Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 94

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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 94
The next morning.
Bubble, bubble—
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran, who had been awake all night, tilted their heads at the sight of the unidentified liquid bubbling in the cauldron.
“Is this really a Spirit Elixir…?”
“Master, is it actually a Spirit Elixir?”
Both harbored doubt.
And well they might—the water that had once filled the vessel was already almost entirely evaporated.
What remained in the cauldron instead was a yellowish-green liquid.
“Something’s off.”
Cheon Hui stared hard at the liquid.
‘I followed the exact same method as making a Demonic True Heaven Pill….’
Lost in thought, Cheon Hui touched his chin.
‘Is it because I converted the Demonic Energy into Toxic Qi?’
The Demonic True Heaven Pill showed tremendous effect on increasing Internal Energy the moment it was consumed, but it was a double-edged sword—Demonic Energy that burrowed deep into the marrow.
One misstep and you’d fall prey to Demonic Possession, becoming a madman. Both elixir and poison.
But Cheon Hui had twisted it.
Toxic Qi instead of Demonic Energy.
And he’d formulated the mixture so that the Toxic Qi would neutralize before it could burrow deep into the marrow.
‘I’m not sure. Let me taste it first.’
Cheon Hui, no longer hesitant, dipped a finger into the liquid and put it in his mouth.
‘Mm. This seems right.’
The moment it touched his tongue, his nasal passages opened wide and a subtle wave of energy flowed into his body.
But.
“Still, it feels lacking compared to what I expected.”
He wasn’t entirely satisfied.
“It’ll be different once it’s complete, I suppose.”
Cheon Hui drew his Internal Energy up into his hands.
Then with both palms he rapidly manipulated the thick liquid.
Soon the yellowish-green liquid gradually compressed into something small—a Pill Sphere about the size of a child’s fist.
Cheon Hui examined the Pill Sphere.
The perfectly spherical Pill Sphere was no longer yellowish-green but now a clear, vivid green.
“Could it really be….”
“It does look like an elixir, though….”
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran stared at the newly formed Spirit Elixir with wide eyes, turning it this way and that.
Meanwhile, Cheon Hui gazed at the Pill Sphere.
‘I did it as I intended, but I’m not sure if it’s actually correct. Even if I consumed it myself, it probably wouldn’t show much effect….’
A few days ago, he had sufficiently absorbed Dan Mok Rin’s Yin energy, so his Internal Energy was already in excellent condition.
He turned his head to look at Jeok Geom and Seol Ran.
‘If I give it to them, I’ll know whether it works.’
Cheon Hui looked at the two and asked.
“Want to try it?”
“You mean the Spirit Elixir?”
“Is it safe?”
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran felt uneasy.
All the years they had spent with Cheon Hui were sending them warnings.
“What’s wrong? Not going to take it? This is a chance to boost your Internal Energy—are you really going to waste it?”
At Cheon Hui’s relentless stream of persuasion, the two wavered slightly.
“I’ll take it.”
In the end, Seol Ran caved first.
“Here.”
Cheon Hui immediately gave her half the Pill Sphere.
Seol Ran took it, hesitated a moment, then squeezed her eyes shut tight and swallowed.
“Sister, you alright?”
Seol Ran slowly opened her eyes.
“Huh? I’m fine.”
“Really?”
“Then you take some too.”
Cheon Hui seized the moment Jeok Geom lowered his guard and shoved the remaining Pill Sphere into his mouth.
“Gah! M-master!”
Jeok Geom cried out in alarm.
But despite his resistance, the Spirit Elixir dissolved the moment it entered his mouth.
Jeok Geom clamped his eyes shut.
Yet as time passed with no reaction, he exhaled in relief.
“Thank goodness—the elixir seems fine after all…….”
“Nnnngh!”
Seol Ran suddenly let out a groan.
Her complexion had turned ashen, and she dropped to her knees, clutching her abdomen.
“B-brother. I’m alright…… Ugh!”
A sharp pang suddenly shot through his head.
At the same moment, agony consumed him.
His vision blurred without warning, and he found himself on both knees before he could think.
My head—it hurts!
Of course it does! Why did I take the elixir……!
He wrapped his head in his hands and looked up.
There were two figures before him.
No—what had been a single image was splitting into two in the vertigo.
“Was there still some Toxic Qi left in it?”
Even through the pounding in his head, Jeok Geom heard the voice crystal clear, and his throat tightened.
‘Why would there be Toxic Qi in a Spirit Elixir!’
