Plum Blossoms Blooming in Blood
The clear chime of the blood bell rang louder than before.
With each ring, my meridians twisted and my organs felt as though they were being wrung inside out.
The forest itself seemed to stir, and then the Mount Hua disciples poured out from between the trees all at once. Their numbers were staggering.
One of the hesitant Plum Blossom Sword Guards finally drew blood.
A furious shout tore from the lips of the man whose wrist had been cut.
“The demonic arts have made them stronger than ordinary disciples. If we show mercy, we’ll be the ones who die first.”
That was the terrifying truth of the demonic arts—they allowed one to surpass human limits with ease. It was also the reason I had become far more ruthless and cruel than before.
I severed the head of a Mount Hua disciple who lunged at me.
The chaos only deepened.
“What in the world is happening…!”
More disciples rushed into the Purple Mist Palace—both the original Mount Hua disciples and others. They stood frozen at the sight of such carnage, unsure what to do.
“Everyone, fall back!”
Byeok-ryu shouted urgently.
The disciples who had not yet been corrupted by the demonic arts immediately obeyed and retreated. The ones who had already turned into madmen ignored the order and charged forward indiscriminately.
“Must we truly cut them down?”
I let out a quiet sigh at his words.
“There is a way to restore them.”
“There is? What is it?”
“The Medicine Immortal is here.”
The Medicine Immortal was the natural enemy of Sa-an Gwi-gun. Any mental domination or suggestion caused by the demonic arts became useless before his medicines.
“But restoring them will take a great deal of time. And… some may never return to normal.”
If one had not yet been affected, it was simple. But once the corruption had taken hold, the difficulty multiplied many times over. In severe cases, they could die before the process was complete.
I knew this all too well from my previous life.
“Damn it…”
“Perhaps cutting them down would be kinder in the end.”
Those who practiced the orthodox arts of the Jeong Jong Clan suffered a horrific fate when exposed to demonic energy. The two opposing forces would clash until they devoured each other, shattering every blood vessel in the body and forcing the victim to endure unimaginable pain until the very end.
In that sense, my own condition was truly abnormal.
“In the end…”
Byeok-ryu’s deliberation was brief. He was the only one who could issue orders here. If he hesitated, every remaining uncorrupted disciple could die.
Whether Mount Hua would fall entirely or whether some would be sacrificed so that the plum blossoms could bloom again rested solely in his hands.
“We all made our resolve from the beginning,” Byeok-ryu roared.
“We swore to cut down the sect leader who betrayed Mount Hua and the elders who followed him, to restore order to our sect.”
“……”
“The disciples are no different. Even if they were lured without knowing, they have raised their swords against us and sought to take our lives.”
Byeok-ryu took a single step forward, and the surrounding air burst apart. At the same time, a flash of violet sword qi cleaved one of the charging disciples in two, sending the halves crashing to the ground.
“……!”
“……!”
Every gaze turned toward him.
“Draw your swords. They… are our enemies!”
Enemies. Our senior brother had declared it. The man who had always looked after and cherished us more than anyone else now stood drenched in blood and proclaimed it.
“Cut them down! The enemies stand before you!”
The Plum Blossom Sword Guards surged forward as one. With each step the earth trembled, and with each swing of their blades heaven and earth seemed to split apart. The true power of Mount Hua’s finest techniques was finally being unleashed.
Plum blossoms bloomed in every direction, their fragrance carried on the wind as petals danced through the air. Sword intent and sword qi filled the battlefield.
At the very edge of a rotting Mount Hua, the plum blossoms were blooming once more.
* * *
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
A man clicked his tongue. Before him, Musang Jin-in lay prostrate on the ground.
“Fool. I warned you that acting too hastily could ruin everything.”
“Th-that… there was no other choice…”
Surprisingly, Musang Jin-in was clearly terrified of the man before him.
Jet-black hair with crimson tips that swayed gently. A cold, unreadable expression that revealed nothing of his thoughts. Muhyeong-amje, the fourth of the Twelve Demon Emperors, had appeared in Mount Hua.
