The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 362

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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 362.
Clop, clop, clop.
The eight-horse carriage carrying Bu Eunseol had entered Ho Nam.
To take a brief rest, Won Se Moon brought the carriage to a halt before an inn.
But the moment Bu Eunseol descended from the carriage, a young scholar in yellow robes transmitted a message directly to her mind.
“A message from Cheol Sa Bu. You are commanded to visit Bon Gak before proceeding to the Demon Palace.”
He was a young member of the Fengyun Corps.
‘Cheol Sa Bu?’
Bu Eunseol felt a twinge of unease but nodded in acknowledgment.
Then she spoke to Won Se Moon.
“Return first. Tell them I am making a brief detour to Geommi Mountain.”
Won Se Moon’s martial power had not only been enhanced through Bu Eunseol’s aid, but his senses had grown remarkably acute.
Thus, he instinctively sensed that Bu Eunseol had exchanged words with someone and clasped his hands respectfully.
“Understood. Please take care on your journey.”
Bu Eunseol unleashed her lightness technique and ascended toward Geommi Mountain at once.
Thanks to the well-maintained path from the entrance onward, she did not need to exert herself navigating the treacherous mountain trails as she had in the past.
Upon finally entering Nangya Pavilion, a resonant shout echoed through the air, and the interior revealed massive palace halls standing in orderly formation.
“You’ve arrived.”
Wang Gyeol, Cheol Sa Bu, who stood at the entrance, noticed Bu Eunseol and nodded.
It was clear he had been waiting in anticipation of her arrival.
“What is this matter?”
“Follow me, and you shall see.”
Wang Gyeol’s expression was grave.
The two walked side by side toward the outer western section of Nangya Pavilion.
As they traversed the path laid with blue stone, a magnificent structure surrounded by whitewashed walls came into view.
Upon arriving in this vicinity, the scent of medicinal herbs wafted through the air, assailing her nostrils.
“This place is….”
“Among all the disciples of Bon Gak, you are likely the only one who has never visited here until now.”
Wang Gyeol spoke matter-of-factly.
“The Recovery Chamber of Bon Gak, that is.”
Nangya Pavilion, which cultivated martial arts through actual combat, inevitably produced countless injured disciples.
Thus, a large building had been constructed on the outer western grounds, where an entire recovery chamber had been established to allow wounded disciples to rest comfortably and receive treatment.
However, Bu Eunseol, who had mastered all martial arts with ease, had no reason to visit such a place.
Upon entering, the spacious interior contained several open chambers without doors.
And in one of them—a wide room with multiple beds arranged together—a young boy lay in deep slumber.
Standing before him was a middle-aged man in blue robes, his hands clasped behind his back.
It was none other than Gak Ju, Dan Cheong.
“Gak Ju.”
“You’ve come.”
As Bu Eunseol clasped her hands in respect, Dan Cheong nodded in acknowledgment.
“I hear about you regularly through the Fengyun Corps… but you’ve changed so much I barely recognize you.”
He continued with a smile playing at his lips.
“Baek Yeon and So Jeon are out in the Gangho right now. They wanted to see you so badly, but the timing just didn’t work out.”
“You’re busy, so there’s nothing to be done about it.”
“Hehe. Well, surely you’re busier than I am.”
Though he smiled, Dan Cheong’s brow was slightly furrowed.
Seeing this, Bu Eunseol felt her heart grow heavy.
‘Something’s happened.’
Dan Cheong always smiles, no matter what troubles arise. The only time he cannot smile is when standing before the Nangya Pavilion Master, Ak Moo Ryung.
“What’s the matter?”
“Jung Hyeon. Look into the details of that child.”
Bu Eunseol had once rescued thirty children who were kidnapped in the underground caverns of Saixiang.
Of the rescued children, fifteen with nowhere to go were sent to the Nangya Pavilion. Ten of them became formal disciples.
Among the ten disciples, Agui, who possessed the most outstanding talent, received the name Jung Hyeon upon joining the Nangya Pavilion.
And the boy lying on the bed was none other than him.
‘Why?’
Bu Eunseol furrowed her brow.
She had heard that Jung Hyeon learned martial arts the fastest and had quietly established himself as the leader among the younger disciples.
Yet now he lay here with such severe injuries?
“Hmm.”
Bu Eunseol gazed intently at Jung Hyeon’s face as he lay on the bed.
He had grown into a handsome youth with dark features and a sharp nose.
The shabby appearance from when he was learning martial arts at the Nangya Pavilion had vanished, and he now bore the bearing of a young hero.
‘This is…’
As Bu Eunseol examined Jung Hyeon’s condition closely, a flash of realization crossed her eyes.
Were not all the scars left on his body wounds inflicted by the martial techniques of the Nangya Pavilion?
“How did this happen?”
Cheol Sa Bu answered.
