Return of Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 290
“I will never lose to Southern Edge Sect!”
“…….”
“Don’t worry, Sasuk! I’ll be back after I break that bastard head!”
“Uh……. That. Yes.”
As he saw Tang Soso brimming with fighting spirit, Baek Chun had no choice but to ask one big question.
Without a doubt.
It is natural for a Mount Hua disciple to despise the Southern Edge Sect.
This is not the fault of Mount Hua.
Since the moment he arrived in the country, it has become customary for him to be beaten once every two years by Southern Edge Sect’s disciples, so such a bad feeling cannot be avoided.
But there’s a problem…
‘You haven’t been in Mount Hua for a year yet, Soso?’
Why does she hold a grudge against the Southern Edge Sect?
Isn’t Mount Hua-ization happening too quickly?
Tang Soso was staring at Baek Chun with a complex and subtle gaze.
The more he saw her running up to the stage, the more she seemed new to him, who remembered meeting her like a flower in Tang Family.
“Is she going to be fine…?”
When Baek Chun returned her gaze to Yoo Iseol, she shook her head.
“Mount Hua’s sword. Soso hasn’t mastered it yet.”
“That’s true.”
“It doesn’t matter to win. The important thing is the will.”
Baek Chun gave a nod.
‘As well as experience.’
What Mount Hua desires from Tang Soso, and even the third-class disciples, is not to increase Mount Hua’s honor through victory.
It was done so that they, who would one day become the focal point of Mount Hua, could see and learn more, gaining momentum to go higher.
‘You’re doing much better than I expected.’
Nonetheless, with the exception of Yoon Jong and Jo Gol, the third-class disciples were inferior to other second-class disciples.
‘Yes?’
‘Chung Myung?’
‘That jerk doesn’t count…’
Baek Chun looked at Tang Soso, slightly concerned.
“Southern Edge Sect!”
“…….”
Isong Baek coughed unknowingly as he stared at Tang Soso with eyes that clearly belonged to an adversary.
‘Did I make a mistake?’
He had never seen such piercing eyes in their first meeting.
“…Southern Edge Sect’s Isong Baek I’ll learn a lesson.”
“It’s Tang Soso from Mount Hua!”
It was an audacious self-introduction. With a bitter smile, Isong Baek drew his sword.
Sreuruk.
“I have eyes, but my sword has no eyes, so please be careful not to get hurt.”
“What? Shouldn’t you be looking at your head instead?”
“…….”
‘Ah.’
‘She’s definitely from Mount Hua.’
Chung Myung’s shadow flitted behind Tang Soso’s back. Isong Baek coughed briefly before straightening his back.
Tang Soso’s eyes narrowed and she glared at him.
‘I will never be defeated by Southern Edge Sect.’
Surprisingly, seeing the white uniform of the Southern Edge Sect makes her stomach turn.
This didn’t happen when she was in the Tang Family, but since it happened after she entered Mount Hua, there must be a problem with the water flow between the two.
Anyway!
Chaeng!
Tang Soso’s Plum Sword was drawn.
She has yet to master Mount Hua’s sword technique. Although her martial art level improved over six months, she could not catch up to her Sahyung, who had trained for more than a decade.
But just because she isn’t good enough doesn’t mean she should withdraw.
Those who are lacking and those who are insufficient have their own path to follow.
Mount Hua’s teachings inspired Tang Soso and her will.
Tang Soso rushed in, his eyes coldly staring at Isong Baek.
“I’m coming!”
Her appearance as she flew away from the stage was like a dagger thrown.
Swaewaek!
A devastating blow that seemed impossible to come from her slender arms!
What she lacks is not internal strength, but rather a martial art.
As Tang Gaju’s daughter, she has been steadily trained to the point where her internal strength rivals that of the prestigious disciples.
With Jasodan on board, it was no exaggeration to say that her internal strength was the best on Mount Hua.
A sword was brimming with her internal strength and charged toward Isong Baek’s head.
Isong Baek took two light steps back.
Kwaaang!
Tang Soso’s sword slashed the ground, causing a massive explosion.
“…….”
When Isong Baek saw the deeply dug stages, his eyes widened. The unexpected power perplexed him.
“Are you avoiding me?”
“…You want me to receive that?”
Isong Baek gave a low smile.
Certainly, Mount Hua’s disciples have a unique side.
‘I wouldn’t have liked that if it had been me in the past.’
But he now knows.
Rather than debating etiquette and saving face on the outside while being poor on the inside, a true warrior’s attitude is to be faithful no matter what appearance they take.
