The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 599
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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 599.
Four days later.
While Bu Eunseol was attending to administrative matters in the Office of the Elite Division, a covert summons arrived from Gong Son Dan Gyeong.
“It was just as Seon Woo Dae Ju predicted.”
Upon entering the Eun Wol Gak, Gong Son Dan Gyeong immediately recounted what had transpired in the interim.
“The investigation team I sent was completely annihilated. According to the secret intelligence left behind, it appears to be a research facility belonging to a massive clandestine organization.”
It unfolded exactly as I had anticipated.
The investigation team Gong Son Dan Gyeong dispatched had been utterly destroyed, yielding only the meager intelligence that the location was a research facility of some secret organization.
“I see.”
I spoke as though I had resolved upon something.
“Then I shall lead the Elite Division and conduct another investigation.”
“That won’t do.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong shook her head and spoke with unwavering resolve.
“If that place truly is a research facility of the Infinite Realm, it will maintain considerable security. You and the Elite Division members alone would be insufficient.”
Remarkably, she appeared to possess some knowledge of the Infinite Realm’s facilities.
“Then I shall infiltrate alone.”
I deliberately spoke thus, even knowing Gong Son Dan Gyeong would not consent.
“Without reliable intelligence, leading forces there could result in the Chief facing a grave setback.”
The Chief could not move the entire Murim Alliance forces arbitrarily.
The past incident involving the Cheon In Sect’s Geom Chong was the same.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong had first sent an investigation team to secure evidence.
Without solid justification, the Murim Alliance forces could not be mobilized.
“No. I won’t request the full forces.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s eyes gleamed.
“I shall assign Seon Woo Dae Ju a covert special unit composed of ten individuals.”
“Ten people… you say?”
When I expressed bewilderment, Gong Son Dan Gyeong laughed with confidence.
“They are masters cultivated in secret by the Ben Maeng, each worth a hundred ordinary warriors. These ten alone could topple any considerable faction in a single stroke.”
As she continued speaking, her eyes narrowed with intensity.
“Moreover, they officially do not exist as individuals. They are masters trained solely for special operations.”
‘So she possesses such assets as well.’
The blue-eyed, golden-haired young scholar who had attempted to assassinate me during my past confrontation with Jo Cheon Wang.
He held no official standing within the Murim Alliance, and his very existence was unrecognized.
It appeared that Gong Son Dan Gyeong, as Chief, possessed the authority to command such individuals.
‘Perhaps this is an opportune moment to investigate the Murim Alliance’s secret organization.’
Just as my eyes brightened,
“If you harbor any thoughts of extracting information about them, abandon such notions. It will prove futile.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong spoke with resolute certainty, as though she had seen through my intentions.
“They obey only the command to commence combat. They will answer no other questions whatsoever.”
‘Thorough indeed.’
“Why would I do such a thing?”
Bu Eunseol spoke with a deliberately wounded expression.
“It seems you still suspect I might be a foreign spy, Chief.”
“Whether Seon Woo Dae Ju is a spy or not isn’t what matters.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“Sharing the same vessel doesn’t make everyone comrades.”
“So you’re saying that merely sailing together doesn’t guarantee trust.”
“Exactly. Seon Woo Dae Ju has her own destination, and I have my own objectives to pursue. That’s all there is to it.”
‘Truly a terrifying woman.’
Throughout this time, Bu Eunseol had accomplished many tasks for Gong Son Dan Gyeong and completed every mission successfully.
Yet she still showed no intention of trusting Bu Eunseol, speaking only of their continued cooperation as a relationship.
‘So that’s why she said it doesn’t matter whether I’m a spy or not.’
Gong Son Dan Gyeong had said it made no difference whether Bu Eunseol was a spy in the past or not.
I realized that simply meant she was confident that even if someone wanted to abandon the shared vessel, they could never escape it.
But the “shared vessel” Gong Son Dan Gyeong spoke of wasn’t a relationship built on mutual trust and reliance.
