Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 66

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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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Episode 66. To covet another’s possession, one must stake what is dearest to oneself—3
“Aaaagh!”
Someone drenched in blood lay sprawled across the floor of the Separate Building. The bluestone tiles were stained crimson.
Jang Hak Gyeong and the others blinked in disbelief.
It had happened in an instant. Their eyes had witnessed nothing, despite being wide open.
“Senior sister?”
Moon Su Gyeong’s voice trembled involuntarily.
The blood-soaked figure sprawled on the floor was none other than her senior sister, Jwa Sang Cheon.
Dam Ho stood before Jwa Sang Cheon.
Nobody understood what had happened. Jwa Sang Cheon had attacked first, yet it was Jwa Sang Cheon who lay on the ground.
“Bleeegh!”
Blood and stomach acid poured from Jwa Sang Cheon’s mouth.
In a single blow, the sect master’s first disciple of the Hyun Hyun Sect had been rendered helpless. It was only because the power of the orthodox internal energy had protected his entire body that his insides hadn’t been completely shattered in that one strike.
Dam Ho stood before Jwa Sang Cheon. Then Jwa Sang Cheon struggled to look up at him. His eyes were completely bloodshot, every capillary burst, everything awash in crimson.
“Aaaagh!”
The world had turned entirely red. Dam Ho stood in the center of it all.
He couldn’t focus his eyes. So Dam Ho’s figure appeared doubled, tripled, overlapping. He didn’t look human.
“Please, spare me!”
“…….”
“I’m sorry. I was wrong. Please, I beg you, spare my life.”
Jwa Sang Cheon was terrified. Utterly, maddening terror. The pain wracking his body was nothing compared to the fear of having to keep looking at Dam Ho.
He would have welcomed any word, any response, but Dam Ho only stared at him in silence. That silence made it worse.
“I was wrong… Hnngh!”
Suddenly, Jwa Sang Cheon began to weep.
He was not a weak man. His pride ran deep enough that he despised having to voice apologies to anyone more than death itself. Yet here he was, sobbing like a child.
Dam Ho seized Jwa Sang Cheon by the collar and lifted him.
Jwa Sang Cheon’s legs dangled uselessly in the air. There was no sensation below his chest. It was as though his entire body had vanished, leaving only his neck.
“What have you done? My body… I can’t feel anything. I can’t feel anything!”
Jwa Sang Cheon screamed with all his remaining strength.
His entire body had gone numb. Whether it was temporary or permanent, Jwa Sang Cheon had no way of knowing—and that uncertainty was like watching the world collapse.
Dam Ho, gazing at Jwa Sang Cheon, opened his mouth.
“You coveted another’s possession. Did you not even prepare yourself to lose what you held most dear?”
“Hnnngh!”
Jwa Sang Cheon was no longer hearing Dam Ho’s words. Or rather, his mind had been numbed to the point where he could hear nothing at all.
At that moment, Mo Jung Hyun and Jang Hak Gyeong, their wits finally returned, cried out in unison.
“You madman! How dare you—”
“How dare you harm someone within Hong Am Mountain Manor!”
They looked ready to unleash their martial techniques on the spot.
—Slash!
In that instant, Dam Ho’s gaze turned toward them. The moment they met those empty, emotionless eyes, their bodies trembled as if struck by lightning.
They had never seen eyes like Dam Ho’s before. Like a frog meeting a serpent, their entire bodies went rigid, and even breathing became difficult.
Cold sweat ran down their spines, and their clenched fists trembled with involuntary spasms.
At that moment, a hoarse voice emerged from between Dam Ho’s lips.
“Who are you?”
“We are friends of this young master.”
“Friends?”
Dam Ho’s voice rose slightly. It was barely perceptible—a microscopic shift—but to the two men facing him, it struck like a massive bell reverberating beside them.
“Would you stake your lives for him?”
“What… what do you mean?”
“Would you stake your lives for your friend?”
“I…”
The two men could not answer. Rather, they could not.
Though they were the sort who could be swept up by the moment and lose their judgment of a situation, it was not difficult for them to imagine what would happen if they answered incorrectly now.
Friend or not, they had only just met in this place. There was no loyalty between them.
Weighed down by Dam Ho’s presence, the two men began to back away hesitantly.
But there was someone else approaching Dam Ho.
