The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 434

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 434.
Martial artists of Murim master various disciplines, but when it comes to inner cultivation techniques and heart methods, they choose and cultivate only one.
This is because the path to reaching the realm of Dae Won is already far too long.
Of course, depending on individual aptitude and the type and school of the technique, it is possible to master multiple disciplines.
But one cannot deploy them simultaneously.
Because they are all secrets that control the human body and spirit.
Bu Eunseol was no exception to this principle.
Yet in the throes of extreme agony, to block the torrent of Jeok Hwa Yul Gi pouring down upon me,
I unconsciously divided the yin-yang qi of the Anti-Extreme Heart Method into two, then rapidly deployed two different heart methods in alternating succession.
Though it lasted only a brief moment, as two completely different martial disciplines unfolded alternately from both hands,
I was able to block the waves of Jeok Hwa Yul Gi.
‘I see.’
Enlightenment flickered through Bu Eunseol’s mind.
‘While I cannot deploy righteous and demonic martial arts simultaneously, it is possible to rapidly alternate them using yin-yang qi.’
The heat of Yeol Ha Sung Gi could be countered with the Yeo Yi Jin Gyeol created from Bing Ha Cheon Ryu Gyeol.
And if I deploy the Sim Seop Ya Gi created from Yang Gang Jin Gi against the intense waves hidden within Jeok Hwa Yul Gi?
I could repel the torrential heat and waves.
‘Let me try.’
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
Righteous and demonic martial arts pursue different paths and cannot be mixed, and there exists no secret that could contain both within a single body.
But rapidly alternating between them was entirely possible.
Superposition.
Even the Blood Shaolin Monks of old had heightened the power of their martial arts through such a method.
‘But if I fail… it ends here.’
Circulating yin-yang qi within the body and separating it into two opposing forces to deploy alternately were entirely different matters.
If I made a mistake, my qi and blood would become entangled, my spirit would be torn in two, and I would fall into an irreversible heart demon.
Yet Bu Eunseol harbored not a shred of hesitation.
Even when learning martial arts, I had never trained without risking my life.
I had never entertained naive thoughts of things working out somehow.
I could only trust in my own abilities and the time I had spent cultivating until now.
Zing!
Without hesitation, Bu Eunseol channeled my power, drawing up Bing Ha Cheon Ryu Gyeol while simultaneously generating Yeo Yi Jin Gyeol.
Whoooosh!
White qi streams spread from my left hand, and at the same moment, a circular barrier formed around my body.
It was Yeo Yi Jin Gyeol created from extreme yin qi.
Since Bing Ha Cheon Ryu Gyeol and Yeo Yi Jin Gyeol belonged to the same demonic school of martial arts, they could blend without resistance.
‘Now!’
Crack! Crack!
Swiftly ceasing Bing Ha Cheon Ryu Gyeol and Yeo Yi Jin Gyeol, I extended my right arm again, creating five sharp strands of sword energy.
Drawing upon Yang Gang Jin Gi, I deployed the Thirteen Fang Technique through Mu Hwang Jeong Gak.
Bu Eunseol began repeating this impossible process at accelerating speed.
Whoosh! Crack!
As the Yeouui True Formation infused with the Glacial Heavenly Stream Seal and the Ten-Heart Night Technique forged from Dual River True Qi alternated to envelop her entire body.
The true wave that had been shaking the moisture within her body began to bounce away without penetrating her flesh.
But Bu Eunseol’s vision blurred, and a sickly sweet energy rose from her lower abdomen.
‘I cannot endure this for long.’
This method was merely a temporary expedient born from a life-or-death situation.
Dividing the supreme techniques of Righteous and Demonic into yin and yang true qi and rapidly alternating their release was… nearly an act of self-destruction that would shatter the spirit.
Because Righteous and Demonic could neither exist together nor be contained in the same vessel.
Yet she was rapidly alternating between them… If she had not broken through the sixth layer of the Anti-Extreme Heart Method and achieved spiritual resonance, what then?
The moment she attempted such a thing, she would have descended into delirium or madness itself.
