The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 241

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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 241.
“The deeper one’s emotions, the more powerful one’s martial techniques become… is that so?”
Direct Path of Emotion.
Ma Cheon Je had researched techniques unbound by worldly etiquette and formality, creating the Secret Manual of Severed Emotion.
In stark contrast, Mu Hwang’s heart method was Profound Emotion, Tranquil Spirit.
He had devised a meditation technique that quieted the soul through deep, abundant emotion and profound feeling.
“Hmm.”
The characters inscribed on both sides of the thin paper totaled roughly three thousand words.
Yet within each passage lay subtle principles, and some of the dharmic teachings defied immediate comprehension.
“I cannot make sense of this.”
The dharmic teachings themselves were difficult, but more troubling was my inability to grasp the very essence of Mu Hwang’s Profound Emotion heart method.
“Why should a martial artist who stakes their life upon the blade’s edge need to cultivate such profound emotion?”
My eyes grew distant and unfocused as I contemplated Mu Hwang’s Profound Emotion secret.
I was wrestling with whether it was necessary to study a heart method that stood in direct opposition to Ma Cheon Je’s Secret Manual of Severed Emotion.
“If you cannot understand it, simply commit it to memory.”
There was no reason to dismiss the dharmic teachings left behind by an unparalleled martial genius.
I began forcing myself to memorize Mu Hwang’s Profound Emotion heart method.
Fortunately, this place had underground springs flowing through it and sealed honey jars stacked in abundance.
If needed, I could sustain myself here for roughly two months without difficulty.
* * *
I lost all sense of time’s passage while memorizing the dharmic teachings within Wu Huang’s Secret Vault.
‘How strange.’
My memory was exceptionally sharp—I never forgot anything I heard or saw once.
Yet memorizing this dharmic teaching proved extraordinarily difficult.
When I memorized the front section, the back section slipped away. And when I thought I had committed it all to memory and recited it again, the middle portion vanished.
Moreover, each time I attempted to memorize the teaching, memories from my childhood began surfacing unbidden.
‘Does this dharmic teaching exist to summon distracting thoughts?’
Sensing something amiss, I ceased my attempts to memorize Mu Hwang’s Profound Emotion.
‘A heart method cannot be mastered through rote memorization alone.’
A heart method is the way to govern one’s mind—success grants a sudden leap in martial cultivation, yet carelessness leads to demonic possession of the heart.
In other words, it is the most perilous secret among all martial teachings.
‘I must first discern what has gone wrong.’
I drew a deep breath and sank into meditation.
How much time had passed?
‘Must I truly be bound by the concept of emotion?’
As I entered meditative absorption, a single insight crystallized in my mind.
‘After all, is not the mind itself like a vessel that holds emotion?’
When the mind moves, vital energy moves; the body naturally follows that energy.
‘Perhaps Mu Hwang sought to reach a new realm of martial mastery through deep and boundless emotion.’
I could perceive his intention.
Mu Hwang had lived his entire life with a broad heart and rich emotions, weaving them into his martial arts.
As Bu Eunseol came to truly understand the essence of Mu Hwang’s Righteous Path, her mind naturally moved in accordance with the dharma.
Then, like a distant dream, hazy memories surfaced—joyful, warm moments from long ago, those distant recollections.
Her spirit grew increasingly tranquil, and her consciousness seemed to stand alone within a beautiful garden where petals danced on the breeze.
All the world became beautiful, dreamlike.
As Bu Eunseol’s spirit filled with warmth, her physical body too began to radiate vitality.
Her heart beat stronger, blood circulated faster, and the life force within her body grew more vibrant as turbid qi flowed outward.
‘This is Mu Hwang’s Righteous Path.’
The moment I grasped the principle of Mu Hwang’s Righteous Path, passionate and overwhelming emotions surged forth.
It was like the vigorous struggle of a child within the womb finally striving to emerge into the world.
Flash.
Opening my eyes, I extended my fist lightly, overwhelmed by emotions I could not contain.
