The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 84

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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 084
Transmission of Martial Arts
“….”
To Dongbang Cheon’s question, I found myself unable to answer for a long time.
In truth, I myself did not fully understand what it was.
“Because if we do not move forward, it would be certain death… would it not?”
“I see.”
Upon hearing my answer, which came only after considerable deliberation, Dongbang Cheon fell into thought for a moment.
When he opened his mouth again, the smile and composure he had displayed until now had vanished without a trace.
Lips pressed into a firm line, eyes gleaming with sharp intensity, stance rooted solidly to the ground without the slightest gap.
Perhaps this was the true visage of the Martial Artist Dongbang Cheon.
“From this moment forward, I shall transmit to you the Half-Moon Returning Blade Form.”

* * *
I completed the abbreviated ceremony of taking a master by offering three deep bows to Dongbang Cheon.
In truth, I had not anticipated that receiving a single martial technique would carry such profound significance.
Yet even in abbreviated form, having performed the rites of taking him as my master, the relationship between Dongbang Cheon and myself had now become that of master and disciple in the truest sense.
In the Martial Arts World, the master-disciple relationship was equivalent to that between parent and child.
A disciple was to serve their master with the same respect one would show a parent, and a master was to cherish their disciple as they would their own child—such was the common understanding of this world.
With this understanding, at least the anxiety that Dongbang Cheon might harm me under the guise of transmitting martial arts dissipated.
Of course, as the Minor Sect Leader of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, I had no intention of calling Dongbang Cheon my master.
The problem was that the martial technique I was about to receive was so perilous that even during the actual transmission process, a master could inadvertently cause their disciple’s death.
“Draw your blade.”
“Yes, Senior.”
With a sound that sent shivers down my spine no matter how many times I heard it, my beloved blade revealed its sharp edge.
“Ah, so this is the Celestial Demon Slaying Blade. Truly a fine weapon.”
Dongbang Cheon recognized the Celestial Demon Slaying Blade, one of the three sacred treasures of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, and murmured softly before surveying the surroundings and walking toward a particular spot.
There, he picked up a wooden stick that had fallen to the ground.
It was slightly thicker than a thumb and roughly the length of a human forearm.
As I watched to see what he intended to do with it, Dongbang Cheon returned before me and assumed a stance.
His feet spread slightly wider than shoulder-width, his right foot withdrawn about a step backward, the wooden stick held horizontally with its end drooping slightly downward.
“This is the basic stance of the Half-Moon Returning Blade Form.”
Observing this posture, I could not help but ask.
“Will you not draw your blade?”
Dongbang Cheon’s answer came immediately.
“This will suffice. Attack me with all your strength.”
“….”
Surely this was too much.
Even so, I possessed first-rate inner energy and wielded my blade with masterful control as a first-class Martial Artist.
Even though I look like this, I’m a first-rate martial artist with considerable internal energy and the ability to freely control my ki.
No matter how skilled a master might be, did he truly believe he could block my attack with a mere stick—my attack wielding the Cheon Sa Gwi Myeol Do, the Divine Sect’s treasured blade?
Could it be he didn’t know the extent of my power?
“Are you truly certain? Even so, that stick….”
“I tell you again—attack with all your strength.”
“….”
But as his disciple, I could no longer raise objections to my master’s words.
I had no choice but to grip the Cheon Sa Gwi Myeol Do and activate the Hyeon Ma Nae Hyang Sim Gong, drawing my power to its peak.
I was ready to unleash my blade energy and strike at Dongbang Cheon.
Let him see just how devastating the Half-Moon Demon Blade technique truly was.
“Wait.”
At that moment, Dongbang Cheon rose to his feet with a serious expression, turning the stick in his hand this way and that as he examined it.
“Hold on.”
Then he cast the stick aside and walked back into the forest, returning with a different stick in his grasp—not the one from before.
It was roughly one and a half times thicker than the previous stick and slightly longer by a span.
“….”
“Now it’s ready. Come.”
To be honest, I was still uneasy even now.
Regardless of Dongbang Cheon being the Family Head of the Dong Bang Family, a rival clan to ours, I truly had no desire to injure him with my own hands.
Yet I could not refuse again.
My life hung in the balance as well.
“I’m coming.”
I drew my power to its peak once more and swung the Cheon Sa Gwi Myeol Do with all my might.
The technique I chose was the Bright Moon Reflecting Blade, the form from the Hyeon Wol Sip Sam Sik in which I had the most confidence.
Whoosh!
The sharp blade energy blazed with an eerie light as it descended toward Dongbang Cheon, who held the Half-Moon Demon Blade stance.
My attack would surely cleave through his shoulder and upper body in an instant.
And in the next moment.
Spin.
For an instant, I felt as though the heavens and earth had inverted.
No—it was no illusion.
I never even saw Dongbang Cheon move.
My head was already facing downward as my feet completed a full rotation through the air before I crashed hard into the ground.
“Cough!”
When my senses returned, I found myself sprawled flat on my back, staring up at the sky.
Moreover, a tremendous pain radiated from near my right cheek.
My mind was hazy from the searing pain that twisted through my insides, but when I turned my head slightly to look, I was shocked to see that Dongbang Cheon hadn’t moved an inch—he remained in his original stance exactly as before.
“You!”
Before I could even gather my wits and comprehend the situation, Dongbang Cheon’s thunderous roar erupted.
“I told you to attack with all your strength!”
“I….”
I touched my swollen cheek and quickly pushed myself to my feet.
It felt as though my cheekbone might have cracked, but there was no time to complain of pain.
“I apologize.”
I knew, and Dongbang Cheon knew, that the moment I swung the Heavenly Demon Sword Annihilation, I had unconsciously held back my strength.
I had feared that my technique would injure my opponent.
Only now did I realize this was an insult to Dongbang Cheon, who had sought to transmit the family’s secret techniques to me.
“If you fail to do so properly next time, I will withdraw the transmission of martial arts entirely.”
Feeling the frost-laden edge in Dongbang Cheon’s voice and the chill in his gaze, I struggled to recall what had just transpired.
Yet no matter how hard I searched my memory, I could not discern how I had been countered.
It was a technique so swift that even my eyes could not follow it.
All I remembered was the moment my stance crumbled completely—the heavy, razor-sharp strike of the Half-Moon Demon Blade descending upon my face.
Had the wooden staff Dongbang Cheon wielded been a proper weapon instead of something that looked ready to splinter at any moment—
No, had the staff been merely a little thicker, the very thought of what might have become of me sent a chill down my spine.
Facing that situation again filled me with unspeakable fear and pain.
Yet even so, the blood flowing through my veins, the burning heart of a Martial Artist that had taken root deep within my soul, cried out.
I could grow stronger still.
If only I could master this technique…
“Please, once more.”
My mind held only one desire: to properly learn the Half-Moon Demon Blade technique that Dongbang Cheon would teach me.
It should have been nothing but that…
Yet in that brief moment, why did the smiling face of someone I had not expected suddenly appear in my thoughts?
“Haaaah!”
With a sharp cry, the Heavenly Demon Sword Annihilation descended upon Dongbang Cheon like lightning, now radiating a far more ferocious aura than before.
And this time, I saw it clearly.
The wooden staff in Dongbang Cheon’s grip curved into the shape of a half-moon.
The moment it absorbed the power of my descending blade with the speed of thunder, I felt my stance collapse instantly, leaving me defenseless and exposed before Dongbang Cheon’s advance.
Whoosh.
In that silent space where time seemed to have stopped, a wooden staff roughly twice the thickness of a thumb came hurtling through the air.
Crash.
The moment my body touched the ground once more, Dongbang Cheon’s attack ceased.
The wooden staff merely grazed past above my head.
Dongbang Cheon’s voice reached me.
“Did you see it clearly this time?”
I answered, my voice hollow, gazing up at the sky.
“Yes, Master… I saw it clearly.”

