Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1582

“Taaaah!”

Jongri Hyung, his face pale, cut down an enemy with one strike as they ran away.

He felt the heavy blade cut through. The feeling went all the way to his fingers.

He shouldn’t enjoy this feeling, as he was supposed to be good. But cutting down a bad person felt good. It was like washing away the bad feelings inside him.

‘Just these guys…!’

Who would call the Evil Sky Alliance ‘just’ anything? They were supposed to be scary! But they weren’t living up to their reputation. The Nine Great Sects were finding the Evil Sky Alliance to be not so tough.

He watched the bad guys from the Evil Path run away, looking scared. He felt relief, but also anger.

“You acted like you were so great!”

His sword moved like lightning, cutting the necks of those running away, one after another.

“Ack!”

They fell easily, without even a real scream. Jongri Hyung wiped the blood from his sword.

‘What have we been doing all this time?’

The Evil Path members they had fought so far were mostly like this.

Like a pack of wolves. They were scary when they had lots of members, enough to scare away a tiger. But each one alone was weak.

That’s why they were shaking in front of him now.

They had nothing but numbers. When they lost that, they were just trash.

“Is this all you are!”

Jongri Hyung’s sword, full of anger, struck again and again.

He cut down another Evil Path member and glared ahead.

‘I couldn’t see clearly.’

He wouldn’t say he was scared of the Evil Sky Alliance, but he had felt worried.

The Evil Sky Alliance seemed like they should be scary.

But when he fought them, Jongri Hyung realized something obvious.

The Nine Great Sects had never fought the Evil Sky Alliance directly.

During the Jang Kang disaster, at Plum Blossom Island, and even in Nanjing and Sichuan, the Nine Great Sects had always been forced to fight where and how the enemy wanted.

The enemy forced them to fight in places where it was hard to win, and made them do it.

They played with their enemies, making it almost impossible for the Evil Sky Alliance to lose.

This was because of the Evil Sky Alliance’s power, or rather, Jang Il-so’s strategies.

But this also meant that if Jang Il-so’s strategies couldn’t be used, the Evil Sky Alliance was just a big group of fighters from the Evil Path.

‘Chief Abbot!’

Beop Jeong knew this.

There were no cliffs here for Jang Il-so to use, no Jang Kang to trap them. There were no Waterway Alliance ships. Just a wide-open field.

Here, the Nine Great Sects would be strong, and the Evil Sky Alliance would lose their advantages.

Beop Jeong had told everyone to rush here because he knew this. He didn’t want to miss this chance.

‘If that’s true, won’t we win easily?’

The Myriad Formation Union, the Black Ghoul Stronghold—they seemed strong at first. But the Myriad Formation Union was just a group from the Evil Path with some power in Guizhou. And the Black Ghoul Stronghold was just a mixed group that had become strong because of money.

If they could fight properly, why would the Nine Great Sects, why would the Mount Hua Sect, be afraid of them?

Jongri Hyung held his sword tightly.

The fear he had hidden inside, which he didn’t want to admit, disappeared.

Then, he wanted to be rewarded for the time he had been scared. He also felt the ambition he had been holding back.

Victory was close.

Who would get the most praise after this victory? Which group would get the most glory?

The Shaolin, who had started this whole thing?

‘…Maybe not.’

Jongri Hyung’s eyes flashed like a hawk watching its prey.

If this war had a great strategy, if it was a hard-won victory where everyone gave their all, then maybe.

But if not, the world would pay attention to something else.

What everyone was most curious about.

What everyone valued most. The most important thing that had decided wars since long ago.

Jongri Hyung looked at one place.

Behind the men in front of him, at a man wearing a fancier robe than anyone else.

‘Jang Il-so’s head.’

The world would want to know.

Which group, who would bring back that head. Who would cut off that head and end this long war. Who would save the Central Plains from that devil.

Ten years. No, a hundred years, maybe a thousand years, people would talk about it.

Jongri Hyung’s sword was asking him now.

Would he miss this chance? Why had he learned to use the sword?

Some might call it ambition or greed.

“Haaaah!”

Paaaah!

Jongri Hyung’s sword shot out like light. It pierced the hearts of the bad guys.

‘No! That’s not it!’

This was not ambition or greed. Jang Il-so was causing trouble, and someone had to cut off his head. That was the truth.

Who could say Jongri Hyung wasn’t good enough!

