The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 276

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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 276
The Jegal Family Head continued.
“And though it has not been widely known, the Cheonma Jibow harbored one more hidden secret.”
“A secret, you say?”
“The Cheonma Jibow is both a map leading to the Cheonma Daechong and a sacred treasure that unlocks its entrance.”
“A map to the Cheonma Daechong? You mean the Cheonma Daechong actually existed?”
The Cheonma Daechong referred to the tomb of the First Cheonma.
The tomb of the First Cheonma, who had unified the entire Martial World.
Legend held that the Cheonma had met his end there, leaving behind everything for the next Cult Leader.
Gongsun Bang murmured thoughtfully.
“Indeed, the Cheonma Jibow was originally an arrangement the Cheonma left for future Cult Leaders….”
People speculated that the Cheonma Daechong contained immense treasures of gold and silver, the Cheonma’s divine martial techniques and secret arts, and mystical weapons.
If the Cheonma Jibow was truly a map to the Cheonma Daechong, it explained why it had never been found until now.
Many had searched for the Cheonma Daechong across countless ages. Yet they found not a trace, and even the Demonic Cult had failed to locate it, so it had become little more than a meaningless legend.
But if the Cheonma Daechong truly existed, and the Cheonma Jibow was indeed its map….
Greed surged forth.
Jeggal Hwa-mu spoke.
“If a single treasure can possess such power, one wonders what secrets might lie hidden within the Cheonma Daechong itself?”
Gongsun Bang swallowed hard.
“I believe the Cheonma Daechong contains the reason why successive Cheonmas achieved such formidable martial prowess.”
Gongsun Bang’s reflection was cut short as the conference room door burst open roughly.
An elderly man dressed as a Taoist priest strode in with commanding steps.
“Taego Jinperson! When did you return?”
The people in the conference room greeted Taego Jinperson with expressions of surprise.
The Murim Alliance and the Demonic Cult maintained a standoff, avoiding direct combat. Taego Jinperson had left the Murim Alliance Headquarters to face the Demonic Cult’s main forces.
“Is it wise to leave your post?”
“The Third Demon General suddenly withdrew. The Sixth Demon General has also fallen back. Their movements seemed peculiar, so I came to investigate. A scout’s feet are faster than waiting for messengers.”
Gongson Chong-sa spoke, observing Muhan Buntajoo, who represented the Beggar Sect.
“The Beggar Sect has received the same intelligence.”
Muhan Buntajoo opened his mouth.
“Information arrived today. Centered around the Black Gangs, a bounty notice for Baek Li-yeon has spread. The reward is unbelievably enormous, so everyone is turning the area upside down trying to claim it. Furthermore, several days before this report arrived, the southern gate of the Heavenly Net was destroyed.”
“Destroyed?”
“Over a hundred people were reportedly slaughtered in an instant. I suspect she escaped through there. Given that the bounty notice circulated afterward, it must be certain.”
Before Muhan Buntajoo finished speaking, Gongson Chong-sa continued.
“The Cheongryong Group has also provided information. After analysis, it appears the Heavenly Net was destroyed due to the betrayal of the Eight Demon Generals. And the Eight Demon Generals are someone we already knew.”
“Someone we know? Who are you referring to?”
Gongson Chong-sa sighed.
“Jeok-ya—more precisely, Yalyu.”
Gasps of shock erupted.
Amid murmurs of astonishment, someone spoke.
“This is absurd! An Eight Demon General at that age? Have the Demonic Cult lost their minds?”
Namgung Wan spoke.
“Now that I think about it, I did receive a report long ago. There was someone in the Demonic Cult who had obtained the rank of Demon General at the youngest age.”
I had attempted to uncover that person’s identity, but if asked whether I had made any particular effort, the answer was no. I had simply treated it like any other piece of information.
Yet that Eight Demon General turned out to be Yalyu.
“A seed sown by that wretch Wi Ji-baek.”
“Of course, given the bloodline of such a man.”
Namgung Wan’s lips twisted. Faced with reactions that flipped like a palm turned over, only revulsion surged within him.
Wi Ji-baek had held the position of Murim Alliance Leader for a long time.
Even those without deep connections to Wi Ji-baek occupied positions—bat-like creatures who could turn a blind eye to his conduct.
Otherwise, they were those who cared only for the safety of their own sects, regardless of what became of the Murim Alliance.
Could a proper righteous war be waged alongside such people?
My insides churned with turmoil.
At that moment, the conference room door opened once more. The one who entered appeared to be Gae Bang-do.
After a brief salute, Gae Bang-do handed an encrypted message directly to Muhan Buntajoo.
Ordinary news would never have reached the conference room.
The expression of Muhan Buntajoo, who received and read through the encrypted letter, changed several times.
Soon after, he opened his mouth.
“Information has arrived from the Namchang division. They report discovering someone believed to be Baek Li-yeon in a nearby county.”
“…!”
“How did she reach there already…!”
“Send a messenger to Namchang at once. Who is the branch leader in that area?”
Muhan Buntajoo continued.
“And strange rumors are spreading throughout that region.”
“Rumors, you say?”
“That the secret of the Heavenly Demon’s Grand Technique, which had been passed down as legend in the Cheonma Jibow, was hidden there, and that the Murim Alliance and the Demonic Cult are waging war to uncover it.”
