The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 660

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 660.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong summoned Seon Woo Jin, who was out in the Gangho.
Upon receiving this news, Bu Eunseol immediately exchanged identities with Seo Jin Ha and headed to the Murim Alliance.
Murim Alliance, Eun Wol Gak. Secret Chamber within the Office.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong was continuing a private audience with Bu Eunseol, who was now posing as Seon Woo Jin.
“An unexpected order has been issued.”
Upon learning that this was a task from Mu Jon, Bu Eunseol could only feel somewhat bewildered.
“Does he still intend to assign me covert missions?”
Mu Jon had not elevated Seon Woo Jin to the position of Wu Tian Danjoo candidate as promised.
Of course, along with an apology for the sudden circumstances, he had conveyed that if Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s influence could elevate him to candidacy, then so be it.
But in essence, the relationship of trust had been severed.
Had Gwon Wang Seok Chi Haeng not coincidentally become Sal Gwi, Bu Eunseol would never have risen to Wu Tian Danjoo candidacy.
“In the end, I did become a candidate.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong spoke with an unbothered expression.
“That’s simply how the Ben Maeng operates.”
She accepted this unreasonable situation without concern.
Such was the Murim Alliance.
To climb higher, one needed the right connections, and thus no one would dare disobey orders from above.
‘There is no choice in the matter.’
Setting aside the fact that the Murim Alliance was an incomparable Bok Ma Jeon compared to the Demon Palace.
As long as I remain within the Murim Alliance.
The hilt of the sword is held by Mu Jon, who serves as the Murim Alliance Lord.
“What is certain is that he does not seem intent on completely excluding Seon Woo Dae Ju. Otherwise, he would not have even acknowledged him as a Danjoo candidate.”
“Understood.”
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath and asked.
“What is the mission?”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong extended an envelope with a composed expression.
“Unknown groups have appeared at Seo Ryeong San and seem to be plotting something. He ordered a thorough investigation of them as they are suspicious.”
“Is it merely a reconnaissance mission?”
“Yes. He mentioned it likely relates to Gwi Ah, which has been disturbing the Murim recently.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed.
Given that Mu Jon personally ordered the investigation, the forces that had arrived at Seo Ryeong San were certainly not ordinary individuals.
‘Hmm.’
An inexplicable unease refused to dissipate.
Mu Jon knows my true identity.
Therefore, the missions he had assigned me were those nearly impossible ones in which exceptional team members had lost their lives.
Yet he assigns me merely a reconnaissance mission?
“I understand your anxiety well.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong mistook Bu Eunseol’s deep contemplation as an inability to swallow her resentment toward Mu Jon.
“But I will not disobey. I will certainly elevate Seon Woo Dae Ju to Wu Tian Danjoo.”
It was quite a moving statement, but it hardly resonated with Bu Eunseol.
She too was a senior figure of the Murim Alliance.
Sweet words could be swallowed, bitter ones spat out.
Besides, Mu Jon knew her true identity.
In the end, the position of Wu Tian Danjoo was nothing more than a temporary post that could be stripped away at any moment.
‘I’ll see this through to the end.’
From the moment I entered the Murim Alliance.
The possibility of Shin San Ja’s betrayal had already been factored into all calculations.
Moreover, since we each knew the other’s true identity, Mu Jon could not afford to act recklessly either.
For now, I had no choice but to see this through to the bitter end.
“Understood.”
Bu Eunseol immediately set out toward Seo Ryeong San.
If this truly were a mission to detect some force, she would have requisitioned members of the Elite Division to conduct a wide-ranging investigation.
But Mu Jon had specifically assigned the task to Bu Eunseol.
That meant it was not a matter requiring large numbers of personnel, but rather something extremely secretive and dangerous.
Which is why she had come alone.
“Phew.”
Bu Eunseol, who had arrived at Seo Ryeong San in just two days, took a deep breath.
With Seon Woo Jin’s former capabilities, she should not have been able to arrive this quickly.
But now Seon Woo Jin had inherited Mu Hwang’s advancement and ascended to the position of advisor to the Four Gods Seven Kings.
In short, she had become one of the most highly regarded figures among the new generation of Orthodox Sect masters.
Other than forbidding demonic martial arts and adjusting her cultivation to the three-hundred-fifty-year level, there was no need to significantly diminish her martial prowess.
Zing.
Bu Eunseol, having activated her Qi Heart Perception, began meticulously scanning the surroundings of Seo Ryeong San.
Then traces of large numbers of people entering the forest became visible.
Following the traces, Bu Eunseol also stepped into the forest.
But the deeper she ventured, the thicker the mist became, and the sky itself began to darken.
‘It’s a formation, but…’
The formation spread throughout the forest was a Confusion Array that muddled sensation and direction.
