The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 459

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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 459.
The Elite Division swiftly departed Yeoggyeong and crossed the border of Guizhou into Ho Nam, arriving at the Hong River.
Though they returned empty-handed, the Elite Division’s steps were light.
Through this operation in Yeoggyeong, they had once again demonstrated their intelligence capabilities and foresight to the leadership.
And they sensed that they would continue to be valued as an intelligence unit in the days ahead.
A gentle breeze swept past.
With hearts as light as the wind, the Elite Division members moved in perfect formation, swiftly deploying their lightness technique.
No matter that they were the Murim Alliance’s contingent—this was Guizhou territory.
A land where the Demonic Path, including Hell Blood Sect, held sway, so they had to escape quickly.
“…!”
But Bu Eunseol, who led the way, suddenly halted her lightness technique.
Surveying the surroundings with a grave expression, she commanded her team.
“Deploy the Heavenly Fortress Guardian Sword Formation.”
The Heavenly Fortress Guardian Sword Formation was a defensive formation of the Murim Alliance, deployed when enemy numbers vastly outnumbered them.
The members drew their blades without hesitation at Bu Eunseol’s command and immediately formed the array.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
In the next instant, projectiles rained down from all directions like a downpour.
But the formation was already perfectly established. The cascading projectiles bounced harmlessly away with merely a light swing of the Elite Division members’ swords.
Swish, swish, swish.
When the projectiles proved ineffective, black shadows emerged from the brush and encircled the Elite Division members.
They wore masks, and their eyes gleamed with a sickly yellow radiance visible even from a distance.
They were the poison masters of Hell Blood Sect.
“So it’s the Gwihyo-dang of Hell Blood Sect.”
Bu Eunseol, observing the poison masters’ eyes, addressed the one who appeared to be their leader.
“Our contingent and Hell Blood Sect have no particular grievance between us.”
Then Ak Gu Cheon, the leader of Gwihyo-dang, opened his dark eyes wide and spoke.
“Your meddling in Guizhou’s power structure has further weakened our sect’s influence.”
Though Dan So Ok had claimed the Jeok Su Gang region as her territory, strictly speaking, it belonged to Demon Hall.
Hell Blood Sect had trusted Demon Hall’s negotiations and waited, only to have their authority in the Yeoggyeong region stripped away.
For Hell Blood Sect, this was an utterly humiliating situation.
Having detected a Murim Alliance secondary contingent returning alone, Gwihyo-dang now sought to vent all the rage that had accumulated.
“How reckless. Acting this way will put Demon Hall in a difficult position.”
“This time too, we’ll handle it cleanly, leaving no trace.”
“This time too….”
Bu Eunseol finally grasped something that had been nagging at her.
“You’re the ones who killed Iron Faction Lord No Dok Cheong.”
“Hehehehe. You’re quick to catch on.”
Ak Gu Cheon gazed up at the distant sky with a bitter expression.
“Since the Sect Master stepped down, our sect’s power has withered away.”
Hell Blood Sect, which commanded Guizhou as one of the Ten Demonic Gates.
Yet because of the Demon Hall’s successor, their forces had instead dwindled, and they found themselves in an endless decline.
Ak Gu Cheon could no longer bear it.
But he could not strike down Muk Hon Ryeong Ju, who could be called the rising sun.
In the end, to dispel the resentment that had accumulated over the years, he roamed the Guizhou region and secretly killed every Orthodox Sect member he encountered.
Among them was Iron Tyrant Lord No Dok Cheong.
“The moment our sect’s influence contracted, the Murim Alliance began sending spies one after another, as if they’d been waiting. How infuriating.”
Ak Gu Cheon spoke through gritted teeth.
“So I hunted them down and killed them one by one whenever they appeared.”
In his eyes, a dark killing intent gleamed brilliantly.
“Before, I couldn’t dispose of the bodies perfectly because of those meddlers, but this time….”
Yet Ak Gu Cheon’s expression became peculiar.
