Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 509

“…Punk?” Chung Myung’s voice was calm, but the word hit Seolcheon-sang like a slap.

The cut on Seolcheon-sang’s face felt like fire. It stung and throbbed with pain.

But even worse than the burning wound, it was that single word, “punk,” that made Seolcheon-sang explode with anger.

*Punk?* Seolcheon-sang’s mind screamed. *This brat dares to call me a punk? Me, the Lord of the Ice Palace?*

“You… you son of a bitch!” Seolcheon-sang roared, his voice cracking with rage.

Seolcheon-sang’s eyes widened with fury, and he finally dropped all pretense.

Seolcheon-sang was the Lord of the Ice Palace. He always tried to be dignified. But that young brat’s one word made him lose control.

From the beginning, Seolcheon-sang was already losing his temper. Just seeing this Jungwon brat standing there, unhurt, made him angry. It was hard for him to stay calm.

In his blinding rage, he let out a furious roar.

“Haaah!”

Pure white energy poured from his hands like a flood.

Crack!

A freezing cold spread from his hands. Even the snow under his boots crunched and hardened instantly. The energy, filled with that cold, rushed towards the plum blossom sword energy in front of him.

Wham wham wham!

An amazing scene happened, like an avalanche covering a flower garden.

It was a powerful and scary force. It was hard to believe that such energy and sword energy came from a person.

KABOOOOM!

White snow and red plum blossoms exploded outwards, like petals ripped apart in a storm.

“Gasp!”

“Dodge! Get out of the way!”

The warriors of the Ice Palace had rushed to protect their Lord. Now, they were horrified by the pieces of sword energy and energy flying everywhere. They quickly jumped back.

A moment later, Chung Myung stood with his sword down, staring at Seolcheon-sang with cold eyes.

Seolcheon-sang, who should have been even colder, glared at Chung Myung with rage like molten lava.

Seolcheon-sang slowly touched the long cut on his face.

His face twisted like a demon every time he felt the throbbing pain.

“Did you say you’d end it quickly?” Seolcheon-sang hissed, his voice tight with fury.

“You dare?!”

Thud!

He stomped his foot on the ground. The frozen ground cracked.

“You’re going to fight me with that skill?”

Even with that terrifying force, Chung Myung smirked as if he found it ridiculous.

“That’s why I’m saying you’re a punk.”

Of course, Seolcheon-sang would say that. He thought Chung Myung could never be stronger than him. If you just looked at their fighting skills, most people would say Seolcheon-sang was stronger than Chung Myung.

Seolcheon-sang had taken the position of Lord of the Ice Palace unfairly, but he was still very skilled. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to control the Ice Palace until now, even with the Demonic Sect’s help.

But.

‘That’s as far as it goes.’

That was the biggest mistake punks made: thinking that the result of a fight depends only on skill.

“I’ll give you a warning,” Chung Myung said, looking at Seolcheon-sang like he was nothing.

“This isn’t a sparring match.”

Suddenly, Chung Myung shot towards Seolcheon-sang like lightning.

Clang!

Seolcheon-sang’s fingertips trembled as he blocked the sword right in front of his head.

Scratch. Scratch scratch scratch.

His skin was tougher than steel because of the Cold Energy Art, but the sword was cutting through it.

‘What is this sword?’

The sword energy was terrifying, and the sword was incredibly sharp. Seolcheon-sang had never felt such sharpness before.

Drip, drip.

Blood dripped from his palm onto the pure white blade. It began to stain the white ground, drop by drop.

“This!”

Even after seeing this, Seolcheon-sang didn’t push the sword away. Instead, he tried to grab it tightly. He was trying to grab it.

But just as he was about to grab it, the sword spun around, cut through his palm, and slipped away.

Seolcheon-sang flinched.

Was he caught off guard?

Or did he not expect it?

That wasn’t it.

Chung Myung was one step ahead of him. He blocked Seolcheon-sang’s move before he could make it. So, Seolcheon-sang couldn’t attack right away.

“You baaaaastard!”

Seolcheon-sang pulled his undamaged left hand back.

But at that moment.

Fwoosh!

Dozens of sword shadows shot from Chung Myung’s sword, all aimed at Seolcheon-sang’s left elbow. Seolcheon-sang didn’t dare to raise his arm against that force. Horrified, he stepped back.

But Chung Myung didn’t let his opponent escape.

Using his fast movement skill, Chung Myung chased after Seolcheon-sang like a bird of prey. His cold eyes were fixed on Seolcheon-sang’s neck. *This ends now,* his eyes seemed to say.

