Return of The Mount Hua – Chapter 1701
Editor: Hoamz
Co-Translator: Xoxo
Tang Gun-ak looks at Jo-Gol with a dumbfounded expression.
'In the midst of that...'
A young swordsman firing sword energy in a state of selflessness. His existence made those around him appear colorless. As if he alone emitted color and brilliance.
Those he faces wer the elite of Sun Palace, even including elders who could be called the sect's highest power.
Considering this, the scene suited the word 'absurd' more than 'amazing.'
'He's breaking through another wall in the middle of this fierce battle?'
Splitting such powerful Scorching Yang palm force would have been impossible for the previous Jo-Gol.
This was literally growth beyond common sense.
'No, it's not just Jo-Gol.'
Tang Gun-ak saw Mount Hua crashing head-on into the Sun Palace as they followed in Jo-Gol’s lead. They were actually mercilessly pushing back the Southern Sun Palace, one of the Five Great Outer Palaces.
At that moment, the flying dagger held in Tang Gun-ak’s hand was launched at formidable speed.
Kwadeudeuk!
The dagger flew at invisible speed and struck before Thousand-Faced Gentleman’s feet. The Thousand-Faced Gentleman’s face, having been looking for a chance to slip away while Tang Gun-ak’s gaze was momentarily averted, distorted horribly.
“I believe I said you cannot leave?”
“This fucking bastard...”
Blood was flowing from various parts of Thousand-Faced Gentleman's body. They were gruesome wounds carved by Tang Gun-ak's dagger.
However, Tang Gun-ak's situation wasn't so good either. His clothes were tattered and ragged in places, and the flesh visible through the gaps was blackened and dead.
Thousand-Faced Gentleman’s eyes grew bloodshot.
"You... damn dog-like bastard! Do you really intend to hold my ankle until the end!"
Even in the midst of this, Thousand-Faced Gentleman’s gaze kept being drawn to the edge of the cliff. While restraining Tang Gun-ak was important, the greater fear was that a deafening roar could erupt at any moment and the ground could collapse entirely.
“You’re throwing away your life over mere brats like those? The Poison King of all people? The patriarch of Tang Family?”
“Mere...”
A bitter smile hung on Tang Gun-ak's lips.
"Are they even thirty?"
"...What?"
"No, most aren't even thirty. Such people are now fighting equally with Southern Sea Sun Palace's best elites, one of the Five Great Outer Palaces."
"So what about that?"
“Don’t you wish to know?”
The gaze in Tang Gun-ak's eyes became infinitely serious.
"What kind of figures they will become if they continue to grow like this, and what they will be capable of doing?"
“That’s some fucking bullshit...”
Thousand-Faced Gentleman spat curses viciously without caring about dignity or anything.
He gets that Mount Hua was impressive. But so what?
What was most important to him now was his own life, not Mount Hua's future.
But there was no way to escape the current situation.
Tang Gun-ak's daggers were faster than his lightness art. If he tries to flee clumsily, a dagger will fly and embed itself right in his back.
However, subduing Tang Gun-ak's music won’t be easy. To properly settle the outcome with that man, they would have to exchange hundreds more moves. Would the cliff hold out for that long?
"Get out of the way, Poison King! Do you really want us both to die!"
"Well."
The dagger in Tang Gun-ak's hand began to rotate slowly.
"It probably won't take that long, will it?"
The calm gaze of Tang Gun-ak suddenly turned sharp.
A junior generation below him had shown him a spectacle he would never see again. He could not afford to sounds weak.
Though he couldn't take the lead and open the path, shouldn't he at least guard their backs to stand tall as a senior?
“Are you really the Poison King Tang Gun-ak I know?”
“...”
“Did you lose your mind, intoxicated by the heat of the young ones? This foolish act of yours will bring ruin to Tang Family. What kind of mad patriarch stakes his life for a sect that isn't even his own!"
