Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 85

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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 85
In the innermost chamber of the Murim Alliance.
In a quiet room, a middle-aged man moved his brush across blank paper laid before him.
Swish— swish—
Following the man’s fluid strokes, delicate lines bloomed across the page, again and again.
Before long, the white paper held a spray of orchids alive with spirit.
The middle-aged man gazed at his finished work, a satisfied smile settling at the corners of his mouth.
“Hmm. This one turned out rather well.”
Setting down the brush and lifting his head, the man’s face was striking indeed.
A sharp jawline and a high, prominent nose.
His gentle eyes spoke to the beauty he must have possessed in youth—the kind of looks that would have made him legendary across All Under Heaven.
The aura he carried marked him as no ordinary person.
Sim Ui Geom Hyeop, Lord of the Murim Alliance!
A man of legend who had risen to lead the entire Alliance with nothing but a single sword—a swordsman who even the Nine Factions and One Gang deferred to.
Whish—
The wind swept through, and strands of his neatly upswept hair escaped from his crown, brushing across his face.
The effect only deepened his already extraordinary presence.
At the same moment, his lips parted slowly.
“You may come out now.”
Before the question had fully left his mouth, a man materialized in the empty courtyard.
With hair half-white and half-black, the man’s age was impossible to determine—whether elderly or middle-aged—and his gaze was steady as he observed the ink painting before him.
“It overflows with more vitality than before, I see.”
The man examined the orchid painting in meticulous detail.
The monochromatic work was so alive with spirit that one might mistake it for an actual orchid.
The Lord smiled, his weathered face creasing.
“You deserve the credit. I took your suggestion to heart—to wield the brush as one wields a sword—and look what came of it.”
“I’m glad it proved useful, Lord.”
This man who had sought out the Lord during years of his seclusion, meeting him in private audience.
He, too, was no ordinary figure.
Je Gal Gong, the military strategist of the Murim Alliance.
When the entire Je Gal Clan had withdrawn from the Alliance, he alone remained—the mind behind the Murim Alliance itself.
“And yet, is this not rather interesting?”
The Lord set the brush aside with a tap.
Rrrroll—
The brush, still wet with ink, tumbled across the paper and marred the finished painting.
But he had already lost interest in the work, sparing it no further attention.
Instead, he lifted his gaze to the empty air above.
Staring toward the location of the Martial Competition Grounds, his voice emerged soft and measured.
“A master of the Heavenly Martial Realm emerges from Huashan—not from Geom Gak, not from Cheongseong. Who in All Under Heaven would have foreseen it?”
“The fault lies entirely with me, Lord.”
The strategist quickly lowered his head.
“I should not have withdrawn my attention from Huashan, hastily concluding that it would inevitably decline.”
“No, no. I would have done the same.”
The Lord smiled gently, waving away the concern.
“Had you anticipated this situation, I would have suspected you of being something more than mortal.”
The Lord spoke with a hint of wry humor.
If such a master had appeared from Geom Gak, Cheongseong, or any other of the Nine Factions, all would have accepted it without question.
They had been accumulating power for so long that they now stood at the height of their strength.
But Huashan was different.
A place that seemed on the verge of collapse at any moment.
Ever since the tragedy it had endured—losing the extraordinary Plum Blossom Sword Hero and the Plum Blossom Seven Swordsmen in a single catastrophe—it had walked the path of decline.
So was it not natural that he, too, had discounted Huashan entirely?
“Even rotten wood maintains its core, or so they say. Perhaps the legacy of being among the Nine Factions cannot be so easily ignored, even now.”
The Lord, who had been murmuring quietly, turned to question his strategist.
“Gae Bang has made contact with Huashan.”
“Indeed.”
“Do you think Huashan capable of fulfilling the role that Geom Gak and Cheongseong once played?”
“As you know, by achieving equal standing with Jongnam Geomseong, the fame of Cheon Hui now pierces the heavens. And that is not all—recently, led by Il Hong-mae, the Plum Blossom Seven Swordsmen have been demonstrating formidable skill and steadily building their reputation…….”
The strategist’s eyes narrowed.
“Not immediately, perhaps. But given time, they would more than suffice. All the more so now that they have allied with Gae Bang—that time grows shorter still.”
“Is that your answer, then?”
The Alliance Master studied Je Gal Gong in silence as the latter offered only a quiet nod instead of words.
How long had he been watching him that way?
