Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 296

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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 296
The place where Chu Gye Gwang led him was a riverbank where several vessels lay moored.
‘He’s already secured this many ships?’
Cheon Hui gazed curiously at the vessels assembled in such a short span of time.
“Mm?”
Cheon Hui’s eyes narrowed suddenly.
The banners planted on each vessel fluttered vigorously in the wind, and the characters inscribed upon them were far too familiar.
Cheonha Trading Company
So the Murim Alliance had joined hands with them—was this part of their support as well?
He’d found it odd that so many personnel were hastily summoned and yet the preparations appeared so thorough, but seeing the banners made everything click into place at once.
In any war, the greater the mobilized forces, the more vital a single resource became: coin.
Supplies and provisions were essential, after all.
Moreover, in this conflict being waged across Gangnam and Gangbuk, vessels to cross the Yangtze River were especially abundant requirements.
Under ordinary circumstances, such conditions would have been far from easy to meet.
Yet with the Cheonha Trading Company’s support, everything became infinitely simpler.
They had wealth to spare, and as merchants who regularly traversed the Yangtze, they possessed multiple vessels themselves.
‘So he’s shown his teeth after all.’
Watching the banners bearing the company’s name flutter boldly from each ship, Cheon Hui recalled the face of the Cheonha Trading Company’s master he had seen before.
An elderly man with white hair and a gentle countenance.
Yet beneath that lay a coldness and sharpness akin to a cunning weasel.
And such men were not merciful enough to leave untouched those who threatened their position.
This was the result.
Ordinarily, there would have been no need for banners bearing the name “Cheonha Trading Company” at all.
These were vessels crewed by the Murim Alliance’s martial artists.
But the Cheonha Trading Company had chosen not to hide.
Its meaning was singular.
They wished to announce to All Under Heaven that they were backing the Murim Alliance.
‘Depending on how this war unfolds, the landscape of commerce across All Under Heaven will shift greatly.’
The war between the Murim Alliance and Sa Hyuk Ryeon.
Behind it, an equally fierce battle raged between the Cheonha Trading Company and the Daeeun Trading Company, both vying for the position of premier merchant house under Heaven.
‘If we win, there’s much to be gained.’
Cheon Hui’s lips curved upward.
It was certain that one of the two trading houses would face ruin depending on the war’s outcome.
And Cheon Hui naturally harbored no doubt that the Murim Alliance would emerge victorious.
‘With me here, there’s no other possibility.’
As the corners of Cheon Hui’s mouth twisted further in self-assured confidence,
“We’ve arrived.”
Chu Gye Gwang came to a halt and spoke.
It was before one of the larger vessels among the many moored ships.
Cheon Hui set aside his thoughts and turned his gaze toward the ship Chu Gye Gwang was regarding.
“Come.”
With the word, Chu Gye Gwang propelled himself forward.
Thump.
A Qi Blast spread from the point of impact, kicking up dust as he cleaved through the air.
In a single bound, he leaped onto the bow and looked down below—then froze in place.
Cheon Hui, who should have been there, was gone.
‘Where did he disappear to…?’
As the startled man turned his head to look around,
“Now we head in that direction, correct?”
A voice came from right beside him.
Chu Gye Gwang spun around in alarm, his eyes widening into perfect circles.
Cheon Hui was standing there, right at his side.
‘When…?’
A chill ran up his spine.
The man had been close enough that Chu Gye Gwang should have heard his breathing, yet he’d noticed nothing.
Neither the movement nor even the slightest hint of his presence.
Had Cheon Hui been an enemy, Chu Gye Gwang’s head would already be separated from his shoulders.
‘Such martial prowess…’
Lost for words, a hollow laugh escaped him.
He had heard countless accounts of the Maehwa Sword Association’s excellence, but witnessing such martial prowess firsthand was a revelation.
And in that instant, he understood.
It was overwhelming in every respect.
He shook his head slowly, side to side.
‘The difference in caliber is evident.’
In that moment, Cheon Hui began to move.
Though Chu Gye Gwang had said nothing about the location, each footfall landed with perfect assurance.
‘He’s telling me where to go without words.’
Cheon Hui’s gaze fixed upon the stern of the vessel, where a peculiar aura rippled palpably.
Multiple presences clashed and trembled against one another.
‘Are they contending in an aura duel?’
Cheon Hui let the flow of their presence slip smoothly past him as he continued forward.
One step, two steps.
By the time he had taken ten.
He came to a halt.
Cheon Hui had reached the stern.
On the deck of the ship rocking upon the waters of the Yangtze River sat a hastily arranged round table with seven chairs around it.
Four of those chairs were occupied—men and women seated across from one another, regarding each other intently.
