Chapter 238
Chapter 238
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 238
Chapter Title: The Blood Art's Hidden Trap
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Hyeok Mulin had intended to glance at the martial arts manual for just a brief moment before setting it aside.
He planned to grasp the next principle following 'Blood,' assess the rough feasibility and timeline, and report it to the Palace Lord.
Yet the instant Hyeok Mulin opened it, he could no longer adhere to his original plan.
The manual held such unfathomable depth that one might never emerge from it; the moment he unfolded it, he plunged into profound immersion right there on the spot.
All surroundings faded away, leaving the sensation that he alone remained in the entire world.
This was the phenomenon that arose whenever Hyeok Mulin devoted his full mind and soul to deciphering a martial art.
"......"
Yeon Jeha promptly vacated the area, proving himself rather quick on the uptake.
But Yeon Jeokhwa chose differently.
She quietly observed Hyeok Mulin, lost in his martial arts research, from nearby.
'If there's even the slightest thing to learn, I have to take it.'
With her exceptional drive for self-improvement, she aimed to absorb his methods and focus by watching at close range—the ways of Hyeok Mulin, who was profoundly versed in martial arts.
Yet before long, she realized something.
His approach was far beyond what one could mimic merely by peeking from the side.
'Is he even human?'
Hyeok Mulin's concentration and tenacity dwelled in a realm she could never touch.
No less than three full days.
For three days straight after beginning his study, he sat motionless in that very spot, simply turning the pages of the manual one by one.
Did he not feel sleepy? Or hunger? Yeon Jeokhwa wondered, but even the most basic human urges posed no hindrance to his research.
As time wore on, martial arts manuals gradually piled up beside Hyeok Mulin.
And once he had skimmed one and set it aside, he never touched it again.
'What do the ones stacked beside him mean?'
She was on the verge of bursting with curiosity over whether the piled manuals signaled the complete end of his research, but fearing any disturbance, she swallowed her question deep in her throat.
And when seven days and nights had passed, she could no longer bear simply watching Hyeok Mulin and departed.
Not because there was nothing left to learn.
Because following his method was utterly impossible for her.
Thus alone once more, Hyeok Mulin methodically analyzed the manuals in sequence, steadily incorporating the principles of blood arts into his own world.
And at last, a full month later.
Thud.
By closing the final manual, 'Gang,' every last one now lay stacked beside Hyeok Mulin.
Hearing the news, Yeon Jeha rushed to the Blood Scripture Repository and questioned him.
"Did you succeed in the interpretation?"
Hyeok Mulin nodded at his words.
"But it seems I won't be able to keep our promise."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"Regrettably, I can't share this with you all."
As Hyeok Mulin slowly rose from his seat, the repository's atmosphere plummeted in an instant.
Yeon Jeha shot back in a frosty tone.
"I must have misheard. You can't share it?"
"You heard me right. Regrettably, I can't share this with you."
Yeon Jeha fixed Hyeok Mulin with a piercing stare.
He had extended the utmost support for an entire month.
He had even granted the first outsider access to the Blood Scripture Repository—a place even the main palace rarely entered. Yet the response was the polar opposite of what he had hoped.
"You're not trying to deceive me now, are you? Just speak the plain truth. Did you truly decipher that martial art?"
Yeon Jeha suspected that Hyeok Mulin had failed the deciphering and was now scrambling to dodge any ensuing responsibility for the immediate fallout.
But Hyeok Mulin casually shattered that notion.
"No. The martial art's interpretation is complete."
"Then why...!"
"That's precisely why I can't share it with you. I've realized its danger first."
Yeon Jeha locked eyes with Hyeok Mulin.
Gazing into his utterly composed gaze, he finally posed one question.
"Does that danger point toward us... or the world at large?"
Hyeok Mulin fell briefly silent at the words, then parted his lips.
"Both."
With that, Yeon Jeha understood.
The reason Hyeok Mulin refused to divulge the interpretation.
He had glimpsed the martial art's overwhelming might—enough to threaten the very order of the world.
And that confirmed two undeniable facts.
He had truly completed the interpretation.
And this martial art wielded power surpassing any blood art ever unveiled.
Having verified as much, Yeon Jeha spoke with a blank expression.
"You seem to be under some delusion."
Rumble—
Yeon Jeha unleashed an oppressive aura from his entire body, issuing a warning toward Hyeok Mulin.
"Don't forget—the ground beneath your feet is the heart of our main palace."
His words carried a stark warning on the surface, but beneath lurked outright intimidation.
Hand over the analyzed martial art if you wish to leave here in one piece.
Compounded by the aura bearing down from above, any ordinary martial artist would have no choice but to yield.
Yeon Jeha fully expected Hyeok Mulin to bend at the waist.
But.
"The heart of the main palace."
'Ugh!'
The aura crushing Hyeok Mulin steadily weakened.
No, that wasn't all—the internal energy he had projected now rebounded straight back at him.
Yeon Jeha swiftly scattered his senses and restored equilibrium.
Turning to face forward, he met the indifferent gaze of Hyeok Mulin staring back at him.
'He was concealing his strength!'
In truth, Yeon Jeha had never held Hyeok Mulin in particularly high regard as a martial artist.
The first time they met, he had sensed almost no internal energy from him—enough to question whether he was even a true martial artist.
Still, the reason he had entrusted the interpretation to Hyeok Mulin was straightforward.
