The Heavenly Demon of the Blue Sky - Chapter 3

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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 Demon 003
Several days later.
In the deepest and most sun-drenched room of the Namgung Clan Inner Courtyard.
A Purple Pill, small as a bean, rested on thin paper—then crumbled to dust beneath a fingertip.
Crack—! As it fractured into powder, a sharp yet strangely sweet medicinal scent rose into the air.
A precious elixir, born from the fusion of toxic herbs locked in perfect opposition.
Drawing on memory from a past life, he had named it the Stimulus Pill.
He rolled it up carefully, then licked the paper’s edge to seal it shut.
Next, he held it between his lips, brought a small ember from the brazier to its tip.
Sizzle—! Together with the sound of paper and herb catching flame came a surge of deep violet smoke.
Without hesitation, he drew the smoke in—long and deep.
“Mmmh…….”
He could have chewed and swallowed it, but his frail body would never have digested the raw, violent energy that way.
That was why he had chosen this path—absorption through smoke.
It seeped into his meridians far more slowly and safely than swallowing would have allowed.
Rumble—! Deep in his Dantian, the small Demon Beast that had coiled there stirred, its jaws opening as if in anticipation.
Then it began to devour the sinister energy voraciously.
‘Good. Very smooth absorption.’
This was the moment when the Yin essence gnawing at his body transmuted into pure Demonic Energy.
Blocked meridians opened one by one, and the chest pain that had felt like needles gradually subsided.
“Ahhh…….”
But he knew the truth. This was no true cure.
‘Only a temporary measure.’
Like building a levee against a raging current.
Should even a hairline crack form under the strain, the suppressed cold would burst forth and freeze his heart vessel solid.
‘Still, better to delay bleeding to death than to succumb today.’
So long as he lived, he would find a way.
Murmuring softly to himself, he clenched and unclenched his skeletal fist.
“Young master. How is your strength faring?”
With cautious footsteps, Baek Cho entered the room.
“As you can see, somewhat improved.”
At the casual reply, Baek Cho hesitated, then could hold back no longer.
“Forgive my presumption, but however did you acquire such profound Medical Arts…….”
A fair question indeed.
Propping his chin on his palm as if recalling a cherished time, he answered:
“In my past life, I was a Demon Lord. Pa Cheon Ma Jon, to be exact—quite the formidable one.”

* * *
At the young master’s serene reply, Baek Cho’s mouth fell open in shock.
‘A Demon Lord? Pa Cheon Ma Jon?’
Was that not the legendary master of the Demonic Sect itself?
Baek Cho’s face went slack as he swallowed hard, bitter saliva burning his throat.
‘Now that I think of it, his speech and bearing have changed dramatically.’
Since falling into the pond, the young master had undergone a profound transformation of spirit.
‘One wonders what suffering could drive a man to wish for the irresistible power of a demon.’
Taking it for dark humor, Baek Cho dared not probe further.
Then his gaze fell upon a table at the far side of the room.
Ordinarily there would be nothing but a single bowl of Herbal Decoction, yet now Bamboo Slips were piled high like a mountain.
“What—what are all these?”
“Curious? You’re welcome to look.”
As Baek Cho drew near to examine them, his eyes widened to the size of lanterns.
Across the paper were densely packed characters detailing the body’s meridian channels, the intricate pharmacology of their interactions, and medical knowledge so profound it would take a lifetime to fathom.
“Young master. Where on earth did you obtain these precious Medical Texts…….”
“Medical Texts? Those are just what I scribbled down last night when I was bored—things from my own memory.”
“What—in just one night?”
Baek Cho’s hands trembled.
Could such a thing be true?
Medical knowledge so vast and profound, transcribed in a single night?
And by a young master who spent most of his days lying abed, no less?
In that instant, a flash of realization struck through Baek Cho’s mind.
‘Ah…!’
Everything was falling into place.
The Young Master had been teaching himself the Medical Arts in secret all this while.
To survive, to break free from the chains of this terrible affliction by any means necessary!
But then why, why would he resort to such an absurd excuse about a past life?
‘Ah! He was thinking of me…!’
Baek Cho’s eyes reddened in an instant.
Here was the Namgung Clan’s exclusive physician, fumbling uselessly while failing to cure his master’s illness.
The Young Master had grasped how much shame and burden the old physician would feel if told that he had awakened to the Medical Arts himself.
To spare the old man that weight, he had hidden his own bleeding efforts behind the preposterous lie of knowledge from a past life.
‘So he harbors such a profound and tender heart…!’
Patter, pat-pat.
Fat teardrops rolled down the wrinkled cheeks of the old physician.
“Sob, sobbing….”
He dropped to his knees on the spot and pressed his forehead to the ground.
“I am guilty of a grave crime, Young Master!”
“What?”
“While you, Young Master, wandered the brink of death at so tender an age, still you searched for the path to survival! Yet this worthless old man, the sole physician of the Pharmacy, have done nothing but curse my circumstances, hiding behind excuses of declining fortunes and creeping age!”
His bent frame shook with sorrow.
“Only now do I grasp your profound consideration. I bitterly repent the ease and incompetence of my former days!”
“No, consideration? I really was teaching myself from—”
“Please say no more! I, Baek Cho, do hereby vow to dedicate the remainder of my life solely to your service!”

