Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 15

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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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Chapter 15
The Plum Blossom Sword Technique was a fine method, but it fell short of being an Absolute Sword Technique.
To be precise, through Cheon Hui’s eyes, it was a genuinely regrettable technique.
Twelve forms in the first half, twelve in the second.
A sword method composed of twenty-four forms in total, it had long been renowned as a technique that Huashan Sect’s Plum Blossom swordsmen had used to topple enemies great and small.
Moreover, upon reaching mastery, the Sword Flower and Sword Fragrance said to arise from the blade drew even more attention to it and spread its name far and wide throughout the martial world.
So much so that he himself, once the Patriarch of the Heavenly Demon Cult in Tian Shan, had come to know of it.
‘No—by now, I know more about the Plum Blossom Sword Technique than anyone else.’
Cheon Hui’s eyes gleamed brilliantly.
He was certain that he understood both the intensity of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique and its flaws better than anyone currently in the Huashan Sect.
‘I faced the Plum Blossom Sword Technique against that Malko Dosa, who was called the Plum Blossom Divine Swordsman, and now I’m learning it myself.’
He recalled the Plum Blossom Sword Technique in detail.
Soft, yet merciless.
It embodied principles and flaws befitting its reputation as the pinnacle of the Illusion Sword.
But.
‘Its limits were clear even then.’
It fell short of being an Absolute Sword Technique.
Of course, it was an excellent method—but to call the Plum Blossom Sword Technique an Absolute Sword Technique?
That was absurd.
The Heavenly Demon Supreme Sword or the Heavenly Descent Blood Dragon Sword Technique of the Heavenly Demon Cult, or the Taiji Wisdom Sword of Wudang, or the Purple Glow Sword Formula that Malko Dosa had wielded—
Compared to such Absolute Sword Techniques, the Plum Blossom Sword Technique lacked just one crucial step.
That was precisely the assessment of himself, once Patriarch of the Heavenly Demon Cult and the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
‘So I changed it.’
Cheon Hui recalled a month prior.
When he was dancing the sword form.
The moment he grasped the principles of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique and danced the form, he understood it.
And its shortcoming as well.
The soft Illusion Sword contained within the Plum Blossom Sword Technique was quite fierce and sharp.
But that alone—there existed a clear reason it could never become an Absolute Sword Technique.
The moment he grasped that, he devoted most of his time to transforming the Plum Blossom Sword Technique into a method comparable to an Absolute Sword Technique.
At minimum, it had to reach the level of an Absolute Sword Technique to be worthy of the name of a technique he practiced.
‘It took some time, but…….’
Cheon Hui’s eyes dimmed.
During those days spent transforming the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, the twenty-four forms he’d started with gradually dwindled until they became seven forms.
Into those seven forms, he poured the very essence of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, then infused them with his own dominion to create an entirely new sword method.
The Seven Absolute Plum Blossom Sword.
Whoooosh—
On Dorim Plain, a tempest descended in an instant, accompanied by the fragrance of plum blossoms rolling across the field in thick clouds.
“……!”
“What—!”
Gang Un, struck directly by the violent wind, and the crowd around him lost their senses.
Gang Un in particular could not withstand the wind that steadily drove him backward, and was sent flying.
Tumble-tumble—
After rolling some three paces across the ground, he braced himself urgently with both hands and pushed his body upright.
“Huh!”
Yet the shock had not dissipated; he let out a short gasp, then drew ragged, frantic breaths.
“Haah, haah.”
As he gasped heavily for air, he calmed his startled heart and stared at Cheon Hui.
‘What—what just happened?’
Cheon Hui gazed at Gang Un, who had been sent tumbling, with contempt, unable to withstand the internal energy mixed with that momentum.
‘Can’t even endure this, rolling across the ground as if struck by Supreme Heavenly Demon Power.’
Now that this match had begun.
He intended to vent his frustrations properly.
In precisely the way Gang Un had wanted.
But the opponent was far too weak.
‘Tsk, I should just end this.’
Swoosh—
After drawing his sword, Cheon Hui pointed directly at Gang Un, who had gone rigid.
It was a motion so light.
‘W-what is this—!’
Gang Un struggled to regain his composure.
The moment the blade pointed toward him, Cheon Hui—who had seemed so small—suddenly loomed impossibly large.
As that towering presence bore down on him, Gang Un’s face drained of all color.
Swoosh—
The sword in Cheon Hui’s hand moved.
Burst of brilliance!
Countless flowers bloomed from the blade.
Beautiful plum blossoms suffused with the glow of sunset.
“……!”
The moment the crowd witnessed the plum blossoms unfurling from Cheon Hui’s sword, they were seized with astonishment.
What was the Sword Flower?
It was said that one could only manifest it by fully mastering the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
Yet here was Cheon Hui—barely fourteen years old—producing the Sword Flower, and so their shock was entirely justified.
“At, at such a tender age…….”
“He’s already manifesting the Sword Flower!”
As everyone burst into bewilderment.
All at once!
The Sect Leader of the Huashan Sect and his senior disciples rose abruptly from their seats, their eyes fixed on the sword technique Cheon Hui was now wielding.
“……!”
“That just now!”
They too were startled by the Sword Flower.
But what astonished them even more was Cheon Hui’s sword technique itself.
“What, what form is that?”
“How can he manifest the Sword Flower with such a form……?”
“Plum Blossom Falling? No, it’s too sharp for Plum Blossom Falling. Then could it be Plum Blossom Shadow Creating River……?”
They were enveloped in confusion.