Seolcheon-sang met those eyes and felt a chill, as if his heart had frozen.

Whoosh!

Chung Myung was surprisingly fast for someone so young. He ducked quickly, twisting his body to get away from Seolcheon-sang’s attack. Then, he swung his sword low at Seolcheon-sang’s foot as it came forward. Seolcheon-sang pulled his leg back fast, but he was not fast enough. The sword cut his ankle slightly.

And then…

Whirr!

Using the momentum, Chung Myung spun around in the air and brought his sword down on Seolcheon-sang with great force.

Wham!

This attack looked just like the first one.

But this time, things were different. Seolcheon-sang was off balance as he moved back, so he couldn’t block the attack.

Thud!

His body fell to the snow-covered ground.

“Palace Lord!”

“Oh no, the Palace Lord!”

The people watching were completely shocked.

Seolcheon-sang was known as the best fighter in the Northern Sea long before he became the Palace Lord.

Seolcheon-sang was very strong. He hadn’t learned all the special moves only the Palace Lord knows, so he wasn’t quite as powerful as the previous Palace Lord. But he was naturally more talented at fighting than even the old Palace Lord had been.

Now, he had learned the Ice Palace Lord’s secret fighting skills. He was truly the Ice Palace’s strongest fighter.

Yet, a young fighter from the Central Plains was beating him badly, leaving him on the ground. No wonder his followers were completely shocked.

“Kugh!”

Seolcheon-sang quickly stood up and got ready to defend himself. Chung Myung slowly put his foot down, stopping another attack. He smiled slightly.

“Not a complete fool, then.”

If Seolcheon-sang had hesitated for even a second, Chung Myung would have stabbed him in the neck with his sword. Seolcheon-sang knew this and quickly rolled away to get up, even though he didn’t look very graceful.

“Just what… are you?”

Seolcheon-sang’s eyes showed he was very shocked and confused.

It wasn’t just about strength.

It wasn’t that a powerful sword energy had broken his inner power, or that Chung Myung was playing with him using amazing speed.

Instead, every time Seolcheon-sang tried to attack, Chung Myung’s sword was already there, blocking him before he could even move properly. It was like Chung Myung knew what Seolcheon-sang was going to do before he did it. How could that be possible?

He was stronger. Seolcheon-sang was definitely stronger.

Then why was he on the ground?

Why?

“You’re weak.”

Chung Myung’s mocking words made Seolcheon-sang tremble.

“You…!”

“I’m not talking to you.”

Chung Myung smiled sadly, his face twisted strangely.

He had mixed feelings.

The Chung Myung from the past could have cut off that bad guy’s head in just three seconds.

Chung Myung felt frustrated because he couldn’t fight as well as he knew he could.

And on the other hand…

‘The world of martial arts has become weak.’

The Ice Palace Lord from the past was much stronger than this one.

This was normal.

Mount Hua had become weaker because it lost its plum blossom skills and famous sword moves. It was the same for other groups. They had lost their best fighters, the strong masters who should have been teaching the next generation.

The people who lived tried hard to rebuild, but the war with the Demonic Sect had left scars that were hard to heal completely.

There might be about the same number of masters as before, but they weren’t as good.

It wasn’t just the Ice Palace.

The same was true for other groups, like the Tang Clan.

Also, after the war, hadn’t everyone become too comfortable and stopped training as hard because it was peaceful?

‘How funny.’

The peace he had risked his life to create had made them lazy.

Clang.

Chung Myung flicked his sword lightly and raised it. The sharp tip shone white in the sunlight.

“Kugh!”

Usually, if someone who fights with their hands fights someone who uses a sword, who wins depends on how close they are to each other. People who fight with fists and kicks almost always try to get closer to their opponent.

But now, the opposite was happening.

Seolcheon-sang thought it was too dangerous to get close to Chung Myung, so he jumped back and waved his hands quickly. As he moved his fingers, a cold, white energy that could freeze someone’s soul began to flow out like frost.

Crack!

The sound came even before the energy touched anything.

The area began to freeze quickly. Now, the famous cold power of the Northern Sea Ice Palace started to work.

Seolcheon-sang put both hands in front of his chest and pushed them forward with all his strength.

“Dieee!”

Pure white energy, strong enough to freeze anything it touched, shot toward Chung Myung.

This move was called Ice White Divine Palm. It was the special move of the Northern Sea Ice Palace Lord, and the most famous fighting style of the Ice Palace, even known in the Central Plains.

A biting chill swirled around them.

It looked like anything in its path would freeze and become a horrible statue.

But Chung Myung didn’t look away as he watched the Ice White Divine Palm coming toward him.

