The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 268
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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 268.
‘They entered through the Nu River!’
Crunch.
Do Cheon Rin, who had grasped the entire situation, ground his teeth with fury.
Until now, Bu Eunseol had completed every mission deemed impossible.
Do Cheon Rin knew this well and had remained vigilant throughout.
That was why he had sent spies and messengers to report on Bu Eunseol and Sa Yeong Dae’s movements, yet…
How had she deceived all eyes and penetrated directly into the heart of Heuk Ryeon?
Moreover, the Nu River could thrust directly into Yao Jian Plain—wasn’t that precisely where Heuk Ryeon maintained its iron-clad defenses?
‘Could it be the Cheong Hae Seven Sword Sects?’
Do Cheon Rin shook his head immediately.
He had been carefully monitoring the movements of the Cheong Hae Seven Sword Sects, just in case.
But their forces had shown no movement whatsoever. Besides, what they operated were merely small merchant vessels, not warships.
‘Could it be that Sa Yeong Dae alone broke through the coastal defenses?’
There was one thing that Do Cheon Rin, known as the Sage of Ten Perfections, had overlooked…
It was the martial prowess of Sa Yeong Dae.
He knew Bu Eunseol was remarkable, but he had not judged Sa Yeong Dae—composed of members from Mubon Squad—to be such a formidable force.
‘That was my mistake.’
Do Cheon Rin bit his lip.
Only now did he realize that the martial strength of the Sa Yeong Dae members entering Heuk Sa Gung was as formidable as that of a first-class battalion.
Boom!
In the meantime, the Sa Yeong Dae members shattered the defensive line and immediately penetrated into Heuk Sa Gung where Heuk Ryeon Ju resided.
Do Cheon Rin’s eyes widened as if they would split watching the scene unfold.
“No!”
Finally losing his composure, he unleashed the Blood Flame Sect method with all his power and rushed forward.
He had to prevent Bu Eunseol from severing Heuk Ryeon Ju’s head at all costs.
* * *
As Sa Yeong Dae entered Heuk Sa Gung, the Heuk Ryeon disciples guarding it poured out like a flood.
“Won Se Moon! We must send the Lord Commander first!”
At that moment, Wi Cheon Gyeong stepped forward and unleashed a barrage of secret techniques.
Soon the Hyeol Mu Dan would arrive.
Bu Eunseol had to sever Heuk Ryeon Ju’s head before they came.
“Quiet! I know!”
Won Se Moon raised a powerful sword wind, pushing back the Heuk Ryeon disciples as he spoke.
“Jo Nam Cheon! What are those Sam Jo bastards doing!”
Before his words even finished, Sam Jo’s members, who had mastered the Black Poison Demonic Art, rushed forward with all their might and pressed the Heuk Ryeon disciples back.
As Jo Nam Cheon and Sam Jo deployed the Black Poison Demonic Art to clear the path, Wi Cheon Gyeong and the First Squad members scattered left and right to collapse the enemy formation.
When Won Se Moon and the First Squad broke through the center, the Third and Fifth Squads led by Myo Cheon Woo and Yu Woon Ryong followed with overwhelming offense.
The remaining stragglers fell to the Cheong Hae Seven Sword Sects’ successors at the rear.
“Lord Commander! We shall handle this!”
When Won Se Moon shouted, Bu Eunseol nodded and swept past the squad members, deploying her movement technique with arrow-like speed.
Then Jo Nam Cheon cried out in succession.
“Myo form, Yu form—follow the leader!”
Apart from Bu Eunseol, the strongest martial artists were Myo Cheon Woo and Yu Woon Ryong.
“We’ll handle this side!”
“Don’t get cocky. We’re barely holding on here ourselves!”
As Myo Cheon Woo unleashed his palm techniques, Jo Nam Cheon bellowed.
“You think that bandit leader is alone? Move it, now!”
At his cry, Myo Cheon Woo and Yu Woon Ryong exchanged glances.
The Sa Yeong Dae members prioritized Bu Eunseol’s safety over their own danger.
If anything happened to Bu Eunseol, they would resent themselves for it forever.
“Fine!”
Yu Woon Ryong broke from the formation first, pursuing Bu Eunseol’s trail. Myo Cheon Woo immediately followed, deploying his movement technique.
Whoosh!
Myo Cheon Woo and Yu Woon Ryong surged into Heuk Sa Gung with full force.
As they reached the entrance to the Great Hall, five Heuk Ryeon disciples wielding different weapons blocked their path.
They were none other than the Five Killing Gods of Heuk Ryeon—the five lords of that organization.
