The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 852
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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 852.
Yu Woon Ryong had no time to lift himself from his seat, overwhelmed by the endless stream of work from Sayoung Hall.
However, the Lords gradually became proficient in all matters.
And when Myo Cheon Woo took on some of the tasks he had been handling, he finally found some breathing room.
“At last, it is finished.”
Yu Woon Ryong cried out with emotion from his office.
The work he had been writing for some time.
The Ten-Segment Staff Illustrated Guide, which comprehensively covered all techniques of the Ten-Segment Staff, was finally complete.
“If this treatise spreads, in the future Murim will have far more masters wielding the Ten-Segment Staff than swordsmen wielding blades.”
Yu Woon Ryong smiled with satisfaction.
In truth, the Ten-Segment Staff he wielded.
Was far less known than the chain sickle, which could be called the representative exotic weapon of Murim.
And it was far more difficult to master.
But Yu Woon Ryong had harmoniously integrated the subtleties of whip techniques and staff methods.
Creating a systematic training regimen so that even a three-year-old child could wield the Ten-Segment Staff.
“Thanks to that, I was finally able to grasp the mysteries of Endless Qi Flow and Infinite Qi Transformation that had long eluded me.”
The Ten-Segment Staff technique consumed vast amounts of inner energy proportional to its tremendous power.
Therefore, to compensate for this, one had to draw upon techniques passed down through generations in whip and staff methods.
Merging the flow of weapons and inner energy circulation, continuously cycling internal power without wasting a single drop of qi.
Integrating the mysteries of Constant Qi Circulation and Perpetual Unbroken Cycles.
And finally, Yu Woon Ryong applied such mysteries to the Ten-Segment Staff technique.
Completing an unprecedented inner energy circulation method called Endless Qi Flow and Infinite Qi Transformation.
“With this, I could single-handedly repel even a considerable army.”
Yu Woon Ryong, who had been smiling brightly, drew a deep breath and nodded.
“Now that I have perfected my martial arts, perhaps I should fill my mind next.”
For a long time, whenever he had spare time, he would venture to Seong Do and visit the Old Bookstore to read.
He had already read all the books available to him in Demon Palace.
To properly assist Bu Eunseol, he needed to reach at least a level where he could anticipate her insights to some degree.
Though he could never match Bu Eunseol’s vast wisdom and penetrating insight.
Through books, he sought knowledge from across time and space, and through that knowledge, he pursued wisdom.
Rustle.
Today too, Yu Woon Ryong was browsing books worth reading at the Old Bookstore located on the bustling streets of Seong Do.
His figure, turning pages with a serious expression, appeared as solemn as an ascetic pursuing enlightenment.
Reading books not only allowed one to gain the knowledge contained within.
But also held wisdom that could further develop the reader’s thinking.
Every day, Yu Woon Ryong read books in this manner, cultivating his own refinement.
Creak.
At that moment, a woman in a brilliant deep pink dress, with a wild rose ornament pinned in her hair, entered the bookstore.
She was a stunning beauty with eyes that were both sharp and deep and beautiful, like gazing into a vast lake.
“Old Master. Did you manage to find that book I mentioned back then….”
The woman who had been calling out loudly for the Old Bookstore’s proprietor.
Spotted Yu Woon Ryong standing to one side, absorbed in reading, and hastily concealed herself behind the shelves.
‘What? What is he doing here?’
She was none other than Dan Ri Yu Hwa, the only daughter of the Changwol Sect, who had once been presented as a potential match to Yu Woon Ryong.
Though the Changwol Sect was a faction of Sae Oe,
They maintained constant exchanges with the Demon Palace and were expanding their sphere of influence into Zhong Yuan.
Currently, efforts to establish Bun Ta in Zhong Yuan were well underway,
And Dan Ri Yu Hwa was overseeing and directing these operations on behalf of the Changwol Sect Master.
―How could anyone not know of Ryeong Ju’s accomplishments? Is there no one around you?
Crunch.
Dan Ri Yu Hwa, hidden behind the shelves, clenched her fists tightly.
The memory of Yu Woon Ryong’s scathing words toward her came flooding back.
Simply that she had not known Muk Hon Ryeong Ju well.
That she had been ignorant of his great deeds and martial prowess.
She had been deeply wounded by Yu Woon Ryong’s relentless reproach, his voice rising with indignation.
‘He’s still the same.’
A bookworm.
To others, he might be the right hand of the great Muk Hon Ryeong Ju and the strategist of Sayoung Hall,
But in her eyes, he was nothing more than a brainwashed, empty-headed subordinate of Muk Hon Ryeong Ju,
A mere bookworm who read even during a formal meeting of potential matches.
