The Heavenly Demon of the Blue Sky - Chapter 19

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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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Cangcheon Heavenly Demon – Episode 19
At that moment, on the outskirts of the battlefield where blood-red rain scattered like mist.
In the eyes of Namgung Gyeong and the survivors hiding in the undergrowth, a scene beyond all belief was being etched into memory.
“Ahhh…….”
A terrible crimson storm erupted from the final death throes of Sado Mu, elder of the Blood Cult.
Within it swirled the deep resentment and bitter sorrow of the Namgung clan members who had died unjustly, sacrificed to sorcery.
Toward that maelstrom of vengeful spirits—touch it and flesh would tear—the young Patriarch of Namgung did not retreat, bleeding as he was.
Rather, he threw his body forward willingly, embracing their pain as his own.
[Souls of fallen Namgung, do not wander Guchen grieving. I shall resolve your sorrow!]
At the Lion’s Roar of the Patriarch that shook the battlefield, Namgung Gyeong felt his heart cease.
‘We…… we abandoned the clan and fled.’
When the Blood Cult trampled Namgung and slaughtered the family, they had scattered to the outer reaches of Gangnam, choosing survival.
They had turned their backs on bloodline, denied the glory of the past, and hidden away in cowardice.
But that sickly young prince was different.
Through bone-grinding effort, he had achieved overwhelming martial mastery.
And it was all so that he might console the vengeful spirits of the clan who died so wrongfully, and save the scattered, wretched bloodline!
Crack—crack!
In the moment when a beast of wind mercilessly tore through Sado Mu’s life force.
The survivors hiding in the undergrowth could no longer contain their weeping.
“Hnngh, hnngh!”
The freed souls of Namgung ascended to heaven, and with them descended red rain.
Beneath it, the silhouette of the Patriarch smoking a cigarette in the center of the battlefield appeared to Namgung Gyeong more sacred and magnificent than any deity or Buddha in all the world.
“You crossed the terrible Death Line willingly, for the sake of the clan!”
With both hands clawing at the earth, he poured forth scalding tears.
His meager life and cowardice burned like shame seared into bone, and his skin felt as though it were charring.
At the same time, a frenzied loyalty erupted and boiled up in his chest—the willingness to dedicate his remaining life and every breath to the master of this new heaven.
“Patriarch…… our great Patriarch!”
Namgung Gyeong struck his forehead hard against the blood-soaked mud.
Following his lead, all the others knelt and prostrated themselves on the ground as though bound by oath.

* * *
“What’s gotten into them?”
I furrowed my brow and let out an exasperated breath.
Namgung Gyeong and the survivors emerged from their hiding place in the undergrowth and, as though by agreement, threw themselves flat before me and began kowtowing.
‘This is ridiculous.’
In the days when I reigned as the Pacheol Demon Lord, there were mountains of those who trembled and bowed their heads at my feet.
But that stemmed only from primal fear—the terror that their necks might be forfeit.
Not a single one ever looked up from the ground to meet my gaze.
But these fools prostrating before me now were different.
Even as tears streamed endlessly down their faces, they held their heads high, gazing up at me with reverence.
As though they had just encountered the savior of their lives.
‘……troublesome.’
I bit down on the cigarette between my teeth and spoke bluntly.
“If you still have the strength to cry and wail, get up now and help me clean up this mess.”
I gestured with my chin toward the blood-reeking battlefield.
“Gather up any weapons and spoils worth money, pile the bodies in one place. Anyone not about to collapse from blood loss—move. Now.”
At that, Namgung Gyeong’s eyes welled with tears of gratitude once more.
“Ah! Patriarch! Do you truly grant us wretched traitors the chance to serve as members of Namgung!”
“No, I just think disposing of corpses is tedious, so I’m putting you to work.”
“Not only have you saved our lives, but by offering us the path to atone through action rather than mere weeping, you show such benevolence! I swear on my broken bones to repay this debt through endless labor!”
He acts as though he can’t hear me deny it. Is this even real?
He’s got some kind of delusion wrapped around him. My words don’t register at all.
Namgung Gyeong struck his forehead against the ground with a bang and raised his voice to the clan members behind him.
