The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 763
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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 763.
The stories flowing from the Pond seeped once more into Bu Eunseol’s consciousness.
―Jin Ma’s subordinates had long dominated the Murim in secret, suppressing the martial advancement of its practitioners.
After much deliberation, the Original Clan birthed the Three Realms—a force capable of inheriting the Original Clan’s power.
The Infinite Realm inherited the Original Clan’s body.
The Cheonghae Realm inherited the Original Clan’s spirit.
The Gwi Il Gae inherited the Original Clan’s profound and mystical techniques, protecting the Murim from them.
And once more, so that the martial arts of the Murim could flourish brilliantly,
they divided the Mysterious Divine Technique—a power ordinary warriors could not wield—into eleven portions and taught them.
Through these, the Three Realms cultivated the Eight Emperors and Three Stars, extraordinary grand masters.
As Bu Eunseol savored the information flowing into her mind, her eyes grew distant.
For unexpected words had emerged.
―But was it fate?
Or had the time spent dominating the Murim simply been too long?
In the end, the Three Realms betrayed the Original Clan and turned their blades against them.
‘Betrayal.’
As Bu Eunseol turned the thought over in her mind, the story flowed into her consciousness once more.
―How many times has this happened now?
The Original Clan fell into deep despair.
Like the Three Realms, the forces they had created falling into corruption was not happening for the first time.
Having repeatedly witnessed the decline and corruption that came with greed and power, the Original Clan was profoundly disappointed.
They reclaimed all eleven powers they had imparted and departed in silence.
To a place where no warrior’s footsteps could reach, to a place where foolish humans could never find them….
After all, the only remnant of Jin Ma’s subordinates left in the current Murim was Incheon.
‘The Baek Ri Family.’
Bu Eunseol finally understood.
This Original Clan they spoke of.
It was none other than the Baek Ri Family, which had completely vanished from the Murim three hundred years ago.
Unlike the Yang Seol Family or the Jung Sun Ga.
The Baek Ri Family had disappeared in an instant, as if it had simply evaporated.
―But as time passed, one unexpected truth came to light.
The Three Realms, thought to have fallen completely into corruption, had split into two.
And righteous ones among them carried on the lineage, quietly restoring the Mysterious Divine Technique the Original Clan had imparted, and sought to oppose Incheon.
The voice flowing from the Pond gradually faded.
It seemed the story was nearing its end.
―Soon the world will descend into chaos and destruction. For long ago, it reached the edge of the law.
A sudden heat.
In that instant, the arm touching the Pond’s surface began to grow scorching hot.
And simultaneously, something incomprehensible crept up her forearm and into her body.
At the same moment, instead of the voice in her mind, vivid moving images suddenly became clear before her eyes.
‘What in the world is this?’
The lights gathered in the pond formed the shape of a key, and I watched as it seeped into my left arm.
Gazing upon the moving images unfolding before my eyes.
It was as wondrous as observing a living, breathing picture book, and the scene etched itself vividly into my mind.
―Before crossing the threshold of the realm, I sought to find you, yet fate denied our meeting.
Thus, I entrust this message through the Park Yeon Chong Archives…
Incheon is merely the beginning; you must perfectly restore the eleven powers transmitted by the Original Clan and await while maintaining your strength.
This is the final testament the Original Clan leaves for you.
A resonant hum echoed.
As the cascading light vanished, the voice flowing from the pond into my mind ceased entirely.
I stood motionless for a long while, like a stone monument gazing into the distance.
“There exists a righteous Sam Gye, and they too maintain their lineage?”
So this Secret Cave was.
The final bastion meant to protect Murim itself.
The Baek Ri Family, disappointed by the Sam Gye who turned blades upon one another in mutual destruction.
Had discovered a righteous Sam Gye and left this testament for them.
“The Baek Ri Family created the Sam Gye…”
What I had long regarded as mere possibility was finally revealed as truth.
“Then the original Sam Gye truly guards Murim.”
