The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 443
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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 443.
Joyful Pleasure Powder.
A vicious toxin with no antidote—only the act of dual cultivation could neutralize it.
Bu Eunseol possessed formidable inner strength and had mastered both the Glacial River Flow and the Yeol Ha Grand Celestial technique, allowing her to easily suppress or burn away toxins of this caliber.
But So Yo could not.
“I’m sorry.”
So Yo’s face flushed crimson as she lowered her head.
“Just let me rest for a moment.”
“So Yo.”
“It’s fine. I just need to endure until the toxin’s effects wear off.”
Her words were composed, yet—
—ripples disturbed those silver eyes that had always resembled a frozen lake, and her delicate, lustrous pale pink lips trembled faintly.
Beneath her calm voice lay unmistakable evidence of excruciating agony.
“So Yo.”
When Bu Eunseol called her name, she turned her head, her gaze unfocused.
So Yo was not a conventional beauty, yet her slender frame and mysterious eyes created a harmonious visage.
Moreover, there existed in her an ethereal, melancholic beauty—something that stirred a desire to protect her.
‘It will take at least five hours for the Joyful Pleasure Powder to leave her body.’
Throughout the night and into day, So Yo would writhe in the agony of her body dissolving.
I could not simply stand by and allow that.
‘If I use the Yeol Ha Grand Celestial technique, I can burn away the toxin’s essence in one breath.’
—Especially those extreme yin and extreme yang forces. Try not to use them if possible.
Suddenly, Ak Moo Ryung’s warning flashed through my mind.
He had cautioned that if I continued using the extreme yin and extreme yang techniques, my body could be damaged again.
But faced with So Yo’s suffering, I resolved without hesitation to use them.
“There’s no need to endure such pain for so long. I can detoxify you.”
“De…toxify?”
“Yes.”
As Bu Eunseol nodded confidently, So Yo’s face turned bright red, and she averted her gaze while muttering.
“…How cunning.”
“No! Wait, listen to my explanation!”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened as if she’d seen a ghost.
“By infusing the Yeol Ha Grand Celestial technique from Yeol Ha Sung Palace, I can burn away the toxin’s essence in one breath. That’s what I meant by detoxification.”
Those words had been spoken at the fastest pace of my entire life.
“Understood.”
So Yo smiled softly, nodded, closed her eyes, and spread both arms wide.
“Do as you wish.”
“…Did you not hear what I just said?”
“I heard you.”
“Then there’s no need to spread your arms. I only need to infuse the vital energy.”
“Understood.”
I grasped So Yo’s pulse and infused the Yeol Ha Great Righteous Qi into her meridians.
Whoosh.
As the torrential heat flooded through her energy channels, all traces of the Hwan Hee Eum Nak San that had been absorbed into her body dissipated completely.
“I’m sorry.”
So Yo opened her mouth apologetically toward me.
“I won’t act so recklessly next time.”
“That’s all I need to hear.”
I spoke matter-of-factly.
“I’ll handle this place myself. And… did you find the manor?”
“Ah, yes.”
So Yo spoke in a low voice.
“Among all the manors with the character ‘Ha’ in their names over the past thirty years, Sa Ha Manor in Gil An is the only one that suddenly vanished.”
“Gil An.”
“Yes. Of course, there might be places we haven’t found yet… but based on our current investigation, that’s it.”
‘I must go there first.’
At So Yo’s words, my heart quickened.
Until now, I had never rushed or acted hastily about anything.
But upon finding a manor that could reveal my true origins, I felt an urgency unlike anything before.
“So Yo, I must go there.”
“But your current status is that of a Lord of the Murim Alliance?”
“Regardless of status, it doesn’t matter. I only need to verify it briefly anyway.”
“I understand.”
So Yo nodded, realizing that desperation and urgency were mixed in my voice.
She had guessed that I would deploy extreme lightness technique to head toward Gil An.
“Come back safely.”
“No need to strain yourself following me.”
Whoosh!
With those words, I became a streak of light and soared above Half-Sky.
I would immediately head to Gil An in Gang Seo and verify Sa Ha Manor with my own eyes.
* * *
Gil An, Mi Su Village.
Now a ruin, it once housed over three hundred dwellings and nearly a thousand inhabitants.
And near the Usu River stood a beautiful manor named Sa Ha Manor.
The manor’s master was young yet possessed exceptional learning, receiving endless invitations from notable figures in the region.
The manor’s mistress was kind-hearted, and it was said she helped those in difficult circumstances or with tragic situations nearby.