“Hear me! The Patriarch’s mercy is as boundless as the ocean! Move swiftly! Become the hands and feet of our great Patriarch and restore this battlefield—prove our worth!”
“We hear and obey! We shall follow the Patriarch’s command!!”
Life and resolve blazed across the tear-stained faces of the survivors.
They moved with such crisp efficiency that one would scarcely believe these were people who had just emerged from the brink of death.
‘This looks like it’ll be a headache.’
I was shaking my head—unsure whether to be pleased—when suddenly the world tilted before my eyes.
“Nngh…….”
Overexerting my body had triggered the side effects of Jeol-eum-maek once again.
Dark blood spilled from between my lips in a sudden rush.
This was beyond what a cigarette could remedy.
Fortunately, I had medicine potent enough to douse the immediate flames.
I drew out the Hwan Dan I’d obtained after dealing with Wang Sam, the Blood Cult’s enforcer, and placed it on my tongue.
Chewing slowly—my tongue stiffened against the bitterness—the twisted Qi and blood gradually settled, and the cold ache constricting my dantian began to ease.
‘It was the swift pursuit of the remnants, not the deployment of sword technique, that proved most costly.’
My body wasn’t yet strong enough to fully execute the Lightness Skill.
I resolved to devise a more efficient method once I returned to the main estate.
“Exhale.”
I steadied my breathing, relying on the Hwan Dan’s efficacy.
Then I called out to Jang Ho and Hye Gwang, who stood at a distance watching me with reverent gazes.
“Don’t just stand there gaping. See to the wounded. If we’re to leave, the basic blood-staunching must be done first.”
“Very good, Patriarch. But are you truly unharmed?”
“Mind your own business. As you can see, I’m barely managing, yet I can still move.”
“Truly extraordinary. Even given that the enemy commander bore internal wounds, he was among the eldest of the Blood Cult’s elders….”
“Well, it wasn’t as if I fought alone. We brought him down through overwhelming numbers—hardly glorious.”
“Hardly glorious? But the enemy was already committing evil and hiding; you merely passed swift judgment in a dire situation. Whether we fought together or not, who could call such an act dishonorable?…”
“Right, so you needn’t carry guilt. That aside, now that we’ve eliminated a renowned enemy, Hangzhou’s Gaebang and Sorim won’t rest as easily as before.”
With an elder disposed of, my name would surely appear on the Blood Cult’s death roster.
“H-hie!”
Jang Ho and Hye Gwang’s faces went deathly pale as that realization dawned.
“It’s punishment for the loneliness Namgung has endured. Let’s treat each other well as comrades. To survive together, we have no choice but to stand united, don’t we?”
Blunt words paired with a cunning smile.
Even within the Demonic Sect, rife with slander and treachery, I wielded absolute power.
The hollow pretense of the Orthodox Faction, so preoccupied with Righteousness and Chivalry, was nothing to me.
My Namgung would henceforth suffer no losses.
The two men exchanged bewildered glances at such brazen declaration.
Soon Jang Ho let out a hollow laugh and scratched the back of his head furiously.
“Ah, in all my years I’ve never seen an Orthodox Faction Patriarch employ the drowning-men tactic so openly. Surely you share my thoughts, monk?”
“Amitabha Buddha. We share purpose in vanquishing evil spirits, so I harbor no regret. Yet it seems we have bound ourselves to a most arduous karma.”
Even as he spoke with a rueful tongue, both men’s eyes held a peculiar gleam of vitality and trust.
Unlike the rigid, suffocating Orthodox Faction members of old, this young Patriarch pursuing survival with such frank audacity didn’t sit ill with them.
“Well, what’s to be done? We’ve already climbed onto the tiger’s back—best to hold tight so we don’t fall.”
Jang Ho grinned and extended his fist; Hye Gwang nodded heavily and followed suit.
“This humble monk concurs. I look forward to our future together.”
Two large fists thrust toward me.
“As you wish.”
I smiled wryly and added my smaller fist to theirs.
Thud.

* * *
While Jang Ho and Hye Gwang tended to the wounded among our ranks.
I led Namgung’s forces through a thorough search of the temple interior.
Behind the desk in Sado Mu’s concealed study, I discovered a hidden wooden chest.
