Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 68

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 68
“Gasp!”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong, who had lost consciousness and remained senseless for quite some time, suddenly jerked upright.
“Where am I……?”
The moment he pushed himself up, his upper body slick with cold sweat, he glanced frantically around before immediately searching for Cheon Hui.
“That man……”
“You’re awake.”
Just then, a voice came from beside him.
“Uncle……?”
The man called uncle, the Medicine Pavilion Master, approached and took a seat next to Nam Goong Jin Gyeong.
“Where is this……?”
“The Medicine Pavilion. How is your body?”
“Did I……lose?”
“Never mind that—tend to your body first. You seem all right now, but you were unconscious for a full half day.”
“Yes, understood.”
At the rebuke, Nam Goong Jin Gyeong hastily crossed his legs and began to regulate his Internal Energy.
Fortunately, there were no internal injuries.
“My cheek throbs a little, but everything else feels fine.”
“Then that’s a relief. Still, you’re not fully healed yet, so be careful with your body and regulate your energy……”
The Medicine Pavilion Master’s concerned words continued, but Nam Goong Jin Gyeong’s mind was already consumed with thoughts of Cheon Hui.
‘My sword techniques were completely useless.’
Even after unleashing the Cheonroe Jewang Shingong and deploying the Changgung Muae Geombeop, nothing worked.
That beautiful sword strike, swung with overwhelming force.
Against it, the Changtian Biroe was split clean in two, and he himself was cleaved along with it.
‘It was an impossible sword strike.’
The defeat had been so overwhelming that even bitter laughter wouldn’t come.
‘I thought my only rival would be him……’
Ever since becoming one of the Nine Dragons, he’d believed there were no equals among his peers.
But he was wrong.
All Under Heaven was vast, and masters were countless.
‘There is sky above the sky.’
As he reflected on himself, the conversation he’d had with Cheon Hui came back to mind.
‘I was insane!’
His face burned with shame.
When he recalled how confidently he’d challenged him to the contest, and the things he’d said during it, his entire body twisted with mortification.
How pathetic he must have seemed.
Just as he was about to bury his face in embarrassment, wishing he could crawl into a hole and disappear.
“……Did you step forward to solidify your position for the Succession?”
The Medicine Pavilion Master touched on the subject Nam Goong Jin Gyeong had been nervously preoccupied with lately.
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong, startled back to awareness, nodded without speaking.
The Medicine Pavilion Master closed his eyes tightly.
Outwardly, Nam Goong Jin Gyeong was known to have no interest whatsoever in the Position of Family Head.
But that was false.
“I thought you had no interest.”
“I didn’t, before.”
Nam Goong Cheon, the First Young Master of the Nam Goong Family.
He was not only the First Young Master but also possessed exceptional martial prowess, and lacked nothing in learning or virtue.
Everyone had assumed from long ago that Nam Goong Cheon would become the next Family Head.
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong was no exception.
But his thoughts gradually changed.
The turning point came after he earned the title Sword Dragon of the Vast Sky.
Originally, as the Second Young Master, he had been distant from succession; yet recently, as Nam Goong Jin Gyeong began to shine and rose to the rank of Nine Dragons Five Peaks, he entered the prospects for Family Head.
Everything shifted because of that.
Suddenly, all eyes turned toward him.
Now and then, he caught admiring glances.
At first it felt burdensome, but before long he grew accustomed to it, and through that, desires he hadn’t known he harbored were awakened.
The desire for the Position of Family Head.
“I thought that with the First Young Master away, now was my chance to make an impression on Father and the household. I was certain I’d win against such a young swordsman……”
He trailed off.
What was the point in continuing?
He lost, in the end.
Soundly, at that.
The Succession Position had slipped further away.
“I’ve lost.”
As he finished the words he’d left hanging, a smile bloomed across his face.
The Position of Family Head he’d desired so deeply was now beyond reach, yet somehow he felt unburdened.
As though he’d cast off a weight he’d carried for years.
“Are you all right?”
The Medicine Pavilion Master asked with concern.
“Haha. I’m fine. Rather, I feel refreshed.”
As he spoke, Nam Goong Jin Gyeong rose to his feet.
“Well then. I should be on my way.”
The Medicine Pavilion Master reached out to stop him, then hesitated, his mouth working wordlessly.
“……If your condition worsens, come back.”
“Haha. I will.”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong retrieved his sword from where it lay and departed the Medicine Pavilion.
Had he truly lost consciousness for an entire double-hour?
The bright blue sky of midday had given way to the red glow of sunset.
“……Good.”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong set off without delay.
* * *
“I expected more from a renowned clan among the renowned clans. There’s nothing worth seeing here.”
Cheon Hui made no effort to hide his disappointment.
