The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 702

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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 702.
‘No. This is that bastard’s scheme.’
Seon Woo Jin’s true martial art was the sword, and he earned the epithet Sword King through his mastery of blade techniques.
Had he not defeated Gwon Wang Seok Chi Haeng—a man who had long been compared to him—with a single sword form?
Though he himself had revealed that he obtained Mu Hwang’s secret teachings, he had never truly displayed Mu Hwang’s martial arts.
‘He must have studied my martial arts extensively.’
Seon Woo Jin was a man whose strategic brilliance matched his martial prowess.
Deploying fist techniques like a vengeful spirit might be a way to draw out my ultimate technique.
Then he would strike me down in an instant with his mysterious sword mastery—such was his cunning plan.
‘Stay calm. Prolonging this doesn’t mean I will lose.’
Yuk Jang Cheon suppressed his anger and responded with measured composure.
―Was Lord Yuk’s martial art merely a false reputation?
As the close-quarters combat between Bu Eunseol and Yuk Jang Cheon dragged on, the watching martial artists wore expressions of bewilderment.
How could Yuk Jang Cheon, a master of fist and palm techniques, fail to defeat Seon Woo Jin, who primarily relied on swordplay?
―Or had he neglected his martial training all this time?
Yuk Jang Cheon had ascended to the rank of Four Gods Seven Kings more than twenty years ago.
Ambitious as he was, he had recruited those who followed him or shared deep bonds with him, giving birth to an organization called Gu Cheon Society.
Yet in the end, he had been betrayed and forced to disband it in humiliation.
But he rose again like a roly-poly toy.
At Yuk Cheong Ah’s suggestion, he returned to the Murim Alliance and became Lord of Deng Wu Dian, entering his second golden age.
Weathering all manner of hardships within the Murim Alliance’s atmosphere, he guided the young and mingled with others.
Yet, content with his comfortable life and neglecting martial training, had his martial arts now declined?
―The combat level is below expectations.
Even the senior figures of the Murim Alliance watching from the Spectator Seating could not hide their disappointment.
Battles between masters either displayed exquisite and superior martial techniques, or were accompanied by devastating power beyond imagination.
But the current combat between Seon Woo Jin and Yuk Jang Cheon was nothing but crude and brutal.
Was this not a somewhat disappointing display of skill for a clash between masters who had risen to positions as advisors to the Four Gods Seven Kings?
Whoosh! Crack!
Sweat began to flow from Yuk Jang Cheon’s forehead as he unleashed his barrage of attacks.
He had continuously tried to create distance and deploy his Cloud Dispersing Palm technique, but Bu Eunseol showed no intention of letting him.
And the fact that such a situation was possible proved that Bu Eunseol’s fist techniques were no inferior to his Cloud Dispersing Palm.
Yet only a handful of senior figures on the Platform possessed the discernment to appreciate such martial artistry.
From most of the martial artists came sighs of disappointment.
‘I underestimated this one.’
Since becoming Lord of Deng Wu Dian, he had focused more on building connections with the Murim Alliance’s senior figures than on refining his martial arts.
For the Murim Alliance operated on hierarchy, distribution, and personal connections.
Desperate to climb higher, he had certainly adapted to the wilderness that was the Murim Alliance.
‘They will think my martial arts have declined.’
But that was the martial artists’ delusion.
Yuk Jang Cheon had never forgotten.
To survive in the wilderness that is the Murim Alliance, one must possess a weapon uniquely their own from the very beginning.
He never forgot this principle for a moment, dedicating himself to perfecting his martial arts.
However, because he cultivated in secret with utmost discretion, few knew that he was earnestly honing his skills.
‘Despite all that effort, I was caught up to by that green-faced brat?’
Yuk Jang Cheon bit his lip.
‘That cannot be.’
Having finally made a decision, he drew upon his protective true energy with full force.
He deliberately took a punch from Bu Eunseol on his shoulder to widen the distance, then attempted to deploy his Cloud Soaring Palm technique again.
Boom!
With the explosive sound, Yuk Jang Cheon, who had intentionally taken the punch on his shoulder, quickly created distance between them.
