The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 23

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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 023
The Three Sacred Treasures
The narrow, dimly lit corridor vanished from sight, along with the other three chambers that had blazed with firelight.
Beyond the stone wall, the Sacred Fire burned brilliantly, and a spacious, rounded chamber lay exposed before me.
I found myself staring blankly at three chests positioned directly in front of me.
Then, Myeong Joon’s voice reached me once more.
-Heh heh… I never expected you would actually succeed.
I asked Myeong Joon with genuine delight.
‘Myeong Joon? What is happening? What are these Three Sacred Treasures?’
-The Three Sacred Treasures are treasures created long ago by the First Sect Leader of the Myeong Cult. They are sacred objects imbued with the power of Ben Joon himself—possessions far too precious for mere mortals to claim.
‘Then why were they buried in this underground chamber?’
-The First Sect Leader feared that the power of the Three Sacred Treasures was so immense that a human wielding them might misjudge and shatter the world’s balance. He set a trap such that any unworthy person attempting to seize them would forfeit their life.
‘Then why have they appeared before me now?’
-What are you saying? Did you not pass the trial left behind by the First Sect Leader?
‘A trial?’
As I tilted my head in confusion, Myeong Joon spoke as though astounded.
-Were you not tempted by gold, silver, treasure, power, and women?
‘Ah… that was the trial? Then what would have happened if I had entered that chamber?’
-You would have perished like all the other foolish ones before you.
Only then did I grasp how perilous this place beyond the stone wall truly was, and a chill ran through me.
Myeong Joon’s words continued.
-The trials beyond the stone wall are designed to directly stimulate human nature itself, making them impossible to endure even if one knows their nature beforehand.
‘Then my passing this trial was…’
-A gift of your innate temperament. Your nature—one that builds thick walls against external stimuli, turning inward instead—is what saved you.
‘Then I have benefited once again from my introverted nature.’
-Indeed. To speak truthfully, even Ben Joon cannot be certain whether you possess the qualifications the First Sect Leader sought. However, it is undeniable that you have passed the First Sect Leader’s trial through your own strength. The proof lies before you now.
The proof Myeong Joon spoke of was naturally the treasures hidden beyond the stone wall.
I rose from where I sat, filled with an inexplicable sense of pride at Myeong Joon’s words, and slowly approached the three chests.
The chests were crafted with meticulous care—wooden frames reinforced with metal and jade, bearing the sun and moon insignia that symbolized the ancient Myeong Cult.
If the First Sect Leader had created them, they were from more than three centuries past, yet both the wood and metal appeared perfectly preserved.
What mattered, however, was not the chests themselves, but their contents.
What could possibly lie within?
I opened the leftmost of the three chests.
Inside lay a single book, its cover gleaming with golden radiance.
The Sun and Moon Dual Extremity Divine Art
‘This appears to be a martial technique manual.’
-Indeed. The Heavenly Demon Heart Method created by the First Sect Leader is a heart technique for cultivating formidable demonic arts, yet it lacks subtlety in the application of inner force. Once you master the Hyeon Ma Gyeong and then cultivate the Sun and Moon Dual Extremity Divine Art that I created, you will be able to command all under heaven.
Hmm… if this is a technique to be practiced after the Hyeon Ma Gyeong, it seems premature for me to study it now.
But the Sect Leader would certainly be overjoyed to see this.
Inside the second chest lay a metal cauldron with three legs.
In this world, objects called tripods are commonly seen, but to me, bearing the memories of a modern person, they remain somewhat unfamiliar.
-This is the Sacred Fire Spirit Tripod. When placed near the Sacred Fire, it absorbs the aura of the Sacred Fire and produces spirit pills of exceptionally high purity. Should you refine a five-year Sacred Fire Spirit Pill and consume it, you would gain the internal energy equivalent of sixty years of cultivation in a single instant.
‘Remarkable….’
Hearing Ben Joon’s explanation, I could not deny that this was indeed an extraordinary treasure.
Yet this too would offer little immediate benefit to me now.
I turned my gaze toward the third and final chest.
However…. I had been sensing it for some time now—the interior of the stone wall was growing progressively darker.
