The Heavenly Demon of the Blue Sky - Chapter 49

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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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Heavenly Demon’s Descent 049
To reach Shanxi, where the Seomuun Clan awaited, we would have to traverse a long route across regional borders.
The fastest means of travel would undoubtedly be the Lightweight Movement Technique deployed at full strength.
Yet even a martial master cannot simply channel force into their feet and run day and night without pause.
Lightweight movement inevitably consumes vast reserves of Inner Force and stamina.
Moreover, each martial artist had reached different levels of mastery and footwork technique, so coordinating a group to move at a single pace proved exceedingly difficult.
But with well-trained horses, matters changed entirely.
Martial artists could traverse great distances while preserving their stamina and Inner Force intact, and the entire unit could maintain steady speed and mobility.
To sever the enemy’s pursuit and reach the Seomuun Clan in time for their rescue, Cavalry Combat—not the Lightweight Movement Technique—was the most fitting and perfect choice.
And what manner of clans were the Hwangbo and Sandong Ak families?
Bloodlines that had produced countless great generals for the nation.
They were not only deeply versed in Military Formation combat, but their martial prowess doubled when paired with horses.
‘The elite guards led directly by the family heads also command Iron Cavalry. I too need a Legendary Horse to match their speed and presence.’
When the two family heads heard my intention, they laughed heartily and guided me to the Horse Stable nestled at the mountain’s foot.
“Haha! Behold! These beasts, raised on Taesan’s water and grass, are Legendary Horses among Legendary Horses—second to none in all of Kangho!”
Hwangbo Mugwang and Ak Cheolsan strutted about their shoulders as they introduced the horses arrayed before us.
True to their pride, the horses in the stable were all magnificent creatures, each boasting thick frames and muscles that rippled like serpents.
The two family heads were pointing out various horses and expounding their virtues when—
“Whiiiiii-neeeigh!!”
“Kraaack! Be careful! That mad beast is having another fit!”
Dust erupted violently from one corner of the stable.
A sharp equine scream and workers’ shouts tore through the air.
I turned to see a white horse isolated from the herd, rearing madly on its front hooves and causing chaos in a remote pen.
“Whoa, whoa! Calm yourself!”
“Not again! Stop that!”
Even Ak Jin and Hwangbo Gang, the younger heirs of the two families skilled in horsemanship, fumbled as they pulled on the thick rope around the white horse’s neck from both sides.
Each time the white horse thrashed mightily, the two giant men were dragged about as if weightless.
At this sight, the two family heads simultaneously pressed their palms to their foreheads and sighed.
“Tch tch… A shameful display indeed.”
“That beast’s name is Jeol Young. The finest in our stable, truly. Yet as you see, it’s as if a savage beast’s spirit has mistakenly lodged in a horse’s body—his temperament is so fierce and wild that not a single martial artist who’s come has managed him; all have failed and fled.”
Ak Cheolsan clicked his tongue, his expression bitter.
“We’ve given up now. We plan to drive him from the stable.”
‘Jeol Young.’
A name meaning to gallop so swiftly that even one’s shadow cannot be seen.
My gaze quietly swept across the writhing white horse’s entire frame.
By the two family heads’ account, the beast’s outward appearance was indeed unmatched among Taesan’s Legendary Horses.
His pure white coat gleamed with silken luster, and his imposing frame and long, elastic legs possessed tremendous power—enough to cover hundreds of miles in a single day with ease.
But what truly captured my gaze were his eyes.
Though his neck was choked by the thick rope until blood beaded at the surface, his bloodshot eyes held not a trace of compromise or submission.
Only raw fury and defiance toward the world that bound him flickered within.
‘Ah.’
Why did that look seem so familiar?
In my past life, the Tyrant King’s Descent, I had walked alone through gusts of blood where I had nowhere to lean, baring my fangs at heaven itself.
That form of mine from those days lay transparent upon those eyes.
“Family heads.”
Without tearing my gaze from the white horse, I spoke quietly.
“If you mean to drive him from the stable tomorrow anyway, why not give him to me? I’ve taken a liking to him.”
“What?! No, no! Lord Namgoong! Surely you jest—that beast is a mindless monster wearing a horse’s hide!”
“Moreover, a horse is one’s closest companion in battle. How could you trust such a creature with your very life?”
