The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 25

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 25.
Half an hour before the final trial.
Hyuk Ryeon Eung and Baek Jeon Cheon stood atop the sheer precipice of Stone Mountain.
All areas except the vicinity of Stone Mountain had been cordoned off as restricted zones, allowing them to observe all remaining participants at a glance.
“Hmm.”
Hyuk Ryeon Eung detected two shadows rushing toward them from the distance and let out a low murmur.
“That wretch… she survived.”
Upon spotting Bu Eunseol sprinting at full speed, her body covered in wounds both large and small, his brow furrowed.
“A girl who hadn’t properly learned martial arts before arriving at Hell Island, yet somehow outlasted the gifted prodigies of renowned families?”
“I’m told she mastered the Beast Path immediately upon arriving at Hell Island.”
“That’s a strange jest.”
Hyuk Ryeon Eung exhaled dismissively, his expression cold and indifferent.
“She must have either taken a beating or grasped it superficially. The Beast Path isn’t something one masters in two months of study.”
“No, sir. She mastered the Beast Path in just a fortnight.”
“What?”
“Furthermore, she has continuously studied swordsmanship at the Hwawoo Sword Sect. And somehow, she has learned the Killing Sword Shatters Heaven technique—the true secret art of Baek Jeon Cheon himself—along with the Thunder Unparalleled Form.”
Hyuk Ryeon Eung, listening quietly to Baek Jeon Cheon’s explanation, doubted his own ears.
“Does that even make sense?”
“I didn’t believe it at first either, but my investigation confirmed it to be true.”
“Why, exactly.”
Why, exactly.
Those few words carried countless implications.
Baek Jeon Cheon offered a bitter smile before continuing his explanation.
“All the instructors who taught her said the same thing: ‘Her bone structure isn’t particularly exceptional, but she possesses a terrifying resolve and tenacity.'”
“Resolve and tenacity?”
“Indeed. Moreover, once you begin teaching her, she’s so passionate that you cannot help but pour out everything you know without holding anything back.”
Baek Jeon Cheon spoke with a touch of levity, as if attempting to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
Yet Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s expression grew even more rigid.
“Then she must be a spy from the Orthodox Faction. One with a clear objective.”
“That is not the case.”
“Then are you telling me this wretch is a martial prodigy blessed by heaven itself?”
“I cannot say whether heaven blessed her with martial talent, but she is absolutely not a spy from the Orthodox Faction.”
“How can you be certain of that?”
At Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s question, Baek Jeon Cheon’s expression grew troubled.
“Because she was a mortician belonging to the Constabulary, one who prepared the bodies of those who died at the inn.”
“She… was truly a mortician?”
“Indeed. Though young in age, her skill in preparing bodies was said to be among the finest in the city. She learned the trade from childhood, following her grandfather as he performed his duties.”
Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s eyes widened in astonishment.
How could someone who was not even a martial artist, but merely a mortician, have participated in the Ten Demon Experts tournament?
How could someone without any martial training have survived on Hell Island, where the world’s greatest talents gathered?
As countless questions flooded my mind, Baek Jeon Cheon continued speaking calmly.
“If she were being groomed as a spy, even beggars would reject someone who practiced salt peddling from childhood.”
“True enough… anyone with the profession of salt peddler would stand out far too much.”
Orthodox sect spies always constructed flawless backgrounds to avoid suspicion.
But Bu Eunseol had far too many suspicious elements—from her origins to her martial prowess.
“Whether we wish to believe it or not, the circumstances leave us no choice.”
“What?”
Hyuk Ryeon Eung, who had been gazing down from beneath Stone Mountain, released a deep sigh.
Below, seventeen youths encircled Bu Eunseol and Seo Jin Ha in a semicircle, with Sal Gwi at their backs.
“Now only death remains.”
Those surrounding Bu Eunseol were all prodigies of the highest caliber and bone structure.
If Bu Eunseol could withstand these nineteen geniuses, she would not merely be a candidate for the Ten Demon Experts—she would already be renowned as a master of the Demonic Path.
“What a pity. She seemed to have endured well until now.”
Baek Jeon Cheon, watching Bu Eunseol, exhaled heavily.
“It appears she wandered alone like a solitary general before belatedly forming an organization.”
To survive in the martial world, one must not only possess formidable martial arts but also discern circumstances and the times.
“Judgment is also part of talent. In the end, that one’s capacity is merely at that level.”
“I see.”
As Baek Jeon Cheon murmured softly, Hyuk Ryeon Eung nodded with conviction.
“It is finished now.”