A smile hung at the corners of the mouth of this second-rate Lord, who should have been trembling in fear.
“What’s so amusing?”
“Nothing, just that I’ve caught an unexpected big fish.”
Bu Eunseol’s final plan.
It was to have So Yo deliberately leak the Elite Division’s return route to Hell Blood Sect’s intelligence network.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong was a woman of such wisdom that she bore the epithet “Wisdom Star.”
To completely dispel her suspicions would require far more than simple methods.
The Elite Division had to be attacked by Hell Blood Sect.
Only that method would allow them to escape completely from suspicion of being a Demonic Path conspirator.
Yet in that process, they had unexpectedly uncovered the true culprit behind the Iron Tyrant Lord’s murder.
From Bu Eunseol’s perspective, she had merely yawned with her head held high, and a delicious fruit had fallen into her mouth of its own accord.
“A madman indeed.”
Ak Gu Cheon let out a scoff and gazed at Bu Eunseol.
“Do you think our organization killed No Dok Cheong as a collective?”
“Judging by how you move independently without heeding your superiors’ eyes… you must not only enjoy considerable trust, but also possess formidable strength.”
Bu Eunseol nodded casually.
“You must have been confident you could annihilate an entire division without leaving a single survivor?”
“That’s right.”
Ak Gu Cheon wore a smile tinged with killing intent.
“In my eyes, you are nothing but corpses still warm with life.”
And he issued orders to his subordinates without hesitation.
“Kill them.”
Fwip fwip fwip fwip!
At that moment, a barrage of poisoned needles rained down upon Bu Eunseol and the Elite Division once more.
Even as they wielded formidable poison techniques, they deliberately unleashed poisoned needles in continuous volleys.
Because they could not afford to let a single one escape.
They would shower needles while maintaining the encirclement, ensuring thorough poisoning first.
Then they would unleash their formidable poison techniques to sever the life force in one stroke.
“These bastards?”
Yet Ak Gu Cheon’s expression grew peculiar.
All the Elite Division members deploying the formation had wrapped dull cloth around their faces—were they not?
It was a face mask, the kind that vagrants favored, designed to protect the nose and mouth from toxic fumes.
Moreover, having consumed a potent antidote beforehand, they showed little effect even when the poisonous gas brushed against them.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Bu Eunseol’s eyes turned glacial as she wielded her iron sword, deflecting the cascading toxic gas.
‘This battle will inflict grave wounds upon my members. Yet through such trials, they shall grow stronger.’
What Bu Eunseol had prepared for her members beforehand was none other than a potent antidote and face masks to ward off the poisonous miasma.
‘If they survive this ambush.’
Bu Eunseol had devised a plan to elevate the Elite Division to new heights while simultaneously escaping Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s suspicion.
The Elite Division was not merely an intelligence unit—it aimed to become a versatile contingent capable in direct combat.
And for them to truly grow formidable, they had to advance endlessly through life-or-death struggles.
“Ugh.”
As the toxic gas continued to pour relentlessly, groans escaped the lips of the Elite Division members.
Despite consuming the potent antidote and wearing face masks to shield their noses and mouths, they could not completely defend against the poisonous miasma unleashed by Gwihyo-dang.
“They’ll be collapsing soon.”
Ak Gu Cheon, perceiving that the members maintaining the formation had grown sluggish, issued orders to his subordinates.
“They’re already poisoned. After releasing the toxic gas for half a quarter hour, once their movements dull, immediately decapitate them and dispose of the corpses.”
The Elite Division members drew their weapons and, forming a circular encirclement, attacked the poison masters of Gwihyo-dang who were unleashing the toxic gas.
Yet they moved swiftly in all directions, maintaining distance while ceaselessly releasing the poisonous miasma.
Should this state persist, the Elite Division members would not survive—not a single one.
Click. Shing!
At that moment, Bu Eunseol sheathed her iron sword, then drew it forth with tremendous force.
Whoosh!
