Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 180

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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 180
A month had passed since the training began.
‘Still, practicing all day long has improved their stamina considerably.’
Cheon Hui watched each of his disciples in turn as they sat on the ground, catching their breath.
By now, their physical endurance had risen dramatically compared to when he first met them.
Of course, it still wasn’t quite satisfactory, but…….
‘Even so, we can begin now.’
Cheon Hui’s lips twitched into a smile.
“Now let’s move on to the next stage of training.”
The resting disciples sprang to their feet at once.
“Truly?”
“Finally…….”
“At last……, oh! We’re finally doing real martial arts training!”
Tears glistened in the disciples’ eyes.
They were tears of joy.
‘Thank goodness we won’t have to do horse-stance anymore!’
‘I thought I’d die from muscle soreness every time I woke up!’
‘Thank goodness no more running!’
Cheon Hui, observing their expressions, spoke.
“Before we begin, I have one question for you. What do you think is the fastest way to become stronger in a short time?”
All of them looked bewildered at the unexpected question. But after a moment, several disciples raised their hands eagerly and spoke.
“Elixir pills?”
“Advanced martial arts, I would think.”
Excited answers came from various directions.
Most of them were hinting at the very things they hoped to receive from Cheon Hui.
‘This wasn’t a pointless question.’
But contrary to their sparkling expectations, Cheon Hui wagged his index finger left and right.
“Elixir pills? You’ve consumed An Hyang Dan quite generously already—you want more?”
“Gasp!”
In that instant, all the disciples glared at whichever one had answered elixir pills.
As the flustered disciple began to protest, waving his hands.
“First, let’s digest what you’ve already consumed. You haven’t even properly processed that yet, and now you’re looking for more elixir?”
Cheon Hui came to his rescue.
“Ha, haha. Right.”
“That’s what I thought too.”
The disciples, relieved they wouldn’t have to eat An Hyang Dan again, released a breath they hadn’t known they were holding.
Cheon Hui smiled faintly as he watched them.
He’d make them consume the pills later anyway.
No matter how weak the toxicity, accumulated poison eventually causes problems—that was inevitable.
So this time, when he prepared new An Hyang Dan, Cheon Hui intended to adjust the ratio. And when that time came, he’d feed them again—but that was still in the future.
As the disciples—unaware of Cheon Hui’s thoughts—began to smile in relief, he turned his attention to another disciple who had offered a different answer.
“And advanced martial arts?”
“Yes, sir!”
The disciple who had suggested advanced martial arts nodded eagerly, eyes sparkling.
‘If I learn martial arts from Master Cheon Hui, I could become like Jeok Geom or Seol Ran…….’
The mere thought of receiving such training brought a beaming smile to his face.
But.
“With that level of skill? Right now, learning advanced martial arts would only make you like a child wielding a fine weapon.”
At Cheon Hui’s weary words, the disciple’s smile crumbled and stiffened.
As Cheon Hui methodically refuted each suggestion, all the disciples fell silent, unable to offer another word.
“Hmm, nothing else comes to mind?”
Cheon Hui swept his gaze across the disciples and asked.
…….
There was no reply.
“Good grief, you don’t even know this?”
Cheon Hui shook his head slowly.
“The only ways to increase your strength quickly are steady basic training and accumulating real combat experience—these two alone.”
The disciples pouted.
‘Who doesn’t know that?’
‘I thought he had something amazing to teach us.’
Who doesn’t know that foundational training and practical experience matter?
I simply hoped there might be another way, precisely because it was Cheon Hui.
When the disciples couldn’t hide their disappointment, Cheon Hui chuckled and opened his mouth.
“And when you gather like this in a group, there is indeed another method.”
Only then did everyone’s eyes light up.
They felt that something new awaited them to learn.
“That would be the Hapgyeokjin.”
“Ah…!”
“The Hapgyeokjin!”
Cheon Hui narrowed his eyes as he watched the disciples emit short exclamations, their eyes glowing brightly.
