The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 257

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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 257.
Gwak Sung’s ears betrayed him for a moment.
“What did you say?”
“I refuse.”
Gwak Sung’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
“You would make an enemy of Bon Gak for a dying traitor?”
Then he smiled with hollow resignation.
“You should calculate your odds more carefully. Don’t make a decision you’ll regret.”
In that instant, contempt flickered across Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
“Is the position of Demon Hall’s successor merely a seat for selling others and reaping profit?”
“So you intend to fight the Blood Lord right now?”
“If you wish.”
“Ahahaha.”
Gwak Sung laughed, covering his forehead in utter bewilderment.
“They call you the Radiant Blade, but you seem completely mad.”
The two hundred assassins he had brought were not merely members of the Twelve Earthly Branches—they were the elite vanguard of Geuk Sal Mil Gak, capable of annihilating any sect in a single sweep.
Even if someone other than Bu Eunseol from the Four Gods Seven Kings had come, victory would be impossible.
“You’re chasing empty dreams.”
At that moment, Seok Woo Haeng, leaning unsteadily against the waterway wall, smiled.
“I will not die by anyone’s hand.”
In his grip was a thin, faint silver thread.
And that thread extended to the walls and floor of the waterway.
“We all go together….”
“How childish, Seok Woo Haeng. Are you bluffing?”
Gwak Sung, observing Seok Woo Haeng, let out a scoff instead.
“To collapse an underground waterway of this scale would require an enormous quantity of explosives. Even if the Twelve Earthly Branches has connections to the government, such a thing would be impossible.”
“Hehehehe… Hahahaha!”
At that, Seok Woo Haeng laughed heartily, pointing at Gwak Sung with satisfaction.
Stop.
His laughter ceased, and he gazed into the distant void, muttering softly.
“In the first place, becoming the supreme leader of the Twelve Earthly Branches in such a short span of time was itself an impossibility. Wasn’t it?”
In that instant, Gwak Sung’s eyes widened.
Thinking back on it, something was amiss.
No matter how exceptional Seok Woo Haeng was as one of the Ten Demon Immortals, it would be impossible for him alone to devour the Twelve Earthly Branches in such a brief period.
Which meant some force had intervened, and there was a real possibility that the entire waterway had been transformed into a massive trap.
“Wait, wait!”
Only then did Gwak Sung, sensing that explosives had been planted throughout the waterway, reach out his hand.
“Seok Woo Haeng. Regardless, you were still a disciple of Bon Gak, were you not?”
He approached slowly, forcing a smile across his face as he spoke.
“First, let us treat your condition, and then we can talk.”
Gwak Sung’s expression was desperate.
He had brought every elite assassin at his disposal to eradicate the Twelve Earthly Branches.
If the Underground Waterway collapsed in this situation?
Geuk Sal Mil Gak’s elite forces would evaporate in an instant.
“It’s already too late.”
Click.
Seok Woo Haeng pulled the silver trigger without hesitation.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The ground trembled, and the entire Underground Waterway began to collapse.
“Flee!”
Gwak Sung bolted in the opposite direction with a cry of alarm.
But no matter how swiftly he deployed his movement technique, it remained uncertain whether he could escape the waterway as it crumbled wholesale.
“Aaaahhh!”
The assassins attempting to flee toward the exit were crushed beneath the rubble, their screams echoing in agony.
Seok Woo Haeng had indeed prepared explosives powerful enough to bring down this massive Underground Waterway.
Boom!
At that moment, a boulder the size of a house began to plummet toward Seok Woo Haeng’s head.
Yet he showed no intention of evading, merely staring into the void with hollow eyes.
Flash!
But then Bu Eunseol deployed her movement technique like lightning.
Boom!
In the same instant, she caught the falling boulder above Seok Woo Haeng’s head.
“…?”
Bu Eunseol’s expression became peculiar.
The moment the massive boulder—weighing tens of thousands of pounds—touched her hands, it hung suspended as though frozen in midair.
“I knew you would.”
Seok Woo Haeng gazed at her and smiled faintly.
“You’re the type who only appears cold on the surface.”
Bu Eunseol’s brow twitched.
Only then did she realize that the spot where Seok Woo Haeng stood was the sole safe zone.
