Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 211

The flames burned the poison smoke, which rose high into the sky.

Dang-woe’s mouth fell open as he stared at the amazing sight.

“How… how is this possible?”

Cheong-myeong chuckled, watching Dang-woe’s reaction.

It must be confusing.

Who would have thought that a young boy could use Samadhi Fire, a legendary flame used by the strongest fighters, especially so well?

Samadhi Fire doesn’t need great power inside. It’s about understanding and control. You need to train very hard all the time to control your inner energy.

Cheong-myeong was the best at controlling his inner energy.

‘Well, I was the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, after all.’

It felt a bit strange to say that.

Making Samadhi Fire was easy for Cheong-myeong.

Any poison left in his body could be burned away, like he burned the poison from the alcohol before.

Cheong-myeong looked at Dang-woe.

He snickered at Dang-woe’s scared face.

“They only see their small world.”

Dang-bo wanted the Sichuan Dang Family to be more open. He thought that if they only cared about their own martial arts, they would never become true leaders.

But Dang-woe’s reaction showed that the Dang Family hadn’t changed in a hundred years.

“Then I’ll have to change them.”

Even if he had to make them understand strongly.

Cheong-myeong raised his sword and walked slowly towards Dang-woe.

Dang-woe quickly stepped back, throwing deadly poison sand from his sleeves at Cheong-myeong.

“Die! You monster!”

Pffft.

The sand hit Cheong-myeong and fell to the ground.

“Ugh, ptooey!”

Cheong-myeong spat out the sand that had gotten into his mouth.

“Ew, that’s really nasty.”

Dang-woe stared in shock.

The deadly poison, strong enough to kill a water buffalo before it could take seven steps, was being brushed off like dust. Dang-woe felt completely defeated.

“The poison… the Dang Family’s poison…”

Dang-woe screamed, his voice breaking.

“This can’t be! It can’t be happening! Aargh!”

He threw all kinds of poisons from his sleeves.

Black and red smoke, bright blue liquids, and purple poison pellets flew towards Cheong-myeong. Even the Dang Family members watching were scared by the attack.

But Cheong-myeong pushed aside the poisonous smoke with his hands and knocked away the toxic liquids with his sword.

“I told you it wouldn’t work.”

His voice was very calm.

“You… you little punk!”

Dang-woe yelled, going crazy.

‘How? How can this be happening?’

He couldn’t lose like this.

Even if he lost, it couldn’t be like this.

If he lost here, his life would have no meaning.

Everything would be ruined.

Everything he had worked for.

If the poison he had spent his life perfecting was useless, and even his skills were worthless, why would he be a martial artist?

“I! I won’t end like this!”

Dang-woe, his eyes full of anger, took out a hidden weapon from his sleeve.

A sharp throwing knife flew towards Cheong-myeong very fast.

Cheong-myeong swung his Plum Blossom Sword, blocking the knife.

‘Weak.’

Cheong-myeong’s face showed his displeasure.

The knife was fast, but it wasn’t as skillful as Tang Gunak’s knives. It didn’t show the training he had done.

“You little punk!”

Dang-woe shot a dozen coins from his fingertips.

Dang Family coins.

This is the general name for the coins that the Dang Family uses as hidden weapons.

The coins that Dang-bo used to use were dirty and worn.

Even when told to take care of them, he would say they were proof of his training. But the coins flying towards Cheong-myeong now were clean and new.

Cheong-myeong’s face showed his displeasure.

Both Dang-bo and Dang-woe were important people in the Dang Family.

Dang-woe, as a Council Elder, was hurting the Dang Family, and Dang-bo, though he had left the family, had been a Supreme Elder.

But their skills were very different.

“Pathetic!”

Cheong-myeong’s sword blocked the coins with one strike.

Was this the Dang Family’s hidden weapon technique that had once scared even Cheong-myeong, the Plum Blossom Sword Saint?

‘If Dang-bo were here right now?’

Cheong-myeong would be defeated in three seconds.

And someone with such weak skills was acting like an elder of the Dang Family.

He felt angry.

‘You wouldn’t have wanted to see this, would you?’

Dang-bo knew that if they only focused on poison, the Dang Family would fail.

Cheong-myeong was seeing the future of the Dang Family that Dang-bo didn’t want to see.

“If you don’t understand, I’ll make you understand!”

Cheong-myeong blocked the hidden weapons and charged towards Dang-woe. Dang-woe looked confused.

“Aargh! I won’t lose! I won’t lose!”

Dang-woe threw hidden weapons and poison everywhere. They flew into the sky and began to fall like rain.

“Myriad Blossoms in the Sky?”

“It’s Myriad Blossoms in the Sky!”

Someone cried out in fear.

‘No, you idiots!’

Myriad Blossoms in the Sky and the Invisible Poison were the two legendary techniques of the Dang Family. Dang-woe couldn’t use them.

The incomplete Myriad Blossoms in the Sky that Dang-bo had shown were so beautiful that they could make anyone fall into a trance.

Yes.

A rain of flower petals filled the world.

It was like…

‘Watch closely, Dang Family!’

It was just an imitation, but right now, he was the only one who could even imitate it!

This was a lesson and a gift from Dang-bo to the Dang Family!

The hidden weapons and poison rained down. Cheong-myeong raised his sword.

He closed his eyes, pointing his sword towards the sky, as if the poison and weapons didn’t exist.

It moved.

The tip of Cheong-myeong’s sword began to move.

Soon, plum blossoms began to bloom from the tip of his sword.

One blossom. Then another.

Soon, the dozens of blossoms became hundreds, covering the arena with plum blossoms.

