The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 842
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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 842.
According to the knowledge So Ok Rim had inherited, the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository was scattered throughout Zhong Yuan.
So it wasn’t particularly strange that one existed near the Wind Divine Palace.
“Master So. Could the secret refuge you visited before also have been the location of some sect?”
“That’s right.”
The sacred land that So Ok Rim had discovered was where the Buk Seung Mun, a sect that had been destroyed long ago, had once been established.
“If that’s the case, then the Baek Ri Family may have intentionally established some of their secret repositories near sects that refrain from Murim activities….”
“Hmm.”
Hae Yeon, who had been deep in thought for a long while, let out a contemplative sound.
“However, that place has rather peculiar restrictions to be called a secret refuge of this palace.”
“Peculiar restrictions, you say….”
When Bu Eunseol asked, she gazed into empty space as if recalling ancient memories and spoke.
“While special power surrounds it, it is said that place can never be opened unless it is the time when this palace falls to ruin.”
“You mean it can only be entered when the Wind Divine Palace is on the verge of destruction?”
“That’s correct. But this palace is currently operating quite well with no signs of decline, is it not?”
She laughed playfully.
However, the expressions of both Bu Eunseol and So Ok Rim hardened simultaneously.
From their perspective, they could not shake the feeling that the current Murim was showing signs of collapse.
Since Incheon had appeared, soon the Three Ancestors—Cheon Ju, Jin Ma, and their retinues—would also emerge.
“What’s with that expression?”
Hae Yeon wore a bewildered look.
“Surely you don’t think this palace will fall?”
“That’s not quite it, but given the current state of Murim, it doesn’t seem like a situation to be optimistic about.”
“What do you mean?”
“It seems the current Murim is already showing signs of decline.”
Bu Eunseol calmly explained about Jin Ma and his retinues.
Surprisingly, Hae Yeon knew quite a bit about Jin Ma and was not particularly startled by the explanation.
“I see. If Jin Ma’s retinues have appeared in Murim, that certainly isn’t a good sign.”
“Palace Lord.”
Bu Eunseol spoke earnestly.
“Would it be possible to visit that place once?”
“Well, you could certainly go. We are family, after all.”
Hae Yeon glanced at So Ok Rim.
“But outsiders cannot enter.”
A sect’s secret refuge naturally could never be entered by outsiders.
That was an unspoken rule of Gangho.
“Master So. It seems I’ll have no choice but to go alone….”
Just as Bu Eunseol was about to speak,
“Uuuhhh….”
So Ok Rim let out a groan in an extremely low voice.
“Neeiii.”
Bu Eunseol and Hae Yeon furrowed their brows at the strange sound So Ok Rim was making and stared at her.
Then So Ok Rim let out another loud cry.
“Euheoeoeon.”
And she muttered darkly while looking at Hae Yeon.
“Neeiiiii….”
“….”
“Euheoeon… Neeiiiii.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
She had finally understood what So Ok Rim was trying to say.
“Palace Lord. So Yok seems to be accepting your earlier proposal.”
“What do you mean?”
“Listen carefully.”
So Ok Rim, with bloodshot eyes on her forehead, now grabbed Hae Yeon’s shoulder and bared her gums widely.
“Euheoeonneeiiii.”
“Euheonnee?”
Hae Yeon thought for a long moment before her eyes widened.
“Sister?”
So Ok Rim was now saying sister.
―Call me sister. If you face hardship in the future, I will help you.
Hae Yeon had certainly said that.
But So Ok Rim, her pride preventing her from saying it clearly,
was mumbling it out, drawing the words long as if glossing over them.
“Euheoeo….”
As So Ok Rim opened her mouth again with that dark expression,
“I understand.”
Hae Yeon sighed and shook her head.
“It’s not easy to call someone sister at this age.”
And she nodded as if resigned to it.
“Very well, I’ll allow it this time.”
Upon hearing those words, So Ok Rim clamped her mouth shut again.
