Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 162

“Faster! Move faster!” Baek Cheon yelled, his voice tight with fear.

“I… I can’t, Senior Uncle! My legs are burning!” Jo Gul gasped, his breath ragged.

“Don’t be weak now! Look!” Baek Cheon pointed upwards. “They’re almost there!”

Baek Cheon scrambled up the rough cliff face, his fingers digging into the stone. He was climbing as fast as he could, desperation driving him, but the Mount Hua disciples above were still pulling ahead. If they reached the top first… Chung Myung would be alone.

If that happened, Chung Myung would have to face the Mount Hua disciples alone. No matter how strong Chung Myung was, there was no way he could win against so many Mount Hua disciples by himself.

It was impossible even if Chung Myung’s grandfather fought instead of Chung Myung.

“If you don’t want to see your junior brother die, use every last bit of strength you have! I’m going ahead!”

“Huh?”

Baek Cheon began to climb the cliff even faster than before. Yoo Iseol closely followed behind him.

“Damn it!”

Even though they had undergone the same training, Baek Cheon and Yoo Iseol were second-generation disciples, while Jo Gul and Yoon Jong were third-generation disciples. There was still a big difference between the two generations.

“Gul! Hang in there! We need to go faster!”

“I-I think I’m going to die!”

“Stop whining!”

Yoon Jong gritted his teeth. He wasn’t ashamed of falling behind Baek Cheon. To him, Baek Cheon was an idol. The reason Yoon Jong was so angry now was that he couldn’t help Chung Myung, who might be in danger.

“I’ll do whatever it takes… Huh?”

At that moment, something strange caught Yoon Jong’s eye. Some of the Mount Hua disciples who had been climbing up turned around and began to crawl towards them.

“What are they doing?”

“Looks like they’re coming to stop us?”

“…That’s odd.”

“I agree.”

It was indeed strange.

“Who knew that training to fight on a cliff would be helpful in a situation like this?”

Yoon Jong drew his sword, and Jo Gul did the same.

To face that many Mount Hua disciples on flat ground? No way. He wouldn’t even think about it. Among those visible, there wasn’t anyone who looked younger than him. There would be at least Jinja and Muja ranks among them.

But this was on a cliff, and they were the ones who had to endure Chung Myung’s sword on the cliff.

“You’re digging your own graves!”

Yoon Jong crawled towards the Mount Hua disciples who were approaching him.

Jo Gul, who was watching from behind, muttered to himself.

“…It’s really unsightly.”

“Petty tricks!” Heo Sanja said, watching the approaching swords.

But just because they were petty tricks didn’t mean they were easy to deal with. Why were they called divine weapons? Because they could cut through sword energy and slice through bodies strengthened with internal energy.

If he couldn’t avoid each of those swords…

“Hmm?”

At that moment, Heo Sanja’s eyes widened slightly.

‘The divine weapons…?’

There was no sharp energy in the flying swords. All he could see were rusty, chipped, and ugly lumps of scrap metal.

“What is this?”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Heo Sanja raised his sword and deflected the incoming swords. The swords, which had no sharpness, were sent flying. Some of them broke in half from Heo Sanja’s strikes.

“This is…”

Fwoosh!

“Gasp!”

A sword with strong energy flew in among the rusty swords.

Heo Sanja twisted his body in horror. If something like this had flown at him from the beginning, he would have dealt with it calmly. But with a real divine weapon flying at him in the midst of his confusion, even he was surprised.

And…

Uraaaah!!

Chung Myung didn’t miss the opportunity and rushed in, striking Heo Sanja’s side.

“Kugh!”

Clang!

He managed to block the attack with his sword, but he couldn’t stop his body from being thrown back.

Heo Sanja, who had been thrown off the cliff, bit his lip.

“You’re using petty tricks until the very end!”

Heo Sanja twisted his body and threw his sword forward. Then, he used the force of the flying sword to climb back onto the cliff.

Chung Myung clicked his tongue as he watched.

‘Looks like I’ll have to put in some effort.’

It would have been nice if he had just fallen off the cliff, but it didn’t seem like he was going to end it that easily.

Meanwhile, Heo Sanja, who was standing on the cliff, frowned and looked at the swords scattered on the ground.

“…This is.”

