The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 105

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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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The Introverted Heavenly Demon Episode 105
How to End a Life-or-Death Duel
‘Did I make some mistake?’
No matter how many times I replayed the sequence, my technique had been flawless.
Once the Half Moon Return Blade Technique unfolded properly, it was impossible for even a Qingcheng Sect disciple to evade it.
So there was only one conclusion I could draw.
‘That person… never intended to kill me.’
The Half Moon Return Blade Technique was a move that reversed the force behind an opponent’s attack back upon them.
Therefore, it could only display its true power when the opponent attacked with their full strength.
Just as Dongbang Cheon had repeatedly emphasized when he first taught me the Half Moon Return Blade Technique.
A one-on-one life-or-death duel.
Naturally, I had assumed Gyeong Yun would use a lethal strike to kill me.
I didn’t harbor a desire to kill him either, but I had resigned myself to the possibility that if he died in our all-out battle, there was nothing I could do about it.
“You’re doing splendidly, Minor Sect Leader!”
“So close! Next time, finish him off!”
The Black Path disciples of Pal Cheon Am Bang shouted excitedly, their voices intensifying the fervor of the duel.
Yet my heart remained conflicted.
“Sigh.”
Gyeong Yun exhaled deeply, steadying his breathing.
A truth I had momentarily forgotten continued to pierce relentlessly through my mind.
Though we now stood divided between White and Black Paths, our blades crossed—he too was human.
This man, like myself, had spent each day struggling through arduous training for the justice he believed in.
Thud.
The moment our eyes met again as I lifted my gaze, we both launched ourselves into the air simultaneously.
-Perfect! I could kill him easily now!
‘No. That’s not it.’
-What do you mean, no? Don’t tell me you still believe that? That you can survive without killing your opponent? That you can live in this world with such weak-hearted convictions?
I’m not trying to appear noble.
I had already killed others multiple times to survive.
Each time, I had wondered if perhaps one day I would become a demon who killed without hesitation.
But at least not now.
Clang!!
Gyeong Yun and I collided once more in mid-air.
The shockwave created by the sword energy and blade energy of first-rate masters erupted outward.
I could see Gyeong Yun’s robes and my own hair fluttering in the wind.
‘I cannot use the Half Moon Return Blade Technique.’
Above all, the Half Moon Return Blade Technique would not work against an opponent who harbored no intent to kill me.
So how could I defeat Gyeong Yun?
How could I make him surrender without taking his life?
I already knew the answer.
Clang! Clang!
Ignoring defense, Gyeong Yun staggered backward under the relentless cascade of blade strikes.
I felt it when our swords first clashed—in a pure contest of inner force, I do not yield to Gyeong Yun.
If I continue closing the distance and pressing my attacks, it won’t be long before his inner force depletes and he drops his blade.
Then victory would be mine.
But then.
Whoosh!
Perhaps sensing he had no advantage in this kind of prolonged exchange, Gyeong Yun made his move.
Rather than receive my Heavenly Demon Annihilation Blade as it descended fiercely, he evaded the attack and sidestepped several paces away.
It was a footwork technique I had never seen before, yet I could sense its formidable mastery.
Swish!
I pursued with a horizontal slash, but Gyeong Yun deployed that mysterious footwork again, widening the distance between us.
Gyeong Yun had judged that strength against strength, inner force against inner force, offered him little advantage—so he changed his strategy.
He would fully exploit the power of the Cheon San Faction’s footwork to deflect my attacks and seize openings.
Gyeong Yun, like myself, was fighting with absolute sincerity.
Yet I could not retreat now.
‘Minor Sect Leader, might I have a word with you?’
As I prepared for a life-or-death struggle with Gyeong Yun, I recalled what a man had said to me earlier.
‘Yoon Dangjoo, what is the matter?’
It was Yun Jang Myeong, the third son of the Ho Rim Pyo Lord, who had appeared alongside him.
He lowered his voice carefully and spoke to me.
‘I have had many opportunities to observe the martial arts of the Qingcheng Sect. So, though it may be presumptuous, I have made predictions about your duel with Gyeong Yun of the Dojo.’
‘…And?’
‘As matters stand, this will be a difficult battle for you, Minor Sect Leader.’
There are limits to how much one should undermine an opponent before an important fight, I thought.
Yet I could not dismiss his words.
‘Why do you think so?’
‘The Qingcheng Sect’s Inverted Mountain Ascending Cloud Step is a superior footwork technique rivaling the Ho Rim Shadow Evasion Step. You may surpass them in inner force, Minor Sect Leader, but it seems you lack proper understanding of their footwork.’
Previously, when Yoon Dangjoo had secretly infiltrated the Cheong Yun Merchant Group, we had briefly confronted each other.
At that time, he had deployed the Ho Rim Shadow Evasion Step, the footwork of the Ho Rim Pyo Bureau, and vanished from before me in an instant.
It seemed Yoon Dangjoo had sensed that my footwork was lacking then.
‘There is no way to greatly improve your footwork in this short time, Minor Sect Leader, but if you permit, I shall briefly teach you the essentials of the Ho Rim Shadow Evasion Step.’