“The defensive line hasn’t even been breached. How did these Demon Palace bastards crawl all the way here?”
No Gon, the Evil Sword at the head of the Five Killing Gods, spoke with gleaming eyes.
“Did they come by boat?”
“Bu Eunseol.”
Then Myo Cheon Woo and Yu Woon Ryong stepped forward.
“We’ll handle them. You go ahead.”
Bu Eunseol hesitated for a moment.
The Five Killing Gods were supreme masters whose names had echoed through Murim since ancient times.
Even with Myo Cheon Woo and Yu Woon Ryong’s martial prowess rising sharply of late, this would be an extraordinarily perilous battle.
“There’s no time to hesitate!”
Then Yu Woon Ryong shouted.
“Do Cheon Rin will be here soon. Are you going to waste all the hardship our squad members have endured?”
Hearing those words, Bu Eunseol nodded.
Zing!
Channeling her inner force, Bu Eunseol extended her left hand in one fluid motion.
A web-like torrent of inner energy poured forth, sweeping the Five Killing Gods blocking the Great Hall to both sides.
“What is this!”
Startled, they drew their weapons and counterattacked.
But Bu Eunseol had already slipped through the space like lightning, escaping their reach.
Clang.
She vanished into the Great Hall in an instant,
“Chase her!”
The Five Killing Gods rushed urgently toward the Great Hall’s entrance,
Crash!
Myo Cheon Woo and Yu Woon Ryong blocked the entrance to the Great Hall, unleashing a torrent of force.
“You will not advance another step!”
* * *
Whoosh!
As I ventured deep into the Great Hall in a single breath, an uncanny sensation washed over me.
Upon entering the Great Hall, I detected a peculiar atmosphere, and an odd fragrance drifted to my nostrils.
‘Human Flower?’
The interior of the Great Hall carried that distinctive scent—the same one that had emanated from the secret underground structure I had infiltrated alongside Yu Hwa Ryeong before.
Why would such a fragrance drift through the residence of the Master who ruled Heuk Ryeon?
Thump, thump.
Sensing the anomaly, I proceeded cautiously deeper into the Great Hall.
At the center of the Great Hall stood a shield-shaped statue symbolizing Heuk Ryeon, and beside it leaned a shadow clad in black garments.
Disheveled hair cascaded wildly in all directions, and a long blade hung at the figure’s waist.
It was Dong Ri Jeok—once called the Black Death, who had terrorized Dae Mak as the leader of a bandit organization, and now the Master of Heuk Ryeon.
“How unexpected.”
Dong Ri Jeok, leaning against the statue, tilted his head as he regarded me.
“I thought the Demon Palace would send forces in droves. Yet you arrive alone.”
I fixed my gaze not on Dong Ri Jeok’s face, but on his fingers.
His fingers were stained pitch-black—the result of cultivating a unique finger technique called Black Blood Finger Force.
Black Blood Finger Force could be wielded like a blade or discharged as finger wind.
It was said that upon reaching the Great Origin realm, one could use their fingers as a sword.
Since Dong Ri Jeok’s fingers were entirely blackened, he had undoubtedly reached the Great Origin realm and mastered Finger Sword technique.
“So that was it.”
Dong Ri Jeok, observing me, nodded as if understanding something.
“You must be one of the successor candidates of the Demon Palace.”
Having grasped the situation, he chuckled and spoke.
“After all, my head is the price for the successor’s position.”
I allowed surprise to cross my features.
Not because Dong Ri Jeok possessed detailed knowledge of Demon Palace’s internal affairs—spies were embedded everywhere, after all.
Rather, Dong Ri Jeok was known as a brutally cruel Killing Ghost.
Yet now, his eyes gleamed with such gravity that he seemed to radiate the aura of a master of the Orthodox Sects.
“You’ve reached the Extreme Demon realm.”
I spoke calmly, fixing my gaze upon Dong Ri Jeok.
“That’s why your killing intent has vanished.”
“Hehehehe. After passing sixty, the killing intent within me suddenly disappeared.”
Dong Ri Jeok laughed and continued.
“Since then, I lost interest in directly slaying people and focused instead on expanding my power.”
“Were you aggrieved?”
I clicked my tongue, my eyes filled with contempt.
“To the point where my entire body must be preserved with medicinal compounds just to maintain life.”
“Ho, you’re quite perceptive.”
Dong Ri Jeok now maintained the appearance of someone barely past his prime.
Having reached the Wuji Realm, there was no way he could have undergone Half-Life Reincarnation.
