Chapter 187: Mount Hua (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 187: Mount Hua (1)
A thick scent of plum blossoms drifted through the air, a fragrant thread weaving between the biting cold and scorching heat that warred across the plains.
Petals materialized from internal energy while sharp shards of Demonic Qi danced in a chaotic frenzy.
"Alright! I've broken through! Junior Brothers!"
Yeong-il dazzled the Demonic Practitioners with a flurry of movements like scattering petals, then sliced through the necks of three cultists whose attention had been stolen by the flashy technique.
At Yeong-il's rallying cry, the second-generation disciples wielding their swords nearby responded in unison.
The scent of plum blossoms bloomed from all directions as a storm of sword shadows whipped through the air. Amidst the countless variations of their techniques, one could glimpse the fierce spirit of the Mount Hua Sect disciples—a spirit as rugged and sharp as the peaks of Mount Hua itself.
Overwhelmed by this momentum, the Demonic Practitioners could only retreat in desperation, trying to extricate themselves from the fray.
On this battlefield where the two forces clashed, the Mount Hua Sect had clearly seized the upper hand. This was because the supreme experts of the Demonic Cult, who by all rights should have appeared long ago, were nowhere to be seen.
With the pressure lifted, the first-generation disciples found breathing room, allowing the Mount Hua Sect to press its advantage.
"Primordial Heavenly Venerable!"
Executing an Earth-Trembling Stomp, Daoist Master Sun-hyeon unleashed the Plum Blossom Sword Formula, and ethereal plum blossoms bloomed along his blade's path. The flowers conjured by his sword were as lethal as they were breathtakingly beautiful.
The Bright Order Ranks paid a bloody price to stall him with their joint attacks, their bodies quickly becoming drenched in gore.
After plunging his Plum Blossom Sword into the heart of a Bright Order Rank blocking his path, Daoist Master Sun-hyeon swept his gaze across the wider battlefield.
‘Where are the Second Young Master, the Fifth Mirror Master, and the Tenth Mirror Master?’
Although the Mount Hua Sect held the upper hand, Sun-hyeon could not bring himself to celebrate. With three of the enemy's supreme experts absent, a deep sense of unease weighed on him instead.
‘Could they have gone to Mount Hua?’
His sleeves fluttered as he shook his head. The distance from here to Mount Hua was considerable. Moreover, while the Mount Hua Sect had sent most of its disciples down the mountain, the Sect Master himself remained behind to guard their home. No matter how close the Second Young Master's martial prowess was to the Five Qis Converging at the Origin, surely he would not make such a reckless move.
Letting out a low groan, Sun-hyeon flicked his Plum Blossom Sword to clear the blood. His gaze locked onto the Eighth Mirror Master, who was directing the forces from deep within the Demonic Practitioners' camp.
It was then.
"Now is the time! Counterattack!"
The Eighth Mirror Master, who had been forced onto the defensive, suddenly barked an order to attack.
Sun-hyeon instantly realized why. He sensed numerous presences rapidly closing in from the southwest. The waves of energy surging from them were immense, signaling that this was no ordinary reinforcement.
"An ambush..."
The Death-Carving Guard and the Northern Pillar Guard were rushing to strike the Mount Hua Sect's flank. Naturally, this included their two leaders, both of whom were supreme experts.
Just as Sun-hyeon was about to order the first-generation disciples to intercept the two martial units of the Nine Cult-Protecting Guards, a voice transmission echoed in his mind.
—Daoist Master Sun-hyeon, keep pressing forward. I will handle the Nine Cult-Protecting Guards.
The sudden, grave voice, which resonated with quiet power, made Sun-hyeon's beard twitch. The owner was undoubtedly Namgung Jun.
‘This is a welcome relief, but...’
He was well aware of Namgung Jun's formidable martial prowess; the young man was expected to achieve the Five Qis Converging at the Origin within the year. Sun-hyeon was confident that Namgung Jun could hold his own against the two guard leaders simultaneously. But how could he possibly deal with the rest of the elite forces charging alongside those two supreme experts? If two elite units executing a joint attack formation supported two supreme experts, they could pose a threat even to a peerless expert.
Sun-hyeon tried to send a reply, but he couldn't pinpoint Namgung Jun's location. The voice transmission had been sent from an immense distance.
As Sun-hyeon's eyes wavered with concern, a sudden mist rose from the direction of the advancing Nine Cult-Protecting Guards. A faint, shimmering mist surged forward in a straight line, rapidly enveloping the two enemy units.
