The Heavenly Demon of the Blue Sky - Chapter 44

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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 Heavenly Demon 044
At that moment, in the marsh.
“Maintain formation! Don’t engage head-on under any circumstances—use the Formation Technique to scatter their focus!”
The Blood Cult’s assassins, having swallowed Beast Blood Pills and lost all reason, came charging with savage ferocity.
Jegal Yun wielded the White Feather Fan with practiced urgency, commanding the warriors of the Jegal Clan.
Yet his every thought was fixed not on the formation below, but on the towering tree overhead.
‘Namgung Clan Leader… he must come through unharmed…’
His heart was burning with anxiety.
He had already learned, with bitter certainty, that Namgung Hyeok’s wisdom and insight far transcended the ordinary.
Yet he had risen from his sickbed only days ago—such a frail frame.
How long could he have trained in martial arts, no matter how swiftly he recovered?
Whatever skill and achievements he’d displayed thus far, facing an active Sect Master in direct combat would be another thing entirely.
Even the most renowned masters of the Orthodox Faction would wager their lives on such a battle.
‘Just hold on a little longer, while we dispose of the enemies below…’
He was about to channel his Internal Energy into the White Feather Fan, clinging to this desperate hope, when—
Whoosh.
A desolate wind swept down from above, and someone dropped onto the marsh.
A flutter of blue robes. Namgung Hyeok.
Jegal Yun’s heart sank as he studied the Clan Leader’s complexion.
What had already been pallid had grown worse still—his veins showed in sickly blue relief.
His lips were stained crimson with blood, dripping steadily.
‘No… it happened after all.’
He was about to give in to despair when—
Namgung Hyeok wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, then drew a cigarette from his breast and placed it between his lips.
Snap.
He lit it with a faint, blood-red flame that flickered briefly, then exhaled a long plume of smoke.
His cold, narrow eyes curved as they turned toward the raging Blood Cult assassins.
“You wretches are still standing?”
Next, he drew the pure white Azure Sea High Moon Sword and glided across the marsh as though it were level ground, launching forward.
Whirrrrr!
A devastating and lethal Sword Light flashed—unbelievable from a body bearing such wounds.
Each time the blade connected, the assassins’ vital points severed with perfect precision.
With the Clan Leader’s intervention breaking the assault’s momentum, the elite of the Jegal Clan, who had been pushed back, regrouped and managed to hold their ground.
And shortly thereafter.
“Gruuuh… ack!”
Just as the Clan Leader had predicted, the drug’s potency reached its limit.
The assassins’ blood vessels, unable to withstand the violent surge of blood, burst all at once.
Splurch!
Without so much as another struggle, the assassins collapsed onto the marsh, gushing dark crimson blood from every orifice in a pathetic collapse.
They had destroyed themselves.
Among the carnage surrounding them.
Jegal Yun held his breath, watching as Namgung Hyeok exhaled a long stream of smoke from his cigarette, his eyes alight with reverence.
At the Clan Leader’s feet lay the severed head of Gu Ma, the enemy commander, buried in the mud with eyes wide open.
‘Impossible…’
Jegal Yun felt the White Feather Fan trembling in his grip.
He had beheaded the Blood Cult’s Sect Master—an achievement that even a renowned first-rate master of the Orthodox Faction could not accomplish alone.
Yet this young Clan Leader had done it.
His wisdom, his bearing, and that unfathomable martial prowess displayed in such a sickly frame.
‘Truly… a man worthy of serving as my lord.’
As the wave that was Namgung Hyeok crashed against his heart.
Tingle—!
From behind a tree, he felt a burning, blatant gaze piercing the back of his skull.
‘There’s still an enemy!?’
Jegal Yun drew his Internal Energy from his core and spun around in alarm.
But what lurked there was no remnant of the Blood Cult.
“Ah…”
Behind the thick tree trunk.
Namgung Gyeong stood trembling violently, his face flushed crimson.
Like a devout believer witnessing a living legend materialize before his eyes, he wore an expression of ecstatic rapture, his brush hand flying across the pages of his notebook as he scribbled frantically.
[…Oh, celestial Heaven above! The Clan Leader himself has ascended, severing in a single stroke the neck of that foul blood-drinking demon! Before that radiant Sword Light that cleaves the river of Heaven itself, all the demons of creation scatter like autumn leaves! And that noble bearing, untainted by even a single drop of blood, shall be inscribed forever in the annals of the Martial World…]
Muttering words of praise for the Clan Leader, his hands moved busily across the page.
“You there—aren’t you going to tear that up right now?”
“Eh?! Oh, I couldn’t possibly! This is a sacred record, like scripture that will become Namgung’s glorious history in ages to come! Wasn’t it a task the Clan Leader entrusted to me personally, as the head scout?”
“When did I ever tell you to write such insane nonsense!”
While the two bickered, Jegal Yun felt an odd pang of envy and swallowed a quiet cough.
His desire to honor and celebrate the Clan Leader differed not at all from Namgung Gyeong’s.
“Perhaps I should write something myself… or maybe even paint something?”
