Return of the Mount Hua Sect

Red petals fluttered in all directions.

It may be nothing more than a beautiful sight to behold. The way red petals rose high in the sky and flowed in the wind looked as warm as Peach Blossom Garden (??(桃園)) in the sky.

However, for those who have knowledge of it, there is no more threatening sight.

Anyone who knows even a little bit of knowledge of martial arts would be horrified by the fact that each and every one of those countless fluttering petals is a sword energy with murderous intent.

But those who knew martial arts even more deeply would certainly focus on another aspect.

Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold’s eyes grew cold.

‘Mount Hua….’

Spreading that much sword energy is definitely not normal. But even more difficult was to control such sword energy precisely as one desired.

Think about it.

The number of those currently scattering their sword energy reached five.

The five of them are frantically scattering unpredictable and bizarre sword energy, and there is no colliding or conflicting with each other while embroidering the air.

Common sense says that such unleashed sword energy should collide with each other and cause a collision. However, the swords of Mount Hua’s disciples are perfectly coordinated, as if they were all unleashed by one person.

It was a spectacle that perfectly demonstrated how terribly they had synchronized.

However, those facing the sword energy were no easy opponents either.

“Heuaap!”

The elites of Black Ghost Fortress, shouting to the top of their lungs, threw themselves without hesitation into the wave of flower petals coming toward them.

Kagagagang!

Sogok! Sogok!

The sounds of sword energy colliding with dao energy and flesh gruesomely slicing apart resonated simultaneously. Judging that it was impossible to block all the sword energies, they maximized protection over their heads and upper bodies, disregarding other areas.

It was a ruthless decision to give up one’s own flesh in order to get closer to the enemy.

In a normal battlefield, this would be an extremely stupid thing to do. However, in a situation like this, where they had a decisive advantage and could end everything with one battle, that foolish decision transformed into a perfect one.

“Keueueuk!”

They gritted their teeth at the pain inflicted by the sword energy digging into their limbs.

“Kahat!”

However, in the end, they managed to break through the onslaught of sword energy with that simple tactic. Mount Hua’s swordsmanship is dazzling and easily misleads the enemy, but the power concentrated in one place is weak. They had precisely exploited this weakness.

Baek Cheon’s face hardened.

‘Not even hesitation?’

It’s not strange for one or two people to make such a choice. There may be one or two people who have the ability to instantly identify the weaknesses of an opponent’s swordsmanship, either through instinct or reason.

However, the fact that all those deployed to the battlefield made the same response without even a moment to exchange glances meant only one thing.

It is clear that they have already studied Mount Hua’s swordsmanship and prepared to destroy it.

This is inevitably a first experience for Baek Cheon and the disciples.

Mount Hua’s swordsmanship deviates from the swordsmanship of the common Righteous Sects. They make the most of the sword theory (??(劍理)) of illusion (?(幻)), which is rarely used because it is flashy in Righteous Sects. Because of this, Mount Hua’s sword energy always brings about great confusion among those who experience it for the first time.

But Mount Hua’s disciples clearly understood at this moment.

In Kangho, Mount Hua is no longer an unfamiliar and novel sect. Instead, it is a sect that all in Kangho wary of and pay attention to.

Everyone in Mount Hua worked together to dramatically increase their standing. And like everything else in the world, a higher position naturally comes with its own risks. Now, the sects wary of Mount Hua had started to actively analyze and find ways to counter their swordsmanship.

This meant that Mount Hua was recognized as a ‘powerhouse’ in Kangho, and at the same time, it was a sign that the challenges they would face in the future would be even more severe.

“Keuaaat!”

The elites of Black Ghost Fortress who broke through the forest of sword energy rushed at the disciples of Mount Hua with bloodshot eyes. Even as their bodies were cut and blood sprayed, their momentum did not lessen at all.

“Dieeeee!”

Kwaaaaa!

Regardless of their high momentum, the sword strikes they swung were not so much powerful as they were swift.

‘Keuk!’

Kagang!

Baek Cheon, leading the front, quickly raised his sword to block the incoming blade.

‘Swift!’

It wasn’t about overpowering with strength. It was a swift exchange of offense and defense, intended to catch the opponent. The strike clearly showed their intention not to give Mount Hua’s dazzling sword moves any chance to threaten them.

In each attack they made, it was clear that they had thoroughly studied Mount Hua.

Baek Cheon bit his lip tightly as he withstood the heavy force of the dao.

‘I was complacent.’

Mount Hua is the greatest enemy (????(第一大敵)) of Evil Tyrant Alliance.

Baek Cheon was clearly aware of that fact, and sometimes felt proud of that fact. But he had no idea that that obvious fact would come back to him at this moment, in this kind of manner.

But now that he knew, it was done.

“Taaat!”

Baek Cheon swung his sword strongly and deflected the dao.

At the same time, a fist filled with magnificent energy passed right next to his ear.

Kwaang!

Hye Yeon’s fist penetrated into the enemy’s chest, whose upper body was open. As the enemy spat blood and fell backward, Baek Cheon stepped forward to pursue but momentarily halted. Instead, he stamped down a powerful stance right where he was.

‘Protect!’

What they needed to do now was not to finish off the enemy as usual. Even if it meant letting the enemy go unharmed, they needed to endure.

“Heuuuuaaaap!”

One after another, three waves continue to surge in.

