The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 135

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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 135.
Thud.
The open door of the Blacksmith Shop swung shut and locked firmly.
After taking a deep breath, I began examining Yeo Hwan Jin’s sword with eyes blazing with intensity.
‘So this is the blade of a master of the Great Way….’
The edge showed no damage whatsoever, yet the blade itself was subtly twisted.
It resembled taffy that had been heated until glowing and then twisted back and forth.
This was an entirely different kind of distortion from the damage patterns that appeared when the Claw Strike Sword or Wind Deflection Sword techniques were deployed.
‘Could the blade be twisted because of the true energy spreading throughout the entire sword body?’
The Flowing Cloud Sword Technique.
The supreme sword technique of Songnan—one that unleashes a single thread of sharpness from within extreme softness.
It was also the pinnacle of the Flowing Sword, capable of letting anything that opposed the technique slip away like wind.
‘Yet there are no traces of the technique being deployed or anything being cut.’
Apart from the twisted blade, there was not a single mark of impact or cutting anywhere on the sword.
After pondering for a moment, I retrieved a hidden booklet from one corner of the Blacksmith Shop.
Within it were recorded the sword paths and initial forms of the Claw Strike Sword Technique and Wind Deflection Sword that I had discovered while repairing swords, documented as diagrams and lines.
‘Let me first compare the traces with the swords I’ve seen so far.’
Though the sword techniques created by a single sect are diverse, their fundamentals always exist.
If I could find the common characteristics that appeared in both the Claw Strike Sword and Wind Deflection Sword, I reasoned I could discover something in Yeo Hwan Jin’s blade as well.
‘I cannot find it.’
With my eyes closed, I shook my head. No matter how carefully I examined it, there were no traces to be found.
‘Is it impossible?’
As the hard-won opportunity became worthless, hope transformed into despair.
If I were to face Yeo Hwan Jin with emotions this unstable, I would be defeated in every encounter. I could never survive beneath his blade.
‘I must steady my mind.’
Taking a deep breath, I drew upon the Paradox Heart Method. The distracting thoughts vanished, and my spirit settled once more into tranquility.
Whoosh.
At that moment, wind blowing through the window swept across the booklet resting on the workbench.
Fluttering, rustling.
As I heard the pages of the booklet scattering in the midst of my cultivation, the dormant senses of the Beast Path Blade awakened.
‘This is….’
As my Beast Path Blade senses surged during cultivation, I felt a peculiar sensation.
It was as though time had frozen, and even the dust particles floating in the void became distinctly visible.
‘The heart method… I see.’
The Paradox Heart Method.
An extreme inner cultivation technique that refines the formidable internal energy generated through the principles of yin and yang using the mind itself.
While I was cultivating not to circulate my energy, but to discipline my mind, my Beast Path Blade senses were unleashed, allowing me to reach a higher realm alongside it.
‘Could this be what is called Empty Heart Spiritual Perception?’
―The true subtlety of the Beast Path Blade is not to maximize sensation, but to allow one to see the unseen and feel the unfelt.
I recalled the memory from when Sa Woo had transmitted the secret methods of the Beast Path Blade to me on Hell Island in the past.
―You mean it allows one to see the unseen and feel the unfelt?
―Precisely. That is what we call the Realm of the Hollow Heart. Yet this is not a state achieved merely through prolonged cultivation of the Primal Sense.
Sa Woo gazed toward the distant sky and murmured.
―Just as seeds scatter on the wind, as butterflies alight upon flowers and spread pollen… it unfolds naturally, by chance alone.
‘Then, if…’
What if one reached the Realm of the Hollow Heart, the pinnacle of the Primal Sense?
Bu Eunseol, whose extreme senses had been elevated to the upper echelon of the Primal Sense once more, gazed intently at the blade.
“…!”
Then, what had been invisible before became visible—minute nail marks etched into the sword’s grip.
These were marks left to add rotational force, traces commonly seen on the Gale Wind Sword and the Drunken Crow Sword.
Bu Eunseol, who had studied the blade for so long, could not hide her astonishment.
Yeo Hwan Jin’s longsword bore no traces of sword techniques or variations in form.