“That’s enough.”
The man approaching Dam Ho was Yun Sang Han, an Outer Disciple of the Gongdong Sect.
Yun Sang Han’s face had gone rigid.
To be honest, he hadn’t seen how Dam Ho had brought down Jwa Sang Cheon. That meant Dam Ho’s movement had exceeded his visual perception.
‘There are people like this in the world.’
Though he bore the title of Outer Disciple, Yun Sang Han had trained at the main sect of the Gongdong Sect itself. His accomplishments were not far behind those of the First-generation Disciples of the main sect.
Thanks to this, he had even received instruction from the elders of the Gongdong Sect. Yet none of the martial artists he had ever seen in the Gongdong Sect possessed the suffocating presence that Dam Ho carried.
But this did not cause him to shrink back. He took pride in being a disciple of the Gongdong Sect, one of the Nine Great Sects. Though he was merely an Outer Disciple, his pride was no less than that of any Inner Disciple.
He had been taught never to retreat under any circumstances, and never to compromise with any injustice.
To retreat beneath Dam Ho’s dominance would be to disgrace the Gongdong Sect itself.
Yun Sang Han’s gaze turned toward Jwa Sang Cheon, cradled in Moon Su Gyeong’s arms.
Jwa Sang Cheon lay with his mouth agape, foam flecking his lips. The shock of his total paralysis had robbed him of reason.
Whether he could ever fully recover was uncertain. He might well spend the rest of his life in that condition.
They had known each other for barely a day, and their bond was thin at best. Yet they had called each other friends.
To retreat now was something his pride could not abide.
Yun Sang Han raised his fists toward Dam Ho in a martial salute.
“I am Yun Sang Han of the Gongdong Sect.”
“And?”
“I call myself friend to Jwa Sang Cheon, whom you’ve reduced to that state.”
“And?”
“It means my pride won’t allow me to retreat like this. If a disciple of the Gongdong Sect cowers before an opponent’s dominance and withdraws, how could I hold my head up in the Jianghu?”
Yun Sang Han was already drawing up his Internal Energy.
His resolve rippled through the air around him.
Dam Ho nodded slowly.
Compared to Jang Hak Gyeong or Mo Jung Hyun, Yun Sang Han was certainly more of a man.
Yun Sang Han drove his fist toward Dam Ho. It appeared twice the size of an ordinary man’s fist.
Train the Tong Cheon Quan, the Supreme Technique of the Gongdong Sect, to its zenith, and the fist becomes like this.
The Tong Cheon Quan was not a martial technique any mere Outer Disciple could master. Only the First-generation Disciples among the Inner Disciples of the Gongdong Sect could learn it. Its power was proportional to its rarity.
For the first time, emotion kindled in Dam Ho’s eyes. It was unmistakably the light of interest.
He had fought against the Blood Wolf bandits, clashed with the martial artists of the Western Heaven Manor. None of them had satisfied his expectations.
No matter what anyone said, the current overlords of the Jianghu were the Nine Great Sects.
He had glimpsed the martial techniques of Hua Shan, Zhongnan, and Wudang, but he had never experienced the techniques of the Gongdong Sect even once.
The corner of Dam Ho’s mouth lifted slightly.
It was a smile—or would have been, if one could call the slight twist of his lips a smile.
His smile was far too savage, too cold. It froze the very air around him.
Yun Sang Han did not care for that smile.
“Hmph! We’ll see how long you can smile like that.”
He surged forward. The Bi Yeon Step, the Supreme Technique of the Gongdong Sect, unfurled in his movements.
As a swallow skims the water’s surface, so too did Yun Sang Han rush toward Dam Ho from below, his body low.
Whoosh!
All his strength coalesced in his clenched fist.
‘I’ll knock him down.’
He knew his opponent was strong.
How could he fail to read the killing intent that dwelt in that savage momentum, those brutal eyes?
He knew he was outmatched, but retreat was impossible.
‘I am a disciple of the Gongdong Sect.’
Boom!
He understood instinctively that he would have no second chance. So he poured everything into this single move.
A form called Zhen Tian Hao Yu.
Like its name—shaking heaven and making rain descend—it carried overwhelming force.
Dam Ho’s face rushed into view.
His fist drove down toward Dam Ho’s countenance.
The distance was barely a hand’s breadth.
