Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 818

“Don’t get excited!”

Hyun Jong’s voice boomed.

It wasn’t often that Hyun Jong raised his voice, but now, unlike usual, his voice carried formidable power.

“Don’t rush! Don’t let hostility rob you of your reason! You are disciples of Mount Hua! Trust your fellow disciples and hold your ground!”

“Yes!”

Hyun Jong bit his lip tightly. His eyes followed Chung Myung and the others on the opposite side of the cliff.

‘You blighters⋯⋯!’

Paegun, Jang Il-So.

His disciples were risking their lives to fight against that formidable foe.

He knew well enough that his disciples had been facing formidable enemies, but this was the first time he had watched them all engaged in such a fierce battle before his very eyes.

Hyun Jong felt a sharp pain in his chest. He finally understood what ‘blood running cold’ truly meant. All of Hyun Jong’s thoughts were fixed not here, but on the other side of that cliff.

But then, Hyun Jong saw Un-geom move.

“Un Geoooom!” Hyun Jong roared.

Un-geom, who had been about to charge forward, flinched and stopped.

“Fall back!”

“⋯⋯”

“Are you planning to die trying to help! You rascal!”

Un-geom bit his lip tightly. His shoulders were trembling slightly. He desperately wanted to run to their aid, to fight alongside his brothers. But Sect Leader’s order was clear. He was torn between duty and his heart.

But in the end, he held his ground. Disobeying the Sect Leader’s command was not an option for him in the first place.

Hyun Jong knew what he must be feeling.

Not only Un-geom, but all the other disciples would want to cut down all the Myriad Man House members blocking their path and rush to help the Five Swords.

But they mustn’t.

Mount Hua’s strength still didn’t match that of the Myriad Man House. If they tried to force their way through here, they would have to be prepared for total annihilation. Just holding on to these men and enduring was already more than the disciples of Mount Hua were capable of.

It was strange, but lucky, that the Myriad Man House was not attacking strongly.

‘Well, I suppose that’s only natural.’

The Myriad Man House did not need to hurry. The fight between strong masters blocked anyone coming from below. They probably thought Jang Il-So would win easily.

Grind.

In the end, a trickle of red blood flowed from the lip that his teeth had pierced.

He, too, wanted to shout. To break through this place at the risk of his life and help those children.

But he couldn’t do that either.

He was the Sect Leader of Mount Hua. He couldn’t sacrifice the other children for the sake of those ones.

Because the one he had to protect wasn’t the most talented in Mount Hua, but the weakest.

‘So!’

Hyun Jong gripped his sword tightly.

Believing in them and holding back even these members of the Myriad Man House was what he had to do now.

‘Please, don’t make me regret this decision for the rest of my life. Please.’

It was a most earnest wish, but one that couldn’t be conveyed.

Rumble! The cliff shuddered, groaning under the force of the battle above. It felt like the world itself was breaking apart.

“Rocks falling! Heads down! Move! Move!” Moo Jin roared, his voice strained. He swung his sword wildly, deflecting chunks of rock and splinters of shattered cliff that rained down on them.

His face was twisted in a mask of fear and fury. ‘Bloody hell!’ he thought, his heart pounding.

Above them, a battle of titans raged. Each clash of swords echoed like thunder, sending cracks spider-webbing across the cliff face. Dust and rock rained down, stinging eyes and filling the air with the smell of stone and fire. For the Wudang disciples clinging to the cliff, it was like being caught in a storm of destruction.

But that didn’t mean they could just hang on the cliff like this.

The Shaolin and Wudang, the Namgung, and even the Cheongseong below, began to make a large detour to avoid the battle raging above.

“Hold on tight!”

“Aaaaargh!”

At that moment, a sword aura the size of a house flew in from above.

The moment Moo Jin widened his eyes and saw the sword aura coming towards him, a green figure appeared and swung his sword.

Wham!

“Sect Leader!”

It was Byeok Hyunja.

He shouted as soon as he deflected the sword aura.