He was the master of the Mahwang Squad and one of the Twelve Demon Emperors.
“We hid for so long, and because of you, it is all over.”
Muhyeong-amje slowly raised his hand. An invisible force seized Musang Jin-in by the throat. It was a higher form of the void-grasping technique.
“Ghk…! Kgh…!”
Musang Jin-in’s face turned a deep crimson as he struggled for breath. Muhyeong-amje paid no heed and clenched his fist.
Crack!
Musang Jin-in’s neck snapped at an unnatural angle.
“Hmm.”
Muhyeong-amje nudged the corpse with his foot, then walked out of the grand hall. The other elders present all bowed their heads—they too were members of the Mahwang Squad under his command.
“The Ju brat again?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Hmm.”
Muhyeong-amje pondered for a moment before nodding.
“A test should be fine.”
Normally, he despised revealing himself. But this time, curiosity had won out. Four of the Twelve Demon Emperors had already lost contact while targeting the Ju Family’s territory in Gangseo, and each time, that young Ju brat had been present. Could it truly be coincidence?
“As expected… that brat was unpleasant from the very first time I saw him. Strong.”
Muhyeong-amje had recognized Woo-jin at a glance. He had been watching him the first time Woo-jin set foot on Mount Hua’s grounds.
He slowly reached behind him and drew a long, whip-like sword that could freely extend and contract. Cloaked in flowing darkness, he launched himself forward.
In that instant, black currents erupted from his entire body, enveloping him completely. He merged with the shadows, his form scattering in every direction until even his trajectory became impossible to trace.
Then—
Flash!
A strange sensation washed over me. The feeling of being watched.
‘It’s the same presence I felt at the training hall.’
A chill ran down my spine. Tension flooded my body, and my inner energy surged backward, twisting my insides.
At that moment—
Slash!
A crimson line of blood appeared in the air. My vision flashed red. By the narrowest of margins, pure instinct had allowed me to evade whatever had struck.
“Impressive.”
A man’s voice echoed from every direction at once. The instant I heard it, I knew.
‘Muhyeong-amje.’
It was him—the fourth of the Twelve Demon Emperors. A madman obsessed with slaughter whose raw power ranked among the very highest.
‘So he was here all along.’
Now I understood who the Mahwang Squad truly belonged to. Muhyeong-amje had raised them and used them to target Mount Hua.
“Come out.”
I drew my sword and shouted. The Jeokryongdae members immediately moved to surround me, but I ordered them back.
“Help the Plum Blossom Sword Guards encircle the Purple Mist Palace. Leave this to me.”
“But, young master…!”
“Go, now.”
Numbers meant nothing against Muhyeong-amje. They would only become easy prey.
‘Damn it.’
The situation was dire. Against Muhyeong-amje, there was no way out of here alive.
Darkness swallowed my surroundings. Up and down, front and back—everything became indistinguishable. I had been caught in Muhyeong-amje’s signature art, the Dark Annihilation Heaven Art.
Then—
Crackle!
Something strange appeared before my eyes.
‘……Huh?’
Currents. Dense, pitch-black currents. And crimson glows. The mark of a demonic practitioner, visible only to me. It revealed Muhyeong-amje’s position even as he executed his ultimate stealth technique.
‘What the—? That brat.’
Muhyeong-amje felt a surge of displeasure. Woo-jin’s gaze was locked onto him, and it did not feel like coincidence. He shifted position, yet Woo-jin’s eyes followed him unerringly.
‘Impossible.’
His stealth art was so profound that even fellow Demon Emperors would struggle to detect him. It should have been impossible for some young brat to pierce it.
‘It must be coincidence.’
Muhyeong-amje thought this and thrust his sword forward. The strike left no sound, no afterimage—pure formlessness. A sword technique so refined that the target would only realize they had been struck after the blade had already passed through them.
Slash!
I instinctively twisted my head aside. When I looked down at my shoulder, however, a sword had already pierced clean through it. I had dodged, but the speed had been instantaneous. There had been no time to prepare.
