Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 147

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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 147
“You’re a bit late.”
Cheon Hui was watching the corridor when
Crunch—crunch—
Je Gal Seong Hyeon shuffled out from the darkness, dragging his feet.
His appearance was no joke.
Despite the tangled hair and bronze-tinted skin darkened by exposure, his face was ashen—pale enough that nothing could hide it.
Cheon Hui glanced at him and asked.
“What’s with that look?”
At his utterly indifferent remark, Je Gal Seong Hyeon’s fists trembled.
What’s with it?
The Maehwa Seven Gates, that’s what!
He wanted to shout it aloud.
But how could he?
Je Gal Seong Hyeon swallowed his words and forced himself to speak with measured calm.
“The Maehwa Seven Gates did this to me.”
“Hm? It activated? Did it work?”
Je Gal Seong Hyeon glared at Cheon Hui, then sighed and shook his head.
“It functioned perfectly well.”
“Hm? That’s strange.”
Cheon Hui tilted his head.
It didn’t make sense.
“The exit just opened for me.”
“The exit… opened?”
Je Gal Seong Hyeon’s brow furrowed deeply.
‘That shouldn’t be possible.’
What had it been like when he entered the Maehwa Seven Gates?
He’d been beaten mercilessly by the martial arts his father displayed.
Just like that day in the past when he’d declared he would never learn martial arts—absolutely brutalized.
‘My father definitely appeared, and since I saw him use his martial arts properly, it must have been real…’
His frown deepened.
What was his body’s condition now?
There were no wounds on his body, but the fact that he was still exhausted meant the Array Formation had activated properly.
Since the Seven Gates tormented the spirit instead of inflicting physical pain, exhaustion was inevitable.
But if the Maehwa Seven Gates hadn’t activated and the exit opened immediately… that meant…
‘Could it be…?’
He asked carefully.
“Did nothing appear for you?”
“Nothing did. Why?”
At his answer, Je Gal Seong Hyeon trembled.
The Maehwa Seven Gates had shown no problems when he entered, yet it didn’t activate?
If that was the case, there was only one explanation.
“…Do you perhaps remember what the Maehwa Seven Gates is supposed to be?”
Cheon Hui narrowed his eyes as he watched Je Gal Seong Hyeon’s careful question.
What it’s supposed to be?
“I remember an Array Formation activating and summoning the strongest person in All Under Heaven.”
“That’s not quite right.”
“Not right? How is it different?”
Je Gal Seong Hyeon asked carefully.
“Before that, may I ask you something, Hui?”
“What is it?”
“Who do you believe is the strongest person in All Under Heaven?”
“Me.”
At this answer, the wrinkles on Je Gal Seong Hyeon’s brow deepened and hollowed further.
Then came his next question.
“Do you have an opponent you find difficult to face?”
“No.”
“An opponent you fear…?”
“I don’t.”
……
Je Gal Seong Hyeon pressed his forehead with the expression of one who had just achieved enlightenment, listening to the answer to his question.
The Maehwa Seven Gates was not the problem.
“……Then the Maehwa Seven Gates won’t activate.”
Je Gal Seong Hyeon explained calmly.
“The Maehwa Seven Gates was designed so that whoever enters experiences a vision of the opponent they believe themselves strongest against, or the one they find most troublesome—or fear most of all.”
Cheon Hui tilted his head.
Why make it so complicated?
“Why? So that the Greatest Martial Artist Under Heaven appears.”
“As you yourself know, there is no Greatest Martial Artist Under Heaven in the current Gangho, is there?”
“Eh? There’s no Greatest Martial Artist Under Heaven?”
Cheon Hui was surprised for the first time.
The Gangho was full of people desperate to know who among them was strongest, so they fought and ranked themselves against each other.
‘Now that I think about it, there was never a list like the Ten Greatest Martial Artists Under Heaven before.’
At the time he hadn’t paid it any mind, but thinking back on it now, it was indeed strange.
Meanwhile, Je Gal Seong Hyeon felt dizzy.
When Cheon Hui had said before that ‘a vision of the strongest opponent in All Under Heaven should appear,’ he’d thought it was metaphorical—but it turned out he’d meant it literally.
“In the current Gangho, there is only heated debate over who the Greatest Martial Artist Under Heaven is—no one can say for certain.”
Je Gal Seong Hyeon explained calmly.
What kind of era was the Gangho in now?
An age of the Nine Provinces Three Powers, an age without war.
Since the masters had never directly clashed with one another, strength could only be guessed at, never truly known.
