The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 725

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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 725.
While Bu Eunseol parted ways with Gong Son Dan Gyeong at Mokdan Fortress,
hundreds of leagues away, a man gazed up at the sky.
From his shoes to his robes and outer coat, everything he wore was as white as snow.
He possessed refined features and eyes of profound depth.
Yet there was something peculiar about him.
Despite appearing as innocent and unblemished as a child, he emanated an aura of sinister malevolence.
[This is troublesome.]
The man, who had been gazing at the night sky where countless stars glimmered endlessly, murmured softly.
[With the Heavenly Virtue Star in motion, the flow of celestial fortune has become even more turbulent…]
His voice was as distinctive as his mysteriously gleaming eyes.
Though it was a single voice, it carried multiple tones within it.
It was as if dozens of people were chanting in unison.
[Moreover, something has changed.]
After fixing his gaze upon the heavens for a time, the man shook his head and questioned himself.
[Has there been a shift in his heart?]
Withdrawing his gaze from the sky, he spoke in a low voice.
[I must take precautions once more, just to be safe.]
The man lowered his head and turned from the pavilion.
In that instant, he became as if transparent and vanished into the distance.
At the same moment, in the distant sky… a single star that had been concealed most secretly blazed with brilliant light.
* * *
Bu Eunseol possessed an excellent memory.
She never forgot anything she had seen or heard even once.
Therefore, whenever someone made a request of her, she would invariably fulfill it.
And perhaps it was for this very reason that Bu Eunseol harbored dreams of vengeance.
If she could achieve vengeance, the vivid memory of that day lingering in her mind might finally fade away.
But if she could not take her revenge,
for as long as she lived, for as long as she drew breath… she would endlessly relive that memory.
Murim Alliance, Elite Division. Bu Eunseol’s office.
“At last… it is complete.”
Bu Eunseol set down her brush with a weary expression, her face taking on a somewhat lighter appearance.
Though exhaustion filled her features from the great expenditure of effort, a satisfied smile graced her lips.
“The swordsmanship of Hyungsan Sect pursues grandeur and weight with considerable ambition, yet within it seeks practicality.”
Myeong Woon, who once served in Gwi Il Gye.
He had sought the means to rebuild Hyungsan Sect even as he met his end beneath Bu Eunseol’s blade,
and had asked her to pass on the secret manual he had written.
Bu Eunseol had promised to do so without fail, yet the reconstruction of Hyungsan Sect could not be accomplished immediately.
This was because she had belatedly discovered that the secret manual Myeong Woon had provided was nearly incomplete.
Myeong Woon had, through the great dharma of Gwi Il Gye,
I could master the lost martial arts of the Hyungsan Sect in an instant.
However, because I had learned martial arts through a forbidden technique without undergoing the normal cultivation process,
I ultimately failed to create a proper martial arts manual.
What if this secret manual had been passed on to someone as it was?
It would be like handing an eighty-pound Green Dragon Crescent Blade to a child and telling them to practice martial arts.
Eventually, their body would be ruined, and they would never achieve mastery in swordsmanship.
But Myeong Woon was fortunate.
Because he had entrusted the secret manual to Bu Eunseol—the greatest martial arts fanatic under heaven, and one who had now developed considerable insight into Orthodox Sect swordsmanship.
―I must correct the manual before seeking the proper vessel.
Thus, Bu Eunseol began directly revising the secret manual that Myeong Woon had given her.
Fortunately, because I had recently studied various Orthodox Sect martial arts learned from Martial Emperor’s Secret Archive,
by merely reading Myeong Woon’s manual,
I could instantly grasp what principles the Hyungsan Sect’s martial arts were meant to embody.
“So the Hyungsan Sect’s martial arts can only be perfected by those with exceptionally strong fingers and acute sensitivity at their fingertips.”
Once I grasped the subtleties of Hyungsan Sect swordsmanship,
―Find a child matching my specifications. Preferably no older than ten years.
I issued an order to Sa Hon Dae to seek out a proper vessel capable of truly mastering Hyungsan Sect martial arts.
The secret essence of Hyungsan Sect martial arts was Sheng Ni Wei Ni—turning the enemy’s techniques against them.
It even included the secret of utilizing surrounding objects.
The problem was the Pipa Sword.
Because the Pipa Sword required hooking the blade on one’s fingers while continuously executing exquisite sword techniques,
only those with unique physical conditions could achieve mastery.
Thus, even while constantly traveling the Gangho, I continued correcting the sword manual and searching for a proper vessel to rebuild the Hyungsan Sect.
But I still could not find the person I desired.
―You must find them.
In the meantime, the Elite Division and intelligence network had been integrated, and I issued the order once more.
No matter how perfectly I completed the manual, if I could not find someone capable of mastering it,
the restoration of the Hyungsan Sect would become nothing but a dream.
