Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 291

“I will *not* lose to someone from Jongnam!”

“⋯⋯.”

“Don’t worry, Martial Uncle! I’ll smash that sly fox’s head and come back!”

“Uh… Okay.”

Baek Cheon couldn’t help but have a big question mark over his head as he watched Tang Soso burning with fighting spirit.

Of course.

Hating Jongnam was a quality that every Hwasan disciple should naturally possess.

This wasn’t Hwasan’s fault.

From the moment one entered Hwasan, getting beaten up by Jongnam disciples every other year had become a tradition, so it was impossible not to feel animosity.

The problem, however, was…

‘Soso-ya. Haven’t you only been a disciple of Hwasan for less than a year?’

Why do you have animosity towards Jongnam?

Isn’t she adopting the Hwasan attitude so fast?

Baek Cheon looked at Tang Soso with complicated eyes.

He still remembered her as a delicate flower when he saw her at the Dang family, so the sight of her running up to the sparring stage was new to him the more he looked.

“She’ll do well, right…?”

Baek Cheon turned to Yoo Iseol and asked, but she shook her head.

“The Hwasan sword. Soso hasn’t fully internalized it yet.”

“That’s true, but.”

“Winning isn’t important. What’s important is the will.”

Baek Cheon nodded.

‘And experience, I suppose.’

What Hwasan wanted from Tang Soso, and from the Cheongja disciples in general, wasn’t to win and raise Hwasan’s honor.

It was for them, who would one day become the center of Hwasan, to see and learn more, and to gain the momentum to reach even higher places.

‘They’re doing several times better than what I hoped for, though.’

Even so, the Cheongja disciples, with the exception of Yoon Jong and Jo Gul, were still lacking compared to the other Baekja disciples.

Huh?

Chung Myung?

I should exclude that bastard.

Baek Cheon looked at Tang Soso with slightly worried eyes.

Meanwhile, on the sparring stage, Tang Soso was ready.

“Jongnam!”

“⋯⋯.”

Lee Songbaek looked at Tang Soso, who was glaring at him with hostile eyes, and cleared his throat without realizing it.

‘What did I do wrong?’

Such dagger eyes at our first meeting.

“⋯⋯I am Lee Songbaek of Jongnam. I will learn from you.”

“I am Tang Soso of Hwasan!”

It was a confident self-introduction. Lee Songbaek smiled wryly and drew his sword.

Swish.

“My sword might not see you clearly, so please be careful.”

“What are you talking about? You should worry about yourself!”

“⋯⋯.”

Ah.

She’s definitely a Hwasan person.

Chung Myung’s shadow flickered behind Tang Soso. Lee Songbaek cleared his throat slightly and straightened his back.

Tang Soso narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

‘I absolutely will not lose to a Jongnam bastard.’

She remembered the stories her senior brothers told about Jongnam, and a fire of rivalry sparked in her heart.

Strangely, seeing Jongnam’s white uniform made her stomach churn.

In any case!

The air became still as Tang Soso and Lee Songbaek faced each other. You could feel the tension building.

Clang!

Tang Soso’s plum blossom sword was drawn.

She had not yet fully mastered Hwasan swordsmanship. She had improved her martial arts level over the past six months, but it was impossible to catch up with her senior brothers and sisters who had been practicing the sword for over ten years from the start.

But just because something is lacking doesn’t mean that retreat is the obvious choice.

To pursue one’s own path with what is lacking, with what is insufficient.

That was what Tang Soso thought was Hwasan’s teaching, and it was her will.

Tang Soso, who had been staring at Lee Songbaek with cold eyes, rushed forward without hesitation.

“I’m going!”

Her figure, kicking off the smooth, grey stones of the sparring stage and flying forward, was like a flying tiger.

Whoosh!

A domineering strike that was hard to believe came from a slender arm!

What she lacked was martial arts, not internal energy.

As the daughter of the Dang family head, she had consistently trained her internal energy to the point where she was second to none, even among the disciples of prestigious families.

With the addition of the Jasodan, her internal energy was, in fact, no exaggeration to say that it was the best in Hwasan.

The sword, fully loaded with that internal energy, rushed towards Lee Songbaek’s head.

Lee Songbaek lightly took two steps back.

Wham!

Tang Soso’s sword struck the floor of the sparring stage where he had disappeared, creating a huge explosion.

“⋯⋯.”

Lee Songbaek’s eyes widened as he looked at the deeply gouged floor of the sparring stage. He was flustered by the unexpected power.

“Dodged it?”

“⋯⋯Are you telling me to take that head on?”

Lee Songbaek chuckled.

