The Great Heavenly Sword Emperor - Chapter 17

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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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#017. The Right to Survive (5)

Once everything had settled, the monks bore Beigong Danya away swiftly for treatment.
The assassins whose Blood Meridians had been sealed were collected by other members of Muryeon and taken away.
Having concluded his test of Beigong Danya, Cheon Mugyeol sat in silence within the secret chamber behind the Sanshin Hall.
Creak.
The door opened and Gwang An entered.
His face bore relief, satisfaction, and a certain lightness—the whole palette of ease written plainly across his features.
“Did you obtain a satisfactory result?”
Gwang An asked as he brewed tea in a ceramic pot.
But Cheon Mugyeol offered no words regarding the test itself.
“Hah…….”
Gwang An released a small sigh.
He wished Cheon Mugyeol would simply speak his mind with some clarity.
Had he known beforehand what Cheon Mugyeol sought from this test, he wouldn’t have spent the entire time gnawing at his nerves in such suspense.
“Still, the test is finished, and Beigong Danya survived—so one might call that a good outcome…….”
Bang!
Before Gwang An could finish, the hall door burst open with violence, revealing Jang Pafung—his face dark with rage.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
Jang Pafung glared at Cheon Mugyeol with lethal intensity and roared.
In his hand, he still clutched the bottle of wine he’d brought intending to pour it over Beigong Danya’s corpse.
“What is the problem? The contract is complete, and the payment shall be delivered as promised.”
“As if that settles anything! This is a matter of Muryeon’s honor!”
Honor—not money—was why Jang Pafung burned with such fury.
The fact that he had undertaken the contract twice and failed to complete it.
And that his failure had come without even being able to prevent Cheon Mugyeol’s interference—that is what crushed his pride.
Even as Jang Pafung vented his rage before him, Cheon Mugyeol didn’t blink.
Instead, he glanced up at him and spoke.
“The purpose of this contract was to test Beigong Danya. The objective has been achieved—therefore, the contract is complete.”
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
“And there is one more thing. The test subject was not Beigong Danya alone.”
At Cheon Mugyeol’s words, Jang Pafung’s voice caught in his throat.
What manner of sudden riddle was this?
But his face flushed a deep crimson as though about to split, and his entire body trembled violently.
“You worm! Do you think yourself above all others! You dared test Muryeon!”
At Jang Pafung’s outburst, Gwang An turned toward Cheon Mugyeol with startled eyes.
Test Muryeon? What on earth did that mean?
As Gwang An’s mind twisted in confusion, Cheon Mugyeol opened his mouth.
“By deploying four First Rank assassins against Beigong Danya—the answer was already clear.”
‘Ah!’
Now Gwang An understood.
Cheon Mugyeol hadn’t been observing Beigong Danya alone.
He had been measuring the gap between Muryeon’s reputation and its actual power.
‘How far did his thinking extend?’
As Gwang An turned this question over in his mind, the answer came immediately.
“I wanted to verify what Muryeon’s true strength actually is.”
With that, Cheon Mugyeol rose from his seat and met Jang Pafung’s gaze directly.
“Muryeon’s real power is perhaps seventy percent of what the world believes—or even less. Isn’t it?”
Jang Pafung’s body trembled more violently still as he fought to contain his rage.
But with his teeth gritted shut, he could not speak.
Anger alone was not the cause.
Shame—the shame of being so thoroughly read by Cheon Mugyeol—was something he could not overcome.
“Until the moment the test began, I thought Muryeon might yet become one blade among the battles to come. But I have reconsidered.”
