Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 140

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 140
Above the Shinchang Yangga Training Grounds.
Whoosh! Whoooosh!
Yang Se Ryeong, who had been intensely practicing the transformed Yangga Changbeop that Cheon Hui had refined days ago, set down her wooden staff and turned her attention outward as commotion stirred beyond.
“What’s happening?”
She wiped the sweat from her brow and studied the servants around her.
Unlike usual, they moved with unusual precision, and for reasons she couldn’t quite place, the air felt charged with tension.
As she watched them intently,
“Miss!”
Seo Yun came sprinting from the distance, gasping for breath.
In her haste, she hadn’t even paused to catch her breath—she drew close to Yang Se Ryeong and gripped her shoulders firmly.
“You must go inside at once.”
“What’s going on?”
Yang Se Ryeong stared back uncomprehending, and Seo Yun bit her lip.
“The Ilwol Moon people have arrived.”
Yet Yang Se Ryeong’s expression remained oddly composed.
She had anticipated this already.
Myeong Weol Do, Hon Don, and all three of their military forces had met their end—it would have been stranger if they hadn’t moved.
But then.
“What’s more, it seems they came prepared—among the Four Heavenly Kings, Do Ol and Goong Ki have come themselves.”
At Seo Yun’s immediate follow-up, Yang Se Ryeong’s composure shattered.
“……The Four Heavenly Kings have come?”
She hadn’t expected the Four Heavenly Kings to arrive.
Two of them, no less.
‘Are they preparing for war? But we have the justification on our side…….’
The Kangho of the present day was an age of unprecedented peace governed by the Nine Provinces Three Tyrant Families.
Precisely for this reason, justification was paramount in disputes between the great sects.
‘This conflict wasn’t started by us—Ilwol Moon initiated it first…….’
The thought caused her to stiffen.
To be precise, Ilwol Moon had not been the true instigators.
The very first to move had been…….
In that instant, as though lightning struck her crown, she spun sharply around.
Then she drove off the ground and bolted forward.
“Miss! Where are you——”
Seo Yun called after her desperately, but Yang Se Ryeong didn’t hear her.
‘They haven’t come to wage war against our clan…….’
Urgency painted her face.
‘They’ve come looking for the Great Hero!’
Meanwhile, the Clan Master Hall of Shinchang Yangga was suffused with a glacial chill.
At the center of that atmosphere stood Yang Jo Gang.
‘The rumors don’t do justice to his remarkable presence.’
Yang Jo Gang fixed his gaze upon the two before him.
If these truly were the Four Heavenly Kings of Ilwol Moon, their aura was decidedly formidable.
Above all, the fighting spirit emanating from the elderly man was enough to rouse him.
‘With a fighting spirit of that caliber, could that old man be Do Ol?’
Dark eyes narrowed as he studied the elder.
The old man, as though displaying confidence itself, sat back in his chair with his legs sprawled wide, conducting himself as though he owned the place.
This bearing aligned precisely with the legendary Fighting Ghost, the great master of the previous generation before his devotion to Ilwol Moon.
‘Then…….’
He shifted his gaze to the side.
The woman, whose robe was carelessly loosened near the chest, smiled knowingly the moment she felt his eyes upon her.
‘That woman must be Goong Ki.’
As Yang Jo Gang regarded her,
Swish―
she, who had been exuding seductive energy, continued to cross and uncross her legs deliberately, brazenly displaying her bare skin.
‘Playing tricks.’
Yang Jo Gang averted his gaze.
The moment his eyes turned to ice, something unexpected flickered across Goong Ki’s pupils.
‘Most men lose their wits when faced with seductive energy of this potency…….’
As she watched him,
“Did you do that to this clan’s First Sword Master?”
Yang Jo Gang spoke in a glacial voice.
Though he had allowed both of them into the Clan Master Hall, he harbored no intention of welcoming them warmly.
