The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 654

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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 654.
Bu Eunseol read through the letter once more.
―And finally, I obtained a crucial clue about Hyung Su.
The one who plundered all of our society’s sword techniques and murdered Hoe Ju and the ten master swordsmen
was none other than one of the Seven Lords of the Murim Alliance.
“One of the Seven Lords?”
A flicker of surprise crossed Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Could it be that Hyung Su, who killed my grandfather, and The Demon, who destroyed the Heavenly Sword Society, were the same person?
―After obtaining this clue, our society investigated the movements of the Seven Great Units. And finally, we discovered the whereabouts of the one suspected to be that demon.
Bu Eunseol’s gaze grew cold as she continued reading the letter.
―Tong Cheon Dan Lord, Yang Dae Ryang. After taking leave, he concealed his identity and wandered the Gangho in secret, engaging in martial travels.
And we found even more concrete evidence—the sword marks left behind by Seok Sa Suk.
In the past, Yu Hwa Ryeong, along with his master Woo Hak
and Seok Song, the Second Seat of the Heavenly Sword Society, visited villages plagued by epidemic while searching for Hyung Su.
But while Yu Hwa Ryeong slept at an inn,
Woo Hak and Seok Song were investigating the village when they were ambushed by an extraordinarily skilled master.
Woo Hak, who barely managed to return to Yu Hwa Ryeong with Seok Song’s help,
left him with two final words before breathing his last.
Hyung Su was a member of the Dong Chang who appeared in plague-stricken villages, and Hyung Su’s hands and sword scabbard bore the marks of the Neung Hyung Sword Technique.
Upon hearing this deathbed testimony, Yu Hwa Ryeong came to find Bu Eunseol.
And in a plague-stricken village in Sichuan, he first discovered the Underground Fortress of the Infinite Realm.
He killed one Dong Chang inspector there, but regrettably, it was not Hyung Su.
But could the actual culprit be not a Dong Chang official, but a Wanderer Leader of the Murim Alliance?
‘Tong Cheon Dan Lord, Yang Dae Ryang.’
He was a man of remarkable ascent, rising from a mere foot soldier of the Murim Alliance to the position of one of the Seven Lords.
Moreover, from his days as a lowly martial artist, he continuously obtained fortuitous encounters.
In his youth, he even earned the somewhat peculiar epithet of “Success Follows the Horse.”
Yet he was the one who murdered the leaders and ten seats of the Heavenly Sword Society?
‘A coincidence?’
The Elite Division was tracking the whereabouts of the Seven Lords under Bu Eunseol’s orders.
Though their current position was lowly and they could not perfectly trace the movements of the Seven Lords, they had discovered one highly suspicious circumstance.
Specifically, among the Seven Great Units, the Tong Cheon Dan
had all its affairs being handled by Vice Lord Ma Woon.
Of course, it was true that most sects and organizations were run not by their leaders but by their second-in-command.
But in the case of the Tong Cheon Dan, Lord Yang Dae Ryang had completely withdrawn from all duties,
while Vice Lord Ma Woon held complete authority over the unit’s operations.
Furthermore, he had records of frequently visiting Hwang Bu Ju, where my grandfather had been.
Of course, those were public movements with a clear reason—visiting his regular inn—but
whether he switched people in the middle, no one could know.
Therefore, Bu Eunseol intended to conduct a covert investigation into the Tong Cheon Dan Lord after handling Gwi Ah’s affairs to some extent.
By coincidence, this person overlapped with Hyung Su from the Heavenly Sword Society.
‘If this man is the Demon that the Heavenly Sword Society sought, then the probability that he is Hyung Su, who killed my grandfather, increases significantly.’
Hyung Su, who destroyed the Heavenly Sword Society, was said to be a merciless demon without blood or tears, and possessed a ruthless swordsmanship.
My grandfather was also killed brutally, and since he belongs to the Seven Lords mentioned by Shin San Ja…
The probability that he is Hyung Su is very high.
―Our society has conducted a thorough investigation of Yang Dae Ryang from multiple angles.
And we have discovered circumstances suggesting that the opportunities he has obtained were actually extorted from others.
According to the correspondence.
The legend of Yang Dae Ryang, known for opportunities pouring in endlessly,
may actually be a rumor spread to conceal the theft of others’ fortunes.
