The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 6

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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 6
“First disciple.”
Sa Woo asked with piercing eyes.
“Do you know why our sect, which had stood at the pinnacle of the Ten Demonic Gates for centuries, lost its former glory and slipped to the lowest rank among them?”
Bu Eunseol had already heard the entire story from Bu Chanyang.
But she shook her head while keeping her lips firmly sealed.
“The pinnacle of our sect’s martial arts lies in the enlightenment of ‘awakening.’ Unlike other ascending techniques, the power and level of our martial arts vary drastically depending on the successor’s comprehension.”
Sa Woo sighed and spoke.
“To be honest, even laying the foundation for our sect’s martial arts is extraordinarily difficult.”
“….”
“No matter what ascending technique one learns, the difficulty increases gradually. But our sect’s martial arts begin at a difficulty level that surpasses even reaching the stage of mastery.”
He, who had been gazing at the distant sky, shook his head.
“Even if a once-in-a-generation prodigy learns our sect’s martial arts, it remains uncertain whether they’ll achieve mastery. Moreover, there’s no guarantee that such a prodigy would even choose to study our sect’s techniques… and that was the beginning of our decline.”
Sa Woo, observing Bu Eunseol’s delicate frame, shook his head.
“Honestly, with your physique and constitution, you’d either be dead or fleeing within three days. It’s essentially a waste of time.”
Bu Eunseol smiled.
“I’ve heard such things many times.”
Suddenly, Bu Eunseol recalled a memory with Bu Chanyang from the past.
―You think anyone can prepare the dead? You’ll flee within three days!
When Bu Eunseol offered to help with the funeral rites, Bu Chanyang had jumped up and spoken.
―Handling a corpse requires not just courage, but profound knowledge of human anatomy. One careless mistake could lead to irreversible consequences.
―Shouldn’t those who died so tragically deserve to be made whole in their final form? It’s not merely about stitching them up and making them look presentable.
Bu Chanyang always restored the bodies he prepared to appear as whole and natural as they had been in life.
This was because, with his deep knowledge of human anatomy, he adjusted the muscles with such naturalness that the result was indistinguishable from how they had been before death.
―This girl. You’re truly a mortician blessed by heaven!
But a month later, Bu Chanyang could only click his tongue in astonishment.
Bu Eunseol had become capable of performing funeral rites at the same level as Bu Chanyang.
Yet this was not because Bu Eunseol was a mortician blessed by heaven, nor because she possessed innate talent for the craft.
It was thanks to Bu Eunseol’s bone-grinding effort.
She read the books stored in the house night after night, and whenever Bu Chanyang performed the rites, she never left his side for a moment.
Relentless determination and keen observation.
These were the weapons Bu Eunseol possessed.
“Well, I suppose I’ll have to waste that time now.”
“I apologize.”
“As I said before, there’s nothing to apologize for or be grateful about. Our sect merely made an agreement with Demon Hall.”
Sa Woo actually found Bu Eunseol quite appealing.
Especially those eyes that held a burning determination like the sun itself, while caring for nothing else.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered to bring up various matters concerning Nangya Sect.
“I ask one final time. Nine out of ten die while learning our sect’s martial arts. Will you still learn it?”
“I will learn it.”
“Hmm.”
Sa Woo, who had been gazing at the narrow path leading to Mo Wok, nodded his head.
“It seems no more disciples will come to learn the martial arts of this sect. Then, from now on, I shall impart the foundational techniques of this sect.”
Thwack.
Sa Woo suddenly unleashed a lightning-swift finger strike, striking the承泣 acupoint beneath Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
“Ah!”
Bu Eunseol felt a burning pain in her eyes in that instant.
“Ugh.”
As she frantically rubbed her eyes, the entire world plunged into darkness.
Her vision had been stolen in a single moment.
“Do not worry. I have merely sealed your sight temporarily using this sect’s secret method.”
