The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 545

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 545.
Gu Goong San earned its name because, in ancient times, the Daoist sage Zhang Daoqing had constructed nine palaces there to cultivate the Way.
Layer upon layer of mountain peaks stretched for over a hundred li, with scenic wonders such as Ho Bok Cheon Moon and Cheon A Bun Seol.
The dense forests, graceful gorges, caves, and waterfalls created landscapes of breathtaking beauty.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Dozens of shadows moved silently through the forest of Gu Goong San, which stood as if touching the azure sky.
Their movement techniques were extraordinarily refined.
As they passed through the thick forest, not a single sound of wind-breaking or rustling branches could be heard.
They were masters of the Bi Sal Dang, the elite assassins gathered from the Demon Palace, renowned for their exceptional body-movement cultivation.
―I’m giving you an opportunity to achieve great merit.
The voice of someone Geum Jang Cheon had met not long ago echoed in his mind as he led his subordinates.
Once the Dharma Protector Division Lord of the Demon Palace.
Hwa Wook, a trusted aide of Hyuk Ryeon Eung, who had now become a traitor.
He had made covert contact with Geum Jang Cheon and provided him with crucial intelligence.
―I’ve discovered the time and place where Muk Hon Ryeong Ju will meet with someone from the upper echelon of the Murim Alliance.
Hwa Wook had conveyed the information discreetly.
―If you expose this, you won’t merely become a Lord—you could rise to the rank of Ryeong Ju.
Geum Jang Cheon had hesitated briefly.
At some point, a consensus had formed within the Demon Palace: one could even provoke Death itself, but Muk Hon Ryeong Ju was absolutely never to be touched.
He was known not only for his ruthless nature but also for exacting tenfold retribution against those who dared oppose him.
Had anyone else made such a proposal, he would have refused without a second thought.
But what of Hyuk Ryeon Eung?
Was he not the core figure of a faction that secretly dominated Murim without revealing its true identity?
Had he not maintained good relations with him precisely because he had felt the depth of Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s power and capabilities?
‘I must choose between the two.’
The gravest crime in the Demon Palace was treason.
No matter how formidable Muk Hon Ryeong Ju was, if it became known that he had made covert contact with the leadership of the Orthodox Sects?
He could never preserve his position.
‘Muk Hon Ryeong Ju may be remarkable, but Hyuk Ryeon Eung is incomparable.’
No matter how extraordinary Muk Hon Ryeong Ju was, he remained young and lacked experience.
In contrast, Hyuk Ryeon Eung was a master who had dominated the Demonic Path for decades and served as the Dharma Protector Division Lord of the Demon Palace.
Moreover, Geum Jang Cheon knew well how fearsome and formidable Hyuk Ryeon Eung truly was.
If such a man vouched for accurate intelligence, there was no way Geum Jang Cheon would suffer a loss.
「We wait here.」
Having finished his recollection, Geum Jang Cheon sent a covert transmission to his subordinates.
The target he needed to monitor was.
Bu Eunseol, the most prominent successor of the Demon Palace and the young Grand Master of the Demonic Path.
And her contact would surely be a senior figure of the Murim Alliance.
He could not afford to act rashly.
In the forest that had fallen silent, only the whisper of leaves and the occasional sound of insects could be heard.
They deployed a black-eared human-ring sleeping technique called the movable ear-based method.
This secret art was renowned for creating breathing corpses, making detection impossible even for the greatest masters.
No matter how formidable a warrior might be, discovery was utterly impossible.
A soft whisper swept through the air.
The moment they unleashed the Heuk Gwi In Hwan Jam Jong Haeng, every master of the Bi Sal Dang vanished without a trace.
After roughly half an hour had passed,
A shadow flitted across the darkness.
Two figures emerged from the distant cave.
Both stood over six feet tall, their faces concealed behind masks, making identification impossible.
Yet when Geum Jang Cheon recognized the Bing Hon Sword carried by the figure on the left—a blade bestowed by Ma Cheon Je himself—his eyes gleamed with sudden understanding.
‘Then the one on the right must be from the Murim Alliance.’
“Very well.”
At that moment, Moo Hon Ryeong Ju bowed respectfully to the other figure, offering a formal greeting.
‘Bowing so deferentially to a Murim Alliance representative… how curious.’
Geum Jang Cheon, observing this exchange in secret, felt a strange unease settle over him.