Cheon Mugyeol then continued, speaking as though pronouncing a verdict.
“If those who attacked me when I emerged from the Cheongeom Hall truly were Gwigok——”
Cheon Mugyeol fixed Jang Pafung with a direct gaze and spoke with absolute certainty.
“If what I’ve faced, and what you’ve shown me these past two days, represents Muryeon’s full strength, then we cannot win. Do not interfere.”
This was a judgment only Cheon Mugyeol could make—one who had fought Muryeon directly and even witnessed Beigong Danya’s test firsthand.
“You dare give me orders!”
“I’m opening a path to survival. Pay no mind to Gwigok, the Dongbang Clan, or to Beigong Danya and myself.”
“Whether I live or die is my own affair!”
“True. Life and death are yours alone to decide. But—”
Gasp!
Just as rage was about to sever Jang Pafung’s reason entirely, the shift in Cheon Mugyeol’s eyes struck like ice water. The heat burning through him cooled in an instant.
“If you meddle in my business—”
Cheon Mugyeol’s gaze remained fixed on Jang Pafung as he finished.
“—I will erase Muryeon.”
Meeting the depth and chill in Cheon Mugyeol’s eyes, Jang Pafung could not dismiss his words as mere bluster.
“You said it yourself. That if the Dongbang Clan so chose, wiping out Muryeon would be nothing. You think I cannot do the same?”
Jang Pafung’s body trembled again.
Not from anger.
But from the overwhelming aura radiating from Cheon Mugyeol’s frame.
Terror that transcended mere fear.
That alone was enough to make his body shake.
Pop!
Jang Pafung uncorked one of the bottles he held and drank directly from it without hesitation.
Half spilled down his chin; the rest coursed down his throat.
But the humiliation he tasted in that moment burned far bitterly than any liquor.
Draining the bottle in a single breath, Jang Pafung looked back at Cheon Mugyeol.
“What becomes of Muryeon is for me to decide.”
“Do as you wish. But it would be wise not to take my words lightly.”
At Cheon Mugyeol’s final warning, Jang Pafung glared at him a moment longer, then departed the Dharma Hall in rough strides.
Exhale.
Gwang An drew a hand across his chest, releasing a breath of relief.
He’d half-feared they’d be disposing of a corpse before the conversation ended.
“I should brew fresh tea.”
Gwang An prepared another pot and turned to Cheon Mugyeol with a question.
“Were you planning to draw Muryeon into this?”
“At first, I was.”
“And you’ve reconsidered?”
In essence, Cheon Mugyeol had issued Muryeon a notice of rejection.
Gwang An’s question, having heard the whole exchange, carried weight.
Cheon Mugyeol regarded him briefly, then spoke.
“Exactly as I said. If Muryeon becomes an obstacle to my purpose, Muryeon will cease to exist.”
Gwang An said nothing.
He knew Cheon Mugyeol did not lightly change his mind once it was set, yet he hoped he would reconsider this time.
The more blades he could bring to bear on what lay ahead, the better Cheon Mugyeol’s chances of success.
That was the path to seeing his plans through, and it would serve Bohyeon Temple well besides.
“I see. Very well.”
Gwang An handed him the steeped tea.
“And what of the young master of Beigong? What do you intend for him?”
“I must fill in what he lacks.”
“You mean to teach him martial arts?”
At Gwang An’s question, Cheon Mugyeol studied him in silence.
“What—why are you looking at me that way?”
Flustered by Cheon Mugyeol’s wordless stare, Gwang An pressed him further.
“There is something Beigong Danya does not know.”
Then Cheon Mugyeol leaned close and spoke a few quiet words to Gwang An.
Hearing this, Gwang An’s mouth fell open in disbelief—and remained so for some time.
Cheon Mugyeol drained his tea in one long draught, set down the cup, and departed the Dharma Hall, leaving one final instruction:
“Tell him to come find me once his treatment is complete.”

