Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 32

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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 32
The Baewang Sect’s annihilation happened last night.
The reverberations were considerable.
In a sense, it was an inevitable progression.
A sect that wielded absolute power in Hamyang District vanished overnight.
Yet the Baewang Sect’s annihilation rippled through the Martial World far more dramatically than anyone had anticipated.
The first thing that happened was that the sects, long suffocated under the Baewang’s heel, began to creep cautiously back into the open.
But emerging from hiding wasn’t enough—they clawed at one another for control of the interests the Baewang had once commanded.
Like wolves ravaging the mountain when the tiger dies.
And that was only the beginning.
The sects and trading companies near Hamyang District began casting covetous eyes as well.
The minor sects under the Bicheon Alliance.
The subordinate sects and Dark Path members who had served the Baewang.
Even the sects affiliated with the Murim Alliance.
As they converged in successive waves to fight over spoils, Hamyang District descended into chaos—a pit of mud.
And the architect of this pandemonium was spending his days in placid ease at the Bifeng Trading Company.
“Sigh.”
Tian Hui lay sprawled across the guest bed that Gao Jieying had arranged, idling like a man with nothing to do.
His body sunk into soft fabric instead of the prison cell’s hard floor, he muttered in a drowsy tone.
“So bored.”
It had already been ten days since he arrived at the Bifeng Trading Company.
All that time, he’d done nothing but eat, sleep, and practice Qi Circulation Meditation twice daily in endless repetition.
Of course, at first it had been wonderful.
After so long, he could finally eat his fill and collapse onto a soft bed.
But it was thrilling for only a day or two.
By the tenth day, the novelty had curdled into tedium.
Whoosh—
Unable to bear the boredom, he sprang from the bed and grabbed his training robe.
“I need to get some air.”
For the first time outside of meal hours, he slipped from his room and wandered down a long corridor.
“Oh my.”
He nearly collided with Gao Jieying and Yeon Suran, who were hurrying somewhere urgent.
Startled by the sudden encounter, they both offered their greetings.
“It’s been a while. Yin Gong.”
“It’s good to see you again. Yin Gong.”
Tian Hui regarded the two of them.
Gao Jieying wore a broad, genuine smile—clearly delighted to see him.
Yeon Suran, by contrast, smiled as though it cost her effort; her expression was stiff and uncomfortable.
Like someone gripped by fear.
Tian Hui, grown accustomed to their contrasting reactions, returned a casual greeting.
“Good to see you both.”
Gao Jieying’s eyes widened at this acknowledgment, and he flashed another broad grin.
“Ha ha! But venturing out at an hour other than meals—is something the matter, perhaps?”
Gao Jieying asked in a hushed, careful whisper, as though afraid someone might overhear, and Tian Hui answered flatly.
“I was just bored and wanted to step outside.”
“Ha ha, well then, shall I have a servant attend to you—”
“No, thank you.”
Tian Hui declined sharply, then met Gao Jieying’s gaze directly.
In the space of just two days, the man had changed again.
‘He was cordial enough before, but not to this degree.’
The shift began on the day word spread that the Baewang Sect had been annihilated.
At first, Gao Jieying had feared him much as the stiffened Yeon Suran did now, but at some point after that, his manner had transformed into careful solicitude and lavish courtesy.
“Father.”
Then Yeon Suran called out to Gao Jieying.
“We’re out of time.”
“Ah, that’s right!”
Only then remembering why they’d been rushing, Gao Jieying bowed to Tian Hui again.
“My apologies. We have a prior engagement and must take our leave.”
“Of course. Safe travels.”
Though Tian Hui spoke with flat indifference, Gao Jieying maintained his smile and opened his mouth once more.
“If you have need of assistance or funds from the Company in the future, please seek me out.”
Gao Jieying spoke his final words and departed, with Yeon Suran following in his wake.
He bowed slightly.
The moment Yeon Suran disappeared—she who had been offering nothing but stiff, uncomfortable greetings alongside Gao Jieying—Tian Hui rested his chin on his hand.
‘Assistance or money, then… Hmm. That might prove useful down the road.’
He walked on, lost in thought about some distant future, when the sound reached his ears.
Hah! Hah!
Small, eager voices mingled with spirited shouts pricked his attention.
‘That voice is….’
As if drawn by invisible threads, he altered his course toward the source of the commotion.
After walking for some time, he arrived.
There before him stood Jeok Geom and Seol Ran, barking instructions to the other Plum Blossom Sword Users, demonstrating sword techniques.
“Focus! If you lose sight of your opponent’s blade, how can you possibly counter?”
“Yes, understood!”
“Right!”
Jeok Geom was instructing Jeok Un and Jeok Jae, while Seol Ran watched Jeok Bi swing his blade before calling out sharply.
“Jeok Bi! I told you to mind your footwork before you even begin your strike!”
“Haha, well it looked easy enough when you explained it, but now that I’m trying it… it’s actually quite confusing.”
At Jeok Bi’s embarrassed expression, Seol Ran covered her face with her hand and let out a sigh.
“So what I’m trying to say is….”
Tian Hui watched Seol Ran continue berating Jeok Bi and approached them.
