The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 489

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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 489.
“Hehehehe.”
Neung Bi Hon, who had taken on Seon Woo Jin’s form through Bu Eunseol, didn’t even glance at her as he stared at the Samgye Emissary, drool trickling from his lips.
“So the Samgye Emissary truly exists.”
The moment Bu Eunseol received Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s proposal, she mobilized Sa Hon Dae to search for Neung Bi Hon’s whereabouts.
However, while she could discern the general region where he dwelled, pinpointing his exact location proved impossible.
After much deliberation, Bu Eunseol made use of So Yo.
Her divine technique was
remarkably similar to the Hidden Thunder Technique employed by the Samgye Emissary.
Neung Bi Hon could identify and detect that divine technique, which was why he pursued the Emissary relentlessly.
―In four days, Sam Gye will appear at the Soho Warehouse.
At last, So Yo located Neung Bi Hon and conveyed this message to him.
―And the Samgye Emissary as well.
―The Emissary, the Emissary…!
His mind wavered in and out of clarity, yet his hatred for Sam Gye remained unwavering.
Moreover, when she mentioned that this was a message from his younger brother, who had once pursued Sam Gye alongside him,
―My brother… I see.
Neung Bi Hon nodded as if the memory had returned to him, and he consented.
‘How fortunate.’
Bu Eunseol exhaled a silent breath of relief as she observed Neung Bi Hon displaying the Thunder God’s perfect majesty.
Only his appearance could allow her to survive the Emissary’s hands while bearing Seon Woo Jin’s identity, and to evade the suspicions of both the Murim Alliance and Sam Gye.
‘However.’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes dimmed for a moment.
At a glance, Neung Bi Hon’s madness had grown far more severe than what she had witnessed before.
“Rat-like vermin. Finally, I’ve caught your tail.”
Streams of pure white Thunder Annihilation Lightning began to radiate from Neung Bi Hon’s body.
He despised Sam Gye.
Because it was the Samgye Emissary who had brutally murdered and experimented upon his beloved family.
[Neung Bi Hon.]
The Emissary furrowed his brow, as if recognizing the Thunder God, Neung Bi Hon.
And before he could unleash his assault, he immediately extended both hands.
In that instant, a tremendous force poured forth toward Neung Bi Hon’s body,
Zzzzzt!
yet that formless power was completely annihilated by the Thunder Annihilation Lightning.
Whoosh!
The Emissary’s body launched into the air.
Neung Bi Hon was an immortal who continuously recovered his body using Thunder Divine Technique, relentlessly pressing forward.
Moreover, possessed by frenzied madness, he would not retreat even if it meant tearing his opponent apart with his teeth.
Ultimately, when the Emissary saw Neung Bi Hon beginning to truly unleash his power, he chose to flee without hesitation.
“Stop!”
As the Samgye Emissary fled, Neung Bi Hon unleashed a roar and immediately gave chase.
“Phew.”
Once they had all departed, I exhaled deeply.
What if Neung Bi Hon had not arrived at precisely the right moment?
The Samgye Emissary would have poured all his strength into killing me, and I would have been forced to abandon the identity of Seon Woo Jin.
But because he appeared at such a timely moment, I managed to overcome the crisis.
‘No. I haven’t overcome it yet.’
Though the Samgye Emissary had departed, the assassins lingering in the vicinity remained.
The moment they saw me, their eyes gleamed as they drew their blades.
‘Is it truly impossible as Seon Woo Jin?’
My current martial power had been reduced to half, and my only supreme technique was Moo Ae Ja’s absolute strike.
Though I possessed the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms—an exceptional counter technique—it alone could not establish a formidable reputation.
Gangho celebrates those who fight and triumph. Defensive methods are never held in high regard.
‘Even as Seon Woo Jin, I must establish a glorious name.’
With a metallic ring.
I drew the iron sword once more.
―Kaaah!
In that same instant, the assassins surged toward me.
It felt as though a black tidal wave was engulfing the entire world.
I did not retreat but immediately unleashed the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms.
I converted the gentle movements into killing strikes, abandoning the subtlety of Blossom Touches Jade.
It was like those days on Hell Island when I first learned martial arts, when I was drenched in murderous intent.
Back then, no matter what sword technique I learned or what form I executed, they all transformed into killing strikes.
Because I possessed such a devastating, relentless killing intent that could overturn the world itself.
It had been mere moments since I witnessed my grandfather’s brutal death.
An immense killing intent that no amount of draining could exhaust flowed forth naturally from within me.
‘Like back then… I’ll do it!’
Shatter!
Thrust, twist, sever, and crush.
The true essence of the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms lay in deflecting the enemy’s attacks with Blossom Touches Jade, then counterattacking at the precise moment.
But by launching preemptive strikes, I eliminated the need for defense entirely.
