I Am the One Who Will Become Mount Hua’s Sect Leader (4)
"At last!"
Wi So-haeng clenched his fist as he looked at the sea of people spread out before him.
"Father! We’ve finally arrived."
"Yes. It was a very long road."
Hearing his son’s words, Wi Lip-san let out a long breath of his own.
"Honestly, the Sect Leader is rather thoughtless, isn’t he? If he was going to take part in the Heavenly Martial Arts Tournament, he could’ve at least sent word. We’d have arrived much sooner."
"The Sect Leader must have been busy preparing for the tournament as well. This isn’t exactly a trivial matter, is it?"
"Quite right, quite right. You’re right."
Wi Lip-san nodded vigorously.
A Heavenly Martial Arts Tournament.
His heart was racing.
The name made it sound like a tournament of the whole world, but in truth it was closer to a gathering of the world’s most prestigious sects. Only sects acknowledged by the martial world and recognized as powers capable of leading it were invited by Shaolin and allowed to participate.
In other words, the fact that Mount Hua could take part in this tournament meant that the sect had proven itself, even to the martial world’s other orthodox factions.
To think Mount Hua would ever stand in a place like this.
As he looked at the gathered heroes, Wi Lip-san felt his chest growing hot.
How much humiliation had he endured while managing Hwayeong Gate, Mount Hua’s affiliated branch?
How many people had mocked them, saying that if they were an affiliated branch of a ruined sect, then just how pathetic could they possibly be?
No. If anything, that was still too generous.
There had been people who didn’t even know Mount Hua existed.
When they had asked,
"There’s such a place?"
he had been forced to answer with a smile, and simply remembering those days made the corners of his eyes sting.
"I’m sure the main sect will achieve excellent results."
"So-haeng."
"Yes! Father!"
"It’s fine to have expectations, but don’t expect too much."
Wi Lip-san spoke earnestly.
"Just being able to stand here among the world’s great sects and test one’s abilities is an incredible thing. Of course Mount Hua will one day become the greatest sect in the world, but for now there will still be a gap between them and the sects that once ruled the world."
"Yes."
"So no matter what results they bring home, there’s no reason to be disappointed. We should simply give them our wholehearted support."
"I’ll keep that in mind!"
Seeing Wi So-haeng clench his fists, Wi Lip-san smiled gently.
A journey of a thousand li begins with a single step, doesn’t it?
Mount Hua was already developing at a startling pace. To ask for even more than this would be to place a crushing burden on the main sect.
We can’t just rely on the main sect. Our Hwayeong Gate has to help add to Mount Hua’s glory.
Silently making that vow, Wi Lip-san opened his mouth again.
"Come along, everyone."
"Yes!"
His disciple Yeop Pyeong hurried to his side.
"Shouldn’t we greet the elders of the main sect first?"
"It’s all right. They must be busy as well. They won’t take offense if we go to pay our respects after today’s matches are over."
"Understood."
They had reached the edge of the crowd, but it was so far back that the stage was barely visible. In particular, the younger disciples of Hwayeong Gate were still too short to get a proper look at the matches.
"Hmm. Let’s push a little further in."
"Yes."
The disciples of Hwayeong Gate began forcing their way through the crowd, and protests erupted from all around them.
"Hey, don’t shove!"
"You lot! You’re late, so where do you think you’re going?"
"My apologies. We’ll just move a little farther in."
Wi Lip-san lowered his head awkwardly.
Then a rough-faced man barred his way with a scowl.
"What?"
"……."
"What sect are you from that you have so little manners? Can’t you see the people who came early and secured their places? Huh? Want me to make you see it?"
"I’m sorry."
"Sorry? Sorry, my ass! I’ll snap your damn neck!"
The atmosphere turned ugly in an instant.
Everyone here was a martial artist, so the cold hostility was enough to make their shoulders tense slightly.
After a cough, Wi Lip-san spoke politely.
"We traveled a long way to get here, and I only wanted the children to see more of the main sect’s disciples. That was my mistake. I apologize."
"Don’t you lot have a sect to answer to? So which sect are you from?"
"We belong to Hwayeong Gate in Namyang. We are an affiliated branch of Mount Hua."
"Hwayeong Gate? I’ve never even heard of—"
The rough-faced man suddenly shut his mouth. Then he looked at Wi Lip-san with an odd expression. His eyes even trembled.
"Um…… which sect did you say you were from?"
"Hwayeong Gate."
"No. Not that—I mean which affiliated branch did you say?"
"……Mount Hua."
"Mount Hua?"
"Yes."
"Th-that…… Mount Hua village…… no, wait! You mean the Mount Hua participating in the tournament?"
Hm? Why was he reacting like that?
And…… Mount Hua village?
