The Heavenly Demon of the Blue Sky - Chapter 15

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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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Firmament Demon 015
At that very moment, in the Chilheuk Forest where even moonlight lost its way and wandered astray.
The Abandoned Temple nestled deep within the forest was nothing short of a Living Hell.
“Uuughhh……!”
Thick Iron Chains as wide as an adult’s forearm were tangled across the walls like a spider’s web, and emaciated men hung like beasts awaiting slaughter.
They were people of the Namgung Clan, abducted in secret from across Gangnam.
Bizarre tubes were embedded deep within their Blood Vessels at various points.
Blood that flowed along the tubes dripped steadily into leather pouches hanging below.
“It’s not enough, not enough.”
The blood thus obtained seeped deep into the Blood Vessels of yet another man.
Skin drained of all color, tinged with a sickly blue. Sharp eyes, nose, mouth, and a tongue so long it nearly reached his jaw.
It was Sadouma, an elder of the Blood Sect, infamous for his cruel and vicious dark arts.
“Uuughhh……. Hahhh…….”
Each time Namgung blood was transfused into him, his ragged breathing gradually steadied.
“Why do you do such a thing? Tell me……!”
Namgung Gyeong, the younger cousin who had been slowly withering away, cried out weakly.
The face of the young steward who had led the merchant house bore now only unbearable agony.
“Why?”
At Namgung Gyeong’s scream, Sadouma’s serpentine eyes rolled slowly.
He pulled back the Long Robe he was wearing and bared his lower abdomen completely.
“Look well upon this hideous scar.”
A hole the size of an adult’s fist was grotesquely distorted.
More than that, the flesh was rotting inward as if infected by some poison.
“When you trampled the Namgung in the past, it was the work of your clan master. Though our Sect Leader executed the wretch, the sharp True Qi embedded in my Dantian still tears at my internal organs.”
As the memory of that pain surfaced, his wrinkled face contorted mercilessly.
“When I thought I would die like that, I licked the blood smeared on my lips, and my body found stability again. It was the aura flowing within Namgung blood that extended my life. Kkhhkkhh…….”
He then stroked the emergency pouch hanging at his waist and laughed grotesquely.
Within it was a reservoir of blood from all the Namgung people he had killed thus far.
“Why do you think I remained so persistently in this Gangnam region hunting you down, even after the main force of the Blood Sect withdrew? Because I needed to receive transfusions of your Namgung blood to stay alive! And through all my research, I discovered something most amusing.”
Sadouma’s tongue flicked as he gripped Namgung Gyeong’s jaw forcefully.
“The closer the blood is to the Namgung clan master, the far more potent its effect. Perhaps I might even make a full recovery.”
“No, surely not.”
“Soon I shall march upon the ancestral seat at Cheonju Mountain and seize every living descendant. I shall sever all their limbs and have them offer me the finest blood for all their lives! Kkhehehehe!”
“Ah, ahhhhh……!”
The sight was truly no different from that of a malevolent demon, and the air grew cold with dread.
“Once I obtain the rich blood of the pure Namgung line, weaklings like you become nothing but an inconvenience. I shall slice open your organs and hang them all from the trees. Then you shall become nothing but food for the crows!”
The heads of Namgung Gyeong and the other Namgung fell helplessly.
“Please, please…… someone, someone save us…….”
Then Sadouma laughed loudly, as if such a thought was utterly ridiculous.
“Your clan is already ruined, and the hypocrites of the Martial Alliance are too busy filling their own pockets. Who would help the likes of you?”
At these words, Namgung Gyeong could say nothing.
Only now did he deeply grasp that those who abandoned their clan had nothing left to them.

* * *
At that same moment…….
Sweat beaded on the foreheads of Hyegwang and Jang Ho, who hid themselves in the forest.
“The guards are far too vigilant……. If we make one misstep, we shall be in danger as well.”
The patrol of Blood Sect fighters surrounding the temple was extraordinarily strict.
“I share your sentiment. I see no path through which we might approach.”
Both men’s gaze turned to the side. A sickly-looking, young boy.
Namgung Hyeok, who had newly become the clan master of the Namgung.
“Master. The situation is not favorable. Rather than act recklessly as matters stand, would it not be wiser to wait for the enemy to move first?”
“Indeed so. By then, the Martial Alliance will have sent additional reinforcements. Waiting would be far safer.”