“Even if each person’s individual strength is mediocre and useless, when you deploy the Hapgyeokjin, you can conceal each one’s weaknesses while maximizing your collective strengths.”
When Cheon Hui first heard the term “Muhwa Group,” this was the first thing that came to mind.
With the Hapgyeokjin, even the combined strength of the inadequate would amount to something worth reckoning with.
“Then I’ll teach you the Hapgyeokjin. First, Seol Ran and the Muhwa Group, step forward.”
Before Cheon Hui’s words had finished falling, Seol Ran and the Muhwa Group lined up before him.
“Remember this well. You are the center.”
“Understood.”
“You will anchor the Yin-Yang nexus, while the rest of the members divide and move according to the Four Directions and Eight Trigrams….”
Cheon Hui explained for roughly an hour.
The longer the explanation went on, the more astonished the Muhwa Group became, staring at Cheon Hui.
How long had they been marveling continuously at the depth and Inner Force deployment so utterly different from the Hapgyeokjin they had known?
As Cheon Hui finished his explanation, he asked.
“Did you memorize it all?”
At the question, Seol Ran and the other members of the Muhwa Group immediately nodded their heads up and down.
“Yes, we understand.”
“Hmm? You grasped it right away?”
“Your explanation was excellent.”
Seol Ran answered with a smile.
She too had opened her ears as if enchanted by Cheon Hui’s words and absorbed every word.
That was how clear Cheon Hui’s explanation had been.
“Then that’s fortunate.”
“But Master, what is the name of this Hapgyeokjin?”
“The name? I haven’t decided yet.”
“Pardon?”
Everyone around Seol Ran, who had asked the question, looked dumbfounded.
What that meant was that this was not an existing Hapgyeokjin, but a newly created one.
“Since it’s troublesome, let’s just call it the Muhwageomjin.”
…….
Just as Seol Ran and the Muhwa Group stared with their mouths hanging open, Cheon Hui moved forward.
“Now for the Bigeom Group.”
The moment those words fell, Jeok Geom and the Bigeom Group rushed forward with gleaming eyes.
“You called for us?”
As Jeok Geom answered with keen tension in his voice, Cheon Hui explained a different Hapgyeokjin.
And after that, having taught the Hwaryeong Group their own Hapgyeokjin as well, Cheon Hui spoke.
Shortly after, the disciples, freed at last from the nightmare of endless foundational training, let out laughter.
“Splendid!”
“Hehe, it’s the Hapgyeokjin!”
“Let’s try it at once!”
Soon the three martial groups moved busily….
“Is this the way to do it?”
“You need to control your Inner Force more….”
“There, you should lean left….”
Cheon Hui shook his head slowly.
He felt utterly exasperated, and a sigh escaped unbidden.
What good was it to teach them the Hapgyeokjin?
They didn’t even know how to do it properly—they couldn’t deploy it at all.
“Sigh, stop for a moment.”
Finally, Cheon Hui brought them to a halt.
“At this rate, you won’t properly master the Hapgyeokjin; you’ll only stall and fail….”
Cheon Hui twisted his mouth.
The disciples watching that twisted smile turned rigid as stone.
“Let me teach you through real combat, then.”
As he spoke, Cheon Hui drew his Sword Scabbard and slung it across his shoulder, then began walking forward.
Whoosh—
“……!”
In a single instant, Cheon Hui stood before Jeok Geom, his lip curling higher as he spoke.
“Let’s start with the Bigeom Group.”
Jeok Geom, watching Cheon Hui stride forward with quickening pace, sensed something was amiss. He spun his head around and shouted in alarm.
“Prepare the Flying Sword Formation!”
The moment the command fell—
Rat-a-tat-tat!
The Bigeom Group scrambled into formation with urgency.
With Jeok Geom at the center, the members lined up behind him in perfect unison.
It seemed as though every ounce of the Bigeom Group’s strength was channeled into Jeok Geom alone.
