Return of the Mount Hua Sect

Puaaaak!

With a noise reminiscent of something breaking, blood began to spill.

Kwang!

For a moment, Heo Gong, who had fallen to the floor, looked up at the sky. One side of the sky was slowly turning red.

He didn’t immediately grasp the situation he was in. Why was he suddenly lying down, staring at the sky?

‘Did I fall? How?’

For a moment, his memory seemed all jumbled up. The strange sensation of his body floating in the air was replaced by a terrible pain in his left eye a few moments later.

“Ugh….”

That’s when he remembered Chung Myung’s elbow striking his eye.

Throb!

‘My eye…’

Seeing out of it was nearly impossible because all the veins had burst. Even without looking in a mirror, he was certain of it. Perhaps the eyelids had swollen to the point where he could barely open the eye.

But no matter how severe the injury and how extreme the pain, it paled in comparison to the fatigue and mental exhaustion he was now feeling.

Crack.

Heo Gong’s nails scratched the ground.

He somehow managed to force his body, which was shaking and trembling, to move, even with broken feet.

‘From the start…’

The goosebumps covering his body didn’t subside.

The boy’s sword seemed to suddenly grow in length. But such a thing was impossible. A sword made of iron could never stretch like that.

There was just one explanation.

“… I was tricked.”

Typically, a skilled swordsman looks for weak points in their opponent during battle. Therefore, the range and interval of Chung Myung’s attacks that he had in mind were naturally estimated and assumed.

And the principle behind this deceptive attack from Chung Myung was quite simple.

Firstly, slightly fold the outstretched hand and adjust the distance between the sword movements. This created a gap in Heo Gong’s mind, making him confident that Chung Myung’s attacks could never reach him.

And then, the interval changed in an instant, very calmly and naturally.

From Heo Gong’s perspective, it seemed as if the sword had suddenly grown longer.

If one thought about it, it was not a huge deal.

But, was it possible to execute such a seemingly insignificant maneuver so perfectly that even an elder like Heo Gong didn’t realize it’s a feint, while the real, lethal attack followed closely behind?

Well, let’s assume it was possible.

However, it’s strange to introduce a gap in the successive attacks against an opponent you were facing for the first time. Even a slight misjudgment by just an inch could result in torn flesh and broken bones. So why would this young man take such a risk?

‘Insane….’

This wasn’t a matter of logic but of recklessness.

This strategy became more effective the more skilled the opponent was and the quicker they caught on to Chung Myung’s swordsmanship.

It’s a plan that relied on trusting the opponent, which was absurd.

“Cough!”

His body shuddered with a sick feeling coursing through the stomach.

The scene unfolded vividly before the eyes. Chung Myung, who wielded his sword and was controlling Heo Gong, then released the sword.

That was the essence of Wudang’s swordsmanship.

“You…”

As he stood and grasped the sword, he saw Chung Myung staring at him.

His eyes were terrifyingly cold, devoid of any emotion. If it weren’t for the blood around his lips and those cold eyes, one might have mistaken him for a drawing or portrait, not a real person…

“Do… not laugh! You brat!”

Heo Gong released a growling voice, filled with anger.

“How dare you… attack Wudang with trickery?”

This was a disgrace to them.

It’s no different than their most important person being struck by a fist or someone who had used a spear all their life being defeated by a novice wielding a spear for the first time.

“This…”

Being struck by the youngest of the Mount Hua disciples was an unbearable humiliation for someone who had devoted more time to mastering the sword of Wudang.

“On purpose…!”

Biting down hard on his teeth, one tooth cracked.

And the eyes that were gazing at the sky turned red as if they were beholding the enemies of Buddha. Yet, Chung Myung, the center of all attention, remained unfazed.

Step.

Chung Myung stopped walking, looked straight at Heo Gong, and said,

“You seem to be mistaken about something.”

“…”

“There’s no real significance to me punching you in the face.”

“…shut up!”

Heo Gong screamed at the top of his voice. Chung Myung shook his head, expressionless.

“So foolish.”

His cold voice pierced through the air.

“The moment you emitted killing intent, this ceased to be a spar. Had it been a spar, I would have simply enjoyed it. But that’s all you understand.”

“…”

“This is not a spar. This is a real fight. In reality, there’s no ‘you and me.’ The one who stands is the winner.”

Heo Gong’s eyes trembled as they met Chung Myung’s.

Chung Myung asked quietly,

“Is it difficult to grasp the concept of a ‘spar’?”

“…”

“Listen carefully now, kid. The moment you draw your sword with the intention to harm or kill your opponent… it becomes war.”

“…”

“In war, the choice of weapon doesn’t matter. You use whatever you can against your opponent to cut their throat, turn them into a corpse, or even feign death to win, and then stab the knife into a passing enemy.”

A clear sneer appeared on Chung Myung’s face.

“Are you complaining about why I wielded my own sword in battle?”

“…”

“Do your best, you fools.”

Heo Gong’s body trembled.

Do anything to win.

This was something he had heard countless times. He didn’t even think that because he was from Wudang, he had to distinguish between what everyone did and what he did.

But…

He had absolutely no understanding of what ‘doing anything’ even meant.

Even when he sparred, he desperately deceived the opponent. He used every technique he could to drive his sword through the body of the opponent.

That… didn’t that turn everything more into a struggle than a war?