‘Nngh…’
Bu Eunseol endured the agony of her skull threatening to split apart, marshaling every ounce of her will to press forward.
‘Just a little further.’
At last, a colossal iron gate materialized before her dimming vision.
Staggering forward, she painfully extracted the Flame Wheel Crystal from her robes and thrust it with all her remaining strength into the circular depression.
Click. Rumble.
The massive iron gate swung open, and the overwhelming suction force erupting from the ground vanished.
“Hah… hah…”
Bu Eunseol was on the verge of losing consciousness, yet her instincts drove her through the open threshold.
Within lay a stone chamber, and before a small altar, a staff stained crimson emanated an enigmatic radiance.
Step. Step.
Moving without strength, she found her hand reaching toward that staff visible through her hazy vision, as if of its own accord.
Whoooosh!
Then suddenly, light as brilliant as the sun itself poured forth from the staff.
And flames began to ignite across Bu Eunseol’s body.
The energy flowing from the staff was hundreds of times greater than the Yeol Ha Sung energy that had been pouring into the corridor until now.
Crackle.
As that overwhelming force cascaded down upon her, Bu Eunseol’s body became a towering inferno in an instant.
Whoooosh!
In that moment, a blue current flowed forth from Bu Eunseol’s body, accompanied by tremendous frigid power.
As the extreme yang force capable of melting steel poured down, the Glacial Heavenly Stream Seal naturally activated.
Crackle! Roar!
Encased in ice, Bu Eunseol endlessly released frigid energy to counter the torrential flames.
As she continued to battle the heat and endure,
Crack! Rumble.
The altar caught between flame and cold suddenly crumbled like biscuit.
The entire floor collapsed completely.
And Bu Eunseol’s body plummeted into an abyss of unfathomable depth.
* * *
Crash! Boom!
Before the stone statue of Yeolha Seongjun, outside the corridor of the Secret Palace, Hwa Jeong’s eyes gleamed with sudden awareness.
“Something has gone wrong.”
Sensing instinctively that something had gone amiss, she quickly entered the corridor.
Unlike before, the corridor leading to the Secret Palace no longer emanated the aura of Yeolha Seongjun or the Extreme Fire Wheel Qi.
As she finally stepped through the opened doors of the Secret Palace, a vast stone chamber came into view.
And on the floor lay a melted altar and blackened traces.
‘Where has the Fire Wheel Divine Elixir gone, leaving only these marks?’
Hwa Jeong, the Palace Lord, furrowed her brow.
From the beginning, she had known all the traps within this Secret Palace.
Even if someone possessed a Saint Fire Body, they could never seize the Fire Wheel Divine Elixir.
Because without mastering the Yeolha Sacred Fire Qi left behind by Yeolha Seongjun,
one could not withstand the power of the Yeolha Sacred Qi contained within the Fire Wheel Divine Elixir, and the body would completely melt away.
‘I had planned to make it appear as though she died carelessly grasping the Fire Wheel Divine Elixir.’
Hwa Jeong had summoned Bu Eunseol in secret, ensuring no witnesses.
Even if the Murim Alliance sent investigators,
she could simply claim that Bu Eunseol, unable to resist her curiosity, had entered the Secret Palace on her own and met with disaster.
But now, the Fire Wheel Divine Elixir had vanished without a trace along with everything else… there could be no more frustrating turn of events.
‘Regardless of anything else, I must find the Fire Wheel Divine Elixir.’
Hwa Jeong bit her lip.
As a member of the Three Realms, she had long conducted research on artificial inner cores,
and had discovered that by utilizing pure extreme yang force, one could alter the nature of the Matae—the seed that becomes an artificial inner core.
Thus, she had recruited Gwang Yang Ja, who was versed in the secret teachings of Yeol Ha Sung Palace and possessed exceptional medical knowledge.
“Please find a way to supplement the side effects of this Matae using the Fire Wheel Crystals.”
Then Gwang Yang Ja asked in great surprise.
“Isn’t the artificial inner core something used by those strange forces that disturb Murim? Where did you obtain such a thing?”
