The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 474

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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 474.
Gwan Hae Geum’s expression grew impossibly dark.
He exhaled a deep sigh, shook his head, and fixed his gaze upon Bu Eunseol as he spoke.
“If you wish to find him, go to Shaolin.”
He paused for a moment before continuing.
“The answers you seek likely lie there.”
“Shaolin… you mean the temple?”
“Indeed.”
Bu Eunseol could not comprehend this.
Shaolin was the pillar of the Orthodox Sects.
Why would she be directed there to uncover the traces of the one who had taught her the Way?
Could it be that her grandfather Bu Chanyang was truly the Shadow of the Chilji Demonic Sect, and the one who had imparted the Way to Gwan Hae Geum?
“Under normal circumstances, I could never have revealed his whereabouts. Yet you have mastered all of the Blood Dew Seven Techniques, and….”
Gwan Hae Geum shook his head as if recalling something, then spoke in a murmur.
“Such a disclosure would not constitute a breaking of my oath.”
Bu Eunseol’s mind grew turbulent.
From Gwan Hae Geum’s words alone, she could not discern whether her grandfather was the Chilji Demonic Sect itself or merely its Shadow.
Yet judging by his expression and the light in his eyes, he was certainly not speaking falsehoods.
Moreover, she could sense the profound reverence he held for the one who had taught him the Way.
‘If the master of Gwan Hae Geum dwells in Shaolin, and his true identity is the Shadow of the Chilji Demonic Sect….’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes deepened with contemplation.
Bu Chanyang had been poisoned by the most virulent toxins, his eyes gouged out and both arms severed, before meeting a wretched death.
And Bu Eunseol had reverently prepared his body and buried him with her own hands.
Unless he clawed his way from the grave, he could not possibly be in Shaolin.
Thus, the probability that her grandfather was the Shadow of the Chilji Demonic Sect was exceedingly slim.
‘Perhaps he simply lived by ideals similar to those of my grandfather.’
“Thank you.”
Having ordered her chaotic thoughts, Bu Eunseol brought her palms together with utmost reverence.
Gwan Hae Geum had been hunted relentlessly by Sam Gye and Gwae Noin throughout his entire life, bound by the oath he had sworn to the one who had taught him the Way.
Yet he harbored no resentment or complaint, and remained steadfast in his vow to this very day.
Such unwavering resolve, solid as stone itself, was more than sufficient to earn Bu Eunseol’s respect.
“But why do you reveal such truths to me?”
He had become a man incapable of trusting others, hunted as he was by Sam Gye.
Yet Bu Eunseol harbored not the slightest suspicion, and he had disclosed to her all that did not violate his oath.
“Who can say.”
Gwan Hae Geum offered a bitter smile.
“Perhaps because you are the inheritor of the lost teachings of the Chilji Demonic Sect.
It is a Way that cannot be mastered save by one unbound by all constraints, truly free in spirit.”
Bu Eunseol observed the traces of the sword technique that Gwan Hae Geum had freely transformed upon the lake, and immediately mimicked and deployed it herself.
That is to say, she replicated the sword manual of the Blood Dew Seven Techniques as interpreted by one of the Orthodox Sects with instantaneous precision.
There were no prejudices or constraints regarding demonic techniques.
And such a temperament aligned perfectly with the mental state of Chil Ji Ma Do Bu Chanyang, who had created the Blood Dew Seven Techniques.
Though our paths and generations were entirely different… Gwan Hae Geum believed firmly in the fact that Bu Eunseol had mastered the Blood Dew Seven Techniques perfectly.
The Blood Dew Seven Techniques.
It was a doctrine as precious as his legacy, with the very soul of Chil Ji Ma Do Bu Chanyang etched into it.
“After visiting Shaolin, I will certainly return and inform you of the situation.”
The benefactor who had taught Gwan Hae Geum the Way was essentially no different from his master.
Therefore, Bu Eunseol had made a promise to find this benefactor at Shaolin and relay news of him.
“Thank you.”
Sensing Bu Eunseol’s consideration, Gwan Hae Geum smiled as well.
“I hope you achieve your aspirations.”
Whoosh.
And immediately, he unfurled his movement technique and departed.
