The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 271

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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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Chapter 271
“Gasp—the Absorbing Demon Art!”
It happened in an instant. People scattered frantically from Yalyu’s vicinity.
I stared at Yalyu in disbelief.
‘Has he lost his mind?’
Was this some new form of suicide? To unleash the Absorbing Demon Art in front of so many witnesses.
‘How could he possibly contain this situation?’
As expected.
“How dare you!”
Wi Ji-baek lunged at Yalyu.
His sword strike erupted with vicious intent the moment he moved. I anticipated Yalyu would be torn to shreds, but in that instant, Yalyu hurled a corpse at him.
Wi Ji-baek recoiled in horror, scrambling backward with an expression as though he’d encountered plague itself. It perfectly illustrated how profound the Jianghu’s fear of the Absorbing Demon Art truly was.
Thud.
The corpse rolled across the ground. No trace of vitality remained.
My aunt’s true energy, absorbed by Yalyu, was seamlessly integrating into his cultivation without any resistance.
I furrowed my brow slightly.
‘How is that possible?’
Even Cheon Gwi-jo had only targeted the pure true energy of children. As people aged, their true energy lost purity, making it difficult to merge properly with one’s own cultivation when absorbed.
Then, as if revelation descended upon me, knowledge crystallized in my mind piece by piece.
The Absorbing Demon Art originally descended from the Cheon-ma’s martial lineage.
When the Cheon-ma bestowed martial techniques upon Demonic Cult members, they branched and evolved into various forms.
Wi Ji-baek gnashed his teeth and shouted.
“Why would you do such a thing?!”
Yalyu brushed his hands as though he’d touched something filthy, tilting his head quizzically.
“What’s so surprising? When did you hesitate to provide living people to that woman?”
“…!”
Wi Ji-baek’s expression visibly paled with shock.
“Wi the Great Hero! Surely not…?”
“Do not slander me!”
The reason my aunt maintained her youthful appearance despite sealing her dantian.
Baek Li-ui-ran had also mastered the sorcery derived from the Absorbing Demon Art.
Yalyu’s Absorbing Demon Art and the method by which Baek Li-ui-ran maintained her youth—both traced to the same source of martial technique. This was precisely why Yalyu could absorb my aunt’s true energy so effortlessly.
Wi Ji-baek cried out urgently.
“Kill the Demonic Cult member who dares show his face in the Murim Alliance!”
The Alliance members who had long served Wi Ji-baek as their leader reflexively surrounded Yalyu in a circle.
Wi Ji-baek’s own men, already drawing their blades, joined them in encircling Yalyu.
For a moment they seemed to hesitate, watching for an opening… then suddenly they turned and began attacking their own comrades.
Yalyu moved among them with equal ferocity. Crimson sword energy sent Alliance members tumbling to the ground.
Wi Ji-baek cried out in shock.
“What in blazes is happening?!”
It wasn’t just Wi Ji-baek’s men. The Alliance members who had been surrounding Yalyu suddenly began attacking their own comrades indiscriminately.
“Gasp!”
“Get ahold of yourself!”
“Traitor! Everyone, be careful!”
One of the Murim Alliance leaders shouted reproachfully toward Gongson Chong-sa.
“What is this chaos! Didn’t you say their identities were verified!”
“…It appears there was an error.”
But Gongson Chong-sa’s composure wavered only briefly.
“Regardless, there aren’t many of them. Capture that man! We must take him alive at all costs!”
Wi Ji-baek bellowed.
“Alive? Chong-sa!”
Gongson Chong-sa looked at Wi Ji-baek and spoke.
“Of course we must capture him alive. We need to find out what purpose he infiltrated for.”
Gongson Chong-sa added as if he’d forgotten something.
“And we should also hear more about what Wi the Great Hero said.”
“Gongson Chong-sa, you…!”
Gongson Chong-sa no longer looked at Wi Ji-baek and issued orders to the Alliance members.
He had decided that with matters having reached this point, there was no benefit in protecting Wi Ji-baek any longer.
Taego Jinperson stepped back slightly with his hands clasped behind him, positioning himself roughly between my grandfather and Wi Ji-baek.
Taego Jinperson spoke, looking at Wi Ji-baek.
“Family Head Wi, I hope you’re not harboring any reckless thoughts. If that man dies, won’t it be difficult to prove your innocence?”
The rear commanders of the Kirin Society and Alliance members who had been watching without following Wi Ji-baek’s orders gathered around.
“A Demonic Cult member, no less. Thank heavens he didn’t win the tournament.”
“Everyone saw the martial arts competition, so be cautious.”
“Prince Hwangbo! Be careful!”
Clang! Whoosh! Crash!
Hwangbo Chan, who had been raging about the humiliation of his defeat in the tournament, drew his sword and rushed in as if seeing an opportunity for revenge.
All of them appeared at ease.
Masters who had transcended the pinnacle of martial arts had gathered in one place. Since they had originally been comrades, they showed restraint in their strikes and weren’t being pushed back yet.
Now that the chaos had quickly subsided, Yalyu’s side began to rapidly lose ground.
