Return of the Mount Hua Sect

“W-what is this!”

“RUNNNN!”

A garden of plum blossoms unfolded before their eyes. The flowers, which had bloomed with great enthusiasm, quickly spread out in all directions, carried by the fluttering wind.

The pirates, frightened by this unbelievable sight, hurriedly stepped back.

But the ship moved forward faster than they could retreat. While they were doing this, the flower petals began to sharply sweep away the pirates.

“Ackkk!”

Some of the pirates were pierced by the plum blossom sword qi and collapsed completely to the ground.

“W-what sword technique is this…”

They had seen it once before, but this time, it felt different.

The plum blossoms used by Mount Hua disciples felt more like an angry tsunami than a mere sword technique.

And even that wasn’t the end of it.

“Tsk!”

Chung Myung jumped into the air, turned his body, kicked the air for repulsion, and flew towards the pirates like a cannonball.

“Ughhhh!”

Kwaaang!

As soon as he landed, he stretched out his foot and struck the pirate in front of him in the solar plexus.

The pirate’s body spun around, hitting the pirates behind him and flying away.

“T-this!”

It was a truly jaw-dropping sight. However, instead of getting scared and running, the pirates rushed at Chung Myung, pointing their harpoons and swinging their spears.

It felt more real to attack someone whose identity was revealed in front of them rather than deal with unknown attackers.

“Die!”

“Turn him into skewers!”

Chung Myung’s eyes glinted eerily as he saw the flying weapons.

Kakang!

The weapons, which seemed poised to blow a hole in Chung Myung’s body at any moment, collided with each other in the air with a sharp clanging sound and became entangled.

‘No.’

‘What…’

It was at that moment.

“ACKKK!”

One by one, those who had attacked fell to the ground, letting out miserable screams. They were all holding on to their feet. The backs of their ankles had been cut deeply, and red blood gushed out.

Papapak!

“W-what!”

“He is below!”

“Ahh!”

The incoming enemies began to fall like cut-down bamboo shoots. Chung Myung lowered his body and moved like a swallow, cutting off the ankles of the pirates.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

The pirates, who had the backs of their ankles cut off, fell down, screaming horribly like animals.

“S-stand back!”

“Damn it! Do not back down and just stab, you idiots!”

“Ahhh!”

The pirates trying to run away and the pirates trying to rush in turned entangled, chaos quickly unfolded. And above their heads, the Plum Blossom sword, wielded by the disciples of Mount Hua, rose like a cloud and began to pour down.

“Tsk!”

Chung Myung once again used the ground to rush ahead.

The pirates at the front all lost their confidence and tried to escape, but there was no way they could escape through the chaos.

Crash!

Chung Myung soared into the air, stepping on the pirates’ stomachs, knees, and shoulders, one after another.

Kwaang!

The moment his last step landed on a face, the trampled pirate fell down without a scream, and Chung Myung tumbled in the air.

“Taap!”

The Dark Fragrant sword moved in the air. At the end of it, the red plums began to bloom.

Plum blossoms, so clean and real like anything seen before, bloomed like a dream and poured over the heads of the pirates.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

The petals cut down the bodies of the pirates without mercy. Even though it was a horrid scene that would make anyone scream, it felt beautiful. Everyone watching shuddered at the eeriness that came from it.

“M-Monster…”

“Where did he come from…”

Tak.

That was when Chung Myung lightly landed on the ground.

“I think I am slowly feeling a bit better.”

“…”

“Okay…”

Chung Myung smiled, twisting his lips strangely.

“Let us continue.”

And once again, he charged ahead.

“OHHHH!”

The disciples of Mount Hua, led by Hae Yeon, followed him.

Pat!

The movement of the sword felt so lively.

Although their fingertips were turning numb from the poison seeping into their bodies, the swords didn’t shake.

Slash!

“Grrrk…”

The corpse pierced through the chest and collapsed, coughing up blood. Baek Cheon pulled back his sword and swung it.

Ahead, Chung Myung was surrounded by the pirates.

No, actually, it was hard to call it being surrounded. Just because a tiger is surrounded by rabbits, it doesn’t mean it is cornered.

“These bastards are killing people without mercy!”

Chung Myung was literally destroying the pirates with just his eyes.

‘Damn him!’

Baek Cheon bit his lip at this.

The scene felt so natural that he didn’t normally realize the importance of it. But after leading the disciples without Chung Myung and fighting in front of them, he learned the truth painfully. What an amazing sight this was.

The place where Chung Myung fought was always the place that pirates paid the most attention to, and it was where the pulse of the battlefield flowed. He always drew all attention to the most dangerous places and deflected the pirates’ attacks. Just the presence of Chung Myung over there reduced the attacks on those following him by half.

Perfect sense? Or an innate sense?

That was unknown. It wasn’t something that Baek Cheon could have guessed. The only thing certain was that Chung Myung was always fighting in the most dangerous places.

When he realized this fact, his face heated up suddenly.

‘As long as your mouth works.’

That was what Baek Cheon used to say to Chung Myung. But not anymore. These words which Baek Cheon was saying to Chung Myung, were what he was saying to himself.

‘I am…’

“What are you thinking? Where is your concentration?”

“…”

At that moment, Baek Cheon quietly shook his head, abandoning any distracting thoughts as the ghostly voice echoed in his ears.

