The Heavenly Demon of the Blue Sky - Chapter 5

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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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Cang Tian Heavenly Demon Episode 005
Several days later.
“Come now, Hyeok. Open wide—there we go.”
In the Namgung Main Clan Inner Courtyard, on the soft bedding of my own chamber.
I frowned down at the porridge pushed up nearly to my chin.
“I can feed myself! Stop this, all of you—out!”
The roar of the Heavenly Demon who once commanded the world. Under ordinary circumstances, anyone would bow their head in submission.
“Oh my, listen to our youngest brother’s voice ring out!”
“Even insisting he’s recovered—how could anything be so adorable!”
My elder sisters paid my protests no mind whatsoever.
They simply fussed and fawned, grateful that I’d grown so well.
“No, really, I can eat it myself—mmph!”
In the end, I surrendered to the spoon forced between my lips and a barrage of affection as relentless as fire.
“There, there—eating so well, our youngest.”
As the warm, savory porridge slid down my throat, I felt my agitated Dantian settle, just barely, into stillness.
After that terrible incident(?) in the Martial Training Grounds that day, the money our Uncle had sent once freed allowed us to furnish the once-bare household first.
We’d barely scraped by when I overtaxed my body and took to the sickbed.
That very night, my sisters arrived with their belongings in tow.
Fearing I might collapse again at any moment, they stationed themselves at my bedside and took up the care of the sick.
“Your stomach isn’t sore, is it? No chills? And… that elixir, whatever it’s called—do you have enough? Should I have Physician Baek bring more?”
My sisters, who had been overjoyed at news of my recovering health, asked with genuine concern.
Yet despite their relief, they still wore those worried creases between their brows, tending to me with the utmost devotion.
“Hyeok, your mouth is dirty.”
She dabbed my lips gently with a soft silk cloth.
At the tender, careful touch, my body—which had been resting against the backrest—stiffened imperceptibly.
In that moment, the very last instant of my former life flickered through my mind.
Cheon Ha-jin, the Heavenly Demon, standing at the peak of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
I had held all the world beneath my feet, yet I was a lonely orphan under heaven.
Throughout endless betrayal and intrigue, I had kept no one close, determined to defend a crimson throne soaked in blood.
In that end, in the cold palace where my last breath fled, there was not a single soul to clasp my hand in warmth.
But now? What of now?
“What’s wrong? Is something troubling you?”
At my silence, my sisters’ faces fell as if the sky itself had collapsed, and they laid their hands upon my brow.
Worry without artifice, utterly sincere.
These blood kin, who would lay down their very lives at a single cough from me.
‘Get a hold of yourself, Cheon Ha-jin. This does not suit you.’
I tried to push them away coldly, thinking it would serve no purpose.
“My, Hyeok—why are your ears so red? Is the room too warm?”
My body betrayed me. Foolish thing, it was delighting in a warmth I had never known in all my former life, and I let out an involuntary sigh.
“It’s… it’s nothing, really.”
“Well, that’s a relief!”
After that, Yuhwa spoke hesitantly, watching my expression carefully.
“What in the world happened at the Martial Training Grounds days ago? You, who’ve never properly held a sword in your life—how did you become so strong…?”
Was that truly a question? It seemed obvious to me.
“Because I am the Heavenly Demon who reached the pinnacle of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. For the Heavenly Demon Lord himself, crushing a pack of street thugs is hardly worth mentioning.”
I lifted my chin and spoke with deliberate pride. At that, my sisters exchanged glances, then clapped their hands and responded.
“That’s it, that’s it! Our great Heavenly Demon Lord! You were truly magnificent!”
Rather than fully believing my words, they seemed to have made a pact to humor me.
“You—you really should believe me!”
Just as I was about to cry out in frustration.
“Wait—now that I think of it…!”
Yuhwa suddenly clapped her palms together as if struck by realization.
“When you were bedridden before, you used to watch through the window as I practiced, your eyes never leaving me. I knew you had an interest in martial arts, but…!”
