The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 68

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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 068
I’ve Caught Up
I stood before the mirror, examining my reflection in the newly tailored martial robes.
Despite my expressionless face, Baek Yeon’s cool gaze and pale complexion, combined with my sharp jawline, emanated the keen edge of a finely honed blade.
Gradually shedding the remnants of boyhood, I was beginning to embody the bearing befitting the Minor Sect Leader of the Demonic Cult.
Most notably, I had grown so accustomed to this appearance that I could scarcely recall my original face from my previous life.
‘Three years have already passed.’
Baek Yeon had recently celebrated my fourteenth birthday and was once again recognized as the Minor Sect Leader within the Divine Demon Assembly.
Until last year, the Sect Leader had administered qualification tests before Baek Yeon’s birthday, but this year there was nothing of the sort.
It meant the Sect Leader had acknowledged my qualifications, and considering what I had accomplished as Baek Yeon thus far, it was hardly surprising.
Yet acknowledgment from the Sect Leader did not mean my position as Minor Sect Leader was entirely solidified.
There were still countless challenges awaiting me within the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, and far more beyond these walls.
“Minor Sect Leader. Father will arrive shortly. Are you ready?”
While I had been lost in thought, Baek So Cheong had quietly approached and now stood beside me.
A subtle, sweet fragrance emanated from her body and clothes.
“What are you thinking so intently about?”
In the mirror, Baek Yeon’s fierce visage and Baek So Cheong’s gentle countenance stood side by side, each regarding the other’s reflection.
Instead of answering, I pivoted my body and brought my heel against hers.
Then, straightening my back and tilting my head slightly backward, the back of my head touched hers.
“?”
I raised my right hand and placed it atop Baek So Cheong’s crown, who looked bewildered.
“I’ve caught up to you, Sister.”
“Ah….”
Only then did Baek So Cheong confirm in the mirror that the top of Baek Yeon’s head extended roughly one finger’s width higher than her own. She turned and stepped back.
Then, smiling softly, she brought her fists together and bowed her head slightly.
“Congratulations on growing taller than your sister, Minor Sect Leader.”
“There’s nothing remarkable about that.”
“And congratulations once more on turning fourteen recently.”
“Thank you.”
“Shall we depart now that you’re ready?”
“Very well.”
Baek So Cheong extended her left hand to indicate the direction I should go, and I cleared my throat with a soft hum before brushing past her and leading the way out.
Since Baek Yeon had turned fourteen, Baek So Cheong must be approaching twenty-two.
Or perhaps she already was?
Come to think of it, this fellow Baek Yeon didn’t even know his own sister’s birthday.
And it seemed no one in the family particularly looked after her either….
“It’s been quite some time since you’ve demonstrated your martial prowess before Father, hasn’t it?”
Upon reflection, when Baek So Cheong’s birthday was hardly mattered now.
With her words, the tension that had momentarily eased surged back, and my pulse quickened.
“It feels like nearly a year has passed.”
It was a chronic problem that introverts faced.
When I thought about it rationally, it was nothing—yet standing before people made me tremble and shake like this.
“Just do as you normally do, and Father will be satisfied.”
“Ha! Do you think I would be nervous over something so trivial?”
“Of course, I know well enough that you wouldn’t be.”
At least Baek Yeon’s outward tension didn’t show easily on his face, which was fortunate.
With his naturally sharp features, even standing expressionless made him appear intimidating.
“Minor Sect Leader, please take this.”
“What is it?”
When I took the pouch that Baek So Cheong suddenly offered, I felt a surprisingly warm heat emanating from it.
“I’ve warmed a jade stone for you. If your hands are cold, it will be difficult to wield your blade, so warm them up.”
“Really now, over something so trivial….”
I grumbled as I accepted the pouch from Baek So Cheong.
Come to think of it, Baek So Cheong had her own peculiar ways.
In a world where one could summon wind with inner energy and unleash blade and saber qi, cold hands would be nothing—a brief circulation of energy would solve it.
