Everyone Is Here (3)
The first-generation disciples led the others from the front, their bearing resolute and unwavering.
They were neither as disciplined as the Tang Family, nor as razor-sharp as the North Sea Ice Palace, nor as free-spirited as the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace. And yet there was something about the disciples in the lead that felt unmistakably different from the others—a steadfastness unique to Mount Hua.
It felt like looking down into a lake so deep it had no bottom.
They were not imposing, exactly, and yet the quiet depth they carried made everyone watching swallow hard and let out involuntary gasps.
“I heard Mount Hua’s first-generation disciples weren’t all that impressive.”
“That was all nonsense, then. Really, if the upper generation hadn’t stood firm, how could the lower generations have made such a name for themselves?”
“Even raising disciples like that is no small feat. No, it’s downright incredible!”
When people create a place, that place in turn creates people.
There were countless sects in the world, but how many had weathered as many storms as Mount Hua? The first-generation disciples were the ones who had borne the sect’s twists and turns with their own lives, walking that road together.
It was the younger disciples of Mount Hua who had made the sect famous, but no one could deny that these people had formed the foundation beneath them.
Behind the handful of first-generation disciples, Mount Hua’s second- and third-generation disciples appeared at a slight distance.
“It’s the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua!”
“So that’s the Righteous Sword of Mount Hua!”
Baek Cheon’s handsome figure, as he walked with the second- and third-generation disciples behind him, drew one exclamation after another. The crowd nodded in admiration, their voices full of praise.
“He’s the one who defeated Jin Geum-ryong of the Southern Edge Sect, and even Jin Hyeon of Wudang!”
“Hah, is that all? Didn’t he also crush a first-generation disciple in a duel with Wudang not long ago?”
“What nonsense! That’s not even the important part. The Righteous Sword of Mount Hua’s greatest achievement is defeating Yeop Pyeong, the Red Snake Blade and leader of Maninbang’s Red Snake Unit! I don’t know who the strongest among the younger generation is, but no one else has accomplished anything close to that!”
“No, no! Wasn’t his most important role the one he played in crushing Dae-byeol Bandit Band?”
“...I didn’t really feel it before, but hearing it all together, that Righteous Sword has really done some incredible things.”
Only now did the crowd truly grasp it. Only now did they realize how much Mount Hua had done all this time.
“And behind him looks like the Five Swords?”
“The Mount Hua Five Swords! Yes, it’s the Mount Hua Five Swords!”
“If the people from the North Sea are to be believed, they went to the North Sea and stopped the Demonic Sect’s advance there, didn’t they?”
“And they’re that young...”
As they looked at Yu I-seol, Yoon Jong, Jo Gul, and Chung Myung following after Baek Cheon, people clicked their tongues in wonder.
It was no exaggeration to say those five represented Mount Hua. At the heart of the sect’s rapid rise in fame, they had always been there.
Even if one knew nothing about Mount Hua at all, anyone who knew the sect could not possibly not know the Five Swords.
Behind those five proud figures, the second- and third-generation disciples followed in orderly lines.
“So this is Mount Hua...”
Most of those who had climbed this sheer mountain had come a long way just to see this sight.
To be blunt, Mount Hua still could not be called a mainstream power of the world. And yet the reason no one could erase it from their minds was precisely because of the Mount Hua Five Swords.
If those disciples continued to grow and one day came to lead Mount Hua, who in the world would dare look down on it then? What the people gathered here had wanted to see was not Mount Hua as it was now, but Mount Hua as it would be in the future.
And now that future stood right before their eyes.
The onlookers, a little dazed as they took it all in, shifted their gazes busily from one place to another.
“Then who’s the Mount Hua Divine Dragon?”
“He must be among the Five Swords!”
The fame of the Mount Hua Five Swords was extraordinary, but the present Mount Hua could not be described without mentioning the name Mount Hua Divine Dragon.
The strongest of the younger generation.
Even that title no longer seemed enough to contain him.
One of the people scanning the crowd with wide eyes suddenly shouted.
“It’s the Mount Hua Divine Dragon!”
“Oh! Who? Which one?”
“That one! The slightly smaller one!”