Wi Lip-san stared at the man in confusion before nodding a little awkwardly.
"……Yes. That’s right, but?"
The man who had blocked the way glanced over his shoulder, then coughed awkwardly.
"Ah…… so you’re from Mount Hua. Mount Hua."
"……."
Hm?
At the strange reaction, Wi Lip-san narrowed his eyes.
What’s going on?
The man who had looked ready to charge at them a second ago suddenly shrank back with a very awkward expression.
"I-I had no idea you were from Mount Hua’s affiliate. P-please, this way. I’ll guide you myself."
"……Pardon?"
The man turned toward the people behind him and shouted loudly.
"Mount Hua’s young affiliated disciples have arrived. Make some room, will you?"
"Mount Hua?"
"Young disciples from Mount Hua?"
"……That’s a frightening name."
Hm?
Frightening?
Wi Lip-san tilted his head.
The others nearby had the same sort of reaction.
They looked interested at first, but the moment they met Wi Lip-san’s eyes, they quickly turned away.
It was almost as if……
Are they looking at us like thugs causing trouble in the marketplace?
Then why were they looking at Hwayeong Gate that way?
Why?
"Come on, make way already!"
"Get out of the way! These are Mount Hua’s people!"
"I said move over a bit!"
"M-Mount Hua?"
Watching the ridiculous scene of people scrambling left and right to open a path, Wi Lip-san’s mouth hung open.
What on earth is going on here?
"This way."
"If you go a little farther up front, you’ll find where Mount Hua is seated."
"Hahaha! An affiliated branch of Mount Hua, is it? You must be walking with your chests puffed out now."
"Exactly, exactly! Hahaha!"
At their reaction, Wi Lip-san had even less idea how to respond.
What in the world happened here?
But there was no time to find out.
Before he could even speak, a booming call rang out from the front.
"Next! Mount Hua’s Chung Myung!"
Chung Myung?
At that familiar pairing of words—Mount Hua and Chung Myung—Wi Lip-san lit up and craned his neck.
But his view was immediately blocked by the surging crowd.
"Wooooooaaaaah!"
"Mount Hua Divine Dragon! It’s the Mount Hua Divine Dragon!"
"Mount Hua’s Mount Hua Divine Dragon is up!"
The instant Chung Myung’s name was announced, a deafening roar exploded from every direction.
"Wha—what is this!"
"Mount Hua Divine Dragon? Daoist Chung Myung?"
The reaction was so feverish that for a moment, he was completely dumbfounded.
Wi Lip-san looked around with a stunned expression.
Even Wi So-haeng couldn’t hide his confusion. He lifted his head and stared toward the platform.
He could see the back of a person swaggering up onto the stage.
"It’s the Daoist!"
Of course, identifying someone from the back alone wasn’t easy.
And yet, who else here could possibly express with their back,
"I’m sick of this. Stop calling me over and over."
better than Chung Myung?
"Victory! Mount Hua Divine Dragon!"
"One strike! It’s one strike again this time!"
The thunderous cheers and encouragement made his ears ring already.
It wasn’t as though another match had begun. It was simply that Chung Myung had stepped onto this stage, and the atmosphere across all of Shaolin had changed in an instant.
The disciples of Hwayeong Gate all looked around with eyes like startled rabbits.
"Ah, over there……"
They didn’t know what was happening, but they had to watch that match.
That was Chung Myung’s match, after all—the undisputed strongest among Mount Hua’s younger generation.
There was no point in coming all this way if they didn’t see that.
But the crowd, heated up the moment Chung Myung appeared, had no intention of giving up its spots. With no other choice, Wi Lip-san had to instruct them to lift the shorter children up so they could see.
Wi So-haeng looked at Chung Myung standing on the stage and marveled.
Daoist Chung Myung!
He had thought the man would amount to something great in one way or another, but who would have imagined he’d become someone who received such overwhelming cheers in a place like this?
Even Wi So-haeng, who could hardly be said to have any deep connection with Chung Myung, felt a swell of pride in his chest.
I believe in you!
He stared at Chung Myung with eyes full of admiration, almost entranced.
Meanwhile, Wi Lip-san failed to notice that his son was being corrupted in a rather bad direction; instead, he wore a broad smile, straightened his back, and puffed out his chest.
"Hahaha! To think Mount Hua has become a sect that draws such cheers!"
His eyes had gone a little red.
Yet strangely enough, the cheers they heard began to mix with odd shouts.
"Crush their heads!"
"Smash those arrogant bastards from the so-called Nine Great Sects!"
Listening to that strangely ferocious roar, Wi Lip-san let out a dry laugh.
Will this be all right?
……It would somehow work out.
Receiving the flood of cheers, Chung Myung wore a blasé expression.
"I mean, I haven’t even done anything yet, and you’re already acting like this……."
