Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 732

Baek Cheon and Yoon Jong looked at Hyun Jong with suspicion. They didn’t hide it.

“Sasuk, this… I might be mistaken, but…”

“……It seems you are not mistaken.”

He looked very healthy.

His face was still thin, but it was clear he was much healthier than before.

It wasn’t merely that he had regained his original complexion; his skin glowed like a baby’s skin.

“Ack! It’s blinding.”

When the sun came out from behind a cloud, Hyun Jong’s face shone so brightly it was like a light.

He looked so radiant, he seemed almost holy, not just like a normal religious master.

“……Can a person really change so drastically?”

Just ten days ago, he was as thin as a mummy. Now, he had skin like a baby.

It was an amazing change.

And it wasn’t just Hyun Jong.

The faces of Hyun Sang and Hyun Young, standing beside him, were also markedly different from before.

“……Are they perhaps using some sort of facial scrub?”

“How could they be?”

“It’s just too absurd otherwise.”

It wasn’t just that their faces were brighter and healthier. The tired, painful look they had before was gone. Now they looked strangely peaceful.

‘What on earth is going on?’

It was as if he could hear Chung Myung’s snickering in his ear.

“Ughhh! Argh, this!”

“Get a good grip there!”

“Ha… I’m going mad!”

Unam frowned, watching his disciples holding onto the pillar tightly and pulling as hard as they could.

“Is it not working?”

“…Sasuk, this thing won’t budge an inch.”

“Haa…”

Unam sighed. He was very frustrated. There was a big crack at the top of the pillar where the disciples were holding on.

“……This is troublesome. It seems we have no choice but to dismantle it.”

“What’s going on?”

“Ah, Elder.”

Unam quickly bowed his head as Hyun Young approached and asked the question. Hyun Young waved his hand dismissively, as if bothered.

“Spare the formalities. What are you all doing, stuck to that thing like flies?”

“Ah, well…”

Unam scratched his head and said,

“You remember when we expanded the front of the main hall for the ceremony?”

“I do.”

Remember when the Tang Clan fixed the hall for the Mount Hua Sect ceremony? They added a new part to the front. The old hall alone was too small and didn’t look grand enough.

“Well, it seems it can’t bear the weight.”

“Hmm? How can that be? The Tang Clan people wouldn’t have missed something like that.”

“Well, normally there wouldn’t be a problem, but the pillar has shifted slightly.”

“Ah.”

Hyun Young nodded as if he understood. The hall could hold the weight if the pillar was straight. But the old pillar of the hall had twisted and moved slowly over time. That’s what caused the crack.

“So, we tried to push the pillar back into place, but it seems difficult. In that case, we have no choice but to dismantle the hall and rebuild it…”

“Wait. What? Dismantle what?”

“The hall…”

A spark ignited in Hyun Young’s eyes.

“What nonsense are you talking about! Do you even know what this hall is!”

Unam sighed. He was getting more frustrated.

“Of course, I know that this hall contains the history of our ancestors…”

“Wasn’t it built by the Tang Clan, the Tang Clan! It would cost a fortune to employ the famous Tang Clan builders. And you’re saying we should dismantle a hall built by such people? Are you out of your mind?”

“……”

Ah… That was the problem.

“Well… ahem. I, uh, I would like to keep the hall as it is if we can, but it will collapse soon if we leave it like this. I’m worried that the disciples might get hurt…”

“Collapse? What nonsense! We just need to straighten the pillar! Get out of the way!”

Hyun Young pushed Un Am aside and approached the disciples clinging to the pillar.

“You can’t just push it in! You have to lift it slightly as you push.”

“Yes?”

“It’s stuck on the ground, so of course it won’t move!”

The disciples’ faces paled at Hyun Young’s words.

‘Lift it?’

‘This?’

The weight of the hall was concentrated on this pillar. So, telling them to lift it was like asking them to lift the whole hall.

Easier said than done. How could they lift a pillar they couldn’t even push?

“Ah, I don’t think we can do it?”

“You can.”

“Elder, I really don’t think we can.”

“Tsk tsk. You can do it. You all can! Now, get back to it!”

“This isn’t realistic…”

“Realistic or not, you can do it. There’s nothing in this world you can’t do! Stop wasting time and get to it!”