“What are you doing?”
“…!”
All five Plum Blossom Sword Users flinched.
“Master?”
“Master, what brings you here….”
As Seol Ran and Jeok Geom began to ask, bewilderment written across their faces, Tian Hui spoke again.
“What are you doing?”
Sensing the sudden chill in the air, both of them quickly pressed their arms against their sides and stood rigidly. In an instant, they were as still as trees rooted to the earth, answering crisply.
“We were teaching them martial arts!”
“We were instructing them in martial techniques.”
Tian Hui regarded the two of them—beads of sweat already forming on their brows—with narrowed eyes.
“What? You’re teaching martial arts?”
Bewilderment crossed Tian Hui’s face as he swept his gaze across Jeok Geom and Seol Ran.
“You two.”
He paused, then turned his attention to the remaining Plum Blossom Sword Users and spoke.
“Teaching them?”
“Well, yes, Master….”
“It was because they asked us for instruction, so we ended up teaching them….”
At Tian Hui’s expression of utter disbelief, the two of them grew increasingly subdued, their voices shrinking to whispers, their faces falling.
Tian Hui clicked his tongue.
“The end of an age, truly. You two teaching others….”
In that instant, Jeok Geom and Seol Ran’s expressions darkened as if daggers had been driven into their hearts.
“The help you’ve given us has been invaluable.”
“It has been more than enough.”
“If anything, I’m too foolish to have properly benefited from your instruction.”
The remaining Plum Blossom Sword Users hurried to speak, noticing the sudden change in the two instructors’ expressions.
“All of you….”
“You two….”
At the words of their three comrades offering comfort, color returned to Jeok Geom and Seol Ran’s faces, and the heavy atmosphere that had shrouded them began to lift.
A warmth bloomed in that moment.
Though such warmth existed only for them.
‘What are these fools doing?’
Tian Hui felt nothing at all.
Rather, as he looked upon them with disdain, an amusing thought suddenly crossed his mind.
‘Well, I was bored anyway. This works out nicely.’
He acted on the thought immediately.
“Then how about I teach the martial arts instead of these two?”
“…!”
A sharp intake of breath.
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran had gone rigid.
“Truly?”
“Please do!”
“You’ll teach us yourself?”
The remaining Plum Blossom Sword Users standing beside them, by contrast, had their eyes gleaming with eagerness.
“What? You don’t want to?”
All three shook their heads so vigorously their necks nearly snapped.
“Not at all!”
“How could we refuse?”
“We would be grateful beyond measure.”
The three Plum Blossom Sword Users spoke with such fervor, their faces shining with emotion.
Once, they had dismissed Tian Hui as merely a young master teacher, but those days were long past.
The Divine Presence he had displayed when saving the Bifeng Trading Company.
And even the Sect Annihilation of the Baewang Sect.
It was only natural that Tian Hui was their master teacher, and moreover, a figure they revered with all their hearts.
That such a man would teach them directly.
It was an opportunity that would never come again.
The three, trembling with joy, bowed simultaneously toward Tian Hui and cried out.
“We are in your debt!”
Tian Hui let their greeting slip past one ear, then drew the sword from his belt along with its scabbard.
“Fine. Let’s start with you then.”
He pointed at Jeok Un with the scabbard.
“Come here.”
“Yes!”
“I’ll face you, so show me everything you’ve got.”
Jeok Un’s confusion was plain on his face.
“I thought you were going to teach us our techniques?”
“First I need to know what techniques you’ve already mastered.”
“Ah, I understand.”
Tian Hui watched Jeok Un’s limp display of internal energy with a cool eye, then added, “Don’t hold back — show me everything.”
“Use everything, you say? Are you certain?”
In that instant, Tian Hui caught the thought behind Jeok Un’s words and let out a soft laugh.
“Why? Afraid I won’t survive your techniques?”
“That is to say……”
Jeok Un faltered, clearly struck by the arrow of truth, and Tian Hui cut him off sharply.
“Even if you rose from the dead, you couldn’t harm me. Stop wasting breath and draw up your full internal energy.”
“Yes, understood.”
Jeok Un drew his sword with a tensed expression and immediately elevated his internal energy.
He now radiated a presence wholly different from before, and deployed the Guugung Step and Cheonryu Sword Technique in which he had the most confidence.
Whoosh— whoosh—
His footwork treading the Nine Palaces with precision, his grip on the space flawless, the Guugung Step left nothing to criticize.
Following that came the Cheonryu Sword Technique.
With every stance, every strike, every breath of internal energy deployed with perfect mastery, this technique bore no resemblance to his earlier performance against the Baewang Sect disciples.
“Hmph. So you do know how to fight properly.”
Tian Hui saw Jeok Un bearing down on him, took a half-step back, and planted his feet in the True Step.
Thud!
The scabbard, suddenly swung, drove straight into Jeok Un’s exposed left flank.
Crack!
“Aaaahhhhh!”
With the sound of something snapping, Jeok Un’s scream tore through the air, his waist folding like paper.
Thump—
Jeok Un dropped his sword in agony, clutched his flank, and collapsed to his knees.
