The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 29

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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 29.
Bu Eunseol’s expression turned blank for a moment.
One could seek instruction from anyone, but that didn’t mean they could necessarily learn?
“The masters of this sect refine their martial arts through real combat, each cultivating their own unique techniques. Aside from the Demonic Path, there are no secret manuals or standardized foundational martial arts.”
Dan Cheong spoke with a serious expression.
“However, since you’ve been selected as one of the Ten Demon Experts, I shall grant you a considerable privilege this time.”
“Thank you.”
“What you need most right now is an exceptional internal cultivation technique.”
Bu Eunseol nodded in agreement.
Having never learned martial arts from childhood, I lacked not only martial skill but also any foundation in internal energy cultivation.
Dan Cheong then turned his body and pointed toward a distant mountain peak.
“That place is called Cheol Jang Peak.”
“Cheol Jang Peak…”
“Indeed. Rest today, and climb Cheol Jang Peak tomorrow.”
Dan Cheong gazed at Bu Eunseol and spoke in a solemn voice.
“There awaits a master who will teach you the finest internal cultivation technique.”
* * *
After resting at my quarters, I ascended Cheol Jang Peak as soon as the morning sun rose.
Having trained in martial arts continuously, I had prided myself on possessing steel-like physical endurance, yet the terrain of Cheol Jang Peak was rugged beyond description.
“Haah. Haah.”
After climbing for over two hours, my breath came in gasps.
Yet I never once halted my steps, climbing relentlessly onward.
Thud.
Finally reaching the summit of Cheol Jang Peak, I opened my eyes wide.
At the peak’s edge stood a small dwelling, and before it stood a massive man in a tattered monk’s robe, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Forgive my intrusion.”
Approaching the man in the monk’s robe, I bowed deeply.
“I have come at the behest of Dan Cheong…”
“So you are the one selected as one of the Ten Demon Experts of Nangya Sect.”
With a low voice, the man standing at the peak’s edge turned around.
In that instant, my eyebrows rose slightly. The man’s face, neck, arms—every exposed part of his body was densely covered with scars.
At first glance, he appeared less like a human and more like a monster engulfed in wounds.
“Hmm.”
The man in the monk’s robe regarded me with a startled expression.
Until now, whenever anyone saw his appearance, he could see their eyes waver greatly, regardless of age or gender.
Yet this youth, barely past his teens, merely flickered his eyebrows upon seeing him.
“You’re not particularly surprised.”
“Should I be?”
The man, observing my composed gaze, suddenly brightened his eyes.
“It seems you’ve witnessed many things unfit for your age.”
At a glance, he discerned that Bu Eunseol had endured harsh trials since childhood.
“Being a salt merchant means witnessing sights one would rather not see.”
“You were a salt merchant, then.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
In response to Bu Eunseol’s reply, the man in monastic robes asked quietly.
“Your name?”
“Bu Eunseol.”
“Bu Eunseol.”
The man in robes repeated the name softly, then spoke again.
“Have you come to learn the inner cultivation technique?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“It is hardly a novel occurrence, but…”
The man turned his gaze toward the distant sky, his voice tinged with bitterness.
“I cannot fathom why all who hail from Nangya Sect are so consumed by greed.”
“I do not understand your meaning.”
“It appears you have already mastered a cultivation technique, yet you seek to learn inner cultivation anew from this humble monk?”
‘Humble monk?’
The term was how a Buddhist monk humbly referred to himself.
Then this man in monastic robes was truly a monk?
“I have never learned any inner cultivation technique.”
At Bu Eunseol’s answer, the man’s expression turned contemptuous.
“You speak nonsense.”
He then pressed his finger firmly against the lower dantian region of Bu Eunseol’s body.
Immediately, a resilient force surged from the lower dantian, pushing the man’s hand away.
“With this level of cultivation, you have systematically nurtured your inner strength since childhood. Yet you claim never to have learned any inner cultivation technique?”
“Why would I deceive you?”
Despite the man’s piercing gaze, Bu Eunseol’s eyes remained utterly unmoved.
