Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 110

“Elder, will Senior Brother win?”

Sama Seung bit his lip tightly at the cautious question. He bit so hard that blood trickled down his chin. He tasted the saltiness of blood as it ran down his chin.

“Win, you ask?”

The question showed they were too sure of themselves.

“He must win, by any means necessary.”

Sama Seung knew that if they didn’t stop Chung Myung now, he would become too powerful to control. This might be their last chance.

If Chung Myung rose to the top, no one would be able to catch him. He would become like a dragon, impossible to defeat.

‘If it’s Jin Geum-ryong, it might be possible,’ Sama Seung thought.

Although Jin Geum-ryong was also a Second Generation disciple, his skills were far superior to the others. He was as skilled as the top disciples from Jongnam.

Jin Geum-ryong had the potential to become the greatest in the martial arts world. If he had some luck, he could reach the peak.

If Jin Geum-ryong couldn’t stop Chung Myung, then no one of their generation could. If Chung Myung won this fight, he would naturally become known as the greatest of their time.

That was unacceptable to Sama Seung.

‘I should have cut off his breath sooner,’ he thought.

He regretted worrying about appearances. He should have destroyed Hwasan completely, even if it meant criticism from the martial arts world. Now, their tenacious lifeline had allowed them to survive.

‘Damn Hwasan bastards!’

Sama Seung’s eyes were bloodshot. He was determined that Hwasan would not disgrace them today. Absolutely not!

Just then, Jin Geum-ryong’s sword began to create flowers of light, like an illusion. Sama Seung’s knuckles turned white as he clenched his fist. Jin Geum-ryong’s sword danced, each move of the Snow Flower Twelve Forms flowing into the next with breathtaking skill.

‘Your fancy sword will be your downfall!’ Sama Seung thought.

Chung Myung quietly watched the sword coming towards him.

‘It’s similar,’ he thought.

The outward appearance was copied really well.

The splendor. The beauty of each flower seeming to live and breathe. And the incredibly sharp and fatal strike hidden within that beauty.

It was truly the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

It was much better than the Snow Flower Twelve Forms that Lee Song-baek had shown before. Lee Song-baek’s sword only imitated plum blossoms, but Jin Geum-ryong’s Snow Flower Twelve Forms showed a level of skill that even Chung Myung admired.

Anyone else would have been frozen by the beauty of that sword, their will to fight melting away like snow in sunshine. Against such skill, defeat seemed certain.

But Chung Myung was the one standing in front of Jin Geum-ryong.

Chung Myung dodged the flying sword.

Swish.

Jin Geum-ryong’s sword cut through his clothes.

Swish.

The ends of his hair were cut off and fluttered into the air.

Swish.

Soon, Jin Geum-ryong’s sword lightly brushed past Chung Myung’s face. A red line appeared, and a drop of blood trickled down his face.

Chung Myung stepped back, raised his finger, wiped the flowing blood, and licked it with his tongue. It was bitter.

“Running won’t save you,” Jin Geum-ryong said.

Chung Myung simply stared at him silently.

Jin Geum-ryong regained his composure.

“Your Hwasan was once famous for its flower-like sword, wasn’t it?”

“…”

“But that’s just the past. Now, even your symbol will be buried by Jongnam’s new sword. The world will remember Jongnam’s Snow Flower Twelve Forms and forget Hwasan’s sword.”

Chung Myung listened silently, without answering.

“The Jongnam’s predecessors created this sword to show that Jongnam’s sword is better than Hwasan’s sword, no matter what. Honestly, I don’t think that’s very meaningful. What’s the point of proving you are better than a ruined sect? But!”

Jin Geum-ryong said in a cold voice.

“It would be meaningful for this sword to cut off Hwasan’s last breath. Come. I will cut off even your last hope.”

It was arrogant, yes, but more than that, it was a stinging insult, meant to cut Chung Myung to the core.

However, Chung Myung’s reaction was completely different from what Jin Geum-ryong had expected.

“Hic.”

“⋯⋯?”

Chung Myung covered his mouth. Then, he began to laugh strongly.

“⋯⋯What are you doing?”

Chung Myung tried to hold back his laughter, but after a while, he shook his head with his head bowed.

“No, no. No matter how hard I try, I can’t anymore.”

Chung Myung smiled, revealing his white teeth. And he raised his sword, aiming it precisely at Jin Geum-ryong.

“I saw it well. My impression is, um… what should I say? It’s like a clown.”

“A clown?”

“Yes. I saw your clumsy imitation. You could go perform somewhere with that.”

Jin Geum-ryong’s face twisted. With wrinkles all over his brow and forehead, he gritted his teeth.

“Dare you… compare my sword to a clown’s trick?”

“Ah, I hope you don’t misunderstand. I’m not particularly looking down on you. What I’m looking down on is rather, um… that swordsmanship? Or the Jongnam that created that swordsmanship?”

Jin Geum-ryong glared at Chung Myung with a terrifying face. Nevertheless, Chung Myung spoke calmly without shaking in the slightest.

“There’s no need for such a look. I’m going to give you a gift. I’ll fill in what’s empty in that sword.”

“⋯⋯You’d better not think about going back in one piece.”

“I don’t think that’s something someone who’s only been using killing moves since earlier should be saying.”

Jin Geum-ryong flinched.

The Snow Flower Twelve Forms are very showy. This makes it hard to see what is real and what is not. Even for someone fighting against it, it’s difficult to tell the real attacks from the fake ones. Could Chung Myung not tell the difference?

Jin Geum-ryong tightened his grip on his sword.