Though the blow was not powerful enough to penetrate his protective true energy, his body still recoiled from the impact.
‘Good.’
Yuk Jang Cheon tried to deploy his Cloud Soaring Palm technique while forcibly enduring the pain.
But there was one thing he had misjudged.
Bu Eunseol had reached a realm of supernatural mystery not only in martial arts but also in movement techniques.
Whoosh!
Bu Eunseol closed the distance in an instant once more, deploying her close-quarters combat technique again.
“This wretch!”
Yuk Jang Cheon finally cried out loudly in frustration.
Regardless, Bu Eunseol did not stop, unleashing a barrage of fist techniques.
Throughout her journey through Gangho, Bu Eunseol had fought numerous masters in life-and-death battles.
Among them were those stronger than Yuk Jang Cheon.
Moreover, since the Wuji Ascension occurred, as if waiting for this moment.
Transcendent masters who threatened her life appeared one after another.
Therefore, since entering Murim, Bu Eunseol had not ceased her martial training for a single day.
Even while eating, she studied the principles of martial arts, and even while sleeping, she researched martial techniques.
If Yuk Jang Cheon was an Ancient Precious Sword that had wielded renown for ages.
Then Bu Eunseol was a Divine Sword that night after night was carefully maintained and sharpened by devoted hands.
When these two clashed, the outcome was as clear as observing fire.
Crack crack crack!
Bu Eunseol deliberately.
Employed simple yet brutal close-quarters techniques in succession.
Just as he would unfold a punch, she would rake with her nails; she would collide with his torso or deliver headbutts without hesitation.
Yet despite their crude appearance.
The timing and speed of her techniques were terrifyingly exquisite and lightning-fast, forcing Yuk Jang Cheon to retreat continuously.
―How did this Jang Wang achieve such renown with that level of skill?
―How could someone proficient in fist techniques be overwhelmed by the Sword King’s close-quarters combat?
Hearing the whispers of the martial artists, Yuk Jang Cheon felt as though his head would burst from rage.
His martial arts had not declined.
It was simply that Bu Eunseol’s martial arts were far too superior.
It was merely concealing the traces of her martial technique.
However, only a handful of masters could see through such deception… and the vast majority of martial artists could find nothing good to say about it.
―How can that be the martial arts of the Four Gods Seven Kings?
―He’s been building connections with the elders by spending money day after day. Could it be that even his seat among the Four Gods Seven Kings was bought with money?
Murmur, murmur.
Now they weren’t even whispering anymore—they were speaking openly.
As the martial artists’ mockery continued to assault his ears, Yuk Jang Cheon felt an unbearable rage surge within him.
If we were to judge purely by martial techniques alone.
Bu Eunseol’s Seven Forms of Fist Wheel could never withstand Yuk Jang Cheon’s Cloud Wheel Sword Palm.
But she clung to him like a vengeful spirit.
Deploying a savage grappling technique that bit and tore like a beast at close range, stubbornly holding her ground…
The decisive blow could not be delivered quickly.
Only Yuk Jang Cheon’s prestige, built over long years of glorious renown, was being steadily damaged.
‘Having come this far, what is there left to hide?’
At last, having made his decision, Yuk Jang Cheon drew his inner power to its maximum.
His true target was not the Lords of Wu Tian Duan, but the next Alliance Master.
All the years he had devoted to refining his martial arts.
Were for the sake of creating an absolute technique that would allow him to defeat them should he ever face the Lords in martial combat.
But since using it in public would mean he could never employ it against the Lords again, he had kept it hidden all this time.
Yet as this humiliating battle dragged on relentlessly, he could no longer afford to conceal it.
Ku-ku-ku-ku.
As Yuk Jang Cheon drew upon his full power, the entire Combat Stage began to tremble.
Screech.
At the same moment, Bu Eunseol’s body was forcibly pushed backward.
The overwhelming force flowing from Yuk Jang Cheon’s body had sent her flying in an instant.
Metallic ring. Metallic ring.
Immediately after, hundreds of luminous spheres materialized around his body with a metallic resonance.
They were Palm Spheres—a technique that could only be created by those who had reached three hundred years of inner power cultivation.
Boom!
But that was not the end.