‘It’s a plausible story. But….’
The problem is that Shin San Ja’s intentions are more suspicious than the Tong Cheon Dan Lord.
‘Wasn’t it quite a long time ago that the Heavenly Sword Society collapsed and became a ruin?’
Since Shin San Ja is called the wisest person in Murim, he would never act impulsively.
Yet now, of all times.
He intervened to allow the Heavenly Sword Society to obtain the Debt Repayment Talisman, and revealed that one of the Murim Alliance’s Seven Lords is Hyung Su?
‘It’s far too contrived.’
In that moment, a terrifying hypothesis flashed through Bu Eunseol’s mind.
The reason Shin San Ja created the Debt Repayment Talisman.
Could it be to manipulate the people of Murim according to his own designs?
‘Moreover, isn’t Shin San Ja’s true identity Mu Jon?’
Recalling the formidable qi of the six Lords who attended the monument dedication ceremony for Beok Goong Ryung,
I entertained another sinister speculation.
―Could it be that all Seven Lords are agents from the Three Realms or external forces?
―Did Shin San Ja draw me in to deal with them?
Since Mu Jon serves as the Murim Alliance Lord, his actions must be extremely cautious.
Therefore, could he be using me
to investigate the Seven Lords one by one and topple them one by one?
‘If that were the case.’
A flash of light gleamed in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Then Shin San Ja’s true purpose in moving the Heavenly Sword Society might be to exploit Yu Hwa Ryeong’s thirst for revenge once more…
to bring down another of the Seven Lords.
‘Am I simply too suspicious?’
According to the Heavenly Sword Society’s investigation results,
they revealed that the Tong Cheon Dan Lord was indeed involved in the death of the Heavenly Sword Society Lord, as Shin San Ja said.
Then perhaps the murderer of my grandfather and the Demon spoken of by the Heavenly Sword Society
just happened by pure coincidence to belong to the Seven Great Lords.
‘It’s always good to keep possibilities open.’
The wisest person in Murim.
Upon reflection, such a position is very frightening and dangerous.
Because I could easily manipulate countless people…
And turn falsehoods into truths.
―I became the leader of the Heavenly Sword Society to deal with him.
According to the letter, Yu Hwa Ryeong, the only one who upheld the master’s legacy, had eventually become the leader of the Heavenly Sword Society and was preparing for revenge.
―And wasn’t he our society’s greatest benefactor and the one who perfected our highest sword techniques… essentially our society’s predecessor?
I wrote this letter because.
If our society were to fall… I wanted to ask you to carry on our society’s legacy through this.
A map was enclosed at the end of the letter.
Bu Eunseol immediately understood what this map signified.
A treasure map.
It was a map marking the location of a repository containing the enormous treasures the Heavenly Sword Society had accumulated over generations.
―I couldn’t say it aloud, but I’ve always thought of you as my disciple. I’m sorry to burden you with this.
Even if revenge were achieved.
The moment we touched the Wanderer Leader of the Murim Alliance, both the Heavenly Sword Society and Yu Hwa Ryeong would surely perish.
Knowing that Bu Eunseol was fair and free from greed.
Yu Hwa Ryeong left the Heavenly Sword Society’s vast fortune to her.
Hoping she would inherit the Neung Hyung Eo Geom Style and carry on the Heavenly Sword Society’s legacy.
‘A task that could never succeed from the start.’
Yu Hwa Ryeong was mistaken.
Unlike what was known in the Murim.
The true power of the Seven Lords transcended imagination.
Even if the Heavenly Sword Society deployed some hidden trump card, there was absolutely no chance of success.
They would simply meet a dog’s death.
“So Yo!”
His expression grew urgent.
At least several days had passed since the letter was sent.
Yu Hwa Ryeong had certainly already finished preparations to strike the Tong Cheon Dan Lord and was executing them.
“The whereabouts of Yu Hwa Ryeong, a master of the Heavenly Sword Society….”
He shook his head, his thoughts trailing off.
No matter how much he mobilized the intelligence network of the government.
Finding Yu Hwa Ryeong, a figure not well-known even in the Murim, in such a short time was impossible.
“Contact the Elite Division and find the Tong Cheon Dan Lord’s whereabouts! Immediately!”