Given Bu Eunseol’s status as the next Demon Palace Lord, she had no reason to bow before anyone of ordinary standing.
Yet she was bowing so respectfully to someone from the Orthodox Sects—specifically the Murim Alliance?
A faint rustling sound echoed through the night.
Bu Eunseol then unfolded her movement technique, vanishing in an instant.
But the Masked Assassin standing before the cave remained motionless, hands clasped behind his back, gazing toward the distant sky.
[Hmm.]
A low hum escaped his lips, yet a strange resonance rippled through Geum Jang Cheon’s chest.
It was as if the sound had been transmitted directly into his mind rather than through his ears.
‘Extraordinary inner power.’
Geum Jang Cheon drew a sharp breath.
He instinctively sensed that this Masked Assassin was an opponent absolutely beyond his capacity to handle.
[Come forth.]
A tremendous force lifted him skyward.
Geum Jang Cheon’s concealed body was suddenly suspended in the air by sheer overwhelming power.
It was truly devastating inner strength.
‘This is dangerous!’
He immediately unleashed the Myeol Jeol Sam Sik, launching an attack against the Masked Assassin.
But before he could fully expend his sword energy, his body went numb as if turned to wood.
“Help the Lord!”
The panicked warriors of the Bi Sal Dang began to break their concealment and rise,
Only to crash back to the ground.
Thirty masters lay sprawled across the earth, their hearts pierced clean through.
All had perished in an instant—though none could say when the killing blow had been struck.
“Ugh…”
Suspended in the air, Geum Jang Cheon’s face twisted with terror as he witnessed the massacre.
Yet no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t move even a muscle.
Floating.
Somehow his body drifted suspended in the air, moving directly before the Masked Assassin.
As Geum Jang Cheon met the Masked Assassin’s profound and fathomless gaze, his body trembled and he couldn’t utter a word.
A low hum.
Then suddenly, a chilling force entered through his meridians.
And that icy energy felt like cold needles traveling through his vital channels.
[The Demonic Sword Technique combined with the Na Bu Pa’s Resonance Amplification Method. Impossible.]
In that instant, Geum Jang Cheon’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets in shock.
The Resonance Amplification Method.
It was a Taoist technique of the Na Bu Pa, now a lost sect, capable of amplifying one’s power several times over—a secret art of the highest order.
Back when he was merely an assassin in the Bi Sal Dang, he had once stumbled upon a secret manual by chance near a tomb in Seo Ho.
It was impossible for one who had learned Demonic Martial Arts to master the Orthodox Sects’ heart methods and formulas.
Fortunately, the Na Bu Pa’s Resonance Amplification Method was not truly an Orthodox heart formula, but rather a pure technique in its own right.
Moreover, aside from its function of amplifying power for a limited duration, it carried no peculiar side effects or dangers.
Thus he had secretly and painstakingly cultivated the Resonance Amplification Method he had acquired by chance.
Thanks to it, he had distinguished himself within the Bi Sal Dang and eventually seized the position of Lord.
And until now, he had never once spoken a word about mastering the Resonance Amplification Method.
Yet how had this Masked Assassin seen through such a secret?
[A practitioner of the Demonic Path using the Orthodox Sects’ technique to amplify evil power—this cannot be allowed.]
Upon hearing the Masked Assassin’s cold voice, a name surfaced in Geum Jang Cheon’s mind.
Someone possessed of such extraordinary ability that
even ordinary people could not fathom the extent of his power—an unbridled and unrestrained superhuman.
The foremost master of the Orthodox Sects, who had created a heart formula capable of understanding an opponent’s power circulation through mere contact.
It was none other than Sin Do Mu Bi, the Jeong Cheon Je.
[This meeting must remain secret… so he cannot be allowed to live.]
The Masked Assassin, muttering softly, extended his hand.
A sickening crack.
In that moment, sounds of bone breaking and body twisting erupted from Geum Jang Cheon’s frame.
The Masked Assassin had reversed the flow of his vital energy.
“Ugh… AAAAHHH!”
Geum Jang Cheon screamed in agony.
Having long handled covert missions, he had undergone training not only in assassin techniques but also in torture resistance.
Yet the pain of reversed vital energy was something no human of flesh and blood could possibly endure.
A sharp hiss.
His reversed vital energy shattered the Resonance Amplification Method, and all the power he had cultivated until now vanished in an instant.
A dull thud.