The light of the Sacred Fire entering from outside was weakening.
-Ben Joon, the flame of the Sacred Fire seems to be fading?
‘Indeed. The Sacred Fire in the Yeongseong Cave Underground has been burning sustained by the power of a sealed sacred relic. Now that the seal has broken, it will soon extinguish completely.’
So there was a time limit to this treasure-gathering expedition, it seemed.
Without further delay, I opened the third chest.
‘This is….’
The third treasure was none other than a blade.
The slightly curved blade gleamed with a black luster that reflected no light whatsoever, and despite having lain buried in the earth for countless ages, its edge remained razor-sharp and alive.
When I grasped the roughly-crafted hilt and lifted it, it felt lighter than the wooden practice sword I had wielded before, fitting perfectly into my palm.
-That blade is the Heavenly Demon Slayer Sword. Should a practitioner of the Divine Sect’s demonic arts, such as the Hyeon Ma Gyeong or the Cheon Ma Heart Technique, wield it….
I did not need to hear Ben Joon’s explanation to understand instinctively.
The moment I grasped the hilt and raised the blade vertically, I felt the internal energy of the Hyeon Ma Inward Heart Technique that remained within my body flowing into it.
Then something even more astonishing occurred.
The blade of the Heavenly Demon Slayer Sword vibrated and trembled, and the length of the blade shortened slightly.
It adjusted to the perfect length for a body of twelve years.
-Among the three sacred relics, that blade alone is a pristine treasure that even the First Sect Leader never once held in his hands. It has been crafted so that none but the rightful master worthy of obtaining the sacred relic may wield it. Even your father could not seize it….
‘Of course.’
That much was obvious!
Though strange, the moment I grasped the Heavenly Demon Slayer Sword, a desire for the treasure arose within me that had never existed before.
I would entrust the Sun and Moon Dual Extreme Divine Technique to the sect until I could cultivate it, and the Sacred Fire Spirit Tripod while its power accumulated….
‘But this—I discovered this myself. Regardless of what anyone says, it is mine.’
The chest also contained the scabbard for the Heavenly Demon Slayer Sword, and the scabbard too seemed to adjust its size to match the blade’s length.
I sheathed the Heavenly Demon Slayer Sword and fastened it to my waist.
At that very moment, the flame of the Sacred Fire was nearly extinguished.
‘Sigh….’
Only then did it truly sink in that I had completed the trial given to the Minor Sect Leader.
When I thought about it, the trial set by my father, the current Sect Leader, had faded into the background, and the trial of the First Sect Leader had become paramount.
Though my entire body was drained of energy, I found myself drawn to the dim and quiet atmosphere.
‘Ben Joon, but why did you not explain this from the beginning?’
-What do you mean? From the beginning?
‘When I first arrived at the stone wall and you spoke to me.’
-Ben Joon has done no such thing.
‘Eh…? Then you mean to say that the one who spoke to me just now was not you?’
-That is correct. The Young Seong Cave Underground is indeed the sacred sanctuary of the Myeong Cult, but it is a place governed by the power of the Three Sacred Treasures, so Ben Joon could not exert influence over you until you broke the seal of the sacred objects.
It was astonishing news.
I had clearly heard Myeong Joon’s voice speaking to me the moment I entered the Yeongseong Cave Innermost Chamber, but it was not Myeong Joon?
It was unlikely that I had heard something that did not exist….
‘Then who was it that spoke to me?’
-Hmm…, what did that spirit say to you?
‘It only kept repeating that I should go deeper into the stone wall.’
-Indeed. Then the spirit of one of the Three Sacred Treasures must have spoken to you directly. Perhaps…, that one in your hand.
‘This one?’
I glanced down at the Heavenly Demon Slayer Blade.
-It is not strange for an ancient treasure imbued with such power to possess its own will. The sacred objects must have been eager to escape this suffocating place. Or perhaps….
And then, I recalled what the Heavenly Demon Slayer Blade, which had impersonated Myeong Joon, had said to me.
-It may not be that you found the Three Sacred Treasures, but rather that the Three Sacred Treasures chose you as their master.

* * *
The Sect Leader emerged from the Sect Leader’s Hall and rushed urgently toward somewhere.