With a deafening explosion, the Palm Spheres suddenly transformed into a single stream of energy that surged upward, becoming a radiant beam that connected heaven and earth.
It was the very essence of all the palm techniques Yuk Jang Cheon had accumulated over the years.
He had named this technique Palm Line.
Within this single beam of light lay his lifetime of inner power.
And the refined essence of palm arts cultivated throughout his entire life… making it absolutely impossible to break or block by any means.
“If you can withstand this, then you have won….”
Yuk Jang Cheon’s words did not reach their conclusion.
Somehow, a strange sword energy had already enveloped his body.
―How can the sword energy be so perfectly still?
―Could it be that Seon Woo Dae Ju’s sword technique has reached the realm of Stillness Without Motion, Silence Without Action, allowing him to unleash sword energy without the constraints of time?
Bu Eunseol held back a smile.
One could not suddenly reach such a realm.
This sword technique was merely a deception—when the arrogant Yuk Jang Cheon, eager to display his prowess, attempted to unleash his formidable martial art.
I would immediately disrupt the completion of that move, shattering his composure with this cunning sword technique—a Qi Sword Strike.
It was a technique of mixed reputation.
—Since Yuk Jang Cheon loved to swagger, I deliberately prolonged the final move’s deployment, allowing him to fully unleash his momentum.
Bu Eunseol had already grasped every facet of Yuk Jang Cheon’s character.
And when he began to unfold the preparatory stance for his ultimate technique…
Bu Eunseol instantly sensed it was his true killing strike and immediately deployed the mixed-reputation technique.
Blocking his attack at once.
“Your opening was far too prolonged.”
Bu Eunseol sent a subtle transmission of voice.
“It has been ages since you fought fiercely against masters of comparable skill, so you resorted to such crude techniques.”
Yuk Jang Cheon had gathered his power to swagger and create his ultimate spear technique.
In truth, it was but a fleeting instant.
Yet to Bu Eunseol, who had constantly risked her life battling the strong, it felt as long and tedious as a yawn.
Trembling.
Yuk Jang Cheon’s body quivered.
The ultimate spear technique he had devised was a one-strike-certain-death move that, once deployed, could never be evaded or blocked.
But driven by the desire to display his power grandiosely, he had unfolded an elaborate preparatory stance.
And Bu Eunseol, seizing that opportunity, had woven sword energy around her body before the technique could even complete.
‘With this, the ultimate spear technique cannot unleash its full power.’
Crackling.
The energy already gathered in Yuk Jang Cheon’s two hands was enough to shatter even Mount Tai.
It radiated a momentum as towering as the greatest peaks.
Even the martial artists who had mocked Yuk Jang Cheon until now abandoned their contempt, gazing upon him with wonder.
—It was a miscalculation.
Yet the masters with superior martial arts already knew the victor of this duel was decided.
To unleash such a thunderous, all-encompassing strike, body and mind must become one.
Delivering a blow with all one’s power.
But Yuk Jang Cheon’s mind, robbed of the initiative, was now clouded with distraction.
And the sword energy Bu Eunseol had deployed would diminish half the power he could unleash.
Thus Yuk Jang Cheon could only face defeat.
Trembling.
Though he had concentrated all-destroying power in his two hands.
Yuk Jang Cheon’s body merely quivered, unable to release the ultimate spear technique.
‘Have I truly become a frog in a well?’
The ultimate spear technique was not a supreme move devised through fierce exchanges with formidable opponents.
Rather, it was created while I trained alone in martial arts, striving to elevate my position and gain power within the Murim Alliance.
Thus, facing an ultra-master like Bu Eunseol, who had crossed the threshold between life and death countless times.
He failed to realize that the prolonged sword technique was somewhat misaligned.
“Lord Jeon Ju. Perhaps we should end this now.”
Zing.
Bu Eunseol withdrew her sword energy.
Then, with a regretful expression, she approached the immobilized Yuk Jang Cheon.
“It seems further combat would be futile.”
In that instant, Yuk Jang Cheon’s eyes gleamed with light.
The moment she drew near, the sword energy enveloping his body vanished, and hundreds of openings appeared in Bu Eunseol’s defense.