Hae Yeon laughed softly at the sight.
So Ok Rim was like a child.
Because of this, such behavior was not hateful; rather, it appeared endearingly innocent.
“Then shall we visit my secret refuge?”
At Hae Yeon’s words, Bu Eunseol and So Ok Rim nodded.
If their suspicions were correct,
that place would surely be the Baek Ri Family’s new secret vault.
The journey to Haba Snow Mountain was remarkably brief.
Bu Eunseol’s lightness technique had reached what could only be called the pinnacle of all Tianxia.
So Ok Rim, who had long studied the martial arts of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars and restored the power of Seong Hwang, moved like a single meteor across the sky.
Moreover, the divine technique of Hae Yeon, the Wind Divine of this era, allowed her to move freely as if an immortal were soaring through the heavens.
‘Something seems amiss with the Murim of this age.’
Hae Yeon sighed as she watched Bu Eunseol and So Ok Rim moving ahead of her.
A hundred years ago, when she had been the Palace Lord’s daughter, such mastery of divine technique was extraordinarily rare in the Murim.
Yet in the time since, the martial arts of the Murim had flourished brilliantly.
Now, any martial artist possessed of a reasonable foundation in internal energy and divine technique could—
depending on their effort—traverse a thousand leagues in a single day without great difficulty.
And behind this formidable advancement in martial arts lay the hands of the Baek Ri Family, Jin Ma,
and the Sam Gye, who sought the origins of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars.
A tremendous roar echoed forth.
At last, they arrived at Haba Snow Mountain.
From that point onward, Hae Yeon took the lead, guiding them to the Fengyun Spiritual Land.
It lay in a gorge far removed from the Wind Divine Palace, and mysteriously, it could only be seen when the wind blew in a particular direction.
“Follow me.”
A transparent bridge stretched across the gorge to the opposite cliff, and a powerful gale was howling through.
With each gust of wind, Hae Yeon shifted her orientation in midair and walked forward.
After walking for some time, the bridge would suddenly vanish, and the violent winds would push her body backward.
Each time, Hae Yeon continuously adjusted her direction in the empty air.
Bu Eunseol and So Ok Rim, blessed with exceptional memory,
replicated Hae Yeon’s unpredictable movements precisely, advancing slowly forward.
At last, having crossed the transparent bridge, a gate surrounded by mysterious light appeared before them.
This was the entrance to the Fengyun Spiritual Land.
“It is exactly as it was then.”
Hae Yeon murmured softly.
A hundred years ago, she had visited this place, led by the hand of the Palace Lord.
And because she had slept in the jade bed, she remembered the events of a century past as vividly as if they had occurred yesterday.
“This is as far as we can go. We cannot enter any further.”
“That cannot be.”
So Ok Rim tilted her head and attempted to step through the gate.
But a mysterious force flowed forth, pushing her backward in an instant.
“I told you. It will not open unless it is the time of the Wind Divine Palace’s destruction.”
“How curious.”
So Ok Rim, paying no heed to Hae Yeon’s words, pointed at the gate surrounded by light with an intrigued expression.
“It is as if one were trying to enter the home of the Wind God himself, only to be rejected and cast back for lack of permission.”
“Permission….”
Upon hearing those words, Bu Eunseol’s expression shifted subtly, as if she had grasped something.
Without hesitation, she walked slowly toward the gate surrounded by light.
The gate that had unleashed winds to push away anyone who approached it—
as she drew near, it showed no particular reaction whatsoever.
Knock, knock.
I extended my hand and gently tapped against the door made of light.
Creeeeak.
To my astonishment, the door swung wide open as if someone from within had unlocked it.
“What? How did you do that?”
So Ok Rim asked in surprise, and I responded in a low voice.
“I didn’t try to force the door open.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I had to explain it, I simply asked it to open.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“The light flowing from this door felt like a subtle breeze. So I simply allowed my body to follow the current as it blew.”