‘Why doesn’t he leave already?’
Dan Ri Yu Hwa carefully craned her neck to observe Yu Woon Ryong once more.
Though his features were as refined as jade, his eyes were sunken as if he had not slept for four days and nights, his complexion pallid, and his face gaunt.
It was clear he had spent the entire night reading, and reading still.
‘For such a confident, bold man to appear so listless and frail.’
She was a heroine of Murim, with a temperament more forthright and uninhibited than any bearded man.
And she believed that the man destined to be her consort
Should possess both the martial prowess to subdue the strongest and the commanding presence to rule all under heaven.
‘A martial artist ought to carry himself with bold confidence. What is this sickly appearance?’
She truly despised men who appeared so frail and infirm.
“Young lady.”
At that moment, the Old Bookstore’s proprietor, Old Master Seo,
Blinked as he observed Dan Ri Yu Hwa leaning against the shelves in hiding.
“What are you doing there?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Dan Ri Yu Hwa waved her hand dismissively and spun around.
“I’ll come back another time.”
Lest Yu Woon Ryong discover her.
She departed the Old Bookstore without a backward glance.
Several days later.
She sought out the bustling streets of Seong Do, far removed from the Demon Palace, lest she chance upon Yu Woon Ryong again.
Pleasantly warmed by an afternoon drink, she savored the vibrant atmosphere of Zhong Yuan.
The Changwol Sect, nestled upon the barren expanse of Shin Wol San,
spent entire days in solemn meditation and austere ascetic practice…
repeating a rigid, monotonous existence indistinguishable from the daily routines of the Bulmun order.
Yet Zhong Yuan thrummed with such vitality, teeming with people and wonders at every turn.
“How I wish we could relocate the sect entirely to Zhong Yuan.”
She murmured wistfully.
“Once I establish Bun Ta, I shall absolutely oversee that branch myself.”
Rather than endure endless austerities upon Shin Wol San, she had even entertained the notion of marrying into a Zhong Yuan family.
But now that a branch faction was taking shape,
there was no need to marry at all—becoming the Bun Ta Lord overseeing the branch would suffice.
“And once we accept disciples from Zhong Yuan, eventually the main sect itself would relocate to Zhong Yuan….”
Splat.
Just then, a child darting through the crowd with a sticky candy cake in hand
smeared it across the robes of a middle-aged man in blue silk who was admiring the Market Street.
“You brat!”
Immediately, a martial artist who appeared to be the middle-aged man’s bodyguard seized the child by the scruff of the neck and hoisted him into the air.
“Can’t you watch where you’re going?”
The child, dangling helplessly from the martial artist’s grip, whimpered in fear.
“Now, now.”
The middle-aged man shook his head, about to reprimand his bodyguard,
“That’s quite petty of you.”
Dan Ri Yu Hwa pointed at the martial artist holding the child, deliberately stoking the flames.
“Why make such a fuss over something so trivial?”
“What?”
“If you’re a proper bodyguard, you should have prevented the child from approaching in the first place. Why take it out on the child?”
At Dan Ri Yu Hwa’s pouting words, the martial artist’s eyes widened.
“Do you suggest I failed to notice the child’s approach?”
He had observed the child’s gait and recognized at a glance that this was neither a trained assassin nor someone with malicious intent.
But he could not foresee the future, and thus had not anticipated the candy cake being smeared on the robes.
Yet to be spoken to as though his guard had been breached through incompetence?
“How dare you speak such nonsense to me!”
“Now, now, that’s enough.”
The middle-aged man waved his hand dismissively.
“The young lady is right. Strictly speaking, there’s no fault to be found with the child.”
At those words, the martial artist’s face flushed crimson as he bowed his head.
“My apologies.”
Witnessing this, Dan Ri Yu Hwa nodded approvingly, her smile radiating satisfaction.
“Well, your master is a decent person after all.”
And she sighed while looking at the Middle-Aged Man.
“From now on, I need to properly educate the servants….”
“My apologies.”
At that moment, someone in a blue robe suddenly stepped forward and bowed before Dan Ri Yu Hwa.
It was Yu Woon Ryong.
“This fellow’s mind isn’t quite right… On any fine day, he comes out to Market Street like this and grabs anyone he can to pick a fight with.”
“What? What?”
“Look here.”
Yu Woon Ryong pointed at the wild rose ornament pinned in her hair with an utterly serious expression.
“You see, you have a flower stuck in your hair like this.”
As the bewildered Dan Ri Yu Hwa tried to say something, Yu Woon Ryong bowed once more.