‘This is the outcome your own arrogance has brought upon you!’
Yet the victory remained undecided.
Still, Seon Woo Jin approached slowly, completely unguarded.
Boom.
Yuk Jang Cheon struck Bu Eunseol’s chest with all his might as she moved to support him.
It was like a sudden ambush.
Moreover, Jang Seon was a forbidden technique capable of destroying all things.
Ultimately, Bu Eunseol could not evade and was driven to the edge of the Combat Stage.
“Cough!”
Crimson blood sprayed from Bu Eunseol’s mouth.
Having taken Jang Seon bare-handed and completely defenseless, every bone in her body was utterly shattered.
Only death remained ahead.
Murmur, murmur.
The murmurs of the martial artists watching from the Combat Stage grew even louder.
Of course, though the victory had not been completely decided, Bu Eunseol’s action of moving to support him as if she had won.
Was a hasty move for a martial artist.
But how could a senior of the Murim Alliance fail to seize that opportunity and launch an ambush?
Setting aside the matter of being a Danjoo candidate, considering his status and position.
It was far too despicable an action.
“Will you acknowledge defeat?”
Yuk Jang Cheon spoke gravely to the bleeding Bu Eunseol, regardless of the crowd’s murmurs.
“If you do not receive treatment soon, you will die.”
“I will continue.”
Bu Eunseol wiped the blood from her lips and drew her sword.
“Very well.”
Yuk Jang Cheon seized the opportunity and unleashed endless palm force.
This time, as if determined never to lose the initiative again, he deployed his palm technique with all his power.
But something strange occurred.
A man who should be dying from severe internal injuries.
Yet his face was radiant with vitality, and his eyes overflowed with divine light?
‘This wretch deceived me.’
Yuk Jang Cheon realized that Bu Eunseol had deliberately revealed those openings.
‘But how?’
No matter how many times I replayed the exchange in my mind.
The Spear of Long Selection had struck Bu Eunseol’s body with absolute certainty.
Yet how could she continue fighting in such pristine condition?
Even if she had deployed the Indestructible Diamond Body technique, once struck by the Spear of Long Selection, there could be no hope of survival.
‘That garment.’
Only then did Yuk Jang Cheon notice that the fabric near his chest—where he had landed his blow—was torn at an angle.
‘She had deployed a sword technique designed to receive the strike.’
Bu Eunseol’s unfolded sword energy had been mere illusion.
In truth, the technique styled as “Half Praise, Half Blame” was the final pinnacle of the Thirteen Forms of the Iron Sword—a variation of the Return Heaven, Return Sun form.
The Return Heaven, Return Sun form was a sword technique of supreme mastery, containing the ultimate principle of the Two Flowers Embracing Jade, capable of redirecting all force.
It wrapped soft sword energy around the body to evade an enemy’s assault.
Of course, that alone could not have dissipated the power of the Spear of Long Selection.
Drawing upon inner power exceeding five hundred years of cultivation, she had wielded the mysteries of transformation and precision to render her body like a rubber ball suspended in water.
Thus she had caused the devastating impact point of that mighty force to miss entirely.
In essence, she had performed a desperate act of deception, grounded in sword technique and inner strength at their absolute pinnacle.
All to expose Yuk Jang Cheon’s shameful depths before the martial artists gathered here.
Yet Yuk Jang Cheon, unable to perceive this truth, could only feel his skin crawl.
‘Just how profound is this monster’s martial prowess?’
As uncontrollable distraction seized him, his limbs grew sluggish, and he unleashed a succession of incomplete techniques.
Moreover, he had seized victory through a sneak attack, accepting the condemnation that came with it.
If he were to lose now, there would be nowhere left for him to stand.
‘Absolutely not. This cannot happen. It must not happen.’
Yuk Jang Cheon struggled to steady his mind.
Yet in one corner of his heart, he already sensed it.
All the plans he had laid were crumbling. There was nothing more he could do.
In this life-and-death duel, Yuk Jang Cheon was drowning in despair beyond measure.
Clang!
In that moment, Bu Eunseol, spotting an opening, flicked her blade against his palm—hard as iron—and deflected it away.
Shiiing.