The two family heads cried out in alarm, trying to dissuade me.
They urged me instead to choose another docile and excellent horse.
Namgoong Gyeong and Yuhwa had also gone pale, stepping between me and the horse.
“L-Lord! Please reconsider! You cannot risk your noble person on such a beast!”
“Brother! Even Lord Hwangbo is struggling against its strength. This is far too dangerous!”
Though all tried to stop me, I let out a soft, dismissive chuckle.
“Beasts are more honest than men—there is always good reason for their madness.”
I flicked my robe lightly and walked past those who would restrain me, advancing slowly into the stable.
“Lord Namgoong!!”
Ak Jin, Hwangbo Gang, and the workers in the stable gaped in alarm, staring at me.
“All of you—release the rope and step back.”
“But Master! If you release the rope, that beast will attack!”
“Step back.”
Overwhelmed by the cold, cutting presence that emanated from my gaze, they unknowingly loosened their grip on the rope they’d been clutching.
“Whinnnnny—!!”
The moment Jeol Young broke free from his bonds, he thrust his hind legs against the earth and launched his body skyward.
In the next instant, he came crashing down with merciless force, as though to shatter my skull.
“No—!!”
Every soul watching held their breath, a cry of alarm caught on their lips.
I twisted my shoulder just enough to slip past his hooves. Simultaneously, I brought my palm down against his forehead—gently, yet with the weight of a mountain.
Thud!
With my other hand, I reached for the bridle clamped between his teeth and tore it away roughly, then swept along the underside of his jaw.
“Grrrrr……!”
Jeol Young exhaled ragged breaths and snarled like a beast, yet he could rear no longer.
The desolate force flowing from my fingertips was crushing his instinct beneath it.
This was the Tyrant King’s Presence—a power I had naturally awakened through centuries of reigning as a Heavenly Demon.
“How foolish you men are.”
I spoke softly, gesturing to the hollow beneath his jaw where neck met chest.
“You sought to restrain him through force alone, layering upon him thick leather ropes and bridles. With his throat so cruelly constricted, is it any wonder he thrashed? And look—the leather has torn into his flesh, leaving wounds that fester and weep.”
They had tried to suppress a being that could not be controlled by force, and in doing so, they had only brought him terrible suffering and crushing pressure.
I withdrew the Golden Wound Medicine from my robes and applied it to his wounds.
But this was merely a matter of the body. It was not everything.
I gazed deeply into his fierce eyes and whispered in a voice only he could hear.
“Other horses find contentment within the secure confines of their pens, where they eat and rest in safety. But for one as free as you, this stable was nothing but a suffocating cage.”
Jeol Young’s ears trembled faintly, as though he understood my words.
“Your coat is pristine white and cold to the touch, yet within you burns a heat as fierce as molten lava. You are a being that can find satisfaction only in endless motion—so even this sprawling stable must have felt like a narrow well to you.”
Slowly, I raised my hand and stroked his mane with tenderness.
“You know that the narrow slice of sky visible from the bottom of a well is not the whole world. That is why you writhed and raged with blood in your eyes—because you are a fierce beast, untamed and lonely, incapable of dwelling among ordinary men.”
Seeing him like this was like looking upon my former self, and the sight troubled my heart.
“I will grant you freedom. I have no limits, no cages to bind me. Come to me whenever you wish, and I will welcome your strength. Accept me as your master. Our hearts are kindred—we alone can truly understand each other.”
In that moment, the fury that had burned in his eyes began to fade.
He, who had raged and gone mad because no one understood him, had finally encountered an owner who comprehended him wholly.
Purrrrr…….
Jeol Young settled his ragged breathing and thrust his great head into my arms.
Moments before, he had been a monster with strength enough to shatter the bones of every worker.
Now, impossibly, he lowered his head as gently as a lamb.
“Wh—what……!”
“That—that mad beast—!”
The two clan heads and their retainers, watching from beyond the stable’s fence, were astounded.
I smiled softly and seized Jeol Young’s mane.
With a light leap, I landed smoothly upon his sleek back.
In that instant, Jeol Young reared as though he had been waiting for this, raising his forehooves high and letting out a mighty roar toward the sky.
“Whinnnnny—!!”
