The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 20

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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 020
Hyeon Moon’s Thirteen Forms
Time flowed swiftly, and before I knew it, my twelfth birthday was approaching.
I had grown accustomed to my life as Minor Sect Leader, soon to complete a full year in the role, and Young Ho Bin continued to resolve difficult matters on my behalf so that I would not be troubled.
Namgung Eon had been assigned to the Myeong Shin Palace, one of the Five Demon Palaces at the Sect Headquarters, and was assisting the sect in researching the martial techniques of the Orthodox Martial Sects.
The Sect Leader continued his closed-door cultivation as routinely as eating, while scheming beneath the surface about a power struggle with the Martial Alliance—though I could not discern the full extent of his intentions.
My stepmother Jang Su Ryeon still seemed to regard me with caution, but in the meantime she had given birth to a daughter and appeared consumed with raising the infant.
And I….
‘The refinement of the Hyeon Ma Inner Directed Heart Method is nearing completion.’
Even after my wall-facing meditation ended, I continued to refine the Hyeon Ma Gyeong day and night, gradually transforming the acupoints throughout my body.
By this point, my inner cultivation had diverged considerably from the classical teachings of the Hyeon Ma Gyeong and had drawn closer to my own unique martial art, so I had begun calling it the ‘Hyeon Ma Inner Directed Heart Method.’
Now, all the meridian acupoints in my body except the Conception and Governing Vessels had been transformed into optimal configurations for cultivating the Hyeon Ma Gyeong.
Alongside my inner cultivation, I continued relentless sword training with the assistance of Do Gyo Du.
“Minor Sect Leader.”
“Sister.”
And perhaps the most significant change among all these developments was my sister, Baek So Cheong.
Baek So Cheong had recently turned twenty, and her fair complexion, silken hair, delicate frame, and graceful bearing had become even more beautiful than before.
Most of all, that gentle smile and the light in her eyes were as warm as winter sunlight.
Yet within that smile lay something more complex—a sadness and poignancy that I could not help but perceive.
Ever since I had saved the young girl playing the zither and, defying the Sect Leader’s command, had spared Namgung Eon and converted him to our faith, Baek So Cheong had worn such a smile whenever she saw me.
“Are you heading to the Training Grounds? I heard you’re to demonstrate your martial arts before Father today. Aren’t you nervous?”
Baek So Cheong spoke to me with affection once more, offering that smile I could not fully comprehend.
‘Hmm….’
This moment was one of the rare instances of warmth I had experienced since my rebirth in the Demonic Cult.
It could not be otherwise.
Everyone in the Demonic Cult either feared me, kept their distance, or sought to judge me.
Only she showed me unchanging affection as my sister, regardless of what I did.
Or rather, she wished to do so.
‘This is… dangerous.’
It was a troubling liability.
The Sect Leader’s expectations of the Minor Sect Leader’s cruel nature remained unchanged.
The Minor Sect Leader must, as always, maintain a vicious demeanor toward everyone.
Which meant….
“Nervous? Do I look like a child to you?”
“Haha. How could that be? You are such an imposing Minor Sect Leader….”
“More importantly, what business is it of yours what I do?”
“….”
And so, whenever Baek So Cheong showed me kindness, I had no choice but to respond in this manner—cold and callous.
Deliberately wearing a frigid expression, my voice sharp and cutting.
Yet Baek So Cheong merely smiled gently at me, just as she always had.
“Minor Sect Leader. The birds singing in the back garden sound so beautiful. It seems the birds that left last year have returned.”
“…?”
Baek So Cheong added those cryptic words, then brought her hands together and bowed her head slightly.
“I simply wanted to cheer you on. Then, I wish you good fortune!”
Baek So Cheong left those words behind and turned away, disappearing into the distance….
Yet the warmth of her presence seemed to linger where she had stood.
‘Sigh….’
A breath escaped me unbidden.
It would be a lie to say my heart didn’t ache at the fact that I could only treat someone so kind to me in such a manner.
But what choice did I have if I wanted to survive?

* * *
In any case, today was the day of training with Do Gyo Du at the Training Grounds.
Until now, I had been cultivating the Hyeon Ma Gyeong alongside one of the foundational martial arts of the Sect Leader Family—the Thirteen Lunar Forms.
