Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 78

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

Chapter 78
Surong Chaejoo’s face twisted.
The arrival of someone who looked unmistakably like an intruder unsettled him.
“Who the hell are you?”
Cheon Hui glanced at the man who had spoken.
The middle-aged man hadn’t bothered to groom his beard, which had grown wild and unkempt—his face screamed “I am your enemy” without needing words.
“Who? An enemy. Can’t you see that?”
“This bastard……”
Veins began to rise on Surong Chaejoo’s forehead at Cheon Hui’s dismissive reply, but before his anger could fully manifest—
“Chaejoo. What is the meaning of this?”
Sipya Munmdo’s low voice cut through the room.
“Did I not just tell you not to concern yourself with what happens outside?”
At the reprimand—if it could be called that—Surong Chaejoo’s eye twitched slightly.
Though his face was hidden behind a woven hat, his expression seemed visible anyway.
“I’ll handle it quickly.”
Surong Chaejoo rose abruptly and seized the Geodo stacked neatly against the back wall.
Whoosh!
He felt the familiar weight of the heavy blade for a moment, then pointed its tip at Cheon Hui.
“I don’t know how you made it this far……”
His muttering died mid-sentence.
This chamber was the deepest sanctum of Surong Chae.
To reach it, one would have to pass through where his subordinates stood guard.
That this intruder had penetrated this far meant—
‘……!’
He snapped to attention.
He strained his ears urgently.
Though moments ago the outer chambers had been loud with activity, now there was nothing—not even the sound of breathing.
If even one intruder had been dealt with, someone would have come to report it.
But there had been no report, only this strange youth smashing through the door.
‘These aren’t ordinary men!’
Surong Chaejoo’s expression hardened.
“Where do you come from? The Cooperative Alliance? Or another Surong Chae?”
“From there.”
Cheon Hui pointed his thumb toward the shattered door behind him, smirking.
An unmistakable mockery.
Surong Chaejoo clenched his teeth.
“Seems you’re not in the mood to answer.”
“You’re not stupid, at least.”
The moment those words left his lips—
Whoosh—
Surong Chaejoo’s Geodo, already swung without warning, cleaved toward Cheon Hui’s midsection.
“Answers will have to come from someone else……”
Surong Chaejoo’s body went rigid, even as he anticipated blood spraying and collapse.
The figure of Cheon Hui, bisected, flickered and vanished.
‘An afterimage?!’
In that instant—
“……Hah!”
A chill swept up Surong Chaejoo’s spine, and he desperately swung his Geodo behind him.
Clang!
Brilliant sparks erupted.
Unable to fully absorb the impact, Surong Chaejoo stumbled backward.
‘A master……’
Cold sweat drenched his back.
That lightning-fast blade had been impossible to follow with the eyes—he couldn’t even see it properly.
He had blocked it by luck alone.
‘If I keep fighting him alone like this, I’m dead.’
Having assessed his opponent’s skill, Surong Chaejoo transmitted his voice to Sipya Munmdo.
‘I need your help.’
‘Oh? My help?’
Surong Chaejoo replied in an urgent tone, detecting that Sipya Munmdo was still scheming even in this dire moment.
“If Surong Chae falls, you’ll find yourselves in quite the predicament, won’t you?”
A moment of silence stretched between them.
“We have no choice, then.”
A clipped Jeoneum transmission cut through the air.
Sipya Munmdo removed his bamboo hat and cast it aside.
Thump.
His kindly, round-faced expression belied the sharpness in his narrowed eyes as he opened them wide.
“We’ll join forces.”
At his words, Surong Chaejoo’s brow twitched, but he soon nodded in agreement.
“Is that all settled?”
Cheon Hui, standing at a distance from the pair, straightened the sword he’d slung across his shoulder.
‘So they were sending Jeoneum to each other—and now they’re joining up.’
Already aware of their silent exchange, Cheon Hui remained perfectly composed.
“……You seem quite at ease.”
Sipya Munmdo’s eyes darkened.
The sword strike Cheon Hui had displayed moments before had been astonishingly swift and fierce.
“Master of Surong Chae.”
The instant he called out to Surong Chaejoo in a low voice.
Snap.
Both men launched forward simultaneously.
Cheon Hui let out a low chuckle as he watched them come at him from both sides at once.
His sword, suffused with Qi, moved with deliberate slowness, tracing a razor-sharp arc through the air.
The Sword Technique buried in the corner of Mangyeong Pavilion.
The Seamgwang Bunroe Geom.
Surong Chaejoo, watching the blade move too swiftly for the eye to follow, gasped and twisted his Geodo in defense.
A shrill metallic shriek tore the air.
The sword, slashing with violent precision, bore down on Surong Chaejoo, who had charged in first.
Crack.
The Geodo bent so severely it seemed it would shatter.
“Ugh!”
Dark blood spilled from Surong Chaejoo’s mouth at the same instant, staining his robes.
“Now!”
The moment that blood-tinged cry erupted, Sipya Munmdo materialized behind Cheon Hui.
Seizing the opening while the two fought, he splayed his palm wide.
