Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 186

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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 186
Chong Gwan withdrew a step, retreating into the shadows.
He fixed his gaze on the scene unfolding before him, his mouth twisting into a thin, satisfied smile.
The Elixir Pill he’d just thrown—
it granted tremendous power in exchange for stripping away a person’s consciousness and reason.
‘Heh. Sa Yu Gok Ju refused to take the Shihun Dan no matter what I offered, and now the Huashan Sect has played right into my hands.’
Chong Gwan’s eyes gleamed with malice.
Ordinarily, any martial artist who obtained an elixir that suddenly increased their inner force would be the first to consume it without hesitation.
But Sa Yu Gok Ju was different.
He doubted, and doubted again.
For that reason, he had given the Shihun Dan and Heart Technique to others to test them.
And after spending time observing the effects and side effects of both elixir and technique, he had steadfastly refused to let either pass his lips.
So even Chong Gwan had nearly abandoned hope of making Sa Yu Gok Ju consume it—
‘But when death closes in, in the end…….’
His gaze turned toward Sa Yu Gok Ju.
A suspicious, cautious man—yet faced with imminent danger, he would have had no luxury of such careful deliberation.
‘His martial prowess was quite formidable, though. Has he been hiding his strength all this time?’
Chong Gwan studied Sa Yu Gok Ju’s transformation.
The martial prowess he’d assessed before was either at the threshold of Jeoljeong or the far end of first-rate mastery.
Yet the prowess displayed just moments ago reached the perfected stage of Jeoljeong itself.
With decades more of cultivation, he might even approach the realm of Mueuk Jigyeong.
And then—
‘With such strength in his possession, he would have had confidence that he could control even one Shihun Dan.’
His lips curled back in a grin.
‘Still, a pity. I would have preferred to give it to him when his martial prowess had risen even higher.’
The elixir granted tremendous power, yes.
But the opportunity came only once.
And now that Sa Yu Gok Ju had consumed it, further growth would be beyond reach.
‘He is as good as dead.’
He could never advance his realm again.
His fractured Innate Qi would continue to leak away, and the rate of loss would far exceed whatever Acquired Qi he could cultivate.
‘I’ll need to find and nurture a replacement within five years.’
As Chong Gwan laid out his future calculations—
A terrible roar erupted!
Sa Yu Gok Ju’s aura exploded outward.
That tremendous force blazed like wildfire, consuming and dominating Sa Yu Gok itself.
“What, he swallowed it? He’s truly courting death.”
Cheon Hui observed Sa Yu Gok Ju carefully.
The aura of Sa Yu Gok Ju after consuming the elixir had changed, and so too had his very presence.
As though he had become a different person entirely.
“Faster than I calculated. To already infiltrate his Upper Dantian in this short span—”
Cheon Hui fixed his gaze on Sa Yu Gok Ju’s eyes.
The black pupils had vanished.
Only the whites remained, stark and empty, radiating a terrible, savage light.
‘Has it already seized the marrow?’
Reading the madness burning in those eyes, Cheon Hui slowly raised his sword and spoke.
“Such a waste of Innate Qi.”
His realm had indeed risen.
But that was all.
He could not see the worth in gaining such power at the cost of losing one’s mind and devouring one’s own lifespan.
Then Sa Yu Gok Ju growled like a starving beast, foam flecking his lips.
“……I will kill you.”
“Will you? Try, then.”
The moment Cheon Hui’s blade flicked—
Crack!
He drove his foot into the ground.
The floor shattered with fissures, and the roof of the Pavilion trembled.
“Your aura is impressive. But a realm stolen from another is nothing but an empty shell—lacking all true edge.”
Sa Yu Gok Ju’s eyes blazed upward.
“Do not call me a shell!”
Sa Yu Gok Ju’s hand lashed out with a sound like a beast’s snarl, as if Cheon Hui had touched some forbidden nerve, aiming for the youth’s skull at ferocious speed.
Then.
