The Heavenly Demon of the Blue Sky - Chapter 8

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Azure Heaven Demon Sovereign – Episode 8
The stench of blood had faded, and already the pale light of dawn broke across the inner courtyard.
“Huff.”
The corpses of bandits sprawled across the floor were tossed like cargo onto an old cart propped in one corner of the yard.
“Not a bad haul.”
A heavy silver pouch and crude gold ornaments that appeared to be stolen goods tumbled out in succession.
Beyond that, crumpled papers and a wooden nameplate fell into my hands.
[ Magistrate’s Office Warrant of Capture ]
Targets: Wang Sam, also known as Capture Head, and nine fugitive disciples of the Pisan Sect.
Charges: Murder of the Pisan Sect’s Master, theft of sect records, plunder and arson of three neighboring villages, massacre of innocent civilians.
Notable traits: The leader, Wang Sam, stands eight feet tall with a massive frame. He wields an enormous Great Axe and possesses an extremely vicious temperament.
Bounty: Three hundred silver taels (dead or alive).
“So that’s how it was.”
If the Magistrate’s Office had posted such a sum, Wang Sam must be a notorious criminal who’d made a stir across the region.
“Hmm?”
There was more besides.
Inside a fine silk pouch lay two medicinal pills that exhaled a subtle herbal fragrance.
“These were made from a blend of Warm Yang Grass and Ice Silk Leaf.”
They were not ancient divine pills of extraordinary efficacy.
Yet the yin and yang essences were balanced in perfect harmony without excess to either side, making them rare goods not easily found in ordinary markets.
In my days as the Destroyer Demon Sovereign, I would have dismissed them as roadside pebbles, but now they were like rain to a parched land.
Only moments before, the Severed Meridian Affliction had sent my entire body screaming.
Gulp. Without hesitation, I tossed one medicinal pill into my mouth.
I tucked the remaining one away for when I might need it next.
A crisp essence slid down my throat, gently soothing the rigid meridians of my heart.
“Ah… finally, I can breathe again.”
Next, I gathered the weapons the enemies had left behind and began to examine them.
“Ho.”
Among them, the massive Great Axe wielded by the bandit leader stood out most of all.
I flicked the blade tip with my fingertip, and a clear, heavy ring echoed out.
It was masterwork forged from high-quality steel.
They had said Wang Sam murdered the Master and stole the sect records—this axe must have been what they meant.
‘With a craftsman’s hand, this could be reforged into worthy equipment.’
It was too heavy and cumbersome to carry on me now; it didn’t suit who I was at present. I stored it away in the storage chamber.
Screech—!
As I finished organizing, the sound of an iron door opening came from within the inner courtyard.
The household servants who had been hiding in the storage chamber emerged.
“Hyuk! Sister!”
Yeonhwa and Seolhwa rushed toward me, tears streaming down their faces, and embraced me tightly.
Old Baek the physician and the servants breathed sighs of relief.
“Thank heavens you’re safe…!”
“Enough of that fuss… I’m fine, so step back a little.”
My answer was dismissive, yet the feeling of being held in their arms was not entirely unpleasant.
The moment of relief was brief. It was time to become Head of Household again and think clearly.
“Go and bring me all the land deed documents that Namgung kept stored away.”
At my serious tone, Yuhwa hurried back into the inner courtyard.
She returned clutching a wooden chest, its surface marked by prominent scorch stains.
“Hyuk, these documents are something we guarded like our very lives. After Father died and the main house fell, everyone around us was watching and waiting to snatch them.”
At those words, Yeonhwa nodded beside her in agreement.
“That’s right. The reason we came back to the ashes of the main house and held our ground was because of these.”
Seolhwa then explained the reason.
“By invoking the family law that all Namgung lands and rights belong exclusively to the main house, we prevented anyone from laying hands on them carelessly.”
My sisters’ courage was admirable, yet reality was far harsher than ideals.
I slowly leafed through the land documents and opened my mouth with studied indifference.
“As long as we remain here, stray dogs hungry to strip a ruined house bare will keep leaping over the walls.”
At my words, the servants’ shoulders visibly shrank.
“One alternative would be to sell this place and start fresh somewhere safer.”
“W-Hyuk!”
My words drained the color from my sisters’ faces as though they’d seen a ghost.
Old Baek the physician and the servants, who had been listening, gasped in shock.
“How could you say something so frightening? Even if it’s been reduced to ash, this place is our one and only home. It’s where a thousand years of Namgung history dwells…….”
My sisters clutched the coffin tightly, their eyes glistening with tears.
“I’ve never once thought of selling this place and leaving. If we were to abandon our roots and flee like cowards, how could we call ourselves the Namgung clan? We’ll die here if we must!”
