Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 71

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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 71
The Grand Patriarch of Namgung Clan was at a loss for words.
He could perform it after seeing it only a few times?
It was hard to believe.
“Is what you’re saying true?”
“Yes.”
“Difficult as it is to accept……”
His expression grew complicated as he stroked his fine beard that fell to his chest.
“But looking at your face, it doesn’t seem like you’re lying.”
The Grand Patriarch’s eyes gleamed.
“Then if I demonstrate a martial technique now, could you reproduce it?”
Cheon Hui nodded.
“Of course.”
He saw no disadvantage in it whatsoever.
‘The more he shows me, the better for me.’
In fact, he thought it was fortunate.
“Fine, then.”
The Grand Patriarch immediately clenched his fists.
“First, let me show you the Goo Byeok Shin Kwon, our clan’s signature Fist Technique.”
Sharp winds from his fists descended upon Cheon Hui.
A moment later.
“Heh heh heh.”
The Grand Patriarch let out a hollow laugh.
‘This can’t be!’
Cheon Hui was now perfectly reproducing the martial techniques he had just displayed.
‘Remarkable. Truly remarkable. What a prodigy.’
He shook his head in disbelief.
Even accounting for the fact that it was incomplete without an accompanying Inner Energy Technique, what he witnessed was flawless in execution.
The Technique Form, the stance—everything.
‘Better than most of the young disciples in our clan.’
His assessment of Cheon Hui rose considerably.
The Grand Patriarch now understood why Cheon Hui had carried such confidence.
“You possess remarkable Eye Power and talent indeed.”
The Grand Patriarch offered his praise.
“That’s true enough.”
Cheon Hui replied with self-assurance.
At the sight of Cheon Hui’s overflowing confidence, the Grand Patriarch found himself smiling.
“I had thought to humble your arrogance, but now I fear I’m the one who’ll be embarrassed.”
His demeanor shifted.
He turned his head and called out to Namgung Jin Gyeong, who stood at a distance with a vacant expression.
“Jin Gyeong.”
“Yes?”
Startled by the sudden call, Namgung Jin Gyeong’s voice pitched upward.
“Did you say you wanted to escape the well?”
At the Grand Patriarch’s earnest question, Namgung Jin Gyeong’s expression grew equally serious.
“I did.”
“But with your current strength, you seem far from ready to wander Kangho freely.”
The Grand Patriarch spoke while looking at Cheon Hui.
“I understand.”
Namgung Jin Gyeong bit his lip.
Once, he would have scoffed at such words, but now he grasped the truth clearly.
Since meeting Cheon Hui, he had felt his own weakness acutely.
“That is why I’ve been considering undertaking Closed-door Training to grow stronger.”
“Good. You recognize your shortcomings.”
Seeing Namgung Jin Gyeong acknowledge his own insufficiencies, the corners of the Grand Patriarch’s mouth twitched upward.
“I will help you.”
Namgung Jin Gyeong’s eyes widened.
“You mean it, Grandfather?”
“Long ago, I spent considerable effort creating a Sword Technique. It remains unfinished, but should you master it, you could not merely wander All Under Heaven—you could dominate it.”
At the Grand Patriarch’s confident words, Namgung Jin Gyeong swallowed hard.
Meanwhile, Cheon Hui was brimming with anticipation.
‘I wonder what kind of Sword Technique he’s devised?’
Namgung Jin Gyeong, nursing the same curiosity, ventured to ask carefully on his behalf.
“What sort of Sword Technique is it, exactly……?”
“A Sword Technique created by consolidating all the Sword Techniques that exist within the Namgung Clan into one.”
“You mean the Sword Techniques of our clan?”
Cheon Hui perked up his ears.
That was no trivial matter.
He had already walked that path himself.
Because of that, he knew better than anyone else just how difficult it truly was.
As Cheon Hui began to focus intently on their conversation,
a faint sound pierced the air—
Namgung Jin Gyeong glanced at him sideways.
“If I master this Sword Technique, could I defeat even Cheon Hui, the young master?”
The expression on Namgung Jin Gyeong’s face was grave.
While roaming All Under Heaven was his ultimate ambition, his immediate priority was Cheon Hui.
The Grand Patriarch chuckled heartily.
“With this Sword Technique mastered, it would be difficult to find a worthy rival in All Under Heaven.”
“To… that extent?”
Instead of answering, the Grand Patriarch nodded slowly.
“If it’s such a tremendous Sword Technique, why didn’t you teach Father……?”
“That wretch abandoned righteousness—he cannot learn this Sword Technique.”
The Grand Patriarch’s expression turned cold.
“The Evil Factions still stand firm, and we know not where those Demonic Cult dogs might scheme in shadow. As if his abandonment of the Murim Alliance weren’t enough, he goes about founding trifles like the Bi Cheon Society. Bah.”
After grumbling for a moment, his gaze pierced through Namgung Jin Gyeong.
“But you, who will leave this clan and roam All Under Heaven—you have ample qualification to learn it.”
In that instant, Namgung Jin Gyeong’s shoulders tensed with purpose.
The supreme Sword Technique of All Under Heaven!
And only he could master it.
Every word that fell from the Grand Patriarch’s lips was enough to set his spirit soaring.
The Grand Patriarch fixed his gaze upon Cheon Hui.
“Watch closely now.”
As he spoke, he drew forth his Inner Energy.
A sharp crackling erupted—
The manifestation of the Cheon Noe Je Wang Shin Gong!