―Understood.
After that, Sa Hon Dae and the Elite Division began searching for a child matching my specifications,
and whenever I had time, I continued perfecting the manual Myeong Woon had given me.
And finally, today, I completed the secret manuals for both the Hyungsan Sect’s Pipa Sword and the Hwa Line Secret Technique.
Yet despite all this time passing, I could not find a child with the aptitude to master Hyungsan Sect martial arts.
‘It is truly not an easy task.’
Since ancient times, masters who created unique martial arts on their own
wandered the Gangho early on to find disciples who could inherit their martial legacy.
Rather than creating superior martial arts,
finding an outstanding disciple capable of inheriting one’s martial arts is far more difficult—this I know well.
‘I cannot wander about directly.’
I am always pressed for time, rushing frantically between the Demon Palace and the Murim Alliance.
Moreover, now that I must also manage the Muhon Society, leisurely journeys through Gangho or sightseeing tours of villages have become impossible dreams.
Such things are no longer within reach.
‘There’s no helping it, is there.’
The Buddhist Order speaks of karmic bonds between master and disciple.
Don’t they say such connections can only form after accumulating six thousand kalpas of merit?
Moreover, I’m searching for an exceptional talent capable of rebuilding the Hyungsan Sect, which has fallen into ruin.
Finding such a person in a short time would be nothing but excessive greed.
‘Perhaps the Hyungsan Sect cannot be rebuilt even in my lifetime.’
Unless someone appears with the aptitude to master the Hyungsan Sect’s unique and exquisite martial arts, reconstruction would remain nothing but a dream.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, Tae Mu Ryong entered my office.
“Sect Leader.”
“What is it?”
When Bu Eunseol asked in return, Tae Mu Ryong’s expression grew somewhat disappointed.
“Have you forgotten?”
“Forgotten what?”
“Didn’t we agree that once we all understood the operations of the Cheop Mil Won, we would go drink together?”
Bu Eunseol let out a sound of realization.
Previously, while holding a meeting with the Team Members,
I had promised them a great reward if they properly inherited all the operational knowledge of the existing Cheop Mil Won.
Considering how hard they had worked, I had intended to grant them substantial rewards along with a period of leave.
But when the Team Members heard that,
they worked with all their might to master the Cheop Mil Won’s operations, and in return, they unanimously expressed what they desired.
―We wish to drink with you through the night, Sect Leader.
Bu Eunseol was astounded.
After all their hardship, their reward was merely a drinking session with me?
And I felt ashamed.
All this time, the Elite Division members had endured harsh training and completed every task I assigned them.
Yet what they desired was neither superior martial arts nor gold and treasures—only to share a joyful gathering with me.
“Forgive me.”
Bu Eunseol collected myself and spoke.
No matter what, I had to honor this promise.
“Gather all the Team Members at once.”
And I spoke solemnly.
“Let us drink until our noses are bent out of shape.”
Bu Eunseol led the Elite Division members
to the Chi Woon Ru, famous throughout Bu Zhong for selling the finest liquor.
Until now, the Team Members had not rested a single day, handling intelligence and undergoing harsh training.
In that time, they who were once lower-ranked martial artists had risen to the position of secondary Lords of the Murim Alliance—a meteoric rise indeed.
Yet not a single one of the Team Members harbored arrogance, dedicating themselves solely to loyalty toward Bu Eunseol.
I am fortunate.
A smile played across Bu Eunseol’s lips as she drank.
Where in this world could one find such loyal subordinates?
Bu Eunseol realized anew that she possessed an abundance of good fortune.
―We are fortunate.
Meanwhile, the Team Members gazed at Bu Eunseol with satisfied smiles.
The most exceptional young sect master in Tianxia, a prodigy rewriting the history of Murim itself.
She personally trained them—orphans and ordinary martial artists—and risked her life to protect them whenever danger arose.
She shared secrets that could cost lives without hesitation, and her foremost priority in all matters was their safety.
Even as new subordinates were recruited, she deliberately kept the Elite Division small and elite to prevent secrets from leaking and endangering them.
How could they not pledge their lives in loyalty?
―Cheers!
Bu Eunseol and the Team Members drank heartily through the night.
Rather than return immediately, she toured Gangho with them for three days.
When the tour ended, Bu Eunseol generously distributed silver to the Team Members.
She divided the Elite Division into two groups and granted each a fortnight of leave.
―Master, the leave has been granted. We have rested sufficiently.
Yet the Team Members postponed their leave.
A single day of Bu Eunseol’s time was worth a fortune.
For three days, she had set aside all duties and enjoyed wine and sightseeing with them.
That alone revealed how much she had sacrificed for them.
Clatter, clatter.
As the Team Members departed in their carriages, Bu Eunseol remained alone in Seong Do.