Swish.

The sword slowly moved through the air. From the pure white tip of the blade, streaks of red sword energy began to burst out.

The red sword energy looked like plum blossoms.

It was like a spring, melting the ice and making plum blossoms bloom across the mountains.

Blooming.

Opening.

That was another sign of life, a small movement. Like the plum blossom that blooms even in the coldest winter, enduring the ice and snow, and finally bursting with red life. Chung Myung’s sword moved with the perfect Plum Blossom Bloom technique. It was one of the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Techniques, and he used it flawlessly. Even now, waves of plum blossom energy, bright red like fresh blood, crashed forward.

The huge wave of white ice energy and the wave of red plum blossom energy smashed into each other in the air.

Boom!

The world seemed to shake for a moment. Chung Myung staggered. The Ice Palace Lord’s raw power was definitely stronger.

But Chung Myung didn’t retreat; instead, he took a step forward.

Snap.

The huge pressure felt like it was ripping his shoulder apart. The cold from the Ice Palm bit into his skin like frost, and his shoulder instantly began to turn blue.

Thud.

But Chung Myung’s sword didn’t stop. Though the flesh of his shoulder was turning black and blood streamed from his nose, his eyes shone even more brightly than before.

Thud.

One step. And another step.

His pace quickened. The closer he got, the greater the pressure, and the louder his body screamed in pain. But Chung Myung simply moved forward.

Finally.

Whoosh!

His body plunged straight into the middle of the colliding plum blossom sword energy and the frigid energy.

Scritch! Scritch!

The sword energy he unleashed cut into his own body, but Chung Myung didn’t even blink. Even as the sword energy sliced his flesh and fragments of force struck his back, he spat blood from his nose and mouth and charged forward in a straight line.

“Kugh!”

An unplanned groan escaped from Seolcheon Sang’s mouth as he unleashed his power.

This strange sword fighting was as strong as his Ice White Divine Palm. He had put all his strength into the palm attack. Just when he thought he had won, new sword energy appeared. Even when he pushed it down, it grew again from inside.

‘But that’s all it is!’

His inner power was stronger.

Sure enough, the fiercely resisting plum blossom sword energy gradually began to be pushed back by his power.

“You little brat! This is the end….”

That’s when it happened.

Whoosh!

A chilling sound tore through the air. And from within the Ice White Divine Palm’s energy that had turned his vision white, something red and black shot out like a cannonball.

‘What!’

Seolcheon Sang was so shocked by the unbelievable situation that his heart plummeted.

Whoosh!

Chung Myung appeared, having taken the Ice White Divine Palm with his own body.

He instantly reached Seolcheon Sang and raised his sword like a flash of light.

Scritch!

Blood spurted along the path the sword had taken.

A moment later, Seolcheon Sang’s chest was split open from the lower left to the upper right.

“Kkeueok….”

It was a severe injury by anyone’s standards.

But Seolcheon Sang didn’t collapse that easily.

Wham!

Ignoring the deep wound that exposed bone, he slammed his palm into Chung Myung’s leg.

Chung Myung’s leg buckled and twisted.

Wham!

And once more, Seolcheon Sang’s right fist, filled with cold energy, struck Chung Myung’s solar plexus.

Gggk.

Chung Myung’s feet, which had been firmly planted on the ground, slid backward. At the same time, a torrent of blood gushed from Chung Myung’s mouth.

“Die, raaah!”

Seolcheon Sang’s final blow, delivered with all his might, hit Chung Myung directly on his right shoulder.

The force containing the mysteries of the Ice White Divine Palm pounded Chung Myung’s right shoulder.

Chung Myung’s body twisted backward. As a result, the sword he was holding spun into the air for a moment.

Joy filled Seolcheon Sang’s eyes.

For a swordsman to lose his sword meant only death!

‘I’ve won…!’

And at that very moment.

Thwack.

Chung Myung’s hand gripped the center of the Dark Fragrance Plum Blossom Sword’s blade as it spun in the air.

Scritch!

The sharp blade cruelly cut into its owner’s hand. But even so, the hand that gripped the blade in reverse tightened even more firmly.

‘What?’

And.

Crack!

Without even turning around, Chung Myung thrust the Dark Plum Sword he was holding behind him, piercing through Seolcheon Sang’s solar plexus.

“…….”

A calm voice poured into Seolcheon Sang’s ear as he stared with empty eyes at the sword piercing his abdomen.

“On the battlefield….”

“…….”

“The moment you let your guard down, you die, you little brat.”

Chung Myung’s chilling smile was etched into the eyes of the collapsing Seolcheon Sang.