The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 624
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 624.
‘This time, I was the one who grew arrogant.’
Bu Eunseol had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Had I continued to seek instruction in fist techniques and provoked him into unleashing the Gwon Ma Chil Sik repeatedly?
I would have either perished by the initial strike of the Dok Bo Geon Gon or suffered grievous wounds.
I had foolishly displayed complacency against a master of Gwon Wang’s caliber, nearly shattering my body into fragments.
“That was not a fist technique—it was a method of expelling true energy.”
Seok Chi Haeng observed the currents of energy flowing from Bu Eunseol’s body and discerned that he had expelled true energy rather than martial force.
“That’s why he remained unscathed.”
“Indeed.”
“Fortune granted him survival this once, but there will be no second reprieve.”
Seok Chi Haeng let out a cold laugh and unfurled his dual palms once more.
And as he prepared to unleash the Dok Bo Geon Gon technique again,
Whiiiing.
A crimson current of energy erupted from Bu Eunseol’s body, and simultaneously, a tremendous pressure poured forth before him.
It bore striking resemblance to the initial strike of Seok Chi Haeng’s Dok Bo Geon Gon.
“Hehehehe. This man is utterly mad.”
Seok Chi Haeng laughed heartily as he spoke.
“If he could replicate the Dok Bo Geon Gon instantaneously, then No Bu would….”
His words trailed off.
From the center of Bu Eunseol’s dual palms, which assumed the identical Dok Bo Geon Gon stance, the same current of energy was manifesting—was it not?
‘He deployed the Dok Bo Geon Gon technique in a single breath?’
Seok Chi Haeng’s eyes nearly bulged from their sockets in astonishment, yet soon a vicious smile crossed his lips.
‘Hmph, even if he has replicated it, it matters not.’
The terror of the Dok Bo Geon Gon technique lay in this:
Any martial technique could be absorbed into the currents of Heaven and Earth Yin-Yang that ravaged between both arms, and then counterattack with that accumulated power.
Even if this young whelp had replicated the Dok Bo Geon Gon technique, the mysteries of Heaven and Earth Yin-Yang could not be instantaneously mimicked.
“I shall end you!”
Seok Chi Haeng unleashed the initial strike of the Young Hyung Sang Soo with all his might.
Kwaarrr!
Then dozens of azure currents transformed into dragons that burrowed into Bu Eunseol’s body.
Shuuuuu!
Yet something extraordinary occurred.
From Bu Eunseol’s dual palms, a fierce current of energy spread forth, deflecting the martial force he had unleashed from the Young Hyung Sang Soo technique—was it not?
“Ugh!”
Seok Chi Haeng recoiled in shock and instinctively deployed the Dok Bo Geon Gon technique.
“I shall return No Bu’s strike as well!”
Through the currents of the Dok Bo Geon Gon technique, Seok Chi Haeng absorbed the martial force that Bu Eunseol had deflected using the mysteries of Heaven and Earth Yin-Yang.
‘Huh?’
Yet something was amiss.
Wasn’t the power that should have remained suspended between his two arms gradually drawing toward his own body?
Boom!
Seok Chi Haeng’s body was sent flying more than ten paces away.
‘What just happened?’
He couldn’t comprehend this situation.
How had this occurred? Why hadn’t the currents of the Solitary Heaven and Earth technique enveloped that power?
“What exactly did you do?”
Seok Chi Haeng cried out with wide eyes.
“How did you steal No Bu’s martial techniques?”
When Bu Eunseol remained silent, Seok Chi Haeng bellowed and repeatedly unleashed the Four Directions technique in relentless succession.
Yet with each exchange, Bu Eunseol’s martial techniques only grew more refined and devastating, didn’t they?
It was as though a master were demonstrating a technique,
and a student surpassing their teacher were ruminating upon it anew.
Whoosh!
Bu Eunseol closed the distance in an instant, then unleashed a barrage of martial strikes upon Seok Chi Haeng.
Crack! Crack crack crack!
One fist, yet dozens of shadows cascading in succession around it.
He was wielding the mysteries of the Radiant Eclipse’s phantom form technique.
“Impossible!”
Seok Chi Haeng countered with the identical opening move.
But the phantom form technique combined with the Seven Strikes of Eternal Heaven was,
unlike the Radiant Eclipse, such that every shadow carried equal power, with no false strikes whatsoever.
Boom!
Unable to withstand Bu Eunseol’s fist shadows, Seok Chi Haeng took a direct blow to his lower abdomen and retreated.
