Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“Kids, calm down…”

Hud!

“No, don’t keep aiming…”

Thud!

“Don’t take them down with one hit, you bastards!”

Thud!

Despite Baek Cheon’s desperate cry, the momentum of Mount Hua’s disciples didn’t stop.

The spectators, who were only just cheering for the wins at first, began to look at the disciples of Mount Hua with shocked eyes.

“What is this?”

“Ah, no… how are all the matches the same?”

Now everyone was carefully watching those with the black robes and plum blossom symbol.

‘This time too?’

Whenever they saw a disciple of Mount Hua standing on the stage, they were filled with anticipation and shock.

Receiving such burdensome gazes, Yoon Jong looked at the sky.

‘Something is different from what I had thought.’

Putting aside the gazes on him…

“E-Eik!”

“…”

Yoon Jong looked at his opponent with a frown.

‘This one too?’

Their legs were stuck firm to the ground, their hand clenching onto the sword too tightly. And their shoulders… Ugh, they looked so stiff, like the bones of their shoulders could pop out of their sockets at any moment.

Although his opponent had the will to not fly out with just one hit…

‘You won’t be able to show your skills either.’

Of course, his opponent couldn’t be blamed. If Yoon Jong were in his position, he would have felt the same.

Even Gong Cho was looking at Yoon Jong with much expectation.

Since he was a disciple of Mount Hua, they were asking him to show them something impressive.

Even the referees, who were meant to be impartial, were looking at him with anticipation, so it was obvious that this disciple from another sect would feel burdened to not lose in one hit. On the other hand, Yoon Jong was saddled with showing something impressive.

Yoon Jong clenched his sword at those burdensome eyes.

No matter who his opponent was or the situation, it wasn’t impossible for him to show his skills.

If that is the case, it was better not to hear that ghost’s nagging.

He relaxed his grip on his sword. And again, the important thing wasn’t showing his strength but not being nervous.

Yoon Jong took a deep breath and looked at his opponent.

Calm down… calm down…

“Start!”

Gong Cho yelled out, and his opponent ran at him, their sword raised as high as possible.

The swift and sharp sword flew at him, yet his opponent was still stiff in face and form.

‘As expected of the Diancang Sect!’

A sword that was worthy of its prestigious name.

But…

‘It feels strange.’

Oddly enough, Yoon Jong didn’t feel threatened by his opponent’s sword. Was the force of his opponent dulled?

No.

‘Fast yet slow, strong but weak.’

It felt all too strange.

The opponent’s sword was clearly swift and strong, but in Yoon Jong’s eyes, the speed of the sword seemed to be slowing down.

‘Damn it! My body was tamed ¹ by him!’

If he compared his bout with Chung Myung to this, then his opponent’s sword appeared not to be moving at all.

Even if he couldn’t completely deny Chung Myung’s sword, it was easy enough for Yoon Jong to become used to Chung Myung’s techniques and subsequently dodge his sword.

Shh.

His opponent’s sword flew forwards, and Yoon Jong neatly moved to the left, a single step to the left. And at that moment, the side of his opponent was clearly visible.

‘For now, a light….’

But before his head could even think, his sword moved. And with that, he boldly hit the side of his opponent.

Bang!

“Accck!”

The guy who was hit on his side screamed as he fell out of the circle.

Yoon Jong looked at his opponent, who had flown away, with an absurd expression.

“Ah…”

‘I should have taken a closer look at my opponent’s sword…this wouldn’t have happened if I…’

“Winner! Mount Hua’s Yoon Jong!”

With the declaration from Gong Cho, shouts rained in again.

“Wahhhhh!”

“Again, one hit!”

“What kind of guy can end a spar with just one blow? No, maybe we shouldn’t call it Mount Hua, but instead the One Strike Sect!”

“Amazing! Hahaha! For real!”

