Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 737

A power like a river flowed through my body.

The purest energy flowed through the main energy pathways, branched into smaller paths, and filled every part of his body.

“Hoo.”

He breathed in and out.

The process of gathering and using energy involved taking in energy from the outside through breathing. This energy was then changed into a form that matched his martial arts and stored inside him.

Energy filled Chung Myung’s body. It followed the Purple Cloud Divine Art, swirling all around him. This energy was very pure. It came from his training and special pills.

Even after being carefully cleaned, the different energies were still not fully mixed. They slowly began to be absorbed by the flow of the Purple Cloud.

At first, it was like a small stream.

But it was so clean and pure that it seemed to wash away all the bad parts of his body, lifting Chung Myung to a higher level.

It flowed around once, then again.

Each time the energy flowed through his body, the stream grew bigger. Soon, the energy became like a great river, flowing powerfully.

This purple river would grow even larger in the future. He imagined it becoming a huge river, then a vast ocean. One day, he hoped this power would be like a purple sunset, spreading across the whole world, coloring everything with its strength.

“Hoo.”

Finally, Chung Myung finished his energy flow and took a deep breath. He looked a little strange, and his face was covered in sweat.

“This… is really amazing.”

He looked up.

“So, you’ve been keeping this good stuff to yourself all this time? Where is your sense of fairness!”

– Hey, you little brat! I told you to learn it! Huh? Augh! Seriously…!

“Ah, noisy.”

Chung Myung waved his hand, dismissing the voice. He rested his chin on his hand and began to think.

‘I should have learned it sooner.’

The Purple Cloud Divine Art was truly remarkable.

It was a special skill that could produce at least half again as much power as the Purple Cloud Sword Energy. This skill had made him famous as the Sword Saint in the past. It was definitely worth trying to become the greatest skill in the world.

People said that the Tendon-Changing Classic of Shaolin, the Supreme Purity Grand Ultimate Divine Art, and the Dual Unity Infinite Divine Art of Wudang were all competing for the title of the greatest. But this Purple Cloud Divine Art was certainly as good as the skills of those two groups.

“Keuung. The problem is…”

Chung Myung scratched his head hard and sighed deeply.

Every martial art has its own special qualities.

This was normal. A special skill that represented a group would naturally have the qualities that best helped that group’s martial arts.

The Purple Cloud Divine Art also had the form that best helped Mount Hua’s martial arts. If the disciples of Mount Hua simply switched to learning the Purple Cloud Divine Art, they would become at least half again as strong, no matter how skilled they were.

That was how great the Purple Cloud Divine Art was. The thought that such a powerful skill could be used without any limits made him feel like an old man.

The problem… was not with the Purple Cloud Divine Art, but with Chung Myung.

“Ah, this is a shame.”

Chung Myung’s inner energy was made of the purest energy in the world. He couldn’t say it was perfectly pure because he hadn’t fully mixed the energies of the Violet Sobering Pill and the Mixed Origin Pill. But he was still steadily increasing the amount of the purest inner energy.

What if he combined all this inner energy with the Purple Cloud Divine Art?

“I’d become unbelievably strong right away.”

He would combine the inner energies that couldn’t mix with each other and be able to fully use those energies. Also, he would be able to control those energies with the Purple Cloud Divine Art, so it would be very effective.

But if that happened, the color of the Purple Cloud Divine Art would mix into Chung Myung’s inner energy. This meant that his inner energy, which was known for its purity, would become more ordinary.

“Keueung…. Is this how it’s going to be?”

Until now, there hadn’t been any problem.

Chung Myung could control martial arts that weren’t complex, such as the Plum Blossom Art, the Seven Stars Art, and the Six Harmony Art. So, he was able to keep his inner energy pure while using those skills.

But the Purple Cloud Divine Art was different from those martial arts. No matter how skilled Chung Myung was, it was hard to keep both the power of the Purple Cloud Divine Art and the purity of his inner energy at the same time. In the end, he had to choose one.

‘What should I do?’

Chung Myung thought, resting his chin on his hand.

If he kept improving the Purple Cloud Divine Art as it was, his inner energy would eventually be colored by the Purple Cloud Divine Art.

Of course, that wasn’t bad either. In the past, Chung Myung had become known as the Plum Blossom Sword Saint with just the Purple Cloud Sword Energy. He had become the best swordsman in the world. Considering the Purple Cloud Divine Art, his experience, and the strong base he had built up, he could become at least twice as strong as in the past.

‘Twice as strong as the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, huh.’

It was something Chung Myung couldn’t have imagined in the past. It was clear proof that what he had been doing since he was reborn had been right. So, it could be said to be a very good result.

However….

“The problem is that I still won’t be able to beat the Heavenly Demon.”

Chung Myung’s face twisted.

That terrible person was the cause of all problems. There was no way he could face the Heavenly Demon just by becoming twice as strong. That guy wasn’t human.

‘What do I do?’

If he just kept learning the Purple Cloud Divine Art as it was, he could become stronger in a steady way. This was about making his base stronger. No matter what happened, he would definitely become more than twice as strong as in the past. If he worked hard, he could aim for even more.