Just because Shaolin had led everyone here didn’t mean only they could behead Jang Il-so.

Arguing about who was good enough would show that someone was obsessed with fame and didn’t care about the world’s safety.

Jongri Hyung’s eyes turned red.

The man in the blood-red robe, who was impossible to ignore, was right there. So close, like he could be caught at any moment.

“Break through! Go forward! I will behead the leader!”

Jongri Hyung, using all his strength, started to gather his inner power.

Taaaang!

A loud noise rang out. It sounded like a bowstring breaking after being pulled too far.

Paeng Yeop cut an enemy in half with one strike. He gritted his teeth and glared ahead.

Victory? That wasn’t enough.

He needed more!

He needed something to prove himself. He needed to shut up the elders in his family who were watching him with doubt!

‘Brother.’

Paeng Yeop’s brother was generous. Everyone thought he was talented and would bring glory to the family. He was a true Paeng. Paeng Ja-seo was Paeng Yeop’s brother.

Paeng Yeop was different.

He was naturally careful, so people said he was ‘not like a Paeng’. It was like a label that followed him.

It was hard to change his personality, even if he tried.

Even if he acted generously, trained with his sword, and talked about being controlling, the label ‘not like a Paeng’ stayed with him.

‘Damn it!’

Even when his brother’s generosity became selfish, bothering the elders, they asked Paeng Yeop to help them out of trouble.

Even after Paeng Yeop helped them push out his brother and become the family head.

The elders always doubted Paeng Yeop because he was ‘not like a Paeng’.

Paeng Yeop was no longer important to them. He was just someone they had to use for a while. When he was no longer useful, he would go back to being useless.

Maybe they were already looking for someone to replace Paeng Yeop. Someone who was more like a Paeng, someone with that generous personality.

Did he regret it?

Of course not.

He didn’t regret it. Even if Paeng Ja-seo, whom he had hurt, was his brother. Even if he was a brother who loved Paeng Yeop more than his father, because of his generous personality.

There was no way he would regret it.

Those who think they will always be on top don’t understand. They don’t know how it feels to never be on top. Can they imagine how it feels to be close but never able to take the final step, to not even have the chance to take it?

So, they must have looked at Paeng Yeop that way. Even at the end, they must have trusted him, believing that his brother would never trick him.

Swaeeeeek!

Paeng Yeop’s blade swung wildly. It cut through the enemy’s body and destroyed it. It was strong and fast.

But Paeng Yeop knew now. Even in the fighting world, where strength was everything, there were things you couldn’t get with strength alone.

‘I didn’t want to be the family head.’

He just wanted to prove himself. That he could also be the head of the Paeng family. That he could be a better family head than his brother.

If even one person had believed in him, Paeng Yeop would have helped Paeng Ja-seo forever.

But no one did. No one believed in him.

So, he didn’t regret it. He had to give up a lot to prove himself, but he would never regret it.

‘I was right.’

Even if he could go back, he would do the same thing. He had to be right. If he wasn’t, then everything he had done would be meaningless.

So, he needed glory.

The leader of the enemy, the devil of Guizhou, the king of 강남…

No matter what he called him, it wasn’t enough to describe Jang Il-so, whom Paeng Yeop was looking at.

In Paeng Yeop’s eyes, that man looked like a bright red fruit.

He had to get it. He had to get it no matter what.

Then, no one could doubt him anymore. Everything he had done would be right, and it would be for the good of the fighting world.

Even now, the fools of the Paeng family, who were watching from safe Beijing, would have to respect him for his great achievement.

“Ah…”

Paeng Yeop reached out towards Jang Il-so, who was far away.

He was so thirsty for it.

Only that could satisfy him.

That would make Paeng Yeop not a sad person hiding behind Beop Jeong, but a respected head of the Paeng family and a great hero.

If only… if only he could get that head!

“Pae Guuuuuuun!”

Paeng Yeop roared.

“Aaaaargh!”

He screamed and swung his blade, using all his inner power.

The Evil Path members blocking his way to Jang Il-so were killed instantly.

Blood splattered like heavy rain.

Normally, he would have been disgusted, but Paeng Yeop didn’t care now. The hot blood pouring on his face felt good.

“Kill!”

This might prove that he was a true member of the Paeng family.

“Kill! Kill them all! Kill everyone who blocks the way!”

Paeng Yeop moved towards the bright light that seemed to blind him.

The light named Jang Il-so. Towards the glory he deserved.