He tore away from the earth like a bolt of lightning and shot forward.
“Go!”
The stable’s fence, towering well above a man’s height, he leaped over as lightly as a bird.
Burst!
As he landed, dust exploded outward in all directions.
Wind tore at my ears, and the oppressive tightness that had long burdened my chest finally cleared away, rushing out like a swift current.
“Hahaha!”
A Heavenly Demon and a Legendary Horse ascending across the vast plain.
Soon we became one perfect silhouette, backlit by the crimson sunset.

* * *
Meanwhile, beyond the stable’s fence.
Everyone remaining stood transfixed, their minds reeling as they watched the plain.
Jeol Young—a legendary steed whom no master warrior of Taesan had ever been able to tame.
The sight of the young Namgoong clan head, restraining that savage beast not through force but through genuine compassion, had burned itself deep into their memory.
“Ahhh…….”
Clad in a striking dark-blue long robe that billowed sharply, becoming one with the pristine white legendary horse, he tore across the plain.
It was a mysterious and wondrous sight that captivated the gaze of all who beheld it.
“It has been a long time since I have seen someone draw eyes like this.”
“Indeed. So this is the new Lord of the Namgoong Clan.”
A presence vast enough to transcend age and station emanated from him.
It was not merely the two Lords.
“Extraordinary! Unbelievable!”
“To have tamed that beast in a single breath!”
Ak Jin and Hwangbo Gang, the younger heads of their respective clans, threw their fists together in jubilation, celebrating as though it were their own triumph.
Even the martial masters of Taesan, who were as exacting with themselves as they were reluctant to praise others, proved no exception.
Before anyone quite realized it, they had fallen under the spell of the Namgoong Lord—this former stranger—and gazed upon him with reverence and awe.
“The Kangho teems with countless hypocrites who dress themselves in righteousness and mystique, scrambling to play the hero.”
“Yet here stands a blunt young Lord who hides nothing within, and he possesses a power to stir men’s hearts far more intensely than any of them.”
The more one observed him, the more captivating and magnetic he became.
Those already deeply intoxicated by that magnetism reacted with even less restraint.
“Hyeok! You’re truly magnificent!”
Yuhwa cupped her hands to her lips and cheered for her brother with all her might.
“Ha! Ha!”
Namgoong himself expelled hot breath, his nostrils flaring.
His eyes glistening with fervent emotion, he scribbled frantically across the pages of his worn notebook.
“Ah! The Lord ascends upon the pure white steed and cleaves the wind itself—such a radiant form, like a hero descended from the myths of old! What holiness, what glory!”
From Namgoong’s lips poured forth an endless stream of praise for the Lord.
Clop-clop-clop!
The Lord, having returned to the Horse Stable, furrowed his brow at the fawning of his retainers.
“People will get the wrong idea listening to nonsense like that! Show some shame!”
He bellowed in protest, yet even as he did, his body writhed with what could only be called rapture.
“We cannot! The Lord is the pride of Namgoong! How could we possibly stop?”
“That’s right! The scout captain explained it perfectly! How can we contain our admiration?”
“You lot are impossible!”
A chase ensued, pursuer and pursued.
It was clear this happened more than once or twice—their evasive movements were remarkably practiced.
A deep smile blossomed across the lips of the two Lords as they watched the absurd spectacle unfold.
A master who despised praise and worship above all else.
And retainers who found that very master so precious and beloved that they could not help but follow.
This was Namgoong risen from the ashes.
‘Truly delightful and bound together!’
The two Lords exchanged a knowing glance, then, with mischievous expressions, could not resist joining in Namgoong’s chorus of praise.
“Hahaha! The retainers speak only truth!”
“The Lord’s form was indeed like a swift wind cutting through Taesan itself!”
Even the two Lords had thrown their lot in with the admiration of the Namgoong Lord.
“No, why are you two doing this as well? Did you all eat something bad together?”
The Namgoong Lord, mortified and at a loss, could only watch as Hwangbo Mugwang and Ak Cheolsan doubled over in helpless laughter.
“Kahahaha! We merely spoke the plain truth!”
Their hearty laughter rang out through the night sky above the Horse Stable, scattering like joy itself.
With their bonds now forged this night, only one task remained: the salvation of the Seomuun Clan.

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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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