A brilliant flash erupted, shredding the cascading toxic gas like paper.
Iron Sword Thirteen Forms
A sword technique imbued with Moo Ae Ja’s lifetime of refined enlightenment, each stroke containing profound sword principles.
Moo Ae Ja was renowned as a master of the Flying Blade Art and Transforming Flower Touching Jade, yet his true specialty was swordsmanship.
Only because his Flying Blade Art was so extraordinary that he dispatched enemies with ease, the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms rarely saw use.
Bu Eunseol had planned to deploy Moo Ae Ja’s Iron Sword Thirteen Forms on this occasion, thereby elevating her martial reputation as Seon Woo Jin to a certain degree.
“I shall carve a path! Maintain the formation and follow!”
Whoosh!
Upon deploying the second form of the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms, Coiling Dragon Heavenly Horn, the toxic gas unleashed by Gwihyo-dang was shredded like paper.
Bu Eunseol seized the opportunity, closing in on the poison masters and unfolding her sword technique in rapid succession.
Flash! Whoosh!
The Iron Sword Thirteen Forms’ power was not particularly formidable, yet the technique was exquisitely subtle.
Each strike unerringly pierced the vital points of the attacking poison masters.
With Bu Eunseol’s prowess, one side of the encirclement collapsed, allowing the members to easily defend against the cascading toxic gas.
“Impressive for a division of this caliber.”
Ak Gu Cheon, observing the battle’s progression, nodded as if taken aback.
“The Information Division, you say? They’re skilled enough to rival a decent sword division.”
But that admiration was merely a flicker of surprise. The tide of battle would not turn.
The number of poison cultivators under his command in the Gwihyo-dang far exceeded twenty—the size of the Elite Division—by more than threefold.
Moreover, these poison cultivators possessed bodies as hard as steel, their pain receptors dulled to near insensitivity.
Whether a blade struck their vital points or severed their limbs, they continued unleashing poison techniques and hurling projectiles without hesitation.
This was no level an Elite Division could hope to withstand.
Flash! Flash!
Among them all, only one figure truly shone—Bu Eunseol.
With each sweep of her blade technique, brilliant light erupted as she carved through the poison cultivators with unrestrained grace.
“Strike that one first.”
Ak Gu Cheon pointed at Bu Eunseol, who moved freely across the battlefield unaffected by projectiles and poison miasma, severing her way through their ranks.
He realized that because she was deflecting the barrage of projectiles and constantly breaking through their encirclement, the Elite Division endured.
‘Excellent.’
As all attacks converged upon her, Bu Eunseol smiled faintly.
With the poison cultivators swirling about and concentrating their projectiles upon her, the pressure that had been crushing the Elite Division eased considerably.
Thanks to this, the members in crisis gradually found room to breathe.
‘This one?’
Ak Gu Cheon’s eyes flashed as he observed her movements.
This young warrior’s martial prowess transcended the level of a second-tier Lord—it was extraordinary.
‘I must eliminate that one quickly.’
Ak Gu Cheon silently deployed a movement technique, approaching Bu Eunseol’s back as she focused intently on her sword forms.
A sickening crunch.
In that instant, both his hands darkened completely. He was about to unleash overwhelming poison force.
“Die!”
Ak Gu Cheon immediately swung his palms, saturated with toxic energy, toward Bu Eunseol’s back.
Boom!
“Ugh.”
Yet with the explosive sound came a groan from an unexpected source.
Not from Bu Eunseol, who had taken the blow to her back, but from the mouth of Ak Gu Cheon, who had launched the ambush.
“Her body is impossibly hard.”
His hands, channeling the Poison-Stained Poison Palm Technique at full power, could shatter stone in an instant.
Yet when he struck Bu Eunseol’s back, his own palms swelled painfully in recoil.
“She must have cultivated an external technique like Iron Shirt.”
Ak Gu Cheon failed to recognize that Bu Eunseol’s entire body was enveloped in formidable protective true energy.
He merely assumed she had mastered some external hardening technique.