It was merely boarding the same merchant vessel by chance, heading toward the same destination.
Her sole objective was the Infinite Realm.
If she could only eliminate them.
She could cooperate with anyone and hesitate at nothing.
‘What could possibly be her story?’
For the first time, Bu Eunseol became curious about the circumstances Gong Son Dan Gyeong carried.
Why did she harbor such hatred for the Infinite Realm?
“I understand what you mean.”
As Bu Eunseol deliberately composed an expression of swallowed disappointment, Gong Son Dan Gyeong offered a faint smile.
“It’s not just Seon Woo Dae Ju. I trust no one in this world.”
“Why… is that?”
“That way, even if someone betrays me, it causes no damage.”
“So you handle everything under the assumption of betrayal.”
“I suppose so.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong spoke in a soothing tone.
“In any case, there’s no need for you to feel hurt.”
‘Hmm.’
Bu Eunseol swallowed her inner thoughts.
It’s commonly said that when a woman reaches thirty, she develops a desire to kill one or two men.
By that age, most have experienced betrayal by men at least once.
But Gong Son Dan Gyeong trusted no one, as if she’d been betrayed by the entire world.
That suggested she harbored unspeakable, tragic memories.
“I understand.”
Bu Eunseol, dismissing the rising thoughts, clasped her hands together and spoke respectfully.
“I harbor no resentment, and I hope you harbor no misunderstandings either, Chief.”
“Yes.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong continued in a gentle voice.
“The moment they leave the Murim Alliance, they will follow Seon Woo Dae Ju.”
A cold gleam flickered in Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s eyes.
“Find out what is there and what they are doing… without fail.”
“Understood.”
Bu Eunseol pressed her palms together respectfully.
Even now, I did not know.
That this mission would uncover… a secret hidden within the Murim Alliance.
Gang Ok Ji.
Even the Black Gang members in the back alleys shook their heads at its mention. It was a den where criminals who had committed every conceivable crime gathered.
Here, a human life was worth less than a single copper coin.
Because only the dregs of society, those who had already thrown their lives away, congregated in this place.
Moreover, with the black market where anything could be purchased for enough money, countless criminals flowed through endlessly.
A swift breeze.
Over a dozen martial artists were executing rapid lightness techniques toward Gang Ok Ji.
At the front was a man dressed in white robes.
Behind him followed warriors wrapped entirely in black cloth from head to toe.
They were Bu Eunseol, disguised as Seon Woo Jin, and the secret operatives Gong Son Dan Gyeong had assigned.
‘Perhaps my confidence was not misplaced.’
During the two days traveling from the Murim Alliance to Gang Ok Ji, I did not rest for a single moment, executing lightness techniques continuously.
Yet these operatives followed without showing the slightest sign of fatigue, moving with perfect composure.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s claim that ten warriors alone could sweep away an entire martial sect seemed to be no exaggeration.
A soft landing sound.
Finally arriving at the entrance of Gang Ok Ji, I descended from the air and surveyed the surroundings.
“This is strange. The black market opens around sunset, so there should be quite a crowd.”
When night fell, the black market opened in the center of Gang Ok Ji, drawing all manner of criminals.
Yet despite the sun setting, not a single soul was visible.
“….”
The Team Members made no response to my words, standing in silence.
It seemed true that they would not listen to any command except those related to combat.
“Hmm.”
Withdrawing my gaze from them, I swallowed a bitter smile and entered Gang Ok Ji.
Upon reaching the center, a crumbling stone chamber came into view.
It appeared to be nothing more than a simple abandoned house unlike anything else.
However, having witnessed the mechanical devices of the Gui Il Gae on Lengyue Island, I could easily discern that this was an entrance to an underground facility.
“So it is here.”
I attempted to enter through the stone chamber’s entrance.
A metallic grinding sound echoed.
At that moment, the stone chamber’s door swung open.
