The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 378

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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 378.
Nam Gung Poong doubted his own eyes.
How could any human survive intact within such an explosion?
“That monster…”
Bu Eunseol, who had conjured the black sphere like a reverse explosion, had her disguise stripped away.
When she had drawn upon her full inner power to block the Heaven-Shattering Explosive Orb’s detonation, the Phantom Bone Technique had been undone.
“So it was you!”
As Bu Eunseol’s true face was revealed, Nam Gung Poong’s eyes widened in shock.
The young Guusal Unit member who had blocked him during that assassination mission long ago, when he had gone to eliminate Dan So Ok.
And that Guusal Unit member had apparently become the successor who would rule the Demon Hall as time passed.
The Lord of Muhonjung, Bu Eunseol.
The new generation master of the Demonic Path who shook the Murim. So he was Seol So.
“So you’ve been stirring up the Murim all this time under the guise of a wanderer named Seol So!”
At Nam Gung Poong’s words, Bu Eunseol nodded readily.
There was no need to keep secrets from one about to die.
“Tell the King of Hell as much in the afterlife.”
Whoosh.
As Nam Gung Poong met those blazing crimson eyes, he found himself involuntarily stepping back.
‘Hmm.’
The young Guusal Unit member he could have crushed in his grasp back then no longer existed.
The man before him was a young Grand Master of equal standing to himself.
“An unavoidable final battle, then.”
Nam Gung Poong acknowledged Bu Eunseol’s strength, yet he possessed confidence.
For he possessed a hidden trump card capable of swiftly eliminating even masters far superior to himself.
Pop.
He placed something from his pocket into his mouth.
Invisible vortices of true qi erupted across his entire body, and his hair stood on end toward the heavens.
Matae. Not only did it amplify power several-fold, but he had consumed a seed capable of generating an artificial inner core within the body.
“You consumed Matae.”
“Hehehehe. You know much indeed.”
Nam Gung Poong closed his eyes briefly, savoring the exhilaration coursing through his entire being.
Upon consuming this Matae, physical ability and inner power would surge dramatically in an instant.
He had long remained at the threshold of the Transcendent Realm. With merely this Matae, he had instantaneously reached the Extreme Heavenly Realm.
“Certainly a useful medicine for one who has reached the Transcendent Realm.”
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Nam Gung Poong smiled coldly.
“Don’t be insolent!”
Boom!
He unleashed the Emperor’s Sword Form in an instant.
Then an immense invisible pressure poured down like a waterfall, filling the space around Bu Eunseol and everything nearby.
Crack!
Bu Eunseol shattered the pressure in one breath and immediately unfurled both the Gyeo Eo Gwon and the Dang Pa Sip Sam Gak simultaneously.
Without even drawing her sword, she had deployed the Sip Sam Ya Ki.
Whoosh, whoosh!
As five sharp strands of sword energy swirled around Bu Eunseol’s body, the Emperor Sword Form’s pressure gradually dissipated.
Boom!
Nam Gung Poong shifted his sword path, pouring the Emperor Sword Form not toward Bu Eunseol but in the direction he was moving.
This was one of the most subtle techniques of the Emperor Sword Form—predicting the enemy’s movement and unleashing heavy sword force to inflict internal injuries.
“You’ve learned well.”
Bu Eunseol still had not drawn her sword, continuing to deploy the Sip Sam Ya Ki.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Each time those sharp strands of energy coiled around her body, the incoming pressure melted away like snow.
The sword energy of the Sip Sam Ya Ki, which contained the profound principles of mysterious martial arts, ceaselessly circled around Bu Eunseol’s form, neutralizing the Emperor Sword Form’s pressure.
‘Is she using sorcery?’
Nam Gung Poong was taken aback.
How could she neutralize the Emperor Sword Form’s pressure with merely a light deployment of sword energy?
‘I see now. She’s mimicking Geom Joon.’