"Wooooooaaaaah! It’s the Mount Hua Divine Dragon!"
"Show us something again this time, Mount Hua Divine Dragon!"
"Victory! Victory! Mount Hua Sect takes first place!"
The corner of Chung Myung’s mouth twitched.
"Heh. It’s not like I’m all that happy just because you praise me, you know. Heheheh."
Chung Myung grinned and scratched the back of his head.
If he wanted to leave a strong impression, he should keep a cool, aloof face. But when people kept showering him with praise, he always ended up looking pleased against his will.
It’s all because I grew up without ever getting praised!
—You have to do something worthy of praise before anyone praises you, you mangy idiot!
"Uuugh."
Chung Myung clicked his tongue.
When he had lived as the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, tournament-style martial competitions had, strangely enough, almost never been held in the martial world.
More precisely, such tournaments were held regularly, but competitions he was actually allowed to enter never seemed to happen.
When he had been one of the younger generation, there had been no tournament for the younger generation. When he had grown up, only tournaments for the younger generation were held……
"Those bastards? Now that I think about it, they were definitely doing it on purpose!"
Well, of course.
Unlike now, back then his skill was already widely known, so it made sense they would avoid facing him.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a pathetic……
It was his infamy that was widely known, not his skill, you punk.
"If you’re not looking for me, don’t just keep popping up out of nowhere!"
It’s my mind.
"Uuugghh."
Chung Myung snorted and lowered his head.
Still, the old man probably wanted to see this too.
Even if Chung Myung had ascended and was sitting in the realm of the immortals, he would have done everything he could to part the clouds and watch this tournament.
"So I suppose I’d better put on a good show……."
Chung Myung let out a heavy sigh.
He felt oddly sentimental as he thought about it.
At his age, he should have been sitting back and watching the youngsters perform while clapping from the sidelines, not standing among them and fighting himself.
His proper place was over there, where the current Sect Leaders were seated. No, if he had come here in his original body, he would have made all those guys kneel on the floor and polish his shoes.
And yet here he was, forced to perform for them instead.
That was why life was impossible to predict.
"Tch."
Chung Myung lifted his head a little and looked at his opponent.
Was his name Jin Song?
A disciple of Wudang.
A disciple of Wudang, one of the most prestigious of all prestigious sects. More than that, he was one of the twenty selected to represent them in the tournament. What more did that need to be said about his skill?
So he ought to be calm and composed……
Hm?
Why was that guy like that?
Chung Myung narrowed his eyes.
Jin Song, the one who had been matched against him, was sweating profusely and trembling all over.
At that bizarre reaction, Chung Myung tilted his head and asked,
"You."
"Hiiiiiik!"
"……."
Chung Myung’s face soured. Jin Song jumped back in alarm and kept sweating buckets.
"Are you sick or something?"
"N-no, I’m not."
"Then why do you sound like that? You really not sick?"
"I’m not! I’m really fine!"
"……."
Of course, Jin Song was not fine.
He had to be Chung Myung’s opponent, of all people.
How am I supposed to beat that monster? He’s the guy who beat Senior Brother Mu Jin!
And that wasn’t even all.
Elder Heo San had personally admitted that, for a brief moment, he had matched that monster blow for blow.
Mu Jin was among the top three of the first-generation disciples, and now an elder as well.
Bluntly speaking, if Jin Song were to fight Mu Jin, his leg would be broken before three exchanges were over. So how was he supposed to face the monster who had beaten someone like that?
If so many eyes weren’t on him, he would have bolted regardless of the match and run for his life.
That thing is a monster, no question!
Looking at the terrified Jin Song, Chung Myung snorted.
"Are you sure you’re okay? You look pretty sick."
"I-I’m fine. Really fine. I’m just very nervous."
"Oh, I see."
"Yes! Yes! That’s right!"
Chung Myung gave Jin Song a crooked little smile. The guy was actually kind of cute in a stupid way.
"Looks like you do have good judgment, at least. Then why don’t we save ourselves the trouble and just concede?"
"N-no. I’m going to challenge you."
"Really?"
"Yes!"
"For sure?"
"……Huh?"
Chung Myung’s lips twitched slightly as he drew his sword, still in its scabbard.
"I see. So you’re saying we have to actually test it to know for sure?"
"……."
"I’ll praise your spirit for challenging someone you know you can’t beat, but from my point of view, this is already over and I still have to move my hand for no reason. And you still insist on fighting?"
"W-well, that is……"
"Fine. Since you’re so spirited, I’ll treat you with all the sincerity I can muster, so come at me properly!"
Seeing the murderous glint in Chung Myung’s eyes, Jin Song smiled brightly.
Let’s just surrender.
Survival came first.
Heh heh heh heh.