Do Ol, sensing as much, twisted his mouth into a sneer.
“Hmph. A man who can’t even endure this woman’s seductive energy, and yet you parade him as First Sword Master? Pathetic…….”
Do Ol’s tone grew increasingly rough.
“Sir.”
Goong Ki cut him off.
Do Ol, interrupted by Goong Ki for the second time that day alone, fixed her with a glacial stare and unleashed a vicious killing intent.
“Who gave you leave to interrupt me?”
Goong Ki met his murderous gaze steadily, her blood-red lips moving.
“Have you forgotten the Sect Leader’s command?”
It was nearly a threat.
“How amusing. You think I blindly obey every whim the Sect Leader utters?”
Do Ol snorted derisively.
“My relationship with the Sect Leader is not one of superior and subordinate like yours—it’s…….”
As the two bickered.
“Are you disrespecting me?”
A chilling voice struck them both like a hammer.
Simultaneously, a weighty pressure erupted, crushing down upon them in an instant.
“……!”
“……!”
Do Ol and Goong Ki flinched beneath the oppressive force and turned their heads.
Yang Jo Gang’s eyes were half-lidded.
His pupils, split sharply between black and white, pierced through them both, holding them completely captive.
In the next moment, his mouth opened.
“It seems you’ve forgotten where this place is.”
His voice, utterly devoid of inflection.
The moment his words reached their ears, every hair on both their bodies stood on end.
“Hehehehe, such exquisite tension. So the legendary Falling Sun of Shinchang is real—I’m curious about his methods…….”
Life flickered in Do Ol’s pupils.
He had been leaning against the backrest, but now began to rise abruptly.
“Stop.”
Goong Ki fixed Do Ol with a stare, speaking firmly.
“You again…….”
“Our enemies lie elsewhere. If you wish to continue fighting, why not take it to the Sect Leader directly?”
“……Tsk.”
Do Ol settled back down, his expression plainly displeased at Goong Ki’s rebuke.
Goong Ki glanced at Do Ol briefly, then turned to meet Yang Jo Gang’s eyes.
“My apologies, Clan Master.”
“Enough.”
Yang Jo Gang cut her off tersely, as though he had no patience for further excuses.
“But what face do you show in visiting this clan?”
“Quite the sharp reception.”
“Did you expect to be welcomed?”
“I didn’t assume you would be.”
She answered with an ingratiating smile.
“And yet you came anyway. Bold.”
“Our sect’s enemy stands plainly before us—we cannot simply let it pass, can we?”
“Enemy?”
For a moment, the image of a certain young man surfaced in Yang Jo Gang’s mind before dissolving.
“Our purpose in coming is simple.”
The Cold Woman spoke in a frigid tone.
“Hand him over to our sect at once.”
Yang Jo Gang regarded her with an expressionless face as he spoke.
“Astounding. You who sought to annihilate the junior members of this association wholesale—now you have the audacity to visit as a guest and demand I surrender someone? It’s beyond belief.”
He unleashed a wild, savage aura.
“Do you dare belittle this clan?”
The Cold Woman faltered for an instant, but quickly composed herself, her smile returning as she spoke with measured calm.
“How could we? The Shinchang Yangga—one of the Eight Great Clans and rulers of this Gansuk—who would dare look down upon you?”
She was smiling, but the Cold Woman’s expression remained rigid.
“Still, there’s something you should understand. It was not our sect who struck first—it was him.”
Yang Jo Gang’s eyebrows twitched.
“Are you lecturing me about justification now?”
The Cold Woman smiled instead of answering.
“Regardless, I have no intention whatsoever of handing him over to you. He is the benefactor of my daughter—no, of this clan itself.”
“A benefactor, you say? How amusing.”
“What’s so amusing about that?”
Goong Ki let slip a sinister laugh.
“Does the clan master perhaps know what martial arts he is currently studying?”
When Yang Jo Gang stared blankly, the Cold Woman pressed her finger to her lips and smiled with deliberate precision.