Yoon Jong came down as he received the cheers and looked at Baek Cheon, who was still in shock and was awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“I am sorry, sasuk. I really was trying to see the movement of his sword, but…”

“… but?”

“The moment I saw a gap, my body just moved.”

“…”

Baek Cheon let out a deep sigh at that,

“Right, you worked hard.”

“He… tamed us completely, sasuk.”

“…”

Baek Cheon’s eyes trembled.

As he slowly turned his head, he looked at the image of Chung Myung, still chewing his jerky.

‘Ah, this is why people sometimes want to spit on smiling faces.’

Clearly, the one who said this proverb had experienced something like this. Seeing that binging and smiling face, even Baek Cheon wanted to do it.

From Mount Hua’s point of view, the first day was going smoothly.

Of course, from the point of view of the other sects, who had been watching such a day pass with slack jaws… It really felt like lightning had struck them on their heads, but there was really no need to worry about their position, right? …right?!

But, the disciples of Mount Hua, who had finished their first day of preliminary rounds, weren’t too excited.

They all stared into the sky with their eyes wide open.

In the dorm that Shaolin had provided Mount Hua…

“…”

Jo Gul looked at his hand with his half-focused eyes and glanced around. Unsurprisingly, all the other disciples seemed equally puzzled.

“Were we this strong?”

“… eh, it had to be them who were weak.”

“Does that make sense? They were all disciples of the Nine Great Sects One union and the Five Great Families! Who was the person I won over from?”

“…The Hebei Peng family.”

“Does it make sense to say that those who had come from the Hebei Peng family are weak? At least among the young warriors of the Hebei Peng family, the ones here had to be the most skilled.”

Winning was great.

However, they didn’t just win; they smashed them down in one hit.

They would be happy if they had fought for a long time and won, but this felt too weird.

“Phew, well, it was too simple.”

At those words, everyone looked at Chung Myung, who nodded,

“You thought it would be hell, but you gave them hell instead.”

“I thought that if the other sects were considered strong, they must have also practiced this much.”

“… we really did go to hell and back!”

The disciples of Mount Hua looked at Chung Myung with a complicated gaze.

Now they realized why this damned bastard had driven them all to hell.

“Come to think of it, everyone almost died three to four times, right?”

“I fell down a cliff without a safety rope more than five times. What are three or four times?”

“I got beaten so hard by that bastard with a wooden sword, that I didn’t wake up for three days. I am so glad that I am alive.”

“He isn’t a human, for real.”

“The results are so good, so I cannot say that.”

Baek Cheon also sympathized with their words and looked at Chung Myung.

‘What is with that guy?’

By now, he had given up trying to understand him with only common sense, but whenever such outrageous things had happened, he was forced to think about it again.

Strong enough to teach others?

‘Nonsense.’

Then wouldn’t the elders and sect leader fall short in front of Chung Myung?

It was certainly strange that even the famous disciples who looked down on them could not withstand a single blow from the disciples of Mount Hua.

“But I know one thing for sure.”

At those words, everyone turned to who had just spoken.

Yoon Jong continued to speak,

“We are freaking strong.”

“…”

“If not, maybe the people of those prestigious sects weren’t as strong as we thought.”

That was equally absurd.

Usually, Baek Cheon would have rebuked that, but Yoon Jong was speaking from experience.

So he couldn’t say anything or reprimand him.

Ten of the fifteen contestants had fought today, and all were victorious. It wasn’t just a victory but a unilateral win.

There should be a place and time to be humble, but it felt shameful to even talk about having a humble nature after today.

‘Sorry. It is just that I am lucky, but actually, the others were more skilled.’

What would happen if the winning person had said that?

The others would undress him, beat the shit out of him, and maybe even break their heads with inkstones and whatnot.

Baek Cheon bit his lip.

He had to lead the others. Even if everyone was excited about this, he had to focus.

“I know all of you are excited about such results, but everyone must stay focused. There is no way that the true potential of these prestigious sects is just this.”