It would be more likely for the Elite Division, which belonged to the Murim Alliance, to locate the Tong Cheon Dan Lord’s movements.
Bu Eunseol was immediately trying to find the Tong Cheon Dan Lord and save Yu Hwa Ryeong.
* * *
Tong Cheon Dan Lord Yang Dae Ryang quietly visits Banyak Temple on Geum Jeong Mountain every year when the Qingming Festival arrives.
Because he keeps the memorial tablet of his deceased mother there.
Yang Dae Ryang grew up under his widowed mother who worked as a merchant, and his family circumstances were very difficult.
But his mother, recognizing Yang Dae Ryang’s exceptional talent, worked until her bones broke, sending him to study and to the Martial Hall.
Yang Dae Ryang worked hard to live up to those expectations.
And finally, I was able to live as a low-ranking martial artist of the Murim Alliance.
Though my martial prowess was unremarkable, I possessed an excellent memory and nimble reflexes.
I became a junior messenger, traveling between the various branches of the Murim Alliance to relay information.
But then something extraordinary occurred.
After becoming a messenger traversing the Gangho, my martial cultivation began to surge dramatically.
It was because I had encountered fortuitous opportunities.
Wherever I went, fortune followed in my wake.
I would discover secret manuals while walking mountain paths, and even when visiting an Inn for a meal, I would catch the eye of legendary masters who would teach me their arts.
As if the entire world conspired to aid me, opportunities arrived in succession, an endless stream of providence.
After years of such unceasing fortune, I had become a renowned master without realizing it.
Promotion followed upon promotion.
Until at last, I became the leader of the Tong Cheon Dan, commanding the Murim Alliance’s most elite intelligence operatives.
Rising from a low-ranking martial artist to become a lord of the Murim Alliance, I had become a figure destined to be remembered throughout the organization’s history.
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
Having arrived at Geum Jeong Mountain, Yang Dae Ryang began ascending the mountain path where birdsong echoed through the air.
Visiting Banyak Temple quietly on his mother’s death anniversary each year had become his most solemn ritual.
His widowed mother had passed away before witnessing his success.
For Yang Dae Ryang, this had become a lifelong regret.
Each year, performing memorial services at Banyak Temple on her death anniversary was how he sought to ease that sorrow.
Banyak Temple, receiving substantial donations from Yang Dae Ryang every year, always held grand memorial ceremonies in his honor.
When all the rituals concluded,
Yang Dae Ryang engaged in conversation with the temple’s abbot.
Then he descended Geum Jeong Mountain once more.
“Hmm.”
Pausing mid-step, Yang Dae Ryang gazed toward the distant sky, his eyes growing distant.
In truth, all the legends about me that had become known were fabrications.
I had never encountered fortuitous opportunities, nor had I ever learned martial arts from legendary masters.
But there was one truth that remained.
My family had been desperately poor, and my mother had worked herself to the bone for my sake.
That I came alone to Banyak Temple each year without my subordinates to perform my mother’s memorial service—
Perhaps it was because I had not become the righteous and noble pillar of the Murim that my mother had always wished for.
Instead, I had become someone who conspired with hidden forces and orchestrated various schemes.
Thud, thud.
Nearly at the foot of the mountain, Yang Dae Ryang suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“Quite wealthy indeed.”
He shook his head, having been gazing toward the distant sky.
“To have laid out a formation across this entire region in advance.”
Whoosh.
Before his words had even finished,
the sky suddenly darkened and the surrounding landscape began to transform.
Based on the entire landscape of Geum Jeong Mountain transforming before me, not merely the view directly ahead.
Someone had invested tremendous wealth and time to layer multiple mystical formations across the entire mountainside.
“There’s only one type of fool who wastes such vast fortunes on pointless extravagance like this.”
Yang Dae Ryang let out a scornful laugh.
“The Heavenly Sword Society.”
Shhhhh.
In that instant, mist seemed to billow forth, and a gray silhouette slowly materialized before Yang Dae Ryang.
His features were handsome enough to inspire favor in anyone’s eyes, yet his gaze burned with an unmistakable resentment.
It was Yu Hwa Ryeong, who had become the new Master of the Heavenly Sword Society.
“Yang Dae Ryang! You know full well the crimes you have committed!”
“What are you talking about?”
