The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 655

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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 655.
“These don’t look like the dregs of the Cheon Geom Hoe. More like wandering mercenaries.”
Yang Dae Ryang observed the three hundred warriors and let out a soft chuckle.
“Your disciples didn’t come? Afraid they’d meet a dog’s death?”
Yu Hwa Ryeong remained silent.
In truth, the senior brothers of the Cheon Geom Hoe had all opposed this revenge. They simply wished to live comfortably off the sect’s wealth.
But Yu Hwa Ryeong could not accept that.
So, resolved to kill Yang Dae Ryang even alone, he had
purchased these third-rate mercenaries and taught them the Heart-Locking Formation.
Only this method could allow him to perish together with Yang Dae Ryang.
And if, while conversing with him within the formation, Yang Dae Ryang were to confess his crimes, the mercenaries would hear it.
Three hundred witnesses would hear Yang Dae Ryang’s confession to destroying the Cheon Geom Hoe.
But Yang Dae Ryang never uttered a single word admitting guilt.
Instead, he immediately identified the formation’s flaws and shattered it.
“Retreat!”
The three hundred mercenaries, meeting Yang Dae Ryang’s murderous gaze, instantly turned and fled.
Crash! Whoooosh!
But retreat was nothing but a vain hope.
Yang Dae Ryang deployed his Young Seon Finger Technique and began slaughtering the fleeing mercenaries.
“Did you truly believe you could assassinate the Master of this organization and escape unscathed?”
Moving like a phantom, Yang Dae Ryang exhaled a cold breath.
“It would have been somewhat entertaining if the Cheon Geom Hoe disciples had come, but this… is barely worth a yawn.”
The Cheon Geom Hoe was founded by exceptional swordsmen, and its disciples possessed martial prowess among the finest in Gangho.
But after the Palace Lord and the Ten Seats fell, the remaining disciples ceased their cultivation.
The senior brothers constantly bickered among themselves.
So Yu Hwa Ryeong had brought only third-rate warriors, and Yang Dae Ryang found even their elimination tedious.
“I should simply annihilate the Cheon Geom Hoe right now.”
Yang Dae Ryang muttered in a low voice.
“It will surely become a source of trouble later.”
Yu Hwa Ryeong, now Master of the Cheon Geom Hoe, had ambushed him with mercenaries.
This alone provided justification for the sect’s complete destruction.
―Evade!
The mercenaries trembled with fear and rapidly deployed their movement techniques.
But Yang Dae Ryang, with a movement technique as swift as lightning, severed the life threads of the fleeing mercenaries.
Crack! Thud thud!
With each movement of his fingers, mercenaries’ heads shattered or limbs flew.
Combat typically occurs in a state of heightened excitement, where one forgets fear and terror to fight for survival.
But witnessing Yang Dae Ryang’s terrifying martial prowess, the mercenaries instead fell into panic and confusion, unable to do anything.
Whoosh! Whoooosh!
Yang Dae Ryang’s fingers traced endless great circles through the empty air.
Patter, patter.
Less than a moment had passed.
The mountainside lay shrouded in dust and mist, while the surrounding terrain became a field of corpses.
In the end, all three hundred-odd ronin had fallen by Yang Dae Ryang’s hand.
In the end, I alone remained as the last survivor.
I showed no fear, unleashing an endless barrage of attacks against Yang Dae Ryang.
Thud!
But the internal energy Yang Dae Ryang released sent me flying backward dozens of paces, and I crashed down in an ungraceful heap.
“How admirable—relying on nothing but a single formation.”
Yang Dae Ryang looked down at my fallen form and shook his head.
“Then, reflect deeply on your failures.”
He did not kill me.
First, to burden me with responsibility for the ronin’s deaths.
For living with painful memories is far more agonizing than death itself.
Second, because keeping me alive would make it easier to annihilate the Heavenly Sword Society.
Thud, thud.
As he turned away, I heard my own voice call out from behind.
“Wait.”
When Yang Dae Ryang turned back, I stood with a sword gripped in one hand, my gaze fixed upon him.