He viewed analyzing martial arts as entirely separate from embodying them through one's flesh and blood.
Even a glance at most sects revealed eccentrics who devoted themselves solely to research and interpretation.
Yeon Jeha had pegged Hyeok Mulin as one such type.
Someone whose body couldn't handle direct cultivation, so he had honed his research and analytical prowess to its peak.
But now, Yeon Jeha realized his error.
Merely clashing auras had been enough for him to gauge Hyeok Mulin's realm.
At minimum, they were equals.
He was no inferior warrior to Yeon Jeha himself, Palace Lord of the Blood Heaven Divine Palace.
Awareness of that fact sent tension rippling naturally through his body.
What purpose did a warrior of that caliber have for entering their main palace?
And if he were to cut loose right here, could the Blood Heaven Divine Palace truly hold?
As tangled thoughts roiled through Yeon Jeha's mind, Hyeok Mulin spoke.
"Enough with the games."
With his aura dissipated, Hyeok Mulin continued.
"You already know, don't you? That it's something you can never actually do."
At those words, Yeon Jeha gradually reined in his aura before fully withdrawing his energy emission.
Regrettably, Hyeok Mulin was correct.
Even had his martial prowess been lacking, nothing would have changed. Resorting to brute threats now amounted to empty posturing; they could never follow through to the end.
He alone had completed the interpretation of this martial art—how could they possibly kill him?
He was the sole key to unveiling its secrets.
From the outset, it had been an impossible gambit.
"Then... can I at least hear the reason?"
Yeon Jeha's grievance gave way to profound doubt.
As Palace Lord, he had promised rewards greater than any other. So what reason could possibly compel Hyeok Mulin to withhold it—even from the Blood Heaven Divine Palace—enough to forsake those rewards entirely?
Hyeok Mulin offered a simple reply.
"Blood."
"Blood...?"
The root and primal truth of all blood arts.
"To wield this martial art, nothing less than a colossal quantity of blood will be required."
Blood. Flow. Gu. Red. Power. Person. River.
Having meticulously studied the nine manuals in order, Hyeok Mulin had actually concluded the core analysis in a mere fortnight.
But at one point, a faint sense of discord arose.
Unable to shake the persistent unease it brought, Hyeok Mulin delved into its origin and soon uncovered the truth.
'A trap.'
The nine manuals combined to indicate a single martial art, yet several among them were deliberate misdirections.
Moreover, completion demanded not addition, but excision—removing pieces to make the rest fit.
'No idea who left this behind, but what a petty temperament.'
Not content with shattering an already fiendishly complex martial art into fragments, they had even concealed traps within.
Hyeok Mulin could unravel it only because he had spent decades studying the manuals left by past Heavenly Demons in the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault; no other warrior in the world could have come close.
In the end, he discarded Gu, Red, Power, and Person—a total of four—and achieved completion.
Crimson Blood Heavenly River Divine Art.
Hyeok Mulin, who had not mastered the Blood God Method, could not fully internalize it. But should one enlightened in blood arts, like the Palace Lord, acquire it...
'It would grant power beyond compare to any blood art known thus far.'
He had believed the Blood Sea Linked Heart Art to be the pinnacle of the Blood Heart Method—all wrong.
This Crimson Blood Heavenly River Divine Art was the true essence of blood arts, the Blood Cult's final legacy, lacking nothing.
Yet immense power always bore commensurate constraints.
Wielding it demanded the consumption of vast quantities of blood.
Fresh blood, drawn straight from living human bodies.
"So that's why you refuse to share it with us."
"Precisely. Should I reveal the Crimson Blood Heavenly River Divine Art to you, in pursuit of mastery, you would unleash unprecedented war upon the world once more."
The simplest means of obtaining fresh blood?
War itself.
The instant they obtained it, the Blood Heaven Divine Palace would inevitably ignite conflict—and in its flames, embody the divine art while forging an even mightier force.
Hyeok Mulin could not endorse the future so plainly visible before him.
'Well, the Central Plains' fate is no concern of mine.'
But the timing was poor.
With delicate tensions simmering between righteous and demonic factions, any move by the Blood Heaven Divine Palace would spark a cataclysmic war.
Its ripples would inevitably reach the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Yet without first unifying the Seven Great Demon Clans, rallying the cult as one was impossible. Completely evading the chaos would prove difficult.
Thus had Hyeok Mulin preemptively severed the external threat.
"......"
Yeon Jeha had no retort to Hyeok Mulin's words.
Should its power prove genuine, igniting war immediately would be the most rational course from the Blood Heaven Divine Palace's vantage.
Thus, Yeon Jeha could only despair.
He was forced to relinquish the Blood Cult's legacy dangling right before his eyes.
Moreover, with Hyeok Mulin's prowess now confirmed, no further means of coercion remained.
As Yeon Jeha tightly shut his eyes, swallowing his bitter regret...
"There is, however, one possible path."
"What!"
Yeon Jeha's eyes flew open; he rushed to Hyeok Mulin, pleading desperately.
"What is this path? Speak it—I'll attempt anything!"
Hyeok Mulin quietly observed his frantic yearning.
Then, after a pause, he slowly spoke.
"The ritual."
He froze.
Yeon Jeha's motion halted at the word.
"Abandon the ritual you are conducting in the Blood Heaven Divine Palace."
At those words, the gaze Yeon Jeha turned upon Hyeok Mulin grew as cold as rime frost.