Having completed all the scattered duties of the Murim Alliance as Seon Woo Jin, she now intended to return to the Demon Palace.
Just as she was about to unfold her lightness technique and depart.
Catching sight of the distant Market Street, Bu Eunseol felt a peculiar emotion stirring within her.
Until now, she had done so only once.
A time when she had done nothing but drink wine freely.
‘Had Grandfather been alive, we would have wandered through Market Street like this.’
Seized by nostalgia, Bu Eunseol walked through Seong Do’s Market Street for a while.
‘How I miss those days.’
Her grandfather, Bu Chanyang, would sometimes take her hand and lead her to Market Street.
He always walked those long distances.
Though he could have ridden in a carriage.
He simply enjoyed observing the familiar sights and people of the bustling Market Street.
Life.
It was a lonely path that one walked alone.
Yet if one turned one’s head, one could observe others walking their own paths as well, he would say.
Bu Eunseol, too, holding her grandfather’s hand, observed people entering inns.
Peddlers selling all manner of goods, tourists on sightseeing journeys, third-rate martial artists and acrobats performing in the marketplace, and so forth.
I observed people of all kinds and descriptions.

―There is much to learn even from the ordinary actions of common folk.
For instance, the woman who crafts dumplings has done so her entire life.
She kneads the dough faster than anyone else, and shapes it with uncanny precision.
Jeomsoi wipes tables hundreds of times each day with his cloth.
He cleans them far more accurately and efficiently than an ordinary person would.
All people possess the craftsmanship of a skilled artisan through the work they do.
‘I see.’
As Bu Eunseol recalled memories with her grandfather, a sudden revelation struck her like a blow to the back of her head.
‘They were never artisans from the beginning.’
They were all ordinary people.
Yet when one repeats a single task endlessly, humans naturally discover faster and more efficient movements.
And through countless repetitions until mastery is achieved, one can eventually become an expert in that field.
‘The martial arts of the Nine Sects One Alliance are like this.’
The reason the Nine Sects One Alliance could take root in Murim for generations was not
because their martial arts were transcendently supreme, nor because they continuously produced disciples of extraordinary talent.
Rather, they chose martial techniques that were somewhat easy to learn and straightforward.
They had their disciples repeat them until they reached a certain level of mastery.
‘I have been thinking about this all wrong.’
The martial arts of Nangya Sect could only be expressed through enlightenment.
Even when learning the same techniques, their power varied infinitely depending on the depth of one’s understanding.
Through extreme combat, they aimed to grasp the subtleties of martial arts as quickly as possible.
Such training methods allowed individuals to reach boundless heights depending on their talents.
But conversely, the gap in martial achievement that could be reached varied enormously based on one’s aptitude.
‘Have I been poisoned by the same thinking as Gwi Il Gye? I have.’
Bu Eunseol believed that to revive Hyungsan Sect, she ultimately needed to possess the same qualities as Neung Ryeong.
But that was unnecessary.
There was no need to master earth-shaking martial arts in her youth.
The Nine Sects One Alliance was not
a sect maintained by a small number of exceptional individuals with superior abilities.
Rather than seeking talents capable of suddenly elevating Hyungsan Sect to prominence,
I should select even somewhat ordinary individuals with perseverance, and advance slowly, step by step.
“Grandfather.”
Bu Eunseol gazed toward the distant sky.
Bu Chanyang had not only given me a new life.
He had also left me the wisdom to resolve any matter wisely.
“That’s why you fail every time you do things that way!”
But as Bu Eunseol walked through Market Street, a peculiar sound reached her ears.
The sound was so faint and mixed with the surrounding noise that
To Bu Eunseol’s keen ears, the sound thundered as loudly as a storm.
‘Are they threatening a child?’
She stepped into the alley from which the noise emanated.
A menacing bald man was barking orders at a boy no more than thirteen or fourteen years old.
“Do it again!”
At the man’s command, the boy extended his trembling fingers.
Suspended from thin strings attached to his fingertips was a puppet.
He appeared to be a vagrant who performed puppet theater on Market Street alongside the bald man, earning his livelihood through the craft.
Swish, swish.
As the bald man manipulated the strings with practiced precision, the boy followed suit, animating his puppet in turn.
What the two controlled were puppets dressed in black and white garments—a puppet theater recreation of the legendary duel between Jeong Ma Ssang Cheon Je.
[You are no match for me.]
The bald man cleared his throat and swiftly maneuvered the Ma Cheon Je puppet wielding a black sword.
Yet the movements of the Jeong Cheon Je puppet controlled by the boy lacked refinement.
The sword it held was being wielded clumsily.
Whoosh!
At that moment, both the Jeong Cheon Je and Ma Cheon Je puppets began spinning through the air simultaneously, their swords whirling.