Indignation welled up inside him.
Who would ever imagine Toxic Qi in an elixir?
Then it came.
‘Get ahold of yourself.’
A transmission spoke directly into his mind through the throbbing headache, and Jeok Geom’s face twisted as the vertigo assailed him.
‘Cultivate your energy at once.’
Jeok Geom gritted his teeth and forced himself into a lotus position.
Then suddenly, clarity returned to him.
‘Wait—could this be the elixir’s essence?’
An unfamiliar energy was moving within his body.
It was not a great amount, but it was so pure and refined that he could taste it.
‘This is the elixir’s essence? If I don’t use Ungi Josik right now, it’ll scatter!’
Despite the pain and dizziness, Jeok Geom pushed himself and began cultivating the Plum Blossom Qi Cultivation technique.
Meanwhile, Cheon Hui watched the two of them, his own complexion ashen as they fell into Ungi Josik.
“Did I get the formula wrong?”
Something didn’t sit right with him.
At least he’d managed to expel most of the Toxic Qi, so they wouldn’t die even if they were poisoned.
But the real problem was something else.
“The accumulated Internal Energy is far too little.”
Even accounting for subpar materials, the essence gained was pitifully small for what claimed to be a Spirit Elixir.
“I’ll have to try a different method.”
Around the time Cheon Hui recalled another technique from the Pill Sphere Preparation Manual.
“Huff, huff.”
Jeok Geom opened his eyes with difficulty, breathing hard as he finished his Ungi Josik.
“B-brother.”
He turned his head to the side and found Seol Ran, equally pallid.
Neither spoke.
Yet in that silence alone, they recognized their shared suffering and nodded quietly to each other.
Then a shadow fell across them both.
As they looked up in unison, Cheon Hui stood above them.
“How is it?”
“It is effective,” Seol Ran said, exhaustion clear in her voice, and Jeok Geom hastened to add,
“But the poison is far too strong.”

“So?”
Cheon Hui spoke as if to say what more could be done.
“It’s not like it’ll kill you.”
“…….”
“…….”
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran, rendered speechless, squeezed their eyes shut.
He’d forgotten, but his opponent was Cheon Hui.
The one who’d thrown them among beasts in the middle of the night and subjected them to absurd training.
How many times had they nearly died?
Just as they’d both resigned themselves to accept their fate.
“Then Jeok Geom, rekindle the fire. And Seol Ran, fetch water for the pot.”
A shocking command reached their ears.
“What are you doing? We have to make another batch.”
At Cheon Hui’s words, the two went pale.
They were going to do that again? Right now?
“You mean… you’re making another Spirit Elixir?”
“You’re going to make it again?”
“Of course. Why ask the obvious?”
Cheon Hui spoke as if the question itself were foolish.
“Don’t you need to make an even better Spirit Elixir than this one?”
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran felt their mouths twitching.
What kind of insane talk was that?
But they clamped their lips shut.
They could vividly imagine what would happen if they opened their mouths.
So what did they choose, in the end?
“But… the poisoning still hasn’t worn off…….”
“The abdominal pain and headache are still…….”
It was a plea bordering on desperation.
But Cheon Hui showed no mercy.
“That much is manageable.”
By his logic, it was manageable enough.
But manageable didn’t mean it didn’t hurt — it hurt terribly.
“I think I’m dying.”
“Just rest a moment…….”
“Can’t you manage to move anyway?”
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran scrambled to their feet in alarm.
If Cheon Hui said it, he might actually do it.
“Well? Why aren’t you fetching them?”
At his continued urging, Jeok Geom and Seol Ran moved, gritting their teeth against the pain.
As Cheon Hui prepared to make the Spirit Elixir again.
Pad-pad—
A group approached in the distance.
It was Sin Ui and So Hee and her entourage.
Sin Ui, walking ahead, threw a sharp glance back at So Hee trailing behind with her companions.
“Why are you following me?”
Sin Ui spoke with a frown.
“We came to see Cheon Hui.”
So Hee answered calmly.
At that, Sin Ui’s eyes narrowed as he stared at her, then he abruptly turned his head away.
“I’ll need time to warm up to him.”
So Hee murmured under her breath.
“Will it be alright?”
Sim Wi Jin asked with concern.
“There’s no choice in the matter.”
“Even someone as willful as Sin Ui won’t ignore a summons from the imperial household.”
“Are you speaking in earnest?”
So Hee fixed her gaze on Sim Wi Jin.
