Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 269

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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 269
The Special Operations Unit soldiers froze like statues upon meeting Cheon Hui’s gaze through the Blood Rain.
It was a grotesque sight.
Yet at the same time, it held them transfixed—dreamlike and overwhelming.
They forgot even how to breathe.
The oppressive atmosphere had robbed them of speech.
For a moment, holding their breath, they could only stare at Cheon Hui.
Thud.
The halved corpses struck the ground, and the Blood Rain that had been falling gradually ceased.
A heavy silence settled over the scene.
The gaze of the Special Operations Unit remained fixed on Cheon Hui, unmoving.
And with reason—the sight was extraordinary.
Though drenched in Blood Rain, there was not a trace of blood upon his entire body.
He looked exactly as he had at the start.
This could only mean one thing.
Protective Qi Aura.
A remarkable technique that could not be deployed without supreme martial prowess and profound internal force.
‘……A monster,’ Ho Gwang Gae thought, clicking his tongue.
He had prided himself on being quite accomplished among the later generation masters.
Yet he had seen nothing of what transpired.
One moment the blade flashed—the next, the attackers were bisected and dead.
A Swift Sword that had reached Divine Speed.
‘The gap in strength is too vast.’
Ho Gwang Gae shook his head.
The Plum Blossom Divine Art had reached a realm he could not touch, no matter how far he stretched.
‘……So that’s why the faction leader took notice of him.’
His eyes narrowed to slits.
The martial prowess he had just witnessed surpassed by far anything he had anticipated from rumor.
‘The faction leader said to obey the Plum Blossom Divine Art’s orders without question……’
He clenched his teeth, recalling Yong Ju Gae’s emphatic instruction.
‘Complete the task within one hour.’
His head throbbed.
The troops had already spent half a quarter struggling against the Nok Lim bandits, unable to break through the encirclement.
And now—finish it in an hour?
It was nearly impossible.
Yet he drew upon his internal force.
An order was an order.
Thrust!
Ho Gwang Gae launched himself from the ground.
Normally he would have steadied the other soldiers first, rallying them to the command together.
But there was no time for that now.
He had to complete the task with urgency.
Driven by haste, he deployed the Swallow Double Flight, the foundational Speed Technique of Gae Bang, and surged into the ranks of the Nok Lim bandits, shaken by Cheon Hui’s display of power.
Then he struck with his palm.
The Baekgyeol Divine Palm hit square in the chest of a dazed Nok Lim bandit.
Crack!
“Kuh!”
The bandit’s ribs collapsed under the blow of the Baekgyeol Divine Palm, infused with the inner power of the Baekgyeol Skill, and he vomited black blood.
‘Move faster!’
Driven by the deadline Cheon Hui had imposed, pressured and steeped in the sharp scent of blood and the oppressive atmosphere, Ho Gwang Gae showed no mercy in his technique.
“Got one!”
“You damned beggar!”
As their comrade fell, the Nok Lim bandits snapped back to consciousness and rushed at Ho Gwang Gae.
They unleashed their killing intent.
A murderous aura so vicious it would have unnerved him before.
Yet for some reason, Ho Gwang Gae sensed their killing intent as weakened.
‘Because of what just happened?’
Ho Gwang Gae let out a hollow laugh.
Their killing intent had not diminished.
No—it was something else entirely.
Having experienced Cheon Hui’s overwhelming presence, the killing intent of the Nok Lim disciples felt hopelessly faint to him now—no longer a stimulus worth heeding.
Ho Gwang Gae, who had laughed once at the pressure from the other disciples’ attacks, planted his feet firmly and seized the moment.
Thud!
And he began to unleash martial arts he had not dared display until moments before.
The Baekgyeol Divine Palm, the Revolving Fist, and others.
“Hack!”
With each technique Ho Gwang Gae unfolded, the Nok Lim disciples reeled backward, their lives extinguished.
As Ho Gwang Gae thus demonstrated his prowess,
Crack—
the Special Operations Unit members, who had been frozen in an awkward stance, exchanged glances as if seeking permission, then roughly scraped their feet against the ground.
“Exhale.”
Im Ha Ryul, who had been stunned by the shock, drew a long breath to steady herself and gripped her sword with trembling hands.
Her wounded hand still throbbed with pain.
Yet she endured it.
This was an opportunity that might never come again.
She could not let it slip away.
She drew up every last measure of her Internal Force and threw herself at the Nok Lim disciples.
