The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 87

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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 87.
The location where the Second Trial began resembled an underground dungeon.
The interior reeked of unpleasant mildew mixed with humid air, and faint oil lamps hung upon the stone walls.
“To master the swordsmanship our society has devised, one must not only possess refined inner energy, but also the tenacious endurance of a camel, and an almost fearsome capacity for perseverance.”
This trial was being conducted not by Seok Song, but by Woo Hak.
He gazed upon twenty-odd masked individuals and spoke in a low voice.
“When the gong sounds, you must hold the horse stance with arms spread wide for the duration of one hour. Should that posture collapse or you fail to endure, you are eliminated.”
Woo Hak, smiling faintly, continued.
“If you cannot endure, you may topple the stances of others without consequence. Of course, you yourself must maintain the horse stance throughout.”
At those words, the Stone Chamber filled with murmuring.
Though their identities could not be revealed, all those invited here were rising prodigies who had earned renown despite their youth.
Yet to demand they hold a horse stance for an hour—something only novices learning martial arts would do?
“This is a matter of pride.”
A man wearing a dog mask sighed and shook his head.
“Truthfully, I have no desperate need for the swordsmanship of Cheon Geom Hoe.”
Most of the assembled figures nodded at the dog-masked man’s words.
Since all possessed distinguished backgrounds, few among them thirsted for martial knowledge.
They had come simply because Cheon Geom Hoe, renowned for ages, was said to teach martial arts without restriction.
“I will not participate.”
Finally, the dog-masked man spoke to Woo Hak.
“Rather than learn swordsmanship through such degradation, I shall properly master my family’s techniques.”
The use of the term “family” suggested the dog-masked man might be a master from one of the Eight Great Families.
The three standing behind him nodded in agreement.
“I shall depart as well. I have no desire to learn swordsmanship through such humiliation.”
“I concur. I came out of curiosity upon hearing the techniques would be transmitted without conditions, but there is no need to go this far.”
Martial artists possessed formidable pride.
Especially descendants of great sects or renowned families who could freely master superior martial arts—they had no need to humble themselves merely to learn martial techniques.
Woo Hak nodded calmly.
“A prudent choice indeed. Those who wish to leave may exit immediately.”
Thereupon, four individuals including the dog-masked man departed the Stone Chamber at once.
I found it regrettable.
Bu Eunseol was disappointed.
I had expected at least a martial competition.
Those who had just left were surely descendants of renowned families or disciples of great sects.
I had anticipated engaging them in fierce combat, yet this trial was merely about enduring the horse stance.
Peaceful martial instruction.
At Demon Palace, they had made people kill one another under the guise of selecting exceptional talent.
But Cheon Geom Hoe’s trials were remarkably peaceful. They simply tested only the desired qualities through fair examination.
“Then let us begin.”
At Woo Hak’s words, eleven masked individuals including Bu Eunseol immediately assumed the horse stance.
Everyone present possessed at least the foundational inner energy of the first rank.
Though they were asked to endure for two hours, at their level it was no more challenging than standing idle without thought.
“What is that smell?”
Someone sniffed the air.
The Stone Chamber was humid and dark, yet from somewhere an indescribable stench pressed relentlessly inward.
“Ugh!”
In that moment, someone retched.
With each breath, tears and mucus streamed forth.
I tried using antitoxin techniques, but they proved useless. From this, I deduced it was not poison.
Yet with every breath, it felt as though decades-old rotting flesh and entrails were being forcibly shoved into my nose and mouth.
“Uuugh!”
Before long, anguished moans echoed throughout the Stone Chamber.
With each breath, tears and mucus streamed forth. No amount of channeled inner energy could shield against the agony of that reek.
‘What in the world is causing this?’
Bu Eunseol, maintaining the horse stance, furrowed her brow as she observed those suffering around her.
‘Surely Murim practitioners have encountered the stench of corpses before.’
The foul odor pressing into the Stone Chamber was none other than corpse stench—the reek of decomposing flesh.
Yet the problem lay in the fact that this was no ordinary corpse stench, but rather the Eternal Unburied Corpse Fragrance, so potent that even masters of the Corpse Handling Guild would cover their noses and flee.