Upon hearing So Ok Rim’s question, I realized something.
Suddenly, I sensed that the light emanating from the door also possessed the attribute of wind.
And when I freed myself from the obsession of having to open the door, approaching with a mind as empty as the wind itself, the door did not push me away.
The door did not reject me.
And once I confirmed through the wind that I could pass through, the door naturally opened.
“Ah, I see.”
Upon hearing my words, Hae Yeon seemed to grasp something and nodded.
“The power of wind knows no obstacles. Only those who transcend fixed notions and deeply understand the essence of the Wind Cloud Divine Technique—those with a liberated spirit—can enter this door.”
And she sighed as she spoke.
“How shameful. Despite never ascending the Wind Divine Tower, I had forgotten the very foundation of our palace’s martial teachings.”
“What is the Wind Divine Tower?”
So Ok Rim asked, and Hae Yeon shook her head.
“It is where the enlightened insights left behind by the successive Palace Lords of our palace are kept. Because of various circumstances, I have not yet conducted the formal coronation ceremony, so I have been unable to enter that place.”
Her expression as she gazed at the wide-open door appeared troubled.
“But it seems I must hold the coronation ceremony as soon as possible.”
If the prophecy of the Wind Divine Palace’s founder was correct?
Then with the door to the Fengyun Spiritual Land now open, the Wind Divine Palace would inevitably face destruction in this generation.
At that moment, I spoke while examining the door.
“Let us enter first.”
We slowly passed through the door.
Pure white light unfolded before our eyes, and I felt as though winds were swiftly brushing past my ears.
As the light faded, a vast forest suddenly spread out before us.
The Fengyun Spiritual Land.
We had finally arrived at the Wind Divine Palace’s secret refuge.
But I had made one critical mistake.
I had focused only on opening the door to the Fengyun Spiritual Land, but I had not thought to close it again once it was open.
Ssshhhhh.
At that moment, the ground surrounding the entrance to the Fengyun Spiritual Land began to turn black.
A shadow, as if alive, was slowly moving toward that place.
Screeeech.
With each movement of Shadow, the grass upon the ground withered in an instant, and the soil darkened to black—yet…
Bu Eunseol and the others, already having ventured inside, remained completely unaware of such circumstances.
The interior of the Forest existed as a landscape where day and night coexisted simultaneously.
The sunlight pouring through the leaves painted the ground like a gentle moonbeam.
The air felt transparent, trembling lightly with each breath.
Whenever a gentle breeze brushed past the grass blades and branches, it seemed as though one could hear the soft whispers of spirits.
Following the winding path that appeared naturally formed, we walked endlessly until, at last, a fortress of transparent form came into view.
“Ah.”
Bu Eunseol and So Ok Rim gasped in unison.
The exterior of the distant fortress…
…bore a remarkably similar architectural style to the mysterious building encountered previously with Jeong Cheon Je.
Whoosh.
Moreover, each time the wind blew, the surface undulated like silk fluttering in the breeze, its form rippling like waves.
It was as though we were gazing upon some vast, living creature.
“Something feels amiss.”
Bu Eunseol sensed something peculiar.
As though some presence…
…had preceded us into that palace.
“You felt it too.”
At Hae Yeon’s words, So Ok Rim blinked while regarding Bu Eunseol.
“What?”
“It seems someone entered that fortress first.”
Upon Bu Eunseol’s response, So Ok Rim closed her eyes and extended her supernatural senses.
Detecting nothing unusual,
she lowered her head to examine the direction the nearby grass had been bent, occasionally placing her fingers upon trees and soil, or tasting them with her tongue.
“There’s nothing.”
So Ok Rim shook her head.
She possessed tracking and observational abilities comparable to Bu Eunseol’s Empty Heart Spiritual Perception.
Yet nowhere could she find any trace of one who had entered this place.
“That is precisely why I called it a feeling.”
Bu Eunseol murmured in a low voice.