“...That’s him...?”
Chung Myung was walking at the very rear of the Five Swords.
His posture was clearly far from dignified at first glance, but even a walk could be judged differently depending on whose feet carried it.
If someone lacking both reputation and skill had shown up here looking like that, the crowd would have frowned.
But the Mount Hua Divine Dragon had already proven his skill to the entire world. So even that light, careless gait felt like the ease of a true expert.
“So that’s the famous Mount Hua Divine Dragon!”
“The one who defeated Heo Gong of Wudang...”
“Indeed! One look and you can tell he’s different!”
“Mount Hua Divine Dragon! Mount Hua Divine Dragon!”
As the crowd’s voices rose from every direction, Chung Myung glanced around and let out a crooked grin.
“Hah. Look at that, acting like some amazing guy just showed up. Yep, that’s me all right—the Mount Hua Divine Dragon.”
Then, as if he didn’t have the slightest bit of nerves, he relaxed his face completely and began waving cheerfully to everyone, grinning from ear to ear.
But at that very moment—
Thud!
Yu I-seol’s elbow drove straight into Chung Myung’s side as he smirked and waved.
“Hk...”
His hand reflexively dropped and clutched at his ribs.
“...”
Chung Myung whipped his head around to stare at Yu I-seol, but she simply kept walking with an expression as blank as ever, as if nothing had happened.
“Hey, why are you just stabbing people in the side—!”
Just as he was about to explode, Chung Myung’s mouth snapped shut.
Tap. Tap-tap.
It wasn’t because he remembered where he was. It was because of the freezing-cold sensation he felt from behind him.
The color draining from his face, Chung Myung slowly turned his head and saw Dang Soso smiling brightly. A long needle, hidden from everyone else’s sight, was jabbing lightly at his back again and again.
“...”
Seeing the chill in her eyes beneath that bright expression, Chung Myung obediently closed his mouth and started walking silently.
“...”
“...”
The spectators, watching the scene with puzzled expressions, exchanged looks and murmured to one another.
“...Right?”
“Looks that way...”
In any case, once the Mount Hua Divine Dragon had made his appearance, the crowd’s anticipation began to pierce the sky.
The Sichuan Tang Family, the North Sea Ice Palace, the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, and now Mount Hua itself had all revealed themselves.
Just seeing those four sects appear was enough to make everyone’s hearts pound and their faces flush with excitement.
At last, Mount Hua took its place at the center.
The senior figures seated in the high place, watching from above, had to struggle to keep their own faces from stiffening.
“...Amitabha.”
Beop Gye also quietly chanted the Buddha’s name, trying to calm himself. But he could not erase the faint unease lingering in his eyes as he looked at the four sects.
Indeed...
Seeing them like this made it all feel even more real.
These were sects so full of character that it was hard to imagine them coming together for an alliance at all. Yet Beop Gye could sense one strange thing they all shared.
The Sichuan Tang Family, respected throughout the world for their poisons and hidden weapons, and therefore quietly kept at a distance by many.
The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, wielding immense influence as ruler of the southern wilderness, yet looked down upon as mere barbarians.
The North Sea Ice Palace, living in a world of their own in that far-off frozen land, so distant from the Central Plains that they seemed almost disconnected from it.
And...
Even Mount Hua, once famous throughout the world, only to be utterly destroyed.
All of them were sects that stood apart from the mainstream, sects whose relations with the Central Plains were not exactly friendly. And now, beneath Mount Hua’s name, they had finally come together as one.
How, then, will the martial world flow from here on?
The future, impossible to guess, felt more than uncertain—it felt grim.
Before long, the hall settled into silence once more. Every gaze turned toward the platform. What was to come next was obvious, and anticipation swelled until it seemed ready to burst.
Then, as if to ensure that expectation would not be betrayed, four people slowly walked up onto the stage.
Hyun Jong of Mount Hua.
Tang Gun-ak of the Sichuan Tang Family.
Maeng So of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.
Seol So-baek of the North Sea Ice Palace.
The moment the heads of the four sects that formed the core of the Heavenly Alliance stood upon the stage, everyone who sensed their vast presence shuddered, one and all.