“Do you doubt I have the will to live?”
Contempt gleamed in Yang Dae Ryang’s eyes.
“You lack even the courage to end your own life.”
“I never intended to live from the start.”
I spoke with eyes blazing.
“I foresaw the possibility of Sim Ok Jin’s failure from the beginning.”
“And so?”
“I made a vow when I came here—that I would repay the society’s enmity and avenge my master, even if it cost me my very life!”
At my words, Yang Dae Ryang let out a soft laugh.
“Is that so? How impressive.”
“Yang Dae Ryang! Do you truly believe everything in this world bends to your will?”
I infused internal energy into the long sword I gripped.
Thereupon, a subtle white radiance swept outward in all directions.
I became the Palace Lord not because of a gentle temperament or extensive connections.
Merely because my martial talent bloomed late.
Among all disciples of the Heavenly Sword Society, I possessed the most exceptional martial aptitude.
Had the Heavenly Sword Society operated normally? Had I devoted myself solely to martial cultivation without concerning myself with other matters?
I would have become a swordmaster who dominated the Murim.
“Die!”
In that instant, brilliant white light erupted from my treasured blade.
Flash!
The swift flash of light pierced toward Yang Dae Ryang’s neck in an instant.
“Hmph.”
Yang Dae Ryang had already anticipated the sword’s trajectory and its release speed, stepping back a single pace.
With that alone, he had easily evaded the initial strike.
Crack!
Yet something extraordinary occurred.
The tip of Yu Hwa Ryeong’s auxiliary sword, which had extended with such velocity, was snapping off?
Flash!
The severed blade tip created another brilliant flash of light, piercing toward Yang Dae Ryang’s heart.
Absolute Sword Seven Forms.
It was a technique conceived in the twilight years by Woo Hak, a master of swift swordplay.
A mystical sword art that seamlessly merged the techniques of absolute severing with swift blade mastery.
Thud, thud.
The sharp blade tip had buried itself deep into Yang Dae Ryang’s left chest, and blood now flowed from the two fingers gripping that wound.
“How is this?”
Yu Hwa Ryeong laughed with supreme confidence.
This Absolute Sword Seven Forms was a mystical sword art that no one could predict.
When the preceding form—Silver Flash Severing Blood—missed its mark, it would harness the combined force of speed and inner power.
The blade tip would shatter, instantly piercing through a different target.
“Hehehehe.”
Yang Dae Ryang grasped the blade fragment lodged near his heart and let out a low chuckle.
“A unique sword form indeed.”
Yang Dae Ryang lifted the blade fragment pinched between his two fingers.
Now it was clear—the blade fragment, stopped by his fingers, had only wounded the fabric of his garment.
It had not pierced his heart.
Young Seon’s Finger Technique.
The two fingers, the finest weapon in all Tianxia and the most spiritually potent in the Murim, had effortlessly blocked even Yu Hwa Ryeong’s sudden Absolute Sword Seven Forms.
They had easily defended against it.
“The Cheon Geom Hoe always gathers miscellaneous techniques to craft bizarre sword forms. Is that the tradition of your society?”
Thud.
Yang Dae Ryang, having cast the blade fragment to the ground, wore a subtle smile.
“If you have another hidden trump card, deploy it now.”
Instead of answering, Yu Hwa Ryeong immediately unleashed the Absolute Sword Seven Forms in rapid succession.
The Absolute Sword Seven Forms allowed the blade tip to be shattered into seven fragments, each usable in turn, with infinite variations at every strike.
Crack, crack, crack.
Each time Yu Hwa Ryeong deployed the Absolute Sword Seven Forms, the blade shattered and shot forward.
Yet Yang Dae Ryang stood unmoved, receiving each fragment with only his middle and ring fingers.
Even this ultimate swift blade art, merging swift and absolute severing techniques, was nothing more than an amusing and unique sword form in Yang Dae Ryang’s eyes.
“Is there nothing else?”
Thud.