The longing to preserve something of the Namgung Clan Leader in any way possible.
So he spoke to himself.

* * *
After concluding the battle in victory,
the warriors of the Jegal Clan began collecting the corpses and identification plaques of the assassins.
In the meantime, I retrieved the spoils of war I had obtained.
It was the secret manual that Gu Ma had sought to find in the Jin Ju-eon Family’s underground repository.
I opened first the weathered tome that caught my eye.
‘As expected.’
The Jiangshi Technique, said to have been created by fallen cultivators.
Scanning the contents, I found detailed instructions on how to create and control jiangshi.
However, it did not contain the full essence of what the Blood Cult had refined over long centuries.
‘This is only fundamental level. It’s the scraps the Blood Cult threw to the Jin Ju-eon Family as bait.’
That explained why the Jin Ju-eon Family could only produce crude Earth Corpses, little more than jiangshi.
Yet to call it useless would be inaccurate.
In my previous life, even after destroying the Blood Cult once, I never found this secret manual.
Had it been worthless, I would never have come searching for it.
Through this manual, I could obtain a clue to countering the Blood Cult’s jiangshi.
Considering the Martial World as a whole, the value of this single volume was immeasurable.
Jegal Yun, standing nearby, folded his fan carefully and opened his mouth with deliberation.
“Clan Leader. By the established rules of the Martial World, all demonic arts that pose grave threats to the order of the realm, or secret texts of exterminated Orthodox Faction families, must be delivered to the Martial Arts Alliance for strict safekeeping.”
“The Martial Arts Alliance… Namgung, a leader of the Orthodox Faction and one of the Five Great Clans, was exterminated in a sudden strike by the Blood Cult. And yet the Martial Arts Alliance stood idle, fearing only for their own safety and prosperity.”
I fixed him with a cold gaze.
“You would have me hand over these precious manuals in full to that den of hypocrites who discarded the order and righteousness of the realm like worn rags?”
“…….”
Jegal Yun seemed at a loss for words, biting his lip, before letting out a deep sigh and shaking his head.
“I lack experience and cannot fully grasp the complex affairs and politics within the Orthodox Faction. For now, I wish to defer to the Clan Leader’s will rather than the Martial Arts Alliance’s regulations.”
He straightened his posture toward me, speaking as if taking an oath.
“The elders of our Jegal Clan hold you in the highest regard for what transpired before. Their resolve to aid you along the path you walk, as they do now, is unwavering. After all, it was the Clan Leader who first read the enemy’s movements and moved ahead of the Alliance to obtain these manuals. Therefore, all ownership and decision regarding these spoils belong entirely to you.”
That would suffice. With such trust, it was good to walk together.
I tossed the Jiangshi Secret Manual into Jegal Yun’s embrace.
“Wait, Clan Leader—what do you mean by this!”
“Since the Jegal Clan trusts Namgung, Namgung trusts the Jegal in return. See that you guard that manual well.”
“You entrust something so crucial to our Jegal Clan?”
“Yes. I want you to study the Blood Cult’s Jiangshi Technique thoroughly and devise a Destruction Method to shatter and neutralize their jiangshi. Surely the wisdom of the Jegal Clan, which boasts the finest mind under heaven, cannot fall short of those fallen cultivators from the Blood Cult?”
At my words, Jegal Yun’s trembling hands caressed the cover of the manual.
“A demonic art that turns the dead into puppets and sets them in motion…”
As though a brilliant idea had struck him, he whispered to me with excitement in his voice.
“Clan Leader, studying the Destruction Method is certainly worthwhile, but what if we developed our own technique instead?”
“What?”
“If we research and refine it properly, we could create tireless workers with limitless stamina. After all, wasn’t the original purpose of the Jiangshi Technique noble from the start?”
“You mean sending soldiers who died in foreign lands back home as jiangshi, so they could be buried in sunlit ground before their families’ eyes?”
“Exactly. What if we preserved that noble foundation and put it to good use? To reject it outright as demonic art seems wasteful when its applications could be so boundless.”
Truly a sentiment befitting the Jegal Clan, called the finest mind under heaven.
His eye fell first on the practicality of jiangshi. But—
“Whose will is that, exactly?”
“I beg your pardon? What do you—”
“Is it truly noble and righteous to forcibly bind the vengeful spirit of one already dead, keeping them neither alive nor dead, and enslave them to your purpose?”
“That is to say…”
“Consider it from another perspective. You die wrongfully, your body decays and rots. Unable to rest in peace, condemned to wander the streets under someone else’s command for all eternity. Would that truly be the sanctuary you desired?”
My words struck home, and Jegal Yun’s lips pressed firmly shut.
“The boundary between life and death is the natural order decreed by heaven. To desecrate the body of the dead and make it a tool for the living—should we treat such a thing lightly and indulge our greed, then in the end, we ourselves shall become those terrible monsters.”
I harbor resentment toward heaven for placing me in this wretched body, though that resentment is not without cause.
In those days when I was the Heavenly Demon Supremo.
I studied every cruel martial art without hesitation.