A commonly seen formation, yet something about it felt profound and mysterious, with a religious quality emanating from it.
‘Curious.’
Bu Eunseol advanced slowly inward, her senses heightened.
Judging by the direction the grass blades were bent and the traces left behind, they had deployed a Celestial Tracking Technique, and the number of people was roughly forty.
This many would be comparable to the martial strength of elite members from any sect.
From now on, I had to investigate why such masters had come to Seo Ryeong San, and which sect they belonged to.
I needed to examine everything meticulously.
Thud.
Walking deeper into the forest, I halted my steps.
I realized that while it seemed I was moving inward, I was actually circling through the forest.
A mere Confusion Array was throwing the senses of a Beast Path master into disarray?
‘So it was a technique, not a formation.’
Taking a deep breath, I unfurled my Crystalline Divine Qi and scattered it throughout the forest.
Transparent energy rippled outward in all directions, and once again, a thick mist blanketed the woods.
‘The power embedded in the forest is resisting?’
Extraordinary.
Until now, whenever I deployed my Divine Insight Qi, I could effortlessly shatter any technique or formation.
Yet the forces spread across this mountain were resisting my Divine Insight Qi as if they were living creatures.
‘This is no mere technique.’
Taking another deep breath, I dispersed my Crystalline Divine Qi once more.
The mist pouring from all directions grew even denser.
It was as though a solid wall had been erected, defending against the very intrusion of my Crystalline Divine Qi.
No matter how hard I pushed with the power of my Crystalline Divine Qi, I could not shatter that wall.
‘It resembles what happened at Gokgeomrim.’
I ceased dispersing my Crystalline Divine Qi and immediately drew upon my Thunder Divine Qi.
Zzzzzt.
Violet lightning whipped around, enveloping my entire body.
If I could not break through the colossal power spread across this forest—
Then I would transform my very body into a sharp spear of thunder, piercing through the solidly sealed power.
Zzzzzt.
With each step forward, an intense force pushed back against me.
Yet my Thunder Divine Qi seemed intent on destroying even that resistance, ceaselessly unleashing violet flames into the void.
Zzzzzt. Crackle!
The Thunder Divine Qi flowing from my body grew even more intense.
Before long, my entire form had transformed into a shape of violet lightning.
‘Is this all?’
The Thunder Divine Qi I was now wielding emitted such extreme heat that it could melt an iron house.
Yet how could a mere technique withstand such power?
Zing.
Then, one section of the force pushing against me crumbled, and I felt as though a transparent space was being torn open.
The technique had finally collapsed under the weight of my Thunder Divine Qi.
‘This is—’
As I stepped inside, I could not hide my astonishment.
Upon entering the forest, a landscape entirely different from the outside world unfolded before me.
The sky was stained crimson, and the air itself seemed to have transformed into something like thin liquid.
With each breath, an unpleasant energy entered my nostrils and seemed to pierce my lungs.
Zing. Zing.
Moreover, as I ventured deeper, luminous points clung to my surroundings like fireflies.
‘Oh no.’
I realized that the luminous points clinging to my body had detected an intruder, and I tried to move away.
But it was already too late.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Suddenly, black mist began to swirl around Bu Eunseol.
The black mist soon transformed into dozens of martial artists.
With only their eyes visible, their grotesque forms resembled corpses, yet fortunately they were all living beings.
However, their entire bodies emanated strange heat shimmer, visualizing something dangerous and ominous.
Screech!
Without uttering a single word, they acted without question or hesitation.
They immediately drew their blades and attacked Bu Eunseol.
Their movements were like phantoms, their sword techniques subtle and mysterious, yet they posed no real threat to Bu Eunseol.
Slash, slash, slash!
Bu Eunseol unfurled the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms, deflecting the cascading blade techniques while simultaneously attempting to pierce their vital points.
‘Hmm.’
But something was wrong.
My inner energy suddenly felt reduced to a tenth of its normal strength, and my movements seemed to slow as if I were moving through water.
Whoosh.
In that moment, the black shadows dispersed like mist before my blade techniques could reach them, escaping from the sword’s domain.
‘A common tactic.’
Nothing particularly surprising.
Whether it was the Three Realms, the Imperial Palace, or any other faction so far.
Those who were not ordinary Murim sects always deployed techniques that restricted martial power.
Yet as I evaded their attacks, an endless question echoed in my mind: why?
Why did they develop methods to restrict the martial arts of Murim practitioners instead of advancing their own martial techniques?
Why were those outside the Murim sects so obsessed with such methods?
‘Asking them probably won’t reveal their identity anyway.’
Bu Eunseol, watching the martial artists wielding their blades with murderous intent, began to spin the Muk Hon Sword in circles.
Having faced enemies using techniques that restricted inner energy countless times before.
