Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 403

“Sweep them all away!”

“These bastards dare invade Mount Hua?”

“I’ll gut them!”

Mount Hua disciples, their faces set in grim lines, pushed back against the invaders from Myriad Man Manor. The Manor warriors were trapped, fighting hard, but Mount Hua was like a wave crashing against them, too strong to stop.

But especially, Yoon Jong and Jo Gul were a sight to behold.

“The left is open! Jo Gul!” Yoon Jong called out.

“Yes, Senior Brother!” Jo Gul replied instantly. They moved like dancers, swords flashing in perfect time, even in the chaos of the fight. Their teamwork was like a well-oiled machine, cutting through the Myriad Man Manor fighters.

Yoon Jong’s sword was perfect Mount Hua style. It wasn’t too wild, not too soft, always balanced. It was a sword that never lost its way, like a straight path. Maybe some at Mount Hua were stronger fighters, but if you wanted to learn the true Mount Hua sword, you’d watch Yoon Jong. His sword was the perfect example.

Jo Gul’s sword was different. It didn’t follow the perfect rules. It was fast and jabbed out suddenly, sometimes in unexpected directions. Sword experts might not call it beautiful, but anyone fighting him would be confused and scared by how strange and quick it was.

Perfect style and wild style. These two swords, so different, worked together perfectly, like two parts of a lock clicking into place. Where Yoon Jong was steady, Jo Gul was surprising. Together, they were unstoppable.

“Stay calm, everyone older than me!” Yoon Jong shouted. “Don’t relax until it’s truly over!”

“Understood!”

“Got it!” came the replies. Everyone, even those older, listened to Yoon Jong. At Mount Hua, age didn’t matter much anymore. After seeing Chung Myung cause chaos for years, everyone knew skill was more important than who joined first. Even if Yoon Jong wasn’t famous yet, everyone in the younger group trusted him completely.

“Push forward!”

“Ooooooh!” From the other side, Mount Hua fighters charged just as fiercely. No, even *more* fiercely. These were the best of Mount Hua, chosen to help Hwayoung Gate far away in Seoan. They had returned to find their home attacked, and their eyes burned with rage at the invaders.

And then, Hyun Young’s voice boomed across the battlefield. “What are you waiting for! Why are those villains still standing?”

“Yes, Elder!” Baek Sang shouted back. Hearing his leader’s anger, Baek Sang lifted his sword high.

“Destroy these evil invaders!” he roared.

“Yes!” the others yelled. Baek Sang, who now worked more on managing things than fighting, was still Baek Cheon’s trusted second-in-command, guiding the younger fighters.

Baek Sang had learned a lot from his mistakes. He knew he wasn’t perfect, and he wasn’t as proud as he used to be. Now, he could see the whole battle clearly, like looking down from a high hill. He could guide the others and make sure everything ran smoothly, just like Baek Cheon would have done.

“Th, these guys!”

“Damn it!” The warriors of the Myriad Man Manor retreated little by little, letting out suppressed groans.

“What sharp swords these young ones have…!”

“L, Lord! What about the Lords?”

“Fall back!”

The Myriad Man Manor fighters were starting to break. People who talk about being good often train their minds as much as their bodies. They want to be strong inside, so they don’t lose courage when things get tough. This inner strength isn’t just from practice. It comes from knowing who you are, wanting something strongly, and believing you are doing the right thing.

But the Myriad Man Manor fighters were different. They only cared about what they could gain. When they saw they were losing, and there was no reward anymore, their fighting spirit vanished. They became weak and unsure, not even fighting as well as they could.

“Wh-where’s the Lord?” someone stammered, looking around in panic. Suddenly, a huge, golden hand seemed to appear in the air above them.

“Amitabha!” Hae Yeon’s voice echoed. The golden palm, glowing with power, rushed towards Dokhyulsu.

Dokhyulsu snarled, teeth clenched, and blasted black smoke from his hands.

“Damn monk!” he cursed.

*WHOOSH!*

It was like a giant hand smashing down. Dokhyulsu just barely blocked the golden palm with his dark energy, but his feet were forced deep into the earth.

“Ugh!” he grunted. The pressure was crushing him, like a mountain falling right on top of him. It wasn’t a fast, sharp attack, but a heavy, unstoppable force, like trying to squash an insect.

*Shaolin…* Dokhyulsu thought, fear creeping into his heart. Shaolin martial arts were known for their heavy power. They trained slowly, patiently, doing the same things over and over, which seemed boring to some. But this slow, hard training built incredible strength, like walking a long, difficult path that others wouldn’t even try. Now, Hae Yeon’s palm was showing the true power of Shaolin to everyone.