In an instant, the Grand Patriarch’s blade trembled.
Or rather, it was the illusion that the blade trembled because of the fierce aura he was radiating.
In a heartbeat, the space around him grew as dark as though storm clouds had rolled in.
Simultaneously, thunder crackled through the darkness.
A low, rumbling growl—
A brilliant display of Thunder Energy unfurled.
‘Oh, remarkably potent.’
Cheon Hui’s lips stretched wide in a grin.
The aura made every hair on his body stand on end.
Was this on par with Baek Sa Sin?
No—comparison between the two was impossible.
The momentum radiating from both was so overwhelming that it was impossible to say who held the advantage.
Cheon Hui, watching intently, spoke.
“What’s the name of this Martial Technique?”
The Grand Patriarch, far from being oppressed by his own aura, regarded Cheon Hui with astonished eyes as he asked about the Martial Technique’s name.
“I haven’t named it yet.”
“And the name of the Sword Form?”
“There isn’t one.”
As he spoke, his meticulously groomed white hair suddenly stood on end, and his eyes began to glow with a golden hue.
“Because it consists of but a single Sword Form, you see.”
“That’s splendid.”
Cheon Hui’s eyes curved upward like crescents.
In that moment—
A piercing crackle split the air—
The Grand Patriarch’s blade, piercing through the roiling darkness that surrounded him, descended like a bolt of lightning.
The moment Cheon Hui’s blade was about to meet his.
Clink.
The Grand Patriarch of Namgung Clan halted his sword.
“…….”
“…….”
A strange silence settled between them.
The enormous thunder that had been falling moments before had already vanished, and sky and earth returned to their ordinary state.
Yet the resonance from that single sword technique lingered thick in the air around them.
“Extraordinary! Such a remarkable sword technique—it would rival the Chang Gung Mu Ae Sword Technique without yielding an inch.”
Namgung Jin Gyeong, who had until now remained distant from their exchange, broke into animated speech.
“But it remains incomplete.”
“Incomplete? You mean to say that once this sword technique is perfected……?”
“It will surpass the Chang Gung Mu Ae Sword Technique that the Grand Master created.”
The Grand Patriarch spoke with commanding certainty.
He had every reason to be confident.
How many techniques from the Namgung Clan had he studied and unraveled, one by one, to create this sword technique?
Those years alone had stretched beyond three decades.
And that was scarcely all.
Creating a new sword technique was no simple matter—he had endured failure countless times.
There were instances when mistakes had cost him internal injuries.
Yet he had never surrendered.
And at last, he had borne fruit.
‘It may be incomplete for now…….’
Not much remained to be done.
“Once it is perfected, this technique shall be called not merely the finest sword technique under Heaven, but the greatest of all ages.”
Hearing such words brimming with confidence, Namgung Jin Gyeong’s throat convulsed with barely contained joy.
“Then……can I learn this sword technique?”
Seeing Namgung Jin Gyeong’s inability to conceal his delight, the Grand Patriarch’s chest swelled with satisfaction.
“Did I not say I would teach you?”
Pleased by Namgung Jin Gyeong’s reaction, the Grand Patriarch suddenly turned to Cheon Hui, who had sheathed his blade.
“What was your assessment?”
Cheon Hui, recalling the sword technique that had just unfurled, offered his impression.
“It’s a truly extraordinary technique—if perfected, it would rank among the finest I’ve encountered.”
It was no mere flattery.
Should it reach completion, it would rival the very best techniques he knew.
And yet.
“Which is precisely what troubles me.”
For that to come to pass, there was a condition: his martial technique itself would need to reach perfection.
Beyond that.
“It would have become a far superior technique had he focused on one element alone…….”
As they say, Excess is worse than deficiency.
Had he abandoned one approach, it could have become a peerless technique; by refusing to sacrifice either, he had rendered it mediocre.
The Grand Patriarch’s brow furrowed.
“Focus on one element alone? What manner of speech is that?”
“You were aiming for Unity of Offense and Defense, weren’t you?”
The Grand Patriarch stiffened.
“How did you perceive that so readily……?”
“It’s plain to see. A Defeating Sword of this caliber couldn’t have had its form suddenly withdrawn midway. Yet I watched you draw it back—which suggests you’ve contrived it to shift into a defensive form whenever needed.”
“You’re right.”
“Which is why it falls flat. It would have become a far superior technique had you devoted yourself wholly to either offense or defense alone.”
“Heh. Remarkable though you may be, you still lack true understanding of the martial path.”
The Grand Patriarch smiled, the lines around his eyes deepening.
For all his extraordinary displays, Cheon Hui was, he reminded himself, still a young man—inexperienced, despite his gift.
“Should one concentrate solely on attack, gaps would open in defense; should one concentrate solely on defense, one sacrifices the power to strike.”
“Then why remain incomplete?”
“Heh. It shall be perfected soon enough.”
“That’s what it’s seemed like for years now.”
The barb struck home, and the Grand Patriarch flinched.
Indeed, it had been stalled for years, precisely as Cheon Hui said.
“You would have done far better to commit yourself to one path alone, rather than awkwardly chasing after both.”
The Grand Patriarch of Namgung Clan furrowed his brow.
“Tell me—what would you have done in his place?”
“If it were me, I’d have abandoned defense entirely and poured everything into the attack.”
“Even if that left you wide open?”
“What does that matter?”
Cheon Hui spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“It’s a one-stroke sword technique, isn’t it? Wasn’t it created to decide victory in a single blow?”

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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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