Then something strange occurred.
Sa Ha Manor burned to ashes overnight.
All the servants within the manor were burned to death, and the master’s family vanished without a trace.
The authorities launched an investigation, but they could find neither the cause of the fire nor any sign of the missing family.
The problem arose after Sa Ha Manor disappeared.
Soon after, the villagers began to fall ill one by one, and a devastating plague swept through the land.
Ultimately, nearly a thousand people either perished or scattered to the winds, leaving Mi Su Village as an abandoned ruin devoid of life.
“….”
Bu Eunseol, disguised as Seon Woo Jin, stood alone on the Open Ground where Sa Ha Manor once stood.
‘Hmm.’
I exhaled a deep breath.
Though Mi Su Village had become a ghost town, traces of human habitation could still be found scattered about.
Yet the ground where the manor had stood bore no remnants whatsoever, as if nothing had ever existed there.
Moreover, despite more than twenty years having passed, no one had resettled or rebuilt their lives in this village.
‘A plague, then.’
When plague strikes a village, it becomes a ruin and its people scatter to the four winds.
The once-beautiful Usu River had also dried up, rendering it impassable for boats.
With merchant vessels unable to traverse it, Market Street vanished and all the shops shuttered their doors.
Since the means of livelihood had completely disappeared, no one dared to resettle in Mi Su Village.
‘Someone wielding immense power must have orchestrated this.’
It is not uncommon for bandit gangs to attack and annihilate even well-established manors.
It is possible for a plague to ravage a village into desolation.
The surrounding terrain shifting and commercial networks collapsing are entirely plausible occurrences.
But the probability of all these events transpiring simultaneously is virtually nonexistent.
“I have no memories….”
I searched the ruins of the manor thoroughly, yet no recollections surfaced in my mind.
The beautiful, serene manor I had glimpsed in my dreams stood in stark contrast to this desolate landscape.
‘Surely this must be the right place.’
When my spirit briefly merged with the Nangya Pavilion Master’s, I caught only a fleeting glimpse.
I saw merely a single character—Hae (霞).
Perhaps this was merely another manor that happened to share a similar name.
‘There is one way to confirm.’
If the manor Mu Mu saw in his dreams was indeed this place,
then a secret passage must surely exist here.
Zing.
I drew upon my Hollow Heart Technique and began meticulously examining the ground in this vicinity.
‘If only that passage exists….’
Then this would be the manor where my parents and I once lived together, and it would greatly aid me in tracking down traces of my parents.
‘Nothing.’
But there was no secret passage.
I exhausted my Hollow Heart Technique, thoroughly searching the ground where the manor had stood, yet…there was no secret passage.
I could find no trace of any mechanism whatsoever.
“It must have been somewhere else.”
My eyes grew forlorn.
I thought I had finally found a clue to discover my roots.
But this place didn’t seem to be the manor I had seen in my dreams.
‘I should leave.’
If Sa Ha Manor wasn’t where I had lived, there was no need to linger here and waste time.
Yet why did I feel reluctant?
My feet wouldn’t move easily away from this place.
Step by step.
But then, a tall shadow approached with light footsteps.
When I turned my head, I saw a robust man dressed in white robes.
The man, laden with bundles like a peddler, glanced at me standing there before slowly walking into the manor.
“So there’s a guest.”
The White-Robed Man regarded me with a peculiar expression and smiled gently.
His eyes were clear and profound, and his voice and manner held no malice.
With refined features and handsome appearance, he possessed the kind of bearing that naturally inspired favor.
“You don’t seem like an ordinary person—what brings you to this place?”
To the White-Robed Man’s casual words, I answered matter-of-factly.
“I happened to pass by.”
Currently, I was using the guise of Seon Woo Jin.
Yet without realizing it, I had answered in my original manner of speech, curt and direct.
“This seems like a place where a vast manor once stood, but there’s nothing left now….”
“I see.”
The White-Robed Man nodded and settled himself firmly in the ruins as he spoke.
“Well, it matters little. For a passing traveler, having a place to rest is enough.”
The man set down the bundle he had been carrying.
It was filled with wine bottles. It seemed he intended to have quite the drinking session here.
“Would you care for a drink?”
The White-Robed Man gestured to the stacked bottles.
“As you can see, there’s more than enough to get thoroughly intoxicated.”
I allowed myself a faint smile.
Tea was another matter, but there was no reason to refuse wine. Besides, something about the White-Robed Man’s melancholic atmosphere drew my favor.
‘I’m changing. So am I.’