“It’s just a sword after all.”

“…”

Even after looking at them again, they were still covered in rust, stained red, and in terrible shape.

‘Well, this makes sense.’

Even if it’s called a divine sword, it’s still just an object made of iron. If it’s left in this humid underground for two hundred years, it’s only natural that it would rust and decay.

But among them, there were still some swords that retained their sharpness. In other words, those swords weren’t just called that, they were true divine weapons.

‘Well, it’s all in vain anyway.’

Heo Sanja could almost hear Yakseon’s mocking laughter.

The goal of those who entered the Sword Tomb was to obtain a divine weapon. Only a few sects, including Mount Hua, the Beggars’ Sect, and Shaolin, knew that Talgeommuheun was Yakseon.

Even that was only revealed because Yakseon’s disciple accidentally let it slip.

Conversely, it meant that when Yakseon created the Sword Tomb, he thought that those who came later would only be after the divine weapons.

Did Yakseon really not know that these swords would rot?

There was no way. If he really wanted to pass these swords on to future generations, he would have stored them more carefully instead of leaving them in a humid cave.

“Were you thinking of mocking your descendants? You weren’t such a great man either.”

Heo Sanja’s gaze turned to the wooden box.

It didn’t matter what happened to the divine weapons. His goal from the beginning was that. And… it seemed that Chung Myung was the same.

Chung Myung also didn’t spare a glance at the swords that had fallen on the floor.

“Looks like we have the same goal.”

“I’ll just let you have those swords if you want them.”

“Are you always this annoying, even when your life is in danger?”

“Aww. You’re not greedy at all.”

Or, was he too greedy?

Chung Myung pointed his sword forward. It seemed that the more time passed, the more disadvantageous it would be for Chung Myung. If he couldn’t defeat Heo Sanja quickly, the other elders of Mount Hua would come up here.

‘Then there’s no answer.’

It was a truth of the world that one fist couldn’t beat ten. Even that Heavenly Demon couldn’t avoid this truth. Chung Myung had no intention of personally experimenting to see if that truth was right or wrong.

“Here I come!”

“You’re impatient!”

“Geez, you talk too much! Amitabha!”

Chung Myung’s sword floated softly in the air.

“Hmm?”

At that moment, Heo Sanja’s aura changed. He had realized that Chung Myung’s sword was unusual.

Suddenly, bright red flowers seemed to grow from the end of Chung Myung’s sword. Heo Sanja gasped in surprise.

“Plum Blossom Swordplay? You brought it back!”

(Chung Myung thought) “He acted like he didn’t care, but he was watching!”

It seemed he knew that Hwasan had lost the Plum Blossom Swordplay. Chung Myung wasn’t really using the Plum Blossom Swordplay. It was his own style, the Seven Plum Sword. But Heo Sanja seemed to think it was the lost art.

Soft red petals began to fall like rain, swirling around them.

Flowers should not grow in a cave like this, Heo Sanja thought, surprised.

Yet, bright red plum blossoms bloomed in the dark cave, where no plum tree could ever live. They burst open all at once, like a sudden fire, and rushed towards Heo Sanja in a wave of crimson.

Heo Sanja lowered his sword, his eyes narrowed.

Lower stance.

The most stable posture and the starting point of the Wudang sword.

The sword began to move heavily.

Circle.

Heo Sanja’s sword soon drew a large circle in front of him.

The circle was the origin. And the starting point of everything.

Heo Sanja thought of the beginning of everything.

In the end, the beginning of the world was Yin and Yang. That Yin and Yang were the very essence of the Taegeuk.

“Haaaah!”

The circle drawn by Heo Sanja’s sword split in half, soon dividing into two energies, black and white, swirling around.

Taegeuk Hyegom (Taegeuk Wisdom Sword).

The highest martial art of Wudang, and the ultimate skill that made Wudang known as Wudang throughout the world.

That Taegeuk Hyegom was finally realized through Heo Sanja’s hand.

Mujin had already used Taegeuk Hyegom against Chung Myung, but what Mujin showed was just a clumsy imitation of the outer shell. In other words, it was not worthy of being called Hyegom.

But now, Heo Sanja’s Taegeuk sword showed true inner power.

The fluttering petals of Chung Myung were swept into the swirling Taegeuk.