“Of all times…”
The timing was terrible. In my previous life, I had needed to create an entirely new technique just to deal with him. Though the theory, concepts, and insights were all in my head, I could not manifest them right now. I had never imagined Muhyeong-amje would be here, and that complacency had become my mistake.
“What are you, brat?”
Muhyeong-amje’s chilling voice reached me from every direction, carried by an advanced sound transmission technique.
“How did you dodge that?”
Even the other Demon Emperors would have struggled to evade it. Yet Woo-jin had done so cleanly. The fact that his shoulder had been wounded instead of his throat proved it.
“……Come out and fight. Or are you too scared?”
“Haha, you’ve got a sharp tongue. Unfortunately, you’re no match for me.”
Muhyeong-amje sneered. Anger flared within me, but his words were true. I was not yet his equal. More importantly, our attributes were fundamentally incompatible.
“I won’t die easily.”
Muhyeong-amje burst into open laughter at my words.
“Hahaha! True. I won’t kill you easily. Why would I?”
Then his tone turned vicious.
“I’ll capture you alive, tear you limb from limb, and feed your remains to stray dogs.”
The killing intent laced into his voice was extraordinary. Even the pressure alone made my inner energy churn.
I slowly adjusted my stance. I had no idea when or how he would strike next.
“When I think of the plans you’ve ruined…”
Suddenly, Muhyeong-amje’s presence began to recede. He was withdrawing.
“A dangerous one is coming, so I’ll stop here.”
The moment his voice vanished, his presence disappeared as though it had never existed. The darkness surrounding me dissipated, and something surged toward me.
Whoosh!
A dazzling display of violet sword qi. Like a storm of blooming plum blossoms, it swept toward me, leaving behind a rich fragrance of plum flowers.
“Are you all right?”
I turned toward the voice and saw Byeok Gong standing unsteadily beside an elderly man.
“Ah.”
I recognized him at once and bowed deeply.
“I greet the First Sword of Mount Hua.”
“Formalities later. Briefly explain the situation.”
Mugeuk Jin-in, the First Sword of Mount Hua. A supreme swordsman who had once rivaled the Sword Venerable, and the strongest expert within Mount Hua. He was famous for wandering the world rather than remaining at the sect, but upon hearing of Mount Hua’s crisis, he had rushed back at once.
“Byeok-ryu Dojang and his fellow disciples have entered the Purple Mist Palace.”
“Byeok-ryu? All the Plum Blossom Sword Guards?”
“Yes. It appears the sect leader and some of the elders… were agents of the Demonic Cult.”
“Hah.”
He looked as though he might deny it, but one glance at the surroundings confirmed the truth. Corrupted disciples and uncorrupted ones were locked in battle all around us.
Crackle!
Mugeuk gathered his energy. Violet qi split and split again at his fingertips. When he swept his sword downward, what formed at the tip was no ordinary sword qi—it was sword gang.
“Fall back.”
At his command, the disciples retreated in shock, creating distance. Mugeuk took one step forward, and the winds in every direction ceased. Then he unleashed a single strike.
‘Plum Blossoms Filling the Heavens.’
The final form of the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Techniques. Plum blossoms bloomed in every direction, and the corrupted disciples began to fall. He had struck only those overtaken by the demonic arts.
With a single sword.
The sheer transcendence of it made me swallow dryly. Mugeuk glanced once in my direction before striding into the Purple Mist Palace.
“Is this fortunate?”
With Mugeuk here, did that mean Mount Hua was saved? I could not be certain. In my previous life, Mugeuk, the First Sword of Mount Hua, had already vanished before the battle with the Demonic Cult even began. Missing, with no one knowing whether he lived or died. Even when Byeok Gong had buried the bodies of his fellow disciples and masters, Mugeuk had never appeared.
That could only mean one thing.
‘The future has changed again.’
The future was shifting once more.
I drew my sword with a hardened expression and walked toward the Purple Mist Palace.