The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 451
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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 451.
Wi Ji Hye Sang spoke with a cold expression.
“If that happens, won’t Myo Cheon Woo also face punishment?”
“Do you think he fears punishment?”
Bu Eunseol let out a scoff.
“A man who came here prepared to die?”
Wi Ji Hye Sang’s eyes, which had been perpetually narrowed like crescents, straightened for the first time.
Myo Cheon Woo, whom he had always dismissed as insignificant, had dealt an unexpected blow.
Had he not employed Myo Cheon Woo as a spy, the Chil Seon Tea House Network, which he had managed in secret, would never have been exposed.
But because he had taken him on as a spy.
The financial and intelligence network that had remained hidden until now, operated with extreme secrecy, had been laid bare.
“Muk Hon Ryeong Ju.”
Wi Ji Hye Sang spoke with a face covered in frost.
“Until now, I have treated you with goodwill.”
A pristine killing intent bloomed in his eyes.
“Yet you repay kindness with enmity.”
“Kindness?”
Bu Eunseol looked down at Wi Ji Hye Sang with eyes blazing with murderous intent.
“From the moment you employed my dear friend as a spy at the Hwawoo Sword Sect… you and I became enemies.”
“Hahahaha.”
Wi Ji Hye Sang laughed with sinister amusement.
“This dear friend you speak of—is he the one who killed another dear friend of yours?”
In that instant, Myo Cheon Woo’s complexion turned ashen.
If she discovered that he was the one who exposed Young Moon Ho’s whereabouts to Cheon Geom?
Bu Eunseol would never forgive him.
Trembling.
Yet Myo Cheon Woo, his head bowed and body shaking, opened his mouth.
He had to reveal the truth.
Even if his sin could not be forgiven, Bu Eunseol deserved to know the truth.
“It is true. I… exposed Young Moon Ho’s whereabouts to Cheon Geom….”
“Say nothing more.”
Bu Eunseol had actually heard nothing from Sal Gwi.
The moment they met, he had taken his own life.
But when I heard that Myo Cheon Woo had gone to the Hwawoo Sword Sect, I could piece together the entire situation.
That Sal Gwi belonged to the Hwawoo Sword Sect.
That Myo Cheon Woo had not become a spy out of personal ambition.
That leaking the whereabouts to Cheon Geom was not something he desired, but an unavoidable circumstance.
And that he had sought to sever that chain, even at the cost of his own life.
Had I not possessed such faith in him, I would never have come to the Hwawoo Sword Sect to save Myo Cheon Woo.
“Bu Eunseol.”
“You were merely being used.”
Bu Eunseol gazed toward the distant sky and exhaled a deep sigh.
“Both you and I.”
Wi Ji Hye Sang had consistently subjected me to deliberate trials.
Whether it had been beneficial or not remained unclear. Yet it could be said that I had lived as Wi Ji Hye Sang’s puppet for some time.
“Let us depart now.”
As Bu Eunseol turned to support Myo Cheon Woo, Wi Ji Hye Sang cried out.
“You’ve touched another’s garden—surely you’ve made the appropriate preparations?”
His eyes, consumed entirely by malice, had darkened so completely that the whites were invisible.
No matter how formidable his power and influence, the loss of his covert foundation was a considerable blow.
“Preparations? Hardly.”
Bu Eunseol smiled coldly.
“If you’re aggrieved, convene the Ma Jeong Council. Declare that the tea house where treachery—leaking intelligence to the Murim Alliance—was committed has been destroyed.”
“….”
“You may persuade the Chong Gyo Ryeong, or Ma Cheon Je. You could even petition the Wi Ji Sect Leader for resolution.”
These words mocked Wi Ji Hye Sang’s provocation from moments before, his call to fight by any means necessary.
Thud, thud.
As Bu Eunseol turned to leave with Myo Cheon Woo,
“Are you fleeing?”
Shing.
Wi Ji Hye Sang drew his blade.
“Since we’re here, show me what you’re capable of.”
Bu Eunseol was not one to avoid confrontation.
And Wi Ji Hye Sang was certain that if battle commenced, he would send Bu Eunseol into the abyss.
“Ah? A pretext? Allow me to provide one.”
Wi Ji Hye Sang spoke with a smile.
“Muk Hon Ryeong Ju. I challenge you.”
Thump.
Bu Eunseol’s footsteps halted.
Myo Cheon Woo then regarded me with an expression of concern.
Yet he could no longer dissuade me. He lacked even the right to do so.
“I refuse.”
An unexpected answer came in return.
Bu Eunseol—one who would wake from sleep at the mere mention of a fight.
For such a person to evade a duel?
“Are you afraid?”