At those words, Tang Gun-ak let out a low chuckle.
It was obvious psychological warfare. A low-level provocation that the usual Thousand-Faced Gentleman wouldn't even utter aloud. He could have just ignored it, considering Thousand-Faced Gentleman’s heart was just that desperate.
However, the current Tang Gun-ak wanted to say this one thing.
"I must admit, that is a bit worrying."
"...What?"
Tang Gun-ak's gaze turned toward the cliff. A strange light flickered briefly in his eyes.
"Because there's not just one person so reckless as me."
A short sigh escaped Tang Gun-ak's mouth.
* * *
"Hyaaaaat!"
Isong Baek emitted heavy white sword energy. He seemed intent on not leaving a single drop of internal strength unused.
Wooooong!
As if resonating with his will, his sword cried out. The unleashed sword energy shot across the cliff face.
“This punk...!”
Seeing the incoming sword energy, the Sun Palace warriors flared with rage and burst forth with thick killing intent. How dare such a mere fledgling swing a sword at the Sun Palace?
Hwaaaak!
Soon, orange Scorching Yang Internal Art clashed head-on with the flying sword energy. The dense, heavy sword energy and the scorching force tangled together in midair producing a massive explosion.
Kuuuuuuuung!
From the aftermath, Isong Baek's body was helplessly thrown backward. It wasn't just one, but several who had unleashed the palm force. There was no way Isong Baek alone could withstand it.
But before his body was completely separated from the cliff, someone grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Isong Baek's eyes widened.
"Sa- Sahyung!"
“Stop with the stupid acts!”
Jin Geumryong gritted his teeth and shouted coldly.
"Don't engage them head-on! They are..."
“Sahyung! Above!”
Stopping his words, Jin Geumryong looked up sharply. Orange hellfire was pouring down right in front of his eyes.
It was the very moment Jin Geumryong’s eyes widened.
Woooooooooong!
Like the roar of a massive beast… no, like the legendary roar of a blue dragon, the Azure Dragon Roar (창룡후(蒼龍吼)) rang out and a blue palm force soared up above the two men’s heads.
The orange palm force and the blue palm force clashed. It looked as if a blue azure dragon were diving into blazing flames.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!
The blue palm force blocked the palm force flying toward Jin Geumryong.
“Haaap!”
One after another, white sword energy shot out from behind the two. The sword energy completely destroyed even the scattered fragments of the Scorching Yang palm force.
“Beggar Union Sect Leader-nim?”
“Se- Sect Leader-nim?”
Wind Shadow Divine Beggar silently passed by the two as he climbed. Immediately after, a furious roar struck their ears.
“You idiots!”
The two men doubted their eyes. They never thought Jong Nigok would climb this cliff himself.
Jong Nigok’s glare at his disciples was so murderous that not only Isong Baek but even Jin Geumryong flinched.
And for good reason. The two climbed the cliff without the sect leader's permission. In principle, they would have no room for complaint even if their heads were cut off for insubordination.
Jong Nigok glared at them coldly and shouted.
“Jin Geumryong! Isong Baek!”
“Yes, Sect Leader-nim.”
The two answered with stiff faces. However, unexpected words came back.
"Punishment will come later."
"...Yes?"
“Deal with enemies first! Follow me!"
Jong Nigok soared upward without waiting for a reply. Jin Geumryong and Isong Baek stared at each other blankly for a moment. Then they quickly kicked off the cliff and followed to Jong Nigok’s left and right.
Red palm force poured down from above again. Even before it reached them, an intense heat that felt like it would scorch their entire bodies was palpable.
Jong Nigok's eyes emitted deep blue light.
“How dare you!”
Swaeaeaeaeaek!
His sword slashed through the air.
Dozens of sword shadows instantly swelled into hundreds. The densely packed sword shadows soon created a massive wall made entirely of swords.
Song Baek's eyes widened greatly.
