The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 836
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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 836.
Baek Mu Sung’s eyes remained wide open, as though he couldn’t fathom how he had been defeated.
“So the Blood Dew Seven Techniques that Sam Gye transmitted has its limits after all.”
Bul Jon clicked his tongue.
Then, with one knee planted firmly on the ground, he spoke to Baek Mu Sung, whose gaze had grown hollow and vacant as his head hung low.
“I told you already. The Blood Dew Seven Techniques are a death technique that only Bu Chanyang can wield. Stealing his cultivation secrets changes nothing.”
And he uttered words of utter humiliation.
“If you wish to survive in Gangho henceforth, you’d do well to beg the Cheonghae Gye to teach you a different martial art.”
Baek Mu Sung, still gripping his greatsword planted in the earth, merely hung his head in silence.
“I’ve raised you since childhood, so I know you better than anyone. That’s why I’ll warn you in advance.”
Bul Jon spoke with a sigh.
“Never obstruct Bin Seung’s path from this moment forward.”
“Hahahaha!”
Baek Mu Sung, his lips trembling, laughed harshly as he spoke.
“Bin Seung? How could someone as cunning and sinister as you claim to be a man of the Buddhist Order!”
“If Bin Seung doesn’t go to Hell, then who will?”
Bul Jon spoke with solemn gravity.
“Ever since I learned the truth of Murim, I abandoned such precepts long ago. Whatever goal I set, I have always achieved it.”
“…”
“If I can save a crumbling world, if I can rescue countless souls… then the Buddhist precepts can be broken a hundred times over.”
Bul Jon was making his own form of sacrifice.
For one who walks the Righteous Path, for one of the Buddhist Order—
He was committing acts that should never be done and could never be done.
Deeds that would consume more than a single lifetime to atone for.
Clinging to a long thread of fate, grasping it again and again, he persevered steadfastly onward.
“And it would be wise for you to escape from that place if possible.”
Bul Jon spoke with a sigh.
“You will only be used and then discarded.”
Because Bul Jon had watched over and taught Baek Mu Sung since childhood, he could see through his every thought with perfect clarity.
Beneath his gentle countenance, Baek Mu Sung was filled with a rebellious nature, one who would never submit to power or authority.
Sam Gye would not tolerate such a man… and in Bul Jon’s eyes, Baek Mu Sung’s fate was already sealed.
“Isn’t the same true for you?”
Baek Mu Sung suppressed his revulsion and spoke.
“The high monk who claims to be of the Bulmun has exploited this body for a lifetime, and those who refuse to submit are discarded without hesitation.”
“If that is what you believe, then perhaps you speak truth.”
Bul Jon replied calmly, his expression unmoved.
“Still, I was once your teacher, so take this counsel to heart.”
Baek Mu Sung’s expression grew complicated.
Was Bul Jon a corrupted old demon?
Or had he willingly embraced villainy to save the world…?
It was impossible to distinguish between them.
Whoosh.
At that moment, with a piercing sound, Bul Jon and the two masked figures vanished in an instant.
In the empty mountain temple, only he remained, a pitiful sight.
“Kekeke. Hehehehe.”
Then Baek Mu Sung, with his head bowed, suddenly began to laugh in a low voice.
“Hahahaha!”
Bursting into wild laughter, he stretched his body fully.
Crack, crack, crack.
Then the pallid complexion returned to his face, and the blood flowing throughout his body stopped instantly.
“Was I at such a level that I couldn’t even sense my disciple’s abilities, blinded by greed?”
He had always known that the Blood Dew Seven Techniques he had learned were merely a shell.
Yet in this battle, he had not used his true power at all.
To destroy everything at the critical moment, to bring down that old demon consumed by desire….
He was enduring such humiliation.
“The moment always comes eventually.”
Drip.
As Baek Mu Sung’s laughter ceased, his skin turned pale white and his eyes grew clear.
He was already achieving unity with a new personality, and thanks to that, his martial prowess and wisdom had increased several times over.
Merely to obtain what he desired.
Crouching to leap higher, he endured and endured.