* * *
The old physician, eyes bloodshot with weeping, pledges his loyalty.
I pressed my forehead against my palm, utterly baffled.
‘Do these righteous types all have flowers blooming in their skulls?’
Still, he was a foolishly loyal man who had kept watch over the empty Pharmacy alone, even as the Namgung fortunes crumbled and other physicians scattered to the winds.
Moreover, I myself might not know everything about the new herbs or variants that have emerged in the Central Plain over a hundred years.
It would be useful to have a pair of hands and feet to rely on.
I went to the table and handed the old physician the Medical Texts I had written down in the night.
“Then do as you say. Study these and work hard to develop medicines that will be of benefit to me.”
At my words, the old physician’s eyes reddened once more with emotion.
“That you should entrust me with something so precious…. I shall devote myself entirely to nothing but your health, Young Master!”
His face brightened considerably as he returned to the Pharmacy.
‘One less thing to worry about.’
Alone once more, I moved my limbs slowly, focusing on my rehabilitation.
Then, at that moment.
“Young Master! Youngest Young Master!!”
An urgent cry tore through the silence of the Inner Courtyard.
Simultaneously, the door flew open and a servant I had seen before collapsed onto the floor.
“A grave situation, sir! Right now, outside—!”

* * *
At that very moment, in the ramshackle Training Ground of the Namgung Clan.
The eldest daughter, Namgung Yuhwa’s palms were already split with calluses, red blood seeping through.
She swung an absurdly heavy sword night and day without pause.
‘Just a little more…!’
There was but one reason for such desperation.
Her only younger brother, Hyeok—tormented by a terrible affliction, gasping for breath every night. Her poor, wretched brother.
‘To protect him, I must grow stronger. I must.’
Only by enduring the weight of being the eldest daughter could her brother breathe safely within the walls of the Namgung Clan.
If talent were lacking, she would carve it from bone. If the sword was heavy, she would grip it despite her hands tearing.
With nothing but the will to become a stalwart shield, Namgung Yuhwa steadied her shoulders, though they seemed about to crumble.
“Hah!”
Once more, with a battle cry, she extended the sword in a long arc.
Yet the tip of the technique wavered slightly as her center of balance scattered.
Having inherited her mother’s delicate frame, bearing the fierce Namgung blade was simply too much for her.
Her mother, Shin Hyewol,
had originally been the daughter of a renowned scholar of the realm.
But misfortune struck when a pack of brutal bandits attacked, and she lost her entire family—nearly falling victim to horrors unspeakable.
In that hellish moment, her father, Namgung Cheon, appeared as a young wanderer of the martial realm, alone and unattached, to save her.
A fateful bond, blooming amid rivers of blood.
Namgung Cheon refused marriage proposals from every prestigious clan in the land.
He took Shin Hyewol as his wife—a woman with no name, no standing, nothing but herself.
Even after becoming mistress of the Namgung household, she refused to be confined to the inner chambers.
With a scholar’s wisdom and mastery of dance and all manner of arts, she flourished beneath the Namgung roof, displaying her gifts freely.
That extraordinary brilliance passed wholly to her children.
Namgung Yuhwa, the eldest daughter, inherited her mother’s graceful lines and showed natural genius in dance,
while the second, Namgung Yeonhwa, possessed the gift of recreating anything she saw once with her own hands,
and the third, Namgung Seolhwa, could master any book from the family library with a single reading and possessed an extraordinary gift for numbers.
Under normal circumstance, each would have bloomed in her gift and drawn the envy of the world.
But the demons of the Blood Sect came, and reduced the Namgung Clan to ash.
“Yuhwa. Look after Yeonhwa and Seolhwa. And…….”
That night, as flames tore skyward, their parents drew the cover of the escape cart shut.
Inside lay their youngest son, sickly Namgung Hyeok, gasping cold, shallow breaths.
“You must protect this poor younger brother of yours. All of you. Do you understand?”
It was their parents’ final will—and their unbreakable covenant.
Tears that had gathered in Namgung Yuhwa’s eyes spilled down her cheeks.
The reason the three sisters held their youngest brother so precious.
It went far beyond the bonds of blood—it was a promise to their parents.
A sharp breath escaped her.
Namgung Yuhwa clenched her teeth and straightened her stance.
After that day, she abandoned the dance she loved and took up the sword, striving to protect the clan and her younger brother.
Yet without a proper master to guide her, walking the path alone was never smooth, and every technique remained clumsy and rough.