“My sincerest apologies, my lady. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive this misunderstanding.”
“It’s fine. Off you go now.”
As if grasping the situation, the Middle-Aged Man in the blue robe smiled and waved his hand, whereupon Yu Woon Ryong bowed respectfully and
led her by the arm into the alley.
“Let go of me!”
Once inside the alley, she tried to wrench her arm free from Yu Woon Ryong’s grip with all her strength.
But Yu Woon Ryong released his arm quickly before she could fully execute her move.
“What on earth are you doing?”
She cried out, her fury reaching a crescendo.
“Who are you to interfere? And what’s this about someone not being right in the head?”
Yu Woon Ryong sighed and spoke.
“I apologize. That was something I said to escape that situation.”
“Escape? Over something that was nothing? Over something already resolved, you made me look like a madwoman!”
“Dan Ri, young lady.”
He shook his head.
“No matter how unfamiliar you may be with Zhong Yuan’s affairs… there are certain people you ought to recognize, are there not?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“That was Chil Wang Ya.”
“What did you say?”
“The Middle-Aged Man in blue was Chil Wang Ya.”
Yu Woon Ryong let out a heavy sigh.
“And the warrior escorting him—a man with a cold temperament and cruel methods, bearing the epithet ‘Blood Hawk’—was Cheol Eung, a Commander of the Geum Ui Wi.”
Dan Ri Yu Hwa’s mouth fell open.
She had prided herself on being quite well-informed about Zhong Yuan’s affairs of late.
But that knowledge was limited to matters of Murim; regarding the affairs of government officials and imperial court figures, she knew nothing whatsoever.
Naturally, she could not have recognized the face of a prince dressed in plain clothes.
“Even if Chil Wang Ya is known for his generous nature, if you had clashed with that Cheol Eung, the Commander, could Changwol Sect have safely taken root in Zhong Yuan?”
“That’s…”
Dan Ri Yu Hwa knew she ought to thank him. But pride made her irritable.
“That was something I needed to handle myself.”
Huff.
She turned her body away.
“Don’t concern yourself with my affairs anymore.”
And with that, she huffed indignantly and slipped out of the alley.
Watching her departure, Yu Woon Ryong drew a deep breath and shook his head.
“A woman who won’t be deterred, it seems.”
Considering the relationship between Demon Palace and Changwol Sect.
No, he had saved her from danger because of a single chance encounter from the past.
Yet she merely expressed irritation and left?
“Perhaps I was meddling unnecessarily.”
There were already enough complicated matters scattered about. There was no need to involve himself in her affairs.
“It seems I’ve caught it from that woman.”
Those who walk the Demonic Path are generally indifferent to others’ concerns.
But Bu Eunseol always extends her hand to those in difficulty, regardless of their allegiances.
And before long, all the martial artists of Sayoung Hall had begun to inherit this very quality of hers.
“I won’t concern myself with it again.”
Unable to foresee what lay ahead, he turned away coldly.
Several days later.
Yu Woon Ryong returned to Seong Do.
After spending considerable time at the Old Bookstore, he emerged once more onto the bustling Market Street.
“Perhaps I’ll buy some sweets for that brat Myo Cheon Woo on my way back.”
Myo Cheon Woo had rather peculiar tastes—he still enjoyed sweet foods like a child, despite his age.
Especially lately, having abandoned his carefree lifestyle and devoted himself to assisting me at my desk…
I felt somewhat guilty about it.
Whimper, whimper.
But in the distance, a Flower Girl stood with a vacant expression, whimpering softly.
The Market Street was already congested, and with processions from various factions passing through.
She appeared to be a child who had lost her mother’s hand in the chaos.
Yet the passing pedestrians, dressed in shabby clothes, paid no attention to the whimpering child.
‘There’s nothing to be done about it.’
As Yu Woon Ryong clicked his tongue and prepared to walk on,
“Oh my, how adorable. What young lady are you, dear?”
A woman in a crimson battle jacket suddenly knelt before the child, laughing brightly as she spoke.
It was Dan Ri Yu Hwa.
“Where is your mother? Did you lose your way?”
At her question, the Flower Girl wiped her tears and nodded.
“Very well, I’ll help you find her.”
But the Flower Girl lowered her head with a wary expression and murmured softly.
“Mother told me… never to follow strangers.”
“That’s right. You’ve been taught well, haven’t you?”
She nodded and suddenly turned, disappearing into the alley.
Did she think the child was clever enough and didn’t need help?
Tap-tap-tap.
Just then, Dan Ri Yu Hwa hurried back through the crowd to the child.
