Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 230

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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 230
The Nok Lim disciples, who had prepared thoroughly for battle, flinched at the sudden, frenzied rush of the Hwa Ryeong Dan.
“Are they the Maehwa Sword Masters?”
The Maehwa Sword Masters were the elite of Huashan Sect, known as the face of the faction itself.
Exceptional martial prowess and countless righteous deeds.
And the image they presented as Daoists had earned a reputation not only across Gangho, but throughout All Under Heaven—
“These are supposed to be the Maehwa Sword Masters of Huashan?”
“They look like rabid dogs, not Daoists.”
The Nok Lim disciples broke into confusion.
There was no trace of the Daoist bearing in the Maehwa Sword Masters who now charged forward.
What was a Daoist, anyway?
They looked nothing like human beings.
The eyes of the Maehwa Sword Masters gripping their blades were not only bloodshot, crimson with veins, but blazed with feverish hunger.
Like starving beasts that had caught the scent of prey and lunged.
Then Cheon Hyang, leading the charge, drove her feet hard into the earth and shot forward like an arrow.
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
The Hwa Ryeong Dan members followed in her wake.
“What kind of momentum is that…?”
In that instant, the Nok Lim disciples were completely overwhelmed by the force of Cheon Hyang and the Hwa Ryeong Dan.
They poured forth a desperation and madness unlike anything these fighters had ever witnessed.
Had it not been for the Huashan Sect robes they wore, one might have mistaken them for ghost-ridden berserkers intoxicated with the lust for battle.
Just as the disciples, overwhelmed by the momentum, began to instinctively step backward—
“What are you doing?”
A voice, infinitely low, cut through the air.
Like sound echoing from a cavern, the deep voice struck their ears hard enough to snap their focus into place.
Wi Jung Yeon looked down, his gaze heavy.
The Nok Lim disciples saw the burning flame contained in those cold eyes and pulled their leaning bodies forward again.
Then they grasped the spears strapped to their backs.
The Nok Lim disciples drew their spears and raised their stances, aiming at the Maehwa Sword Masters.
“Annihilate the enemy.”
Wi Jung Yeon issued the command.
In that moment—
“Yes, sir!”
The Nok Lim disciples launched forward, spears in hand.
Clang! Clang!
The Maehwa Sword Masters and Nok Lim disciples collided, and sparks flew.
Wi Jung Yeon’s eyes narrowed as he watched the space transform into a battlefield.
Despite outnumbering the Maehwa Sword Masters by more than double, the Nok Lim disciples were being pushed steadily backward.
“I was told the current Maehwa Sword Masters are far weaker than those of old.”
His brow furrowed deeper.
As the Nok Lim numbers dwindled rapidly in mere moments, he turned his head to the side.
“Seong Yang.”
“You called?”
Seong Yang, the escort captain, answered at once.
“You must turn the tide.”
Seong Yang nodded and grasped the long spear he’d planted in the ground, bowing his head.
“Understood.”
With that, Seong Yang pushed lightly off the earth and drove into the fray.
He advanced rapidly toward the woman leading the charge at the very front.
‘She’s directing everything.’
Seong Yang drew up his internal force and thrust the spear forward with both hands gripped tight.
Shriek!
The sharp spearpoint, wrapped in Spear Qi, shot toward Cheon Hyang’s chest.
A precise, devastating strike!
The Shattered Gold Strike of the Apex Realm—a technique that had claimed the lives of countless warriors.
A blow so fierce that most masters of Murim would sooner evade it than meet it head-on.
But the opponent was no ordinary master of Murim. She was Cheon Hyang.
‘Her strength is different from the other Nok Lim disciples.’
She raised her sword against the Shattered Gold Strike.
The pristine White Lotus Sword, gleaming as it reflected the harsh sunlight, twisted in an arc and met the point of the incoming spear.
And in that moment.
Whish—
Cheon Hyang twisted her wrist with fluid grace.
The sword that had touched the spear’s tip bent smoothly, slipping past the Shattered Gold Strike.
“……!”
Caught off guard, Seong Yang tried to yank the spear back, but he was far too late to recall the technique now laden with terrible force.
In that instant, with the Shattered Gold Strike’s trajectory thrown awry, it thrust uselessly through empty air.
Whoosh!
Cheon Hyang’s face suddenly loomed near.
‘When did she—’
A single step.
That alone had collapsed the distance between them in a breath, and Cheon Hyang’s lips curled into a smile.
‘……smiling?’
Seong Yang found himself thinking how that smile was far too composed, too beautiful for the dire moment at hand.
Crack!
Her left palm, rising from below, struck his jaw with sudden force.
“Agh!”
Seong Yang’s head snapped back.
Staggering from the impact, he retreated several steps before Cheon Hyang snorted.
“You’re far too slow compared to Master.”