‘What in the world is he thinking…!’
At that moment.
Crash!
A loud explosion rang out and flames shot up.
“Fire!”
A shout came from afar. Since most buildings here were wooden structures, once fire caught, it wouldn’t go out easily and spread readily. Moreover, it wasn’t just one place.
Crash! Boom!
Explosions erupted simultaneously from multiple locations.
“This can’t be!”
Gongson Chong-sa cried out in shock.
Since the Murim Alliance Headquarters collapsed in that attack, the Alliance had implemented far more sophisticated security measures. And with confidence in their ability to maintain them, they had proceeded with the Martial Arts Tournament.
‘No matter how many incidents had occurred, there’s no way they would have overlooked such a large number infiltrating….’
Yalyu’s attack that had obliterated the Martial Arts Arena.
Alliance members attempting to restore order and spectators wanting to watch had flooded into the Tournament Arena. Infiltrating the now-emptied Headquarters would not have been difficult.
Along with this, something surged forth from those hidden among the crowd, hurtling toward the leadership.
A middle-aged man extended his hand with a dismissive expression.
Gongson Chong-sa cried out.
“Family Head Peng! You mustn’t!”
It was a belated warning.
Family Head Peng had already completed his technique. The moment his palm strike met the incoming projectile, it burst with a sharp sound, and suddenly a gray mist-like powder scattered everywhere.
“Poison powder!”
Everyone covered their mouths and fled the area in an instant. But it wasn’t just one that had been thrown.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Ahhh! Help me!”
“Ugh!”
Similar explosions erupted from all directions.
Poison powder and smoke bombs were mixed together. A single palm strike could have dispersed them, but with a thousand confused spectators running in every direction, it had already become a hellscape.
In the midst of it, I took a step back.
That was when I felt the warmth of a hand firmly grasping my arm.
“…Father.”
I met Father’s eyes.
My hesitation lasted only an instant.
I nodded and pushed off the ground with Father, leaping away.
In that moment, a resonant voice pierced through the smoke.
“We cannot allow Baek Li-yeon to escape! Killing Baek Li-yeon, who has absorbed the Cheonma Jibow, is the only way to eliminate the power of the Cheon-ma contained within it!”
Father’s brow furrowed.
Sword lights from those who had drawn near without my noticing cut through the smoke, targeting me.
Clang! Clang-clang!
Father handled them instantly, but another voice shouted.
“Baek Li-yeon is here!”
As I drew my own blade, a chill ran through me.
Whoooosh!
One of the three brightest lights even through the smoke shot toward me like a meteor. It was swift and concealed.
From the moment I sensed the danger, time became extraordinarily slow.
The one who pierced through the smoke targeted my legs with lightning precision.
An attack with its destructive intent clearly reduced from its original form. The intention to prevent my escape was unmistakably felt.
‘Had it been the original, I could never have evaded it even if I saw it coming.’
My body responded and moved naturally from the lingering intent in my mind.
More naturally than breathing, I enveloped my entire body in Natural Qi, and golden energy rippled across my blade.
And I felt everything slowly—even Taego Jinperson, who had targeted my lower body, his white brows twitching as his eyes widened.
Clang!
Blade met blade in a violent collision.
Taego Jinperson stared at me with disbelief in his eyes.
“It seems… I cannot simply let you leave like this.”
For a brief moment, I matched Taego Jinperson’s strength, pushing our swords against each other as equals.
But then, with a sharp crack, my blade shattered. The damage I had sustained while blocking Yalyu’s ultimate technique finally gave way under this assault.
“Yeon!”
My father pulled me toward him, and Taego Jinperson’s attack barely grazed past me.
A searing pain shot through me. If not for my protective inner energy, the sword force would have severed my arm entirely.
The result of holding on, even for that fleeting instant.
Boom!
“The sect leader of Kunlun Sect, abandoning all dignity and moving about like a common assassin. You must be quite desperate, aren’t you?”
“Baek Li Family Head, fleeing in this situation is…”
With my grandfather at his back, my father held my waist and bolted forward.
The price of moving by the will of the Cheonma Jibow was steep. From that brief movement alone, my entire body’s muscles screamed in protest, and my right arm’s tendons and muscles flooded with a pain that felt like tearing.
“Where do you think you’re going…! Did you think I’d simply let you escape!”
But figures continued to emerge from all directions, blocking our path.
It was the bandaged man who had been with Wi Ji-baek.
“To see Baek Li-ui-gang scurrying away like a rat…”
The man’s neck, laughing with smug satisfaction, was severed by someone’s blade in an instant.
Behind his body as it collapsed, powerless, stood Namgung Wan with a blood-stained sword in hand.
“….”
“….”
It was the first time I had looked at Namgung Wan since my aunt had spoken those absurd words.
I couldn’t bear to meet his gaze, afraid of what expression he might be wearing.
And now, I could read nothing from Namgung Wan’s expression. Yet I knew that composed appearance was carefully constructed.
Namgung Wan opened his mouth.
His voice was so subdued, buried beneath the chaos surrounding us, that it was barely audible.
“Is all of that… true?”

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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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