Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 297

Chung Myung watched Mu-hak. Something about him was strange today.

Chung Myung muttered, staring at the sparring arena as if he was possessed.

Just working hard every day doesn’t always make you stronger. That’s what makes training so painful. It’s like constantly climbing a wall you can’t scale.

“…Chung Myung-ah.”

But if you keep going, if you don’t give up, that moment will come. The moment when you break through the wall around you. You can’t bloom if you don’t see that moment. A bud that doesn’t open can never be a flower. It only becomes a flower when it blooms.

That is blossoming.

The birth of life.

Chung Myung knew what Baek Cheon had been through.

No matter how strong he was, Chung Myung was still Baek Cheon’s junior brother. It took more patience than you’d expect to put up with being beaten and yelled at by his younger brother every day.

But Baek Cheon endured all that time without a single complaint.

The one who was called the best talent of Mount Hua threw away all his pride and didn’t even hesitate to roll around on the ground just to become stronger.

Chung Myung believed in Baek Cheon’s will.

‘Show me.’

How far Mount Hua has come.

What kind of flower will the spirit of Mount Hua, reborn after a hundred years, become?

Chung Myung’s eyes were locked on Baek Cheon, unblinking. He leaned forward, every muscle tense, as if he could feel the fight himself.

Strange.

His heart felt heavy.

His body was moving incredibly fast, and his whole body was full of heat, but his heart was sinking lower and lower.

‘Stillness in motion.’

He had heard it many times.

He had told himself this over and over.

Yet, he felt like he was only now understanding what he hadn’t fully known.

Strange.

He thought he knew it.

He didn’t feel any pain. The sword was moving as his heart moved.

Can he see it?

No.

He could feel it.

Zzzzzing!

Jin Geum-ryong’s sword narrowly brushed past his forehead.

Rustle.

The ends of his hair were cut off and scattered in the wind. But Baek Cheon didn’t even blink an eye and clearly captured the sword in his eyes.

He could tell.

The distance between him and Jin Geum-ryong.

The power of the sword.

The moment Jin Geum-ryong was getting his strength back, and even what he was aiming for.

Baek Cheon saw everything.

– Knowing me isn’t everything.

‘That’s right.’

– Swordsmanship is ultimately about competing. If you want to perfect yourself, you don’t need an enemy. But in history, no one has ever perfected themselves by just wielding a sword while holed up in the mountains.

‘That’s also right.’

– The body focuses on the sword, but the eyes look at the opponent. Swordsmanship is just a dance swung at the empty air if you and your enemy don’t exist. If you truly want to understand the sword, understand your enemy.

‘Jin Geum-ryong?’

There’s no reason he couldn’t.

He could see it.

At this moment, Baek Cheon was understanding Jin Geum-ryong more clearly than ever before, ridiculously enough.

He hadn’t seen him properly.

Even though he wanted to surpass him so much, Baek Cheon hadn’t tried to know Jin Geum-ryong. He had just thought that if he trained hard enough, he would beat him one day.

Ridiculous.

How could he surpass his opponent if he didn’t know him?

Understand him.

Accept him.

All of that will dwell in my sword.

The moment Jin Geum-ryong’s shoulder moved, Baek Cheon felt like he knew where he was aiming.

Before the sword could even be extended, Baek Cheon took a step forward and rammed his shoulder into Jin Geum-ryong’s empty chest.

Thud!

With a strong impact, Jin Geum-ryong’s body was pushed back. Baek Cheon didn’t miss the bewilderment in his eyes.

Jin Geum-ryong, who had regained his posture, looked at Baek Cheon with an unbelievable expression.

“…What is it? What’s going on? You’re different!”

Clearly, something had changed.

The sword had become much faster, and the awkwardness in his movements was gone.

‘Can he change this much in an instant?’

Jin Geum-ryong gritted his teeth.

‘This can’t be happening.’

Didn’t it seem like he was being pushed back right now? And that was to Baek Cheon, who was injured.

