The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 638

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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 638.
Where was the most suitable place to evade the gaze of the world?
A secret refuge untouched by human footsteps? An iron fortress bristling with mechanisms and defenses?
The answer lay in the most crowded place of all.
Ordinary people flowed endlessly through such locations, and no one would ever suspect them.
The Infinite Realm, which had quietly taken root in Murim for so long, exploited this very blind spot.
They established the Cheon Hae Medicine Forest, the largest and most renowned Medical Guild in all of Tianxia.
In reality, it was the most vicious human experimentation laboratory under heaven, yet because countless people passed through its doors daily,
it could hide its true nature for so long under the guise of a Medical Guild that treated patients.
And because so many people bustled through it constantly, they never discovered the truth at all.
Yet there existed an even more secretive method of concealing a main base than hiding it in a crowded place.
It was to make the entrance and the actual entry point completely different.
However, to employ such a method required the secret of severing a certain space from the world,
and it came with its own disadvantages.
Since the severed space remained contained within the original space, one could not hide a large area this way.
Crunch, crunch.
An old man in blue robes entered the Market Street of Seong Do.
People hurried past in all directions. Merchants spread their wares on the ground along the street.
The old man, wandering through the chaotic marketplace, leaned briefly against a large tree standing a short distance from the alley.
After surveying his surroundings, the old man seemed pleased with the tree’s shade and spread out his mat.
He opened the bamboo box strapped to his back and withdrew a low folding table and a small wooden sign inscribed with “All Fates Revealed.”
Click.
Having set up the table, the old man sat down and began waiting for customers.
But no one would come to a fortune teller sitting in an alley far removed from the bustling marketplace.
The old man, nodding off repeatedly, eventually rose and left Seong Do, passing through the Market Street.
Yet what others could never know was that every action the old man had performed thus far—setting up the table, spreading the canopy, and all the rest—
had left no trace in the world, and was merely preparation to enter a place completely severed from the current space.
Crunch, crunch.
Having left Seong Do, the old man walked into a sparsely populated forest.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves spreading in all directions, and the air was clear.
But as he approached the great tree,
the birdsong that had filled the air, the rustling of branches in the wind—all gradually faded away.
Perfect silence.
The closer one drew to the great tree, the more the entire world seemed to hold its breath.
“Mok Bul.”
The old man—or rather, Mu Jon—spoke to the tree in an extraordinarily familiar tone.
But there was no response.
“I have matters I must ask you about, and I fear I have disturbed your meditation.”
When still no response came, Mu Jon finally withdrew a gleaming pearl from his robes.
It was the very pearl that had been hidden in the earlobe of Sin Do Mu Bi’s corpse.
“This was hidden within my younger brother’s ear all along.”
But still, no answer came.
As the silence persisted, he spoke again.
“Should I reveal to the world the method to enter this place?”
With a heavy sigh, Mu Jon withdrew a wooden box that emanated a mysterious radiance.
“If I simply cast this into Murim, people would flock to seek you out without hesitation.”
Mu Jon continued.
“If they learned that Gu Beop Ja Mo Ryun left behind a disciple, and discovered one with far superior abilities than that, well…”
But still there was no response.
Mu Jon had no choice but to open the wooden box.
Screeeech.
Smoke billowed forth, and the trees surrounding the area began to wither and contort.
Crackle.
The bark near the trunk of the massive tree before him split open, and
Blink.
a human eye with distinct whites formed within.
Crackle crackle.
Around the newly formed eye, the shape of a colossal Buddha statue took form, beginning to protrude from the tree.
Mok Bul.
Literally, a wooden Buddha statue materialized entirely before Mu Jon.
[Mu Jon, you are truly cruel.]
A deep voice resonated from the wooden Buddha statue.
That voice, like a transmission of enlightened wisdom, did not reach through the ears but burrowed directly into the mind.
[How much longer must Bin Seung suffer before you are satisfied?]
In truth, Mu Jon’s ability to become the greatest sage of Murim under the alternate identity of Shin San Ja
was entirely thanks to Mok Bul, the disciple of Gu Beop Ja Mo Ryun.
But Mok Bul, at Mu Jon’s behest, had repeatedly read and divulged the secrets of heaven.
Ultimately, like his master, he fell under Heavenly Punishment—a divine retribution from the sky—and became a body like a Buddha statue, alive yet petrified.
“But this is a matter of great importance.”
Mu Jon bowed earnestly.
“Answer me. I swear I shall never seek you out again.”
[You have repeated such lies countless times to maintain your identity as Shin San Ja.]
At Mok Bul’s words, Mu Jon lowered his head.
All of it had been for the sake of protecting Murim, yet it was also true that he had contributed to worsening Mok Bul’s Heavenly Punishment.
“I ask one final time. Truly the last.”
