The Heavenly Demon of the Blue Sky - Chapter 50

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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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Cangqian Demon Qi 050
“I shall deliver Jeol-yeong to the Clan Master as promised. However, before we depart, there is one thing I wish to recommend.”
Hwangbo Mugwang clapped his massive hands together, and the laborers at the Horse Grounds carefully approached, bearing something.
It was exquisite Iron Armor that seemed to absorb light itself.
“When a horse races across a battlefield, it naturally becomes an easy target for enemies. Moreover, even the most robust beast may struggle to withstand the attacks of foes who have awakened their Martial Arts.”
Ak Cheolsan stroked his coarse beard and added his voice.
“This Horse Armor is woven from Black Iron, a rare ore worked only in the deep reaches of Taishan. Fit it upon this creature.”
He nodded and approached Jeol-yeong’s side. With the laborers’ assistance, he fitted the Horse Armor to protect her head, chest, and flanks.
The iron plates were fastened with chains with meticulous care, maintaining a light weight while not impeding the movement of joints.
‘The craftsmanship is excellent.’
As the heavy Black Iron armor was fitted over her pure white coat, the stark contrast of black and white blazed forth, and she emanated a majestic presence as if born to trample across battlefields—a true Divine Beast.
“And this is for the Namgung Clan Master.”
Hwangbo Mugwang offered a thin suit of armor designed to be worn beneath a long robe.
“Though designed for ease of donning, it is woven from steel and carries considerable weight. I confess some concern that it may prove burdensome…”
I took it without hesitation and fastened it beneath my robe.
A cold metallic ring accompanied the motion, and a substantial weight settled across my shoulders.
Had this been the weak, sickly body of my past, the breath would have caught in my throat and my knees would have buckled. But now was different.
Thump-thump!
Thanks to the Wanxue Dayuan Gong dwelling in my heart, which continuously revitalized my body like a bellows, the weight of the armor barely registered.
“Mm, a precious gift indeed. My thanks.”
I rolled my shoulders lightly to loosen my frame, and a flicker of surprise crossed the eyes of both Clan Masters.
“Hoho… bearing such heavy armor with so slight a frame.”
“Truly remarkable—the body beneath the appearance is well-trained.”
Compared to those of my years, I possessed strength I ought not have, and yet my outward appearance remained pale and frail—which made the contrast all the more striking.
“These are for the Clan Master’s household.”
Suitable armor was given to Namgung Kyung and Yu-hwa as well. And then.
Ak Jin and Hwangbo Gang led two horses forward and approached Namgung Kyung and Yu-hwa.
They were fine steeds with striking gray manes.
“These are humble yet heartfelt gifts from the Hwangbo Clan and the Shandong Ak Clan, offered to strengthen the bonds of friendship with the Namgung Clan. We beseech you to accept them.”
Taken aback by the unexpected gift, Namgung Kyung’s face broke into a wide grin and he bowed deeply, while Yu-hwa let out a relieved sigh and smiled brilliantly.
“I had worried we might fall behind for lack of proper mounts. To receive such fine horses is truly a blessing—thank you so much.”
Yu-hwa reached out to take the reins, her gentle smile radiant.
In that moment, as Hwangbo Gang extended the reins, Yu-hwa’s white fingertips brushed lightly against the back of his calloused hand.
“Oh.”
“Ah…!”
Hwangbo Gang, whose massive frame rivaled a bear’s, started as if he were a bashful maiden, his shoulders flinching.
Unable to hide his flushed face, he stammered and fumbled for words.
“Y-y-your safety! Is m-my joy as well! I-it’s nothing of importance!”
His usual bold manner had vanished entirely, replaced by timid hesitation.
Hwangbo Mugwang, who had been observing this spectacle, clicked his tongue and sidled close to his son, dropping a whisper into his ear.
“You’ve inherited your father’s eye for women, that much is clear. But if a man lacks the backbone to match his size and proves this spineless, how will he ever win a woman’s heart? A true man must press forward with the weight of Taishan itself, grinding deep into her defenses. Ah, tsk tsk.”
“F-father! Please…! They can all h-hear you!”
Hwangbo Gang, mortified at having his heart exposed, clutched his face and looked as though he wished to disappear into the earth.
At that moment, Ak Cheolsan, who had been laughing heartily beside them, interjected with a sudden bark of mirth.