True, the Shattered Gold Strike was a superb spear technique—but beside the swordwork her Master had displayed, it was slow enough to inspire a yawn.
“This time I’ll lead!”
With confidence surging from that solid blow, Cheon Hyang planted her True Stance again.
“Not so fast!”
Meeting her advance, Seong Yang hefted his spear and took his own True Stance.
Clang! Clang!
Sharp sparks erupted between them.
“Hah!”
“Ugh!”
It was a fierce duel.
Cheon Hyang’s carefully bound hair soon came undone, flying wild, and her sect robe was slashed to tatters.
Seong Yang’s appearance too was rapidly becoming a disheveled mess.
Long after their bodies began to bear fresh wounds.
Thud!
Seong Yang flew backward.
A clear handprint blazed across his chest as he crashed to the ground, flecks of blood frothing at his mouth.
“Guah…….”
The Nok Lim bandits’ jaws fell slack.
“L-Lord Fan Zhu?”
“How is this possible……?”
Seong Yang had been known as the Constant Mountain Spear Demon, his infamous reputation well-known throughout Shanxi.
His skill was no mere legend—he was a master who had reached the Apex Realm.
Yet he had fallen to a female Taoist not yet twenty summers old. How could they not be stunned?
“Haah, haah!”
Breathing hard, Cheon Hyang wiped the blood from the wound on her cheek and grinned fiercely.
Then, raising her blade high, she cried out.
“It’s nearly over!”
“Waaaaah!”
In answer to her shout, the Hwa Ryeong Dan roared in triumph, pressing the Nok Lim bandits harder.
“The Lord Fan Zhu has fallen……!”
Wi Jung Yeon’s teeth clenched.
As his fury radiated outward, even the Crescent Halberd in his hands began to tremble.
『We’ll handle the Maehwa Sword Masters.』
A sound transmission suddenly pierced his ear.
Wi Jung Yeon’s eyes widened as he turned toward the direction of the voice.
Whoosh-snap!
Figures clad in black wind robes materialized from nowhere, encircling the Maehwa Sword Masters.
“You are…….”
Cheon Hyang’s brow narrowed.
The aura emanating from these newcomers was of a different caliber entirely from the Nok Lim bandits she had faced thus far.
With bitter expressions, they glared at Cheon Hyang and the Hwa Ryeong Dan, then drew their swords in unison and charged forward.
* * *
Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Cheon Yi Gae, who had been watching the situation unfold, widened his eyes at their appearance.
“Those… are they the Black Shadow Unit?!”
At his words, Jin Gae went pale.
The Black Shadow Unit—Sa Hyuk Ryeon’s assassination squad—was known to bring a storm of blood whenever they appeared.
“Why… why are they here?”
Cheon Yi Gae clenched his teeth.
It was rare indeed for the Black Shadow Unit to show themselves in the Gangho.
But for them to appear now…
“Sa Hyuk Ryeon has staked everything on this!”
Even if it meant making the Huashan Sect an enemy, they were determined to draw Nok Lim and the Dae Un Trading Company into Sa Hyuk Ryeon’s embrace.
“If this escalates, it could turn into an all-out war…”
The worst possibilities crashed through his mind.
A conflict between the Huashan Sect and Baek Gwi Seong would be a matter between sects—something they could contain within their own ranks.
But the Black Shadow Unit was Sa Hyuk Ryeon’s own force.
That meant Sa Hyuk Ryeon had directly intervened against the Huashan Sect, giving the Murim Alliance plenty of reason to step in.
Then Cheon Hui’s voice drifted out.
“So that’s why they kept creeping closer.”
Cheon Hui’s gaze swept across all directions.
He’d been bothered by those figures slowly approaching ever since before, and now it all made sense.
“They were trying to kill us all to hide the arrival of the Black Shadow Unit.”
The moment Cheon Hui spoke those words—
Whoosh!
The bandits of Nok Lim who had been in hiding suddenly burst out.
“Damn!”
“How long have they been lying in wait?!”
The escort agents and merchants who had been marveling at the Maehwa Sword Masters’ prowess suddenly went rigid with shock.
“Everyone, protect the cargo!”
The moment Chong Pyo Du’s command fell, the escort agents hastily drew their blades.
“Merchants, fall back!”
At the order, the merchants scrambled back toward the carriages, huddling close.
Clearly they’d done this many times before—the sequence of movements was swift and practiced.
Then a massive dark shadow fell before them like a meteor.
Crash!
The dark shadow, using the Crescent Halberd planted in the ground as a staff, slowly rose to his feet.
It was Wi Jung Yeon.
Having left the Hwa Ryeong Dan to the Black Shadow Unit, he now faced Chong Pyo Du and lifted his Crescent Halberd.
“The Bear Yaksha at night…”
Chong Pyo Du muttered, his expression taut with tension.