Instead, the habits and movements he employed when wielding the blade were felt as sensations themselves.
‘This is the Realm of the Hollow Heart.’
By merely observing and touching the blade Yeo Hwan Jin had used for so long, I could vividly perceive how he had wielded it all these years.
‘This man has completely mastered the subtlety of transcending form without being bound by it.’
The state where one wields sword techniques freely, unshackled by form.
Because Yeo Hwan Jin had reached that state, no traces of form variations remained.
Yet the terrifyingly amplified senses of the Primal Sense—the Realm of the Hollow Heart—conveyed all the sensations he had left behind when wielding the blade to Bu Eunseol.
‘Had I not known of the variations in the Gale Wind Sword and the Drunken Crow Sword, even the Primal Sense would not have allowed me to discover such traces.’
After taking a deep breath, Bu Eunseol imagined Yeo Hwan Jin deploying the Gale Wind Sword and the Drunken Crow Sword, and traced his habits and movements.
‘Something is amiss.’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes gleamed as she grasped the habits, movements, and even the sword itself.
Something entirely different from what she had observed thus far lay hidden within.
‘This is…’
At last, Bu Eunseol discovered Yeo Hwan Jin’s hidden trump card concealed within the blade.
It was only possible because he had wielded the same sword for twenty years.
Had he used a pristine blade without a single flaw, or had he commissioned a new sword, she could never have perceived it.
‘I was truly fortunate.’
Bu Eunseol, who had been gazing at the blade as if entranced, exhaled slowly.
Though she could not examine the variations in sword form, the sensations of the Primal Sense obtained by chance—the Realm of the Hollow Heart—had granted her vast information about Yeo Hwan Jin.
This could only be called divine fortune.
‘I must commit all of this to memory and allow my body to respond accordingly.’
From Bu Eunseol’s eyes, which had absorbed so much information from Yeo Hwan Jin’s blade, a crimson radiance spread forth like burning embers.
* * *
Jangsan Gorge.
A gorge located at the southern edge of Dangsan, where traces of weathering, broken and compacted over countless ages, revealed a spectacular landscape.
The sheer rocks stacked within the gorge, layered one upon another, appeared as if carved by the axe of the Colossal Spirit God or Pangu himself.
As the fading sunset bathed the rocks of Jangsan Gorge in crimson,
atop the precipice of the sheer Jangsan Gorge stood a man in white robes, motionless as a statue. It was Yeo Hwan Jin.
Whiiiish.
Gazing down at the river flowing gently in the cool breeze that swept across, he exhaled a deep sigh.
“A strange dream indeed.”
For the past several days, I had been having peculiar dreams in succession.
A dragon glowing crimson red was entering into my embrace.
And even after waking, that dream lingered in my mind as an afterimage.
“Perhaps I feel this emptiness because that blade is no longer in my hands.”
To repair the warped blade, I had entrusted the Byeolsu Sword—which I had carried with me for twenty years—to the Blacksmith Shop.
Because of this, Yeo Hwan Jin felt a hollowness as though I had bid farewell to a friend I had known for a long time.
“Tomorrow I shall have to exhaust myself with sword practice.”
As I turned my body with a faint smile and shook my head,
Thump, thump.
A faint sound reached me from afar.
“Footsteps?”
They were the footsteps of a sturdy adult man.
“Did the Martial Arts Training Hall send someone?”
This Jangsan Gorge where Yeo Hwan Jin was staying had such treacherous terrain that even herb gatherers avoided it.
Thus, save for the masters of the Songnan Branch who visited to receive sword instruction, no one’s footsteps ever reached this place—so why would footsteps be heard at this hour?
“You are….”
Upon discovering the approaching figure, Yeo Hwan Jin’s expression became peculiar.
Walking straight forward with the setting sun at his back was none other than the young blacksmith from the Dangsan Iron Family who had undertaken the repair of the Byeolsu Sword.
“What brings you to this place?”
“The sword is now complete.”
“What did you say?”
This was incomprehensible.
It was astonishing enough that the young blacksmith from the Dangsan Iron Family knew my whereabouts, but to traverse this sheer mountain path without even a single ragged breath?
“Would you care to see it?”
