Chapter 1859 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1859. From here on, I’ll be the one to face you. (4) ❀ ❀ ❀

A powerful surge of energy crashed into Baek Cheon’s body.

‘Strong!’

Were they deliberately placing strong fighters to guard the hostages? The thought flashed through his mind. But Baek Cheon soon gave a bitter smile.

‘No way—it’s just that I’ve gotten weaker.’

Strength is a relative concept. Though he may have weakened, not long ago, he wouldn’t have considered someone of this level to be ‘strong’. His eye for judging opponents hadn’t changed.

But now, even his judgment was aligning with his damaged body.

So the thing Baek Cheon had to overcome wasn’t merely his weakened physique. One by one, things that he wouldn’t have even considered threatening before now struck him with overwhelming fear.

‘But so what! What does it matter!’

He clenched his teeth. He forced strength into a hand that refused to obey.

There was only one way to avoid being consumed by fear: to face it head-on, as it is.

Instead of retreating, Baek Cheon took another step forward.

“Taaahh!”

Without the slightest hesitation, he charged at the enemy.

Behind him, Baek Sang screamed in panic. It was a shout telling him to stop, that he would handle it instead.

But Baek Cheon had no intention of letting Baek Sang take the vanguard.

For one simple reason:

‘Sang can’t handle this alone.’

Though weakened, Baek Cheon hadn’t lost his ability to assess the situation calmly. If he didn’t play his part now, the entire operation would fail.

Baek Cheon suddenly found himself confused. Was what he was feeling a sense of crisis—or was it relief, knowing that there was still something he could do?

Clang!

Baek Cheon’s sword clashed with the enemy’s blade—and was pushed back with ease. He hadn’t even put much force into the strike; it was just a desperate, hurried swing. Yet even that meager strength was now too much for Baek Cheon to manage.

“What the hell is this useless bastard?”

A brief expression of triumph flickered across the faces of the tense Evil Tyrant Alliance warriors. They believed they had seen through Baek Cheon’s limits after just one exchange. All hesitation vanished. An Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior swung his blade as if to cleave Baek Cheon in two.

Swish.

Just then, Baek Cheon’s sword path suddenly veered off at an angle.

Clack!

The edges of the sword and blade met. As Baek Cheon’s sword spun in a circular motion, the descending blade’s trajectory was suddenly and sharply diverted to the side.

Thunk!

Baek Cheon’s sword lightly tapped the back of the opponent’s blade.

Just a slight bit of force—but it was enough. The perfectly controlled strike betrayed the wielder’s will the moment that minor interference was added.

“Huh?!”

The startled Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior widened his eyes. He realized something had gone wrong—but it was too late to retrieve a blade that had been swung with full strength.

Baek Cheon didn’t miss the opening. He thrust his sword like lightning, aiming straight for the enemy’s neck.

Crunch.

Not the Plum Blossom Sword of Mount Hua, nor the Pine Gate Ancient Sword of Wudang—but an unknown sword technique. A sword that now perfectly symbolized the current Baek Cheon pierced through the Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior’s neck with unerring precision.

“Gghrrk…”

As the cold blade sank into his neck, the Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior groaned in agony and rolled his eyes back. His face twisted more in shock than resentment. Even in his final moment, he couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

“You bastard!”

Another Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior who had witnessed it from the side swung his blade in rage.

Baek Cheon hurriedly retrieved his sword to block the strike. But it wasn’t enough. His broken body didn’t have the strength to withstand such force.

Kwaang!

Crack!

Baek Cheon’s body twisted like a tautly pulled bow. A sickening sound, as if something inside him had shattered, echoed from within.

But instead of collapsing, Baek Cheon gritted his teeth and swung his sword with sheer determination. Not even properly infused with internal energy, the strike barely did more than irritate the opponent.

In the past, Baek Cheon wouldn’t have even tried such a meaningless, desperate move. But now, he wasn’t alone—he had someone to give that desperation meaning.

“Aaaahh!”

Baek Sang flew in like lightning and thrust his sword forward in an instant. The Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior, whose stance had broken while dodging Baek Cheon’s sword, couldn’t possibly avoid it.

“Guh!”

The Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior gasped and hurriedly brought up his blade with all his strength, using its broad surface to block Baek Sang’s sword. But Baek Cheon didn’t just stand by. His sword reversed direction and dug toward the Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior’s chest.

Watching swords fly toward him from both sides, the Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior cursed in despair. In that moment, Baek Cheon’s sword mercilessly tore through his heart.

Paaaaat!

Blood spurted violently from the deep gash.

Thud!

At that moment, Baek Cheon stepped forward and slammed into the collapsing Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior with his shoulder. Instead of crumpling to the ground, the lifeless body was flung backward. As a result, the other Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior who were rushing in stumbled, missing the perfect timing to strike.

And Baek Sang didn’t let the opening go to waste.

“Haaaah!”

Clangclangclang!

The Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique unfolded at lightning speed. Dozens of plum blossom sword auras instantly filled the dark cave.

“Ack!”

Even in a wide open field, the Plum Blossom Sword of Mount Hua was hard to evade. Facing it in the cramped confines of a cave, with limited space to move—there was no need to explain what happened next.

Clangclangclang!

The plum blossom sword energy swept through the enemies in a flash.

Agonized screams echoed through the cave. When the dazzling flurry of blossoms vanished, three freshly fallen corpses remained.