The forms of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique that Cheon Hui displayed were unlike anything they had ever seen before.
After cycling through possibilities, they shook their heads one by one, speaking softly.
“It is not a form of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.”
“But, but it is the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.”
“What in the world is this absurdity……?”
Their eyes wavered greatly.
Given that he had manifested the Sword Flower, it was unmistakably their sect’s Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
Yet it was not the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
A contradiction.
But there was no other way for them to properly explain what Cheon Hui was now executing.
While they floundered.
‘Heh heh, so he’s altered the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.’
Hyun Do watched Cheon Hui bloom the Sword Flower above the martial platform with quiet satisfaction.
Unlike the other senior disciples of Huashan, he grasped the situation.
Of course, he was surprised too.
Cheon Hui had transformed the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
And in his eyes, it was now more concise and potent than the original.
The Hyun Do of old would have raged that this made no sense whatsoever, but now he understood at once.
‘Because it’s Cheon Hui.’
Over the span of one month training with Cheon Hui, how many impossible situations had he witnessed?
As he recalled the extraordinary feats Cheon Hui had accomplished in that single month.
『Did you know?』
A sound transmission tinged with bewilderment reached him.
He turned toward the upper seat, where the Sect Leader gazed at him.
Though the Sect Leader appeared composed, Hyun Do—who had known him for many years—could tell.
That he was deeply astounded.
Hyun Do immediately opened a sound transmission secret talk.
『I did not know either, sir.』
『Heh heh. How remarkable, how remarkable indeed.』
The Sect Leader uttered his admiration.
He too was perplexed, but his joy far outweighed that bewilderment.
Then he fixed his gaze on Cheon Hui, his eyes gleaming. The overwhelming talent before him was a blessing bestowed upon the Huashan Sect.
‘The Heavens are indeed watching over our sect.’
His lips curved upward in a smile that knew no bounds.
That Sect Leader hadn’t mentioned to him that he’d altered the Plum Blossom Sword Technique on his own—which stung a little—but his delight far outweighed any slight.
As everyone’s eyes filled with amazement and awe fixed upon Cheon Hui,
Whoosh—
Cheon Hui’s momentum shifted abruptly.
The sword that had been blooming plum blossoms turned skyward, away from Gang Un, and swept across the Martial Training Ground with a massive surge of internal energy.
For an instant, the wind across Dorim Plain ceased.
Above the arena, now silent as if time had frozen, Gang Un shuddered under the crushing pressure bearing down on his entire frame and clenched his teeth.
‘I can’t lose!’
His eyes hardened with resolve.
How much grueling training had he endured, how many sword techniques had he mastered, all for this very moment?
At once, he gripped his sword with both hands.
Then he poured all of his Clear Brightness Heart Method’s internal energy into the blade.
In that instant, a faint aura coalesced at the sword’s edge.
Dim, but unmistakably there—sword qi.
Having exhausted all his inner strength to summon even this meager sword qi, Gang Un fixed his gaze on Cheon Hui.
Overcoming the crushing pressure, he planted his left foot hard against the ground.
“Hah!”
With a thunderous shout, he raised his sword high and hurled it toward Cheon Hui.
The final form of the Wind-Cloud Sword Technique.
A sword form that summoned wind and cloud.
The manifestation of Wind-Cloud Summoning.
‘Sword qi.’
Watching Gang Un deploy the Wind-Cloud Summoning with sincere effort, Cheon Hui felt unmoved.
The presence of sword qi was proof that he’d reached the first rank, yet to Cheon Hui it had always been something pitifully trivial.
Swift—
With an expressionless face, Cheon Hui allowed internal energy to flow through his sword hand.
In an instant, a thread-thin current of qi extended from the blade in several strands, then transformed into plum blossoms that bloomed in full splendor.
Watching the Sword Flowers bloom around him, Cheon Hui lifted his sword high.
Whirr—
The moment the sword pointed skyward, the wind that had stilled began to blow once more.
As the breeze stirred, the plum blossoms born from Cheon Hui’s sword began to dance.
Screech!
The sword swept downward.
The first form of the Seven Absolute Plum Blossom Sword.
Wind Heaven Plum Blossom Dance.
Plum blossoms engulfed the sky.
When one of those blossoms collided with the Wind-Cloud Summoning that Gang Un had unleashed with all his strength,
Flash!
A brilliant light erupted, and the plum blossoms that had filled the arena vanished in an instant.
As if the exchange of blows that had just occurred were nothing but an illusion.
……
Silence fell over Dorim Plain.
No sound, no aftershock.
Cheon Hui and Gang Un stood facing each other across the Martial Training Ground.
The tip of Gang Un’s sword extended toward Cheon Hui’s throat.
In contrast, Cheon Hui’s sword had already been withdrawn.
To all appearances, it looked like Gang Un’s victory.
But then—
Crack—
A fracture appeared in Gang Un’s sword.
The ominous sound grew louder, until at last the blade shattered completely.
Clatter—
Fragments of the sword clattered to the ground.
Gang Un stared blankly at what remained of the blade, now stripped bare.
Just one plum blossom.
Only that single blossom had collided with him, and his Wind-Cloud Summoning, unleashed with all his might, crumbled helplessly while his sword was reduced to rubble.
Whoosh—
Cheon Hui watched Gang Un stand dumbstruck, then without hesitation turned his body.
He then descended from the Martial Training Ground slowly.
Step—step—
Footsteps echoing through the silence.
Just then, crimson plum blossoms fell like rain, settling softly around him and the space he departed from in the Martial Training Ground.
As if heralding the beginning of a new Huashan Sect.

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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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