“Why would you seal my vision…?”
“To master this sect’s foundational technique—the Beast Path.”
“The Beast Path.”
“Indeed. It not only maximizes the sensitivity of your entire body but grants you the reflexes of a wild beast. You will gain the senses of a true animal.”
Sa Woo smacked his lips as he spoke.
“Most who attempt to master this foundational technique perish, however.”
Sa Woo exhaled a sigh before continuing.
“In about half an hour, you should adapt to the darkness. Return to me then.”
Bu Eunseol stood motionless.
She could see nothing, and she could feel nothing.
Sa Woo’s strike had not merely stolen her sight—it seemed to have robbed her of some other sense as well.
‘Vision was this vital?’
Though only her sight had been blocked, all her other senses felt equally dulled.
One would expect that without sight, hearing and other senses would sharpen, yet in reality, all her sensory organs had grown dull.
“I must adapt.”
Sa Woo had said that in about half an hour, adaptation would occur—for the “average” person.
But Bu Eunseol could not afford to be average.
She had to adapt far more quickly.
‘I cannot simply sit still for half an hour.’
Moving, even slightly, would accelerate adaptation far more than remaining seated.
‘The others are all training in martial arts anyway, so no one would attempt an ambush.’
The landscape of Hell Island remained peaceful thus far.
No one would attack someone whose eyes had been sealed. Even if they did, it would be futile.
Bu Eunseol stumbled about like a madwoman, touching the ground and tasting the soil.
―What if I’m ambushed in this state?
As that thought consumed her, Bu Eunseol began to study how she might detect an enemy’s attack in this condition, how she should move to evade it.
The only fight she had ever experienced was against Neung Woon Gang.
Yet because she had studied his techniques in detail at the Training Grounds, she could recall his every movement.
Tilt.
But body and mind were at odds.
Though I thought I had twisted my body lightly to evade, my center of balance crumbled.
‘Balance. That was it.’
When vision vanished, the first thing one must cultivate is equilibrium.
With this revelation, Bu Eunseol moved like a frenzied beast.
Desperate to gain her sense of balance as quickly as possible.
“Truly a madman, this one.”
Sa Woo, who was using Earth Concealment Technique to bury himself discreetly into the ground, wore an expression of bewilderment as he observed Bu Eunseol’s movements.
Ordinarily, when one loses their sight, they sit calmly or lie down, waiting for their other senses to return.
But Bu Eunseol moved frantically, sparring against imaginary opponents, searching for her body’s equilibrium.
‘At least she passes the initial test.’
Had she merely waited in a stupor for her senses to return, Sa Woo would have taught her only the basics of the Demonic Blade.
“Whether she becomes merely a madwoman or a madwoman worthy of Nangya Sect—that remains to be seen.”
Sa Woo closed his eyes again and began circulating his energy.
* * *
“Dodge this.”
After half a quarter hour had passed, Sa Woo began attacking Bu Eunseol with his sword.
Of course, to prevent her limbs from being severed, he struck with the scabbard, yet Bu Eunseol’s bones were on the verge of shattering, and her organs trembled ceaselessly.
“Gack—”
Bu Eunseol coughed blood and collapsed as the scabbard struck her lower abdomen.
It was a strike so exquisite and swift as lightning that even with both eyes wide open, it would have been impossible to evade.
How could one possibly dodge the blow of a master of the Ten Demonic Gates while bereft of sight?
‘Truly a peculiar one.’
Meanwhile, Sa Woo found himself intrigued.
By this point, most disciples learning martial arts would ask about techniques to evade attacks, or how they might manage to dodge.
But Bu Eunseol simply endured Sa Woo’s strikes without asking anything at all.
Unable to overcome his curiosity, Sa Woo was the first to question her.
“Why do you ask nothing?”
“I… beg your pardon?”
“You keep taking hits. Aren’t you curious about techniques to evade, or about the principles of the path?”