“Not in the slightest.”
Bu Eunseol spoke with indifference.
“Victory now would bring no joy.”
“Victory now would bring no joy? What do you mean by that?”
“You must be seeing darkness, thinking about restoring that ruined tea house….”
Bu Eunseol smiled with uncharacteristic gentleness.
“With a bitter heart, how could you possibly execute your sword techniques properly? Master of Chil Seon Tea House.”
Wi Ji Hye Sang.
He was the disciple of Hyun Ma Wi Ji Moo Ah and the successor to the Hwawoo Sword Sect, reigning supreme over ten thousand.
To treat such a man as a mere tea house proprietor? When had he ever suffered such an insult?
Myo Cheon Woo, standing beside him, flinched slightly and stole a glance toward Wi Ji Hye Sang.
In that moment, Myo Cheon Woo had to clench his abdomen and puff out his cheeks.
Otherwise, he could not contain the laughter threatening to burst forth.
Wi Ji Hye Sang.
He who had always maintained such loftiness and detachment—was his face not melting like taffy at Bu Eunseol’s single remark?
“Then.”
Bu Eunseol led Myo Cheon Woo away without so much as a backward glance,
“Uuuuh.”
Crackle.
White radiance coalesced around Wi Ji Hye Sang’s body, and bloodshot veins spread across his entire frame.
The aura flowing from him soared to the heavens’ edge, and tempests swept across all directions.
“Truly, both of you require much attention.”
Whoosh!
He extended his sword lightly.
Myo Cheon Woo, who had been walking with support, collapsed with a cry of agony.
An invisible, formless sword qi had shot forth, piercing through his shoulder.
“Ugh….”
Myo Cheon Woo clenched his teeth to endure the pain.
The wound in his flesh was trivial. But the formless sword qi was ravaging his meridians and twisting his vital points.
“Stop them. Do not let them escape.”
Wi Ji Hye Sang commanded coldly,
Whoosh.
Five swordsmen clad in black emerged before Bu Eunseol and Myo Cheon Woo, rising from the earth itself.
They were the Hwau O Gaek, the Five Guests of Fire and Rain, who circled Wi Ji Hye Sang at the Twelve Hour Formation, serving as his guard.
“This is what happens when you turn your body so carelessly….”
Boom!
Suddenly, with a thunderous explosion, one of the Hwau O Gaek’s head shot skyward.
Splash.
Crimson blood sprayed like a fountain from the severed neck.
Thud, thud.
Among the corpses from which blood dripped, a shadow with eyes burning crimson
walked toward Wi Ji Hye Sang, gripping a darkened iron sword.
It was Bu Eunseol.
Wi Ji Hye Sang had made a mistake.
If I wanted to fight, I had to attack Bu Eunseol immediately.
Under no circumstances could I strike the injured Myo Cheon Woo.
“The swordmaster of this sect that I just witnessed….”
Wi Ji Hye Sang, consumed by fury, opened his mouth to shout before abruptly falling silent.
I had clearly seen him walking slowly through the cascade of blood, yet…
In the blink of an eye, he now stood close enough that our noses nearly touched, looking down at me with those blazing eyes.
“You said you wanted to fight.”
Bu Eunseol, her eyes glowing like smoldering charcoal, gazed down at Wi Ji Hye Sang and spoke in a low voice.
“Make the first move.”
Wi Ji Hye Sang could not hide his astonishment.
For most martial artists, their defensive perimeter extends roughly one zhang.
Beyond that distance, it becomes difficult to counter surprise attacks, so they reflexively launch their own assault.
Wi Ji Hye Sang’s defensive perimeter, however, extended about two zhang.
This was because he too had reached the Extreme Heaven Realm, allowing him to fragment time itself and manipulate it with precision…
He could respond effortlessly to surprise attacks at close range and unleash three or more techniques within a single second.
Yet she had closed the distance in a mere blink and now stood inches from his face, looking down at him?
From this single maneuver alone, one could gauge just how transcendent Bu Eunseol’s martial prowess had become.
“Muk Hon Ryeong Ju, I’m well aware that your martial arts have reached a formidable level.”
Wi Ji Hye Sang, who had been staring intently into Bu Eunseol’s blazing eyes, smiled crookedly.
“The fact that you’ve closed to this distance yet haven’t struck first means you’re confident in certain victory, doesn’t it?”
His eyes narrowed to crescents as he displayed a smile as bright and innocent as a child’s.
“It seems difficult to achieve a flawless victory without sustaining wounds… so I’ll take the easier approach.”
In that instant, a dark aura flowed from Wi Ji Hye Sang’s eyes.
Simultaneously, focus drained from Bu Eunseol’s pupils as a murky force burrowed into her mind.
