Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 268

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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 268
“What manner of martial power is this…….”
Jeok Ho Chae Ju, who had retreated several paces, glanced down at his fist—the one that had just blocked the blade carrying a violent gust of wind.
A thin line of blood ran across his boulder-like knuckles, leaving a crimson mark.
‘Not only to block the Dae Ryeok Ho Wang Gwon, but to draw blood as well…….’
His brow furrowed.
It had been an eternity since he last bled.
Ever since mastering the Dae Ryeok Ho Wang Gwon, he had seized control of Nok Lim without a single scratch, and for ten years he had ruled like a king.
It was a Fist Technique that formidable.
All those who had come at him in that time had failed to so much as graze him, only to suffer defeat themselves.
But this one was different.
‘For good reason, then, that the Nine Major Sects and Four Unorthodox Schools fear him.’
Young as he was, the Speed Technique and Blade Technique he displayed were of an entirely different caliber from any he had faced before.
A Speed Technique so brutally raw and swift it seemed almost artless.
And coupled with a Blade Technique saturated in killing intent, it was more than enough to match the Dae Ryeok Ho Wang Gwon.
Jeok Ho Chae Ju flexed his aching fist, his grip tightening as he lifted his gaze.
Thud!
At the same moment, Dan Li Gwan Cheon—who had just driven his blade point-first into the ground—raised his head as well.
His eyes blazed with intensity.
He had thought the man merely competent for a bandit lord, but his Martial Prowess had transcended that of a mere master.
‘So it was no empty ambition, then, that Sa Hyuk Ryeon sought to bring Nok Lim into its fold.’
Dan Li Gwan Cheon, who had been fixing Jeok Ho Chae Ju with a hard stare, slowly drew his blade from the earth.
The soil clinging to the blade’s surface fell away.
Whoosh—
The blade, remarkably narrow along its spine, pointed directly at Jeok Ho Chae Ju like a single stroke.
In that instant.
Boom!
A heavy pressure descended.
Dan Li Gwan Cheon drew up his Internal Force.
Internal Energy flowed from his entire body in streaming waves, coiling around the blade’s surface.
At the same time, wind began to stir.
A keen and biting north wind.
As if possessed by spirits, Dan Li Gwan Cheon—wind swirling around him—took a step forward.
Thud—
The moment the heel of his leather shoe touched the cold earth, vision warped.
Bu Un Yak Pyo.
The transcendent Light Body Movement of Cheong Seong Pa had closed the distance to Jeok Ho Chae Ju in a single breath.
And so the north wind became a cutting gale.
Shriek!
Watching Dan Li Gwan Cheon’s onslaught, Jeok Ho Chae Ju bent his knees and poured power into his stance.
His thighs swelled to their fullest, the Martial Robe stretched taut as if about to tear, and his soles began to sink steadily into the cold earth.
A posture hunched like a frog coiling for a leap.
Then Dan Li Gwan Cheon twisted his wrist.
A brief movement executed in an instant was transmitted through the blade.
The Neung Poong Do Beop unfolded.
Killing intent then poured forth from the blade’s surface, rending the air as if it were toying with it.
The tangible killing intent swiftly became a powerful Blade Aura that bloomed upon the blade’s spine.
And then.
Wham-whirrrrr!
The Neung Poong Do Beop crashed down upon Jeok Ho Chae Ju.
A violent whirlwind bore down with savage force.
Dan Li Gwan Cheon’s black hair, his eyes half-lidded, whipped in the wind like waves upon the sea.
Then.
“Where are you——”
From directly below came a cold voice, sharp as a needle, piercing his ear.
He glanced down—Jeok Ho Chae Ju was glaring up at him.
His eyes, a sickly pale blue, shone with unsettling light.
They resembled the eyes of a serpent that had waited long for its prey.
Jeok Ho Chae Ju suddenly burst upward.
His lower garments, stretched taut to their limit, tore apart in an instant as an explosive shockwave erupted.
A violent shockwave rippled outward from him.
He detonated the Internal Force channeled through his thighs and legs, and using the surging power, he unleashed the Dae Ryeok Ho Wang Gwon in a savage arc.
Wha-crack!
An enormous fist, marked by a single streak of blood, tore through the howling wind and soared skyward.
Then fist and blade collided.
Boom!
The fallen leaves scattered around them exploded in an instant.
‘Ugh!’
Dan Li Gwan Cheon stifled a groan.
It was a strike of tremendous force.
As Dan Li Gwan Cheon tried to recover his blade, recoiling backward from the impact—
Whoosh—
Jeok Ho Chae Ju’s form blurred suddenly, then materialized at his flank.
Jeok Ho Chae Ju, moving with unexpected agility for his massive frame, targeted the exposed side of Dan Li Gwan Cheon’s ribs.