“At Jang Geom Mountain Manor too. You acted as though you didn’t care at all, but in truth, you drew attention so that Myo Cheon Woo and I could escape.”
Recalling Bu Eunseol’s conduct at Jang Geom Mountain Manor, a smile played at Seok Woo Haeng’s lips.
“All while risking your own life, facing master-level experts one after another….”
“Seok Woo Haeng.”
When Bu Eunseol called his name in a low voice, Seok Woo Haeng sighed heavily and spoke.
“You want to know where I obtained Saixiang’s secret projectile…, don’t you?”
He shook his head, regarding her with vacant eyes.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know that either.”
“What?”
“They simply knew that you were pursuing Saixiang’s trail.”
“Them?”
“Yes. They said that if I sent Saixiang’s dark projectile, you would surely come to this place.”
Seok Woo Haeng smiled faintly.
“They arranged for this entire place to collapse. But I secretly created a safe zone without their knowledge.”
It was a consideration so that Bu Eunseol would not lose her life in vain.
I simply wanted to win just once. It was not that I hated her.
Bu Eunseol, who had been listening silently, asked again.
“Who exactly are they?”
“I don’t know. I’ve investigated them covertly many times, but I couldn’t uncover their identity. However, they know much about me.”
Seok Woo Haeng shook his head.
“They promised me they would enable me to defeat you. That’s how they gave me control of the Twelve Earthly Branches and the Heavenly Immortal Demonic Art.”
Bu Eunseol clenched her fists.
If they could exploit Seok Woo Haeng’s competitive spirit toward her, they must have thoroughly grasped information about the Ten Demon Immortals long ago.
Moreover, knowing that she was pursuing Saixiang and using Saixiang’s dark projectile as bait to lure her here meant…
They either possessed intelligence superior to the combined Righteous and Demonic Paths, or they were a force capable of manipulating even Saixiang itself.
‘Is it still beyond my reach?’
As an enraged Bu Eunseol bit her lip, Seok Woo Haeng held a thin smile.
“But there was one thing they didn’t know.”
“What is that?”
“That you wouldn’t kill me.”
Bu Eunseol had fought against the Geuk Sal Mil Gak elite vanguard to protect him.
As that scene came to mind, Seok Woo Haeng felt complex emotions surge up that defied expression.
In truth, I had taken a liking to Bu Eunseol from the beginning.
If only I hadn’t possessed the pride of being a martial genius and the ambition to reach the pinnacle of the Demonic Path…
Perhaps I would have extended my hand to Bu Eunseol first.
“Was I not hateful to you?”
“…”
“From Hell Island onward, I persistently tried to kill you…”
Gush.
Suddenly, Seok Woo Haeng spewed dark crimson blood.
From the moment he activated the mechanism, he had drawn upon his inner force and severed his own meridians.
Yet the vicious Heavenly Immortal Demonic Art still clung to one thread of his life force.
“Seok Woo Haeng.”
“I have no regrets…”
The light in Seok Woo Haeng’s eyes, as he gazed at Bu Eunseol, began to fade.
“I only regret that I cannot die by your hand…”
And then he quietly breathed his last.
Rumble.
At that moment, the trembling ceased and the collapse of the Underground Waterway stopped.
No more screams could be heard.
Geuk Sal Mil Gak had brought all their elite assassins to sweep away the Twelve Earthly Branches.
Yet by the traps laid within the underground waterway, every last one of those elite warriors breathed their final breath in unison.
It would take Geuk Sal Mil Gak an extraordinarily long time to recover from this blow.
“Seok Woo Haeng.”
Bu Eunseol, closing the eyes of Seok Woo Haeng that stared blankly ahead, spoke in a hushed voice.
“I have never hated you, not even once. Rather, I have always felt a kinship with you.”
Bu Eunseol, who had waged a long and solitary battle all these years.
I had come to regard the Ten Demon Immortals who shared my cursed fate as kindred spirits.
“Like an old friend I had known since time immemorial.”
Seok Woo Haeng, leaning against the stone wall with his final breath spent, offered no reply.
Yet as Bu Eunseol’s words reached him, a smile seemed to linger at the corners of his lips.
* * *
Sa Young Gak. Bu Eunseol’s office.
