Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 69

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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 69
Four days later, as Cheon Hui arrived at the lakeside as usual, Namgung Jin Gyeong, who had been gazing at the water from the pavilion, raised his hand with a flourish.
“Cheon Hui!”
He came sprinting toward her in one breath.
His face, still bearing the marks of their previous encounter—bruised and swollen—broke into a smile as he stopped before her.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“You seem more energized than yesterday.”
“Ha ha ha. My apologies. You see, yesterday’s match with you gave me a sudden realization…….”
Namgung Jin Gyeong laughed sheepishly.
Through their bout, he had lost everything.
Yet as they say, it was a blessing in disguise.
Because of it, he had built a connection with Cheon Hui and discovered a new purpose.
“Then shall we begin right away?”
Cheon Hui met his eyes as he began drawing his sword with an eager expression.
He had been waiting for this match.
And no wonder—instruction from a master of her caliber was rarely to be found.
At first glance, it seemed he was the only one gaining from this arrangement, but that was not quite true.
‘I too am learning the martial arts of the Namgung Clan, so it benefits us both equally.’
He had displayed a total of eight martial arts.
Most were techniques she already knew, but even that was a considerable gain.
‘It’s no wonder they call it the House of the Azure Sky.’
The martial arts she had learned were all connected as one.
Azure Sky! Thunder-Lightning! Flash-Lightning!
At first glance they appeared different, but all of them held that same vast sky within them.
Just as the Huashan Sect carried the plum blossom and the Tianma Divine Sect carried the path of defying heaven.
As Cheon Hui continued cataloging the martial arts she had observed so far, she met the gaze of Namgung Jin Gyeong, who was watching her with quiet eyes.
“What martial art will it be this time?”
Namgung Jin Gyeong’s eyes sparkled at once.
“The Tianfeng Sword Technique!”
‘Oh, the Tianfeng Sword Technique? It’s been a while since I’ve seen it.’
“It’ll be far more devastating than the Dae Yeon Sword Technique I showed you yesterday!”
At his now-familiar confident cry, a smile escaped from Cheon Hui’s lips.
‘His demeanor has changed quite a bit.’
Over the past four days of daily matches, her impression of him had shifted dramatically.
Even though he suffered crushing defeats every single day, he never once grew dejected.
Instead, on the very day of his defeat, he would steel his resolve and return the next day displaying a new martial art, burning with fighting spirit.
‘He’s become more impressive than before.’
She found herself quietly drawn to him.
His sincerity toward martial arts. His refusal to break even when facing a stronger opponent.
She beckoned him forward with her finger.
“Then come.”
“I’ve been waiting for those words!”
At the gesture she had made countless times before, Namgung Jin Gyeong drew his sword as if he had been anticipating it.
“Today I will finally make you draw your blade!”
Despite his words brimming with resolve, Namgung Jin Gyeong’s goal seemed rather modest.
But he knew his goal was as towering as a great mountain.
Because his opponent was Cheon Hui.
At that moment, Cheon Hui provoked the competitive fire burning within him.
“I’d like to see you try.”
Crack!
His eyes hardened at the provocation, and he gripped his sword tighter.
“Then I’ll make the first move!”
Having keenly felt the gap between his strength and Cheon Hui’s, Namgung Jin Gyeong seized the initiative.
Cheon Hui sidestepped his rushing form, evading his blade, and parted her lips slightly.
“Is that all?”
“Now it truly begins!”
Namgung Jin Gyeong summoned his inner force.
In an instant, lightning aura bloomed and crackled, his blade sweeping in a wide arc.
‘Not much different from what I’ve seen before…… wait?’
The corners of Cheon Hui’s eyes curved upward.
It was quite different, actually.
With each exchange, each clash repeated, Namgung Jin Gyeong’s sword grew stronger.
‘Inner strength alone shouldn’t allow him to sustain this kind of assault indefinitely.’
Yet Namgung Jin Gyeong was managing it.
Whether because of the Tianfeng Sword Technique’s distinctive nature, or because of his sharp, honed focus.
The attack pressed forward relentlessly, like a storm.
‘If he keeps this up without pause, his inner strength will deplete first.’
Interest flickered in Cheon Hui’s eyes.
