The Heavenly Demon of the Blue Sky - Chapter 25

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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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Azure Heaven Demonic Celestial 025
Considerable time had passed since I descended safely from Cheonju Mountain and returned to the Main House.
Before long, the gentle spring breeze had come to caress the mountainside.
Along with the turning of seasons, much had changed in the territory of the Namgung Clan.
“Ha! Whoo!”
Early in the morning, in the spacious Training Ground built at the Main House.
New green stone had been laid, and the ring of sharp battle cries filled the air.
“Your blade tip is wavering! Set your lower body firm and keep your eyes fixed!”
Under the instruction of Yuhwa, now appointed as an instructor, roughly forty boys and girls wielded their wooden practice swords in perfect unison.
They were the talented ones who had resolved to take up the Namgung sword in place of their elders.
Though still at the level of learning basic sword forms, their eyes burned with a sharpness as if ready to rush into actual combat at any moment.
After their training ended, they divided into teams to stand watch over the village and protect its residents—duties they were performing admirably.
“Again! Execute the First Form through Tenth Form without pause!”
The movements of Yuhwa as she demonstrated had also advanced noticeably from before.
Through teaching others, she herself had broken through to the next level.
Swoosh.
Then purple smoke rose from the entrance of the Training Ground.
“G-Lord of the house!”
The eyes of the children absorbed in their training snapped toward one point.
I walked slowly into the Training Ground with a pipe held between my lips.
“Continue.”
With a light wave of my hand, I waved off their salute and walked between the ranks, observing the trainees’ postures.
“You’ve put too much tension in your shoulders. When parting the wind, you shouldn’t force it as if the blade might break—instead, loosen your wrist as if you’re riding the current of the breeze.”
Tap, tap. I pinpointed exactly what was lacking.
With each word I dropped, their clumsy sword forms sharpened into precision.
“Yes! Thank you for the instruction!”
After finishing my corrections, I myself moved to the center of the Training Ground.
Whoosh.
In my hand was a wooden practice sword, the same as the trainees’.
Then I unfurled the Asura Heavenly Wind Sword and Asura Heavenly Wind Step.
Crash!
The moment my feet touched the ground, the air in the Training Ground was split sharply.
The clear flow of the Heavenly Wind blended with the Ghost Shadow Demonic Step from the Demonic Path.
Leaving afterimages like a phantom, I swept my sword through the empty air.
The righteous wind of Namgung, enhanced by the gale of the Demonic Path.
In an instant, a purple tempest whirled forth, pressing down powerfully on everything around.
As the wind merely grazed past, all the watching trainees fell backward onto their seats.
“Ugh!”
“Ah!”
Lost in wonder watching, they were swept up and lost their balance.
“Huh.”
As I finished the sequence and withdrew the wooden sword, I released a short breath.
My mastery of the Asura Heavenly Wind Sword and Asura Swift Wind Step had grown considerably.
‘Perhaps it is time to pursue what comes next.’
All those months of unrelenting training had borne fruit.
“Woooow……!!”
The trainees watching rose to their feet, looking up at me with reverence.
Each hoping that someday they, too, would reach the level I had shown them.
This was precisely why I had stepped forward to display my skill.
“Training ends here. Sister, come here a moment.”
I tapped the ash from my pipe and gazed steadily at Yuhwa.
“It must have been a difficult winter. I thought at least half would give up, unable to bear the weight of the blade.”
“The trainees wanted to live up to the expectations around them. And they genuinely enjoyed learning the sword.”
Deep pride for the trainees rang through Yuhwa’s voice.
“So this is the blood of Namgung. They held on without surrendering and harbored resolve—now they have finally taken their place at the starting line of a true martial artist.”
Satisfied, I lifted one corner of my mouth slightly.
“Having shed the mark of a rabble, it’s time to give them a name befitting that transformation.”
I declared in a grave voice to the trainees lined up in the Training Ground.
“The pain of Clan Destruction that our house endured ends today. Now you shall be the Dawn Cry, the first to announce the revival of Namgung to all of Kangho.”
The first cry that pierces the silent dawn, announcing that a new morning has broken.
That is the will of the Xiaoming Brigade.
The eyes of the trainees glistened with fervent emotion.
An official unit that would be recorded in the history of Namgung’s restoration.
They felt acutely the weight and responsibility that the name carried.
Then, as one, they knelt on one knee and took the formal stance.
“Xiaoming Brigade! We shall serve the Clan Head’s command and become a righteous wind protecting Namgung!”
