Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 266

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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 266
“……So you’re saying I can’t leave the Byeoldongdae of my own will?”
Dan Li Gwan Cheon asked carefully.
“That’s right.”
Cheon Hui answered plainly.
“It’s not just you. No one here can leave.”
Cheon Hui glanced back slightly as he spoke.
“Did you really think the Byeoldongdae was some inn, where you could come and go as you pleased?”
Most of them felt a pang of shame at this.
Cheon Hui saw through their reactions perfectly and smiled coldly.
“The Byeoldongdae will be assigned to frontline duties in the war against Sa Hyuk Ryeon. In other words, it’s a unit where you might die any day, any hour—and yet you speak of leaving as you wish……”
Cheon Hui’s voice, naturally cutting them down, settled heavy and thick, and the faces of those already overwhelmed by deploying their Sinbeop drained of color.
“Why? Did you want to gain some halfway reputation without risking your lives?”
Dan Li Gwan Cheon and most of the others fell silent like stones, unable to open their mouths.
It was a thrust that struck true.
Cheon Hui scanned them one by one.
But they could not meet his gaze and looked down at the ground.
‘So they are embarrassed,’ he thought.
Cheon Hui smiled sharply and opened his mouth again.
“That would be a grave disrespect to Kangho.”
His words sank into the chests of Dan Li Gwan Cheon and several others like hidden blades.
Just then, Ho Gwang Gae laughed boldly.
“Ha ha! That’s the truth. Who would enlist in such a unit without that resolve? Isn’t that right?”
Mu Hong met Ho Gwang Gae’s eyes as he spoke, then nodded firmly.
“……I’ve already made up my mind to bury my bones with the Byeoldongdae.”
His eyes narrowed as he answered.
For him now, this was an enormous opportunity.
After all, his position in the Jongnam Sect was somewhat ambiguous.
Precisely because of that, he was hoping to build a reputation and hone his martial arts through this Byeoldongdae assignment.
Then Mu Hong remembered something he’d been wanting to ask since earlier and opened his mouth.
“But Dae Ju, if I may—is there something I might ask?”
Cheon Hui looked at Mu Hong, who spoke with a grave expression, and let out a quiet laugh.
“Go ahead.”
“What mission are we heading out for now?”
In that instant, everyone’s ears perked up.
It was something they’d all been curious about since the talk of a mission began, but it was a question no one had dared voice, swept up in the atmosphere.
Though Cheon Hui understood that mood, he fixed Mu Hong with a steady gaze.
“You’ll know once you follow me.”
At words that felt like a unilateral directive, Mu Hong’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“……I understand.”
He nodded obediently and stepped back.
He was merely one member of the unit now.
Cheon Hui standing before him was the Dae Ju.
‘Excellent. I like this one.’
Cheon Hui was pleased with how readily Mu Hong complied.
Most Later Generation Masters from great sects would have pressed for an answer.
But Mu Hong was different.
He understood his current position.
That he was not a Later Generation Master of the Jongnam Sect, but a simple member of the Byeoldongdae.
“Tsk, we’re falling behind schedule.”
Cheon Hui clicked his tongue at the pace he’d slowed while talking, then addressed his unit members.
“I’m going to pick up speed.”
The moment he finished speaking, Cheon Hui kicked hard against the ground.
Whoosh— whoosh—
The rest of the group struggled to keep up behind him.
They pressed forward through the thick darkness that enveloped them.
Tap-tap-tap—
“Huff, huff.”
Only the sound of feet striking earth and harsh breathing filled the silence.
Some were exhausted to the point of near collapse, yet not a single one voiced a complaint.
Time continued its relentless flow.
How long had they run? The sun that had hidden itself when they departed from the Murim Alliance in the east was already rising.
“Half a day’s already gone, then.”
Mu Hong, who had been muttering, shook his head.
His body was exhausted.
A night’s worth of marching without sleep.
And all of it without a single moment of rest—just endless walking and running—so how could it not wear on him?
Ho Gwang Gae, his face likewise clouded with fatigue, clicked his tongue as he watched the figure ahead.
“……Tch. The Dae Ju looks perfectly fine.”
Cheon Hui at the very front showed no sign of wavering.
He moved with such vigor one would think he’d only just deployed the Shin Beop.
‘And that’s what makes him so unbearable.’
Ho Gwang Gae’s gaze fixed on Cheon Hui’s back.