“The elders must protect the disciples! We must get above the cliff!”

“Yes!”

There was no exception.

Those who could move on the cliff, especially those with high martial prowess, blocked the fragments of energy pouring down from above and knocked away the rolling rocks.

‘Above, if we can just get above somehow⋯⋯.’

It was at that moment.

Kaaaaaaaboom!

With a roar that overturned the sky, one side of the cliff face couldn’t withstand the impact and broke away. A monstrous shadow fell over them. Looking up, they saw a building-sized chunk of cliff breaking away. The ground trembled, and a deep rumble filled their ears, growing louder every second. Death was falling from the sky.

“Stop it!”

With a shout that burst out from somewhere, a man soared upwards.

“Elder Heo Gwang!”

White and black sword energy swirled around one sword at the same time. What he drew was a clean and elegant circle.

“Haaaap!”

The ultimate move of the Supreme Divine Sword of Taiji struck down on the falling rock. At the same time, the power emitted by the Shaolin elders shattered the rock into smaller and smaller pieces.

“Spread out!”

They slashed and struck again and again. The attacks were like disasters. But the trained fighters worked together and overcame them.

However.

“Junior brother!”

Not everyone succeeded in that overcoming.

Those who had lost their strength slipped, and those who were hit by rocks the size of human heads screamed and fell.

“Ugh!”

Moo Jin bit his lip tightly.

“Climb! Just get above the cliff! Don’t look back, just climb!”

“Senior brother! But our junior brother⋯⋯!”

Moo Jin’s voice was harsh, but his heart was breaking. He was forcing his juniors to survive, even if he couldn’t save everyone.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up and climb!”

“⋯⋯”

Tears of blood flowed from Moo Jin’s eyes.

‘These dog-like heretics.’

It was not a thought that a Taoist disciple should dare to harbor. But his eyes were now filled with a murderous intent that had never been there before.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll definitely kill you!”

He shouted and gritted his teeth once more as he climbed the cliff.

A stretched blade brushed past his neck.

Whoosh!

The sound followed only after the sword had brushed past his neck.

A quick sword that could not be described in any other way than amazing. But the true value of this sword was not just its speed.

Realizing the danger, Heo Do-jin retreated swiftly.

Tingle.

Even though he had clearly dodged it, he felt a strong pain around his neck.

“⋯⋯Invisible Sword Energy.”

An invisible energy that could not be followed with the eyes flowed out each time the sword was unleashed, binding Heo Do-jin’s body.

He had certainly heard of it.

A sword technique that led to death without even knowing how one was being attacked. The name of a legendary sword technique of the Demonic Path (a dangerous and evil fighting style), which was said to cause death as if one had been struck by the hand of a god of death, not a human.

“⋯⋯Is that the Twelve Ghostly Styles (a very secret and deadly sword technique)?”

“Hmm. You recognize it.”

Man Geum-daebu nodded with an expressionless face.

“It’s an inadequate sword technique to face the Wudang Sect Leader, but I’ve made it my signature skill. And more than anything⋯⋯”

Whoosh!

Man Geum-daebu’s sword thrust towards Heo Do-jin as if to pierce him through. Heo Do-jin quickly twisted his body, and the black sword energy that brushed past him pierced through the cliff and dug in deeply.

“⋯⋯”

Just how far has the hole been drilled?

“It’s quite an efficient sword technique, so I use it often. I don’t like wasting my inner energy.”

Heo Do-jin’s eyes narrowed subtly.

That sword was certainly difficult to deal with.

“What’s wrong?”

“⋯⋯”

Man Geum-daebu said, a cruel smile twisting his lips, “I have all the time in the world. But your little disciples down there? Every second you waste is another chance for them to die. How does that make you feel, Sect Leader?”

Heo Do-jin bit his lip.

Defeat?

Such a thing could not be in his mind. He was the Sect Leader of Wudang. He would rather die with his tongue torn out than be killed by a demonic villain.