This was the pinnacle of the puppet theater—a moment meant to evoke the image of immortals displaying their swordsmanship in the void.
But the Jeong Cheon Je puppet’s movements were far too clumsy and poorly synchronized.
As a result, it appeared to be constantly struck by the Ma Cheon Je puppet’s blade.
“Do you want to stop earning your bread?”
Thwack!
The bald man kicked the boy once more.
“You must show a draw without the slightest tilt! If the Demonic Path sees this, your head will be severed on the spot!”
“Ugh…”
The boy cried out in agony, clutching his stomach.
The Mokdan Fortress duel of Jeong Ma Ssang Cheon Je.
That legendary battle where two masters of the pinnacle of Jeongsayang-do rose to the same height and could not determine superiority.
It was one of the most intriguing and captivating events among those in Gangho.
―When Ma Cheon Je drew upon his power, the sky changed color, and when Jeong Cheon Je rolled across the earth, all mountains within three hundred leagues crumbled.
Only such absurd tales were passed down, for no one had actually witnessed the battle between the two absolute masters.
Knowing only that it ended in a draw made it all the more tantalizing.
Thus, among opera troupes and storytellers alike,
it had become popular to creatively adapt and portray the duel of Jeong Ma Ssang Cheon Je.
“Again! You fool!”
The bald man barked at the boy once more as he resumed practicing the puppet theater.
The bald man’s name was Shim Heung.
A puppet craftsman, he wandered the streets with his apprentice, performing puppet theater to beg for sustenance.
But the apprentice he had nurtured with such care suddenly fell ill with a strange plague and died.
Grief-stricken, he had, by chance,
A Beggar Boy who wandered from place to place, subsisting on alms.
I had discovered that he possessed hands perfectly suited for puppet manipulation.
I had brought the child from the beggar’s den for fifteen silver taels.
After teaching him how to control puppets, I had once again performed a puppet show on Market Street.
However, the boy whom I believed possessed perfect hands could not manipulate the puppet as delicately as I expected.
Shim Heung was disappointed, but I continued to teach the boy relentlessly.
After all, there was no other way to put food on the table without this work.
But when the boy ultimately proved to be untalented, I eventually turned violent.
“Tch!”
Shim Heung threw down the strings attached to the puppet and turned away irritably.
Then I gulped down the cheap liquor that had been left on the table.
“If you can’t perfect this part by tomorrow, you won’t eat!”
Smack.
After striking the boy’s head once more, Shim Heung hurled the puppet away and turned.
The boy struggled to his feet and manipulated the puppet once again.
His hands moved with exquisite delicacy, yet the puppet spun helplessly in the air, lost its balance, and fell.
“I suppose there’s nothing I can do right.”
The boy lowered his head with a dejected expression.
He was controlling it exactly as he had been taught, so why did the puppet keep performing the wrong movements?
“It is not your fault.”
At that moment, a low voice spoke.
When the boy turned his head, a tall man in gray robes was slowly approaching.
It was Bu Eunseol.
“The strings attached to the puppet lack precision, so they cannot follow your delicate movements.”
Bu Eunseol had been observing the entire situation from a distance.
And I had immediately grasped the reason for the boy’s failure in puppet manipulation.
In fact, the boy possessed remarkably long and delicate fingers.
And he was actually manipulating the puppet more skillfully than Shim Heung.
However, because the boy’s fingers displayed such minute and exquisite movements,
the puppet could not keep pace with them.
“I… I…”
The boy wanted to speak, but his voice would not emerge.
Though he had wandered through all of Market Street, he had never in his life seen a person with such an ethereal appearance.
“This should work.”
Bu Eunseol took the puppet from the boy’s hands.
Connected to the puppet were four strings each for the arms and legs.
Crack.
Bu Eunseol drew a small knife from his robe and carved the wooden puppet further, creating multiple joints.
Then I connected transparent strings to each joint.
The strings that had been connected one each to the arms and legs had now increased to sixteen.
“Try this one.”
As Bu Eunseol offered the puppet again, the young boy accepted it as though entranced.
And as he moved it ever so slightly,
the wooden puppet moved with the natural grace of a living person.
“How is this possible?”
The boy spoke in astonishment.
“Was it just a matter of connecting more strings?”
Bu Eunseol wore a faint smile.
In truth, the wooden puppet the boy held was scarcely different from a newly crafted one.
Bu Eunseol possessed not only profound knowledge of human anatomy but also exceptional dexterity.
Thus, to enable the puppet to move with such natural fluidity,
she had fashioned new joints within the wooden figure and threaded strings through them.
“Hehe.”
When their eyes met, the boy laughed with shy embarrassment.
He did not yet understand.
In this very moment….
the boy’s destiny had veered from its course, as though heaven and earth had inverted in an instant—his fate transformed in a single breath.

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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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