“It is possible they possess the Wind Cloud Divine Technique.”
“Then could it be… him again?”
So Ok Rim’s expression hardened.
She recalled the Strange Being, Jeong Cheon Je, whom she had encountered before.
If he had entered this fortress… we absolutely must not venture inside.
For such fortune would not smile upon us a second time.
“It does not appear to be him.”
“How can you be certain?”
“That’s not the sensation I felt when he appeared. Perhaps he’s a master sent by the Abyss Forces—from Sam Gye or the Three Families themselves.”
Bu Eunseol spoke as though it were obvious.
“As long as the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository exists, there will always be those seeking it.”
So Ok Rim nodded in agreement.
When she thought about it, it made perfect sense.
If Jeong Hwa Sam Gye knew of the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository’s existence?
Then the Abyss Forces, including Sam Gye, would naturally know of it as well.
They too would be ceaselessly searching for the secret refuge.
Crack.
Bu Eunseol unfolded the Thousand-Face Bone Technique and transformed into Seol So.
“Why?”
When So Ok Rim asked, Bu Eunseol’s expression turned bitter.
“I have many enemies. Moreover, this is the Wind Divine Palace.”
If I were to encounter an enemy here in the Wind Divine Palace’s secret refuge while bearing the identity of Muk Hon Ryeong Ju, it could create troublesome complications.
Crack.
After completing the transformation, I spoke to Hae Yeon.
“Palace Lord, there may be enemies within that we cannot handle, so—”
“This is my palace’s secret refuge.”
Hae Yeon understood my intent and shook her head firmly.
“If someone has intruded, it is not your responsibility to drive them out—it is mine as the Palace Lord.”
“Very well.”
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath and nodded.
“Then let us proceed inside.”
The fortress’s entrance was adorned in a style utterly unique to Zhong Yuan.
The door’s material was neither metal nor wood, but rather a peculiar, glossy, adhesive substance.
Creak.
Upon entering, the interior revealed itself—ceiling, walls, and floor all composed of a smooth, mirror-like material.
What was remarkable was that their reflections in that place were all subtly different.
“It appears to be a formation deliberately constructed like a maze,” Bu Eunseol observed.
At Bu Eunseol’s words, So Ok Rim gathered her power.
“We can simply break through it.”
“No.”
Hae Yeon quickly stopped her.
“This secret refuge is a sanctuary passed down through generations of my palace. Not even a hair’s breadth may be damaged.”
“But if we leave it as is, won’t we be mesmerized by the mirrors and unable to properly explore the interior?”
“Do not worry. With the Wind Cloud Divine Technique, one can easily escape any maze.”
If an exit exists, wind will surely flow through it.
With the Wind Cloud Divine Technique, no matter how trapped one becomes in a maze, the exit can be found.
Patter, patter.
Hae Yeon led the way, navigating through the mirror-constructed maze.
‘Does the Sasin Technique require proficiency as well?’
I possessed the Wind Cloud Divine Technique, but to find an exit, I would need to spread it widely.
However, Hae Yeon was finding the exit immediately through the flow of wind without even drawing upon the Wind Cloud Divine Technique.
‘Moreover.’
My eyes narrowed with keen observation.
‘Would there truly be a need to install walls and floors of the same material as copper in such a fortress?’
If one used the Wind Cloud Divine Technique.
One could pass their body through even the most cramped spaces, and easily escape or traverse any maze or trap.
Then why would there be a need to create a device that clouds the spirit and induces hallucinations?
Of course, it could be for the purpose of controlling outsiders.
But wouldn’t outsiders already be filtered out at the light-formed gate that cannot be opened without mastering the Wind Cloud Divine Technique?
Tap, tap.
Following behind Hae Yeon and So Ok Rim, my gaze grew peculiar.
So Ok Rim and Hae Yeon were masters with exceptional physical control abilities.
Therefore, their strides should be as measured as if drawn with a ruler, and their pace should be perfectly regular.