On the surface, I proceeded through my daily duties as though nothing had changed.
Though I had stood at the scene of the complete annihilation of Geuk Sal Mil Gak’s elite warriors that shook the Murim, none knew of my presence there.
After concealing my tracks using Mu Ha Soo Yu Jeong’s intelligence network, even the Demon Palace seemed unable to easily trace my movements.
Thanks to this, despite being entangled in an earth-shattering incident, no one knew that I had been at that place.
I paused.
My brush stilled as I was composing a letter.
Suddenly, the events of that day resurfaced in my mind.
The mysterious forces that had manipulated and used Seok Woo Haeng.
They were surely connected to Saixiang, which I had been pursuing.
Crack.
As I tightened my grip on the brush, the wooden shaft crumbled to dust.
Though I appeared to be living a peaceful existence, a raging inferno burned fiercely within my chest.
“I will surely seize their tail.”
A blood-red gleam ignited in my eyes.
Those who would weave threads through the fates of others and manipulate them with their fingers—I had resolved to cut them all down.
Knock, knock, knock.
At that moment, a knock sounded at the door, followed by a low, austere voice.
“Master, it is Wi Cheon Gyeong.”
“Enter.”
As the door opened, the tall Wi Cheon Gyeong, his bangs grown long, clasped his hands respectfully.
“A letter from the intelligence division of Mu Ha Soo Yu Jeong for you, Master.”
My eyes narrowed as I examined the letter within the envelope.
The letter contained a concise account: those who had burned Seonggacheoljang were agents of the government authorities.
“Master, has something occurred?”
Wi Cheon Gyeong, observing the gravity in my expression, asked carefully.
Instead of answering, I extended the letter toward him.
And I asked.
“What do you make of this?”
Wi Cheon Gyeong possessed experience in the Gangho no less than Bu Eunseol, and his temperament was measured with keen strategic insight.
Having read the letter with composure, Wi Cheon Gyeong carefully opened his mouth.
“Consumption has spread… and the government authorities burned an entire village to the ground, you say.”
Having grasped the full context, he nodded slowly.
“Of course, it is not uncommon for authorities to burn bodies when plague claims many lives in succession….”
Consumption was treated as a plague.
However, those afflicted with such illness were first and foremost kept from contact with others.
The dead were not immediately consigned to flame simply because some had perished.
“A government bloated with bureaucrats would never proceed with such swift decisiveness.”
Wi Cheon Gyeong shook his head.
“If the letter’s contents are true, there appears to be some force colluding with the authorities.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
“Your thoughts align with mine.”
In truth, fabricating a plague outbreak using potent toxins was hardly unprecedented.
What was curious, however, was that these forces had deliberately moved the government authorities.
No sect, righteous or demonic, could burn a village without mobilizing the government to do so.
‘Then could it be that the government orchestrated this from the beginning?’
It was not an entirely baseless deduction.
From the perspective of Murim practitioners, government officials were nothing more than…
leeches who, under the pretense of inheriting virtue from heaven, gorged themselves on the lifeblood of the common people.
Moreover, the court’s attempts to establish secret organizations to manipulate the Murim.
Such things had occurred with troubling frequency, had they not?
“Understood. Return and investigate.”
Wi Cheon Gyeong bowed and departed.
Days passed.
Sudden news rippled through the Demon Palace.
Sin Do Woon Hui of the Destruction Spear Sect, who had been handling successor candidate duties, withdrew from contention.
―I shall relinquish my position as a successor candidate.
Bu Eunseol and Do Cheon Rin had long since completed their spy missions.
Moreover, Wi Ji Hye Sang, a prominent successor candidate, had withdrawn, and Yong Jeok Bi had met death at Seok Woo Haeng’s hand.
Under such circumstances, even if Sin Do Woon Hui brilliantly rebuilt the neglected sects, his chances of becoming successor were nonexistent.
―Ultimately, Ma Cheon Je will have no choice but to intervene.
For generations, the successor to the Demon Palace required the support of more than half the Ten Demonic Gates, and possessed martial prowess and qualities of the highest caliber.
Yet Do Cheon Rin commanded majority support.
Bu Eunseol demonstrated overwhelming martial prowess.