The Tianfeng Sword Technique he’d once known centered on fluid, free transitions.
Yet here he was, deploying the Continuous Chain Strike.
‘Has this changed too?’
His luminous eyes swept across Namgung Jin Gyeong as he wielded the blade, lingering for only a moment.
Swift—
Cheon Hui’s hand moved.
The instant he countered by flowing through the Tianfeng Sword Technique, Namgung Jin Gyeong responded.
Snap!
He pivoted his footwork in one motion to evade, twisting his sword to shield himself from the counter.
Watching him respond for the first time instead of simply taking the blows, Cheon Hui murmured quietly.
“So now you know how to dodge.”
The words were nothing special, but at hearing them, Namgung Jin Gyeong’s lips twitched as if seized by a spasm.
“You think you’ve grasped my technique from just one or two exchanges!”
Namgung Jin Gyeong swallowed a laugh that threatened to spill out, speaking through gritted teeth.
“Isn’t this enough that you ought to draw your sword by now?”
Cheon Hui spoke, watching his excitement.
“No.”
“What do you—wait!”
Namgung Jin Gyeong’s eyes widened. Cheon Hui, appearing before him in an instant, had his palm spread wide open.
The pale hand swelled before Namgung Jin Gyeong’s vision, consuming everything in sight.
Crash!
Deep black darkness arrived.
Struck with tremendous force to his forehead, Namgung Jin Gyeong felt consciousness slipping away.
‘Still… at least this time I can acknowledge…’
Unconscious, Namgung Jin Gyeong fell to the ground in a sprawl, his body rigid as a plank.
Blood trickled from his nose, yet his face bore a complete smile—grotesque in its cheerfulness.
“I’ve sensed it for a while now, but while everything else falls considerably short, the Continuous Chain Strike is deployed with reasonable competence, at least.”
He stroked his chin, recalling for a moment the martial arts Namgung Jin Gyeong had just displayed.
Whisk—
He tilted his head back and opened his mouth.
“Why don’t you come out now?”
In that instant, a gust swept before his eyes, and an elderly man appeared with hands clasped confidently behind his back.
‘That face…’
As Cheon Hui examined the somehow familiar old man, the elder spoke softly.
“This is the second time I’m seeing you.”
“Ah! From four days ago.”
Hearing his voice, Cheon Hui recognized him.
He was the one who, four days prior, had pressured the sect’s gatekeeper to permit the Namgung Clan’s visit.
“I thought you’d stay hidden, but here you are.”
The old man, seeming embarrassed, stroked his beard.
“Did you know?”
“How could I not, when you kept staring so intently?”
The old man coughed and turned his head away.
“Truth is, I meant to leave halfway through. But watching this clan’s disciple spar with a Huashan Sect master was so intriguing that I stayed to observe, and well… I simply forgot to come out.”
“Forgot?”
“I did.”
He simply forgot?
Though the explanation seemed dubious, seeing him clear his throat repeatedly in embarrassment suggested it wasn’t quite a lie.
“Still, it’s nostalgic to have Huashan Sect masters staying in our clan.”
The old man quickly shifted the subject.
“I never imagined people from the Nine Factions and One Gang would lodge here again… yet perhaps because we share the same Orthodox faith, our relations have grown warm once more, it seems.”
“Pardon?”
“Hah. Still, you listened to what I had to say. I said there was nothing good about making an enemy of the Martial Alliance…”
It puzzled him.
During four days spent at the Namgung Clan, what he’d felt was mostly hostility and wariness.
Yet now they spoke of good relations.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Our true enemy is the treacherous Evil Sects… what did you say?”
The old man, who had been muttering, suddenly opened his eyes wide.
“Doesn’t make sense? Then why are you staying at our house?”
He regarded the old man with suspicion.
The reason for their visit was already widely known within the Namgung Clan.
Otherwise, how would so many retainers have gathered for the Changtian Grand Convention?
Watching the old man lean his face uncomfortably close, Cheon Hui finally spoke.
“It’s about a transaction.”
“A transaction?”
“You must already know.”
Cheon Hui regarded the old man intently.
“Ahem, ahem.”
Meeting that gaze, the old man gave a false cough, trying to hide his bewilderment.