* * *
"The Eighth Mirror Master lured them in perfectly. It was worth sacrificing our cultists for the past four days. Those Mount Hua bastards are so cautious; it was a nightmare trying to draw them out."
"Don't let your guard down. The Mount Hua Sect is no pushover. We must sever their windpipes this time."
Exchanging words, the two guard leaders rapidly closed the distance using their lightness skills. Behind them, the Demonic Practitioners of the Death-Carving Guard and the Northern Pillar Guard followed in tight formation.
The Mount Hua Sect had overextended its formation to pressure the Eighth Mirror Master. If they struck the flank now, the sect would suffer devastating casualties. With the Second Young Master away, this was their chance to claim a massive achievement.
As loyal supporters of the Second Young Master, the two guard leaders pushed themselves to move even faster, anticipating the praise and rewards they would receive upon his return.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a long trail of azure mist stretched out from the distance. By the time the two guard leaders noticed it, a man had already materialized directly in front of them.
With effortless grace, the man tilted his arm and swung his sword.
As his vision flashed with a burst of azure, the Death-Carving Guard Leader spun his body in a desperate reaction.
"Hup!"
Boom!
The Death-Carving Guard Leader barely managed to block the azure strike aimed at cleaving his upper body in two. His feet left the ground as he was thrown backward, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood before the agonizing scream of his fracturing arm bones even registered. He had clearly blocked the sword, yet the impact felt as though a massive boulder had smashed into his entire body.
His brain rattled, the Death-Carving Guard Leader staggered, a dazed expression on his face, before collapsing to the ground.
"Who goes there?!"
Rather than checking on his fallen comrade, the Northern Pillar Guard Leader immediately lunged at the intruder's exposed back. His sword finger glowing a blood-red hue, he thrust toward the back of the man's head—only for a palm wrapped in azure lightning to suddenly block his path.
Crash!
With a mere palm strike, a deafening thunderclap erupted, blasting the Northern Pillar Guard Leader backward.
"How is this possible?!"
"Both leaders are down!"
The exchange had occurred in the blink of an eye. Horrified to see their leaders so easily cast aside, the Demonic Practitioners nonetheless remembered their duty.
Thud! Thud!
The Death-Carving Guard and the Northern Pillar Guard instantly deployed their joint attack formations. Securing their leaders' safety, they warily surrounded the sudden intruder.
Even when flanked by two elite martial units, Namgung Jun remained perfectly composed.
‘The Heavenly Thunder Palm Technique is truly remarkable.’
Even he was slightly surprised by the sheer destructive force of the technique he had just unleashed. The quality of his internal energy had reached a new dimension thanks to the Emperor Heavenly Thunder Divine Art, and the physical transformation from Shedding the Mortal Body and Exchanging Bones had also played a massive role.
‘And my sword strikes are on another level entirely.’
Namgung Jun recalled the strike he had unleashed against the Death-Carving Guard Leader. Even though he had executed it as a Swift Sword rather than a Heavy Sword, the result was devastating. The sheer level of Sword Force infused into his blade had fundamentally changed.
Meanwhile, the two guard leaders stepped to the front of their joint attack formations, their expressions grim. They had regained their composure in a split second, eliminating any openings and proving themselves worthy of leading the Nine Cult-Protecting Guards.
"You don't quite match your wanted poster, but you must be the Azure Firmament Hall Master."
"But the Azure Star Sword was supposed to be in the Second Young Master's hands..."
Their concern for the Second Young Master's safety was short-lived. As the two guard leaders tried to gauge Namgung Jun's aura, they felt a chilling sense of incongruity.
It was virtually impossible to measure the depth of his power.
—Hey. Did you feel that?
—He's a peerless expert. Has he achieved enlightenment?!
The two guard leaders rapidly exchanged voice transmissions. They kept it quiet, knowing that revealing Namgung Jun was a peerless expert would instantly shatter their subordinates' morale.
No more words were needed.
If they turned and fled now, they would undoubtedly be hunted down and annihilated. The price of showing one's back to a peerless expert was never cheap. Since death was likely either way, it was far better to face him head-on.
Two supreme experts and two elite units operating in perfect joint attack formations. They weren't entirely without a chance. If luck was on their side, they might at least take one of his arms. Furthermore, if Namgung Jun had only recently achieved the Five Qis Converging at the Origin, their odds were even better.
"Death-Carving Guard, charge!"
"Northern Pillar Guard, support them from behind!"
