Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1289. It's a sight you’ll sick of seeing (3)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
War was familiar. Naturally, they were also used to fighting with their lives on the line.
That belief in themselves wasn't strange. It wasn't particularly wrong either.
This was an era of peace. For nearly a hundred years after the war with Magyo, Kangho had remained peaceful.
Only Gangnam, and especially the southern part of Gangnam where Myriad Man Manor ran rampant, was engulfed in the flames of war. Thus, in the current Kangho, few had experienced as many wars or seen as much blood as they had.
In that sense, their confidence was not unfounded.
However, they had overlooked one thing.
The war they experienced and the war Chung Myung experienced were completely different in nature.
Unable to grasp this difference, it was impossible from the start to understand the existence of Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword.
“Hu…”
Anguished screams kept ringing out.
Someone shouted in despair. Though the exact words were unclear, their meaning was obvious even without hearing them.
Flee.
Flee this place immediately. Turn your back on that beast charging at you and use every ounce of strength left to flee.
But Jo Namcheon (조남천(趙南天)) of Serpent Sect (사형문(蛇形門)) couldn't move a single step from that spot. It wasn't that he wouldn't move. He simply couldn't move.
His head was desperately commanding his legs to turn and run, but his feet felt as though they were glued to the ground.
A mouse freezes in place when it encounters a snake before its nose. Likewise, facing an apex predator unlike any he had ever met before, Jo Namcheon's body refused his commands and froze in place.
The difference was that while a snake leisurely swallows a frozen mouse, the demon in front of him was ravenously staring him down. That was the difference.
Paaaaat!
Sogok!
A bloodstained sword cleaved through Jo Namcheon’s neck in one breath. Chung Myung, who didn’t even have time to wait for his body to collapse, stepped on his chest and jumped over Jo Namcheon’s blood-spurting neck before charging forward.
Like a tiger hunting prey. No, like a snake surging swiftly through the bushes.
Drenched in the blood of countless Evil Sect members, he appeared almost like a blood demon. Amidst the vivid crimson soaked into every inch of him, only his black eyes emitted an icy chill—a gaze so cold it could stop the hearts of those who beheld it.
"B- Block him!"
“Run away!”
“No…. Don’t!”
Disordered and panicked responses erupted from all directions. It was chaos itself.
It was a natural reaction.
The name Heaven and Earth Encompassing Net (천라지망(天羅之罔)) sounds grand, but it refers to a tightly coordinated encirclement spread over a wide area.
It was a basic strategy used to corner and capture a fleeing minority with superior numbers or to completely annihilate those who desperately resist.
Evil Sects of Gangnam had deployed Heaven and Earth Encompassing Net numerous times before. And each time, their experiences were nearly identical.
Leisurely watching the desperate struggles of those trying to hide and flee, or those making their last stand. And they would mock those foolish enough to defy Myriad Man Manor. That was all it took.
Those who had comfortably assumed this time would be no different were suddenly gripped by a fundamental question.
"Why!"
Someone screamed hysterically.
“W- Why is that bastard here! Whyyyyy!”
Kwaaang!
At that moment, someone’s upper body was torn apart and flung backward. Blood spurted out like a fountain and pieces of flesh flew in all directions. Drenched in the splattered blood, the terrified martial artists found themselves echoing the same question as the dying man.
Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword. The man who annihilated Myriad Man Manor's assassination squad and turned their force that targeted Mount Hua into wandering ghosts. More than that, the man was said to have faced Myriad Man Manor's Bangju Jang Ilso in direct combat at the Yangtze River and fought evenly.
Kangho's acknowledged nemesis of Myriad Man Manor, and the rising master of renowned Mount Hua who stood as the antithesis to Jang Ilso.
Some things change depending on perspective. To the righteous sects, Chung Myung was a symbol of heroism (호협(豪俠)). But to Evil Sects, his name alone was enough to send chills down their spines.
Yet why was that person, who should be facing off against Jang Ilso at the Yangtze, suddenly here swinging his sword?
Why would they have to face Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword?
"R- Run away!"
“Aaaaahhhh!”
This wasn’t a situation where one could speak of fighting spirit (전의(戰意)).
It was like surrounding what they thought was a fox's den, only to find a monstrous tiger lunging out instead. Even the most seasoned hunter would scatter in panic.
But these weren't seasoned hunters, and Chung Myung was a beast too ferocious to even compare to a mere tiger. Who would dare stand in his way?
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Collapse was inevitable.
The unprepared hunters turned their backs on the rampaging beast and scattered in every direction.
It seemed wise at first glance, but they didn't know that the reason hunters don't show their backs to beasts wasn't because of courage.
While humans might spare those who show their backs, beast never spares a foe who turns their back. Not sparing an enemy who might target you again was the way to survive in the wild.
Chung Myung perfected himself in the hell of the battlefield. His way of thinking was no different from that of a wild beast.
He may recite Taoist scriptures with his mouth and talk about chivalry (협(俠)) and mercy with his mind, but his sword was sharper than the fangs of any beast and always tore into the backs of those who turned and fled.