Without realizing it, I had unleashed the Demon Fist Seven Forms.
Then a wind like a fair breeze struck the wall beside the book repository.
Whoosh.
As the wind touched the solid wall, dust rose up, and suddenly a perfect circular hole appeared in the stone.
‘I barely infused any inner force.’
I could not hide my astonishment.
Mu Hwang’s Righteous Path.
This secret art was a heavenly and extraordinary technique that utilized the emotions composing one’s spirit to dramatically amplify the power of martial arts.
“This is troublesome.”
Rising to my feet and gazing at the cleanly punctured wall, I instead furrowed my brow.
“This cannot be called the martial arts of the Demonic Path.”
The Demon Fist Seven Forms unleashes sharp, axe-like force.
Yet the force I had just released possessed a soft, tenacious quality.
The extreme fist technique of the Demonic Path, the Demon Fist Seven Forms, had manifested like the martial arts of the Buddhist school—soft and compassionate.
“Is it affection, or is it detachment?”
Ma Cheon Je’s secret method of severing emotions—eliminating all delusions and attachments of the heart to freely manipulate tangible true qi.
Mu Hwang’s Righteous Path—based on deep and infinite affection, it dramatically heightened the power of martial arts and enabled soft, stable manifestation.
I stood at a crossroads, uncertain which secret art to follow.
“I must think this through carefully.”
Despite obtaining the supreme inner cultivation secret of Jeongsayang-do, I felt little joy.
Mu Hwang’s Righteous Path was fundamentally incompatible with my naturally cold temperament.
Unlike the secret method of severing emotions, which I could recite and apply instantly, this required meditation to calm my mind before I could use it.
“All of these are merely stepping stones toward the place where I must stand.”
I am carving my own path forward.
Therefore, obtaining these secrets changes nothing.
“Hmm.”
Taking a deep breath, I moved forward, finally preparing to leave the Secret Vault.
Yet something was strange.
Perhaps it was due to mastering Wu Huang’s Absolute Stillness—the secret manuals lining the shelves suddenly seized my attention with irresistible force.
Without conscious thought, I found myself examining the martial arts secrets housed here once more.
Whoosh.
The secrets here were not the orthodox mainstream martial techniques of the Nine Sects One Alliance or the Eight Great Families.
Rather, most were secret manuals from the Righteous Path Sects that had flourished briefly or whose lineages had been severed.
“Yet Seop Mu Hun, who mastered these perfectly, earned the epithet Wu Huang.”
My vision grew dim.
Should I learn them, or should I refrain?
Given that Wu Huang’s Absolute Stillness had been hidden so deeply, the orthodox martial arts contained within this place surely harbored astonishing martial principles worthy of awe.
“Time is running short….”
Taking a deep breath, I began rapidly scanning the books lining the shelves.
I was forcibly embedding the secret manuals of orthodox martial arts from the repository into my mind.
Tap, tap, tap.
How much time had elapsed?
I read and reread every secret manual in the repository without exception.
When hunger struck, I drank honey and water; when drowsiness threatened, I circulated my inner energy.
Yet after prolonged consumption of the jade bee’s honey, I could later maintain sharp and crystalline clarity without sleep.
Finally, the moment I returned the last secret manual to its shelf,
Rumble, rumble, rumble….
The shelves flipped with a low tremor, and behind them four characters were inscribed in sharp calligraphy.
Thirteen Channels Ascendant.
“Thirteen Channels Ascendant?”
The meaning was utterly incomprehensible.
“What does it mean to guide thirteen of something?”
Yet despite waiting at length, no further response came, and no mechanism activated.
I examined my surroundings meticulously, but found nothing unusual.
“Why did the shelves flip?”
All I had done was read every secret manual in Wu Huang’s Secret Vault and embed them in my mind.
Rumble, rumble.
Then the flipped shelves returned to their original positions.
Yet something was strange.
Though I had arranged them in order, the sequence of secrets on the shelves had somehow become completely different.
