Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 245

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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 245
“Gasp!”
The Nok Lim bandits and Huashan disciples, reeling from the shockwave that shook the earth itself, turned their heads toward its source.
And in that moment, they saw it.
The sky splitting open.
“What… what is that?”
“The sky… it’s tearing apart!”
“How is such a thing even possible?”
Perhaps it was the sheer impossibility of what they witnessed with their own eyes that made belief falter.
In an instant, they forgot their battle entirely, lost in stupor.
“……Is this a dream?”
“How can this be?”
From all around came the sound of swallowing and murmurs of disbelief.
Beneath the split in the sky.
Two blurred figures flickered into view.
No one here could see them clearly. Or rather, the truth was they couldn’t see them clearly.
The speed of their movements exceeded even the Lightning Step.
Yet that very blur allowed them to identify who fought.
For there were precious few with such power.
“The Nok Rim Daeje’s martial prowess touches the heavens, and yet he falters against it……”
“Was Cheon Hui’s martial prowess truly of this magnitude?”
Both sides were seized by shock.
Each had believed they understood the martial prowess of both the Nok Rim Daeje and Cheon Hui.
But the reality far exceeded all expectation.
“This is not a human fight.”
Someone murmured.
And all agreed.
This was not a human fight.
Beyond human. Inhuman.
A clash of those who had transcended mortality.
“……”
As everyone held their breath, watching the duel unfold.
Flash!
The ashen figure and the dark-crimson figure left long trails, then collided directly in the center.
In that instant, twin bolts—one red, one green—struck downward, entangling with each other.
Boom! Crash!
A roar like thunder split the air.
As the eyes of those watching widened like stones cast into still water, a violent shockwave swept outward once more.
“……!”
“Ughh!”
Everyone crossed their arms simultaneously.
The incoming shockwave was tremendous.
The ground beneath their feet trembled violently, and the rushing wind engulfed them.
Shhhhh—
A moment later, the gale carrying dust dispersed. It was only then, as they carefully lowered their crossed arms, that—
“Aaaah!”
A sharp scream erupted.
In an instant, all heads turned.
“Jeok So!”
“Jeok So!”
The three senior disciples of Huashan widened their eyes in shock as they caught sight of Jeok So, clutching his shoulder and kneeling on the ground.
“Losing focus during battle—you’ve invited death upon yourself.”
A gaunt, middle-aged man holding a chain-scythe walked forward, his voice hollow and desolate, as blood dripped from the weapon’s blade.
It was clear he had been the one to strike Jeok So; the chain-scythe wept crimson.
Hyeon Ryeo’s face crumpled the moment she recognized the sudden arrival.
“You’ve brought Hyungmun Salgwi himself!”
As Hyeon Ryeo spoke the middle-aged man’s epithet, the atmosphere that had momentarily grown slack snapped taut like a rope pulled tight.
The disciples’ expressions darkened.
They had forgotten the reality of their predicament while watching the two absolute powers clash.
They were already being driven back by the Nok Lim bandits, and now one of the Nok Lim Kings himself had arrived.
The situation was spiraling toward catastrophe.
Just as the disciples caught sight of Hyungmun Salgwi.
Wheee-crack!
Hyungmun Salgwi hurled his chain-scythe at a Nok Lim Bandit who still stood dazed and vacant.
“Ahhhhh!”
The chain-scythe lodged deep in the bandit’s thigh, and he shrieked, panic flooding his face.
“S-sir, why did you suddenly—”
“You’re no better. What are you doing letting your mind wander on a battlefield?”
Hyungmun Salgwi spoke without affect and wrenched the iron chain attached to the chain-scythe with brutal force.
In that instant.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
A horrific scream tore through the air.
The bandit’s thigh laid open to the bone, and he trembled, clutching at the wound.
“Do not forget your purpose.”
Hyungmun Salgwi glanced at the bandits, then curved his lips in a cold smile.
“You haven’t forgotten, have you?”
The Nok Lim Bandits, hearing that glacial voice, shook their heads frantically in reply.
“N-no, sir!”
“We haven’t forgotten!”
The bandits shook off their daze, raising their weapons and fixing their gaze on Huashan’s disciples.
“Then move.”
Hyungmun Salgwi, having jolted the bandits’ senses awake, let out a scornful laugh and began spinning the chain in wide, smooth arcs.
Wheee-whine!
An eerie whistle cut through the air.
“Now is the time to paint Huashan crimson with their blood.”