“How is this possible?”
Seok Chi Haeng couldn’t believe it.
He had lived with the pride of having reached the pinnacle of martial arts mastery.
Yet this young man could instantly steal the Seven Strikes of Heaven?
And wasn’t he executing it even more brilliantly refined than himself?
Rumble!
But there was no time for deep contemplation. Bu Eunseol unleashed his techniques once more.
Boom! Boom!
As thunderous power poured down, Seok Chi Haeng suppressed his turbulent mind and attempted to respond with successive Seven Strikes of Heaven.
‘How is this even possible? How?’
Yet the shock didn’t fade easily, and his mind was filled with endless questions of why.
As distraction arose ceaselessly in his heart, his techniques grew unstable and his limbs grew sluggish.
Thud.
In that moment, Bu Eunseol’s fist, having closed the distance, drove into his lower abdomen.
Seok Chi Haeng’s eyes widened in shock.
The Martial King of Tianxia, struck in the lower abdomen?
Wasn’t this kind of technique something you’d only see in fights between third-rate martial artists?
“I simply cannot believe it….”
With only those words left behind, Seok Chi Haeng lost consciousness, his eyes wide open.
Thud.
As he collapsed, I wiped the sweat from my brow.
In truth, this entire victory was pure fortune.
I had merely applied the Chuangtian Seven Techniques to the Fist Demon Seven Techniques, exploiting their identical principles.
In terms of fist technique mastery, I could never surpass Seok Chi Haeng, not even if I died and came back to life.
But from Seok Chi Haeng’s perspective.
It was as though a ghost had suddenly appeared, mimicking the fist techniques he had refined his entire life in an instant.
Faced with something utterly incomprehensible, his mental fortitude scattered and his technique destabilized, leaving him vulnerable to my strike to the abdomen.
“So you’ve seen the same secret manual.”
I had discerned that Seok Chi Haeng’s Chuangtian Seven Techniques were also limited to four forms.
This meant that neither the Fist Demon Seven Techniques nor the Chuangtian Seven Techniques were complete seven-form techniques.
Rather, it was highly probable that only the four remaining forms had been separately extracted from secret manuals originally written as seven-form techniques.
“Hmm.”
I gazed down at the unconscious Seok Chi Haeng with an apologetic expression.
If I had fought with my sword and given my all, I would not have won so easily.
But by using the Fist Demon Seven Techniques, which mirrored the Chuangtian Seven Techniques like twins, I had completely absorbed and shattered his techniques—the techniques of the one called Gwon Wang.
Faced with a situation so unbelievable unfolding before his eyes, Seok Chi Haeng could not maintain his composure and collapsed.
As a result, the name Gwon Wang had become meaningless—his defeat was utterly hollow.
“Since I don’t know what you were doing here, rest for now.”
I pressed sharply against Seok Chi Haeng’s vital points.
At this level, he would not wake for three days and nights.
“This place will do nicely.”
Surveying my surroundings, I discovered a small Cave visible between the shattered rocks.
I hauled Seok Chi Haeng’s heavy body into the small Cave and blocked the entrance with a large boulder.
This way, he would be safe from wild beasts and survive unharmed.
Crack.
Gazing at the Fortress entrance, I deployed the Face-Shifting Bone Technique once more, transforming my face into Seok Chi Haeng’s.
As Gwon Wang, he would hold considerable rank, making it easy to scout the interior.
‘Perhaps.’
I took a deep breath, looking up at the Fortress entrance.
According to Yang Seol Rin’s words, there were forces in the Murim that remained hidden and opposed the Sam Gye.
Perhaps this place was one of those forces.
Creak.
Wearing Seok Chi Haeng’s appearance, I entered the entrance of this massive Tower.
Then an unimaginable landscape revealed itself.
‘What in the world is this place?’
The interior of the Fortress displayed a unique and grotesque scenery that seemed to belong only in legends and tales.
Upon entering, a vast Forest spread before me, adorned with peculiar trees and exotic flora unseen in Zhong Yuan.
Mushroom-shaped buildings, seemingly fused with the trees themselves, stood scattered throughout the landscape.
‘The material is quite distinctive.’
The mushroom-shaped structures were not constructed from wood like the trees.
Instead, their surfaces bore a verdant hue, as if fashioned from the shed skin of some cyan reptile.
From a distance, they resembled dwellings carved from the massive body of a colossal serpent.
At the heart of this Forest stood a Tower stained black, its surface gleaming like metal, its exterior etched with bizarre patterns.
