Chapter 304
Chapter 304
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 304
Chapter Title: 화산천마-304화
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 304
Chapter Title: The Death of a God
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The center of the headquarters was shrouded in silence.
A profound quiet, utterly devoid of sound, settled over the area with a sensation unlike anything before.
It was frigid and icy.
All those nearby who had witnessed the battle between the two absolute masters were unable to utter a word.
They simply stared at the scene unfolding before them, their gazes filled with astonishment.
The absolute being who had reigned as a god in Guiju, the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader, had fallen to the sword of Mount Hua's young Daoist.
Gurgle—
He spewed forth a gush of blood.
The silent shock rippled outward.
The word "shock" fell short of describing it.
Even with the scene laid bare before their eyes, they doubted their own vision.
Some even wondered if this was an illusion or a dream.
But no matter how many times they closed and opened their eyes, no matter how time passed, the sight remained unchanged.
Unlike their thoughts, this was reality, not a dream.
"……."
And so.
As they gradually realized this was reality, the rippling shock spread like waves, and in an instant, the silence shattered.
Commotion began to stir.
The first to react were the Immortal Heavenly Cult's followers.
"This can't be happening……."
"There's no way the Divine One could fall."
"……Cult Leader!"
Facing the outcome of that earth-shattering clash, they plunged into chaos.
They seemed at a loss for what to do.
To them, the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader was an omnipotent god.
Thus, they had never even dreamed of their leader suffering defeat.
Yet now it had happened right before their eyes.
Deep confusion was the natural progression.
Meanwhile, Yukwon, who had watched the battle from a slight distance, swallowed dryly.
He too found it hard to believe.
The Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader's prowess and divine might, witnessed firsthand, transcended mortal bounds.
A heaven-rending, earth-shattering divinity that dominated the world.
He was no mere figurehead ruling Guiju like a god and eyed warily by the Murim Alliance.
Yet he had fallen.
To a single sword.
"To think he actually defeated him……."
His eyes turned toward Cheonhwi.
The sight of him lowering his sword, tinged with a faint crimson glow, felt mystical.
"More than that, those wounds……."
As Yukwon gazed at the deep gash across Cheonhwi's chest and moved to act,
"Not quite dead yet."
Cheonhwi suddenly murmured.
His indifferent, crystalline eyes drifted downward, fixing on one spot.
Toward the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader.
The leader's waist bore a long trail of blood, his form utterly wretched.
Blood pooled around his supine body.
All his own blood—an amount sufficient for instant death.
Yet he still lived.
A faint breath escaped his bloodied lips.
The higher the realm, the more developed the upper dantian became for masters, strengthening their innate qi accordingly.
Especially for one at the pinnacle like the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader—his supremely refined innate qi clung tenaciously to life.
"Remarkably tenacious."
Cheonhwi, eyeing him, moved his hand to shed his tattered upper garment.
He roughly bandaged the bleeding chest wound.
Step.
He took a step forward.
Blood droplets trailed behind his steps, leaving a spotted path.
Soon, he stood before the fallen Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader.
Cheonhwi lowered his gaze.
The leader's eyes, from his pitifully sprawled form, lifted to meet his.
Unexpectedly indifferent.
No emotion stirred in one facing imminent death.
Utterly serene, even.
'Has he accepted death?'
Then the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader's lips moved.
"A peerless…… display of skill……."
A trembling voice emerged.
Without the demonic timbre of his Heaven-Exterminating Divine Demonic Qi, his voice was surprisingly ordinary.
"That technique…… what was…… its name?"
"Eternal World-Enduring Thousand-Mile Fragrance."
"Eternal World-Enduring Thousand-Mile Fragrance……."
The Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader whispered it as if savoring the words.
For a moment.
"A fitting sword to grace this seat's final moments."
His voice suddenly sharpened.
Like a burst of returning light before death.
Fading indifference in his eyes ignited with a fierce glint.
A brilliant, eerie light.
As Heaven-Exterminating Divine Demonic Qi dispersed in the face of death, his three dantians unlocked instead.
Whoosh—
A faint glow emanated from his body, enshrouding him like thick mist.
The innate qi of an absolute master at the pinnacle evoked profound mystery.
The Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader stared straight at Cheonhwi.
He then parted his bloodied lips.
"Even if you felled this seat, the Immortal Heavenly Cult shall never vanish eternally. As long as our doctrine endures, another shall rise in my stead to lead the cult."
"Well, that stands to reason."
Cheonhwi quietly agreed.
"If it vanished with the leader's death, it wouldn't be a cult."
"You speak as if you know the cult's nature well."
"I know a fair bit."
Cheonhwi's eyes chilled.
As the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader's eyes widened slightly, Cheonhwi spoke.
"Anything else to say?"
"……None. What words remain for the vanquished?"
The Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader closed his eyes gently.
He immediately added,
"Do as the victor wills."
His calm acceptance of death sent ripples outward.
He released the Heaven-Exterminating Divine Demonic Qi and innate qi accumulated in his three dantians, letting it flow naturally away.
Cheonhwi smirked at the sight.
He had expected some futile scheme with the surge of innate qi, but this was refreshingly straightforward.
"Good. Then let's end it."
Cheonhwi raised Hwayol.
Colorless sword force intertwined like threads, reflecting a subtle crimson hue.
"That was quite enjoyable."
As if commenting on their duel, Cheonhwi's hand moved.
Flash!
Hwayol blazed into a streak of crimson light.