According to the Park Yeon Chong Archives’ testament.
The Sam Gye inherited the Baek Ri Family’s power and protected Murim in their stead.
Yet corruption took root.
Their banner was betrayed, and villains who ravaged the people remained.
“That the righteous Sam Gye, which the Baek Ri Family discovered belatedly, is restoring the eleven powers means.
I exhaled slowly, my expression hollow.
“The corrupted Sam Gye has abandoned that power and become consumed by something else. Then…”
I drew a deep breath, my eyes suddenly gleaming.
The voice from the pond had mentioned the word Jin Ma multiple times.
That is, the demon spoken of by Yo Hui, the ancestral founder of Shin Nyeo Gung in the past—the demon that endlessly transmigrates while retaining memory.
There was a high probability that was Jin Ma.
And perhaps the Sam Gye had been tainted by them? Such a thought crossed my mind.
“In any case, the Baek Ri Family were righteous people.”
I smiled faintly.
It was a relief.
Just as the Jung Sun Ga had fallen, I had long worried whether the Baek Ri Family too might have been corrupted or aligned with evil forces.
But according to what flowed from the pond.
The Baek Ri Family was a clan gathering divine beings who walked alongside Murim’s history.
They were righteous souls who created guardians to replace themselves and tasked them with protecting the world.
“But who could it be.”
This Secret Cave had finally revealed to me the very origins of the Sam Gye that I had so desperately wished to understand.
As if he had deliberately led me here.
As if Mu Hwang’s power held the key to this place.
‘Ma Cheon Je… Mu Jon.’
Only two people possessed precise knowledge of my origins and commanded an intelligence organization that surpassed the Sa Hon Dae in scale.
There could be no one else.
‘But they have no reason to show me such favor.’
For so long, I had wondered.
Even if they revealed the secrets of the Three Realms, neither of them stood to gain anything.
‘If one of them orchestrated this….’
Had Ma Cheon Je done it to sow confusion in my mind?
Or was Mu Jon, contrary to expectations, a righteous person connected to the Baek Ri Family, secretly aiding me from the shadows?
“Let me return first.”
Contemplating here would yield no answers.
Besides, ever since the energy that flowed from the pond embedded itself in my arm, I had grown rapidly exhausted.
A hunger unlike any other—as if I had fasted for four days—gnawed at me.
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath and turned her body.
She immediately unfurled her divine technique and fled Unmun Mountain.
Whoosh—
The moment Bu Eunseol departed, a white shadow materialized before the Secret Cave.
It was Mu Jon.
“How can this be.”
Using his techniques of Body Escape and Absolute Concealment, he had hidden perfectly within this cave, leaving no trace of his presence.
Because of this, he had received the same messages transmitted by the pond as Bu Eunseol.
“So this was not a Secret Library containing the power of the Baek Ri Family, but merely a place preserving the final words left for the descendants of the Three Realms.”
Even he, who knew more about the Three Realms than anyone, had not known that they were a force born from the hands of the Baek Ri Family.
“And to think the martial arts of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars were created based on the power the Baek Ri Family transmitted to the Three Realms.”
Mu Jon clenched his teeth.
What he desperately sought was not information about the Three Realms, but the power of the Baek Ri Family.
Yet what he had obtained here was merely the connection between the Baek Ri Family and the Three Realms.
And the knowledge that Bu Eunseol had completely acquired the martial arts of Mu Hwang.
Most critically,
he could not even confirm whether Bu Eunseol carried the blood of the Baek Ri Family.
“It is too early to despair.”
Mu Jon bit his lip.
“The Baek Ri Family left many Secret Libraries throughout the Murim.”
He simply had not yet found a way to break through the absolute barriers they had created.
Thanks to Mok Bul, he had already identified several locations suspected to be Secret Libraries left behind by them.
“I will obtain it without fail.”
Mu Jon clenched his fists tightly.
He would not give up.
No, I cannot give up.
If I fail to obtain the power of the Baek Ri Family, everything I have planned until now will crumble to dust.
