The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 841
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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 841.
“Haah, haah.”
So Ok Rim collapsed heavily to the ground, gasping for breath.
In her overwhelming excitement, she had momentarily forgotten about the severe internal injuries she had sustained, bouncing about recklessly.
“Phew.”
So Ok Rim lay sprawled out, breathing in ragged gasps.
“Still, I’m grateful.”
“For what?”
“I thought that by enhancing our martial arts, we could finally test ourselves against the strongest masters of Tianxia. Yet that man reduced us to mere fledglings.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
He was Jeong Cheon Je, the sky of the Orthodox Sects who never yielded an inch to Ma Cheon Je.
Even though they had fought together.
To have survived intact against Jeong Cheon Je, who wielded the martial techniques of the Four Sovereigns with absolute mastery, was truly cause for celebration.
“But he was not in his right mind.”
Bu Eunseol’s expression turned bitter.
“Had he unleashed his true power, we would not have lasted even ten seconds.”
“True, he was incredibly strong.”
So Ok Rim sighed, gazing blankly up at the sky.
“Strong enough to be called the greatest under heaven without exaggeration.”
Bu Eunseol nodded silently.
If asked to name the strongest person I had ever encountered, I would unhesitatingly choose Ma Cheon Je.
But that had changed.
The martial prowess Jeong Cheon Je displayed was truly the greatest under heaven.
He had reached a realm far surpassing Ma Cheon Je.
“The fact that such a being doesn’t go around calling himself the greatest under heaven means there must exist an even more monstrous entity in Murim, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t know either.”
Bu Eunseol murmured in a low voice.
“But I’m certain there are few who wield such mysterious power.”
Jeong Cheon Je had employed the Sa Hon Dae’s Hyeol Pung Young, yet the essence hidden within it was something I had never witnessed before, never even imagined.
A power that was both alien and utterly unique.
An otherworldly force.
‘Could it be because he unveiled the origin of martial techniques created by imitating the power of the Baek Ri Family?’
If that were not the case either.
Then Jeong Cheon Je had ascended to the Heavenly Realm that no one else had ever reached.
And perhaps, unable to overcome the Demon’s Temptation, he had temporarily become mad.
Bu Eunseol shook her head, clearing her thoughts.
“And there seems to be some deeper story behind all this.”
The look in Jeong Cheon Je’s eyes at the very end continued to weigh on my mind.
It was not so much the Demon’s Temptation, but rather a look of having lost one’s reason entirely.
“Perhaps he….”
Bu Eunseol, who had been gazing at the distant sky, turned his gaze toward So Ok Rim.
In that moment, he couldn’t help but doubt his own eyes.
“So Gung Ju.”
“What?”
“Have you activated the Chuk Gol Gong?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Look.”
Bu Eunseol pointed to her body.
In the meantime, her heavy frame had diminished by roughly half.
Her skin had turned as white as snow, and her face had become far more refined and beautiful, hadn’t it?
“Huh? What?”
Only then did she feel the changes in her own body, and she grasped her cheeks and rose to her feet.
Shlick.
She drew a short blade with an unusually wide blade from her waist and held it up to see her reflection.
“Whoa?”
She grasped her cheeks and, after pondering for a long while, let out an exclamation.
“Wow, could it be?”
“What do you mean?”
“Then Jeong Cheon Je was from the Baek Ri Family?”
In that instant, sparks seemed to dance in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m Cheon Woong, the Heavenly Valiant Star.”
So Ok Rim pointed to herself with her thumb and shrugged her shoulders.
“According to my Second Grandfather, if I found the source of the Baek Ri Family’s power or was exposed to its force, I could recover my original appearance!”
“The power of the Baek Ri Family, you mean?”
“Yes.”
So Ok Rim spoke with a melancholic expression.
“Actually, my Cheon Woong Star power hasn’t even manifested yet, but I learned the Yang Dan Eun Ha technique and my body transformed.”
“Was Seong Hwang’s martial art something only Cheon Woong could learn?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
So Ok Rim laughed, blinking her large eyes.
“They say I was far more beautiful when I was young. Really, I’m telling you!”
Under normal circumstances, I would have taken that remark as a jest.
Yet her skeletal structure had certainly diminished, and her features had become far more refined.
If her frame were to shrink to that of an ordinary woman?
She would undoubtedly transform into a peerless beauty rivaling the Three Beauties of Tianxia.
“I cannot comprehend this.”
