Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 215

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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 215
The defeated general, Je Gal Go Cheon, tilted his wine bottle.
The liquor gleamed with starlight, flowing in a curve as beautiful as a waterfall.
Splash—
A sound that tickled the ear.
Moments later, a rough wooden vessel—too crude to properly call a cup—filled to the brim, capturing moonlight and the night sky within.
Je Gal Go Cheon, one who drank down entire worlds held in that meager handful of a cup, fixed his gaze upon Cheon Hui sipping wine directly before him.
Had he reached thirty winters yet?
No—he looked far younger than that.
‘Even thinking it over, it’s hard to believe.’
Je Gal Go Cheon clicked his tongue inwardly.
He kept speaking with deliberate composure, drinking as though nothing were amiss, but inside him lay nothing but astonishment.
This boy, barely more than a child, had destroyed the Array Formation he had labored so carefully to construct.
And this was no ordinary formation.
It was the Soocheonji Saengsin Formation.
A formation of absolute complexity that reversed natural law, twisted space—such that even a Master of the Heavenly Martial Realm would struggle to find the exit.
This was proven by the fact that his own companions could manage only to locate the way out.
The youth before him was different.
He had outright shattered it to pieces.
‘A monster, then.’
The awe welled up unbidden within him.
Je Gal Go Cheon himself had been called a monster or a genius by others.
He was one of the Eight Martial Immortals—one who had transcended the Heavenly Martial Realm, once thought the pinnacle of martial arts, and pioneered the realm of the Martial Immortal. Few would hesitate to call such a man a monster.
Yet even he, Je Gal Go Cheon, saw Cheon Hui as something beyond conventional measure.
At a glance, the boy had not merely reached the threshold of the Heavenly Martial Realm’s end, but seemed to be knocking even now upon the doors of the Martial Immortal Realm.
How could one not stand in awe?
‘At his age, I still felt the Heavenly Martial Realm to be distant—unreachable. And not merely I, but all of them as well. Yet this child…’
After studying Cheon Hui in this manner for some time, Je Gal Go Cheon lowered his cup from his lips and spoke.
“Are you a Daoist of the Huashan Sect?”
“Yes, I am. See—I’m wearing the Sect Robes.”
Cheon Hui lifted his sleeve slightly.
Upon the crimson and black fabric, a plum blossom was rendered in clear detail, revealed beneath the moonlight.
Unmistakably the robes of Huashan Sect.
Yet Je Gal Go Cheon’s expression did not waver in the slightest upon seeing that sleeve.
“Clothing does not speak for a person.”
His voice dropped lower.
“What I ask of is your essence.”
“What essence do you mean?”
“Take swords, for instance. Even if two men carry the same blade, their use of it differs, does it not? One wields the sword for righteousness, another aims it for personal gain.”
Cheon Hui let slip a small laugh.
He already understood the intent behind those words.
He had merely posed a counterquestion thinking it trivial, but it seemed Je Gal Go Cheon regarded this answer as quite important.
“You wrap your words in complexity, but you’re asking whether I walk the true path of Huashan’s way—whether I am a proper Daoist of this sect.”
“Precisely.”
Je Gal Go Cheon’s pupils moved within his narrow eyes, peering into Cheon Hui’s mouth as though to pierce its very depths.
Cheon Hui fell into thought.
‘Whether I walk the path of Huashan’s way…’
It was a question he had never truly considered.
For his sole interest lay in martial arts and in growing stronger.
Had he ever concerned himself with anything beyond that?
He had simply become a Daoist of Huashan, and thus learned the sect’s martial disciplines.
He had never deeply contemplated such things as Daoist Ascension or matters of that ilk.
His thoughts complete, Cheon Hui’s lips parted.
“It doesn’t seem like I do, truthfully.”
He harbored no intention of walking the Daoist path.
‘What I have always sought is the pinnacle of martial might.’
As Cheon Hui contemplated what he truly desired, his gaze grew distant.
Countless martial arts beyond number.
To reach their very end, to attain all under heaven through their mastery—that alone was his aspiration.
