Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1325. If it's a person (5)
Editor: Hoamzz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
“Eurachaaaaa!”
Jo-Gol stabbed the enemies rushing at him one after another. His momentum hadn't waned at all... No, it grew sharper than before, but his expression was gradually hardening.
"Heok! Heok!"
Almost there.
The end of this damned gorge was finally in sight. Just a little more...
Jo-Gol, who had pierced the neck of the one who was rushing at him, let out a gasp. His face was already soaked with sweat, and the tips of his fingers holding the sword began to tremble slightly.
'Already....'
It felt like his internal strength had hit rock bottom.
Logically, this made no sense.
The black sword basically focuses on stabbing. By its nature, Jo-Gol's sword style didn't consume much internal strength. Under normal circumstances, he should’ve been able to continue this battle for three days and nights without exhaustion.
But he cannot deny that the absurd thing has already happened.
It wasn't just his internal strength. He could feel everything within him depleting at a frightening pace. It hadn't even been a quarter hour since he started fighting properly.
'That this would be so...'
Everything was being drained at an alarming rate.
His stamina, his internal strength, and even the mental fortitude he had always prided himself on.
As soon as Jo-Gol showed signs of exhaustion, Yoon Jong stepped forward. His back too was already soaked with sweat.
Watching this blankly, Jo-Gol lightly tossed his sword in the air while vigorously shaking off the sweat that had soaked his hands.
He realized anew how much pressure it brings to fight at the forefront and to carve the path ahead of everyone else.
'Don't whine! There are three of us here!'
Yoon Jong and Baek Cheon must be suffering under the same pressure. He couldn’t afford to show weakness now. And if anyone was feeling the weight of this pressure the most, it had to be Baek Cheon…
Jo-Gol instinctively turned to look at Baek Cheon, only to flinch in surprise. He had expected Baekcheon to be focused on finding an opportunity to take the vanguard, but instead, Baekcheon’s gaze was fixed on something behind them.
“Sasuk?”
Jo-Gol called out in a puzzled tone, but Baek Cheon didn't seem to hear and just stared behind.
“Ptoo!”
Chung Myung spat out the blood pooling in his mouth and glared at Go Yang in front of him.
'What a mess.'
His body is so messed up that it was completely out of control.
- Damn it! You think your body is some kind of cart you can fix just by replacing a broken part? Keep at it, Sahyung, and you'll be drop dead soon."
‘Then and now, the Tang bastards…’
Physicians were all the same. They spout the same words.
When injured, one must rest. The human body doesn't conveniently recover on its own.
'Who doesn't know that?'
If he could rest, he would. The problem was he can't.
Chung Myung had grown stronger. In just a few years, he had regained more than half of the martial prowess he once possessed.
He had accumulated internal energy bit by bit, like an ant's tears, piling it up until he no longer felt particularly lacking, and his swordsmanship had become so familiar with the current body that it had reached a state close to perfection.
But that didn't mean he had perfectly recovered his past realm.
The greatest shortfall was his internal strength.
In his past life, he accumulated internal strength for nearly 70 years. But in this life, he hadn't even had 10 years to build his internal strength.
Though he had help from the newly created Jasodan, if medicinal pills could overcome such years of cultivation, who would bother focusing on internal strength?
This journey from Hainan Island to here was a rough one that would have left even the past him gasping for air. To endure it now with an incomplete body and inadequate internal strength, it was no wonder his body was falling apart.
He had focused solely on cutting down the enemies. I cut off all my attention to everything else for that one thing, and yet this is how it is.
Of course, there was the option to step back and tend to his wounds while catching his breath. Even if he had made that choice, they could still reached this point.
The Five Swords were now strong enough to stand tall even before those damned disciples of Mount Hua’s past, and Heavenly Comrade Alliance son of a beast were pulling their own weight.
So even if Chung Myung didn't push himself, they could have guided everyone here.
But in exchange, at least thirty more disciples of Hainan Sect would have died.
'Thirty, huh.'
A bitter smile suddenly leaked from Chung Myung's lips.
It wasn’t even funny.
Who understood better than Chung Myung just how insignificant human life was, and how futile it is to struggle to save a few lives in the great whirlpool of war?
The past Chung Myung would think more thoroughly about his own body rather than pushing himself just to save thirty lives.
Since if he falls, it wouldn’t end with just thirty lives. It wasn’t cold-blooded judgment, but a rational one.
Yes, that was true. But…
- Someday you too will understand.
'If only that ‘someday’ hadn't been now, Cheong Mun Sahyung.'
Another bitter chuckle slipped out, even though he knew this wasn’t the time for such thoughts.
'What do I care about Hainan Sect.'
In the end, he had to admit it.
He had changed Mount Hua. He had placed the crumbling Mount Hua back on solid rock, and instilled ambition (웅심(雄心)) in the disciples who had been steeped in defeatism.
For Chung Myung, this was a thorough return to the past.
A recreation of the Mount Hua he remembered, so vivid in his memories it felt within reach.
So that he could be Chung Myung. To be the Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign of Mount Hua.
But… now he had to admit it. The one most transformed in this process wasn’t Mount Hua or those Five Swords, but Chung Myung.
In teaching and scolding those fools, Chung Myung had come to realize something.
Human worth wasn't determined by martial prowess alone. Even those he once scoffed at for their ignorance lived their lives with desperate effort. Even those discarded as expendable tools of war.
A worthless life. Lives that end as mere numbers.
