Chapter 1313

Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1313. I think I know (3)

Editor: Hoamzz

Co-Translator: Xoxo

People poured down like rain.

It sounds absurd, but that absurd scene was unfolding right before Jo-Gol's eyes.

His face was distorted horribly at the sight of the black-robed men descending, blocking the narrow visible sky entirely.

“Damn it! They definitely weren’t there before!”

When he and Yoon Jong had scouted, it hadn’t been anything like this.

Though they sensed occasional sharp killing intent, the numbers were never this great.

Yoon Jong bit his lip in frustration.

This would only be possible in one case: if they had been lying in large-scale ambush behind rather than atop the mountain.

But Yoon Jong hadn’t considered that possibility.

No, there hadn't been any need to consider it.

The enemy already held the advantage with their overwhelming numbers and favorable terrain.

Why would such an enemy even bother with elaborate traps?

They could simply overwhelm with force alone.

But they chose to set that trap anyway.

Only then did Yun Jong realize what he had missed.

'They too are desperate.'

This was different from before.

Until now, Mount Hua had mostly faced opponents stronger than them.

As such, it was always Mount Hua who took the initiative and caught their enemies off guard.

But now the positions were reversed.

These enemies don’t underestimate Mount Hua as others did before.

They were using every means at their disposal to tear them apart, even inducing carelessness.

Even though they know full well that the group they’re facing wasn’t the true Mount Hua, but rather a mix of Hainan Sect disciples with a handful of Heavenly Comrade Alliance members.

Because Yoon Jong didn't know this changes, this desperate determination, he missed what he shouldn't have.

"Shit!"

Jo-Gol's roar echoed.

Jo-Gol was hot-headed but not dull-witted.

He couldn't have missed what Yoon Jong realized.

“Eek!”

When Jo-Gol finally lowered his stance to leap upward, Yoon Jong shouted sternly.

“Jo-Gol!”

Jo-Gol gritted his teeth and looked back at Yun Jong.

“Sahyung, this...!"

“It’s already done! Focus on what you need to do right now. Protect the disciples of Hainan Sect!”

“But there are too many enemies!”

“They will handle it!”

Yoon Jong raised his head after crushing Jo-Gol's fierce resistance in one breath.

He could see the two figures soaring upward.

Chung Myung and Yoo Iseol.

The two surged toward the enemies pouring down like rain.

"Those two will surely handle it somehow! Definitely!”

The fierce wind sweeping through the gorge hit Chung Myung's entire body.

His robe fluttered wildly.

But his speed did not diminish in the slightest.

Every step he took on the cliffside was firm and powerful.

Meanwhile, those descending along the cliff shouted as soon as they spotted Chung Myung.

“Drop him!”

“Uwaaahhh!”

The crescent dao (월도(月刀)), shortened and thickened to maximize efficiency in close combat, were all swung at once.

Thick dao energy flew chaotically toward Chung Myung in great numbers.

Kwagagak! Kwaang! Kwagak!

The massive flying energy embedded itself into the sheer rock face.

The untouched cliff face was marked with huge gashes as if carved by a great demon's claws.

But the Chung Myung those blades should have shredded was already soaring toward the opposite cliff face.

It was an impossibly swift movement.

Any ordinary martial artists would have been thrown into disarray by such a maneuver.

But the black-robed martial artists weren’t startled and instead swung their swords again as if they had expected it.

Swaeaeaeaek!

Dozens of heavy dao energy shot through the air, once again converging on Chung Myung.

It was an absurdly excessive attack especially when aimed at just one person.

But those launching the attack didn't think it excessive at all.

Because they already knew.

Who they were facing now.

Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword Chung Myung.

The concept of 'excessive' doesn't even exist again such a lofty name.

At least not in Evil Tyrant Alliance!

Against the storm of dao energy imbued with such determination, Chung Myung's two eyes flashed with icy blue sharpness.

Front, back, left, right.

They were perfectly covering every place Chung Myung might move.

There was no place to escape no matter where he retreats.

They say even if the sky collapses, there’s always a crack to escape through.

Perhaps that was true.

But in this gorge, even the sky is desperately narrow.

Paaaat!

In that desperate moment, Chung Myung chose to go straight toward the incoming dao energy.

“Dojaaaaang!!”

Namgung Dowi let out a scream from below.

Suicide.

He can only see it that way.

Avoiding countless blade energy while clinging to the cliff was already impossible.

But doing it in mid-air?

How could he possibly block all those dao energies while suspended in the air?

But then, as Chung Myung’s sword unfolded, Namgung Dowi’s mouth shut tight as if something had blocked it.

Paaaat!

The Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword slashed toward the incoming dao energy.

Kung!

Each of the massive crescent blades collided directly with Chung Myung’s thin sword.

Logically, Chung Myung’s body should flung backward...

No, he should’ve slammed down.

But his sword spun slightly and Chung Myung's body instead shot higher upward.

It was nonsensical, but it seemed as though the flying dao had actually pushed Chung Myung upward.

Namgung Dowi’s eyes went wide.

"Th- That!"

He can't understand what happened even seeing it with his own eyes.

No, he could understand but couldn't believe it.

The pinnacle of Flower Grafting (이화접목(移花接木)/Lit. to graft flowers onto a tree).