He’d spent an entire double-hour wandering the Nam Goong Family Estate, yet found nothing particularly noteworthy or interesting.
Only the halls and the occasional hostile glare from passersby.
‘Still, I learned one thing.’
Though there was little to see, he had come to understand something.
‘Every hall I’ve seen here surpasses the quarters I stayed in at the Martial Alliance.’
The halls at the Martial Alliance were admittedly rather worn, though he’d never thought them terribly so.
But now that he was here, it became abundantly clear.
The Martial Alliance’s quarters weren’t merely old—they were treated with utter contempt.
‘They gave us lodgings inferior to countless lesser halls scattered throughout the estate?’
Cheon Hui’s eyes hardened.
‘They viewed us as trash?’
A cold smile played at his lips.
He’d have to overturn this place when the time came.
As he turned over in his mind what he must do first upon returning to the Martial Alliance—
“Young Brother.”
Someone stepped into his path.
It was Nam Goong Jin Gyeong.
“What?”
What now? Coming for another round?
The man still hadn’t come to his senses.
To attempt another attack after the beating he’d taken—this time he’d break his legs so thoroughly he’d never fight again.
“Thanks to you, I’ve come to understand much.”
“Pardon?”
There came a sound as if the air had been knocked from his lungs.
‘Understand what?’
It made no sense.
He’d been beaten unilaterally and then lost consciousness—what could there be to understand?
“Your blow struck me, and I came to my senses.”
Struck and came to his senses?
‘Could it be……’
Cheon Hui’s skin crawled.
He’d encountered this type of human in his past life.
A madman who grew excited from being struck.
“Young Brother.”
As Nam Goong Jin Gyeong stepped forward, Cheon Hui immediately stepped back.
“Don’t come any closer.”
At Cheon Hui’s cold warning, Nam Goong Jin Gyeong flinched, taken aback.
“Why, why are you—”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong stepped forward again.
Whoosh!
A cutting killing intent swept over him.
‘This… this kind of killing intent!’
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong swallowed hard.
He had never encountered such ferocious killing intent before.
‘It’s almost as if from the Demonic Sect…….’
He swallowed the thought in haste.
‘What am I thinking?’
The man before him was a Taoist of the Huashan Sect.
Yet he’d thought of the Demonic Sect.
“Whatever misunderstanding this may be, thanks to you I’ve finally grasped just how arrogant I’d become.”
Was that all it was?
Cheon Hui withdrew his vigilance.
Cheon Hui studied Nam Goong Jin Gyeong carefully.
The words he had spoken showed no hesitation in his eyes—not a flicker of deception.
He retracted his killing intent at once.
“That’s enough.”
As Cheon Hui turned to continue down the path,
“What were you doing just now?”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong called after him urgently.
“I was looking around the Nam Goong Family Estate.”
“The Estate itself? I’ll show you around.”
“No, that’s all right.”
Cheon Hui declined the offer.
“There wasn’t much to see anyway. And every time I walked around, your people kept watching me with sharp eyes.”
Cheon Hui glanced to the side.
There, the retainers of the Nam Goong Family were stealing glimpses, their gazes keen and piercing.
“Ha ha.”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong laughed awkwardly.
“But there should be something worth seeing.”
“There wasn’t.”
Cheon Hui spoke flatly.
“If anything, the Martial Art you displayed when we had our contest was the most worthwhile thing I saw.”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong’s eyes widened.
“My Martial Art? But it was thoroughly defeated by you…….”
“That’s the ‘most’ of it.”
And truly, it was merely the “most”—
It was Martial Art that hadn’t been fully deployed, yet watching that was far better than sightseeing the unremarkable Nam Goong Family Estate.
“I would like to see the Nam Goong Family’s other Martial Arts too, if possible.”
“Other Martial Arts of the Estate?”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong lifted his head sharply.
“I can demonstrate those for you.”
“Besides the Seomjeon Sibsam Geomroe and the Changgung Muae Geombeop, you’ve learned other Martial Arts too?”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong immediately deflated.
“Not nearly as fully as the two sword techniques I showed during the contest…….”
“Hmm.”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong, catching the interest in Cheon Hui’s tone, spoke carefully.
“But would you like to observe them anyway?”
“I’d be pleased to.”
Cheon Hui answered at once with a slight smile.
What did it matter if the Martial Art wasn’t fully deployed?
This was a chance to see something different.
The dying embers of his interest kindled back to life.
“Then follow me.”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong, now animated, led the way forward.
“I have a place where I often practice and meditate.”
How long they walked, neither could say.
After a considerable journey, Nam Goong Jin Gyeong’s footsteps came to a halt at a small lakeside.
Unlike the other places he had seen so far, it was a desolate spot where no sign of human presence could be felt, yet a small pavilion standing at the center of the lakeside caught his eye.