The horizontal slash severed the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader's lifeline in an instant.
His head tumbled away.
Thus, with his death, the battle between the Immortal Heavenly Cult and the Murim Alliance concluded.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ With the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader's death marking the battle's end, sometime later.
Murim Alliance warriors had occupied the devastated Immortal Heavenly Cult headquarters.
"……It's a ruin."
The Vanguard Division Leader muttered as he surveyed the surroundings.
He had thought it immense even sensing the battle's aftermath from afar, but the interior was beyond imagination.
No—beyond ruinous.
No building stood intact; open dirt patches scarred the ground everywhere.
"Hard to believe even seeing it."
He clicked his tongue as he scanned the area.
It felt like the aftermath of gods clashing in myth.
Then he shifted his gaze.
At its end.
A young man with bandages around his torso was circulating his qi.
Cheonhwi.
A fixed perimeter around him was guarded by Extermination Squad members standing vigil like sentinels.
Glared fiercely.
They sharply eyed anyone looking at Cheonhwi, maintaining strict watch.
It was only natural.
All attention now focused on Cheonhwi.
Hadn't everyone witnessed it?
The sky crumbling, earth shattering, the surging divine might.
And the perpetrator was none other than that young Cheonhwi—who wouldn't take interest?
"Is that young hero's prowess real……."
"It is."
A response came from behind his soliloquy.
The Vanguard Division Leader turned at the approaching footsteps.
There stood Yukwon.
Bandages wrapped around his entire body after treatment, he gazed not at the leader but at Cheonhwi, eyes brimming with awe.
"The young hero felled the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader alone."
Yukwon smiled bitterly and added,
"We were little more than hindrances."
The Vanguard Division Leader exhaled hollowly.
Yukwon, Yin Xuexue, and Qi Zhongxue were no less skilled than him.
Yet they were hindrances?
"Never imagined the young hero possessed such power."
The Vanguard Division Leader clicked his tongue.
Curiosity arose simultaneously.
Wondering if Cheonhwi truly wielded such might.
But he soon shook his head.
Was now the time for such thoughts?
Post-war cleanup was the priority.
Dismissing his curiosity, the Vanguard Division Leader looked around and asked Yukwon,
"More importantly, what are your plans now?"
"What else is there?"
Yukwon smiled and replied.
"Mission complete—we return to the Murim Alliance once sorted."
"Leaving those cult followers be?"
Yukwon glanced back as he asked.
Hundreds of Immortal Heavenly Cult followers there stood dazed, motionless.
Gazing at their leader's severed head.
"The Cult Leader……."
"……has passed?"
Though surrounded by Murim Alliance warriors, they knelt muttering, ignoring everything else.
Their emanating emptiness and despair reached even here.
"What can they do?"
Yukwon said, eyeing them.
They had lost all will to fight.
Despite chances to flee, they had entered and remained before their leader's head.
No need to stir trouble.
"Then the escapees……."
The Vanguard Division Leader said cautiously.
Not all Immortal Heavenly Cult followers had lost their will.
About half had fled.
At their center: the Luminous Lion.
The Vanguard Division Leader recalled the Luminous Lion's words as he led the retreat.
'That is but a shell! The Cult Leader shall shed his mortal form and reincarnate anew—hide yourselves and prepare to serve the Divine One once more!'
"Letting them go will mean bloodshed later."
The Vanguard Division Leader emphasized.
Having led the frontline, he knew.
The Immortal Heavenly Cult's power was no trifle.
The Luminous Lion hadn't yielded even to him and the Demonic Eradication Division Leader combined.
And there were twelve more such figures.
Especially the First Lion, said to surpass the rest among the Thirteen Lions—leaving them alive felt ominous.
But.
"Let them be."
Yukwon opposed.
"It's over. Without their central pillar, the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader, it'll take time for them to regroup."
"But……."
"We have many wounded."
Yukwon said, looking around.
Victory came with the Cult Leader's death, but at great cost.
Over a hundred dead from this war, nearly half severely injured.
Pursuing the rest was burdensome.
"And do you think we can hunt them down? The Immortal Heavenly Cult has dozens of branches across the land. You know well it'd demand vast time and manpower to root them all out."
The Vanguard Division Leader fell silent at Yukwon's words.
It was true.
Even known branches numbered over forty.
Capturing them all was near impossible, as Yukwon said.
Yukwon added to the quiet leader,
"Recall our purpose here. Destroy the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader and headquarters—not exterminate every follower."
"True, but…… sigh."
The Vanguard Division Leader sighed.
Regret lingered.
Having slain the leader and seized the base, he wanted total annihilation.
"More concerning is whether the young hero is alright."
Yukwon murmured softly, staring at Cheonhwi again.
His focus was entirely on Cheonhwi above all else.
Not just him.
Most Murim Alliance warriors nearby watched Cheonhwi.
The absolute master who slew the Immortal Heavenly Cult Leader.
At an age just past thirty.
Regardless of gender or age, any warrior couldn't help but take notice.
Then.
Swish—
Cheonhwi's closed eyes opened.
All held their breath in that instant.
The glint lingering in his narrowly opened eyes captivated theirs.
Crystalline to a spiritual degree.
The Plum Blossom Divine Art's inner energy, amassed through circulation, shone from his gaze.
As all watched breathlessly,
"Hm?"
Fully opening his eyes, Cheonhwi noted the myriad stares upon him and voiced puzzlement.
Then, toward them, he spoke.
"First time seeing someone circulate their qi?" ```