The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 396

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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 396.
“An unusual technique.”
Yet Bu Eunseol’s expression betrayed little surprise. Instead, she nodded as though it were only natural, and spoke.
“So they’re strung together like that because you’re unifying your martial power?”
Remarkably, the Blood Shaolin Monks facing Bu Eunseol were three in number, identical in height and build, standing in perfect alignment.
“Wouldn’t it be better to attack all at once rather than standing in a line like that?”
“Uuh.”
Though Bu Eunseol spoke to them, the three monks could only emit guttural sounds, their tongues having been severed.
“Uuargh!”
With a roar, the monks this time flailed their ten fingers wildly as they rushed at Bu Eunseol.
Sharp finger winds traced long lines, boring into her body.
Finger Flicking Divine Technique. Shaolin’s signature absolute art, now unleashed by the Blood Shaolin Monks.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Bu Eunseol’s body shook violently with the sound of bending bamboo snapping straight.
She had clearly evaded the Finger Flicking Divine Technique perfectly.
Yet the tremendous finger winds that grazed past were still roiling her internal organs.
‘So that’s why they were overlapped.’
Only then did Bu Eunseol understand why these monks attacked while layered atop one another.
They were not stacking their bodies to unleash their martial power all at once.
‘It was the superposition of martial power.’
The first monk released his martial power, and in that instant, the second monk released his. Then, following in succession, the third monk released his.
The Finger Flicking Divine Technique unfolded in this continuous manner, transcending the limits of martial power levels and martial principles, exhibiting a force beyond words.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
By releasing their martial power in succession and layering it three times, the monks’ Finger Flicking Divine Technique had grown dozens of times more potent.
Moreover, even when properly evaded, the shockwaves and currents alone were inflicting internal injuries upon Bu Eunseol.
Whoosh!
Bu Eunseol pierced through the cascading Finger Flicking Divine Technique, launching the Bow String Form repeatedly.
Boom!
Tremendous fist force curved through the air, boring into the gaps between the three overlapped monks.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Yet the moment the fist force touched their bodies, golden ripples of true force spread outward in all directions.
Adamantine Indestructible Body Divine Art.
Once deployed, this supreme Shaolin absolute technique sustains no damage from any external force.
‘They’ve even layered the Adamantine Indestructible Body Divine Art.’
Now Bu Eunseol finally understood why the three monks had sewn their eyes shut and severed their tongues.
‘They deliberately sacrificed their sight and speech to master such martial arts.’
The Cheon Triplets of old were said to have bound spirit and flesh as one, yet in truth they only shared bodily sensation.
Because they spoke aloud and each possessed their own individuality as humans.
But these Blood Shaolin Monks, to perfectly bind not only flesh but spirit itself as one, severed their eyes and tongues, and then…
communicated with one another solely through bodily sensation and consciousness.
“Even for Blood Shaolin, this is excessive. Is there truly a need to go this far?”
“Uoah!”
As compassion threaded through Bu Eunseol’s voice, the Blood Shaolin Monks erupted with even greater fury, unleashing torrents of finger wind.
Monsters clad perpetually in the Diamond Indestructible Body Divine Art, capable of layering their power output threefold.
Bu Eunseol had to fell these terrifying Blood Shaolin Monks without a single weapon at her disposal.
Thwack!
In that instant, finger wind grazed her body, violently shaking her internal organs.
Within this confined space, the Finger Flick Divine Technique amplified a hundredfold in power was nothing short of an invincible supreme skill.
Moreover, with the Diamond Indestructible Body Divine Art wrapped around their frames, engaging in close combat risked suffering their devastating counterattacks.
Thwack, thwack!
The Finger Flick Divine Technique that swept past violently shook Bu Eunseol’s body.
This time, not only her organs but her entire frame trembled so violently that her vision blurred.
“Uoah!”
In that moment, the monk closed in on Bu Eunseol, unleashing the Finger Flick Divine Technique with his left hand
while pouring forth the Arhat Divine Fist with his right.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk!
Bu Eunseol did not dodge; instead, she shifted her defensive stance dozens of times in place, evading the onslaught.
It was a desperate evasion born from risking her very life to discern the monk’s weaknesses.
Thwack! Kwaaah!
As she evaded the Finger Flick Divine Technique and Arhat Divine Fist streaking before her eyes,
Screech.
Bu Eunseol was driven back three zhang, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She had sustained minor internal injuries.
‘So that’s it.’
After evading the monks’ attacks at point-blank range, Bu Eunseol finally grasped their fatal flaw.
In truth, had she merely sought to kill the monks, she could have shattered their formation in an instant using the Thirteen Night Technique or the Lingering Will Seal—or perhaps the Glacial River Seal.