Each radiated a commanding presence, and all of them turned their keen gazes upon Cheon Hui’s arrival.
“Mm? Huashan Sect…?”
“Then this young one must be from the Maehwa Sword Association?”
“We heard they would come directly from the Ami Sect, but this is faster than expected.”
“I’d been meaning to see him once. Fortune smiles on us.”
As their casual remarks trailed off,
A fierce roar erupted—
From the two men on the left, opaque force billowed outward in waves, and crashed down upon Cheon Hui like the very current of the river itself.
Well, well. What have we here?
Cheon Hui’s eyes narrowed.
The two who had released their aura watched him with eyes gleaming with interest.
As though to pressure him—or rather, to test him.
“Ah, you enjoy an interesting game, then.”
Cheon Hui chuckled softly and raised his hand.
Whisk—
A light, brushing gesture, as though casting something away.
Graceful as a hand chasing butterflies.
Yet the result of that single gesture was nothing short of astounding.
From that fluid motion emerged soft force that instantaneously manifested as hundreds of strands of fierce energy, which then compressed their qi waves entirely.
Snap!
Their qi attack was severed in a single breath.
A single technique that cleanly severed the entire flow.
The manifestation of a method refined to the highest realm.
“……!”
“Ah!”
Both gasped, their breath caught.
The shock was not theirs alone.
The man and woman opposite, who had refrained from displaying their own aura, now found their eyes wavering at what they witnessed.
In a single technique, the entire situation had been settled.
Before such an overwhelmingly miraculous sight, the composure of all four crumbled.
It could not have been otherwise.
Who were those two who had just released their aura?
So Seong Jeok, Master of the Dharma Wave Sect, known as the Soulcleaver, and Go Yeong Nak of the Murim Alliance, whose sword skill was counted among the finest, known as the Devil-Repelling Demon Blade.
Each possessed martial prowess at the level of an elder of the Nine Factions, their strength such that they had glimpsed the threshold of the Heavenly Martial Realm even from within the Wuji Realm.
Yet for the aura of such masters to crumble in a single technique—their confusion was inevitable.
Cheon Hui looked upon the four, their expressions slack with disbelief, and smiled with derision.
A mocking smile.
“Shall the rest of you take a turn?”
With those words, Cheon Hui drew upon the force of the Plum Blossom Divine Art and took another step forward.
A soft footfall.
The sound was barely a whisper.
Yet in that instant, Cheon Hui’s presence swelled as though he had become a giant, and a tremendous aura spread outward in all directions.
It emanated from behind him.
An indescribable aura bloomed suddenly, scattering a subtle radiance in all directions like the petals of a flower unfurling.
Boom!
And it bore down on them—or more precisely, on So Seong Jeok and Go Yeong Nak alone.
“This is…!”
“…!”
In the moment their faces paled as they struggled against the crushing weight of the aura,
something landed.
A middle-aged man descended from above.
He was wrapped entirely in deep blue flame like armor.
The middle-aged man’s brow furrowed at Cheon Hui’s aura, and he spoke with careful deliberation.
“Might you withdraw your presence?”
Cheon Hui looked at him and opened his mouth.
“They were the ones who started first.”
“….”
The middle-aged man’s eyebrows twitched.
He then turned and addressed the assembled group.
“Is what the Young Master says true?”
“Ahem.”
“Cough.”
The two who had unleashed their power at Cheon Hui cleared their throats awkwardly and averted their eyes.
“…It’s you two again.”
The middle-aged man exhaled a deep sigh, as though this was far from the first such incident.
He then turned his gaze back to Cheon Hui and lowered his head.
“My apologies. These two have long been curious about someone of your renown throughout the Gangho, and it seems they couldn’t resist their interest. Am I wrong?”
Toward the end, the middle-aged man fixed them with a sharp stare as he spoke.
At his forceful tone and piercing gaze, the two laughed sheepishly and bowed their heads.
“Our apologies.”
“We merely wished to see what kind of martial prowess a New Star of the Gangho possessed.”
As they bowed in contrition, Cheon Hui felt his rising excitement deflate.
“Well, that’s unfortunate.”
With those words, Cheon Hui withdrew his power.
It happened before he had even finished speaking.
Those watching were taken aback.
While drawing power was swift, dissipating it smoothly was ordinarily difficult.
Especially when one had channeled so much.
But what of Cheon Hui?
It was instantaneous.
And entirely natural.
This suggested that by Cheon Hui’s standards, the amount he had unleashed was nothing extraordinary—barely drawing upon his reserves.
‘A monster.’
‘We nearly met disaster. And we dared to test such a man.’
‘The finest talent under heaven, they said…’
‘Truly the Orthodox Sect’s greatest blessing.’
The two who had sought to test him fell silent in awe, while the other two burst into exclamation.