“Then it must be one of two things.”
The man, having studied Bu Eunseol’s eyes, spoke with cutting coldness.
“Either you are the greatest liar under heaven, or you learned the inner cultivation technique within a dream.”
Bu Eunseol said nothing.
It was the strongest rebuttal he could offer.
“Hmm.”
Detecting not the slightest tremor in Bu Eunseol’s eyes, a brilliant light suddenly flashed across the man’s gaze.
“This humble monk is called Hyul Geum Gang.”
Hyul Geum Gang.
A master who had emerged from Cheon Ryong Temple, called the sacred ground of Yunnan, yet had been falsely accused of breaking the precepts of killing and expelled with his inner strength sealed away.
But years later, through some method, he had perfectly restored his inner strength and emerged into the martial world anew.
Hyul Geum Gang, who had eliminated the senior disciples who had framed him and slaughtered all who came seeking revenge.
Afterward, though many orthodox sects attempted to kill him, he had instead slain countless numbers of them, having mastered all the secret martial techniques of Cheon Ryong Temple.
‘Why would a monk who has left the secular world bear such an ominous character as Blood in their dharma name?’
Hyul Geum Gang had been a Demon Monk who had disposed of countless righteous sects and wandering knights, yet Bu Eunseol regarded him merely as a monk with a peculiar dharma name.
“It seems you don’t know this humble monk.”
Hyul Geum Gang, who had been staring intently at Bu Eunseol, smiled while baring his fangs.
“This humble monk earned the name Hyul Geum Gang because anyone who displeases my eyes is struck down on the spot. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
Though Bu Eunseol answered, her eyes were filled with disbelief.
Hyul Geum Gang’s gaze was as clear as an autumn sky reflected in a well. He did not appear to be someone tainted by evil or capable of committing murder.
Thud.
In that instant, Hyul Geum Gang seized Bu Eunseol’s wrist with the speed of lightning.
“Since you say you’ve never learned inner cultivation techniques, I suppose it would be fine to destroy all your inner energy?”
‘Was I mistaken?’
Hyul Geum Gang seemed to have not the slightest hesitation in killing Bu Eunseol, who had become one of the Ten Demon Experts of Nangya Sect.
“Of course.”
As Bu Eunseol nodded, Hyul Geum Gang, still gripping her wrist, suddenly sensed something amiss.
He discovered that while her meridian was filled with energy, there was no circulation of inner force occurring within her body at all.
‘Could it be that this one….’
Hyul Geum Gang released Bu Eunseol’s wrist and drew a deep breath.
“Have you learned any techniques?”
“What do you mean?”
“Methods for calming the mind, or ways of breathing in and out, for instance.”
“I learned such things from my grandfather.”
“Show me.”
Hyul Geum Gang spoke with a solemn gaze.
“Show me immediately before my eyes.”
“Understood.”
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath and concentrated her mind.
Then, standing motionless, she began the breathing technique her grandfather had taught her.
“You’re cultivating while standing?”
“Is there a connection between breathing and standing?”
Hyul Geum Gang’s expression became bewildered.
Even for a simple energy circulation and exhalation technique, the fundamental method was to sit in lotus position.
‘If one can cultivate while standing… doesn’t that mean energy circulation is possible in any posture?’
“Huu.”
At that moment, Bu Eunseol concentrated her mind and began to breathe.
What began as ordinary breathing gradually became quieter and longer.
Soon, each cycle of Bu Eunseol’s inhalation and exhalation lasted more than a quarter hour.
‘This is….’
Hyul Geum Gang’s eyes widened.
‘A single breath cycle lasting a quarter hour?’
Isn’t the breathing technique Bu Eunseol was practicing remarkably similar to the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Scripture’s inner energy circulation method—something only Shaolin’s abbot could master?
“What’s wrong?”
By now, Bu Eunseol was even blinking her eyes open while speaking.
‘It must be the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Scripture.’