At that moment, Bu Eunseol extended the sword held in one hand, wrapped tightly in soft cloth.
“Please, take it.”
Even in this incomprehensible situation, Yeo Hwan Jin accepted the sword with a composed expression.
Shing.
As I drew the blade, a clearer and deeper resonance rang out than before.
“Ho.”
Yeo Hwan Jin’s eyes gradually widened as I grasped the hilt.
Swinging the blade lightly through the air, a sharp radiance lingered long as an afterimage. The sword had become far lighter and more comfortable to grip.
It felt as though my arm had been extended and lengthened.
“How is it?”
At Bu Eunseol’s question, Yeo Hwan Jin opened his mouth and nodded.
“I am most pleased. It exceeds my expectations.”
“I see. I am relieved.”
Bu Eunseol nodded and brought her hands together.
“I, Bu Eunseol, one of the Ten Demon Experts of Nangya Sect, challenge you.”
“One of the Ten Demon Experts, you say.”
Yeo Hwan Jin showed no great surprise.
From the moment she had walked toward him, he had sensed the powerful flow of true energy emanating from her body.
“I see.”
Yeo Hwan Jin, who had heard rumors of the Hua Shan Sect and the Ten Demon Experts shaking the Murim not long ago, let out a deep sigh.
“So the Ten Demon Experts were moving together.”
And he laughed with a hollow sound.
“True to the seed of the Demonic Path. Were you disguised as a laborer, trying to secretly spy on our sect’s sword techniques?”
The battle had already begun in all but name.
Yeo Hwan Jin sought to shake Bu Eunseol’s resolve and provoke her composure with a single word of accusation.
But Bu Eunseol merely smiled with contempt.
“I heard that the masters of the Orthodox Sects received martial arts instruction from masters versed in Demonic Path techniques. Are you referring to that?”
“Yet you challenge me despite knowing as much. How reckless.”
Yeo Hwan Jin chuckled softly.
“But rest assured. Since Nangya Sect’s martial arts lack systematic structure and lineage, our sect does not even recognize them as Demonic Path techniques.”
“Indeed. The martial arts of Jongnam Sect are formidable.”
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
“Teaching your opponent how to attack with words before even fighting—that is quite the technique.”
Yeo Hwan Jin’s expression, which had remained relaxed and smiling, suddenly turned cold.
He who had sought to wound Bu Eunseol’s pride had instead received a counterattack and found his mood soured.
“Haha. Indeed, one cannot best the seed of the Demonic Path with mere words.”
Yeo Hwan Jin, as if regaining his composure, leisurely extended one hand.
“Then, let me see the martial arts of Nangya Sect.”
A gust of wind rose from Yeo Hwan Jin’s body.
The figure with his extended hand bore the countenance of an immortal sage.
But Bu Eunseol gazed only at the distant sky.
Her eyes were serene and indifferent, as though she had completely forgotten Yeo Hwan Jin’s existence.
A cold smile curved the corners of Yeo Hwan Jin’s lips as he observed her.
“So you have studied our sect’s sword techniques extensively.”
The sword arts of Jongnam Sect, a Daoist sect, specialize in counterattacks rather than first strikes.
Therefore, to attack first would be to expose one’s own weaknesses.
“But I cast off the constraints of our sect’s sword arts long ago!”
With a brief shout, a streak of sword energy rushed toward Bu Eunseol’s chest.
Yeo Hwan Jin had moved like lightning in an instant.
Shing.
At the same moment, Bu Eunseol’s silent sword emerged from its scabbard.
A chilling aura spread in all directions as she slashed horizontally, meeting Yeo Hwan Jin’s long sword as it thrust forward.
“A divine blade.”
Detecting the strange luminescence flowing from the Silent Sword, Yeo Hwan Jin immediately shifted his sword technique.
The sword qi that had been piercing toward his chest rotated lightly in the void before slashing toward Bu Eunseol’s shoulder.
It was the initial form of the Crimson Crow Sword’s River Deep Water Still.
Swish!
Bu Eunseol did not evade the attack; instead, she advanced forward and thrust toward Yeo Hwan Jin’s armpit.
