Chapter 240
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 240
Chapter Title: Commencement
Right after Goon Ja-seong's group departed from the Wudang Sect to destroy the sapling.
The remaining Wudang disciples gulped nervously at the ceaseless, piercing shrieks echoing from within the fog.
Over the past three days, they had trained relentlessly in the new technique known as the Taiji Sword.
To the Wudang disciples themselves, this Taiji Sword felt like a peerless martial art, far surpassing the Five Elements Sword they had practiced before.
Thanks to it, they had gained confidence in their explosive growth compared to before their training.
However, separate from that, maintaining composure in the face of these primal, fear-stirring howls was no easy task.
“…Hoo.”
This held true even for Musong-ja, the Wudang elder and senior figure.
Standing guard over the western side of the Wudang Sect's main hall alongside his fellow disciple Muyeop-ja, he repeatedly gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, steadying his breath.
His appearance screamed tension to anyone who saw it.
Muyeop-ja approached him with a sly grin.
“Senior Brother Musong, are you nervous? Your face looks awfully pale.”
“…Unlike you or the other senior brothers, this is my first real battle. It's been years since I last drew my sword….”
Musong-ja.
Rather than cultivating martial arts, he was a Taoist who had spent the past few decades devoted solely to spiritual cultivation.
He had trained with the sword alongside his fellow disciples in his youth, but that was ancient history now.
Unable to ignore his sect's crisis, he had dusted off the sword gathering cobwebs in his room and taken it up again, but objectively speaking, he was only half a warrior.
This reality hadn't changed even after the bizarre and astonishing shared-sensation training.
‘I don't for a moment think I can pull my weight like the others. If I can just save even one more young disciple with my life…!’
If he could do that, he would gladly lay down his life.
Whether he knew of Musong-ja's resolute mindset or not, Muyeop-ja replied with feigned nonchalance.
“You don't need to worry that much. I'm right here, aren't I? I can handle everything without you even needing to step in.”
Musong-ja burst into hearty laughter at his junior brother's confident words.
“Hahaha. Just hearing that makes me feel secure.”
“No, I'm not just bluffing. There's solid reasoning behind it.”
With that, Muyeop-ja relayed to Musong-ja everything he had heard from Ye So-ha.
“Those monsters are tearing into each other, right? Probably half of them will die off inside that fog.”
“…Is that true?”
Half of seven hundred.
Around three hundred fifty.
Still a large number, but halving it was immensely encouraging.
Muyeop-ja nodded vigorously at Musong-ja's question.
“Of course. The Demonic Cultist controlling those monsters will need time to recover, so by then….”
-Kurrrroooong-!
As Muyeop-ja boldly reassured Musong-ja, a thunderous roar that froze the body solid rang out.
Followed by the monsters' shrieks rapidly dwindling.
Muyeop-ja's face briefly stiffened at the unexpected turn.
He wasn't the only one who sensed the anomaly.
Mujin-ja guarding the east and Muheo-ja the south also hardened their expressions, sharpening their senses.
The Wudang Sect was suddenly enveloped in an eerie silence.
In the quiet reminiscent of the calm before the storm, the sound of someone swallowing rang out clearly.
-Gulp.
And as if in response, the roar echoed once more.
-Kurrrroooong!
Hyeonjin, realizing who owned that cry, ground his teeth.
It's him.
He's taken control of the monsters.
And what he would do with the monsters under his command was all too obvious.
“…Sect Leader.”
“Yes, it seems this will be a far tougher fight than anticipated.”
Muheo-ja stared into the fog with a grim expression.
Beyond the impenetrable mist, faint shadows began to emerge one by one.
The shadows grew clearer, their numbers swelling, until finally,
-Kraaaang!
With the third roar, they burst forth from the fog.
-Kieeeek!
-Kyaa-!
A horde of monsters charging straight for the Wudang Sect.
Contrary to expectations, their numbers didn't seem overwhelmingly vast.
Roughly five hundred, by estimate.
At the sight of the ferocious monsters surging like waves, the Wudang disciples' faces paled in unison.
-Clang!
“Disciples of the Great Wudang! Draw your swords! Do not let these foul demonic beasts invade our sect! The Primeval Heavenly Lord will protect us!”
A booming shout that belied his near-elderly age.
Muheo-ja's rallying cry spread throughout the Wudang Sect, and a fierce light ignited in the eyes of the shaken disciples.
-Clang! Chaaang!
Swords drawn in unison.
Monsters leaping over the walls in unison.
-Kieeek!
“Uwaaaah!”
Wudang disciples and monsters.
The two forces clashed head-on.
