Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 233

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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 233
Clang.
Cheon Hui resheathed his sword and surveyed the surroundings.
Bodies lay strewn across blood-soaked earth—So Yeon Gang’s corpse split neatly in half, limbs severed from others, all bathed in crimson.
“So only that side remains.”
Cheon Hui stepped forward lightly.
Sticky blood clung to the sole of his shoe, falling away slowly as he walked.
After he’d gone a short distance.
Clang!
The sharp ring of steel reached his ears.
“Hmm. Still fighting?”
Cheon Hui twisted his lips into a smile.
As his vision expanded, he saw the Hwa Ryeong Group locked in fierce combat against the incoming Heuk Young-dae forces.
“Unexpected. I thought they’d collapse instantly.”
It was a showing better than he’d anticipated.
And yet.
“Still, it’s only a matter of time. They’re holding with the Hwaryeong Sword Formation, but they’ve hit their limit.”
Cheon Hui fixed his gaze and dropped heavily onto a nearby rock.
The condition of the Hwa Ryeong Group was dire.
Their sect robes were already torn in places beyond recognition, stained dark with blood in patches.
The Heuk Young-dae forces, meanwhile.
Though they bore minor wounds, they looked barely different from when they’d started.
By any measure, the Hwa Ryeong Group was losing.
“Might as well watch. In situations like this, true strength reveals itself.”
His eyes turned cold.
One of the Heuk Young-dae fighters suddenly rushed at Cheon Hyang.
Boom!
Her body lurched violently as she blocked the surprise attack.
‘Powerful.’
Anxiety flickered across her face.
These were not like enemies she’d faced before.
Not only was each individual skilled, but their movements were coordinated, systematic.
Every aspect favored them.
Had she not deployed the Hwaryeong Sword Formation, falling as a cold corpse right now would have been unremarkable.
As she bit her lip hard.
“Ah!”
A cry pierced her ears.
She turned her head, and in her eyes appeared a Hwa Ryeong member, arm cradled against his body.
That made four seriously wounded.
‘This is dangerous.’
Darkness descended across her face.
Under the relentless assault, the Hwa Ryeong Group had begun to crumble, bit by bit.
‘If only Master would come……’
Cheon Hyang’s brow furrowed at the thought that had suddenly arisen, and she shook her head.
‘I can’t rely on him forever.’
Her hands clenched harder.
The force came of its own accord.
As leader, she had to make a decision.
‘Better to fall fighting than to crumble helplessly……’
Cheon Hyang, wrapped in a black wind-robe, narrowly dodged the swords of the Heuk Young-dae fighters and cried out sharply.
“Form the Third Position!”
No reply came.
Yet all heard the call.
Thud.
In unison, they stamped the ground beneath their feet.
Planting themselves at the precise angle, the Hwa Ryeong Group unfurled the Ohaeng Maehwa Step and seized the offensive for the first time since Heuk Young-dae had arrived—moving from defense to attack.
Tap-tap-tap!
The Heuk Young-dae fighters, watching the momentum shift as the Hwa Ryeong members surged forward, smiled with eerie satisfaction.
The ones who’d been falling back in retreat all this while, now rushing forward…….
Was this not like prey offering itself willingly to the hunter?
Soon the Heuk Young-dae members brought their swords down in succession, each blade laden with dull, murky Sword Qi.
Whish!
The sword descended cleanly from above, aimed at the Hwa Ryeong Group members without hesitation.
Cheon Hyang raised her sword sharply.
She blocked their assault.
Crash!
The sword that had blocked the attack trembled.
The formidable Inner Force that could not be fully dissipated flowed through the blade, jarring her hand.
“Ugh.”
A brief gasp escaped her lips.
The hand gripping the sword quivered faintly, and strength drained from her lower body as if her legs might give way entirely.
Yet she did not waver.
Instead, she twisted her wrist slightly.
Cheon Hyang’s blade, gliding the clashed swords smoothly to the side, shot forward with killing precision.
In that instant, a delicate plum blossom bloomed.