Only then did Nam Gung Poong sense that as Bu Eunseol deployed her sword energy, she had transformed the very nature of the force pouring forth—like Geom Joon’s Ten Thousand Phenomena Solar Eclipse.
‘This woman is trouble.’
Nam Gung Poong bit his lip.
There was no time to delay further.
In an instant, a strange light flowed from his broken golden needle sword.
He was about to deploy the Cutting Sword Flying Strike—not the sword technique of the Namgung Family, but the secret art transmitted to him once more by Poong Elder.
‘No, that won’t work.’
Suddenly, Nam Gung Poong’s senses screamed a warning.
The moment he deployed the Cutting Sword Flying Strike, the sword energy Bu Eunseol unleashed would surely sever his throat.
‘I have no choice.’
Nam Gung Poong bit his lip.
And he deployed the secret demonic sword art that he had been told never to unfurl until he had mastered it perfectly.
Whoosh!
As Nam Gung Poong swung his golden needle sword, it whistled through the air.
Simultaneously, hundreds of low, sharp sword qi cut through the void, targeting Bu Eunseol’s lower body.
Bu Eunseol was greatly startled and tried to block the countless sword qi.
Crash!
But those hundreds of sword qi vanished in an instant, and two strands of radiant light—as if alive—burst upward from the ground.
‘This is…!’
Bu Eunseol cried out silently within her heart.
The sword technique Nam Gung Poong had just unleashed.
Was it not similar to that bizarre demonic sword art that remained in her grandfather Bu Chanyang’s body?
Bu Eunseol drew her Muk Sword with lightning speed and raised it before her eyes.
Clang!
At that very moment, a clear metallic ring pierced the heavens.
Whoom, whoom, whoom.
The power of the sword qi that erupted in two strands was so formidable that it caused the blade of the Dark Sword to vibrate for a prolonged moment.
“….”
Bu Eunseol gazed down at the Dark Sword trembling faintly in her grip.
Had she not witnessed the traces of sword technique inscribed upon Bu Chanyang’s body, she would have been blinded in both eyes by this very strike.
Nam Gung Poong’s sword technique transformation was so exquisite as to approach the mysteries of Blood Flowing Seven Forms, yet so devastatingly swift as to defy all prediction.
‘She blocked it.’
Nam Gung Poong was struck speechless with astonishment.
Even before consuming the Demonic Elixir, he had been confident this sword technique could blind the eyes of any master at the Extreme Heaven Realm.
Nam Gung Poong had spent three full years perfecting this singular sword technique.
Even Poong Elder, though unable to master it completely, had assured him that masters of the Extreme Heaven Realm could not withstand this technique.
Yet Bu Eunseol had blocked it with such ease?
‘This cannot be won.’
Nam Gung Poong felt fear grip his heart in that instant.
‘I must escape this place and plan for another day.’
Nam Gung Poong hurled the Golden Needle Sword in his hand toward Bu Eunseol’s throat like a hidden blade.
It was the Namgung Family’s Life-Saving Sword Technique—any enemy within three zhang would have no choice but to evade or retreat.
Ching!
The moment Bu Eunseol flicked the Golden Needle Sword away, Nam Gung Poong seized the opportunity and unleashed his movement technique with all his might.
Whoosh!
Yet Bu Eunseol’s mastery of movement technique far exceeded Nam Gung Poong’s expectations by several times over.
In the instant he turned his body, she was already standing before the corridor through which he sought to escape.
“From whom did you learn that sword technique just now!”
Bu Eunseol’s voice was cold, yet desperation resonated within it.
Nam Gung Poong discerned this and allowed a smile to play across his lips.
“Let me out, and I shall tell you.”
Once outside, the Shil Hon In would be present, and escape would be possible.
Nam Gung Poong had to find a way out at any cost.
“What will you do? Make your decision now.”
Bu Eunseol turned and walked toward the far end of the corridor.
Nam Gung Poong cried out in triumph and followed her into the depths of the passage.
As the exit came into view, Bu Eunseol turned to face him.
“Step aside.”
