Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1681

“Eura-chaaaah!”

Jo Gul roared, his voice echoing off the cold mountain rocks.

His sword flashed, a silver streak cutting through the air like lightning. It seemed even faster and sharper than usual, perhaps because he hadn’t faced an enemy in a while.

“If you try to block me, you’re dead! You bastards!”

He pushed off the ground with a powerful leap, his blade slicing through the surprised swordsmen of the Evil Sword Union. Three enemies fell back, clutching at wounds that bloomed red. Spinning in a whirlwind of motion, Jo Gul swung his sword in a wide arc, scattering the remaining attackers like leaves in a storm.

‘I thought so… This is the first time I’ve led from the front.’

He realized there was a big difference between just being at the front and actually leading. When you’re just standing at the front, someone is giving you instructions from behind. But when you’re leading, you’re on your own.

That made all the difference.

‘I think I understand!’

Jo Gul’s sword moved without any hesitation.

He couldn’t explain it, but he knew exactly what to do. He could sense where Baek Cheon was, how Yoon Jong was attacking, and how Namgung Dowi and Hae Yeon were supporting them, even without looking.

Probably… right now!

Kwaaaah!

A massive explosion erupted. That was likely Namgung Dowi’s sword strike. And if so?

Koooong!

A slightly slower but much heavier explosion followed. That was definitely Hae Yeon’s power.

The explosions meant the enemy’s resistance was focused on the front line. And that meant?

“Uncle-Master will break through!”

Paaah!

Jo Gul thrust his sword forward like a shooting star. Power and sword energy scattered and twisted around the enemy, and Jugong pierced through the gap. At the same moment, others struck out to the left and right, preventing the enemy from concentrating in the center.

They had done this countless times.

It was different, but also the same. Baek Cheon, Yoon Jong, Hae Yeon, and Namgung Dowi were probably thinking the same thing.

The horrific battles of the past had not been in vain; they were etched into their bodies as experience.

“Get out of the way!”

Shwaaaa!

His speed was unmatched.

Jo Gul’s sword, extended in an instant, split into twelve directions in the air. Each shadow of Jo Gul’s sword, stretching out like rays of light, pierced the bodies of the bewildered enemies in succession.

“O, One Sword Di…”

Thwack!

Jo Gul’s sword pierced the mouth of the one who was about to shout his title, cutting off his breath in an instant.

“Euraaa! Get out of the way if you don’t want to die!”

“That idiot!”

Yoon Jong bit his lip tightly.

Jo Gul’s voice could be heard all the way back here. He seemed to be rampaging without looking back, not even thinking about matching the speed of those following him.

But.

‘Well, I expected it!’

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be Jo Gul. Jo Gul would naturally be like that, and he had to be.

It was Yoon Jong himself who had to adapt to such a Jo Gul.

“Hap!”

Yoon Jong’s sword deflected the incoming spear. A clean sword strike without any wasted movement. If Jo Gul’s sword pierced, then his was more like a shield that blocked. It wasn’t something they had learned or acquired. They had learned the same sword, but their swords had developed in completely different directions.

“It’s hard to keep up, you bastard!”

Thwack!

Yoon Jong stepped forward, his feet planted firmly on the ground, twisting his body and unleashing his sword in one swift motion.

The sword energy he emitted shattered in the air, covering the densely packed enemies.

“Aaargh!”

Unlike Jo Gul, who cut off the enemy’s breath instantly, Yoon Jong’s sword exerted more power, preventing the enemies from daring to rush in.

Jo Gul pierced through the enemies that had been pushed back from the opposite side. Naturally, without needing to say anything.

It was difficult to match Jo Gul’s pace with his somewhat heavy sword, but for Yoon Jong, the difficulty was already a familiar sensation.

And there were plenty of ways to make up for the slight delay.

“Further forward! Keep pushing!”

“Yes!”

The disciples swung their swords to Yoon Jong’s left and right. No one went ahead, but no one lagged behind either. The front line became one, pushing the enemy back in line with Yoon Jong’s outstretched toes.

Yoon Jong saw the densely packed enemies surging in his eyes.

Then naturally?

Kwaaaah!

Kwaaah!

“…No. Please think about the rear a little.”

A sigh that didn’t fit the situation escaped from Yoon Jong’s mouth.

“I told you not to waste your inner strength.”

“…Amitabha.”

“…Ah, no. I saw an opening.”

Baek Cheon’s face contorted.

‘I should have kept my mouth shut.’

He had said several times that the real battle wasn’t now, but those people couldn’t resist attacking when they saw the clustered enemies. Even the disciples were swept up in the reaction, launching their own power and sword energy from the rear whenever they saw it explode in the front.

“Ugh, better to suffer… No, that’s not it!”

Baek Cheon, who almost repeated someone’s habit, shook his head and looked ahead.

‘What’s the distance?’

It was close now. Then?

“Let’s go! We’ll break through in one go!”

Baek Cheon’s party, which had been moving in a triangular formation, increased its speed at that moment. Their target was their wedge: the backs of the two people opening the way at the front.

Tap!

Baek Cheon’s foot kicked off the ground.

The moment all the disciples followed him, Baek Cheon saw a familiar sword technique.

Whoosh.

Yoo Iseol, soaring into the air, descended into the heart of the enemy ranks.

‘Anyway!’

It was extremely dangerous. It was something that no one would dare to attempt unless they had absolute confidence in their martial arts and lightness skill. It was Yoo Iseol’s specialty, which even Baek Cheon couldn’t dare to imitate.

But as dangerous as it was, its effect was certain. Who in the battlefield where lives were at stake could ignore someone falling from above their heads?