“Kra-ha-ha-ha! Blood will tell, they say—and your father himself, in his youth, would stammer before your mother, grow so nervous he’d trip over his own feet and tumble headlong into a mud puddle!”
“Now that’s quite enough, you scoundrel!”
Hwangbo Mugwang, struck squarely in his pride, shouted back with a reddened face.
At the sight of the clumsy father and son rendered helpless, the tension that had lingered over the Horse Grounds dissolved into a wave of genuine laughter.
Not long after, all preparations for departure were complete.
Before the Horse Grounds, a select Cavalry Unit of fifty strong stood in formation, their steel gleaming cold and sharp.
At the vanguard, at the tip of the formation’s sharpest point, I sat mounted upon Jeol-yeong.
Behind me rode Namgung Kyung and Yu-hwa, close and ready, while to the left and right flanks stood the steel-armored warriors of the Shandong Ak Clan, spears raised high, and the Hwangbo Clan with their slanted Yangyue Daos.
“It has been far too long since my blood has burned like this.”
Hwangbo Mugwang and Ak Cheolsan rode their mounts up to either side of me, both grinning widely.
“Thanks to the Namgung Clan Master, long-parted comrades and kinfolk now ride forth together.”
Before the departure, Ak Jin, who would serve as our guide, voiced a concern.
“There is one matter that troubles me. Seomun Sega is now fleeing the pursuit of the Blood Cult, and their position shifts constantly. How shall we locate them and offer aid?”
It was a valid concern. They would surely be moving with utmost stealth. Yet it was not a problem without solution.
“To search such vast lands by treading the earth may prove difficult, true enough.”
My eyes met those of Seomun Sega’s hawk, perched upon my shoulder.
“It’s not difficult to search from the sky looking down.”
The hawk understood my meaning and alighted on my forearm.
“Time to save your master. Tell me everything you see from above.”
With a powerful swing of my arm, I launched the hawk skyward.
Whoosh—!
The keen-eyed bird spread its wings and shot upward like an arrow.
Those watching felt their eyes brighten with wonder.
First he had calmed a raging horse by understanding its heart, and now he exchanged glances with a great hawk, issuing orders as though they were trusted companions.
“Can that beast truly understand human speech and know the way forward?”
Hope and doubt bloomed simultaneously in every heart.
We had crossed through Shandong and safely reached the border of Shanxi. And at last—
“Shriek—!!”
The hawk that had soared high overhead released a piercing cry.
It circled once above my head, then shot toward the northwestern ridge without a moment’s hesitation.
Its flight seemed to beckon us forward, showing us the way.
“Ah!”
Gasps of wonder escaped the lips of those watching.
“The path is open.”
I seized the leather rein in my grip more firmly—the one connected to Jeol-yeong’s mount.
“This way. Make haste.”
“Follow the Namgung Clan Master!”
Clatter-clatter-clatter—!
With the cry, fifty elite cavalry surged forward in pursuit.
As we climbed the steep ridge following the hawk’s flight—
“Look there!”
At Namgung’s urgent shout, I turned my gaze to the ridge below.
In the sprawling, colorless expanse of the Reed Field, I saw the Seomun Sega procession—bloodied and fleeing—come into view.
“They’ve caught up to us at last! All troops, prepare to charge!”
“Those Blood Cult dogs! We’ll crush them in an instant!”
Hwangbo Mugwang and Ak Cheolsan widened their eyes, raising their Yangyue Daos and spears high.
In the instant before they could kick their horses’ flanks and surge forward—
“W-what in the world is that?!”
I recoiled at the sight of the enemies appearing to ride upon dark crimson stones.
They were not riding horses—they were wolves. And they were massive ones at that.
Thick saliva dripped from their jaws, and their bloodshot eyes pawed at the ground.
The riders upon the wolves had equally grotesque appearances.
Their heads were shaved bare, and their faces bore strange, deformed tattoos.
‘Those creatures….’
Memories from my past life surfaced with clarity.
‘Remnants of Wanshou Magu.’
A group that brainwashed all manner of beasts through cruel dark magic, turning them into instruments of murder.
They were vile trash who had once slaughtered innocent commoners using beasts as their vanguard.
In my fury at their abominable practices, had I not stepped forward myself and severed the Valley Master’s neck?
Yet a hundred years have passed, and now they resurface in the Jianghu—servants of the Blood Cult, no less.