Nam Gung Poong spoke, but Bu Eunseol merely gazed down at him in silence.
His eyes held a crimson blood-light, and Nam Gung Poong could not meet that gaze, speaking instead with a trembling voice.
“If you kill me… you will learn nothing.”
Crack, crack.
Yet with the sound of breaking bone, Nam Gung Poong felt his body growing progressively heavier.
Simultaneously, his vision blurred, and suddenly Bu Eunseol appeared towering far above him.
‘This… this can’t be.’
Only then did Nam Gung Poong realize that he was kneeling on both knees, blood streaming from his eyes.
“Ugh…”
As more blood flowed from Nam Gung Poong’s eyes, a convulsive agony seized his entire body.
The world turned crimson before him, and he felt as though he had already plunged into a pit of hellfire.
Bu Eunseol was unleashing her formidable inner energy, crushing him as one would squash an insect beneath a heel.
“Poong Elder… he taught me this swordsmanship.”
Crack.
Nam Gung Poong’s vision had narrowed to barely the level of Bu Eunseol’s knees, no longer able to see her face.
“Truly… I know nothing more than that…”
Those words rang true.
In Nam Gung Poong’s eyes, mingled with terror and the approach of death, not a shred of falsehood could be detected.
“Poong Elder, then.”
Bu Eunseol, murmuring those words briefly, channeled all her power into her inner energy.
Crunch.
With the sound of bones shattering, Nam Gung Poong’s vision turned completely black.
As he realized death was upon him, Nam Gung Poong’s memories flashed before him like a lantern show.
And though he was not his biological father, only now could he truly understand how much Namgung Jeong had loved and cherished him.
“Please… forgive me, Lord of the House…”
Snap.
That was the end of Nam Gung Poong—he who had colluded with external forces and betrayed Namgung Jeong and the Namgung Family, those who had loved him.
* * *
By the time Bu Eunseol emerged from the corridor with Nam Gung Poong, Namgung Jeong had regained consciousness.
‘Indeed… his martial prowess is formidable.’
Nam Gung Poong, having consumed the Demonic Elixir, was displaying the martial techniques of a supreme master of Murim.
Yet Bu Eunseol was parrying it with ease. The martial arts of the successor to the Demon Palace, whose name had echoed through Murim more than once, were far more powerful than the world knew.
“Lord of the House.”
Nam Goong Woon called out quietly to Namgung Jeong.
He was still holding him in a protective embrace.
“Ahem.”
Namgung Jeong cleared his throat and began to move.
He tried to rise immediately, but the short blade still embedded in his vital point made movement difficult.
“Please bear with it a moment longer.”
Nam Goong Woon carefully pressed the blood sealing point on his back.
Then he grasped the hilt of the embedded dagger.
‘It’s too deep.’
One wrong move in extracting the blade could prove fatal.
As Nam Goong Woon hesitated, a low voice reached his ears.
“Pull it out. My Hyun Moon Strength will not crumble at this.”
“Understood.”
I grasped the short blade again, but an ominous dread welled up within me.
The thought struck me that drawing this blade might cost Namgung Jeong his life.
“Father.”
As fear took hold, a single thought flashed through Nam Goong Woon’s mind.
He realized that if not now, he would never find the courage to voice the words he’d kept buried in his heart.
“Speak.”
“You said you cherished me, so why did you treat me with such… coldness?”
In that instant, Namgung Jeong’s body flinched.
Under ordinary circumstances, he would never have answered such a question.
But now he found himself in a situation where his own fate hung in the balance.
After a brief silence, Namgung Jeong finally spoke.
“You are the sole treasure your beloved mother left behind in her final moments. I could never raise you as an ordinary child.”
“…”
“You inherited the talents of both your father and mother. Because of that, you possessed not only exceptional martial prowess but also a wealth of emotional depth… more than enough to qualify as the next family head.”
Namgung Jeong spoke in a low voice.
“But your temperament was far too free-spirited and reckless. That was not the character befitting one destined to lead the family.”