Truly an aggravating man.
Several of those pursuing had faced the risk of falling behind multiple times.
And each time, Cheon Hui would halt the Shin Beop and walk. Then once those who had tired showed signs of recovery, he would deploy it again.
‘Is he seeing through everything?’
At first Ho Gwang Gae thought it was coincidence.
It would be impossible without grasping the Internal Force of so many people.
But as it happened not once, nor twice, but three times and more, he realized this was no accident—it was a matter of Cheon Hui’s skill.
‘……The rumors were true, then.’
At that moment, Cheon Hui came to a halt.
He withdrew the Bicheong Movement and studied the mountain before them, then nodded.
“Is that the place?”
Cheon Hui’s gaze swept across the mountain, faintly illuminated by the pale dawn light.
“We’ve arrived sooner than expected.”
Cheon Hui’s expression showed satisfaction.
Perhaps it was because even when he grew tired from running through the night with the Shin Beop deployed, he had not stopped but continued on foot.
Thanks to this, he had reached their destination faster than originally anticipated.
Cheon Hui turned his body and gazed behind him.
Those who had arrived one by one and stopped in place did not look pleased.
Cheon Hui, observing them, spoke briefly.
“Rest for half a watch.”
In that instant.
Thump—
The unit members who had been standing and struggling to catch their breath collapsed onto the ground.
Some sprawled out full-length, gasping for air.
“Huff, huff. I thought… I was going to die.”
“I’ve never been this exhausted before.”
Cheon Hui withdrew his gaze from them and drew forth the Inner Power of the Plum Blossom Divine Art.
Perception spread in an instant.
Cheon Hui’s eyes gleamed as his finely honed senses took in the details of the mountain before him.
‘Hmm, there are quite a few.’
The presence of people within the mountain.
Their number was slightly over a hundred.
‘Still, it should be good experience for real combat.’
After carefully confirming the presence, Cheon Hui soon gathered his Internal Force back in.
His Internal Force was reorganized in a fleeting moment, and Cheon Hui now looked toward the Byeoldongdae members who had become his subordinates.
All but roughly ten of them were either sprawled out or seated and resting.
‘There are some quick ones among them, though.’
He observed those performing Breathing Cultivation even as most focused solely on recovering.
These were the ones who had astutely recognized Cheon Hui’s standards when the Byeoldongdae was selected.
‘It would be easier if I told them to perform Breathing Cultivation since we’ll be fighting soon, but……’
Cheon Hui deliberately said nothing.
This was real combat.
There was no point in explaining things with words.
They had to collide directly and learn for themselves.
Only then would they understand how foolishly they’d acted.
‘There’s no better way to learn than that.’
Meanwhile, those who had recovered thanks to the rest began whispering among themselves.
“……Is this the destination?”
“What are we supposed to do here?”
They stood in bewilderment.
They had ridden without pause, only to arrive at what seemed to be a bare hillside—hardly what one would expect.
Then, abruptly—
“……I see.”
A Daoist in a grey sect robe murmured as though something had just become clear.
All eyes turned toward him.
Among them were the other Daoists in matching robes who stood behind him.
“Senior Brother, have you discerned something?”
At the question from Cheol Ho, his junior, Yuk Se Gon of Kunlun moistened his lips.
“Do you know what that place is?”
As he pointed toward the unknown mountain with his question, Cheol Ho tilted his head in confusion.
“Jeok Ho Fortress.”
A voice suddenly spoke from nearby.
The speaker wore a spotless white hero’s headband bound across his forehead and trailed a flowing emerald-green robe—a swordmaster of striking appearance.
It was Song Dae Geuk, the illegitimate son of the Song sect leader and his fourth disciple.
“Plum Blossom Divine Art…… No. It seems our Dae Ju intends to assault Jeok Ho Fortress.”
“……!”
“J-Jeok Ho Fortress?”
A few of them finally grasped the situation and gasped in alarm, swallowing hard.
At once, unease surged through the group.
“Will it… will it be all right?”
“Assaulting Jeok Ho Fortress without any training…….”
The Byeoldongdae had been formed less than a day ago.
More precisely, it hadn’t even been a full day.
And yet they were already beginning their mission—a mission that was to assault one of the Nok Lim mountain strongholds, no less.
Just then—
“Have you all rested enough?”
Cheon Hui appeared among them.