And a tall figure dressed in black emerged from the shadows.
He wore an iron mask that completely concealed his face and carried an enormous broadsword across his back.
The eyes visible through the mask were bloodshot crimson, as if he might unleash a massacre at any moment.
Thud, thud.
The man walked toward Bu Eunseol and suddenly grasped the hilt of the massive broadsword behind his back.
Whirrrr.
In that instant, circular blade projectiles rose from the ground into the air, beginning to encircle and surround Bu Eunseol and the Team Members.
The blade projectiles appeared to be wreathed in flames, numbering in the hundreds.
The Masked Assassin had unleashed a variation of the Blood Dew Seven Techniques, First Form, Living Qi Returning Ghosts.
‘The Blood Dew Seven Techniques?’
Bu Eunseol could not comprehend this situation.
Who was this masked man?
How could he naturally wield the Blood Dew Seven Techniques—a technique only those whose spiritual essence aligned with her grandfather Bu Chanyang could perform?
And he was amplifying its power through skillful application of blade techniques?
But Bu Eunseol had no time for deep contemplation.
“Evade!”
Crash!
Bu Eunseol cried out and immediately deployed the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms, deflecting the blade projectiles that materialized before her eyes.
The secret Team Members, being no ordinary masters, instantly scattered and dodged the projectiles.
Flash! Whoooosh!
But the blade projectiles soon transformed into razor-sharp blade energy, spreading in all directions.
In that moment, the entire Gang Ok Ji, where twilight had been descending, was instantly engulfed in absolute darkness.
Bu Eunseol could deploy the Living Qi Returning Ghosts form with her eyes closed, allowing her to evade the sharp blade energy with ease.
But for the secret Team Members following Bu Eunseol, it was far from simple.
Splurt!
One Team Member who failed to evade the blade energy had his neck severed, his head falling to the ground as blood fountained forth.
Clang.
The Masked Assassin, having sheathed his broadsword across his back once more, looked down upon Bu Eunseol and the remaining Team Members.
His presence was so solemn that
it seemed as though the King of Hell himself had descended to earth, gazing upon foolish mortals.
“….”
Bu Eunseol felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
The eyes behind the mask, drenched in killing intent, were somehow not unfamiliar to her.
Shing!
Then the Masked Assassin drew the broadsword he had sheathed across his back once more.
And from somewhere, a sound like the wailing of ghosts echoed forth, as
invisible razor-sharp blade energy began pouring down upon Bu Eunseol and the Team Members.
The third form of the Blood Dew Seven Techniques—Half Life Half Death Form’s variation technique, capable of severing in a single stroke in response to the enemy’s movement.
Slash, slash, slash!
The Team Members each drew their swords.
I desperately tried to break through the Masked Assassin’s wave of saber energy and counterattack.
But his saber technique was far too swift, and its mysteries made evasion impossible.
Crack!
In the end, the three Team Members who had charged forward were swept up in the saber energy and shattered completely.
“Deploy the Capturing Dragon Heavenly Horn Formation!”
At one Team Member’s cry, the remaining members moved in chaotic coordination, unfolding their formation.
But against the Blood Dew Seven Techniques pouring from the Masked Assassin, no formation held any power.
Screech!
Yet in that moment, black smoke billowed from the Team Members’ bodies, and they suddenly began radiating an enormous aura.
Realizing that the Masked Assassin’s saber technique was beyond their capacity to handle, they had unleashed their trump card.
Crack.
The Team Members’ bodies doubled in size, and not only their martial power but their agility multiplied several times over.
Growl.
Red light blazed fiercely in the eyes of the now-massive Team Members.
It was as though a wolf had transformed into human form.
‘Such a forbidden technique from the Murim Alliance?’
Bu Eunseol, who had been countering with the Thirteen Iron Sword Forms, was beyond surprised—she was utterly bewildered.
No matter how unofficially they served, these were still warriors of the Murim Alliance.