Because of this, the Demon Palace had yet to appoint a successor, and the selection process stretched longer than anticipated…
Only Ma Cheon Je possessed the power to resolve all of this.
―I shall issue a mission to determine the successor of the Demon Palace.
Ma Cheon Je finally issued his command.
“Under the command of the Blood Flame Sect, annihilate Heuk Ryeon. Whichever of you achieves the greater merit shall be granted the position of successor.”
When this decree reached the ears of those within the Demon Hall, the reaction was one of bewilderment.
“Heuk Ryeon, all of a sudden?”
Heuk Ryeon was originally nothing more than a coalition of petty bandit gangs scattered across a small region of Cheong Hae.
Yet within the span of a decade, it had grown explosively, absorbing bandits and water pirates from across all of Cheong Hae into its ranks.
Moreover, it had begun transmitting martial techniques even to insignificant foot soldiers, and had extended its reach into information networks.
What had once been a chaotic rabble of bandit gangs was gradually taking on the systematic structure of a proper faction.
And now it had become a legitimate power that wielded considerable influence across the Cheong Hae region.
The puzzlement among the Demon Hall’s leadership stemmed from a single point.
No matter how formidable Heuk Ryeon had become, its influence as a martial faction remained negligible.
Of course, judging by the trajectory of their growth, it was only a matter of time before they wielded the prestige of a true martial faction.
Yet why would the selection of a successor be determined through such a massive military campaign?
From that day forward.
Whispered rumors circulated among the upper echelons of the Demon Hall.
“It is said to be a scheme of the Blood-Dyed Sword School.”
Do Cheon Rin, unable to match Bu Eunseol’s martial prowess, had conspired with the Ten Demonic Gates masters who supported his faction to orchestrate this affair.
As if to prove those rumors true, Ma Cheon Je issued the mobilization order and nothing more.
Thereafter, he neither convened meetings nor even mentioned the matter again.
“This will not be an easy battle.”
The Blood Flame Sect was among the smaller divisions of the Demon Hall, with a force of three thousand. Heuk Ryeon’s forces numbered a full thirty thousand.
Though martial techniques had been transmitted, the foot soldiers’ martial prowess barely exceeded the third-rate level.
In essence, the Blood Flame Sect—composed of regularly trained warriors—and Heuk Ryeon’s forces were roughly equivalent in actual combat strength.
“Execute the campaign immediately upon the return of the Blood Flame Sect Master.”
Blood Flame Sect Master Jwa Dae Baek was returning from Gwan Oe, with his arrival expected approximately one month hence.
In other words, one month from now, Bu Eunseol and Do Cheon Rin—
the two successor candidates—would annihilate Heuk Ryeon alongside the Blood Flame Sect while simultaneously determining who would claim the position of successor.
* * *
Thud, thud.
Beneath the scorching sun, a middle-aged man approached the entrance of the Demon Hall.
His robust frame was adorned with an affable smile.
At his waist hung a sword that was no ordinary blade—it radiated the five colors of light.
“What brings you here?”
At the query from Mo Gwang, the gate keeper, the middle-aged man flashed his white teeth in a grin.
“I have come to see Bu Xiaoxia, one of the Ten Demon Experts of Nangya Sect.”
“One of the Ten Demon Experts of Nangya Sect….”
Mo Gwang blinked, then let out a sound of recognition.
“You speak of Bu Eunseol, the Sa Yeong Dae Master?”
“Indeed.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“I do not.”
Jang Sam, standing beside Mo Gwang, shot him a meaningful glance.
The Lord of the Demon Palace was not a figure one could simply request to see.
Moreover, Bu Eunseol, the Lord of Sa Yeong Dae, was a successor candidate to the Demon Palace and a high-ranking official holding a first-class lordship.
Even if a commander-level figure from the Ten Demonic Gates had arrived, they could not simply grant an audience.
“Do not worry.”
The Middle-Aged Man, observing the intensity in both their eyes, slowly lifted the brush resting upon the table and spoke.
“I need only have my visiting card delivered.”
The brush moved swiftly across the paper.
Without hesitation, the Middle-Aged Man inscribed his name in the visitor’s registry.
―Heavenly Sword Society, Yu Hwa Ryeong.

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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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