Mu Jon spoke with desperate sincerity.
“I stake everything and swear it to you.”
Mok Bul sighed deeply.
He knew all too well that Mu Jon would not keep his promise.
But Mu Jon possessed a Divine Key that would allow him to find Mok Bul no matter where he hid.
There was no escaping from his grasp.
“I ask once more. What is this? This orb you possess.”
Mok Bul sighed at Mu Jon’s question and spoke.
[It is a Fragment of Stars. The Three Families also call it the Celestial Jade.]
Mu Jon blinked his eyes.
In all his years of life, he had never even heard of such a thing as a Fragment of Stars.
“You must tell me what this is and what it is used for.”
Mok Bul, who had been silent for a moment, spoke again.
[I cannot speak of it.]
“Tell me.”
[Mu Jon.]
Red blood was trickling down from Mok Bul’s skin, which resembled the bark of an ancient tree.
[Does the torment I endure seem insignificant to you?]
“It is a necessary sacrifice to save the world. Why do you not understand this?”
Steel-like conviction blazed fiercely in Mu Jon’s eyes.
“If I were in your position, I would have told you everything without regard for the pain.”
Mok Bul closed his eyes.
Every person in the world possessed their own convictions, and these could not be changed by others.
Mok Bul, having abandoned everything, opened his eyes once more and spoke.
[It can alter the Celestial Mandate.]
“The Celestial Mandate?”
[Yes.]
As the secret of the Celestial Mandate was revealed, red blood flowed from Mok Bul’s body, and his bark-like skin began to darken even further.
“It can alter the Celestial Mandate, you say.”
Mu Jon’s eyes widened.
“Does that mean this orb can conceal or disguise one’s innate destiny?”
[….]
“Could it be that my younger brother is still alive?”
Mok Bul, bleeding profusely, gazed at Mu Jon with resentful eyes.
But Mu Jon paid no heed and cried out.
“Speak!”
[It is unknowable.]
“Why?”
[Because the Celestial Jade has already been used.]
Mok Bul spoke with great difficulty.
[From the moment it was used, the Celestial Mandate cannot be read. Moreover, if one possessed knowledge of how to use the Celestial Jade, they could also conceal their innate destiny.]
Mu Jon gazed toward the distant sky with a hollow expression.
“Unknowable…indeed.”
In the end, it was highly probable that someone had used the Celestial Jade to create the corpse of Sin Do Mu Bi and fabricate his death.
If that were the case, was the probability not extremely high that his younger brother was still alive?
Whoosh!
In that moment, blood began to seep from Mok Bul’s body,
Crackle, crackle.
His skin, already like that of an ancient withered tree, hardened even further into brittle stone.
Even the area around his mouth had stiffened so severely that he could barely form words.
[Are you… satisfied?]
“I’m sorry.”
Mu Jon, observing Mok Bul’s pitiful state, lowered his head.
“But the Murim needs you and the Sage. Never turn away from a world drowning in suffering.”
Mok Bul did not answer Mu Jon’s words and sat down once more beside the ancient tree.
Creak, creak.
His body merged again with the gnarled wood.
Until his final breath, he would endure this curse—a punishment as merciless as death itself.
‘If only my brother were still alive.’
Mu Jon’s thoughts turned to Sin Do Mu Bi, his sworn brother.
In the past, Sin Do Mu Bi had taken a mortal wound meant for him, and had even expended his original qi to restore Mu Jon’s cultivation.
But ever since then, Sin Do Mu Bi had occasionally, without any warning,
suffered from a strange affliction where his inner power would diminish to a quarter of its strength.
Because of this, Mu Jon had lived his entire life burdened by guilt toward Sin Do Mu Bi, traveling between the Gangho and the Murim Alliance to aid him.
―Why did you save me in the first place?
Mu Jon, forever indebted in his heart, had once asked Sin Do Mu Bi this question.
―Your safety is the safety of the Righteous Path itself. Why would you do such a thing?
Each time, Sin Do Mu Bi would smile and reply thus:
―Had I been in your position, you would have done exactly the same.
‘But now…’
Had he remained ignorant of the past,
the moment he heard there was a chance his brother lived, he would have fallen to his knees and thanked the heavens.
But now he could not simply laugh with joy.
He had spent long, agonizing years filling the void left by his brother, and now the moment of fruition was drawing near.
If his brother were alive in such circumstances,
what was he to do?
Could he reduce all those long years of endurance to nothing?
‘If he is alive… there are only two possibilities.’
If Sin Do Mu Bi lived, he could not possibly be unaware that Mu Jon held the position of Murim Alliance Lord.
Even if he had suffered a mortal wound, he would have found some way to contact him.
Yet if he does not reveal himself, there are only two scenarios to consider:
Either he is deliberately feigning death and secretly handling some matter,
Or he is being held captive by some force.