“That formation sits well.”
The Bigeom Formation was a combined array modeled after the sword itself.
It concentrated all the inner force of its members into Jeok Geom, the blade’s tip and center, while those supporting him would resonate in turn.
An array that disregarded flanks and defense.
One that existed purely for offense.
‘For something thrown together in haste, it’s not bad.’
Cheon Hui nodded slightly.
Compared to a Daoist combined array, it felt sharp and rough around the edges.
But it could not have been otherwise.
When the Bigeom Formation had been constructed, the references drawn upon were the Wild Wind’s Wind and Cloud Four Directions Formation and the Demonic Cult’s Demon-Fighting Ten Directions Sword Formation.
Then—
Whoooosh!
The Bigeom Formation unleashed a remarkable momentum.
Was it because twenty inner forces synchronized as one?
A fierce energy unfolded around them, and a weighty presence layered upon itself so densely that even drawing close became difficult.
“The momentum you’re projecting at first is impressive. Now let’s see if the substance matches the appearance, shall we?”
Cheon Hui raised his Sword Scabbard into proper position.
Though only his posture had changed, everyone found themselves unable to tear their gaze from him.
Shortly after, the stance Cheon Hui had taken was the foundational form of the Cheonryugeom.
It was the basic sword art that all disciples learned upon entering Huashan, something everyone present had already mastered.
Yet all stood transfixed, staring at Cheon Hui as if under a spell, forgetting even to breathe.
And none felt this more keenly than Jeok Geom himself, standing closest to Cheon Hui.
Though he had sparred with Cheon Hui many times before, even he found his eyes stolen by the sight before him now.
Then the corners of Cheon Hui’s eyes curved with intent.
“How much longer will you stand there bewitched?”
He drove strength into the tips of his feet and pushed hard against the earth.
“……!”
Jeok Geom’s eyes widened.
The instant before, Cheon Hui had been distant—but then he seemed to expand and suddenly was standing right in front of him.
Swish—
Cheon Hui brought his Sword Scabbard downward in a smooth arc.
The Sword Scabbard, falling from high to low, cut toward Jeok Geom’s crown.
Cheonryu—the flow of heaven.
What flows across the sky.
It meant the wind itself.
The freest force in the world, and yet at times a storm that wrought all manner of calamity…….
And Cheon Hui had woven that meaning into this strike.
Into this Sword Scabbard, into this Cheonryugeom.
“Hah!”
Coming to his senses too late, Jeok Geom hastily drew his blade and infused it with his inner force.
Clang!
The sword struck the Sword Scabbard and deflected it.
But Jeok Geom’s legs trembled beneath him.
‘So… heavy!’
The terrible weight contained within the Cheonryugeom that Cheon Hui had unleashed, augmented even by the strength of the Bigeom Group members, bore down on him like a mountain.
‘Is this… the Cheonryugeom……?’
Jeok Geom’s eyes widened visibly.
The Cheonryugeom was merely a simple sword technique—slashing, swinging, thrusting.
But this was different.
‘So much variation…!’
Jeok Geom bit his lip.
Then he let out a sharp shout.
“Ha!”
His trembling legs straightened, and his Inner Force breathed new vitality into his body.
At the same moment, he unleashed a lion’s roar.
“All together, Bigeomjin!”
The Bigeom Group members immediately drew up their Internal Energy.
When twenty of them combined their power with Jeok Geom, a momentum altogether different from before rippled outward in all directions.
“Such presence!”
“Is this the new Hapgyeokjin…?”
The disciples watching swallowed hard as the sharp edge of momentum cut into their skin, and in the same instant, excitement surged within them.
‘Then our Hapgyeokjin might be…’
‘Could we reach that level…’
Then it happened.
Jeok Geom raised his sword.
Its blade pointed directly at Cheon Hui, who stood at a distance.
“Here I come.”
Jeok Geom narrowed his eyes to slits.
In his pupils, guided by the Inner Force of his companions, a cold and piercing light gleamed before vanishing.