“This is not an artificial inner core itself, but rather the Matae from which artificial inner cores can be created. I obtained it by chance, but… this inner core has many problems, so extensive research will likely be necessary before our disciples can use it.”
Gwang Yang Ja initially refused outright.
But she persistently persuaded him that through artificial inner cores, the martial prowess of Yeol Ha Sung Palace disciples could advance rapidly,
and that this could become the foundation for Yeol Ha Sung Palace to dominate Tianxia.
Gwang Yang Ja was a longtime loyal servant of Yeol Ha Sung Palace, and he had long harbored the ambition for Yeol Ha Sung Palace to conquer Murim beyond Nam Man.
Eventually, he began his research on the Matae and achieved remarkable results.
Using Fire Wheel Crystals, one could create an inner core with the extreme yang properties of a Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp’s inner core,
and the perfect extreme yang force hidden within the Secret Palace of Yeol Ha Sung Palace—
if one could recover the Fire Wheel Divine Elixir, which contained Yeolha Seongjun’s Yeolha Sacred Qi, an artificial inner core completely free of side effects could be created.
“Were you also a member of the Three Realms?”
But during his research, Gwang Yang Ja discovered that Hwa Jeong was a member of the Three Realms,
and immediately fled Yeol Ha Sung Palace with the thousand-odd Matae and Fire Wheel Crystals she had provided.
“If I convert these thousand-odd Matae into extreme yang inner cores, I could create an invincible vanguard that no one could touch.”
Even as he fled from Hwa Jeong’s pursuit, he manufactured the extreme yang inner cores.
And once that was complete, he planned to contact So Gung Ju, create an army of a thousand, push out Hwa Jeong, and then search for the Hwa Ryun Divine Elixir in the Secret Palace.
But in the process of burning the vagrant to death, he was killed after Bu Eunseol caught his tail.
“Jeok Sa. The only reason I endured living with that foul-smelling old man was to obtain a perfect inner core!”
Hwa Jeong, awakening from her reverie, bit her lip.
If she failed to find the Hwa Ryun Divine Elixir, all her efforts until now would come to nothing.
No matter what, the Hwa Ryun Divine Elixir had to be recovered.
* * *
Bu Eunseol, who had fallen into the pit, lay collapsed while clutching the Hwa Ryun Divine Elixir.
From the Hwa Ryun Divine Elixir flowed the Yeolha Seongjun’s qi, scorching enough to melt meridians, and she continuously countered it with the Glacier Heavenly Stream Seal.
‘Remarkable… indeed.’
A mere object called a divine elixir, yet the Hwa Ryun Divine Elixir was pouring forth nearly five hundred years of inner power, matching the level of the Glacier Heavenly Stream Seal.
Whoosh!
Then a thread of heat rose from my dantian, and soon my entire body began to shimmer with silver light.
As this happened, the heat from the Hwa Ryun Divine Elixir transformed into a pleasantly warm sensation.
At the same time, Bu Eunseol felt fatigue wash over her, and her eyes slowly closed.
Without knowing it, she gradually fell into deep sleep.
―I’ve fallen asleep reading books in secret again.
Bu Eunseol was dreaming.
It was the image of herself as a child.
―If you keep reading books like this, your father will be scolded again.
Her father, who had moved Bu Eunseol to the bed, carefully placed the book that had been on the table into the bookshelf.
It was always like this.
Always asleep, yet her consciousness remained awake, so she could hear everything her father and mother said.
But as her father left the room, she heard her mother’s gentle voice, tinged with a sigh.
―It seems she fell asleep reading again.
―No. Today I just came to see if she was sleeping well.
At her father’s flustered voice, a smile played across the lips of the pretending-to-sleep Bu Eunseol.
But then she heard her mother’s worried voice.
―Sometimes I’m afraid.
―Afraid of what?
―That this child might share the same fate as you.
Then her father’s resolute voice came.
―Don’t worry. Didn’t the Living Buddha himself declare it? Unless we shave her head and send her to Shaolin, absolutely never…
Flash.