“The Mantis Stepping Technique and the Tiger-Seizing Eagle-Force Hand were at opposite ends….”
Murmuring softly, I unconsciously stepped with my left foot upon the Mantis Stepping Technique and unfurled the Tiger-Seizing Eagle-Force Hand with my right hand into empty space.
Whoosh!
Then something extraordinary occurred.
Though I had merely deployed each martial technique separately, they suddenly unfolded as a single unified martial principle.
Crack!
The strangeness did not end there.
The moment I deployed both martial techniques simultaneously, a sharp aura erupted from my shoulders.
And yet I had not expended a shred of inner energy to do so.
Screech.
The sudden torrent of qi left sharp marks etched upon the wooden shelves.
“…Thirteen Night Branches.”
Only now did the revelation strike me.
The Orthodox Sects’ martial arts gathered here possessed a remarkable similarity in their essence.
Should one unfold all of them simultaneously, they would coalesce into a singular mass, birthing an entirely new martial art.
One that unleashed qi in utterly unpredictable torrents.
“Hmm.”
In that instant, my mind conjured an image of thirteen streams of qi erupting from disparate points of the body at angles beyond all prediction…
A truly terrifying martial art.
“So that is why such a name was bestowed upon it.”
Once one mastered this technique, they could unleash or withdraw thirteen torrents of qi at will—hence the name Thirteen Night Branches.
“Was this Mu Hwang’s true martial legacy?”
I drew a deep breath.
“So singular in its nature that it bears none of the Orthodox Sects’ characteristic essence.”
I remained, after all, the successor of Nangya Sect and a candidate for succession to Demon Palace. My station forbade me from freely wielding Orthodox Sects’ martial arts.
Yet Thirteen Night Branches was so utterly unique that it resembled instead the techniques of the Demonic Path.
Should I master this completely…
A new Mu Hwang would be born into Murim.
* * *
As I emerged into daylight, an unfamiliar landscape greeted my eyes.
Looking about, I found myself dozens of leagues distant from the mountain where Wu Huang’s Secret Vault had been concealed.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
As I stepped outside, the iron gate trembled before sinking deep into the earth.
It appeared that Mu Hwang had installed mechanisms to bury the vault underground once someone who had mastered both Mu Hwang’s Profound Truth and Thirteen Night Branches departed.
‘Only one person destined by fate….’
Recalling the legend of Mu Hwang, I inhaled deeply.
‘Though I entered by chance, I have inherited the true martial legacy.’
Mu Hwang—the grandmaster of peerless martial arts who guarded the spirit of Murim, yet met a lonely end after being framed by Jeongsayang-do.
‘Though I hail from the Demonic Path… I pray you will accept my reverence.’
Gazing upon the disappearing vault, I bowed my head in solemn respect.
* * *
Having departed Wu Huang’s Secret Vault, I soon arrived at a small village near Woon Hwa.
Upon reaching Market Street, I habitually entered a bustling Inn.
“Welcome, honored guest.”
Jeomsoi wiped clean the table where I had seated myself and spoke.
“It seems you have returned from a long journey.”
The time I had spent in Wu Huang’s Secret Vault mastering Mu Hwang’s Profound Truth amounted to nearly a month.
Having remained in darkness within the stone chamber without glimpsing sunlight, my complexion had grown haggard and my appearance disheveled.
Had Bu Eunseol not worn a sword across her back, Jeomsoi would have taken her for a master of Gae Bang.
“It wasn’t so much distant as it was treacherous.”
Wu Huang’s Secret Vault—a place that seemed to have every mechanical trap in the Murim installed within it.
Yet Bu Eunseol described it only as ‘treacherous’ in her characteristically terse manner.
“What would you like to drink?”
“Do you have good liquor?”
After spending so long in that dark and gloomy place, I craved potent, fragrant spirits far more than any delicacy.
“We have Seol Hyang-ju, brewed at Gyeyang Brewery. It’s quite strong and has an exceptional bouquet.”