* * *

Beigong Danya regained consciousness on the third day.
The wound piercing his ribs, combined with the massive blood loss across his upper body, had kept him from waking sooner.
Beigong Danya’s complexion remained pallid when his eyes opened, and he seemed drained of vitality.
“You’re awake.”
As expected, it was Gwang An who spoke first to the awakening Beigong Danya.
Beigong Danya gazed at Gwang An for a moment, then turned his eyes toward the ceiling and opened his mouth.
“I survived.”
“Yes. You survived. It seems the Buddha isn’t calling you to paradise just yet.”
At Gwang An’s words, Beigong Danya let out a faint laugh.
“The trial is over, then?”
“Yes. It’s finished. You endured well.”
Beigong Danya released a long, relieved sigh at Gwang An’s response.
“Now focus on recovery with peace of mind. The trial is done, but the real beginning lies ahead.”
“Do you have any word of what comes next?”
“No. I’ve heard nothing of what or how you’ll proceed. Only—”
“Only?”
“Once your treatment is complete, you’re to come find me.”
“I see.”
He was glad.
But greater than the gladness was the tension that now everything was beginning.
“Unngh!”
“You mustn’t rise yet. Not until the wounds have properly healed—”
Gwang An stopped Beigong Danya as he tried to sit up.
Yet Beigong Danya pushed himself upright regardless, managing a strained smile.
“How could I lie still in this situation? My body hasn’t fully mended, but if I remain in bed, my mind will begin to fester.”
At Beigong Danya’s words, Gwang An sighed softly and smiled.
“You’ve become an entirely different person.”
“Have I?”
“Yes. You’re nothing like the man I met at that temporary dwelling before you came to Bohyeon Temple.”
“It’s all thanks to him.”
“No. It’s your own strength. Trust in yourself.”
Gwang An instilled confidence in Beigong Danya.
“Thank you. If I may trouble you, would you help me to my feet?”
At Beigong Danya’s request, Gwang An supported him and helped him stand from the bed.
Rising unsteadily on both legs with Gwang An’s aid, Beigong Danya’s face twisted with pain that radiated through his whole body, before he forced his expression into a smile.
“I must see him.”
Beigong Danya left the room.

* * *

A small annex near the Jeobgaek Hall, situated on the opposite side of the Yosa Building where Beigong Danya lodged.
Cheon Mugyeol stood in the small open space before the annex, holding the Cheonsin Sword in hand.
With his eyes gently closed as if contemplating something, Cheon Mugyeol slowly opened them a moment later.
“Breathe…”
A shallow breath.
Then he began to move through a sequence of sword forms using the Cheonsin Sword, its sheath still wrapped around the blade.
It was then.
“Beigong Danya of the Beigong Clan bows before Young Master Cheon of Cheongeom Hall!”
Beigong Danya, who had arrived just then, offered a formal greeting with a fist salute.
The moment Beigong Danya raised his head after the properly ceremonial bow, he hurriedly turned it away.
To observe another’s training was considered taboo in the martial world.
No matter how skilled Cheon Mugyeol might be, it was not something one gazed upon carelessly.
‘Wait.’
But in that instant, Beigong Danya felt something strange.
Though only a glimpse, the sword technique he’d caught of Cheon Mugyeol seemed familiar somehow.
‘Did my injuries make me see something that wasn’t there?’
Even as he thought it impossible, curiosity welled up within him.
After a moment’s hesitation, Beigong Danya, unable to suppress his curiosity, turned his head back to look at Cheon Mugyeol once more.
Swish! Crack! Slash! Slash!
The sword cuts that Cheon Mugyeol unleashed.
Beigong Danya’s eyes, now open wide and watching intently, trembled with recognition.
It was no illness-induced illusion.
The swordsmanship Cheon Mugyeol displayed was unmistakably the blade arts of the Beigong Clan that he had mastered.
Beigong Danya could not tear his eyes away from the Hyeonjung Swordsmanship and Cheonak Sword Technique that Cheon Mugyeol unfolded.
It was the same swordsmanship he had learned, yet the results manifested were completely different.
After some time had passed like this.
Cheon Mugyeol gradually brought his sword to rest and steadied his breathing.
Then he turned his head and looked at Beigong Danya, who was seized by shock.
“How is it that you know the Beigong Clan’s swordsmanship, Lord Cheon?”
Beigong Danya asked, his voice trembling.
He could not fathom what had happened or how.
By contrast, Cheon Mugyeol merely regarded Beigong Danya with the same impassive expression he always wore.

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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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