The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 220

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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 220.
A small village in Go Hyeon.
A stream flowed through it, and before the quiet village stood a place called Won Woon Mountain.
And upon Seon Hwa Peak, near the summit of Won Woon Mountain, a small legend had been passed down through the ages.
It was said that Noh Hwa Ja and So Chan, the founding ancestors of Gae Bang, had attained enlightenment there and ascended to immortality.
As if to prove that legend, near the cliff of Seon Hwa Peak stood a boulder the size of a house, shaped like a human figure.
It was said to be the Original Spirit that Noh Hwa Ja had left behind before becoming an immortal, and thus people called that rock Won Shin Rock.
Whiiiish.
Though fierce winds occasionally swept across Seon Hwa Peak, Won Shin Rock stood unmoved in its place.
Thud, thud.
At that moment, dozens of martial artists were climbing the steep path leading up to Seon Hwa Peak.
They all wore tattered clothes, and short staffs hung from their waists.
Their eyes burned with intensity as they scanned their surroundings, searching for something relentlessly.
Walking at a measured pace, they finally reached Seon Hwa Peak and came to a halt.
“Is it hopeless?”
The man leading the dozens of martial artists gazed toward the distant sky with a weary expression.
He was Moo Hong, the leader of the Younghwa Party, Gae Bang’s secret intelligence organization directly under Geol Wang.
“We’ve combed through all of Won Woon Mountain for two weeks, yet we haven’t found the Green Gourd Lodge….”
The Green Gourd Lodge.
It was the sacred treasure of Noh Hwa Ja and So Chan, the founding ancestors of Gae Bang.
Originally, Gae Bang had revered the Green Gourd Lodge as their sacred treasure, but in later generations, they had lost it and instead adopted the Pagoda Staff.
“Hmm.”
Moo Hong shook his head, his gaze downcast.
He had wandered the Murim for a long time under Geol Wang’s orders, searching for the whereabouts of the Green Gourd Lodge.
If he could find the Green Gourd Lodge, Geol Wang could finally obtain the position of Bangju that he so desperately desired.
His obsession ran so deep and terrifying that he refused to give up, and he had finally obtained information that the Green Gourd Lodge was hidden somewhere on Won Woon Mountain.
And through his trusted subordinate Moo Hong, they had searched thoroughly, yet even after two weeks, they had found nothing.
“Leader. Just as it is with sacred swords, sacred treasures are also said to be bestowed by heaven, are they not?”
Jeong Gak, the vice-leader of the Younghwa Party, offered comfort with a forced smile.
“Have you not devoted yourself wholeheartedly to searching for the Green Gourd Lodge for so long? Heaven surely knows of your sincerity and will soon grant you an answer.”
“I truly hope that’s the case.”
Moo Hong wore a parched smile.
“Only then can the Grand Elder become the Bangju to lead our faction.”
Like Geol Wang and Gu Hong Cheong, he harbored discontent with Gae Bang’s moderate stance.
And he had long served Gu Hong Cheong with unwavering loyalty, a man who pursued strength and sought to reform Gae Bang.
But to obtain the position of Bangju, legitimacy was paramount.
For Geol Wang, who was nearly a hundred years old and served as the Grand Elder, to become Bangju again, the Green Gourd Lodge was absolutely necessary.
Before long, another two weeks had passed.
But they could not find the Green Gourd Lodge, nor even a single stone that resembled it.
By this point, Moo Hong and the members of the Younghwa Party had fallen into a state of utter despair.
“There’s no helping it.”
Moo Hong, moistening his parched lips with his tongue, crouched down with his head bowed.
Men propose, heaven disposes.
While mortals may scheme and plan, it is heaven alone that determines whether those schemes come to fruition.
Since we failed to locate the Green Tiger Road, the plan for Geol Wang to become the patriarch had crumbled to dust.
“You’ve all worked hard these past days.”
Moo Hong rose to his feet, his voice weary as he spoke.
“Now we return….”
He trailed off, his eyes suddenly widening.
Two silhouettes had appeared atop Seon Hwa Peak in the distance—and they were handling Won Shin Rock, were they not?
Sharpening his gaze, he discerned a tall man in azure robes and a youth clad entirely in black.
The two examined the boulder with grave expressions, running their hands across it, even striking it with their palms.
‘Who are these men?’
Won Shin Rock was a relic steeped in the legend of Noh Hwa Ja, the founder of Gae Bang.
Had he not witnessed it himself, he might have dismissed it as rumor.
Before the masters of Gae Bang, they dared to touch and strike the very boulder upon which generations of Gae Bang’s legends had been inscribed?
“They must be sightseers who’ve heard tales of our sect’s legend.”
Moo Hong furrowed his brow and turned to Jeong Gak.
“Send word to the disciples. That is a relic of our organization—it is not to be handled carelessly.”
“Understood.”
As Jeong Gak nodded and turned to depart,
“Wait, wait….”
The disciples stood with gaping mouths, pointing their fingers at Won Shin Rock.
Sensing their alarm, Moo Hong and Jeong Gak turned—and their mouths fell open as well.