Bu Eunseol asked.
“How could your appearance change merely from exposure to the Baek Ri Family’s power?”
“This is a secret.”
So Ok Rim spoke in a whisper.
“They say the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals are all influenced by the power of the Baek Ri Family.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t know. My second grandfather just said it that way. Perhaps the birth of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals is also closely connected to the Baek Ri Family.”
So Ok Rim scratched her cheeks awkwardly under Bu Eunseol’s unwavering gaze.
“Don’t stare at me like that. It’s embarrassing.”
She possessed an enormous frame and muscular build, but her features had originally been quite cute.
Yet when her skeletal structure shifted slightly, she transformed into a breathtaking beauty that commanded one’s gaze.
Of course, even now she remained taller and more powerfully built than I was.
“Jeong Cheon Je is a member of the Baek Ri Family….”
If So Ok Rim’s words were true.
Then Jeong Cheon Je hadn’t wielded martial arts derived from mimicking the Baek Ri Family’s power.
He had wielded the Baek Ri Family’s power itself—which meant the probability of him being born into the Baek Ri Family was quite high.
So Ok Rim shook her head upon hearing my murmur.
“But the surname is different.”
“A surname can be changed.”
“That still doesn’t make sense. Why would a member of the Baek Ri Family destroy the Baek Ri Family Secret Vault?”
The moment I heard So Ok Rim’s complaint, a flash of insight crossed my eyes.
“A member of the Baek Ri Family destroying the Baek Ri Family Secret Vault….”
Ordinarily, such a case would be to prevent the leakage of the Baek Ri Family’s secrets or power.
But the Jeong Cheon Je I had just witnessed was moving instinctively like Shil Hon In who had lost his reason.
“Then even with an unsound mind… there must be a compelling reason to destroy the Baek Ri Family Secret Vault.”
Judging by the way Jeong Cheon Je had transformed So Ok Rim’s appearance, he had certainly used the Baek Ri Family’s power.
Even if he wasn’t of Baek Ri bloodline, he must have been closely connected to them.
Moreover, in the note Jeong Cheon Je left for Chun Chu, didn’t it mention the need to protect Baek Ri Mu Ha?
“The fact that he called Baek Ri Mu Ha hope… was it because they were from the same family?”
So Ok Rim stroked her chin at my murmur.
“What’s certain is that if we continue searching for the Baek Ri Family Secret Vault like this, we’ll definitely encounter Jeong Cheon Je again.”
She shrugged as she spoke.
“He came to destroy it even in a state of lost reason.”
“That’s true.”
I nodded in agreement.
Just as she said, I had a strong intuition that Jeong Cheon Je would definitely appear again in the Baek Ri Family Secret Vault.
“But we can’t tell anyone about this.”
So Ok Rim shrugged.
“If we say that Jeong Cheon Je, having lost his mind, became a dark creature and is wandering through the Baek Ri Family Secret Vault… no one would believe us anyway.”
I couldn’t help but agree.
Jeong Cheon Je is listed as alive, and Mu Jon is playing that role.
Unless Jeong Cheon Je regains perfect clarity and returns to the Murim Alliance in a complete state.
Spreading such information throughout Murim could instead result in a counterattack from Mu Jon.
“Based on my investigation so far, he was a man of great righteousness and virtue.”
Bu Eunseol sighed deeply.
“I cannot fathom why he has fallen into such a state.”
“Could he have become a servant of Jin Ma?”
So Ok Rim stroked her chin thoughtfully.
“The only ones with reason to destroy the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository would be Jin Ma or his subordinates.”
“I’ve entertained that possibility as well, but he appears to have lost his reason rather than been corrupted by evil.”
“How can you be certain of that?”
“It’s merely… intuition.”
Bu Eunseol added further.
“Besides, if he were Jin Ma’s servant, So Gung Ju’s appearance would not have changed, would it?”
“Hmm. I suppose you’re right.”
So Ok Rim, who had been looking down, suddenly widened her eyes as if remembering something.
“This is the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository—could the power of the Baek Ri Family be flowing through this place? My transformation might have been caused by the spiritual essence here, not by Jeong Cheon Je.”
She flared her nostrils and drew in a deep breath with all her might.
For a long while she spread her arms wide, breathing in earnestly, but felt nothing remarkable.
“It seems my transformation truly was caused by Jeong Cheon Je’s power.”
“Let us investigate this place more thoroughly.”
