Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 329

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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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329
Fire
‘I’d forgotten.’
Cheon Hui glanced sideways at the man gripping Ho Gwang Gae by the nape of the neck.
He looked to be well past forty.
The middle-aged man, beard thick with a mix of black and grey hair, carried a formidable and austere Internal Force radiating from his entire frame.
Even compared to Poong Ri, he seemed scarcely diminished in power.
“You’re late,” Poong Ri said, a smile playing at his lips.
He had already recovered his composure.
Yet even so, the cold gleam in his eyes as he fixed them on Cheon Hui was piercing.
“It couldn’t be helped,” said the man holding Ho Gwang Gae’s nape—Gang Ak, Master of the Black Fiend Gang. His gaze remained fixed on Cheon Hui.
“The opponent was simply too formidable. Finding an opening proved difficult.”
“……That much is true enough.”
As Poong Ri nodded in agreement—
Thump.
Gang Ak took a single step forward.
In that instant, his form seemed to expand, and in a heartbeat he had crossed the distance to stand level with Poong Ri.
It was over in a blink.
Gang Ak, having displayed such remarkable footwork, hurled Ho Gwang Gae toward Poong Ri with a sharp flick.
The man was treated like baggage.
“Here.”
“Good.”
As Poong Ri caught Ho Gwang Gae from Gang Ak, his eyes widened and small wrinkles formed at the corners.
He seized Ho Gwang Gae by the hair, lifted him up sharply, and spoke.
“Will you not strike a bargain?”
“A bargain? What do you mean?”
Cheon Hui looked at him as though he didn’t understand.
But Poong Ri continued speaking, unbothered by Cheon Hui’s expression and tone.
“I’ll hand this one over to you.”
Cheon Hui’s eyes narrowed.
‘He has some purpose in mind.’
There was no way he would surrender him without cause.
And just as Cheon Hui suspected, Poong Ri fixed him with a direct stare and immediately revealed his terms.
“In exchange, do not pursue us while we flee Wuhue.”
Poong Ri spoke, swallowing his rage.
In truth, he yearned to stomp that bastard’s face into ruin for severing his fingers.
But he had to think clearly.
‘Taking this one hostage offers no guarantee that I can defeat him.’
Through several exchanges, Poong Ri had felt the Martial Prowess of his opponent laid bare against his bones.
A master above his own standing.
Though the Master of the Black Fiend Gang was present and the gang encircled them, killing this mysterious figure would demand sacrifice. That much was certain.
He hadn’t even completed his mission yet, and to lose his strength now would be catastrophic.
‘So I must retreat for now.’
The saying went that a gentleman’s revenge need not be swift.
He would extract blood-debt for those three fingers in time.
“Well? What say you?”
Poong Ri asked in a measured tone.
All the while, he anticipated the answer.
‘He cannot refuse.’
He was certain the proposal would be accepted.
Indeed, the man before him had shown clear anger when he first saw his subordinates reduced to such a state.
To let him die now?
It was unthinkable.
‘Even if I swear falsely, it matters not. Once I poison him and flee, he won’t be able to pursue. I need only seal the bargain.’
As he thought through his escape route, confident the trade would be struck—
“I refuse.”
A cold voice answered.
Poong Ri’s face twisted at the rejection he had never anticipated.