And it was at that moment.
Thump.
The air around where Je Gal Go Cheon sat grew heavy.
It wasn’t the release of Internal Force.
An emotion laid bare unconsciously had completely overwhelmed the atmosphere around him.
‘Ah, he even commands Intent Manifestation.’
Cheon Hui’s eyes narrowed.
He understood perfectly well what Je Gal Go Cheon had just done.
It wasn’t Internal Force.
It was a privilege possessed only by those who had challenged the Martial Immortal Realm and glimpsed Heaven Beyond Heaven—a natural, inherent aura of dominance.
With that presence, Je Gal Go Cheon’s mouth opened slowly.
“Then what is your true nature?”
A subtle pressure closed in.
Under the weight of the aura he emanated, his entire body felt as though it might creak and splinter.
But a smile played at the corners of Cheon Hui’s lips.
This pressure. This intensity.
It thrilled him.
“I am myself.”
Je Gal Go Cheon’s eyebrows twitched sharply.
“What does that mean?”
“Exactly what it says.”
Cheon Hui continued, his expression suggesting exasperation at the question.
“Why does it matter whether I’m a Daoist or not? Daoist or otherwise, I remain myself.”
……!
Je Gal Go Cheon’s body shuddered violently.
The turbulent surge of emotion rippled through the surrounding air, distorting it.
It was a profound statement.
And a direct one.
Don’t concern yourself with background or lineage—see only the being that stands before you.
It was like gazing at his former self.
Cheon Hui filled his vision.
The youth’s figure, brimming with confidence, overlapped with the man he had been—alone against the world in those distant days.
‘There was a time when I was like that too.’
Lost in reverie like heat shimmer, Je Gal Go Cheon opened his eyes and let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha. If such a talent were to emerge, I’d have wagered on Wudang, Sorim, or perhaps Kunlun—certainly not Huashan. It seems the ways of the world are truly beyond prediction.”
Wudang and Kunlun made sense.
Were not those who were called the Eight Martial Immortals gathered in such places?
And Sorim was different.
Though none of the current Eight Martial Immortals resided there, was it not a great sect of which the saying went, “All martial arts under Heaven flow forth from Sorim”?
But Huashan…
‘A mystery indeed.’
After his gaze swept over Cheon Hui once more, Je Gal Go Cheon set down his cup.
“Well, I’ll spare us further pointless talk.”
“That’s a relief. I was wondering when I should cut the conversation short anyway.”
“Is that so?”
The smile lingering at the corners of Je Gal Go Cheon’s mouth deepened.
For countless years, everyone before him had bowed their heads and prostrated themselves.
But this youth was different.
Not content merely to hold his head high, he regarded Je Gal Go Cheon as though they stood on equal ground.
‘He must possess the strength to match such bearing.’
His eyelids lifted slightly.
The pale eyes concealed within revealed themselves, drawing all the surrounding darkness into their gaze.
“Now that you’ve seen my face, is your business concluded?”
“Not quite.”
Cheon Hui’s bright teeth flashed.
“How could I leave after feeling that?”
“Ha. Is that so?”
The moment both locked eyes upon those words, simultaneously—
Crack!
The space between them split open.
Qi clashing against Qi.
The air could not hold any longer, twisting grotesquely before beginning to spiral and churn.
Had anyone witnessed it, they would have gasped in shock.
The thatched hut where the two of them stood was utterly severed from the world.
‘……Strong.’
Cheon Hui’s lips curled slowly.
The inner power revealed in the Qi Clash pressed down upon his entire body, bearing down relentlessly.
The overwhelming Internal Force far exceeded his expectations, and heat surged through Cheon Hui from head to toe.
‘It’s been a long time since I felt like this.’
He wanted to draw his sword at once.
But he could not afford to move recklessly now.
‘One gap could be fatal.’
Even the smallest opening meant the difference between life and death.
His opponent was that formidable.
Had he been born in the same era as his past self, he would have been among those who contended for the title of supreme master under heaven.
And Je Gal Go Cheon remained equally still.
