Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1152

The afternoon sun streamed through the paper windows of the meeting room, casting long shadows across the wooden floor. Namgung Dowi cleared his throat, adjusting the scrolls on the table in front of him. “So,” he began, “we need to discuss titles for the Heavenly Alliance.”

“Titles?” Chung Myung leaned back in his chair, a bored expression on his face. “Is that *really* necessary?”

He lazily looked around at the others in the room – the serious faces of the Five Swords, the thoughtful Hyun Jong, and the ever-sarcastic Im Sohyeong. “Come on,” Chung Myung continued, “we all know who does what already, don’t we? Why bother with all this formality?” He waved a dismissive hand.

At this, Namgung Dowi bristled and retorted,

“No, isn’t this something we should consider beyond ourselves?”

“…Huh?”

“Imagine a war breaks out! The Four Evil Sects invade. What will the minor sects along the Jang River do then?”

“Well…”

“Won’t they all line up to join the Heavenly Alliance and fight alongside us?”

Chung Myung looked at Namgung Dowi with a slightly admiring expression and said,

“Wouldn’t they go to the Nine Great Sects instead?”

“…”

Namgung Dowi, momentarily speechless, stared blankly at Chung Myung. The Five Swords nodded in agreement, adding their thoughts one by one.

“I’d side with the Nine Great Sects if I were them.”

“Honestly, that’s overconfidence. You’d have to stick with the Nine Great Sects to survive.”

“Shaolin versus Hwasan. The Nine Great Sects versus the Heavenly Alliance. Hey, there’s no need to even think about it.”

Namgung Dowi’s eyebrows twitched.

“Where does that confidence come from?”

“Senior Brother, isn’t he from the Namgung Clan? I heard people from the Namgung Clan originally think they’re no worse than Shaolin.”

“…Really?”

“Why else would they act like that?”

Those guys? Namgung Dowi barely managed to suppress his rising anger. In any debate, the first one to get heated loses. Now, more than ever, he had to show a rational demeanor.

“Well… of course, that might be the case, but depending on the situation, there might be those who can’t go to the Nine Great Sects and join us, right?”

“…I suppose so.”

Chung Myung reluctantly agreed in a rather unenthusiastic voice. His face seemed to say, ‘This is nonsense, but I said I’d listen.’

“Think about it. How can those people know who’s who and properly follow instructions?”

“Hmm?”

Those listening nodded as if they found it quite reasonable.

“That makes sense.”

“Hmm. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“But, wouldn’t they just follow what others are doing? Everyone has some sense, right?”

Hearing that, Namgung Dowi momentarily opened his mouth slightly and looked at Jo Gul. Jo Gul asked bluntly,

“What? Is that a face that says, ‘I never thought I’d hear the word ‘sense’ come out of your mouth’?”

“Wow, you’re like a ghost.”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, never mind.”

Namgung Dowi cleared his throat loudly and continued,

“Of course, if they have sense, they might. But the efficiency would inevitably decrease. And think about it. An elder from a famous sect, with white hair, receives an instruction, and suddenly a greenhorn jumps out and shouts that it’s wrong, that they should go this way.”

“Uh…”

“Whose words should they follow? It’s hard to decide…”

“Greenhorn.”

“Young punk.”

“A green, rude punk.”

“The most annoying one of them all.”

Namgung Dowi blinked at the almost simultaneous answers.

“Why, why?”

He asked back, genuinely flustered. Baek Cheon then wore a pleased smile.

“How many guys are there in the Heavenly Alliance who ignore the old elders and just say what they want, while being annoying?”

Wow, that’s really persuasive.

Namgung Dowi was convinced. But he soon came to his senses.

“Y-yes, but… that’s only something we know! Outsiders might know the epithet ‘Hwasan Sword Saint,’ but they don’t know what Chung Myung Dojang looks like.”

“Excuse me, Young Clan Leader.”

“Yes?”

“…We didn’t say it was Chung Myung.”

“…”

Namgung Dowi turned to Chung Myung with trembling eyes.

Chung Myung was smiling and looking back at him with a face that said, ‘Oh? You were looking at me like that?’ Namgung Dowi couldn’t help but avoid Chung Myung’s gaze.

“Ahem.”

Now, more than ever, he had to change the subject quickly.

“Anyway, that… a system and titles are necessary to prevent confusion among those who don’t know him well.”

At that moment, Yiseol raised her hand.

Everyone turned to Yiseol, surprised. Even Tang Gunak looked shocked. Yiseol rarely spoke in meetings.

“W-well… uh, go ahead and speak, Yiseol.”

“Do you really think they don’t know?”

“…Huh?”

“Him?”

Yiseol turned her head and looked at Chung Myung.

Yiseol’s words were only two phrases, but they made everyone understand.

“…Honestly, how could they not know?”

“In fact, if you still don’t know him, you’re not a martial artist.”

“I suppose they might not know his face, but if you see a young punk rampaging around in Hwasan, even a kid in the neighborhood would say, ‘Ah, that’s the Hwasan Sword Saint.'”

“Wouldn’t you have to plug your ears to not know Chung Myung?”

Namgung Dowi closed his mouth.

Thinking about it, those words weren’t entirely wrong. The Hwasan Sword Saint’s fame was incredibly high.

He’s become even more famous since the Hangzhou Demon Incident.