Geum Jang Cheon, falling from the air, crashed limply to the ground.
By reversing his power flow and severing all eight meridians—a technique that claimed life in a single stroke.
Thump.
Geum Jang Cheon’s corpse collapsed to the ground.
The Masked Assassin, confirming that life had fled, immediately unfolded his divine technique and vanished like a phantom.
A heavy silence descended upon the entrance of the Stalactite Cave.
Whoosh.
Then from the darkness, a black shadow surged up from the earth itself.
It was Hwa Wook, Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s adjutant.
From the moment he had obtained information about the meeting point, he had already dug deep into the ground here and been executing the Turtle Breath Grand Technique.
“Dead in an instant. Remarkable skill.”
Hwa Wook examined Geum Jang Cheon’s body, his eyes flashing with insight.
“This wound…”
Geum Jang Cheon’s body bore no external trauma—his vital energy had been forcibly reversed.
Someone capable of discerning another’s energy circulation and reversing it in a single stroke.
Was there not only one person in the Murim with such ability?
“Ugh…”
At that moment, the faintest sound of breathing reached Hwa Wook’s ears.
“He still has breath.”
Hwa Wook’s expression filled with elation.
“It seems he has mastered something like the Life-Returning Reversal Technique.”
He hastily hoisted Geum Jang Cheon onto his back.
What if he could revive Geum Jang Cheon? What if he could testify while still alive?
Even with the ability to fly through the heavens, the Moo Hon Ryeong Ju could never escape his downfall.
* * *
Bu Eunseol finished her recollection and surveyed the hall.
Most of the lords could not evade her gaze and lowered their heads.
“Hmph.”
Then Yang Gu Eung let out a scoff.
“A pathetic excuse.”
He continued with an expression of utter absurdity.
“The one who attacked Lord Geum was the Ryeong Ju? Then why did he attack him?”
“This Ryeong Ju was in contact with the Hyeol Ryong Gak’s master—who had been concealing his true base while expanding the secret intelligence organization there.”
“Hyeol Ryong Gak? He was the master of Hyeol Ryong Gak?”
“Indeed. But there were those who secretly discerned and tracked this Ryeong Ju’s movements.”
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
“Then naturally they must be spies of the Orthodox Sects. How could this Ryeong Ju simply overlook such people?”
“Simply overlook them? The Bi Sal Dang belongs to Bon Jeon!”
“Dressed in strange garb and employing disguise techniques at that. How could this Ryeong Ju have recognized them?”
Yang Gu Eung found himself at a loss, his expression momentarily vacant.
But soon he burst into hollow laughter.
“So the Ryeong Ju became a disciple of Jeong Cheon Je as well?”
Yang Gu Eung, flashing a sinister smile, fixed his gaze intently upon Bu Eunseol.
“If that’s not it, then how in the world did you discern Geum Jang Cheon’s true energy circulation and reverse his martial power?”
He ceased speaking and fixed his gaze upon Bu Eunseol.
He was waiting for an answer—a silent command to speak.
“Ordinarily, I wouldn’t deign to explain, but circumstances leave me no choice.”
Bu Eunseol spoke with unhurried composure.
“Illusory Reversal Technique.”
Bu Eunseol regarded Yang Gu Eung with cold eyes.
“The Gak Ju of Bon Gak clashed with Jeong Cheon Je, and he revealed that the latter possessed a secret method for perceiving another’s true energy circulation.”
“….”
“And the Gak Ju merged that profound principle with the Illusory Reversal Technique, perfecting a secret art of similar function through the gaps of the spirit.”
The Demon and Ak Moo Ryung.
All of Murim knew of his obsession with martial arts.
Not only that—Ma Cheon Je and Samma.
And his battles with the Three Sovereigns were matters of public knowledge.
Yet he had fought Jeong Cheon Je as well, and further refined the Illusory Reversal Technique using the mysteries of the Heaven’s Heart Sutra?
“Nonsense!”
Yang Gu Eung cried out loudly, seized by indignation.
“Can you prove such claims?”
“Easily. Though at your level, you would lack the capacity to discern it.”
Bu Eunseol continued, turning her gaze toward Yeop Hyo Cheon.
“I shall have the Chong Gyo Ryeong verify the truth of this art.”
Yang Gu Eung fell silent.
Yeop Hyo Cheon was the second-in-command of Demon Palace and the foremost of the Four Gods Seven Kings.
To boldly request his judgment on the authenticity of such martial techniques?