“This can’t be happening!”

Jin Geum-ryong charged at Baek Cheon with a frenzied momentum. Pure white snowflakes exploded from the end of his sword.

Baek Cheon took a low, deep breath as he looked at the pure white petals flying towards him.

‘Certainly.’

It was more refined than Jong Seo-han’s sword. Each petal seemed to be truly alive.

But looking at that sword, he could understand what Chung Myung had meant.

– Don’t chase after splendor! If I focus too much on how beautiful my sword looks, I will be controlled by the sword.

‘It’s just splendorous.’

Sophisticated.

Splendorous.

So what if it was?

Being skilled and flashy are just ways to use the sword. A sword that doesn’t have meaning is just empty.

Then.

What is contained in my sword?

Baek Cheon’s sword slowly began to move.

Fluidly. And softly.

The gentle movement of the sword felt like a warm breeze around Baek Cheon.

‘It doesn’t matter if my sword isn’t the strongest in Mount Hua.’

Even if it wasn’t the fastest, the most splendid, or the most magnificent.

It didn’t matter.

Because what his sword was chasing was the spirit of Mount Hua.

If Chung Myung’s sword led Mount Hua, then his sword had to be an example to the disciples of Mount Hua.

The unbiased sword of Mount Hua.

That was Baek Cheon’s sword.

A single plum blossom bloomed from the tip of Baek Cheon’s sword.

The modestly blooming flower soon scattered in the warm breeze.

‘Plum blossoms are blooming on Yeonhwa Peak.’

Mount Hua would be dyed red.

It wasn’t so flashy that it hurts your eyes. It wasn’t as sophisticated as Jin Geum-ryong’s.

Yet, Baek Cheon’s plum blossom drew in those who were watching.

“That⋯⋯!”

Heo Do-jin, the leader of Wudang, slammed his hands on the table and shot to his feet, his eyes wide with disbelief.

‘How can a child of that age!’

His eyes were filled with astonishment.

“Amitabha.”

Beop Jeong was so surprised he kept chanting Buddha’s name.

But the one who showed the biggest reaction among them was none other than Jongri Gok, the leader of Jongnam.

He clenched his fist tightly and trembled. His lips were trembling.

‘This can’t be happening. This can’t be⋯⋯!’

Snowflake Twelve Forms was a sword style that took the best parts of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique and made it new. Because it was based on the best of both styles, it should be better than the basic Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

But why couldn’t he take his eyes off Baek Cheon’s plum blossom right now?

‘This can’t be happening! Damn it!’

It blooms.

It scatters.

The plum blossoms of spring.

Warm wind blew plum blossom petals across the mountain. It was like winter ending. Petals fell like rain, covering everything.

It felt like a message. The Plum Blossom Swordplay of Mount Hua, famous long ago, was returning to the world.

Hyun Jong groaned, “Ah…” Tears filled his eyes. “Aaaah…”

*Are our ancestors watching?* he thought. *We lost so much. Mount Hua lost so much. But the spirit of Mount Hua… we never lost that. It’s coming back to the world.*”

Baek Cheon was so talented, any fighting group would want him. But he stayed with Mount Hua, even when it was weak. Hyun Jong felt many things when he saw Baek Cheon: thankfulness, love, and a sudden sadness all at once. Now, Baek Cheon was doing something amazing, something Hyun Jong would never forget.

*Baek Cheon,* Hyun Jong thought. He wanted to shout, *This is the Mount Hua sword! The sword we almost lost!*

Tears blurred Hyun Jong’s view as he watched the plum blossoms bloom.

*People talk about putting will into the sword,* Baek Cheon thought. *It sounds complicated. A sword just moves when you move your hand. So, isn’t your will already there?*

*No,* he realized. *It’s not about putting will *into* the sword. My will must be strong in my heart. If my heart is steady, the sword will follow my heart.*”

He stepped forward. The world felt closer now. He was going beyond what he knew about swords, into something new. It was strange. His sword was sharp, but it felt warm. Like it was gently touching his whole body.