‘When did he—?!’
‘How is this possible?!’
Yuk Se Gon and Song Dae Geuk caught their breath at Cheon Hui’s uncanny Speed Technique, appearing as though from nowhere.
Yet Cheon Hui paid the two no mind, surveying the surroundings before he spoke.
“Well then, shall we begin?”
Cheon Hui’s eyes gleamed with a keen, icy light.
Colder and more piercing than the north wind now blowing.
* * *
“Has a split occurred at Hyeongsan Fortress?”
The Jeok Ho Fortress Lord muttered quietly, then raised the wine bottle he held to his lips in a long draught.
Heat burned through his chest.
Much like the confusion now clouding his mind.
“How in heaven did it come to this?”
He pressed his temples, where pain throbbed.
Until recently, the Nok Lim had been flourishing.
They had entered the Sa Hyuk Ryeon and received treatment rivaling even the O Hwang Moon.
Yet it had all collapsed in an instant.
‘The Supreme Master retreating—unthinkable.’
It was beyond belief.
The assault on Huashan had been carried out by Nok Lim Dae Je and his elite—they had moved with utmost secrecy and succeeded brilliantly in their attack.
Yet they had retreated.
Moreover, the Supreme Master had vanished without a trace, so a split at Hyeongsan Fortress—the main stronghold—was inevitable.
‘Maehwa Divine Cooperation, was it?’
As he reflected on the current state of affairs, his brows creased.
He had heard the rumors now circulating, but he had not believed them.
No—he could not believe them.
He understood well the martial prowess of Nok Lim’s Supreme Master, Nok Lim Dae Je.
A realm of excellence beyond mortal grasp.
He was virtually a immortal.
Yet he had been defeated by a mere boy of a Daoist, not yet twenty years old?
How could I trust such a thing.
“……It’s complicated. Terribly complicated.”
The furrow between his brows deepened by degrees.
“Fortress Lord!”
Suddenly the door flew open.
Jeok Ho Fortress Lord, lost in thought, saw his subordinate appear without warning and his face darkened.
“What is it?”
The subordinate trembled at the Fortress Lord’s sharp gaze, but forced his quivering lips to speak.
“S-sir, we’re under attack!”
“Attack……? By whom?”
“W-we cannot discern exactly, but among them are those bearing the robes of the Nine Major Sects…….”
“What?!”
Jeok Ho Fortress Lord sprang from his chair and rushed outside, shoving past the subordinate at the door.
The sight that greeted him turned his face to stone.
The figures ascending the mountain path toward Jeok Ho Fortress with such speed were unmistakably formidable.
Controlled internal force, swift light body movement.
He could see at once that these were warriors trained in proper martial arts.
‘Kunlun? Gae Bang? And Cheong Sung?’
His brows began to tremble as he swiftly took in their garments.
“Did the Murim Alliance send them?”
Bewilderment escaped his lips.
The current Nok Lim belonged to Sa Hyuk Ryeon.
Yet the Murim Alliance had come to attack…….
‘Are they planning to start a war?’
A thought flickered through his mind, but he shook his head.
Without madness, such a thing could not be.
Jeok Ho Fortress Lord clenched his lips and then stamped hard on the ground with measured force.
Crack!
He reached the cliff’s edge at the summit in a single bound and looked down at them.
Then he drew a deep breath.
“What are you doing now?!”
A resounding Lion Roar erupted from his throat.
The attackers rushing forward without hesitation faltered for a moment.
“How tiresome.”
An irritated voice drifted back.
Jeok Ho Fortress Lord narrowed his brows at that voice and fixed his gaze on the one who had spoken.
‘Huashan Sect?’
His brows twitched.
‘Is Huashan Sect here for vengeance?’
The situation became clear in an instant.
Yet he could not simply let it pass.
“To attack this fortress now is the same as attacking Sa Hyuk Ryeon. Does the Murim Alliance intend war with Sa Hyuk Ryeon?”
He spoke deliberately, omitting the business between Huashan Sect and Nok Lim entirely, and fixed his gaze upon Cheon Hui, the Daoist of Huashan Sect.
At that very moment his mouth opened.
“Why are these idiots so slow with their information?”
A caustic voice cut through the air.
And in the same instant, Cheon Hui’s mouth twisted into a vicious grin as he stared down at Jeok Ho Fortress Lord.
“War has already begun.”

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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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