“You’re saying it doesn’t matter if this bastard dies?”
“Yeah, do as you like.”
Despite Poong Ri’s surging reaction, Cheon Hui answered without hesitation, his expression utterly unmoved.
“Kill him if you’re going to kill him—handle it yourself.”
Cheon Hui spoke in a detached tone.
His voice was glacial, cutting as a winter wind.
“From the moment you captured him, he was already as good as dead anyway. What difference does it make if he dies then or now?”
Poong Ri’s gaze turned cold.
“Are you saying killing us is more important than your subordinate’s life?”
“That’s right.”
“All of this just for—”
“Spare me the jokes. You didn’t bat an eye when your own men fell either.”
…….
Poong Ri’s mouth clamped shut.
The words had found their mark.
But soon his lips twisted into a sneer.
“You’re all bluster.”
With that, he released his grip on Ho Gwang Gae’s hair, and the man crumpled uselessly to the ground.
“Can you still talk like that after this?”
He spat out the words laced with mockery, then raised his foot over the fallen Ho Gwang Gae and brought it down hard on the man’s right forearm.
Crack!
The sound of bone breaking echoed through the air.
“Nngh!”
Overwhelmed by the agony, Ho Gwang Gae’s eyes bulged as drool streamed from his mouth.
Poong Ri, having deliberately made the provocative move, fixed Cheon Hui with a cold stare.
“What are you waiting for? You said you’d kill him. Why the hesitation?”
The answer came calm and measured.
“If you’re going to do it, do it quickly.”
His eyes, stripped of all emotion, burned darker than the night sky itself.
He gazed quietly at Ho Gwang Gae, whose eyes were struggling open, and parted his lips slightly.
“But understand this—you’ll bear whatever consequences follow.”
Hearing the resolute tone of someone with no intention of further discussion, Poong Ri bit his lip.
The deal he’d been certain would succeed had crumbled before him.
‘What now?’
Just then, a voice message reached his ear.
It was the Black Fiend Gang leader, listening to their exchange.
‘There’s no other way, is there.’
Poong Ri’s response came sharp through the voice transmission.
With the negotiation fallen through, only one choice remained open to them.
The Black Fiend Gang leader nodded immediately.
And in that same instant.
Screech!
Spears and blades came slashing down at Cheon Hui from all sides.
The Black Fiend Gang members, who had been lying in wait with bated breath, erupted with fierce killing intent, launching a combined formation assault.
Cheon Hui’s eyes went cold and dark.
The moment killing intent ignited in his pupils—deep and black as an infinite abyss.
Whoosh—
A crimson arc split through them all.
The Hwawol, emitting a subtle Qi Blast as it carved its path, tore them asunder in one sweeping stroke.
Splatter!
Blood sprayed in all directions as the Black Fiend Gang members charging forward simply collapsed.
It happened so fast.
Not even a scream escaped their lips.
Only the clatter of shattered weapons and the thud of lifeless bodies hitting the ground could be heard.
“Form the Combined Formation!”
The Black Fiend Gang leader’s voice boomed out.
Urgency trembled through the cry.
In that instant, dozens more Black Fiend Gang members materialized, beginning to move in concentric circles around Cheon Hui.
Before and behind, left and right, above and below.
They occupied every vantage point from which they could strike at him, watching and waiting for their opening.
But the opponent was a master of a distant and lofty realm.
Screeeech!
Blood sprayed across all sides.
Each time a red arc traced through the air, those who charged at him fell without recourse.
It was overwhelming.
Yet the Black Fiend Gang members did not cease their assault, gradually encircling Cheon Hui.
Sharp spears and blades continued to whirl, while the red arcs painted the void without pause.
Shattered weapons. Overwhelming sword winds rippling through the air. Blood spray dancing in all directions.
In an instant, the Hwacheonru became a scene of utter chaos—a place that resembled hell itself.
“……Who on earth is this?”
Poong Ri, who had been muttering to himself while watching, furrowed the bridge of his nose.
Inexhaustibly pure Internal Force, the red arcs of his blade path, and the Gucheon Aprae technique.
Not to mention his arrogant demeanor.
Each of these was a distinctive characteristic, yet no matter how hard he tried to discern the man’s identity, he could not fathom who he was.
Poong Ri, who had been watching Cheon Hui slaughter his men, lowered his head.
‘This one is now useless…….’
With eyes cold as winter frost, he was about to end Ho Gwang Gae’s life when—
‘No. He may still have value.’
Something occurred to Poong Ri, and he slowly turned his head to regard the Black Fiend Gang master.
“It seems we must combine our strength.”
“I am aware.”
The two nodded at each other, their eyes meeting.
In ordinary circumstances, two masters of such caliber joining forces would be a matter of wounded pride.
But this was not the time for such pride.
The mysterious opponent before them simply exceeded their calculations far too greatly.
Poong Ri glanced upward and spoke.
“Bring it forth.”
The moment those words left his lips.
Whoooosh—
A spear fell from above, and it naturally came to rest in his right hand.
A divine weapon—the Sailchang.
Grasping the spear with its brilliant azure shaft, he drew a slow, measured breath.
Whiiiish—
His entire body was wrapped in pure white armor, and the protective fierce energy of the Yeongsashimgyeol rippled outward, scattering an uncontrollable killing intent.
“Can you draw his attention for a moment?”
“……Is there a reason?”
“I’ve thought of a way to create an opening in that monster of a man.”
As he spoke, he lowered his gaze.
Following his eyes downward to Ho Gwang Gae below, the Black Fiend Gang master’s eyes gleamed.
He had understood his meaning.
Immediately, he nodded and, like Poong Ri, drew up his Internal Force.
At that moment.
Black Qi flowed beneath his feet, shattering the fractured floor into pieces.
Then his figure vanished.
Whoooosh!
A fierce wind roared belatedly in his wake.
The Iyeong Bo movement technique he had mastered unfolded at its extreme, creating a violent backdraft that spawned a semicircular gust.
Crossing the space in a single bound, the Black Fiend Gang master drove a sharp hand-blade toward Cheon Hui—swift as lightning itself.
It was an action executed in the blink of an eye.
Cutting through the air, the Black Fiend Gang master brought his rigid hand-blade crashing down.
Aimed directly at Cheon Hui’s crown.
Black Internal Force gathered at his palm, rippling and transforming into the shape of a keen blade.
His Seongmyeong Jeolgi, the Heuksalsu, unfurled.
Sliiiice!
The force of his Dokmun Shimbeop Heart Technique, the Heuksasimgong, sang with a biting killing intent as it rapidly cleaved the air.
And the moment his hand-blade was about to touch Cheon Hui’s head—
Crash!
A black wave of force exploded outward in all directions.
Cheon Hui’s blade, the Hwawol, rose to meet and deflect the Heuksalsu.
“……!”
The Black Fiend Gang leader’s eyes snapped wide open.
Even watching from a distance, he could feel the tremendous depth of that martial prowess. But clashing directly was an entirely different matter.
The palm strike sent a tremor up through his hands.
‘This can’t be!’
Shock flooded through him, rising to the base of his skull.
He felt the layers of defense he’d built up with the Heuksasimgong’s power crumbling beneath the assault.
Startled, he pulled his foot back.
It was a movement meant to recover his footing.
‘Now!’
The moment he caught a glimpse of a vision—his hand severing—and moved to unleash the Iyeong Bo.
Crack!
A sound like something shattering filled the air.
The blade drove forward relentlessly, forcing through the palm wrapped in Internal Force, and he felt the bones beneath shatter under the pressure.
“Ugh!”
A gasp escaped him as he clenched his eyes shut.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, something crimson streaked between them.
Cheon Hui opened his left hand to strike whatever had burst in, then narrowed his brows.
‘Ho Gwang Gae?’
Recognizing that the blood-soaked Ho Gwang Gae had been thrown in, Cheon Hui hesitated for just an instant.
Crack!
A sharp spear, piercing through Ho Gwang Gae’s shoulder, came thrusting in with a spray of blood.
“Die!”

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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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