“First, I must deal with this place.”
Whoooosh.
Mu Jon’s eyes deepened, and a low vibration emanated from his left hand.
In that instant, silence engulfed the surroundings.
Zing.
A tremendous wave of force erupted from his palm, and lightning-like flashes began to sweep across the space.
“First, I must seal this place, then search for another Secret Library.”
As he extended his left hand, an aura mingling darkness and light spread outward in all directions.
The Cave trembled and began to collapse, the ground splitting apart.
He had deployed his Infinite Realm power, bringing the Cave down in an instant.
“Wait, I will surely….”
The rest of his words were too faint for anyone to hear.
With a low murmur, Mu Jon’s form, which had been standing within the collapsing Cave, dissipated like mist.
* * *
The Great Hall was shrouded in darkness.
The ceiling was so high that its form could not be seen, filled only with shadow.
The blackened floor exhaled faint mist as though it were a living creature.
At the center of the Great Hall stood a towering Altar, surrounded by densely packed flickering candles.
Upon the Altar encircled by candlelight lay a rectangular box emanating an infinitely dark luster.
It was a coffin made of metal.
Through the cracks, crimson mist and bright red blood trickled out slowly.
Drip, drip.
The amount of blood flowing out gradually increased.
Screeeech. Grooooan.
With a cacophony of metallic sound, crimson mist spread in all directions as the coffin lid slowly opened.
Splash.
Blood poured forth in all directions, and from the open coffin, a dark shadow slowly rose to its feet.
Drip, drip, drip.
The dark shadow bore the form of a man with musculature as sharp and honed as a finely whetted blade.
An inexplicable aura radiated from the shadow’s entire body, and between strands of disheveled hair, two eyes gleamed with crimson light.
As the shadow rose.
The candles illuminating the Great Hall extinguished simultaneously, and an ominous, boundless darkness spread forth.
[Hmm.]
The shadow released a brief utterance.
The voice carried a low, deep resonance, yet possessed an intense timbre like thunder and lightning crashing down.
“The intervals grow shorter with each passing cycle.”
Beneath the Great Hall, a masked figure had already knelt.
“It appears complete recovery will not be far off.”
The Masked Assassin cowered as though his neck would be severed the moment he lifted his head even slightly.
“Their traces have been discovered. It won’t be long before we can pinpoint their exact locations one by one….”
Shadow listened in silence,
[Ughhhh.]
Then suddenly, with a groan, he clutched his head.
The blood-red light in both eyes deepened, and an endless crackling of bones echoed from his body.
[Ugghhhhh.]
Shadow let out agonized groans for a time,
Thud.
Then heavily lowered his hand.
The Masked Assassins prostrated before him, familiar with such occurrences, offered respectful bows,
Then rapidly retreated backward out of the Great Hall.
Crack. Crackle crackle.
The bone-breaking sounds flowing from Shadow’s body grew increasingly severe, and facial bones began protruding.
Finally, covering his face with both hands, he trembled for a long while.
Pop.
At last, as the bone-breaking sounds ceased, the extinguished candles began lighting up brightly once more.
And simultaneously, a middle-aged man with perfectly symmetrical features and infinitely deep violet eyes emerged from the darkness.
Jeong Cheon Je. Sin Do Mu Bi.
The black shadow was the sky of the Righteous Path—the foremost of the Orthodox Sects. Jeong Cheon Je, Sin Do Mu Bi.
[This is….]
Shadow, touching his own face, let out another agonized groan.
[Uhhhhh.]
Crack, crackle crackle.
In the meantime, bone-breaking sounds echoed once more throughout Shadow’s entire body.
In the Great Hall stained with darkness,
For a long time, agonized groans continued to resound.
* * *
Regardless of the truth, the Murim had been remarkably peaceful of late.
Neither Gwi Ah nor Evil Spirits appeared anymore, and the Orthodox Sects, Demonic Path, Evil Sects, and Dark Path factions all remained quiet without conflict.