“Hehehehe.”
The Alliance Master burst into hearty laughter.
Once his momentum had settled, he stroked his long, well-groomed beard thoughtfully.
“My thoughts align with yours. The Huashan Sect shows every sign of catching up to the Geom Gak and Cheongseong Factions soon. And yet…”
In an instant, the atmosphere in the chamber shifted.
The warmth that had pervaded the room moments before evaporated, replaced by an icy chill that began to envelope Je Gal Gong.
“But there is something amiss.”
Je Gal Gong’s brow twitched slightly.
“What is it?”
“Jongnam Geomseong did not fight to his full strength in the martial competition.”
“…You mean Jongnam Geomseong held back against Cheon Hui?”
“Indeed.”
The Alliance Master’s voice was measured.
“And the rumors circulating about town differ from what is known.”
His eyes grew deeper, like twin abysses.
He knew of Baek Sa Sin.
Both his martial skill and the master who had trained him.
For this reason, he did not believe the rumors that Cheon Hui had killed Baek Sa Sin.
“From what I can see, someone must have assisted Cheon Hui from the shadows when Baek Sa Sin fell.”
Understanding what the Alliance Master meant to say, Je Gal Gong spoke quietly.
“…I shall investigate the matter thoroughly.”
At Je Gal Gong’s words, the Murim Alliance Master set aside his thoughts and allowed a faint smile to cross his face.
“Hehe. How reassuring to see you take action personally.”
The Alliance Master slowly rose to his feet.
As he walked toward the garden where flowers bloomed, he touched an orchid and asked.
“What of the Sa Heuk Ryeon?”
“They remain unmoved.”
“Hmm, the collapse of Baek Gwi Seong alone is not enough to shake the Lord of the Alliance.”
To anyone who knew both men well, their conversation would have been utterly bewildering.
After all, the Murim Alliance Master was a man who had not stepped outside his residence for years since becoming Alliance Master.
And Je Gal Gong—
He had entrusted all matters to his disciple and vice-commander Set Geom, then vanished from sight.
Yet now the two spoke as if they knew exactly how matters were unfolding beyond their doors.
“Will there be any disruption to the plan?”
Je Gal Gong shook his head.
“None. There have been minor complications, but progress continues smoothly. At this rate, the Nine Factions and One Gang will be torn asunder within ten years, exactly as planned.”
The Alliance Master clasped his hands behind his back and straightened his waist.
“Hehe, things are proceeding well.”
Then, lowering his voice, he turned his gaze to Je Gal Gong.
Je Gal Gong’s expression was impassive.
Yet the Murim Alliance Master could read it.
Beneath that mask-like composure lay a deep resolve and unwavering determination.
“Then proceed from here.”
* * *
Late into the night, as Cheon Hui cultivated the Plum Blossom Divine Art to absorb the lingering coldness within his body, the corners of his mouth twitched upward.
The effects of his daily Qi Cultivation Breathing while staying at the Murim Alliance were beginning to show.
‘Yes, this is the level I need.’
As Cheon Hui surveyed the Internal Energy that had accumulated to this point, a satisfied smile settled upon his lips.
The Yin Energy from the Supreme Yin Energy Foundation Body, which he had only known through texts, was purer and cleaner than anything he had encountered before.
‘Only about five percent remains. I should be able to absorb it all within three or four more days.’
Feeling the coldness still embedded in the corner of his Lower Dantian that had not yet been absorbed, Cheon Hui ended his cultivation and slowly opened his eyes.
Swish—
Gazing out at the spacious chamber, Cheon Hui’s lips curled even higher than before.
Just a day ago he had dwelt in a shabby room, but now he was greeted by one elegant and refined.
The decisive confrontation with the Jongnam Faction.
Though it had ended without a victor, the chamber he had gained when Jongnam Geomseong withdrew was a world away in quality compared to his previous lodgings.
“It feels good to finally be living in a place fit for a human being.”
In the transformed main hall’s chamber, moonlight shattered into beautiful shards across the window.
As if spellbound, his gaze drifted toward the world beyond the glass.
Watching the silver river that had appeared in the dark sky, a scene from this morning’s martial competition flickered to mind.
Internal Energy like the river of stars, and footwork that crossed it as one might ford a stream.
Cheon Hui’s eyes, which had drawn the techniques Jongnam Geomseong had displayed as parallels to the Milky Way, deepened with shadow.