* * *
Operating an alliance required enormous expenses.
Not only did the martial artists formally belonging to the alliance need food and provisions, but they also had to be paid salaries.
Additionally, there were costs for maintaining internal facilities and purchasing supplies.
And the education of martial artists and financial needs for each organization were constantly required.
The Changcheon Alliance secured funds without difficulty through the help of the Seon Hwa Trading Company.
But they could not rely solely on the trading company’s assistance.
They had to expand their influence and secure funds independently through various activities.
―Let’s establish something like the Man Hwa Antique Shop in Sichuan as well. In a more advanced form.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong was the successor of the Seon Hwa Trading Company who had become the chief administrator of the Changcheon Alliance—the true Seon Woo Jin.
Now using the name Dok Go Jin, she headed toward the Sichuan Capital with him.
Then the Jeol Jeong Dae Won, who could be called the highest guard unit of the Changcheon Alliance, stepped forward to escort her.
They possessed the highest level of skill, but more importantly, the Jeol Jeong Dae was connected with the Sa Hon Dae, which possessed an enormous information network.
Because of this, they could detect danger faster than any other intelligence organization.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong, together with Dok Go Jin, toured the capital analyzing commercial districts.
She collected materials related to wealth and services needed to operate the Changcheon Alliance as densely as she desired.
“You’ve worked hard.”
After spending nearly a full day traveling around, she smiled toward Dok Go Jin.
Seon Woo Jin, disguised as Dok Go Jin, had adopted a more ordinary appearance and thinner features than his original form.
He had the typical appearance of a talented scholar from the Merchant Realm.
“You’re too kind.”
Dok Go Jin shook his head.
“Chief, you must have endured far more hardship.”
“Since we have a rare moment, shall we stop for some tea?”
Both Gong Son Dan Gyeong and Dok Go Jin came from prestigious families, and while they might skip meals, they regularly indulged in tea.
“That sounds wonderful.”
As Dok Go Jin nodded in agreement, Gong Son Dan Gyeong pointed to the alley before them.
“I noticed there was a tea house down that way earlier.”
She then took the lead and began walking into the alley.
Dok Go Jin smiled and followed behind her.
A soft whisper of wind.
Yet something felt wrong.
As they ventured deeper into the alley, her vision grew hazy, and a thick mist began rising from all directions.
“Dok Go Chief.”
Alarmed, Gong Son Dan Gyeong turned her head, but Dok Go Jin was no longer visible.
‘A formation?’
She was deeply shocked.
What lay spread before her was an extraordinarily sophisticated formation.
Even if she attempted to deploy it herself, it would take three or four days—such was its refined caliber.
‘No, this is not merely a formation… it is a Severed Realm.’
What unfolded here was far more mysterious than dozens or hundreds of ancient formations layered upon one another.
A technique of the Three Families that could never be broken without knowing the method to dissolve it.
A Severed Realm.
‘A Severed Realm cannot be deployed in a short span of time.’
Gong Son Dan Gyeong had never planned
to enter this alley during her itinerary, and the tea house had been chosen on impulse.
Then who could have predicted her movements and deployed such a formation?
Could it be that she had stumbled into a formation laid in advance to capture someone else?
‘No, it must be him who has come.’
There is no such thing as coincidence in this world.
Only inevitability masquerading as chance truly exists.
As if she had deliberately come out alone with Dok Go Chief
and intentionally sought out this remote alley.
Slow, deliberate footsteps.
Yet from the opposite side of the mist, a shadow emerged, walking slowly toward her.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong watched with tense vigilance as the shadow drew near.
The virtuous do not seek; those who seek are not virtuous.
This is an eternal truth.
This is an absolute principle of the ages.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong drew the short blade from her bosom with a tense expression, channeling her inner energy to its peak.
The treasured sword she possessed, Snow Shadow,
unleashed a brilliant white radiance infused with the essence of Pasa when inner force was injected into it.
Because of this, it could neutralize not only malevolent energy but also render formation techniques to a considerable degree ineffective.
Glimmering brilliantly!
