Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 103

“Look over there.”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung pointed towards the dusty sparring arena. The air was filled with the sounds of clashing swords and shouts from the earlier matches.

Jo Gul walked back from the arena, breathing heavily but with a proud smile. At the same time, the Jongnam disciples hurried out, helping Gongjin up, who had clearly fallen, and going back to their spots.

“What do you think of those Jongnam guys?” Chung Myung asked, turning back to Yoon Jong.

“What do I think?” Yoon Jong repeated, considering.

“Are they strong? Or weak?” Chung Myung pressed.

“Strong, obviously,” Yoon Jong replied without hesitation.

Chung Myung narrowed his eyes slightly, a thoughtful look on his face as he watched the Jongnam disciples. “And you’re saying you beat someone that strong, Sasuk?”

Yoon Jong shrugged, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. “Don’t push it. What can I do if it’s the truth?”

Chung Myung chuckled softly and nodded slowly. “They are strong. Yeah, they are strong. Very strong for their age. But in another way, you could also say they are weak.”

Yoon Jong frowned, tilting his head slightly. “…What does that mean, Sasuk?”

“It means,” Chung Myung explained, “they have learned too many advanced skills too early.”

“Isn’t it good to learn and master a lot?”

“Sasuk.”

Chung Myung reached out and drew the shape of a house.

“Martial arts are like building a tower. How high you can build depends on how sturdy the foundation is and how strong the lower floors are.”

“…That’s right.”

“They are trying to build the second floor before the first floor is even finished. They are building higher and higher without making sure the base is strong enough.”

“…”

“What do you think will happen when those kinds of people clash with a tower that has a perfectly built first floor?”

“It’ll collapse.”

“Exactly.” Chung Myung said nonchalantly.

“I just removed the wood from your base and replaced it with stone. Building with stone is harder, but it makes the base much stronger.”

“…I don’t understand. That training had that kind of meaning?”

“What’s the basis of martial arts?”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung’s face turned slightly serious.

“The basis of martial arts is one thing: using your body perfectly to strike the opponent accurately. From that one thing, roots spread out, a trunk stands, and branches unfold. All I did was allow you guys to focus on that root.”

“Hmm.”

“Look.”

Chung Myung pointed to the sparring arena. Jo Gul was already entangled with a Jongnam disciple who had come out.

“An unshakeable lower body, clean sword movements, the ability to calmly observe everything. And more than anything…”

Jo Gul’s sword flashed, meeting the Jongnam disciple’s blade with a loud clang. Sparks flew as metal hit metal. Then, with a powerful twist, Jo Gul pushed the Jongnam sword aside and struck. *Wham!* The sound echoed as his sword landed, and the Jongnam disciple fell heavily to the ground.

Chung Myung smirked.

The Jongnam disciple collapsed to the ground, and Jo Gul stared at his opponent with a bewildered expression. He kept turning his head this way, as if he couldn’t believe what he had done himself.

“For now, that’s enough. With just that one thing, you can beat up all the kids of a similar age.”

Of course, that wasn’t everything.

Chung Myung made the Plum Blossom Pill work its best. And through the training that had continued since Chung Myung first came to Hwasan, he had created a body that was better than anyone else’s.

If they weren’t lacking in body and inner strength, the outcome would be decided by the mastery of swordsmanship. And those who had learned many things quickly but not deeply could never beat someone who had single-mindedly focused on one thing.

Jo Gul returned to his place and stared at Chung Myung with dazed eyes. And following him, the next third-generation disciple jumped into the sparring arena.

Completely riding the momentum.

He was full of the desire to fight quickly and confirm his achievements.

“I still don’t understand. If this is such an easy thing to do… why haven’t other sects done this kind of training?”

“Easy?”

Chung Myung tilted his head crookedly.

“Looks like the training you’ve done so far has been easy?”

“Ah, no. Not that, but conceptually it’s easy, so…”

“Sasuk.”

“Huh?”

“Can you study for two-thirds of the day, correct your posture in the remaining time, sincerely care for your parents, not deceive the weak, not covet wealth, show respect to those above you, not lose respect for those below you, treat your friends sincerely, and be loyal to your country?”

“…I can’t.”

“Why can’t you? If you just keep those things, you’ll become a noble man.”

“Well…”

Yoon Jong closed his mouth. He seemed to understand what Chung Myung was saying.

There’s no one who doesn’t know how to become a true noble man. But those who keep those conditions for a lifetime and are called true noble men are only two or three throughout the ages. Only that many in this wide Central Plains.

In other words, ordinary people can’t even do what they clearly know.

“Constantly dripping water can pierce even a rock. Always strive and strive again. Nothing is more important than effort. The sages endlessly emphasize effort and striving. Do you know why?”

“I don’t know…”

“Because people can’t do it.” Chung Myung smirked.

In fact, the past Chung Myung was the same. In the past, he had heard countless times that the basics were extremely important, but he always craved stronger swordsmanship and higher realms.

Even until the moment his life ended, he only looked upwards and never looked down.

Something he only realized after he died.

“Train to the point of death, push yourself to the limit every time, strive and strive again. If you actually do that ridiculous thing…”

Chung Myung gestured towards the sparring arena.

Wham!

Another Jongnam disciple staggered backwards. His face, filled with a sense of defeat, was clearly defeated. And the Hwasan disciple pressed on, not giving that Jongnam disciple any openings.

“It becomes like that.”

“…”

“Usually, they can’t do it even if they know. Because people can’t push themselves that far. And if someone forces them to do it? They’ll all lie down after three days and make a fuss saying they can’t do it. Or they’ll run away.”

Yoon Jong nodded.