“My ribs… my ribs……”
Tian Hui looked down at Jeok Un, cradling his side in pain, and clicked his tongue.
“So that’s why you fumbled against those thugs in real combat. You can display technique in a controlled setting, but not when it matters.”
Jeok Un’s shoulders heaved.
“Pitiful.”
With that final word, he turned his gaze away and fixed it instead on Jeok Jae and Jeok Bi, who still stood frozen in shock.
“You two come at me together.”

Jeok Jae and Jeok Bi flinched.
But they quickly steadied themselves with deep breaths, then rushed at Tian Hui.
Half a moment later.
……
Three Plum Blossom Sword Users, felled in a single strike, lay sprawled across the ground.
Tian Hui, standing before them, opened his mouth.
“Next.”
When no response came, Tian Hui narrowed his brow and lifted his head. His gaze swept across Jeok Geom and Seol Ran as he spoke.
“Why aren’t you coming? What are you doing?”
Feeling his stare, the two of them started violently, their lips trembling as they pointed at themselves with their index fingers.
“……Me?”
“Us as well, sir?”
Tian Hui’s eyes grew colder.
“You don’t want to?”
Both of them shook their heads vigorously.
“No, of course not.”
“Absolutely not!”
Seeing their emphatic denials, Tian Hui slung his scabbard over his shoulder and spoke.
“At least you two showed better skill than those three idiots. You deployed your martial arts with composure in actual combat.”
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran’s faces brightened at this praise—the first they’d ever heard from Tian Hui.
But that brightness shattered instantly at what he said next.
“Yet after five years of learning from me, isn’t what you’ve shown rather pathetic?”
Though he didn’t show it openly, Tian Hui was irritated.
During all the time they’d served him, how many times had he actually taught them martial arts?
And here they were, losing to mere mercenaries.
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran broke into a cold sweat.
“It’s just that……”
“This is our first real combat, so……”
“Nonsense. Do you think such excuses will fly in a life-or-death fight? Your neck would be severed long before that.”
His words struck home, and both of them felt their breath catch in their throats.
Tian Hui then drove his point deeper.
“Recently I’ve been taking it easy on you, haven’t I? That’s made you careless.”
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran’s faces went pale.
As they recalled the teachings Tian Hui had let them forget, their minds went numb with dread.
“No, that’s not it!”
“We weren’t careless……”
“You must have been. Otherwise, with what I taught you, there’s no way you’d struggle against those men……”
The momentum in Tian Hui’s voice shifted abruptly.
Facing an overwhelming presence entirely different from when he’d taught the three of them, both their faces went white in an instant.
“So next time, I’ll teach you properly so nothing like this happens again.”
With that emphasis on “properly,” a vicious internal energy exploded outward from Tian Hui’s entire body.
“Block well.”
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran, realizing it was too late for words, desperately drew up their internal energy and drew their swords.
But despite their resistance, only the sounds of impacts and screams filled the air.
Thwack! Thwack!
“Ahhh!”
“Tsk, you can’t even dodge this?”
“If you’d just go easy……”
“What? Easy? Why didn’t you ask your enemy to go easy on you then?”
“But it’s so fast!”
“Fast? You’re just slow.”
Tian Hui rebutted their protests and vented his frustration, swinging his scabbard relentlessly.
And his scabbard wasn’t aimed only at those two.
“Ugh!”
“Master! We……”
“If you’re awake, get up.”
Tian Hui pressed vital points on the Plum Blossom Sword Users who were feigning unconsciousness with his scabbard.
“Ahhh!”
“Please, spare us……”
“Don’t worry. You won’t die.”
Half an hour had passed since Tian Hui’s beating masquerading as martial arts training began.
“Grrk—”
“That’s enough now…….”
“Master…… sir.”
“…….”
“Please…….”
Tian Hui watched the five men trembling on the ground before returning his scabbard to his belt.
“Whimpering after just this much? I’ll have to tell the Sect Leader to recruit new Plum Blossom Sword Users.”
He spoke words they would have shrieked at, had they been conscious enough to hear, brushing dust from his hands as he prodded their corpse-like forms with his scabbard.
“You know that anyone who doesn’t stand when I finish counting to three gets hit again, right…….”
The five men suddenly convulsed as primitive survival instinct screamed at them, and they lurched to their feet.
“W-we’re up, sir!”
He twisted his mouth into a smile watching them.
“So you managed that quickly—guess this was manageable. Then I’ll go harder.”
The Plum Blossom Sword Users had barely recovered their senses when they saw him, and their faces drained of color.
But Tian Hui continued without heeding their terrified expressions.
“So you’ll get hit again…… no. We need to train a bit more. Don’t you agree?”
“N-no, sir.”
“That’s enough……”
“No, there’s still more needed.”
Tian Hui’s expression brightened as he raised his scabbard again, and the Plum Blossom Sword Users frantically waved their hands in protest—but…….
The scabbard was already swinging.
Crack! Crack!
“Aaargh!”
His beating masquerading as training resumed, and the sounds of impact and screams filled the Bifeng Trading Company.
Whoosh—
And in the distance, there were eyes watching this scene in secret.

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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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