The moment the Heuk Young-dae member saw the plum blossom, he instinctively arched his back sharply.
But it was a grave mistake.
Cheon Hyang had never released her force from the thrust; instead, she drove downward with even greater power, as if hammering the blade into the earth.
“……!”
The Heuk Young-dae member, seeing the sword descending upon him, desperately tried to twist away, but the blade was already upon him.
Squelch!
Hot blood erupted instantly.
The Heuk Young-dae member, his chest carved open cleanly, stared wide-eyed before collapsing.
Thud.
The first casualty had appeared in this prolonged bloodbath.
The Heuk Young-dae seemed not to have anticipated that their own ranks would produce the first victim, and they stared at the corpse with shock in their eyes.
But that surprise was brief.
“Kill her.”
Killing intent blazed in their eyes.
Then they gripped their swords even tighter and rushed at Cheon Hyang in unison.
It was a cold, rational judgment.
It was an old truth: lose a leader, and any organization would lose its will to fight.
From that moment on, the Heuk Young-dae members began to target Cheon Hyang, the true center of the Hwa Ryeong Group, relentlessly.
Clink!
Cheon Hyang, reading their intent, gritted her teeth.
In a formation, the most crucial element was the synchronization of Internal Force. If even one person faltered, danger would follow for all.
Therefore, the most vital person was the one maintaining the formation.
That was herself.
‘I cannot fall! If I fall……’
For a moment, the image of the Hwa Ryeong Group members collapsing as cold corpses flashed through her mind.
‘I must endure! I must endure……!’
Cheon Hyang gritted her teeth and stared at the blades before her.
The swords gathered so densely offered not even the slightest opening.
‘What can I do……?!’
Her eyes trembled slightly.
Unable to see any way to escape this hopeless situation, she stood at a loss——until that moment.
‘There’s only one way!’
She recalled a single Movement Technique that Cheon Hui had taught her long ago, one she had practiced without fail every day, and extended her left foot forward.
Whoosh—
At the same time, her hands moved with fluid grace, as if dancing.
‘Dancing……?’
‘She’s lost her mind.’
The eyes of the Heuk Young-dae members narrowed.
It was an utterly unexpected dance.
Some of them, believing she had succumbed to terror and madness in the face of death, revealed sinister smiles.
But those smiles did not last long.
Whoosh—
Cheon Hyang’s movements began to shift slowly.
Deep as a marsh, soft as water.
Powerful as fire, swift as thunder.
Like the wind she swayed, yet solid as a mountain.
In the blink of an eye her footwork transformed, and she faded from sight.
Whoosh!
The blades cut empty air.
“……?!”
“What in the world—!”
“Leader?!”
Not only them, but even the members of the Hwa Ryeong Group were startled by such extraordinary skill.
“So it’s true—when life is in danger, humans can display superhuman ability.”
Cheon Hui, watching from the side, twisted his lips slightly.
Still imperfect, but the Jade Ring Wonderful Step had emerged with subtle refinement woven through it.
A realm that no one else in the current Huashan Sect could display save himself.
‘So she’s been practicing it steadily.’
He had taught her that movement technique only once.
And what was now unfolding was a level that could never appear without consistent training.
“Good.”
Cheon Hui smiled broadly.
It was more satisfying than he’d expected.
‘This is more than enough. When pressed on defense, she abandoned passive protection and boldly shifted to offense—that was excellent.’
Usually, when forced into such a defensive position, one only curled inward tighter.
But she had boldly commanded them to attack.
It was a difficult decision for an ordinary person to make.
And the Hwa Ryeong Group had followed that command, though hard to accept, pressing their assault relentlessly.
Even as deeper gashes appeared on their own bodies.
‘Now her resolve as a martial warrior has become perfect.’
Of course, there were still shortcomings.
‘But at least I’ve glimpsed hope.’
As Cheon Hui rose to his feet.
“I won’t lose!”
Cheon Hyang swung her blade with fluid grace.
Plum blossoms bloomed instantly, tracing the path of her sword’s movement, engulfing the Heuk Young-dae members.