Bu Eunseol’s eyes, watching the direction where Gwan Hae Geum had vanished, trembled greatly.
My mind was still filled with confusion.
What circumstances could he possibly have? Why had the one who taught him the Blood Dew Seven Techniques gone to Shaolin?
Why had such a fact… not become known throughout Murim?
‘What is certain is that even Chil Ji Ma Do had his shadows.’
In the past, I had thought it impossible to deceive Ma Cheon Je’s eyes.
But Hyuk Ryeon Eung had boldly concealed his identity, and now I too am capable of deceiving Ma Cheon Je.
And Chil Ji Ma Do himself certainly possessed the ability to deceive Ma Cheon Je.
‘And grandfather is a figure of Shaolin.’
Grandfather Bu Chanyang had learned Shaolin’s martial arts, and my body carries the flow of Shaolin’s two greatest techniques.
If grandfather were Chil Ji Ma Do himself.
Then the Deputy Master of Demon Palace, the invincible Taoist with the greatest martial prowess of this era… would actually be of Shaolin origin.
“When I go to Shaolin, I will be able to learn the truth.”
I exhaled a turbid breath and slowly turned my body.
In the end, fate was sending me to Shaolin once again.
* * *
In a deep cave somewhere on Cheon San Mountain.
There, Bu Eunseol, So Ok Rim, and So Yo had gathered once more.
“Ah, it feels good to loosen up after so long.”
So Ok Rim swung his arms around with satisfaction.
Over a thousand Shil Hoon In on Cheon San Mountain.
The Shil Hoon In he had finally confronted were even masters who had learned various supreme techniques in diverse ways.
“Those Shil Hoon In had learned all sorts of mixed martial arts? One of them was even using some flea boxing technique that the ancestor of Gae Bang supposedly used? Khahaha.”
Finding it all so amusing, So Ok Rim rested his chin on So Yo’s head and laughed, baring his massive teeth.
“And there was even one with hands and feet connected like a spider? Right, right?”
To So Ok Rim’s endless chatter pouring down from above her head, So Yo simply stood like a doll, her eyes unfocused.
Bu Eunseol, ignoring So Ok Rim’s chatter, was lost in deep thought.
Fortunately, Gwae Noin, the descendant of Do Huang, seemed to have abandoned his search for the Southern Heaven Great Hero and no longer revealed himself.
Yet he was a figure I would inevitably clash with someday.
‘It was a Demonic Path technique that annihilates the external force of all martial arts.’
I needed to either deepen my mastery of the Blood Dew Seven Techniques or discover the secret to completely shatter Do Huang’s Demonic Path techniques.
“What’s wrong? Why do you look so gloomy? Didn’t you meet him?”
“I did.”
I lied to So Ok Rim.
“But it seems he’s suffered so much hardship that he couldn’t bring himself to trust anyone. So I couldn’t learn anything.”
“Hmm. That’s only natural, I suppose.”
So Ok Rim said something unexpected.
“Even martial artists lose their patience after just four days of being hunted by assassins. After being pursued for so long, how could he possibly trust anyone? Of course he wouldn’t.”
“I see.”
“Of course.”
So Ok Rim smacked her lips as she spoke.
“So, what do we do now?”
“Since we’ve gained nothing, we should return.”
I asked So Ok Rim.
“Will you come back with me? To the Demon Palace.”
“Hmm? Yes.”
After a moment of hesitation, she crossed her arms and spoke.
“I think I need to train a bit more.”
“Didn’t you say you’d finished your spiritual cultivation?”
“No, this time I want to refine my martial arts.”
So Ok Rim’s eyes swept across my body as she licked her lips.
“Your strength has grown quite a bit?”
Having witnessed my martial prowess during our fight at the lake, she sensed that my abilities had far surpassed her own.
“Hmph, there’s no need to be so pleased. You’re not so far behind that you can’t catch up.”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
For the first time, I offered So Ok Rim an unguarded smile.
Regardless of anything else, her pure pursuit of strength felt like looking into a mirror—a strange sense of kinship stirred within me.
‘What is this? Are you trying to seduce me?’
Seeing me smile with teeth bared, So Ok Rim pouted her lips and turned her head away.