Was it because I maintained a state where the martial arts of Jeong Sa Ma Bul were intermingled?
Or was it that I myself was transforming the more I traveled through Gangho?
I had never been this way before.
Recently, I had begun to feel affection toward people I was meeting for the first time.
So Yo was one such person, and Baek Ri Mu Jo, the Lord of the Sungwi Unit, was another.
And now, toward this nameless man, I felt that same peculiar warmth.
“The bundle already reeks of fine wine….”
I spoke with utter bluntness.
“…I was just lamenting that you weren’t offering me a cup more generously.”
“Hahaha.”
The White-Robed Man burst into hearty laughter.
“It seems I’ve finally found a worthy drinking companion.”
His resonant laughter echoed across the heavens, as if painting the cloudless sky with pure joy.
“Please, take this.”
Thunk.
As the White-Robed Man tossed the gourd bottle, Bu Eunseol caught it with effortless grace.
In that instant, her eyes deepened with awareness.
Though it was merely the act of throwing a bottle, it carried within it the subtle principles of martial arts and impeccable discipline.
This man was undoubtedly a renowned young master of the Murim.
Pop.
Yet Bu Eunseol opened the bottle with an indifferent expression.
She lacked even the leisure of mind to care who this man was.
She had come hoping to uncover traces of her past, but found nothing—only the bitter reality of a life where she didn’t even know her parents’ faces, leaving her frustrated and resentful.
Gulp, gulp.
Bu Eunseol drowned that anguish and frustration in a single bottle of wine.
“Fine wine indeed.”
Having emptied the gourd bottle in one breath, he nodded in appreciation.
The wine the man had brought was like that produced by the Murim Alliance—pure and fragrant enough to grace an ancestral altar.
“You know how to drink properly, friend.”
The White-Robed Man nodded with evident surprise as Bu Eunseol drained the entire bottle without hesitation.
Gulp, gulp.
The White-Robed Man also emptied his gourd bottle in one breath and nodded approvingly.
“A true man of spirit should drink with such boldness—yet these days, the young ones in Murim pour themselves thimble-sized cups.”
Then, with generous hospitality, he gestured toward his bundle and spoke.
“Drink your fill. I have plenty of wine.”
In the Abandoned Manor beneath the falling moonlight, the two drank together, passing the bottle back and forth.
They had taken a liking to each other.
Like old friends, they needed little conversation and felt no awkwardness at all.
“This must be the last bottle.”
Bu Eunseol picked up the final gourd bottle.
After drinking half of it, she tossed it back to the White-Robed Man.
“Not only do you drink well, but you also understand the way of wine.”
Having finished the wine in the bottle, he spoke again.
“But what is your name, friend? You seem like a noble’s child.”
“….”
“I wander Gangho like a drifter, and my knowledge is limited, so I cannot place you.”
“A life adrift like duckweed on the water.”
Bu Eunseol gazed toward the distant sky and spoke quietly.
“We meet and part, meet and part again—such is our life. What use is knowing each other’s names?”
The White-Robed Man, who had worn a vacant expression, suddenly burst into bright laughter as if struck by revelation.
“Haha. That could very well be true.”
As he smiled broadly, Bu Eunseol brought her hands together in gratitude.
“Thank you for the excellent drink.”
And with eyes that were taciturn yet warm, she spoke.
“Next time we meet, I shall treat you to a proper round.”
Though she did not even know his name.
Bu Eunseol was pledging that they would meet again, and when they did, she would be the one to buy the drinks.
“That is something to look forward to.”
The White-Robed Man, who had been grinning with his teeth bared, suddenly adopted a solemn expression.
“You must keep that promise without fail.”
Bu Eunseol brought her hands together once more.
The man then smiled softly and clasped his hands in return.
“Then.”
As Bu Eunseol slowly turned and departed, the White-Robed Man exhaled deeply and murmured softly to himself.
“Delicate as a leaf on the surface, yet solid as steel within.”
Drawing a deep breath, he retrieved a small gourd bottle from within his robes.
It contained a liquor far more refined and potent than anything he had been drinking until now.
“Had you lived, you would have shared a drink with me just as she did.”
With an anguished expression, he lowered his head and uncorked the bottle in his hand.
“Even visiting each year, this guilt never eases.”
Memories from his childhood surfaced in his mind.
And those memories were.
Secrets that must never be revealed to the outside world.
“Starting today, I shall cast off this burden of guilt.”
Splash.
The White-Robed Man poured all the liquor from the gourd onto the ground and gazed toward the distant sky.
