Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 169

Chung Myung walked like he was in a trance.

He went straight to the Sword Tomb, which was now broken.

He reached the bottom of Jeokgong Mountain and started walking up the only path. His face showed no feeling.

He kept saying quietly, “Yak Seon. Talgeommuheun. Yak Seon. Talgeommuheun. Honwon Dan. Disciple…”

He needed to think.

He wasn’t the best at thinking, but Chung Myung knew he was the only one who could figure this out. Ideas and clues mixed together in his head.

‘What was I trying to gain?’

Honwon Dan. And the method to create Honwon Dan.

‘Where did I hear about it?’

The Sword Tomb. The grave of Talgeommuheun.

He realized he was wrong from the beginning.

He thought Yak Seon and Talgeommuheun were the same person. But Yak Seon was Talgeommuheun, but Talgeommuheun was not *only* Yak Seon. He made a mistake by not seeing this small but important difference.

If Yak Seon had identified himself with Talgeommuheun, he wouldn’t have tried to hide the fact, nor would he have revealed Talgeommuheun’s tomb to the world under the name Sword Tomb.

Ultimately, if Yak Seon had intended to leave traces of himself, it could never have been in the Sword Tomb.

After all, wasn’t what they found inside the Sword Tomb just a pile of rotten divine weapons?

Then.

Where are the traces of Yak Seon, not Talgeommuheun?

‘It leads to a single path.’

In the past, Jeokgong Mountain was said to have had several mountain paths besides this one. But at some point, a natural disaster left only this path.

It was like the path was made so everyone climbing Jeokgong Mountain *had* to go through the Sword Tomb.

As Chung Myung climbed, feeling lost in his thoughts, he saw a big, deep hole. He stopped at the edge and looked down into it. His eyes were empty.

‘Sword Tomb.’

This is the Sword Tomb.

Everyone who climbs this mountain will come here.

Chung Myung mumbled, “The Way… not the Way… Path… not a Path…”

Baek Cheon asked carefully, “Have you figured something out?” Chung Myung turned to him quickly, his eyes bright.

“Sasuk.”

“Hmm?”

“What did those who discovered the Sword Tomb do?”

“What are you talking about?”

“What did those who discovered the Sword Tomb do!”

“Well…”

It was an unexpected question, but he had to answer it. Clearly, Chung Myung’s question was coming from a process of organizing his thoughts.

“They went inside.”

“How?”

“No, what are you saying? Of course, they opened the door and went inside…”

Baek Cheon closed his mouth.

Open the door and go inside.

Baek Cheon thought about the word ‘Entrance.’ ‘Entrance… it can mean many things.’

But then he realized, ‘Here, it must mean one thing…’ He looked at Chung Myung.

“‘A door made of swords pointing at each other?'”

Chung Myung nodded. “Yes. Entering the world of martial arts.”

Chung Myung said with a distorted face.

“What was behind it?”

“A long and increasingly narrow path. With traps along the way.”

Jo Gul clapped his hands.

“I get it! That’s training!”

“Yes. It’s training. Training is like walking a path that gradually narrows. Everyone starts on a wide path, but eventually, they can’t handle the narrowing path and start to fall behind one by one. Only those who overcome it move on to the next stage.”

“Experiencing great obstacles along the way.”

Chung Myung nodded vigorously.

Now it was clear.

“In other words…”

Baek Cheon summarized the situation.

“The Sword Tomb is a representation of the process of a person entering martial arts and cultivating their skills.”

“Probably.”

Only then could Baek Cheon understand the bizarre form inside the Sword Tomb.

“But the path split in the middle.”

“Learning martial arts is the same. Even if the entry is the same, everyone chooses a different path according to their inclinations. But what happened at the end?”

“…The paths merge back into one.”

“Many streams return to the source. Even if they walk different paths, in the end, they have no choice but to follow one according to a greater purpose.”

Baek Cheon groaned.

“…The completion of martial arts.”

“That’s right.”

The vast space where Chung Myung and the others fought Jo Myung-san and the Three Evil Ghosts.

The paths that had been divided into several merged back into one there. As if martial artists with different intentions had no choice but to move towards a single goal in the end.

“What was after that?”

“…A long, dark cave. And zombies.”

Yoon Jong groaned.

“Inner demons.”

“Yes. The darkness that inevitably comes before completing martial arts. Inner demons.”

“Then what about that cliff? Climbing up after experiencing inner demons…”

The answer came from Baek Cheon’s mouth, not Chung Myung’s.

“The Path to becoming like a god.”