However, Bu Eunseol had always handled the bodies of those who died unexpectedly and were reported to the Constabulary. She had eaten noodles while wiping down fully decomposed corpses, and had fallen asleep while stitching together burst organs.
‘It reminds me of the days when I performed embalmment.’
To her, corpse stench was instead a fragrance that evoked longing and wistful nostalgia.
“Ugh… I can’t endure this!”
Unlike Bu Eunseol, several men who had forced themselves into the horse stance eventually kicked open the door and bolted outside.
They trembled violently.
Those who remained also staggered, barely maintaining the horse stance.
At least there was one mercy—they wore masks.
Had they been able to see each other’s faces, their pitiful state would have been exposed to all the world.
“Uuuh…”
Continuous groans reverberated within the Stone Chamber.
Those gathered in the Stone Chamber could now understand why the Second Trial required not merely inner energy and endurance, but also mental fortitude.
Even without breathing, this vile stench penetrated through the skin. Few would survive two hours of such torment.
“I simply cannot continue!”
Eventually, another man maintaining the horse stance in the corner opened the Stone Chamber door and fled outside.
Then several more followed in succession, kicking open the door and rushing out one after another.
“Mmm…”
After roughly an hour, those remaining could no longer even muster groans.
Only then did those who persisted grasp two undeniable truths.
―Even a Transcendent Immortal could not endure two hours in this place.
Those still within the Stone Chamber had their senses paralyzed not merely in their noses but throughout their entire bodies by the Eternal Unburied Corpse Fragrance.
No matter how long they held their breath, the stench seeped through their skin, and they felt the anguish of their own organs decomposing alongside it.
This foul miasma ordinarily lacked potent efficacy, yet within such a confined space where all exits were sealed, it proved nearly as devastating as the Three Supreme Toxins of Tianxia.
―If one cannot endure, it matters not if the stances of others crumble. Of course, one must maintain the Horse Stance oneself.
And why Woo Hak had spoken such words.
Was it a meeting of minds?
Whoosh. Crack.
The masked figure in the amber mask standing in the center of the Stone Chamber, arms spread wide, struck at the knee of the tiger-masked figure.
“Ugh.”
The sudden assault bent the tiger-masked figure’s knee inward.
Yet the tiger-masked figure was also a master of considerable inner strength. He immediately moved his knee to counterattack.
Crack! Thud!
The two masters, maintaining their Horse Stances, began their exchange with rapid footwork.
Then the remaining competitors, as if by agreement, began eliminating their rivals nearby.
Crack.
With a sound of displaced air, the wolf-masked man attacked Bu Eunseol’s knee.
Whoosh! Thud!
As fabric whistled sharply, the wolf-masked man extended his leg, creating dozens of shadowy foot strikes.
It resembled the techniques of the Shadowless Leg Method, yet it was saturated with killing intent.
‘He means to shatter my ankles.’
Ordinarily, I had not mastered the Quan Jiao technique and could not properly execute leg methods.
Yet I predicted the wolf-masked man’s leg technique and evaded the attack with ease.
I was the sole inheritor of the legendary movement art of Nangya Sect—the Extreme Speed Shadowless Form.
Having mastered the absolute movement technique that unified the ultimate footwork and movement art capable of shifting direction hundreds of times in a single breath, evading mere leg techniques was as effortless as a yawn.
“Ahhh!”
At last, a piercing scream tore from the wolf-masked man’s throat.
After twenty seconds of exchange, my phantom-like knee strike had struck true against the wolf-masked figure’s inner knee.
“You wretch!”
With his stance broken, the wolf-masked man’s eyes filled with venom as he suddenly thrust two fingers toward my eyes.
Crack!
Yet my kick was faster.
With the sound of shattering bone, the wolf-masked man let out a harrowing scream. His ankle had been crushed.
“Ahhhhh! I will kill you!”
The wolf-masked figure limped and immediately drew the sword at his waist.
Then a solemn voice echoed from the ceiling of the Stone Chamber.
“This is not a place for murder. Leave the Stone Chamber at once.”
The wolf-masked man with sword in hand hesitated briefly.
Yet recalling the swift blade Seok Song had displayed before, he gritted his teeth and departed the Stone Chamber.
“You wretch! I will surely kill you!”
Whoosh, thud.