‘Remarkable.’
It was astonishing enough that such an expansive Forest existed within the Fortress’s interior.
Yet to see such unique flora and architecture—unknown to Zhong Yuan—erected here was extraordinary.
‘Moreover.’
Upon entering the Fortress, the Inverse Extreme True Qi flowing through my body had begun to fade.
Strange energies emanating from the earth were disrupting the circulation of my inner force.
‘If not sorcery, then it must be Imperial Palace Martial Arts.’
Creating a defined region to seal inner power—this technique belonged to sorcery whose lineage had been severed from Murim.
And to Imperial Palace Martial Arts secrets alone.
‘The sorcery lineage severed.’
Though officially its lineage had been broken long ago, Sam Gye had employed bizarre grand techniques and sorcery multiple times.
‘Is that why they supported sects whose lineages had been cut off?’
Sam Gye had consistently restored extinct sects.
Perhaps they had undertaken such efforts to recover sorcery and other techniques that had vanished from Murim.
Footsteps echoed softly.
Then, from across the way, a figure in white robes emerged from the shadows.
A metal mask covered their face, its form hemispherical.
‘Now that I think of it.’
The scattered figures visible throughout the Forest all wore metal masks.
Each mask bore a different shape—some square, some triangular.
“Why have you entered this place?”
The Hemisphere-Masked Man regarded me, whom he mistook for Seok Chi Haeng, with a furrowed brow.
“This is not your appointed time.”
I could not hide my inner astonishment.
I had assumed Seok Chi Haeng to be a core member of this organization, if not its leader.
Yet from the masked man’s words, he was treating him as little more than a gatekeeper?
“I had some business to attend to….”
Though I mimicked Seok Chi Haeng’s voice, I let my words trail off.
I could not gauge the masked man’s position or discern what manner of speech Seok Chi Haeng employed.
“Hmph. You’ve either come to see her with your tongue hanging out, or to consume the Heavenly Peach Bay White Elixir.”
‘Then Gwon Wang is either a woman, or addicted to medicine?’
As I deduced various scenarios from the masked man’s words,
“Begone. Do not wander about recklessly, lest you be beaten to death.”
The Masked Assassin let out a scoff, his contemptuous gaze sweeping across Bu Eunseol’s form before he turned to leave.
‘This place….’
Bu Eunseol’s expression turned vacant.
They forbade the use of inner energy through secret techniques like Imperial Palace Martial Arts, and employed figures such as Gwon Wang Seok Chi Haeng as gatekeepers?
That could only mean….
‘It has to be one of the forces opposing the Three Realms.’
Bu Eunseol’s intuition crystallized into certainty.
This was the place Yang Seol Rin had spoken of before—the submerged foundation of the iceberg, the Abyss of Murim.
One of the few powers that had never exposed their organization or influence to the light of day.
‘Dangerous.’
If this place was indeed what I suspected, infiltrating it in this manner was reckless.
Without thorough investigation and meticulous preparation, my identity could be exposed.
In the worst case, I would find myself trapped with no way out.
Whoosh.
I spun around immediately.
And just as I was about to exit,
“Wait.”
The Masked Assassin who had just turned away was suddenly blocking my path.
His movements were as silent and ethereal as a phantom’s.
“Something doesn’t add up. Wandering in here at this hour?”
A sharp gleam flashed within the eyes behind the mask.
He was beginning to suspect my true identity.
‘Should I kill him?’
Though I could not sense his inner energy, his lightning-fast movements alone suggested formidable martial prowess.
If I failed to subdue him in one strike, I would be trapped here immediately.
As my inner energy continued to wane, I quietly gathered the Thunder Divine Qi into my fists.
“Speak.”
“….”
“Why did you enter when you shouldn’t have come at this hour?”
“That’s because….”
As I lowered my head, the Thunder Divine Qi gathered in my fists transformed into the Wind-Sweeping-Clouds technique of the Eternal Eclipse Palm.
In the instant it was about to strike the Masked Assassin’s heart directly,
“Ah, why are you just arriving now?”
A woman in loose robes wearing a Round-Masked Woman’s helmet waved her hand from a distance.
“I called you here. I have something to test.”
At the woman’s words, the Masked Assassin spoke in a flustered voice.
“That old one again?”
“Whether they’re old or young is my concern to handle.”
“What.”
The Masked Assassin scratched his head vigorously as he spoke.
“It’s futile anyway. No matter what you do, it won’t amount to anything.”
