing sword that merely severs an enemy’s life, and instead sought the ultimate truth of the sword.”
Cheon Woon Gwang spoke with solemnity.
“If you cannot extinguish the murderous intent burning in your mind, you will ultimately create a martial art that harms your own body. Like an uncontrollable Hwawoo Lightning Blade.”
His face bore a self-deprecating smile.
Perhaps this advice was meant for himself as much as for her.
“In the past—no, even now—I, too, have carried the blade of slaughter. I was unobstructed by anything, and whatever I saw, I cut it down without hesitation.”
His expression remained composed, yet anguish and torment flickered across Cheon Woon Gwang’s eyes.
“Because of that, my status, my honor, and even my martial prowess fell to a lesser realm.”
In his youth, Cheon Woon Gwang had been considered a candidate for the next sect leader of the Hwawoo Sword Sect.
But he could not control his rage and murderous intent, and ultimately had to settle for the position of hall master.
“The blade of slaughter seems to lead to ever-greater heights, but in truth, it is an obstacle blocking an endless path. From now on, you must abandon murderous intent.”
Perhaps because he had spoken of his own past, Cheon Woon Gwang’s eyes—sharp as a sword’s edge until now—had softened slightly.
Bu Eunseol, who had been listening silently, felt a question arise.
―Martial artists greatly dislike speaking of their pasts.
It was something her grandfather, Bu Chanyang, had once told her.
Over the years of tending to those who had died in foreign lands, the most common type she encountered were martial artists concealing their identities.
―Why do martial artists deny their pasts?
To Bu Eunseol’s question, Bu Chanyang, who had worn a bitter smile for a time, had answered thus.
―The pasts of martial artists who live by the sword are all stained with sorrow and misfortune.
At that time, Bu Eunseol had not understood those words.
But watching Cheon Woon Gwang speak of his own past with such anguish, she suddenly grasped their meaning.
‘Martial artists who live by the sword… are all stained with sorrow and misfortune…’
It might well be the story of my own future, living as I do by the sword.
‘Why is he telling me this?’
Sa Woo and Jin Gak had also taught me martial arts with sincerity, yet neither had spoken of their own pasts.
But why would Cheon Woon Gwang, colder and more filled with killing intent, share his past with me?
“Why are you telling me such things?”
I asked with an expression of utter bewilderment, and Cheon Woon Gwang answered after a long silence.
“I told you. I, too, once carried the blade of slaughter.”
It was an evasive answer.
He could not say that your obsession had ignited something within me, that I was driven mad with curiosity about how strong you would become.
“And now, you have a grave problem.”
The light in Cheon Woon Gwang’s eyes, as he gazed at Bu Eunseol, burned with subtle intensity.
“Even if you go to the Advanced Hall now, you will not be able to properly master the Hwawoo Sword.”
“Why… is that?”
“You lack the fundamental foundations of martial learning.”
Cheon Woon Gwang saw through Bu Eunseol’s condition completely.
She possessed exceptional instinct, unwavering resolve, and brilliant talent, yet she had no true martial foundation and had never learned the fundamentals of martial theory.
“Your competitors are all talented individuals who have trained in martial arts since childhood. If you begin to seriously master the Hwawoo Sword in the Advanced Hall, that gap will only widen.”
Cheon Woon Gwang’s tone was stern, like that of a master instructing a disciple.
“To close that gap, you must quickly master foundational martial arts and establish the framework to learn Hwawoo Sword techniques.”
Whoosh.
Cheon Woon Gwang drew the sword hanging at his waist and spoke in a low voice.
“From this moment forward, I shall impart to you the Thunder Lightning Unparalleled—Jeonroe Musang.”
Thunder Lightning Unparalleled.
It was a unique sword technique that Cheon Woon Gwang had created himself.
Though it could not match the depth and power of the Hwawoo Sword, it was perfectly suited to channeling keen killing intent and destructive force.
Cheon Woon Gwang had earned his name in the martial world through this Thunder Lightning Unparalleled style, yet it was precisely because of this technique that he could never become the sect leader of the Hwawoo Sword Sect.
The Hwawoo Sword must become a rain of fire that incinerated all martial arts. But Thunder Lightning Unparalleled was a killing blade as sharp as a single flash of lightning.
“Thank you.”
As Bu Eunseol clasped her hands in gratitude, Cheon Woon Gwang waved his hand dismissively.
“There is no need for thanks. This method may well destroy you instead.”
Cheon Woon Gwang spoke with a grave expression.
If you fail in mastering Thunder Lightning Unparalleled, all ten of your fingers may be severed.”
Cheon Woon Gwang pointed to his own right hand, which he had kept calmly at rest all along.
“When I failed in mastering Thunder Lightning Unparalleled, all the nerves in my fingers were severed. That is why I, the sect leader, wield my sword with my left hand.”
Only then did Bu Eunseol understand why Cheon Woon Gwang had always carried an ordinary longsword on his back.
Wearing the sword on the right side would be no different than announcing that he had mastered left-handed swordsmanship.
“All living creatures naturally seek what suits their nature. In my twilight years, I created the supreme killing blade technique befitting this body….”
Cheon Woon Gwang gazed down at his own hand, his expression twisted in pain.
“This technique is as difficult as the Hwawoo Sword itself, and harder to control than the Hwawoo Thunder Lightning Sword. If you cannot swiftly comprehend and master the essence of upper-tier martial arts and sword principles….”
Cheon Woon Gwang paused for a moment before continuing in a sinister voice.
“You may not ascend to the Advanced Hall, but instead become a cripple unable to use both arms.”
The Hwawoo Sword was the Ten Thousand Swords that encompassed all sword techniques, while Thunder Lightning Unparalleled was a killing blade that awakened murderous intent.
In the end, even a sword master like Cheon Woon Gwang could not escape the grasp of the killing blade.
“Ultimately, the extreme of a killing blade is to slay the enemy while slaying oneself as well….”
Yet Bu Eunseol’s eyes remained utterly unmoved.
Though she was versed in the human body and possessed exceptional talent, Bu Eunseol was still a novice who had only recently begun her martial training.
It was impossible to master the Hwawoo Sword technique, called the greatest sword art of the Demonic Path, without taking risks and proceeding step by step.
“Will you still learn Thunder Lightning Unparalleled from me?”
“I will.”
It did not matter.
Whether my hands shattered or both my arms were lost.
The one who had always brewed medicine day and night for my weak body, carried me, and put me to sleep.
The one who held me warmly even when others pointed fingers in scorn….
If I could eliminate the beast who so brutally murdered my grandfather, Bu Chanyang, then I would have offered not merely my arms, but my very soul.

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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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