The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 354

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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 354.
“Master.”
Ah Yeon pressed her palms together and bowed deeply.
“Could you not speak honestly about the situation thus far?”
“What are you talking about?”
Ah Yeon, who had been observing the anxiety flickering in Ok Yu Ha’s eyes, drew a deep breath.
“I heard that you abandoned your dharma name and voluntarily lowered your station, even though you could have ascended to the position of Gak Ju, simply because you loved a certain man.”
“Who told you such a thing?”
As Ok Yu Ha’s eyes sharpened, Ah Yeon spoke carefully.
“It is not merely I—all disciples of Bon Gak know this truth.”
“What?”
“That your choice was forced upon you by the High Elder. Moreover, that you were compelled to consume the Myeongeum Divine Elixir, which only deepened your spiritual affliction.”
The Myeongeum Divine Elixir forcibly chilled the body, producing effects similar to the Cold Heart Technique.
Yet prolonged consumption led to delusions and hallucinations, weakening one’s mental fortitude.
Ok Yu Ha spoke, her voice trembling as if struck by revelation.
“Where in the world did you hear such words?”
“I happened to overhear Yak Seok Won Ju and Seon Hwa Won Ju speaking of it.”
She added one more thing.
“Furthermore, that the High Elder deliberately left the position of Gak Ju vacant and unilaterally leads Bon Gak is equally wrong.”
“They spoke such words?”
“Are there truly secrets within Bon Gak?”
Ah Yeon’s words were no exaggeration.
Geomgak was situated in the remote Dae Geom Mountain, utterly severed from the mundane world.
Within this place, rumors merely circulated endlessly, repeating their cycle.
After a moment’s hesitation, Ah Yeon spoke with candor.
“To speak truthfully, my own heart demon arose from precisely such circumstances.”
Silence fell.
As a deathlike stillness descended, Ah Yeon regretted her honest confession.
Beyond the shame, she could not bear to face her master’s expression of profound disappointment.
Yet an unexpected response came.
“That you fell into a heart demon because of Bu Eunseol is something all disciples of Bon Gak already know.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Are there truly secrets within Bon Gak?”
Ok Yu Ha let out a soft laugh and spoke matter-of-factly.
“You have occasionally called out his name in your sleep.”
Ah Yeon’s face flushed crimson.
What she had believed to be her own secret was already known openly to all.
“Do you harbor affection for him?”
At Ok Yu Ha’s direct question, Ah Yeon’s face burned with heat.
“I do not know. When I close my eyes, his face simply appears before me.”
Ok Yu Ha spoke with a thin smile playing at her lips.
“What manner of person is he?”
“The successor to the Demon Hall. As the world knows, he is exceptionally brilliant and formidable in martial prowess.”
“Not that sort of thing.”
Ok Yu Ha’s smile deepened with subtle warmth.
“Not how others perceive him, but what you yourself have felt—tell me that.”
In that instant, Ah Yeon’s eyes trembled visibly.
Yet beneath Ok Yu Ha’s penetrating gaze that seemed to encompass all things, she lowered her head and spoke in a hushed voice.
“He is like a child harboring profound sorrow deep within his heart. Though he observes the world with cold detachment, his true nature is warm and compassionate.”
“How did you discern that?”
“I… I’m not certain. It was simply what I felt.”
“That is precisely how it works.”
Ok Yu Ha spoke with a deep, contemplative sigh.
“When you come to genuinely cherish someone, you discover facets of them that others cannot perceive.”
This was born from her own experience.
“The man who stirred this master’s heart was righteous and possessed unwavering justice.”
And gazing into the void, she continued.
“Yet his true nature was that of a ruthless slaughterer and supreme demon—one who butchered masters and brought calamity upon the entire Murim.”
Drawing a painful breath, she spoke with anguish etched across her features.
“He used this master as bait to set a trap, slaughtering the elders of Bon Gak with unspeakable cruelty.”
Ah Yeon covered her mouth in shock.
She had never imagined her eternally cold and composed master harbored such agonizing history.
“Unaware of this truth, I begged him—to abandon everything and flee the Gangho with me, to live hidden away together.”
Ok Yu Ha drew a deep breath before continuing.
“I swore that if only he would do this, I would gaze upon him alone for all my days, and live solely for his sake.”
It was devastatingly tragic.
Her master, Ok Yu Ha, who had always been as cold as ice, had made such an impassioned and fervent confession.
And yet that man had exploited her tender heart to weave a vicious snare…
“But he deceived me to the very end. The elders’ true target was this master, who lay unconscious, and he vowed he would bring proof of it to Geomgak.”
Ok Yu Ha’s eyes wavered uncontrollably.
“This foolish master believed him again. He was a man of his word, so surely he would find that evidence.”
