Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“Emperor Sword?”

Five Swords, who followed Chung Myung down the mountain, widened his eyes in surprise.

“Namgung Hwang led Azure Sword Squad to Kugang?”

“Shaolin called, but instead of going to Shaolin, they’re attacking Plum Blossom Island?”

“I guess so.”

Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung with a dumbfounded expression. Baek Cheon usually manages his facial expressions well, but this time the shock was too much.

“…Why?”

Chung Myung grinned.

“Sasuk. If Sasuk wants to lead people in the future, Sasuk must know one thing for sure.”

“What is it?”

When Baek Cheon asked with an anxious face, Chung Myung answered as if it was no big deal.

“There is nothing more vain than trying to find a reason why a crazy person does something crazy.”

“….”

“If you don’t quite understand, let me explain again….”

“No, Chung Myung. I understood right away.”

“…Huh?”

Yoon Jong quickly nodded in agreement.

“I understand, too.”

“I definitely understood.”

“Me, too.”

“…But these bastards? Why are you all looking at me while saying that?”

Well, who else would we look to?

You’re describing yourself.

Yoon Jong said after thinking about his words for a moment.

“If you think about it, there is a reason. The Namgung Family must have been humiliated at the Yangtze River at that time. I only saw it at first glance, but considering the temper of Emperor Sword Namgung Hwang….”

“Right. He must have been sharpening his blades… No, his sword, all this time.”

Everyone trembled as they remembered the image of Emperor Sword Namgung Hwang swinging his sword with his eyes overturned. Thinking about the tremendous momentum of the sword, which could not be fully expressed in words, they felt like their skin was trembling and was in pain.

“Then now…”

“Yeah.”

Chung Myung grinned and nodded.

“Maybe he went mad? Kikikikik.”

* * *

Kwaaaaang!

One of the pavilions was completely blown away.

It was an impossible scene that would not have happened even if dozens of cannons used by the military fired. However, what created this scene was, absurdly, an iron sword that was less than four feet long.

“These wicked Evil Sects!”

A lion-like roar burst out from the mouth of Namgung Hwang.

“Drive out all those Evil Sects bastards who dare to fearlessly step onto Gangbuk land!”

“Yes!”

At Namgung Hwang’s command, the Azure Sky Sword Squad dispersed like rays of light.

Just by looking at the momentum with which they ran, one could guess how diligently they had worked on their skills over the past three years.

Namgung Hwang’s eyes glared with terrifying gleam.

“Black Dragon King!”

Three years.

For some, it was a long time; for others, it was short.

For Namgung Hwang, it felt like an eon.

Every day, he relived the humiliation, disgrace, and disappointment in himself.

It was the hope that he could cut off the head of the abominable Jang Ilso and Black Dragon King with his sword that kept him enduring this gut-wrenching pain as if his inside were torn apart for three whole years.

In the meantime, the news that the Black Dragon King had entered Gangbuk, leading water fortress among the Evil Tyrant Alliance, reached his ears.

“You piece of shit!”

Ppadeuduk!

Namgung Hwang gritted his teeth.

If the two letters ‘Namgung (??(南宮))’ had remained in his mind, he would not have dared to cross the Yangtze River, let alone drag Evil Tyrant Alliance.

When he came to his senses after venting his anger, he was already running to Kugang with Azure Sky Sword Squad.

“Dowi!”

“Yes, Gaju-nim!”

Namgung Dowi.

Namgung Hwang’s son, who had endured bone-grinding training over the past three years, responded with a firm voice.

The three years were enough time to grow him from a rising star with potential to a swordmaster and the worthy next successor of the prestigious Namgung family.

“Lead the Azure Sky Sword Squad and turn those pirates into fish food! Let people of the world know that even if we have been humiliated once, chivalrousness and righteousness in the name of Azure Sky have not vanished!”

“Yes!”

As Namgung Dowi charged forward, Namgung Hwang’s eyes were fixed ahead.

“Hmph!”

He definitely received Shaolin’s letter. However, Namgung Hwang did not even have the slightest interest in the contents.

‘Cowards!’

A man should know how to avoid a place of death, but martial artists should not avoid a place of death. In particular, those who advocate chivalrousness and righteousness lose everything the moment they withdraw fearing for their lives.

“I should have died there.”

If only Wudang hadn’t done something stupid, and if Shaolin and Qingcheng hadn’t gone along with their nonsense.

He wouldn’t have found himself begging for his life. Nor would he have put the glorious name Azure Sky Namgung Family into manure in his generation.

Kuuung!

Namgung Hwang’s foot stomped on the ground.

“No, it’s all just excuses!”

If Namgung Hwang had truly had the will to not waste his life, if he had wanted the name of the Namgung Family to become a sect that could risk everything in the name of chivalrousness, he would have been able to raise his sword even in that situation.

The thing that weighed down and held back his sword at the last moment was nothing but his own weakness.

And this realization infuriated Namgung Hwang even more.

“Spilled water cannot be gathered again. But!”

Namgung Hwang’s gaze blazed as if on fire.

“I can fill it with new water. Today, we will reclaim the name of Namgung!”

At that moment, he saw a horde of pirates rushing towards him with immense momentum.

“Block them!”

“These bastards, do they know where they are!”

“Namgung Family is nothing special! Kill them all!”

Looking at the pirates rushing like a pack of bees, Namgung Hwang grabbed his sword tight as if to break it.

“This….”