Yet suddenly, an unbelievable and shocking rumor began spreading throughout the Murim.
―Geom Joon had challenged Ma Cheon Je.
Geom Joon Heon Won Dam Cheong.
The foremost swordmaster of the Orthodox Sects and grand master of sword studies, who had created the Ten Thousand Images Eclipse—the greatest sword technique in a hundred years.
Had publicly challenged the foremost of the Demonic Path, called the sky of the Demonic Path. Ma Cheon Je.
―A life-and-death duel, no less.
Masters of martial arts who had reached such heights rarely clashed unless they were willing to stake their lives.
Because they had both reached such lofty realms.
Even if one emerged victorious,
Most often, they would suffer fatal injuries or irreversible wounds.
In particular, public martial contests carry the honor of both parties, and
they present spectators with a perfect opportunity to analyze weaknesses and flaws in martial techniques.
Therefore, such duels inevitably become life-or-death battles—a contest where only one can walk away.
A similar example would be Bu Eunseol’s past battle against Geom Ma.
Had that sudden earthquake not occurred… one of them would already have become a ghost.
—It seems Geom Joon made significant progress in his later years.
Geom Joon had already entered the Supreme Sword Path in his youth, and after ascending to the Mujik Gyeong, he transcended all worldly concerns like fame and fortune.
He even despised the chaos of Gangho.
During the height of his prime, he abandoned his martial activities and chose seclusion.
That such a man would suddenly challenge Ma Cheon Je could mean only one of two things.
Either he faces approaching death and seeks to complete a goal he never achieved,
or he has experienced a sudden epiphany in his later years.
His martial power has increased so dramatically that he is confident he can defeat Ma Cheon Je.
Since Geom Joon is known to remain vigorous and his cultivation has only deepened, the latter explanation must be the truth.
—Ma Cheon Je has accepted the challenge!
The Murim trembled once more.
Ma Cheon Je had accepted Geom Joon’s public challenge.
Yet neither the time nor the location of their duel had been revealed.
So despite being called a public challenge, the actual battle would remain hidden from view.
—Where on earth will the duel take place!
Countless martial artists burned with desire to discover when and where these two supreme masters would clash.
Ma Cheon Je, who had reached the pinnacle of martial power.
Geom Joon, who had reached the ultimate heights of sword mastery.
To witness their battle directly? One could die without regret.
And to observe such a decisive confrontation? One would gain immeasurable and boundless enlightenment.
Demon Palace, Jamma Pavilion. My office.
I sat in my chair, lost in thought.
Upon hearing of the duel between Ma Cheon Je and Geom Joon, I had mobilized my entire intelligence network, yet I could not locate the venue.
I had held countless council meetings to predict the location and exhausted every connection to track Ma Cheon Je’s movements.
But it was impossible.
Ma Cheon Je was not the type to bring subordinates along or consult with advisors about such matters.
He had surely arranged the location with Geom Joon beforehand and would depart alone to meet him.
“I absolutely cannot miss the opportunity to witness this duel.”
As I pondered deeply,
knock, knock.
The sound of knocking on the door was followed by Wi Cheon Gyeong’s low voice.
“Ryeong Ju. It is Wi Cheon Gyeong.”
“Come in.”
As the door opened, Wi Cheon Gyeong extended a small envelope toward me.
“A letter has arrived for you, Ryeong Ju.”
“Who sent this?”
“That is… I cannot determine, my lord.”
Wi Cheon Gyeong spoke with a grave expression.
“No matter how extensively I mobilize our intelligence network, I cannot trace its origin.”
“If you cannot trace it, where did you obtain the letter?”
“It was placed upon my office desk, accompanied by instructions to deliver it to you with utmost discretion.”
“Your office?”
Bu Eunseol’s expression grew serious.
Sayoung Hall was the organization directly under my command, and despite its deceptively loose appearance, its internal security was extraordinarily stringent.
Yet an unidentified figure had infiltrated it so brazenly?