Upon entering the Council Chamber of the Great Hall, the executives of the Demonic Cult who had been exchanging opinions about the Minor Sect Leader’s trial came into view.
“Woo Sa, Left Elder! Follow me!”
The left and right Gwangmyeong Emissaries immediately followed behind the Sect Leader, yet their minds were filled with bewilderment.
None of them had ever seen the Sect Leader appear so flustered before.
“Something inexplicable is occurring in the Spirit Saint Cave.”
The Sect Leader spoke these words to the Left Elder and Woo Sa as he rushed toward the Flower Garden.
Woo Sa pondered.
‘By the timeline, the Minor Sect Leader should not have reached the innermost chamber yet. If things had proceeded normally, he would be grappling with the wooden puppet demons I set up in the darkness by now…. Could it be that he encountered grave robbers?’
However, the strange premonition the Sect Leader sensed had nothing whatsoever to do with grave robbers.
The Sect Leader had just felt the aura of the Sacred Fire in the Yeongseong Cave Innermost Chamber suddenly amplify.
Since mastering the Cheon Ma Heart Method, he had been able to sense the aura of the Sacred Fire that existed at the peak of Gwangmyeong Hall and in the Yeongseong Cave Innermost Chamber, but he had never before experienced any fluctuation in the Sacred Fire’s aura.
After paying attention to this ominous phenomenon, he then began to feel the Sacred Fire of the Spirit Saint Cave rapidly diminishing.
If this continued, the Sacred Fire would be extinguished before long.
Since this was happening for the first time, he could not even fathom what was occurring.
Yet it could not be unrelated to the Minor Sect Leader undergoing his trial in the Spirit Saint Cave.
An ominous premonition and an inexplicable tension gripped the Sect Leader’s heart.
He activated the mechanical device in the Flower Garden and opened the entrance to the Spirit Saint Cave once more.
Through the dim cave without a single torch, three great demons raced swiftly along the narrow passage.
Shortly after, fallen figures came into view.
Woo Sa cried out.
“Grave robbers.”
Two of them had already ceased breathing, and one had his limbs tightly bound.
Seeing no signs of any real combat, it was clear that the Minor Sect Leader had subdued them in one swift motion.
Woo Sa felt relief, but the Sect Leader paid no attention to the grave robbers and continued advancing toward the innermost chamber.
And then….
“Huh?”
I saw the Minor Sect Leader walking out from deep within the cave.
A torch left behind by the grave robbers in one hand, and in the other, a chest that looked far from ordinary….
“Father.”
The Minor Sect Leader set down the chest and offered a bow to the Sect Leader.
It wasn’t even a martial salute—yet from the Minor Sect Leader, who bent his waist at a perfect right angle in this situation, emanated not the slightest sense of urgency.
Meanwhile, the Sect Leader, from the moment he laid eyes on the chest, stood frozen as though his legs had turned to ice against the ground.
The Minor Sect Leader spoke to Woo Sa and the Left Elder with an awkward smile.
“The Sacred Fire went out, so I was unable to bring its flame. These torches belonged to the intruders who came from outside—would these suffice?”
“Ah, Minor Sect Leader, of course….”
Woo Sa began to answer something, then closed his mouth.
Glancing at the Sect Leader’s condition, it was clear that the test was no longer the priority.
The Sect Leader’s eyes were fixed upon the chest the Minor Sect Leader held as though nailed to it.
His mouth hung open, unable to close, his lips trembling faintly.
“Ah, Father. I discovered something during the test—would you like to see it?”
And with an unbothered expression, the Minor Sect Leader opened the chest and withdrew its contents one by one.
An ancient book.
A metal cauldron.
And a slightly short blade in its scabbard….
“U-uh….”
Woo Sa and the Left Elder could not decide which to marvel at first.
“T-three… s-sacred….”
Was the Sect Leader trembling throughout his entire body in bewilderment, his words stammering?
“Ah, so Father, you knew of these as well.”
Or was it the Minor Sect Leader, casually producing the Three Sacred Treasures of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect—relics that had existed only in legend for the past three hundred years within the sect?

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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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