Bu Eunseol, awakening from the dream, slowly opened her eyes.
Looking around, she saw the landscape of a massive cave that must have been at least five zhang in height.
A soft light emanated from the distant ceiling, allowing her to see the interior clearly.
‘I dreamed of my parents again.’
As Bu Eunseol recalled the dream she had just had, joy and anguish surged within her simultaneously.
The voices of her caring father and affectionate mother still seemed to echo in her ears…
I couldn’t recall the faces or appearances of those two at all.
‘A Living Buddha?’
Bu Eunseol turned the word over in her mind.
Living Buddha—a title of reverence for eminent monks of exceptional spiritual power.
Whether they were monks from Zhong Yuan or lamas from Seo Jang, the term was used indiscriminately, so perhaps it held little significance.
—I feared you might share the same fate as him.
Yet her mother’s voice from the end of that dream suddenly weighed on her heart.
‘Did my father not live a good life?’
As I tried to grasp at the memories, my head throbbed with pain.
“I can’t fathom why these new memories are surfacing so suddenly.”
Bu Eunseol shook her head and rose to her feet, surveying her surroundings.
“There was a mechanism hidden in this unexpected place.”
Looking up at the ceiling that had already sealed shut, Bu Eunseol wore a bitter smile.
In her frantic struggle against the formidable extreme yang force, she had failed to detect the mechanism beneath her feet.
“I still have much to learn.”
Even if she exhausted every ounce of strength, she must always maintain keen awareness.
Bu Eunseol, even at death’s threshold,
continued to identify her own mistakes and strive to correct them.
This was no different from how she had once improved her martial arts by studying the wounds of her defeated adversaries.
The world might praise her as a martial genius,
but the truth was different. Because she never ceased her efforts, breathing as naturally as one draws breath,
she advanced far more rapidly than others.
“My appearance is utterly ruined.”
Bu Eunseol exhaled sharply as she gazed down at her tattered garments.
Though she had devoted herself entirely to blocking the Yeol Ha Sung technique, her clothes had been reduced to rags.
“I cannot comprehend it. Did Yeolha Seongjun truly intend to annihilate every descendant who came seeking him?”
Bu Eunseol stared at the staff-sized metal flute lying on the ground—the Hwa Ryun Divine Elixir—and shook her head.
Had she not taken the risk of alternating between the two supreme martial arts using yin-yang principles,
she would have perished in the corridor leading to the Secret Palace.
And had she not mastered the Glacial Heavenly Stream Seal?
No matter how formidable one’s martial arts, the extreme yang force contained in the Hwa Ryun Divine Elixir and the Yeol Ha Sung technique would have melted her body instantly.
“The great masters of old could never have conceived of such mechanisms.”
Even the Martial Emperor’s Secret Archive, despite being created by an exceptional warrior, contained mechanisms that rendered the strongest helpless.
And Yeolha Seongjun, far from being a mere mortal, had constructed mechanisms that prevented access unless a martial artist of Bu Eunseol’s caliber risked their life on bizarre trials—
mechanisms that were, in essence, impenetrable.
“In the end, what Yeolha Seongjun truly sought was not a mortal descendant, but an outsider of exceptional martial prowess.”
Bu Eunseol shook her head,
when suddenly—
she felt a strange energy coursing through her right arm and frantically waved both hands.
As her right arm moved, a subtle current of energy rippled outward.
A piercing shriek tore through the air!
It was none other than the Yeolha Seongjun and the Extremity Wheel Qi—forces that had relentlessly sought to ravage Bu Eunseol’s body until now.
Could it be anything else?
“This energy has been absorbed into my body?”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened in shock.
She had distinctly sealed off that energy using the Woman’s Sealing Formation and the Thirteen Night Technique.
How could such power have seeped into her body?
‘Surely not…’
Bu Eunseol gazed at the Hwa Wheel Divine Flute lying on the ground.
Unlike when she had first seen it, all its mystical radiance had vanished, leaving it looking like an ordinary pipe.
A soft clink.
Bu Eunseol grasped the Hwa Wheel Divine Flute once more.