Even if he didn’t know whether the Nangya Pavilion Master had truly created such an art…
At minimum, Bu Eunseol possessed confidence that she could convince Yeop Hyo Cheon of such power’s existence.
“I cannot accept this. Rather than the Chong Gyo Ryeong, convince the Lord of this Sect!”
Bu Eunseol exhaled sharply through her nose.
And she posed a question toward Yeop Hyo Cheon.
“Chong Gyo Ryeong, will you permit it?”
Yeop Hyo Cheon nodded lightly.
“I permit it.”
The moment his answer came, Bu Eunseol turned her body, and blood-red light blazed forth from her eyes.
A gentle lift.
Simultaneously, Yang Gu Eung’s body rose into the void.
It was truly formidable internal energy.
“You have mastered the Blood Sand Escape Qi Technique of Dan Hyeol Il Goe.”
“How is this possible.”
Yang Gu Eung’s eyes widened in shock.
He was known to be a martial artist of Gwi Hwa Gung, having devoted his life to cultivating the Blood Secret Ghost Fire Technique.
However, seven years ago, he had secretly aided Dharma Protector Lord Hyuk Ryeon Eung in a personal matter.
In exchange, he obtained the secret techniques of the Dan Hyeol Il Goe’s forbidden martial art—the Blood Assassin’s Unified Energy Method. He had been mastering it with all his strength.
“Truly, such secret techniques exist within Nangya Sect?”
Yang Gu Eung could not continue speaking.
This meant that Bu Eunseol had not only perfectly mastered the Nangya Pavilion Master’s illusory transformation technique.
She had also grasped the secret to perceiving what martial arts an enemy had learned by infiltrating their very spirit.
“I, I….”
As Yang Gu Eung stammered, Bu Eunseol hurled his body to the ground as though she found his words unbearable to hear.
Thud.
He collapsed ungracefully but could not immediately rise to his feet.
The shock was so profound that he lacked even the strength to stand.
“Now then, it is my turn as Ryeong Ju.”
Bu Eunseol surveyed the area around the conference hall and smiled coldly.
“No matter how bold Lord Yang may be, it makes no sense to imprison me in the Underground Prison and strip me of my position over such a matter.”
Bu Eunseol looked around the hall once more, her voice turning frigid.
“Therefore, I conducted my own investigation.”
This time, she did not merely address Yang Gu Eung.
She called out by name each of the Lords who had either acquiesced to or actively supported her removal at the disciplinary council.
“Lord Jeok Yang, you receive thirty thousand taels annually from sources of unknown origin. The same applies to Lord Hyeol Pung, and the Black Heaven faction has even made direct contact with the Murim Alliance.”
Bu Eunseol continued to name the Lords one after another.
And finally, as Bu Eunseol fixed her gaze upon Hyung Dang Ju Yang Gu Eung, she spoke with solemn gravity.
“And Lord Yang. You have made contact with Hyuk Ryeon Eung.”
“Nonsense!”
Yang Gu Eung, who lay sprawled with unfocused eyes, cried out desperately.
“Do not slander others with such absurd accusations!”
If this too were exposed, not only would his position as Lord be forfeit, but his very neck would not remain upon his shoulders.
“Slander?”
Bu Eunseol withdrew a thin ledger from her robes.
She placed it before Yeop Hyo Cheon.
“This volume contains evidence regarding the suspicions of all those I have named.”
Bu Eunseol gazed at Yang Gu Eung and smiled coldly.
“Including evidence that Lord Yang has indeed made contact with Hyuk Ryeon Eung.”
Yeop Hyo Cheon read through the ledger page by page with an impassive expression.
With each page he turned, his eyes grew more grave.
And soon, with each page he turned, he glared at Yang Gu Eung with terrifying intensity.
For the evidence left behind was utterly irrefutable.
“Chong Gyo Ryeong, this is slander….”
Yang Gu Eung, making one final attempt at supplication, fell silent.
Yeop Hyo Cheon’s eyes had frozen with the coldness of ancient ice, and like a messenger of death itself.
Black miasma rose from his entire body.
“You bastards! I told you it wasn’t me!”
Won Se Moon cried out indignantly, his voice booming through the hall.
“These dogs have been scheming to strike down the Ryeong Ju from behind!”
In that instant, the Lords’ complexions shifted.
Of course, the “dogs” he referred to were naturally Yang Gu Eung and his faction.