Moreover, while his features were those of a young man, his body emanated the distinctive odor that only came from places where human flowers were cultivated…
Clearly, he was clinging to youth through some grotesque method.
“This Lord Heuk Ryeon unified the bandit gangs into one, creating Heuk Ryeon that surpasses any faction in the Murim.”
Dong Ri Jeok did not deny it, a smile playing at his lips.
“Now that I’ve just achieved this great enterprise, wouldn’t it be a shame to merely watch it unfold while withering away?”
“Then was it the Dong Chang who supported Heuk Ryeon’s expansion?”
“Dong Chang? Hahahaha.”
Dong Ri Jeok laughed heartily and shook his head.
“Now I see you know nothing at all.”
He approached slowly, his gaze fixed intently upon Bu Eunseol.
And he spoke words laden with meaning.
“Well, as the successor of the Demon Palace, you would have no way of knowing.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Dong Ri Jeok raised his finger, from which black heat shimmer rose, and spoke.
“The King of Hell will tell you the rest of the story.”
Thud-thud.
Dong Ri Jeok’s momentum differed slightly from the Demonic Path masters I had fought thus far.
He did not display his killing intent openly, instead flowing a gentle aura as if imparting instruction.
‘It’s a situation similar to Gu Ju Hun.’
Normally, the martial prowess of Heuk Ryeon’s Lord, Dong Ri Jeok, could not possibly contend with me, who had stepped into the Extreme Heaven Realm.
But the bizarre and unique medicinal compounds created through human flowers instantly elevated both body and martial meridians.
In that moment, I entertained an odd thought.
What would happen if an absolute powerhouse like Ma Cheon Je consumed that drug?
‘Perhaps its effects would only extend to the Initial Ascension Realm.’
Stepping into the Extreme Heaven Realm meant reaching the physical limits of the body.
In other words, without achieving higher enlightenment, no amount of medicinal compounds or spiritual elixirs could grant even an inch of progress.
Crack!
In that instant, a sharp finger force pierced toward my brow.
It was a covert finger technique with neither form nor sound.
Yet I could perceive the faint disturbance only because of the Beast Path’s ability to sense even the flow of air itself.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh.
As I deployed Extreme Speed Shadowless, my form became blurred.
Simultaneously, I unhesitatingly unleashed Formless Heaven Stream.
Flash!
A brilliant light accompanied a keen sword strike that pierced toward Dong Ri Jeok’s brow—as it must.
Screech!
Somehow, he had already anticipated the sword path of Musang Cheon Ryu and halted the unfolding of the sword technique with Black Blood Force.
‘Weaponless Sword Surpasses Weaponed Sword?’
Dong Ri Jeok had deployed the organization of Weaponless Sword Surpasses Weaponed Sword—suppressing an armed opponent without a weapon—through Black Blood Force.
‘How entertaining.’
When Bu Eunseol had arrived at the Advanced Hall of Hwawoo Sword Sect while on Hell Island, she had received an order from Dan Cheon Yang to deploy Weaponless Sword Surpasses Weaponed Sword.
But at that time, she lacked deep mastery of sword arts.
Ultimately, she had expressed Weaponless Sword Surpasses Weaponed Sword by using Beast Path to disarm Dan Cheon Yang’s blade.
‘But now it is different.’
Bu Eunseol rotated the silent sword and gripped it in reverse.
Then, channeling force through her index and middle fingers, she simultaneously targeted Dong Ri Jeok’s neck and lower abdomen.
Whoosh!
As blade-sharp energy poured forth and pierced through the gaps in his defense, Dong Ri Jeok had no choice but to cease his attack and retreat several steps backward.
“Your martial prowess is considerable.”
Dong Ri Jeok exclaimed in admiration.
The highest realm of Weaponless Sword Surpasses Weaponed Sword was to deploy sword techniques without any constraint, whether one possessed a blade or not.
Bu Eunseol, even when wielding only her bare fingers to unfold sword techniques, displayed power nearly equivalent to that of blade-based techniques—and moreover, her timing and directional precision were exquisite.
In both martial force and the depth of sword mastery, she overwhelmed Dong Ri Jeok.
“Then let me truly try.”
A sickly yellow aura flowed from Dong Ri Jeok’s eyes as he realized Bu Eunseol’s martial prowess exceeded his own.
It was clear he was elevating his martial power not only through Yin-Yang Harmony, but also through some grand technique or pharmaceutical substance.
‘So he is different from Gu Ju Hun.’
Unlike Gu Ju Hun, Dong Ri Jeok possessed a clear mind, and I could not sense any separate space where he stored essence blood or spirit elixirs.