Among all the inner energy cultivation methods scattered throughout the martial world, the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Scripture was the only one that allowed practitioners to keep their eyes open and mouth moving during circulation.
Hyul Geum Gang swallowed his complicated thoughts and extended two fingers again, pressing against Bu Eunseol’s pulse gate.
“Don’t worry. Continue.”
“Yes.”
Bu Eunseol refocused her mind and continued with the breathing technique.
‘This is….’
As Hyul Geum Gang stood silently observing the flow of Bu Eunseol’s cultivation, his eyes narrowed sharply.
‘Was she only taught how to blindly accumulate vital energy?’
What Bu Eunseol was doing now wasn’t a circulation method to freely manipulate vital energy, but rather a health-preserving secret technique that merely accumulated vital energy in the lower dantian without discrimination.
‘This is absurd.’
Hyul Geum Gang let out a turbid sigh and shook his head.
‘Could it be that a Shaolin master deliberately taught her only the health-preserving techniques from the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Scripture, separating them out to avoid exposing the complete inner energy cultivation method?’
For such a thing to be possible, there was only one explanation.
A Shaolin master intentionally isolating and teaching Bu Eunseol only the health-preserving methods contained within the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Scripture.
There was no other way to explain it.
“Stop.”
At Hyul Geum Gang’s command, Bu Eunseol halted her breathing technique.
Seeing the worried expression on Bu Eunseol’s face, Hyul Geum Gang let out a soft breath.
“Your grandfather taught you this breathing technique?”
“Yes.”
“What you learned isn’t a breathing technique—it’s a method to build formidable inner energy.”
At Hyul Geum Gang’s words, Bu Eunseol couldn’t hide her surprise.
“You mean what I learned is an inner energy cultivation method?”
“Inner energy cultivation methods and energy storage techniques are different. What you learned is a method to accumulate vital energy in your dantian.”
Hyul Geum Gang’s expression grew solemn.
“An inner energy cultivation method isn’t just about nurturing the vital energy within your body—it’s the secret to using it freely and at will.”
Bu Eunseol’s expression became complicated.
‘So whenever I put strength in my lower abdomen and feel that surge of power, that was inner energy…’
According to Hyul Geum Gang’s explanation, Bu Eunseol had only learned how to hoard inner energy like a miser, but never learned how to use it.
As Bu Eunseol fell into thought, Hyul Geum Gang continued his explanation.
“Right now, your dantian contains the amount of inner energy that a martial artist would need over ten years or more of rigorous training to accumulate.”
“Ten years or more….”
“Moreover, it exists in a pure state of vital energy, so if your acupoints were to be activated, your martial power would increase dramatically in an instant.”
Only then did Bu Eunseol finally understand one mystery that had puzzled her all along.
Why she possessed superior physical strength and speed compared to ordinary people.
Why she could execute the Hwawoo Sword Sect’s basic sword techniques with such power—it was all because she possessed a certain amount of inner energy accumulated in her dantian.
“Can one truly accumulate inner strength through breathing techniques alone?”
“It is no ordinary breathing technique.”
Hyul Geum Gang’s eyes gleamed as he gazed down at Bu Eunseol.
“The Yungi Tonabeop you have learned originates from the inner cultivation methods of the martial world’s highest echelon. Without such a foundation, one could not accumulate such formidable inner power in so brief a span.”
Hyul Geum Gang, who had been studying Bu Eunseol intently, posed another question.
“What is the name of your late grandfather?”
Bu Eunseol, after a moment of contemplation, spoke softly.
“The Bu family name, with the given name Chanyang.”
“Bu Chanyang.”
Hyul Geum Gang’s eyes darkened as he murmured the name, like the fading glow of sunset.
“To my knowledge, there was but one person in the martial world who bore the name Bu Chanyang.”
“Who was that?”
A divine radiance of unfathomable depth erupted from Hyul Geum Gang’s eyes as they narrowed.
“The Deputy Master of the previous Demon Hall, known as the First Blade of the Demonic Path—the Seven-Finger Demonic Blade, Bu Chanyang.”

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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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