They did not expect the young master to possess any clever stratagem.
They had chosen to face reality and suggested retreating—yet what came back was a gaze sharp as frost.
“Would you counsel patience just as calmly if those dying within were disciples of Shaolin or members of the Beggar Sect?”
“That is…… well……!”
With each word he spoke, his words pierced their chests, and both men’s faces flushed with shame.
Soon after, Hyegwang gave a small, embarrassed cough.
“We are hardly comfortable ourselves. Yet as elders of the Martial World and those of higher standing, I speak only from genuine concern.”
“Quite right. It seems the young master has grown overconfident after the success at the Jade Pavilion, but our enemies are the Blood Sect. They are not the same as those upstart merchants!”
The young master of the Namgung Clan did not so much as blink at their reproach.
Instead, he fixed them with a look of disdain and clicked his tongue. “Tsk.”
“When the way ahead is dark, you must use your mind to find a solution. How can surrender in the face of difficulty be called advice?”
Then he raised one pale, straight finger and pointed at the ground.
“Look—these men have been receiving supplies regularly from the upstart merchants.”
Wheel ruts and hoof prints stretched in long grooves toward the Abandoned Temple.
“If we use this wisely, we can turn it into an excellent opportunity to lower the enemies’ guard.”
Only then did the two men’s eyes settle on the traces in the dirt.
A detail they had overlooked while their attention was fixed on the enemies.
“I will devise a plan. You two see that the merchants we brought along disguise themselves as beggars from the Beggar Sect. Then have them proceed boldly with the carts and lure the enemies out.”
“Lure them out? Could it be that gathering the carts and clothes before departure was preparation for this very moment?”
“Yes. Did you think we were going on a pleasure outing? I already obtained the secret password and credentials from the merchant, so have them memorized on the way.”
Before they could recover from their shock, he indicated the left and right sides of the temple.
“The forests flanking the approach to the temple form steep slopes. Moreover, the ground has absorbed moisture from the heavy rains of recent days—if we apply a strong impact, we can trigger a catastrophe.”
When much rainwater soaks into the earth, the soil becomes heavier and the friction between stone layers decreases.
A strong shock would overwhelm its weight and bring the entire slope crashing down.
People called such a disaster a landslide.
“Therefore, you will have the warrior monks of Shaolin gather stones and logs. Bind them in nets and hang them along the upper slope—when the enemies advance, we use them to block their retreat.”
A strategy to lure the tiger from the mountain, combined with shutting the gate to catch the thief.
“The enemies will be caught in chaos from the sudden strike. At that moment, I will penetrate their defenses and rescue our people.”
The lips of Hyegwang and Jang Ho, who had been listening in silence, fell open as one.
‘Though he appears to be nothing but a sickly youth, how does such wisdom—the kind only the most seasoned veterans possess—emanate from him?’
They had not expected him to produce such a useful solution in so dire a situation.
Yet there was one thing that troubled their hearts.
“But, but young master. We are, by all accounts, practitioners of the Orthodox Sect.”
“Deception and ambush run counter to the Way of Righteousness in the Martial World.”
In that instant, the air of the forest seemed to split and freeze with cold.
An aura that seemed impossible to emanate from such a frail boy’s body.
“The Way of Righteousness? Fair and open combat?”
A chilling mockery flowed between his lips.
“You would speak of honor and righteousness to demon-spawn who abduct the living for experimentation and torture?”
Jang Ho and Hyegwang lost their words in the face of the young master’s question.
“War ends when one side is dead. There is neither luxury nor reason to show mercy to the enemy or preserve one’s dignity.”
A suffocating killing intent pierced through both men’s skin like needles.
“If you wish to continue spouting such lofty rhetoric about righteousness, then leave. I have clearly misjudged you.”
“What, what are you—but surely, no matter what, as the Namgung Clan of a renowned Orthodox Sect, you must fear the world’s judgment?”
“A renowned sect? The world’s judgment? Does such talk earn anyone rice?”
Words that no typical leader of an Orthodox Sect would ever speak.
Yet the young master of the Namgung Clan was different.
As if the hidebound conventions of the Orthodox Sect could not measure him, he drove his point home with unwavering resolve.
“Though all under heaven might call me a coward, if I can sever my enemy’s breath and surely protect my own people, then I would cast such hollow fame to the dogs.”
