The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 644
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 644.
Bu Eunseol had completed her preparations to depart from the Murim Alliance.
Since the first trial had ended anyway, there would be no trials for selecting the Mu Cheon Danjoo for some time.
She intended to return to the Demon Hall and handle the various matters she had postponed.
Upon arriving in Seong Do by carriage, Bu Eunseol met with Seo Jin Ha and exchanged identities.
Originally, she had become the Lord of the Demon Hall and a candidate for Mu Cheon Danjoo of the Murim Alliance.
It had become difficult to continue her travels through Gangho for information gathering.
However, Seon Woo Jin had to continuously handle the covert missions assigned by Gong Son Dan Gyeong and Mu Jon.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong elevated the status of Seon Woo Jin and the Elite Division entirely, recognizing him as an independent Information Division under the Chief Inspector Division.
Now I could leave the Murim Alliance whenever I wished without regard for anyone’s opinion.
However, since there was no vacancy in the position of Lord of the Chief Inspector Division, my title remained that of Lord of the Elite Division.
And my office was still maintained at Jeol Jeong Gak in the North Gate Bamboo Forest.
Creak.
As the gates of the Murim Alliance opened, a carriage bearing flags with two phoenixes flying began to rush out.
Bu Eunseol, riding in the Eight-Qi Carriage that only Lords of the Murim Alliance could use, had come out for her journey through Gangho.
‘So they’re eager to elevate their status.’
Bu Eunseol let out a soft laugh as she gazed at the glittering interior of the carriage.
The stipends from the Murim Alliance were somewhat meager compared to the Demon Hall, and the ceremonial treatment was sparse.
But it was different for those of Lord rank and above.
To maintain dignity, stipends doubled, and exclusive carriages and attendants were assigned.
Moreover, simply by holding the title of Lord, one could receive considerable courtesy when visiting any Orthodox Sect.
‘It’s of no use to me.’
Having long since ascended to the position of successor to the Demon Hall, I had been receiving the highest honors of the Demon Hall for ages.
Therefore, the ceremonial treatment that Lords of the Murim Alliance received held little appeal for me.
‘She certainly worked hard this time.’
The face of Gong Son Dan Gyeong suddenly came to mind.
‘She’s certainly keeping her promises well.’
Reflecting on it, she was someone who thoroughly honored her words.
―Whatever suspicions I may harbor, I will not show them. I will support Seon Woo Dae Ju with my full commitment.
In the past, she had made this promise.
And from that time until now, she had kept that promise without wavering even once.
Even when Mu Jon acted in ways that betrayed trust, she did her best to support me.
If only she had a beard.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong possessed far more integrity than most men.
‘Then my feelings have changed as well.’
Clatter, clatter.
Having arrived in Seong Do, Bu Eunseol sent back the Murim Alliance carriage.
Then she stopped at a station and switched to an ordinary carriage once more.
The carriage was being driven by a Team Member from Sa Hon Dae disguised as a driver.
Ever since an innocent driver had been caught up and killed in Cheon Joon’s attack, I had never ridden in a carriage driven by an ordinary driver.
It was to ensure that innocent civilians would never perish, no matter how suddenly a conflict might erupt.
“…!”
Yet as Bu Eunseol traveled by carriage, a subtle sensation washed over her.
It was an inexplicable premonition—an ominous foreboding.
In that instant, Bu Eunseol immediately sent out a telepathic transmission across a thousand leagues.
[Emergency situation. So Yo. Leave this area at once with the Team Members. Now.]
Before Bu Eunseol’s words had even finished, the Team Members who had been disguised as the carriage driver,
and So Yo who had been following discreetly, vanished in an instant.
What Bu Eunseol demanded above all else from her Team Members was survival in any circumstance.
And the command was to never hesitate in retreat when danger signals arrived.
Moreover, Bu Eunseol possessed unwavering faith that she could survive any crisis.
Thus, So Yo and the Sa Hon Dae members retreated immediately without a moment’s hesitation.