In both her hands, she carried appetizing Bing Tang Ho Ro.
“Would it be alright if I waited here with you?”
Dan Ri Yu Hwa offered the Bing Tang Ho Ro to the child and spoke.
“Your mother will come to this place soon. I’ll stay with you until then.”
Nod.
As the child nodded, she smiled and stood beside the child.
Dan Ri Yu Hwa shielded the child from the blazing sun by lifting her wide sleeves to block the pouring sunlight.
Though that posture must have been tiring, she silently remained at the child’s side.
“Min Min!”
Just then, a middle-aged woman drenched in sweat came running toward the child from afar.
It seemed she had searched every corner of Seong Do to find her missing child.
“Mother!”
The child brightened at the sight of her mother and ran toward her.
“Min Min!”
The mother blinked upon seeing the Bing Tang Ho Ro in the child’s hand.
“What is that?”
“That sister over there gave it to me….”
The child, pointing backward with her finger, blinked her large eyes.
Dan Ri Yu Hwa, who had been standing beside her, had vanished without a trace.
‘Hmm.’
Yu Woon Ryong, watching from afar, stroked his chin.
I thought she was an utterly reckless woman.
But seeing how she cared for the child and her gentle demeanor… it seemed she wasn’t entirely like that.
Gleam.
Suddenly, Dan Ri Yu Hwa’s fresh smile as she shielded the child from the sun came to mind.
That smile, with a rose ornament pinned in her hair, revealing white teeth as she laughed.
It was beautiful and radiant enough to be etched deeply in the mind of Yu Woon Ryong, who had been extremely indifferent to women.
“It wasn’t entirely without merit, was it?”
Yu Woon Ryong, recalling the earlier events and chuckling softly, shook his head and slowly turned away.
Days later.
Jamma Pavilion, Yu Woon Ryong’s office.
Despite continuously reading through the incoming letters, the desk was still piled high with documents.
And at the reception table across from him sat Won Se Moon and Jo Nam Cheon.
Unlike Yu Woon Ryong, they were leisurely chatting.
“Hahaha.”
“That’s pretty funny, isn’t it?”
Yu Woon Ryong had long since accepted that his office had become a resting place for the Lords.
Regardless of what they chattered about, he paid them no mind and quietly attended to his duties.
“…Did you see that woman who caused a scene at the Tea House? She was completely insane?”
“Right? In all my years, I’ve never seen a woman so mad.”
He paused.
Yu Woon Ryong, who had been wielding his brush, stopped mid-stroke at the peculiar tale reaching his ears.
“She’s got guts too. To infiltrate the Ingui Party, turn the place upside down, and escape like that?”
The Ingui Party.
It was a recently prominent Black Path faction—a group of fixers who solved all manner of commissions for payment.
Though newly established, it maintained strong connections with the Gwan Bu, and its members were uniformly exceptional in martial prowess.
In particular, the Ingui Party Lord, Jeon Baek Seung, the Ghost-Slaying Swordsman, was
an unremarkable master of the Black Path, but had recently mastered such formidable swordsmanship that he could slay ghosts themselves.
He wielded tremendous influence throughout Gangho.
So how could some woman infiltrate such a faction and turn it inside out?
“Right. The Ingui Party must have pursued her relentlessly and dragged her out of the Tea House where she was hiding, didn’t they?”
At Won Se Moon’s words, Jo Nam Cheon crossed his arms and shook his head.
“In the end, they’re a Black Path faction, so maybe it wasn’t about money? Most of them settle things that way, don’t they?”
Won Se Moon smacked his lips and shook his head.
“Who knows. Her temperament is sharp and she’s got a rough edge, but her face is pretty… I wonder if the Ingui Party Lord’s eyes didn’t flip backwards.”
Yu Woon Ryong, listening silently to the conversation, felt an ominous sensation brush through his mind.
A woman with a sharp temperament, rough-edged but beautiful.
At those words, the face of one person came to mind.
“Could it be.”
Yu Woon Ryong set down his brush.
“That woman who infiltrated the Ingui Party.”
He looked between Won Se Moon and Jo Nam Cheon alternately, his expression growing darker.
“Could she be the one with flowers stuck in her hair like a madwoman, wearing a crimson leather jacket?”
“Huh?”
Won Se Moon and Jo Nam Cheon simultaneously widened their eyes.
“Yu Dae Ju saw her too?”
He tapped his forehead.
Instead of answering, Yu Woon Ryong covered his forehead with one hand.
Dan Ri Yu Hwa.
That reckless troublemaker had caused another incident.
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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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