“No matter how formidable a master, none could breach Sayoung Hall with such secrecy. It must surely be the work of an insider stationed within Ben Jeon.”
Wi Cheon Gyeong spoke cautiously.
“The envelope’s exterior bore no peculiarities, but given the gravity of this matter, I brought it to consult with you immediately.”
Bu Eunseol immediately opened the envelope and withdrew the paper within.
Yet the paper bore nothing—it was pristinely blank.
“Blank paper?”
Wi Cheon Gyeong’s eyes widened in great surprise.
“Could there be poison applied to the surface?”
Bu Eunseol, rather than answering, drew upon the Hollow Heart Technique. The sensation of her fingertip against the empty white surface was peculiar.
‘It was him.’
Having finally discerned who had sent the note, Bu Eunseol allowed a faint smile to cross her lips.
‘Among my subordinates, Wi Cheon Gyeong is the most prudent and tight-lipped, so he chose him as the messenger.’
The sender of the note was none other than Baek Jeon Cheon.
Bu Eunseol was one who had perfected the Savage Path, the supreme sensory martial art of the Demonic Path.
Baek Jeon Cheon understood this well, and had inscribed characters upon the paper using such refined inner force that only those who had elevated their hypersensitivity to its absolute limit could perceive them.
The letters were invisible to the naked eye.
“My lord.”
“It is fine.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
“Henceforth, there will be occasions when such letters appear upon your desk.”
Should it become known that Baek Jeon Cheon and I sailed in the same boat within the Demon Palace, it would serve no purpose. Thus, Baek Jeon Cheon would likely continue to communicate through such methods.
“Should such a thing occur, bring it to me at once. Never open the envelope.”
“Was this an information contact connected to you, my lord?”
“It was.”
“Understood.”
An ordinary subordinate would have inquired further or at least displayed curiosity.
Yet Wi Cheon Gyeong obeyed without hesitation the moment I issued my command.
To him, my existence was
like that of a living guardian deity.
“Then.”
After Wi Cheon Gyeong bowed and departed, I examined the letter once more, turning it over in my hands.
Thump-thump, thump-thump.
My chest burned with an intensity that threatened to burst.
‘Four days hence, when the sun reaches its zenith, at Seung Sa Do.’
These words were inscribed upon the note.
It revealed the location of the duel between Ma Cheon Je and Geom Joon.
―Would it not be prudent to witness the formidable abilities of the enemy you must eventually crush?
I could almost see Baek Jeon Cheon’s smile emanating from the letter itself.
He had not provided this invaluable intelligence out of affection for me.
Rather, because I had sworn to defeat Ma Cheon Je and establish a new Ma Do Cheon Ha.
Baek Jeon Cheon had revealed the location of Ma Cheon Je and Geom Joon’s confrontation so that I might advance further, so that I could gauge the capabilities of the formidable adversary I would one day face.
The duel would take place at Seung Sa Do.
‘I must go.’
To reach a new pinnacle of martial mastery, I wandered an uncharted path.
A path shrouded in endless darkness and peril.
What if I could witness the battle of two absolute masters firsthand?
Not only would I discover clues to advance my martial arts further, but I would gain immeasurable insights beyond measure.
‘The probability of Ma Cheon Je detecting me exceeds ninety percent.’
In all of Murim, only the Sammasamjon possessed the qualifications to witness the combat of these two titans.
If I, an unqualified interloper, were to appear at Seung Sa Do? If Ma Cheon Je discovered my presence?
I would surely forfeit my life.
‘No—I can do this.’
Once before, I had evaded the perception of Mu Jon.
Though Mu Jon’s terrifying intuition had sensed the presence of one concealing themselves.
Yet my exact location remained hidden.
‘I will arrive at Seung Sa Do early and find a way to conceal my very aura completely.’
Clench.
A volcanic brilliance ignited within my eyes.
Within these four days.
I had to discover a technique to deceive the perception of the Sammasamjon, including Ma Cheon Je himself—I had to accomplish the impossible.
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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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