Yet all the sun-like energy that had dwelt within it had completely dissipated.
A faint crumble.
The moment she applied pressure, the Hwa Wheel Divine Flute crumbled to dust and scattered.
“Oh no.”
Bu Eunseol let out a gasp of dismay.
With her own hands, she had reduced the Yeol Ha Sung Palace’s most precious treasure to powder.
“What am I going to do about this?”
As she stretched her right arm and recalled the Hwa Wheel Divine Flute once more,
A blazing inferno erupted!
Suddenly, a torrent of flame-like energy poured forth, and scorching heat began radiating outward in all directions.
It turned out that all the power contained within the Hwa Wheel Divine Flute had been absorbed into Bu Eunseol’s meridians, and it had shattered once its purpose was fulfilled.
In that moment, her father’s voice—which she had heard in Mu Mu’s dream—suddenly echoed in her ears.
―If you ever learn martial arts, one day this great seal will break. I pray you never become entangled with Murim…
“So that’s what it meant.”
Only now did I understand the true significance of those words.
“When my martial prowess increases or I suffer a shock… my memories return.”
When I recovered my memories as Mu Mu, my inner strength suddenly surged to unprecedented levels, and my brain meridians sustained a tremendous impact.
And now, the power of the Hwa Wheel Divine Flute had violently shaken my brain meridians once again… and fragments of my memories had resurfaced.
“I need to grow stronger quickly. Otherwise, I’ll have to take a severe beating and lose consciousness.”
Though spoken in jest, Bu Eunseol’s heart grew slightly anxious.
Another reason to grow stronger had just emerged.
I had to recover my memories as soon as possible… and find not only my grandfather’s whereabouts, but also those of my parents, and the enemies who killed them.
A sharp whistle. A piercing cry.
As her mental focus dispersed, the Hwa Wheel Divine Flute that had been formed in the void gradually faded away once more.
“I’ve inadvertently ended up absorbing another’s treasure.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed as she gazed down at her right hand.
What if Hwa Jeong, the Palace Lord, had been an honest person?
Bu Eunseol would have found some way to return the power of the Hwa Wheel Divine Flute to her.
However, she had intended to use Bu Eunseol as bait to open the doors of the Secret Palace. She had likely filed a false report to the Murim Alliance, disguising it as an accident.
For this reason, Bu Eunseol had no intention whatsoever of returning this power to her.
Thump, thump.
After surveying her surroundings, Bu Eunseol moved deeper into the Cave.
Then a warm breeze drifted from somewhere—clear evidence that a path to the outside existed.
“Excellent.”
The cool breeze caressed my weary body gently as it passed, as if soothing my exhaustion.
“That is…”
Upon reaching the far end of the Cave, a massive Stone Chamber came into view, with an exit visible at its far side.
And on one side of the Stone Chamber sat a mummified skeleton in lotus position.
Though its features were indecipherable, transformed like bark, the mummy still emanated an imposing dignity and solemn bearing.
It appeared to be the remains of Yeolha Seongjun, the founding ancestor of Yeol Ha Sung Palace who had constructed this Secret Palace.
‘Why would the remains of Yeolha Seongjun be hidden deep within the Secret Palace’s inner sanctum?’
Yeolha Seongjun was known to have lived a full lifespan before passing away quietly at Yeol Ha Sung Palace.
Then could this mummy not be Yeolha Seongjun?
“Forgive me for disturbing your eternal rest.”
Bu Eunseol bowed respectfully and pressed her palms together.
“I am not a disciple of Yeol Ha Sung Palace, yet I have inadvertently entered the Secret Palace. I shall depart and inform others of the remains here…”
Rumble.
Before she could finish speaking, the Stone Chamber trembled briefly, then—
Scritch, scritch, scritch.
As if carved away by ants, the wall surface gradually began to erode, and characters started to inscribe themselves.
Yeolha Grand Essence True Qi.
Astonishingly, the walls of the Stone Chamber bore the divine martial scripture of Yeolha Seongjun—the sacred techniques and methods of the Yeolha Grand Essence True Qi.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————