Whisk—
Cheon Hui’s blade extended forward.
In the same breath, red Sword Qi spooled from his weapon like thread, blooming almost at once into petals more crimson and vivid than blood itself.
One bloom, then two.
In the blink of an eye, dozens upon hundreds of blossoms embroidered the air.
‘So many petals……?!’
Chong Gwan’s eyes widened in shock.
He had seen the Maehwa Sword Technique before, a handful of times.
But this was different.
Was it the sheer number of blossoms? No.
It was unmistakably the same sword form, and yet he could not call them the same at all.
Cheon Hui stopped his blade.
Yet both Sa Yu Gok Ju and the watching Chong Gwan felt that this stillness was a quiet before the storm.
Then Cheon Hui’s sword descended.
“Of the Maehwa Sword Technique, this is about the most domineering form there is. Receive it well.”
Hundreds of petals fell, each moving of its own accord, drifting down with a gentle tremor.
As though they lived and breathed.
‘……!’
Sa Yu Gok Ju, his consciousness already stolen by the Shihun Dan, ceased his assault and crossed his hands in defense.
It was an instinct that even the soul-stealing Shihun Dan could not suppress, erupting unbidden.
Sa Yu Gok Ju’s palms wheeled through the air.
The Sa Yu Eight Palms, the Eight Trigrams Palms, the Go Yeo Il Fist, the So Gyeong Fist, and more besides…….
Ferocious Fist and Palm techniques unfurled.
As if to display all the training accumulated thus far, his Fist Force-laden techniques tore apart the falling petals before his eyes.
But.
“Now the real work begins.”
Blossoms poured down like rain.
The most domineering and murderous of the Twenty-Four Water Maehwa Sword Technique forms.
The emergence of the Maehwa Blood Rain.
The gently swaying petals became needle-straight in an instant, piercing through to Sa Yu Gok Ju.
Rip!
At the moment the petals made contact, vicious wounds carved themselves across Sa Yu Gok Ju’s body.
His crossed hands were already tattered to the bone, and blood pooled around him in dark puddles.
And at last.
Thud.
Sa Yu Gok Ju crumpled to the ground.
‘……Is this the Maehwa Sword Technique of Huashan?’
The warmth drained from Chong Gwan’s chest.
The fallen Sa Yu Gok Ju’s condition was grave to behold. Not a span of him from crown to heel remained unwounded, and blood slicked the floor beneath him.
This was hardly what one would call an Orthodox Sect technique.
‘It’s closer to what we practice.’
As Chong Gwan fought to conceal his alarm, Cheon Hui tilted his head.
His gaze fixed on Chong Gwan.
More precisely, on the Inner Power he had buried deep within his Lower Dantian to hide it.
The same Qi as one who wielded the Yeok Yong Art.
“Shall we see how you fare against the real thing?”
Chong Gwan’s blank mask cracked for an instant.
Yet it mended in that same heartbeat, and his face smoothed into an expression of bewilderment.
“I’m afraid I don’t follow your meaning, sir.”
“Cut the hollow act.”
“I beg your pardon, but I truly do not understand…….”
“Tiresome. I hate tiresome.”
Cheon Hui lifted his blade.
A casual gesture.
Yet having witnessed the Martial Arts Cheon Hui had just displayed, Chong Gwan felt his Internal Force rise of its own accord and took up a defensive stance.
Cheon Hui saw it and smiled with contempt.
“You’re giving yourself away.”
…….
Chong Gwan’s expression turned cold.
“Since when did you know?”
“From the beginning.”
Chong Gwan’s eyebrows twitched.
“Nonsense.”
“Believe what you like.”
Cheon Hui spoke without particular concern.
No — he truly felt no concern at all.
Regardless of what Chong Gwan thought, there was only one thing that needed doing.
“I don’t care who you are anyway. Though if I’m being honest, I am curious what that Elixir Pill of yours actually is.”
Cheon Hui let out a quiet laugh.
“You weren’t planning to tell me anyway, were you?”