Bu Eunseol and So Ok Rim searched the interior meticulously once more.
“Jeong Cheon Je destroyed this place.”
As it turned out, Jeong Cheon Je had not burrowed through the earth and descended below.
Rather, beneath this mystical tree lay an underground space.
He had entered it and completely destroyed everything within.
“Something feels wrong.”
She spoke as she examined the ruins carefully.
“It’s far too vast to be a secret repository meant to house the Baek Ri Family’s power.”
“I agree.”
The underground space beneath the tree
was comparable in scale to the numerous underground facilities of the Three Realms that Bu Eunseol had witnessed during her travels through Gangho.
The exterior could be perfectly defended by the Absolute Boundary against any intruders.
It was far too massive to be merely a space for transmitting martial arts or power to disciples.
“There seems to be nothing more we can discover.”
“Indeed.”
So Ok Rim clicked her tongue.
“There’s nothing to be done about it.”
Bu Eunseol’s expression turned bitter as well.
In the end, she had failed to confirm the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository. She could not even verify whether she possessed Baek Ri bloodline.
Yet there was one gain.
The Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals were connected to the Baek Ri Family.
And Jeong Cheon Je was alive, and…
By searching for the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository, I could meet him again.
“Let us return.”
Bu Eunseol turned her body around.
“It seems there is more than one Secret Repository of the Baek Ri Family, so there is still hope.”
“Yes.”
So Ok Rim smiled and turned around.
Thanks to her reduced skeletal frame, her movements appeared all the more graceful and feminine.
* * *
The two immediately returned to the Demon Palace.
The Lords were greatly startled by the appearance of the two, who seemed to have endured countless hardships, and gathered around them.
“Huh?”
However, Won Se Moon’s eyes widened upon seeing So Ok Rim.
“What is it? Instructor So.”
Upon seeing Won Se Moon’s astonished expression, So Ok Rim swept back her hair and cast a sidelong glance.
“Hehe. Can you finally see my appearance now?”
“No, that’s not it…”
Won Se Moon scratched his head and spoke.
“It’s just that Instructor So, who was like three portions before, now seems to be one portion.”
“Three portions… one portion?”
Thwack, thwack, thwack.
Won Se Moon began to be brutally beaten by So Ok Rim on the spot.
The martial artists nearby wanted to stop it, but So Ok Rim’s punches were so vicious.
And since Won Se Moon’s durability was considerable, they all thought nothing would happen and stepped aside.
* * *
Bu Eunseol, who entered the conference, informed the Lords that the Baek Ri Family Secret Repositories were scattered.
She connected So Ok Rim with Sa Hon Dae and ordered them to investigate whether there were more such repositories.
The complete true form of Jeong Hwa Sam Gye had not yet been revealed, and above all, So Ok Rim had no particular foundation.
Therefore, Bu Eunseol intended for Sa Hon Dae to become her eyes and ears.
As the long conference drew to a close, Mu Gwang, the adjutant of Yu Woon Ryong, hurried in.
“Ryeong Ju, a guest has arrived.”
“A guest?”
“Well, she says she’s from the Wind Divine Palace, but something seems odd.”
Mu Gwang hesitated as he spoke.
“A woman wearing a veil is acting arrogant as if she’s someone great, ordering that the Ryeong Ju be brought to her.”
“She’s wearing a veil?”
“Yes. But she came alone without bringing any subordinates… based on her tone and behavior, something doesn’t seem right.”
‘Hae Yeon.’
Bu Eunseol instinctively sensed that Wind Divine Palace Lord Hae Yeon had come.
Previously, I had shattered the Wind Divine Palace’s conspiracy and saved Hae Yeon.
And I had heard from Hyang Elder, the highest elder, that the former Palace Lord had been killed by Ma Cheon Je.
She had once said she would come to the Demon Palace someday to verify the truth.
‘Does she truly intend to see Ma Cheon Je?’
What if Hae Yeon and Ma Cheon Je were to meet?
That reckless girl, who knew not the vastness of heaven and earth, might very well step forward to challenge Ma Cheon Je herself.
Even if they merely conversed, Ma Cheon Je’s power could compel her to divulge information she shouldn’t.
“Where is she?”
“She is currently in the Guest Hall of Bon Gak, but it seems….”
Before Mu Gwang could finish speaking, Bu Eunseol’s eyebrows shot upward as she bolted from the room.
Click.
She burst through the door and found a beautiful woman sipping tea in the Jamma Pavilion’s Guest Chamber.