Aiming directly at Cheon Hui’s unprotected back of the head.
‘He won’t be able to dodge this!’
Sipya Munmdo was certain of it.
The Nokwhang Soo—Sipya Mun’s Jeolgi technique.
A method that every assassin dreamed of learning, about to consume Cheon Hui in a single moment.
Whoosh.
Cheon Hui tilted his head back.
“Too slow.”
A chill crawled up Sipya Munmdo’s spine as he met the expressionless gaze of those eyes.
But he pushed the fear aside, pressing on.
“Die.”
Crunch.
The sound of flesh being crushed tore through the chamber.
At the same moment, a shadow flew past Surong Chaejoo and smashed into the wall.
Boom.
“This… this can’t be…”
Surong Chaejoo stared in stunned silence at Cheon Hui, who had just hurled Sipya Munmdo across the room.
“Stubborn fellow, clinging to life like that.”
Cheon Hui stood serene, as though nothing of consequence had occurred.
Surong Chaejoo bit down hard on his upper lip.
If this continued, it would be a dog’s death for them all.
‘Do I… do I have to reveal it?’
He clenched his teeth, wrestling with the question of whether to unveil the Jeolgi technique he’d kept hidden.
Recalling the martial art he’d once acquired through sheer fortune, he let loose a deathly killing intent.
A Jeolgi technique stronger than any martial art in the realm.
Yet precisely for that reason, it had to remain concealed—to be discovered would be catastrophic.
‘When Sipya Mun caught me, there were two of us and I had to yield. But this time—just one!’
With that resolve, Surong Chaejoo poured the power he’d been concealing into the Geodo he gripped.
The Geodo shrieked with an unearthly sound.
Slip—
It slowly stained itself with a darkness-black aura.
“Huh?”
Cheon Hui’s brow furrowed as he saw the energy blooming from the Geodo in Surong Chaejoo’s grip.
“Demonic Energy?”
The aura that had stained the blade, the technique form—
Everything was hauntingly familiar.
‘The Malong Dobeop……?’
In an instant, Surong Chaejoo’s eyes grew murky.
The Geodo exhaled the Demonic Energy it had held, and soon it radiated a heavy, oppressive presence.
The Demonic Energy spread slowly outward, weaving itself into a single form—
“Now that you’ve seen this, you have to die.”
A Heuk Yong erupted from the Geodo.
“Are you insane? You dare use Magong against me?”
Cheon Hui stared at the Heuk Yong that came crashing down upon him with an expression of disbelief.
He had already reached the pinnacle of the Mado.
Yet this man would deploy the Malong Dobeop he’d learned from Malong Ogga against him?
And so clumsily, so inadequately at that?
He couldn’t even muster a laugh.
“This ends it!”
Surong Chaejoo swung the Geodo with absolute confidence.
Just as the Heuk Yong that appeared from the Geodo was tearing through space to devour Cheon Hui—
Slash!
A brilliant blade light burst forth from Cheon Hui’s hand.
In that same instant, the Heuk Yong split in two.
“H-how did you……the Mado……?”
Surong Chaejoo stared at Cheon Hui with vacant eyes—the one who had just bisected the Heuk Yong.
Clang!
His Geodo shattered into pieces.
And that was the last thing he ever saw.
Whoosh—
Blood slowly traced a line from his forehead down to his groin.
His body split in half.
“Why does the Malong Dobeop exist in Zhongyuan?”
Cheon Hui glanced down at the fallen Surong Chaejoo and lightly stroked his chin.
The Malong Dobeop was one of the Magong techniques practiced by the Jeon Family, one of the divisions of Malong Ogga.
‘There’s no way those ruthless fighters would ever teach their Magong to outsiders.’
As he recalled the nature of the Jeon Family—
“Cough!”
The sound of blood being spat echoed.
“Ah! He’s still alive?”
Cheon Hui’s body flashed away in an instant.
Sipya Munmdo, who had been briefly knocked unconscious from slamming against the wall, regained consciousness while clutching his head as if it might shatter.
“D-did I suffer a backlash?”
“Smart.”
With a reply that came from nowhere, a shadow fell over Sipya Munmdo’s head.
He lifted his gaze.
There stood a young man, and behind him, barely visible, was the mutilated corpse of Surong Chaejoo split in two.
‘If this continues, I’ll die.’
His throat tightened.
‘If I could just turn him to our side…….’
As his mind raced desperately, he opened his mouth to the Cheon Hui looking down at him.
“Your technique suggests you might be from the heterodox path…….”
Sipya Munmdo tried to persuade the young man before him to join his side.
“What do you say? Won’t you join hands with us……?”
The moment his words ceased and he extended his hand—
Slash!
Cheon Hui swung his sword and severed the head cleanly.
“I have no patience for idle chatter.”
Looking down at Sipya Munmdo’s severed head lying on the floor, Cheon Hui flicked his blade, shaking the blood from the steel.
Whatever words fell from those lips now—he heard none of it.
Cheon Hui’s purpose was singular.
The annihilation of Surong Chae.
His sword sheathed, Cheon Hui glanced about the chamber, and satisfied with what he saw, he turned to leave.
“The work is done. Shall we go?”

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