Isong Baek shifted his gaze to Chung Myung in the distance.
‘Please look after me. Dojang Chung Myung.’
‘Whether my previous two years were correct or not.’
‘Did I follow the advice you gave me back then?’
This is a fight. However, it was more than just sparring.
This position was an opportunity for Isong Baek to demonstrate his dedication to Chung Myung.
“Huu.”
Isong Baek raised his sword and aimed for the heart of the battle.
Jungdanse. (Jung Dan Se – Middle Guard Position (중 단 세) probably similar to Chudan no Kamae)
The fundamental posture of all swords.
His breathing became more shallow. The surrounding air started to sink rapidly.
‘Low, lower, lower.’
A simple sword with a stable center of gravity for use in any situation.
Something that everyone knows but is difficult to keep. It is referred to as the “standard” by people worldwide.
Kaang!
Tang Soso’s sword, which flew with terrifying force, was slowly received by Isong Baek’s sword.
It wasn’t very strong. But he wasn’t frail either.
A sword that protects the center.
Tang Soso’s expression hardened as she struck the sword.
‘What exactly is it?’
On the surface, it is an unremarkable sword. It’s not flashy, and it doesn’t demonstrate any special abilities.
Nonetheless, this sword was unlike any she had previously seen.
Tang Soso kicks the ground, increasing the distance between himself and Isong Baek.
His solemn gaze followed her.
“…that guy.”
A low groan came from Baek Chun’s mouth.
‘Was the name Isong Baek?’
When he saw him at the Conference, he obviously had nothing special. No, he doesn’t feel anything special from the outside even now.
It is not as sharp as Jin Geum Ryong’s sharpness nor as united with spirit as other Southern Edge Sect disciples.
From the outside, he appears to be unremarkable. He resembled any swordsman you could find anywhere.
But this time is different.
“What’s the difference?”
“Basic.”
Baek Chun looked up, surprised.
Chung Myung, who had returned to his seat before he realized it, pulled beef jerky from the bag and said casually.
“It’s the basic.”
“…what do you mean?”
“Literally. It’s just the basics.”
Chung Myung looked at Isong Baek with a subtle smile.
“What do you think sword technique is?”
“…… it’s a way to use a sword.”
“Yes, how to use a sword. How one uses the sword made the sword technique. But that sword technique can’t escape from three things in the end.”
Chung Myung straightened his finger.
“Stabbing. Cutting. Blocking.”
Chung Myung grinned.
“At the end of the day, all sword techniques are just a combination of these three. Swords are like that in the first place. There’s nothing complicated.”
Baek Chun narrowed his forehead.
“Isn’t that overly simplistic?”
“These simple things add up and become complicated. In other words…”
Chung Myung took a slight pause and continued.
“If you can do that stabbing, cutting, and blocking perfectly, then the sword will be perfect too.”
“But that’s…….”
“Yes, it’s almost impossible. Perfection is a concept that doesn’t exist. Obsessed with a perfect sword is something only a madman can do. But.”
Chung Myung said meaningfully.
“The world’s greatest, Shaolin. There is a sect that tried to do something that even the high-nosed people along Wudang could not dare to. The world is made up of thirty-six directions around a person. The madman believed that if he could stab, swing, and block with the sword perfectly in those 36 directions, he could be an invincible swordsman that everyone in the world is afraid of.”
“Thirty-six swords…….”
“Yes, that is.”
Chung Myung said softly while keeping his gaze fixed on Isong Baek.
“It is the Thirty-Six Swords Under the Heaven (천하삼십육검(天下三十六劍)) of Southern Edge Sect.”
It sinks.
His heart didn’t flinch at all.
Even the sensation of the air passing by his fingertips is vividly felt.
Isong Baek could see that he is now the most completely focused condition in recent months.
‘Middle.’
It is many times more difficult to keep the line so that it is not too much and not too insufficient to be one-sided.
The sword of Southern Edge Sect, is the sword that protects the middle.
It’s not strong, it’s not fancy, it’s not fast.
But Southern Edge Sect’s sword is more perfect than any other sword.
‘If I had known this in the first place…….’
He wouldn’t have spent so much time in vain.
But it’s fine. The path he’s going to walk has just begun.
Do not be deceived by splendor and strength. What he has to protect is the middle. And it’s Southern Edge Sect’s soul.
Tang Soso looked at him with a slightly stiff face.
‘What the hell is he?’
