Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 585

Mount Hua disciples clashed swords with the Jeokungchae bandits. Hyun Sang watched their backs, his face showing a mix of pride and surprise.

*This is what I always dreamed of,* he thought.

Swords flashed like silver, catching the light as they moved, like shining plum blossoms blooming in the fight against wicked bandits. They were upholding justice in the name of Mount Hua, making the sect famous once more.

The scene he had longed for, even in his sleep, was now real.

Of course, it was a little different from his dream – in his dream, *he* was the one leading the charge, not watching from behind – but what did it matter? This was still Mount Hua’s glory.

“Sahyung.”

Hyun Sang nodded, his face firm. “I know. I was getting lost in the past.”

Now was not the time to be lost in thought.

Clang!

Hyun Sang drew his sword. Then, the Unja generation disciples guarding him also drew their swords.

“Let’s go. Even old hands can help.”

“It’s a bit awkward to swing a sword in front of the children.”

He grumbled, but the eyes of the Unja generation disciples were shining brighter than ever.

Some of those children had already surpassed them. Watching their swordplay, it was clear that more of them had become stronger than they were.

But there was nothing to be ashamed of.

A disciple becoming stronger than their master was what every master wished for, so they were rather proud.

“Still, we are the elders of Mount Hua! Show them we are not behind the younger generation!”

“Yes, Sasook!”

The Unja generation disciples, led by Hyun Sang, ran out and joined the battle.

It was a breathtaking sight. The air filled with the clash of steel, the shouts of the disciples, and the dance of plum blossom swords, all under the bright sky.

Only two people were left behind, unable to join that historic scene.

Chung Myung and Hyeon Young glanced at each other.

“What are *you* still doing here?” Hyeon Young asked, a little surprised.

Chung Myung raised an eyebrow. “Hey, I was about to ask you the same thing!”

Hyeon Young cleared his throat. “My martial arts are obvious. If I try to save face and get hit by a sword, I’ll only cause worry. It’s better to watch from behind without getting in the way.”

“If I clumsily join in, it’s the same as stealing the guys they’re trying to catch, so I’m just watching.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Heeeuuum.”

Hyeon Young nodded slightly and took something out of his pocket.

“Would you like some Jeonbyeong?”

“Hehe. You’re always so well-prepared.” Chung Myung took the Jeonbyeong and crunched on it as he watched the battlefield.

“They’re fighting so coolly.”

The current Mount Hua felt different from the past. Even if it was the same swordsmanship, individual differences were bound to occur depending on who was using it. Now, Mount Hua’s sword had become faster and more practical than when he was the Plum Blossom Sword Saint.

He thought, ‘If you’re being kind, their sword style is practical. If you’re being honest, it’s become a bit more about killing than tradition.’

‘Well, it can’t be helped.’

Since Chung Myung was the one teaching them, what could he do?

Chung Myung had fought the most battles and spilled the most blood in Mount Hua’s history. Since he had fought so many battles with the Demonic Sect, it was only natural that his sword would become more murderous.

Of course, those on the receiving end of that sword would naturally curse, but Chung Myung didn’t care.

‘Tradition can freeze to death. I am tradition.’

Unconditionally following the past was not the truth. Even if it changed a little, as long as the soul of Mount Hua was alive, it would still be the sword of Mount Hua.

Chung Myung munched on the Jeonbyeong and curled up the corners of his lips. Even then, his eyes were sharply watching the situation.

‘Slow.’

Gwak Hwi’s eyes gleamed.

He had heard the name Nokrim countless times. And he had heard the name Jeokungchae a few times as well.

The leaders of the heretical sects that dominated the many mountains of the Central Plains.

Those called the Shinju Opae.

In the past, Nokrim was an enormous place that they couldn’t even dare to imagine. But the Nokrim bandits he faced directly were not as strong or sophisticated as he had thought.

‘It’s not that they’re weak.’

Mount Hua is strong.

‘There’s no way they could have realized it normally.’

They had always rolled around dealing with that monstrous Chung Myung’s sword, and they had to suffer from the pressure of the Oh Geom, who had surpassed them in an instant.

Even though they repeatedly trained until they reached their physical limits, and constantly honed themselves with tenacity and grit, the distance between them and those who had gone ahead did not narrow, but rather widened.

So how could they feel that they had become stronger?

Strength is a relative concept in the first place. In order to realize strength, they needed an opponent to serve as a measure. But until now, their measure had been too high and too rough.

Paaaat!

Gwak Hwi’s extended sword fiercely dug into the gap in the roughly flying blade.

Pooook!

The sword that cleanly pierced the opponent’s shoulder was quickly retrieved. And soon, it struck down the opponent’s chest.

‘It’s too slow.’

Compared to Jo Gul’s sword, this blade seemed to be standing still.

Compared to Yoon Jong’s sophistication, it was nothing more than a struggle that couldn’t even follow the forms properly, and compared to the magnificence of Baek Cheon’s sword, it shook weakly like a swaying reed.

So no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t erase the same thought.

‘I don’t think I’ll ever lose!’

And it seemed that he was not the only one who thought so.

Paaaat!

The swords of the Sahyungjae wielding their swords next to him also began to show a little more confidence. The tips of their swords became more stable as they went on, and their expressions showed a firm conviction.

‘We have become stronger!’

Something they had never been able to properly confirm during all that time.

Mount Hua’s reputation was rising and it was becoming a different place from the past, but that was thanks to the Oh Geom, including Chung Myung, not their own merit.

All they had done while Mount Hua was changing day by day was to protect the mountain and endure the training. They had blocked the Maninbang, but who didn’t know that it was also the achievement of the Oh Geom, not them?