The tip of Heo Gong’s sword trembled again. And Chung Myung’s eyes sunk in as he looked at the trembling sword.

‘No matter how much I say it, it will be difficult to understand with words.’

Forcing someone who hadn’t experienced war to act like they could wouldn’t work.

But Heo Gong’s mind must understand. Because he had heard such similar things countless times. Wasn’t Wudang also a place that experienced war? There was no way the famous Wudang sect wouldn’t have passed on their experiences and know-how of war to their descendants.

But this wasn’t something one could understand with just their head.

‘But I will never understand it.’

Imagine someone who was living a very ordinary life opening their eyes and being thrown right in the middle of a war.

He needed to assume that someone who understood the word killing as a concept was suddenly experiencing the chaos of having a person’s head blow off right in front of their eyes, with that warm blood falling on them.

Would they be able to get used to the situation?

It wouldn’t be possible.

What was so natural to Chung Myung wasn’t to Heo Gong. Even he, an elder of Wudang and a person skilled enough to rise to the top could not understand Chung Myung.

The eyes through which Heo Gong was looking at Chung Myung weren’t much different from the eyes shown by the people of Mount Hua when they first came across the Demonic Sect. Chung Myung, too, knew that feeling of fear when seeing something incomprehensible.

‘It sucks for sure.’

Heo Gong looked at him with the eyes Mount Hua reserved for the Demonic Sect. It was as if Asura himself had stepped into the land of hell.

But it didn’t matter.

Of course, Chung Myung knew he wasn’t necessarily right.

There was no need to know what war was. There was no need to understand how to fight a beast like Chung Myung.

But being strong wasn’t everything.

True strength didn’t come from wielding a sword.

If it had been the Chung Myung of the past, he might have simply looked down on Heo Gong, but he wouldn’t have considered it wrong.

Unless one knew what the Demonic Sect was still waiting for a moment to pounce on the Central Plains. And if one had an idea about the possibility of the Heavenly Demon being alive somewhere in the world.

“It seems like I look like the devil.”

“…”

“But the real devil hasn’t even stepped out yet.”

“… What do you mean?”

Chung Myung smiled.

“We had to suffer without knowing anything. But at least now, I know someone… is out there.”

The eyes Heo Gong held were filled with confusion at those words.

“So consider yourself lucky.”

Chung Myung glanced at the disciples of Mount Hua and then turned to Heo Gong and the Wudang disciples.

The tip of Chung Myung’s sword slowly scratched the ground.

Kakakag!

The sound made everyone flinch.

“Because I need to let someone know.”

Eukkk!

Chung Myung hit the ground and rushed at Heo Gong.

“Tsk!”

Heo Gong clenched his teeth. He couldn’t understand what this child was even mumbling about, but in the end, he knew what he had to do.

‘If I get captured, I will lose.’

This was close range, and Heo Gong had to admit that there was no chance of winning in a fight where both fighters had exposed their skills and bared their teeth wide.

He didn’t know why, but this young man seemed to be good at such fights as if he had been through them a thousand times now.

And if he stepped into that, defeat was certain.

If one wanted to win, one needed to drag their opponent into something they were familiar with.

He no longer cared about Chung Myung’s age or skills. Now, facing a being unlike any he had encountered before, he had to become different from his former self.

Bang!

Heo Gong’s foot kicked the ground.

Backwards, not forwards.

Retreating in the face of an enemy was something he had never experienced before. It was almost the first time he had used footwork with the purpose of escaping an opponent’s attack, rather than employing Wudang’s unique technique, which is smooth and flowing.

Now wasn’t the time to consider what was right or wrong.

All he had to do was dodge the opponent’s sword and unfold his own.

The qi vanished from his sword. The slash was limited to the foot alone.

“Ahhh!”

As he retreated, an enormous sword qi exploded from the tip of the sword. It was as if the sea, enraged, brought up a typhoon, pushing the violent waves onto the shore and then pulling them back.

Kwaaak!

At the same time, the boy’s right arm moved with a white hue. The sight of this blue sword qi and this pure white qi swirling together felt so majestic and violent that it was reminiscent of a huge tsunami.

But Heo Gong saw.

A dazzling sword was revealed through that tsunami, soaring over three feet.

Chaaak!

The tsunami split the world in half. Chung Myung, holding the sword in reverse, leaped out like lightning at Heo Gong and cut through the sword qi.

Kwaaang!

The sword, raised up in instinct, blocked Chung Myung’s sword, too close to the nose.

“Eummm!”

His left hand, which was unfolding the Breaking Sky arts towards Chung Myung’s side, went numb, and Chung Myung managed to neutralize it by using his body weight to push upwards.

Euk.

Wheeeik!

Countless red flowers began to bloom overhead in the air.

Flower.

Seeing the flowers in full bloom, threatening to cover the entire sky, Heo Gong swung his sword in panicked response.

But.

‘This…’

No water could endlessly surge into the sky.

Even Heo Gong wasn’t aware of it. His sword, which followed the movement, lost its power the moment it went against nature.

‘T-this…’

Red petals danced gracefully around through the sword qi of Heo Gong.

They leaped over, burrowed into, and shook.

Slash!

His shoulder was cut, and blood poured out.

Slash! Slash!

The flesh on his thighs cracked, and black spots appeared on the side.

“Ahhhh!”

Wgeikkk!

Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of flower petals fell at once, ruthlessly sweeping away the fragile body of a human.