Not only the flying palm force, but even the heat that seemed to burn bodies couldn't pierce Jong Nigok's sword wall. The orange flames shattered and were pushed back, spewing spray like waves crashing against a cliff rising on the coast.
‘Th- This?’
Thirty-Six Swords Under Heaven.
According to Chung Myung's words, it was the most perfect defensive sword and a sword that does not waver, like a giant tree deeply rooted in the earth.
The essence of the Thirty-Six Swords Under Heaven was unfolding from Jong Nigok’s hands.
Isong Baek's two eyes trembled.
His sword was heavy. No, in truth, he had tried to make it heavy.
Since Southern Edge Sect’s sword tried to become a flower, he had thought his sword had to become a solid root.
But now, Jong Nigok was teaching him with his sword.
More precisely, everything that Southern Edge Sect's ancestors have accomplished over the years was being passed down to Isong Baek through the sword of Jong Nigok.
About 'not leaning to one extreme'.
It wasn’t as heavy as Isong Baek’s. And it wasn't as light as Jin Geumryong's sword. It had no distinct characteristics, but precisely because of that, it didn't lean to one extreme.
Actually, wasn't ‘perfection’ precisely referring to this?
'No, that's not all.'
Despite unleashing a sword of such magnitude, Jong Nigok's body remained unshaken. The speed of the movement technique he unfolds hasn't decreased at all. Even though he was climbing this steep cliff only with his toes.
It was then. Isong Baek turned pale and shouted.
“S- Sect Leader-nim, ahead…!”
Something pitch-black was flying in through the burning Scorching Yang palm force.
It was clearly the thing that had left Namgung Dowi half-dead moments ago.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
Without even giving them time to react, the explosive detonated right in front of them. Jin Geumryong and Isong Baek instinctively crouched while gripping the cliff.
But that was all.
They felt the vibration, yet no blast pressure or impact reached them.
What entered the eyes of the two as they raised their heads in surprise was only Jong Nigok's steadfast back and the sword wall he was maintaining. Not even an inch of wavering, like an iron wall.
'Such an explosion...?'
A different realm altogether. The martial prowess of Jong Nigok, which Isong Baek thought he knew, struck him as a great shock.
Just then, Jong Nigok shouted sharply.
"What are you doing! Come!"
"Yes, Sect Leader-nim!"
Just as Isong Baek and Jin Geumryong were about to kick off again, two more explosives flew toward them from above.
This time, even Jong Nigok gritted his teeth for a moment.
“Such tricks.”
But then, something appeared before them like a ghost and struck the flying explosives, flinging them far from the cliff.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang!
Massive explosions erupted in the empty air like fireworks.
“Wind Shadow Divine Beggar!”
“Grand Sect Leader-nim!”
After dealing with the incoming explosives without hesitation, Wind Shadow Divine Beggar’s body stretched out long like pulled taffy. Not to be outdone, Jong Nigok retracted his sword and surged forward like a shot arrow.
"Those bastards!"
Pueoong!
Before long, Wind Shadow Divine Beggar’s palm force exploded against the chest of a Sun Palace warrior hanging on the cliff. After unleashing over ten palms in succession to completely finish off the enemies, Wind Shadow Divine Beggar pulled out the explosive deeply embedded in the cliff.
"This beggar bastard, where do you think...!"
As the Sun Palace warrior was enraged at having his plan disrupted and was about to unleash his internal strength, a cold sword energy flew in and lodged in his throat.
"Kuk..."
Clutching his neck, the man stared at Jong Nigok with a horribly distorted face.
“Don’t resent me… Hm?”
For a moment, an inscrutable smile lingered in the eyes of the man bleeding from his pierced neck. Truly vicious energy.
The very moment Jong Nigok noticed something was strange.
Hwaaak!
The Sun Palace warrior's body was instantly engulfed in flames.
"Th- This!"
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!
Soon after, his body erupted in a massive explosion that shook the entire cliff.
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