Yet the Jiangshi Technique—the art of raising corpses—I never once touched.
It wasn’t that I lacked desire. Rather, I simply never brought myself to do it.
It was the most base and nauseating desecration of the Way of Martial Arts.
“I, I was momentarily blinded! I have spoken a terrible heresy! For a moment I forgot the sanctity of life, and harbored thoughts as wicked as those accursed demons of the Blood Cult…….”
“I understand. Everyone has such thoughts from time to time. We corrected ourselves, but the Blood Cult did not. That is why they are called demons who torment both the living and the dead.”
At my words, Jegal Yun’s eyes grew heavy and distant.
He received the secret manual with both hands, holding it reverently, and bowed deeply.
“I shall engrave those words in my heart and devote myself solely to researching the Destruction Method. To break the chains binding those unjustly trapped spirits and grant them peaceful rest—that too is the duty of a scholar who walks the Righteous Path.”
At the steadfast resolve in his words, I nodded lightly.
The remaining two secret manuals I secured firmly within my robes.
“I must examine these when I return to the main estate. There’s no time to linger here—I’ll depart at once.”
At my words, Jegal Yun’s face clouded with disappointment as he folded his fan.
“The Martial Arts Alliance’s information network is not to be underestimated. To ensure they find no trace of our having been here, I shall remain and complete the cleanup before returning.”
“Then I entrust it to you.”
As I turned to leave, Jegal Yun reluctantly caught the hem of my robe with an expression of unwillingness.
“Clan Leader… The Namgung and our Jegal Clan have joined hands in common purpose, yet this physical distance is deeply lamentable. If both body and heart were closer, we might see each other often…….”
Why did this grow ever stickier?
Before I could muster a reply, Namgung Gyeong, who had been watching from behind, shot forward like an arrow.
“Ha! So the outsider grows greedy! Well spoken. How can one call it nearness when you must cross an entire region just to visit?”
Pressing tight against my side, he let out a triumphant snort.
“Meanwhile, I, Namgung Gyeong, remain always within five steps of the Clan Leader. I am the hands and feet that stand ready to serve your every word, and for this I count myself most fortunate and blessed!”
Drunk on his own victory at monopolizing the Clan Leader, he scratched away at Jegal Yun’s jealousy with relentless glee.
“Step back.”
I pushed away Namgung Gyeong’s grotesquely approaching face with the flat of my hand.
Then I turned my gaze toward Jegal Yun, who trembled with indignation.
“Neighbors, you say…….”
I rested my chin in my hand, sinking into thought for a moment.
“It’s true—today the Namgung and Jegal Clan have opened a new bond, yet as you say, we remain distant neighbors. Then what if we narrowed that distance?”
“Pardon? Narrow the distance?”
Crowds of people have been gathering around the Namgung Main Estate, forming a great village. Our household has grown considerably as well. I shall build a Grand Academy there for the Jegal Clan.”
At my unprecedented proposal, both Jegal Yun and Namgung Gyeong’s eyes flew wide open.
A Grand Academy is the supreme institution of learning and scholarship.
To establish a Grand Academy of the Jegal in the heart of Namgung Territory—such a thing had no precedent.
It was customary for great clans to shun mixing with others, believing themselves uniquely refined above all.
Yet this was not true of one who valued ability over birth and station.
“There, teach learning to the Namgung household and the people of the territory. If the Jegal—symbol of wisdom—sends forth many teachers, it would be a great honor for our Namgung.”
The pretext was elegantly packaged, but my true intent was transparent.
I meant to bind the talents of the Jegal Clan—the finest minds in all the land—at my side for the revival of Namgung, and use them freely as I saw fit.
Moreover, I could also develop the abilities of the talents I would command.
“Already, the swordsmen of Gaebang and the monks of Shaolin have settled and taken root in our territory. Should the Jegal Clan join as well, the picture would be most complete. What say you?”
At my proposal, Jegal Yun’s face flushed bright with joy.
It was a golden opportunity to establish himself as a core force of the Namgung.
Moreover, the prestige of the Jegal Clan, formally invited thus, would be greatly elevated.
There was no reason to refuse.
“Ah! Such profound intention behind this proposal! I, Jegal Yun, am deeply moved by the Clan Leader’s boundless generosity!”
He dropped his fan as if carelessly casting it aside, bending deeply at the waist as he cried out loudly.
“I shall return to the main house at once and consult with our elders. Upon the great wings of the Namgung’s resurgence, we shall lift the winds of the Jegal to raise the great tide of destiny across all under heaven!”
“Do. I look forward to it.”
I smiled and mounted my horse, urging it forward.
“Wait, wait, Clan Leader!”
All that remained was Namgung Gyeong, his mouth agape in an expression of utter despair.
“Hurry along. Or shall I leave without you?”
“I’m coming, I’m coming with you!”
With my various gains secured, I turned my steps toward Anhui Province with a light gait.
Within my robes, firmly secured: the Jin Ju-eon Family Secret Texts.
That weighty presence felt deeply near my heart.
I sensed instinctively that it was the key to nourishing this frail and sickly body.

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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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