That was where the weakness of the River Deep Water Still’s initial form lay.
“You’ve already mastered the Crimson Crow Sword. You must have researched all the sword techniques taught as the main disciplines at the Songnan Branch.”
Yeo Hwan Jin, a faint sneer playing at his lips, swung his long sword again.
Whirrrr.
The blade spun fiercely, sweeping across Bu Eunseol like a broom.
It was the supreme form of the Gale Wind Sword—Perceive Profit and Think of Righteousness.
Whirrrr!
Bu Eunseol’s Silent Sword likewise spun violently, casting shadows in all directions across heaven and earth.
It was the initial form of Perceive Profit and Think of Righteousness, far more powerful than the Gale Wind Sword technique Yeo Hwan Jin had unleashed.
“You’ve mastered the Gale Wind Sword as well.”
Yeo Hwan Jin’s eyebrows rose sharply as he swiftly shifted his sword technique to avoid the collision.
Recognizing the sword path from traces of a broken blade was, in truth, not particularly difficult.
But Bu Eunseol had grasped not only the sword path but also the variations inherent in the sword technique and the principles of the sword itself.
“Impressive. I would believe it if you told me you were a disciple of our main sect.”
Even as Yeo Hwan Jin continuously unfolded his sword techniques, he was reproaching Bu Eunseol for stealing the sword arts.
“From today onward, I must reconsider the Ten Demonic Gates. Perhaps the roots of our martial arts are not the Orthodox Sects’ techniques after all.”
It was no easy feat to speak continuously while wielding the sword.
Yeo Hwan Jin seemed to have cultivated the skill of talking incessantly even while learning sword techniques.
Slash slash slash! Whirrr!
The two of them unfolded their sword techniques at a distance where they could touch if they extended their arms, yet their weapons never once clashed.
This was because no matter what sword technique Yeo Hwan Jin displayed, Bu Eunseol immediately found its weakness and thrust toward it.
“So you’ve cultivated to this extent.”
A faint smile played across Yeo Hwan Jin’s lips.
Until now, he had deliberately used the Crimson Crow Sword and Gale Wind Sword to test how deeply Bu Eunseol understood the Songnan sword techniques.
“Then let us begin in earnest.”
With a slashing sound, Yeo Hwan Jin transformed his sword technique.
A gentle wind stirred, and then dozens of strands of sword qi poured forth, enveloping Bu Eunseol’s body.
It was the supreme sword technique of the Jongnam Sect—the Drifting Cloud Sword.
Whirrrr!
Bu Eunseol attempted to strike away the sword qi with her Silent Sword, but the Drifting Cloud Sword curved like the wind, piercing through the gaps in her defense.
“Our sect’s sword is like the wind—it cannot be met, nor can it be blocked.”
Yeo Hwan Jin relentlessly unleashed wave after wave of sword qi, pressing Bu Eunseol back.
“…!”
Bu Eunseol’s feet began to move frantically across the ground as she watched the cascading sword qi.
Swish swish swish swish.
A thin mist seemed to rise from my body, rendering it hazy, as I deftly evaded the Flowing Cloud Sword Technique that cut through the air like wind.
“Your movement technique is impressive.”
Yeo Hwan Jin, who had uttered his admiration, surged forward rapidly and unleashed a torrent of sword strikes like a tempest.
“But how long can you keep dodging?”
The Flowing Cloud Sword Technique wrapped around the enemy’s body like a single strand of wind, probing for openings.
Not only capable of ninety-nine directional shifts in a single step, but an extreme speed technique that combined movement and footwork arts.
The supreme sword art of the Jongnam Sect and the ultimate movement technique of the Nangya Sect were clashing head-on.
Screech, screech, screech!
In an instant, the heavens and earth in all directions seemed filled with sword energy and shadows.
But it wasn’t long before the victor became clear.
My garments were gradually being torn apart by Yeo Hwan Jin’s blade.
Hiss.
Believing he had secured complete victory, Yeo Hwan Jin’s lips curved into a smug smile.
But that smile soon shifted into a puzzled expression.
Despite struggling throughout the exchange, my eyes held a gleam as cold and predatory as a beast that had spotted its prey.

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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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