Clang! Clang!
The Heuk Young-dae members were hurled backward.
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
Blood dripped from their mouths as they flew back, their brows furrowing sharply as though they’d suffered internal injuries.
Her skill was no ordinary thing.
Not only her Inner Power, but that mysterious movement technique she’d just displayed.
She had far transcended the level of mere Late Stage Mastery.
The Heuk Young-dae members shook their throbbing wrists and sharpened their focus entirely.
Meanwhile, having driven back the Heuk Young-dae members momentarily, Cheon Hyang clamped her mouth shut.
Only for a moment.
“Urgh!”
She soon spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Leader!”
The Hwa Ryeong Group members rushed to support her, but Cheon Hyang raised her hand to stop them.
“I’m… fine.”
Cheon Hyang wiped the blood away with her sleeve.
‘Internal injury……’
Her face contorted as she stared at the dark blood staining her sleeve.
The backlash from forcing out her remaining Inner Power to unleash the Jade Ring Wonderful Step had been too severe.
‘I saved my life because of it, though.’
She lifted her bowed head.
Brushing back her disheveled hair, she regarded the Heuk Young-dae before her.
They, too, looked surprised, but were calmly regrouping their formation.
‘This isn’t over yet.’
She forcibly swallowed down the blood and fragments of organs threatening to surge up her throat.
And as she reached for her blade with trembling hands to raise it again.
“A person truly grows only when pushed to the edge of a precipice.”
A laughter-filled voice rang out.
“Master……?”
“Master!”
Cheon Hyang and the members of the Hwa Ryeong Group’s faces brightened.
In stark contrast, the expressions of the Heuk Young-dae members filled with shock and dismay.
“How… how are you here……?”
“Why shouldn’t I be here?”
Cheon Hui looked at the Heuk Young-dae members with wide eyes, his mouth twisting into a bitter smile.
“Now it’s just you lot left.”
At those words, Heuk Young-dae stiffened.
The worst had come to pass.
The leader of Heuk Young-dae was a master so formidable that even if they combined their strength and rushed him together, he couldn’t guarantee they’d achieve mutual destruction.
But a skilled expert who had defeated such a man.
There was no chance of victory.
Immediately they began exchanging glances, searching for an escape route.
After a brief exchange of looks, they turned their bodies toward the anxious guards and hired swordsmen behind them.
Crash!
Without anyone speaking, they pushed off the ground in unison and moved toward the carriage.
“What the——”
“Ah!”
The guards cried out in alarm and drew their swords, but.
Clang!
It was futile.
Rushing forward without hesitation, Heuk Young-dae knocked aside the guards’ blades and drove them all toward the carriage.
“You bastards!”
Cheon I Gae, the most skilled expert nearby, unleashed the Yeonhwa Palm and struck back several of the advancing Heuk Young-dae members.
Thud! Thud!
“Damn it——”
But he alone could not hold them all back.
In the end, Cheon I Gae was forced to retreat, and Heuk Young-dae seized the carriage.
“This is outrageous!”
Just as Cheon I Gae barely managed to withdraw with several hired swordsmen and guards.
Whoosh——
Heuk Young-dae pressed blades to the throats of the guards and hired swordsmen.
“Gasp!”
“Huh!”
Seeing the sharp steel pressed against their necks, they went pale with terror.
“Do you have no pride as martial warriors?”
Cheon I Gae bellowed in fury.
But they paid no heed to such words.
“How about we make a deal?”
One of the Heuk Young-dae members glared coldly at Cheon Hui, his lips moving.
“Release us, and we’ll spare these people.”
At those words, the Hwa Ryeong Group bristled.
“What kind of treachery is this!”
“And you call yourselves martial warriors!”
But they showed no reaction to such reproach.
Instead, they pressed their blades even closer to the throats of the hostages.
“What nonsense.”
At that moment, Cheon Hui let out a soft laugh.
When that laugh appeared in a touch-and-go situation, both allies and enemies alike wore bewildered expressions.