Since the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms contained no killing strikes,
I was thrusting wildly in all directions like a madman, ceaselessly driving my enemies backward.
‘What use is technique or killing strikes against a madman determined to slaughter his foes?’
It was a momentary impulse.
Rather than transforming the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms into killing strikes, I wanted to dance a sword form that would paint the air crimson with blood.
Instead of sword techniques infused with overwhelming power, I wanted to unleash endless, unbroken assaults—a continuous barrage that never ceased.
Whoosh.
A blue aura began to flow from my body as I wielded the blade.
It was the small amount of Water Divine Qi that Gong Son Dan Ah had infused into me during our previous encounter.
It was an incredibly subtle force, yet it enveloped Bu Eunseol’s body, allowing true energy to flow unimpeded through her meridians.
‘So that’s what it was.’
As the Water Receiving Technique activated ceaselessly like flowing water, Bu Eunseol came to understand what had been lacking within her.
Even now, I had never purely created my own martial art.
Broad but not refined.
I had learned many martial techniques from various masters, yet mastered none of them completely.
Though I had created the Formless Heavenly Current Style, it was merely the distillation of sword techniques transmitted by Nangya Sect and Dan Cheong.
I frequently employed the Jade Finger Seal, but had not cultivated it deeply, nor was it my supreme secret art.
The Mu Hwang Seal and Thirteen Night Techniques need not even be mentioned.
As for extreme yin and extreme yang martial arts like the Frozen River Heavenly Current Formula and Blazing Fire Great Positive True Energy, I had refrained from using them due to the collision of true energies they caused.
Even the sword techniques like the Rhombus Finger Sword Style and Nine Dragons Thunder Raid, which had reached the pinnacle of a single school, I employed only when necessity demanded.
This was because I had yet to harmonize my martial arts or transform them into techniques uniquely my own.
‘Was it not the same with Moo Ae Ja’s martial arts?’
Moo Ae Ja’s Secret Blade Technique and Transforming Flower Touching Jade.
And the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms provided great inspiration in establishing orthodox martial arts, yet I had not cultivated them deeply.
In the end, Bu Eunseol possessed no unique martial art of her own.
―Where then lies Bon Gak’s martial art!
The voice of Ak Moo Ryung, who had once rebuked me at Nangya Sect, echoed through my mind.
Even after that, I still had not created my own martial art.
Rather, I could not create one.
The martial arts I had learned were already created by great masters who had reached the pinnacle.
Unable to dare touch them, I had attempted to unify them through ‘harmony.’
But Seon Woo Jin cannot even do that, because I could not employ the abilities Bu Eunseol possessed.
‘However, Seon Woo Jin’s martial arts can be transformed.’
Seon Woo Jin’s martial arts are different.
Because they are not martial arts that have reached the pinnacle, with Bu Eunseol’s level of skill, I could freely transform them into my own.
Clang! Screeeech!
Bu Eunseol’s sword technique, lost in a state of no-self, became even faster and more mysterious.
Whenever any martial technique came to mind, the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms instantly transformed and unfolded to match it.
Dance Sword.
Before long, Bu Eunseol freely displayed a sword technique that had nearly been lost to the Murim world, entirely unconsciously.
Thud.
Silence descended.
Tranquility arrived simultaneously in Bu Eunseol’s spirit and in the actual reality.
Boom.
At that same moment, all two hundred assassins surrounding Bu Eunseol collapsed.
Dance Sword.
Within the state of no-self, Bu Eunseol had ceaselessly pursued the Way of Martial Arts, and that profound cultivation manifested as sword technique.
‘Shin San Ja. No, Jeong Cheon Je.’
Bu Eunseol’s heart, gazing upon the corpses piled around her, became impossibly complex.
‘What on earth were you thinking, passing such martial arts to me?’
If Seon Woo Jin had cared enough about his identity and martial techniques to entrust them to someone, there should have been another person designated to inherit this legacy.
Then why had he given it to me?
He was no fool who would surrender decades of preparation on a whim to another.
Swish.
But there was no time for such contemplation.
Before I knew it, black-clad assassins had filled the space around me once more.
Roughly a thousand assassins had converged on this location.
I had merely dealt with what could be called the first wave of their forces.
“….”
The sheer number of assassins encircling me was suffocating to behold.
Yet paradoxically, a subtle exhilaration stirred within me.
Whether they numbered a thousand or two thousand mattered little.
I simply wished to dance the sword dance again and again.
‘The Iron Sword Thirteen Forms… shall I perform them once more?’
In truth, given their numbers, even the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms offered no guarantee of survival.
Yet I moved without hesitation to unfurl the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms rather than my true technique.
Whoooosh.
Then suddenly, a strange sound echoed from all directions.
It resembled the serene murmur of waves along a distant shore.
What waves could possibly be heard in this desolate place, so far from Seong Do?
Whoooosh! Boom!