Bu Eunseol had previously visited the Nangya Sect.
There, she sought instruction from Dan Cheong and So Jeon on this matter.
Even if inner energy is reduced.
Even if movements are restricted.
Was there a technique to face enemies as if nothing had changed?
When three masters of the age put their heads together and researched, they finally conceived one technique.
―What if we utilize the subtlety of “Late”?
The subtlety of “Late” is a technique that can defend against an opponent’s swift blade techniques even when deploying slow sword forms.
To explain simply:
If an opponent’s blade technique ultimately targets the neck.
There is no need to break that technique—one only needs to defend the neck.
However, this subtlety is rarely used in actual combat and is occasionally employed only against weaker opponents.
What if one cannot perfectly perceive the opponent’s changing blade techniques that could shift midway?
One might instead deploy an awkward defense and lose one’s life in the process.
Yet Bu Eunseol deployed the Ten Thousand Mysteries without hesitation.
Her martial arts not only rivaled the great masters of this era, but those who actually employed such techniques were invariably her inferiors.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
Bu Eunseol deflected the sword strikes pouring from thirty-odd warriors with movements so leisurely she could barely stifle a yawn.
She wielded the Muk Hon Sword as if it were a short dagger, moving the blade only within the space around her body.
Hum.
Moreover, her inner energy cultivation exceeded five hundred years.
Even if reduced to one-tenth, the remaining inner force approached a full decade’s worth of power.
Therefore, unless she engaged in a direct clash of inner energy or manifested overwhelming force,
there was no impediment whatsoever to deploying her sword techniques.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
The Black-Robed Sages, as if maddened, unfolded their strikes with increasing speed, yet Bu Eunseol parried them with the unhurried grace of a tortoise.
Splat splat!
Before long, her leisurely sword strikes not only repelled their attacks but began carving deep wounds into their limbs.
The martial prowess of the Black-Robed Sages was formidable,
yet it could not compare to Bu Eunseol, who inherited the martial teachings of Nangya Sect and mastered techniques from countless schools across Tianxia through her wanderings.
Like stone colliding with an egg.
The moment Bu Eunseol deployed her sword forms, the strikes of the Black-Robed Sages became hollow shells.
Splat! Thud.
Each time her blade grazed their bodies, the Black-Robed Sages collapsed like felled logs.
Though the sword appeared to pass lightly, in truth she had struck their vital points with lethal precision.
Rustle.
Before long, all thirty-odd warriors lay scattered across the ground.
Click.
After sheathing the Muk Hon Sword, Bu Eunseol examined the Black-Robed Sages carefully.
It was pointless to interrogate them—they would never answer—so she sought to discern their identity herself.
‘This won’t be easy.’
Yet in their garments, footwear, weapons, and martial techniques alike, she found no trace of any sect or regional characteristics.
“Who are you?”
Finally, as Bu Eunseol opened her mouth to interrogate them,
Pshhh.
they immediately spat blood from their mouths and expired.
“A ruthless method indeed.”
It appeared that the Black-Robed Sages had embedded a seal that severed their meridians the moment their Blood Sealing Points were suppressed.
“I had assumed it was only Sam Gye all along….”
Until now, Sam Gye had perfectly concealed their identities by disfiguring their subordinates’ appearances,
and commissioning separate crafting of not only weapons but garments and footwear as well.
Yet these individuals were clearly not Sam Gye, and still they employed such methods.
“Besides Sam Gye, who else would do such a thing….”
Bu Eunseol’s gaze grew distant.
If they possessed power and influence on par with Sam Gye yet remained hidden…
Then they could only be the submerged forces of the Abyss, or the Inbiyin.
“Then Mu Jon must have glimpsed the Abyss of Murim and deliberately sent me here.”
Within Murim, there existed the Three Families and Gokgeomrim, and like the Inbiyin who inherited the true lineage of Ma Gyo,
there were still hidden forces yet to be revealed.
Could these be entirely new factions I had never encountered? Or were they among those I already knew?
“I’ll find out once I enter.”
As I turned to step back into the forest, my feet froze.
I possessed a sense honed through years of meditation and cultivation.
From the corpses of the dead Masked Assassins, I realized the distinctive aura of a lifeless body was absent.
Whoosh.
I began to examine the dead bodies more carefully once again.
‘They appear to have been dead for about a month.’
The Masked Assassins had certainly severed their own meridians and taken their lives.
Yet didn’t their bodies show signs of having been preserved in a cold place for roughly a month without decomposition?
I recalled the face of the young boy who appeared to be the leader of Gwi Il Gae, whom I had encountered on Lengyue Island where the Demonic Sword owners had been summoned.
That boy possessed a body like a shell—one that bled not even when cut by a blade.
I realized that the Masked Assassins lying dead before me, though they had spurted blood, differed little from that boy’s body.