Click.
Bu Eunseol descended from the carriage with composure and gazed forward.
Black mist suddenly billowed across the vast plains.
After a brief moment, something massive in the distance began rolling toward Bu Eunseol.
‘Surely not.’
Bu Eunseol’s brow furrowed.
‘Another scheme?’
Even the Three Realms could not comprehend her movements in an instant and launch an ambush.
But to have sealed off this region beforehand and laid a trap meant they had anticipated her path in advance.
‘That cannot be.’
After the previous attack by Cheon Joon,
Bu Eunseol had eliminated all the Three Realms’ operatives within the Demon Hall who could coordinate with them.
Save for Bi Yeong Gak Ju, there was no one left who could expose her movements.
‘No… there is.’
In all of Murim, excluding the Sa Hon Dae, there were two people who could discern her movements.
They were Ma Cheon Je and Chong Gyo Ryeong.
‘Ma Cheon Je would have no reason to expose my movements to the Three Realms.’
Ma Cheon Je, the supreme leader of the Demonic Path and effectively holding power over Bu Eunseol’s life and death, would never create such a crude trap by exposing her location to the Three Realms.
Then the culprit must be Chong Gyo Ryeong.
‘Chong Gyo Ryeong.’
A flash of light gleamed in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
‘Do not think you can brush this matter aside so easily.’
Rumble.
In the meantime, the massive object had rolled to within thirty paces of Bu Eunseol.
Astonishingly, it was a colossal opera stage.
Bu Eunseol let out an exasperated sigh.
In the past, Cheon Joon had created a vast domain across a hundred paces, like some mysterious formation.
And now, the space where Bu Eunseol stood felt equally mysterious, as though severed from the world itself.
Before her eyes, an impossible phenomenon was unfolding.
And only the highest echelons of Sam Gye possessed the ability to manifest such power.
Boom.
In that moment, the massive stage mounted on wheels drew closer to Bu Eunseol.
‘This is no illusion.’
That colossal wheel and the stage concealed behind the curtain—remarkably, they were not illusions but tangible constructs of reality.
Rumble.
At last, the Peking Opera stage halted before Bu Eunseol, and the curtain began to rise slowly.
Creak.
Upon the stage stood a modest dwelling with a courtyard, and before it lay several coffins.
A figure wearing the mask of an old man in tattered garments and another wearing a boy’s mask were meticulously cleaning the corpses.
Then, a gust of wind swept forth, and a shadow clad in black robes materialized before the old man.
The figure wore a black mask with eyes stained crimson.
From head to foot, everything was black—from a distance, one might mistake it for a dark specter.
As the black shadow appeared, the old-masked figure trembled in terror.
He hastily ushered the boy inside the dwelling and sealed it shut.
It was as though he dreaded the Black-Robed Sage entering the house.
Clash.
The stage transformed again, and the old man and Black-Robed Sage were locked in combat.
The Black-Robed Sage unleashed relentless attacks with a keen blade, yet the old man, hands clasped behind his back, deflected each strike with his fingers alone.
Ring!
Unable to overcome the old man, the shadow retreated and gestured as though speaking earnestly for some time.
As the dialogue continued, the old man suddenly extended both arms.
The shadow’s eyes curved like crescents as he unhesitatingly severed both extended limbs.
And as if that were not enough, he gouged out the old man’s eyes.
Then he drove over a hundred hidden projectiles into the fallen old man’s back.
Trembling.
Thick bloodshot veins began to spread across Bu Eunseol’s face.
This theatrical performance revealed how her grandfather Bu Chanyang had died.
And such details could never be known
except by the one who killed her grandfather or the one who had witnessed his corpse.
Crash!
Bu Eunseol unleashed her inner power, shattering the stage before her.
The masked performers on the stage cried out in alarm and fled in panic.
Bu Eunseol paid them no heed and walked toward the ruins of the stage.
Boom.
There, surrounded by luminous radiance, stood a shadow.