“I’ll handle it myself.”
The Masked Assassin alternated his gaze between Bu Eunseol and the Woman, then sighed and shook his head.
“Do as you please.”
In the next instant, he vanished into the Forest.
‘That Round-Masked Woman holds considerable authority.’
Though the Masked Assassin spoke freely, he never crossed her wishes, and his tone remained deferential.
The Woman with the round mask clearly occupied a position of high rank.
“Hmm.”
The Woman watched the Masked Assassin disappear, then spoke to Bu Eunseol.
“Follow me.”
When Bu Eunseol’s expression turned blank, the Masked Woman spoke in a low voice.
“And wear a very pleased expression.”
Her eyes and tone seemed to convey:
that she knew he was not Seok Chi Haeng, and if he valued his life, he’d better come quickly.
As Bu Eunseol blinked, the Masked Woman didn’t even glance back and began walking.
‘I have no choice.’
Bu Eunseol, left with no alternative, composed his expression and followed in her footsteps.
The Woman walked briskly and continuously deeper into the Forest.
Finally, she stopped before a small cottage at the Forest’s edge.
Unlike other dwellings, it was severely dilapidated, and smoke rose from somewhere within.
“Come inside.”
As she opened the door and stepped in, various peculiar instruments and liquids came into view, along with metal fragments.
Were it not for the bottles containing those liquids, one might have thought they’d entered a Blacksmith Shop.
“Impressive.”
The Woman regarded the motionless Bu Eunseol and spoke.
“You’re someone of some renown in the martial world, yet you subdued him? What exactly is your identity?”
Bu Eunseol was doubly startled.
She had discerned not only that he was young, but also that he hadn’t killed Seok Chi Haeng—and she’d grasped this instantly.
“I am but a wanderer drifting through Gangho.”
Now that I understood this was an unknown faction, I resolved to present myself as Seol So rather than reveal my identity as Seon Woo Jin.
“Ah, so a young wanderer defeated Seok Chi Haeng?”
She laughed softly, as though she’d seen through the deception.
Indeed, there existed no young wanderer in Murim capable of subduing Gwon Wang Seok Chi Haeng.
“That is—”
As Bu Eunseol began to respond, the Woman waved her hand dismissively.
“Never mind that. How did you find your way here?”
She then settled into a relaxed posture at a table and removed her mask.
As she did, the interior seemed to brighten, revealing refined features.
Yet she appeared somewhat haggard, with dark circles beneath her eyes, resembling a weary court official.
“There’s no need to be anxious.”
The Woman gazed at Bu Eunseol and laughed softly.
“If I had intended to harm you, I wouldn’t have revealed myself in the first place.”
“What exactly is this place?”
As Bu Eunseol asked, the Woman’s mouth fell open as if bewildered.
“You entered without even knowing what this place is?”
“That’s correct.”
“And you’re not even from the Infinite Realm?”
“The Infinite Realm?”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes gleamed, and the Woman spoke.
“Not from the Infinite Realm, yet you somehow pierced through the Absolute Boundary that seals this place from the outside world.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed with recognition.
He recalled words that Yang Seol Rin had once spoken to him.
—If I had deployed the Absolute Boundary, the outcome would have been different.
Then were these people from the Yang Seol Family? Or did they share the same techniques as the Yang Seol Family?
What was certain was that the technique severing a space from the world was called the Absolute Boundary.
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
“Lightning fell from the sky. A massive hole appeared where it struck, and I entered out of curiosity.”
“Hmm.”
His words left no room for objection.
Yet the Woman smiled knowingly, sensing that Bu Eunseol was concealing much.
“So what? Does it matter which faction you belong to?”
The Woman laughed playfully.
“All that matters is that you destroy this place.”
“What do you mean?”
“This place. I’m asking you to destroy it.”
Bu Eunseol felt confusion wash over him.
Where was this place? Who was this Woman?
He could not fathom her intentions in the slightest.
“How can I destroy a place I don’t even know?”
“You certainly speak with precision.”
The Woman answered with a slight smile.
“This place is called Gojeoklim.”
Bu Eunseol blinked.
Though he prided himself on knowing Murim history better than most, he had never heard such a name before.
“What does Gojeoklim do?”
Without hesitation, she answered his question.
“It’s where dark divine techniques are forged.”
Thud.
As if struck by a thunderbolt, Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened in shock.
A divine artifact that surpasses the capabilities of martial arts.
So the Gojeoklim was manufacturing the Dark Divine Technique?
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————