The leaders of the renowned great sects.
Silent, they fixed their gaze on the crowd below. Then Tang Gun-ak stepped forward.
The cold stillness of his face made everyone swallow hard.
The Poison King, Tang Gun-ak.
Among everyone gathered here, no one could match Tang Gun-ak’s fame. That alone made him more than sufficient to announce the founding of the Heavenly Alliance.
After sweeping his gaze across the audience, Tang Gun-ak slowly opened his mouth.
“First.”
His low voice spread across the summit of Mount Hua.
“On behalf of the Heavenly Alliance, I offer my gratitude to all those who have gathered here to celebrate its founding, and to the distinguished figures of the martial world who have graced this occasion with their presence.”
It was a voice both composed and weighty, the voice of one born only to the strong.
Tang Gun-ak’s words, which had instantly seized everyone’s attention, continued.
“Mount Hua Sect, the Sichuan Tang Family, the North Sea Ice Palace, and the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace. These four sects will unite under the name of the Heavenly Alliance and work for the boundless peace and future of the martial world. This gathering is a place to present and declare to our fellow martial artists the resolve of the four sects who will begin this alliance together.”
Tang Gun-ak turned slightly to glance behind him.
“The four of our sects have unanimously elected Hyun Jong, the sect leader of Mount Hua, as the lord of the Heavenly Alliance. From this moment forth, Hyun Jong of Mount Hua shall serve as alliance lord and lead the Heavenly Alliance.”
At those words, every eye turned to Hyun Jong.
Everyone had expected it, everyone had known it tacitly already—but an official declaration carried a different weight. It was the moment when it became plain as day that Mount Hua stood at the very center of this immense alliance.
Hyun Jong, now the focus of all those gazes, drew a short breath and stepped forward. Under normal circumstances, some grand speech of congratulations would have come first, but he seemed to feel no need for such things. His movement was calm and restrained.
Tang Gun-ak stepped back, and Hyun Jong took the center.
“I am Hyun Jong, the sect leader of Mount Hua.”
Unlike Tang Gun-ak’s heavy voice, his was gentle and soft, carrying a warmth that made listeners feel at ease.
Hyun Jong clasped his hands and bowed deeply at the waist. For a greeting from the lord of an alliance, the bow was almost too deep, leaving everyone watching flustered.
Some even instinctively started to return the gesture, only to realize belatedly that this was not the moment for such formality and awkwardly lowered their hands.
How different he is.
So that is Hyun Jong...
Some people lift their chins high to claim authority.
But Hyun Jong lowered himself instead, and in doing so proved his true standing. Even having risen to such a lofty position, he remained utterly unarrogant. It became immediately clear what kind of man he was—the head of Mount Hua, and the lord of the Heavenly Alliance.
As Hyun Jong straightened from the bow, he smiled gently at the crowd.
But before he could say a word—
Thud!
One of the people lined up in the front row stamped a foot hard against the ground.
Everyone on the platform, everyone watching the founding ceremony, and even those standing in formation all turned their heads in that direction.
At the end of those gazes stood Chung Myung.
He straightened the stance he had just stamped into the ground, then clasped his hands in a perfectly proper greeting.
“Greetings, Alliance Lord!”
Before the words had even faded, everyone lined up behind him snapped their hands into a salute as if they had rehearsed it a hundred times.
“Greetings, Alliance Lord!”
Hundreds of martial artists shouting in unison with force behind their voices made it feel as if the whole mountain were shaking. At that terrifying display of might, chills raced down the spines of everyone watching. After a visible shudder, they all looked at Hyun Jong again.
They were seeing anew that this good-natured old Taoist was the head of this enormous alliance.
That brat...
Hyun Jong looked at Chung Myung and gave a small, wry smile.
Chung Myung was sending a message to Hyun Jong even as he showed the alliance’s power to everyone else. It was good to lower oneself, but he was reminding him not to forget that he stood in front of all these people as their representative. If he were to humble himself too much, he would be dragging the Heavenly Alliance down with him.
Of course I know that.
Hyun Jong gave the faintest nod, and the gentleness in his eyes settled into seriousness. Then he opened his mouth.