‘Why does this make my heart feel so restless and tender?’
So Ok Rim puffed out her cheeks deliberately and spoke in a deliberately harsh tone, as if hiding her true feelings.
“Hmph, laugh all you want. I’ll catch up to you soon enough.”
“Don’t overexert yourself. Return whenever you wish.”
I spoke with a soft exhale.
“The Lords and all the members are always waiting for your return.”
In truth, I knew little about So Ok Rim.
But sometimes there are things one understands without words.
That So Ok Rim was absolutely not an evil person.
“Hahaha. So those bastards have been waiting for me?”
So Ok Rim seemed to fully realize her status as a commander of Sayoung Hall, laughing with genuine delight.
“Right, right. Tell them I’ll be back soon. I’ll put them through training so rigorous they’ll weep.”
Having a place to return to was always a pleasant thing.
So Ok Rim laughed for a long while before speaking to So Yo.
“See you next time, little one.”
Then, as if reluctant to part, she gently pinched So Yo’s cheek and stroked her head.
“Look forward to it. I’ll be back soon. Hahaha.”
With a hearty laugh directed at Bu Eunseol, she vanished above the Half-Sky.
Bu Eunseol gazed at the spot where she had disappeared for a long moment, then took a deep breath and spoke.
“So Yo. I must now go to Shaolin.”
“Shaolin?”
“Yes.”
So Yo shook her head.
“Shaolin. It’s dangerous.”
Even among the information networks renowned in the Demonic Path, there were two places into which one absolutely never infiltrated.
Those were the Murim Alliance and Shaolin.
Both places were teeming with masters of extraordinary skill beyond count, and countless detection mechanisms were installed throughout.
No matter how ghostlike one’s concealment, discovery was inevitable.
“It’s fine. I’m not going there to fight.”
Bu Eunseol then entrusted the Bing Hun Sword at her waist to So Yo.
As a blade symbolizing her identity, it could not be brought when infiltrating Shaolin.
“Help Seo Jin Ha until I return.”
“Understood.”
“Go back first.”
“Okay.”
So Yo took the sword and departed in a flash, unfolding her movement technique in one breath.
Had she shown worry, it would have weighed on Bu Eunseol’s heart, so she left immediately with an unconcerned expression.
Left alone, Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
In truth, infiltrating Shaolin alone was an adventure even for her.
The saving grace was the secret passage discovered previously—at least reaching the central grounds would not be difficult.
“There is no time.”
Bu Eunseol immediately launched herself forward.
There were many scattered tasks ahead of her. If so, she had to resolve the Shaolin matter as quickly as possible.
* * *
A clear summer breeze was blowing across Soshil Mountain.
Bu Eunseol climbed the mountain path to Shaolin Temple while using Seol So’s form.
This was Bu Eunseol’s extremely personal undertaking, not as the successor of the Demon Palace.
Moreover, given Shaolin’s atmosphere of extreme rejection toward the Demonic Path, regardless of benign intent.
I couldn’t simply knock on the gate formally.
“Something feels off about this atmosphere.”
Shaolin’s gates were sealed shut, and the monks of the Guest Reception Hall were nowhere to be seen.
After a moment of deliberation, Bu Eunseol covered her face with the cloth mask used by wandering warriors, then slipped silently over the wall.
Whoosh.
Having broken through the sixth layer of the Reverse Extreme Heart Method to achieve perfect spiritual resonance, Bu Eunseol had reached a level where she could predict the movements of ordinary martial artists with ease.
Combined with the ghostlike concealment technique of Extreme Speed Shadowless, her movements resembled nothing so much as the legendary Foot Shrinking technique passed down in ancient tales.
‘This is strange.’
As Bu Eunseol moved in silence, observing her surroundings, a flicker of suspicion crossed her eyes.
The numerous warrior monks throughout the temple grounds stood in solemn vigilance, watching as if external intruders had breached their sanctuary.
‘Something has happened at Shaolin.’
Before departing for Shaolin, Bu Eunseol had mobilized her intelligence organization to gather one final assessment of the Murim’s movements.
Yet she had received no reports of any incident at Shaolin.