With those words, Hyungmun Salgwi hurled the chain-scythe that he’d been spinning at Hyeon Ryeo with savage force.
Wheee-crack!
As the chain-scythe cut through the air, Hyeon Ryeo lunged to draw her sword and block it.
‘No!’
But her face was etched with dismay.
The chain-scythe was upon her before her blade had even reached her waist.
‘Too late—’
Just as she bit her lip.
Clang!
Sparks erupted, and the chain-scythe ricocheted away.
“Brother?”
Hyeon Ryeo’s eyes widened as she saw who had materialized before her.
“Are you unharmed, sister?”
Hyeon Ryeo spoke in surprise.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were going to help Sect Master—”
“He said my presence there would only be a hindrance, so I was told to assist here instead.”
Hyeon Yang, recalling the words Cheon Hui had spoken when they’d drawn near the place where the Nok Rim Daeje and Sect Master clashed, broke into a broad smile.
“Isn’t that so, brother?”
The moment he raised his gaze.
“Hyah!”
Hyeon Heo appeared with a shout, his blade flashing against the Nok Lim Bandits who encircled the Huashan disciples.
“Gack!”
“Ugh!”
With a single stroke, Hyeon Heo felled three or four bandits and straightened his stance.
Then he called out to the disciples.
“Now it’s our turn to counterattack!”
At his resounding cry, hope kindled in the eyes of disciples whose faces had grown ashen with defeat.
It was only the arrival of two men.
Yet the tide turned in an instant.
Because these two were the spiritual pillars that held Huashan Sect upright.
The disciples, covered in wounds and exhausted, felt strength return to their eyes.
At that moment, Jeok Geom and Seol Ran and Cheon Hyang cried out toward the bandits surrounding them.
“All of Bi Geom Dan, raise your blades! It’s time to crush this wicked horde!”
“Mu Hwa Dan, all of you fall into formation!”
“We won’t yield either! Come on! Hwa Ryeong Dan, let us strike down these demons!”
* * *
Clang!
The force transmitted through his sword hand made Cheon Hui’s lips curve upward slightly.
This one was the real deal.
Every exchange drew gasps of admiration from him.
Fists, palms, kicks—everything.
The martial techniques he displayed were swift and nimble enough to be wielded only by someone deeply versed in hand-to-hand combat.
The Nok Rim Daeje before him truly deserved to be called by that title.
‘And his internal and external power both are exceptional.’
Cheon Hui’s gaze fixed on the opponent’s fist meeting the Baekryeon Sword wrapped tightly in silk.
The fist bore such powerful force that it distorted the surrounding space—thick, rock-solid.
It looked as though it could crush mountains.
‘A hand trained in external power to its limit.’
The scarred knuckles bore witness to his relentless effort.
“Your mind wanders,” the opponent said in a quiet voice.
The words brushed against his ear.
The Nok Rim Daeje tore through space in an instant and unleashed a left hook.
Swift footwork paired with that vicious left.
Watching the suddenly enlarged fist, Cheon Hui pivoted on his left foot.
Whoosh—
The most exquisite footwork of Huashan Sect, the true manifestation of the Jade Ring Wonderful Step.
Following the trajectory of the swinging fist, Cheon Hui completed a full rotation and, riding that momentum, swept his blade in a wide arc.
Screech!
The sword cut like a gale—fast, sharp, aimed at the vulnerable armpit of Nok Rim Daeje, who had overcommitted to his punch.
Crack!
The Nok Rim Daeje himself executed a half rotation, still in motion.
His grey robe flared wide.
And from within that flare, a hidden elbow shot out at tremendous speed, striking the blade hard.
Clang!
The blade vibrated sharply.
The tremor grew into a massive wave and traveled up to the hand holding the sword.
A numb, tingling pain shot through his palm.
Cheon Hui quickly twisted his grip and, channeling the power of the Plum Blossom Divine Art, swept his blade to shed the impact entirely.
Crack!
The lingering shockwave shot from the tip of the sword and gouged a crater three inches deep into the ground of Taorin Field.
So he could even riposte like that.
As Cheon Hui reflected on how quickly and precisely Nok Rim Daeje had countered.
“Remarkable control of your inner force,” the Nok Rim Daeje said.
He spoke with genuine admiration.
In a span far shorter than a single breath, he had transformed the infiltrating force that had pierced his defense.
It was far beyond ordinary mastery.
Cheon Hui drew the blade again, having exhausted his remaining strength, and moved his lips.