My sisters would ordinarily hang on my every word, but this time was different. That’s how precious the land of Namgung had become to them.
“Mm.”
Keeping my mouth firmly closed, I gazed up at the blue mountains that cradled the village.
‘I understand. For Namgung, what Tianzhu Mountain represents is what the Ten Thousand Great Mountains meant to me in my past life.’
Even amid countless threats and hardships, the Demonic Cult had ultimately protected the Ten Thousand Great Mountains because it was the sacred ground where the very soul of the Demonic Way dwelt—its origin.
If we abandoned our foundation and fled at the approach of enemies, that would be neither Namgung nor the path of the Destroyer Demon Sovereign. It would merely be escape.
‘Without the resolve to die willingly, none of them would deserve to call themselves my blood.’
I drew up the corner of my mouth in a thin smile.
“Very well. Then Namgung will not leave Tianzhu Mountain.”
Relief bloomed across the faces of my household.
“But I have no desire to skulk in ruins like this any longer.”
This was meant to be the new seat of the Destroyer Demon Sovereign, after all—the main house of Namgung, once renowned as one of the Five Great Families.
We cannot scheme to rule the Jianghu from a pauper’s hovel.
“We need genuine reconstruction. New walls, built high and strong. The shattered halls must be restored to their proper glory.”
At my resolve, the household’s eyes blazed with renewed purpose, their fists clenching with determination.
“If we can remain here, we’ll pour every ounce of strength and sincerity into the work!”
“Good. For now, clear and tidy the surroundings so we can begin construction.”
In the meantime, I decided to venture into the nearby city.
I had the wagon bearing the corpse positioned outside the gate and covered it with thick cloth.
I found the black horse the enemy commander had ridden and tied it to the wagon.
“Be careful while you’re out!”
“Don’t worry. Just keep the doors secure.”
Entrusting the household to Yuhwa, I mounted the horse and rode out through the collapsed main gate.
With a cigarette between my lips, I surveyed the village’s landscape.
‘It’s far more devastated than I expected.’
To reiterate: the Namgung clan sat beside Tianzhu Mountain in Anhui Province.
It was positioned at a crucial stronghold worthy of being called a natural fortress, and just beyond lay Jiangnan—a land overflowing with goods and people, rich and prosperous.
Yet the vista spreading before me bore little resemblance to the splendor of its reputation.
The entire village had collapsed into ruins, wreckage everywhere—nowhere for the eye to rest.
‘There’s a city nearby, at least.’
But no one would choose to relocate here or set foot in such a place.
Who would willingly seek out a site where catastrophic war had so recently raged?
‘All the better. This gives me a blank canvas to paint with my own colors.’
Gazing up at the blue sky above Namgung, I exhaled a plume of violet smoke.
Soon I spurred the horse toward the nearby city.
It was my first step as Head of Household to restore the clan to its former standing.

* * *
Some time later…….
Outside Anhui Province. The Magistrate’s Office, responsible for maintaining order in the city.
Wang Sam, the Capture Head who managed the bounties, scratched his nose and released a long, tedious yawn.
“Aahhh~ Just flies buzzing around today, looks like.”
After more than a decade grinding through this line of work, he’d grown so practiced that merely glancing at the gait and bearing of the warriors who walked through the door was enough to give him a rough estimate.
Recently, all who came to the Magistrate’s Office were the same—third-rate vagrants and drifter adventurers scraping by on an empty belly.
He spent his days dragging in petty criminals at worst—pickpockets from the marketplace—and squabbling over paltry rewards, rather than dealing with any notorious cutthroats worth his attention.
“The real culprits all died off during the Blood Sect War. There’s not a proper warrior left in this godforsaken town anymore.”
Only because Namgung had stepped in fully did the city remain safe.
But those days were behind them now, and malefactors had since multiplied.
“Tsk tsk, and here I am, the only one working myself to death.”
It was then, as he sat with his legs crossed over his desk, sipping tea, that it happened.
Creak—the heavy wooden door of the Magistrate’s Office swung open and someone entered.
“Hm?”
Wang Sam’s eyes narrowed with subtle interest as he swept his idle gaze over the visitor.
‘What in the world is this?’
The one who’d entered was neither a bulky warrior nor a murderous vagrant.
It was a gaunt boy, pale and slight, wearing a worn martial robe of faded blue, with a crude sword hanging from his belt.
Sickness hung plainly on his face, evident in every hollow feature.
Wang Sam the Capture Head clicked his tongue silently.
‘That whelp managed to bring in someone? He must be truly worthless.’
The sight of this boy crawling into the Magistrate’s Office hoping to earn a bounty was both laughable and pitiful.