Dan Li Gwan Cheon’s thoughts raced.
‘If I take this, I’m done for.’
A warrior’s instinct screamed the warning.
But the danger was already upon him.
His mind accelerated in that instant.
‘I can’t dodge using the Bu Un Yak Pyo now—it’s too late. Do I try to block with my blade body? But even if I do, I can’t absorb the full impact……’
It was then, as he sought a way through the impossible situation—
‘Step forward with your left foot to meet him deliberately, then sweep your blade diagonally through him,’ came the voice.
The words pierced through his skull.
‘This voice—it’s Cheon Hui’s……?’
For a moment, Dan Li Gwan Cheon was bewildered.
He was startled by the sudden transmission of Jeon Eum, but the instruction itself seemed to demand he throw himself into fire like a moth—how could he not be shocked?
‘For now, give flesh to gain bone. You know this, don’t you?’ came the immediate follow-up.
Dan Li Gwan Cheon’s brow furrowed at the transmission.
He was right.
Among all the methods that had flashed through his mind, Cheon Hui’s held the highest chance of success.
He gritted his teeth and stepped forward with his left foot.
Thud—
Just a single step.
But in that instant, Jeok Ho Chae Ju’s fist shot forward and struck his ribs cleanly.
Crack!
A heavy force rippled through his flank.
The fabric on the opposite side tore and scattered in the wind.
‘Gasp!’
Dan Li Gwan Cheon’s mind went white.
Consciousness seemed to slip away entirely.
But he held on.
He had to hold on.
To keep the thread of awareness intact.
Hiss—
Jeok Ho Chae Ju, watching Dan Li Gwan Cheon’s face contort with agony, curled his lips upward.
‘Hit him clean.’
He could feel it in his embedded fist.
But his smile didn’t last long.
Dan Li Gwan Cheon didn’t fall. Instead, he stood rigid, his eyes a bloodshot crimson, raising his blade high.
‘No—!’
That was the moment Jeok Ho Chae Ju’s expression twisted in shock.
Shriek!
The blade in Dan Li Gwan Cheon’s hand swept roughly, and a whirlwind engulfed him.
The Neung Poong Do Beop, ravaging the empty air, traced a long, singular arc.
A crimson line slashed diagonally across Jeok Ho Chae Ju’s chest.
Blood bloomed along the wound.
“Ugh!”
Jeok Ho Chae Ju groaned and stumbled backward a step.
His eyes were turbulent and uncertain.
“Did he just go for a Mutual Defeat……!”
At that moment, Dan Li Gwan Cheon staggered.
He had closed in deliberately, taking the blow before the opponent could fully unfold his martial arts—but that didn’t diminish its force.
“Hack—!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Dan Li Gwan Cheon bent at the waist and coughed up blood.
Dark, blackened blood mixed with fragments of his organs spattered onto the dirt ground.
His complexion drained to the color of ash.
Spewing so much blood at once left his mind spinning, threatening to cloud over entirely.
‘Everything’s spinning.’
His vision had already grown hazy.
He couldn’t focus properly—even Jeok Ho Chae Ju standing before him blurred at the edges.
He wanted nothing more than to collapse to the ground.
But he had to remain standing.
As long as his opponent did not fall.
As he forced his wavering body upright, several figures rushed forward.
“Master!”
“Are you—are you all right?”
The Nok Lim disciples who had dared not approach during the clash between masters came running in panic.
“K-kill that bastard—ugh!”
Jeok Ho Chae Ju snapped sharply at his men, then staggered, clutching at his chest.
Fortunately, it was not a wound that would kill him outright, but blood poured steadily between his fingers—a considerable amount.
“What are you standing there for! Kill him now!”
Jeok Ho Chae Ju’s voice turned shrill and irritable.
The Nok Lim disciples hesitated at his command, but seeing Dan Li Gwan Cheon’s unsteady form, they nodded grimly and seized their weapons.
Then they charged as one.
Whoosh!
Dan Li Gwan Cheon’s eyes flickered.
As blurred figures converged on him from his failing vision, he forced what strength remained into his hands, reaching for his blade.
Slash!
A crisp, terrible sound rang out.
Red bloomed across his dimming sight, and the figures charging at him crumpled to the earth.
Then someone appeared before him.
A blend of red and black……
A familiar color.
“Master……?”
Dan Li Gwan Cheon barely managed to speak through clenched teeth.
‘No—this can’t be……’
Jeok Ho Chae Ju felt his blood freeze.
He had seen nothing.
One moment there was a flash of sword light, the next his six charging men lay as corpses. That was all he perceived.
Cheon Hui swept a cold gaze over the fallen Nok Lim disciples, then raised his head.
And smiled at Jeok Ho Chae Ju.
“In a one-on-one life and death duel, you don’t call for your subordinates.”