Her pale skin gleamed with a transparent radiance, luminous as the gentle moonlight.
Her long hair, cascading to her waist, danced softly in the breeze.
It was none other than Hae Yeon, the Wind Divine of this age.
“Palace Lord Hae.”
“Bu Eunseol.”
Upon seeing Bu Eunseol rush in breathlessly, Hae Yeon broke into a radiant smile.
“Did you miss me so much?”
Just as Bu Eunseol opened her mouth to respond,
Thud-thud, thud-thud.
With a heavy sound, a beautiful woman who had transformed from seven feet tall to six feet tall entered behind her.
It was So Ok Rim.
“Oh?”
Hae Yeon tilted her head curiously, observing So Ok Rim standing so close to Bu Eunseol that their shoulders nearly touched.
“Who is this child?”
Before Bu Eunseol could answer, So Ok Rim stepped forward.
“Me?”
When Hae Yeon nodded, So Ok Rim crossed her arms with confident expression and declared boldly.
“I am the Silver River Divine Maiden.”
“So Gyo Doo.”
Bu Eunseol quietly shook her head and whispered into So Ok Rim’s ear.
“This is Palace Lord Hae of the Wind Divine Palace.”
“Palace Lord? But?”
“Though our paths differ, shouldn’t we respect rank and station?”
“Rank? Station?”
So Ok Rim crossed her arms and spoke seriously.
“My rank is quite high. You’d be shocked if you knew?”
At those words, Hae Yeon’s expression grew intrigued.
“Your rank is high, you say…”
Hae Yeon is a figure from a hundred years past.
In terms of rank, there are scarcely any in the current Murim who stand above her.
“Who is your master?”
“Hehe.”
So Ok Rim crossed her arms and spoke.
“Do you know who our Youngest Grandfather is? He’s called the Taiji Heavenly Lord.”
Taiji Heavenly Lord, Go Hak.
Go Hak was Jung Cheong Ja’s secular name.
The Taiji Heavenly Lord was an epithet earned during his active years in Murim, and by the time of his retirement, he was already recognized as a legendary master of the Orthodox Sects.
Of course, there were those of even higher standing in Jeong Hwa Sam Gye, but most either abstained from Murim activities or were unknown figures.
So Ok Rim had invoked the name of her most famous Youngest Grandfather.
“Indeed, your standing is quite impressive.”
Hae Yeon nodded with a smile.
“As a disciple of the Taiji Heavenly Lord, you possess standing comparable to the current masters of Murim.”
The Taiji Heavenly Lord had been a master during her own active years, so So Ok Rim’s standing was genuinely formidable.
“Hehehehe, now you understand.”
“How old are you?”
“Well, I’m just turning twenty-three now?”
“Oh my.”
Hae Yeon spoke with utter shamelessness.
“Then you may call me elder sister. My standing is slightly higher, after all.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I have some acquaintance with Go Hak, so I’m making this special exception.”
“What?”
So Ok Rim’s face darkened.
This girl, barely past twenty, dared to use her grandfather’s secular name so casually?
But then Bu Eunseol stepped forward.
「Her age is one hundred and twenty years old.」
And she quickly relayed what had transpired at Wind Divine Palace through a sound transmission.
After listening to Bu Eunseol’s transmission for some time, So Ok Rim’s expression turned incredulous as she snorted.
“This is ridiculous. I can’t even believe there are poisons like Heavenly Bestowed Dream Flower Toxin or Ten Thousand Year Longevity Dream. A hundred years in Han Ok Bing Gwan? I’d sooner believe that Ten Thousand Year Snow Plum was born as a child.”
Her skepticism was entirely understandable.
Bu Eunseol herself would never have believed such a fact if she hadn’t witnessed it directly.
“If you call me elder sister, something wonderful will happen.”
Hae Yeon winked at So Ok Rim as she spoke.
“Becoming my younger sister is truly not easy.”
“Your dreams are quite ambitious.”
“I was hoping to gain a younger sister, but what a shame.”
Hae Yeon laughed with affection.
“I was planning to help you with so much if you called me elder sister.”
She approached So Ok Rim and spoke.
“Never mind that—just call me elder sister. If you face hardship in the future, I will help you.”
“I don’t like it.”
Bu Eunseol, who had been watching the two of them converse like children at play, asked a question.
“Palace Lord. But what brings you here without any notice?”
“I came to see you as promised.”