Whether the wolf-masked man left or not, the interior of the Stone Chamber had become an arena of combat, fighters maintaining their Horse Stances.
Crack!
At that moment, Dang Gon’s strike—delivered from behind a fox mask—shattered the masked man’s knee, sending him crashing to the ground.
“Damn bastard!”
The pig-masked man, consumed by rage, drew a short blade from his robes.
But it was like writing characters before Confucius—a futile gesture.
Thwack, thwack, thwack!
Three poison needles suddenly sprouted from the man’s chest.
“Ugh…”
As the pig-masked man staggered from the poison needles, Dang Gon spoke in a low voice.
“Go quickly and take the antidote. Otherwise, you’ll suffer from fire poison for the rest of your life.”
“You… you are…”
Fire poison and poison needles—weren’t these the very toxins and hidden weapons most favored by the Dang Family?
The pig-masked man trembled as he recognized Dang Gon’s identity, then hurriedly fled from the Stone Chamber.
By then, only five people remained in the Stone Chamber, maintaining their horse stance.
“The Second Trial is complete.”
As Woo Hak’s voice echoed, the mist that had filled the Stone Chamber dissipated, and fresh air gradually flowed in.
“Phew.”
The five remaining participants released their stances in unison and drew deep breaths.
They had been holding their breath, barely surviving until now.
―Learning martial arts was never free, after all.
Unlike the first trial, the second trial had inflicted suffering they had never experienced before.
The five masters remaining in this place exchanged glances. Judging by the aura they emanated, not a single one among them was weak.
―No matter how I think about it, the final trial will surely be a martial duel.
As the five masters regarded one another with tension, Seok Song and Woo Hak entered the Stone Chamber side by side.
“Return to the Open Ground where you conducted the first trial.”
When none of the five moved, Seok Song wore a bitter smile.
“Don’t be anxious. We will never have you slaughter one another.”
Once the five had emerged from the Stone Chamber and gathered at the Open Ground where the first trial had taken place, Seok Song spoke.
“You are all exceptional talents with innate perception and killing intent. Teaching the sword technique to such talents is a profound joy.”
After a brief moment of composure, he continued.
“But this sword technique is a killing technique created to take lives. It is far from an ordinary method.”
Bu Eunseol and all the others had anticipated this.
Those born with innate killing intent—only a killing technique would require such a condition.
After pausing briefly, Seok Song spoke again.
“Now we shall begin the Third Trial.”
Every person on the Open Ground lowered their stance, visibly tense.
If the second trial was this grueling, the third trial would surely exceed all imagination in difficulty.
“The Third Trial is simple.”
Yet unexpected words flowed from Seok Song’s lips.
“If you make just one promise, you will pass the third trial.”
All those present wore expressions of bewilderment.
Passing the Third Trial with merely a single promise?
“What sort of promise?” Dang Gon asked, his voice muffled behind the fox mask.
Seok Song responded with grave solemnity.
“You need only swear an oath—that in exchange for receiving my sword techniques, you will take the life of one person.”
“You’re saying you’ll impart your sword techniques merely for an oath?”
“Prodigies of the realm such as yourselves don’t simply fall from the heavens.”
Seok Song smiled faintly.
“You are disciples of great sects or descendants of renowned families. I trust that an oath alone will bind you to honor your word.”
The promises of great sect disciples and noble family heirs carry weight beyond gold.
For to break faith is not merely a personal transgression—it stains the honor of one’s sect or clan itself.
“But surely you wouldn’t ask us to kill someone unreasonable or someone close to us?”
The one wearing the yellow dragon mask spoke then.
“You could command us to slay someone absurd or dear to us. If that person were a key figure of the Murim Alliance or the Demon Hall, the task would be virtually impossible.”
“A fair observation.”
“Then… might you tell us why this person must die?”
Seok Song drew a heavy breath and shook his head slowly.
“There are deeply complex circumstances at play. I cannot divulge them in detail… but I can express it thus.”
After taking a deep breath, he spoke again.
“This person is both the enemy and the sworn foe of our organization.”
With a look of profound sorrow, Seok Song closed his eyes, his teeth clenched as he continued.
“They have slaughtered every swordmaster of our organization—including Hoe Ju himself!”

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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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