The sense of futility and self-deprecation that had been building up was now melting away like snow.

‘The training we’ve done so far hasn’t been in vain!’

The moment doubt became conviction, and conviction became confidence, their plum blossoms bloomed even more vividly.

“Show them! We are Mount Hua too! Not just the Oh Geom!” Baek Sang shouted loudly.

The hand holding his sword was stronger and firmer than ever. Of course, he had given up on the idea of seeing the end of the sword now. But he was also a Mount Hua swordsman. He had never neglected his sword for a single day.

“Yes, Sahyung!”

“Yes, Sasook!”

The moment everyone swung their swords as one, countless plum blossoms seemed to bloom in the air, each sword strike leaving a trail of shining petals as the disciples fought with grace and power. It was as if a scene from Mount Hua had been moved here.

It was not because they were in Mount Hua that they were the Mount Hua Sect.

They were proving with their swords that wherever the Mount Hua Sect was, that place could become Mount Hua.

Un Geom walked through the disciples, his movements a little stiff at first, then becoming stronger as he fought. His face was cold, but his eyes held sadness and determination. He muttered, “Keep your heart cold, your sword tip firm, and never forget the basics.”

“Don’t forget. The place where the flower blooms is the branch, but what makes the flower bloom is ultimately the root.”

“Yes, Gwanju-nim!”

A slight smile appeared on his face, which had been as frozen as ice.

Soon, his sword, which was hanging on his right side, was sharply drawn out.

“It’s not clean enough to be an example, but I can’t just watch.”

Un Geom’s sword swiftly and sharply aimed for the bandits’ entire bodies.

‘Sasook!’

‘Sasookjo!’

The disciples of Mount Hua bit their lips at this sight.

Un Geom had lost an arm in the fierce battle with the Maninbang. For a swordsman to lose the arm they used to wield a sword was a bigger deal than an ordinary person losing both legs. He must have suffered from extreme loss.

But Un Geom was now standing in front of them, leading them once again. Even though he held the sword with an unfamiliar arm, he showed no sign of disarray.

How much difficult time had he endured to get to this point?

The expressions of the disciples who vaguely understood the weight of the time he had spent changed.

“Follow Gwanju-nim!”

In particular, the disciples around Un Geom pushed the bandits even harder with sharper swords and increased vigor. The sound of swords and blades clashing fiercely echoed from here and there.

“Show them that Mount Hua’s justice is still alive!” Hyun Sang elegantly wielded his sword.

A sword that was a little different from the children’s swords, a sword that contained the scent of Mount Hua in the past.

“Yes, Jangro-nim!”

Everyone was emboldened to see even Hyun Sang’s back.

To the Mount Hua disciples, the Hyeonja generation were not simply the elders of the sect. They were the roots that had endured the long hardship with their whole bodies and created the current Mount Hua.

How could they not gain courage when such a person was wielding a sword in front of them?

The other Unja generation disciples were the same.

Hyun Sang and the Unja generation disciples began to fill the sides of the Oh Geom at the forefront.

Everyone was proving together that not only Chung Myung, not only the Oh Geom, but the Mount Hua Sect itself had become stronger.

Of course⋯⋯.

“Amitabha!”

Kwaaaaaaang!

There was one strange thing in the middle, but that was it.

There was no other way to explain this situation other than to say it was one-sided. The Nokrim bandits were terrified by the sophisticated and flashy swords of Mount Hua, and their will was broken by the sharpness that was far from the orthodox sects.

“Ah, no!”

“I can’t stand this!”

The terrified Nokrim bandits began to retreat one by one.

They had no will to fight to the death with an opponent stronger than themselves, and no reason to do so.

There was only one reason.

“Aaaargh! You trashy bastards!” Won Gang cut off the neck of a retreating Nokrim bandit and screamed.

“Anyone who retreats will die by my hand! Don’t back down! They’re just brats!”

At the desperate shout, the retreating Nokrim bandits flinched and put strength back into their legs.

He somehow managed to prevent everyone from losing their will to fight and running away, but in fact, Won Gang already knew that the situation was not easy.

He couldn’t understand it with his common sense.

No matter how great Mount Hua was in the past, no matter how great its momentum was now, most of them were still brats who hadn’t even shed their fluff.

But to the Jeokungchae bandits now, it felt like they were facing veteran swordsmen who had eaten their fill of the martial world. Especially that sharpness and sophistication were unbelievable.

The most unbelievable thing was still the inner strength.

Inner strength usually takes time to build. So, bandits who haven’t trained properly for years shouldn’t be this strong, even if they are attacking fiercely.

‘How could they⋯⋯ unless they all went through Reversal of Time as a group.’

But there was no time to leisurely grasp the situation.

If he didn’t take some action right now, the front line that he was barely maintaining would collapse in an instant. If that happened, all that would be left was a one-sided massacre.

Hyun Sang, who was wielding his sword at the front, came into Won Gang’s eyes, who was grinding his teeth.

‘I’ll kill that old man first to break their momentum!’

One of the characteristics of immature people is that they are easily swept away by the atmosphere. If a reversal occurred where a high-ranking person was defeated, the situation might change more easily than he thought.

“Get out of the way!”

Won Gang pushed away those who were blocking him and rushed towards Hyun Sang.

But at that moment, someone left the front line and flew softly in front of him.

Thud.

The person who landed lightly on the floor raised his sword and aimed it accurately at him.

“⋯⋯Who are you?”

Yiseol’s cold eyes tightened Won Gang’s breath. “Hwasan’s Yiseol.”