Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 805

Master Heo Do’s face twisted in horror. He was a Taoist, and Taoists are trained to hide their feelings. Showing such fear was very unusual for him.

Thud!

Without a second thought, Master Heo Do rushed out of the camp.

The other sect leaders understood the seriousness of the situation and quickly followed him.

The battlefield changed. The fighting stopped. It was as if the life-or-death struggle from moments ago had never happened.

Master Heo Do looked up slowly. Everyone in the basin was looking in the same direction.

Above the cliff.

High above, so high that it strained their necks to look, a man stood gazing down at them.

He was dressed in black from head to toe.

He had a wild, black beard, thick and rough, that hung down to his belly. His face was red, like it was burning with anger, and his hair was a huge, untamed mane, like a lion ready to roar.

This strange appearance, along with the black dragon on his chest, made his identity clear.

“Kyahahaha!” he shouted. “What do you righteous dogs think you’ll find, coming all the way to this Jang Gang?”

Namgung Hwang’s face became stern.

The powerful energy in his voice felt like it was scraping Namgung Hwang’s skin.

‘Was the Black Dragon King always this powerful?’ Namgung Hwang wondered.

He knew the Black Dragon King’s name, of course. Everyone did.

But he’d always imagined him as just a common criminal, not someone like *this*.

He thought the other groups were not serious. He believed they were just a messy group of lazy people who didn’t work hard, unlike the disciplined righteous sects.

The Black Dragon King, standing before him, instantly changed Namgung Hwang’s mind.

It was as if a commanding presence flowed from him, enough to send shivers down one’s spine.

“Not only do you dare to come into the Jang Gang, but you crawl all the way into the Black Dragon Stronghold,” the Black Dragon King said. “Have the righteous dogs lost their minds?”

Namgung Hwang shouted back, “Coward! Hiding so far away and still running your mouth! You left your men and ran away, but you still have something to say?”

Namgung Hwang’s words might not have been completely logical, but they did calm the worried warriors of the Namgung Clan.

“Ran away…” The Black Dragon King repeated Namgung Hwang’s words, then sneered. “Say whatever you want. I don’t care about the words of a man about to die.”

“You bastard!”

At that moment, Beopgye spoke.

“Amitabha. I am Beopgye of the Shaolin,” he said.

“Hmph! A mere elder dares to speak to me!” the Black Dragon King said. “The Shaolin are too arrogant!”

The Black Dragon King openly mocked him, causing Beopgye to frown slightly.

“Benefactor,” Beopgye said, “I hear what you’re saying. But what do you plan to do now? You can’t fight all of us by yourself, can you?”

“There’s nothing I can’t do!” The Black Dragon King laughed loudly. “Why would I need anyone else to deal with the likes of you? My blade is all I need.”

The Black Dragon King grabbed the blade at his waist. The handle clicked as it extended, turning into a long glaive.

Whoosh!

The Black Dragon King swung the glaive once in the air and smiled arrogantly. “Who will face me?”

Before Namgung Hwang could shout, Beopgye stepped forward.

“Amitabha. If you wish, I can be your opponent,” Beopgye said.

“Someone like you? Hahahahaha!”

The Black Dragon King laughed wildly. He couldn’t stop laughing, his eyes full of ridicule as he looked at Beopgye.

“Get lost, kid! Don’t bother the adults. If you want to fight me, bring your abbot!”

Beopgye’s face turned red.

Where could the First Elder of the Shaolin have ever been treated like this?

“Amitabha. Amitabha,” Beopgye chanted, trying to calm his anger.

“If you want a worthy opponent, I will fight you,” Namgung Hwang said. “Are you saying that even *I*, Emperor Sword Namgung Hwang, am not good enough for you?”

“Emperor Sword…” The Black Dragon King twisted his lips. “You were safe and comfortable inside your Namgung Clan. Now you come out here and act tough!”

“What did you say?”

“Why? Did I hit a nerve?”

The Black Dragon King glared at everyone with his fierce eyes.

“Of course, I can defeat all of you by myself. But… if you think I need help, it wouldn’t be bad to meet your expectations.”

“…What?”

At that moment, two figures slowly walked out beside the Black Dragon King.

“Indeed, that wouldn’t be bad,” one said.

“If the esteemed gentlemen of the Nine Great Sects think we are not enough alone, perhaps…” the other added.

Seeing them, Master Heo Do’s face hardened.

‘Those are…’ he thought.

Of course, he had never seen them before.

But he knew who they were. There were very few people in the world who could stand next to the Black Dragon King. And one of them looked exactly like he expected.

“…Man Geum… Daebu.”

“How wonderful,” Man Geum Daebu said, standing to the left of the Black Dragon King. “That the world’s Heo Do Jin-in recognizes me.” He smiled coldly and looked down at Heo Do Jin-in.

