Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 241

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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 241
The Sect Master looked out at the countless Huashan disciples gathered on Taorin Field and opened his mouth.
“Master of Wuhua Pavilion.”
“Heh, you called?”
At the summons, Hyeon Cheong stepped forward.
The Sect Master regarded him steadily, a gentle smile crossing his face, before he spoke.
“Guide the Third Generation Disciples and affiliated disciples to Soyoong Cave.”
At those words, everyone started in alarm.
Soyoong Cave was one of Huashan’s four sacred grottos, a cavern hidden deep within the mountain where the elders typically retreated for closed-door cultivation.
To send them there meant one thing.
“You’re telling them to hide.”
“That’s right.”
Hyeon Cheong nodded slowly.
He understood well the Sect Master’s reasoning for this decision.
The Third Generation Disciples were young boys and girls who had only recently joined the sect.
Besides, the affiliated disciples had homes to return to, did they not?
Yet despite the Sect Master’s judgment, the affiliated disciples objected vehemently.
“What are you saying?”
“We are disciples of Huashan too!”
They might not be great warriors, but without them, Huashan’s fighting strength would fall short of even a hundred.
They cried out as if pleading.
“It is already decided.”
The Sect Master did not waver.
Nok Lim was no light opponent.
They might very well lose their lives in the clash.
How could he demand such sacrifice?
“But Sect Master—!”
As the affiliated disciples’ resistance grew.
“Calm yourselves.”
Hyeon Cheong intervened.
He had already moved closer, and now he gently stroked the heads of the Third Generation Disciples, who had begun to sniffle as they struggled with the sudden change in atmosphere.
“The children are frightened, aren’t they?”
The affiliated disciples stood bewildered, their mouths opening and closing soundlessly.
“Then shall we go now?”
Hyeon Cheong asked, glancing toward the Sect Master.
The Sect Master nodded.
“Come now, dry your tears and let’s be off together.”
Hyeon Cheong, his face radiant with warmth, soothed the young disciples who looked ready to cry, then moved away with them in hand.
Shortly after Hyeon Cheong and the Third Generation Disciples departed Taorin Field, the affiliated disciples did not move a single step.
The Sect Master regarded them and asked.
“Why won’t you go with them?”
“No matter that we are affiliated disciples, we are still disciples of Huashan. How could we hide when our fellow disciples risk their lives in battle?”
“Surely you’re not discriminating against us simply because we are affiliated disciples?”
The Sect Master shook his head at the question from one of the affiliated disciples.
“Have I ever shown such discrimination?”
“Then why do you tell us to hide?”
“Not to hide, but to move for the future of Huashan.”
The Sect Master spoke gently.
“I entrust the children to you.”
The eyes of the affiliated disciples wavered.
To hear such words and then insist on staying to fight would be nothing more than childish stubbornness.
“Then we should go quickly, yes?”
Cheon Hui swept his gaze across the few affiliated disciples and opened his mouth.
“With your level of skill, being here would only be a hindrance. Do you know how exhausting it is to fight while protecting others?”
……
“Ah, you’re not worried the cave will feel cramped, are you? Don’t be. We’ll finish quickly and come find you.”
At Cheon Hui’s confident words, the affiliated disciples fell silent for a moment.
Then the Named Disciples, including Hyeon Yang and Jeok Geom, approached and grasped their hands firmly.
The affiliated disciples met the eyes of the elders and senior disciples whose hands they now held.
“I entrust the children to you.”
“I trust in you, Master.”
“This much is possible, isn’t it? Right?”
The affiliated disciples, seeing his earnest words and gaze, steadied themselves and nodded.
“……We understand. We will protect the Mountain Gate even at the cost of our lives. Please, return safely.”
Song Yang Jeong, the second-generation disciple who had spent the longest time at Huashan, spoke those words, and Hyeon Yang smiled gently in reply.
“Don’t worry.”
“Yes, Master.”
Song Yang Jeong turned and spoke.
“Let us depart as well.”
Several of the affiliated disciples still looked dissatisfied, but they too soon nodded their heads.
And slowly they bowed.
“We will wait at Soyoong Cave.”
“Please come quickly.”
After offering a deep bow together, the affiliated disciples swiftly followed after Hyeon Cheong and the Third Generation Disciples who had already departed.
Soon they vanished from sight.
The Sect Master’s smile faded as he spoke.
“I believe you all know already.”
It was a statement thrown out without preamble, yet tension hung heavy in the air.
Soon the Sect Master’s mouth opened again.
“The vicious rabble of Nok Lim are climbing toward Huashan to trample the sacred mountain our ancestors have protected.”
The disciples clenched their fists.
They already knew this tale.
Yet hearing it directly from the Sect Master changed the weight of it entirely.
The Sect Master studied his disciples.
Fewer than a hundred.
A small force compared to the Nok Lim members ascending now.