A brilliant aura bloomed from his blade.
Threads of red, densely saturated light twisted and coiled together, and then—
With a sharp sound, dozens of plum blossoms unfurled in the air, scattering their fragrance.
Through their midst, Jeok Geom’s sword rose, and the petals fell.
The Nakhwageom!
It was the technique he had mastered most thoroughly and executed with the greatest confidence.
‘Well, well? Look at that.’
Cheon Hui let out a soft laugh.
Perhaps it was the overwhelming Inner Force he carried.
His sword shone with confidence.
“Your momentum is strong, but you’re too caught up in excitement. When wielding the Hapgyeokjin, you must remain cold and rational, moving with discipline. If you rely on instinct alone, your weaknesses become obvious.”
Cheon Hui drew his sword scabbard diagonally.
It wavered like a faint breeze.
But Jeok Geom and the Bigeom Group members forgot even to breathe.
‘This… this can’t be!’
The sword scabbard suddenly loomed before their eyes like an immense, towering mountain.
“Pouring more Inner Force into a sword technique doesn’t make it stronger. What matters is the Intent woven into that technique.”
The falling Nakhwageom petals were blocked by the mountain, scattering to fragments—
Thump!
The sword scabbard pierced Jeok Geom’s chest.
Whoosh!
Wind roared as Jeok Geom was hurled backward.
He flew back three lengths before crashing to the ground and rolling to a stop on his belly.
And the Bigeom Group members, their formation shattered, knelt one by one.
Then—
“Ugh-urk!”
“Hack!”
They vomited onto the ground.
The collapse of the Hapgyeokjin had violently shaken their insides.
In the chaos that erupted in that single moment—
“Don’t try to do it alone. You’re the center, not the whole.”
Cheon Hui spoke quietly.
“Since this is your first time, I’m letting it slide. But there won’t be a second chance. I’ll test you again in a moment, and if you crash the same way…”
Cheon Hui’s eyes narrowed to slits.
His cold gaze struck like needles into Jeok Geom, who was struggling to raise his torso, and the Bigeom Group members wiping their mouths on their sleeves.
“Bigeom Group—don’t even think about sleeping tonight.”

“……!”
Cheon Hui turned his head, regarding the disciples who had been watching, as if relaying information.
“Then before the Bigeom Group can properly come to their senses, the next match—”
“We’ll go first.”
Before he could finish, Cheon Hyang and the Hwaryeong Group stepped forward with resolute expressions.
“A wise choice.”
Cheon Hui smiled and picked up his Sword Scabbard.
“The hawk strikes first, after all—it’s the better way.”
* * *
Late evening, when all training had ended.
In the hour when the sun had set and the moon rose, peeking from halfway up the mountain, Cheon Hui unfolded his legs and parted his lips.
“You’re a bit late.”
“This monster of a man. How do you sense me even while performing Ungijoesik?”
Cheon Yi Gae emerged from the shadow that hung lightly over the darkness, grumbling.
“Did you bring the information?”
“What kind of greeting is that—straight to business without even a proper hello. Tsk, fine then.”
Cheon Yi Gae spoke with a curt expression, then pulled a sheet of paper from his robe.
“Here’s the information on Sinjusapae.”
Cheon Hui accepted the paper.
The sheet bore the names of the four sects belonging to Sinjusapae, their Sect Masters, and brief profiles of their skilled experts.
“Is that all?”
Cheon Hui squinted, lifting his gaze to meet Cheon Yi Gae’s eyes.
“What about the backing forces?”
“That requires a bit more time. We’re still investigating—nothing’s clear yet.”
“From Gae Bang, no less. You’re taking your time with this.”
“How am I supposed to pull everything out instantly? Even we need time. But rest assured—I’ve brought you the most important information you should be listening for.”
“What is it?”
In that moment, Cheon Yi Gae’s expression grew grave.
“Today, Sinjusapae is holding a gathering.”

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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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