“He has learned the Sa Gong.”
“What are you—”
“The true transmission of the Sahwang Jeon.”
For the first time, Yang Jo Gang’s pupils wavered ever so slightly.
“…How am I to believe your words?”
“Would we appear foolish enough to tell a lie that would be exposed immediately?”
Yang Jo Gang’s brow furrowed.
If the claim about inheriting the true transmission of Sahwang Jeon were false, exposure was merely a matter of time.
Meanwhile, the Cold Woman’s eyes glinted wickedly as she watched his reaction.
‘He cannot meddle in the affairs of Sapa.’
The Orthodox Sect and Sapa had been adversaries from ancient times until now.
He would never come to their aid.
But then.
“I see. So he is of Sapa.”
Yang Jo Gang returned to the same indifferent expression as before, lowering his gaze.
“So what of it?”
The Cold Woman’s eyes widened.
“Are you saying you will protect him?”
“You thought that if he were of Sapa, I would hand the boy over to you.”
At this stroke hitting the mark, Goong Ki bit her lower lip hard.
It was exactly as he said.
Shinchang Yangga was an orthodox great family.
She had unconsciously believed it was not a place that would shelter one of Sapa.
“Do you intend to meddle in Sapa’s affairs?”
“Absurd. To speak of Orthodox and Sapa in the age of the Nine Provinces Three Tyrant Families.”
Yang Jo Gang’s eyes narrowed.
“Even the Orthodox Sect—the Nine Factions and One Gang and the Eight Great Clans—are divided against themselves and wage war. What does it matter if he is Sapa or Orthodox?”
Yang Jo Gang’s gaze hardened.
“What matters now is one thing alone: he is the benefactor who saved my daughter.”
He rose to his feet.
Then, looking down at them both, he spoke with chilling finality.
“I have not the slightest intention of handing over this clan’s benefactor to Ilwol Moon. Now leave.”
* * *
Yang Se Ryeong, who had been employing even the Choryu Bo, arrived at the Separate Residence not long after.
“Great Master!”
She burst through the door.
“What is it?”
Cheon Hui was eating candied fruit.
He lay sprawled about with perfect ease, as though he knew nothing of the situation outside.
“The Four Heavenly Kings have come to our clan!”
She spoke urgently.
“Ah, the Four Heavenly Kings? Now that you mention it, two of them certainly came in reeking of murderous intent.”
“You knew?”
“With such blatant killing intent on display, it would be strange not to notice.”
Cheon Hui glanced toward the Clan Master Hall and popped another piece of candied fruit into his mouth.
“This one’s delicious too.”
Yang Se Ryeong stood speechless for a moment before shaking her head vigorously and collecting herself.
“This is no time for that, Great Master. They came to the clan looking for you.”
Yang Se Ryeong added her explanation, assuming Cheon Hui was unaware of the current situation.
“Of course it is.”
Cheon Hui smiled with easy confidence, his lips curving up.
“Aren’t you worried at all?”
“Worried? About what? You’re not suggesting I should be concerned that those fools came looking for me?”
Yang Se Ryeong hesitated, and Cheon Hui let out a laugh of disbelief.
“If anything, they should be the ones worried, not me.”
He turned his head toward the side.
“Wouldn’t you say?”
Yang Se Ryeong turned to follow his gaze, then froze.
“Father?”
“I have something to discuss with him. Would you mind stepping outside?”
“Outside? Is it something I shouldn’t hear?”
……
At his silence, Yang Se Ryeong lowered her head, her expression darkening as she bit her lip.
“……I understand.”
She withdrew from the room.
Once they were alone in the hall,
Thunk.
Yang Jo Gang produced a large liquor bottle from somewhere and set it down hard on the table.
“A drink. How about it?”
“Now there’s a thought.”
The corners of Cheon Hui’s mouth lifted.
“A true foundation for conversation.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————