Yet that wave-like sound abruptly transformed into a tremendous explosion.
As if compressed air had burst forth, or as if gunpowder had been ignited in a violent detonation.
Rumble.
In that same instant, one entire section of the human wall surrounding me collapsed.
Footsteps.
From the breach in the fallen wall emerged a middle-aged martial master, bearing a white sword that gleamed with subtle luminescence.
His eyes held the majesty of dragons, and the aura radiating from his entire being resembled a celestial deity descended from the heavens.
The Holy Swordsman, Baek Ri Mu Jo.
He had finally arrived.
Hesitation.
The assassins had never feared death.
Yet at Baek Ri Mu Jo’s appearance, they instinctively recoiled with expressions of dread.
The power of a transcendent being.
They sensed it instinctively.
‘Baek Ri Mu Jo.’
I too swallowed hard.
He was utterly transformed from when I had seen him at Seongwi-gak.
Then, befitting the epithet of Holy Swordsman, he had radiated a sacred and divine presence…
Is he not now displaying the majesty of a God of Destruction, capable of reducing the demons who dared breach sacred ground to ash in a single breath?
Whoosh!
Yet in that moment, white shadows began flooding into the warehouse interior.
They were the elite warriors of the Sungwi Unit.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The Sungwi Unit warriors immediately drew their blades and began cutting down the assassins.
Their martial prowess was uniformly exceptional, swiftly driving back the assassins who had flooded into the warehouse.
“Chief.”
As Bu Eunseol, drenched in blood, clasped her hands together, Baek Ri Mu Jo’s profound eyes settled upon her form.
“Did you dispose of the assassins here?”
“Yes.”
In that instant, a strange light gleamed in Baek Ri Mu Jo’s eyes.
Click.
Then Vice Chief Seo Muk opened the mechanism leading down to the underground.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong slowly emerged from within.
When Seo Muk opened the door naturally without destroying the mechanism, she recognized them as allies.
“Chief.”
As Gong Son Dan Gyeong spoke,
“Chief.”
Baek Ri Mu Jo nodded lightly in return, offering a respectful gesture.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong had submitted a false leave request, then used the intelligence organization to completely conceal her movements before coming to the Man Hwa Antique Shop.
Yet Baek Ri Mu Jo had not only been tracking her every step but had immediately led his forces here the moment she fell into danger.
Crackle.
As Gong Son Dan Gyeong and Baek Ri Mu Jo’s gazes met, sparks seemed to dance in the empty air.
But it was merely a fleeting instant.
The two exchanged amiable smiles toward one another as if nothing had occurred.
“Chief.”
Baek Ri Mu Jo gestured toward the carriage brought by the Sungwi Unit with a most courteous motion.
“Return to the Alliance at once.”
Ordinarily, he would have questioned why she had left the Alliance in secret, concealing her movements.
But he asked nothing.
He merely gazed upon her with soft, benevolent eyes, as if relieved that Gong Son Dan Gyeong was safe.
“Very well.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong answered briefly, then slowly walked toward the carriage.
‘Are they not on good terms?’
Bu Eunseol could sense it.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong and Baek Ri Mu Jo.
The two revealed not the slightest gap, concealing their true thoughts with meticulous precision.
Whoosh.
Then Baek Ri Mu Jo turned his body and began carefully observing the traces left by the assassins Bu Eunseol had eliminated.
“Weaponless Sword Technique.”
He immediately grasped that this was a swordsmanship method rarely employed in Murim.
“It wasn’t something I had trained in beforehand—I improvised it on the spot.”
More than that, he had discerned that Bu Eunseol had achieved enlightenment during the fierce battle and spontaneously unleashed the Weaponless Sword Technique.
A warrior who grows stronger amidst life-or-death combat.
Wasn’t that something only the chosen few, the truly exceptional martial artists, could accomplish?
“Chief. Please observe this location.”
At that moment, Seo Muk spoke gravely, his gaze fixed upon a boulder scorched on one side.
“These are traces of Thunder God’s Divine Technique.”
Bu Eunseol quickly offered an explanation as she noticed Baek Ri Mu Jo’s eyes settling upon her face.
“A Masked Assassin of extraordinary martial prowess appeared here. I found myself in dire peril, unable to contend with him, when Thunder God suddenly emerged.”
“Hmm.”
“When the Masked Assassin fled, Thunder God immediately gave chase.”
Every word Bu Eunseol spoke was the absolute truth.
Yet Baek Ri Mu Jo, who had been lost in deep contemplation, approached her and gently grasped her pulse point with effortless grace.
The motion was so natural and fluid that there was no opportunity to evade.
‘This is troublesome.’
Bu Eunseol felt a surge of inner alarm.
If a master of Baek Ri Mu Jo’s caliber examined her pulse point, wouldn’t he discern the true depth of her martial cultivation?