In the next moment, tears of emotion welled up in her eyes.
“Could it be—just by watching, you’ve mastered the clan’s Cang Tian Sword Technique? Unbelievable!”
At Yuhwa’s words, my other sisters clutched their chests, their hearts bursting with pride.
“We sisters lacked the talent with the blade and reached our limits…!”
“But our youngest brother was born with the gift to inherit the Namgung sword!”
“Heaven has not yet abandoned our clan!”
Watching them rejoice with tears streaming down their faces, I found myself utterly exasperated.
“Impudent! How dare you claim that my accumulated wisdom—forged through a lifetime of walking the boundary between life and death—belongs to some mere Namgung talent! Outrageous!”
His face hardened and he spat the words like venom, but in the end, they heard only what they wished to hear.
“Oh, we’re so sorry, Patriarch. Forgive us for not showing proper respect…”
“But there is something we’d like to offer to such a great person.”
Yuhwa pressed into his hand something she had guarded carefully all this time. Cool. Heavy. Solid.
“The Key to the Secret Library, where the Namgung Clan keeps its secret manuals, and the Seal of the Clan Lord—used for all external affairs.”
She held them out reverently, then added one final request.
“This matter has shown me clearly how extraordinary you truly are. So I’m asking—would you take the position of clan lord formally and lead our family? You’re the sole legitimate heir of the main Namgung house and you’re recovering your health. There’s no reason to delay any longer.”
He gazed down at the elegant key and the jade seal carved with the Cang Tian mark, resting in his palm.
No matter how far fallen, this was the seat that represented the Namgung Clan—once a renowned orthodox sect.
‘A Heavenly Demon as clan lord.’
If the dead of Namgung were watching from the other side, they would surely be foaming at the mouth.
‘Blame your descendants. I’m a victim too.’
Since I’m trapped here anyway, I might as well live as I please.
‘In any case, it’s not a terrible arrangement for Namgung either.’
Although the patriarch was selfish, unmoved by sentiment, he was hardly merciful enough to ignore those who had trampled upon the divine faith he’d built over a lifetime without permission.
Should he not teach those arrogant Blood Cult dogs and heretics what true darkness truly meant?
The Blood Cult was responsible for destroying Namgung in the first place. He would use everything that remained to exact a blood vendetta.
“Very well. I accept.”
He agreed to their request to become clan lord. His sisters, unable to contain their joy, threw themselves upon him.
“At last we have a worthy younger brother! We can finally lay down our burden!”
“You think I’m doing this for you? This is all for me!”
Flushed-faced, he barely extracted himself and made his way to the Secret Library hidden deep within the Inner Courtyard.
He drew out the key and inserted it into the heavy iron door that had been sealed shut.
Creak—creak—creak! A acrid smell of char rushed out along with dust.
When he surveyed the interior, he could only click his tongue.
“It’s nothing but ashes.”
The horrific flames brought by the Blood Cult had consumed most of the Namgung martial techniques.
The secret manuals that should have lined the shelves were blackened and charred beyond recognition.
Even the books that remained were half-burned, their crucial passages lost forever.
This was precisely why Yuhwa had been treading in place.
An ordinary martial artist would have collapsed in despair before such a devastated sight, watching the foundation of his clan crumble to nothing. But.
“…Keh.”
His lips curled in a bloodless smile, cold and serene.
This body was no weak-willed, sheltered young master ignorant of the martial path.
Nor was he some shallow charlatan merely playing the prodigy.
He was the Sword Demon and Heavenly Demon—one who had awakened tens of thousands of sword forms and martial techniques, climbing to the very apex.
Incomplete techniques? Burned passages? For him, these were already treasures of immeasurable worth.
Moreover, he was now clan lord of the Namgung—once called the heart of the Orthodox Sect.
If he carelessly unleashed Demonic Qi, discovery would be inevitable. Troublesome entanglements would surely follow.
‘I need a veil to hide myself.’