Which meant… something grave had occurred, and Shaolin was deliberately concealing the matter from the outside world.
They were suppressing all knowledge of what had transpired within their walls.
“I’ve heard that Hyung Su’s objective is Chamhoe Cave, which hasn’t been opened in decades.”
At that moment, a middle-aged warrior monk passing near the Discipline Hall spoke to his companion beside him.
“The supreme demons that the headquarters has mercifully kept alive by sealing their inner power alone.”
At the overheard words, Bu Eunseol’s pupils gleamed.
Chamhoe Cave at Shaolin Temple was known as the Face Wall Cave where monks who had committed sins performed wall-facing meditation.
Yet supreme demons who shook the heavens were imprisoned there? What in the world did this mean?
“That could very well be the case.”
The warrior monk beside him then spoke in a hushed voice.
“After all, Chamhoe Cave houses supreme demons whose very existence poses a threat to the world….”
The two monks, whispering softly, crossed the temple grounds and walked off toward some unknown destination.
Bu Eunseol, remaining concealed in silence, wore a momentarily blank expression.
According to those two monks’ words, Shaolin possessed a prison created under the name Chamhoe Cave, where supreme demons were confined, did it not?
‘It’s possible.’
The person who had transmitted the Way to Gwan Hae Geum, the Southern Heaven Great Cooperator, was likely a figure from the Demonic Path.
Could it be that he had deliberately allowed himself to be captured by Shaolin, choosing Chamhoe Cave as his ultimate refuge?
‘I must investigate that place immediately.’
Bu Eunseol immediately headed toward where Shaolin’s secret institutions were located.
Judging by the name “Cave,” Chamhoe Cave would surely be hidden in some secret location within Shaolin.
Therefore, infiltrating the institutions established within Shaolin to locate it would be the wisest course of action.
‘Fortunately, I know of the secret passages.’
Moving with utmost discretion, Bu Eunseol headed toward the Tower Forest, where the relics of successive great monks were preserved.
She had come to Shaolin in the past due to Shin San Ja’s trial, and while investigating with Dang Cheong, had discovered the hidden secret passages within this place.
Specifically, the passages connecting the Jang Gyeong Gak and the secret underground Jang Gyeong Gak of Blood Shaolin.
Slip.
Approaching one of the towers and moving a fallen stone, the secret passage within the Tower Forest opened before her.
After surveying her surroundings, Bu Eunseol immediately entered the corridor.
The moment the interior of Jang Gyeong Gak was revealed, Bu Eunseol moved to lift the thousand-jin weight and step forward.
‘No, wait—they may have altered the pressure settings.’
In the past, Jang Gyeong Gak’s alarm would only remain silent if one stepped inside with a weight approaching two hundred fifty jin.
But numbers could always be changed.
―Truth is like this: answers shift with circumstances. That is why eternal, unchanging principles are so precious.
My grandfather Bu Chanyang always taught me to be wary of fixed frameworks and predetermined answers, and to cultivate the habit of thinking once more.
This applied equally to the art of examining the dead.
Even when a wound appeared mundane—something I had witnessed hundreds or thousands of times—he taught me always to think again and verify.
Because of this, I could always pinpoint the true cause of death in the deceased.
‘If the mechanism’s pressure threshold were set lighter than an ordinary person’s weight… I would be discovered immediately.’
The previous mechanism’s weight of two hundred fifty jin was roughly equivalent to three ordinary adult women.
But what if the new weight were only sixteen jin—the weight of a small dog?
The alarm would sound the instant my foot touched the floor.
‘This method will work.’
As I surveyed the space, my eyes fell upon the bookshelves.
Even if the mechanism were installed in the floor, it would not be placed beneath the bookshelves themselves.
To do so would require different weight thresholds for the floor beneath the shelves and the floor without them.
The mechanism would become far too complex; they would never have constructed it that way.
Whoosh.
Bu Eunseol lightened her body as much as possible and stepped lightly upon the upper portion of the bookshelf.
Tap. Whoosh.
The wood of the bookshelf was sturdy but considerably aged.
The slightest misstep in weight would cause it to collapse.
Yet Bu Eunseol moved forward with the weightlessness of a feather.
Tap.