Creak—! As I wrenched it open, thick ledgers and letters spilled out.
As my gaze swept across the contents, my eyes narrowed to slits.
It wasn’t merely the nouveaux riches of Hangzhou.
From the lowly guards at the gates to the officials controlling Gangnam’s interests.
Even key figures connecting the Murim Alliance’s main headquarters to its Hangzhou branch.
The Blood Cult’s shadow had already coiled deep into the region.
“While everyone breathes easy thinking the Blood Cult has been driven out, it has instead slipped inside, bearing poison.”
I tossed the list to Jang Ho and Hye Gwang as they entered the study.
The two men’s complexions turned ashen the moment they received it.
“This… this cannot be. Among those named here are some with whom I have shared tea and discussed the Way.”
“Unthinkable. Those who claim to walk the righteous path—how could they join hands with such demons!”
Both men trembled with the sting of betrayal.
For those of the Orthodox Faction treading the straight path with integrity, such a truth would be incomprehensible.
I gazed out into the darkness beyond the window, my eyes cold and settled, and spoke.
“Why would Hangzhou’s nouveaux riches have forged ties with the Blood Cult? They possessed wealth but lacked the honor to rival the great families. Thus it is with human desire—like a parched field, people readily sell their very souls for a single sweet draught that promises to quench their thirst.”
He exhaled a plume of smoke from the cigarette between his lips and continued.
“There’s no such thing as a perfect human being. Everyone has weaknesses they wish to hide or voids they can never fill. The Blood Cult simply excels at latching onto those desires and making others their tools.”
Hye Gwang and Jang Ho, listening to my words, murmured their admiration softly.
“Patriarch, we heard you’ve only just passed fifteen years of age, yet your words and insight seem to belong to a master of unfathomable depth.”
Zhixue referred to the age of fifteen—the time when one first commits oneself to learning.
Jang Ho nodded in agreement as well.
“I share the sentiment. It feels as though we’re conversing with a master who has walked the Gangho for decades.”
They saw correctly.
Outwardly a young noble, but within—a Heavenly Demon who has endured every trial.
Not that they would believe me if I told them. And if they did believe, that would be its own problem.
“I’ve lived through wars like hell itself. How could the weight of those years be the same as anyone else’s?”
A blunt answer.
Jang Ho and Hye Gwang’s faces fell with immediate regret, and they hastened to apologize.
“Ah…! We spoke most thoughtlessly. Forgive us, Patriarch.”
“We meant no offense to your wounds of the heart. Please grant us your forgiveness.”
There was a certain pleasure in letting them feel that guilt, in watching them squirm.
Gaebang and Sorim—how little they ever truly changed.
“Enough. Take these ledgers and send them to the Murim Alliance for investigation.”
“We shall do so. Through your aid, we cleanse our ranks of internal traitors.”
“If you’re grateful, then support us generously. Namgung must rise again if the Murim Alliance is ever to atone for its past sins.”
The two men cradled the ledgers to their chests and nodded.
“We shall convey this with utmost urgency. The Alliance will surely rejoice at news of Namgung’s revival.”
The Murim Alliance had grown timid ever since suffering greatly at the Blood Cult’s hands.
So much so that even those in positions of influence had colluded with the Cult.
They had believed the tide of supremacy had turned and simply shifted their allegiance to feed at a new table.
But once word of this spreads, the momentum of the Orthodox Faction will stir to life once more.
Namgung, now a seedling of hope, must be tended carefully lest it wither again.
And so I resolved to gather every crumb that fell from the table.
‘Never did I imagine the Heavenly Prodigy of the World would become the catalyst for the Orthodox Faction’s resurrection.’
Of course, my ambitions do not end with Namgung. I will purge the Blood Cult and the Heretical Sects, reclaim Shipman Daesan, and liberate the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect once more.
Concealing my true designs, I left the study.
Soon after, I made my way to a storehouse buried deep within the temple.
Gold, jewels, and supplies the Blood Cult had amassed for their operations throughout Gangnam lay piled like mountains within.
Most of it surely came from the parvenus of Hangzhou.
“Load it all onto the carts.”
At my command, Namgung’s men moved with haste.
Hye Gwang and Jang Ho, meanwhile, hesitated to lay hands on anything, merely watching uncertainly.
