Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 284

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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 284
The day after arriving at the Ami Sect.
Cheon Hui rose from his bedchamber early in the morning and went to the window, opening it wide.
Being on the fourth floor, his room commanded a sweeping view.
The vista opened before him like unfurling silk.
Cheon Hui watched the snow drifting gently downward when a burst of vigorous shouts from below drew his gaze downward.
“Ha-ahp!”
“Hyup!”
The Myeoljjeol Corps members threw themselves into their training, releasing waves of fierce energy into the air.
They had been at it for quite some time already—their garments were soaked through with sweat.
Cheon Hui let out a quiet chuckle.
“They’re nervous. Very nervous indeed.”
It was plainly obvious.
The way each soldier moved their weapons or executed their forms was rigid, stiff—their movements lacked fluidity.
Tension had seized their bodies and cramped their strength.
Despite having successfully crushed the Jeok Ho Chae and the Hyeolwoo Geom Family, dismantling them piece by piece, the coming war was of a different order entirely.
Facing thousands of elite fighters from the Sa Hyuk Ryeon—nearly two thousand in all—was no trivial matter.
“But it’s time they arrived soon…….”
In that moment, Cheon Hui’s gaze snapped upward.
A white flame shot high into the sky, blazing with brilliant light.
Signal Fire Arrow.
One of those stationed throughout Ami Mountain, waiting in readiness, had sent the signal.
“They’re here.”
Cheon Hui’s eyes narrowed with purpose.
Now was the time to move.
He spun around, grabbed the two blades hanging on the wall, and set off at speed.
Descending rapidly from the pavilion, Cheon Hui approached the Myeoljjeol Corps, who stood mesmerized by the signal fire, and offered them a bright smile.
“Is everyone ready?”
In response, all the Myeoljjeol Corps members drew in a deep breath, then answered with force.
“Ready, sir!”
“Yes!”
As they answered, they donned the pristine white Wind Robes they had set aside.
The preparation was brisk and efficient.
They then lined up before Cheon Hui with hands clasped behind their backs, waiting for his orders.
Cheon Hui smirked at the sight.
Was it thanks to the individual attention he’d given them, starting with Dan Ri Gwan Cheon?
Every one of them now stood focused and alert.
Now they looked like a proper force.
Cheon Hui wiped the smile from his face and swept his gaze across them one by one before speaking in a low voice.
“You all remember the mission I told you about yesterday, yes?”
In response, all the corps members nodded in unison.
It was the plan Cheon Hui had explained while thoroughly drilling Dan Ri Gwan Cheon.
How could they forget?
Seeing their nods, Cheon Hui turned slowly and opened his mouth.
“Then let’s go. Time to carry out the mission.”
As Cheon Hui moved forward, the Myeoljjeol Corps followed in his wake.
At that same moment.
Just as Cheon Hui had, those who saw the signal fire gathered at the mountain gate of Bokho Temple.
Their number was approximately seven hundred.
Even accounting for the younger disciples who had been evacuated and the few others who had slipped away, it was still a formidable force.
The assistance came from the Daoists of the Cheong Seong Sect, from the Orthodox Sects in the surrounding regions, and from the warriors stationed in the Sichuan branch of the Murim Alliance.
Yet despite gathering such considerable numbers, they broke into a cold sweat at the sight spreading below them.
Along the desolate mountain path, warriors radiating a murderous intent surged forward like a tidal wave—their numbers were impossible to count.
Those clad in crimson Martial Robes and those in black Martial Robes moved in such perfect unison that it created the illusion of a crimson tide and a black tide crashing simultaneously.
“Amitabha Buddha.”
“Never did I think it would be so many.”
“Such numbers…….”
Those watching exhaled sharply in dismay.
Compared to the Sa Hyuk Ryeon forces now ascending the mountain path, even all the numbers they had painstakingly gathered seemed to pale in an instant.
“How has it come to this…….”
One of the Ami Sect disciples exhaled a sigh, squeezing both eyes shut.
It was unprecedented, extraordinary.
Ami Mountain was the domain of the Ami Sect.
Because of this, not only martial artists of the Sapa, but even the bandits and outlaws of the black path dared not set foot there.
Yet now Sapa followers had converged upon it.
So many that they more than sufficed to block the sprawling mountain paths of Ami.
And were these merely ordinary Sapa followers?
The killing intent and murderous aura that descended upon Ami Mountain.
It bore a wholly different weight from the outlaws of the black path who had merely learned some Sapa martial arts.
“……Can we win?”
“This is dangerous.”
Just as seeds of doubt began to sprout.
So Un Sa Tae lifted the Yuanhui Liuhuanzhang in her hand and struck it lightly against the ground.