The disciples of Mount Hua nodded their heads.

“Perhaps from tomorrow, they will be warier of us. Do not forget to cool your mind. We are still nothing to…”

Bang!

At that moment, the door was opened with such ferocity that they thought it might break.

“W-what!”

“I was scared!”

The disciples all jumped up at the sound. But as soon as they looked at the door, they were all too shocked.

“Elder Hyun Young… no, Sect Leader?”

Baek Cheon rubbed his eyes,

‘What? He looked like elder Hyun Young for a second!’

It was Hyun Jong who had almost broken the door just by opening it.

He had a benevolent smile and a halo behind his head, and the lips, man, his lips were smiling.

The softly curved eyebrows and arms spread.

This man looked like the real incarnation of Buddha.

“S-sect leader?”

“We greet you Sect Leader!”

Hyun Jong nodded and slowly walked in,

“Hehehe. You all worked so hard. Really hard!”

And he stroked Jo Gul on the head as he was the closest.

Baek Cheon smiled.

It had been quite some time since he had seen Hyun Jong smile so brightly.

‘Well, why wouldn’t he be?’

He had been sitting with many famous sect leaders and family lords, and it had been a long time since something like that happened. Not to mention, everyone had come to showcase their power through their disciple’s skills, and Mount Hua had been on top.

It was not strange that he looked like he might ascend into the heavens.

“How proud your ancestors would have been if they saw this! Hehehe!”

Hyun Jong gently looked around.

It was around the time when everyone was sobering up from their excitement.

“Ugh! Don’t just stand out there; come stand inside!”

This time, it was Hyun Young who came in.

He was holding several large baskets stacked in front of him. Hyun Jong looked at that and asked,

“What are all these?”

“Food.”

“Food? What food?”

“Ah, it is for the kids!”

Hyun Jong frowned at Hyun Young’s words.

“But Shaolin provides meals?”

“Tch tch tch.”

Hyun Young shook his head at those questions.

“The only things they would feed us are things made of grass; how can they get energy from that food?”

Hyun Young placed the baskets on the table and then pulled off the cloth uncovering one after another; grilled chicken and steamed pork were revealed.

“You need to eat meat to get energy! Meat! I cannot feed grass to my precious kids!”

Hyun Jong’s eyes widened,

“Meat?”

“Yes!”

“In Shaolin, you brought meat?”

At those words, Hyun Young’s expression turned gloomy.

“What about it? They follow their own laws, and we our own.”

“Ah, no, but…”

He never thought he would see someone bring meat into a temple-like place and, least of all, his saejae!

He was so shocked that he could not speak as Hyun Young called the kids forward and began to serve them the meat.

“Now, come and eat! Eat and get more energy, you cute, cute bastards!”

“We will have a hearty meal!”

“Thank you, Elder!”

“Come on! Hehe!”

Hyun Young watched the disciples eat with great satisfaction. Of course, this was a horrible sight for the others, but they appeared as cute chickens pecking at their feed for Hyun Young.

“Chung Myung! Where is Chung Myung? Ah! There you are!”

He ran to Chung Myung, who was nodding off in the corner, and patted him on the back.

“Chung Myung, ah! It’s meat! Let’s eat!”

Chung Myung’s eyes opened,

“Meat?!”

“Right. Right. You must have had a tough time eating that grass; from today onwards, I will feed you meat for every meal!”

Everyone was happy, and Hyun Jong mumbled,

“… is this really fine?”

“Well, what do you mean? If they feel it is unfair, tell them to win!”

“…”

Hyun Young stroked Chung Myung on the head as he ate the meat with an innocent face.

“Will you be able to do well tomorrow?”

“Weee will wo wood. We will wreak weir weads.”

“Right. Right, their heads. Ahahaha!”

Seeing the two being excited like this, Hyun Jong also smiled.

‘Now, even I don’t know.’

Well, everyone will be fine.