The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 553

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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 553.
Moreover, who exactly did ‘they’ refer to?
‘No, this doesn’t add up.’
Hyuk Ryeon Eung had said the reason for wanting to kill me was because I was Baek Ri Mu Ha’s son.
Why would they seek to kill the son of someone who had once been Sam Gye’s successor?
Especially when he had even abandoned his power and weapons.
“Is that all?”
Bu Eunseol asked weakly, and Mu Gyeol nodded.
“So he said.”
Bu Eunseol’s heart grew heavy.
No matter how much Baek Ri Mu Ha was called the greatest master of Murim, he was a supreme expert who had shaken the entire martial world with his prowess.
If I learned his true identity through Shin San Ja, tracing his actions wouldn’t be impossible, I thought.
But if he was Sam Gye’s successor, that changed everything.
They had dominated Murim all this time while going to great lengths to conceal their identities.
As a successor, naturally they would have maintained such thorough security that he could never be tracked by any force.
The precautions would have been absolute.
No matter what intelligence organization I mobilized, whether I could uncover his background remained unknown.
“My teacher says the answer has been given.”
Bu Eunseol gazed at the distant sky with hollow eyes.
“It has.”
And I turned away weakly.
The father in my memories was always kind and affectionate.
That such a father was Sam Gye’s successor, having killed and harmed countless people.
Even if my father wasn’t a figure commanding universal respect, I had at least believed him to be righteous.
If Baek Ri Mu Ha was my father.
If he was Sam Gye’s successor, concealing his identity beneath the name of the greatest master of Murim.
Then I would become the descendant of an eternal criminal.
Staggering.
Bu Eunseol left Cheon Dun Ryeong without even deploying her lightness technique, moving as though drained of all strength.
Mu Gyeol, standing alone in the empty Cheon Dun Ryeong, opened his mouth in a low voice.
“Teacher, will she be alright?”
As if his throat were constricted, Mu Gyeol’s voice was deeply hoarse.
“It might have been better to say nothing at all.”
Then a low voice echoed from his surroundings.
[We already have a clue. If I had evaded the answer, she would have doubted everything this teacher has said until now.]
The voice was full of power, yet somehow brimming with sighs.
It was Shin San Ja’s voice.
[Even if she obsessively dug into only the truth about Baek Ri Mu Ha… there would be nothing to uncover.]
As Shin San Ja’s low voice sounded, the howling winds sweeping through Cheon Dun Ryeong began to subside.
[It is better to reveal some of the truth instead.]
The wind had ceased at Cheon Dun Ryeong, leaving only a suffocating silence in its wake.
Mu Gyeol, unable to bear the weight of that silence, shifted the conversation with a bright tone.
“As you said, Master, it seems I do possess considerable talent for the martial arts. I thought Geom Joon would have severed at least one of my arms.”
[There was no other choice, given the environment in which you were raised.]
A brief silence fell, and then Shin San Ja’s hoarse voice resonated low through the air.
[Because of Mo Ryun’s prophecy… such a calamity has come to pass.]
Rumble.
At that moment, a faint thunder echoed across the sky, and the color of the heavens shifted as an ominous current began to spread.
Boom.
Simultaneously, an incomprehensible current and pressure suddenly engulfed Mu Gyeol’s surroundings.
Drip, drip.
At the same instant, crimson blood began to flow freely from Mu Gyeol’s nose and ears.
“Ugh.”
With a groan, Mu Gyeol coughed up blood and fell to one knee,
Whoosh!
An elderly masked figure clad in azure robes materialized near where Mu Gyeol stood.
This was Shin San Ja, who had been concealing his presence all along.
[Hmph.]
Having suddenly revealed himself, he let out a cold snort and gazed toward the distant sky, his eyes blazing with intensity.
Whooom!
The current and pressure that had been crushing Mu Gyeol’s body vanished in an instant.
Yet Mu Gyeol, bleeding profusely, ultimately lost consciousness and collapsed.
Boom.
At that moment, Shin San Ja felt a tremor as if the world itself were crumbling before him.
