Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 223

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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 223
“What did you just say……?”
He was telling them how broken the Eighteen Nahan Formation they’d just deployed truly was?
Among those who knew him, he was famous for a temperament as fierce as fire—hardly befitting a monk.
To hear such contempt directed at the Eighteen Nahan Formation from such a man—how could he contain his rage?
With fury surging from the depths of his being, his face—and even the head marked with the Buddhist precept scar—flushed crimson as he glared at Cheon Hui with blazing eyes.
‘This bastard!’
In that instant, his grip tightened.
A twisted sneer twisted at the corner of his mouth.
Though he looked up at Cheon Hui, those eyes felt as though they were gazing down upon him.
Crack—
Gripping the staff tightly, he tore his gaze from Cheon Hui and fixed it squarely on Won Eum.
“Who is this man, elder brother?”
As Won Ho’s lips trembled and suppressed fury poured through his voice, Won Eum’s expression grew troubled.
‘I should have stopped this before it reached this point.’
Just as he saw Won Ho, looking ready to explode at any moment, and opened his mouth—
“That’s not the important thing right now.”
Cheon Hui spoke first.
And that was not where it ended.
Cheon Hui twisted his lips further upward, unveiling a provocative smile.
“Ah! Are you afraid the Eighteen Nahan Formation will be broken?”
“Master!”
Won Eum tried urgently to stop him, but the words had already left Cheon Hui’s lips, and the smile dwelling at the corner of his mouth only deepened.
“Well, if you’re afraid of that, I understand…….”
At that moment, Won Ho lifted his staff.
Thud!
He slammed the staff roughly against the ground, teeth clenched, his voice booming forth.
“Do you know where you are right now, speaking such nonsense!”
A mighty Lion Roar erupted.
The monks training in the vicinity turned their attention toward the commotion.
“Nahan Elder……?”
“What’s happening?”
When they spotted Won Ho blazing with fury, their faces filled with alarm.
“I’m not foolish, nor do I not know which sect I’ve entered.”
Cheon Hui spoke without concern.
“It’s Sorim, isn’t it.”
Won Ho’s eyebrows twitched.
It was absurd, infuriating.
To disparage the Eighteen Nahan Hands while knowing full well they stood within Sorim’s grounds……!
His cheeks trembled with barely contained fury.
“So you know that, yet you commit such an act now?”
His irritated voice shot forth like a razor-sharp blade.
But.
“It’s not as though I can’t do it.”
Cheon Hui replied indifferently.
“Shouldn’t you be grateful instead? I’m pointing out your shortcomings.”
At his words, the Nahan monks standing behind Won Ho bristled as well.
“Who exactly is speaking to whom……!”
Just as Gong So—among the Nahan monks, one of the quickest to anger, rivaling Won Ho himself—was about to rush forward—
Click.
Won Ho raised his staff to block him.
“Elder, why do you stop me…….”
“You stay put.”
Won Ho fixed Gong So with a sharp look as he spoke.
Seeing the bloodshot eyes of Won Ho, Gong So realized this was no ordinary anger, and he retreated backward, cold sweat beading on his brow.
Won Ho moved the staff he had used to stop Gong So and pointed it directly at Cheon Hui.
“I think I need to teach you some manners.”
He spoke in a calm voice unlike before, regarding Cheon Hui with complete indifference. His rationality had turned ice-cold precisely because his fury had reached such heights.
“If you’re so confident, come up.”
“Fine by me.”
As if waiting for those words, Cheon Hui wasted no time and pushed off the ground.
Tap.
Won Ho, watching Cheon Hui ascend to the Training Grounds in a single breath on light footfalls, withdrew his staff and parted his lips.
“So it’s not just talk.”
With those words, he spun sharply around.
Then he moved toward the Nahan monks arrayed behind him and raised his staff once more.
A chill settled over the scene.
“……This has grown complicated.”
Won Eum offered a bitter smile.
“Forgive us. I should have stopped him sooner, but I fear I was too slow…….”
Won Eum, muttering to himself, turned to apologize to Cheon Yi Gae and Dan Mok Lin, but froze mid-motion.
“What do you make of it?”
“Sorim’s Eighteen Nahan Formation is formidable, I’ll grant you that, but if it’s him…….”
“Tch, your thinking mirrors mine. The Eighteen Nahan Formation is surely a peerless formation—nothing should move it. And yet, when it comes to that one, I find myself wondering if perhaps…….”
Not a shred of worry emanated from either of them. Rather, they spoke with keen interest as they gazed upon the martial arena.
‘Do they truly believe he could shatter the Eighteen Nahan Formation?’
Wrinkles formed between Won Eum’s brows.
Of course, he knew the young master before them was strong.
Had not Myeong Weol Do and Hwang Il Dan both fallen before his single strike in Bidong, the Hidden Sword realm?
But.