At their command, the combined energy of the joint attack formations erupted from both of Namgung Jun's sides.
Rumble!
A colossal pressure bore down on him from both flanks. The synchronized energy of the two units pressed down on Namgung Jun with crushing force. Though the ground beneath his feet cracked and cratered, his posture remained perfectly upright.
His shoulders, broader now after undergoing Shedding the Mortal Body and Exchanging Bones, did not budge an inch under the crushing weight of the overlapping Qi Waves.
Seeing him stand as unyielding as a pillar supporting the heavens, the two guard leaders grit their teeth and lunged. The leaders spearheaded the charge, dispersing the energy radiating from Namgung Jun, while their subordinates followed closely behind to reinforce them.
In an instant, dozens of strikes rained down, completely surrounding him. Despite two different units attacking simultaneously, their movements synchronized flawlessly, leaving absolutely no openings.
Clang!
Following the elegant arc of Namgung Jun's sword, a massive shockwave erupted, blasting the Demonic Practitioners back. With a subtle shift of his shoulders, the profound principles of the Heaven-Pillar Resolute Advance Movement Art manifested, effortlessly repelling the encroaching Demonic Qi.
Thud!
As Namgung Jun executed an Earth-Trembling Stomp, the oppressive energy of the two joint attack formations constricting him suddenly faltered.
Sensing this, the faces of the two guard leaders turned pale.
He hadn't simply overpowered their formation with brute force. He had read the flow of their formation and forcibly jammed the shockwave of his stomp directly into its weakest point.
It was as if he were dismantling a martial technique itself.
Yet, the Death-Carving Guard and the Northern Pillar Guard were not so easily defeated. Instantly adapting, they rewove their disrupted energy back into a seamless, even more formidable barrier.
Watching them, Namgung Jun nodded in approval.
"I suppose I can use you to adjust."
"What?"
"I am still getting used to this body."
Namgung Jun slowly raised the Eternal Righteous Sword.
Rumble!
Instantly, thick bolts of azure lightning erupted from his entire body. The crackling Thunder Qi of the Emperor Heavenly Thunder Divine Art writhed like a coiling dragon, completely engulfing their joint attack formations.
* * *
"I heard the Mount Hua Sect won a massive victory!"
"It's true! Plenty of people saw the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult retreating with their tails between their legs."
"But wasn't Mount Hua on the defensive? Even the Jongnam Sect sealed their gates."
The middle-aged man who had gathered a crowd in the inn smirked, as if he had been waiting for exactly this question.
"A peerless expert appeared on the battlefield."
"Ah, of course. The Mount Hua Sword Saint must have made his move."
"No, it wasn't him."
"Then who?"
The middle-aged man held out his empty cup. The eager listeners quickly filled it to the brim. Wetting his throat, he grinned and continued.
"The Azure Star Sword of the Azure Heaven Association. Surely you've all heard of him. Word is, he has ascended to the realm of a peerless expert."
"What? Didn't he just become a supreme expert about a year ago? That sounds like a wild rumor."
"No, it's true. The Azure Star Sword single-handedly crushed two elite units of the Nine Cult-Protecting Guards. And as if that wasn't enough, he still had the strength to slay the Eighth Mirror Master. He has undoubtedly broken through his previous limits."
As everyone in the inn hung on the man's words, the lips of an old man drinking alone in the corner curled upward.
"A new peerless expert, you say?"
Though spoken in a mere murmur, his voice carried so clearly that everyone in the tavern turned to look at him. It was a quiet voice, yet it resonated perfectly in everyone's ears. He hadn't even infused it with internal energy, but the sheer presence behind his words was unmistakable.
"Tell me, is it certain that the Azure Star Sword has become a peerless expert?"
Breaking out in a cold sweat, the middle-aged man answered hesitantly, "Well, we can only deduce it from how things played out. None of us actually saw the Azure Star Sword achieve the Five Qis Converging at the Origin with our own eyes."
"Hmm. That makes sense. No matter how close one is to the boundary between the Three Flowers Gather at the Crown and the Five Qis Converging at the Origin, handling that much force alone is nigh impossible."
As the old man set down his cup and stared intently at him, the middle-aged man quickly offered more information.
"I heard the Azure Star Sword is currently heading to Mount Hua alongside the Mount Hua Sect disciples."
"Mount Hua, is it..."
The old man picked up the worn sword resting against the table.
"The plum blossoms must be in full bloom by now."
The moment the old man stepped out of the inn, his figure vanished into thin air.