But then his mouth fell open.
“So what brings you here?”
In that instant.
Whisper—
Beneath the blue moonlight, a shadow appeared.
It was Jongnam Geomseong himself.
“I concealed my presence. Yet you sensed it?”
“Ah, that was you concealing it?”
Jongnam Geomseong’s eyes widened.
“You mean you already knew?”
“Wouldn’t it be stranger not to?”
Wonder flickered across Jongnam Geomseong’s face.
Having reached the Heavenly Martial Realm, he had already become one with nature itself, dissolved into harmony.
Yet a youth barely past his twenties had perceived his presence from the very beginning—and admiration overflowed into awe.
“Yong Ju Gae praised you so much his lips grew dry. It was no exaggeration after all.”
“Who did you say?”
Cheon Hui’s brows drew down into a furrow.
‘That’s different from what we agreed to before.’
The deal with Yong Ju Gae came to mind.
The past between the two factions would be settled, and in exchange, his information would be erased.
Yet now Jongnam Geomseong was saying he’d heard about him from Yong Ju Gae.
‘That old man like ginger wouldn’t have simply passed on information, not after breaking the agreement…….’
Cheon Hui’s eyes narrowed as he recalled Yong Ju Gae, who was like a crafty old fox.
“What exactly did the Gae Bang leader say?”
“That you might be a talent capable of contending for supremacy under heaven in the coming generation. Though his words did lean somewhat toward excess…….”
“Well, even so.”
Jongnam Geomseong fell silent for a moment.
The future lord of All Under Heaven, as recognized by Yong Ju Gae.
Had such words leaked to others, they would have caused tremendous upheaval.
And so it should have been natural for him to demur politely and deny it.
‘Heh, so he accepts it.’
The Cheon Hui before him simply acknowledged it.
No—he spoke of it as if it were obvious.
“Hah.”
A low chuckle escaped in an instant.
‘His confidence is truly unmatched.’
Before being a sage, he was a martial master of Kangho.
And perhaps because he was young, that sort of boldness stirred something like affection.
‘Just as the Gae Bang leader said.’
Jongnam Geomseong, struck with wonder, recalled what had happened that morning.
After the martial competition ended, when he met Yong Ju Gae, the man had passed along information about this matter while casually letting slip talk of Cheon Hui.
As though he meant for him to understand.
At first, Jongnam Geomseong had dismissed his words, suspecting another ploy.
‘The one from the Huashan Sect whom they should pay closer attention to is him, not the Huashan Sword Immortal.’
But that single follow-up remark had won him over entirely.
And from then until now, what Yong Ju Gae had said appeared to be right.
The skill to perceive his presence.
And bearing brimming with confidence.
Should he also possess martial prowess as Yong Ju Gae had claimed…….
‘The recent stirrings of Sa Hyuk Ryeon and Bi Cheon Hoe have been unusual. Heaven favors us.’
The Faction Destruction of Baek Gwi Seong and the movements of Bi Cheon Hoe.
Cracks had begun to form in the balance of the Nine Provinces Three Powers that had long held steady.
‘War will come one day.’
Jongnam Geomseong sensed it—no, he was certain of it.
Kangho was a world where the strong reigned supreme.
Peace could not last forever.
‘That the Jongnam Geomseong appeared at the Alliance in these circumstances is a good omen. But…….’
Jongnam Geomseong’s eyes glinted.
There was one thing left unresolved.
“I would like to see where such power comes from in you.”
As he spoke, he regarded Cheon Hui.
A Daoist in the Huashan Sect’s robes.
Yet his actions and manner of speech were closer to a Kangho martial artist than to a Daoist.
‘Is his character truly sound?’
While skill mattered, what mattered most in the Orthodox Sects was a correct character.
“See it?”
Meanwhile, Cheon Hui’s eyes narrowed slightly.
This was exactly what he wanted.
He had already become intrigued by Jongnam Geomseong through that Martial Competition.
Both his martial bearing and the techniques he had mastered.
But for him to bring it up first.
Cheon Hui let out a low chuckle.
“Sounds good. Shall we spar?”
Watching Cheon Hui accept at once, Jongnam Geomseong’s expression grew visibly softer.
“No, sparring would be too much.”
He declined the sparring.
“Then how shall we proceed?”
Jongnam Geomseong smiled broadly.
Then he let fall a quiet voice.
“Do you know what is called the Sword Discussion Sparring?”

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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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