Wang Sam leaned back in his chair, tilting his chin upward.
“Boy, did you drag in some petty street thief? Hand common criminals over to the officers in the yard and take your pittance elsewhere.”
His tone dripped with contempt.
Yet the boy showed no sign of intimidation, approaching the desk with measured steps.
Then he reached into his robe and pulled something out, tossing it onto the table with a soft thud.
Clink, clink, clink—!
“……!”
Wang Sam’s lazy eyes suddenly grew wide as lanterns.
What spilled across the table were ten nameplates crusted with dried blood.
The largest and most ornate among them—the captain’s nameplate—bore a name.
[Destroyer Demon Sovereign Wang Sam]
“Good heavens!”
Wang Sam yelped and sprang from his chair like a compressed spring.
“This—this can’t be the nameplate of Wang Sam the Destroyer Demon Sovereign, that Pisan Sect disciple who’s laid waste to the entire region! And these nine nameplates—they belong to his direct subordinates in the Piange Bandit Gang!”
Notorious for their cruelty, these villains were so feared that even skilled wandering martial artists had given up pursuing them in terror for their lives.
Yet here were their nameplates tumbling from the possession of a frail, sickly boy who looked as though a gust would topple him.
‘Impossible. This weak little thing claims to have wiped out the entire ruthless band of Wang Sam and his followers? Alone?’
It defied all rational comprehension.
Forcing his racing heart to calm, Wang Sam turned to the boy with a hardened expression.
“Look here—I don’t know where you heard these rumors or forged these nameplates, but if you lie to the Magistrate’s Office and obstruct official business, you’ll face a hundred strokes of the rod and imprisonment!”
His voice was sharp and threatening. Yet the boy didn’t blink, simply listening with an impassive face.
“Why the endless prattle? If you need proof, go check the cart outside.”
“A, a cart?”
Wang Sam stepped into the courtyard with two officers at his side, his unease written across his face.
There stood a single cart, hastily covered with a tattered canopy.
“Uncover it.”
The moment one officer carefully pulled back the cloth—
“Ugh……!”
“Gah!”
The stench of blood filled the air as ten corpses came into view—their necks shattered, their chests caved in, twisted grotesquely atop one another.
And presiding over them all lay Wang Sam the Destroyer Demon Sovereign, his massive frame cold and still, eyes rolled back white.
“Aaah—!”
So shocked his legs gave way, Wang Sam fell hard onto his backside.
‘It’s real. It’s really true—the entire Piange Bandit Gang has been slaughtered……!’
Trembling like a leaf in a windstorm, Wang Sam slowly turned his head—and his gaze fell upon the boy leaning casually against the Magistrate’s Office doorframe.
Backlit by the bright midday sun, the boy stood with his arms crossed.
The frail, sickly frame that moments ago seemed ready to collapse now loomed before him like Mount Tai holding up the heavens—massive and overwhelming.
‘This child…… killed those brutal fiends……?!’
In the same instant, Wang Sam’s face drained of color like paper.
In the Jianghu where strength ruled, how many had dismissed opponents at a glance, only to have their necks severed?
Realizing his offense, he hastily clasped his hands in apology.
“I’m, I’m deeply sorry. I dared to disrespect and ignore a great master…….”
In this age of chaos, the fist ruled over law. He had no desire to fall from grace and die.
“Enough. Give me the money.”
Wang Sam swiftly retrieved the two fullest bounty pouches from the office’s stores and handed them over.
“H-here are the bounties for Wang Sam the Destroyer Demon Sovereign and his gang! Given their notorious reputation, the reward has increased. With the bounties for his subordinates included, the total is five hundred taels!”
Then, with a respectful expression, he ventured to ask for the boy’s name and station.
“Would the master be willing to tell me your name? If I make it known to the people, they will rejoice and feel safe, and your reputation will spread far and wide.”
Snap—clink! The boy snatched the money pouch deftly.
The pleasant ring of silver and banknotes colliding together.
Then he spoke with arrogant disdain.
“My name? I am the Destroyer Demon Sovereign…….”
The boy had nearly spoken his true heart before his tongue caught, clicking against his teeth as he swallowed the words.
Turning away from the Magistrate’s Office, he cast back a cold remark over his shoulder.
“Head of Household of the Namgung clan under Blue Heaven—Namgung Hyuk.”
At that moment, the hem of his azure robe fluttered in the cool late-summer breeze.
“N-Namgung? Has a new Head of Household truly appeared in the Namgung clan!”
Wang Sam stood frozen, all sense knocked from his mind as he stared ahead.
“Now that we have the money, why don’t we round up all the renowned carpenters and laborers in the village?”
The first whisper of the Namgung’s resurrection took flight on the wind, spreading through the world.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————