“Aaaaargh!” Dokhyulsu roared, flailing his arms wildly. But it was no use. The dark, evil power from his hands was nothing against Hae Yeon’s palm, filled with the strength of his Buddhist training. Power poured out of Hae Yeon, steady and endless. His legs were planted firmly, like roots digging deep into the ground. He was like a giant tree, strong and unmoving. A huge, old tree that can stand against any storm for centuries. That was the power of Shaolin, now in Hae Yeon.

“Aaaaargh! You monster!” Dokhyulsu screamed, blood leaking from his eyes, nose, and mouth as he broke under the pressure.

*Damn it,* Yado thought, his eyes darting around, seeing the fight falling apart. *This is bad.* Yado was good at reading battles – it was how he’d lived so long. He could see they were losing, badly. *We can’t win.* *I need to escape.* He wasn’t interested in dying for anyone else. Some people might think it’s brave to die fighting, but Yado thought it was stupid. Nothing was worth more than his own life. He had to get away before it was too late. His boss would be angry, sure, but Yado could just disappear and start a new life somewhere else…

*SWISH!*

“Kugh!” Yado gasped, barely blocking a sword that flashed towards him.

*CLANG!* The sword bounced off his blade, spun around, and then pointed right at his throat. As Yado jumped back, the tip of the sword shook and suddenly burst into dozens of tiny, flower-shaped bursts of energy. Yado’s eyes went wide.

“Damn it!” He roared, pushing his own power up. His energy exploded outwards, smashing away the flower-energy attacks.

“Hoo!” Yado breathed heavily. Even though he’d blocked the attack, he didn’t feel safe at all. *This guy!*

“You look surprised,” a voice drawled. Yado glared at the swordsman in white robes, who was smiling like he was playing a game. Yado bit down on his lip. *He’s getting stronger…*

*This is crazy,* Yado thought. *He’s getting stronger as we fight?* And it wasn’t just him. Everyone from Mount Hua seemed different, fiercer than before. *Growth? No, that’s impossible so fast.* Becoming stronger takes hard training. Fighting for real is better than just practicing, sure, but not *this* much better. They weren’t beginners. *…First…* Yado’s body went cold. Then he remembered. This was their first *real* battle. *Is it…awakening, not growth?* Most people freeze up in a real fight. Even masters who can swing a sword perfectly in practice hesitate when they have to use it against a person. That tiny moment of doubt ruins everything.

But this fight helped them get used to new things.

Before, they practiced sword fighting with nothing there. Now, they were fighting real enemies. They started to understand how to really use their swords.

How could their skills not improve?

‘So, I’ve gained good experience thanks to the Ten Thousand People Clan’s invasion, have I?’

His insides churned with resentment.

Yado had lived relying only on talent and instinct, until he encountered a wall he could no longer overcome. He remembered being easily praised as a young fighter, and now it was not enough. Seeing these talented young fighters made him angry and jealous.

But, in any case, it was more important to survive and hide here than to give in to his emotions.

Suddenly, Baek Cheon looked right at him, his eyes sharp.

“Your weight is going backwards,” Baek Cheon said, his voice clear even in the noise of battle.

“⋯⋯.”

Yado jumped a little and stared back. Even though Baek Cheon was hurt, his eyes were full of strength. He looked at Yado with complete belief in himself. Baek Cheon’s eyes were strong and sure, showing he knew he was on the right path. They were so bright, Yado had to look away.

“So,” Baek Cheon continued, “you only fight hard if you think you can win?”

“⋯⋯.”

“That damned man used to say, ‘The eyes speak of will, but the feet are grounded in reality. The most pathetic are those who spew anger with their eyes but retreat with their feet.'”

Baek Cheon’s words struck Yado’s heart painfully.

“Do you want to run away? Then I’ll show you the fastest way. If you cut me down, no one will stop you. Isn’t that right?”

Yado’s face flushed red.

A whelp who was just a babe when he began drinking blood on the battlefield was now looking down on him and spouting nonsense.

Could there be any greater humiliation?

‘I, too, was once…’

Yado gripped his sword tightly with both hands.

Too many thoughts are never good. It’s better to keep the mind simple.

“Fine, you little brat! I’ll make you regret those words!”

“As much as you like!”

Yado roared and charged again.

His style was still clumsy, but the sword, now imbued with rage, was immensely powerful, as if it would crush Baek Cheon’s entire body.

Like a wave in a stormy sea.

Seeing the terrifyingly fierce sword energy sweeping forward, Baek Cheon’s expression hardened slightly. He could smell the dust and sweat of the fight, and the clang of swords echoed around him. He focused only on Yado, ignoring everything else.

