Return of the Mount Hua Sect

Chung Myung’s response was somewhat vague.

“Why do we even need that?”

He glanced at those sitting in the room and spoke.

“Well, even without such things, we roughly know what roles each other plays. Why bother…”

At that moment, Namgung Dowi became agitated and said,

“No, isn’t that an internal matter?”

“….Huh?”

“Just think that a war has broken out! The Evil Tyrant Alliance is attacking. What about the small and medium-sized factions along the Yangtze River?”

“Well, uh…”

“Wouldn’t they line up with us to fight alongside the Heavenly Comrade Alliance?”

Chung Myung, with a slightly admiring expression on his face, looked at Namgung Dowi and said.

“Wouldn’t those people go to the Ten Great Sects?”

“….”

Namgung Dowi, momentarily at a loss for words, looked at Chung Myung in dismay. The Five Swords nodded with theirs head lowered and spoke one at a time.

“Even if it were me, I’d stick to the Ten Great Sects.”

“To be honest, that’s overconfidence. If you want to survive, you should stick with the Ten Great Sects.”

“Shaolin versus Mount Hua. Ten Great Sects versus Heavenly Comrade Alliance. Ah, there’s nothing to think about.”

Namgung Dowi’s eyebrows trembled.

“Where does that confidence come from?”

“Sahyung, isn’t that gentleman from the Namgung Family? Originally, the Namgung Family said they were no worse than Shaolin.”

“….Really?”

“Would it be otherwise?”

Those bastards? Namgung Dowi forcibly suppressed his rising anger. In debates, the one who gets angry first loses. Especially in times like this, one should make every effort to show a rational side.

“Well… Of course, that could be true, but depending on the situation, there might be those who can’t go to the Ten Great Sects and will be with us, right?”

“….Could that be… true?”

Chung Myung reluctantly agreed with a hesitant voice. ‘I don’t know what nonsense this is, but since I’ve said I’ll listen to it no matter what nonsense it is, I’ll endure it for now.’ That determination was clearly evident.

“Think about it. Can those people who are with us know who is who and follow orders properly?”

“Hmm?”

The people who were listening nodded as if there was a clear reason.

“That makes sense.”

“Well, it’s a problem I hadn’t thought of.”

“No, but… generally, if you watch what others are doing and follow, isn’t that enough? People have a sense of awareness, don’t they?”

Upon hearing those words, Namgung Dowi momentarily opened his mouth slightly and looked at Jo Gol. Jo Gol bluntly asked.

“What’s this expression that seems to say, ‘I didn’t know the word ‘sense of awareness’ could come out of your mouth’?”

“Wow, you’re like a ghost.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Namgung Dowi cleared his throat loudly and spoke.

“Of course, if you have awareness, that could happen. But it’s probably not efficient. And think about it. The elder of a well-known sect with white hair gives an order, and suddenly a fresh young one jumps out and shouts that it’s not like that, we should go this way.”

“Uh…”

“Then who should they follow? It’s difficult to think about…”

“The young one.”

“The kid.”

“The bastard who talks arrogantly.”

“The one who is the most annoying out of all of them.”

Namgung Dowi blinked his eyes at the answers that came out almost at the same time.

“Why, why?”

He asked in genuine confusion. He was truly perplexed. Then, Baek Cheon showed a satisfied smile.

“Is there anyone else who ignores the elders of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance, gets irritated, and only says what he wants to say?”

Wow, that was really convincing.

Namgung Dowi understood. But soon he regained his composure.

“Well, well, that’s true, but… that’s something only we know! External people may know the alias ‘Mount Hua’s Chivalrous Sword,’ but they don’t know what Chung Myung Dojang looks like.”

“Hey, Sogaju.”

“Yes?”

“…We didn’t say it was Chung Myung.”

“….”

“….”

Namgung Dowi looked at Chung Myung with trembling eyes.

Chung Myung, with a face that seemed to say, ‘Oh? Is that how you saw me?’ was grinning and looking back at him. Unintentionally, Namgung Dowi flinched at Chung Myung’s gaze.

“Ahem.”

At times like this, you needed to change the topic quickly.

“Anyway, um… to prevent confusion for those who don’t know him well, a system and position are needed.”

At that moment, Yoo Iseol raised her hand.

Everyone was surprised and looked at her. Even Tang Gunak couldn’t hide his puzzled expression. Yoo Iseol had attended numerous meetings until now, but she had never actively participated. However, this was the first time she tried to express her opinion.

“Well, um… ok. Yes, Iseol.”

“Do they really not know?”

“….Huh?”

“Him?”

Yoo Iseol turned her head to look at Chung Myung.

Though Yoo Iseol’s words were only two sentences, they convinced everyone.

“….Honestly, can you not know?”

“You’re not a martial artist if you still don’t know.”

“Even if you assume that you don’t know his face, if you see a young guy running wild in Mount Hua, even a local kid passing by will probably think, ‘Oh, that’s a Mount Hua’s Chivalrous Sword.’”

“To not know Chung Myung, don’t you have to live blocking your ears?”

Namgung Dowi closed his mouth.

Come to think of it, that statement wasn’t entirely wrong. The notoriety of… no, the reputation of Mount Hua’s Chivalrous Sword was too high. It felt like an old story that had been somewhat forgotten now, but once upon a time, when he was known as ‘Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon,’ he was recognized as the best in the world.

‘After the Battle of Hangzhou, he’s become so famous that it’s incomparable to back then.’

And it was against none other than the Demonic Sect.

In reality, he fought against the bishop together with Jang Ilso, but no matter how much of an ally the latter was to the Heavenly Comrade Alliance, they couldn’t tell the truth as it was. So, they had no choice but to vaguely say that Chung Myung and the others defeated the bishop.