Yet at some point, their strides and speeds began to subtly diverge.
‘This is…’
A flash of insight crossed my vision.
Upon closer observation, it wasn’t that So Ok Rim and Hae Yeon’s strides and speeds had changed.
The flow of time around them was different.
Moreover, the smooth walls and floor were moving as if alive.
Yet the flow was so infinitesimal that even hypersensitivity could barely detect it.
As a result, the space between the three of us was gradually separating, growing subtly distant.
“Something feels wrong?”
At that moment, So Ok Rim and Hae Yeon also stopped walking.
They too had sensed the minute movements of the floor and walls.
I came to a complete halt.
The distance between the three of us appeared close, yet in reality, we were quite far apart.
Our reflections in the smooth walls were layering upon each other, creating a dizzying sensation.
―Hehehehe.
Then at some point.
Along with a low laugh, our reflections in the mirror began to slowly transform.
Our eyes burned crimson red, and our mouths were split wide as if reaching our ears.
Moreover, this was not an illusion or fantasy.
It was reflecting our grotesque forms in reality.
Whoosh.
Suddenly a vibration resonated through the air.
Crash!
With a loud shattering sound, the two of them began to separate into a different space from me.
“So Ok Rim!”
Bu Eunseol cried out urgently, but it was already too late for the two to react.
A deep boom echoed.
With a low vibration, the two were swallowed into a different space in an instant.
And where Bu Eunseol had been standing,
the space that had been covered in smooth bronze suddenly transformed into an empty Great Hall shrouded in darkness.
He stood silently, lost in thought for a long moment, then nodded and spoke.
“It was sorcery.”
A flash of light erupted.
He unleashed the Muk Hon Sword technique toward the darkness-covered space.
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
The Muk Hon Sword, which had been shooting forward rapidly, suddenly halted in mid-air.
At that same moment, a transparent silhouette of a human form materialized in the void, as if the Muk Hon Sword had pierced through it.
He had sensed the presence of one hiding in the darkness and unleashed his sword technique in a single breath.
[Impressive.]
A soft sound escaped.
The transparent shadow pierced by the Muk Hon Sword suddenly vanished,
and then thick, dark liquid began to gather before Bu Eunseol.
The black substance coalesced and reformed.
From the black liquid, a Masked Assassin wrapped in dark cloth from head to toe emerged.
However, mysterious characters were densely inscribed across the waist and back of his garments,
giving him the appearance of a sorcerer wielding dark magic rather than a martial artist.
He seemed far more like a practitioner of sinister arts.
[To sense No Bu.]
The Masked Assassin appeared quite young, yet he referred to himself as No Bu.
[As martial arts in Murim develop to this degree… Ben Cheon will inevitably emerge.]
Only then could Bu Eunseol discern the Masked Assassin’s true identity.
“Are you from the Eight Immortals Heaven?”
[You know much.]
The Masked Assassin nodded with a tone of admiration.
[The Heavenly Lord of Ben Cheon is Sa In—the one who brings death.]
Sa In.
One of the Heavenly Lords from the Eight Immortals Heaven had appeared before Bu Eunseol once more.
“Why did you come to the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository?”
To Bu Eunseol’s question,
[The Baek Ri Family Secret Repository?]
Sa In’s eyes gleamed beneath his mask, and he chuckled darkly.
[Hehehehe. I thought you knew something, but you’ve simply stumbled in blindly.]
And then he delivered a shocking revelation.
[Most of what you call the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository are devices to maintain the Absolute Boundary spread throughout Gangho….]
The Masked Assassin spoke in a low voice.
[It is merely a research facility for eliminating their heavenly curse while simultaneously creating bloodline descendants.]
Bu Eunseol’s expression turned as if she had been struck on the back of her head by this unexpected answer.
‘Then….’
Suddenly, the encounter with Jeong Cheon Je from before.
The image of that massive tree at the center of the Baek Ri Family Secret Repository came to mind.