But he had no intention of backing down.

‘I have built this up,’ he thought, a flash of Chung Myung’s harsh face during training crossing his mind.

He would not run.

He had endured Chung Myung’s brutal training and even managed to complete his own personal training. He firmly believed that even if he was slow, he would eventually reach the level he envisioned if he took one step at a time.

Those hours would now be stacked beneath his feet.

‘I can’t block it with force.’

His sword was the sword of Mount Hua.

A sword that did not overwhelm the opponent with brute strength.

Baek Cheon’s sword tip trembled lightly. Soon, the plum blossoms bloomed forth, meeting the storm of the incoming sword.

‘First, one.’

He had heard it so many times he was sick of it.

No matter how flashy and diverse an attack may be, there is always an order. Even attacks that unfold in an instant are, when broken down, nothing more than a series of flows that unfold in sequence.

Baek Cheon’s world slowed down.

The trajectory of Yado’s sword, which had seemed chaotic, became clear.

‘Here!’

The flowing plum blossoms surged toward one point.

Sword and blade.

He could not block it with force alone. But if he couldn’t block it with one strike, he would block it with two, and if he couldn’t block it with two, he would block it with three.

He would block and block, and continue to swing until he finally pushed through.

Clang! Clang!

The plum blossom sword energy clashed with the fierce sword force and faltered. But behind the plum blossoms that lost their power and fell, new plum blossoms bloomed again.

Blooming and blooming again.

It didn’t need to be perfect. It was enough for the sword to be where it needed to be when it needed to be there.

That was the essence.

The sword he had to pursue.

“This…”

Bewilderment flickered in Yado’s eyes.

Baek Cheon’s sword was rising to an even higher level. The sword, which had been erratic just moments before, now seemed to have settled down, moving with a strange sense of stability.

‘What on earth is this?’

Splendid.

And diverse.

But the impression that this splendid and gentle flow of plum blossoms gave him was closer to a wall made of steel.

A wall.

A wall he could not overcome.

Yado’s face turned white for a moment.

‘How can I…’

It was then.

“Aaaaargh!”

A desperate scream echoed. Yado’s gaze instantly snapped toward the source of the sound.

‘Blood Demon Hand!’

Blood Demon Hand, swept away by Hae Yeon’s golden aura, was spitting blood and falling away. Yado, having clearly imprinted that scene in his eyes, quickly turned his gaze back.

He put the maximum amount of strength into his entire body.

A small gap.

A very small gap.

Just as he had no choice but to turn his gaze, that little brat must have been distracted by the situation with Blood Demon Hand and Hae Yeon.

As proof, there was a small gap in the sword that had been surging like a wave.

‘Attack now!’

Whoosh!

His foot kicked off the ground.

But the direction his body was heading was not forward, but backward. The moment he thought there was an opening, his body chose to flee before his mind could make a decision.

‘Ah…’

Because his mind and body were not working together, he lost his balance. The sword energy that was extending out failed to exert its full power, and the leg that lifted his body could not muster proper strength.

And.

Baek Cheon’s gaze, shining through the gap in the plum blossoms, met his in the air.

Wham!

The plum blossom sword energy immediately scattered in all directions, and through the gaps, a single sword, poised to cleave the world, descended.

A clear, proud, and unwavering sword.

Swooosh!

Baek Cheon’s surging sword energy pierced Yado’s chest.

Thud.

With an eerie noise, his chest split open lengthwise.

Thud.

Yado, who had landed on the ground, stared silently at his chest before raising his head to meet Baek Cheon’s gaze.

Swoosh.

Baek Cheon, having sheathed his sword, stared at Yado with determined eyes before opening his mouth.

“This is the result of the path you have lived.”

“⋯⋯.”

Yado, who had been moving his mouth as if to protest something, collapsed on the spot.

Plop.

Watching him, unable to close his eyes until the moment of his death, Baek Cheon looked up at the sky for a moment.

‘I am still far too lacking.’

He humbly admitted it. In terms of skill, it was his defeat.

If he had fought alone, he would have surely lost, and if Yado had not chosen to flee at the last moment and had instead confronted him, it would have been difficult for him to subdue him alone.

It was merely a victory he had gained through good fortune.

But.

“I am different from you.”

He would move forward.

Accepting defeat and the bitterness that came with it.

Even if he faced something he could not handle, Baek Cheon would not run away like Yado. Because those who turn away from the path they must take and run away can gain nothing.

Baek Cheon turned away without regret and shouted.

“The leader of the Ten Thousand People Clan has been defeated! Surround the villains!”

His voice echoed loudly throughout Mount Hua.