His gaze remained fixed on Bu Eunseol, who was engaged in a blood battle below Stone Mountain.
Whoosh, whoosh!
With sharp cutting sounds, the keen strikes of the White Horse Whip and Hwawoo Sword pierced toward Bu Eunseol’s flanks from angles that seemed utterly inescapable.
“Aaahhh!”
A harrowing scream echoed across the sky.
Simultaneously, Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s eyes, who had been observing the blood battle with hands clasped behind his back, widened dramatically.
“That is…”
Finding evasion impossible, Bu Eunseol suddenly severed both opponents with a bizarre sword technique, swift as lightning.
“The Thunder Lightning Unparalleled Form.”
“So that child truly has mastered the Thunder Lightning Unparalleled.”
As Baek Jeon Cheon gasped in admiration, Hyuk Ryeon Eung shook his head.
“But her inner energy is insufficient, and her sword fundamentals are lacking.”
“Indeed.”
Bu Eunseol, having unleashed the Thunder Lightning Unparalleled Form, was coughing blood, suffering severe internal injuries.
“She may have somehow learned the technique, but she lacks the capacity to wield it.”
Hyuk Ryeon Eung let out a scoff.
“She recklessly employed a sword technique that represents the pinnacle of killing arts, inflicting fatal internal wounds upon herself.”
“Now the organization members will deliver their finishing blow.”
True to Baek Jeon Cheon’s words, three organization members approached the wounded Bu Eunseol.
They were youths trained in the Hwawoo Sword, Blood Flame Sect, and Spirit Commander Spear.
“To die by the three supreme martial arts of the Ten Demonic Gates—there are no regrets.”
Three strands of light shot toward Bu Eunseol, bursting with blinding brilliance like fireworks.
As the three highest techniques of the Ten Demonic Gates began to coil around Bu Eunseol’s body,
Whiiiish!
A piercing whistle erupted from the tip of Bu Eunseol’s blade, tearing through the air itself.
Simultaneously, her sword began striking the precise apex of the light created by the three weapons.
Clang! Ting! Crash!
Bu Eunseol’s black blade, having blocked the torrential assault, unleashed a vast luminous membrane that spread like a fan.
Whoooosh.
Tens of thousands of light fragments passed lightly through the bodies of the three youths attacking Bu Eunseol.
“….”
Not even a groan escaped them.
The three boys, who had been standing dazed, collapsed like hollow reeds, their hearts completely pierced.
“That was….”
Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s eyes widened as if they might tear open.
Having fought countless battles beyond measure, he recognized that the technique Bu Eunseol had displayed was practical martial arts.
‘So he was the real deal after all!’
Hyuk Ryeon Eung let out a silent exclamation of admiration.
He had thought this strange boy had survived purely through luck without any martial prowess.
But now he could see—despite bearing devastating internal injuries, wasn’t he predicting the entire trajectory of the three prodigies’ techniques?
‘And he channeled that overwhelming force into a ferocious killing strike. Not taught by anyone, but instinctively!’
“What just happened? Sect Leader?”
Baek Jeon Cheon exclaimed, watching the scene unfold.
“No matter how I think about it, the Hwawoo Sword Sect doesn’t have such a sword technique….”
“It’s practical martial arts.”
“Pardon?”
Hyuk Ryeon Eung spoke in a low voice, his fists clenched tight.
“In a single instant, he predicted all the variations of three techniques and created a killing strike to counter them.”
Thump-thump.
Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s heart pounded fiercely.
For ages, he had searched tirelessly for a successor to inherit his practical martial arts, wearing out iron-soled shoes in the process.
But finding someone with such bestial reflexes, such killing intent that could tear the heavens asunder, such an unshakeable mind in any situation—
It was as difficult as finding someone born with the Extreme Yin Severed Meridian.
‘Perhaps I couldn’t find them because I was destined to become one of the Ten Demon Experts.’
Hyuk Ryeon Eung smiled bitterly.
The prodigy he had sought so desperately stood right before his eyes.
Yet Bu Eunseol was destined to become one of the Ten Demon Experts, not his disciple.
“Bu Eunseol! Run quickly!”
At that moment, Seo Jin Ha’s cry pierced the air.
Bu Eunseol, caught off guard by the sudden assault, had been driven back beneath Sal Gwi’s feet.
Whoosh.
Sal Gwi’s eyes gleamed like a hawk spotting prey, and she slowly raised her hand.
‘This won’t do!’
Originally, twelve people were supposed to remain.
But Hyuk Ryeon Eung had no time for deliberation—a thunderous cry tore from his throat.
“S—t—o—p――――!”