Baek Cheon could now understand the meaning of it all.

“The dazzling light coming down from the end of that cliff signifies the completion of martial arts. In Taoism, it’s becoming immortal and flying to heaven, like in old stories, and in Buddhism, it’s enlightenment.”

But there was still something unresolved.

“Then? What about those completely rotten divine weapons and the empty wooden box? If it’s ascension, shouldn’t something be achieved?”

Chung Myung bared his teeth.

“There’s nothing.”

“Huh?”

“Ascension or detachment. There’s nothing at the place reached by fighting people and killing people. From the beginning, there’s no meaning in learning martial arts itself. The Sword Tomb isn’t a place Yak Seon created to test people, but a place where he shaped his thoughts on martial arts.”

Yoo Iseol’s words were the clue.

Yak Seon is a doctor.

There was no way such people could look kindly on martial artists who hurt and killed people. No, perhaps they looked like mortal enemies. The more he loved and cherished people, the deeper his hatred would have grown.

“That’s why he became Talgeommuheun and tried to let the powerful figures of the time know that their martial arts were meaningless. By taking away their cherished weapons, which were symbols of their martial arts. Yak Seon was so skilled in alchemy that he could create Honwon Dan, so even if he lacked techniques, he could defeat the powerful figures of the time with immense inner strength.”

“…But nothing changed.”

“That’s right. Martial artists’ obsession with martial arts is beyond imagination. Yak Seon wanted to say, ‘Your martial arts only hurt and kill. Even if you try to make it sound good by talking about Tao or Buddhism, it’s all meaningless in the end.'”

Baek Cheon grabbed his shoulders as if he had goosebumps.

It was a terrifying obsession and a terrifying madness. To be able to create such an absurd place as the Sword Tomb just to convey that one thing. Just how tenacious a human being was Yak Seon?

“Then there was no way there would be anything inside from the start?”

“That’s right.”

“…Just wasted effort.”

Those who had finally realized the truth of the Sword Tomb each sighed.

“But why did you come here? To confirm that?”

“No.”

Chung Myung shook his head firmly.

“I told you. The Sword Tomb is not Yak Seon’s tomb. This place is just Talgeommuheun’s tomb. Yak Seon didn’t think of himself as Talgeommuheun. That’s fake. Just a fake identity compared to the alchemy and medicine Yak Seon created.”

“…”

“What do people usually do when what they aimed for collapses?”

“…They’ll try to find a new goal.”

He looks up.

Everyone couldn’t take their eyes off the collapsing ceiling, and even Chung Myung sought out the light pouring down from the sky the moment the cave collapsed. As if there was still light there.

But people who realize everything is pointless look down. Down to the bottom… to the place martial artists would never even look at. There, you find life. There, people survive. People are living there.

Chung Myung muttered incessantly.

His words were not directed at his martial brothers. The thoughts that burst out like a flood were merely flowing out in the form of words.

The air was still. Chung Myung looked at the others, then asked, “Then what about those who have attained enlightenment? What should they do?”

“Return?”

“No.”

Chung Myung began to move his feet slowly.

“Move forward. Even those who set the wrong goal from the start. Even those who harmed others while walking the path of martial arts. If they are alive, they can move forward.”

He headed towards the mountain path that continued beyond the pit.

No one went that way.

Although many people gathered here, none of those who discovered the Sword Tomb tried to move their feet onto the continuing path, and no one thought it was strange.

Because their goal was right here.

“There were countless clues. A patch of land in the middle of the mountain where not a single blade of grass grows. People who only want treasure might think this place is gold. But it is just dead land.”

“Ah…”

Hearing the words ‘dead land,’ everything felt clear.

Looking back, there were so many clues, and they were explaining it so kindly. It was just that the lump of desire called the Honwon Pill and the divine weapon prevented them from thinking otherwise.

The Hwasan disciples quickly went into the Sword Tomb when they got here. When it broke, they left without looking back. They didn’t care about anything else.

Chung Myung walked forward like he was in a dream.

He left the dead land and the big hole behind. He walked past where everything had broken and become nothing.

He kept going on the path, pushing through the lush bushes.

‘This is what you wanted to say.’

The emptiness of martial arts is not the end.

Walk.

Still, walk on.

Even if you have lost the goal you tried to achieve by risking your entire life, if you do not despair at it, and if you are someone who has found out what is under your feet… it is not too late, so move forward with those two feet.

For life, not martial arts.

Chung Myung’s steps became serious.