Was it not I who orchestrated all of this? Was it not I who struck down the enemy commander?
For them, who had stepped forward only to aid me, it would have felt shameful to harbor such greed.
‘What pathetic opportunism.’
In my days as the Heavenly Demon, I never questioned birth or status.
I rewarded strictly according to ability and merit alone.
To those who did not strike at my back and proved their worth—the way of the Pacheol Demon Lord was to provide generously.
“Jang Ho, Hye Gwang. Come here.”
I nudged with my foot two wooden chests of gold and jewels stacked in one corner of the storehouse.
“Take these to Gaebang and Sorim. They’ll need alms for the Buddha, robes to warm the beggars. It’s hardly a great fortune for the price you’ve paid with your lives.”
At my blunt words, both men’s eyes glistened with tears.
They spoke of righteousness and chivalry, yet their coffers remained bare.
“We shall never forget this kindness!”
All the more meaningful that this wealth came from vanquishing villainy.
After Jang Ho and Hye Gwang gathered their provisions and departed,
I turned my steps toward a more secluded part of the temple.
I was surveying the altar, its surface slick with dried blood, when my gaze caught on something: a long wooden coffin.
“Hm?”
It was sealed with dozens of bizarre blood-red talismans and crimson chains.
A faint, resonant hum—from the seams came a pure and luminous Qi that refused absolute surrender, trickling softly outward.
‘To compress such Qi so thoroughly….’
This was no ordinary object.
I drew the worn Iron Sword from my waist and brought it down upon the chains binding the coffin.
Clang! The crimson Qi of the coffin surged outward, repelling my blade and erupting in bolts of scarlet lightning.
“Hah!”
In the same breath, he channeled the Cangcheon Demonic Qi thickly, and with a sharp crack, the chain snapped.
As the chain broke, the talismans crumbled to ash and scattered on the wind.
“Hmm.”
The sword he’d been holding met the same fate—its life exhausted, it shattered.
‘A sorry master to serve, and it suffered greatly. Now I’m left without a blade.’
Smacking his lips, he slowly lifted the heavy wooden box now freed from its seal.
A soft, drawn-out hiss.
In that instant, a majestic force surged forth like a tidal wave, cleansing the stale air of the chamber in a single breath.
“Ah?”
What emerged was a straight, elegant long sword.
Delicate cloud motifs were inlaid across the pristine white scabbard.
The grip felt perfect in the palm—wrought from deep purple sandalwood, densely woven with silver thread—and the circular pommel separating hilt from blade bore the form of an ascending dragon, adding to its nobility.
He grasped the hilt and slowly drew the blade upward. A smooth, ringing whisper.
As the clear, pure sound of the steel singing forth, a serene blade emerged, seeming to cut through the heavy air itself.
When moonlight flowed across its surface, a cool, bluish luminescence gleamed like a winter lake, radiant and alive.
“This sword…”
In that moment, lightning flashed through his mind—he recognized it from his past life.
“Over the years, worn here and there, reforged anew…”
A blade he could never forget had returned to his hands.
The story behind it was far too long; he set aside dwelling on it for now.
But as a weapon, in terms of its perfection…
Pure, resonant, unwavering and steadfast.
‘Forged from iron mined deep in Cheonju Mountain, from a vein where spiritual qi had crystallized.’
A legendary blade of old, one that had touched the heavens themselves—Namgung’s own.
“Patriarch! What—what happened! I heard the sound of clashing steel just now—!”
At that moment, Namgung Gyeong rushed into the chamber with urgent steps.
“Don’t be alarmed.”
He answered calmly, extending the sword—now sheathed once more—toward him.
“Do you recognize this blade? I’m curious whether it matches what I remember.”
At his question, Namgung Gyeong approached and studied the sword’s form carefully in the moonlight.
At first his expression was puzzled, but the moment he glimpsed the scabbard marked with indigo clouds, the gyrfalcon patterns, and felt the unique aura radiating from it—
“Ah!”
His body went rigid, as though struck by lightning.
“This… this cannot be—!”
He pressed his lips together, barely managing to speak.
“The Cheonghai Gomwol—the legendary sword passed down through generations of Namgung patriarchs!”

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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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