‘I have to show what I can do.’
With resolve hardened, Im Ha Ryul made her final dash toward the battlefield.
Click.
Cheon Hui, who had been watching in silence, unsheathed the Hwa Weol.
He then observed the Special Operations Unit members hurling themselves at the Nok Lim disciples as if possessed, his expression settling into one of satisfaction.
“That’s somewhat better, at least.”
Whether it was the pressure of time or the anxious urgency to prove themselves—
the hesitant posture they had held moments before gradually transformed.
Swift and streamlined, without excess.
Of course, there was still much lacking.
Yet compared to how helplessly they had been overwhelmed before, it was far improved.
Then.
“……Is this also a test, perhaps?”
A voice came from beside him.
Turning his gaze, Cheon Hui saw Dan Ri Gwan Cheon holding his side, eyes fixed upon him.
Though his face was still contorted with pain, the light in his eyes as he regarded Cheon Hui burned with unclouded clarity.
Cheon Hui met his gaze and smiled.
“What makes you think that?”
“You seem to have deliberately created such an atmosphere and imposed time pressure……”
Dan Ri Gwan Cheon spoke carefully.
Cheon Hui was pleased by that answer.
To ask such a question meant he had been reading the situation even amid the chaos.
Cheon Hui’s lips slowly curved.
“You’re perceptive, as expected.”
Dan Ri Gwan Cheon was right.
Cheon Hui had deliberately radiated an overwhelming presence, pressuring them and driving them into a corner psychologically.
But that was not all.
The thick Hyeolhyang that stung the nostrils would have goaded them forward, and the slain corpses scattered across the ground would surely have shaken the hearts of these greenhouse flowers.
“Exactly.”
Cheon Hui answered plainly, sweeping his gaze across the battlefield and studying each member of the Special Operations Unit in turn.
“This is a test.”
At his curt reply, Dan Ri Gwan Cheon started to ask more, then silently shook his head.
Afterward, he shifted his gaze to follow Cheon Hui’s, observing the Special Operations Unit members.
‘They’ve become different people.’
The bearing of the Special Operations Unit members had changed markedly from before.
And that transformation stemmed from none other than Cheon Hui’s presence.
‘It was a relentless pressure.’
He recalled the scene from moments before.
Just watching Cheon Hui’s gaze pierce through the Blood Rain had stolen his breath.
Bizarre and dreamlike……
A sight difficult to put into words.
And that fierce atmosphere had seized the Special Operations Unit in an instant.
‘The rumors that spread were no accident, then.’
His eyes widened perceptibly.
Dan Ri Gwan Cheon was a skilled master who could fit seamlessly into any position among the three divisions.
But he had deliberately chosen the Special Operations Unit.
It was to see for himself this man called the Plum Blossom Divine Art Master, who wielded such great renown.
And he felt it acutely.
The rumors were not exaggerations.
If anything, having faced him directly, it seemed he had been underestimated.
That was when it happened.
“By the way, when are you leaving?” Cheon Hui asked, looking at Dan Ri Gwan Cheon.
Cheon Hui spoke as he regarded him.
“Your body’s fine now, isn’t it?”
Dan Ri Gwan Cheon’s eyebrows furrowed at those words.
His body had recovered, but the internal injury remained unchanged.
“I still have the internal injury…….”
“What? So you’re going to rest because of that?”
Cheon Hui spoke as though it were absurd.
“If you say you’ve taken an internal injury, the enemy hears ‘an internal injury,’ and thinks ‘if I touch him, I’ll make it worse, so I’ll just let him be,’ isn’t that right?”
…….
Dan Ri Gwan Cheon closed his mouth.
It was a point he could not refute.
Cheon Hui, looking down at Dan Ri Gwan Cheon in silence, opened his mouth again.
“We don’t have time. Go now.”
Dan Ri Gwan Cheon, conceding, moved his feet.
Left alone, Cheon Hui folded his arms and watched the battle unfold.
Perhaps because Dan Ri Gwan Cheon had joined the fray.
“The Minor Cooperates also helps!”
“If the Minor is helping us…….”
The morale of the Special Operations Unit soared higher.
In contrast, the morale of the Nok Lim brigands continued to plummet like a stone.
It was inevitable, in a manner of speaking.
The fact that Dan Ri Gwan Cheon was here meant the Jeok Ho Chaejoo had been defeated.
“This will end soon at this rate.”
Cheon Hui murmured softly.