“…”
And once he brought that proof, I would abandon my dharma name and my station as Geomgak’s successor to follow him.
Ok Yu Ha’s voice trembled as she gazed into the emptiness.
“Time passed and I grew older. Yet I feared that when he returned, he would not recognize me.”
Pausing briefly, Ok Yu Ha spoke while staring into the void.
“So I learned the Green Silk Flower Radiance Technique of Suwol Palace—a method that sacrifices inner force to restore youth.”
This was why the former Geomgak Master’s inner force had been so depleted.
She had been cultivating Suwol Palace’s mysterious Green Silk Flower Radiance Technique, which allowed her to maintain a youthful appearance by expending her life force itself.
Trusting that he would surely honor his promise and return, she had sacrificed her precious inner force—her very lifeblood—to preserve her beauty.
“But he never came.”
Ok Yu Ha’s eyes trembled.
She had believed in that promise alone.
With her martial prowess shattered, she had waited thirty years for him—the man who had slain all the sect elders.
Yet in the end, that faith was betrayed, and she could bear it no longer. A sickness of the heart had taken root within her.
“I have never spoken of this to another soul in all my life.”
Ok Yu Ha sighed with a desolate expression and gazed upon Ah Yeon.
“Do you understand why I tell you this?”
“I do not, Master.”
“So that you do not repeat the same mistake your master has made.”
Ok Yu Ha was consumed by regret.
She should never have believed the words of that Demonic Path man.
She ought to have suppressed her tender feelings, acted not upon her heart’s desire, and slain Chilji Demonic Sect Bu Chanyang instead.
“Such was the matter?”
At that moment, a man’s low voice echoed from beyond the door.
“Who goes there!”
Ok Yu Ha cried out,
and the door creaked open.
A dark shadow emerged—it was Bu Eunseol, disguised as Seol So.
“And who are you?”
“Forgive my eavesdropping. There was something I had to hear.”
As Bu Eunseol clasped her hands together, a strange expression crossed Ok Yu Ha’s face.
“Something you had to hear?”
“The man you spoke of—is he not Chilji Demonic Sect Bu Chanyang?”
Ok Yu Ha was not particularly surprised.
After all, she had cried out “Bu Chanyang!” moments before.
The true question was why this person had feigned departure from Geomgak and lurked here listening to their conversation.
“What business is that of yours?”
“Should I learn the truth, I may be able to redress the grievances that burden you, Master.”
Bu Eunseol had been pursuing Chilji Demonic Sect Bu Chanyang’s whereabouts all along.
Upon discovering that Ok Yu Ha bore a close connection to him, I could not leave without uncovering this secret.
Thus, after claiming to depart following Ah Yeon’s treatment, I had stealthily infiltrated this place once more to eavesdrop on their exchange.
Such a feat was possible due to my martial skill, but above all, it was thanks to Nangya Sect’s supreme movement technique—Extreme Speed Shadowless Form.
“From what you said, he slew the elders while you lay unconscious… and claimed it was to save you, is that correct?”
“Do I seem foolish to you? Or perhaps Geomgak?”
Ok Yu Ha fixed a cold gaze upon Bu Eunseol as she spoke.
“I asked why you hid here and listened to my words.”
She had referred to herself as “I” once more.
As shame and fury erupted, the sickness of her heart flared anew.
“As I said, should I learn the truth, I may be able to ease the grievances and resentment that burden you, Master…”
“If you speak nonsense, I’ll ring the bell immediately.”
“I have no choice then.”
Bu Eunseol withdrew a short blade from her bosom.
It was Yeoro, the treasured weapon of the Chilji Demonic Sect.
“That is….”
“Can you speak now?”
“Is he… still alive?”
Ok Yu Ha approached Bu Eunseol with a trembling voice.
“Where exactly is he?”
“Sect Leader, please calm yourself.”
“Speak! How exactly….”
“If you raise your voice like that, the other disciples will come rushing in, and I’ll have no choice but to leave.”
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
“If that happens, you’ll never learn the truth of that day.”
Ok Yu Ha trembled.
If Bu Eunseol left as she said, she would never be able to resolve the resentment that had festered in her heart for thirty years.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Everything about the Chilji Demonic Sect.”
“Don’t you know more about that than I do?”
Bu Eunseol spoke with half-honesty.
“It’s true that I inherited the supreme techniques of the Chilji Demonic Sect. But I too am searching for his hidden whereabouts.”
“I cannot understand this.”
“I rescued the successor of Gwi Pa without any conditions, and I’m still working to clear your grievances. Can’t you simply trust me on that point?”
Bu Eunseol had never pleaded with others before.
But to uncover the whereabouts of the Chilji Demonic Sect, and to hear the story about him from Ok Yu Ha, there was no other way.