As the light pouring from the blade slowly pushed back the mist,
A sound.
The footsteps that had been approaching came to an abrupt halt.
At last, a tall silhouette pierced through the fog and revealed itself.
His face was like polished jade, and a pleasant smile reminiscent of a spring breeze graced his lips—a young scholar.
His eyes held unfathomable depths, filled with the luminescence of wisdom that seemed to pierce through all things in the world.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s body trembled faintly.
She could discern it at a glance.
The beautiful youth before her eyes.
The one she had parted from at the Jung Son Family when she was seven years old.
The one who had risked his life to save her.
The one who possessed all the wisdom and knowledge of the world, capable of even prophesying the future.
Cheon Ki Sung, Chu So.
“It’s been a long time.”
Chu So’s voice was warm, and his expression remained childlike.
“Have you been well?”
He displayed an unguarded demeanor, as if meeting an old friend.
“You really haven’t changed. Those large eyes from childhood are still the same.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong, now in her thirties, maintained a youthful appearance that made her age impossible to discern.
Yet Chu So seemed to barely age, retaining the appearance of a boy in his teens.
“And you’re still sharp-minded.”
Chu So laughed, revealing white teeth.
“You deliberately went on this solo journey, didn’t you? Because you knew I would come find you.”
Chu So had already known that Gong Son Dan Gyeong had deliberately undertaken this journey.
“Why exactly.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong spoke, suppressing the emotions that threatened to burst forth.
“Why did you deceive me?”
“Because it is destiny.”
Chu So smiled faintly.
“As the Chief of the Murim Alliance, you had to continue pursuing the Jung Son Family. That’s how the balance is maintained.”
“Balance?”
A murderous gleam flickered in Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s eyes. She had grasped that he harbored tremendous ambition.
“Don’t be like that.”
Chu So extended both hands toward her.
“It was also for your sake.”
It was a perfectly natural expression and tone of voice.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong had to bite her lips and clench her fists several times to restrain the emotions welling up inside her.
“For my sake?”
“That’s right. Because you couldn’t manifest Baek Pal Sung’s power.”
Chu So uttered words that were unexpected and shocking.
“If you wielded that power, you were destined to die.”
When Gong Son Dan Gyeong couldn’t continue speaking, Chu So spoke in a gentle voice.
“I wanted you to live as long as possible.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong spoke coldly.
“You sent Gwon In to kill me? For my sake? Because you wanted me to live?”
“I wasn’t trying to kill you.”
Chu So shook his head.
“I was trying to kill him—fearing you’d resurrect as Baek Pal Sung just as you are now and meddle in something you shouldn’t.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong was momentarily at a loss for words.
“So you weren’t trying to kill me, but rather…”
“That’s right.”
Chu So spoke decisively.
“I was trying to kill Seon Woo Jin.”
A chill ran down my spine.
Chu So had used me as bait to kill Seon Woo Jin—that is, Bu Eunseol.
“Why?”
“Because you love him.”
Chu So clicked his tongue as he spoke.
“Because you changed after meeting him.”
Remarkably, he knew that Gong Son Dan Gyeong had feelings for Seon Woo Jin and that her heart had shifted because of it.
“You were observing me?”
“You can tell just by looking at the sky.”
Chu So pointed to the sky and laughed playfully.
“Because you’re someone who confidently occupies one axis.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong couldn’t be certain whether Chu So was telling the truth or lying.
“…It wasn’t because of the suffering I endured.”
With her head bowed, Gong Son Dan Gyeong spoke in a low voice.
“It was for the children held captive by the Jung Son Family.”
Lifting her head, she cried out bitterly.
“It was to avenge your sacrifice for me!”
That anguished voice echoed through the empty air for a long time.
“I know.”
After a long silence, Chu So’s expression turned apologetic.
“That’s why I came like this.”
He extended one hand and smiled brightly.
“Come with me now.”
“What are you saying?”
“There’s no need to seek revenge against the Jung Son Family anymore.”
“The Jung Son Family?”
At those words, Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s eyes widened as if she had grasped something.