In the past, Cheon Joon had manifested as a black shadow, but the shadow before her was tinged white.
Bu Eunseol could sense it instinctively.
This was Sang Je, who ruled the Infinite Realm alongside Cheon Joon.
[You seem to recognize me.]
Shadow nodded playfully,
“You bastard….”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes were streaked with crimson bloodshot veins.
“Did you kill my grandfather?”
Then, on Shadow’s face,
a crescent-shaped form materialized where eyes should have been.
[Indeed.]
Sang Je, the shadow that had even formed the shape of white teeth, smiled broadly.
[This body slew Chil Ji Ma Do.]
In that instant, focus vanished from Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
At last, I had found the murderer who killed my grandfather.
Boom!
With a deafening explosion that seemed to tear the heavens asunder, Bu Eunseol’s form became a flash of light, rocketing directly toward Sang Je.
Whoosh, Crash!
Simultaneously, the Muk Hon Sword began etching thousands upon thousands of lines across the void.
It was neither any martial technique nor sword art.
It was simply the will to annihilate the murderer before me, and the totality of every martial art I could unleash.
Boom! Crash!
In an instant, a hundred zhang radius was utterly devastated.
From the Muk Hon Sword that cleaved the air, violet radiance lingered then faded, and transparent energy hung suspended.
At times, black heat shimmer rose, and at others, crimson brilliance surged forth.
It was the convergence of all the power contained within Bu Eunseol’s body,
and it possessed greater force than any martial art I had ever unleashed before.
Boom! Slash!
Each time the sword energy grazed, the earth fractured, and wherever trees and stones stood, the land became level.
Sang Je moved like a phantom, evading the cascading onslaught.
Yet the thousands of sword strikes Bu Eunseol had created completely engulfed the thirty zhang radius surrounding where Sang Je stood.
Screech! Shriek!
At last, Sang Je, sliced by thousands of sword strikes, vanished as if ascending into the heavens.
Zing.
But as if nothing had happened, he reappeared before Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Whooom.
Black heat shimmer rose from Bu Eunseol’s entire body.
Realizing that Sang Je’s white shadow, like Cheon Joon, was a being with a separate physical form,
I prepared to unleash the Blood Dew Seven Techniques, the absolute annihilation sword art that extinguishes all life.
Whoosh!
As the first of the Blood Dew Seven Techniques unfolded, not merely sword light, but black sword energy dark enough to shroud the entire world poured forth toward Sang Je.
Everything touched by the Blood Dew Seven Techniques becomes a place where life force is obliterated.
No matter how much of a shadow it is, that energy can bring calamity upon its true body.
Screech! Screeeeech!
Yet even as the Blood Dew Seven Techniques made contact, Sang Je still did not dissipate.
Hiss.
A laughing mouth formed within Sang Je’s shadow.
[Cheon Joon shaped his own despair and suffering into death to inflict it upon others. That is why he fell to you.]
“….”
[But I am different. From the beginning, I possess neither form nor substance capable of delivering death.]
Sang Je gazed at Bu Eunseol, fashioning a white mouth from the darkness.
[Bu Chanyang must be weeping in the underground.]
The shadow’s voice was infinitely light, almost playful.
[The child he risked his life to save possesses such pathetic skill that he cannot even reach my toes.]
Whoosh.
In an instant, all radiance and vital energy flowing from Bu Eunseol’s body vanished without trace.
And silence descended.
For hundreds of paces around, not a single sound could be heard.
It was as though the universe’s rotation had ceased and time itself had frozen across all existence.
Crackle.
Black mist suddenly began rising from around Bu Eunseol’s body.
Death, death, death.
The only word repeating in her mind was death itself.
Ordinary Blood Dew Seven Techniques would not suffice to dissipate that shadow.
To become the Grim Reaper who delivers absolute death… she herself must first become the embodiment of death.
In that moment, Bu Eunseol began to manifest what she could create, yet had never experienced before…
A flawless, perfect death.
Groan, groan.