A tree that seemed to contain the life force descending from heaven itself, radiating a mystique as if it were about to bear fruit.
‘Could it be that it was created for the purpose of curing the Baek Ri Family’s heavenly curse?’
She had thought it strange at the time.
Even if the Eight Emperors and Three Stars’ secret vaults left behind solely for Baek Pal Sung could be explained that way.
It made no sense that the Baek Ri Family’s secret vaults, where they left behind their power, existed scattered throughout the Murim.
She had assumed there must be another reason…
‘And the matter of creating bloodline descendants….’
According to Park Yeon Chong Ji’s testimony.
The Baek Ri Family’s power was called the Profound Divine Technique Qi, while Jin Ma’s power was called the Mixed Demonic Technique Qi.
However, since the Baek Ri Family’s power could not be used by ordinary humans.
It was said to have been divided into eleven martial schools and transmitted.
‘Then has the Baek Ri Family reached a level where they can immediately transmit their power to those who are not bloodline descendants?’
If what the mountain spirit said was true.
‘Most’ of the Baek Ri Family’s secret vaults.
Were research facilities for their purposes.
‘Jeong Cheon Je.’
Could it be that Jeong Cheon Je becoming a blackened Strange Being was the activation of the Baek Ri Family’s heavenly curse.
And through that, he instinctively wandered searching for secret vaults and found a way to heal his body?
‘No, that cannot be.’
If Jeong Cheon Je were of the Baek Ri Family, or one of their subordinates?
They would never simply stand by and watch Jeong Cheon Je wander about having lost his reason.
‘An experimental subject.’
A flash of light crossed Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Currently, Jeong Cheon Je’s loss of reason was.
Something that went wrong when he tried to receive the power of the Baek Ri Family bloodline.
And the more accurate deduction was that he was instinctively destroying the research facilities as a result.
“So the Baek Ri Family has had a terrible hereditary disease passed down through generations.”
Bu Eunseol asked, pushing away the flood of thoughts.
[Ask Yeom Wang about the rest.]
Sa In let out a snort.
But Bu Eunseol paid it no mind and spoke.
“Whether it is a research facility or whatever, from Jin Ma’s perspective, the secret vaults must be destroyed.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes gleamed as she spoke.
“That way, the Baek Ri Family’s power will be weakened, and we can find their main base hidden in the Absolute Boundary and eliminate them.”
“You speak nonsense.”
Sa In’s lips curved upward into a smile.
[The Baek Ri Family members are scattered throughout Gangho.]
“What did you say?”
Sa In’s words were nothing but a cascade of shocks.
The Baek Ri Family, known to have vanished three hundred years ago, already existed throughout Gangho?
[You are merely… to that person.]
Sa In attempted to speak further, but suddenly narrowed his eyes as if sensing something.
[Now that I think about it, this is strange.]
And he uttered an unexpected statement.
[You possess such extensive knowledge without even being bound by the Covenant?]
The existing members of Incheon had never paid much attention to whether Bu Eunseol was a Covenant-bound individual or not.
They had never attempted to investigate it or discussed the matter.
Yet Sa In could discern it immediately.
[I spoke carelessly. To one who will die anyway.]
Whoosh.
At that moment, Sa In raised his skeletal hand.
Slither.
From the darkness, a shadow bound in chains glided forward silently.
A young man clad in black garments, his feet hovering mere inches above the ground.
His eyes and mouth were stitched shut with brutal precision, and his face was covered in scars.
Each time his lips twitched slightly, black malevolent energy seemed to flow forth, coiling around the surroundings.
[He is called Myeol Jeok Ja. Having died once, he is an invincible existence that cannot die a second time.]
Whoooosh.
Suddenly, Sa In’s form began to sink slowly into darkness as if submerged in flowing ink.
When he finally vanished without a trace, only an ominous and sinister aura echoed through the space.
[Even if you possess the techniques of the Baek Ri Family… you will die today.]
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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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