“You were trying to slaughter us all in one fell swoop with Killing Intent Annihilation, and now you’re suggesting we make a deal because you’re afraid of death?”
Cheon Hui’s laughter abruptly ceased.
“You’re all insane.”
In an instant, Cheon Hui’s aura transformed.
Sharp and cold as ice.
The Heuk Young-dae members flinched at the presence that made their skin prickle just to witness.
“Even if these people die——”
“Try it.”
Cheon Hui’s eyes blazed with intensity.
In that instant, the bodies of the Heuk Young-dae members went rigid.
He was overwhelmed by the intense presence and aura hidden beneath those blazing eyes.
That was when Cheon Hui raised his index finger and spoke.
“In return, you won’t have a peaceful death either.”
At the gesture of his finger pointing toward them, the eyes of the Heuk Young-dae members trembled as if struck by an earthquake.
“That, what is that…….”
The moment one of the Heuk Young-dae members stammered out the words.
Flash!
A single scarlet streak of light appeared and vanished rapidly from Cheon Hui’s fingertip.
And moments later.
Thud—
The Heuk Young-dae member pierced by the light from Cheon Hui’s fingertip crumpled without strength.
‘A Finger Technique?!’
On the forehead of the man who had breathed his last with eyes wide open, an eerie plum blossom mark was drawn clearly, gushing blood.
“Damn it! Everyone run—”
Panicked by the sudden turn of events, the Heuk Young-dae members hastily attempted to draw the blades they had pressed against the hostages’ throats with force.
But then.
“……!”
Their hands did not move.
It was as if iron chains had bound their hands—no, their entire bodies.
As they burst forth in bewilderment.
Step— step—
The sound of quiet footfalls reached their ears.
Cheon Hui was walking toward them from across the way.
Slowly and without haste.
Terror began to bloom in the eyes of the Heuk Young-dae members who watched him.
They understood at once.
That it was none other than this Cheon Hui before them who had bound them.
“Ugh, uuugh……”
The Heuk Young-dae trembled like aspen leaves, dropping the blades from their hands and collapsing.
In that moment, Cheon Hui stood before them.
“So you think you can kill me like this?”
With those words, Cheon Hui lowered his half-lidded eyes with deliberate slowness.
Two black eyes, deep as an abyss, contained them, swallowing them like a swamp.
‘This is no human!’
‘How can such a being exist in All Under Heaven……’
They clenched their teeth.
An enormous presence bore down upon them.
The presence of the Absolute Heavenly Demon who once ruled the Nine Regions Eight Sovereigns beneath his feet!
Just as the Heuk Young-dae members’ hair was turning white from the overwhelming presence.
Thud!
Cheon I Gae suddenly appeared from behind and struck them on the back of their heads in succession, knocking them unconscious.
Cheon Hui stared at him as if in disbelief, this man who had suddenly appeared and rendered the Heuk Young-dae members unconscious.
“What are you doing?”
“Your…… presence…… rein it in……”
Cheon I Gae, panting and struggling to speak, gestured with his eyes toward the back.
Following that gesture, Cheon Hui turned his gaze backward and shrugged his shoulders.
‘Did I push too hard?’
The bounty hunters and swordsmen, not to mention the Hwa Ryeong Group members, had all turned ashen.
Cheon Hui immediately withdrew his presence.
In less than a breath’s time, Cheon Hui had settled his aura and turned his body, opening his mouth.
“I’ll leave the cleanup here to you.”
Cheon I Gae, his expression now more at ease thanks to the intense presence vanishing, took a deep breath and began to speak.
“Phew, where are you going?”
“There are things I need to take care of, aren’t there?”
Cheon Hui, smiling slightly, approached the Nok Rim warriors who had been watching in silence.
“Gasp!”
“Gulp!”
The Nok Rim warriors broke into cold sweat.
Drenched as if caught in rain, trembling, when they saw Cheon Hui.
Smile—
Cheon Hui bared his teeth in a brilliant smile.
“Take me to Hangsan.”

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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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