A conviction as unshakeable as one who has crossed the brink of death countless times.
“That is the way of the Fallen Heaven. No—that is Namgung Hyeok’s way.”
At this quiet declaration, Hyegwang and Jang Ho’s eyes widened.
A shock as if they had been struck hard upon the head reverberated through their entire bodies.
The honor and dignity that as Orthodox Sect practitioners they had cherished like life itself.
They understood now how shallow and narrow such things truly were.
A deep sigh bubbled up from the depths of their chests.
“Ah, the young master speaks true.”
Hyegwang and Jang Ho bowed their heads deeply, their faces flushed.
“To place dignity before the protection of our own—as practitioners of righteousness, we are utterly ashamed.”
The young master before them no longer appeared as a mere sickly child.
The depth of his understanding of life and death was as unfathomable as the abyss itself.
“Then, shall we try?”
At the young master’s question repeated once more, both men pressed their hands together firmly.
With a face now expressing deep assent—entirely changed from before—they answered thus:
“We accept your command, young master of the Namgung Clan. We shall proceed as you have directed.”

* * *
Jang Ho gathered the Beggar Sect members and distributed clothes that the Namgung Clan’s patriarch had prepared in advance.
“We’ll be posing as merchants, so everyone change into these. Wipe the dust and grime off your faces while you’re at it.”
He himself donned a faded Long Robe topped with a brilliant crimson silk garment adorned with an abundance of glittering Ornaments.
‘In all my years, I never thought I’d wear such fine silk. A beggar’s fate is full of surprises.’
He led the way toward the Abandoned Temple, riding confidently atop one of three wooden carts.
The loud rumble of turning wheels shattered the silence of Chilheuk Forest.
“Open up! The great merchants of Gangnam have sent precious tribute!”
The call rang out boldly, but the temple gates remained stubbornly shut.
Instead, a piercing gaze flashed through the gap in the doors, and a voice dripping with murderous intent spilled out.
“For whom does blood flow?”
It was clearly the established secret password.
He hurriedly recalled what the Namgung Clan’s patriarch had taught him.
“Only for the great Sacred Blood.”
He then tossed the Black Wooden Plaque he’d been given through the gap in the doors.
Only then did the massive iron gates grind open with an unpleasant screech—but vigilance was far from over.
The moment the gates swung open, twenty-odd Blood Sect warriors came pouring out, radiating sinister killing intent.
Each of them had already drawn wickedly sharp weapons.
“Where’s the Chief? These are faces I’ve never seen before.”
The figure who appeared to be the gatekeeper fixed them with a suspicious stare.
Jang Ho responded loudly, as if to say the man was being absurd.
“The Chief has been suffering from a terrible fever these past few days, so I, his trusted aide, came in his stead. How else would I have known the secret password, and where else would this Black Wooden Plaque have come from?”
As he spoke, he tapped the canvas-covered cart.
“I’ve brought the finest delicacies and premium goods from Gangnam, all carefully packed.”
The Blood Sect remnants paused in their suspicion.
Every word Jang Ho spoke was flawless.
It was just as they were crowding near the carts.
“Who said you could leave the temple empty? Get your hands off those carts at once!”
Sadouma, who had only just emerged from the underground prison, bellowed furiously.
“E-Elder! But these are the men the Chief sent—”
“Fools! Look at their hands! Are these the hands of coin-counters and ledger-keepers? These are the callused hands of true martial artists!”
“Ugh!”
At Sadouma’s sharp rebuke, the Blood Sect warriors crowding around the carts flinched and reached for their weapons.
That was when it happened.
“Oh my! Why such harsh words?”
Jang Ho stepped forward with an aggrieved yet shameless expression.
“To safely escort the caravan past beasts and bandit gangs, surely a little callus on a guard’s hand is nothing but a badge of honor? If you’re truly suspicious, look for yourselves!”
Before the words even finished, he seized the thick canvas covering the cart and yanked it away with theatrical flourish.
Flap!
What filled the interior of the cart was not fragrant food or grain.
It was oil-soaked straw and kindling, piled high like a mountain.
“This is the sumptuous feast we’ve so carefully prepared. Do taste it, if you would!”
In the same breath, he hurled a Beggar Sect Thunder Blast Bomb into the center of the cart.
Boom!!
A tremendous inferno erupted, engulfing the Blood Sect warriors where they stood.