At the sickening sensation of vermin crawling back from beneath where I had trampled and crushed them, a thick killing intent seeped through my gritted teeth.
“The wolves these enemies ride, though they may be slower than ordinary horses in a straight charge, are beasts specially adapted for nimble evasion and tight turns to the side.”
If we charged headlong in our fervor, they would scatter sideways, then press relentlessly into the flanks and rear of our cavalry, collapsing our formation.
“Curse it! How have they managed to command such monsters?”
Both Clan Masters grasped the situation at once and pressed their palms to their foreheads.
Hwangbo Mugwang steadied his unsettled men and turned to me with a question.
“Clan Master Namgung, surely you have some stratagem?”
“Of course.”
Had I not fought these creatures countless times in my past life? They too possessed weaknesses.
“Unlike dogs, wolves are wild beasts that cannot be tamed by human hands. So why do these wretched things crawl so submissively on their bellies?”
“Surely… you mean the wolves are not in their right minds?”
I nodded and pointed to the strange violet smoke pouring from the torches held in one hand by the enemy riders.
“They inhale smoke from burning Huanhun Grass, a toxic plant that casts beasts into hallucination and subjugates them. That purple smoke from the torches the riders carry—that is the leash controlling the creatures.”
A base and vile dark magic that enslaves the beast’s spirit, turning it into a puppet.
“Then we must extinguish or drive away that smoke!”
“Exactly. Fortunately, the battlefield favors us.”
I gazed down at the vast Reed Field where the enemy was pressing forward.
“Light the torches, all of you!”
At my command, all fifty elite cavalry ignited the torches they’d fastened to their saddles, piercing the darkness.
Then I turned to Hwangbo Mugwang and Ak Cheolsan with my instructions.
“Sweep around both flanks to drive them back, then converge from left and right to encircle them. The moment their cordon closes—”
I drew my torch-bearing hand lightly through the air.
“Hurl all your torches at once into the center of the ring, into the reeds. The acrid smoke rising from all sides will scatter the poison of the Huanhun Grass.”
It was a stratagem to trap the enemy and sow chaos.
“But—my lord of the Namgung Clan!”
Hwangbo Gang and Ak Jin, standing nearby, stepped forward with anxious voices.
“There’s barely any wind on the battlefield at all!”
“Exactly! Even if we set the reeds ablaze, the smoke may spread far too slowly for us to contain them before they break through the encirclement!”
Their objection was not without merit.
The Reed Field below the ridge lay utterly still, not a whisper of breeze disturbing it.
Even if we cast the torches in, summoning a conflagration in an instant would be difficult.
“Ah… this is grave.”
The martial warriors from both clans, witnessing the grim silence of the reeds dark as a black tide, faltered and lost their resolve.
Clop—!
Without a word, I pulled Jeol-yeong’s reins and rode to the highest rock.
As I loosened the cord bound tightly around my crown, hair black as pitch cascaded down over my shoulders.
Just as the two had said, not a breath of wind stirred—there was nothing to make it dance.
Yet I raised my head, gazing up at the pale blue dawn cradling a crescent moon.
“There is nothing to fear.”
My quiet voice broke the silence of dawn and resonated across the ridge.
“A new Blue Heaven descends upon this battlefield.”
I opened my Dantian and drew the Cangqian Demon Qi deep within me.
Purple wind and silver moonlight intertwined, beginning to envelop me.
“Ooooooh—!”
In that same moment, my long hair swept upward in splendor, harmonizing exquisitely with my delicate, beautiful features.
Like a figure ascending upon clouds that embrace all of nature and heaven—a mysterious and ethereal presence.
“You see? The wind to sweep across this battlefield—I shall summon it myself. So believe in me and advance.”
One deed spoke louder than ten thousand words.
Behind me, watching allies drew breath in soft gasps of wonder.
“Ooooh! Truly!”
Hwangbo Mugwang and Ak Cheolsan nodded and stepped forward.
“What have we to fear when the Namgung Clan Master summons a righteous wind?”
Emboldened by the firm voices of the two clan masters, Ak Jin and Hwangbo Gang found their courage renewed.
Thump-thump-thump—!
The fifty elite cavalry struck their weapons together, raising their battle spirit higher still.
“Invincible Iron Cavalry of Taishan, charge!”
In the next instant, we poured down the slopes of the ridge like a waterfall, splitting its left and right.
Across the once-silent Reed Field we descended, each bearing a crimson flame.

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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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