It is the highest level of energy arts that utilizes the opponent's strength against them.

Not merely deflecting the opponent's force, but the marvelous principle of using that force at will.

The Flower Grafting technique that, along with the soft (유(柔)) sword techniques, elevated Wudang Sect to a position rivaling Shaolin Sect, was now being displayed through Chung Myung.

To a level that would leave even Wudang’s most revered Taoist masters speechless.

'How?'

A tremor like being struck by lightning enveloped Namgung Dowi's entire body.

In essence, Flower Grafting isn’t an overly complex technique.

Isn't utilizing the opponent's strength the first thing that anyone learns after mastering the basics of martial arts?

However, the reason why Flower Grafting is considered the greatest was because it’s almost impossibly difficult to execute in real combat.

However, Chung Myung perfectly manifested this principle through his sword.

He completely redirected the opponent's power away from himself and converted the recoil entirely into forward momentum.

Even knowing, it was incomprehensible; even seeing, it was unbelievable.

Having experienced Plum Blossom Island, undergone training at Cheonwumaeng, and faced brutal real combat in this Gangnam, Namgung Dowi could understand.

He understood what it meant to use that sword technique in real combat.

How monumentally incredible it was to suspend oneself in midair with nowhere to step, using only the opponent's force.

Paat! Paaaat!

Chung Myung advanced forward while deflecting dao energy with his sword.

From one dao energy to another, his speed increased each time he swung his sword.

By the time he emerged from the forest of crescent daos, his form appeared almost like a black lightning flash.

“Cra- Crazy!”

Shock and terror swept through the eyes of those watching from above.

There was no way for a person to escape from that raging dao energy.

Yet that impossible path had clearly opened now.

As if the dao energies themselves had shifted aside to make way for Chung Myung.

At last, Chung Myung soared upwards and broke through the final wave of blades with breathtaking speed.

“Keuk!”

One of the black-robed martial artists instinctively raised his dao as Chung Myung flew toward him.

But at that moment, Chung Myung's sword was swung with a completely different momentum.

From below to above, it was an unstoppable and overwhelmingly powerful slash.

Paaaaaaat!

The Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword collided directly with the martial artists’ dao which was brimming with internal energy.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

With an explosion that seemed capable of bursting eardrums, the black-robed one's body, split in two with one strike, was flung at terrifying speed into the cliff face.

Having cleaved the martial artist in half with a single strike, Chung Myung twisted his body mid-air and dove directly into the mass of descending martial artists.

Paaaaaaang!

His twisted waist snaps back straight in an instant, and the sword in his hand draws a circle like a sun hanging mid-sky.

Everything caught within the circumference of that circle was instantly cut down.

Those whose necks were severed died without even a chance to scream, while others with their limbs sliced off were left clutching their wounds and wailing in agony as they fell through the empty air.

"Uaaaaaaaaak!"

However, Chung Myung didn’t allow even a moment to breathe and thrust his sword forward, piercing the chest of the screaming man.

Barely half a palm's width.

He stabbed just short of the heart, then dragged the sword downward sharply and used the recoil to launch himself upward once again.

A flash of terror momentarily crosses the black-robed martial artists' eyes.

Attacking enemies below was something they had done countless times.

But when have they ever crossed hands with someone in midair like this?

All the grueling training and life-risking battles they had endured became utterly meaningless at this moment.

Sogok! Sogok! Sogok!

Chung Myung’s sword moved through the air.

Three black-robed martial artists' carotid arteries were pierced without a single inch of error.

Using the falling martial artists' torsos as stepping stones, Chung Myung leapt upward once more.

"Keu, keurk..."

Maliec boils in the eyes of a black-robed man clutching his throat.

Death was inevitable anyway.

If it was going to end this way, he would make Chung Myung his companion on the road to the underworld.

No, he tried to.

But his hand holding the dao felt a sharp pang of pain.

Sogok!

His severed hand, still clutching the dao, falls away from his body.

The black-robed man stares blankly.

Something black brushed past him and soared upward.

'Mo- Mount Hua...?'

Even as his consciousness faded, the fierce figure of that person etched itself into his vision.

A female swordswoman with a cold gaze had stepped on his chest and launched herself upward, following right behind Chung Myung.

Almost as if she was escorting him.

Chung Myung soared higher.

Upward without falling for even a moment.

Chung Myung instantly rose higher than the gorge, higher than where the black-robed men had leaped.

As he emerges from the gorge, the sky that looked narrow opens vast and wide.

Chung Myung jumped high into the sky, spins his body once and kicks the air.

And accelerates downward.

Hwaaaaaak!

Countless plum blossoms bloom at the edge of Chung Myung's swung sword.

Like plum trees growing between cliffs suddenly erupting into full bloom, countless crimson blossoms spread across the narrow sky.

Red sword energy more blood-red than Chung Myung usually displays unfolds all at once in profusion.

The supreme move of the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique, the Plum Blossom Blood Rain (梅花血雨), pours down onto the heads of the descending black-robed martial artists. (극성으로 전개된 (二十四手梅花劍法)의 절초, 매화혈우(梅花血雨)초식이 강하하는 흑의인들의 머리 위로 쏟아져 내렸다.)

As if thirsting for more blood.