“The ten disciples you brought here have always trained together. But one day during sparring, they suddenly became ferocious and attacked each other as if trying to kill one another.”
He continued with an expression of incomprehension.
“In the end, Jung Hyeon defeated all the other children and raised a weapon to slit their throats. It was only when the instructors discovered this that they rushed over and immediately stopped him.”
“You call that stopping him?”
Bu Eunseol’s expression showed disbelief.
The marks carved into Jung Hyeon’s body were the result of three or four masters from the Nangya Pavilion unleashing their martial power simultaneously.
“It was the best we could do.”
Cheol Sa Bu spoke with a bitter expression.
“Jung Hyeon’s personality suddenly became ferocious, and his martial power surged several times over. In the end, it took all three instructors who teach the disciples to subdue him.”
“Three instructors, you say?”
The Nangya Pavilion, which once taught martial arts haphazardly, now selected instructors and began teaching disciples systematically.
And those selected as instructors were masters with abundant practical experience within the Nangya Pavilion.
Masters capable of becoming regional tyrants in the Gangho were unable to suppress a single boy who had just entered the sect, and they all had to join forces at once?
Was Jung Hyeon a divine being who surpassed even Bu Eunseol’s talent?
“Are you saying Jung Hyeon possesses such strength?”
Bu Eunseol’s question caused Cheol Sa Bu to shake his head.
“It was precisely because of this.”
He pointed to a wooden box placed beside the bed.
When Bu Eunseol opened it, a single crimson pearl lay within, mingled with blood.
“This is….”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
It was an inner core.
Inner cores do not form only in spiritual creatures.
If one accumulates formidable inner strength equivalent to five hundred years of cultivation, an inner core gradually forms even within a human body.
Yet these boys had only just begun learning inner strength cultivation techniques, let alone possessed an inner core. How could they have generated one?
“The power within this inner core infused the children, including Jung Hyeon, with inner force and malevolent energy.”
A subtle surge of power rippled through the air.
Bu Eunseol summoned the void-grasping technique, drawing the inner core before her eyes.
As the inner core, gleaming with an eerie crimson hue, drew near her face, she sensed a subtle yet familiar fragrance.
It was the scent of Inhwa.
‘So that was it.’
Bu Eunseol finally understood.
The reason those secret forces had cultivated Inhwa in the Sichuan Underground City.
Through artificially created Inhwa using human vital points, they sought to manufacture artificial inner cores.
‘This was their true objective all along.’
The Gyeol Ma Yeon Okk In and Shil Hon In were likely byproducts derived from the creation of these inner cores.
The fact that improved versions of the Gyeol Ma Yeon Okk In and Shil Hon In were no longer appearing consecutively proved this.
“I heard that while you wandered the Gangho, you destroyed organizations that created Inhwa.”
Dan Cheong spoke matter-of-factly.
“That is why I summoned you. Your work is the work of Bon Gak itself.”
In truth, Nangya Pavilion paid no heed to Inhwa or inner cores, nor to the politics of the Murim.
As long as no one touched Nangya Pavilion, all disciples devoted themselves solely to the pursuit of martial arts.
But since Bu Eunseol had shown the resolve to deal with organizations creating Inhwa, he revealed this information.
To provide her with assistance.
“I had Bon Gak’s Pung Woon Dae search for those who created the inner core.”
“I am grateful. However, this is a personal matter unrelated to Bon Gak’s affairs.”
Bu Eunseol spoke with a solemn expression.
“Does Pung Woon Dae not have much work to do? I will handle this matter personally.”
“Bu Eunseol.”
Dan Cheong spoke in a voice both kind yet grave.
“All disciples are one body with Bon Gak. Therefore, the affairs of Bon Gak’s disciples become the affairs of all Bon Gak.”
Nangya Pavilion had always been this way to Bu Eunseol when she was a young disciple, and it remained so now that she had become the successor of the Demon Palace.
He still wished to remain in the shadows for her.
“I understand.”
Bu Eunseol suppressed the emotions welling up in her chest and spoke with utmost respect.
“However, I do possess an intelligence organization of my own, so please allow me to conduct the investigation in a manner that does not expose the Fengyun Corps to danger.”
“Very well.”
“But tell me—did you expel the artificial inner core yourself, Master Bu?”
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Dan Cheong shook his head with a bitter smile.
“The child expelled it purely by accident during combat with the bandits.”
“By accident, you say?”
“Since it was artificially created, it was not stored in the dantian. The small inner core remained lodged at the Dumb Gate acupoint.”
The Dumb Gate was the first vital point along the Governing Vessel, located in the hollow at the base of the skull when one bowed their head and touched the back of the neck.
With the brain’s nerve pathways densely concentrated there, a careless touch could render one crippled or mute.
Dan Cheong spoke with a bitter expression.