Simultaneously, millions of luminous points, each emanating a different hue, rose from the ground opposite where Shin San Ja stood.
The points of light, spreading in all directions, converged into a single mass and transformed into the silhouette of a single figure.
Whoooosh.
As the light finally dissipated, an elderly man of unremarkable appearance materialized before them.
Yet his gaze was so profound and sinister
that merely meeting his eyes felt like tumbling into an abyss from which one could never escape, even across ten thousand kalpas.
[Sa Do Moo Myung.]
A voice like a groan escaped from Shin San Ja’s lips.
The elderly man who had appeared before them
was none other than Ma Cheon Je, Sa Do Moo Myung himself.
[You have trained your disciple well.]
Ma Cheon Je gazed down at Mu Gyeol, who lay bleeding on the ground.
His eyes held no emotion whatsoever, as though he were merely observing a dying fly writhing in its final moments.
[To think he managed to cling to life.]
His expression and gaze were ambiguous—whether praise or mockery, none could say.
[What brings you to travel here?]
Shin San Ja’s eyes gleamed behind the mask.
[There would be no benefit in revealing our faces to each other.]
[Why did I speak of Baek Ri Mu Ha?]
[Your ears remain as sharp as ever.]
[Tell me.]
Ma Cheon Je’s gaze grew solemn.
[Lord of the Murim Alliance.]
Crack!
Shin San Ja’s form, dressed in the robes of an old Buddhist monk, emitted the sound of bones shifting.
In that same instant, the masked, elderly appearance transformed.
A figure over six feet tall, commanding and robust, emerged—a middle-aged man of undeniable presence.
Though his face remained obscured, his prominent nose and deep, penetrating eyes blazed with spiritual vitality.
An aura of mystery and untouchable majesty emanated from his entire being, as though shrouded in mist.
Just as Bu Eunseol had anticipated.
Shin San Ja was none other than Jeong Cheon Je, the foremost master of the Orthodox Sects and the Lord of the Murim Alliance—Sin Do Mu Bi.
He had long ago reached the pinnacle of Return to Void and Merge with Dao, vastly extending his lifespan and approaching a state of eternal youth.
At first glance, he appeared as a young scholar.
[It was promised that the vengeance of Chilji Demonic Sect would be concluded.]
As Ma Cheon Je continued, his eyes seemed to swirl with ashen vortices.
[Why did you break that promise?]
[You brought the Bao En Scroll and asked about it.]
[Did I simply volunteer the information because you asked?]
[Discovery was inevitable regardless. Had I remained silent, all the trust we’ve built would have crumbled to dust.]
Sin Do Mu Bi spoke in a low voice.
[Besides, there is nothing more to uncover.]
[Do you truly believe such words can deceive me?]
The energy flowing through Ma Cheon Je’s eyes intensified.
In contrast, Sin Do Mu Bi’s gaze grew ever more serene.
[If he learns the truth, that too shall be fate.]
[Fate?]
A savage tempest raged within Ma Cheon Je’s composed eyes.
[Fate is what I decree.]
What followed was a shocking revelation from Ma Cheon Je’s lips.
[Even if that wretched boy learns that Baek Ri Mu Ha died by our hands, could he speak of it?]
For a long moment, Cheon Dun Ryeong fell into a silence as profound as death itself.
[…It is not so simple a matter.]
A strangled sound escaped Sin Do Mu Bi’s throat.
[We burned countless innocent souls to ash. That karmic debt must be borne.]
[Baek Ri Mu Ha was destined to die.]
[But that child bears no guilt.]
[Being the son of Baek Ri Mu Ha is sin enough in itself.]
Sin Do Mu Bi let out a cold laugh.
[Then wouldn’t it have been simpler to kill that child the moment you found him? We wouldn’t be dealing with this headache now.]
Ma Cheon Je exhaled sharply through his nose.
[He swore on his life that it wasn’t so. I had no choice but to believe him—especially since he was cultivating Reverse Meridian Scripture.]
[Thanks to that, the Demon Palace gained good fortune.]