Kwadeuk!
The sword plunged diagonally through the fleeing man's shoulder blade and sank into his heart. Before the victim could even process the pain, the twisted sword shredded the insides and surged upward, slicing cleanly through the shoulder.
“Keuah….”
Kwang!
As if even the time to leap over them was too precious to waste, Chung Myung rammed the falling person with his shoulder, sending them flying, then charged forward and forward again while pouring forth a beast-like terrifying killing intent from his eyes.
He was unstoppable. It was impossible from the very start.
Even the title ‘World's Greatest Rising Star’ that once adorned Chung Myung had become obsolete (사어(死語)).
Even if everyone here united and stood against him, there was no guarantee they could stop the swordsman named Chung Myung. There was at least that much of a gap between an absolute master competing for dominion over the world and the martial artists of minor sects in southern Gangnam.
Moreover, this encirclement was never meant to stop someone like Chung Myung in the first place.
The loose, scattered formation designed to ensure no trace of fleeing enemies could escape was utterly incapable of binding Chung Myung’s feet.
And Chung Myung had precisely exploited that weakness.
Whether grasped through intellect or comprehended by instinct, Chung Myung's current offensive was enough to tear apart this flimsy net in one clean strike.
Like ripping wide open with fangs and claws the gap his sword had already cut in the net.
“Hiiiiiik!”
As Chung Myung closed in, a swordsman nearby dropped to his knees and clutched his head. All he could do at this moment was pray for swift death without suffering.
But despite tightly shutting his eyes, he felt no pain even after several moments. When he hesitantly opened his eyes, he saw Chung Myung had already passed him by, leaping forward and scattering deadly sword energy into the distance.
“I, I lived….”
An overwhelming sense of relief surged in his chest. But then.
Seureuk.
A sound like a swallow skimming over grass pierced his ears. Turning at the instinctive chill, he saw a woman who was somehow within arm's reach.
There was no emotion or expression on his pure white face.
And her eyes were oddly serene and so out of place amidst the chaos of the battlefield.
'Who...'
That’s when he saw it—the crimson plum blossom embroidered on her chest and the sword in her hand. Drops of blood fell steadily from the tip of her blade. The man instantly sensed his fate.
Sarak.
A faint sound like silk fluttering in the wind echoed in the air.
At the same moment, a searing pain began to spread across his neck.
"Huh…."
The indifferent-looking woman didn’t even spare him a glance as she brushed past him like the wind and dashed forward.
His body slowly crumpled to the ground. And then a group in blue-sea martial robes charged fiercely through that spot.
“Charge!”
From within the sea of blue, Baek Cheon’s thunderous roar exploded.
When Chung Myung pierced through like an unstoppable spearhead, Jo-Gol widened the wound and Hainan Sect’s disciples rushed into the gap.
Describing it as ‘Protection’ would be far too crude and violent, but no one could deny the terrifying efficiency.
“B- Block them!”
Those who had been paralyzed by the terror Chung Myung had inflicted as he pierced through like an awl only came to their senses upon seeing Hainan Sect disciples.
But before they could properly move their bodies, piercing sword energy came raining down on them.
Swaeaeaeaek!
Kwadeuk! Kwadeuk! Kwadeuk! Kwadeuk!
Five people perished at once with their necks pierced by a single stroke.
“Euraaaaah!”
It was a Light-Splitting Swift Sword. (빛을 가르는 듯한 쾌검(分光快劍))
A sword technique that targeted only the enemy’s vital points without a shred of waste—practical, ruthless, and far closer to Evil Sects techniques than Evil Sects itself. It had become a signature of Jo-Gol, his defining technique.
Having instantly turned five lives into wandering ghosts, Jo-Gol charged forward with that same momentum.
Paaaat!
Yoon Jong seamlessly filled the gap at Jo-Gol’s exposed flank. Ready to respond at any moment should an enemy whose breath hadn't been cut target their side.
Their entire bodies were already drenched in blood.
“Yoon Jong! Leave Gol and reinforce the rear! From now on, they’ll aim for our backs!”
“Yes, Sasuk!”
"Iseol, adjust your position to the rear! You're too fast!"
"Yes."
Yoo Iseol slightly slowed her pace the moment the command was given.
“Keep charging!”
Under Baek Cheon's swift commands, they regained their disrupted formation and increased their speed even further.
Even at this moment, Gwak Hwanso was desperately chasing after Chung Myung with every ounce of strength he could muster. Baek Cheon caught sight of this and firmly nodded.
“We’ll break through in one go. Smash them all!"
"Understood!"
The disciples of Hainan Sect were completely unaware.
Perhaps because they were just running and running with no room for thought, but they hadn’t realized that they too were shouting their responses with all their might to Baek Cheon’s commands.
With Chung Myung as the spearhead (첨단(尖端)) and Baek Cheon as the core, they were piercing through Gangnam like a wedge driven into its center.
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