In life-or-death battles and warfare, momentum had always wielded great influence.
And as if to prove it, the tide of battle was turning now.
Very steeply.
“It’s a pity, but since this is our first time, I suppose we can let it end at this point.”
* * *
The promised hour had passed.
Cheon Hui, arms folded, watched the members of the Special Operations Unit breathing heavily, exhausted.
Their condition was pitiful.
Their entire bodies were covered with cuts, and their faces still bore the marks of impact not yet faded.
“Hmm, it was touch and go, but.”
Cheon Hui surveyed the surroundings as he spoke.
Half of the Nok Lim brigands had become corpses, and the remaining half were bound.
Once Dan Ri Gwan Cheon had joined in, the Nok Lim brigands, already sensing defeat, lost their fighting spirit and surrendered.
“In any case, we’ve cleared them out, so that’s sufficient.”
The members of the Special Operations Unit wiped their chests in relief.
“Is it over?”
“Thank goodness.”
Cheon Hui watched them with relief and joy, then a faint smirk played across his lips.
“But now that you’ve experienced real combat, how does it feel?”
The expressions of the Special Operations Unit members hardened.
Real combat had delivered a heavy shock to them.
The attacks of the Nok Lim brigands, who charged with murderous intent, were merciless, and overwhelmed, the unit’s members could barely unleash proper martial arts in the beginning and were pushed back.
Despite their superior skill.
Had Dan Ri Gwan Cheon not joined, they could not have secured victory.
Cheon Hui, watching them in silence as they bit their lips, added his words.
“From now on, you’ll face real combat like this often. No, this was actually mild. The enemies you meet next will be a different breed altogether.”
Jeok Ho Chaejoo was a remote mountain fortress, even among bandits.
From now on, the Sa Hyuk Ryeon sects they’d face on the front lines were in a different league altogether.
“Fortunately, everyone survived today because luck was on our side, but if we show the same restraint in the next mission, we may well lose a few people here.”
Her voice was low and measured.
Yet every member of the Special Operations Unit swallowed hard at those words.
Live combat was nothing like the training they’d endured until now.
No matter how high one’s martial prowess, a single moment of carelessness or panic meant death—that was the reality of true combat.
Kill before you are killed.
Having learned this truth in their bones, they bit their lips and looked up at Cheon Hui.
“Is there anyone who’d like to quit, even now?”
……
A few eyes wavered slightly in the middle, but no one spoke up.
“Surprising. I thought at least one of you would want to back out.”
“Ha, the commander’s something else.”
Ho Gwang Gae, drained from pouring everything into the battle, laughed weakly.
“We’ve already completed a mission—how could we quit now? Isn’t that right, everyone?”
Seeing the other Special Operations Unit members nod in agreement, Cheon Hui shrugged.
“Then I’ll count you all as staying.”
Everyone nodded at that.
“But understand one thing.”
Cheon Hui’s voice turned cold.
“What I need are Special Operations Unit members who can be deployed immediately. Not dead weight like today.”
……!
The unit members flinched at that.
It was clear—don’t be dead weight next time. Perform properly.
Seeing their tense faces, Cheon Hui understood and nodded.
“Then it seems everyone’s clear on that. Let’s wrap up here and head back… oh, wait.”
Cheon Hui, speaking quietly, turned away but then stopped short with a small noise.
“Come to think of it, it’s awkward to keep calling you the Special Operations Unit. Let’s give you a proper name.”
Everyone’s eyes lit up at that.
After being called only the Special Operations Unit, having an official name felt like they finally had true belonging.
“That sounds good.”
“I like it.”
Hearing the responses from various voices, Cheon Hui nodded and opened his mouth again.
“What kind of name would suit us?”
“What about the Divine Harmony Unit, taking the commander’s alias?”
“How about the Martial Harmony Unit instead…”
Suggestions poured in from everywhere.
As Cheon Hui listened to all these names, displeasure crossed his face.
Then Im Ha Ryul spoke carefully.
“How about the Myeol Jeol Dae?”
At the rather bold name, everyone turned to Im Ha Ryul with surprised eyes.
“I mean, it carries the meaning of extinguishing the Sapa factions in this operation…”
As all eyes suddenly fixed on her, Im Ha Ryul’s voice trailed off and she laughed awkwardly.
“Extinguish…”
Cheon Hui let out a brief laugh.
“I like that. Let’s go with the Myeol Jeol Dae.”

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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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