At the youth in black’s nod, the man in azure robes withdrew a steel wire that gleamed silver from his pocket.
And in one fluid motion, he split the boulder in two.
Shing!
As the razor-sharp wire carved through Won Shin Rock like tofu, a cracking sound erupted,
Rummmble!
With a tremor that shook the heavens themselves, the massive boulder cleaved in two in an instant.
Whoosh.
As dust scattered in all directions and was swept away by the wind, the two halves of Won Shin Rock plummeted down the cliff.
Crash!
With a deafening boom, Won Shin Rock shattered completely, and Won Woon Mountain trembled as though seized by an earthquake.
“That, that….”
Moo Hong’s lips quivered.
No matter how legendary the tales passed down, they had just wantonly destroyed a relic bearing the traces of Gae Bang’s founder?
Then something extraordinary occurred.
In the place where Won Shin Rock had rested, a small jade-hued bottle gleamed brilliantly.
“Could it be….”
The Green Tiger Gourd.
The Green Tiger Gourd, said to be the sacred treasure of Gae Bang, was embedded beneath the massive boulder where So Chan had been sitting.
“The Green Tiger Gourd! It’s the Green Tiger Gourd!”
Moo Hong rushed up Seon Hwa Peak, his voice trembling with joy.
The other members exchanged glances before following Moo Hong up the slope.
“So it was buried in a place like this all along.”
In that moment, a man in blue robes casually picked up the gourd and fastened it to his waist.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
The young man in black robes nodded and was turning to leave when—
“Wait, wait!”
Moo Hong, who had just scrambled up Seon Hwa Peak, cried out urgently.
“Hand it over!”
He pointed frantically at the gourd in the black-robed youth’s grip.
“That belongs to us.”
“….”
The man in blue robes and the young man in black robes narrowed their eyes, studying him intently.
Feeling the weight of their piercing gaze, Moo Hong suddenly came to his senses and waved his hand dismissively.
“No, no—I’m absolutely not a thief!”
Yet despite his words, after half a month of wandering Won Woon Mountain, his face was covered in thick stubble.
Moreover, having trained in external martial arts, his frame had become broad and imposing—making him look far more like a bandit than a beggar.
“So you’re a robber instead?”
The man in blue robes chuckled, and Moo Hong straightened his expression.
“I am Moo Hong, leader of the Younghwa Party of Gae Bang.”
“The Younghwa Party?”
The man in blue robes shook his head with skepticism.
“I’ve never heard of such a place within Gae Bang.”
“Of course not. My organization operates under the Grand Elder as an intelligence division….”
Realizing his slip of the tongue, Moo Hong waved his hand frantically.
“In any case, I am certainly a member of Gae Bang. And that gourd….”
The young man in black robes holding the Green Tiger Gourd nodded.
“I understand. This is indeed the sacred treasure of Gae Bang.”
“Is that so? Ha, what a relief.”
Moo Hong patted his chest and smiled broadly, extending his hand.
“Then please hand it over.”
“Don’t worry. We will certainly deliver this Green Tiger Gourd to Gae Bang.”
“I just told you—I am the leader of Gae Bang.”
“We will deliver it to Gae Bang directly ourselves.”
“What do you mean by——”
As Moo Hong stammered, the man in blue robes pressed his lips into a thin line, his expression turning grave.
“Rest assured and go. I swear I shall deliver this gourd to Gae Bang.”
Then I turned to the young man in black and spoke.
“Let’s go, Heuk Pyo.”
The man in blue was Hyuk So Jin, and the man in black was Heuk Pyo.
The two had come at Bu Eunseol’s command to find the Green Tiger Gourd at Won Woon Mountain.
Since they were not originally affiliated with Gae Bang, they did not regard Won Shin Rock as sacred.
Therefore, they had destroyed Won Shin Rock without hesitation and found the Green Tiger Gourd.
“Wait!”
As Hyuk So Jin turned to leave, Moo Hong spoke with a menacing expression.
“You said that was our sect’s sacred treasure?”
“I said I understood.”
Hyuk So Jin replied confidently.
“I know it’s Gae Bang’s sacred treasure, and I swore I’d deliver it to Gae Bang—so why do you keep stopping me?”
“Well, that’s just….”
Moo Hong stammered.
Though they were indeed affiliated with Gae Bang, they stood in opposition to Hae Poong, the dominant faction’s deputy leader.
If these two delivered it to Gae Bang?
The Green Tiger Gourd would naturally reach Hae Poong, and Gu Hong Cheong’s ascension to leadership would crumble to dust.
“There’s no helping it.”
Realizing he could never convince them, Moo Hong drew upon his inner energy.
“I’ll simply have to seize it by force.”
Hyuk So Jin, observing Moo Hong’s attitude, let out a soft chuckle.
“So you really are a bandit.”
Then he handed the Green Tiger Gourd hanging at his waist to Heuk Pyo.
“Heuk Pyo. Take this to Bu… no, to the Grand Leader.”
“The Grand Leader….”