Though she spoke of it casually, adjusting the temperature just right for comfortable handling on the way to the Training Grounds must have required more care than she let on.
As I alternated the pouch between my hands, I felt my heart grow warmer than my cold hands ever were.
It wasn’t an entirely pleasant feeling.
Not when I thought of the countless tasks still awaiting me as Minor Sect Leader.
“Minor Sect Leader. You’ve arrived.”
When I reached the Training Grounds, several people were already there.
Do Yul Gyotdu, my training instructor, greeted me first, and surprisingly, I also saw Namgung Eon.
Namgung Eon was assisting disciples at Myeong Shin Palace in their research of Orthodox Sect martial arts.
It appeared he had been given an important role in this test as well.
‘So that’s what Do Gyotdu was hinting at.’
In the center of the Training Grounds stood ten dummies covered by a large cloth.
According to Do Gyotdu’s subtle hint, they had improved upon dummies traditionally used for measuring martial prowess.
Of course, he wouldn’t reveal the details, saying they were secret.
After some more time passed, I saw the Sect Leader walking across the Training Grounds from the opposite side.
As always, he was accompanied by the Left Elder and Woo Sa on both sides.
Thump. Thump.
Seeing him, my heart began racing again, yet strangely, I wasn’t as nervous as before.
So unlike last time, the Cheon Ma wouldn’t suddenly activate, nor would I fall into a trance without knowing it.
Fortunately.
“Begin.”
“Yes.”
True to his nature, the Sect Leader gave the command immediately upon arrival without any unnecessary measurements or delays.
I preferred it this way too.
With a brief reply, I accepted the wooden blade from a Myeong Shin Palace disciple, and Do Gyotdu, Namgung Eon, and the disciples of Myeong Shin Palace simultaneously unveiled the ten dummies by removing the cloth covering them.
Do Gyotdu began his explanation toward the Sect Leader and the leadership of the Divine Sect.
“I’ve attached mechanical devices to the existing dummies to make them move independently and wield swords. Since they recreate Orthodox Sect martial techniques based on the Namgung sword forms, we should be able to measure martial prowess with far greater practical accuracy than before.”
As Do Gyo Du spoke, the Wol In Palace Master standing behind the Sect Leader gazed at me with a satisfied smile.
It was obvious that developing and manufacturing these mechanical devices had required substantial funds.
This had become possible only because the Sect Headquarters’ finances had grown more abundant.
Do Gyo Du then turned to me and continued.
“Since you previously passed the sixth stage, today you should challenge the seventh stage.”
I nodded and walked toward the dummy standing seventh from the left.
There were ten dummies in total for measuring martial prowess—the three on the left were green-tinted, the next three were blue-tinted, and the following three were red-tinted.
As one moved rightward, the colors grew progressively darker.
And they could only be destroyed by striking with increasingly greater force.
Though the dummies’ exteriors were made of wood, their skeletal frames and joints were forged from metal that had undergone the Il-Wol Divine Sect’s special refining process, designed to shatter only when struck with a specific level of force.
The hemispherical device fixed beneath seemed to contain an internal power source.
In any case, if I destroyed this seventh dummy, I would finally break through to another realm.
Apart from the dummy’s placement and the realms corresponding to each stage, everything else remained the same as before….
‘So this dummy uses Orthodox Sect sword forms?’
If the dummy remained stationary as before, I could confidently assert that passing the seventh stage with my current martial prowess would be absolutely certain.
As my mastery of the Hyeon Ma Nae Hyang Sim Gong deepened, I had become capable of releasing blade energy without manifesting the Cheon Ma.
But would that remain possible against a dummy wielding a sword?
My chronic weakness was insufficient practical combat experience relative to my martial realm, and there existed a flaw known only to myself that I could confess to no one.
Over these past months, I had striven ceaselessly to overcome the problem that the Shaolin monk Hye Woon had illuminated, yet some obstacles could not be conquered through effort alone.
What of the inherent flaw embedded within me due to my extreme introversion?
Had my training over these past months truly overcome it to any meaningful degree?