“You mean Ma Cheon Je?”
“Wouldn’t that put you in a difficult position? I came to see you.”
Hae Yeon smiled softly.
“I heard that Ma Cheon Je is the foremost master of the Demonic Path, wielding invincible power. If, as you say, he tried to kill the previous Palace Lord, he would be strong enough that assassination wouldn’t be necessary, and he wouldn’t have left any traces.”
She then exhaled a long sigh.
“Still, I attempted to investigate Ma Cheon Je just in case, but I could find no trace of his movements. Perhaps they anticipated such things and deliberately brought up Ma Cheon Je’s name.”
There was no intelligence organization in all of Murim capable of investigating Ma Cheon Je’s whereabouts.
It would be impossible even in the Three Realms or Incheon.
So if they were to frame someone with an accusation that could never be verified?
There was no better target than Ma Cheon Je.
“I’m relieved you understand.”
Bu Eunseol exhaled a breath of relief.
It seemed she had come here not to see Ma Cheon Je, but truly to see Bu Eunseol herself.
“Did you really think I came here to ruin your plans? Worried I might confront Ma Cheon Je about it?”
Bu Eunseol made excuses, feeling embarrassed.
“If anyone learned of Palace Lord’s true identity, wouldn’t they be shocked? I was merely concerned that it might tarnish your reputation.”
At that, Hae Yeon’s expression grew melancholic.
“I am already a dead soul in Gangho. Everyone who knew me is dead… so there is no reputation left to tarnish.”
Her eyes seemed infinitely lonely.
And no wonder—she had fallen into a comatose state on a Han Ok bed, poisoned by extreme toxins.
And though she had emerged into the world again after transcending a hundred years of time, there was no one left who remembered her.
Even in Wind Divine Palace.
They remembered her only as the young Palace Lord who had died a hundred years ago.
Perhaps Hae Yeon was experiencing extreme loneliness.
That was why she had come to see Bu Eunseol again.
And perhaps why she had told So Ok Rim, who was of a similar generation, to call her elder sister.
“Do not speak such words.”
Bu Eunseol gestured toward So Ok Rim.
“Have you not found such good connections even today?”
Bu Eunseol could empathize with the pain Hae Yeon felt.
She had felt the same when her grandfather passed away.
She knew better than anyone the sorrow of being left alone in this world.
“Yes.”
Hae Yeon smiled.
“I came to cherish that connection.”
“What do you mean?”
“Aren’t you one of those connections as well?”
Hae Yeon possessed wisdom that seemed earned from living a hundred and twenty years, and her eloquence was remarkable.
She had elegantly circumlocuted her desire to see Bu Eunseol with admirable subtlety.
“I am honored that you regard me so kindly.”
“Are you being sarcastic?”
“No, I speak from the heart.”
It was genuine.
Because I knew her loneliness was not a falsehood.
Moreover, the fact that she, the Wind Divine Palace Lord, had come here without revealing her identity—
showed such consideration for me. I felt gratitude for that.
“Yes, have you been well all this time?”
Hae Yeon’s voice was gentle and warm.
“Looking at your face, it seems you’ve had something troubling you lately.”
Bu Eunseol spoke honestly.
“The achievements of Murim’s martial artists seem boundless. Now I understand why Ma Cheon Je has repeatedly gone into seclusion.”
“What do you mean?”
Bu Eunseol, unable to speak of Jeong Cheon Je, vaguely deflected the question.
“I witnessed an incredibly powerful being this time. Unbelievably so.”
“An incredibly powerful being?”
Bu Eunseol had no choice but to tell her about the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository she had entered this time.
Only she omitted the fact that the strange being she met there was Murim Alliance Lord Jeong Cheon Je.
“Hmm.”
Hae Yeon’s expression showed great astonishment.
But her surprise was not because of the strange being.
“A place where time has stopped flowing, and another space exists within the space itself.”
Her expression grew wistful somehow.
“It sounds much like the Fengyun Spiritual Land of my palace.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“My palace also has such a place passed down through generations. However, it is sealed by mysterious power, so we cannot enter it.”
Bu Eunseol and So Ok Rim exchanged glances, their eyes widening.
―Could it be another Baek Ri Family Secret Repository?
If their suspicion was correct, then unexpectedly…
they had discovered a new Baek Ri Family Secret Repository without any effort, effortlessly.
In other words, they had rapidly obtained an opportunity to unravel the secrets of the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository.
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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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