Hadn’t they been like that too? The person who grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and forcibly dragged them along was none other than Chung Myung.

“You…”

“The Sasuks did it.” Chung Myung said firmly.

“This.”

“…”

“The outcome was already decided when you endured it. There’s nothing more to see. Because those who can’t see their own feet and only look up have nowhere to step. A bird that hasn’t grown its wings jumps up to fly in the sky, and only then does it realize.”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue as he watched the Jongnam disciple being carried out.

“That there’s nothing touching its feet. Then it falls, just like now.”

Yoon Jong’s eyes trembled.

He had thought that the training was excessive. There were more than a few times when he wanted to pour out curses like crazy at the coercive training methods.

But he endured it. He persevered with the thought that if he kept rolling around, he would somehow become stronger. But all that training was looking this far ahead?

‘Where on earth did this guy learn this?’

Yoon Jong couldn’t understand Chung Myung at all.

But one thing was certain.

Wham!

Another Jongnam disciple collapsed to the ground.

He could tell.

His disciples didn’t have much difference in martial prowess. At least the ten who were representing them were all of similar skill, except for Yoon Jong and Jo Gul.

The fact that there was such a big difference in the previous sparring meant that the results of the subsequent sparring would be no different.

In other words…

‘They’re winning?’

The third-generation disciples of Hwasan against Jongnam?

Hwasan against Jongnam?

It was only now that it felt real.

They were currently winning against Jongnam. Against that very Jongnam.

“A-are we winning?”

No one answered Yoon Jong’s words. There was no way to deny what was happening before their eyes, but it wasn’t easy to believe the fact either. They had never once thought that the disciples of Hwasan could win against Jongnam.

But there was no need to believe it.

No matter what Yoon Jong thought, the sparring was progressing, and the results were appearing as reality before them.

One person.

Another person.

“Aaaargh!”

The sparring ends with a sharp scream.

Ten sparring matches were completed in an instant.

“Aaaaaaaaaah! We won!”

“We won them all! Bloody hell!”

“Chung Myung! We did it! We did it!”

Some disciples jumped up and down, their faces red with excitement. Others were crying, tears streaming down their cheeks as they hugged each other.

It was like a festival had opened.

Ten consecutive wins.

All of the third-generation disciples had achieved victory against the disciples of Jongnam.

Ten consecutive losses followed by ten consecutive wins.

It was too obvious which side had better momentum and which side had gained a greater sense of victory.

The third-generation disciples of Hwasan had finally achieved a complete victory against the third-generation disciples of Jongnam.

“Chung Myung!”

Yoon Jong grabbed Chung Myung’s hand with a face full of emotion.

“We won! We won! Thank you, Chung Myung! Really, thank you! We won because of you…”

It was the moment when Yoon Jong was about to bring out a hidden, heartfelt truth that he really didn’t want to say.

“Win?”

Suddenly, Chung Myung’s playful grin vanished. His voice dropped, becoming serious and cold, making everyone freeze.

The atmosphere cooled down rapidly, as if cold water had been poured on it, along with a sullen voice.

Everyone’s eyes were on Chung Myung. And they saw Chung Myung’s head tilting to the side.

‘Why is that bastard like that again?’

‘It’s starting again. Again! My heart is really pounding!’

Under everyone’s anxious gaze, he quietly opened his mouth.

“With this?”

“…What, what are you trying to say again?”

“They’ve already lost ten times, so even if we win ten times like this, isn’t it just a draw anyway?”

Well, that’s true.

“Still, that’s something…”

“It seems Sasuk doesn’t know.”

“Huh?”

“A draw is something that can’t exist in my dictionary!”

Chung Myung started rolling his eyes again.

‘Ah, please.’

‘Let’s be a little more restrained when the atmosphere is good. Chung Myung, please!’

“A draaaaaaw? A draw with Jongnam? If I suffer such a shame, I won’t be able to hold my head up for the rest of my life!”

And he’d be cursed to death even in the afterlife.

The Sect Leader Sasuk would smile gently and stab him in the heart with words that were like daggers, twisting them around and around. And what about the other Sajae? They would surely tie him up, drag him around, and ridicule him.

‘I can’t stand to see that.’

Flames sparked in Chung Myung’s eyes.

If he was just going to end it with a draw, he wouldn’t have even started.

He hadn’t even finished repaying them for stealing the precious Plum Blossom Sword Technique, and he was going to let those bastards who had made outrageous remarks in front of the Sect Leader and disregarded Hwasan go back peacefully?

Then he wouldn’t be Chung Myung.

Chung Myung started grinning in a scary way.

“It’s just the beginning. Aaaahm, it’s just the beginning. Now! Those guys won’t be able to walk back. Hee hee hee.”

The third-generation disciples started to slowly back away, seeing the madness gleaming in Chung Myung’s eyes.

‘He’s completely gone mad?’

‘Was he stabbed to death by a Jongnam bastard in his past life? Why does he go so crazy whenever Jongnam is involved?’

‘If he’s not satisfied with this much, what else is he going to do?’

It was at that moment.

Chung Myung jumped up from his seat. At the same time, Yoon Jong also jumped up.

“Hey, hey! We have to stop him…”

“Sasuk!”

Just as Yoon Jong was about to shout loudly as usual, Chung Myung spoke in an uncharacteristically cold voice.

“Huh?”

Yoon Jong, overwhelmed by the force, stared at Chung Myung with a dazed look.

“From now on, watch everything I do without missing a single movement. All of you. Got it?”

As the disciples nodded, Chung Myung headed towards the sparring arena.

Everyone stared at his back as if they were possessed.

It was the back of the one who would lead Hwasan, the one they would now see countless times.