But… what if he tried to keep both the Purple Cloud Divine Art and the purity of his inner energy?

That would be like destroying his base.

If he messed up, he might even lose all the good things about the Purple Cloud Divine Art. If he was unlucky, he might not even be as strong as he was in the past. That was how broken martial arts worked.

But….

“If I succeed…”

It would be a dream come true.

It might give him a clue to catch the Heavenly Demon, who was so far away that he couldn’t even dare to look at him.

“Keueueueung. It’s either a jackpot or a total bust…”

Chung Myung scratched his messy hair with an annoyed hand.

“Augh, damn it! Why is it so complicated? If you get a good martial art, you just learn it and get stronger, so why are there so many things to think about!”

Chung Myung, who had been thinking so hard that he wanted to pull his hair out, fell sideways in his seat.

Plop.

“Keueung.”

Chung Myung lay on his side with his arms crossed, staring blankly at the air and laughing.

“I’ve grown a lot.”

He was now strong enough to call being twice the Plum Blossom Sword Saint a total bust.

“If I had been just twice as strong in the past…”

Then Mount Hua might not have fallen. He could have saved more of his fellow disciples. There was a good chance that Chung Myung wouldn’t have died either.

If that had happened, Mount Hua would have become the greatest group in the world, even better than Shaolin. This would be because they had stopped the Heavenly Demon and because of Chung Myung, the best swordsman in the world. They would have ruled over the Jianghu.

Yeah… that’s not a bad result either.

But….

Chung Myung, who had been imagining the scene, smiled sadly.

“There’s no way that would be enough.”

To die moderately and survive moderately, and only have the remaining people enjoy the glory? No one could be happy with such a half-hearted victory.

This time, he wouldn’t miss a single thing.

Is it true that the sand in your hand can only slip through your fingers?

What a load of nonsense!

If he couldn’t hold it with his hands, he would wrap it tightly with a cloth. If that didn’t work, he would even bake it with mud. He was determined not to let go of anyone who had come into his hands.

“Well, what can I do.”

Then he had to push himself a little.

Chung Myung glanced at the bulging ground.

“Why? Does it seem like a crazy thing to do?”

No answer came back.

“I wouldn’t have done this if I were like I used to be. Martial arts aren’t a gamble. You have to build them up steadily.”

If any of the other Mount Hua disciples had made this choice, he would have hit them on the head.

“But… I can do it now.”

Chung Myung looked at the scenery of Mount Hua.

It would be slower than steadily learning the Purple Cloud Divine Art right now. But as time went on, he could go further. And the part that he couldn’t fill because he couldn’t get stronger….

He looked at the Mount Hua disciples who were training hard in the Great Training Hall. Even though no one was telling them what to do, they were all training seriously.

A small smile appeared on Chung Myung’s face.

“…Those guys will fill in the parts I can’t fill. They’re a bit unreliable, but they’ll do that much.”

– They seem a thousand times better than the old disciples, though?

“This bastard?”

Chung Myung raised his foot to kick the ground, but then put it down again.

“Keueung. Well, what he’s saying isn’t wrong.”

Chung Myung sat up straight again.

In the past, he couldn’t trust his fellow disciples.

He had never thought that they would do what he couldn’t do. To him, his fellow disciples were people he had to protect, not people who protected him.

But the current Chung Myung was different. He could trust his current fellow disciples, who were much weaker than the Chung generation of the past.

“So….”

He had a firm look in his eyes.

“Let’s give it a try. Whether a ghost will appear, or a monster.”

Chung Myung slowly began to think about his inner self.

The base was the Purple Cloud Divine Art.

He had already changed the Plum Blossom Sword Art to fit his own style and taught it to Mount Hua. But this was different.

Unlike the Plum Blossom Sword Art, this had to be a martial art just for Chung Myung.

A special skill that other Mount Hua disciples could not learn, and should not learn.

A skill just for Chung Myung, which could not be passed on to future generations, as Chung Jin had said.

‘If I had to name it, it would be the Purple Cloud Chung Myung Divine Art….’

– No!

– Don’t do that! You little brat!

“Wow, geez.”

No, why are you saying so much? What does the name matter!

‘…Well, to be honest, it was a bit lame.’

Then he would decide on the name later.

Chung Myung took a deep breath.

‘It’s not something that can be done by just creating it without thinking.’

He had to lose as little as possible right now and make the most of the chances to grow.

There was no need to follow a perfect path. Tomorrow’s Chung Myung would be stronger and better than today’s Chung Myung.

So, the skill had to grow with Chung Myung.

‘Don’t try to be perfect.’

Being perfect is the same as having no chance to grow. He had to choose not to be perfect right away, but to have a future that could grow forever.

He slowly went deep into his inner self.

Quietly and quietly.

The mountain birds that had been flying around landed on his shoulders, which had slowly become part of nature. They rested their tired wings.

Chung Myung’s eyes stayed closed until the sun rose high in the sky, the red sunset appeared again, and the dark night covered the world.