“Ahhhhh!”
Simultaneously, Jang Ho and the Beggar Sect beggars stripped off their outer silk garments in unison.
“Silk indeed—nothing but a hindrance!”
What lay beneath were tattered Long Robes and dozens of Cudgels.
The elite warriors of the Beggar Sect, who walked the streets wielding their cudgels, had revealed their true nature.
“You… you’re the Beggar Sect beggars!”
Sadouma, retreating backward, gnashed his teeth as killing intent blazed from his eyes.
At the same moment, Jang Ho uncorked the Gourd Wine Vessel hanging from his waist.
He drank deeply, then wiped his mouth clean with his sleeve.
“Ah, today the wine tastes absolutely divine!”
His body began to sway, then he started moving in a bizarre, unsteady manner, like a drunkard who had completely lost his balance.
Within the Beggar Sect, only the most gifted of chosen few could master this exceptional martial art.
The Beggar Sect Drunken Fist.
A boxing technique that appeared to reveal openings yet concealed infinite variations and lethal strikes within.
“Hic—! You filthy heretic demons, taste the burning bite of the beggars!”
Thwack, crack!
Fists and kicks that seemed to flail about traced a peculiar arc, striking vital points with merciless precision.
“Follow the Drunken Strike!”
Led by Jang Ho, the Beggar Sect’s fierce offensive began in earnest.
It happened before they’d even escaped the blast’s aftermath.
“These bastards……!”
As the situation turned against him, Sadouma’s eyes flickered with rapid calculation.
‘Caught off guard like this, engaging in open battle would be foolish. Better to lure them into the Formation I’ve already laid within the temple and finish them there.’
By the measure of what Sadouma had endured, he was no ordinary man.
His infamy had spread for decades already.
Surviving long in the Martial World meant one possessed both vast experience and formidable strength.
Having reached his decision swiftly, he bellowed a command ringing with metallic urgency.
“Fall back into the temple! We’ll seal them in and slaughter them!”
At this, the remnants of the Blood Sect who’d been driven into retreat wheeled about in panic.
They began withdrawing toward the temple’s rear entrance and the forest slope beyond.
It was at that very moment.
“Where do you think you’re fleeing to?”
A grand and sonorous shout tore through the night air of Chilheuk Forest.
In the instant Sadouma and the Blood Sect remnants looked up in alarm,
the sound of ropes snapping rang out in succession from the steep slope above.
Thud, crack—! Boom-crash-crash-crash—!!
Logs and boulders that the Shaolin monks had rigged above came cascading down in a landslide, all at once.
“Ugh—aaaaahhh!”
Several of the Blood Sect remnants were caught before they could escape, buried under the avalanche of earth.
“Shaolin is here! Put these foul demons to judgment!”
“Raaaaaahhhhh—!!”
The Shaolin monks charged down the slope as one, raising their staffs high.
The strategem of the Namgung Clan’s patriarch had transformed the enemy into a rat trapped in a jar.
“This, this is unbearable……!”
In that same moment, Sadouma’s face flushed crimson with indignation and fury.
“Mere fledglings from Shaolin and the Beggar Sect dare to mock me? Very well. Let us end this here and now!”
Emanating a thick murderous aura, he swept his right hand across his waist.
What unfurled was a fan enormous enough to conceal his entire torso.
Its surface was grotesquely covered in human blood, congealed like a spiderweb.
“Do you know who I am? I am the great Blood Wind Demon Fan, Sadouma!”
A demon that summoned storms of blood.
And simultaneously, a sinister, dark-crimson aura erupted from his Dantian.
“Not a single soul has ever survived the bloodstorm I unleash!”
At this chilling proclamation, Hyegwang and Jang Ho’s faces went pale.
“The, the Blood Wind Demon Fan……?”
A treacherous elder who had not merely slaughtered countless masters of the Orthodox Sect, but had spearheaded the annihilation of the Namgung Clan itself!
“The encirclement was flawless up to the point of cutting off his escape route. But……”
“To think such an unprecedented monster lay hidden here. This is dire……”
The enemy was no cornered rat, but a coiled serpent.
Whoooosh—! A maelstrom of blood swirled and bore down upon them.
Within it echoed the mingled screams of countless dead spirits.
Soon a suffocating dread seized them, as though their very bodies were being crushed and obliterated.

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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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