There were two types of people in the world: those who could be reasoned with, and those who could not.

And it was clear to anyone that Hyun Young belonged to the latter.

“Ugh.”

“Ughh.”

The disciples swallowed their tears and clung to the pillar. Hyun Young watched them, then shouted the command loudly and with energy.

“Alright! One, two! Lift!”

“Aaaaargh!”

“Eeeaaaargh!”

“More! More! Put more strength into it! Properly!”

“Aaaaargh!”

The disciples, veins bulging on their foreheads, screamed at the top of their lungs. They used all their strength, but the pillar remained stubbornly unmoved.

“More! More! Have you not been fed properly? How can you call yourselves martial artists with so little strength! Lift it, I say, lift it!”

“Aaaaargh!”

“Stop!”

Plop! Plop!

Exhausted from their efforts, the disciples collapsed to the ground as soon as they released the pillar.

“Aigoo…”

“T-This is impossible…”

“Tsk! Young lads with so little strength! You, come here!”

“Yes?”

“Get out of the way!”

Hyun Young grabbed one of the disciples sitting next to the pillar and pulled him aside. Then, he gripped the pillar himself.

“Now, get back to it!”

“Elder! You mustn’t overexert yourself!”

“You’ll hurt your back.”

“Stop talking nonsense and get to it!”

The Mount Hua disciples looked at Hyun Young with worried eyes, but eventually, they reluctantly clung to the pillar again.

“Alright! I’m putting my strength in. One, two!”

It was at that moment.

Crack! Crack! Crunch!

The pillar, which hadn’t budged an inch when they were straining together, began to twitch and move little by little.

“Put more strength into it! Strength! Haaah!”

“Kraaah!!”

“Haaah!”

Unam watched with worry. Then his eyes widened.

‘What? That actually worked?’

Hyun Young rolled up his sleeves and gripped the pillar. His arm muscles bulged and moved as he lifted. The pillar, as thick as a large tree, slowly began to lift upwards. The tilted building was righted, returning to its original form.

“Th-Th-That…?”

Unam was amazed. He quickly came closer and shouted,

“Inwards! Now you can move it! Inwards! Slowly, slowly! Absolutely do not rush, just one step at a time!”

The lifted pillar slowly moved inwards.

“Just a little more, just a little! That’s it! Ah, lower it slowly!”

Boom! The pillar crashed down, shaking the ground and sending vibrations through their feet. The disciples all collapsed backwards.

“I’m going to die.”

“My arm… I think my arm is falling off.”

Hyun Young, as if he hadn’t exerted any effort, stood with his hands behind his back, checking if the pillar was properly set. A small smile played on his lips. He enjoyed showing off his strength. He clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk. Young ones with so little strength! Isn’t it all because you’ve been neglecting your training!”

The disciples, speechless, stared blankly up at Hyun Young. Hyun Young dusted off his sleeves and asked Unam,

“Is it done?”

“Yes? Ah… Yes! Elder! It’s done.”

“See? It could be done like this, why dismantle a perfectly good building? Tsk tsk.”

Hyun Young cleared his throat and walked away proudly. One disciple, still staring after him in confusion, muttered to himself,

“…Did anyone else see that? What *was* that?”

Then Un Am tilted his head and asked,

“Why are you all like that?”

“Ah, no. Just now, we definitely gave it our all, but it wouldn’t budge at all.”

“Isn’t it because the Elder has some kind of trick?”

“…Is there a trick to lifting things?”

“…”

“And it wasn’t something that could be done with a trick.”

“That’s right. I was trying to put my strength into it, but the moment the Elder next to me went ‘oomph,’ the pillar suddenly shot up…”

“This is really strange…”

Unam, with a surprised look, turned back to look at Hyun Young’s retreating figure.

He was walking with his hands behind his back, with his usual gait.

“…Just what…”

Day Forty-One.

Bulge.

Twitch.

Swell.

The three men, standing side by side, lightly tilted their necks.

Snap!

But the sound of something tearing echoed. Hyun Jong frowned and slightly lifted the chest of his clothing. His inner garment was torn and tattered.

“Ugh. The clothes are too small.”