Chung Myung didn’t agree with Yakseon’s ideas. But he had to respect this amazing plan Yakseon made. Yakseon put his whole life into it.

And then.

What they arrived at was another wide open space.

But unlike the first place they saw, everything here was in harmony.

Water flowed through the cracks in the rocks, and the surroundings were lush with grass. Trees grew naturally, and the animals that were freely playing among them discovered Chung Myung and hurriedly ran away in surprise.

Just a natural place that was nothing special.

But that was why Chung Myung could be sure that this was the land that Yakseon had truly chosen. Because it was in perfect contrast to the dead land they had first arrived at.

“People who don’t know Yakseon’s will wouldn’t think anything even if they arrived here.”

“That’s right. This is just… really just a mountain.”

Chung Myung’s gaze was fixed on one place from the beginning.

A crack in the rock on one side of the clearing, where water flowed out.

That place was probably the water source of this Jeokgong Mountain.

“The water is weak.”

Chung Myung muttered lowly.

“The thin and shallow water soon merges with other waters to form a stream, a river, and eventually flows into the sea. In the process, it allows countless lives to live.”

That was ultimately the Tao.

And benevolence.

“If Yakseon really wanted to pass on his things, he would have had to overcome his pride and worries.”

The Sword Tomb is a worry.

Then what is Yakseon’s pride?

“What I…”

Chung Myung muttered as if he had become Yakseon.

“What I have achieved will spread to the world like water and become the starting point for saving countless people.”

An absurdly arrogant thought.

But…

If the one who made this arrangement was really Yakseon, he was entitled to be arrogant.

Chung Myung slowly walked towards the crack in the rock where water was gushing out.

If his thoughts were correct.

If what Yakseon was trying to convey to his descendants in the distant future was properly conveyed to Chung Myung now.

What he was trying to convey was…

It’s right here!

Chung Myung pushed his slightly trembling hand into the crack in the rock where water was gushing out. A narrow gap where only two or three human hands could barely fit. He pushed his arm up to his shoulder into it and began to grope inside.

His body was instantly soaked with water.

This is the water source.

The source of life.

If it has to be, it can only be here. No! It will be here!

‘Those who have not been frustrated cannot know.’

People who don’t know that fighting can be pointless won’t understand Yakseon’s message. Chung Myung, who felt a deeper sense of futility than anyone else at the end of his life, and yet moved forward again, was able to know what Yakseon was trying to say.

So here!

It has to be right here!

It was that moment.

Thunk!

Something caught on Chung Myung’s fingertips.

The sensation at his fingertips said. This is not a rock. Surely this is…

‘Metal?’

Chung Myung pushed his hand further inside. The sensation of neatly refined metal was clearly felt.

He gave strength and pulled out the metal lump he was holding in his hand.

Rumble!

At the same time as the water gushed out violently, a square iron lump was pulled out from the crack in the rock!

Chung Myung looked at the iron lump he had pulled out, unable to even breathe.

‘A box.’

This is it. This is what I need to become strong again.

His hands began to tremble.

The other disciples gasped.

The other disciples couldn’t even open their mouths and stared at the box Chung Myung had pulled out, frozen like stones.

The box, tightly sealed with metal, maintained its shape completely, even though it had clearly been in the water for two hundred years.

Just looking at it, it was clear that it was no ordinary object.

Slowly, Chung Myung reached for the box. *Click*.

He opened the lock quickly, in one breath. He took a deep breath. His hands were shaking as he opened the box slowly.

Creak.

With a very small friction sound, the box opened.

Before his eyes could even check the box, an indescribably clear scent pierced Chung Myung’s nose.

“Ugh…”

And then, inside the fully opened box.

Chung Myung saw it clearly with his own two eyes.

That there were about twenty small pills and an antique booklet in that small box.

“Hic.”

His heart ached.

His legs trembled.

He forced strength into his eyes, which kept blurring, and checked the title of the booklet.

Honwon Secret Arts (混元秘訣).

“Honwon…”

His consciousness faded.

“I… I… I… found it!”

“Found it?”

“I found it!”

“Aargh!”

“Crazy! I found it! I found it!”

Chung Myung let out a more violent shout towards the sky.

“Aargh! Yakseon, you bastard! I found it! I found it!”

Sasuk, are you alright?

Chung Myung foamed at the mouth and slowly fell backwards.

“Sasuk! Sect Leader Sasuk!”

“Damn it! Damn it! I did it!”

In his increasingly blurred vision, it seemed as if Cheong Mun’s face, smiling contentedly, came to mind.