Clink.
The chiming of bells spread in all directions.
The gently resonating bells carried a warmth that felt like a mother’s embrace, wrapping around them.
So Un Sa Tae, who had stilled those who wavered so violently, parted her lips.
“Those who wish to depart may do so even now.”
It was a gentle suggestion.
But.
“What do you mean by that, Sect Master?”
“We have already come, ready to sacrifice our lives to aid you.”
“Amitabha Buddha. Please do not speak such words.”
The martial artists refused it.
All who had gathered here had come risking their lives to help the Ami Sect.
At their response, So Un Sa Tae fell silent for a moment, then lowered her head.
“……I am grateful.”
“Sect Master!”
The Ami Sect disciples were startled.
It was not only they.
The martial artists who had come to aid them could not hide their bewilderment at the extraordinary gesture of their own Sect Master bowing her head.
“There is no need to do such a thing.”
“Please, raise your head.”
Yet So Un Sa Tae acted as though unperturbed even amidst such commotion.
She understood better than anyone how difficult it was to risk one’s own life in service of another sect.
“I shall not forget this debt.”
At her sincere words, smiles played at the corners of the mouths of those who had come to help.
So Un Sa Tae slowly took them all in with her gaze.
They were her saviors.
‘I must remember these faces.’
As she observed them, committing their features to memory, she suddenly felt something amiss.
The Myeoljjeol Corps was absent.
‘They must have moved first.’
But then she smiled inwardly.
What she had entrusted to the Myeoljjeol Corps was the protection and evacuation of the younger disciples.
Given that they had not arrived, they must have left together when the others departed.
A sense of relief settled over her.
Soon, with her mind at ease, So Un Sa Tae raised the Yuanhui Liuhuanzhang high into the sky.
And.
“Disciples, open the Killing Precept!”
She cried out in a sonorous voice.
The Lion Roar, infused with Dharma power, shook the Mountain Gate of Bokho Temple violently.
A war for the survival of the Ami Sect.
The beginning of the Ami Holy War.
* * *
“A signal fire?”
“Looks like some rats flew around nearby.”
“Idiots. What a useless thing to do.”
The Signal Fire Arrow shot skyward was something any member of Sa Hyuk Ryeon could have seen.
But they passed over it without concern.
Truth be told, he hadn’t spared it a second thought.
It was far stranger that two thousand soldiers could march without being spotted in the first place.
Meanwhile, those moving slightly apart on the far left flank of the two thousand frowned at the sight of the signal fire arrow, only to fall silent as they took cues from the reactions of those around them.
Their appearance was distinctive.
Some wore pitch-black Martial Robes from head to toe, while others adorned themselves in cascading ornaments across their entire bodies.
Even the weapons they carried varied wildly.
Some bore nothing at all; others wielded double-edged spears, axes so heavy they looked barely manageable, curved blades with twisted edges, or joined swords at their waists.
At a glance, they stood apart from the elite Sa Hyuk Ryeon forces currently assembled—the Blood Shadow Corps in crimson Martial Robes and the Ghost Shadow Corps in black ones.
It made sense.
They were Sa Hyuk Ryeon martial artists who had followed along hoping to build their names in this campaign.
“Quite the sight.”
A heavy voice emerged from among them.
It came from a disreputable-looking man bearing a long scar etched across his brow.
Chu Geon, the Hongyang Gate Master.
He was the leader of one minor faction among the numerous branches belonging to Sa Hyuk Ryeon.
Having brought fifty disciples to participate in this war, he gazed upon the sight before his eyes and smacked his tongue in appreciation.
It was truly an overwhelming spectacle.
The mountain paths of Ami Mountain were packed solid with people, and every soul filling those paths carried the aura of killing intent and Martial Prowess.
A formidable force indeed.
A smile curved across his lips.
“There’s no way we can lose like this.”
He was certain of victory.
This was no ordinary military might.
Two thousand Sa Hyuk Ryeon elite had gathered to eradicate the Ami Sect.
And at their vanguard marched the legendary Blood Shadow Corps and Ghost Shadow Corps.
No matter how renowned the Nine Factions and One Gang might be, the Ami Sect could never withstand such force.
As his smile deepened with each sweep of his gaze across the assembly.
Whoosh.
A handsome young man suddenly materialized in the air and descended lightly before them.
It was like something from a dream.
“……What?”
“What is that?”
Chu Geon and everyone around him were dumbfounded, their eyes fixed on the youth who had appeared without warning.
“P-Plum Blossom?!”
“Huashan Sect!”
Several cried out in alarm.
They had glimpsed the emblem embroidered on the sleeve of the youth who had suddenly materialized, and they recoiled in shock.