“Ah…”

Tang Gunak, who was watching, opened his mouth and couldn’t speak.

‘This is…’

It was different from the sword that Cheong-myeong had shown him in their fight.

He didn’t know what it was, but his instincts told him not to miss this sword.

‘Is this an illusion?’

Plum blossoms bloomed.

A gentle breeze, whispering from beyond the mountains, stirred the plum blossoms across the mountainside. In a soft, pink sigh, they released their petals all at once.

The air filled with a blizzard of delicate pink, just as Dang-oe unleashed his attack. “Shwaaaaaaa! Shwaaak!” The terrifying sound of hidden weapons ripped through the air, a downpour of poison and steel meant to destroy.

But the moment the deadly rain collided with the seemingly fragile plum petals, something unexpected happened. Neither poison nor hidden weapons could penetrate the dance of the plum blossoms. The force of the attack weakened, the momentum faltering as if hitting an invisible wall. The hidden weapons scattered, falling to the ground like spent raindrops, utterly powerless.

“Ah…”

Dang-oe stood with his arms dangling, staring blankly at the scene. The poison and hidden weapons he had unleashed were easily pushed aside.

They bloomed, and bloomed again, the plum blossoms indifferently sending their petals drifting into the sky. Soon, Dang-oe’s sky was entirely filled with plum petals.

Some petals floated upwards, light and gentle. Others danced in unpredictable paths, twisting and turning as they fell. A few plunged straight down, while others seemed to hang in the air, graceful and still.

Hundreds, thousands of petals covered the sky, each displaying a different movement. A rain of petals. And a dance of petals.

“H-How?”

Dang-oe let out a desperate scream, the most wretched he had ever uttered.

“What trickery is this?!”

The petals that had blanketed the world now flew towards Dang-oe in unison.

“Aaaargh!”

Dang-oe frantically waved his hands, filled with inner strength, deflecting the incoming petals. His sleeves became a blur, whipping through the air like angry snakes.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sleeves, hardened to be stronger than steel with the infusion of inner strength, lashed out at the delicate petals. But there were simply too many petals flying towards him to be blocked by two human arms.

Scratch.

“Kuh!”

A petal brushed against his side, creating a small cut.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

A petal landed on his back, slicing through his flesh.

“I, I am!”

Dang-oe’s eyes were bloodshot.

“I am Dang-oe of the Dang Clan!”

The swirling petals engulfed Dang-oe’s entire body.

“Aaaaargh!”

Dang-oe could no longer be seen. Only his desperate screams echoed through the Dang Clan.

Swoosh.

And at the same time, the petals that had seemed to swirl around the world melted away like snow in the spring sun.

Swooshing.

Chung Myung slid his sword back into its scabbard. Then, he raised his head and looked at the man standing before him: Dang-oe.

He was staring blankly at Chung Myung with half-glazed eyes. His clothes had long been torn to shreds. Countless small wounds covered the body visible through the gaps.

Dang-oe opened his mouth with difficulty.

“…That sword is… ?”

“Plum Blossom Tempest.”

“…Plum Blossom Tempest. So… this is the sword of the Hwasan Sect.”

“That’s right.”

Chung Myung scratched the back of his head a couple of times. This was, in fact, a sword technique that combined Hwasan’s Plum Blossom Tempest with Dang Bo’s ideas about many flower petals falling like rain, interpreted in Chung Myung’s own way. In other words, it was a Hwasan sword technique, but also a secret technique of the Dang Clan. Dang-oe wouldn’t know that much, though.

“It was truly…”

Dang-oe’s body slowly tilted.

“…A dream… like sword…”

Thud.

Dang-oe collapsed to the ground. At the same time, Chung Myung’s eyes gleamed coldly. ‘I’ve crippled his martial arts, so now the Dang Clan Leader will have to deal with it.’

No matter how much Chung Myung bet and defeated Dang-oe in front of everyone, everything ultimately depended on the will of the Dang Clan. This was all Chung Myung could do: To defeat Dang-oe and cripple his martial arts, and to prove to countless people just how useless the Council of Elders was.

Chung Myung turned and looked at the Dang Clan members, including the Clan Leader.

“How was it?”

Tang Gunak’s expression as he looked at him was complex and subtle. But only for a moment. He took a short, deep breath and looked straight at Chung Myung, saying:

“Hwasan’s Divine Dragon, Young Hero Chung Myung, has won this duel!”

A not-so-loud cheer. A clear, bright sky. You could feel both nervousness and excitement in the air, hinting at a new change in the Dang Clan.

Feeling that strange mix, Chung Myung looked up at the sky. ‘Is this enough?’ He stared at the sky for a long time, then lowered his head with a bitter smile. ‘They can’t hear me. I know that all the words they spoke were merely illusions I had created. The dead have no words, and the dead do not return.’

Only… Chung Myung, who couldn’t die when he should have and was left alone in another world, clung to his regrets, looking back on the past again and again.

Slowly lowering his head, Chung Myung looked at his martial siblings. And he murmured inwardly. ‘Don’t worry, you lot. I’ll take care of the Dang Clan from time to time. Ah, not for free, of course.’

Chung Myung was about to step down from the dueling platform with a bitter expression when…

– Thank you. Taoist Brother.

Chung Myung turned around without realizing it. Dang Bo was smiling brightly at him, looking just as he had in life. But that image soon vanished like a phantom.

Clench.

Chung Myung clenched his fist tightly and closed his eyes slightly. The connection that had continued ended here. The promise that he had failed to keep in his previous life was now kept at this moment.

So… ‘Rest in peace. Goodbye. My one and only friend.’