……
“That’s what I thought. I wasn’t expecting otherwise.”
Cheon Hui swung his blade.
In an instant, sharp Sword Energy screamed through the air like wind, engulfing the space where Chong Gwan stood.
Crash!
Dust erupted in a cloud.
And then.
Whoosh!
Something shot through the dust.
‘A fan?’
An Iron Fan came flying, scattering sharp energy, and Cheon Hui knocked it away with his sword.
Sparks scattered as the fan spun back.
But Chong Gwan, already airborne, bent his knees and kicked off the wall.
“Now that’s something different.”
Watching Chong Gwan unfold his martial arts with such uninhibited freedom, Cheon Hui twisted his blade.
With a sharp clang, the Iron Fan and Chong Gwan were sent spinning to the side.
Whirl—
Chong Gwan rotated his body mid-air.
And without hesitation, he hurled the Iron Fan again.
Just as Cheon Hui was about to strike the fan down.
Boom-boom-boom!
Chong Gwan began throwing punches with wild fury.
It was the Cheol Pa Fist, one of his signature techniques — the one said to shatter even iron.
Eighteen strikes unleashed in a single breath, yet Cheon Hui evaded them all with nothing more than a shake of his head.
“All that flashy movement, but your fist and palm techniques are rather lacking.”
Cheon Hui raised his left hand and caught Chong Gwan’s wrist as it came down for the final blow.
“Ugh!”
Chong Gwan gritted his teeth.
But the grip on his wrist was so impossibly strong that he couldn’t break free.
And soon, as the pressure steadily intensified, his face went pale.
Crack!
A sickening sound rang out, and his wrist bones snapped.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Cheon Hui stared at the screaming Chong Gwan and dragged him close.
A face that had come mere inches away in an instant.
Fear was beginning to creep slowly into Chong Gwan’s eyes.
“This isn’t the end.”
Cheon Hui’s lips twisted, and he hurled Chong Gwan away.
Just as Cheon Hui swung his blade down toward the airborne Chong Gwan.
“Stop!”
Cheon Yi Gae came running, shouting.
But the blade had already descended before he could reach them, piercing through the falling Chong Gwan’s body.
Splorch!
Chong Gwan’s body trembled violently.
……
Cheon Yi Gae stopped dead where he stood.
He looked back and forth between Cheon Hui and Chong Gwan with tired eyes, then opened his mouth.
“Did you kill him?”
Cheon Hui lifted his sword.
Blood droplets trembled and fell one by one.
“Not yet.”
Cheon Yi Gae immediately examined Chong Gwan.
“Gasp… gasp…”
His condition was ghastly.
The sword wound that ran from his left shoulder down to his right hip gaped open, blood streaming without pause.
From the depth of the gash, his ribs had barely escaped being touched by the blade, yet the impact had surely cracked them — his face twisted with agony as he struggled to draw breath.
Cheon Yi Gae’s brow furrowed deeply.
Somehow he’d managed to survive.
But this wasn’t survival — it was a mockery of life. Death would have been a mercy.
“…Is this what you call living?”
“He still has a pulse.”
“That much is true, but this is hardly…”
Cheon Yi Gae started to speak, then swallowed and shook his head.
“Never mind. This wretch deserves exactly this kind of end, nothing less.”
He fell silent, locking eyes with Chong Gwan, whose ragged breathing filled the air.
“Didn’t expect to see you here. The Ten-Thousand Weapons Fiend.”
“…!”
Chong Gwan’s blood-stained eyes wavered.
Cheon Hui turned to Cheon Yi Gae, who seemed to recognize the man at once. “Who is he?”
“Do you know him?”
“Of course I do.”
Cheon Yi Gae’s lips curled.
“He’s a vicious killer who, whenever he acquires a new weapon, tests its sharpness on innocent passersby. Recently, he’s become quite notorious for…”
Cheon Yi Gae’s eyes hardened.
“…being listed on the Murim Wanted List.”

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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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