I nodded and cupped my hands to receive their salute.
Yuhwa’s eyes reddened as she watched the stirring scene unfold.
Over my younger brother’s broad shoulders, she saw the towering shadow of our departed father overlaid upon him.
“Truly, I am so proud. Had it been only me, the eldest daughter stubbornly trying to carry on the sword… I could never have achieved this.”
Yuhwa looked at me with eyes brimming with deep emotion.
Uncomfortable with the solemnity settling over the moment, I deliberately spoke with indifference.
“Had I been alone, I never would have thought to teach and cultivate those beneath me.”
“… Hyeok.”
“Teaching my elder sister, who bears such a strong sense of responsibility, has made my own sword path more supple in certain ways. Your contribution is surely not small. So stop looking back and diminishing yourself. From now on, grow alongside me and think only of how to move forward with steadfast resolve.”
I was simply motivating her so she’d be easier to use going forward.
Yet it seemed to have moved Yuhwa deeply.
“Sob—my precious youngest!”
She rushed over and pulled me tightly into her embrace, refusing to let go.
“Not in front of the trainees! You’ll damage our dignity!”
I struggled and squirmed in protest.
But whenever my sisters’ hands held me, my strength seemed to drain away.
“Your bond is as strong as ever, I see.”
The trainees, far from being taken aback, instead seemed delighted by the sight, their faces breaking into warm smiles all at once.
That the Clan Head, who appeared to have neither blood nor tears, possessed such human warmth—it reached them with an uncanny charm and affection.
“Why aren’t you all helping him out?”
I cried out to disabuse them of their misunderstanding, but it had no effect. I was ready to lose my mind.
The green Training Ground beneath the spring sun.
Either way, this was the moment Namgung took a new step forward.

* * *
I barely managed to escape Yuhwa’s embrace and finish my training.
Splash—I washed lightly and drained the bowl of medicinal broth that the attendant had brought.
“That’s enough. You can go.”
“Yes, understood!”
I wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my blue long robe and stepped out through the Main House’s front gate.
The village sprawled wide below the mountain’s slope.
Only a few months ago, it had been a ruin overgrown with ash and weeds.
Now new houses had risen, giving it an orderly appearance.
A place where five hundred household members could make their home had come into being.
Morning smoke curled and billowed from every chimney.
The cheerful voices of people mingled in the air.
‘Now we have the capacity to be called an Established Clan.’
It was as I surveyed the village that it happened.
“Hyeok!”
Yeonhwa, my second sister, spotted me and hurried over with quick steps, her cheeks still smudged with charcoal.
‘She fits right in with the workers.’
Her face, once pale as salt, had been bronzed by the sun into a healthy beauty.
Her long limbs seemed to have grown somewhat more taut, and her eyes had taken on a deeper gleam.
“Were you surveying the village? Just as you said, all the houses and barracks where the household members and workers can live comfortably have been completed. They’re all saying how moved they are to have proper roofs over their heads.”
Yeonhwa stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the village with pride.
Her genius for architecture and design was indeed remarkable.
Compared to the engineer corps of the Demonic Path that I had commanded in my previous life, she was easily their equal.
“Well done.”
As I spent more time with them, I came to understand my sisters’ temperaments.
The eldest, Yuhwa, had a character like the sea—deep with responsibility and consideration—
while Yeonhwa was forthright and passionate, radiant as the sun itself.
The third, Seolhwa, was objective and calm, like a flower knowing when to bloom.
I noticed Yeonhwa was about to pull me into an embrace and beat her to it.
“No, stop.”
She held out her palm as though commanding a large dog, then pointed beyond the houses.
“Having shelter and lodging prepared is merely laying the foundation. We can’t move the massive bulk of the Namgung Clan on food and sleep alone.”
With that, she drew out a thick sheaf of paper from her robes and unfolded it.
It was a map she’d surveyed by climbing Cheonju Mountain throughout the winter.
Resources marked in just the right places—everything the clan might benefit from.
“From now on, I mean to raise support facilities at strategic points.”
She pointed to the red marks on the map one by one, issuing orders.
“First, build a smithy at the mouth of the iron mine we discovered on the slopes of Cheonju Mountain last time. We’ll refine the ore directly to produce not just tools for the workers, but also swords for the Namgung martial artists.”
“Ah…! Of course, having an iron mine is truly a tremendous advantage for the Namgung!”