.
.
Watching Gyeong Yun’s dazzling footwork—each time I thought I had him, he would suddenly distance himself again—I snapped back to awareness.
Exhale.
Gyeong Yun had been continuously deploying that footwork, likely the Inverted Mountain Ascending Cloud Step, and was breathing heavily from the severe depletion of his inner force.
But I too was growing weary.
Judging that victory was unlikely at this rate, I silently recalled the essentials of the Ho Rim Shadow Evasion Step that Yoon Dangjoo had taught me.
I had only heard a few words of instruction and practiced the footwork technique a handful of times before the life-or-death duel began.
In any case, the duel was unfolding exactly as Yoon Dangjoo had predicted, and the only path available to me to reverse the situation was the Ho Rim Shadow Step.
‘There is only one opportunity.’
I had to seize that single moment when my opponent, believing my footwork was far inferior to his own, let his guard down.
I approached Gyeong Yun slowly, my Heavenly Slayer Blade held at middle guard.
Gyeong Yun wiped away the sweat trickling down his brow with his sleeve and stepped toward me.
Having resolved to stake everything on this final exchange, I drew upon every ounce of my inner force and launched myself at Gyeong Yun with devastating intent.
It was an assault fierce enough to cleave his sword in two.
Kwang!
The clashing auras collided, and the air itself seemed to shatter with a resonant ring.
In that instant, Gyeong Yun unfolded the Qingcheng Sect’s footwork once more.
Despite the evident exhaustion etched across his features, his movements remained swift and unobstructed.
‘He’ll go left here.’
Yet having observed that footwork pattern repeatedly, I could predict the direction of his movement.
Until now, even had I understood it intellectually, I would never have dared dream of keeping pace with him.
After an attack delivered with all my strength from upper left to lower right, such a reversal of direction would have been impossible for me, who had not mastered the ascending footwork required for it.
‘Qi Leads, Form Follows.’
The qi moves first, and the body follows in its wake.
The first principle of the Ho Rim Shadow Step was not about the feet at all, but rather the coordination of the upper body and entire frame.
I channeled the inner force I had accumulated—my qi—according to the breathing techniques and circulation methods Yoon Dangjoo had taught me, suddenly releasing it in the opposite direction where my weight had been concentrated, as if bouncing back.
In that moment, my body, now lighter, began to flow with the qi, and my liberated feet moved through the empty air.
That direction pointed directly toward Gyeong Yun, who was rapidly retreating from me.
‘Step Without Touching.’
To step yet leave no trace upon the ground.
It was easy to assume that footwork typically originated from the feet, but the Ho Rim Shadow Step was not merely about how one pressed against the earth with both feet.
The feet simply moved naturally, following the circulation of inner force within the body and the flow of qi.
My feet, which had moved heavily while chasing Gyeong Yun’s shadow until now, crossed lightly as if treading upon empty air, barely grazing the ground.
“!!”
Gyeong Yun’s eyes, wide with shock, came into view.
He must have believed that, as before, he would exploit my blind spots with his footwork and easily escape the distance between us.
Yet now his body was completely within my range.
Gyeong Yun desperately raised his sword, both hands gripping the hilt.
Clang!!
Ching! Ching!
In that moment, my Heavenly Slayer Blade descended at a terrifying speed.
Judging that there was no further retreat, I gathered every ounce of inner force from within my body and poured it into the blade.
Sword and blade clashed, crying out in tumultuous discord.
Once, twice, three times.
When my Heavenly Slayer Blade struck Gyeong Yun’s sword for the third time, I felt the sensation of all his inner force draining from his hands travel through my fingertips.
Crack!!
Gyeong Yun, watching the cold, brilliant blade descend like lightning, squeezed his eyes shut.
The sound of his blade slipping from my grip and clattering to the floor echoed through the silence.
“!!”
In the next instant, my sword hung suspended directly above Gyeong Yun’s head.
A brief eternity passed as he blinked his eyes—no one moved, no sound disturbed the air.
Finally, his lips parted.
“Why… why do you hesitate?”
The moment those words reached my ears, I withdrew the Cheon Sa Gwi Myeol Do, swept it once through the empty air, and sheathed it at my side.
Gyeong Yun himself, along with all the Black Path and White Sect martial artists watching, stood bewildered.
A life-and-death duel—it ends only when one of the two combatants falls.
No matter how decisively the tide turns, it is rare for one to withdraw their weapon so unilaterally.
Frankly, if Gyeong Yun were to seize his blade again and charge at me now in my defenseless state, no one would dare call it cowardice.
Yet this does not mean someone must necessarily die for the duel to end.
“Because I do not wish to kill you.”
“…!!”
“But that sentiment runs both ways, does it not?”
Over a hundred eyes watched, yet none spoke—my voice carried to the farthest reaches of the gathering.
Now all gazes fixed upon Gyeong Yun.
He raised both hands and brought his fists together.
And in a voice that seemed to ring with relief, he cried out.
It was to end the life-and-death duel here.

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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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