‘If only Hyeon Do and Hyeon Jin at the Murim Alliance were here, and Cheon Yu and the children……’
A moment of regret flickered, but he swept it away.
‘The Sect Master cannot afford to waver.’
The Sect Master closed his eyes, then opened them, addressing the disciples looking up at him.
“Is there anyone here who does not wish to fight?”
“There is not!”
A resounding cry echoed forth.
Their eyes blazed with mingled emotion.
Unease, impatience, fear.
Though some darker feelings stirred among them, what dominated most of their eyes was resolve and fighting spirit.
Reading the light in his disciples’ gaze, the Sect Master spoke quietly.
“Good.”
Shing―
With the word, he drew his sword.
In that moment, an extraordinary transformation began.
Whoooosh―
Radiating from the blade held high toward the heavens, a soft crimson glow swiftly stained the clear blue sky.
Wielding the Jaha Divine Art, the Sect Master gazed at his disciples before him and commanded with unwavering force.
“Then all of you, draw your swords! Pour forth everything you have! It is time to show those wicked scoundrels who scorn Huashan the true measure of our strength!”
The disciples drew their swords in unison.
And like the Sect Master, they raised their blades toward the heavens and cried out powerfully.
“Yes, Sect Master!”
“Huashan shall not fall!”
Their cries echoed in succession, resounding loudly.
Meanwhile, standing off to one side of Taorin Field, Cheon Hui wore an indifferent expression.
“Making such a fuss over mere Nok Lim…… Wait?”
In an instant, Cheon Hui’s head snapped around.
‘What the—? What is this?’
Cheon Hui’s eyes narrowed.
The aura drawing steadily closer to the Mountain Gate blazed with an intensity that seemed ready to set Huashan itself aflame.
‘Such skill emerging from Nok Lim? How is that possible?’
Cheon Hui stared at the Mountain Gate with startled eyes.
‘I’ve heard the saying that even in the lowliest streams dragons are born, but I never imagined one would emerge from Nok Lim.’
In that moment.
Boom!
A tremendous crash echoed across the mountain.
Dust billowed from where the Mountain Gate had stood, and through the haze, shadows of countless figures crept steadily closer.
Then, a moment later.
Thud—thud—
A man emerged from the dust cloud.
The disciples tensed at the pressure radiating from the middle-aged figure before them—a beast of a man with long hair half-tangled, streaked sparsely with white.
“A beautiful day, indeed.”
Nokrim Daeje, hands clasped behind his back, gazed upward at the sky before lowering his eyes toward the Huashan disciples below, his mouth twisting into a slow, cruel smile.
Thump.
The disciples felt their hearts plummet.
The moment those jet-black pupils fixed upon them, their entire bodies went rigid.
It was then that the Sect Master stepped forward, placing himself before his disciples.
“Doors exist to be opened, and yet you shatter them like a brute? Have you truly learned nothing of the basics?”
As he spoke, the Sect Master released his Internal Force through the Jaha Divine Art, taking a forceful step forward.
In that instant, a purple tempest erupted.
Whoosh!
The pressure that had enveloped the disciples scattered and dissipated in a heartbeat.
“Oho.”
Nokrim Daeje’s smile deepened.
There was but one source in All Under Heaven that could emit such vivid violet energy.
‘The Jaha Divine Art of Huashan……!’
Nokrim Daeje’s eyes gleamed as he spoke.
“So you are the Sect Master of Huashan.”
“And you must be Nokrim Daeje?”
“Hehehehe, can you not tell by looking?”
After a brief laugh, Nokrim Daeje swung his left hand.
From his sleeve emerged a verdant wind that began to swirl, and then—
Whoosh!
A fierce vortex howled forth, sweeping the thick dust that had hung behind him up into the sky.
……
Silence fell.
As the dust cleared, the forms of countless Nok Lim bandits arranged in neat ranks came into view.
Even a rough count exceeded a hundred. Moreover, each of them radiated an uncommon aura.
The Sect Master’s brow twitched.
‘Has Nok Lim grown this formidable?’
Even if Nok Lim had expanded tremendously, he had assumed there would be few masters among them.
After all, they were merely a bandit collective.
Yet the reality before him diverged entirely from his expectations.
‘They stand on par with our Huashan disciples. Especially those two—they rival even our elders…….’
The Sect Master’s gaze swept rapidly over the white-robed middle-aged man and the shabby-looking elder who had taken positions on either side of Nokrim Daeje.
Though weaker in presence than Nokrim Daeje, they were formidable opponents nonetheless.
Meanwhile, Nokrim Daeje surveyed his surroundings and opened his mouth.
“A scenic wonder. Huashan truly deserves its name.”
He continued, leisurely appreciating the landscape as though he were merely a traveler visiting the mountain.
“Yet what a pity. You should have come when the plum blossoms were in bloom.”
His gaze turned toward the towering, massive stone peaks that pierced the sky.
