Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 43

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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 43
“Gasp!”
Jeok Geom, who had been fending off the Baekgwidae’s assault while exhaustion accumulated in his body, finally gave way and let his sword slip from his hand.
Retch—
Whether from the impact, he coughed up an Ung Hyeol.
Dead blood, blackened and clotted, along with fragments of viscera stained his Do Bok below the neck.
That was when the Baekgwidae came at him again.
Clang! Clang!
He managed to block their strikes, but Jeok Geom staggered badly.
The Baekgwidae’s Jin Gi-infused attacks that followed were far too deadly for someone already bearing Nae Sang.
‘I can’t put strength into my hands.’
It wasn’t just his hands.
His entire body felt leaden.
He swept his gaze across his surroundings quickly.
The situation was spiraling toward catastrophe.
The standing teachers and junior disciples alike were all swaying, unable to steady themselves.
Watching them sway as if they might collapse with a mere touch, Jeok Geom’s face darkened.
‘Is this the end, then.’
As time wore on, Jeok Geom and the Maehwa Sword Masters felt death drawing closer, and they squeezed their eyes shut in resignation.
But then.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Something pitch-black bounced off the ground several times before crashing down in front of them.
The Maehwa Sword Masters, startled into opening their eyes by the sudden commotion, gasped in horror when they recognized what it was.
“……!”
“W-what is that!”
It was a mangled corpse.
Where the head should have been, there was nothing at all, and the upper body was completely crushed as though trapped beneath an enormous boulder.
Footstep— footstep—
Then came the sound of footsteps.
In the eerie silence of the strange situation, those steady footfalls were enough to drain the souls from the Baekgwidae.
Entranced, they turned their heads.
A young man was walking slowly toward them, flames raging at his back.
The youth, clad in a Do Bok of the rare dark-crimson hue, was exceptionally tall.
Moreover, his broad shoulders and the musculature visible here and there spoke of intensive training.
Yet as he drew nearer, the Baekgwidae found themselves captivated not by his physique, but by his gaze.
Those cold, pitch-black eyes behind him swallowed even the raging flames themselves—so frigid and merciless.
The moment they met that stare, the fear and dread that had been buried in the depths of their hearts began to show themselves.
In the end, one of the Baekgwidae stepped forward to shake off the emotion.
“So there was still someone alive…….”
Crack!
Brains and blood sprayed in all directions, pattering down like rain.
The Baekgwidae, suddenly drenched in their comrade’s blood and brains, were seized by bewilderment.
They couldn’t comprehend what had happened.
The man’s skull had simply burst, and he died.
An utterly senseless death.
Yet the Baekgwidae sensed that this catastrophe had been wrought by the youth before them.
It was because a Geom Gap now hung from the young man’s right hand, when moments before it had been empty.
“More of you survived than I expected.”
The moment those words left his lips—
Crack!
Another head exploded outward.
This time, the Baekgwidae could see it.
The pitch-black Geom Gap moved with sudden violence, and another member’s skull was pulped.
Witnessing such sickeningly ruthless technique, the surviving Baekgwidae froze, their faces drained of color.
“Master…….”
“Y-you’ve come…….”
A voice came from below.
Cheon Hwi lay sprawled on the ground, gazing down at the Maehwa Sword Masters with cold eyes as they lay gasping in exhaustion.
They were completely spent.
Only Jeok Geom and Seol Ran still had enough strength to move, and neither was lying prostrate on the earth.
“Seems like it’s still not enough?”
At Cheon Hwi’s cold voice, spoken with eyes narrowed to slits, Jeok Geom and Seol Ran’s faces drained of color, and they spoke urgently.
“That is…….”
“No, I mean…….”
“Enough.”
Cheon Hwi turned his head, slung the sword sheath over his shoulder, and fixed his gaze on the Baekgwidae as he spoke.
“I’ll handle this for now. We’ll talk later.”
* * *
“Remarkable skill.”
Su Cham Dok Geom let out a gasp of admiration.
Against the Hyeol Ya Geom of the Hyeol Ya Dok Gyeong, Hyeon Do was not falling back—he was dominating.
Rather, he was overwhelming.
“Quiet.”
Yet Hyeon Do’s response was ice-cold.
Within him burned a heat fiercer than any flame.
His opponent was one of the four masters of the Baekgwi Sect, a mortal enemy—it was only natural.
Su Cham Dok Geom’s eyes dulled.
‘I thought at best we were equals…….’
The scattered rumors and the intelligence secured by the Baekgwi Sect were entirely at odds with the realm he now witnessed.
At minimum, an equal—or perhaps…….
“The intelligence on the Huashan Sect was flawed.”
His muttered voice was clipped and sharp.
Despite calling him the greatest swordsman of the Huashan Sect, he had secretly held the sect itself in contempt.
Su Cham Dok Geom clenched his teeth, gripping his blade roughly and twisting his torso with sudden force.
The movement was grotesque.
His left sleeve fluttered in the wind, while his right hand curved far behind his back.
As though hiding the sword itself.
