The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 114

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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 114
The Boy of a Noble House
Even the achievements he had accomplished alongside the Minor Sect Leader became a tool to tarnish his reputation.
‘That Namgung Eon exposed the disciples’ crimes, they say.’
‘All nine disciples who died were victims deceived by the Cheon San Faction, yet he became a heretic despised throughout Tianxia for it, didn’t he?’
‘Damn it! My close friend’s younger brother was among those who died back then.’
The contempt directed at Namgung Eon did not merely manifest as indifference or treating him as though he didn’t exist.
The disciples of Myeong Shin Palace, who had begun to find Namgung Eon’s very presence intolerable, picked quarrels with him whenever they saw him and subjected him to both overt and covert violence.
While they had not yet resorted to outright beatings, their verbal abuse and subtle harassment were gradually becoming more brazen.
Even the Minor Sect Leader, who had been Namgung Eon’s only lifeline, grew increasingly occupied with external activities and began earnest cultivation of divine techniques, leaving him with ever less time to care for Namgung Eon.
Young Ho Bin and Baek So Cheong remained entirely unaware of Namgung Eon’s plight.
This was because Namgung Eon never spoke to them about his difficulties whenever they met.
Now there was but a single person upon whom Namgung Eon could rely.
Bang Yu Ha, a disciple of Myeong Shin Palace who worked as a low-ranking clerk in the palace.
Though she came from a poor village and possessed neither remarkable origins nor talent, she possessed an unbroken spirit despite her hardship and a warm heart that moved her to aid those in need around her.
Namgung Eon and Bang Yu Ha had grown to depend upon each other while working together to classify and organize the martial techniques of the Righteous Martial Arts Society.
The two had now developed into lovers bound by a tender affection so profound they could not bear to be apart.
Whenever Namgung Eon thought of the day he would introduce Bang Yu Ha to the Minor Sect Leader and Young Ho Martial Artist, he could not suppress a contented smile.
But.
Several disciples of Myeong Shin Palace would not even permit Namgung Eon to dream of such modest happiness.
Three disciples who had long harbored ill will toward him summoned him forth.
One of them had harbored affection for Bang Yu Ha from before, while another was the sworn brother of a man who had been bribed by the Cheon San Faction, kidnapped and murdered residents of Maehwa Valley, and was slain by the Minor Sect Leader’s blade.
“Brother Namgung. You’ve been rather inseparable from Miss Bang lately—what is your relationship with her?”
They asked him with sneering smiles.
“What relationship could there be? We merely exchange greetings while working together—there’s nothing more to it.”
Namgung Eon attempted to deny his relationship with Bang Yu Ha.
He cared not what befell him, but he could not bear the thought of their hatred toward him extending to her.
“Ah, is that so? Then would you bring Miss Bang to the tavern tonight?”
“Why would you ask such a thing?”
“Why? Do men need a reason to meet with women?”
“That would be impossible.”
Crack!!
Song Dae Hyeon, the largest of the three men, suddenly hurled his fist at Namgung Eon’s face.
He had harbored an unrequited love for Bang Yu Ha from before and was the one who had incited the others to deal with Namgung Eon today.
Namgung Eon staggered backward, cradling his face.
Blood streamed from his nose.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“I tried to be reasonable, but you wouldn’t cooperate. Namgung Eon, you bastard.”
“You strike a disciple within the Sect Grounds and expect to walk away unscathed?”
“Oh, is that so?”
Thud!!
This time, a kick came flying at him.
Namgung Eon’s body crumpled from the blunt impact to his lower abdomen.
“You said punches are off-limits. So this is fine, then?”
“Hahaha!”
Namgung Eon found this situation absurd, and he had no intention whatsoever of matching their reckless brawling style.
He decided to escape this place first, then report the matter officially to the Myeong Shin Palace Master tomorrow and have these men punished according to doctrine.
At least, that’s what his mind told him.
But as a martial artist, his surging blood was thinking something entirely different.
“I’ll kill them!”
It was a mistake—a judgment he should never have made.
Namgung Eon’s face flushed crimson as he drew upon every ounce of his martial power.
He mobilized both the martial techniques he had learned since childhood in the Namgung Clan and those he had acquired after joining the Divine Sect, unleashing them against the three men before him.
“What the hell is this guy doing?”
“Boss, is this bastard actually messing with us?”
Song Dae Hyeon and the other two men were indeed somewhat startled and taken aback by Namgung Eon’s initial display of vigor and momentum.
However, as Namgung Eon threw his punches, executed his left and right palm strikes in succession, and delivered kick after kick, sneers bloomed across their lips.
“He’s way worse than I thought.”
“Hey, you. Are you really giving it your all?”
The level of martial arts Namgung Eon was currently wielding was third-rate, advanced stage.
Compared to the martial prowess he possessed four years ago when he sparred one-on-one with the Minor Sect Leader, there had been no significant improvement.
So even if these were unremarkable martial artists of the Myeong Shin Palace.
From the start, he alone had no way to contend with three third-rate martial artists.
Thud! Thud!!
Once Namgung Eon collapsed from exhaustion, it was no longer a martial arts contest or even a fight.
It was simply a one-sided barrage of kicks.
All Namgung Eon could do was desperately defend the vital points of his chest and face while enduring.
He could only pray for this moment to pass quickly, cursing and lamenting his own pathetic weakness—a weakness so profound it was shameful.
“Stop.”
That was when it happened.
As a familiar voice reached his ears, the men’s kicks ceased immediately.
Namgung Eon opened his tightly shut eyes slightly and looked toward the direction of the voice.
He stood there with an expressionless face.
It was Young Ho Bin.
Upon seeing that trustworthy face, confident bearing, and the noble aura emanating from him, Namgung Eon felt relieved.
Yet at the same time, an entirely different thought was rising within him.
Young Ho Bin moved.
From his footwork alone, it was clear he had no intention of letting these men go.
The three men resisted with what desperation they could muster.
But the martial artist who had already reached the first-rate realm was gazing down upon them from such a height that the gap was immeasurable.
Crack!
Namgung Eon couldn’t even follow Young Ho Bin’s movements as he swept his hand, and in that instant, Song Dae Hyeon’s knee bent backward in an unnatural angle.
By the time Song Dae Hyeon crashed to the ground and began wailing, Young Ho Bin had already brushed past the other two men.
They too had one arm each shattered, rolling across the floor and writhing in agony.
“Ahhhhh!”
The three men who had been mercilessly beating Namgung Eon moments before now lay side by side, screaming in pain.
“If you have any grievances about what happened today, come to Jeokwol Palace and find Young Ho Bin.”
“Gaaahhh…!”
“If you understand, get out of here now!”
He was the trusted aide of the Minor Sect Leader, the future power of the Divine Sect.
There would be no reprimand whatsoever for reducing three disciples who had been unilaterally beating a fellow disciple to near death.
Young Ho Bin was actually worried that these men wouldn’t disappear before the Minor Sect Leader arrived.
It was only because he had stepped in that they were left in this condition; if the Minor Sect Leader had intervened, they would already be dead men.
“Namgung Prince, are you alright?”
Young Ho Bin approached Namgung Eon and helped him to his feet.
Namgung Eon lifted his head to look at Young Ho Bin, then turned to look in the direction of the three men who had been beating him moments before.
Writhing in pain, they uttered no complaints, merely limping away on their broken arms and legs as they grew distant.
Namgung Eon felt relief wash over him.
The endless hours of pain and humiliation had finally ended.
From the moment Young Ho Bin arrived, the situation had been resolved in an instant.
Young Ho Bin’s breathing hadn’t even become labored.
“Namgung Eon. Are you hurt?”
Then the Minor Sect Leader approached.
Namgung Eon hastily rose and bowed respectfully to the Minor Sect Leader.
The Minor Sect Leader regarded Namgung Eon in silence.
An expression Namgung Eon had never seen before was written across the Minor Sect Leader’s face.
“I’m sorry you had to witness such an unseemly display.”
Standing beside the Minor Sect Leader and Young Ho Bin now, Namgung Eon felt relief.
No—his mind felt relief, but within his heart dwelt a part of him that could not be comforted.
‘How much longer must I endure this…?’
He found himself thinking that moments ago, when he lay on the ground writhing in pain, had been preferable to this.

