Heavenly Demon of Mount Hua

Chapter 36

—–CROW—– 

Wheeee—

A cool breeze swept through the mountain.

A young man stood in the quiet forest, thick with trees and bushes, holding a sword.

Every time the wind blew, the strange black and red robe he wore fluttered, and the red plum blossom embroidery shimmered, blending with the blue moonlight, creating a hazy spectacle.

Swish—

The young man, Cheon-hwi, lightly gripped the White Lotus Sword, which he had drawn for the first time since entering the martial world.

The air around him rippled.

Or rather, the emotions of the Soul Slaughter Squad members, hidden in the darkness and surrounding him, rippled through the air and reached him.

Sharply honed vigilance.

Thick killing intent brimming with confidence.

And the unease of not knowing what was about to happen.

Their complex feelings, both positive and negative, were conveyed to him through the air.

‘Yes, this is it.’

The corners of Cheon-hwi’s eyes curved upwards as he held the sword.

He enjoyed this feeling.

The cool, chilling sensation in his palm gripping the sword.

And the thick killing intent and tense atmosphere directed at him invigorated him, having grown accustomed to peace.

But he soon erased his smile.

He quickly scanned his surroundings.

‘Fifty-seven in total.’

After grasping the presence of all the hidden Soul Slaughter Squad members, he drew upon his internal energy.

The Plum Blossom Divine Art’s internal energy, concentrated in his dantian, manifested, and a transparent aura enveloped him.

The materialized energy flowed to his hand and then touched the blade.

Internal energy, invisible to anyone but himself, began to seep into the beautiful blade reflecting the moonlight.

Swoosh—

His aura spread slowly like smoke.

“…!”

The Soul Slaughter Squad members, who had been holding their breath, waiting for Cheon-hwi to show an opening, stiffened.

Eun-su-chamsal was no exception.

His face hardened slightly as he watched Cheon-hwi’s actions.

He didn’t know why.

He was just watching, yet he felt an oppressive pressure.

As if it were a predetermined natural order, it weighed down on them.

While they were frozen, unable to move a muscle,

Sweep—

Cheon-hwi’s eyes moved, looking towards the empty air.

Towards someone hidden in the pitch-black darkness.

‘Could it be… he’s looking at me?’

Eun-su-chamsal’s eyes wavered.

The concealment technique he was using, Ghost Breath Manifestation Art, was what had elevated him from a mere assassin to a master of the martial world, to his current position.

Yet, it had been seen through.

By a mere young Taoist priest.

‘He’s dangerous!’

He quickly sent a telepathic message to the Soul Slaughter Squad.

*Kill him.*

As his order reached them, the atmosphere of the Soul Slaughter Squad changed.

Those who had scattered radiated a sharp aura, as if fully prepared to attack.

Then,

Sweep—

Cheon-hwi raised his sword, pointing it upwards.

He didn’t swing it.

He simply pointed it towards the sky swallowed by darkness, towards the moon hanging dimly.

But that single action changed the atmosphere.

Cheon-hwi’s eyes flashed.

His pitch-black eyes, like a bottomless abyss, seemed to devour even the darkness.

Sweep—

The sword swung.

Whoosh!

A massive surge of energy shot towards the sky.

As the Soul Slaughter Squad grimaced at the intensely surging energy storm,

“…?!”

They were struck with awe.

Countless sword-shaped apparitions appeared in the sky above.

Emitting a blood-red light.

The red glow spreading from the swords created the illusion of plum blossoms blooming in the air.

Perhaps because of the otherworldly feeling of something that shouldn’t exist in this world, the red sword shadows, intertwined with the moonlight, were beautiful yet eerie.

“How is it? Quite beautiful, isn’t it?”

Cheon-hwi’s voice echoed.

As the Soul Slaughter Squad stared blankly at the sword shadows above, forgetting to attack,

*What are you doing?! Snap out of it!*

Eun-su-chamsal, the first to regain his senses, urgently sent a telepathic message to the Soul Slaughter Squad.

*These bastards…!*

But his message didn’t reach the넋을 놓은entranced Soul Slaughter Squad members.

Grit!

Eun-su-chamsal, grinding his teeth, finally lost his patience and shouted,

“It’s sorcery! Snap out of it!”

As if awakened by his voice infused with internal energy, life returned to the eyes of the Soul Slaughter Squad.

Eun-su-chamsal, noticing the brief change, immediately sent a stronger telepathic message.

*Don’t act rashly!*

The frozen Soul Slaughter Squad members nodded.

Watching them return to their original composure, Eun-su-chamsal completely concealed his presence once again.

*Attack when you see an opening.*

Eun-su-chamsal sent telepathic messages to each member of the Soul Slaughter Squad, reiterating his instructions.

As he was about to move, leading the Soul Slaughter Squad to exploit Cheon-hwi’s weaknesses,

“Sorcery? Sure, think whatever you want.”

Cheon-hwi spoke nonchalantly.

He found it amusing.

The Hundred Ghosts Castle was an evil sect, yet they were calling his technique sorcery.  The irony was entertaining.

“Then, what kind of sorcery are those sword shadows? A dream? An illusion? What else is there?”

The Soul Slaughter Squad reacted to his mocking tone.

“Then I’ll make it easier for you to find out.”

He continued, watching their reaction,

“Look closely.”

With that, he swung his sword downwards.

The fifth form of the Seven Severing Plum Blossom Sword.

Falling Plum Blossoms, Heavenly Rain of Flowers.

Whoosh!

The sword shadows floating in the sky descended.

It was a mesmerizing sight, like flowers falling from the night sky like rain.

A captivating and alluring scene.

But the result was gruesome.