If he absorbed the Namgung martial techniques and refined them as his own, he could remain hidden from most prying eyes.
‘And more than that—I might reach a realm I never touched in my past life.’
He had reached the summit of darkness and held the world beneath his feet, yet that phantom sword path shimmering before his eyes remained forever beyond his grasp.
The burning thirst he’d felt standing before that distant, insurmountable wall.
‘Though darkness offered no final answer.’
If he devoured the sword techniques of Namgung—called the greatest sword house of the Orthodox Sect—would the clue to that elusive solution not appear?
If he could only achieve the Martial God realm he had long dreamed of, there was no distinction between cold rice and hot.
His eyes burned with an eerie jade light as he gazed forward to that new frontier.
‘Let’s see.’
He examined the Namgung secret manuals piled within the library carefully.
Despite considerable damage, they were remarkably extensive for a renowned orthodox clan.
“Hmm…”
Yet without knowing the foundation, perfect restoration was impossible, and his time to study was limited.
‘Roots must be planted before leaves can sprout.’
So he selected only two secret manuals he could master right now.
He returned to his chamber and sat upon his bed, opening the first scroll.
[Cang Tian Great Evolution Divine Art, Beginner Section]
The Cang Tian Great Evolution Divine Art was the foundation of Internal Energy for the Namgung Clan—a meditation method for accumulating qi as vast and magnificent as heaven itself within the Dantian.
“Indeed, the depth is remarkable.”
Fortunately, the books were in excellent condition. I flipped through the pages rapidly, absorbing the content.
For ordinary disciples of lesser realms, it would have taken years of study just to comprehend an introductory manual and commit it to muscle memory.
But who was I? I stood at the pinnacle of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains—a Heavenly Demon.
My perspective on martial arts could not help but differ entirely.
Flip, flip.
The moment I closed the final page, the principles of Qi and Blood circulation within the Cang Tian Great Evolution Divine Art had settled perfectly into my mind.
The theoretical foundation was complete.
All that remained was to force the Namgung Clan’s azure energy into my own Dantian.
I crossed my legs and closed my eyes, beginning to murmur the incantations of the Cang Tian Great Evolution Divine Art that were now etched in my mind.
“Heaven and Earth give birth to origin; the Qi gazes upward toward the boundless azure sky.”
Whoooosh—
As the incantation left my lips, the air in the room began to tremble subtly.
“The Great Evolution encompasses all phenomena; clear and pure Qi swirls and embraces all things under Heaven.”
Centered on my body, luminous and warm energy rushed in as a tremendous vortex.
“With azure clouds floating in the Dantian, the principles of Heaven dwell within me.”
As the final incantation fell, the energy of the azure sky—carrying the principles of Heaven—surged magnificently through the Blood Meridians of my entire body.
I refined the pure energy and carefully drew it down into my Dantian. Everything proceeded smoothly.
The Namgung Clan’s Internal Energy seemed to settle perfectly within me. Then—
Boom—! The Demonic Seed that had been coiled deep within my Dantian suddenly bared its savage fangs.
“Ugh…!”
In an instant, my veins swelled as though about to burst, and cold sweat poured down like rain.
The Namgung Clan’s energy flowing into my Dantian and the Demonic Qi of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art collided violently, beginning to rampage.
‘Damn it…!’
I hastily halted the circulation of my Internal Energy and gasped for breath in short, ragged bursts.
“Gasp, gasp…”
Had I delayed even a moment longer, I would have fallen into Deviation into Demonic Path and ruptured my heart meridians.
‘I believed the laws of the Jianghu could be suppressed and overcome by overwhelming power alone.’
I knew well enough that attempting to contain two fundamentally incompatible types of True Qi—Extreme Yang and Extreme Yin—in one vessel was akin to carrying kindling into a fire.
But who was the lord of this body? I was the supreme master of the ten thousand realms, one who had bent countless Demonic Practitioners to my will.
I had believed that with subtle control, they would naturally yield and become extensions of my limbs.
‘Yet the energy of Cang Tian proves far more expansive than I anticipated.’