“Five bottles of Seol Hyang-ju. Bring whatever appetizers you see fit.”
“Very well.”
Jeomsoi noticed the cracks in Bu Eunseol’s lips and quickly brought the liquor first.
The moment the bottle touched the table, she sealed her mouth with it in one gulp like a drunkard.
Gulp, gulp.
As the potent, fragrant spirit descended my throat, clarity flooded back and warmth bloomed in my belly.
‘Liquor suits me better than tea.’
Every supreme master of the Murim I had encountered always favored tea.
But Bu Eunseol found potent spirits more palatable than fragrant tea.
“Did you hear? There was quite a commotion at the Demon Palace.”
Just then, a peculiar conversation drifted to Bu Eunseol’s ears from the bustling inn.
‘The Demon Palace?’
Turning my head, I saw two middle-aged men who appeared to be Murim practitioners speaking in hushed tones by the opposite window.
“Ah yes. You mean the rumor that one of the Demon Palace’s promising successor candidates died?”
Upon hearing this, Bu Eunseol’s eyes sharpened.
A promising successor candidate of the Demon Palace dead?
Could it be that Do Cheon Rin or Wi Ji Hye Sang had suddenly perished?
“That’s right—the former master of Nangya Sect.”
In that instant, Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened as she turned to stare directly at the two men.
Dead? When I was standing here perfectly alive? What manner of absurd nonsense was this?
“After leaving Jeol Cheon Myul Ji, all trace of them vanished. The Demon Palace eventually dispatched an investigation team, and they found traces in some Deep Mountain Valley.”
“Then couldn’t they still be alive?”
“Impossible.”
The goat-bearded one of the two middle-aged men shook his head.
“Apparently, signs of a battle with Tan Wang were found there.”
“Tan Wang?”
Only then did the man across from him nod as if understanding.
“Indeed, against Tan Wang, there would be no chance of survival. He despises Demonic Path practitioners to the point of killing them.”
The two middle-aged men’s conversation continued.
Unfortunately, that successor of Nangya Sect, despite possessing formidable martial arts among the Four Gods Seven Kings, had fallen to Tan Wang, who harbored such hatred for Demonic Path practitioners.
Thus, there was no room for fortune, and they had breathed their last.
“Still, Tan Wang certainly has audacious nerve. To kill a successor candidate of the Demon Palace…”
The Middle-Aged Man across from him clicked his tongue.
Having laid hands upon a successor candidate of the Demon Palace itself, even the Three Sovereigns would not let the matter rest, much less Tan Wang alone.
“That’s not quite how it works, though.”
“How so?”
“No body has been found.”
The goat-bearded man drained his cup and spoke again.
“Likely Tan Wang, wishing to avoid a clash with the Demon Palace, disposed of things quietly. Without evidence, denial becomes convenient.”
“Come now, he bears the title of Tan Wang. Would a master who stood alone in solitary splendor for decades resort to such petty measures?”
“Who can say? A man has but one life, after all.”
“Hmm.”
What is certain is that he encountered Tan Wang and engaged in a fierce battle.”
The man seated across from him made a soft sound and shook his head.
“If that’s the case, a storm of blood is only a matter of time. If they cannot find a body, the Demon Palace will eventually move to capture Tan Wang.”
“Yes, that’s how it would go.”
Only then did Bu Eunseol, listening to this exchange, grasp the gravity of the situation.
By all rights, I should have fought Tan Wang to the death.
But by chance, after exchanging moves with Tan Wang, I had entered Wu Huang’s Secret Vault, and in the end, we never truly fought.
Yet the Demon Palace’s pursuers, with no way of knowing this truth, assumed I was dead.
‘The Demon Palace may not know, but…’
Tap.
Bu Eunseol placed payment on the table and hurled herself through the window.
‘My comrades back at headquarters could be in danger!’
Whoosh!
And I unleashed my full speed toward the direction of the Demon Palace.

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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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