‘Against the Eighteen Nahan Formation, he would not withstand even a moment.’
He gazed back at the Training Grounds with conviction.
It would be the same even if this young master had reached the Heavenly Martial Realm instead of the Mueuk Jigyeong.
All these years, forces proclaiming the Tianma Divine Sect’s dream of unifying All Under Heaven, along with countless other sects and martial masters of renown, had attacked Sorim.
Yet none of them had ever breached this Eighteen Nahan Formation—all had been forced to swallow their tears in defeat.
‘Even if one were to speak of the Eight Martial Deities…….’
As he recalled the peerless masters of Beyond Heaven, now hidden from sight.
“Master.”
Gong Mun, newly appointed among the Eighteen Nahan, approached Won Ho alongside Gong Jin.
“What is it?”
“You must not underestimate that young master.”
“He is the one we saw before in Bidong, in the Hidden Sword realm.”
At Gong Mun’s words, the expressions of Won Ho and the other Eighteen Nahan stiffened slightly.
The incident that occurred in Bidong of the Hidden Sword realm was widely known throughout Sorim’s inner circles.
Won Ho’s brows knitted together.
“You mean the young master who brought down Myeong Weol Do and Hwang Il Dan of Ilwol Moon.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“So that is why the Dharma Master brought him here personally…….”
Though he did not voice his displeasure, Won Ho had secretly wondered why Won Eum would bring such a youth—utterly lacking in even a shred of courtesy—into Sorim itself.
But now it became clear.
‘At that age, with that level of martial prowess…….’
It was at that moment when his gaze fixed upon Cheon Hui, eyes narrowing.
“So when do we start?”
Cheon Hui let out a yawn, speaking as if bored.
In an instant, Won Ho’s eyes turned sharp.
‘……I’ll need to teach him some manners.’
What good was extraordinary skill
if he possessed not a shred of courtesy?
“Take your positions.”
Won Ho commanded.
Tap-tap-tap!
The seventeen Nahan monks arrayed in formation spread their Nahan robes and took their directional positions.
Won Ho cast a sharp glance over them and called out:
“Form the array!”
The Buddhist roar of the sect echoed across Sorim.
In that moment, the Nahan monks raised the long staffs in their hands with a sharp motion and opened their mouths.
“Amitabha Buddha!”
“Amitabha Buddha!”
The solemn chant of the Buddha Call shook Sorim to its foundations.
A subtle golden radiance now bathed them like a halo, enveloping the martial arena.
Won Ho drove his staff downward upon seeing the Nahan monks deploying their Nahan Internal Force.
Boom!
A heavy sound accompanied the golden light that consumed the vision of all those watching.
It was the same for Cheon Hui ahead.
“Oh, the momentum is quite impressive.”
Cheon Hui’s eyes gleamed as he perceived the martial essence of Pasa and Pama contained within that dazzling golden radiance.
Then it happened.
Swoosh—
Won Ho lifted his right foot slightly and traced a sharp circle to the left.
Then he raised the staff he had driven down, and soon launched it forward.
That was the beginning.
The Nahan monks, who had deployed the Eighteen Nahan Formation, followed suit with the same movement.
Whoosh!
Their robes fluttered, and wind swept through.
At first it was merely a gentle breeze.
But within a single blink, it transformed into a tempestuous gale.
Rushing forward—
It generated an enormous vortex.
Everything in the martial arena was drawn toward where they stood.
The air itself. The very momentum.
Yet Cheon Hui remained unmoved, gazing ahead and murmuring softly.
“To achieve this level of momentum in a single breath—no wonder they speak so highly of the Nahan Formation. If one rides this current properly, even a master of the Heavenly Martial Realm would be left helpless.”
The reputation was well earned.
Had the Eighteen Nahan Formation been fully deployed, the force would have been of an entirely different magnitude.
“Then let me examine it more closely.”
Cheon Hui’s eyes shone brilliantly.
His Inner Eye—which perceived the martial essence of all creation—unveiled itself, and he meticulously grasped the flow of the Eighteen Nahan Formation now being deployed.
‘The flow continues in that direction, and the Five Elements with Nine Palaces? The opening gate must keep moving and swap positions with the life gate, yes—the moment it leads to those three, the internal power gets cut off in the middle.’
As Cheon Hui slowly traced the flow and watched, he let out a soft chuckle.
“Hah!”
With a shout, Won Ho swung his staff. In an instant, the staff multiplied into several, scattering like ribs of a fan.
The other Nahan monks followed his motion, and suddenly a net-like formation spread out, crashing down toward Cheon Hui like a wave.
Watching them, Cheon Hui drew his sword.
The moment the pure white Baekryeon Sword was half-unsheathed, dozens of staffs wielded by the Eighteen Nahan monks swept down upon Cheon Hui.
Flash!
The Eighteen Path Demon Subduing Staff Method consumed the world in brilliant golden light.