There was no way to force her mouth open.
“Didn’t you say you’d tell me the truth about killing the elder earlier?”
At Ok Yu Ha’s words, Bu Eunseol wore a bitter smile.
“True. If you wish to know that first, I can tell you the story from that time.”
Then Ok Yu Ha spoke quickly.
“That’s all I said. When I arrived at the Guan Di Temple where we were to meet, my back stung and my Blood Sealing Point was suppressed.”
After taking a deep breath, she continued.
“When I opened my eyes again, nine corpses were scattered grotesquely throughout the Guan Di Temple. They were the nine elders of Bon Gak who had secretly followed me, knowing I would meet with him.”
Bu Eunseol, lost in thought, asked.
“How was the nine-elder lying?”
“His entire body was pierced with countless microscopic holes. He must have created hundreds of blade spheres to annihilate the nine-elder.”
“The Chilji Demonic Sect had no wounds?”
“Far from it. His entire body was drenched in blood.”
Ok Yu Ha spoke with pride.
“The swordsmanship of Bon Gak is the pinnacle of demonic sword techniques, after all.”
“Indeed.”
Having heard the entire account, I finally grasped the hidden truth of that day.
“Chilji Demonic Sect unfolded his technique to save you. And the Patriarch of the Nine, unable to evade it, was annihilated in a single strike.”
“How do you prove that?”
I reached to draw my Silent Sword.
But when Ah Yeon widened her eyes and stared intently, I extended my hand toward Ok Yu Ha instead.
“May I borrow your blade?”
“What are you saying?”
“Just lend it to me briefly, and I’ll demonstrate the proof at once.”
Ok Yu Ha’s brow furrowed, but seeing the earnestness in my gaze, she drew the precious sword from her waist and handed it over.
“My gratitude.”
Taking the blade, I drew upon my inner force and spoke.
“Observe closely.”
Then I unfolded the technique of Life-Stealing Ghost from Blood Sealing Seven Forms.
Hundreds of sword rings materialized beneath my feet, rising into existence.
Whisper.
I pierced through the hundreds of razor-sharp rings with ease and hurled one of them toward the roof.
Crack.
It became a streak of brilliance, tearing through the roof and soaring into the distant sky.
“As a master of the blade, you need only witness this technique to comprehend the truth of that day.”
Upon seeing that technique, Ok Yu Ha’s body trembled.
What her eyes beheld was beyond belief.
He who had always been a treacherous demon lord, he whom she could never forget… was truly a righteous soul.
“He… truly sought only to save me?”
Though her inner force had waned, she was a master who had devoted her lifetime to the blade.
She instantly perceived the profundity of the technique I had unveiled.
If Chilji Demonic Sect had truly intended to kill the Patriarch, there would have been no need to pierce his body with hundreds of holes—he would have severed his neck in a single breath.
But he had not done so.
That is why his own body bore countless wounds torn by the sword rings.
“The Patriarch bore puncture marks from sword rings across his entire body, and Bu Chanyang was likewise drenched in blood—because he unfolded Life-Stealing Ghost to force back the Patriarch who sought to kill you.”
I exhaled slowly.
“Yet unable to complete the technique to its end, drenched in blood, Chilji Demonic Sect stood firm within it. Thus he hoped the Patriarch would withdraw.”
Still, the Patriarch forced his way through the rings to kill Ok Yu Ha, and was annihilated by Chilji Demonic Sect in the process.
“I cannot comprehend it.”
Ok Yu Ha’s eyes widened as she spoke.
“Then why did he not unfold this technique before me? Then he would have been exonerated immediately.”
“That would have been impossible.”
I spoke in a low voice.
“Had you learned the truth, you would have despised Geomgak and fled that place at once. And that… was never the ending he desired.”
“Not at all.”
Ok Yu Ha shook her head.
“Had he revealed the truth, I would have left with him immediately. Yet that was not the ending he desired?”
Bu Eunseol fell silent.
―Chilji Demonic Sect would have wanted you to remain at Geomgak.
She conveyed this meaning through her eyes alone.
To speak such words aloud would have been far too cruel for her to bear.
“Had he revealed the truth, you would have despised your sect master. Instead, he chose to bear false accusations to preserve Geomgak’s honor.”
“The Grand Elder….”
Ok Yu Ha’s gaze grew clouded once more.
“…So that was it.”
At last, she could comprehend the hidden truth.
At that time, Geomgak held a position that transcended even the Nine Sects One Alliance, standing as the beacon of the Orthodox Sects in Murim.
Yet when the successor fell for a Great Slaughterer of the Demonic Path and sought to abandon the sect, they chose instead to erase the scandal through death.
“He spared me so that the successor could be properly raised.”
All the elders save Neung In Sa Tae, the supreme elder, perished in that single moment.