“I—I……”
Jeok Ho Chae Ju backed away, his eyes locked with that gaze.
He felt it instinctively.
The swordsman before him was someone he could never defeat—not even if he had been unwounded.
As Jeok Ho Chae Ju retreated step by step, Cheon Hui raised his blade—Hwa Weol.
A beautiful, mesmerizing sword.
Yet to his opponent, nothing was more terrifying.
Cheon Hui drew Hwa Weol across his body.
Shhhhhhh—
Hwa Weol cut cleanly through the world.
Jeok Ho Chae Ju’s eyes widened as Hwa Weol filled his entire vision.
And in the next instant.
Thud.
Jeok Ho Chae Ju’s head fell to the ground.
His eyes remained wide open—he had not even known he was dead.
A profound silence settled over the place.
Whoooosh—
Belated, a spray of blood erupted from Jeok Ho Chae Ju’s collapsing body as it toppled slowly to earth.
Bang!
A very quiet end it was.
Cheon Hui turned away from Jeok Ho Chae Ju and looked at Dan Li Gwan Cheon, who was swaying on his feet.
“You lack patience. If your hand hadn’t trembled at the final moment when you unfolded the Blade Technique, you would have killed him in one stroke.”
“That is…….”
Dan Li Gwan Cheon opened his mouth but couldn’t continue, biting his lip instead.
He was right.
At the end, unable to bear the pain, his Neung Poong Do Beop form had wavered.
It was only a shallow lapse.
But because of it, Jeok Ho Chae Ju had lived, and he himself had been put in danger.
“……It was my mistake.”
Cheon Hui, without another word, regarded Dan Li Gwan Cheon with satisfaction as the man acknowledged his error, and nodded.
“Well, this place is cleaned up.”
Cheon Hui’s gaze drifted toward where the presence of Byeol Dong Dae could be felt.
“Will this take a little while?”
Speaking softly, Cheon Hui glanced at Dan Li Gwan Cheon and asked matter-of-factly.
“Can you move?”
Dan Li Gwan Cheon nodded with difficulty.
Perhaps because he’d managed to catch his breath for a brief moment, his blurry vision was stabilizing.
“If it’s only moving…….”
Having heard the reply, Cheon Hui turned his body.
“Then let’s finish cleaning up.”
* * *
“Damn it!”
On the surface, Byeol Dong Dae seemed to be overwhelming the Nok Lim bandits, but they had faced several crises in the midst of battle.
“Behind!”
At Ho Gwang Gae’s shout, Mu Hong swiftly deployed the Gu Sang Geom Beop, deflecting the axes of the charging Nok Lim bandits.
But then.
Whoosh—whoosh—
The eyes of the Nok Lim bandits lifted, and they exchanged glances with one another.
The bandits, their killing intent flashing bright, dropped their axes whose attacks had come to nothing and pulled out sharp Amgi from their robes, hurling them with all their strength.
Thud!
“Ah! Dodge it!”
Ho Gwang Gae shouted urgently.
But already Amgi had buried themselves in Mu Hong’s thigh and shoulder, drawing blood.
“Six paths of hell!”
Mu Hong, hardly befitting a Daoist, spat out a curse and hastily raised his sword.
And he drove it hard into those bandits, now defenseless from throwing their Amgi.
Thud!
The blade pierced their shoulder joint.
The Nok Lim bandits’ faces contorted in pain, but showing no mercy, their eyes blazed with killing intent once more as they rushed forward.
But then.
Bang!
The rushing bandit’s body suddenly collapsed forward. And behind him, a black silhouette slowly revealed itself.
“Lord?”
It was Cheon Hui.
Cheon Hui, his blood-stained blade hanging low, gazed at them with an impassive expression.
Then Cheon Hui’s closed lips parted.
“What are you doing right now?”
A cold voice flowed out.
“Showing mercy in the middle of a battlefield……or are you trying to get yourselves killed?”
Just as he spoke these cutting words.
Whoosh!
Six shadows fell across Cheon Hui’s back. They were Nok Lim bandits who had been watching for an opening, waiting for their chance.
The sharp Bak Do in their hands glimmered in the sunlight, striking down like lightning toward Cheon Hui’s crown.
“Lord!”
“My lord!”
The Byeol Dong Dae members cried out in alarm.
But Cheon Hui, as if paying no mind to their cries, continued speaking.
“Just one moment.”
Cheon Hui, mid-sentence, opened his eyes halfway.
In that same instant, an eerie crimson gleam pierced through, and the Hwa Weol trembled slightly.
In that moment.
Crash!
The bodies of the Nok Lim disciples who had rushed forward split clean in half, and a rain of blood poured down.
A sight beyond words.
Beneath that deluge, Cheon Hui bared his teeth, a cold smile playing across his face.
“I’ll handle everything in there.”

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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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