“These fools will cling to us desperately, trying to seize the gourd and make Geol Wang the leader. I’ll handle them myself, so go ahead.”
Only then did Moo Hong grasp the entire situation, his eyes blazing with realization.
Now he understood—these two not only already knew their identities, but had deliberately provoked him.
“Who are you two!”
At Moo Hong’s cry, Hyuk So Jin spoke with utter nonchalance.
“It doesn’t matter. Just take a thorough beating and then relay this message clearly to that old man.”
“What? What message?”
“In fifteen days, at the Hour of the Horse, at Woo Hwa Platform.”
Whoosh.
He grasped the steel-wire blood whip coiled around his left wrist and pulled it taut, flashing a grin as he spoke.
“Tell him if he wants the Green Tiger Gourd, come there. The Ten Demon Experts of Nangya Sect will be waiting.”
Hyuk So Jin’s bared teeth gleamed in the sunlight, brighter even than the steel-wire blood whip reflecting the rays.
* * *
The forest where the rain had ceased was filled with profound silence.
In the mountains, a short distance from the village, stood an ancient Mountain Temple on a gently sloping hillside.
Having long fallen into ruin, moonlight streamed through the gaping roof, and a soft breeze whispered through the broken structure.
Most of the furnishings inside lay shattered, their surroundings thick with cobwebs.
Crack, crack, crack.
Within the Mountain Temple, a campfire crackled to life, and before it sat an elderly man of sturdy build.
His eyes gleamed in the darkness, and his frost-white hair shimmered like silver wrought by a master craftsman.
It was Gu Hong Cheong, known among the Four Gods Seven Kings as Geol Wang.
“Tell me again.”
Before Gu Hong Cheong lay a man prostrate on the ground—Moo Hong, master of the Younghwa Party.
“You lost the Green Tiger Gourd?”
“I have committed a sin worthy of death, Grand Elder.”
Moo Hong kept his face buried against the floor, his head bowed in submission.
He had thrown himself at Hyuk So Jin alongside his disciples from the Younghwa Party, only to be thoroughly beaten and forced to flee.
And just as Hyuk So Jin had instructed, he had reported everything in meticulous detail to Gu Hong Cheong.
“A Ten Demon Expert from the Nangya Sect.”
Gu Hong Cheong released a deep sigh, his gaze turning toward the distant sky.
“That mistake from back then has finally come to haunt me.”
At that time, I had slain eight members of the Fengyun Corps who stood in my way, and though I killed Seong Ryun, the Ten Demon Expert from the Nangya Sect who escaped ultimately eluded my grasp.
Had I pursued that wretch relentlessly then… this calamity would never have come to pass.
“Even considering the natural order of things, I should have hunted him down and ended him.”
Gu Hong Cheong’s voice carried a deep and bitter rage.
The Ten Demon Expert who had killed Seong Ryun had become a candidate for the Demon Palace’s succession.
And now, having become the master of Sa Yeong Dae, he was destroying my lifelong ambition?
From my perspective, this was nothing but a lament of profound regret.
“So then, what does he demand?”
“That is…”
Moo Hong spoke with his head still lowered.
“He says that if the Grand Elder wishes to recover the Green Tiger Gourd, you must come alone to Woo Hwa Platform in a fortnight.”
“Hehehehe.”
Gu Hong Cheong laughed heartily at the sheer audacity of it.
“So he’s serious, then.”
Only now did I truly comprehend that Bu Eunseol genuinely desired a one-on-one duel with me.
“Among young fools, there are always those who overestimate their own abilities and talents.”
A scoff escaped his lips as he curved them into a smile.
“Such fools never realize that there are those who have already walked the path they climb so rapidly—nor do they grasp that the gulf carved by time cannot be bridged in a single breath.”
“Grand Elder.”
“Moreover, he’s more foolish than I thought. If you hold the bait your enemy desires, you should never leave room for negotiation.”
With a low chuckle, he withdrew a small bronze bowl from his robes.
“Deliver this to Elder Jin in secret.”
As Moo Hong accepted the bowl, his eyes underwent a dramatic transformation.
It was the Geol Wang Order—a token symbolizing Grand Elder Gu Hong Cheong himself.
“And in a fortnight….”
Gu Hong Cheong’s eyes narrowed to slits as he whispered low, his gaze growing sharp as needles.
* * *
Woo Hwa Platform.
A broad, level peak rising from Hoe Dang Mountain in Gwi Deok Bu, where one could leisurely savor the surrounding vistas.
Once a celebrated destination where poets and wanderers frequented for its exquisite beauty, it had now fallen into desolation—a place shrouded in melancholy.
Bu Eunseol stood alone atop the open expanse of Woo Hwa Platform.
With her eyes closed and utterly motionless, her form seemed to blend seamlessly into the landscape itself.
Thud, thud.
Then, with measured footfalls, an elderly man with silver hair pinned up ascended to the platform.
His face bore sparse wrinkles, yet his eyes gleamed with clarity and keenness, and his palms were broad and thick as cauldron lids.
It was Geol Wang—Gu Hong Cheong himself.

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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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