The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 86

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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 086
We’ll know once we try
Yet Jin Seol smiled faintly, her eyes carrying a hint of melancholy as she added casually.
“We’ll know once we try. I’ll be happy to assist you.”
“Th…thank you.”
Young Ho Bin, seeing me nod in acknowledgment, handed Jin Seol a wooden practice sword.
But the moment Jin Seol grasped the wooden blade, she examined the handle briefly before tossing it aside without hesitation.
Instead, she immediately drew the real sword hanging at her waist.
“You said to attack with all my strength and sincerity, didn’t you? Since I’m doing this, I’ll do it properly.”
The instant I saw the razor-sharp blade gleaming in the light, I heard Baek So Cheong and Young Ho Bin draw sharp breaths.
I too felt cold sweat trickling down my back.
“Indeed. Your words ring true.”
It was undeniable that I had chosen my practice partner well.

* * *
I stood in the heart of the Coniferous Forest where I had faced Dongbang Cheon five days prior.
“Are you prepared?”
Dongbang Cheon maintained the same solemn demeanor as that day, his aura still sharp and piercing.
The only thing that had changed about him was one thing alone.
Instead of the crude wooden staff he had wielded then, he now gripped a blade honed to a razor’s edge.
My gaze fixed upon that blade, I recalled the conversation I had shared with Jin Seol just two days prior.
‘What is it you wished to discuss?’
‘Minor Sect Leader. It concerns the assassination attempt that occurred during the gathering of the Four Great Families’ young lords.’
‘Didn’t you say further investigation became impossible because all the assassins from that day perished?’
‘That’s true. The White Tiger Palace concluded their investigation, but I continued pursuing the assassins’ identities afterward.’
I nodded as I listened to Jin Seol’s words.
The Ma Yeon Palace, to which she belonged, specialized in intelligence and espionage operations.
She possessed more than sufficient capability to investigate matters personally if she so chose.
Though I was surprised she would go to such lengths for my sake.
‘Did you uncover a lead?’
‘When I examined the corpses of the assassins who died from a delayed-acting poison, their liver and gallbladder tissues had dissolved. It was a distinctive phenomenon, so I focused my investigation on that aspect….’
‘It appears something came to light.’
Though Jin Seol and I were already conversing away from others’ eyes, she glanced left and right once more to confirm no one was near, then lowered her voice further as she spoke with utmost caution.
‘The poison that killed them appears to be the Dongbang Ancient Toxin, secretly prepared by the Dong Bang Family.’
If true, this was extraordinary information.
It would significantly increase the likelihood that it was the Dongbang Family Head who sent the assassins to kill me and the young lords of the Four Great Families that day.
If that were the case, Dong Bang Heon’s sudden absence from the scheduled gathering of young lords would also be explained.
‘Did you report this to the Blood Cloud Palace Master or the White Tiger Palace Master?’
‘No. I wanted to report to you first and consult on how to proceed.’
‘You did well. Careful examination seems necessary rather than acting hastily.’
“Minor Sect Leader, then should I…?”
“It will be troublesome, but I ask that you conduct additional investigations over the next two days to the extent you are able.”
“Yes, Minor Sect Leader.”
“Do you still require more preparation? It is not too late even now—if you lack confidence, you may withdraw.”
Dongbang Cheon’s quiet question, posed a second time, pulled me from my reverie.
Yet in truth, his question was one I wished to ask myself.
Was I truly ready?
I exhaled softly and turned my gaze toward Dongbang Cheon. “May I ask one thing before we begin?”
“Speak.”
“Master, do you intend to kill me with that blade?”
After much deliberation, I had come to stand here. Yet even if I had come for the chance to receive the Half Moon Return Blade Technique—a hundred times over worth the sacrifice—coming alone may have been a grave error.
Should I not have brought at least the Wol Young Guard escorts, or Young Ho Bin?
“Yes. I intend to kill you with this blade.”
From Dongbang Cheon emanated a sinister killing intent that left no doubt of his sincerity.
His words were no lie.
Yet strangely, the moment I heard those words, my trembling heart grew calm.
Every sense in my body awakened sharply, my five senses honed to their utmost.
“I am ready.”
Dongbang Cheon, his killing intent undiminished, slowly raised the saber in his grip.
“Assume your stance.”
“Yes.”
The distance between Dongbang Cheon and myself was roughly half a zhang.
His killing intent grew fiercer by the moment. Whether his words of death were sincere mattered little—what was certain was that he harbored no intention of mercy.
“Mark my words: if you harbor the same mindset as last time, you will die here.”
I nodded.
It was a truth I had come to understand during these past five days of refining the Half Moon Return Blade Technique.
When Dongbang Cheon had posed his question then, I had answered thus:
‘What force drives you forward toward a place where death awaits?’
‘Is it not because to cease moving forward is certain death?’
Mere days ago, I had truly believed this.
But now I understood with piercing clarity how weak and complacent that thinking had been. “Yes. I understand now, Master.”
I drew the Heavenly Demon Slayer and assumed the fundamental stance of the Half Moon Return Blade Technique.
Dongbang Cheon’s eyes gleamed with an unreadable light as his lips curved upward.
Thud.
His right foot then descended half a step forward with the weight of Mount Tai.
Simultaneously, the blade rose toward the heavens, its light flashing brilliant white before descending like a thunderbolt.
My crescent-shaped Heavenly Demon Slayer trembled slightly.
The Half Moon Return Blade Technique reverses the force channeled through an opponent’s weapon, growing more powerful the stronger the attack.
This was why Dongbang Cheon had struggled when I attacked with restrained force five days prior.
Five days ago, when I held back my strength and attacked, Dongbang Cheon struggled because of that as well.
I couldn’t properly execute counter techniques against Baek So Cheong and Young Ho Bin, who were reluctant to injure me, for the same reason.
In other words….
‘I will kill you with this blade’—Dongbang Cheon’s words actually meant, ‘I will absolutely never let you die.’
Skreek.
Dongbang Cheon’s sword and the Heavenly Demon Slayer Blade in my grip overlapped softly upon my shoulder.
The power contained in the peak master’s wholehearted strike was completely absorbed by the Heavenly Demon Slayer Blade.
Following the trajectory of his blade descending with fierce momentum, the direction I needed to move crystallized in my mind.
Turning Moon Returns to One.
My body spun like a top.
Perhaps it was because of the peak-level power I had never experienced before.
In that fleeting instant, a tingling sensation coursed through my mind like electricity, and my body felt weightless, buoyed by exhilaration.
After that moment—an eternity compressed into a heartbeat—passed.
Only then could I perceive the whisper of wind passing through the sharp needles of the coniferous trees and the scent of earth carried on the air.
I now stood where Dongbang Cheon had been, while he lay sprawled on his back where I had stood.
Dongbang Cheon gazed at the sky with an expressionless face and murmured.
“To take one more step forward even when death awaits ahead. The reason is….”
The silk robe he wore had a tear about a foot long across its front, and blood seeped from his exposed skin.
And directly beneath the fresh wound, an old scar of similar size and shape was revealed.
The Half Moon Return Blade Technique was as dangerous to transmit as it was to learn.
Both the transmitter and the receiver risked grave harm if they did not pour everything into their blades.
Though Dongbang Cheon had not said it aloud, the Dong Bang Family likely had as many fathers wounded while transmitting the Half Moon Return Blade Technique as sons injured while learning it.
Dongbang Cheon had endured this ordeal twice for my sake.
“Only when you pierce through death does the path to survival finally open.”
Until now, I had learned martial arts and wielded the blade to survive.
But that was merely being dragged about, fleeing from death.
I finally understood that the path to survival opens only when you step into the jaws of death itself.
“Yes. That is the essence of the Half Moon Return Blade Technique…. Well done.”
“Thank you, Master.”