Descending from Stone Mountain like lightning as he unleashed the Thunder Spirit Reversal technique, Hyuk Ryeon Eung cried out once more in a commanding voice.
“That’s enough!”
His tiger-like eyes swept over the fallen Bu Eunseol as he shouted again.
“Summon Gwang Ui.”
It was then that Baek Jeon Cheon, who had descended Stone Mountain in Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s wake, asked in shock.
“Gwang Ui?”
“Quickly.”
Hyuk Ryeon Eung, whose gaze remained fixed on Bu Eunseol’s pallid complexion, unleashed a roar like that of a lion.
“Before this one dies—hurry!”
* * *
Fourteen.
The number of Ten Demon Experts candidates who survived Hell Island.
Originally, ten talented individuals were to enter the Ten Demonic Gates, and two more were to remain as the ears and eyes of the Bi Young Gak’s master according to their orders.
But due to Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s sudden intervention, the Third Trial now had fourteen people remaining.
“Sect Master. What exactly are you thinking? You went through the trouble of establishing the Third Trial, only to deliberately keep two more?”
To the words of Hwa Wi Myeong, an elder of the Demon Hall, Hyuk Ryeon Eung, seated across the table, answered with an impassive expression.
“They are talents we must obtain.”
“Outstanding talents already abound. To keep merely two more, you’ve broken the rules of this crucial tournament. How could you?”
Hyuk Ryeon Eung spoke with unwavering resolve.
“They are top-tier talents we absolutely must secure.”
“Hmm.”
Hwa Wi Myeong exhaled a dissatisfied sigh and spoke again.
“The emissaries of the Ten Demonic Gates will arrive soon. I myself am uncertain how they will accept a reversal of what they have decided.”
Then Baek Jeon Cheon, standing beside Hyuk Ryeon Eung, narrowed his already slender, elongated eyes.
“There is no need for concern on that matter.”
“Why is that?”
“The Sal Gwi dispatched by the Ten Demonic Gates could hardly have inferior judgment to the Sect Master.”
“Hmm.”
Hwa Wi Myeong let out a long sigh and shook his head faintly.
“Since you speak thus as well, I shall trust you once. However….”
And he fixed Hyuk Ryeon Eung with a grave stare.
“You have arbitrarily violated the rules established jointly with the leadership of the Ten Demonic Gates. Punishment commensurate with this transgression will surely follow.”
Hyuk Ryeon Eung spoke calmly, as though he had anticipated this.
“I have already prepared myself for it.”
* * *
Within the bedchamber of the Palace Hall erected at the heart of Hell Island.
Sunlight streamed through the open window gaps, and birds chirped their morning songs.
Bu Eunseol, who had been lying on the hard wooden bed, slowly opened her eyes as the cascading sunlight washed over her.
“…If this were the martial realm, I would be dead.”
For the first time since mastering the Beast Path, I had fallen into complete unconsciousness.
As I sat calmly and examined my body’s condition, a peculiar thought crossed my mind—my limbs seemed slightly thinner than before.
‘Perhaps it’s because all I’ve eaten for ten days were scraps of dried meat.’
Rising from the bed, I gazed at my reflection in the mirror across the room and nodded to myself.
‘Indeed, a physician of exceptional skill must be stationed here.’
At that time, Bu Eunseol had been exhausted and wounded. Yet I had still unleashed the Thunderous Unparalleled Strike, inflicting fatal internal injuries.
Moreover, in that moment of death, I had experienced a sudden epiphany and even mimicked the Practical Sword Art, deploying it in desperation.
As a result of consecutively unleashing the Ascending Sword Art—which I could not yet fully manifest—my meridians had become completely tangled, and I was dying with catastrophic internal wounds.
Yet now, as if none of that had ever happened, my entire body brimmed with vitality, and my skin radiated with elasticity.
‘I truly never expected to survive.’
The Ten Demonic Gates were originally ten in number.
I had always believed that if I failed to rank within the top ten, I would not survive.
Yet despite fourteen of us remaining, including myself, the Third Trial had ended. This was truly an unforeseen development.
“If they selected fourteen survivors… could there possibly be a Fourth Trial as well?”
Creak.
As I stepped out of the room, my eyes widened involuntarily.
A long corridor stretched before me, with doors constructed at various points and stairs descending below—it resembled the familiar layout of an inn’s corridor lined with guest rooms.
‘Was there such a place on Hell Island?’
Following the stairs downward, I discovered the interior of a two-story inn spread before me.
Neatly dressed attendants carried food and took orders, while certain tables were laden with exquisite dishes.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————