“Amitabha Buddha…!”
The Buddhist monks watching from the periphery gasped in alarm, calling out the Buddha Call and drawing upon their Internal Force.
Even at a distance, they had to brace themselves against the overwhelming rebound.
Some couldn’t even open their eyes, grimacing as they chanted the Buddha Call for a moment.
The golden light that had filled their vision faded, and the Training Grounds came into view.
“The, the Chief Abbot?”
The monks cried out in astonishment.
In the center of the Training Grounds, amidst the eighteen Nahan monks including Won Ho, Cheon Hui stood as tall and composed as before.
Won Ho’s eyes trembled.
‘What just happened?’
He couldn’t comprehend it at all.
The Eighteen Path Demon Subduing Staff Method, led by the Eighteen Nahan Formation, had struck accurately and without flaw at that youth’s head.
Yet in that instant.
‘A red sword light suddenly appeared….’
His brow furrowed.
It didn’t register clearly.
He could only sense dimly that a red sword light had severed the entire Eighteen Path Demon Subduing Staff Method.
He looked at Cheon Hui and asked.
“What did you do?”
“I cut the flow in the middle.”
Cheon Hui’s gaze moved in turn to Gong Mun, Gong Jin, and Gong Muk.
The three, who like Won Ho had been struck with astonishment, flinched at that gaze.
“Those three don’t yet have a perfect grasp of handling their inner power, or perhaps there’s another reason—but they were weakening the flow of the Eighteen Nahan Formation. So I simply cut it off.”
As he spoke, Cheon Hui lightly moved his sword up and down.
Won Ho’s brow furrowed at that action.
“Breaking the flow? What kind of nonsense is that…….”
Cheon Hui caught the disbelief still etched on Won Ho’s face and smiled softly, raising his sword.
“If you still don’t understand, come at me again. Who knows? Perhaps the answer will suddenly strike you in the middle of it all.”
“…….”
Won Ho bit down on his lower lip and cried out.
“Draw forth all your Nahan Internal Force!”
The eyes of the Nahan monks widened.
To draw forth all their Nahan Internal Force meant to fully deploy the Eighteen Nahan Formation—how could they not be shocked?
“Is this how you mean to end it?”
At Won Ho’s words, the Nahan monks drew forth their Nahan Internal Force in one fluid surge.
They too were Nahan monks.
Though they had deployed the Eighteen Nahan Formation—more a drill than true combat—the fact that they had failed to land a single blow was a grave blemish upon them.
“Amitabha Buddha.”
“Amitabha Buddha.”
A low, resonant Buddha Call spread forth slowly.
And before those chants had finished echoing, Won Ho released his prayer hands, thrusting both palms forward with great force.
A subtle golden light gathered in his hands.
Brilliant!
Then the golden light erupted from his eyes.
But it was not his alone.
All eighteen Nahan monks thrust their palms forward in perfect unison, scattering fierce golden light from their eyes.
As the golden radiance consumed the surroundings.
Thump—
The Absolute Supremacy Art stirred in response.
To not react to such overwhelming waves of force would have been strange indeed.
But.
‘Not yet. Your time has not come.’
Cheon Hui suppressed the Absolute Supremacy Art.
Instead, he slowly drew forth the Plum Blossom Divine Art, and the moment he channeled his inner power into his sword.
“All of you—advance!”
At Won Ho’s cry, they detonated the Nahan Internal Force gathered in their palms.
The Eighteen Nahan Hands!
The eighteen transcendent techniques mastered by the Nahan monks unfolded simultaneously from their hands.
Eighteen movements blooming all at once.
Each movement carried an experience so profound that even a master who had reached the Wuji Realm could not withstand it—they crashed down upon Cheon Hui like a tidal wave.
‘There is no blocking this.’
A smile of victory played at the corners of Won Ho’s mouth.
The inner power of the Eighteen Nahan Hands, achieved through the Eighteen Nahan Formation, moved in a rhythm altogether different from ordinary techniques.
Ten generations of power? Twenty?
No—it was far more than that.
And that inner power woven into the Eighteen Nahan Hands was so overwhelming that even the one deploying it felt the hair on his skin stand on end.
‘Ending this with internal injury would be…….’
It was in that moment, as he wondered when to cease the Eighteen Nahan Hands.
‘What is this……?’
Through the dazzling golden light, a single line of red suddenly cut across.
It was impossibly thin.
Yet it was distinct and vivid.
Stark enough to steal the gaze of anyone who beheld it.
The line, drawn slowly from above, finally touched the ground—and the world that had been filled with golden brilliance was split neatly in two.
And through that gap, Cheon Hui burst forth.
“……!”
“Impossible!”
Won Ho and all eighteen Nahan monks opened their eyes wide, staring at Cheon Hui.
Cheon Hui flashed a brilliant smile.
“Just as I thought—completely flawed.”

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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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