A plum blossom.
The emblem of Huashan Sect, whose reputation had spread farther and wider than anywhere else in the current Gangho, was right there. And in that same instant, a figure’s epithet flashed through their minds and crystallized.
It was the epithet of the Daoist who had contributed to spreading Huashan Sect’s renown to such heights.
“The Maehwa Divine Swordsman……?”
Chu Geon breathed the words between his lips.
“Huh? Now you recognize me without asking first.”
Cheon Hui, the handsome youth, replied curtly.
That affirmative answer sent a wave of confusion rippling through them.
“The Maehwa Divine Swordsman has come here?!”
“This is insane!”
Their eyes dilated with terror.
They had heard the Maehwa Divine Swordsman’s reputation so often their ears ached.
The absolute master who had toppled Nok Lim Dae Je.
An expert so overwhelmingly far beyond their reach that confronting him was absurd.
Some began to shuffle backward cautiously.
“How foolish.”
Chu Geon opened his mouth, addressing Cheon Hui.
His tone and manner suggested he remained utterly unintimidated by Cheon Hui’s arrival.
“Do you truly believe you can charge this force alone? Is your head as empty as your Martial Prowess is vast?”
Chu Geon continued, adding his words with arrogant confidence.
No matter how renowned the Maehwa Divine Swordsman might be throughout the Gangho, right now they numbered two thousand strong.
No matter how skilled, one man could not face such numbers alone.
At his words, smiles began to bloom on the faces of those who had trembled with fear moments before.
“The Hongyang Gate Master speaks true.”
“Tsk tsk, I’ve heard rumors of the Maehwa Divine Swordsman well enough, but he proved dimmer than his reputation suggested.”
“Walking straight into the tiger’s mouth of his own accord. The man must be mad for death.”
Momentum regained, they drew their weapons.
All manner of exotic blades rose sharply, their points converging on Cheon Hui with precision.
A vicious killing intent accompanied them.
“Well, this is a novel experience.”
Finding something amusing in the unfolding scene, a smile spread across Cheon Hui’s face.
Shing—
Just then Chu Geon drew his blade and spoke.
“A chance to kill the Maehwa Divine Swordsman—one that will never come again!”
At his cry, every eye blazed.
Their display against the Ami Sect was impressive, yes, but to kill the Maehwa Divine Swordsman?
And if he himself claimed that honor?
His reputation would soar in an instant.
Greed flickering in their gazes, they surged forward as one.
In that chaos, Chu Geon smiled to himself.
‘I’ll wait until his strength fails.’
His true target was Cheon Hui’s life.
There was no need to rush in first.
Slow and deliberate.
Wait, and seize the opening when it came.
‘I only need to sever his lifeline.’
Chu Geon gathered his Inner Energy as attackers bore down from all sides.
Preparing for one final, killing blow.
Wind stirred beneath his feet.
The manifestation of Hongyang Inner Energy.
His Inner Power, drawn to its absolute limit, set the crimson robe draped across his shoulders billowing violently.
A grave and menacing presence.
And in that same moment, as he fixed his gaze on Cheon Hui—
“……!”
He froze.
The smile had vanished. Beneath eyebrows angled upward, a faint reddish light flickered in pupils that fixed upon him with absolute clarity.
An indifferent bearing, as though the rushing attackers barely registered.
Arrogant, even.
Then Cheon Hui twisted his lips.
A clear sneer.
His crimson mouth, curled back in that contempt, opened very slowly.
“Myeoljjeol Corps.”
Crack!
The moment the words left his lips, dozens of shadows erupted from behind him, shooting like arrows toward the charging attackers.
Blindingly fast.
Those shadows collided with the charging Sapa fighters, and—
Crack! Thud! Slash!
“Gasp!”
“Augh!”
Soon a chorus of anguished cries tore through the air.
Some were hurled backward helplessly; others had their throats severed and fell lifeless; still others had their chests caved in.
The outcome of a single moment.
An exchange so brief that no one even had time to scream.
The Sapa fighters who had targeted Cheon Hui scattered in panic at the sudden onslaught.
“What—!”
“When did reinforcements—”
Their eyes wavered.
The figures that had appeared were clad uniformly in pure white Wind Robes pulled low, revealing only their eyes, which blazed with a sharp, cutting presence.
It was enough to send a chill through anyone who beheld them.
Then Cheon Hui lowered his gaze.
A look of looking down on all beneath him.
Utterly arrogant.
Yet no one questioned that bearing.
It was simply that his current appearance suited Cheon Hui far too perfectly—as though he were carrying out what he’d always been meant to do.
Then came a quiet command.
“Sweep them all away.”

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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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