“Your inner strength is solid.”
Fortunately, Bu Eunseol had previously condensed half of her accumulated power into her lower dantian, so Baek Ri Mu Jo failed to detect the truth.
Whoooosh.
Baek Ri Mu Jo, still holding her pulse point, briefly infused his inner energy.
He was treating the internal injuries Bu Eunseol had sustained from unleashing the Weaponless Sword Technique.
“Chief.”
Seo Muk, who had been observing, was greatly astonished.
Holy Blade, Baek Ri Mu Jo.
He was a man who pursued perfection, and those under his command received training equally rigorous and unforgiving.
That such a man would personally infuse his inner energy to treat her wounds?
“You’ve labored in place of the Chief of Murim Alliance.”
The duty of the Sungwi Unit was to protect the highest leadership of the Murim Alliance.
It was only natural that Bu Eunseol, having risked her life to fulfill this duty, deserved such recognition.
Yet Seo Muk’s expression remained troubled.
After all, Bu Eunseol was someone who had refused to join the Sungwi Unit.
The fact that she had rejected the proposal of the Chief, whom he revered like the heavens themselves, continued to rankle him.
Whoooosh.
Baek Ri Mu Jo’s inner energy was far deeper and purer than imagination.
In a single breath, Bu Eunseol’s turbulent qi and blood were settled, her internal injuries healed, and she clasped her hands in gratitude.
“Thank you.”
“How is your body?”
“I have made a complete recovery.”
Baek Ri Mu Jo nodded and spoke to Seo Muk.
“Return immediately with the Chief.”
As Gong Son Dan Gyeong climbed into the carriage, she glanced at Bu Eunseol and nodded.
It was gratitude and trust toward Bu Eunseol, who had risked her life to protect her all this time.
Bu Eunseol brought her palms together respectfully.
Now that I had earned her trust, I would be capable of accomplishing far greater things ahead.
Clatter, clatter.
Inside the carriage, Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s eyes narrowed as she gazed out the window.
‘He possesses remarkable martial talent.’
Gong Son Dan Gyeong understood well.
That Baek Ri Mu Jo had taken Bu Eunseol’s pulse.
It was a test to verify whether the sword techniques left in the scars from the assassins matched his internal energy level.
Fortunately, there had been no anomalies, so he had infused his energy. Had there been any irregularities, he would have immediately unleashed his power to subdue Bu Eunseol.
‘I am impressed.’
Gong Son Dan Gyeong nodded to herself.
Exceptional in both martial prowess and strategy, possessed of integrity and fearless courage.
Moreover, she appreciated his unwavering resolve—that he harbored no improper intentions toward her appearance.
―It is uncommon for one to overlook the magnolia when dazzled by the peony.
Recalling Bu Eunseol’s compliment, Gong Son Dan Gyeong smiled softly.
Though she had received countless accolades throughout her life, never had she received praise so unique and pleasing to her heart.
“To overlook the magnolia when blinded by the peony’s splendor…”
She smiled faintly and gazed out the window.
And in a soft voice, she spoke.
“Before long, I shall surely….”
But her voice was so quiet it was swallowed by the sound of the carriage rolling forward.
“From now on, the Sect will begin its investigation.”
Meanwhile, Baek Ri Mu Jo, having finished tidying the scene, lightly patted Bu Eunseol’s shoulder.
“Return with care.”
His tone and gaze were warm and familiar.
Bu Eunseol brought her palms together respectfully.
“Thank you.”
And I turned to leave.
But as I turned, my expression had frozen solid as ice.
‘Was that what it was?’
I bit my lip to suppress the emotions threatening to burst forth.
As everything concluded, a peculiar thought crossed my mind.
Had Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s test perhaps included Baek Ri Mu Jo as well?
Even if that thought were mistaken, one thing remained certain.
Baek Ri Mu Jo had also tested me here.
That final pat on the shoulder—a gesture that lingered.
It was merely the pretense of patting my shoulder, probing whether there existed some level of inner power I had failed to detect.
A measurement of the rebound force of my inner energy.
‘What in the world.’
I bit down on my lip.
‘Just what kind of place is the Murim Alliance that it tests people to this extent?’
Why were Gong Son Dan Gyeong and Baek Ri Mu Jo wary of each other?
Why had Baek Ri Mu Jo, despite seeming to favor me, subjected me to yet another test?
Was it suspicion because Seon Woo Jin hailed from the Merchant Realm? Or was this a trial to determine my worth for greater responsibility?
Even so, wasn’t such suspicion excessive?
What exactly were they guarding against?
‘Is this place ultimately the same?’
I could see it clearly now.
The Murim Alliance was far more perilous than the Demon Hall, which was called the Bok Ma Jeon…
A ruthless place where people smiled while dealing death, where schemes and hidden machinations ran rampant.
Not a place that upheld justice in Murim at 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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