“So… you treated me with such coldness in order to mold me into a family head?”
“Yes.”
“You’re lying.”
Nam Goong Woon bit his lip.
“You treated me coldly and distantly all this time, and now you claim it was to raise me as a family head?”
“…”
“You punished me for four days because I broke a single vase in your study. And that wasn’t enough—you had Hyung Dang Ju throw me into the Underground Prison. Don’t you remember?”
“I remember. From that day on, I saw how you resented your father. That’s why you acted out even more recklessly.”
Namgung Jeong spoke with measured calm.
“But I believed that when you grew older, you would come to understand your father’s heart.”
“How could a ten-year-old child possibly understand a father’s heart when he punishes so harshly for breaking a vase?”
After a moment of hesitation, Namgung Jeong spoke with an expression of anguish and desolation.
“That vase… all of them were left behind by your mother.”
Nam Goong Woon’s body trembled slightly.
As a child, I had snuck into the family head’s quarters and broken a vase—and for the first time, I witnessed my father’s rage.
It was far preferable to his usual cold and distant demeanor.
So in my childhood, using play as an excuse, I would enter Namgung Jeong’s chambers and break the vases one by one.
But I never knew they were mementos left by my mother…
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Nam Goong Woon bit his lip, swallowing back the tears that threatened to spill.
“I didn’t know, and I broke them trying to hurt your feelings… the vases left by mother.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me they belonged to mother?”
Namgung Jeong offered a faint smile.
“If you knew those were things your mother left behind, wouldn’t your heart ache even more?”
In that instant, hot tears that Nam Goong Woon had been holding back streamed down from his eyes.
It turned out that all the vases he had broken were left behind by his deceased mother.
Yet Namgung Jeong had scolded him harshly without ever revealing this truth.
He had thought it better for his beloved son to resent and hate him than to suffer such anguish. That way, the pain would be easier to bear.
“Your mother was also playful and cheerful in her youth. You’ve inherited much of her spirit.”
“Then those vases…”
“Don’t worry. I’ve carefully mended each and every one of them.”
Nam Goong Woon covered his face.
Whenever he broke a vase, Namgung Jeong would shut himself away in his office and never emerge. He had been painstakingly restoring each vase Nam Goong Woon had shattered, one by one.
All while remembering his beloved wife.
“When I bid farewell to your mother, I made a vow. That I would raise you to become a truly exceptional person.”
“…”
“But to keep that promise. To make you the family head before my time runs out… I raised you with greater strictness and coldness than perhaps I should have. And now, I find myself regretting it.”
“Father.”
For the first time, Nam Goong Woon called him not by his title as family head, but as father.
These were tears of profound sorrow.
“I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry…”
Nam Goong Woon’s eyes snapped open, even as he sobbed.
Namgung Jeong’s face had already turned deathly pale.
He had lost so much blood that he had fallen unconscious.
“Father! Father!”
Nam Goong Woon wept as he channeled his inner energy into him.
But the pulse was far too weak—it seemed his father’s breath could stop at any moment.
“No, Father!”
Tears cascaded down Nam Goong Woon’s face like a waterfall.
He could not let his father slip away. There were still so many things left unsaid… he absolutely could not let him go like this.
“Bu—Brother!”
Crack.
At that moment, accompanied by the sound of thunder, a gray shadow streaked with blood appeared once more in the Stone Chamber.
It was Bu Eunseol.
Her expression was grave and dark.
After hearing the culprit’s name from Nam Gung Poong, Bu Eunseol had rushed immediately to the Namgung Family to find Poong Elder.
But then she heard Nam Goong Woon’s anguished cry.
—Father!
It was a sound as heartrending as that of a child who had lost a parent.
Namgung Jeong’s life must be hanging by a thread.
Bu Eunseol clenched her teeth.
If she delayed to save Namgung Jeong, Poong Elder might vanish without a trace.
Or perhaps by now, he had already realized everything had gone wrong and was fleeing in panic.
―Father… Father! Bu Hyung!