But these monks employed a unique tactical approach and technique that Bu Eunseol had never encountered before.
And whenever she witnessed a new technique, she would stake her life to unravel it.
Only then could she ascend to the next level of mastery.
‘No matter how formidable the power, one cannot transcend the limits of martial cultivation.’
The three monks’ hearts beat as one, their assault displaying such overwhelming force that even Bu Eunseol dared not meet it head-on.
Yet their martial prowess had not reached the Extreme Heaven Realm.
This was because they had sealed their eyes and tongue—the body’s natural senses.
They had sacrificed sensation to merge their spiritual essence and amplify their martial power, but in doing so, they had forfeited the ability to seize fleeting moments.
In other words, by sacrificing sensation, they could not attain the Extreme Heaven Realm, where time itself is fractured and wielded.
‘In the end, it comes down to the difference in martial cultivation.’
To breach the monks’ defense, she must seize the instant when they unleash the Finger Flick Divine Technique and Arhat Divine Fist.
No matter how formidable their power, they cannot attack while maintaining the Diamond Indestructible Body Divine Art.
‘Let me try.’
Yet such a method of breaking through demanded she stake her own life—a perilous gambit.
Should she fail to seize the precise moment, every attack the enemy unleashed would strike her body without mercy.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
As I drew the Thirteen Nights Blade, two streaks of razor-sharp energy wrapped around my body.
Most martial artists would have retreated or sought another approach, but I remained standing, searching for the precise moment to strike.
I was willing to stake my life to seize that exact instant.
It was a technique remarkably similar to the Moment of Truth that Jo Cheon Wang had once employed.
Thud! Boom!
In the next breath, both the Finger Flick Divine Technique and the Arhat Divine Fist pierced into my body simultaneously.
But at that same moment, two streaks of energy erupted from my body as well.
Whoosh!
When the two sharp energy streaks collided with the Finger Flick Divine Technique and the Arhat Divine Fist, both my body and the monks’ bodies shook violently.
As energy met energy, a tremendous shockwave rocked through us all.
“Ugh.”
The monks groaned, but my eyes remained fixed on them without wavering.
‘Now!’
My senses fractured time itself, splitting it into ever smaller fragments.
And finally, the moment their combined power began to surge anew, I caught the Moment of Truth.
Whoosh!
Then two streaks of energy hidden within my body erupted outward.
Crack!
With a sound like wind tearing, the sharp energy of the Thirteen Nights Blade cut swiftly between their pressed bodies and then separated them with tremendous force.
“….”
The monks froze as if turned to ice.
Thud.
And at the same moment, they collapsed to the ground.
By merely separating their joined bodies, I had severed both their physical forms and their spiritual unity.
Though I had only pushed their tightly pressed bodies apart, their flesh and spirit now believed themselves shattered into three pieces.
For they had lived as one body until now.
Rumble.
As the monks fell, a low vibration echoed, and rather than the corridor through which Gong Gong had entered the Jang Gyeong Gak, a secret door on one side of the library opened, revealing another passage.
“Quite the lengthy test,” I murmured low.
I stepped past the fallen monks and entered the passage.
Boom.
As I crossed the threshold, a heavy wall sealed shut behind me.
And before me stretched yet another endless corridor.
Now I understood—this underground facility was a passage that could lead through Soshil Mountain to somewhere beyond.
“They’ve created a secret route to slip out of Shaolin undetected.”
Following this long passage, I could likely escape the bounds of Shaolin and reach another location entirely.
“Of course such a passage would exist.”
Since ancient times, Shaolin had faced countless calamities.
Shaolin has faced many hardships throughout history.
Before the Murim Alliance was formed as a coalition, Shaolin was the patriarch and leader of the Righteous Path.
All Orthodox Sects gathered around Shaolin as their central axis, and disputes between sects were mediated by Shaolin itself.
In short, Shaolin was doing everything the current Murim Alliance does today.
Therefore, forces seeking to seize hegemony in Murim always attacked Shaolin first.
Because if Shaolin did not fall, the Righteous Path Murim would not fall.
Yet Shaolin endured all those invasions and battles with unwavering resolve.
And based on that experience, they had constructed secret passages that allowed escape from calamity at any moment.
Thump, thump.
Finally reaching the end of the passage, I saw an Iron Gate inscribed with the characters “Decisive and Resolute.”
And with the sound of mechanisms moving, the thick metal gate began to rise slowly.
Footstep, footstep.
Upon entering, a vast space appeared, and a passage leading out in the opposite direction came into view.
And some twenty paces ahead, I could see the shadows of people trapped within opaque glass on both sides.
On one side was the shadow of a small child, and on the other, an elderly man was bound.