The disciples of Hwasan certainly have unique aspects.

‘If it were the past me, I would have looked at that sight unfavorably.’

But now he knew.

That it was better to cultivate substance than to discuss etiquette and save face on the outside, no matter what appearance one took on the outside, was the true attitude of a martial artist.

Lee Songbaek glanced sideways at Chung Myung far away.

‘Please watch me closely, Chung Myung Dojang.’

His heart pounded in his chest. He desperately wanted to show Chung Myung that he had learned something, that he was worthy.

He wondered if his past two years had been wrong, if he had truly followed the right path Chung Myung had shown him.

This was a sparring match. But it was also more than just a sparring match.

For Lee Songbaek, this place was a place to prove his efforts to Chung Myung.

“Hoo.”

Lee Songbaek raised his sword and settled into a calm, balanced stance. His feet were firmly planted, his sword pointing straight ahead – a picture of perfect control.

The middle stance.

The basic posture of all swords.

The air around him seemed to grow heavy, the usual sounds of the training ground fading away as everyone focused on the two figures on the stage.

His breathing lowered.

‘Lowly. More lowly.’

A simple sword and a stable center of gravity allow one to prepare for all situations.

Something that everyone knows but cannot easily keep. That is what the people of the world call ‘orthodoxy’.

Clang!

Lee Songbaek’s sword slowly received Tang Soso’s sword, which was flying in with a terrifying momentum.

Never strongly. But not weakly either.

A sword that keeps the middle way.

Tang Soso’s face hardened as the swords collided.

‘What is it?’

It is a sword that looks unremarkable on the outside. It is not flashy, and no special technique is visible.

Nevertheless, this sword was different from any sword she had ever seen.

Tang Soso kicked off the floor and widened the distance between her and Lee Songbaek.

His serious eyes followed her.

“⋯⋯That bastard.”

A low groan flowed from Baek Cheon’s lips.

‘Was his name Lee Songbaek?’

He was definitely not that special when I saw him at the Hwajong Assembly. No, in fact, even now, there is nothing particularly special about his appearance.

He doesn’t have the sharp edge of Jin Geum-ryong, nor is he full of the spirit of other Jongnam disciples.

On the surface, he was like water mixed with water, alcohol mixed with alcohol. Just a swordsman you could see anywhere.

But he is different.

Dust motes danced in the afternoon sun as Baek Cheon watched Chung Myung. He still felt confused by Chung Myung’s earlier advice. “What’s different about *this*?” Baek Cheon asked, his brow furrowed.

Chung Myung, already back on his seat, tore off a piece of jerky from his bundle. Chewing slowly, he replied in a flat voice, “The basics.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. It’s just the basics.”

Chung Myung looked at Lee Songbaek with a subtle smile.

“What do you think swordsmanship is?”

“…A method of using a sword.”

“Right. A method of using a sword. A method of using a sword composed of stances. But those stances ultimately cannot escape three things.”

Chung Myung spread his fingers.

“Thrusting. Swinging. Blocking.”

Chung Myung chuckled.

“In the end, all stances are just combinations of these three. A sword is inherently like that. There’s nothing complicated about it.”

Baek Cheon narrowed his brow.

“Aren’t you oversimplifying it?”

“Those simple things gather and become complex. In other words…”

Chung Myung paused slightly before continuing.

“If you can perfectly thrust, cut, and block, then the sword also becomes perfect.”

“But that’s…”

“Yes. It’s almost impossible. Perfection is a concept that cannot exist. Obsessing over a perfect sword is something only a madman would do. But.”

Chung Myung spoke meaningfully.

“There is one Sword Sect that dared to attempt something that even the great Shaolin and the proud Wudang would not dare to imagine. The world revolves around me in thirty-six directions. A madman who believed that if he could perfectly thrust, swing, and block in those thirty-six directions, he could become an invincible swordsman feared by no one in the world.”

“The Thirty-Six Directions…”

“Yes. That is.”

Chung Myung fixed his gaze on Lee Songbaek and said quietly.

“Jongnam’s Thirty-Six Swords of the World.”

Lee Songbaek felt a sense of calm wash over him. His heart was not agitated in the slightest. He could vividly feel even the sensation of the air passing through his fingertips. He could tell that he was concentrating more perfectly now than he had in the past few months.

‘The Middle Way.’

Maintaining balance, not too much or too little, was the essence of Jongnam swordsmanship. It is several times more difficult than leaning to one side.

Jongnam’s sword is a sword that keeps that Middle Way.

It is not strong, not flashy, and not fast, but Jongnam’s sword is more perfect than any other sword.