At such proximity, no one could dodge. That was Yun Sang Han’s understanding. Even Jang Hak Gyeong and Mo Jung Hyun believed the same.
In that moment when all eyes fixed upon him, Dam Ho moved.
His five fingers spread wide to meet Yun Sang Han’s fist.
Thunk!
Yun Sang Han’s fist halted against Dam Ho’s palm.
He absorbed the impact with the Xi Zi Jue.
The O Ji Am Pa Gyeong.
His own martial technique, forged in the Underground Cavern.
“Ugh!”
As the punch packed with all his power was stopped, the recoil sent shock waves through Yun Sang Han’s core. All the blood in his body seemed to rush to his head, and he struggled to maintain his balance.
In that instant, Yun Sang Han saw it.
His own reflection caught in Dam Ho’s pupils.
A face twisted by bewilderment and fear stared back through Dam Ho’s eyes—alien, incongruous with anything he recognized as himself.
‘That’s me?’
In that instant, a torrent of Internal Energy poured through Dam Ho’s palm.
Explosion.
Successive detonations erupted within his body.
Yun Sang Han felt as though a colossal tempest had swept through him.
“Aaagh!”
With a wretched cry, Yun Sang Han flew backward and crashed into a massive pillar of the hall. His forearm twisted in a spiral, bone fragments jutting through the skin.
“Nngh—!”
Yun Sang Han clenched his teeth, fighting through the agony.
Dam Ho looked down at him.
“At least you’ve shown some spine. Unlike the others.”
At Dam Ho’s words, the faces of Jang Hak and Mo Jung Hyun drained of all color. They understood perfectly that the “others” he meant were themselves.
First Jwa Sang Cheon, now Yun Sang Han—neither could withstand even a single move from Dam Ho. Their opponent transcended everything they thought they knew.
‘Where does such a man come from…?’
‘He is not our equal.’
Gulp.
They swallowed hard.
If Dam Ho so much as harbored killing intent now, they were already dead men. They who had lived their lives fearing nothing found themselves trembling in the grip of absolute terror.
They didn’t even dare lift their heads, dreading that Dam Ho’s gaze might settle upon them. No matter how distinguished their backgrounds, they had finally grasped that their positions could not shield them from death in this moment.
Yet Dam Ho paid them no mind whatsoever.
Yun Sang Han looked up at Dam Ho. His face contorted with pain, but his resolve had not been broken.
He spoke through gritted teeth.
“I lost. Not the Gongdong Sect—only me.”
“I know.”
“I will challenge you again. Without fail.”
“Whenever you wish.”
Dam Ho turned away.
Moon Su Gyeong appeared, cradling Jwa Sang Cheon in her arms. Her eyes as she looked at Dam Ho were pure confusion.
The First Disciple of Hyun Hyun Sect had been reduced to Half-Body Paralysis in an instant—she could not simply stand aside and ignore it. Yet neither could she bring herself to charge at Dam Ho.
She glared at him, her jaw clenched.
“Was it truly necessary? You could have shown mercy, even just a little. Does your heart only find peace in utterly destroying a person?”
“He still lives.”
“Worse than death. Your First Disciple will never walk on his own two feet again.”
“So you expect me to take responsibility?”
“That is—”
Moon Su Gyeong’s words faltered.
In the Jianghu, all consequences fall upon oneself. Her First Disciple had coveted another’s prize, and Half-Body Paralysis was the result.
The punishment was severe, perhaps even harsh for the transgression—yet she had no grounds upon which to lodge a complaint.
Her mind understood this, but her heart rebelled against accepting such an outcome.
“If you cannot accept the result, you are welcome to find me anytime.”
“You—”
“And then I will do my very best.”
The moment those words left Dam Ho’s mouth, Moon Su Gyeong found herself speechless. She knew well enough that Dam Ho was not a man to speak idly. But what truly startled her was the meaning buried in his words.
‘He didn’t use his full strength?’
The First Disciple of Hyun Hyun Sect and a disciple of Gongdong Sect—shattered with a single move each. And yet he claimed it wasn’t his utmost effort.
She found herself both fearful and desperately curious about what would happen if he unleashed his true power. That awareness of her own fascination struck her like lightning.
She had been utterly swept away by the presence of this man called Dam Ho.
“Ah—”
Her sigh scattered into the wind.

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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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