“Hah. Recently I’ve been staying here and don’t know much about the clan’s affairs.”
‘No matter what, the clan leader came forward for something this significant. He claims not to know?’
The old man wore an awkward smile across his face.
‘There’s definitely something going on here.’
He found it suspicious but didn’t press further.
It wasn’t terribly important anyway, and the details of the transaction were already known.
“We were supposed to deliver the corpse of Hei Xiao Sha Ma and receive something in exchange, but I’m not certain what exactly we’re getting.”
“Hei Xiao Sha Ma?!”
The old man’s expression changed completely.
The awkward smile vanished like a mirage, and a chill settled into his eyes.
“You killed that damned wretch and brought his body? Is that what you’re saying?”
Cheon Hui’s eyes narrowed to slits.
In that brief moment, the killing intent radiating from the old man had been fierce and overwhelming.
‘He seems even stronger than the clan leader…’
“Then it was the Huashan Sect that disposed of him?”
“Sir?”
At the old man’s next words, Cheon Hui could only tilt his head in confusion once more.
“That’s what happened, but it’s strange. Usually people don’t think the Huashan Sect was the one who did it.”
The old man’s eyebrows rose sharply.
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“The Huashan Sect isn’t thought capable of defeating a master of that caliber.”
“Hah. Not capable of dealing with Hei Xiao Sha Ma? What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Sir?”
“Hmm?”
Both tilted their heads at the same moment.
For a time they simply stared at each other, expressions utterly baffled.
‘Could he really not know the state of the Huashan Sect?’
A hypothesis suddenly occurred to him.
In five years, he had never once heard anyone speak favorably of the Huashan Sect.
Most dismissed it as a declining Daoist order or treated it as a relic of the past.
Of course, on the surface they praised it as the renowned Huashan Sect, but the feelings beneath couldn’t be hidden.
‘But this man is different.’
He genuinely believed what he had said.
The old man’s words just moments ago had carried deep affection and reverence.
‘Still, surely he must know?’
The near-total collapse of the Huashan Sect was something all Under Heaven knew.
It seemed strange that someone living within the Namgung Clan itself wouldn’t know, rather than dwelling in some remote mountain valley.
‘Then again, who knows.’
Assumptions had been the death of many before.
Cheon Hui looked at the old man and asked.
“Are you aware that the Huashan Sect has fallen into decline?”
“What? The Huashan Sect in decline? Hahahaha. It seems the Daoists of the Huashan Sect these days have learned to make jokes.”
The old man waved his hand dismissively and laughed.
“The Huashan Sect falling into decline? Of all things, that seems hardly believable.”
So that was it. He truly had no idea.
The moment I realized our entire conversation had been crossing at purposes for this very reason.
Ah. So that’s what it was.
A single thought flickered through my mind, and I clicked my tongue with a soft “tsk, tsk.”
‘No wonder he knows nothing of current affairs—the old man’s been banished to the back rooms.’
All the questions that had been nagging at me suddenly clicked into place, and the picture became clear.
‘Poor fellow.’
What good is extraordinary martial prowess
when your own sect has turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to you?
“Currently, the Huashan Sect ranks at the very bottom of the Nine Factions and One Gang.”
I told the old man the truth, unaware as he was of his own circumstances.
My tone was gentler than usual.
He’d been exiled to the back rooms—the least I could do was treat him with a little kindness.
“What? The bottom of the Nine Factions and One Gang?”
The old man stared at me in shock, his eyes wide and unblinking.
“Is… is that truly the case?!”
“Why would I deceive you?”
“Such a thing cannot be…”
“Of course, we’ll rise again.”
I added the words, but the old man, entranced by the revelation that Huashan had fallen to the bottom rank, heard nothing of it.
“How can the Huashan Sect have come to this? Their Sword Flowers bloom across All Under Heaven, and their Sword Fragrance devours all…”
Watching him struggle in the grip of shock, I felt a twinge of pity—and then—
“Gasp!”
Namgung Jin Gyeong jolted awake and sprang to his feet.
“Y-young master!”
The moment he rose, he looked for me—then froze when he spotted the old man.
“E-Elder Patriarch?!”

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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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