Though their faces were invisible due to the opaque glass, they appeared to be pleading desperately for their lives.
Clang.
But suddenly, with the sound of mechanisms, enormous spikes protruded sharply above the heads of the two people trapped within the opaque glass.
Clang.
Simultaneously, two massive spikes rose before the spot where Bu Eunseol stood.
“True to its name.”
“Decisive and Resolute”—to break nails and sever steel.
Originally it meant to handle matters with bold decisiveness, but here it truly meant to break nails and cut steel…
It seemed to mean to boldly choose who to save.
The message was unmistakable.
Boom.
Then a low mechanical sound echoed from near the ceiling within the opaque glass.
If Bu Eunseol were to unleash her martial power in one breath and attempt to break through the wall to save them?
The massive spikes aimed at the two people’s heads would instantly pierce through their skulls—a warning made manifest.
‘Hmm.’
Bu Eunseol fell into thought for a moment.
The distance to that opaque wall was roughly twenty-five paces.
If I set my mind to it, I could break through the wall and save both people in one breath before the spikes fell.
The only problem was not knowing what material the opaque wall was made from.
It might be a special wall that required a blade rather than martial force to break through.
‘They even know I left my sword behind.’
The moment I took a step, the metal spikes would fall instantly.
If that opaque glass wall proved harder than expected and didn’t shatter in one strike?
―You must choose one. Otherwise, both will die.
This mechanism was telling me exactly that.
Crack!
Bu Eunseol struck the large nail on the left without hesitation, where the child stood.
As she did, the large nail on the ceiling that had been aimed at the child’s head within the opaque wall vanished as well.
Thud.
But in that same instant, a nail pierced directly into the head of the elderly man standing on the right.
Squelch!
The opaque wall was turning crimson as blood poured forth.
Yet Bu Eunseol walked forward with an indifferent expression.
Creak.
As the door opened and I stepped outside, my eyebrows shot upward.
Clang.
Two more nails sprang up from the floor, and two opaque walls came into view on the opposite side.
This time, on the left was the silhouette of a small child.
On the right was the shadow of a pregnant woman carrying a child.
“….”
I narrowed my eyes.
Life was not something to be compared, nor did it have priorities.
Yet the mechanism was forcing my hand.
Forcing my choice.
And if I did not choose, nails would pierce both of their heads.
Should I save the child with a bright future ahead?
Or should I save the pregnant woman carrying life within her?
I gazed at both of them with an impassive expression.
And without hesitation, I shattered the long nail erected on the right.
I had chosen the pregnant woman carrying two lives over the life of a single child.
Footsteps echoed.
As the door opened, I walked out with an indifferent expression.
Creak.
This time, there was a single wide corridor.
Screech.
The metal floor was gradually burning a fiery red.
Clang clang.
The sound of machinery rang out as footprints appeared on the iron plate floor. And countless shadows of people were visible on the opaque wall.
Whirring.
At the same moment, the iron plate with the imprinted footsteps began to glow a brilliant red.
Even without drawing close, the heat was so intense it could be felt.
Boom boom boom!
And within the transparent wall visible in the distance, countless people were frantically pounding against it.
Surely the platform they stood upon was also being heated to an unbearable temperature.
“Hmm.”
I stared intently at the footprints, and my eyes flashed with recognition.
In the end, the mechanism was designed such that if one did not step on the footprints in the corridor in the correct order, the people trapped within the walls would perish.
“This time it’s real.”
Bu Eunseol murmured softly.
In truth, the shadows trapped within the translucent walls until now had not been actual living people.
Because I had discerned this, I was able to advance without hesitation, shattering the mechanisms as I went.
But now it was different.
The countless people within were all genuine living humans, and they were suffering.
If I failed to step on the footprints correctly? They would ultimately burn like charcoal and perish.
Whoosh.
Bu Eunseol began stepping on the footprints carved into the iron plate.
Sizzle.
Smoke rose as my shoes melted away in an instant, and then came the excruciating pain.
As the flesh on my soles slowly dissolved, my vision darkened.
Yet Bu Eunseol moved forward with mechanical indifference, as though her sense of pain had been severed.
The footprints were carved with exquisite precision.
If the weight was not distributed exactly, the footprint pattern would not disappear.
Therefore, even as my mind reeled from unbearable agony, I had no choice but to walk leisurely across the scorching iron plate like one taking a stroll.
Sizzle.
By now, the skin on my soles had completely melted away, and strips of flesh hung loosely.
The greatest pain a human can endure is burning pain—the agony of the body consumed by fire.
Thus throughout history, branding torture became the most commonly employed method of execution.