And… her body began to bend slowly.
Could he have reached the Limitless Realm, capable of striking directly at another’s spirit?
‘The Secret Art of Spirit Seizure.’
The blood-light flowing from Bu Eunseol’s eyes intensified.
Wi Ji Hye Sang had not reached the Limitless Realm… but rather mastered a remarkable Secret Art of Spirit Seizure that could directly strike even the spirit of a master who had attained the Extreme Heaven Realm.
Much like Hyuk Ryeon Eung.
‘So you too are one of the Three Realms’ agents.’
Bu Eunseol’s expression darkened.
The Demonic Path’s foremost sword sect, the Hwawoo Sword Sect. Even its successor was connected to the Three Realms?
How far did their reach truly extend?
‘No, wasn’t this already expected?’
The Three Realms had extended their influence across all of Murim, and their leadership either knew of its existence or was directly and indirectly connected to it.
Wasn’t that precisely why I had resolved to either amass the power to destroy the Three Realms in one fell swoop, or to eliminate them piecemeal?
‘In battles between masters, victory is decided in a fleeting instant.’
At that moment, Wi Ji Hye Sang spoke as he walked slowly forward.
The air itself seemed to tremble with anticipation.
A dull thud.
With his sharp blade, he pierced Bu Eunseol’s heart without hesitation in a single, fluid motion.
“I truly did not wish to kill you.”
His expression conveyed genuine regret.
He resembled a child of seven or eight years old who had broken a cherished toy and now lamented the loss.
“How strange.”
Yet something impossible occurred.
Despite his heart being pierced, Bu Eunseol stood motionless, her eyes wide open and fixed upon him.
A brilliant flash!
Wi Ji Hye Sang moved with lightning speed, his blade severing her arms, legs, and neck in one devastating stroke.
But it was futile.
Bu Eunseol remained standing as though nothing had occurred.
“What is this? Has she become a Bone Demon?”
A brilliant flash!
With a sharp cry, the blade in Wi Ji Hye Sang’s grip unleashed a piercing sword aura that soared toward the heavens.
A tremendous slash!
The colossal aura cleaved Bu Eunseol in two, tore the earth asunder, and even split the distant Unmong Lake into halves.
A whistling sound!
The aura returned, fragmenting Bu Eunseol’s bisected form once more.
It was the exquisite technique of the Hwawoo Sword Sect’s Seventh Form—the Luminous Soul Embrace.
A low humming sound.
Yet something impossible transpired.
From Bu Eunseol’s fragmented body, a gentle breeze began to stir, transforming into a tempestuous gale that threatened to sweep away the entire world.
A rumbling thunder. A deafening crash!
Simultaneously, the sky darkened as black clouds billowed forth.
From all directions came the bone-chilling wails of vengeful spirits.
“So the Muhonjung Lord of the Demon Palace has mastered demonic arts as well!”
Wi Ji Hye Sang cried out coldly, unleashing his sword technique once more to shred Bu Eunseol’s corpse.
A deep resonance.
Yet with each strike, Bu Eunseol’s form grew larger, until at last it became a colossal shadow that touched the heavens.
A heavy boom.
The immense shadow transformed once again.
Now suspended in the sky were a pair of eyes, burning with crimson light.
They possessed only the form of eyes, yet merely meeting their gaze unleashed such overwhelming pressure that one’s entire body felt as though it would be crushed.
“Ungh.”
Wi Ji Hye Sang uttered a groan—the first sound of distress he had ever made.
He had been born invincible, convinced that no existence surpassed him.
The only worthy adversaries he acknowledged were the transcendent beings who looked down upon the Murim.
Yet even they, he believed without doubt, would eventually bow before him as time passed.
But now, an unforeseen force had emerged from an unexpected quarter.
“Why won’t you die?”
Wi Ji Hye Sang drew upon every ounce of his power, channeling his inner energy to its absolute limit.
True qi waves began radiating outward in all directions.
He too had long ago surpassed the threshold of inner power that even a Grand Master could achieve in his youth.
His swordsmanship had transcended the boundaries of the Hwawoo Sword Sect, reaching a realm where he could freely transform his techniques at will.
Yet in this moment, he was nothing more than a candle flickering before a tempest.
Rumble.
Then came a thunderclap that shook heaven and earth.
Looking up, a black storm erupted from the crimson eyes suspended in the sky.
It engulfed his body in an instant, spinning him into dizzying chaos.
At the same time, incomprehensible and alien questions began relentlessly piercing through his mind.
―Why? What does she know? How far does her knowledge extend? How is she peering into my thoughts? Could it be that all of this was intentional?
Dizziness and nausea overwhelmed me.