Yet they had mastered such a grotesque forbidden art that made one’s tongue curl simply to witness it?
“What in the world is this….”
“It is a form of latent power detonation technique.”
The one who appeared to be the Leader of the Team Members looked down at Bu Eunseol, baring long fangs like a wolf.
“This is a secret, so you must never speak of it.”
Bu Eunseol knew it was a lie, but she nodded anyway.
“I understand.”
And as she drew the Muk Hon Sword to attack again, the Team Member shook his head.
“Do not intervene, Dae Ju.”
Whoosh!
At that very moment, the remaining six Team Members became a single flash of light and charged at the Masked Assassin.
Their movements were swift as lightning, and the sword techniques they unleashed were as sharp as a beast’s claws.
From a distance, around the Masked Assassin,
there appeared only black lines being drawn through empty space.
‘Is this the true face of the Murim Alliance?’
The sight of the Murim Alliance warriors fighting with their latent power detonated was not merely brutal—it was grotesque.
Their sword techniques resembled the cruel swordsmanship of the Evil Sects, and even when exposed to the deathly aura of the Blood Dew Seven Techniques, they did not collapse immediately but endured that killing intent.
Moreover, as they maintained their grotesque formation while attacking the Masked Assassin, Bu Eunseol found herself unable to intervene.
Thud.
In the end, Bu Eunseol had no choice but to unfold her movement technique and withdraw temporarily from the battle domain.
‘They are as though….’
Bu Eunseol, watching the fight unfold, furrowed her brow.
The Team Members’ techniques were not designed to combat ordinary martial artists.
Rather, they seemed to be tactics specifically devised to neutralize those possessing mysterious powers like Jisalseong.
“Hmph.”
The Masked Assassin moved erratically, unleashing attacks with such annoyance at the Team Members’ relentless assault that he wielded his great blade like a tempest.
Yet before the Blood Dew Seven Techniques could even unfold, the Team Members moved with frenzied intensity, pouring forth a unified sword technique.
Its full power never materialized.
Zing.
As the exchange prolonged, the Masked Assassin suddenly drew upon his inner power with tremendous force, his eyes flashing with an eerie green radiance.
Simultaneously, emerald flames erupted from his great blade like sparks dancing in the wind.
Flash!
He immediately swung his blade, executing an elementary technique anyone trained in martial arts would know.
The Sweep of a Thousand Armies.
The Team Members sneered at this simple move and attempted to continue their counterattack.
Yet something extraordinary unfolded.
Boom! Boom!
Successive explosions erupted.
Countless blade auras poured forth from the Sweep of a Thousand Armies, ensnaring the Team Members’ bodies.
It was not the Sweep of a Thousand Armies at all, but rather a variation of the Blood Dew Seven Techniques’ Second Form—a technique even Bu Eunseol had never deployed.
The Death-Unwavering Gaze.
“Evade!”
The Team Members hastily retreated from the cascading blade auras, yet their movements proved futile.
The blade auras erupting from the great sword formed a violent vortex, and as the Team Members fled backward,
They were trapped within a maelstrom of death itself.
Splurch!
Several Team Members struck by the blade auras instantly vomited blood and perished in an instant.
Those untouched by the auras shrieked in agony.
“Krraaagh!”
“Gaaahhh!”
Their screams were horrifying beyond measure, yet the Masked Assassin remained unmoved, continuously unleashing blade techniques.
As Half-Life Half-Death Form unfolded, Desire-Severing Form emerged in succession.
Just as the Life-Qi Death-Ghost Form’s variation was released, Four-Heavy Nine-Returning Form manifested once more.
With each pass of the blade auras, the Team Members’ heads flew without exception.
In merely four techniques.
Unable to withstand the vortex of blade auras pouring forth like lightning, all the Team Members met their demise.
Thud thud thud.
As the blade auras vanished into the distant sky, headless corpses rolled across the ground.
Whoooosh.