It was the foundational posture of the Hyeol Ya Geom, contained within the Hyeol Ya Dok Gyeong—an art devised long ago by a nameless one-armed swordsman.
Crack-crack-crack—
Muscles twisted, and an ominous sound echoed. Yet Su Cham Dok Geom’s expression remained perfectly serene.
Then his entire body spun.
Screeeech!
The air tore asunder.
The blade in his hand whipped with whip-like sharpness. Against it, Hyeon Do calmly infused his sword with inner force.
A pale, crystalline Qi began to wrap around the blade like fine thread, then quickly coalesced, encasing the sword completely in a cocoon of solid energy.
It was a Geom Gi that could only be displayed by one who had stepped into the Mujuk Jiggyeong realm at minimum.
Clang!
Blade met blade.
But the result was unexpectedly stark.
“Cough!”
Su Cham Dok Geom, struck by the impact, staggered backward.
‘……This can’t be!’
Su Cham Dok Geom’s eyes widened.
He had launched a sudden preemptive strike, yet the shock reverberated through his own frame.
Hyeon Do was equally startled.
Though for an entirely different reason.
‘Is that truly all?’
Su Cham Dok Geom ranked among the top three masters of the Baekgwi Sect. Yet his attack now was far too weak.
Su Cham Dok Geom’s eyes shifted as he caught the expression that flickered across Hyeon Do’s face.
He had always desired strength and pursued it relentlessly.
To properly master the Hyeol Ya Dok Gyeong he had discovered by chance in childhood, he had even severed his own left arm with his own hands.
After mastering the Hyeol Ya Geom, he had become a Go Su—belonging to neither the Righteous nor the Unorthodox path, roaming the Gang Ho with impunity.
But one day, he had tasted defeat.
From that day forward, his goal transformed.
To strike down Baek Sa Shin, the one who had defeated him.
It was this that had driven him—who belonged to neither path—to throw himself into the Baekgwi Sect, a Sa Pa organization.
Yet now someone he had never considered a true opponent was looking down upon him.
His eyes flared with madness.
It was not only in his eyes.
From his entire body began to pour a damp, murky Qi.
Sensing the sudden shift in momentum and atmosphere, Hyeon Do slowly began to circulate his internal energy.
That was when it happened.
Whoosh—
Su Cham Dok Geom, who had been standing beyond the three-zhang distance, vanished in a flash and appeared directly in front of him.
Clang!
Their blades collided.
The massive explosion was so violent that those standing nearby clapped their hands over their ears and staggered backward.
The two swordsmen locked gazes across their crossed blades, then simultaneously unleashed their full internal power.
A deep rumble shook the air.
The atmosphere trembled violently, as if terror-struck by the tremendous force flowing from both combatants.
Yet their expressions told different stories.
Su Cham Dok Geom fought without composure, as if cornered, while Hyeon Do remained serene.
Suddenly, Su Cham Dok Geom’s eyes filled with bloodshot veins, his face flushing crimson.
“Hah!”
Gritting his teeth, he fought to swallow back the Ung Hyeol rising from deep within, his eyes snapping wide open.
His face had become a grotesque sight.
His eyeballs were so bloodshot they seemed ready to burst forth tears of blood at any moment, and a thin streak of blood ran from his lips.
Whoosh—
Hyeon Do twisted his wrist.
Perhaps it was the effect of breaking his sword grip during the clash of internal forces.
Screech!
Su Cham Dok Geom’s blade, laden with tremendous power, was drawn forth uncontrollably.
“……!”
Su Cham Dok Geom tried desperately to rein in his sword, but he had already lost his balance and stumbled.
Hyeon Do was not one to miss an opening.
Riding the disrupted flow of internal energy, he immediately unfolded the Maehyang Chwe Jeop.
Whirling—
Su Cham Dok Geom, teased by the plum blossom fragrance tickling his nose and the keen edge of the strike, urgently rolled his left foot in a wide arc and spun through the air.
Whistle—
His empty sleeve fluttered, enveloping him.
Hyeon Do raised his blade to strike at the airborne target, then flinched and drew back.
Screech!
A sword thrust pierced the space where he had been standing.
Even mid-spin, Su Cham Dok Geom had maintained his concentration and driven his blade forward.
Hyeon Do’s eyes narrowed into slits.
‘Despite such grievous internal injuries, he still deploys such technique—a vicious one indeed.’
The mental fortitude of Su Cham Dok Geom, who continued swinging his blade while enduring pain that would have felled an ordinary martial artist, was extraordinary.
Then Hyeon Do unleashed his internal energy in a devastating burst.
“Cough!”
Su Cham Dok Geom, struck head-on by the tempest of Hyeon Do’s power, spat blood.
The impact this time was catastrophic.
Tears of blood finally streamed from his reddened eyes, and a bowlful of blood spilled down his throat and across his mouth.
His face, already drenched in crimson.
Yet still he did not cease swinging his blade at Hyeon Do.
“Cough! I… I cannot yield!”
With a harrowing cry, blood spraying in all directions, the Hyeol Ya Geom he wielded now possessed overwhelming destructive power.