“I examined the Dumb Gate acupoints of the other children, but found no trace of an inner core. In other words, someone arbitrarily injected it into a fatal vital point.”
Even for someone of Dan Cheong’s caliber, it was impossible to carelessly tamper with an inner core whose location remained unknown.
“Could you not discern its location by tracing the flow of qi?”
“The inner cultivation techniques these children learned were created by the Pavilion Master himself. No matter how I examined them, the qi circulation was far too complex to decipher.”
“You speak of the Pavilion Master, who is currently in seclusion?”
“When these children arrived at Nangya Pavilion, he briefly emerged from seclusion. Upon hearing that you had sent them, he personally examined their physiques and then transmitted his inner cultivation technique to them.”
Dan Cheong wore a subtle smile.
“He said that without Hyul Geum Gang, there was no one else capable of transmitting such a technique to children of this caliber.”
Ak Moo Ryung, the Nangya Pavilion Master, had also recognized the extraordinary aptitude of these children and transmitted to them a formidable inner cultivation technique rivaling the Reverse Extreme Method.
“Where are the remaining children?”
At Bu Eunseol’s question, Dan Cheong opened his mouth.
“The artificial inner core triggered their demonic nature, so they are temporarily confined in the Face Wall Cave. Since the Pavilion Master is in seclusion, we are waiting.”
“I see.”
Bu Eunseol, who had been contemplating something for a moment, nodded.
“There is no need to wait.”
“Hmm?”
“I will locate the inner cores and neutralize them myself.”
Dan Cheong and Cheol Sa Bu exchanged glances, tilting their heads in puzzlement.
No matter how formidable Bu Eunseol’s martial prowess was, she could not possibly decipher the cultivation technique transmitted by Ak Moo Ryung, the Nangya Pavilion Master.
“Well, very good.”
At that moment, Dan Cheong nodded readily and spoke.
“Perhaps you possess yet another miraculous method.”
Bu Eunseol had always accomplished the impossible.
Knowing this well, Dan Cheong had developed an unwavering faith in her.
Bu Eunseol, along with Dan Cheong and Cheol Sa Bu, made her way to the Face Wall Cave at the edge of Geommi Mountain.
Bu Eunseol had initially assumed that nine children would be there, meditating and reciting mantras to stabilize their minds.
After all, to suppress the demonic nature triggered by the artificial core, one had to continuously recite the mantras.
Yet surprisingly, the children were not staring blankly at martial arts manuals—quite the opposite.
“That inner elixir remains dormant unless it tastes blood or becomes agitated. Otherwise, it emanates no discernible aura,” Wang Gyeol observed.
Bu Eunseol nodded at his words.
“During sparring, the inner elixir’s power triggered the demonic nature. That’s what happened.”
“Precisely.”
As Bu Eunseol approached, the children set down their books and bowed their heads in unison.
Not just Jung Hyeon, but all the children had shed their grimy appearance, now radiating the confident bearing of martial arts descendants.
‘It might be possible.’
Bu Eunseol stepped forward to the boy standing at the front and asked.
“What is your name?”
“Gang Woon, sir.”
“A fine name.”
Bu Eunseol placed one hand on his Daechu acupoint and spoke.
“There’s no need to be nervous. I’m merely examining your body.”
Then she slowly drew upon the Cheonui Heart Method.
As she did, the pattern of true qi circulation occurring in Gang Woon’s body began to manifest in Bu Eunseol’s body as well.
‘So Gak Ju has indeed created an internal cultivation secret similar to the Bangeuk Heart Method.’
Bu Eunseol’s expression shifted to one of astonishment as she synchronized the true qi circulation through the Cheonui Heart Method.
The internal cultivation technique these children had learned, like the Bangeuk Heart Method, could utilize both yin and yang qi, and demonstrated exceptional true qi circulation.
Because of this synchronization, Bu Eunseol experienced no particular discomfort whatsoever.
‘They’re so identical that I can’t even distinguish them properly.’
After contemplating something briefly, Bu Eunseol spoke to Gang Woon and the other children.
“All of you, stand up and attack me.”
In that instant, the children’s eyes widened in unison, shock written across their faces.
Bu Eunseol spoke to the children in the cave.
“You may release your killing intent. Attack with all your strength without restraint.”
Then Wang Gyeol shook his head.
“We’ve only just calmed them down, and now you’re going to trigger the demonic nature again?”
“I believe I can locate the inner elixir only if they use their true qi intensely,” Bu Eunseol replied.
“How?”
Bu Eunseol spoke honestly.
“I’ve grasped the secret of locating it by synchronizing internal cultivation techniques.”
“What? That’s absurd—”
As Wang Gyeol’s eyes widened, Dan Cheong, who had been lost in deep thought until now, raised his hand.
“Let’s observe first.”