With most of Geomgak’s martial arts severed in that calamity, Ok Yu Ha, who had inherited their teachings, could not have been allowed to live.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Tears streamed from Ok Yu Ha’s eyes.
Thirty years had passed, and now she understood everything. Yet all that remained was disillusionment with her sect master.
“He never betrayed me after all.”
The bitter hatred that had festered in her heart flowed forth as tears.
Deep down, I had always known.
That he was never a cruel Demonic Lord. That there must have been circumstances beyond my understanding.
And so I was able to wait for Chilji Demonic Sect Bu Chanyang all these long years.
She collapsed where she stood, her body trembling with silent sobs.
Whoosh.
Bu Eunseol turned away.
There was no need to question Ok Yu Ha further about Chilji Demonic Sect.
She had loved Chilji Demonic Sect, and he had willingly become a villain for her sake.
What more could there be between them to ask?
Zing.
At that moment, my heightened senses detected a presence on the rooftop—a faint vital signature concealed by what appeared to be a concealment technique.
‘The one who tied the knot must untie it.’
I smiled faintly.
And I walked slowly toward the outside.
“You’re leaving?”
Then, Ah Yeon, who had stood silent all this time, finally spoke.
“You saved me.”
Ah Yeon already knew that the man who had infused her with vital energy was Bu Eunseol.
Such formidable power at so young an age. And eyes that burned with a warrior’s spirit, yet held a profound sorrow within their depths.
Ah Yeon was delighted.
The man who had occupied her heart for so long—knocked down by the Black-White Witch—had traveled thousands of leagues to Dae Geom Mountain to save her.
And he had generously infused his inner force to preserve her life.
“Thank you. Truly.”
Bu Eunseol, realizing that Ah Yeon had seen through her disguise, spoke in her true voice.
“We share considerable karmic ties. I could not simply pass by. Then.”
And with that, she opened the door and vanished like the wind.
Ah Yeon’s eyes were filled with longing unforgotten and bewilderment unresolved.
She missed Bu Eunseol, who had disappeared once more, and could not fathom what lay ahead for her.
“So it was him.”
Ok Yu Ha, who had been weeping quietly, gradually composed herself and rose to her feet.
Her eyes remained red, yet her gaze shone with brilliant clarity.
As though a sickness she had harbored in her heart for so long had finally been cured.
“I have been mistaken all this time.”
Ok Yu Ha finally understood her own folly.
If she had truly loved Chil Ji Ma Do, she should not have waited for his promise.
She should have followed him without hesitation, without delay. She should have stood beside him through any obstacle and hardship.
Had she done so, he too would have opened his heart to her and taken her hand to leave Murim.
But she had not, and thus she had lost the love she desired.
“If regret and sorrow remain, one cannot shed the demons of the heart in a lifetime.”
Ok Yu Ha spoke calmly to Ah Yeon.
“Follow him and express your heart. Leave no room for regret.”
“Master.”
“And save him.”
“Save him… you say?”
Ok Yu Ha gazed into the distant void and murmured.
“Now that I have cast away the sickness of heart that tormented me for so long, my senses grow sharp once more.”
And she spoke to Ah Yeon.
“The First Elder has been watching all that has transpired from atop the roof. That is why he departed so swiftly.”
“You mean Neung In Sa Tae… ?”
“Indeed. Now that she knows he is the predecessor of Chil Ji Ma Do, she will never let him leave unhindered.”
“Why? He merely saved my life.”
“Do you still not understand?”
Ok Yu Ha spoke with anguish in her voice.
“I fell in love with a figure of the Demonic Path and became crippled. And now the same fate befalls you… how could I stand idle and watch?”
Ah Yeon’s complexion grew ashen.
Neung In Sa Tae, the First Elder, had grieved over Ok Yu Ha’s tragedy her entire life.
She would never allow the same calamity to befall her disciple.
“The First Elder will likely dispatch both the Yeom Hwa Dae and Yeon Hwa Dae to capture him.”
The Yeom Hwa Dae and Yeon Hwa Dae were composed of Geomgak’s finest disciples, the sect’s supreme formations.
It was also the prelude to unleashing Jeok Heo Myeol Mu Jin.
No matter how formidable Bu Eunseol’s martial prowess was, she could not face them all alone.
“Do you wish to save him?”
“Of course… He saved my life, so I must repay that debt.”
Ok Yu Ha took a deep breath and spoke calmly.
“But you must choose.”
“Choose what?”
As Ah Yeon asked, Ok Yu Ha spoke in a grave tone.
“As you well know, more than half of Bon Gak’s disciples are loyal to the Eldest Elder.”
And with an expression tinged with anguish, she sighed.
“If you attempt to save that man… the disciples of Bon Gak will have to slaughter one another.”

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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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