“That’s why I changed into a bigger one a while ago.”

“Me too, Senior Brother.”

Hyun Jong laughed.

“At this age, of all times.”

Hyun Jong’s chest moved as he laughed loudly. He remembered a time when he was this strong, long ago.

“…To think this would happen.”

“Indeed.”

It wasn’t just that his body had improved.

Compared to the surging internal energy in his core, the visible changes in his body were insignificant.

Moreover, the changed body and internal energy brought confidence, and that confidence changed Hyun Jong’s expression.

“Chung Myung-ah.”

“Yes?”

“So, what level are we at now?”

“Roughly…”

Chung Myung seemed to ponder for a moment before saying,

“About three stars in this province. We can say we’re just at the beginning.”

“The beginning…”

If this was the beginning, how much stronger would they become when they approached mastery?

“…Now I understand why the Self-Divination Divine Art was a martial art only practiced by the Mount Hua sect leaders.”

“Hey. We’re just getting started. And it’s not like everyone gets the same effect. The sect leader and elders have been training their internal energy for so long, so the amount of internal energy itself was large. It’s just that it wasn’t being used properly. This time, with the Self-Divination Divine Art, we’ve gathered all the existing internal energy and the internal energy that was stuck in their bodies and unified it, so it will be much easier to train from now on.”

“Yes, yes!”

Hyun Jong’s eyes were filled with affection as he looked at Chung Myung.

When Chung Myung said he would teach the Self-Divination Divine Art, he thought he would just teach them the basics as a formality and focus on the other disciples. But to think he would dedicate a whole month to the three old men.

He knew that it would be more efficient to teach the other disciples during that time, and he was always concerned about it. Nevertheless, Hyun Jong couldn’t bring himself to say he wanted to stop.

Even though they were retired from the front lines, he and the elders were still martial artists. They couldn’t be without the desire to become stronger. They had simply endured it because the conditions weren’t right.

But this time, Chung Myung had unleashed that suppressed desire.

“Thank you.”

“Yes? What are you thanking me for all of a sudden?”

Chung Myung tilted his head. Hyun Jong smiled at the sight.

“It’s nothing.”

If it were Chung Myung, he would just say that he did what he had to do.

“Don’t think you’ve already achieved everything. You have to keep training steadily and reach at least five stars. Only then will my power come out.”

“…”

He felt like he could break a mountain with his bare hands right now, but his power would only come out when he reached five stars?

How strong was his power?

“And you have to keep practicing the Plum Blossom Sword Art. All internal energy needs a suitable vessel. The Twenty-Four Style Plum Blossom Sword Technique can’t fully contain this internal energy.”

“Of course. How could I be negligent?”

“And…”

Chung Myung grinned.

“This is the most important thing.”

“Huh?”

An increasingly sinister aura emanated from his smile.

“Lately, it seems like the senior brothers and uncles have gained a bit of weight.”

“…”

“It seems like even when Un-geom Sasook is directly instructing you, you’re not really trying.”

“Ahem!”

“Indeed!”

“Eing! That won’t do!”

Very obvious, overly dramatic answers came back eagerly. Chung Myung smiled slyly and brought up the main point.

“So, I was wondering… how about the elders and sect leader directly guiding the disciples who will newly learn the Self-Divination Divine Art on this occasion…? What do you think?”

Then the three men simultaneously wore pleased smiles.

Hyun Jong said, “Well, if you think it’s necessary, Chung Myung, I suppose I could find some time. It’s my duty to guide the younger generation, after all.”

Hyun Sang said, “Yes, yes, of course. As the Head of the Martial Hall, it’s my responsibility. I’ve been meaning to spend more time with the disciples anyway.”

Hyun Young said, “Hmph. Someone has to show these youngsters how it’s really done. I’ll make sure they learn properly.”

They clenched and unclenched their fists slightly.

Anyone who watched Chung Myung teach the disciples would think about it at least once.

‘To be honest, I’ve wanted to try it at least once.’

‘Finally, this day has come!’

‘I’ll make you roll around in hell!’

The three men who received the respect of all the Mount Hua disciples.

Hyun Jong, Hyun Sang, and Hyun Young.

And now, the time had finally come to make the disciples respect them and look up to them in amazement.