“Sin Ui is a free spirit. No matter how much you claim my father summoned him, you cannot simply order him to come and go.”
Sin Ui was the one who’d once ignored the Emperor’s own physician’s offer and left.
Would such a man obey imperial command?
She shook her head slowly.
“And I cannot take Sin Ui away from here right now.”
So Hee’s eyes, fixed on Sin Ui’s back, turned cold.
“Assassins are waiting to ambush anyone who leaves the Huashan Sect. Until we find the culprit, I must remain here.”
So Hee bit her lip.
Her escape from Cheonghae Castle was something kept strictly secret even within the castle itself.
But to be caught in just a few days—
‘The killer must be someone close.’
So Hee stopped what she’d been thinking.
To suspect further was dangerous.
Each one of them was an intimate of the imperial court.
If she accused the wrong person, she couldn’t bear the consequences.
‘Stop suspecting.’
She shook her head.
Digging too deep was risky.
‘I just need to do what I’m meant to do.’
So Hee’s goal was simple.
Once the killer was revealed, she’d be free to leave whenever she wanted—so she’d grow closer to Sin Ui.
‘If I can manipulate this Daoist called Cheon Hui, the one Sin Ui takes an interest in, the chances improve considerably.’
Right now, Cheon Hui was the only means of drawing Sin Ui to her.
‘But how do I get close to him?’
So Hee’s brow furrowed.
She’d sought out Cheon Hui more than once.
But all she’d received was cold indifference and disinterest, like being turned away at the gate.
“Is there a way to become closer?”
Just as she was lowering her head to murmur to herself—
Thump.
Sin Ui suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“Sir, what’s wrong?”
So Hee started to speak, but seeing Sin Ui block their path, she fell silent and looked ahead.
“What in the…?”
It was utter chaos.
Acrid smoke hung heavy around a large cauldron, and beside it stood a man and woman, both haggard and spent.
“Please… stop now……”
“I think… I’m dying.”
Seol Ran stirred the cauldron while Jeok Geom fanned the flames desperately.
They knelt before Cheon Hui, who sat upon a rock, pleading for mercy.
“That won’t kill you.”
Cheon Hui answered coldly.
“You came.”
Then he turned his head slightly.
His eyes, devoid of any sparkle, took in Sin Ui and So Hee’s party.
The same gaze as always.
Yet because of the spectacle unfolding before her, goosebumps rose on So Hee’s skin.
Sin Ui rushed forward, his brow creasing.
He reached Jeok Geom and Seol Ran and examined their bodies.
“Are you all right?”
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran, who had only just realized Sin Ui’s arrival, felt their eyes glisten with tears.
“Sir……”
“Sin Ui……”
Hearing the hoarse tremor in both their voices, Sin Ui frowned and looked toward Cheon Hui.
“What are you doing?”
“Making a Spirit Elixir.”
“A Spirit Elixir…?”
Sin Ui’s eyebrows shot upward with fury.
“With these children?”
“Yes.”
“These children are currently in a state of addiction.”
Sin Ui’s voice rose sharply.
“That’s right.”
By contrast, Cheon Hui remained unmoved.
He then jumped down from the rock and tasted the orange liquid melting in the cauldron lightly.
“It’s improved since before.”
He then worked the liquid with his fingers.
With movements bordering on the miraculous, Cheon Hui traced a Yin-Yang symbol with his hand, and soon produced a small Pill Sphere, which he split precisely in two.
“Here.”
Just as Jeok Geom and Seol Ran accepted the Pill Sphere he’d tossed them and moved to swallow it with resigned expressions.
“Stop.”
Sin Ui blocked Jeok Geom and Seol Ran.
Then he intercepted the Pill Sphere and spoke.
“You’re about to feed them that now?”
Cheon Hui’s brow furrowed.
‘What? Time’s already short enough as it is.’
He was eager to craft the Spirit Elixir as quickly as possible, and Sin Ui’s interference was proving most unwelcome.
“Yes.”
“Why are you trying to feed them a Toxic Qi pill?”
“It’s a Spirit Elixir.”
“This is some kind of Spirit Elixir? …What?”
Sin Ui stared down at the Pill Sphere, confusion crossing his face.
From the Toxic Qi-laden pill, something unexpected was flowing—Spiritual Energy.
“Why is Spiritual Energy coming from a Toxic Qi pill?”
“Toxic Qi pill? What are you talking about?”
Cheon Hui squinted.
“I told you, it’s a Spirit Elixir.”

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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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