Yet Yeop Hyo Cheon had also verified Yang Gu Eung’s evidence and authorized the confinement…
Strictly speaking, he too was included among these “dogs.”
“So this is why you dragged the Chong Gyo into such shameful conduct. Lord Yang.”
“C-Chong Gyo Ryeong.”
Yeop Hyo Cheon sighed, then rose from his seat and addressed those assembled.
“By my authority as Chong Gyo, I hereby declare this disciplinary hearing regarding the Moo Hon Ryeong Ju’s disposition null and void.”
Without so much as a glance behind him, he departed the conference hall.
A chill swept through the air.
The atmosphere in the chamber had frozen solid.
Especially those who had come to witness Bu Eunseol’s downfall wore expressions of utter despair.
“Release the Lords of Bon Jeon.”
As Bu Eunseol spoke, her command fell like a thunderbolt.
The warriors trembled violently.
They shuddered as if struck by lightning, then rushed forward to unbind their captives.
Unlike Bu Eunseol, all of them had their martial power suppressed.
The pressure points burst open.
Yu Woon Ryong then unsealed his own acupoints.
Following suit, the Lords of Sayoung Hall unleashed their power and freed their acupoints.
“Did you truly believe such crude methods could suppress us?”
Remarkably, despite Yu Woon Ryong and the other Lords possessing the ability to break free,
they had endured the interrogation and torture in silence.
Trust.
It was trust—absolute certainty
that Bu Eunseol would resolve everything—that made this possible.
Bodies trembled.
As the situation reached this point, not only Yang Gu Eung but all the Lords who had conspired with him began to shake.
From the start, they had eagerly accepted Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s proposal because they were confident of victory.
But now they realized that victory had slipped away—that they would lose everything.
“Ryeong Ju. This Lord was foolish!”
Finally, Yang Gu Eung let out a cry of desperation and threw himself to his knees before Bu Eunseol, striking his head against the ground.
The impacts echoed.
“Forgive me, Ryeong Ju!”
Blood streamed from his forehead as he cried out.
“I harbored no selfish intent. It was only because I possessed irrefutable evidence—evidence so certain that I could not help but believe—that the Ryeong Ju was in collusion with the inner circle of the Murim Alliance!”
Then the Lords who had conspired with Yang Gu Eung rushed forward and fell to their knees.
“That is correct. We were merely deceived by that dog of a man, Hyuk Ryeon Eung.”
When Bu Eunseol’s expression showed no particular anger, a faint spark of hope flickered in the eyes of the Lords.
The Moo Hon Ryeong Ju was an inspection agency equivalent to combining the power of the Law Enforcement Hall, Hyung Dang, and Dharma Protector Division.
Yet Bu Eunseol had never wielded such authority even once, save for overseeing the Ten Demonic Gates.
Recalling this fact, hope flowed from the Lords’ eyes.
Perhaps they harbored the expectation that they might be forgiven.
“Sang Hak.”
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly, her gaze fixed upon Yu Woon Ryong.
“Arrest all those connected to Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s rebellion.”
At this, relief washed over the faces of the Lords, including Yang Gu Eung.
Arrest meant that if they confessed their crimes in full, there remained a probability of preserving their lives.
Yet the words that followed drained the color from their faces entirely.
“And once guilt is proven, execute them immediately. Let all of Murim witness clearly what becomes of those who betray Bon Jeon.”
Then, sweeping her gaze across Yang Gu Eung, she continued.
“Regarding the punishment for this incident, all complicated procedures may be omitted.”
“Understood.”
Thud.
As Yu Woon Ryong bowed his head, all the Lords collapsed where they stood.
In the Demon Palace, the gravest crime was treason.
They had conspired with the traitor Hyuk Ryeon Eung to depose the heir of the Demon Palace.
Having betrayed the Demon Palace by conspiring with Hyuk Ryeon Eung to remove its heir.
Their deaths alone could never wash away such sin—and now their families, relatives, and friends.
All those connected would have their heads severed.
Rumble.
At that very moment, two shadows hastily fled from one corner of the conference hall.
They were Gong Ya Geuk and Kang Yang Cheon.
The two had confidently sought out Dokryeong Pavilion to witness Bu Eunseol’s downfall.
Yet as it transpired, they had once again fallen from Bu Eunseol’s favor.
From this moment forward, their two sects would face nothing but further tribulation at her hands.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————