The enemy’s sword coming from the front wouldn’t reach me until someone in front of me fell, but the enemy’s sword falling from above could cut off my neck at any time. Maintaining formation in such a situation was a dream.

Saaaah!

Yoo Iseol’s sword drew a crescent moon in the air. The clearly extended sword energy seemed to shatter for a moment, then instantly transformed into countless flower petals, pouring down on the enemy’s heads.

“Aaaaargh!”

The harmony of the Plum Blossom Sword Art, which contained the essence of the Lunar Goddess Sword that she had first learned.

Yoo Iseol’s sword, which had broken the vanguard of the enemy trying to counterattack in an instant and fallen into the center of the enemy, ruthlessly pierced the vital points of the bewildered enemies.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Those who died without even screaming collapsed on the spot.

The very center of a fierce battlefield where neither silence nor stillness could exist. But around Yoo Iseol, who stood still on the space created by her sword, a silence that shouldn’t exist descended.

“A, attack…”

Paaaaah!

Hundreds of sword shadows flew towards those who had their eyes stolen by the sight.

“W, what?”

It was a spectacle that even evoked the illusion of a mountain of swords piled up and pouring down. But no one could admire the spectacle.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Aaargh!”

Jin Geum-ryong, who had rendered dozens of enemies helpless in an instant, slightly frowned.

His Thirty-Six Swords of the World were powerful enough, but at this rate…

“I’m just getting freebies!”

“What? You…”

At that moment, Baek Cheon brushed past Jin Geum-ryong and leaped over the enemies he had knocked down.

Paaah!

His swinging sword cleanly cut off the heads of the enemies who had not yet regained consciousness. Just as Baek Cheon was about to swing his sword again, something slipped in front of him.

“W, what!”

“…Where to?”

“……”

When he raised his head, Yoo Iseol, with a sulky face, was blocking his path with her back.

“Junior Sister?”

“Where? That way?”

“……”

No sooner had Baek Cheon nodded blankly than Yoo Iseol charged forward.

Paaaah!

Her flying sword cut down three people’s necks in an instant, creating a narrow but sure path through the clustered enemies.

“Don’t fall behind. I’m not going to rest.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“Senior Brother.”

“…I wasn’t really asking.”

Tap tap.

The moment Yoo Iseol dashed forward, another person grabbed Baek Cheon’s head, pushed him back, and followed Yoo Iseol’s side.

“Get out of the way, Swordswoman! The vanguard is my place.”

“Slow.”

“This woman?”

The swords, swung as if competing with each other, collapsed the enemy in an instant. Baek Cheon, who had been blinking at the sight, flinched and raised his voice again.

“Follow me! Let’s break through at once!”

“Yes!”

“Anyway, they have bad personalities…”

Baek Cheon’s head shook again.

“Both of them.”

The sight of Yoo Iseol and Jin Geum-ryong breaking through the last line of defense of the enemy clearly entered his eyes.

“…Hmm.”

The sound of humming heavily subsided.

He could see it.

The sight of the enemy stirring up the Evil Sword Union below as if they were trampling on them.

“Did the Mount Heaven Alliance have this kind of ability?”

There was no way to deny their strategic ability… But wasn’t this more in the realm of tactics than strategy? There was no way that those who had been living like hermits in the warm rooms of a large mansion could fight like this.

“…Are they the children of Mount Hua?”

They were the only ones he could think of. But could they show this kind of leadership?

“Hmm.”

In the meantime, the enemy finally broke through those who were concentrated below Mount Wudang and set foot on the mountain range. It didn’t even take half a quarter of an hour for the first line of defense to collapse.

Even if the remaining guys were just a ragtag bunch gathered from here and there…

“As expected.”

Thousand-Faced Shaman took his eyes off the bottom and turned to look at one person.

“They don’t seem to be like you.”

“……”

Heo Gong clenched his sword tightly and glared at Thousand-Faced Shaman.

Reinforcements had arrived. Those reinforcements were now starting to climb this Wudang.

Then what they had to do was survive until those reinforcements arrived here. It was a simple goal, but also an extremely difficult one.

‘But we have to do it.’

Hope had reached their eyes now. Whether they could reach that hope was entirely up to them.

“…A vain hope has arisen.”

“……”

“Will they even be able to come here in the first place?”

Thousand-Faced Shaman slowly released his hands from behind his back. Then, with his hands slightly pulled back, he looked at Heo Gong and the disciples of Wudang.

Half? Or less?

Well, he didn’t know. Things like their numbers.

“I promise.”

Thousand-Faced Shaman smiled.

“Half will disappear within half an hour. And after another half an hour, no one will be standing. That will be the end of Wudang.”

“……”

Heo Gong glared at Thousand-Faced Shaman with determined eyes.

“We will definitely endure.”

“You must know how to distinguish between hope and reality.”

“Is that why you bowed your head to Jang Il-so? The Lord of the Great Honor Sect?”

In an instant, the expression disappeared from Thousand-Faced Shaman’s face.

“If that’s reality, I’d rather die with hope.”

“……”

Vicious anger seeped out from behind the mask covering Thousand-Faced Shaman’s face.

“I’ll take back the half an hour.”

A pure white energy violently erupted from both of Thousand-Faced Shaman’s hands.

“I’ll annihilate you all within a quarter of an hour!”

His palm shadows swelled like clouds, moving at an explosive speed.

Heo Gong bit his lip tightly at the sight.

‘I’m sorry, but I’m begging you! Please!’

May he be able to endure until those swords reach this place. May even a shred of the name of Wudang remain here.