Namgung Hwang once again stepped on the ground as if he was hitting the ground hard. At the same time, white sword energy emanated from the handle of his sword and rose up.

An energy so dense that it could not be thought of as sword energy completely enveloped Namgung Hwang’s sword, emitting a dazzling light.

Kwang!

Emperor’s Step (帝王步) that oversees matter.

And Emperor Sword.

“Uooooooh!”

Namgung Hwang’s sword, raised high above his head, slashed down at once.

Kwaaaaang!

It was unbelievable that it was the sound of a sword being swung. It was akin to the sound of a cannon being fired.

But what was even more incredible was not the sound the sword made, but the size of the sword energy it unleashed.

A white sword energy, literally the size of a house, came out from the tip of a small sword. The blood instantly disappeared from the faces of those who saw the immense sword energy flying across their entire field of vision.

“Do- Dodge….”

Even before the word dodge could be uttered, white sword energy covered the charging pirates. As if that wasn’t enough, it stretched forward and forward, leaving a huge scar on the main street.

Kwakwakwakwakwang!

A power you won’t believe even when you see it with your own eyes.

It’s still ridiculous even if this was a palm energy, but to think a sword released this enormous energy?

It was a sight that forced them to understand why the Namgung Family was called the Azure Sky Namgung Family and were able to maintain the position of the head of the Five Great Family, and why Gaju of the Namgung Family was always proudly nominated as a candidate for the world’s best sword sect.

“These Evil Sects son of a beast! Do you know who I am to block my way!”

The sight of Namgung Hwang sweeping away the entire front line with a single sword strike and roaring while standing alone was enough to put the word ‘Heavenly General’ (??(神將)) to shame.

“Uwaaaaaa!”

“It’s Namgung Family! The Namgung Family has come to save us!”

“Azure Sky Namgung Family!”

“The Five Great Family have arrived!”

Those who had been hiding in the relatively safe buildings, only watching cautiously, finally ran out and cheered at this spectacle. Although the Namgung Family had shown disappointing behavior in the past, they couldn’t compare to these pirates.

Seeing them come directly to Kugang to slaughter the pirates washed away all past ill feelings, and faith began to fill its place.

“Do not come out! There are still those filthy bandit brutes remaining! I myself will soon put your minds at ease!”

The people who heard that quickly nodded and hurried back inside. They sense that this long wait is just around the corner.

“Heum!”

It was when Namgung Hwang nodded his head and was about to take a brisk step forward. A person approached him carefully and opened his mouth.

“Brother.”

“What is it?”

Namgung Hwang turned his head and looked at the person standing next to him.

Lion Sword (???(獅子劍)) Namgung Myung (???(南宮明)), his younger brother and the leader of the Azure Sky Sword Squad.

“Hyung-nim.”

“What is it?”

“…I understand your feelings, Hyung-nim, but it seems you’ve moved without enough caution. I’m worried this matter might become too big…”

“Namgung Myung!”

Namgung Myung shrank his neck at the sound of Namgung Hwang’s cannon-like roar.

“Since when did you become a coward?”

“I- It’s not that, but…”

“Remember this clearly!”

Namgung Hwang looked at Namgung Myung with deathly eyes and said,

“In a world of idiots, a wise person is always treated like a fool.”

“…Yes?”

“What more reason is needed for a swordsman to eradicate Evil Sects!”

There was not a single doubt in Namgung Hwang’s voice. There was only firm conviction.

“We have suffered because we have not taken the obvious for granted! Because we couldn’t call what’s right right, and what’s wrong wrong!”

“Ga- Gaju-nim, I was just…”

“Quiet!”

Namgung Hwang glared at Namgung Myung as if to devour him.

Of course, Namgung Hwang also understands Namgung Myung’s concern about the damage the Nangong Family might suffer from this incident.

But now he knows.

A sect that weighs benefits lasts only a hundred years.

To carry on its value beyond a thousand years, or even ten thousand years, more than just profit and loss is needed. Those who are blinded by the small and fail to see the big will inevitably fall.

At that moment, what flashed through Namgung Hwang’s mind was the image of one person.

A small swordsman covered in wounds.

A person who drenched their entire body in blood and howled in agony.

At that time, Namgung Hwang couldn’t meet the eyes of the young swordsman looking at him. He didn’t even dare to face those eyes. When the young swordsman looked at him, he unknowingly averted his gaze.

What truly plunged Namgung Hwang into real agony over the years was the shame he felt towards himself for not being able to meet those eyes at that moment.

“Never….”

Namgung Hwang clasped his fist.

“There will never again be a time when I avoid someone’s gaze. I will never engage in actions that I can’t be proud of! I am Namgung Hwang! Namgung Family, Emperor Sword Namgung Hwang!”

“Hyung-nim ….”

“If you have time to worry, pick up your sword. The swordsmen of the Namgung Family speak with their swords, not their mouths!”

“Yes, Gaju-nim!”

Soon, Namgung Myung’s eyes filled with firm determination.

Whether it was right or wrong, he could not yet tell. But one thing was certain: his leader, Gaju of the family, was risking everything here and now.

Then, as his younger brother, a member of the Namgung Family, and a proud leader of Azure Sky Sword Squad, he must respond to that will.

“Let’s go!”

“Yes!”

Looking at the crowd of pirates running black from the pier, Namgung Hwang grabbed the sword.

“Defeat Evil Sects!”

The white sword energy that emanated from his sword flew high into the sky.

Into the endlessly clear blue skies.