‘Brother, wait for me.’
Mu Jon gazed at the distant sky visible through the branches, his lips trembling.
‘Just a little longer, and I’ll continue playing this role.’
Mu Jon had endured hellish days to protect the Righteous Path in place of Jeong Cheon Je.
Now, the fruits of that labor would soon blossom before his eyes—there was no way he could abandon them.
* * *
―It’s time to select a successor for the Wu Tian Duan leader.
Jeong Cheon Je, who had been repeatedly secluding himself, suddenly issued an order through Vice Alliance Leader Buk Ri Seung to select candidates for the next Wu Tian Duan leader.
―When the Alliance Leader makes a move, he truly makes a move.
The Murim Alliance had suffered great humiliation over the Cheon Hae Medicine Forest incident and had paid massive reparations to the Demon Palace.
As a result, morale within the Alliance had plummeted, and renewal was desperately needed.
Initiating the process to select a new Wu Tian Duan leader at such a time was an exceptionally wise choice.
―Under the Vice Alliance Leader’s supervision, select candidates and conduct the trials.
As soon as this order came down, the senior members of the Murim Alliance grew tense.
Rapidly advancing matters under the Vice Alliance Leader’s direction—this was not merely about refreshing the atmosphere.
It could very well be the prelude to selecting the next Alliance Leader.
―Baek Mu Sung, the great lord, has returned in glory.
Yet another shocking rumor spread through the Murim Alliance.
Hyuk Ryeon Eung, the legendary figure who had lost his right arm while dealing with Sal Gwi in Cheong Hae and departed from the Alliance, had returned.
His arm had been perfectly restored, and he had rejoined the Murim Alliance.
Moreover, in his hand—
The head of the Dharma Protector Division of the Demon Palace, the Great Demonic Sect that had long terrorized the Murim,
The head of Hyuk Ryeon Eung, whose status as a traitor had been revealed and who had vanished without a trace.

―Impossible.
Every martial artist within the Alliance found this utterly unbelievable.
Though Hyuk Ryeon Eung had ceased his activities in Gangho after becoming the Dharma Protector of the Demon Hall.
It was known that Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s martial prowess surpassed the Mado Sipgyeol.
In other words, his current martial skill would rival even the foremost among the Seven Kings of Truth.
How could even the most exceptional prodigy of the new generation possibly sever his head alone?
―I obtained a fortuitous opportunity.
Baek Mu Sung explained the circumstances to the leadership.
While wandering Gangho to restore his arm, Baek Mu Sung discovered the Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Turtle Inner Elixir, which existed only in legend.
Upon consuming it, not only did his inner energy surge dramatically, but he was able to instantly restore the meridians and nerves of his right arm.
―So the Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Turtle truly existed.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Turtle was a golden tortoise raised by immortals, its name passed down only through legend.
It was a legendary spiritual creature that had never once revealed itself in the mortal world.
Yet Baek Mu Sung obtained the inner elixir of such a creature?
―It turned out that place was a Secret Cave created by the Shin Geom Mun to test their successors.
Only then did the senior figures within the Alliance understand.
The Shin Geom Mun.
Five hundred years ago, the sword techniques of the Shin Geom Mun were supreme in Murim, yet they vanished as if evaporating overnight.
A hundred years later, the exceptional martial artists known as the Eight Emperors and Three Stars emerged, elevating the standards of Murim martial arts.
Yet even they were said to fall short of the Shin Geom Mun’s techniques.
The sword methods of the Shin Geom Mun were evaluated as the very source of Orthodox sword techniques.
If Baek Mu Sung had obtained the legacy of the Shin Geom Mun, then eliminating Hyuk Ryeon Eung would not be impossible.
―Truly the embodiment of indomitable spirit.
As a disciple of Bul Jon and the next generation representative of the Orthodox Path, Baek Mu Sung had once enjoyed boundless glory.
Yet a tragic accident left his right arm crippled, and he departed the Murim Alliance in despair.
But having obtained a fortuitous opportunity, he restored his body to perfection, severed the head of the Demonic Being who had plunged Murim into terror, and returned.
An indomitable warrior.
The Murim Alliance had begun to praise Baek Mu Sung as one possessed of an indomitable martial spirit.
During this period of fervent celebration within the Alliance, Bu Eunseol also returned to the Murim Alliance.
An order had suddenly been issued to select candidates for the position of Danjoo.
But the greatest reason was that she had heard Baek Mu Sung had severed Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s head upon his return.
Upon arriving at the Murim Alliance, Bu Eunseol heard that all the rumors about Baek Mu Sung were true, and that he was ascending to Danjoo through his achievement of beheading Hyuk Ryeon Eung.
‘So that’s what happened.’
As Baek Mu Sung’s glorious return and promotion proceeded swiftly, Bu Eunseol felt a heaviness settle upon her.
