Return of Mount Hua Sect

“Do not get overeager!”

Hyun Jong’s voice rang loudly.

Hyun Jong rarely raised his voice, but now it carried a tremendous strength unlike usual.

“Do not rush! Do not let your anger take away your reason! You are disciples of Mount Hua! Believe in your sahyungs and hold your position!”

“Yes!”

Hyun Jong bit his lip. His eyes followed Chung Myung on the other side of the cliff.

‘Those people…!’

Hegemony Lord, Jang Ilso.

The disciples were risking their lives fighting against this enormous person.

He was well aware that the disciples had gone against many enemies, but this was his first time seeing everyone fight together in front of his eyes.

It felt like his stomach was being scraped with a sharp knife.

He now clearly understood what it meant to feel the blood go dry. Hyun Jong’s entire body felt like it was lodged on the other side of the cliff, but here.

But…

“Un GEOMMMM!”

Hyun Jong let out a loud roar at the movement that caught his eye.

And Un Geom, who was about to strike ahead, flinched and stopped.

“Stay back!”

“…”

“Are you even going to say you would risk dying by trying to help! Bastard!”

Un Geom bit his lip, his shoulders shaking.

But he held his position. Disobeying the orders of the Sect leader wasn’t an option for him at all.

Why did he feel like he knew how Hyun Jong felt?

Not just Un Geom but also other disciples would want to go help the Five Swords by cutting down all the Ten Thousand People Clan warriors who stood in their way.

But that couldn’t happen.

The strength of Mount Hua hadn’t reached the level needed to face the Ten Thousand People Clan. If they tried to force their way through, they needed to be ready to get annihilated. Just by holding on and maintaining their place, the disciples were doing more than they could.

Fortunately, but also strangely, the Ten Thousand People Clan wasn’t attacking aggressively.

‘Well, this could be natural.’

There was no reason for them to hurry. Those who came up from below were blocked by the battle of the absolute warriors, and they couldn’t imagine their leader being defeated.

Crack.

In the end, a stream of red blood flowed from the lips where his teeth had dug in.

He also wanted to shout, to risk his life and breakthrough this place of warriors and help his disciples.

But this was why it could not be done.

He was the sect leader of Mount Hua. There was no way for him to sacrifice other disciples.

The people he must protect weren’t the talented ones of Mount Hua but the weakest disciples of Mount Hua.

‘Which is why!’

Hyun Jong held the sword tightly.

What he had to do now was to believe in them and hold off the warriors of the Ten Thousand People clan.

‘Don’t make me regret this, disciples, for the rest of my life, please.’

It was a wish that was extremely earnest but couldn’t be said loudly.

---

Grrrng!

The cliff shook as if it would collapse.

Mu Jin shouted as he hit the debris and rocks that rained down on his head.

“Take another path! Watch your head! Move now!”

His face gradually contorted more and more.

‘Damn it!’

Right now, a battle was literally happening above them that any warrior would want to witness.

One blow, one hit, collapsed the cliff and made the sky cry. No matter how much the Wudang disciples might try, attempting to climb through them was like pouring oil on someone and jumping into a flame.

But that didn’t mean they could just hang onto the cliff.

Shaolin, Wudang, Namgung, and Qingcheng below began to take a major detour to avoid the battle happening above.

“Endure it!”

“Ahhhh!”

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

The moment Mu Jin opened his eyes and saw the sword qi coming toward him, a green form appeared and swung a sword.

Kwaang!

“Sect leader!”

It was Byeok Hyun.

He shouted as soon as the sword qi was deflected.

“Elders, protect the disciples! We need to climb the cliff!”

“Yes!”

There was nothing for them to do.

Those who could move on cliffs, especially those with good skills, blocked the fragments of rocks pouring from above.

‘Above, if only I could climb above…’

It was that moment.

Kwaaang!

One side of the cliff fell away from impact, accompanied by a loud noise that seemed to turn the sky upside down. A large chunk of rock began to fall slowly, with a gnawing sound.

“STOP IT!”

A shout came from somewhere, and a person jumped up.

“Elder Heo Gwang!”

A white sword and enhanced sword qi were combined into one at the same time. What he released was a clean circle.

“AHHHH!”

The blade of the Taiji Wisdom Sword struck the falling rock. At the same time, the power unleashed by the Shaolin elders broke the rock into small pieces and shattered it further.

“Spread out!”

And he cut it again and again. Attacks that could rightly be called disasters continued one after another, but the unity of disciplined humans overcame it.

But.

“SAJAEEEEEE!”

Not everyone succeeded in overcoming it.

Those who lost strength slipped, and those who were hit by broken rocks the size of a human head screamed and fell.

“Euk!”

Mu Jin bit his lip.

“Go up! Just climb up the cliff! Do not even look back!”

“Sahyung! But Sajae…!”

“Just shut up and climb up!”

…

Tears of blood flowed down from Mu Jin’s eyes.

‘These damned Evil Faction bastards!’

This wasn’t the mindset a Taoist should be embracing. But a killing intent, which none had never been seen before, was constantly flowing from his eyes.

“I will definitely kill them! For sure! I will kill them all!”

After shouting this, he gritted his teeth once again and climbed up the cliff.

The extended blade grazed his neck.

Pack!

Only after the sword passed through the throat did the sound follow.

It was a swift sword that couldn’t be described as anything other than amazing. But the true value of the sword wasn’t limited to its speed.

Venerable Heo Do, who had lifted his sword sharply, retreated.