“For it is time I stepped forward at last.”
Taking a deep breath, he unleashed his movement technique in one fluid motion.
Radiance like lotus petals bloomed around him, and he soared into the distant sky like an immortal.
Lotus Platform Nine Grades.
Because it required dividing one’s inner force into nine streams alongside tremendous martial power.
Shaolin had scarcely ever mastered it, and only the Buddha himself had ever comprehended and wielded this supreme Buddhist movement technique—yet it was being displayed by the White-Robed Man.
As the two men departed, a desolate wind swept across the ruins of the manor.
Whoosh.
Suddenly the sky darkened, and raindrops began to fall slowly.
The cold rain, falling endlessly, continued to drench the earth as if to swallow the world itself.
As if foretelling the fate of these two men that would unfold in the days to come.
* * *
So Ja Myeong returned once more to Sayeong Hall.
The deal between Bu Eunseol and Yeop Hyo Cheon had been concluded.
Hell Blood Castle had colluded with the Infinite Realm to supply poison and troops to Dae Woon Rim.
Bu Eunseol had convened the Ma Jeong Council to investigate Hell Blood Castle’s crimes and impose punishment.
However, through Yeop Hyo Cheon’s mediation, the matter was settled with Hell Blood Castle’s Lord, Gong Ya Geuk, stepping down from his position.
And in return for accepting the proposal, I returned Guusal Unit’s Lord, So Ja Myeong, to his post.
From Bu Eunseol’s perspective, Hell Blood Castle had now become a place that could be destroyed at any moment.
However, a talented individual like So Ja Myeong could not be easily found even by searching all of Murim. Therefore, I gladly accepted Yeop Hyo Cheon’s proposal.
And that choice proved to be correct.
“Myo Cheon Woo… you are certain of this?”
In a secret chamber within Jamma Pavilion.
This chamber had been created at Bu Eunseol’s request to Yu Woon Ryong after I discovered there was a traitor among the Lords of Sayeong Hall.
And in that chamber, not Bu Eunseol, but Yu Woon Ryong and So Ja Myeong sat facing each other.
“Yes, that is correct.”
When Bu Eunseol reinstated So Ja Myeong, I gave him a new mission.
To find and expose the traitor who had infiltrated Sayeong Hall.
After a long investigation, So Ja Myeong found that traitor.
And the culprit was none other than Myo Cheon Woo.
“But why are you telling me this?”
Yu Woon Ryong opened his mouth with a grave expression.
“Should you not report this to the Lord immediately?”
“I already have.”
So Ja Myeong released a quiet sigh.
“Three months ago.”
Thud.
Yu Woon Ryong’s vision darkened.
Bu Eunseol had known all along that Myo Cheon Woo was the traitor. Yet I had shown no sign of it, living with perfect composure.
“The Lord possesses remarkable strategic wisdom.”
Yu Woon Ryong, momentarily flustered, continued speaking calmly.
“Surely you are unfolding some grand scheme to eliminate all those behind this conspiracy…”
“Lord Yu.”
So Ja Myeong cut him off decisively.
“Do you not know the Lord’s nature better than this?
Yu Woon Ryong lowered his head.
Bu Eunseol does not easily trust others.
But once trust is given, that faith is never betrayed.
Even if that person were a traitor holding a blade to my own throat…
‘Bu Eunseol.’
Yu Woon Ryong bit his lip.
Bu Eunseol was waiting patiently.
Waiting for Myo Cheon Woo to abandon his role as a traitor and return to the embrace of Sayeong Hall. For my patience was far greater and wider than that of others.
Perhaps… I would wait for a long time. It’s possible I would still be waiting even when he draws his blade.
So Ja Myeong understood this truth far too well, which is why he ultimately sought out Yu Woon Ryong.
He was Bu Eunseol’s most trusted subordinate and closest friend, after all.
“You’ve come to find me early because of the agenda for this conference.”
Soon, the grand council of Sayeong Hall would convene.
And Yu Woon Ryong would have to inform Bu Eunseol of a grave calamity befalling someone connected to her.
It would likely bring Bu Eunseol hardship and danger once more.
So Ja Myeong, fully aware of this, had secretly summoned Yu Woon Ryong.
“I understand.”
Yu Woon Ryong nodded as if his resolve had crystallized.
“If this time too I endanger the Lord… if I expose his whereabouts again…”
Crunch.
Yu Woon Ryong bit his lip, swallowing the anguish that threatened to burst forth.
“I will take full responsibility for handling Myo Cheon Woo.”
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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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