‘Who is the current Greatest Martial Artist Under Heaven?’ was the Gangho’s greatest topic of interest, yet only speculation abounded.
Some said it was the Murim Alliance Leader, others the Bi Cheon Society Leader, still others the Sa Hyuk Ryeon Leader—or sometimes they spoke of sect leaders from other major factions not among the Nine Provinces Three Powers.
And there was one more problem.
“Furthermore, even if we knew who the Greatest Martial Artist Under Heaven was, there’s a grave issue—how could I recreate his martial arts when I’ve never witnessed them?”
Je Gal Seong Hyeon pressed the point earnestly.
After Cheon Hui left, Je Gal Seong Hyeon faced with such a problem had to spend days agonizing over it alone.
How could he possibly solve this?
But as the saying goes, even when the sky falls, there remains a hole through which it may rise again.
Je Gal Seong Hyeon eventually found a method.
‘What if I made it so that whoever enters experiences a vision of the person they believe to be strongest?’
He put the thought into action immediately.
“So the method is what I’ve just described. By combining the Gui Ren Wan Array, the Variation Illusion Array Formation, and the Man Cheon Li Hwa Dae Jin that you taught me, I extracted the memories of whoever enters.”
Cheon Hui stroked his chin.
“In other words, you’re drawing out memories of the person they fear most—or the strongest one besides themselves?”
Je Gal Seong Hyeon breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that Cheon Hui grasped the explanation perfectly.
“Precisely.”
Cheon Hui narrowed his eyes slightly.
‘Originally, among the Ten Gates of the Heavenly Demon Ten Gates, the Heavenly Demon Gate would manifest the Heavenly Demon of the previous era—but I suppose that’s impossible now.’
Then and now were different.
The circumstances, the location, everything prepared.
Which meant Je Gal Seong Hyeon’s method was the best that could be done under present conditions.
“So if someone like me entered, the Maehwa Seven Gates would be meaningless.”
Je Gal Seong Hyeon’s words caught in his throat.
He had never imagined the Maehwa Seven Gates might fail to activate.
No one he thought stronger than himself?
And hadn’t he made the array manifest even if there was the slightest hint of fear toward someone, as a safeguard?
“I suspect there’s no one but you.”
“You never know. The first one appeared, so why couldn’t a second exist?”
“Well, that’s true, but……”
Je Gal Seong Hyeon glanced at Cheon Hui.
“Such a person in All Under Heaven would be counted on one’s fingers.”
Je Gal Seong Hyeon was vaguely trying to redirect the conversation rather than voice the thought ‘There’s something wrong with you,’ when——
“Cheon Hui!”
Hyeon Ryeo came rushing over.
She had deployed the Bo Law technique as she ran, and now she looked at Cheon Hui with concern written across her face. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine.”
“Thank goodness.”

Hyeon Ryeo let out a relieved breath and broke into a warm smile.
Then she pulled Cheon Hui into an embrace.
“You’ve come home.”
She was immensely proud of him.
Every task assigned to him thus far had been anything but simple.
This mission was no exception.
Yet he had not only completed it flawlessly—he had gained additional advantage beyond what was expected.
‘The Lord of Qinghai sent word separately that he would dispatch tribute…….’
Her smile deepened as she recalled the letter she had received days ago by private courier.
‘Here we go again.’
Meanwhile, Cheon Hui gazed down at the top of Hyeon Ryeo’s head as she held him close, and shook his own slightly.
‘She’s been doing this less lately, or so I thought.’
The frequency of her embraces had seemed to diminish of late, but after being apart for so long, she had reverted to her old ways.
‘Well, she’ll let go on her own eventually.’
And as Je Gal Seong Hyeon watched the pair, his eyes widened.
‘So Xiao Xie just… accepts it.’
The Cheon Hui he had observed always drew a firm line the moment someone approached.
But what was this now.
When the Immortal reached out to embrace him, he offered no resistance—only acceptance.
‘He truly is human, after all.’
A smile bloomed on Je Gal Seong Hyeon’s face.
Until now, Cheon Hui had felt distant.
Not just his martial prowess, but his mastery of array formations as well.
He seemed like an existence from Heaven Beyond Heaven—but seeing him now, he felt near.
And at that moment, as he gazed warmly at the pair,
“Elder sister!”
“Master!”
two women’s voices rang out.
Dan Mok Rin and Cheon Hyang came rushing down the mountain path as if racing to see who would arrive first.