Trickle.

Even though he carefully avoided it, he felt pain around his neck.

“… Intangible qi.”

An intangible qi, which couldn’t be discerned with just the eyes, was unfolding every time the blade moved, entangling Venerable Heo Do’s body.

He had heard of it.

A swordsmanship that causes death without the victim understanding what is happening. The name of the legendary swordsmanship was the Evil Blade, said to cause death in the hands of a grim reaper rather than a human being.

“…Is that the Ghost King’s Twelve Movements?”

“Hmm. I see you recognize it.”

The Desolate Gold Elder nodded with a blank expression.

“It is a technique not easily handled by the sect leader of Wudang, but you have unparalleled skills. And above all….”

Pat!

The Desolate Gold Elder’s sword pierced toward Venerable Heo Do as if it intended to stab him. When Venerable Heo Do quickly twisted his body, the black sword qi that passed by him pierced the cliff and dug in deeply.

“…”

How far did the cut go?

“I use it a lot because it is a fairly efficient sword technique. I don’t really like wasting my qi.”

Venerable Heo Do’s eyes became distorted.

That sword was definitely difficult to handle.

“What is it?”

“…”

“I don’t mind taking my time. But aren’t things different for you? The longer it takes, the more your cute disciples get hurt. Does that mean it is alright?”

Venerable Heo Do bit his lip.

A clean defeat?

There was no way such a thought existed in his head. He was the sect leader of Wudang. Even if he died with his tongue stuck in his throat, he would never let himself be killed by people of the Evil Faction.

But the problem was what came next.

His gaze turned to those below.

Gritting their teeth, the disciples of the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families struggled to climb the cliff. Rocks tumbled down on their heads, and every time an attack flew their way, they did their best to block it.

Hanging desperately onto the cliff.

“…”

The disciples’ faces were so contorted that he couldn’t bear to watch.

Covered in oil, bleeding from arrows, groaning with their qi drained. Below, at the bottom of the cliff, which couldn’t be seen clearly, the fallen disciples groaned in pain.

‘Since when did it end up like this?’

Something was definitely wrong.

Climbing the cliff. Right, that was the only path Venerable Heo Do could see then. He thought that would be the way to survive.

But was that really the case?

‘Survive?’

The opponent was conserving their energy at the top of the cliff. At most, they only brought pots and arrows.

The Ten Thousand People Clan, Lower District, and Black Ghost Fort. And there were certainly pirates remaining.

On the other hand, even if the disciples of the sects managed to climb to the top, they had already gone through enough battle. Still, they had to fight against the Evil Faction after losing their energy and qi.

‘Why did it come to this?’

When he entered this canyon, he could never imagine such a scenario. What on earth did he do wrong to lose his precious life so vainly?

For what?

“You seem to have a lot on your mind.”

“…”

Venerable Heo Do grabbed his sword.

A little distance away, Namgung Hwang and the Black Dragon King were fighting. The Black Dragon King was constantly unleashing a huge amount of Blade Qi, but Namgung Hwang was not backing down an inch; the fight was amazing.

But.

Crack!

“AHHHH!”

Each time they swung their swords and blades, the cliff was breaking, and the qi was slashing through everything.

“This…”

And it was the Wudang and Shaolin disciples who were taking the damage firsthand.

He knew.

That was something that couldn’t be helped. For the sake of those below, if they conserved their strength and got defeated, the Black Dragon King would immediately go to kill the disciples.

Then, it would all be over.

But even though he knew this, the reason he felt resentment was that, in a corner of his mind, he wondered if the people climbing up at the front would be given the same treatment by him if they were Namgung and not Wudang. This was proof of how anxious Venerable Heo Do was feeling.

Byeop Gye was of little help.

There was no reason why an elder of Shaolin should be inferior to the elders of other sects. Still, there was also no reason why the Thousand Face Scholar would be inferior to him. No, the shoulders of Byeop Gye were already heavy with the responsibility of handling the one foe he had to.

…So what on earth should be done?

Clench.

Venerable Heo Do changed. His eyes were bloodshot and red.

‘Jang Ilso.’

There was just one name that popped into his head.

Kwak!

In an instant, the face of Venerable Heo Do turned cold as ice. As if he had made up his mind, the white and black sword qi flowed out like water from the sword.

Sword techniques, like lines drawn on a canvas with a thick brush, swirled around Venerable Heo Do’s treasured sword, creating a vortex.

“Hmm?”

The Desolate Gold Elder’s eyes narrowed at the changed atmosphere.

The hat placed on the top of Venerable Heo Do’s head, unable to withstand the force, was torn off. He looked like an evil spirit with his hair scattered around.

“Hmm… if I handle this wrong, there could be losses.”

The Desolate Gold Elder raised his sword with a disapproving look on his face.

Woooong!

At that moment, the two qi, white and black, emitted from Venerable Heo Do’s sword swirled around each other in the air, forming a huge circle.

‘Taiji?’

The Desolate Gold Elder’s face instantly tensed.

The Taiji Wisdom Sword.

The Taiji Wisdom Sword, said to be the best sword of Wudang, was unfolding in the hands of Venerable Heo Do.

“Hmm!”

The Desolate Gold Elder slowly adjusted his sword and held it.

“… this is a definite loss.”

A bright blue sword qi rose from the blade.

“Would you like to see how great the Wisdom Sword of Wudang is?”

A cold aura emanated from the Desolate Gold Elder’s eyes.