As a dry wind swept through, the arena fell into a silence as profound as death itself.
Ten exceptional masters who had boasted they could annihilate an entire sect
Had become grotesque masses of blood in less than half a moment.
The Masked Assassin’s blade technique was devastatingly swift and utterly unpredictable.
With the Team Members maintaining their circular encirclement, Bu Eunseol had no opportunity to intervene.
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
The Masked Assassin’s eyes gleamed as he noticed Bu Eunseol standing alone.
A metallic scraping sound echoed.
He dragged his massive blade across the ground as he advanced directly toward her.
Bu Eunseol immediately channeled the heightened senses of the Beast Blade technique to their maximum.
The Masked Assassin’s blade movements contained no preparatory motions whatsoever, and his speed was so extraordinary that ordinary perception could scarcely detect it.
A violent explosion of energy erupted.
When had he unleashed his technique?
Black mist suddenly billowed forth before Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Once again, the fourth form of the Blood Dew Seven Techniques—the Desire Obscuring Transformation—unfolded before her.
‘There’s no choice.’
As blade energy poured through the black mist, a brilliant divine light blazed forth from Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
‘I am Seon Woo Jin right now.’
Currently, my identity was Seon Woo Jin, and this place was a stronghold of the Gwi Il Gye.
Even if no one was watching, I absolutely could not employ my true martial techniques.
‘I’ll stake everything on this single move.’
The Masked Assassin’s Blood Dew Seven Techniques lacked the authentic resonance of the original sword formula, yet his power surpassed what I could manifest.
As Seon Woo Jin, there was only one method to counter such a technique.
A brilliant flash erupted.
Faint luminescence began to flow from Bu Eunseol’s Muk Hon Sword.
The Sword Encompassing All Mysteries.
She was attempting to unfold a transcendent secret technique—one containing all the supreme transformations of martial arts that the human body should never be capable of executing.
‘Perfection is unnecessary.’
Unfortunately, I had not yet acquired the complete formula to execute the Sword Encompassing All Mysteries in a single, seamless motion.
Yet I possessed absolute confidence in completely neutralizing the blade strikes the Masked Assassin unleashed.
I had mastered every form and sword principle of the Blood Dew Seven Techniques.
No matter how the Masked Assassin deployed the Blood Dew Seven Techniques, I could already perfectly anticipate every variation and sword path.
Even an incomplete Sword Encompassing All Mysteries would suffice to defend against the Blood Dew Seven Techniques.
A resonant hum vibrated through the air.
Finally, the light gathered at the tip of Bu Eunseol’s blade erupted in brilliant radiance.
In that same instant, countless sword forms materialized from the void, converging into one before crashing down upon the Masked Assassin.
When sword techniques rivaling the Blood Dew Seven Techniques were unleashed with full power, their force became utterly indescribable.
“Hmph.”
The Masked Assassin swiftly wielded his massive blade to counter the Sword Encompassing All Mysteries.
Clash! Clash! Clash! Clash!
The torrential black blade energy collided with white radiance, birthing cascades of sparks.
As the supreme sword and blade techniques of Jeongsayang-do clashed head-on, the entire world was consumed by light.
A shockwave as if heaven and earth were splitting asunder rippled outward in all directions.
Crack.
In the end, I managed to block the Masked Assassin’s Blood Dew Seven Techniques, but the backlash sent me stumbling three paces backward.
In contrast, the Masked Assassin stood firm, his gaze fixed upon me.
Shatter.
But then something unexpected occurred.
Cracks began to spread across the iron mask the man wore.
The collision between the Sword Essence Profound Technique and the Blood Dew Seven Techniques had split the sturdy iron mask clean in two.
“…!”
As I gazed at the face revealed within the fractured mask, my eyes widened in an instant.
‘Baek Mu Sung?’
The face exposed between the shattered halves of the mask.
It was none other than Baek Mu Sung, who had temporarily left the Murim Alliance.
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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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