Even the most formidable master would have lost consciousness or abandoned the attempt midway, resorting to a movement technique.
Yet Bu Eunseol pressed forward, carving out each footprint as though she knew no pain.
Crack. Crack.
At last, reaching the end of the corridor, the people within the translucent walls vanished.
Even after leaving the scorching iron plate, my soles were so caked with blood and flesh that I could barely move.
Creak.
As the door opened, an empty Stone Chamber greeted me.
The floor was blanketed with white powder like sand, and upon it sat a single table.
And the wall opposite was stained pitch black.
Shuffle, shuffle.
As Bu Eunseol walked toward the table,
Sizzle.
Remarkably, the white sand began clinging to my soles, and in an instant the bleeding stopped and the pain vanished.
At last approaching the table, I found a small donation box placed there.
It seemed to be asking for a donation to be placed inside.
Zing.
As Bu Eunseol gazed down at the donation box, the wall stained pitch black suddenly became translucent.
Just like the walls I had witnessed passing through the previous trials.
Hum.
As the black wall became opaque, a faint silhouette of a person emerged within.
At first glance, it resembled an elderly man, yet at another glance, it appeared to be a young martial master.
[So you’ve made it all the way here.]
A mysterious voice emanated from the wall.
[I hadn’t expected you to come this far.]
That voice sounded as though a dignified elder and a demon king dwelling in darkness had spoken simultaneously.
“Are you Shin San Ja?”
A response came from the wall to Bu Eunseol’s question.
[Indeed.]
Shin San Ja.
The greatest sage and wise one of Murim.
One who knows nothing unknown and possesses knowledge of all things in the world—the figure known as Infinite Wisdom.
I had finally met him.
“Are all the trials now complete?”
Bu Eunseol had already surmised that everything thus far had been Shin San Ja’s trials.
[Heheheh.]
Shin San Ja’s eerie voice reverberated throughout the chamber.
[Character and martial prowess. Observation and enlightenment. Not a single thing was lacking.]
He had led Bu Eunseol to Shaolin to observe and test everything about her—her character, martial skills, and all else.
Through her conduct toward Dang Cheong, I tested her sense of duty.
Through the secret techniques of Jang Gyeong Gak, I tested her conscience.
Through the confrontation with the Blood Shaolin Monks, I tested her martial mastery.
Through the false gate of people, I tested her insight.
And through the gate containing a real person, I confirmed Bu Eunseol’s conviction.
“Why did you go through such troublesome measures?”
Shin San Ja’s voice answered Bu Eunseol’s question.
[Because I never anticipated that the Namgung Family would bestow upon you the Boeun Coin.]
Shin San Ja’s eerie voice carried a note of self-deprecating laughter.
[The Boeun Coin I was to give you never existed in this world to begin with.]
In other words, he had never anticipated that Bu Eunseol would become the owner of the Boeun Coin given by the Namgung Family.
Upon hearing those words, Bu Eunseol felt a sense of relief instead.
Shin San Ja, who had orchestrated and foreseen everything until now.
What if he had anticipated that Bu Eunseol would receive the Boeun Coin from the Namgung Family?
Then he would be no mere human but a god, capable of predicting or controlling all circumstances.
‘Fortunate indeed.’
What if he had foreseen all circumstances and orchestrated these trials as they now stood?
Then I would have had no choice but to shatter that wall and kill Shin San Ja.
A god capable of foreseeing all things.
If such a being existed, he would either be the mastermind behind the bizarre incidents plaguing Murim, or
he would be a villain who knew of them yet allowed them to occur.
[It’s difficult to say that rumors reflect a person’s true nature. That’s why I had to verify exactly what kind of person you are.]
“I’m aware that all of this is a test, you know?”
[Of course. Even accounting for such things, a human can never truly hide their nature.]
Shin San Ja’s voice carried absolute conviction.
Through all these trials, he must have examined every facet of Bu Eunseol, and it seemed he was quite satisfied with what he found.
Had it been otherwise, we wouldn’t even be speaking through this wall right now.
[Now then, let me recover the Debt Coin.]
“Very well.”
Bu Eunseol placed the Debt Coin into the container sitting on the table.
Click.
As the Debt Coin dropped into the container, Shin San Ja spoke.
[Ask what you wish to know.]
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
There had been two questions weighing on my mind all this time.
―Who killed my grandfather?
―Are my grandfather Bu Chanyang and Chil Ji Ma Do Bu Chanyang the same person?
But I possessed only one Debt Coin.
Therefore, Shin San Ja would not answer both questions.
After a moment of deliberation, Bu Eunseol slowly opened her mouth.
“Among those affiliated with the Hwang Ju Bu Po Cheong, who is the Yeomsa that killed 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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