‘If I had known this fact sooner…’

He wouldn’t have wasted so much time, but it’s okay. The path he will walk has only just begun.

He is not swayed by flamboyance and strength. What he must protect is the Middle Way, and the spirit of Jongnam.

Tang Soso looked at him with a slightly stiff face.

‘What on earth is that person?’

She felt a sense of weight that she had not seen in Baek Cheon, and even Chung Myung. Of course, Chung Myung was a human being devoid of any sense of weight, but the pressure felt from that sword was greater than Baek Cheon’s, which flustered Tang Soso.

‘What are you doing, Tang Soso!’

Tang Soso gritted her teeth. She had known from the start that her opponent might be stronger than her.

Even so, the reason she stood here was?

Tang Soso raised her sword and aimed it at Lee Songbaek.

Words are unnecessary.

‘I will draw my plum blossoms.’

No matter who the opponent is, if she perfectly draws her plum blossoms, there is nothing to fear.

The two swordsmen faced each other with cold eyes. As if that tense atmosphere was contagious, the spectators held their breath and watched the two facing off.

It was Tang Soso who moved first again.

“Taaah!”

She let out a short shout and rushed towards Lee Songbaek at a rapid pace.

Wham!

Her sword cut through the air and fell countless times towards Lee Songbaek.

‘Bloom!’

The plum blossoms she had to bloom were different in texture from those bloomed by other disciples of Mount Hua. If the plum blossoms of Mount Hua are the flowers of a splendidly blooming spring, then her plum blossoms are literally a rain of flowers.

A disciple of Mount Hua, but also a daughter of the Dang family, her talent, which could not bloom in the Dang family, became the sword of Mount Hua and rained flowers all over the world (Ten Thousand Heavens Flower Rain).

Plum blossoms flutter.

The plum blossoms unique to Tang Soso, which were the sword of Mount Hua but different from the sword of Mount Hua, became petals scattered by a whirlwind and covered Lee Songbaek’s entire body.

Lee Songbaek’s eyes, watching that sight, sank low. It was as if flower rain was falling from the sky.

‘Beautiful.’

An incomparably beautiful but infinitely sharp sword. It felt impossible to block everything.

But Lee Songbaek did not rush and swung his sword.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

His legs were firmly planted on the ground, his shoulders were softly relaxed, and he perfectly transmitted his power. His elbows swung his sword nimbly like a whip, and his wrists flexibly absorbed the impact.

Swinging. Thrusting. And blocking.

Even if the plum blossoms of Mount Hua cover the whole world, the world surrounding me is just the Thirty-Six Directions. If I can perfectly shake off my sword in those thirty-six directions, then even the rain of plum blossoms filling the entire mountain will not be able to touch my body.

Jongnam’s sword is a textbook sword, and the basis of the living sword is in blocking the opponent’s attack. The sword that is most faithful to that basis in the world is Jongnam’s Thirty-Six Swords of the World.

The plum blossoms that poured down like a dream lost their power in front of the wall of swords covering Lee Songbaek. They scattered like that and finally crashed into Lee Songbaek’s sword wall and fell.

“This!”

Tang Soso gritted her teeth, but she couldn’t give up here. She was about to unfold her sword again, but at that moment…

Wham!

Lee Songbaek’s sword, which broke through the sword wall with a sound that cut through the air, fell towards Tang Soso’s head.

“Ah…”

Sssst.

Lee Songbaek’s sword was precisely touching her shoulder.

Tang Soso bit her lower lip tightly.

“…I lost.”

“It was a good match.”

Lee Songbaek retrieved his sword and respectfully clasped his hands.

“It was an incredibly sharp and keen sword. If its depth had been just a little deeper, I would have been the one defeated.”

“…I see you’re being kind because you won, but it would be best not to be too smug. I’ll be the one winning next time.”

“Of course, I’ll look forward to it.”

Tang Soso sighed softly as she looked at Lee Songbaek’s face, which was smiling without any ulterior motives.

‘Not yet.’

She had no regrets because she had lost in a fight between swordsmen. This defeat would only make Tang Soso stronger.

“If you’re too elated and let your guard down, you’ll get a big surprise. My senior brothers are much stronger than me.”

“I know.”

Lee Songbaek paused slightly, then turned his head to look at one place.

“I know better than anyone. More than anyone.”

His gaze, filled with a mixture of envy and fighting spirit, reached Chung Myung.

“Because he is my goal.”

Lee Songbaek’s eyes were filled with an extremely serious light.

Chung Myung, who received his gaze, muttered quietly.

“The end is another beginning.”

Right there, from within the ashes, a new seed of Jongnam was growing.