Soft and strong.

Two opposing properties melted together. Gently sucking in the petals and fiercely crushing them.

“To bloom plum blossoms at that age!”

Heo Sanja’s surprise turned to a cold seriousness. *This boy is dangerous. I must stop him.*

“It’s too early to be surprised!”

Chung Myung’s sword was swung once more.

Their styles were opposites. Chung Myung knew this. Hwasan’s strong, sharp attacks could be stopped by Wudang’s soft, flowing movements. It wasn’t about who was stronger, but about how their styles clashed.

A swift and fast sword always revealed its weakness to a soft counter-attack.

But, that was all.

So what if they were mutually restrained?

Fire was extinguished when water was poured on it, but a large fire burned even more fiercely when it met water. All properties could be overcome with a stronger force.

‘Come!’

The inner Qi coiled in his dantian responded to Chung Myung’s will. Spotless and clear energy escaped the dantian, swirling around his body, and finally rested at the tip of his sword.

Blooming.

Blooming and blooming again.

The plum blossoms grew and grew. Soon, they looked like a small forest, big enough to cover a hill.

It wasn’t the Seven Plum Sword.

Twenty-Four Hand Plum Blossom Swordplay.

A swordplay that Jongnam had tried to steal in the past but could never grasp the true meaning of.

Plum Blossom Shower!

Fluttering and fluttering again. Like plum petals fluttering like snow in the spring breeze.

Heo Sanja was shocked by the sea of plum blossoms flying towards him.

‘How… can such a swordplay exist?’

The beginning of everything was Taegeuk.

Soon, to contain Taegeuk in a sword was like containing the world in a sword.

But the sword before his eyes now spoke to him.

Was the origin everything?

Was the beginning everything?

No.

The world was self-existent (Nature).

If Taegeuk contained the Dao, then the dewdrop on the tip of a leaf at dawn also contained the Dao.

All of that was Dao. All of that was nature.

The plum petals were merely fluttering, but within them was contained the logic of the world.

“Haaaah!”

“Yah!”

The petals and Taegeuk collided, and a massive storm raged.

It was fortunate that no one else had arrived on the cliff yet. If anyone had been here, they would have been horribly mangled by the fragments of plum blossoms and Taegeuk that were scattered.

“Kkeueuk!”

Heo Sanja, who had been thrown backward, clutched his chest.

‘It pierced through my sword?’

His chest was stained with blood. Not only that, but his entire body was sharply cut, spewing blood.

‘What about him?’

Heo Sanja raised his head sharply. He could see Chung Myung lying on his back across from him.

“Kkeueueueung.”

Chung Myung struggled to get up. It seemed that he wasn’t unscathed either.

‘A draw?’

No, perhaps he was pushed back a little.

A sense of reverence arose in his heart.

At this moment, Heo Sanja was feeling an unbearable respect for that young child. But at the same time, his sense of crisis grew.

“That old man is very strong.”

Chung Myung struggled to get up and spat on the floor. It was closer to blood than saliva.

“Now, the next one will be the end.”

“That’s what I want.”

The two men faced each other and took a quiet breath.

But there was something that both of them had overlooked.

This wasn’t a sparring arena, nor was it a place where a duel between the two would take place. And now, the two of them weren’t competing for victory.

“Senior Brother!”

Suddenly, Heo Sanja heard a shout from below.

The heads of the two men, who were taking a deep breath, turned at the same time.

Heo Gong.

Finally, Heo Sanja’s junior brother, Heo Gong, had climbed up the cliff and arrived here.

In that instant, Heo Sanja’s eyes wavered. Realizing what he was doing, he screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Junior Brother! That wooden box! Grab the wooden boooooox!”

Heo Gong’s head turned sharply.

The wooden box placed on the rock in the center came clearly into his view.

“Yes!”

Heo Gong threw himself towards the center without hesitation. At that moment, Chung Myung screamed.

“Nooooo!”

Chung Myung immediately tried to throw himself at Heo Gong. But Heo Sanja quickly blocked his path.

“This is the end, you rascal!”

“No, that’s not it…!”

The sight of Heo Gong grabbing the wooden box was clearly etched into Chung Myung’s eyes.

“Ah…”

…I’m doomed.

Oh, you idiots!