Yu Hwa Ryeong’s face twisted with fury at Yang Dae Ryang’s leisurely response.
“You infiltrated our society posing as a disciple, stole the sword techniques of the Ten Seats, and brutally murdered both the Master and the Ten Seats themselves. How dare you commit such atrocities while wearing the mask of humanity!”
Yu Hwa Ryeong drew his sword and cast aside its scabbard.
It was a declaration of absolute resolve to kill Yang Dae Ryang.
“I fail to understand your logic.”
Yang Dae Ryang’s expression turned bored as he smacked his lips.
“If you had inherited such vast wealth, you should have lived quietly in seclusion. Why do you thrash about so desperately seeking revenge?”
“What did you say?”
“Does revenge change anything?”
Yang Dae Ryang’s lips curled upward in incomprehension.
“Will the dead return to life because of it?”
Flames of rage ignited in Yu Hwa Ryeong’s eyes.
But he forcibly suppressed his emotions.
There was something he desperately needed to ask this vile creature.
“Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Why did you kill the masters of our society!”
Yang Dae Ryang calmly shook his head.
“I didn’t kill them.”
“You have the audacity to lie when evidence exists!”
“Then take that evidence to the Murim Alliance. Why did you come to me?”
At Yang Dae Ryang’s words, Yu Hwa Ryeong fell silent.
In truth, there was no decisive evidence.
What he had discovered after hearing Shin San Ja’s account was merely circumstantial evidence from that time.
He could find no clear proof that Yang Dae Ryang had killed the Master and the Ten Seats.
“This is absurd. You came to challenge me without proper evidence?”
“Perhaps the one who killed the Master and the Ten Seats of our society was not you after all.”
Yu Hwa Ryeong bit his lip.
“But I have proof that you are the Masked Assassin who ambushed and killed my teacher.”
“Is that so? Then why didn’t you inform the Murim Alliance?”
Yang Dae Ryang chuckled, his shoulders shaking with amusement.
“If there were clear evidence, I would immediately lose my position as a Lord and be thrown into the Underground Prison, wouldn’t I?”
When Yu Hwa Ryeong didn’t answer, he laughed knowingly, as if he understood everything.
“You don’t have the evidence in your hands. The decisive proof isn’t in your possession.”
“….”
“But it’s still strange. You must have known that the Heavenly Sword Society couldn’t exist in the Murim any longer just by targeting me. Yet you attacked without evidence…”
Yang Dae Ryang, who had been staring at Yu Hwa Ryeong, tilted his head to one side.
He nodded as if he had finally understood.
“You saw something left behind by the dead. That’s why you have no evidence but proceeded with conviction. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes. At the time, Seok Sa Suk deliberately left traces of our society’s sword technique on the one who ambushed him.”
Yu Hwa Ryeong spoke as if spitting blood.
“Right on your sword sheath!”
Yang Dae Ryang’s eyes narrowed to slits.
Only then did he grasp everything.
“You confirmed the sword marks, but ultimately failed to steal my sheath.”
As Yang Dae Ryang smiled, Yu Hwa Ryeong’s body trembled.
He was right.
Yu Hwa Ryeong had recruited someone from the Murim Alliance and bribed Si Bi of the Tong Cheon Dan.
Through her, he had the traces left on Yang Dae Ryang’s sheath—the most suspicious candidate—imprinted onto thin paper.
From the paper Si Bi delivered, Yu Hwa Ryeong discovered traces of the Neung Hyung Eo sword technique.
But no matter what method he used, stealing the sheath kept in the Tong Cheon Dan was impossible.
In the end, he abandoned the pursuit of concrete evidence and resolved instead to kill Yang Dae Ryang and take his revenge.
“I am prepared.”
“It’s admirable that you managed to discover my whereabouts and launch an ambush…”
He made a clicking sound and shook his head.
“But thinking you could trap me with such a formation is disappointing.”
“This is a formation my master specially devised to kill you.”
Yu Hwa Ryeong gripped his sword and cried out as if spitting blood.
“Even if you kill me, you will never escape!”
The Seventh Seat Woo Hak and the Second Seat Seok Song
had devised the Neung Hyung Eo—an absolute defensive sword technique—to kill the Demon who had destroyed the Heavenly Sword Society.