“What? The Heavenly Demon’s Grand Technique?”
“And the one who spread this story is said to be Baek Li-yeon.”
* * *
I slowly opened my eyes.
Cold sweat beaded thickly on Yalyu’s nape.
Still, his vital energy was far more stable than when he had been coughing blood. However, the internal injuries sustained in that brief moment still required considerable time to settle through cultivation.
Yalyu’s sudden coughing of blood was due to a seal.
It was a seal imposed to prevent him from revealing the plans of the Martial Arts Tournament. Should he attempt to break it and speak, his inner energy would run wild of its own accord.
Speaking of the fact that a seal had been placed was itself a violation of the seal. Had it not been for knowledge gained from the Cheonma Jibow, I would never have known that Yalyu was bound by such a seal.
One wrong move and he would have died right there.
I slowly withdrew my hand from the acupoint on Yalyu’s neck. Then I gazed at my fingertips. The traces of demonic energy that had been assisting his cultivation were fading.
The vital energy accumulated through the Absorption Demonic Technique was certainly different from that built through orthodox cultivation methods.
It was willful and disobedient, and at the slightest moment of carelessness, it would break free of its reins and run wild.
Yet I found controlling them not particularly difficult.
Creak.
The wooden floorboards groaned beneath my feet as I rose from the sleeping quarters.
It was a shabby guest room.
Originally, this room didn’t even exist. But money could accomplish anything. The sum was enough to satisfy both Jeom So-i and the room’s owner.
I opened the wooden window.
Just as I thought the silence was settling in, the torrential downpour had transformed into a gentle drizzle.
Beside the window stood a tall broadleaf tree, still verdant, though its leaf tips had begun to blush crimson as autumn approached.
I reached out and snapped a branch within my grasp.
Rainwater cascaded downward.
I felt a vibrant vitality flowing through it. But moments later, the lush green leaves rapidly transformed into deep crimson, then curled inward and withered to brown.
The desiccated leaves and branch crumbled to dust and scattered away.
“Hah….”
The Demonic Absorption Technique—what they called the Great Demonic Absorption Method—was fundamentally no different from my ability to absorb and utilize the natural essence of all things.
They wielded the vital energy and life force of humans, while I utilized the power of the Golden Eye to draw upon natural essence and absorb vital energy. The underlying principle was identical.
In other words… the ability I had been using all this time was the same as the Demonic Absorption Technique.
It was absurd that I hadn’t realized it until now.
And this power, the force contained within the Cheonma Jibow, was an incomplete half-formed fragment. Yet it was guiding me toward the place where I could become whole.
The Heavenly Demon’s Grand Technique.
How long had I been lost in contemplation while gazing out the window?
Unsettling movements appeared around the inn.
Martial artists were gathering in small groups, closing in on the inn from all sides.
I watched for a moment, then closed the window.
With arms crossed, I closed my eyes in thought, then opened them again and looked toward Yalyu.
Thud. Creak.
I stepped out through the guest room door, which emitted an unpleasant sound.
The first floor of the inn, where guests normally dined, had fallen silent.
It wasn’t that there were no patrons. Rather, they all held their breath in the face of these unexpected intruders.
A man grabbed Jeom So-i by the collar and hurled him away.
Crash.
Jeom So-i tumbled across the floor along with a chair, his cheeks already swollen and flushed from multiple blows.
“Are you Baek Li-yeon?”
As I expected, they were unmistakably dressed as Black Gangs. The one with a scar across his cheek appeared to be their leader.
The man flashed a cordial smile.
“Let’s not make this tedious. Come outside and talk.”
I glanced at Jeom So-i sprawled on the floor, then vaulted over the railing.
Thump. The moment I landed on the first floor, they swiftly surrounded me.
I tilted my head and asked.
“I’m curious—how did you identify me? My face should be different.”
The man slung his sword across his shoulder and pointed at me and the guest room I had emerged from.
“One woman, one man. That’s right, isn’t it?”
“You recognized me from just that?”
“Once we grab someone, we cut off their fingers one by one until they tell us the truth.”
“What if the person is someone else?”
“What? Hahahaha!”
The Mysterious Man burst into raucous laughter as if I’d asked something hilarious. The other Black Gang members joined in, roaring with amusement.
“Seems you haven’t heard the news yet. So-jeo, the Demonic Cult has placed an enormous bounty on your head. Don’t you see? This is your chance to earn enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life—why would you worry about such trivial matters?”
He explained very kindly, as if sensing my cooperation. Then he pointed to his subordinates and spoke.
“You, you, and the rest of you—go kill the man. He coughed up a handful of blood, so he won’t last long anyway.”
“Yes!”
The moment they took their first step.
Whoosh!
A sharp sound cut through the air, followed by a scream.
“Aaaahhh!”
A chopstick pierced through the Mysterious Man’s hand.
The blade that should have fallen to the ground spun instead in mid-air, and at my gesture, it turned to point at its original owner’s throat.
“Kgh.”
The scream died instantly.
Everyone stared at the blade hovering in the air, their faces drained of all color.
I smiled softly.
“Seems you haven’t heard the news either—that I destroyed the Demonic Cult’s Heavenly Net and escaped.”

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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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