“Sahyung! Are you alright?”

“Cough.”

“Damn it, you’re bleeding! Why do you push yourself so hard!”

Baek Sang cried out in frustration. Baek Cheon casually wiped the blood dripping from his mouth with his sleeve. His ribs were broken—it was hard to breathe. But considering that they had taken care of those enemies in one go, it was a cheap price to pay.

“No need… to make a fuss. It’s not over yet. Let’s move.”

“…I should just stop talking.”

The look Baek Sang gave Baek Cheon was filled with open dismay. He’d always been like this, but now it was even worse—as if he believed he had thirty lives to spare.

‘But…’

Baek Sang felt something odd. A faint sense of doubt crossed his mind as he looked at Baek Cheon.

Of course, he couldn’t be sure. He didn’t have the skill to properly assess Baek Cheon’s martial ability, but…

‘Strangely… no matter how I look at it, he seems stronger.’

He knew it didn’t make sense. Obviously, Baek Cheon’s skills had declined compared to the past.

But how should he put it?

If the Baek Cheon of old had a body this broken, there were things he simply could not have done. And yet, the current Baek Cheon was doing them—as if it were nothing.

Martial arts consist of skill, internal energy, and the physical body. His internal energy and body had deteriorated, yet his ‘skill’ seemed to have reached an almost uncanny level.

‘Damn it.’

As the thought settled in, Baek Sang cursed to himself in sorrow. If only Baek Cheon had reached this level without being injured—what then?

‘Not just Young Lord Namgung , but even that monk Hye Yeon… he could probably go toe to toe with them.’

No—maybe even more than that.

Baek Sang knew full well that these thoughts were meaningless regrets. Baek Cheon would never regain the body he once had.

“What are you doing?”

“C-Coming.”

Baek Cheon took off ahead of Baek Sang. Baek Sang bit his lip as he watched his back.

It was strange. He should be the stronger one now, and yet, it felt so natural for Baek Cheon to be leading the way.

Just moments ago, Baek Sang would have shouted in alarm at the danger. But this time, he stayed silent. He didn’t want to admit it, but the thought crossed his mind—this might be the last time he saw Baek Cheon’s back.

Like a candle flaring brightest before it dies, Baek Cheon dashed fiercely through the narrow passage and burst into a wide-open space on the other side.

“Who—”

Thud!

Before the Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior could even finish standing up, Baek Cheon’s sword had already pierced through his chest. Taken by complete surprise, the man fell without even screaming.

“Y-You bastards!”

The remaining Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior scrambled to their feet.

To the current Baek Cheon, this was an overwhelmingly dangerous scene. But his eyes weren’t on them.

Baek Cheon’s gaze was fixed on a single point.

At the back of the fairly large space, there was another narrow opening—partially blocked with a messy barricade of wooden debris.

And through that gap, he could clearly see them—pale faces, still not fully grown.

Squeeze.

Baek Cheon's grip on his sword tightened. Though his lips were stained with blood, a bright and serene smile bloomed across his face.

“I made it. They were here.”

But that expression, to others, would’ve looked downright eerie—and the Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior facing him flinched instinctively.

“You bastards… You came to die? Do you even know where you are?”

“A place to die, huh…”

Baek Cheon repeated the words.

To them, it was just something they blurted out without much thought. But to Baek Cheon, those words struck a nerve. He couldn’t just let them pass.

He, too, had questioned himself—whether, deep down, he had been desperately searching for a place to end his life.

Whether simply enduring each day without being able to do anything meaningful had come to feel like a punishment in itself. Whether, rather than dragging it out, he subconsciously believed it was better to try something—anything—even if it ended him.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

But no. That wasn’t it.

“I’m going to survive, to the very end, like a damn leech. Even if I have nothing left—just surviving is reason enough.”

“What the hell are you rambling about!”

Of course, to the Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior, it sounded like complete nonsense. Baek Cheon let out a dry chuckle and raised his sword.

Whooom.

A different kind of sword aura surged from the tip of his blade. This wasn’t simply willpower manifesting—it was something else entirely. His cracked dantian could no longer hold internal energy; it was leaking rapidly.

He could feel it. He’d said he was at his limit before, but now… now it was real. If he used his sword technique here, his dantian would shatter completely—and he’d lose even the bare minimum ability to use martial arts.

Kwang!

At that moment, Baek Cheon kicked off the ground and charged straight at the Evil Tyrant Alliance warrior.

‘If I have to burn it all—then let it be here. Let it be now.’

Paaaaat.

Baek Cheon's sword swept through the air.

It wasn’t a clean or refined movement. It trembled—unstable, as if something might snap at any moment.

And yet, within that trembling, plum blossoms bloomed.

Distorted and smeared, far from clear—but no one could deny it. No matter the form or color, this was Mount Hua’s plum blossom.

As red as his will, the blossoms flared brilliantly and rained down upon the unprepared enemies.

‘Ah….!’

Baek Cheon momentarily forgot himself, staring blankly at the scene.

Once, it had been so familiar. But ever since his injury, that sight had grown impossibly distant. And now, for just a moment—his sword had brought it back.

Just as overwhelming emotion threatened to swallow him whole—

Crack.

A faint but intensely sharp sound rang out from within his body.

Crack!

And then—

A shattering sound, like porcelain breaking all at once, exploded in Baek Cheon’s mind like thunder.

Next Chapter

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