Yang Dae Ryang, who had thrown the last fragment of the sword he’d caught, nodded his head.
The treasure sword Yu Hwa Ryeong had been holding now had only the hilt remaining.
Even after unleashing all seven forms of the Absolute Sword technique, I couldn’t touch a single hair on Yang Dae Ryang’s body.
“Seems there’s nothing left.”
Yang Dae Ryang extended his fingers.
His two fingers could be called the most terrifying weapons in Tianxia.
Should the fierce qi swirling from his fingertips merely graze me, my neck would be severed in an instant.
I stood motionless.
Yet my expression remained unchanged.
Even knowing my neck would soon be torn away, I stared at him with unwavering composure.
It was the bearing of a man who feared not death itself.
“That old fool trained his disciple well, at least.”
Thud, thud.
He drew close to me.
Was he impressed by my spirit?
Yang Dae Ryang passed by me slowly without lifting a hand.
“Kill me! Even if you spare my life, I will come again to end yours!”
At my cry, Yang Dae Ryang stopped and turned back.
And with tusks bared, he wore a smile of pure malice.
“Who said anything about sparing you?”
Splurt!
In that moment, two holes pierced through my lower abdomen, and crimson blood erupted nearly a foot into the air.
As he passed by me, he had created two holes in my dantian with his fingers.
The speed and swiftness of his technique were such that my body only realized the holes had been made some time later.
And now it was pouring forth torrents of blood.
Whoosh.
As my internal qi drained away along with the blood, I trembled violently.
The agony of a shattered dantian and dispersing inner force was enough to make even seasoned martial artists scream and wail.
Yet I endured that torment to the very end, my eyes wide open.
“Hmm.”
Witnessing my superhuman endurance, Yang Dae Ryang nodded.
“If you don’t scream this time, I’ll concede defeat.”
He pointed his index and middle fingers toward the sky.
Rip.
Then the skin of my right arm began to be torn away slowly from the shoulder.
With his fingers, he unleashed a razor-sharp qi that flayed the skin and muscle from my entire right arm.
“Uhhh… Ahhhhh!”
At last, I could no longer bear the agony and began to scream.
The pain was so intense that with each convulsion of my body, strands of my hair were turning white.
“Hnngh.”
In the end, Yu Hwa Ryeong’s spirited gaze was consumed by agony.
If he were to show no fear,
he would realize that a demon-like being such as this would inflict suffering far worse than death, endlessly.
“Good. Since I’ve seen through the true nature of this sect leader, I won’t kill you.”
Yang Dae Ryang nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Polish your Left Water Sword technique. If you stand before me again, I’ll face you once more.”
Yet Yang Dae Ryang was certain this would never come to pass.
Because Yu Hwa Ryeong had already become a man paralyzed by terror, incapable of standing against him.
Even if he mastered the Left Water Sword.
Even if he obtained some fortuitous encounter and achieved tremendous martial prowess, he would never dare appear before him again.
Yang Dae Ryang smiled coldly, turned his body, and descended slowly from beneath Geum Jeong Mountain.
Yu Hwa Ryeong stood like a scarecrow, his vacant expression unchanged as blood streamed from his body.
He needed to stop the bleeding in his arm urgently, but his martial power had vanished and the pain was so severe that he couldn’t move a single finger.
At this rate, he would lose his life to blood loss—let alone achieve his revenge.
Patter, patter, patter.
Yu Hwa Ryeong lowered his head.
‘There is no more attachment to this.’
I had done my best.
Not a single day had passed where I forgot about revenge, and I had strived ceaselessly to achieve it.
Though Yang Dae Ryang’s martial prowess was too great and I failed… there was no regret.
‘This is how it should be.’
Yu Hwa Ryeong slowly closed his eyes.
With the last of his strength, he tried to sever his own meridians immediately. To end this life marked by such suffering.
Boom!
But then, a violet lightning bolt flashed across the distant night sky.
On this quiet moonlit night with no rain, why would lightning strike?
Could such a vivid violet hue exist in any lightning in this world?