It was not merely bright and forceful Yang Qi. It was the vast, towering, and unyielding energy of an endless sky.
That pure and stubborn essence of Orthodox Sect violently resisted being forcibly suppressed by the Demonic Qi.
‘Then how can I fuse these two energies?’
In that moment of contemplation, a single thought flashed through my mind.
[Half of all Demonic Sect martial arts concerns the mastery of extreme Yin Qi.]
Then what was the remaining source? The most primordial force that Demonic Practitioners in the barren lands of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains had awakened to transcend their limits.
‘…Qi and Blood itself.’
My eyes snapped open. A sudden surge of clarity struck my mind like lightning as the tangled thread unraveled in an instant.
Cang Tian is the energy of the endless, towering sky.
Demonic Qi, conversely, is the energy of the abyss where no light reaches.
Sky and abyss are like parallel lines that can never touch.
‘But what if there exists a bridge between the two?’
A being that stands upon the earth and gazes upward at the sky, living between them.
A creature that dwells between Heaven and Earth.
And the fundamental nature of what such a being possesses: red blood, Qi and Blood.
An ordinary Demonic Practitioner would have driven their heart like a furnace, causing blood to boil violently.
But this body cannot endure such crude methods.
Any attempt to force the energy would cause my paper-thin heart meridians to rupture entirely, killing me.
‘On the contrary, this is favorable.’
A faint laugh escaped my lips.
Overflowing robust vitality often provokes harsh resistance against foreign energy.
Yet this thread of life—fragile enough to snap tomorrow—paradoxically harbors no stubbornness whatsoever.
It is the perfect medium—a blank canvas that allows all energies to seep through unobstructed.
‘Silent abyss of the heart.’
I calmed my rough breathing until it became like a still lake.
Thump… thump…
I surrendered my consciousness entirely to the weak, feeble heartbeat.
Following the delicate paths of my Blood Meridians, I began to carefully draw forth my Qi and Blood, like pulling an impossibly thin and fine thread.
Through the Hundred Convergences Point at the crown of my head, I gently drew down the clear Qi of Heaven, the Cang Tian Great Evolution Divine Art.
The Bubbling Spring Point. Through both soles of his feet, he drew upward the subterranean, shadowy Demonic Qi emanating from the Demonic Sect’s supreme martial art, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
In the instant two colossal forces were about to collide in his Dantian.
Through the hair-thin gap between them, he wove in the All Blood Returns to Source, synchronized with the faint pulse of his heart, like threading a tangled skein.
‘This is different in every way from the Blood Cult’s dark sorcery—using others’ blood as sacrifice to seize malevolent power into one’s hands.’
My life force, the most fragile yet utterly pristine, began to gently entwine and bind the wild, raging Cang Tian Qi and the sinister Demonic Qi as soft as down, achieving perfect harmony.
Not suppression through force, but perfect accord—seeping like water into water.
It was a miracle only the Breaker of Heavenly Demons could achieve.
‘Just a little tighter. Closer still.’
The vital essence of All Blood Returns to Source bound the Cang Tian Qi and Demonic Qi without gap or flaw.
At once, the three forces—red, blue, and black—merged completely, refined into a radiant violet.
The light of the Orthodox Sect and the darkness of the Demonic Sect fused together—an overwhelming power never before seen in all the martial world.
A brilliant flash—his eyes snapped open in that same instant.
‘This is it……!’
The perfect harmony that his previous life, driven only toward extreme demonism, could never have reached now filled his entire being.
Simultaneously, he felt the faintest of cracks forming in the martial wall that had seemed so vast and impenetrable.
A sealed path was beginning to open.
With his heart swelling, he clenched his sweat-soaked fists tight.
“I’ll have to give this a name.”
Through me, the Namgung Clan and the Demonic Sect had become one. Then.
A proud, deep smile curved his lips as he spoke in barely a whisper.
“Cang Tian Demonic Qi. Yes, that suits it perfectly.”

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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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