Bu Eunseol spat out blood and rose to her feet, using the iron sword as a cane.
“Did you not say that the first enlightenment, the ‘O’, contains all the essence of Nangya Sect?”
“Hm?”
“I believed that even your silent strikes must have their reason.”
“W-well, that’s true enough.”
The roles seemed reversed.
The master teaching was more curious, while the disciple learning harbored no doubts whatsoever.
‘My dignity is in tatters.’
Sa Woo smacked his lips and raised the scabbard once more.
“Let me tell you one thing.”
He held the sword at mid-guard and spoke without emotion.
“Human senses are inherently as keen as those of wild beasts. But for two reasons, we’ve lost that superior perception. Do you know what they are?”
“Sight, I would imagine.”
“Correct.”
Bu Eunseol couldn’t comprehend this.
“Many animals possess keener vision than humans. Humans aren’t the only ones with sight, so why would that cause us to lose our senses?”
“Because human intelligence is far too superior.”
“Intelligence.”
“Rather than relying on uncertain senses, we’ve grown accustomed to gathering and analyzing information through what we see with our eyes.”
As Bu Eunseol nodded, Sa Woo spoke again.
“Then do you understand the second reason?”
No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t fathom it.
When Bu Eunseol shook her head, Sa Woo explained.
“Wild beasts never know when or where they’ll be attacked. They’re always vigilant of their surroundings, their senses perpetually heightened.”
Understanding Sa Woo’s words, Bu Eunseol nodded.
Unlike beasts, humans are never constantly vigilant. Martial artists develop keen hearing and senses through their training, yet they lack the primal sensitivity of animals.
“Now that your mind understands, your body must learn to accept it.”
Sa Woo grasped the sword fully once more.
“Come. Again!”
It was already the fourth day.
Bu Eunseol endured Sa Woo’s attacks in darkness, blind and without a single drop of water, let alone food.
Thud, thud, thud.
I couldn’t even sense the passage of time.
All I felt was the exquisite swordplay hurtling through the darkness.
‘Understand, he says.’
Lying on the ground, I clenched my fists.
‘Is this all I’m capable of?’
Sprawled on the sand, I grasped at the grains desperately.
How could I avenge grandfather at this level?
Whoooosh.
Then, with the sound of wind sweeping across the sky, cold raindrops began to pour down.
“Ilho. Lying there comfortably, are you?”
Sa Woo’s cold voice reached my ears.
“If you wish to lie down, I can arrange for you to do so forever.”
Thud.
Bu Eunseol rose silently.
She grasped the iron sword with her left hand, as her right palm had been completely torn by the scabbard Sa Woo wielded, her fingers swollen and throbbing.
Rumble! Crack!
With the thunder, I felt something sharp shoot toward my forehead.
“Ugh.”
I instinctively arched my body and twisted, feeling something slice through the air brush past my face.
It was Sa Woo’s blade.
“Hmm.”
Hearing Sa Woo’s exclamation, Bu Eunseol sensed something significant.
‘When I heard the thunder, the sword’s path became visible.’
Sa Woo’s swordplay produced almost no sound and was extraordinarily subtle.
But when the thunder roared, the cascading sword energy became tangible against my skin—as if the blade’s aura was wrapped within the sound itself.
‘This is my body’s true perception.’
This was my first time hearing thunder that shook heaven and earth while deprived of sight.
For the first time, I felt that intense acoustic wave and vibration not through sight or hearing alone, but through pure ‘sensation’.
Swish.
Then I felt a strange sensation behind my back.
I sensed the sword energy moving freely through empty space, bending like a whip.
‘I cannot evade it.’
The blade’s aura approached from an angle impossible to escape.
If I took that strike, I would lack the strength to rise again. Without time to think, I shielded my back with the iron sword I held.
Clang!
A clear ring echoed as the iron sword clashed against the metal scabbard.
At last, I had blocked Sa Woo’s strike.

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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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