Actually, Chung Myung and Jang Ilso fought the Lord together. But the Heavenly Alliance didn’t tell the full story. They said Chung Myung and the Alliance defeated the Lord.

The Four Evil Sects were claiming that Jang Ilso had caught the Lord.

In any case, even the Nine Great Sects couldn’t openly object to this fact and remained silent, so the news that Chung Myung had defeated the Lord was already widespread throughout the world.

Wasn’t it possible that the name ‘Hwasan Sword Saint Chung Myung’ was more famous than the name ‘Heavenly Alliance’?

You could tell how famous a martial artist was by walking around a small alley in the neighborhood. If kids were pretending to be him, everyone would know how famous he was.

“Th-that’s…”

Namgung Dowi, at a loss for words, hesitated, and people clicked their tongues.

“Young Clan Leader, you have a tendency to obsess over unnecessary things…”

Im Sohyeong didn’t miss this opportunity.

“Rich families love rules and titles. If the Namgung Clan were in charge, even the janitor would get a fancy title like ‘Director of Garden Cleaning!'”

“Ugh…”

Being teased by Im Sohyeong felt three times more painful than being teased by others. He wanted to protest somehow, but he had given the wrong example from the start, so he couldn’t find any excuse to do so.

But then, the kind-hearted Hyun Jong saved Namgung Dowi.

“Hmm. It’s not quite right to say that.”

Everyone looked at Hyun Jong.

“Not everyone in the Alliance is as famous as Chung Myung, is he?”

“That’s right, Alliance Leader.”

“In fact, titles are a way to create authority, so I’m not very fond of them either…”

Hyun Jong looked at everyone with a slightly embarrassed face.

Hyun Jong was a Taoist. He believed in letting things happen naturally. He didn’t really like making strict rules and titles.

“Nevertheless, I agree that there should be appropriate titles in a place where people gather. Wouldn’t there be problems when the elders of each sect have different opinions?”

“Certainly…”

“It’s a sensitive issue.”

Tang Gunak and Maeng So nodded as if they understood.

There wasn’t much to argue about between the sect leaders themselves. There was already a certain amount of tacit understanding between them. But the elders of each sect often couldn’t escape their own perspectives.

If there was time to coordinate opinions, there wouldn’t be much of a problem. But in a war where the tide of battle could be turned by momentary decisions, that small conflict of opinion could cause a big problem.

Especially…

“The smaller groups fighting with us could get hurt the most if things go wrong. We can’t just ignore this because it doesn’t affect us directly.”

“Hmm.”

“In that sense, Young Clan Leader Namgung has made a very good point.”

“Alliance Leader…”

Gratitude dripped from Namgung Dowi’s eyes as he looked at Hyun Jong.

Indeed, that deep thought and warm consideration, that character without the slightest deficiency to become the leader of the Heavenly Alliance!

Im Sohyeong had just talked about the situation where the Namgung Clan would become the leader of the Heavenly Alliance, but that would never have happened.

Originally, Namgung Hwang was one of the most arrogant people in the world. Even his son, Namgung Dowi, thought so. But even Namgung Hwang would have had to give up the position of leader after experiencing Hyun Jong.

It was fortunate that Hwasan was leading the Heavenly Alliance. To have such a person as the leader…

“…By the way.”

At that moment, Chung Myung opened his mouth with a slightly suspicious voice.

“Huh?”

“No, well… I’m not against it. I just suddenly have a fundamental question.”

Tang Gunak asked in a puzzled tone.

“A fundamental question? What are you talking about?”

“That… you seem to be saying that it’s important to protect those small and medium-sized sects.”

“That’s right.”

“Do we really need to worry so much about these smaller groups? What have they actually contributed?”

“…”

Everyone was speechless and looked at Chung Myung. But Chung Myung tilted his head as if he really didn’t understand.

“Am I saying something wrong?”

“That…”

The astonished people stared blankly at Chung Myung before simultaneously closing their eyes tightly. Even Hyun Jong could only cover his face with both hands, unable to say anything.

How… how did such a human being come out from under such a Hyun Jong? And how did everyone here end up taking orders from such a human being?

Chung Myung wasn’t completely oblivious, so he looked around and subtly changed his words.

“Well, if it’s absolutely necessary, I won’t oppose it…”

“Excuse me, Young Clan Leader Namgung.”

At that moment, Jo Gul cautiously spoke.

“Yes? Yes, Dojang Jo Gul.”

“According to your words, that bastard will also occupy a reasonably high position, right?”

Namgung Dowi turned his head and looked at Chung Myung, pausing for a moment to think.

Chung Myung, Chung Myung…

“I… suppose so?”

No matter how he thought about it, there was no way to leave that person out. If it was something that was happening under the guise of efficiency, then giving that person a position like Chief Commander would allow everyone except the sect leaders to follow orders…

As he continued to think, Namgung Dowi suddenly understood the seriousness of the situation and froze. His face turned pale in an instant.

‘He’s going to wear a hat here too?’

That guy?

Jo Gul hurriedly raised his hand.

“I, I object…!”

“Oh, really?”

But at that moment, Chung Myung didn’t miss the flow and suddenly interjected.

“If that happens, does that mean I’ll be a rebel if I don’t listen to what I’m told?”

“W-wait a moment. Do…”

“Then I’m in favor.”

The corners of Chung Myung’s lips curled up.

“Let’s create it, that title or whatever.”