With the arrival of the two beautiful female disciples, Je Gal Seong Hyeon’s smile vanished in an instant.
‘……As expected.’
His expression hardened.
Hyeon Ryeo withdrew from Cheon Hui’s embrace.
“Rin has been worried about you every day, I hear.”
“Is that so?”
Cheon Hui spoke without inflection.
Whether she worried or not held no interest for him whatsoever.
Hyeon Ryeo regarded him with a rueful smile, then shook her head.
“Do greet her warmly.”
“If I feel like it.”
Before he had finished speaking, the two who had come rushing breathlessly pressed him with questions.
“Are you hurt?”
“You’re back? Then let’s spar!”
The two were utterly opposite in their manner.
While Dan Mok Rin expressed concern for him, Cheon Hyang revealed only her own purpose.
Dan Mok Rin’s eyebrows twitched at Cheon Hyang’s words.
“Sister. What kind of thing is that to say now. Weren’t you worried when Master went out into Gangho?”
“Hmm? Why would I worry about Master?”
Cheon Hyang looked puzzled at the question.
“Master could be left anywhere under heaven and survive perfectly well on her own.”
“Gangho is no ordinary place.”
“Ah, come now. Gangho or not, there’s nothing so different about it.”
Cheon Hui watched the bickering pair for a moment, then half-opened his eyes.
‘Incomparable to how they were before.’
Both of their internal force had grown considerably.
Cheon Hyang, too, had clearly trained diligently, her internal force markedly increased.
But Dan Mok Rin had transformed entirely.
Before his departure, she had barely entered the threshold of martial arts; now she had reached the second rank.
It was growth worthy of reassessment.
‘And it’s not just that she has learned a Heart Technique—she’s properly mastering a Sword Technique as well.’
His gaze turned toward her hands.
How many times she had wielded the sword—her hands were swollen and calloused all over.
On top of that, her fingernails seemed to have fallen out recently, and the tips of her fingers bore dark bruises.
Whoosh—
Just then, Dan Mok Rin pulled her hand back quickly.
Embarrassed to show Cheon Hui her battered hands, she flushed and hastily tucked them behind her back.
Cheon Hui met her eyes.
“You’ve been training hard.”
In that instant, Dan Mok Rin’s face brightened.
“Yes! I really have been training very hard.”
“What sword technique have you learned?”
“My master taught me the Suk Nyo Geom…”
Delighted that Cheon Hui had spoken to her, Dan Mok Rin continued without pause.
“…and recently I’ve been learning the Ok Nyo So Sim Geom Law.”
“That’s a good choice.”
Cheon Hui nodded.
The Ok Nyo So Sim Geom Law was perfectly suited to her at this stage.
‘She’s far better than the others.’
Cheon Hui wore a satisfied expression.
Within the Huashan Sect, there were few who trained as diligently as she did.
“Are you learning other martial arts as well?”
She nodded vigorously.
“Yes. I’m steadily learning the Bo Law and Gak Law, and recently the Su Law too.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Cheon Hui regarded her intently.
Most would struggle to master even a single martial art, but with her it was different.
A body perfected through exceptional five senses and overcoming the Tae Um Ki Jeo Ji Che.
If he taught her one thing, she would absorb ten—she was that gifted.
‘There’s no better candidate to test the newly completed Maehwa Seven Gates on.’
As he was nodding slowly to himself—
“Master, shall we spar?”
Cheon Hyang, who had been waiting for the conversation to end, finally could no longer hold back and interjected.
Cheon Hui glanced at her sideways and replied.
“I’m not in the mood.”
Cheon Hyang immediately clung to Cheon Hui.
“Come on, just once…”
When she reached out to grab him, Cheon Hui twisted his ankle to slip away.
“Master…”
Fire lit up in Cheon Hyang’s eyes.
Just as she was about to deploy the Su Law—
“How about I do something even better than sparring?”
“Something better than sparring?”
Cheon Hyang’s eyes sparkled like stars.
“What is it?”
“There is such a thing.”
With those words, Cheon Hui turned his head.
“Didn’t you say the Maehwa Seven Gates can admit five people at once?”
Je Gal Seong Hyeon nodded at Cheon Hui’s sudden question.
“Ah! Yes, yes. That’s correct.”
“Then the numbers work out perfectly.”
“Pardon?”
As Je Gal Seong Hyeon looked confused at this cryptic remark, Cheon Hui’s gaze turned toward the path.
Looking there, he could see figures approaching Gyeon Won Valley.
They were Jeok Geom and Seol Ran.

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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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