‘Was it Gwi Il Gae?’
Gwi Il Gae employed a grand technique that created supreme masters by using the corpses of past masters.
If so, using bodies on the verge of death as weapons would be no difficult feat.
Zing.
At that moment, a pure white light flowed from my eyes as I gazed upon the corpses.
For reasons unknown, I sensed that some mysterious force was enveloping the bodies.
‘Then…’
I began to disperse my Crystalline Divine Qi like mist.
Then I saw transparent threads, thinner than hair, bound through the joints of the corpses.
‘They were manipulating already-dead bodies.’
The transparent threads touched by my Crystalline Divine Qi held light within them, and a mysterious force resided there.
Using threads imbued with this unique power, they had breathed life into the dead bodies and manipulated them as if alive.
‘Could they be disciples of Zangsang Gate?’
Zangsang Gate was known to be capable of moving corpses like living people through corpse-raising arts, or even restraining hopping corpses similar to living humans.
Whooom.
As I drew upon my inner force,
Flash!
With a violet radiance, Muk Hon’s blade flew instantly toward a massive tree thirty zhang away.
I had identified where the transparent threads led and immediately unleashed the Sword of Otherworldly Thunder accompanied by my Heavenly Thunder Divine Qi.
Crack!
Muk Hon’s blade returned and settled into my grasp.
Whoooosh.
At that very moment, the sound of water echoed, and suddenly a transparent shadow materialized before Bu Eunseol.
Drip, drip.
The transparent shadow swiftly transformed into the grotesque visage of the Black-Robed Man.
Save for his two eyes, his face was utterly covered in hideous scars, and the stench of a decaying corpse assailed my nostrils.
“Impressive indeed. I left absolutely no trace of my presence.”
At the Black-Robed Sage’s words, Bu Eunseol’s brow furrowed.
“The reek of rotting flesh permeates dozens of paces around you—what use is concealing your presence when such a stench betrays you?”
“Who are you?”
“Seon Woo Jin.”
“Seon Woo Jin?”
The Black-Robed Man paused momentarily, then nodded as if understanding at last.
“So you are the one who slew Gwon Wang.”
The contempt that had gleamed in the Black-Robed Sage’s eyes vanished entirely.
A position among the Four Gods Seven Kings was no mere stroke of fortune—it was earned through extraordinary prowess.
“How did you breach this place?”
“Rather, it is I who should ask the Lord the same question.”
Bu Eunseol fixed her gaze upon the man.
“And the Zangsang Gate as well—why did you command those corpses to attack me?”
“Hmm.”
The man closed his eyes, sensing the auras throughout the surrounding area, then offered an unexpected response.
“You came alone, then.”
The Black-Robed Sage possessed either an extraordinary sensory ability or some forbidden technique capable of perceiving the entire forest interior.
“Yet there is no trace of sorcery or spell cultivation. Which means… you possess a power that transcends the principles of martial arts.”
A strange realization dawned upon Bu Eunseol.
The man was now asserting with absolute certainty that martial arts alone could never shatter the sorcery woven throughout this place.
And indeed, I had entered here using Otherworldly Divine Technique.
‘Then he is not a disciple of Zangsang Gate.’
One who merely manipulates corpses like Zangsang Gate could never weave such sorcery.
What could the Black-Robed Sage’s true identity be, to have deployed sorcery that martial arts could absolutely never breach?
‘If not the Gwi Il Gye either…’
A fleeting thought crossed Bu Eunseol’s mind.
“Could you have come from the Yang Seol Family?”
“The Murim Alliance Lord knows of the Yang Seol Family… how intriguing.”
The Black-Robed Sage’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Ah, I see.”
As if recalling something, the Black-Robed Sage nodded.
“Elite Division Lord Seon Woo Jin. You and Geum Jeong Shin Ryong slew Jisalseong together, did you not?”
A brilliant gleam flashed across Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
This Black-Robed Sage, wherever he had crawled from, possessed information known only to the most senior figures within the Murim Alliance.
“I asked if you came from the Yang Seol Family.”
“The Yang Seol Family dares not presume.”
As the Black-Robed Sage’s scornful smile emerged, a flash of light streaked across Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
The Yang Seol Family was one of the legendary Three Families passed down through generations in the Murim. Yet to refer to them with such contempt?
“Could you have come from the Jung Sun Ga?”
The Black-Robed Sage’s sharp eyes widened.
“What makes you think so?”
That tone and demeanor were as good as an admission that he was indeed from the Jung Sun Ga.
‘So it was true after all.’
Bu Eunseol swallowed her astonishment.
The Jung Sun Ga.
One of the legendary clans passed down like myth, it had never once revealed itself to the Murim until now.
Yet finally, a member of the Jung Sun Ga had appeared.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————