* * *
Among the Five Great Families of the Family Alliance Meeting, the Family Heads and young masters of the Four Great Families—excluding the Dong Bang Family—along with their retinues and the escorts accompanying them, numbered roughly a hundred people.
More than two hours had passed since this vast procession of mounted riders and carriages departed from the Sect Headquarters.
Midway through the column, two beautiful women rode side by side on horseback, maintaining a distance of about three zhang behind the Family Heads, following the procession at a leisurely pace.
Baek So Cheong turned her head slightly and glanced at Jin Seol’s profile as she spoke.
“Jin Seol, you look particularly weary today. Has something demanding occupied your time?”
“When one serves as a Disciple of Ma Yeon Palace, such fatigue is commonplace. I had some special matters to attend to from last night through this morning as well.”
Though we had ridden together for more than two hours, this was the first time I had heard her voice today.
Despite the exhaustion that seemed to drip from her after staying awake through the night, Jin Seol’s voice was as pleasant to hear as her refined features were beautiful to behold.
Baek So Cheong suddenly felt a warmth of affection toward her and drew her horse’s head closer.
“Since it’s just us here, I wanted to ask….”
“…?”
“Were you sincere when you said those things to the Minor Sect Leader back then?”
Jin Seol gazed intently at Baek So Cheong, who spoke in a lowered voice with a clear, gentle laugh.
“Do you mean when I said I admired the Minor Sect Leader?”
“Yes. Ah, but… if it makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to answer….”
“Yes. I was sincere.”
“Ah…!”

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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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