But the problem was what came after.

His gaze turned to those below.

The disciples of the Nine Sects and the Five Great Families were struggling to climb the cliff. Rocks rolled down above their heads, and every time a force flew in, everyone did their best to block it.

Clinging to the cliff so precariously.

“⋯⋯”

The faces of the disciples were so gruesome that he couldn’t bear to look at them.

Covered in oil, bleeding from arrows, and groaning from exhausted inner energy. Below, on the barely visible cliff face, fallen disciples writhed in pain.

‘Since when has it become like this?’

Something was seriously wrong.

Climbing the cliff. Yes, at that moment, the only path Heo Do-jin saw was that. He thought that this was the only way to survive.

But was that really the case?

‘Survive?’

The opponent was preserving their full strength on the cliff. At most, they had only carried oil pots or shot arrows.

The Myriad Man House, the Hao Clan, the Black Ghost Squad. And even the pirates who were surely gathering here after disembarking.

On the other hand, even if the disciples of the Nine Sects somehow managed to climb to the top of the cliff, they would have to fight the demonic villains of the Four Evil Sects with all their energy exhausted from the fierce battle.

‘Why has it become like this?’

Even when he entered this canyon, he had never imagined such a scene. What had he done wrong to have to lose so many innocent lives in vain?

For what?

“You’re thinking too much.”

“⋯⋯”

Heo Do-jin gripped his sword so hard it seemed it would break.

A little further away, Namgung Hwang and the Black Dragon King were fiercely clashing. The Black Dragon King, who was constantly scattering massive amounts of energy, was formidable, but Namgung Hwang, who was not being pushed back an inch by such a Black Dragon King, was equally impressive.

However.

Rumble!

“Aaaaargh!”

Every time they swung their swords and blades wildly, the cliff crumbled, and sword energy and blade energy raged.

“This⋯⋯”

And it was the disciples of Wudang and Shaolin at the forefront who were taking the brunt of the damage.

He knew.

That this was unavoidable. If he saved his strength for the sake of those below and ended up losing, that Black Dragon King would swoop down on those clinging to the cliff in an instant.

Then everything would be over.

But even knowing this, he couldn’t help but feel resentful, wondering if Namgung would be doing the same thing even if the ones climbing at the forefront were not Wudang but Namgung. And this was proof that Heo Do-jin’s mind was that anxious.

Beopgye was not of much help either.

There was no reason why the name of a Shaolin elder should not match the Sect Leader of another sect, but Cheonmyeon Soosa had no reason to be inferior to him either. No, Beopgye’s shoulders were too heavy to face the best of the Demonic Path.

⋯⋯Then what should he do?

Grind.

Heo Do-jin gritted his teeth. His eyes were bloodshot.

‘Jang Il-So.’

The only name that came to his mind was that one.

Whooooosh.

A chilling calm settled over Heo Do-jin’s face. His eyes, once filled with worry, now burned with a cold, focused fire. The air around him seemed to crackle with a new, dangerous energy.

“Hmm?”

Man Geum-daebu’s eyes narrowed at his changed demeanor.

The Taoist hat on Heo Do-jin’s head couldn’t withstand the force and was torn off. The disheveled hair that shot up backwards made him look no different from a demon.

“Hmm⋯⋯. This, if I’m not careful, I might suffer a loss.”

Man Geum-daebu raised his sword with a very displeased look.

Gooooooo!

At that moment, the white and black energies emanating from Heo Do-jin’s sword intertwined in the air, forming a huge circle.

‘Taiji?’

Man Geum-daebu’s face momentarily stiffened with tension.

Supreme Divine Sword of Taiji.

The Supreme Divine Sword of Taiji, called the best sword of Wudang, was finally beginning to unfold in Heo Do-jin’s hands.

“Hmm!”

Man Geum-daebu slowly adjusted his grip on his sword.

“⋯⋯This is definitely a loss.”

Streams of blue sword energy also emanated from his sword.