Infinite killing intent flowed from Bu Eunseol’s body, now shrouded in black shadow.
This was the vengeance her grandfather had awaited even in dreams.
Even if she died, even if she slew every human in the world.
She would not cease this vengeance.
Screech.
As Bu Eunseol began to enter the realm of perfect death itself,
Rumble.
Her body turned pitch black, and her infinite killing intent became black mist that billowed and spread outward.
“I cannot forgive.”
Crack.
Cracks began to form in the Muk Hon Sword.
The death Bu Eunseol had created.
That death, impartial to all, affected not only living creatures but even inanimate objects like the Muk Hon Sword.
Crash.
In that instant, a tremendous death consumed Sang Je’s body.
At that same moment, Bu Eunseol was being pulled into an infinitely dark and profound Death.
However, the white light flowing from Sang Je’s body began to shine even more brilliantly within the darkness.
He was enduring the Death that Bu Eunseol had unleashed.
“Hahaha.”
Suddenly, a low and eerie laugh escaped from Bu Eunseol’s lips.
They spoke of him as the Sang Je of the Infinite Realm, and I wondered what tremendous power he possessed.
I wanted to see what strength he would display before Death itself.
Yet here he was, crouched like a worm, emitting light from his body to endure the darkness, desperately clinging to life.
“And yet he spoke as though he were a god ruling the world….”
Contempt gleamed in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
“You too are nothing but an ordinary human, struggling with all your might to escape Death.”
Sang Je’s light shone even more brilliantly, but it was futile.
Rumble.
Sang Je’s form was sinking deeper and deeper into the boundless darkness.
No matter what power he wielded, the Death that Bu Eunseol had created was absolute, with no escape.
Because Bu Eunseol herself had no will to continue living.
If she could avenge her grandfather.
She could sever this wretched life without hesitation.
Gurgle.
Bu Eunseol was slowly sinking into the black darkness together with Sang Je.
At the same time, even the sky turned black and trembled as if an earthquake were occurring.
The world shook as though its end had arrived, and black darkness was consuming everything.
But just as boundless black energy began to flow from Bu Eunseol’s body,
Zing.
Suddenly, a warm energy surged forth from near the Daechu acupoint.
That was the place her grandfather would always caress when her body ached.
Whoosh!
As mysterious power flowed from the Daechu acupoint, the Prajna Great Ability within her body activated of its own accord in response.
Light. Then a warm and brilliant light appeared before Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
The moment she saw that light, her grandfather’s benevolent smile came to mind.
‘I see now.’
Bu Eunseol, who had been sinking into darkness consumed by Death, regained clarity of mind for a moment.
‘Grandfather did not die at Sang Je’s hands.’
A performance.
On that stage, it appeared as though grandfather had urgently pushed the young boy into the house.
But the reality was different.
I had not entered the house, but rather had entered the iron coffin upon grandfather’s instructions.
It was likely because I feared that if I remained in the house, Hyung Su would bring calamity upon me.
The iron coffin appeared no different from any ordinary wooden coffin on the surface.
But when one entered to play dead, it possessed the function of suppressing all of Bu Eunseol’s vital signs.
‘Above all, I cannot deceive Grandfather’s perception.’
Currently, my hypersensitive domain extends roughly a hundred paces.
Grandfather, who dominated Tianxia, would surely have three or four times that range.
Even if I were Ma Cheon Je, I could never slip past Grandfather’s awareness and infiltrate Pyeong-an Funeral House undetected.
‘He did not witness it himself.’
Sang Je had not directly observed the situation at that time…
He must have deduced what happened then by examining the traces left upon the corpse.
Because Grandfather’s body had been stolen by Sam Gye.
Whoosh.
The moment I grasped everything, my body—which had been sinking endlessly into darkness—began to rise again, suffused with light.
And suddenly, the surrounding landscape appeared anew.
‘Grandfather was stronger than anyone.’
I could say this with absolute certainty.