“What do you think? Peaceful enough for good training, wouldn’t you say?”
“Indeed.”
Cheon Hui gave a perfunctory nod.
Yet that alone was enough to set Nam Goong Jin Gyeong’s steps light with enthusiasm.
“Come inside.”
A moment later, the distorted shadows of the two figures rippled across the small lake’s surface.
A quietness that felt almost melancholy.
Though the lakeside lay within the Nam Goong Family Estate, it felt like an entirely different realm.
Cheon Hui, pleased with the atmosphere, nodded and flicked his index finger.
“I’ll yield the first move. Come at me.”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong let out a hollow laugh.
It was an action that completely disregarded him, yet he could not help but acknowledge it.
The gap in skill revealed in today’s martial contest was devastatingly clear.
A chasm he could not even fathom.
Especially that sword strike…….
Goosebumps rose on the forearm gripping his blade.
It was certainly Ildo Yangdan, one of the basic forms of the Yukap Geombeop.
Despite its grandiose name, it was simply a sword strike coming down from above—nothing more.
Yet that simple stroke had severed the Changtian Biroe exactly as the technique’s name proclaimed.
Pfft—
Laughter escaped between his lips.
He had been nothing but a frog in a well, captive to the hollow renown of the Nine Dragons Five Peaks Changtian Sword Dragon, blind to how vast All Under Heaven truly was.
‘I am weak……!’
The moment he accepted his own weakness, his heart grew lighter.
Because of that, the sword in his hand felt infinitely weightless.
‘My heart is light now.’
He slowly called forth his Internal Energy.
Crackle— crackle—
Cheon Hui murmured as he watched Nam Goong Jin Gyeong, his hair standing on end from the lightning-infused Cheonroe Jewang Shingong.
“Much better than during the martial contest.”
The Internal Energy, which had only been radiated outward before, now flowed with smooth control, adjusting between strength and gentleness.
“I’ll demonstrate the Seomjeon Sibsam Geomroe for you.”
“Hmm. I’ve already seen that.”
“This time will be different.”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong’s eyes gleamed with blue light.
In the same instant, he kicked off the ground and rushed at Cheon Hui, his blade flashing forward.
Screeeee!
The sword left a dazzling trail of light as it carved through empty space and struck at Cheon Hui in a single motion.
Yet Nam Goong Jin Gyeong did not relax his guard.
‘There’s no way someone this formidable would fall to something so simple.’
Just as he thought it, Cheon Hui’s form, waist severed, wavered and vanished.
An afterimage.
“Certainly better than the contest, I’ll grant you that.”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong’s skin crawled at the voice coming from behind him.
‘When did he get behind me……?’
Even with the Ihyeong Hwanwi technique, had he ever moved this fast?
As cold sweat broke out on Nam Goong Jin Gyeong’s brow.
‘His Internal Energy management and sword-work are completely different from the contest.’
Cheon Hui looked down at Nam Goong Jin Gyeong.
The sword strike he had just unleashed felt nothing like the blade work from the contest.
The earlier power had been ferocious and overwhelming.
But this stroke truly lived up to the name Seomjeon Sibsam Geomroe.
The severance was definitive and complete.
A clean break before the blade even made contact.
Like a whip cracking, it generated a vacuum at its tip, amplifying its force in a single, overwhelming surge.
‘It’s different from the contest.’
With that subtle change, it now truly felt like the legendary Seomjeon technique.
Then Nam Goong Jin Gyeong twisted his blade.
“This isn’t over yet! Here I come!”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong twisted at the waist with a sharp cry, then unleashed his next sequence of strikes.
The sword cuts came even faster than before.
Flashing brilliantly, a relentless barrage of linked attacks pressed in on Cheon Hui without pause.
‘At least he’s worth watching,’ Cheon Hui thought.
He revised his assessment of Nam Goong Jin Gyeong.
From an insect to something more like a dog.
Cheon Hui, who had been doing nothing but dodging Nam Goong Jin Gyeong’s strikes, finally raised his hand and began to counter.
Hiss—clang!
Some blows he slid away across the flat of the blade with the back of his hand; others he batted aside with his palm, rendering them useless.
As the pattern repeated.
“……!”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong’s eyes wavered.
The Seomjeon Sibsam Geomroe crumbled and scattered uselessly against such effortless deflection.
‘Even this doesn’t connect?’
The moment he clenched his teeth.
Thud!
A sharp pain bloomed across his chest.
“Kgh!”
Nam Goong Jin Gyeong staggered from the blow.
Cheon Hui, who had driven his palm into Nam Goong Jin Gyeong’s chest, draped his sword across his shoulder.
“That’s enough of that.”
He spoke with utter indifference to whether Nam Goong Jin Gyeong recovered from the shock or not.
“Let’s see your other martial arts.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————