And if not…what would become of me?
I approached the seventh dummy slowly, holding the wooden sword at middle guard.
My mind churned with distracting thoughts and anxieties, which was far from ideal as I faced a confrontation approaching true combat.
Whirrrr—whoosh!
The mechanical device whined to life, and the dummy’s sword moved with lightning speed.
The movement was so swift that it seemed impossible for a mechanical dummy, and the two arms holding the sword twisted with remarkable precision as they slashed diagonally downward.
True to its promise of recreating Orthodox Sect techniques, the sword form emanated a forceful and steadfast momentum.
Even its somewhat straightforward weakness—a certain blandness—mirrored the Orthodox Sect’s martial methods.
“Ah.”
At someone’s brief exclamation, I realized I had already retreated two steps backward, moving outside the dummy’s striking range.
Yet I could see that the edge of the sword had torn a small rent in my sleeve.
It was remarkable that a wooden sword could cut fabric so cleanly.
In both technique and the sharpness of its sword form, it was worthy of being called a first-rate Orthodox Sect martial artist.
I spoke toward Do Gyo Du with deliberately composed ease.
“Do Gyo Du, you’ve displayed considerable ingenuity. This is truly worthy of presenting proudly before the Sect Leader.”
“The disciples of Myeong Shin Palace and the Namgung Prince are responsible. I merely assisted.”
Baek So Cheong, who had been watching with concern, seemed somewhat relieved upon seeing my composed demeanor.
A long exhale escaped me….
I took a deep breath and focused my mind once more upon the wooden figure.
Though my heart had been turbulent moments before, experiencing the figure’s swordplay and its power firsthand left me feeling strangely calm and centered.
I gripped the wooden sword again and closed the distance.
The wooden figure wielding the wooden blade blurred from my vision, replaced instead by the image of a Martial Artist standing with an unwavering posture, sword held firmly in hand.
This Martial Artist, whose stance and gaze remained unshaken, bore a cleanly shaved head.
It was strange even by my own reasoning, yet in this moment, I felt as though I had grasped something profound.
Click—
The figure emitted a mechanical sound before moving.
Had my opponent been human, such a sound would never have emerged.
Yet… no person could ever swing a blade without some preparatory stance.
The sound of feet pressing against the ground as energy gathered at the tips, the flow of inner force as power concentrated in the waist and shoulders….
Now I understood what it truly meant to face an opponent without fear.
Swordplay is a dialogue exchanged between combatants.
Therefore, if I do not open my heart to my opponent, I cannot offer any response in return.
Whoosh!
The figure’s two arms and body tilted suddenly, and the blade descended in a stance entirely different from before.
In that instant, a sword path traced downward from above my head, yet the figure remained motionless.
The figure’s legs were fixed in place and could not move.
‘It is telling me to enter at my own distance.’
So only my two feet could move….
Whoosh!
The moment the figure’s sword path traced in my mind became reality, my feet were already in motion.
The wooden blade descending from the figure was aimed at my shoulder.
Yet I knew the figure’s blade would not touch my body.
So I simply allowed my blade to move of its own accord.
Somewhere along the way, I had forgotten I was even holding the wooden sword in my hands.
Inner force stirred within my dantian, and a single flash of blade light briefly illuminated my vision before vanishing.
Crack!
The figure’s wooden blade struck the ground.
My left foot pressed down upon the upper portion of that blade, while my wooden sword had pierced through the figure’s left shoulder and come to rest.
As I released the wooden sword and stepped back, the figure remained still.
I slowly opened my mouth.
“I apologize for destroying something you labored so hard to create.”
In the silence that enveloped the Training Grounds, the Sect Leader’s laughter grew steadily louder.
Against the backdrop of that laughter, Do Gyo Du’s response reached my ears.
“It served its purpose, and for that I am grateful.”
“Then, have I passed?”
To my question, Do Gyo Du answered with a joyful and resonant voice.
“Minor Sect Leader. I humbly acknowledge that you have reached the First Rank.”

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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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