“Tch, tch. And this is supposed to be swordsmanship of the Namgung?”
A mocking voice drifted from behind her.
Startled, she turned to see a middle-aged man standing there, his belly protruding prominently.
Their distant uncle.
“How did you enter here?”
“How did I enter? I’m an elder of this household. Since when is crossing the Namgung threshold something strange for me?”
As he strutted forward, Namgung Yuhwa’s eyelids narrowed to slits.
“When the demons of the Blood Sect invaded and the clan faced ruin, you fled without a glance back. And now you stride through these gates as if you owned them. I wonder, Uncle, if that is truly right?”
Her words struck true. The uncle flinched, then his face flushed with shameless anger.
“Is that how you speak to your elder? The reason you’re even alive now, scrounging for scraps, is because I survived!”
He barked at her in a phlegm-filled voice, and the courtyard grew uneasy.
“Sister…….”
Namgung Yeonhwa and Namgung Seolhwa approached from behind, grasping at Yuhwa’s sleeve.
As all three sisters gathered, the uncle suppressed his rage and revealed his purpose.
“I’ve grown weary of your miserable circumstances and found you suitable matches.”
On the paper he offered were the names of aged profiteers.
“This is…… what exactly?”
“Suitors. Would you not consider marrying them as soon as possible?”
Even in ruin, they remained the direct bloodline of the Namgung Clan.
Moreover, all three sisters had acquired a reputation for beauty, so it was only natural that men with an eye for women would line up.
“They say they’ll pay handsomely in bride-price, honoring the family’s former prestige.”
“……!”
At his words, the breath of all three sisters caught in their throats.
Namgung Yuhwa especially burned with anger, her jaw clenching hard.
“If you have eyes, look at your feet. The blood of our dead household members has soaked the earth and has not yet fully dried. How can you dare sell off the surviving women of this clan to such common rabble?”
Without hesitation, she tore the list of suitors to shreds.
“I will not be seduced by fleeting fortune, nor will I surrender the honor of this clan.”
The uncle’s gaze turned cold as ice.
“Foolish girl! Everyone in the world knows the Namgung have fallen. Why can you not accept this truth?”
“We have not fallen! I will inherit the Namgung Sword Lineage. And I will protect our family!”
At her resolute declaration, the uncle let out a hollow laugh.
“You? Ha! You haven’t an ounce of talent with the blade! Most of the Namgung Martial Arts Manuals burned away, and you stand alone with no teacher to guide you—how do you intend to restore the Sword Lineage and reclaim former glory?”
His cruel words cut to the heart, and Namgung Yuhwa’s shoulders trembled finely.
“And that’s not all. The Namgung’s only legitimate son is so frail he’s barely more than a corpse! How much longer do you intend to pour water into a bottomless pit?”
As the uncle turned his barbs on her younger brother, fire kindled in the sisters’ eyes. Yet he paid them no mind.
“I’ll keep that wretch breathing, but the debt for medicine you’ve borrowed from me is a mountain! How will you pay it back? There’s only one way. Enter into marriage!”
Behind shallow goodwill lay an ugly truth.
“So that’s why… you were so willing to lend us money from the start! You meant to sell us off from the very beginning!”
“You understand now? Then obey my wishes without complaint! I’ve done what I needed to do, and you’ve done yours!”
With that, he raised his hand as though the conversation was no longer worth having.
“What are you waiting for! Drag them out and load them onto the carriage!”
“Yes, sir!”
Burly guards began closing in, radiating menace.
“Stop!”
Namgung Yuhwa desperately thrust out her wooden sword, but it was blocked without difficulty.
“If they resist, strike them unconscious!”
At Uncle’s cry, a bear of a guard raised his blade with crushing force.
“Aaagh…!”
He wrenched her wrist, forcing her to drop the sword, then raised his palm like a cauldron lid.
With a shriek, he brought it down as if to split Namgung Yuhwa’s head in two.
“Sister!”
In the same instant, Namgung Yeonhwa and Namgung Seolhwa threw their arms around Namgung Yuhwa, squeezing their eyes shut.
The moment seemed to hang on a knife’s edge—they were about to suffer this attack helplessly—when.
“Kugh, ghhh…!”
The guard’s lips trembled as a groan tore from his throat.
His descending hand had stopped impossibly in mid-air.
Caught between only two slender fingers.
Index and middle finger, delicate yet unyielding.
“You dogs—where do you think you are?”
The figure that emerged was the youngest young master of the Namgung Clan, mocked and scorned, Namgung Hyeok—
no, the dense Killing Intent of Pa Cheon Ma Jon, the Demon of Heaven, settled heavy upon the Training Ground.

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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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