Sin Do Mu Bi spoke coldly.
[Bu Chanyang died, and that child walked into the Demon Palace of his own volition to seek revenge.]
[Yes, and I thought we had obtained a fine blade.]
Ma Cheon Je’s deep eyes gazed toward the distant sky.
[A blade raised by Bu Chanyang himself.]
When Ma Cheon Je’s gaze turned back to Sin Do Mu Bi, black heat shimmer rose from his eyes.
[But you’re trying to ruin everything before we can even use that fine blade, before we can even place it in Sam Gye.]
[I don’t understand why you’re so obsessed, knowing full well that child cannot topple Sam Gye.]
[You don’t need to understand.]
Ma Cheon Je spoke in a low voice.
[Simply ensure that Baek Ri Mu Ha’s movements no longer intersect with ours. If you continue to meddle in irrelevant matters…]
A light deeper than chaos flowed from his pupils.
[I’ll have to engage in that tedious business once more.]
Light blazed forth from Sin Do Mu Bi’s eyes as well.
As their gazes met.
The world seemed to face its end—Cheon Dun Ryeong trembled as if it would collapse, and the sky turned black.
Rumble…
The earth shook violently, and the ground began to crack and split open.
[Hmm.]
Ma Cheon Je, observing Sin Do Mu Bi’s momentum, stared for a long moment before letting out a sound through his nose.
[You’ve grown considerably. Truly, quite a lot.]
Writhe.
Then Sin Do Mu Bi’s pupils dilated, and strange light flowed from his entire body.
[Let me offer you one piece of advice.]
At the same time, streaks of brilliance shot forth from his eyes.
[If you speak with such arrogance even once more, I will surely take one of your eyes.]
[Hehehehe.]
Ma Cheon Je stared directly into Sin Do Mu Bi’s eyes.
[As long as nothing like today occurs.]
And he raised the corners of his mouth.
As if he knew everything.
[If you wish to play the role of Alliance Master for a long time… remember the words of this Patriarch.]
Whoosh.
With those words, Ma Cheon Je scattered once more in all directions like a being of the cosmos itself.
Sin Do Mu Bi stared blankly at the spot where Ma Cheon Je had vanished, then bit down hard on his teeth.
[Sa Do Moo Myung.]
As Sin Do Mu Bi’s fist clenched tightly,
Boom! Crash crash crash.
A deafening explosion erupted, and the cliff face on the opposite side began to crumble entirely.
[Did he truly perceive it?]
A vivid azure glow radiated from Sin Do Mu Bi’s eyes as his lips bled from biting.
That secret must never be revealed now. If it were, the Orthodox Sects and Murim would descend into chaos and collapse.
[There is no choice. Once the great work is complete, I shall strike him down without hesitation.]
Sin Do Mu Bi gazed toward the distant sky and exhaled sharply through his nose.
Then, gathering his inner force, he lifted the fallen Mu Gyeol into the air and vanished in an instant.
* * *
Bu Eunseol did not return to the Demon Palace or the Murim Alliance.
She severed all contact with So Yo, who had been following at her side, and wandered through Murim while disguised as Seol So.
‘He was a figure from Sam Gye.’
I would have preferred if Hyuk Ryeon Eung had lied in his final moments.
If he had known this truth beforehand and sought only to sow confusion until the end…
But that probability did not exist.
Hyuk Ryeon Eung had desperately wished to recruit me into the Infinite Realm, and that desire was genuine.
He was in the midst of casting the Divine Method.
Perhaps he glimpsed my father’s image in his memories, and for that reason, he sought to kill me.
In a way, that was a stroke of fortune.
For Hyuk Ryeon Eung learned of this truth by chance while casting the Divine Method.
Which meant,
at the very least, the Infinite Realm did not know that I am Baek Ri Mu Ha’s son.
Had they known, they would have sought to kill me long ago, just as Hyuk Ryeon Eung did.
‘Is my father truly different from the man I remember?’
Bu Eunseol narrowed her eyes.
The father who had always been compassionate in my memories.
Could that warm-hearted man have been a villain concealing his true nature?