*This is what they meant by ‘Mount Hua is in the sword’,* he thought. The more he used the sword, the more he felt it. He felt what the masters before him had put into this sword. What they wanted to teach. He was connected to them through the sword. The will of the first master who made the Plum Blossom Swordplay. And the will of all the masters who improved it. Everything they wanted to pass down to the future was in this sword. To continue their work. To add his own will to theirs. *Yes. This is the Mount Hua sword.*”

Something was growing inside Baek Cheon. Like a tree. Roots went deep into the ground, and a strong trunk grew with his will. Branches reached out, spreading into the world. Then, blossoms opened. The plum blossoms from his sword were different now. They were stronger than before, and they started to cover Jin Geum-ryong.

Jin Geum-ryong’s white flowers and Baek Cheon’s red flowers met. But then, Jin Geum-ryong’s eyes opened wide. Baek Cheon’s plum blossoms gently pushed Jin Geum-ryong’s flowers away, in every direction. Not hard, but firmly!

*How is this possible?* Jin Geum-ryong thought. A memory flashed in his mind. A memory he could never forget, like a burn. Chung Myung’s plum blossoms destroying his snow. *Why is this happening again?*

He trained so hard. He trained until his body hurt, all to beat that Chung Myung! But now, Baek Cheon, someone he ignored, was stopping him. Not even Chung Myung!

“What’s different?!” Jin Geum-ryong shouted. Something big inside him broke.

“Aaaaargh!” He screamed wildly, swinging his sword with red eyes. Snowflakes appeared again and again. The snowflakes were cold and sharp, with very sharp edges. They came fast and strong, like they would destroy anything. They crashed into Baek Cheon’s plum blossoms like waves in a storm.

But. Waves can’t move a rock. Baek Cheon’s plum blossoms were strong and steady. They didn’t move back from Jin Geum-ryong’s snow. They just kept going forward. His sharp, fancy moves were pushed back. Jin Geum-ryong saw his sword couldn’t beat Baek Cheon’s plum blossoms. He stared at them, eyes shaking.

“I am…” The plum blossoms gently pushed away the snow, then rose up like magic, and fell like rain, as the spring wind blew. *Hwaaaa!* The warm wind blew the plum blossoms past Jin Geum-ryong. They scattered everywhere. And then… the plum blossoms that filled the fighting area were gone, like a dream.

Silence. It became silent. No one spoke. Everyone just stared at the fighting area, amazed. In the fighting area, two men stood facing each other.

“Haa… Haa…” Baek Cheon held his wrist, where blood was showing, and breathed hard. Jin Geum-ryong watched him, not saying anything. They stood there silently for a moment.

“You are…” Jin Geum-ryong started to speak. But he stopped, looked at Baek Cheon, and then asked quietly, “…What was that?”

Baek Cheon, his face pale, said, “Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Swordplay.” His voice was quiet but firm. “Plum Blossom Bloom.”

Jin Geum-ryong smiled weakly at Baek Cheon, who looked like he would fall but stayed standing. “Plum blossoms bloom a lot… is it?” Was he admiring it? Or something else?

“What a bad name,” Jin Geum-ryong said. Then he fell to the ground. *Plop!* Baek Cheon looked down at Jin Geum-ryong, who had fainted, and closed his eyes.

*Senior brother,* Baek Cheon thought. What decided who won was just one thing: who had the true Mount Hua spirit. Baek Cheon didn’t beat Jin Geum-ryong himself. But the Mount Hua sword beat the Jongnam sword. *For now…* He smiled a big smile. *For now, that’s enough.*

As he turned, sunlight shone on him. It felt like a blessing for showing the real Mount Hua sword, better than ever before.

“The winner is Baek Cheon of Mount Hua!” Loud cheers exploded. Baek Cheon slowly walked towards the Mount Hua students who were cheering, crying, and running to him.