* * *
Dongbang Cheon granted me five days to cultivate the Half-Moon Returning Blade Form.
For four days now, I had been immersed in training at the Training Grounds, forgetting even sleep and sustenance.
Of course, given the nature of the Half-Moon Returning Blade Form, practicing alone would never suffice.
Two first-rate martial artists I could trust within the Divine Sect were assisting my cultivation.
“Sister, let’s try once more.”
Both of them approached the training with equal seriousness, yet we still hadn’t grasped the essence—our practice yielding little progress.
Baek So Cheong, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, gripped the wooden sword once again.
“Yes, I’ll do it. Minor Sect Leader.”
Feet spread wide, center of gravity lowered, wooden sword held at an angle….
I assumed the preparatory stance Dongbang Cheon had taught me once more.
Baek So Cheong’s wooden sword descended with ferocious speed, and the moment our blades met, I attempted to exploit her force and collapse her stance….
Crack!
Yet again, I had failed.
The Half-Moon Returning Blade Form is a technique wherein, from the preparatory Half-Moon Returning Blade stance, after collapsing the opponent’s posture, one selects one of three follow-up techniques—Returning Moon Spinning Wheel, Moon-Partial Shattering Blade, or Turning Moon Returning to One—based on the direction of the opponent’s attack, to attempt a counteroffensive.
But my Half-Moon Returning Blade had once more failed to collapse Baek So Cheong’s attacking stance, crumbling instead.

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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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