Sam Gye is Sam Gye.
Even if they possessed noble purposes, their misdeeds could never be erased.
‘Then there is a possibility he harbored doubts midway.’
Perhaps my father later learned of Sam Gye’s wickedness and transgressions,
and so he abandoned his cultivation, discarded his sword, and left Sam Gye.
There were certainly memories that suggested such circumstances.
Yet even here, a question remained.
Only Sam Gye could kill Sam Gye’s successor.
But judging from the conversation I heard in my dreams, my father was in a position where he should have been protected by Sam Gye.
Which meant that Baek Ri Mu Ha’s death might not have been caused by Sam Gye, but by another force entirely.
‘Could there be a force in Murim opposing Sam Gye?’
It was possible.
Within Murim existed covert factions that stood against Sam Gye.
Baek Ri Mu Ha had departed from Sam Gye, yet he may have ultimately fallen to their hands.
‘I cannot know for certain. But.’
Bu Eunseol drew a deep breath, settling her thoughts.
From this moment forward, there were two paths before me.
First, to confirm whether Baek Ri Mu Ha was truly my father.
Second, to uncover the identity of the force that had slain him.
‘To learn the truth, infiltrating Sam Gye is inevitable.’
Given that he was called the greatest hidden master of Murim,
if Baek Ri Mu Ha had been Sam Gye’s successor, with no background ever revealed,
then only by entering Sam Gye could I uncover that truth.
‘What exactly transpired between Baek Ri Mu Ha and Sam Gye?’
Judging from Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s reaction,
the Infinite Realm had deemed Baek Ri Mu Ha an irreconcilable adversary.
If that were so, then the Cheonghae Gye and the remaining realms of Sam Gye would likely regard me as an enemy upon learning I was his son.
‘Then there is but one path.’
Bu Eunseol gazed at the Muk Hon blade fastened at her waist and drew a measured breath.
‘To defeat the users of demonic blades, then become the Sword of Sam Gye.’
The Samgye Emissary who had slain Wang Cheol in ages past could become the Sword of Sam Gye if he survived the demonic blade contest—
a position of such high standing it could be called that of successor.
Then acquiring a demonic blade and entering that contest was perhaps the only viable path.
Shing!
Bu Eunseol drew the Muk Hon blade from its sheath.
The Muk Hon blade’s true nature was a dark spiritual weapon.
Yet before infusing it with transcendent spiritual energy, Ma Geom Ja had declared the Muk Hon blade to be a demonic blade.
Which meant there was no need to seek another demonic blade.
Could I not participate in the demonic blade contest by channeling the demonic essence inherent within the Muk Hon blade itself?
Whooom.
As Bu Eunseol infused transcendent spiritual energy into the blade, a resonant hum sang forth from the Muk Hon.
When at last the maximum transcendent spiritual energy had been poured in, faint luminescence spilled from the scabbard, and mystical patterns began to trace themselves across its surface.
‘Not transcendent spiritual energy.’
Upon reflection, transcendent spiritual energy was a force born of nature itself.
There was no reason demonic essence would flow forth merely from infusing it.
‘Demonic essence.’
Bu Eunseol, contemplating this, drew upon the Jade Resonance Technique—the secret method that could be called Ma Cheon Je’s unique cultivation art.
She then wove the manifested black true qi around the Muk Hon blade.
Whooom whooom!
The Muk Hon blade trembled with a low vibration, greedily absorbing the power of the Jade Resonance Technique.
‘Is this also something to consume?’
The Yeouui True Seal was orthodox demonic cultivation.
By materializing and infusing it, had the Muk Hon Sword truly acquired the nature of a Demonic Sword?
Zing.
Yet something felt strange.
The moment I poured the Yeouui True Seal into the Muk Hon Sword, a subtle vibration resonated through me, and an otherworldly sensation echoed through my mind.
It was a peculiar sensation that only those who wielded Demonic Swords could perceive.
‘So it’s true.’
As I absorbed the Yeouui True Seal.
The Muk Hon Sword had genuinely taken on the characteristics of a Demonic Sword.