His forearm, bent like a whip, and his blade moved to tear Hyeon Do apart.
Hyeon Do matched him by swinging his sword in a wide lateral arc.
Neither swift nor slow—the stroke was perfectly measured.
Yet the force contained within it was of unimaginable intensity and solidity.
It was the Tae Eul Mi Ri Geom, said to be the most powerful technique among the Huashan Sect’s sword arts.
Screech!
Hidden within the tremendous tempest of internal power, a keen edge sought Su Cham Dok Geom’s body.
At last, their blades cut through each other.
Splash!
Blood sprayed, and silence fell.
Su Cham Dok Geom, his entire body drenched in blood, parted his lips with great effort.
“In the end…….”
His voice, still bearing the deep tremors of internal injury, had become completely altered.
Then his hand went limp.
Ting, ting, ting….
The blade trembled several times before falling silent.
Having lost the sword that had accompanied him through most of his life, Jeok Geom turned his gaze toward Hyeon Do.
In his bloodstained eyes burned a flicker of longing.
He had tried everything imaginable to scale the colossal wall that loomed before him whenever he closed his eyes for any length of time, yet it had always proved impossible.
But the man before him had already reached the Cheonmu Jiggyeong, so how could he not envy him?
“……I couldn’t…… cross it.”
His voice rippled outward gently in all directions, like water droplets scattered across a still lake.
Thud!
Su Cham Dok Geom, drained of all strength, collapsed.
Hyeon Do gazed down at the fallen man.
The lingering Tae Eul Mi Ri Geom aura inscribed upon the corpse’s wounds flickered and wavered like dancing flame.
“At this level….”
As Hyeon Do murmured to himself, he looked down at his sword hand, then clenched both fists tightly.
He had reached the Cheonmu Jiggyeong, yet until now he could not be certain of his own realm.
But now, at last, certainty had come.
His current strength was such that he could be counted among the finest in the Gang Ho—perhaps.
‘Even if Baek Sa Shin were my opponent….’
Fire blazed in his eyes.
His purpose was the annihilation of the Baekgwi Sect and the elevation of the Huashan Sect’s renown throughout the martial world.
He had drawn one step closer to that goal.
As Hyeon Do envisioned the days to come.
“The Eastern Lord?!”
A voice of surprise rang out from nearby.
Startled, Hyeon Do turned his head and saw So Baek Gwi locked in combat with Ha U Jin, neither able to gain the upper hand.
“……This can’t be.”
So Baek Gwi’s face contorted in disbelief as he stared at the cold corpse of Su Cham Dok Geom, then he turned his head as if in desperate doubt.
“……!”
His eyes trembled in all directions as if seized by an earthquake.
He had been too occupied with Ha U Jin to notice—the presence of the Baekgwidae had vanished.
“Damn it!”
As So Baek Gwi’s face twisted grotesquely, like that of a malevolent spirit, the moment he grasped the situation.
“Now it’s only you left.”
A cold voice came from beside him.
Whoosh—
He hastily deployed the Gwi Eum Jang.
Yet there came neither a scream as he expected nor any sensation of impact against his palm.
Panicked, he turned his neck very cautiously.
Before him stretched a pitch-black wall.
Then a voice came from above.
“Where are you running to?”
Cheon Hwi looked down at So Baek Gwi, whose height barely reached his nose, and murmured softly.
Snap!
So Baek Gwi hurled himself forward without hesitation.
‘I can’t die here! I am the heir of the Baekgwi Sect!’
He poured out every ounce of remaining Nae Ryeok, abandoning Bo Beop and everything else, and fled.
His figure shot forward so swiftly that it seemed to trace an impossibly long line through the air behind him.
“I mustn’t let him escape… Ugh!”
Ha U Jin, who had been about to push off the ground, stumbled and gasped in pain—an aftereffect of the Nae Sang he’d sustained while fighting So Baek Gwi.
Then.
“What a nuisance,” Cheon Hwi remarked lightly.
He flicked his foot forward.
Whoosh—
His form vanished in an instant.
“Gasp!”
So Baek Gwi, fleeing desperately, stumbled.
In his haste to escape, his collar had caught on something, and now his own garment strangled his neck.
“Kh, kh.”
Coughing from the pain around his neck, a shadow fell across his vision.
In the next instant, Cheon Hwi seized the collar and loomed over him, his lips parting to speak.
“Did you really think you could commit such an act and escape with your life?”
“Ugh, gah. P-please…….”
So Baek Gwi, coughing, cast aside all dignity and groveled abjectly, prostrating himself.
“What? You’re begging for your life?”
At those words, So Baek Gwi jerked his upper body upright and nodded desperately.
In that instant, Cheon Hwi’s mouth split into a grin.
“Why should I?”
As So Baek Gwi’s face drained of color at the sight of that icy smile,
Crack!
Cheon Hwi brought his heel down on the man’s skull.
Brain matter and blood splattered in all directions.
Cheon Hwi brushed the blood and fragments from his robes with casual indifference, then stared down at the corpse with an expression of cold detachment before turning away.
“I’ll have to root out the entire nest.”

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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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