But iron ore is not all. Timber-rich trees have taken root here as well.
“Second, at the old abandoned lumber mill, establish a carpentry workshop and sawmill. We must process Cheonju Mountain’s timber to craft weapons, build carts for transport, and produce sturdy furniture ourselves.”
She then pointed to the location of Eunwol Cave on the map and continued with meaningful weight.
“And beside it, construct a separately secured textile workshop. Soon we’ll be harvesting a special silk thread from the mountain, and we’ll need a secret place to process it.”
“Right! I’ll design it so we can strictly control access by outsiders.”
Yeonhwa’s eyes darted rapidly as she sketched floor plans in her mind.
“Third is maintenance and supply. Build a large grain storage within the Main House, arrange a merchant branch in the village entrance for when Uncle conducts trade with the outside, and prepare for an increase in patients—the medicinal hall in the Main House alone won’t suffice. We’ll need a separate annex for the villagers’ care.”
At the unceasing stream of orders, Yeonhwa’s lips parted slightly.
“This isn’t just rebuilding what was destroyed!”
“Of course not. How could a clan ever take root if we merely gathered to live?”
The goal was to establish a system of self-sufficiency and maintain a military stronghold.
“Finally, to tie everything together, we must surround the village perimeter with sturdy wooden palisades and construct watchtowers to observe movement from all directions.”
Later, when resources allow, we can raise proper stone walls and complete the fortress.
I tapped the map to finish the explanation and turned to Yeonhwa.
“Well? Do you think you can manage it?”
“…Good heavens.”
Yeonhwa accepted the map I’d handed her carefully with both hands, her eyes shining with disbelief.
“Hyeok, just how grand a vision are you holding in that mind of yours?”
Her cheeks flushed hot with overwhelming emotion.
“If this comes to pass, the Namgung can reclaim its former glory! Perhaps even surpass it!”
Unable to contain her swelling feelings, she suddenly pulled me tight into an embrace.
“It’s all thanks to you!”
“Ugh?!”
I’d let my guard down, distracted by delegating tasks.
“W-who gave you permission to just hug whoever you want…!”
It had happened in an instant.
Before I could escape, my face collided with Yeonhwa’s soft, ample bosom.
The tender sensation and the earthy scent that swept over me sent me thrashing and yelping.
“E-enough! Now go! Get to work!”
“Your bashfulness is adorable!”
“You’re still teasing!”
“All right, all right! I’ll gather the workers at once!”
Yeonhwa burst into bright laughter, clutched the map to her chest, and hurried toward the workers.
I exhaled slowly.
Watching her receding figure, I brushed down my disheveled hair absently.
In my past life, no one had ever dared to lay hands on my person so casually.
I turned away with a disapproving click of my tongue, awkward and unsettled.
A soft rustling, then a gentle press.
Suddenly warm softness enfolded me from behind.
Someone had pressed against my back and wrapped their arms around my waist.
I turned to see Seolhwa—pale as white jade, her eyebrows drawn in a straight line.
“These two! Now they’re embracing you without doing a single thing first!”
I cried out in alarm and began to protest, but Seolhwa answered in her calm, unhurried voice.
“The tasks I was given, I’ve already completed flawlessly and without error.”
She managed the household affairs and served as overseer of the estate.
“So objectively speaking, it seemed only fair that I receive a reward in advance from our precious younger brother.”
A faint smile played at her lips as she buried her face deeper against my back.
I tried to pry loose the two hands clasped around my waist.
But in that moment—
Through the thin fabric of my long robe, Seolhwa’s warm breath and serene body heat transmitted to me entirely.
‘…’
A boundless, undefended warmth—a tenderness that placed complete trust in me, leaning into me with utter vulnerability.
At that subtle sensation, the tension in my fingertips melted away before I could stop it.
If I’d truly wanted to reject her, I would have pushed her away before she reached me. I’d felt her approach clearly enough.
“This wretched household… nothing ever goes the way I want.”
Even as I grumbled about losing face, I made no move to summon my vital energy and shove her back.
I had lived a solitary life, one long vigil through endless bloodshed.
My heart, frozen solid for so long, was thawing—warming with an unfamiliar prickling sensation.
And it wasn’t unwelcome. A shallow sigh escaped me.
“I said let go!”
But my words betrayed me. Instead of pushing her away harshly, I shifted the direction of my hands.
I took her small, delicate hands carefully into mine.
“Tch.”
Feeling the faint breath against my back, I pressed my lips into a thin line.

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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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