Once again, Nam Goong Woon’s anguished cry pierced through the air.
In this moment of absolute desperation, he was calling out to me with such urgency, begging for help.
‘How could I allow him to lose his father?’
His grandfather no longer existed in this world.
I could not inflict that same sorrow upon Nam Goong Woon a second time.
Crash!
There was no time for further hesitation.
In the end, I abandoned my pursuit of Poong Elder and deployed my divine technique to return to Nam Goong Woon’s side.
“Bu Hyung! Bu Hyung!”
The moment Nam Goong Woon spotted me, he cried out in desperation.
“Please save my father! Please save him!”
Namgung Jeong’s complexion had turned deathly pale.
The short blade embedded in his Shen Zhu acupoint—if I did not extract it swiftly, death would claim him instantly.
Tap-tap-tap!
I unleashed a barrage of finger strikes, sealing acupoints in rapid succession from Namgung Jeong’s Yan Tian point all the way up to the Shui Fen point above his navel.
Then I withdrew a Purple Essence Pill from my robes and placed it between his lips.
Whoosh.
I extended both hands simultaneously to his Da Zhu and Ming Men acupoints on his back, channeling the Yin-Yang Reversal Qi directly into him.
Was it Nam Goong Woon’s fervent prayers?
Or was it my unwavering resolve to save Namgung Jeong?
A resonant hum.
Suddenly, golden waves of qi began to radiate from my body.
Together with the Yin-Yang Reversal Qi that contained both polarities… the power of the Prajna Great Ability naturally manifested as well.
And so Namgung Jeong’s fading life force began to gradually revive.
“Mmm.”
Color gradually returned to Namgung Jeong’s face as he let out a low groan.
“Father! Father!”
Nam Goong Woon grasped his father’s hand, tears of joy streaming down his face.
Then Namgung Jeong, his eyes fluttering open weakly, spoke in a low voice.
“Quiet.”
“Yes, yes.”
“That child… what became of him?”
The moment Namgung Jeong regained consciousness, he asked me about the boy.
He was surely referring to Nam Gung Poong.
“He received the price of his sins.”
“I see.”
Namgung Jeong closed his eyes.
Though he was my brother’s child, I had never once failed to regard him as my own son.
I had believed he would grow up bright and cheerful… yet he had fallen under the influence of wicked men and committed irreversible deeds.
“Your words were correct.”
Namgung Jeong finally felt regret wash over him.
Simply giving birth to children was not enough. He should have observed them carefully, conversed with them, and allowed them to express the thoughts within their hearts.
Had he done so, Nam Gung Poong would never have met such an end.
“I truly regret it…”
Namgung Jeong tried to continue speaking, but the warm vital energy flowing from behind him kept causing his eyes to close.
Before he knew it, his body felt as though it were floating above the clouds, and soon he drifted into sleep.
* * *
The hidden forces within the Namgung Family were completely purged.
From the start, their intentions and movements had been identified. Upon learning that Nam Gung Poong was dead and the plot had failed, they all severed their meridians and took their own lives.
The Namgung Family mobilized all their intelligence networks to investigate, but they could not determine where these people came from or what their intentions had been.
Furthermore, Poong Elder, who had secretly orchestrated everything including Nam Gung Poong’s actions, vanished without a trace.
The Namgung Family was devastated.
An elder who had devoted generations of loyalty to the Namgung Family was revealed to be a puppet of an external force.
Namgung Jeong informed various intelligence organizations and the Murim Alliance of this fact, and pursued Poong Elder’s whereabouts.
As for Nam Gung Poong, the story was aligned to say he died fighting valiantly against the forces that attacked the Namgung Family.
This was not for the sake of the Namgung Family’s honor, but rather Namgung Jeong’s consideration for one he had always regarded as his son.
“In the end, even the Namgung Family does not know his true identity.”
Bu Eunseol, who had heard all the circumstances from Nam Goong Woon, sighed deeply.