If the Hyeon Ma Gyeong was the study of foundational inner energy cultivation for the Sect Leader Family of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, then the Thirteen Lunar Forms could be called the complementary basic sword technique.
“Minor Sect Leader. Are you prepared?”
“Have no concerns, Do Gyo Du.”
I glanced sidelong at the Sect Leader standing solemnly on the elevated platform overlooking the Training Grounds.
My martial arts instructor, Do Yul, had not learned the Hyeon Ma Gyeong, making it impossible for him to properly verify the results of the Thirteen Lunar Forms.
Therefore, the Sect Leader stepping forward personally to verify the completeness of both the Hyeon Ma Gyeong and the Thirteen Lunar Forms meant he was evaluating whether I possessed the qualifications to be Minor Sect Leader.
As such, this was an extraordinarily burdensome position for me.
Given my introverted nature, I would have been far too nervous to move properly in times past.
But.
‘I’m not who I was before. I won’t be intimidated anymore!’
Nearly a year had passed since my reincarnation as Minor Sect Leader of the Demonic Cult.
Not only had I grown accustomed to life as Minor Sect Leader, but both my inner and outer strength had grown incomparably.
I was no longer that hesitant version of myself from just after the possession.
Now, standing on the Training Grounds Platform, the Sect Leader gazed upon me with cold, evaluating eyes to assess the progress of my martial arts over the years.
The Left Elder, Woo Sa, and the Five Demon Palace Master, along with the other Martial Leaders of the Demonic Cult, watched me as well.
Knowing this was an opportunity to display my strengthened form before the Sect Leader and the various Martial Leaders, I naturally felt my resolve harden.
“Begin.”
Do Gyo Du stepped back, and the Sect Leader’s command fell.
Standing alone in the vast Training Grounds, I drew my wooden sword.
And….
‘Ugh….’
As I became aware of the countless burdensome gazes upon me, my limbs began to tremble.
‘So much for being different!’
This cursed introversion hadn’t changed one bit with time!
My heart pounded from the tension, my vision darkened, and I could hear nothing at all.
My mind went blank, and not a single movement from the Thirteen Lunar Forms came to me.
Whoosh.
My limbs moved of their own accord, and the wooden sword awkwardly followed their erratic motions.
I needed to strike downward with force, then sweep upward, then cut horizontally with a clean slash—but instead….
With no strength flowing into my arms and hands, the wooden sword merely flailed helplessly through the air.
My sword path was equally chaotic.
Where I should have struck downward and followed with two consecutive horizontal cuts, I instead drew a single diagonal slash at an awkward angle.
Where I should have executed a short, powerful thrust, I instead drove the entire length of the blade deep with my whole body, my stance wavering.
The moment I realized something had gone terribly wrong, my gaze shifted toward where the Sect Leader stood.
“….”
The Sect Leader’s eyes, arms folded across his chest and expression grave as he looked down upon me, flickered across my vision.
Seeing his gaze brimming with suspicion, my mind reeled.
Those standing beside the Sect Leader were even worse.
The Left Elder and Woo Sa had their mouths agape in shock, while the other Martial Leaders beside them turned their heads this way and that, exchanging glances among themselves.
‘I’m finished…. This is truly the end, isn’t it?’
This was supposed to be a demonstration of my progress in sword training before the Sect Leader.
Moreover, the second Divine Demon Assembly would soon convene.
Before that, my qualifications as Minor Sect Leader would be verified once more.
Yet here I was, disappointing the Sect Leader with such sloppy swordwork on the eve of it all….
Perhaps he would order me to pack my belongings and leave this very night.
Whoosh.
As that thought consumed me, my vision darkened further, and my mind emptied completely.
I no longer knew where I was or what I was looking at.
The blue should have been the sky and the yellow the earth, but now they alternated chaotically, blue and yellow crossing back and forth.
I couldn’t tell which way was up or down, nor could I discern what stance I held as I swung the sword.
The wooden sword merely danced through the air before my eyes, occasionally whooshing past.
I had no sense of how much time had passed.
It felt as though I had only just begun this pitiful sword dance moments ago, yet simultaneously as though I had been circling in place for an eternity.