“You don’t mean…”
“That’s right.”
Chu So spoke matter-of-factly.
“I’ve already taken control of the Jung Son Family. Even if you strike them down, they’re nothing but an empty shell now.”
Then he exhaled slowly.
“I let myself be captured by the Jung Son Family on purpose. To catch a tiger, you must enter its den.”
Chu So’s expression was utterly devoid of emotion, as though recounting someone else’s tale.
“Of course, there’s another reason.”
“…”
“Cheon Ki Sung has always been the possession of those in power across generations. When its energy manifests properly, one becomes hunted, their whereabouts exposed.”
Chu So smiled, baring his white teeth.
“But back then, the Jung Son Family had gathered candidates for Cheon Ki Sung. Surrounded by those children, I could conceal the emergence of my own energy.”
He deliberately let his shoulders droop.
“I was young and powerless then. I needed a place to hide safely and gain strength.”
It was a chilling confession.
Chu So, barely seven or eight years old,
had deliberately allowed himself to be captured by the Jung Son Family
to hide from enemies who hunted him and to prevent Cheon Ki Sung from being coveted.
And like a parasite,
he had burrowed deep within the Jung Son Family, devouring them one by one.
“Can’t you understand me?”
Chu So adopted a pitiful expression, as if seeking sympathy.
“Those born with Cheon Ki Sung are cursed with poor health from the start. Severed meridians, a heavenly punishment, are inevitable, and most live short lives.”
And he continued.
“To protect myself from the tyranny of those in power, I had to prepare and make contingencies from childhood.”
His voice carried an appeal that drew at the very soul of those who heard it.
“I drew you into this in that process, but I meant no harm. I was sincere.”
“…”
“Come with me.”
Chu So extended his hand once more.
“Then you’ll never have to suffer or endure hardship again.”
Had it been before meeting Bu Eunseol, before experiencing so many things with her…
Perhaps I would have believed his words.
And I would have grasped the hand he offered, seeking that worry-free paradise.
But now I know better.
That no such place exists in this world.
That all people ultimately move others merely for their own goals.
That Chu So is no longer a person of truth.
“You had no ill intentions?”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong wore a sorrowful smile.
“Even now, as you speak to me with a voice infused with the Return Soul Control Spirit Grand Method?”
In that instant, Chu So’s smile vanished.
“You knew?”
He laughed awkwardly and scratched his forehead with his finger.
“It’s a grand method that disappeared five hundred years ago… yet you managed to discern it. It seems the Murim Alliance truly possesses every secret technique.”
Tears streamed down.
At Chu So’s cunning visage, Gong Son Dan Gyeong finally shed the tears she had been holding back.
It was not because he had deceived her, but because the years she had lived for him felt utterly hollow.
“Countless people died because of me alone.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong gazed at Chu So with vacant eyes.
“A thousand martial artists who were willing to fight gladly for my revenge perished.”
“That was because of the information that came into the Jung Son Family, not because of me.”
Chu So spoke as though he felt wronged.
“I even tried to convince you several times that the Blood Heaven Blood Fate Sect you cultivated was nothing special. But the Jung Son Family was afraid, it seems. The fact that there existed a military force capable of threatening them, you see.”
His face showed no remorse whatsoever. Rather, he was saying that he had done what he could.
“Forget about the Jung Son Family now.”
And he added a cryptic remark.
“They are merely corrupted phantoms, nothing more.”
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
Chu So realized there was no wavering in Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s gaze and heaved a deep sigh.
“You appear fragile on the surface alone. Your will is stronger than anyone’s.”
“What are you trying to do? What do you truly want?”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong asked calmly, having composed her emotions.
She had to uncover why Chu So had done such things.
“Ah, I forgot about that.”
Chu So shrugged his shoulders and spoke confidently.
“I will become the master of the laws.”
“The laws?”
“Everyone seems to live according to their own will, to think freely… but in reality, all people in this world are confined by certain laws, you could say?”
“….”
“Ah, is that too abstract?”
Chu So laughed playfully.