Poong Elder, who had been Nam Gung Poong’s master, was originally a guest scholar who had entered the Namgung Family during the time of Nam Gung Sung, the previous family head.
He had made great contributions in the past conflict between the Namgung Family and the Blood Heaven Demon Palace, and eventually became an elder.
Originally a master of the Quick Blade, he had learned the Namgung Family’s Ascending Blade Technique and achieved remarkable martial prowess, becoming the master who taught Nam Gung Poong.
However, whether Poong Elder was a figure of the Demonic Path, or a descendant of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars—
Or perhaps, like No Bong, he was a planted agent created from the beginning to manipulate the Namgung Family—this remained unknown.
‘The sword technique Nam Gung Poong used at the end resembled the sword technique of the Demonic Path figure who killed my grandfather.’
This meant that Poong Elder either killed my grandfather, or was from the same school as the one who did.
At last, I had grasped the tail of the one who killed my grandfather, but I could not pursue him immediately in order to save Namgung Jeong.
‘Was this the will of Heaven?’
If I had gone directly to the Namgung Family upon hearing Nam Gung Poong’s words?
Could I have captured Poong Elder?
That was something only the heavens could know.
‘I will not regret what has already passed.’
Even if I had gone to the Namgung Family immediately, there was a chance Poong Elder had already fled.
I do not dwell on regrets about the past. I saved Namgung Jeong and witnessed the Namgung Family restored to harmony.
What more could I ask for?
“Live well.”
Bu Eunseol exchanged a brief farewell with Nam Goong Woon and quietly departed.
Nam Goong Woon, instead of answering, embraced Bu Eunseol tightly.
‘I will surely become someone who is of help to Bu Eunseol.’
Nam Goong Woon made a firm resolution in his heart.
If I cannot remain by the side of such a celestial being and follow him, then as the head of the Namgung Family…
I will become someone capable of offering even the slightest assistance to his endeavors.
“Please take care of yourself.”
Nam Goong Woon bowed deeply, lowering his head.
His solemn and dignified bearing was no longer that of the frivolous and lighthearted Nam Goong Woon, but rather displayed the confident demeanor of a capable young patriarch who would shoulder the future of the Namgung Family.
After leaving the Namgung Family compound, Bu Eunseol walked at a leisurely pace.
For reasons unknown, I neither rode in a carriage nor employed lightness of body techniques.
After walking for quite some time, Bu Eunseol finally turned onto a small side path,
and in that instant,
a refined middle-aged man emerged from before a tree on the opposite side.
It was Namgung Jeong.
“The Main House has always walked the path of the Righteous Path and has not engaged with the Demonic Path.”
“….”
“Though the current patriarch cannot walk the same path as you, we will never turn a blind eye when difficulties arise.”
He understood it well.
That Nam Goong Woon’s remarkable advancement was entirely thanks to Bu Eunseol’s grace. Moreover, he had thrown himself forward without reservation, preventing the tragic calamity that would have befallen the Namgung Family.
With that,
Namgung Jeong bowed respectfully toward Bu Eunseol, expressing his courtesy with utmost sincerity.
“May fortune guide your path.”
It was reverence and admiration sent to a great master of the Demonic Path who carved his own way, transcending faction and station.
But Bu Eunseol walked on as though seeing nothing,
quickening his pace so as not to witness Namgung Jeong’s bow.
So that the patriarch of one of the Eight Great Families and head of the Namgung Family would not bow before him.
It was a swift passage that carried the weight of respect for Namgung Jeong.
‘The path ahead is long.’
Bu Eunseol gazed toward the distant sky.
Now that I have obtained the Debt of Gratitude Pavilion, I must find Shin San Ja. And I must seek out the hidden forces lurking within the various sects of the Righteous Path and crush their conspiracies.
‘Then.’
Bu Eunseol turned his head.
I had forgotten until now, and recalled the sanctuary that had become my greatest source of strength.
Nangya Pavilion.
Bu Eunseol was preparing to return to Nangya Pavilion.

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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
—————