But among the disciples of the Heavenly Sword Society, there were none with innate killing intent, so they couldn’t master it.
Eventually, the technique was passed to Bu Eunseol, but the two realized the necessity of a secret art that even ordinary disciples could execute.
Then they accidentally discovered the legacy of Cheon Ki Old Man, an ancient sage, and based on it created a mysterious sword formation unprecedented in the Murim.
It was the Heart Prison Formation.
This formation, which could imprison not only the enemy’s body but also their mind,
once completed, would be absolutely inescapable even if all those executing it died.
A terrifying absolute formation with such power had been created.
And Yu Hwa Ryeong, having investigated in advance that Yang Dae Ryang visited Geum Jeong Mountain every year,
He had mobilized vast wealth and manpower to lay a formation array across the entire foothills of Geum Jeong Mountain.
“You must be prepared for this.”
As Yu Hwa Ryeong approached, Yang Dae Ryang let out a low chuckle instead.
“No matter how I think about it, something feels off.”
He narrowed his eyes into crescents and sent a transmission to him.
「Disciples of Seok Song and Woo Hak, who couldn’t even reach the tenth stage—thinking they could challenge me, the Lord of my faction?」
“Yang Dae Ryang!”
From Yu Hwa Ryeong’s blade erupted the Heavenly Sword Society’s supreme technique, the Autumn Leaf Sword Method, in explosive display.
Yet Yang Dae Ryang, standing motionless in place, easily deflected Yu Hwa Ryeong’s sword strikes with a single finger technique.
Tap, tap, tap.
With a bored expression, Yang Dae Ryang flicked away Yu Hwa Ryeong’s sword strikes as he spoke.
“What a shame. Your swordsmanship is decent, but your talent is lacking.”
Whoosh!
But seizing the moment while he spoke, Yu Hwa Ryeong altered his technique and thrust his blade toward Yang Dae Ryang’s throat.
Click!
Yet Yu Hwa Ryeong’s sword technique halted immediately.
Yang Dae Ryang had wedged the blade between the index and middle fingers of his left hand.
The Welcoming Immortal Two-Finger Technique.
His faction’s supreme secret art.
The most powerful and unique finger technique in all of Murim unfolded before them.
“The Heavenly Sword Society’s collapse was inevitable. You couldn’t even train your disciples properly.”
“Shut your mouth!”
No matter how desperately Yu Hwa Ryeong struggled, the blade wedged between Yang Dae Ryang’s fingers would not budge.
“And foolish too.”
Yang Dae Ryang sighed.
“If you’re going to deploy a formation array, you shouldn’t have revealed its function.”
He flicked his right hand lightly toward Yu Hwa Ryeong, who was struggling before him.
Boom!
Yu Hwa Ryeong’s body shot backward like an arrow, flying high into the sky.
Crack!
As Yu Hwa Ryeong’s body collided with the sky, a sound of something shattering echoed out.
Whoooosh.
The sky that had been painted pitch black began slowly recovering its true color, and the formation array started to shatter.
At the same time, the figures of approximately three hundred martial artists surrounding this area and maintaining the formation became visible.
“How is this possible?”
As Yu Hwa Ryeong’s eyes widened, Yang Dae Ryang smiled wickedly.
“If you can’t escape the formation even in death, doesn’t that mean you can escape it while alive?”
Yu Hwa Ryeong’s eyes went wide.
He had sworn that the formation could not be broken even if he died.
But with those words alone, Yang Dae Ryang had.
He immediately grasped that this was a formation that could only be completed once Yu Hwa Ryeong, who had deployed the formation, was dead.
‘How could this be.’
Yu Hwa Ryeong’s eyes had lost all focus.
To complete the Heart Jade Formation, the enemy needed to enter the formation first, and then approximately one moment of time was required.
After that, if he immediately took his own life… even if Yang Dae Ryang possessed the skill to fly through the heavens.
He would meet death without being able to escape from the Heart Jade Formation.
However, Yang Dae Ryang, true to his name as one of the Seven Lords who shook all under heaven.
Immediately grasped the flaw in the Heart Jade Formation from Yu Hwa Ryeong’s words.
He perceived that Yu Hwa Ryeong’s very body was both the axis of the formation and its gate of life.
Without killing him, he used Young Seon’s technique… and hurled him outside the formation.

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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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