From the sight of them rushing forward with such enthusiasm, rather than the joy of pushing back the enemy, he could feel the impatience to not give their enemy any distance. It seemed like they were desperately determined not to give the sword warriors of Mount Hua Sect a chance to properly scatter their sword energy.

A dao fell violently towards Baek Cheon’s head. Simultaneously, a dao energy launched from somewhere and targeted his legs.

The meaning of these simultaneous attacks is clear. It’s not about splitting Baek Cheon in one fell swoop. The intention is to leave at least one small scratch on Baek Cheon’s lower body.

Even if it meant damaging their own bodies, it was a ploy to accumulate wounds on Baek Cheon and slowly gnaw him away.

This was exactly the way the disciples of Mount Hua used to charge against absolutely strong opponents.

Gritting his teeth, Baek Cheon quickly swung his sword, delivering three successive strikes to the charging opponents.

Paaaaaat!

Before the blade aimed at his head could reach him, and before the dao energy targeting his legs could stretch, Baek Cheon’s lightning-fast sword energy had already pierced through the attacking enemies.

Kwadeudeuk!

But at that time, dao, who had not yet lost all its force, made a long slash across Baek Cheon’s cheek. Baek Cheon screamed as he felt a burning pain that spread instantly.

“Get your mind straight! It’s different from those we’ve dealt with so far!”

The other disciples of Mount Hua also seemed to have clearly sensed this fact, they returned his call with a tense and resounding response.

It was a first.

Rather than being in a position to challenge as the weak, they’re in the position to be challenged as the strong. It wasn’t about being pressed down by those with greater numbers and greater power, but about facing those who charged desperately.

As the battle began to unfold in ways they hadn’t anticipated, the disciples of Mount Hua started to be gradually pushed back.

“Mount Hua….”

A low murmur escaped Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold’s mouth as he watched the battle unfold with cold eyes.

‘As expected, these guys are too dangerous.’

It’s completely different from any Righteous Sects he knew.

Young warriors who have yet to lose baby fuzz have an excessively high martial arts level unbefitting their age and are not at all afraid of real combat.

It’s the same even now.

The way Black Ghost Fortress’s elites attack is based on the information he has analyzed through the Mount Hua Sect he has observed and their past actions. Additionally, it was a method tailored to destroy Mount Hua’s martial art, taking into account the recent appearance on Plum Blossom Island.

Originally, the plan was to surround the entire Mount Hua’s disciples with a much larger number, but it is a tactic that would definitely work even against a small number of people like now.

To those who don’t know, his strategy seems to be perfect and holding back Mount Hua properly, but in reality, Mount Hua’s response was more astute than he expected.

They quickly understand their opponents’ intentions and accordingly adjust their own tactics. Those young ones.

‘It’s something that other Righteous Sects, similar to the plants that grow in warm greenhouses and wither when a cold wind passes by, can’t even dream of.’

It is not something to be disregarded as it is merely Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold’s personal view and opinion. Mount Hua has already proven itself again and again. Without explaining much, the performance of these guys on Plum Blossom Island already tells much.

What if they grow like this unhindered?

‘No one in the world will be able to stop the sect called Mount Hua.’

Therefore, they must be killed. This is a place to remove the blade called Jang Ilso that is currently touching his neck, but also a place to break off the arrow called Mount Hua that will one day lodge in his heart.

‘But… No matter how much I look at it, I just can’t understand.’

How did such people even appear?

Mastery and sophisticated swordsmanship and ripe combat experience are in fact impossible to coexist.

To accumulate as much experience as possible, one must engage in life-threatening real battles early on, but those who do often die before they can develop their skills. However, if you avoid practical combat until your martial arts skills are fully developed, you will end up becoming an idiot who is only strong in martial arts skills and does not even know what practical combat is.

Kangho has always made one of two choices. The Evil Sects push people into actual battles and raise those who survive, while Righteous Sects avoid actual battles and wait for their swords to mature.

That is why, while Righteous Sects has a thick layer of strong people who have learned martial arts for a long time, Evil Sects’s low-level martial artists who are merely expendables are stronger than Righteous Sects.

But those Mount Hua bastards belong neither.

They possess both the sophistication of the swords of the prestigious of Righteous Sects and the sharp practical skills of the lowest-ranking martial artist of Evil Sects.

The term “between good and evil” (????(正邪之間)) originally refers to those who cannot be woven into either Righteous Sects or Evil Sects, but looking at those from Mount Hua, it seems necessary to redefine the meaning of this term.

‘How on earth did Mount Hua Sect create such people?’

Doesn’t it seem as if an absolute martial god who mastered both Righteous and Evil martial arts was training the disciples in a way that had never existed before?

However, there is no way in the world there is such an absolute being, and certainly not in the now-ruined Mount Hua.

‘No, there’s no reason to think about it.’

After all, they are going to die here today.

Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold glared at Jang Ilso, who was surrounded by Red Dogs, with cold eyes.

‘A tiger cub should not be raised, Jang Ilso.’

In the end, this is yet another miscalculation by Jang Ilso. He thought he could handle what he couldn’t. Like a foolish person who picks up a tiger cub, thinking he is different, even though he sees those who raise tigers eventually die from being bitten by the tigers.

“Don’t rush, tighten the noose slowly. The damage can be as great as possible. But not a single one should be left alive.”

“Yes!”

Great Master of Ten Thousand Gold frowned slightly and slowly approached the battlefield.

He briefly placed his unfamiliar left hand on the hilt of the sword tied to his right side. But he soon lowered his hand again.