“Just taking Heo Do Jin-in’s head would be worth it. So, how could I not come? Opportunities like this don’t come often.”

The man standing to the right of the Black Dragon King had an ordinary face with no special features.

But Heo Do Jin-in knew that if the person he thought was Man Geum Daebu was really him, then there was only one person who could stand opposite him.

A person whose identity could never be known from their appearance.

“Ch-Cheonmyeon… Susa.”

“Cheonmyeon Susa? That man?” Byeok Hyeonja’s face turned pale.

Man Geum Daebu and Cheonmyeon Susa.

They were the leaders of the Black Ghost Fortress and the Hao Moon, respectively, and two of the Five Supreme Overlords of the Divine Land.

That meant that three of the Five Supreme Overlords of the Divine Land were gathered here.

‘Three of the Five Supreme Overlords of the Divine Land?’ he thought.

This was a truly powerful force. Even if three of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families were gathered, they couldn’t be sure of winning.

“Sect Leader!” Byeok Hyeonja turned to look at Heo Do Jin-in without realizing it. But Heo Do Jin-in seemed surprised too and didn’t say anything.

‘Why are they all here?’ he wondered.

This shouldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be happening.

The four sects gathered here hadn’t come without a plan. There was only one reason for fighting the Jang Gang Waterway Garrison.

The different groups could never work together.

Even during the war with the Demonic Cult, they fought each other until the end. The Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families only cared about themselves, but they didn’t stab each other in the back or fight each other.

But wouldn’t the different groups attack each other even as the Demonic Cult’s blade was cutting them?

If the Jang Gang Waterway Garrison was attacked by the righteous sects, the other groups should be rushing in like wolves to take the areas where the Waterway Garrison had lost power, not helping them. That was how they really were.

“But how…”

At that moment, a group of fighters appeared from the top of the cliff. They walked slowly, looking at those in the basin below with cold eyes.

It was clear that they were highly skilled.

‘They even brought their men,’ he thought.

Knowing that such powerful masters were watching them made them feel a great pressure.

But they could handle that pressure.

What really bothered Heo Do Jin-in was that they had shown themselves at all. He couldn’t believe that someone had brought these people, who could never get along, together like this.

“Who is it…”

There had to be someone who had brought these people together.

“Who…!”

Just as Heo Do Jin-in was about to shout, he heard a small sound.

Jingle.

It was a very small sound, like the clinking of a woman’s jewelry. Ordinary people couldn’t even hear it at this distance, and even Heo Do Jin-in had to listen carefully.

But to Heo Do Jin-in’s ears, that small sound was like thunder.

“Hmm.” A slightly high-pitched voice came slowly from the cliff.

Heo Do Jin-in felt the hairs on his body stand on end. He stared at the cliff with wide eyes, as if he wanted to see everything.

And then, a man appeared on the cliff.

Heo Do Jin-in bit his lip tightly.

He saw it.

The Black Dragon King, Man Geum Daebu, and Cheonmyeon Susa were stepping aside for the man who had just appeared.

Who could make them do that?

Thud. Thud.

The man who appeared at the edge of the cliff looked very different from the others.

He wore a blood-red robe with a black dragon on it.

His skin was as white as snow, like a woman’s.

He had a snow-white coronet on his black hair.

And he wore many ornaments on his body and arms.

Heo Do Jin-in knew this person. He had to know him.

There were many people in the world, but a man dressed like this would be rare. And even more so, one who dared to stand in that place.

There was only one person it could be.

“…Paegun.”

Paegun, Jang Il-so.

The moment he appeared, the air in the basin turned cold.

It was different from the others.

The Black Dragon King’s commanding presence had been enough to stop the battle.

The coldness from Man Geum Daebu was like the coldest winter, and Cheonmyeon Susa’s ordinary appearance was unsettling.

But this man, Paegun Jang Il-so, was different.

He didn’t show any great power. He just walked slowly and looked down from above.

Yet, they felt like they were trapped and suffocating.

It wasn’t his strength as a fighter, but his presence as a person that was different from the others. Even his fancy clothes didn’t make him look silly; instead, they made him seem even more powerful.

“Greetings, fighters of the martial world,” Jang Il-so said, bringing his hands together and bowing slightly. It was a common sign of respect.

But even with that familiar gesture, everyone felt chills and felt suffocated. Even with that common greeting.

“I am Jang Il-so, the leader of the Myriad Demon Clan and the Lord of the Four Evil Alliances.”

A bright smile spread across Jang Il-so’s face.

At that moment, Heo Do Jin-in could see that there was no laughter in Jang Il-so’s eyes, even though he was smiling.

‘A snake? No… that’s like a venomous dragon,’ he thought.

A venomous dragon was coiled up on the cliff, slowly looking down at the prey that had fallen into its trap.

With those cold and eerie eyes.