Grandfather was never subordinate to Jeong Ma Ssang Cheon Je.
Yet despite that, Grandfather never became consumed by power and lived an ordinary life.
And he sacrificed himself to protect my life.
‘I cannot waste the life Grandfather preserved for me.’
To succumb to death merely because I could not suppress my rage.
To perish alongside Sang Je of the Infinite Realm—who did not even kill Grandfather—
Such a thing could never come to pass.
Shiiing!
The light erupting from my body soared to the very edge of the heavens.
And the space stained by darkness gradually began to reclaim its true form.
Then the shadow, which had been bleached white,
From within that spectral form—the spirit body Sang Je had created—the true visage began to reveal itself clearly.
The real face of Sang Je, whom I had thought to be an ancient elder like Cheon Joon…
Astonishingly bore the appearance of a young scholar with a pure, gentle smile.
[Remarkable.]
Sang Je spoke with a human voice and smiled broadly.
[To escape from the layering of the mental realm by your own will.]
I furrowed my brow.
I had created death itself, and the vital force Grandfather had infused combined with the Prajna Omnipotence within my body,
By that light I regained clarity and was not consumed by power.
Yet what was this sudden talk of mental realm layering?
[Now I understand everything.]
Sang Je gazed at me and smiled faintly.
[In the end, Ben Gye was mistaken about this.]
I had no intention of listening to Sang Je’s vague rambling.
“Who exactly killed Grandfather?”
Crimson blood-light blazed forth from my eyes.
“Speak!”
[I do not know. However….]
Sang Je spoke.
[Just as you suspected, I did not witness it directly, but rather observed the marks upon the corpse.]
[Did you take grandfather’s body from the Infinite Realm?]
[That cannot be.]
Sang Je, shrouded in shadow, smiled with perfect composure.
[Had I done so, I would have leveraged it to negotiate extensively with you.]
“Then how did you confirm grandfather’s corpse?”
[The Gwi Il Gye.]
Sang Je spoke matter-of-factly.
[Bu Chanyang’s body is being preserved by the Gwi Il Gye.]
Flames ignited in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
The Gwi Il Gye—the organization creating duplicates of the previous generation’s masters.
Just as Bu Eunseol had suspected, they had taken grandfather’s corpse.
“Where is the Gwi Il Gye located?”
[Rather than such questions.]
Sang Je spoke in a low voice.
[Would it not be more fitting to ask why I sought you out directly?]
“I have no interest.”
Blood seemed ready to drip from Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
“Who killed grandfather, and where is the Gwi Il Gye’s main base?”
Clang.
Bu Eunseol, gripping the Muk Hon Sword, spoke in an impossibly low voice.
“If you do not speak, I will kill you as well.”
Boom! Crackle crackle!
With the explosion, violet lightning and transparent energy erupted from Bu Eunseol’s body, piercing the heavens.
She had unleashed the power of the Otherworldly Divine Technique that she had concealed all this time.
[You have obtained the Otherworldly Divine Technique.]
Sang Je expressed wonder, yet shook his head.
[But with that alone, you cannot topple Ben Gye.]
“Then I shall kill you first.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes, having regained their icy clarity, blazed like a crimson sun.
“Once you are dead, all the forces of the Three Realms will crawl forth, and I shall crush them all head-on.”
Bu Eunseol had made her decision.
She would slay Sang Je, then meet the assault of the Three Realms’ power with direct, overwhelming force.
[If you wish to exact revenge, you must first hear what I have to say.]
Sang Je spoke with utmost gravity.
[You must survive to take your revenge.]
Whoosh!
As Sang Je extended his hand, the surging aura of otherworldly energy that had been ravaging Bu Eunseol’s body dissipated.
Or rather, it seemed merely suppressed for the moment.
“You expect me to listen to your flippant words about my grandfather’s death?”
Crack. Crackle.
A grotesque sound spread as the otherworldly energy began seeping through in fragments.
Bu Eunseol was severing the incomprehensible power of Sang Je.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————