“You’re no lightweight either.”
“Ha ha ha! Is that so?”
The Nok Rim Daeje laughed at Cheon Hui’s words.
After a long, hearty laugh, he repeatedly clenched and unclenched both fists.
Was it the thrill of finally meeting a worthy opponent?
A surging fighting spirit ignited within him.
His hair stood on end, and the pupils of his eyes—now blazing with the power of the Cheonhyeong Nokhwa Bigong—flared with a piercing blue light.
‘Martial arts I’ve never encountered before.’
Curiosity kindled in Cheon Hui’s eyes.
Most of what the Nok Rim Daeje had shown so far was unfamiliar.
The Heart Technique, the Footwork, the Fist Technique.
And that made it all the more interesting.
Cheon Hui observed the teal-tinged fighting spirit blooming across the opponent’s entire body—his martial power.
The force contained within it was no less formidable than the Inner Power Heart Techniques of the Nine Factions and One Gang, the Eight Great Clans, and the Tianma Divine Sect.
That Nok Lim possessed a Heart Technique of this caliber was unexpected.
Cheon Hui raised his sword, his eyes alight with interest.
Now that he was channeling such power, ordinary attacks would have no effect.
The Nok Rim Daeje and Cheon Hui locked eyes.
“…….”
No further words were needed.
A cool wind swept across their cheeks through the profound silence.
Then Nok Rim Daeje shot forward like an arrow.
The swift footwork he had displayed moments before unfolded once more, carrying him across the distance to stand before Cheon Hui in a heartbeat.
The Bow Body Recoil Shadow?
The Displaced Form, Exchanged Position?
No—it was different from those.
He had skipped across space itself in between.
Like the legendary Shortstep technique.
Nok Rim Daeje’s left foot struck the earth as he materialized before Cheon Hui.
Crack-snap!
The ground began to splinter beneath him.
His thigh, tensed with the force of a thunderous stomp, swelled as if ready to tear through the grey robes that clung to it.
The grey robe billowed upward into the sky.
And between the folds, Nok Rim Daeje’s eerie green eyes blazed like wildfire.
In that fleeting instant, their gazes locked.
Yet to both of them, the moment stretched long.
For their thoughts, their consciousness, moved faster than the river of time itself.
Then.
Boom!
Nok Rim Daeje drove his right fist forward.
His surging fighting spirit coiled within his clenched right hand, releasing a torrent of martial force.
The vortex of power was visible to the naked eye, swirling around his knuckles.
His fist spun like a tempest that would grind to dust anything it touched.
Then his shoulder rose, and his right fist divided into many.
Georyeok Paewang Gwon.
The martial philosophy that Nok Lim had refined and perfected for hundreds of years in its quest to become the supreme overlord now manifested in his hand.
‘I’ve never seen a fist technique like this before.’
Cheon Hui’s eyes flashed with interest.
Dozens of punch strikes, splintered in an instant, poured forth through a labyrinthine sequence of movement.
Was it a fist technique that mingled hard and soft?
Cheon Hui gazed intently at the dozens of strikes, thinking with fierce concentration.
What principle did that technique contain?
Where did the sequence of movement lead?
Even as the fists came barreling toward him in that instant, Cheon Hui was consumed with unraveling the technique before him.
But the moment for thought passed swiftly.
Crash-boom!
The dozens of strikes extended like mighty branches, scattering fierce force in all directions, hammering down upon the world itself.
The power trembled with violent vibration.
And the fist that contained it.
Martial arts that had reached the peak realm now manifested through Nok Rim Daeje’s hands, bearing down upon Cheon Hui.
‘How exquisite.’
Cheon Hui’s lips curled slowly into a smile.
His skin trembled at the destructive force.
Yet because of it, he felt joy.
Martial prowess and combat.
These were the very reason for his existence, the force that propelled him forward.
And now, in this moment.
Combat seized his senses entirely.
As if answering his desire, the Internal Force of the Plum Blossom Divine Art flowed through his sword body.
An Internal Force transparent as morning dew.
But it swiftly gathered at the tip of the Baekryeon Sword, transforming into an elegant crimson hue.
The Baekryeon Sword rose to the level of his chest.
Then, sweeping the blade forward in a horizontal arc, his sleeve fluttered grandly.
Whiiiish—
A scarlet trail etched itself through the air.
And in that moment, the Internal Force gathered at the blade’s edge bloomed into a beautiful flower.

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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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