With Dan Cheong’s permission, Bu Eunseol spoke to the children once more.
“Attack without worry. Should the demonic nature erupt, I will suppress it immediately.”
Bu Eunseol’s words carried both reassurance and an irresistible authority.
Seeing the hesitant children, Bu Eunseol spoke again.
“That inner elixir will gradually fuse with your bodies and obliterate your humanity regardless.”
And then I slowly extended my hand.
“You may burst it. No—burst it. That way we can verify things more quickly.”
Shwip!
At that moment, a sharp aura poured toward Bu Eunseol’s face.
The boy at Bu Eunseol’s side immediately employed a peculiar technique to slash at her carotid artery.
It was not only incomprehensibly swift but also contained astonishing power.
‘So this is the extent of it.’
Bu Eunseol’s expression shifted with surprise.
To think that this artificial core could manifest such formidable power.
Clench!
Bu Eunseol instantly employed the Golden Binding Method to seize the boy’s pulse gates.
Simultaneously, as I unfolded the Heavenly Heart Sutra and synchronized my vital energy circulation, I felt a sharp sensation near the Temple Point.
In that instant, I sensed a tremendous aura surging forth from near the Temple Point.
‘They’ve all chosen dangerous vital points for placement.’
The locations where these small artificial cores remained within the body.
They were all vital points that were difficult for enemies to strike—places under constant defense, or points that would inflict fatal wounds upon contact.
Zing!
Bu Eunseol unfolded the Jade Finger Seal, creating an extraordinarily sharp and precise blade of energy.
Thud! The keen blade pierced through the boy’s temple, passed through dangerous blood vessels, and transformed into a pincer shape.
Whoosh.
As I withdrew the materialized Jade Finger Seal, a tiny crimson bead fell from the Temple Point to the ground.
It was the artificial core itself.
―Haaaah!
The children, upon seeing blood, became frenzied and all rushed toward Bu Eunseol.
Thud! Ping!
The moment the children’s attacks made contact with my body, I unfolded the Heavenly Heart Sutra to synchronize my vital energy circulation, then immediately deployed the Jade Finger Seal.
The Shoulder Well Point, the Tail Bone Point, the Gate of Life Point, the Sea of Qi Point….
The locations where the cores were hidden were all vital points difficult to strike, yet fatal if hit.
Yet even as I evaded their attacks, I meticulously unfolded the Jade Finger Seal, extracting the cores while protecting the dangerous nerves and blood vessels.
“Truly remarkable.”
Dan Cheong, who had been observing, exclaimed in admiration.
To move one’s vital energy with such precision while evading the enemy’s assault.
Was this not evidence that Bu Eunseol had gradually reached the realm of Empty Qi, Peaceful Heart and Empty Chamber, Bright Emptiness?
Patter, patter, patter.
More than nine crimson cores had already rolled onto the ground.
And the boys were all trembling, bleeding from their vital points as the vital energy they had accumulated drained away along with the cores.
“Cheol Sa Bu.”
Bu Eunseol withdrew a porcelain vial containing five medicinal pills from her garments and extended it to Cheol Sa Bu.
“If you divide the pills in this vial in half and have them consume it, their exhausted body and spirit should recover swiftly.”
Cheol Sa Bu caught the scent wafting from the porcelain vial and nodded.
“A Hwasan Sect Zi So Dan.”
“Indeed. I obtained it by chance while traveling through Gangho.”
At that moment, Dan Cheong approached and let out an exclamation.
“Remarkable.”
He spoke with undisguised astonishment.
“That technique of materializing true energy… I witnessed it at Seok Gwang Pyeong when he fought Cheon Geom. But how in the world did you locate the Blood Sealing Point where that inner core was embedded?”
Bu Eunseol answered honestly.
“As I mentioned, I learned a secret technique that temporarily synchronizes with another’s true energy circulation.”
“You jest quite well.”
Dan Cheong chuckled softly as he spoke.
“Surely you’re not saying you met him while traveling through Gangho and received martial instruction from him.”
At his unexpected words, Bu Eunseol’s eyes gleamed.
Could it be that Dan Cheong had actually met Grandfather Bu Chanyang before and knew that he had mastered such a secret technique?
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“In this world, there is only one person who possesses a secret technique capable of stealing another’s true energy circulation method, is there not?”
‘Surely it must be Chil Ji Ma Do.’
Grandfather was a master of Shaolin, yet an unknown figure in Murim.
If Dan Cheong could recognize the martial prowess, it would certainly be Chil Ji Ma Do, meaning both were the same person.
But unexpected words tumbled from Dan Cheong’s lips.
“Jeong Cheon Je.”
Dan Cheong spoke calmly, his gaze fixed on Bu Eunseol.
“Throughout Murim history, only Jeong Cheon Je, Sin Do Mu Bi—only he has ever employed such a technique.”

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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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