* * *
Namgung Eon sat with a vacant expression, staring into empty space for a long time.
I watched silently, uncertain what to say.
Then, suddenly regaining his senses, Namgung Eon excused himself and hurriedly departed.
“Young Ho Bin.”
“Yes, my lord.”
I watched Namgung Eon’s retreating figure fade into the distance before turning to Young Ho Bin with a question.
“Those men from earlier—they were competent, weren’t they?”
After all, he was the Namgung Family Head’s own son.
Though I hadn’t seen him recently, I knew he trained harder than anyone else.
There was no way such a diligent cultivator could have been utterly overwhelmed by mediocre opponents, even in a three-against-one situation.
From a distance, they might have appeared unremarkable, but that clearly wasn’t the case.
Beneath their ordinary appearance, they must have possessed considerable skill.
Otherwise….
“No, my lord. They were merely third-rate martial artists at best, in their late stages.”
“…Did they exploit some weakness to prevent him from fighting back?”
“I detected no such indication.”
I understood now why Namgung Eon appeared so shaken.
How much pain could mere third-rate martial artists inflict?
But Namgung Eon could not accept it.
He could not accept his own weakness—how he had failed to mount any proper defense against merely three third-rate martial artists and had been beaten down unilaterally.
“I heard that fellow recently acquired a girlfriend. Has he abandoned his training to idle away his time?”

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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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