In the blink of an eye, the first descending sword shadow reached Thirteen Souls’ head.

Thwack!

Blood and brain matter splattered.

“…!”

The nearby Soul Slaughter Squad members, covered in the splattered gore, widened their eyes.

They looked up.

The sword shadows were plunging down towards their heads, where they were concealing their presence.

They finally realized that the number of sword shadows matched their own number.

‘He knows where we are!’

They instantly sensed death.

Without a word, they instinctively pushed off the ground with their feet.

It was an instinct they had forgotten while serving as members of the Soul Slaughter Squad.

The instinct to survive.

But the descending sword shadows were already upon them.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The crisp sounds of watermelons splitting echoed simultaneously.

But there were no screams.

They all died instantly.

Cheon-hwi watched their corpses, hidden in the darkness, being revealed one by one, and spoke,

“This is quite decent.”

He assessed the effectiveness of Falling Plum Blossoms, Heavenly Rain of Flowers.

The pinnacle of illusionary sword techniques, it created illusionary swords by channeling internal energy and mercilessly took lives.

‘As expected, true power is revealed when martial arts are used for killing.’

Cheon-hwi smiled with satisfaction.

It was the first time he had used Falling Plum Blossoms, Heavenly Rain of Flowers, or rather the Seven Severing Plum Blossom Sword itself, with the intention to kill.

And he was pleased with the result.

“Don’t you agree?”

Cheon-hwi’s gaze shifted to the side.

The pitch-black darkness rippled and then split in half.

“Gasp!”

Eun-su-chamsal, covered in blood, emerged from the darkness.  Clutching his chest as if struggling to breathe, he fell to his knees.

As Cheon-hwi was about to speak,

Twitch—

Eun-su-chamsal’s back convulsed.

“Ugh—”

He vomited blood and clutched his chest, his face pale.

‘W-What was that…?’

His mind was in a daze.

Perhaps because he had witnessed a glimpse of an incomprehensible sword technique.

He felt his breath catch in his throat.

‘Is there such a wide-range martial art? And one that pinpoints and kills the Soul Slaughter Squad, even with their concealed presence…?’

He racked his brain.

But it was no use.

The two aspects of the sword technique Cheon-hwi had just displayed were beyond his comprehension.

There was only one way to find out.

He abruptly raised his head, glared at Cheon-hwi, and spoke,

“Who… who are you?”

Cheon-hwi chuckled, looking down at his pale face.

“Who am I? You just called me a Taoist priest from Mount Hua Sect, didn’t you?”

“No… that’s impossible. You’re not a Taoist priest from Mount Hua Sect.”

Eun-su-chamsal immediately shook his head.

How could a Taoist priest from Mount Hua Sect display such a cruel sword technique and smile amidst the corpses?!

“Someone who uses such cruel methods can’t be a Taoist priest from Mount Hua…”

“Believe what you want.”

Cheon-hwi spoke indifferently.

He didn’t care whether he believed him or not.

He tilted his head slightly, looked at Eun-su-chamsal’s sleeve, and smiled.

“What are you waiting for?”

“…!”

Eun-su-chamsal’s eyes widened.

He gritted his teeth at Cheon-hwi’s expression and tone, as if he knew exactly what he was going to do.

Flutter!

His sleeve flapped.

He poured all his remaining internal energy into the flying dagger and clashed it with its counterpart.

Crackle—

The moment lightning energy enveloped the flying dagger,

Whoosh!

The dagger shot out like lightning.

Eun-su-chamsal’s eyes gleamed.

He had just used the Flying Thunder Blade, the ultimate technique that had made him the West Guardian of the Hundred Ghosts Castle, despite being an assassin.

‘Even if you’re an absolute master, you can’t avoid at least a serious injury!’

As Eun-su-chamsal boasted inwardly,

‘Oh? An interesting way to use internal energy.’

Cheon-hwi observed the flying dagger approaching him and focused on Eun-su-chamsal’s internal energy manipulation.

‘He split his internal energy into two?’

It was a fascinating method.

A smile spread across his face.

‘Even this guy uses martial arts I don’t know. How many more unknown martial arts exist in this world?’

Excited by the thought, he lightly caught the incoming flying dagger.

Grab—

Eun-su-chamsal landed on his backside.

“…H-How did you catch the Flying Thunder Blade?!”

“Is the name of the technique Flying Thunder Blade?”

Cheon-hwi looked down at him, his jaw dropped and drool dripping from his mouth, and then opened his palm to examine the captured dagger.

The dagger was red hot, as if it had been heated repeatedly in fire.

“Aha, so he clashed his internal energy and shot the dagger through the gap.”

Having grasped the internal energy manipulation of the Flying Thunder Blade, Cheon-hwi immediately infused it with his own energy.

Crackle—

Lightning sparked from the dagger.

“…!”

Eun-su-chamsal’s eyes bulged.

It was the lightning he had painstakingly created after ten years of dedication.

Yet, someone who didn’t know the Flying Thunder Blade, someone who had only seen it once, had recreated it instantly.

“Y-You…”

“Like this?”

Cheon-hwi threw the dagger as he spoke.

Thwack!

The dagger, shot out like a flash of light, pierced through Eun-su-chamsal’s head and embedded itself in the ground.

“T-This is… the Flying Thunder Blade…?”

Eun-su-chamsal muttered, overwhelmed by the power of the Flying Thunder Blade, which was on a completely different level from his own, and his vision gradually darkened.

His soul soon left his body.

Thud—

His empty shell collapsed.

Cheon-hwi looked at Eun-su-chamsal’s corpse with intrigued eyes and smiled.

“I knew I should have come out into the martial world.”

—–CROW—– 

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