Normally, swinging a sword at this intensity would leave me drenched in sweat, and my arms would ache from the strain of gripping the blade.
But now, that was not the case at all.
Unlike during practice, my body remained light as if floating on clouds, and because no strength flowed into my arms, rather than pain, my grip felt remarkably weightless—as though I held nothing at all.
I even paused briefly to confirm whether I was truly holding the sword in my hand.
My breathing had not quickened in the slightest, and each step I took felt impossibly light.
Before long, the sword sequence of the Hyeon-Wol Thirteen Forms was nearing its conclusion.
Though I could barely remember what I had done in the middle, I was now simply assuming the preparatory stance for the final technique.
I bent my upper body, shifting my weight onto my left leg, while the wooden sword held low in a descending guard naturally hung loose.
Whoosh!
In a single motion, I rotated my body in the opposite direction, extending the lightly gripped wooden sword to my right.
Whiiiish!
In that instant, the wooden sword cut through the air with a satisfying sound that rang in my ears.
It was the sound announcing that I had completed all the sword forms of the Hyeon-Wol Thirteen Forms.
It was a reminder that I would now shatter pathetically before the Sect Leader.
Clack.
I clasped my fist in salute to the Sect Leader while gripping the sword in my right hand.
With people watching, I had grown absurdly tense and performed such an awkward sword dance instead.
I couldn’t lift my head straight, expecting the Sect Leader’s displeasure to fall upon me at any moment.
Yet my ears heard nothing for a long while.
It seemed the Sect Leader and all the Martial Leaders of the Sect Headquarters didn’t know how to react.
I heard footsteps walking beneath the Training Platform.
The Sect Leader appeared to be approaching me alone.
During the long walk, the Sect Leader said nothing.
It was clear he was too angry and disappointed to find words.
‘Ah… it’s over now.’
Looking back on the past year, it felt as though I had been dreaming an unbreakable long dream.
If I had known it would end like this…
I should have answered more warmly back then.
Just as I was abandoning everything.
“Minor Sect Leader.”
“Yes, Father.”
The Sect Leader’s voice sounded more astonished than disappointed.
“The sword form you displayed seems somewhat different from the Thirteen Forms of Hyeon Wol.”
“Ah… yes, that is so.”
That’s right.
I was so nervous that nothing came to mind.
“It has been a year since you began training with the sword, has it not?”
“Yes, Father.”
Even I find it hard to believe that a year of training yielded only this.
“Just now, you seemed to have completely forgotten the forms… no, as if you had forgotten yourself as well. The sword technique you displayed just now—even you will not remember it. Is that not so?”
“Yes… that is correct.”
My mind had gone blank from nervousness; there was no way I could remember.
I anticipated the rebuke that would follow and squeezed my eyes shut, unable to face the Sect Leader.
But then…
“Remarkable. I never thought you would have reached such a realm already.”
The Sect Leader’s words were flowing in a direction I had never anticipated.
“To have already attained the State of No-Self at your age.”
The moment these words burst from the Sect Leader’s mouth, I heard murmuring from the people on the Training Platform.
“Indeed it was so. I sensed it from the beginning.”
“The moment the Minor Sect Leader drew his first strike, I felt it.”
“In the final thirteenth form, I even felt a chill.”
“So did I.”
What are these people saying?
While I stood bewildered, the Sect Leader’s words continued to flow.
“In swordsmanship, forms are merely reference points. Strip away the clumsy motions, retain only the essence of the blade, shed all unnecessary force, and let the sword flow as it will—or rather, as if you yourself have vanished entirely. It sounds simple, yet even swordmasters who have devoted their entire lives to cultivation rarely achieve such a state.”
The Sect Leader, like everyone else, spoke with genuine admiration evident in both his tone and expression.
“How did you accomplish this?”
“I simply devoted myself entirely to the sword in my hand and to myself.”
“Indeed….”
I glossed over the Sect Leader’s question somewhat, but if there was one thing that truly set me apart from others, it was likely just that.
I should ask Myeong Joon whether this state of selflessness has any connection to introversion.
As I pondered this, the Sect Leader’s words resumed.
“Minor Sect Leader, remember this sword technique well. When you stand before your enemies as the Sect Leader of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, you must be able to draw forth such a blade.”
“Yes, Father.”

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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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