His caution was absolute.
The tense standoff continued, until a moment arrived.
Whoosh—
Je Gal Go Cheon suddenly turned his head and gazed toward the south.
“But it seems impossible now.”
He withdrew his Qi Clash as he spoke.
The speed was remarkable.
The moment Je Gal Go Cheon withdrew his Qi in less than a breath, Cheon Hui, who had also been watching him, withdrew his own Qi as well.
And he too looked toward the south and spoke.
“Tsk, I was hoping to stretch my limbs a bit after so long.”
“Is it not the consequence of one’s own actions?”
“I should have been more cautious.”
Cheon Hui scratched his head as if embarrassed.
“I’ll visit you again later.”
With those words, Cheon Hui vanished.
Je Gal Go Cheon turned his head slightly and gazed in the direction where Cheon Hui had disappeared, then opened his mouth faintly.
“That will likely be difficult.”
Before those words had even finished.
“Father!”
Je Gal Shin, the patriarch of the Je Gal Clan, rushed forward without even properly fastening his clothes, and came to stand before Je Gal Go Cheon.
“Are you all right, sir?”
Je Gal Shin, who was ordinarily the very picture of composure, now bore unmistakable signs of panic.
“Hehe, I gave you quite a fright.”
“……I thought my heart would stop.”
Seeing Je Gal Go Cheon’s peaceful appearance, Je Gal Shin calmed himself and offered a joke.
For all that they had not seen each other for nearly ten years, the bond between father and son appeared very close.
Je Gal Shin then straightened his clothes and opened his mouth.
“Who did this?”
A faint anger flickered in his eyes.
This place was forbidden.
Without explicit permission from within the Je Gal Clan, no one was to set foot here.
Yet someone had breached it.
And not only had they intruded—they had completely shattered the Soocheonji Saengsin Formation.
“I did.”
“Pardon?”
At Je Gal Go Cheon’s reply, Je Gal Shin’s eyes widened and he hung his mouth open in a daze.
It was shocking news.
Since establishing the Soocheonji Saengsin Formation, Je Gal Go Cheon had lived within it for nearly forty years.
To hear that he had personally shattered that formation meant—
Gulp—
His throat moved visibly.
Je Gal Shin, excited by what he was beginning to hope, spoke with extreme caution.
“Are you going to return to Kangho?”
“No, not yet.”
At Je Gal Go Cheon’s firm answer, the strength drained from Je Gal Shin’s body.
Then, all at once, he faltered.
“What do you mean by ‘not yet’……?”
Je Gal Go Cheon, watching Je Gal Shin’s barely concealed excitement, clasped his hands behind his back and tilted his head up.
“Yes, not yet…….”
* * *
Cheon Hui deployed the An Hyang Pyo with full intensity.
Moving with absolute discretion, Cheon Hui slipped past the Je Gal Clan’s warriors who surrounded him on all sides and arrived safely atop the Separate Residence’s roof.
Whoosh—
A cool breeze swept past, but his heated body would not cool.
How could it?
He had witnessed such overwhelming pressure, such raw power.
The more he recalled it, the more his blood seemed to surge.
“So a Defeated Army, then?”
Cheon Hui’s gaze turned toward the northern end.
He could see the Vegetable Garden and Thatched Hut where Je Gal Go Cheon dwelled.
It seemed odd that such a humble hut and garden appeared amid the neat pavilions clustered in the Je Gal Clan’s inner compound.
Then light flickered from that place.
The small, faint glow looked so fragile it might extinguish at any moment.
Yet the presence of Je Gal Go Cheon within it reached this far with perfect clarity, despite the distance.
His clenched fist was slick with sweat.
It was not just his hand.
His back was damp as well.
“This has become quite fascinating.”
When was the last time he felt such tension?
Even tracing back through his past life, it would surely span more than several decades.
Cheon Hui drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
White breath misted from his lips and vanished swiftly into the wind.
“The Eight Martial Immortals…….”
The corners of his mouth rose as he murmured.
Excitement surged through him again.
“So there are seven more masters like him?”

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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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