Before he could react, the sharp edge of her sword was pressed against his throat.
‘She had been cultivating sword techniques of this caliber all along.’
Yuk Jang Cheon’s expression went blank.
Why had she not deployed such techniques from the beginning?
A single sword form that pierced vulnerabilities with such precision would have decided the match already.
Shhk.
As their eyes met, Bu Eunseol silently sheathed her sword and cast a look of pity upon him.
Pity for Yuk Jang Cheon, who had once founded the Gu Cheon Society only to be betrayed by his own comrades.
And pity for the tragic future that awaited him.
‘He will not be able to bear it.’
Bu Eunseol understood perfectly.
What happened in the final moment when a man who had lived his entire life by pride and self-respect alone faced his enemy.
She knew exactly what would occur if he received pity from his adversary.
And this was her final, irreversible move—the one that would send Yuk Jang Cheon plummeting into an abyss from which there was no return.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, I flew backward like a severed kite, my body tumbling across three zhang of the platform.
Yuk Jang Cheon, his rational mind shattered beyond repair, had unconsciously unleashed another palm strike at my chest without even realizing it.
In that instant, a silence as profound as death itself descended upon the Combat Stage.
“I….”
Only then did Yuk Jang Cheon regain his senses, his eyes sweeping across the arena.
Every warrior within the Alliance gazed upon him with icy indifference.
Even those senior members of the Murim Alliance seated upon the Platform—those who had desperately hoped he would become Danjoo—
Their eyes had turned glacially cold.
Yuk Jang Cheon turned his head to look at Bu Eunseol.
Though blood trickled from her chest as she steadied herself, a faint smile played at the corners of her lips.
From the very beginning, she had been an opponent he could never overcome—neither through martial prowess nor through scheming.
The moment I stepped onto this Combat Stage.
I had already been ensnared, struggling meaninglessly like a fly caught in a spider’s web.
“Hehehehe.”
Now that he understood everything, Yuk Jang Cheon suddenly burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!”
That laughter carried the weight of bottomless despair and resignation.
“Hehehehe!”
His unending laughter was so utterly tragic that it sent chills down the spines of all who heard it.
“Seon Woo Jin.”
Yuk Jang Cheon looked toward Bu Eunseol and nodded slowly.
“I acknowledge my defeat.”
With those words, he turned away.
As he walked from the Combat Stage, his eyes were completely lifeless.
Everything was finished.
He had exposed his true self before all the warriors of the Murim Alliance.
He could no longer remain in this place.
‘Yuk Jang Cheon. Did you truly not foresee such an ending?’
He departed in a pathetic state, moving almost like a creature crawling on all fours.
Yet in my eyes, there was not a shred of compassion.
I had sworn long ago.
That I would elevate Yuk Jang Cheon to the heavens, only to cast him down in the most humiliating defeat imaginable.
Therefore, I had not revealed the damaging records I had gathered while serving beneath him.
Instead, I had allowed him to reach this final trial.
I had given him the confidence that he could defeat both me and Baek Mu Sung to become Mu Cheon Danjoo.
And so I analyzed the man called Yuk Jang Cheon, again and again.
I studied what regrets lingered within his heart.
Betrayal and pity.
He was a man who could not bear those two things.
And Bu Eunseol, rather than a martial contest, orchestrated it like a theatrical performance.
She unsettled his spirit, provoked it, and cast him into rage and despair.
Not destroying an enemy with a blade, but shattering their spirit without lifting a finger—like Ma Cheon Je’s methods.
And true to the oath sworn long ago, she lifted him high into the air, let him soar freely,
Then sent him plummeting down in a single stroke.
“The victor is Seon Woo Jin, the Seon Woo Dae Ju!”
As Paeng Jong Heon’s cry erupted,
―Roooaaarrr!
Cheers poured forth from all directions.
The new generation of the Four Gods Seven Kings had defeated the old generation.
It announced that the Four Gods Seven Kings themselves had entered a new era.
Now the remaining candidates for Danjoo were Baek Mu Sung and Seon Woo Jin.
One of these two new-generation masters would be elected—an unprecedented upheaval in Murim Alliance history was now confirmed.

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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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