“Come, you bastard!”

Gritting his teeth, Baek Cheon grasped his sword tightly and rushed toward the pirate.

“Great captain!”

“Hmm.”

The eyes of Chan Bo-Heuk began to slightly tremble.

‘What is it? Who is that guy?’

The atmosphere of the battlefield had changed. It wasn’t just the feeling of strength emanating from the person.

To put it bluntly, the battlefield was like a writhing dragon. The battlefield was a place that changed in an instant. But from the moment that one boy appeared, the entire flow was pulled by him alone.

‘Those people’s movements have changed too.’

No, to start with, the Mount Hua disciples were not weak at all.

Couldn’t he guess their skills by looking at how they cut down the iron net, which was specially made to subdue the most skilled warriors of the Justice faction?

To begin with, a place with pirates was always exposed to attacks.

Unlike bandits, who could gauge whether or not to block the path of merchants, they had no way of knowing which ship would be attacked.

Therefore, problems sometimes arose with warriors who traveled to and from the Yangtze River. Whenever that happened, they took huge damage. The ink-iron net they used a little while back was for that reason.

How much money did it cost him to get the net made?

But the iron net was something worth investing in. It was ten times heavier and harder than a regular one, so even the sword demons, who treated their swords like their bodies, couldn’t cut through it. The cost of making it was more than recovered from the lives of the warriors who were skewered under it.

But since these young ones had cut through such nets, they could not be called young anymore. He had no choice but to admit that they were strong.

But no matter how strong they were, experience wasn’t something that could be easily achieved. The less experienced they were, the more likely they were to stab themselves. For example, didn’t his side’s overwhelming victory seem so natural a moment ago?

But everything changed when this damned guy showed up.

“What shit…”

Chan Bo-Heuk gritted his teeth.

The Yangtze River valley was a scary place. In areas where the water narrowed, the currents clash, creating vortices and splashes. Unless it was a big ship, one wouldn’t dare come.

Right, like a battlefield that burned at every moment.

But people living on the Yangtze River occasionally see things. The sight of an old boatman, who lived along the Yangtze River his entire life, escaping like a ghost through the turbulent waters and rapids in small rowboats that looked as if they could sink at any moment.

That could not be understood through logic. It was a realm of sensation that only those who had seen the waters could understand.

But now, he could see such skill in the young guy who was walking around the battlefield.

‘Does this make sense?’

Genius? Don’t joke. Such things were what a genius could do in one try.

That…

“Great captain!”

Chan Bo-Heuk was lost in thought but soon came to his senses when a voice called out.

“Uh…”

Then his face contorted, and he bit down on his lip. Now wasn’t the time to leisurely think about such things.

“What are you doing, you useless bastards! Deal with that guy there right now! Immediately!”

“Yes!”

Those who were fully prepared and waiting behind Chan Bo-Heuk all jumped towards Chung Myung.

“Hmm?”

Chung Myung saw this and slightly turned his gaze.

“Youuu!”

A black harpoon came flying at a terrifying speed.

A force that could pierce not just a human body, but a rock.

It was a blow that proved this wasn’t just a place where normal pirates gathered; this was a place where one of the five evil faction rulers came from, the Yangtze River 18 families.

Swish!

The sound of wind breaking was harsh. For a moment, Chung Myung’s eyes darkened.

Paat!

Soon, his black sword extended at the same speed as a flash sword.

Tung!

It attached to the side of the harpoon, which flew in with terrifying force. At the same time, Chung Myung jumped back and gently twisted the sword.

Tung!

At that moment, the harpoon’s direction subtly shifted to the side. The powerful harpoon narrowly grazed the side of Chung Myung and tore the hem of his clothes.

A red line formed on Chung Myung’s side revealed through the torn clothes. However, the person who wielded the harpoon couldn’t be happy about it.

This was because Chung Myung, who had suddenly approached from a place closer than the extended harpoon, smiled eerily.

Slash! Slash!

In an instant, the wrist was cut, blood splashed out, and all the muscles inside the elbow were torn.

“Kuaak!”

The pirate let out a terrible scream, unable to handle the pain, and desperately rushed to the rear.

But unfortunately, the person he was facing had no intention of letting go of the retreating pirate.

Paat!

The sword of Chung Myung, which rushed after the retreating pirate, curved like a poisonous snake. The pirate’s knee was cut cleanly.

“Kuak…”

The pirate, whose entire knee ligament was cut, screamed and rolled on the ground.

“Huh… huh… euk….”

Step. Step.

As Chung Myung, with the sword hanging down, slowly approached, the pirate’s eyes were filled with despair.

The pirate’s eyes, stained with fear, and the eyes of Chung Myung, devoid of emotion, looked at each other.

“Spare me…”

Swish!

As if the words of plea felt meaningless, the sword of Chung Myung cut off the head of the fallen pirate without the slightest hesitation.

The body maintained its original position until the head, which rose in the air, fell to the floor and rolled. Only a moment later, the blood began to leak out.

Swish!

After shaking the blood off the sword, Chung Myung looked around at the pirates.

“This guy…”

The moment the pirate was about to say something, Chung Myung kicked his foot on the ground.

A bizarre smile appeared on Chung Myung’s lips as if there was no need to talk. Soon, the plum blossom qi rushed out of the sword and rose up.