But each of those trivial ones has its own life. Even the ones deemed useless held immense value to someone.
Chung Myung wanted to protect Cheong Mun Sahyung.
He wanted to save that damn Tang Bo bastard, and he wanted to see that rascal Cheong Jin return safely to Mount Hua.
He wanted to somehow send all of Mount Hua disciples back to Mount Hua Sect.
If he could have done that, he wouldn't have refused any task. Anything.
But now he knows. He came to understand.
When viewed through the enormous perspectives of Kangho, these people are nothing but mere numbers... To some, they were Cheong Mun, Tang Bo, and Cheong Jin.
Some will desperately want to protect them like Chung Myung did back then. Some will have to live their whole lives in pain because of their deaths.
Thirty. It was a trivial number, but Chung Myung could no longer dismiss it as such.
It would’ve been better if he had never realized this.
'Would you laugh?'
Chung Myung suddenly wondered.
How would Cheong Jin react if he heard this? Would he laugh at him for talking nonsense? Or would he laugh in amazement, saying that Chung Myung had finally become a true Daoist?
He couldn't know.
Because Cheong Jin already dead.
“Sajil....”
Yoo Iseol's voice came from behind. It carried a faint trace of worry. No, the worry was clear enough to feel without having to listen carefully.
Worry, in Yoo Iseol’s voice.
'It doesn't suit her.'
But what suited even less was the fact that he had made someone like Yoo Iseol sound worried.
Chung Myung lightly adjusted his grip on the Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword.
Duguen.
The pain radiating from his leg was excruciating. His internal strength had run dry a long time ago. He had somehow tried to gather internal strength even while moving, but there was a limit.
The wounds he had barely managed to cauterize would split open again the moment he moved violently.
The only saving grace was that he hadn’t suffered any internal injuries, but that wasn't much of a consolation in a situation like this.
Nevertheless... Chung Myung raised the corners of his lips.
“Should I go first?”
The moment Chung Myung slightly leaned forward, Go Yang unconsciously stepped back slightly. His momentum had clearly been dampened compared to the beginning.
Go Yang squinted his eyes in doubt and checked Chung Myung's condition several times.
'What’s with this?'
That man should already be at his limit. No, he should have reached it long ago. The wounds covering his entire body would make even a master at their peak struggle to move.
In reality, his condition was likely worse than it appears. The poison laced on Go Yang’s blade, however minuscule, must still be spreading within, wreaking havoc inside his body.
But Chung Myung’s momentum hadn't diminished at all. No, it had grown even more terrifying. Just standing before him now felt like his blood vessels were twisting and his skin was splitting apart.
'Just a bluff.'
Go Yang bit his lips hard.
Ho Gamyeong had warned him. That as the man approaches his limit, he tries to hide his condition by bluffing. There was no need to be swayed by his words or actions.
Like toying a wounded beast, leisurely....
Paaaaat!
But in that instant, Chung Myung's appearance suddenly dimmed and appeared before Go Yang's eyes like an illusion.
Go Yang monster reflexively raised his sword in panic.
Kaaaaang!
The hastily raised sword somehow managed to block the incoming Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Swor. But instead of being knocked away, Chung Myung's sword redirected with even greater speed, streaking toward Go Yang's neck.
Feeling the blade’s edge nearly at his throat, Go Yang twisted his neck with all his strength.
Kwadeuk.
He barely avoided having his neck impaled, but the blade still managed to cut him. The sword that dug in about half an inch from the center of his neck passed dangerously close to his carotid artery as it sliced past the side of his neck.
Go Yang retreated frantically, without even time to feel the pain.
One moment. If his reaction had been just one moment slower, his neck would have been pierced through without mercy. Go Yang's face turned pale as he realized he had dipped his foot in hell's gate and pulled it back.
But Go Yang too had fought countless battles.
Even amidst the chaos, his sharp eyes remained locked on Chung Myung. Chung Myung’s legs were slightly bent, and the hand holding the sword was tense.
'Coming!'
Go Yang quickly regained his composure and adjusted his stance.
This predator wouldn’t miss an opportunity once seized. Since Go Yang has already shown weakness, he would surely charge in to end his breath this time.
Drawing upon all his remaining internal strength, Go Yang planted his feet firmly on the ground.
Paaaaaat!
Chung Myung kicked the ground. The strength in Go Yang’s two hands holding the sword was overwhelming.
‘If I can just block this…’
But soon Go Yang’s mind went white.
Chung Myung, having struck the ground, moved at high speed.
Not toward Go Yang's front, but behind.
'What...?'
Launching his body backward, Chung Myung let out an obvious sneer.
Only then did Go Yang realize he had been thoroughly played, but Chung Myung was already sprinting down the wide-open gorge with Yoo Iseol and Tang Pae.
“This...!”
Udeueduk!
Go Yang’s hand clenched his sword so tightly that his knuckles cracked. Go Yang barely came to his senses at the sound and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Chase them! Now!”
"Understood!"
The Blood Sword Platoon members, who had been momentarily dumbstruck by the unexpected turn of events, snapped out of it and sprang into action. Go Yang bit down hard on his lower lip as he watched them go.
“That fucking bastard....”
Even if only for a moment, the fact that he had been thoroughly toyed with within his opponent’s palm tore Go Yang’s pride to shreds.
“Raaaagh!”
Letting out a beast-like howl as if having a seizure, he started chasing after Chung Myung with all his might as he headed toward the gorge’s end.
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