“To put it simply, it means eliminating irrational beings like the Baek Ri Family and Jin Ma.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s eyes widened.
She knew that Jin Ma was evil.
Yet why did they speak of the Baek Ri Family, who stood against them, as an irrational existence?
“I’ve told you everything I can right now.”
Chu So asked once more, as if filled with regret.
“One last proposal. Take my hand.”
“I refuse.”
“Fine. I understand.”
Chu So clapped his hands together and spoke with disappointment.
“Then you are now my enemy.”
Boom.
At that moment, thirteen shadows materialized around them.
Shrouded in ashen mist, their faces were obscured.
Yet they radiated an aura that seemed to tear the heavens and earth asunder—the presence of supreme masters.
“Let me be clear: even if you gathered every martial artist in this capital, you could not stand against him who commands the Eumsal Ibaek-in.”
Chu So spoke playfully.
“It would have been better if you had come with me from the start.”
“End this by killing me.”
Then Gong Son Dan Gyeong spoke.
“Don’t touch anyone around me anymore.”
“…”
“Promise me. Now.”
Chu So let out a hollow laugh.
Only now did he grasp her true purpose for coming here.
“Seon Woo Jin. Is he truly so precious to you?”
“Answer me.”
“I’m sorry, but I cannot make such a promise.”
“Then you cannot leave either.”
Gong Son Dan Gyeong withdrew a crimson rod from her robes. It was none other than Ma Deung’s Shadow.
“You and I will die together here.”
“How foolish.”
Chu So sighed deeply and shook his head.
“Did you truly believe an ancient secret text containing forbidden knowledge like the Dao Form was hidden within the Murim Alliance?”
“What?”
It was a shocking revelation.
Then was obtaining that ancient secret text also orchestrated by Chu So?
“Still, the fact that you’ve grown resolute enough to perish together with me… I rather like that.”
Chu So, who had been regarding Gong Son Dan Gyeong with an enigmatic gaze, turned his body.
“Then, farewell.”
Without hesitation, he turned and vanished into the mist.
Gong Son Dan Gyeong stood holding Ma Deung’s Shadow, her expression hollow.
For decades, she had carried vengeance in her heart.
And that person was her benefactor, the one who had saved her, smiling as they were dragged away.
It was all for Chu So’s revenge.
Not a single day had passed without thinking of Chu So, who had died so miserably.
Yet it had all been a lie.
Until now, I had been nothing but a puppet dancing on strings pulled by Chu So.
‘What have I been fighting for all this time….’
As I stood there in a daze, a massive shadow emerged from the mist with heavy, thunderous footsteps.
Chu So had shown Gong Son Dan Gyeong no mercy.
He had created a creature of sorcery—a being that only the wisest could conjure—to kill her.
He had sent Eumsal Ibaek-in.
Thud. Thud.
Eumsal Ibaek-in stood seven feet tall, his eyes frozen solid like ice, emanating a bone-chilling cold.
His gaze held no emotion, like that of a corpse, and his movements were deliberate and measured.
What was most terrifying, however,
was that though he bore the shape of a human, his form was composed of wood, stone, animal carcasses, and entrails—
things that should never cling to a human body.
Whoosh.
With mechanical precision, he began to scrutinize Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s body and everything around her.
As if analyzing her completely, preparing to unleash a technique designed for instant annihilation.
Boom.
Eumsal Ibaek-in began walking toward her slowly.
He had discerned that her martial prowess was unremarkable.
Rather than deploying any technique, he simply intended to tear her apart with his bare hands.
‘Why did I come here knowing everything?’
Men like Chu So never treat short-term pawns as long-term pieces.
Moreover, if he had truly meant to kill me, there would have been no need to come here at all.
Then why did he fall for my bait? Why did he reveal himself here?
―It would have been better if he had come with me from the start.
‘It wasn’t me!’
A flash of realization exploded in Gong Son Dan Gyeong’s eyes as she recalled Chu So’s words.
‘He was targeting him!’
Chu So had foreseen that Seon Woo Jin would come here… and was now targeting his life once more.
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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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