It was then.
“Master Yuk has arrived as well.”
The Cooperation Pavilion’s chief had reappeared at just that moment.
He greeted the middle-aged man warmly with a bright expression.
And with good reason—the middle-aged man was one whose name carried weight even in the present-day Gangho.
Yuk Won, the Heavenly Force Blade.
He was a master whom even the leaders of the Nine Factions and One Gang acknowledged.
“It’s been a while, Master Chu.”
Yuk Won smiled at the Cooperation Pavilion’s chief’s arrival, then turned and opened his mouth.
“Well then, it seems everyone has gathered. Shall we begin the conference?”
Shortly after, all took their seats.
Yuk Won, the Heavenly Force Blade.
Chu Gye Gwang, the Cooperation Pavilion’s chief.
So Seong Jeok, the Sect’s deputy chief.
Go Yeong Nak, the Dagger-Wielding Master.
Eun Seol Seol, the Shadowless Empty Hand.
Piercing Spear technique—Gi Jung Hak.
And Cheon Hui of the Maehwa Sword Association.
Each of them was someone who held considerable sway and renown within the Murim Alliance.
Yuk Won swept his gaze across the six seated figures, then opened his mouth with a tense expression.
“As everyone gathered here well knows, it’s unrealistic to expect this force alone to strike down all of the Immortal Heaven Sect’s followers.”
It was a blunt statement from the outset.
And a realistic one at that.
No matter how many fighters the Murim Alliance had mustered, and despite their numbers reaching into the thousands, the Immortal Heaven Sect’s followers numbered in the tens of thousands.
Defeating them all would require years.
“So, I’m thinking we execute a diversionary tactic.”
“A diversionary tactic?”
“We strike from behind with a smaller force and eliminate the Immortal Heaven Sect’s patriarch. If the patriarch who commands the followers falls, surely even the Immortal Heaven Sect will descend into chaos.”
All of them held their breath.
It was the most efficient approach.
But it was far from easy—that much was certain.
Even if they managed a surprise attack from behind, everyone could see that the path to where the patriarch of the Immortal Heaven Sect resided would be fraught with peril.
And the patriarch of the Immortal Heaven Sect was no ordinary master.
He had been renowned throughout the Gangho for decades—a master of the Heavenly Martial Realm.
“Is such a thing even possible?”
Gi Jung Hak asked cautiously.
“I don’t know myself. But we have no choice but to make it possible.”
Yuk Won answered calmly.
“There is no other way.”
…….
As Gi Jung Hak fell silent,
“How many will go?”
So Seong Jeok, who had been furrowing his brow, asked.
It was perhaps the most crucial question.
“I’m thinking of assembling ten or fewer.”
“Ten or fewer?”
“……That’s dangerous.”
“Is it feasible?”
“Isn’t that too few?”
…….
Apart from Cheon Hui, who remained listless, the brows of the other five gradually furrowed.
It was far too small a number.
Watching the expressions of the five betray their unease, Yuk Won shook his head.
“If we’re attacking the Immortal Heaven Sect frontally, won’t they grow suspicious if our skilled masters are too few? And if we have too many, we’ll be constrained in our movements. Rather, a smaller number of masters will be far more threatening.”
…….
As Yuk Won’s words cascaded forth like a waterfall, all of them fell silent.
There was merit to what he said.
“So for now, the martial experts belonging to the Dharma Guard Division and the Guardian Division will be excluded from this mission.”
As Yuk Won spoke, he quickly added further remarks while watching the commander of the Guardian Division and commander of the Dharma Guard Division, both showing mild displeasure.
“Instead, the two of you will take the lead in mobilizing your forces to face the Immortal Heaven Sect directly and shake them—all without their knowing a diversionary tactic is unfolding. And by all means, draw the attention of the Immortal Heaven Sect’s masters, the Thirteen Death Servants and the Immortal Chief Teachers. The success of this operation hinges on the patriarch being left alone.”
As Yuk Won’s explanation continued, the two of them slowly nodded, their eyes gleaming with resolve.
It was a task nearly as crucial as killing the patriarch of the Immortal Heaven Sect itself.
Watching the two with expressions of understanding, Yuk Won turned to the remaining four and spoke again.
“The four of you will move with me.”
His expression grew grave.
As the expressions of the three—all but Cheon Hui—settled into seriousness, Yuk Won drew a deep breath and spoke.
“To kill the patriarch of the Immortal Heaven Sect.”
* * *
With the meeting concluded, the martial experts of the Murim Alliance began boarding the vessels.
Ten ships, carrying more than a thousand warriors in total, cut across the Yangtze River.
To the far bank visible ahead—
Toward Guizhou, where the Immortal Heaven Sect made its home.

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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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