She can feel the weight that she hasn’t seen in Baek Chun or even Chung Myung.
Of course, Chung Myung is a human being who does not have a sense of weight, but the fact that the pressure from that sword was more than Baek Chun’s sword bewildered Tang Soso.
‘What are you doing, Tang Soso!’
Tang Soso clenched her teeth.
She knew from the beginning that her opponent might be stronger than her.
But why is she standing here?
Tang Soso raises her sword and aims at Isong Baek.
Words are not necessary.
‘I made my plum blossoms.’
No matter who the opponent is, if she can draw her plum blossom perfectly, there is nothing to be afraid of.
The two martial artists face each other with cold eyes.
As if the tense tension was contagious, the spectators held their breaths as they watched their confrontation.
Tang Soso was the first to move again.
“Taat!”
With a short shout, she rushes quickly towards Isong Baek.
Paaang!
Her sword cut through the air. And it fell countless times to Isong Baek.
‘Bloom!’
The plum blossoms she has to bloom are different from those of the other disciples on Mount Hua.
If Mount Hua’s plum blossoms are spring flowers, her plum blossoms are literally Flower Rain (화우(花雨)).
A disciple of Mount Hua Sect and a daughter of the Tang family.
Her talent, which failed to bloom in the Tang Family, became the sword of a volcano and shed rain on flowers throughout the world. (내린다(萬天花雨) / Heaven Myriad Flower Rain. In a row, the chinese character means Myriad Heaven Flower Rain.)
Maehwabunbun. (매화분분(梅花紛紛) Repetitive Plum Blossom/Successive Plum Blossom. Google says fen which means one after another but the characted was written twice. idk.)
Although it is Mount Hua’s sword, the plum blossoms unique to Tang Soso, which is different from Mount Hua’s sword, became petals that were blown away by the gust of wind and covered Isong Baek’s whole body.
And Isong Baek’s eyes sink low at sight.
It’s like a rain of flowers from the sky.
‘It’s beautiful.’
The most beautiful but infinitely sharp sword.
It feels impossible to block all of them.
But Isong Baek swung the sword in no hurry.
Kaang! Kaang! Kaaang!
His legs are firmly planted on the ground and his shoulders are gently relaxed to transmit the power perfectly. The elbow swings the sword as sharp as a whip, and the wrist flexibly absorbs the shock.
Cutting. Stabbing. And blocking.
Even if Mount Hua’s plum blossoms cover the whole world, the world surrounding him is just thirty-six directions.
If he could completely shake off the sword with that thirty-sixth direction, even the rain of plum blossoms that fills the whole mountain would not touch his body.
The sword of the Southern Edge Sect is the standard sword. And the basis of the sword is to prevent the opponent’s attack. The most faithful sword in the world is Southern Edge Sect’s thirty-six swords.
The plum blossoms, which had poured like a dream, lost their power in front of the sword wall that covered Isong Baek. After flying around like that, it finally hits Isong Baek’s sword wall and crashes.
“This!”
Tang Soso clenched her teeth. But she couldn’t give up here. She tried to deploy the sword again.
But. At that moment.
Paaang!
Isong Baek’s sword, which bursts through the sword wall with the sound of cutting the atmosphere, falls toward Tang Soso’s head.
“Ah…….”
Seusut.
Isong Baek’s sword was exactly on her shoulder.
Tang Soso bit his lower lip.
“…I lost.”
“It was a good match.”
Isong Baek retrieved the sword and politely withdrew.
“It was the sharpest sword I ever meet. If it had been a little deeper, I would have been defeated.”
“…… I’ll admit the winner’s composure, but you’d better not be too pretentious. I’ll be the one who wins next.”
“Of course, I look forward to it.”
Tang Soso sighed low as she looked at Isong Baek’s selfless smile.
‘There’s still a long way to go.’
She has no regrets because she lost in a fight between martial artists. This defeat will make Tang Soso stronger. (Swordsman but one side was a woman so use martial artist instead)
“You’ll get hurt if you let your guard down because of elated. Sahyung is much stronger than me.”
“I know.”
Isong Baek takes a slight pause and turns his head to look at one place.
“I know better than anyone else. More than anyone.”
His eyes, mixed with envy and determination, reached Chung Myung.
“Because it’s also my goal.”
Isong Baek’s eyes were filled with a profound glow.
And Chung Myung, who received his gaze, murmured quietly.
“The end is another beginning.”
Right ever there.
New seeds of the Southern Edge Sect were growing in the ashes.