Upon seeing the peaks, which resembled fully blooming flowers, Nokrim Daeje twisted one corner of his mouth with deliberate slowness.
“After this day, plum blossoms shall never bloom in Huashan again.”
“How dare you speak such nonsense in this place?!”
“You monster!”
As the disciples bristled and cried out—
“Kill them all,” Nokrim Daeje commanded coldly.

“Hehehehe, I’ve been waiting to hear that.”
“We kill them all!”
“Time to show the power of Nok Lim!”
Led by Gi Ryeon No, the Nok Lim bandits rushed toward the Huashan disciples.
The Sect Master watched the bandits surge forward, then slowly raised his sword.
“Do not yield! Any of you!”
The moment those words left his lips.
“Yes, Sect Master!”
The disciples of Huashan Sect moved without hesitation, their bodies launching forward as they merged with the ranks of the Nok Lim fighters.
* * *
Standing at the edge of Taorin Field, Cheon Hui watched the battle unfold with a quiet smile.
‘Perfect conditions for building real combat experience.’
At present, the disciples held a slight edge in skill over the Nok Lim fighters.
But the Nok Lim had superior numbers, which offset that advantage, leaving the two sides roughly balanced.
‘I’ll only step in if things get dangerous.’
As Cheon Hui stood surveying the surroundings for a moment, deep in thought, a shadow fell across him.
“Dare you let your attention wander!”
A Nok Lim fighter gripped an axe in both hands and swung it down savagely.
The axe descended like lightning, about to cleave through Cheon Hui’s skull.
Skreek!
A sickening sound tore through the air.
‘What? Why is the sky suddenly—’
The Nok Lim fighter’s mind went blank.
He was certain he’d been swinging his axe at that dazed young Daoist standing motionless.
But suddenly his field of vision lurched upward, and he found himself staring at a clear, brilliant sky.
‘Surely I wasn’t the one who—’
As understanding dawned too late, the bright blue sky in the Nok Lim fighter’s vision began to stain red.
Then consciousness cut out entirely.
Thump.
“Coming forward just to die.”
Cheon Hui murmured, wiping his blade clean as he regarded the severed head that had fallen to the ground and the body still standing, not yet fallen.
Patter-patter-patter.
Droplets of blood scattered in all directions, and the nearby Nok Lim fighters who had been rushing forward froze where they stood.
Cheon Hui, watching them standing rigid as trees, parted his lips slightly.
“What? You planning to come too?”
Gulp.
The Nok Lim fighters’ throats bobbed audibly as they swallowed hard.
‘How did he kill him?’
‘What just happened?’
They could not comprehend it.
The young Daoist they’d thought would die in mere moments at their comrade’s hands now held a blade, and the ally who had been charging forward lay headless on the ground.
It had taken only a blink.
Yet they saw nothing.
Not the blade being drawn, nor even the swing itself.
The implication was clear.
‘A master…’
‘Someone we cannot face…’
Cold sweat beaded on their foreheads.
There was no way to retreat here.
Turning their backs on such a master would be courting death itself.
Then Cheon Hui suddenly tilted his head to one side, his eyes flashing.
“Hmm? Finally getting serious now?”
The Nok Lim fighters were momentarily startled by his sudden inattention, looking elsewhere undefended—
But only for a moment.
Whoosh!
Without waiting for anyone to lead, all the Nok Lim fighters lunged at Cheon Hui as one.
‘This is our chance!’
‘Now or never!’
Driving power into their legs, they kicked off the earth, and a massive dust storm erupted.
“Huh?”
Cheon Hui turned his head at the commotion.
But before his head had fully turned, all eight Nok Lim fighters had already closed to within striking distance.
Whooom!
The Nok Lim fighters wielded their axes and blades with savage ferocity, as if about to hack Cheon Hui to pieces.
Crunch!
They swung with such force that their muscles themselves seemed to cry out.
In that moment, as sharp killing intent carved through the air from all directions and closed in on Cheon Hui.
Flash!
A brilliant light swallowed their vision.
And then.
Thud-thud-thud—
A rain of blood fell around Cheon Hui.
“I don’t have time for you lot.”
Cheon Hui didn’t spare a glance at the fallen bodies, moving forward without hesitation.
Footfall—
A single step.
Yet with that one stride, Cheon Hui cleared more than a dozen zhang in an instant, and suddenly found himself at the edge of Taorin Field, taking in the scene before him.
Countless disciples of Nok Lim and Huashan Sect were entangled in combat, and amid the chaos, one sight seized his attention completely.
Nokrim Daeje and the Sect Master of Huashan.
Two masters representing Nok Lim and Huashan Sect now stood facing each other, slowly drawing up their Internal Force.
A violent, churning green Internal Energy.
And opposed to it, a purple Jaha Divine Art that stained the space with its subtle presence.
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
Watching the two opposing forces begin to consume Huashan, Cheon Hui let out a laugh.
“Now this is worth seeing.”

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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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