“Excellent!”
Ak Gu Cheon spread both hands wide and drew upon his power reserves.
A deep hum resonated.
Black poison energy billowed forth from his palms, coalescing into a sphere of concentrated poison essence.
Once the poison sphere achieved perfect spherical form, Ak Gu Cheon immediately hurled it at Bu Eunseol.
Whoosh!
I twisted my body diagonally to evade the poison strike, then extended my left hand.
Flash!
A brilliant gleam accompanied the razor-sharp blade as it drove toward Ak Gu Cheon’s throat. Or rather, it should have.
Clang!
But the blade struck his throat with a metallic ring and clattered to the ground.
At that same moment, the skin where the blade had made contact darkened to black.
“So you’ve mastered the Poison Qi Demonic Art.”
Seeing the blackened skin, I immediately grasped the truth.
Ak Gu Cheon had mastered the Poison Qi Demonic Art—the same technique Yang Myeong, the Blood Ghost Party Lord, had wielded at the Jeong Mu Dae Hoe in the past.
“Hehehehe. To compare me with someone like Yang Myeong?”
Ak Gu Cheon created another poison projectile from his palm and hurled it at me.
By spreading the Poison Qi Demonic Art throughout his entire body, he could not only harden his flesh.
He could also materialize the poison essence of the art into projectiles and launch them like hidden weapons.
Whoosh whoosh! Tap tap!
As the two of us continued our exchange, the poison masters of Gwihyo-dang did not interfere with our duel.
Instead, they attacked the Elite Division members who held their formation despite the onslaught.
‘Truly, Hell Blood Sect.’
As Ak Gu Cheon continuously unleashed poison projectiles like hidden weapons, I couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.
It wasn’t admiration for Ak Gu Cheon’s martial prowess, but rather for Hell Blood Sect’s poison techniques.
‘With just a single poison art, they can create such diverse variations.’
Until now, I had clashed with numerous masters from Hell Blood Sect multiple times.
But I had never found their poison techniques particularly impressive.
That was because my body overflowed with inner energy, preventing the poison from ever penetrating.
However, once I deliberately suppressed my martial prowess and inner energy to mimic Seon Woo Jin…
I finally understood the exceptional mastery of Hell Blood Sect’s poison arts and why they confidently belonged among the Ten Demonic Gates.
Hell Blood Sect’s poison techniques were not only diverse but could be transformed into personalized poison arts according to each individual’s nature.
Unless one reached a level like mine, where poison held no terror,
Hell Blood Sect’s poison arts would always maintain superiority against Gangho warriors.
Crash! Pap pap pap pap!
As Ak Gu Cheon, his body impervious to blades, sprayed poison qi in all directions and pressed me harder,
“Ugh.”
Groans began escaping from the Elite Division members’ lips.
As my battle with Ak Gu Cheon dragged on, they no longer had the means to withstand Gwihyo-dang’s poison masters.
“Kugh.”
Eventually, several members collapsed, unable to endure the poison qi any longer.
Tae Mu Ryong and Jeong Jong Do, whose martial skills were exceptional, stepped forward to deflect the barrage of poison projectiles and protect the members.
But even they seemed unable to hold out much longer.
‘I must hold the line.’
Yet I did not cut down the poison masters to save my members; instead, I merely threw occasional blades to slow their offensive.
The members of the main force were still locked in a struggle for survival, unable to fuse their physical bodies with their spiritual essence.
“Quite the resilient one!”
In the meantime, Ak Gu Cheon also pressed his assault against Bu Eunseol, unleashing a relentless barrage of poisoned projectiles.
Bu Eunseol struck vital points with the Thirteen Iron Sword Forms and severed limbs, yet Ak Gu Cheon, wrapped in his Poison Strength Demon Art, remained unmoved and endured.
‘How should I handle this.’
Bu Eunseol paused to consider.
Ak Gu Cheon’s Poison Strength Demon Art was like Diamond Indestructibility—weapons could not penetrate it.