Rumble!
In that instant, Dong Ri Jeok unleashed Black Blood Force to sever Bu Eunseol’s neck.
Unlike before, a subtle thunderous sound reverberated, and the Black Blood Force had become distinctly visible.
‘Or perhaps the pharmaceutical substance has been refined in the interim.’
If Dong Ri Jeok could move despite suffering a fatal wound like Gu Ju Hun, then this battle would become far more difficult than anticipated.
This confrontation would prove considerably more arduous than expected.
Clang clang clang clang!
Having evaded the Black Blood Force, Bu Eunseol swiftly wielded the silent sword, generating dozens of sword auras.
And those sword auras pierced into Dong Ri Jeok’s body at staggered intervals.
It was the exquisite mystery of Nong Jo Yeon Un.
“Hmph.”
Dong Ri Jeok evaded the successive sword auras one by one and instead drew close to Bu Eunseol.
Then, pouring Black Blood Force from all five fingers, he began to deploy finger sword technique.
Click click!
The finger sword forged from Black Blood Force could freely adjust its sharpness like a physical blade.
When Bu Eunseol attempted to sever the finger sword with her silent sword, he would instantly release the edge and thrust again, employing this alternating strategy.
Yet despite this, unable to withstand Bu Eunseol’s martial force and sword technique, he repeatedly found himself pushed backward.
‘He’s specialized in tactics against stronger opponents.’
Bu Eunseol felt an odd sensation.
I had always faced masters above my station, overwhelming them through superior tactics and quick adaptation.
But now the situation was completely reversed.
Both in cultivation and martial prowess, I held the advantage, while Dong Ri Jeok was methodically unraveling each of my attacks through diverse techniques and improvisation.
‘So this is what it feels like.’
As I clashed fiercely with Dong Ri Jeok, a strange composure bloomed in one corner of my mind.
It was not arrogance, but a natural response.
Having reached the threshold of the Extreme Heaven Realm, I could anticipate every movement and technique Dong Ri Jeok employed.
Therefore, there was no need to exert full force, and my mind naturally settled into a state of ease.
‘I must remain vigilant.’
An ordinary martial artist would have assumed victory and continued with leisurely technique.
But I had never once taken victory for granted.
I always fought with my life on the line, giving my all.
Zing!
When Dong Ri Jeok saw not a single flaw or wavering in my swordplay, his eyes changed.
“Your martial arts are extraordinary!”
Having uttered his admiration,
Whoosh.
He retreated in one breath, then suddenly clenched his teeth hard.
‘Poison? No.’
With a sharp sound, he swallowed something, and his eyes began to take on a yellowish hue.
Simultaneously, his pupils elongated into triangular shapes like a reptile’s, and the veins across his entire body began to bulge prominently.
‘So there were stages to it.’
Only then did everything become clear to me.
That drug, which suddenly enhanced physical ability and cultivation through human essence and spirit elixirs…
Clearly differed in potency based on the number of times ingested and the quantity, and the denser the concentration, the more it gnawed away at the very soul.
Crash!
Once again, with enhanced martial power, Dong Ri Jeok’s Black Blood Finger Force burrowed into my body.
Not only did his original strength surpass Gu Ju Hun’s, but his mind remained intact.
Therefore, as he continued to consume the drug, he had become a martial artist capable of standing against me.
‘Excellent.’
As Dong Ri Jeok grew stronger, my concentration only heightened.
With each attack received, my body and spirit merged into one, and the power of my swordplay intensified further.
The stronger the enemy, the stronger I become.
That was the essence of Nangya Sect’s martial arts, and the special talent I possessed—advancing my martial prowess through deadly combat with opponents.
“Die!”
After more than a moment of fierce exchange, sensing his disadvantage, Dong Ri Jeok unleashed a thunderous roar and began moving with explosive speed.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Transforming into four shadows as if employing a shadow clone technique, he drew the Black Blood Finger Force into all ten fingers and encircled me.
It was none other than his ultimate technique and final trump card—the Black Blood Tianxia.
‘A trap?’
A flicker of doubt crossed Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
The two were still locked in close combat, and neither had yet seized the moment to unleash a decisive strike.
Yet why would he suddenly pour all his strength into elevating his power and deploy his ultimate technique in such circumstances?
Whoosh!
Just as the Black Blood Tianxia’s ultimate technique conjured a whirlwind and swept toward Bu Eunseol’s form, something extraordinary occurred.
Still.
Suddenly, Bu Eunseol ceased all movement, standing motionless in that very spot.
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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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