The Evil Tyrant Alliance claimed that Jang Ilso defeated the bishop in their own way.

Anyway, even the Ten Great Sects, were silent, unable to openly challenge this fact. As a result, the news that Chung Myung defeated the bishop had already spread throughout the world.

Perhaps, in this situation, the name ‘Mount Hua’s Chivalrous Sword Chung Myung’ was more famous than the name ‘Heavenly Comrade Alliance’?

You can find out how famous a person is just by looking around the small alleys in the neighborhood. When children are swinging sticks and shouting ‘Plum Blossom Sword method’ and ‘Mount Hua’s Chivalrous Sword’, it’s all over, right?

“Well, um….”

When Namgung Dowi, speechless, hesitated for a moment, someone clicked their tongue.

“It seems that Sogaju has a fixation on unnecessary things….”

Im Sobyeong didn’t miss this opportunity.

“Aren’t you upset because you children of prestigious families can’t create unnecessary formalities? The Namgung Family gave you Sogaju, so why are you upset? If the Namgung Family had become the leader of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance, they might have even given a floor sweeper a position. Like ‘Director of Environmental Management,’ or something like that.”

“Kkeu….”

Getting hit by Im Sobyeong felt three times more painful than getting hit by other people. Although he wanted to refute it somehow, since he started with the wrong example from the beginning, there was no way to find an excuse.

But then, the kind-hearted Hyun Jong saved Namgung Dowi.

“Um. It’s not entirely useless to say that.”

Everyone looked at Hyun Jong.

“Not everyone in the Heavenly Comrade Alliance is as famous as Chung Myung, right?”

“That’s right, Maenju-nim.”

“In fact, I’m not very fond of creating authority by limiting and subdividing roles….”

Hyun Jong looked at everyone with a slightly embarrassed expression.

As a practitioner of the Tao who followed the teachings of the Tao, he could not like the process of limiting and subdividing human roles.

“But I agree that there should be appropriate positions where people gather. If the elders of each sect have different opinions, problems can arise, don’t you think?”

“Certainly….”

“It’s a sensitive issue.”

Tang Gunak and Meng So nodded as if understanding.

There were rarely any disputes among the sect leaders. This was because there were some implicit rules between them. However, the elders of each sect could still sometimes find it challenging to move beyond their own positions.

If there was time to reconcile opinions, there may not be a problem. However, in a war where the situation could change in an instant, small clashes of opinions could lead to significant consequences.

Especially…

“Wouldn’t most of the damage be suffered not by us, but by the practitioners of the smaller sects fighting alongside us? We cannot overlook it just because it doesn’t directly affect us.”

“Hmm.”

“In that sense, Namgung Sogaju’s observation is very apt.”

“Maenju-nim…”

Emotions overflowed from Namgung Dowi’s eyes as he looked at Hyun Jong.

Indeed, his profound thoughts, warm consideration, and character were not lacking in any way as the leader of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance!

A while ago, Im Sobyeong talked about a hypothetical situation where the Namgung Family became the leader of the Heavenly Comrade Alliance, but such a thing would not have happened.

Namgung Hwang was originally one of the most arrogant people in the world. Even his son, Namgung Dowi, thought so. But even someone like Namgung Hwang, after experiencing Hyun Jong, would ultimately have to give up the position of the leader.

It was fortunate that Mount Hua led the Heavenly Comrade Alliance. Such a person became the leader…

“However.”

At that moment, Chung Myung spoke with a slightly suspicious tone.

“Huh?”

“Well, it’s not like I’m against it. It’s just that a fundamental question suddenly came to mind.”

Tang Gunak asked with a puzzled tone.

“What do you mean by a fundamental question?”

“Well… You seem to be saying that protecting those smaller sects is important now.”

“Yes.”

“Do we even have to worry about their lives?”

“….”

“What the hell have they done?”

“….”

“…”

Everyone fell silent, looking at Chung Myung. However, Chung Myung just tilted his head as if he truly didn’t understand.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Um…”

For a moment, those who were confused looked at Chung Myung with blank faces, then collectively shut their eyes.

Even Hyun Jong merely covered his face with both hands, unable to say anything.

How did… How did such a person emerge under Hyun Jong? And how did everyone here end up taking orders from such a person?

Noticing the awkward atmosphere, Chung Myung quickly changed the subject.

“Well, if it’s absolutely necessary, I won’t oppose it…”

“Excuse me, Namgung Sogaju-nim.”

At that moment, Jo Gol subtly interjected.

“Yes? Yes, Jo Gol Dojang.”

“If what Sogaju-nim is saying is true, then this bastard will also occupy a reasonably high position, right?”

Turning his head to look at Chung Myung, Namgung Dowi fell into a brief contemplation.

Chung Myung, Chung Myung…

“That…I guess so?”

No matter how you thought about it, there was no way to exclude that person. If it was an event happening under the pretext of efficiency, giving him a position like a general so everyone except the sect leaders followed his orders…

Continuing his thoughts, Namgung Dowi suddenly realized the seriousness of the situation. His face quickly turned pale.

‘Using this situation to justify putting him in a high position?’

Him?

Jo Gol urgently raised his hand.

“I, I oppose…!”

“Oh yeah?”

However, at that moment, Chung Myung didn’t miss the flow and smoothly intervened.

“So, if you don’t listen to what I say, will you become rebels?”

“…Wait a moment. Do…”

“Then I agree.”

Chung Myung’s mouth curled up with a sly smile.

“Let’s make it, that position or something.”

At that moment, the sharp glares of everyone were directed at Namgung Dowi.

Namgung Dowi suddenly understood the gravity of what he had just done. His face turned pale in an instant.

His soul began to leave his body.