At last I passed through Jang Gyeong Gak, and no presence rushed toward me from any direction.
‘Hmm.’
Bu Eunseol paused to consider.
Should I continue past Jang Gyeong Gak as planned, or enter the underground passage to Blood Shaolin as before?
‘If they imprisoned the Demonic Beings, they would confine them in the most secretive location possible. This passage would have the higher probability.’
After surveying the area, Bu Eunseol immediately opened the door to the underground passage leading to Blood Shaolin.
Creak.
As the door opened, Bu Eunseol stepped inside at once.
Before her lay another vast stone chamber.
It was Blood Shaolin’s Jang Gyeong Gak.
“This is strange.”
Something unexpected had occurred.
The bookshelves that should have held the Demonic Sect scriptures had vanished entirely, leaving the interior hollow and bare.
Patter patter.
And from the opposite side, footsteps echoed as if they had been waiting.
Before I knew it, over a hundred Buddhist monks came pouring out across from Bu Eunseol.
At the very front of the monks stood an old master with white eyebrows and a solemn expression.
It was none other than Gong Gong, keeper of the Jang Gyeong Gak.
“So you used the passages here after all.”
Gong Gong glared at Bu Eunseol, who wore a face veil, and bellowed.
“Now that the Abbot has escaped death, have you come to finish the assassination properly?”
Bu Eunseol could not help but be greatly shocked.
From Gong Gong’s words, it seemed that some master had arrived before I did.
Using this secret passage, they had infiltrated the heart of Shaolin in secret and ambushed the Abbot of Shaolin.
‘A dead end.’
Bu Eunseol exhaled deeply.
This place was a secret passage beneath the grounds of Shaolin.
With the Shaolin monks having deliberately encircled me, there was no hole through which to escape.
‘Of all times, why did this have to happen before I arrived?’
“They won’t believe me even if I deny it.”
Bu Eunseol shook her head.
Having entered through Shaolin’s secret passage, no matter what she said, they would not believe her.
Moreover, was she not the successor to the Demon Palace? She could not honestly reveal her identity.
“Remove your veil and kneel!”
At Gong Gong’s words, Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed as she took a defensive stance.
As she lowered her posture as if to resist, Gong Gong immediately shouted to the monks.
“Deploy the Arhat Formation!”
Whoosh.
Then one hundred and eight disciples surrounded Bu Eunseol in a dizzying formation.
The One Hundred and Eight Arhat Formation.
The very formation that was Shaolin’s signature technique and the foundation of all Orthodox Sect formations was now deployed in this underground passage of Blood Shaolin.
With the monks encircling her, an enormous pressure crashed down and all escape routes were sealed.
‘I will break through the formation and escape by any means.’
With no other choice, Bu Eunseol immediately drew upon her inner strength and unleashed a punch.
It was, in truth, a basic technique without any embellishment.
Yet this single punch contained nearly three hundred years of accumulated inner power, carrying enough force to shatter mountains and split the earth.
Boom.
But something strange occurred.
As Bu Eunseol’s fist energy erupted, the formation did not collapse—instead, white light poured forth in all directions.
At the same moment, the figures of the monks surrounding her vanished, and…
An illusion unfolded as if a single colossal monk stood towering before her.
‘A remarkable technique.’
Bu Eunseol unleashed three consecutive punches in rapid succession.
Boom, boom, boom!
Surrounded by an enormous radiance, Mu Seung’s shadow began effortlessly deflecting the strike once more.
Despite the terrifying internal force capable of toppling mountains in a single breath, he was repelling that power as though it were mere child’s play.
All martial arts under heaven originate from Shaolin.
There exists a saying that all martial techniques in Tianxia began from Shaolin, which is why Shaolin martial arts serve as the foundation for all Orthodox Sect techniques.
And Shaolin did not rest upon that achievement—alongside the Seventy-Two Techniques, they continuously refined and advanced all of Shaolin’s martial arts.
As a result, the One Hundred Eight Arhat Formation, which once merely confined enemies while elevating the martial power of one hundred eight monks, had transformed.
Now, merging the strength of Shaolin’s most elite monks, it unfolded a function that forged them into a single, flawless elite entity.

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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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