Yu Hwa Ryeong found it strange.
‘What does it matter.’
And he gathered all his remaining strength to sever his meridians.
‘Damn.’
But from losing so much blood, he couldn’t muster any strength at all.
Thud.
In the end, he lost consciousness.
* * *
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
The song of birds from somewhere tickled his ears.
Yu Hwa Ryeong was dreaming of his childhood.
Woo Hak, his master, had raised him like his own son.
After training him in swordsmanship, he would personally prepare meals for him, and sometimes venture to Market Street to buy him delicious snacks.
Yu Hwa Ryeong cared little for swordsmanship techniques.
All I desired was to remain at the Heavenly Sword Society for as long as possible, alongside my master.
Yet that warm sanctuary was destroyed by a demon—by Hyung Su, that abomination.
My master, barely clinging to life, wept tears of blood alongside Seok Song, forging new techniques for vengeance.
I yearned desperately to exact retribution upon that demon who had shattered my sanctuary and destroyed the peaceful Heavenly Sword Society.
But in the end, I failed to achieve it, and my breath ceased.
How shameful it was.
I had no face to show my master in the afterlife.
Thus, Yu Hwa Ryeong opened his eyes amid a pain that felt as though his chest were being torn asunder.
“Gasp.”
The moment my eyes opened, a pungent medicinal scent flooded my nostrils.
Turning my head, I saw white incense burning brightly in a large censer.
Though mingled with medicinal odors, each breath seemed to ease the agonizing sensation of my chest being ripped apart.
It appeared to be a therapeutic incense designed to alleviate pain.
‘Where am I?’
As I attempted to rise, a searing pain shot through my lower abdomen and right arm as if they were being shredded.
Looking down, I found myself dressed in clean garments, with pristine bandages wrapped tightly around my lower abdomen and right arm.
“How is this possible?”
Rising from the bed, Yu Hwa Ryeong blinked in disbelief.
I had been dying with my dantian shattered, my right arm’s skin completely flayed away, rendering me a cripple.
Yet now, though there was some pain, the skin of my arm was perfectly intact, and my circulation showed no obstruction whatsoever.
Moreover, my dantian…
“It hasn’t been broken?”
Yu Hwa Ryeong’s eyes widened in shock.
My lower dantian had clearly been shattered, my inner energy expelled from my body.
How could my dantian possibly be intact?
‘Ugh.’
As I attempted to circulate my inner energy, a tearing pain surged through my lower abdomen.
Thud.
Overwhelmed by such immense agony, I grasped the bedframe and collapsed.
Though my dantian was intact, my inner energy reserves remained at roughly half their former level.
Moreover, when I circulated my energy, a sensation as though my lower dantian were being torn away flooded through me.
Click.
At that moment, the door opened, and a girl in ornate clothing entered, followed by what appeared to be a young attendant.
“You’ve awakened.”
The girl in ornate clothing blinked her large eyes as she gazed upon Yu Hwa Ryeong and spoke.
“How does your body feel?”
Yu Hwa Ryeong wore a bewildered expression.
Though her appearance was that of a girl in her teens,
her gentle manner of speech and compassionate gaze made her seem like a refined woman in her fifties.
“That… well, my lower abdomen does hurt a bit.”
Yu Hwa Ryeong, visibly flustered, stammered out a response while glancing down at his abdomen.
He felt something damp against his skin.
Drip, drip, drip.
Crimson blood was seeping through the white bandages.
“Oh my, you’ve exerted your inner energy.”
The girl immediately grasped Yu Hwa Ryeong’s condition and turned to address the woman standing behind her.
“Contact So Hwa and have her dissolve two Hundred-Herb Pills in hot water for him to consume. And change his bandages again.”
“As you wish.”
The woman bowed and turned to leave as Yu Hwa Ryeong clasped his hands together.
“I am Yu Hwa Ryeong, serving as the Palace Lord of the Cheon Geom Hoe.”
He looked at the girl with an awkward expression, glancing around the surroundings as he spoke.
“Where exactly am I?”