“It’s been a long time hearing that alias.”
Wi Jung Yeon twisted his mouth into a grin.
“Is everyone ready?”
“Yes, sir!”
At the fierce shout of the bandits, Wi Jung Yeon, his expression perfectly at ease, issued his command.
“Leave not a single one alive. Kill them all.”
Chong Pyo Du bit his lip and shouted.
“Hold back these insolent bandits!”
“Don’t lose to these brigands!”
The escort agents, drawing their Internal Force to its peak with a unified cry, met the bandits head-on.
Clang! Clang!
Sharp sparks erupted.
Meanwhile, the merchants pressed tightly against the carriage watched as blood, flesh, and sparks flew in the chaos ahead, their faces draining of all color.
Then—
“You think hiding will save you?”
A vicious-looking bandit, his lips pulled wide across a mouth missing teeth, raised his spear.
“P-please, spare us!”
A merchant desperately wrung his hands.
But the bandit, a cruel smile on his face, brought the spear tip close to the merchant’s throat and laughed darkly.
“No amount of pleading will help. You’re all fated to die here…”
Just as he raised his spear to strike alongside his words—
Whoosh!
Suddenly a blade burst through Nok Lim Do’s abdomen, stopping inches from the merchant’s eyes.
A strangled shriek tore from his throat.
The merchant recoiled at the blood coating the steel and the cascade of entrails pouring forth.
“This… what…”
Nok Lim Do stared at the blade with vacant eyes for a moment, then his spirit departed.
Thud.
The merchant was still reeling from the corpse sprawled across his lap when consciousness abandoned him.
“Did he lose consciousness?”
Cheon Hui’s eyes rolled back as he withdrew his gaze from the merchant sprawled with the body, then swept his vision across the wider scene.
“So Tianxia Trading Company raises their own escort agency—that explains it. Still, they have decent skill.”
By any measure of combat ability, they surpassed the disciples of most martial sects.
But the number of Nok Lim Do fighters was staggering.
At least double their own strength.
And the Nok Lim Do men wielded long spears.
Though the sword was called the sovereign remedy of all martial arts, such wisdom held true only at sufficient skill levels.
Without the reach to close distance, a short blade was always at disadvantage against the extended reach of a long weapon.
“Nok Lim has changed. They never operated with this sort of discipline.”
The Nok Lim he once knew bore no resemblance to this.
Where once they hurled themselves forward recklessly, now they maintained distance and wielded their spears with measured coordination—like soldiers in formation.
“And this captain is different too.”
Cheon Hui watched Wi Jung Yeon, who was pressing Chong Pyo Du with the Crescent Halberd.
That was when—
A deep thrumming cut through the air.
The Crescent Halberd carved through the atmosphere with such force that it seemed ready not merely to press Chong Pyo Du, but to shatter his skull entirely.
“That won’t do.”
Cheon Hui vanished in an instant.
A strangled gasp escaped Chong Pyo Du.
He tore at the empty air as the Crescent Halberd bore down upon him, despair flooding his chest.
‘Is this how I die.’
As the two sharp blades flanking the spear-tip—the Crescent Blade—drew level with his eyes, he squeezed them shut.
Yet strangely, no pain came even as time seemed to stretch.
Chong Pyo Du opened his eyes slowly.
Before him stood a massive back.
“Little brother…?”
He stared at Cheon Hui with eyes wide in disbelief.
And well he might be astonished.
Cheon Hui stood before him, the Crescent Blade of the Crescent Halberd—which had been swung with brutal force—pinched between his thumb and forefinger.
Cheon Hui locked eyes with Wi Jung Yeon and spoke.
“You swing it rather well for someone so reckless.”
Wi Jung Yeon’s eyes widened briefly in shock before he composed himself, then opened his mouth.
“How did you stop it?”
“How? There’s nothing remarkable about it.”
Cheon Hui replied dismissively, then applied force with his thumb and forefinger.
In that moment—
Crack!
The Crescent Blade shattered, its fragments scattered on the wind.
“I simply stopped it. Hardly worth the fuss.”
At words spoken with such contempt, Wi Jung Yeon clenched his teeth and withdrew.
Cold sweat ran down his forehead.
At the same moment, he swept his gaze across the surrounding Nok Lim Do fighters and shouted.
“Attack that one first!”
At Wi Jung Yeon’s cry, the Nok Lim Do fighters ceased their assault on the escort agents and rushed toward Cheon Hui.
Rapid footfalls thundered forward.
Cheon Hui watched the Nok Lim Do men charging toward him alongside Wi Jung Yeon, then drew his sword slowly.
“Well, well. They’ve changed far more than I expected. The old Nok Lim would’ve scattered like frightened rabbits.”
As he spoke, Cheon Hui smiled darkly.
“Running toward death all on their own. How thoughtful.”

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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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