It didn’t matter. Chung Myung would not leave the arena alive. And Hwasan wouldn’t dare to seek revenge, because they would have to face all of Jongnam.

In the end, power rules the martial arts world.

The weak can complain, but they cannot punish the strong. That is an absolute law that has not changed since the beginning of the martial arts world.

“You are⋯⋯.”

But Chung Myung ruthlessly cut off Jin Geum-ryong’s words.

“I have one question.”

Chung Myung’s voice was unusually calm.

“What exactly is contained within that sword?”

“⋯⋯What do you mean?”

“No. That’s enough.”

Chung Myung shook his head.

It meant that it was meaningless.

Chung Myung suppressed his true feelings, smiled, and spoke loudly so everyone could hear.

“You followed it quite well, but that’s not enough. Hwasan’s sword is faster, sharper, and more splendid.”

Everyone must have heard these words now.

That was enough.

With this…

Jongnam cannot escape the curse.

“You still have your voice, I see.”

“If you know a way to kill only the mouth, please let me know. And I think you’ve been talking more since earlier, haven’t you?”

“This⋯⋯.”

Jin Geum-ryong moved his sword, ending the conversation. He would show his skill with his sword, not with words.

One flower.

Another flower.

His sword moved more splendidly and quickly. The energy from the sword created even clearer flower patterns.

One flower.

And another flower.

Soon, the flowers created by Jin Geum-ryong covered the arena.

Incredibly beautiful, but incredibly dangerous.

‘You will die by this sword!’

Snow Flower Twelve Forms.

This was the Snow Flower Full Sky stance, the pinnacle of the Snow Flower Twelve Forms. Even Jin Geum-ryong himself felt a thrill of pride at its flawless execution.

Snowflakes of sword energy, so bright they seemed to whiten the world, swirled around Chung Myung, ready to tear him apart.

“Ch, Chung Myung-ah!”

Screams erupted from the crowd.

The Hwasan disciples, who had been staring at the arena as if entranced, stood up from their seats.

They knew how dangerous and amazing that sword was.

Just looking at it gave them goosebumps and made their hearts pound.

Chung Myung had always been confident, but it seemed impossible to survive that absurd sword technique.

Yoon Jong clasped his hands together in front of his chest.

‘Heavenly Lord!’

Jin Geum-ryong’s sword was so sharp and fierce that they worried about Chung Myung. It seemed that no one could survive in that storm of snow flowers.

Even the Second Generation disciples and Baek Cheon screamed and looked at Chung Myung.

But Yoo Iseol bit her lip and watched without much emotion. However, a hint of doubt crossed her eyes.

‘That is⋯⋯?’

It looked familiar. She had seen it before, both in the past and recently. But…

‘It’s different.’

Something was different.

That sword was not so different from what she knew. But it did not draw her in as much as Chung Myung’s sword did.

What was different?

Her gaze turned to Chung Myung.

He would show her what was different with his sword.

Chung Myung watched the wave of snowflakes with a subtle expression.

‘This is another unique experience,’ he thought.

It felt different from sparring with his fellow disciples, because he rarely felt real killing intent from them.

‘Is this how the Demonic Sect bastards felt when they faced the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique?’

Although it was a little different.

But Chung Myung did not feel threatened by the sword coming towards him.

Why?

‘Because this is just a shell.’

To be exact, it was a failed sword technique.

The sword starts from technique, reaches law, rises to example, and attains learning. And the sword that goes further from there finally completes the way.

But this sword contained none of that.

This sword, which is only a shell, has technique and law, but no example and learning. With this, it can never reach the way.

The sword in front of him was just a copy of the Hwasan swordsmanship. A shell with no substance at all.

And this started from a long and deep misunderstanding.

‘Is the Plum Blossom Sword Technique a sword that blooms flowers?’

That was wrong in two ways.

Firstly.

Chung Myung’s sword slowly began to move.

The Hwasan disciples recognized that Chung Myung was using the Starting Form of the Seven Plum Sword.

‘Seven Plum Sword?’

They all knew that the Seven Plum Sword was the great sword that Hwasan had regained.

But the Seven Plum Sword seemed too weak to face Jongnam’s powerful sword.

At that moment, Chung Myung muttered quietly, as if talking to himself.

“It’s not just the Plum Blossom Sword Technique that can bloom flowers.”

Flowers do not only bloom in lush forests.

Flowers also bloom in a single plum blossom standing alone on a steep cliff.

Whether it was the Plum Blossom Sword Technique or the Seven Plum Sword, if the one holding the sword was a disciple of Hwasan, the sword technique did not matter.

Just⋯⋯.

Soon, a lovely flower bloomed from the tip of Chung Myung’s sword.

A single red flower bloomed from his sword tip, a warm splash of color against the cold white snow of Jin Geum-ryong’s attack. It looked like a snow plum blooming in the snow-covered mountains in the middle of a long winter.

The snow plum blooms alone in the winter when all the flowers have fallen, but it exudes a richer fragrance than any other flower.

The one plum blossom that Chung Myung bloomed gradually grew and soon covered the entire arena in the shape of a red plum blossom, like a snow plum blooming on the snow-covered peaks of Hwasan.

A hush fell over the crowd. Everyone watching was spellbound. It was more than just swordsmanship; it was art, a breathtaking display that seemed almost too beautiful, too grand, to be made by human hands.

‘This is an illusion.’

Time stops.

And in the stopped time, only the plum blossoms that bloomed alone were exuding a fragrance so rich that one would close their eyes involuntarily.