It was not born of jealousy.
Hyuk Ryeon Eung had been struck by her ‘Harmony’ and vanished without a trace.
Because of this, even the Infinite Realm could not locate Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s whereabouts.
Yet Baek Mu Sung had confidently returned to the Murim Alliance with Hyuk Ryeon Eung’s head—which meant he had ultimately submitted to the Three Realms.
‘Such an action would be absolutely impossible without the consent of the Three Realms.’
No matter how much the Infinite Realm had disappeared.
There was no way the Sam Gye faction would tolerate Baek Mu Sung creating a fake head of Hyuk Ryeon Eung and returning to the Murim Alliance.
Brazenly, as if nothing had happened.
The fact that he brought back the fake head of Hyuk Ryeon Eung was absolute proof that Baek Mu Sung was a member of Sam Gye.
‘So that was him, the one I saw at Gang Ok Ji.’
The trap created by Gwi Il Gae, the encounter at Gang Ok Ji.
The masked assassin who had freely unleashed the Blood Dew Seven Techniques was none other than Baek Mu Sung.
‘The treatment of Baek’s injured hand wasn’t from some legendary creature’s inner core—it was definitely Sam Gye’s power.’
Bu Eunseol was the first to examine Baek Mu Sung’s injured hand at that time.
Even if Hwa Ta had returned, the wound would have been beyond recovery.
Consuming the inner core of a legendary spirit could not have perfectly healed such a wound.
It was almost certainly treated using Sam Gye’s power—the same force behind the grotesque and cruel human experiments conducted all this time.
‘I’ll ask him directly.’
Bu Eunseol immediately sought out Baek Mu Sung at the palace hall and requested a private audience, but was coldly refused.
With the ceremony to appoint the new lord approaching, he was endlessly meeting with senior members and discussing various matters in a flurry.
It was a reason she could fully understand.
Yet Bu Eunseol sensed that Baek Mu Sung was avoiding her.
‘We’ll meet soon enough anyway.’
Baek Mu Sung had likely obtained advance information about the selection of the Wu Tian Danjoo candidate and timed his return accordingly.
If so, his goal would be the position of Wu Tian Danjoo.
There was no need to force a meeting now; their paths would cross before long.
After organizing her complicated thoughts, Bu Eunseol went to the Jeol Jeong Gak and handled the accumulated work.
She then put all her team members through intensive training, except for Tae Mu Ryong.
The Elite Division had accumulated considerable experience alongside Bu Eunseol over time.
Yet excluding Tae Mu Ryong, each member’s martial prowess still fell short of the warriors in the Sayoung Battle Division.
‘Every member must reach the level of a Sayoung Battle Division lord.’
All Elite Division members knew her identity and circumstances precisely, and they remained in the Murim Alliance with their lives on the line.
Because of this, she could only lead them as a small, elite force without further reinforcements.
All twenty members of this modest unit had to be capable of surviving any crisis.
She trained each member systematically, tailoring the regimen to their individual strengths and temperaments.
“My lord.”
While Bu Eunseol was thus occupied at the Jeol Jeong Gak, Tae Mu Ryong secretly visited her office.
“Unusual information has come in.”
The Elite Division already operated its own intelligence network and maintained perfect cooperation with the Sa Hon Dae through So Yo.
Because of this, Bu Eunseol could see through the situation of Jeongsayang-do whether she was in the Demon Palace or the Murim Alliance.
“Gwon Wang Seok Chi Haeng, who disappeared long ago, has reappeared in the Murim.”
Gwon Wang Seok Chi Haeng.
He had left the Murim to serve as a gatekeeper of Gokgeomrim, and Bu Eunseol had subdued him and left him in a safe place.
“The problem is that since he appeared in the Gangho, he has been engaged in endless slaughter.”
“Slaughter?”
“Yes. He is already consumed by homicidal mania and has transcended even the level of Sal Gwi—showing signs of becoming a Great Killing Star like Hyeol Mu Geuk from three hundred years ago.”
Bu Eunseol could not comprehend it.
He possessed martial arts far more formidable than what was known throughout Gangho, and the Seven Heavenly Swords were the perfect orthodox techniques.
‘Cheon Am Seong.’
Suddenly, the words Cheon Joon had spoken came flooding back to her.
A harbinger of destruction who would annihilate Murim itself.
A malevolent star that would drench the entire world in eternal darkness—Cheon Am Seong.
He had declared himself to be such an existence.
‘A man like Seok Chi Haeng could never suddenly become a killing fiend.’
Though his temperament was blunt and stubborn, he was someone who could never be corrupted by evil.
Yet now he had suddenly appeared in Gangho, unleashing slaughter, and moreover… was showing signs of becoming a great killing star?
If that were true, did fate truly exist, and was it truly inescapable?

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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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