*
Hong and Cheong in the Shangqing Palace sensed the unforeseen development as well.
“…The frenzy is calming faster than expected. Must be the work of that special specimen, huh?”
“What a pain.”
Hong clicked his tongue in irritation at Cheong's words, his golden eyes gleaming.
Currently, Hong was maintaining the second grand spell following Cheong, who had activated the first, 'Fog of Demon-Breaking.'
“Doesn't this mean there's no point in keeping the grand spell up?”
Originally, the second grand spell, 'Fog of Self-Forgetfulness,' was meant to amplify the damage from So-ha's spiritual assault on the rampaging monsters.
But if the Mountain King had pacified the horde, there was no reason to maintain it any longer.
After pondering Hong's words for a moment, Cheong looked up with an idea.
“Release the second spell. And… prepare a new grand spell.”
“Huh? A new grand spell?”
Hong was taken aback by Cheong's words.
He had thought they would dispel the spell and join the Wudang Taoists, but Cheong proposed something entirely unexpected.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Even if we join now, we're just adding two more fighters. It won't turn the tide much.”
“So?”
“Then, while the catalyst buried in the ground still holds power, use ‘Celestial Radiance’ to….”
“Weaken the monsters! Great idea!”
Finishing Cheong's sentence, Hong immediately dispelled the Fog of Self-Forgetfulness.
The fog around the Wudang Sect vanished rapidly.
“How long until activation?”
“Hmm, since it's not prepped, it'll take a bit… I'll make it happen within a quarter of an hour!”
Nodding at Hong's response, Cheong exited the Shangqing Palace and leaped onto the roof.
The internal situation of the Wudang Sect came into full view at a glance.
Wudang Taoists were locked in fierce melee with monsters on the east, west, and south sides.
-Fwoosh.
Seeing this, Cheong ignited a pure white flame on the index finger of his left hand.
Like So-ha, he grasped the flame with his right hand, drawing it back like an arrow on a bowstring, and surveyed the battlefield that the Wudang Sect interior had become.
Soon, his eyes caught a monster pouncing on a young Taoist whose stance had collapsed.
Sharp fangs and claws on an elongated snout.
It seemed like a wolf that had mutated.
-Kryaaa-!
-Uwaaak!?
The wolf monster gaping its long maw to swallow the Taoist's head.
Cheong swiftly aimed at its head and released his right hand. The white flame shot forth as a streak of light.
-Bang!
-Kuhrooong! Kyeng!
The flame struck the wolf monster's head dead-on and spread instantly throughout its body.
The monster rolled wildly on the ground, trying to extinguish the fire.
But the sacred flame that burned demons wouldn't be doused so easily,
-Kuh, kuhrooong….
And ultimately, the wolf monster turned to ashes with a feeble death rattle.
The Taoist, saved just before his life flashed before his eyes, looked around in bewilderment before grabbing his sword again at another Taoist's shout and charging back into battle.
“…….”
Silently watching this, Cheong shifted his gaze to find another in peril and fired the sacred flame to rescue them.
The battle between the Wudang Sect and the monsters had only just begun.
*
-Ugh, uuugh…!
Yukgan regained consciousness with a faint groan.
Struggling to open her eyes, she realized she had reverted to her baptized form.
The immense pain had forced her back to her original appearance uncontrollably.
-What in the world happened…!
Now in the form of a massive tree monster, Yukgan recalled the memory from before she lost consciousness while reverting to human shape.
The Wudang Sect shrouded in fog, motionless.
Her vision turning blindingly white all at once.
And the overwhelming agony that followed.
“No way…!”
Sensing something gravely amiss, Yukgan urgently conjured new eyes and sent them flying toward the Wudang Sect.
The first sight to meet her anxious gaze was the holy beasts clashing with the Wudang Sect foes.
While she had been unconscious, the holy beasts had broken free of control and begun rampaging wildly.
“…No. It's a bit different.”
Yukgan's gaze fell on the massive tiger, the Mountain King, standing out among the holy beasts.
-Kurrrroong!
A roar from the king who had lorded over all beasts of Mount Wudang even before the blessing.
Seeing the holy beasts attack the Wudang Sect even more ferociously in response, Yukgan nodded instinctively.
Not long ago, Yukgan had saved the Mountain King from Goon Ja-seong's assault by sacrificing other holy beasts.
Having seen his potential, she brought him as a clone of the divine tree and infused him with even more energy.
As a result, the Mountain King had endured a colossal amount of power without bodily collapse, far beyond the other holy beasts.
Thanks to this, Mount Wudang's king, now vastly empowered, was exceeding expectations in his role.
The problem was that the Wudang Sect side had one monster of their own.