“Indeed, I’ve been remiss in my introductions.”
The girl offered a composed smile and returned the courtesy.
“I am Hwa Mi, the Palace Master.”
“A Palace Master?”
Yu Hwa Ryeong’s brow furrowed.
How could such a young girl possibly be the Palace Master of an entire palace?
“And this place is the Yunhai Biyeok Palace.”
“Yunhai… Biyeok Palace?”
Yu Hwa Ryeong’s eyes widened.
He had heard tales of the Yunhai Biyeok Palace, a legendary sect in Seo Jang.
He had been dying on Geum Jeong Mountain.
How could he have awakened here, thousands of leagues away at the Yunhai Biyeok Palace?
“How…”
As Yu Hwa Ryeong’s lips parted, the Hwa Mi Palace Master spoke in a low voice.
“The Muk Hon Ryeong Ju brought you here.”
“The Muk Hon Ryeong Ju… you mean him?”
Yu Hwa Ryeong’s mouth fell open.
When Bu Eunseol received that letter,
I was already dying on Geum Jeong Mountain at the hands of Yang Dae Ryang’s Young Seon.
How could he have possibly saved me?
“The Ryeong Ju’s lightness of movement has reached a level that few masters in Murim can match.”
The Hwa Mi Palace Master, sensing Yu Hwa Ryeong’s confusion, began to explain in detail.
“Upon receiving the letter, the Ryeong Ju immediately mobilized the Intelligence Organization to locate the Palace Lord Yu. And when he arrived at Geum Jeong Mountain, the Palace Lord was already dying, or so I’m told.”
In the past, Bu Eunseol would not have been able to find Yu Hwa Ryeong so quickly.
But now, the Team Members of Jeol Jeong Gak who handle the Murim Alliance’s intelligence are integrated with the Sa Hon Dae’s information network.
And under Bu Eunseol’s command, they found the whereabouts not of Yu Hwa Ryeong, but of the Tong Cheon Dan Master.
Even if they couldn’t trace Yu Hwa Ryeong’s movements.
I had judged that if fortune favored us, the whereabouts of the Tong Cheon Dan Master could be found through the Murim Alliance’s intelligence organization.
Fortunately, my judgment proved correct, and I was able to rescue Yu Hwa Ryeong without delay.
“And then I administered the Jamma Divine Pill and Qing Ling Stone Oil to restore his body immediately, and brought him here.”
“Qing Ling Stone Oil.”
Yu Hwa Ryeong opened his mouth once more.
While he was unfamiliar with the Jamma Divine Pill, Qing Ling Stone Oil was a rare treasure rarely seen in the mortal realm.
How had she managed to procure it and administer it to him?
“The Ryeong Ju spent millions of silver taels to prepare Revival Divine Pills in advance, utilizing Qing Ling Stone Oil and the sacred herbs of this palace.”
Hwa Mi Palace Master wore a quiet smile.
“He insisted that his subordinates’ lives must never be lost.”
Yu Hwa Ryeong hung his head in shame.
He had merely sent a letter requesting that Bu Eunseol look after the Heavenly Sword Society’s future…
The moment Bu Eunseol received the letter, she had desperately traced his whereabouts, and ultimately saved his life.
“I never intended to burden her by reaching out.”
Yu Hwa Ryeong’s expression grew bitter.
When his master Woo Hak and his second-in-command Seok Song had breathed their last, the members of the Heavenly Sword Society had turned away from vengeance.
They desired only their own survival and safety. Even his fellow disciples had abandoned him.
Only Bu Eunseol, a figure of the Demonic Path.
Had risked her life and rushed to his aid.
“Where is she now?”
At Yu Hwa Ryeong’s question, Hwa Mi Palace Master withdrew a letter from her robes and extended it to him.
“She has already returned to Zhong Yuan. And she asked me to deliver this to you.”
Yu Hwa Ryeong hastily accepted the letter and began to read.
Drip, drip, drip.
Blood trickled from his lips as he read through the letter.
The contents were far too shocking to bear.

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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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