Of course, she could easily cut through him by channeling overwhelming internal force, or by employing void techniques like the Flexible Truth Formation.
But her current identity was Seon Woo Jin.
She absolutely could not display martial arts or internal power that defied explanation.
To do so would not dispel suspicion, but rather invite even greater scrutiny.
‘Then I must elevate Seon Woo Jin’s reputation and martial prowess somewhat beyond my original plan.’
If Seon Woo Jin continued to be perceived as a weak figure, it would create tremendous obstacles in handling future missions.
Bu Eunseol’s original plan had been to establish the perception that Seon Woo Jin’s martial prowess had surpassed the threshold of the Transcendent Realm, and to gain a modest reputation for defeating the Lord of Hell Blood Sect in combat.
But her mind had changed.
Through this opportunity, she intended to reveal to the Murim Alliance that Seon Woo Jin had reached a mature stage of the Transcendent Realm—
A level of martial prowess that stood out even among the most accomplished masters of the later stages.
‘Then I must modify the Thirteen Iron Sword Forms.’
Moo Ae Ja’s Thirteen Iron Sword Forms were exquisite, but they lacked a devastating killing technique with overwhelming power.
This was because ordinary opponents could be slain merely by unleashing the Flying Blade.
Therefore, the Thirteen Iron Sword Forms were merely an expression of his spiritual enlightenment through swordplay.
Since they had rarely been used in actual combat, they were composed of techniques unsuitable for unleashing in the fierce, blood-soaked battles of real combat.
They were not suited for such brutal exchanges.
“Die!”
Before long, Ak Gu Cheon unleashed another torrent of poison essence toward Bu Eunseol’s brow.
Though it moved with the speed of lightning, to Bu Eunseol’s eyes it appeared as slowly as a stone tumbling through the air.
‘Like a round ball.’
As Bu Eunseol gazed upon the poison essence, she unconsciously unfolded the subtle principles of the Petal Butterfly Jade technique through her swordplay.
Whoosh!
The poison essence could not penetrate Bu Eunseol’s body and instead rested upon her iron sword like a ball.
Whoosh.
The poison essence possessed only its form—it was not a solid object.
But as Bu Eunseol unfolded the subtle principles of the Petal Butterfly Jade and balanced the poison essence upon her sword blade,
It began to rotate endlessly, and its nature transformed as if she had unleashed the mysteries of Heavenly Reversal Force.
Shatter――――crack!
Bu Eunseol, rotating the poison essence with ferocious intensity, unconsciously sent it hurtling back toward Ak Gu Cheon.
Thud!
Then something extraordinary occurred.
The poison essence pierced through Ak Gu Cheon’s body—something the Thirteen Iron Sword Forms could not penetrate.
“Ugh.”
Ak Gu Cheon groaned in pain, staggering backward.
As if deploying the transformative force of Tai Chi, I spun the cascading poison energy at ultra-high speed and sent it hurtling back—
The soft nature of the poison energy hardened, and its power multiplied several times over.
‘Can it be used in such a way?’
Bu Eunseol felt a strange realization dawn upon her.
The Thirteen Iron Sword Forms containing Moo Ae Ja’s profound heart cultivation, and Moo Ae Ja’s Transformative Butterfly Jade that effortlessly deflected any external force.
When the mysteries of these two martial arts merged simultaneously, a counterattack technique emerged—natural yet devastatingly powerful.
‘Shin San Ja.’
Bu Eunseol bit her lip.
The secret manual Shin San Ja had transmitted was not the authentic scripture authored by Moo Ae Ja.
He had recreated Moo Ae Ja’s martial arts anew, crafting a seamless counterattack technique.
So that the figure known as Seon Woo Jin could become a master of renown in Murim.
So that with this identity, he could seize key positions within the Murim Alliance.
Why? Why had Shin San Ja constructed this fictional persona of Seon Woo Jin with such martial prowess and status as to stand tall in the Orthodox Path?

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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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