I doubled my martial power and continuously infused the Yeouui True Seal into it.
And so the Muk Hon Sword, now transformed like a true Demonic Sword, began radiating an immense demonic aura.
‘Did it sense the energy?’
Click.
The moment I sheathed the Muk Hon Sword again,
Whoosh!
Not long after, accompanied by a sound that seemed to tear the eardrums, a black shadow descended roughly from the void to the ground.
It was a man of sturdy build dressed in black robes.
He approached me directly, then furrowed his brow and muttered.
“So it wasn’t that.”
Upon seeing the man, my eyes widened.
The Black-Robed Man was none other than.
Do Cheon Rin, the successor of the Blood Flame Sect.
Do Cheon Rin possessed such refined features as to evoke the moon hanging in the night sky, yet carried a somewhat dark atmosphere.
But now his appearance and aura had changed greatly.
His physique had transformed into solid, rippling muscle, and his forearms were wrapped tightly with leather guards worn by wandering martial artists.
Moreover, numerous scars remained scattered across his exposed skin,
bearing the appearance of a martial master engaged in life-or-death wandering duels.
‘Could it be my doing?’
My feelings were complicated.
All those who had clashed and competed with me thus far had their lives transformed.
Especially those who stood in rivalry with me or
those who had faced me one-on-one had, as if assimilated by me,
become martial masters pursuing the ultimate way of the sword.
Could Do Cheon Rin have changed in the same manner?
“I came because I sensed a unique demonic aura.”
Do Cheon Rin gazed at the scabbard of the Muk Hon Sword I held.
“Did you craft a new scabbard for the Demonic Sword to suppress its aura?”
He possessed exceptional talent in all respects, not merely in wisdom, earning him the title of the Perfect Scholar.
Do Cheon Rin had largely discerned why the Muk Hon Sword, appearing as an ordinary blade, had radiated demonic energy and then ceased.
‘Everything feels like someone’s game.’
Bu Eunseol offered no response, her gaze fixed upon Do Cheon Rin.
He had resolved to seek out the users of Demonic Swords and participate in the Demonic Sword Tournament.
Yet the moment he discovered how to infuse demonic energy into the Muk Hon Sword and spread that aura, Do Cheon Rin appeared—how could this be?
In the past, the two had been fierce rivals, battling for the position of successor to the Demon Hall.
Now they had become competitors, destined to clash over the seat of the Sam Gye Sword.
“Your gaze is strangely familiar.”
The way you wield Seol So.
Do Cheon Rin, who had been staring intently at Bu Eunseol’s face, tilted his head slightly.
Clear yet shadowed in some indefinable way.
Sharp yet indifferent to all things.
Do Cheon Rin found this atmosphere and gaze strangely familiar.
“Have we met somewhere before?”
“No.”
“I see.”
Do Cheon Rin smacked his lips and muttered.
“A fierce demonic aura surged and vanished—I thought you were the one wielding the Blood Lightning Demonic Sword, elusive as mist. What a shame.”
“Blood Lightning Demonic Sword?”
“Such a person exists.”
Do Cheon Rin gazed toward the distant sky with an irritated expression.
“A Demonic Sword capable of targeting a specific foe from dozens of paces away, firing lightning-swift thunder energy with perfect precision.”
Do Cheon Rin had thus far crossed blades with countless Demonic Sword users.
And recently, he had encountered and fought against the wielder of the Blood Lightning Demonic Sword.
But upon realizing he could not defeat Do Cheon Rin in direct combat, that opponent fled immediately.
Do Cheon Rin pursued relentlessly, alternating between combat and pursuit.
“Well, a sparrow will do in place of a pheasant.”
Do Cheon Rin smiled coldly.
“There is no need for lengthy words.”
He slowly drew his Demonic Sword, and a subtle radiance bloomed in all directions.
He had wandered the Gangho, fighting countless masters who wielded Demonic Swords.
And seeing Bu Eunseol wield a Demonic Sword while employing Seol So, he now prepared to stake his very life on this confrontation.

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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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