I wanted to retch, but nothing came.
No matter how much I shook my head, that black storm continued burrowing relentlessly through my mind, sowing chaos.
Rumble.
Thunder roared again.
And in place of the black storm, a shadow darkened as pitch advanced toward Wi Ji Hye Sang.
“Ugh.”
The moment I saw that dark shadow, I began retching violently.
It was despair beyond endurance, a tyranny that could not be opposed.
Merely gazing upon it felt as though my spirit was being torn asunder, and my legs could no longer support me.
“Uhhh.”
Finally, I dropped to one knee.
To do otherwise would mean my body and spirit would be consumed in an instant by that shadow—that fusion of despair and tyranny.
As I knelt, as I averted my gaze, as I began to submit to that power…
The suffocating chaos and despair gradually began to fade.
‘An illusion technique?’
Only then did I realize a crucial truth.
It was not Bu Eunseol who had fallen victim to the mind-sealing technique—it was I.
And Bu Eunseol had used a power identical to Ak Moo Ryung’s illusion technique to ransack my mind.
The moment I recognized that everything was illusion, my vision began to brighten… and the surroundings came into sharp focus.
At the same time, my body turned rigid as stone.
I discovered myself kneeling before Bu Eunseol, head bowed.
“How.”
I lowered my head with vacant eyes.
How could this have happened?
The mind-sealing technique I had deployed could suppress the body of even a master of the Extreme Heaven Realm in a single stroke.
Could Bu Eunseol have reached the Limitless Realm, defended against it, and then turned the power of her illusion technique against me?
“I did nothing.”
Bu Eunseol, having seen through Wi Ji Hye Sang’s inner thoughts, spoke with perfect composure.
“I merely showed him what I have endured.”
Bu Eunseol had achieved the state of Yeong Gyu Ta Tong, and thus could not be wounded by any form of spiritual assault.
Yet suddenly, Wi Ji Hye Sang unleashed the Seop Sim Bi Hak technique.
In that instant, I recalled the method that Ak Moo Ryung had employed—revealing his own inner state without warning.
Though I had never studied the Seop Sim Sool itself, the Yeong Gyu Ta Tong rendered the Seop Sim Bi Hak powerless, and instead, the roles of caster and target were reversed.
Moreover, I had mastered Jeong Cheon’s Cheon Ui Sim Gyeol—the very foundation upon which Ak Moo Ryung’s secret techniques were built.
And so I immediately mimicked Ak Moo Ryung’s method, projecting my own inner state directly into Wi Ji Hye Sang’s consciousness.
Ma Cheon Je.
And the spiritual anguish and torment I had suffered when first encountering Nangya Pavilion Master Ak Moo Ryung… that very pain.
“He could not endure it.”
I spoke with utter indifference.
“The chaos and despair that I have known.”
Looking down at Wi Ji Hye Sang, who knelt upon the ground, I spoke with glacial coldness.
“Since you have already fallen to your knees… I shall grant you mercy this once.”
With eyes filled with contempt, I helped Myo Cheon Woo to his feet once more, and we slowly vanished into the mist.
Wi Ji Hye Sang remained motionless, his gaze fixed upon the ground with eyes devoid of focus.
I had revealed none of the divine techniques and inner strength I had cultivated thus far.
By merely sharing the suffering of my past… I had defeated him.
“Hehehehe.”
Wi Ji Hye Sang, who had been frozen like stone, suddenly gazed upward and burst into laughter.
“Hehehehe… hahahaha!”
That laughter was so low and ominous that it seemed like the mad cackling of a demon god descending upon the mortal realm to bring ruin to all creation.
“Hahahaha!”
He laughed wildly toward the sky, then suddenly ceased.
Whoosh.
When Wi Ji Hye Sang lowered his head back to the earth, his face had transformed completely.
The delicate, beautiful visage had become a countenance brimming with savage intensity.
His eyes had grown more slanted, his brows darker, and even his pale skin seemed to have taken on a bronzed hue.
“Kekekeke! Hahahaha!”
Wi Ji Hye Sang released a grotesque laugh, then abruptly ceased, shaking his head.
“That is precisely why I told you… you should not have done this.”
Even his voice, which had always been bright and clear, now resonated low and thick.
“Since it has come to this, I should have simply let you flourish and grow, and when you were fully ripe….”
His tongue flicked across his lips, and from his eyes, a black radiance spread in all directions.
“I would devour you in a single bite.”
The eyes that had always been profound and luminous now gleamed with a crystalline, transparent light, and from his entire being emanated a strange and sinister aura.
From a pure youth, he had transformed.
Into a demon god descended upon the Murim to bring nightmares to all.
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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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