Chapter 1870 – Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1870. Dying Would Be Easier. (5) ❀ ❀ ❀

Slash!

The claw of the monstrous being scraped along Jo Geol’s side. The wound cut so deep that his white bones were visible, and the torn flesh quickly turned black.

A suppressed groan escaped Jo Geol’s lips.

It was a serious injury, but he had no time to deal with it. No, in fact, wounds like that were already engraved all over his body. Drenched in both his own blood and that of others, he swung his sword as if walking a tightrope over a cliff.

“Keurgh!”

His breathing was so ragged it felt like he might collapse at any moment. Jo Geol, who always tried to lighten grim situations with jokes, couldn’t bring himself to crack even the smallest quip now.

Once again, he swung his sword forcefully to shake off the monsters clinging to him.

‘Not… anymore…’

He didn’t want to whimper. But it was too obvious now. At this rate, he wouldn’t survive past the next exchange. If he fell here, Mount Hua and the Alliance would eventually collapse with no way to fill the gap he left behind.

‘No.’

Even one more exchange, just hold out a little longer, even one moment more…...

Then, something strange entered Jo Geol’s vision.

‘What is that?’

The demon cultivators, who had been watching him like prey with not a hint of emotion, suddenly looked bewildered. What’s more, they weren’t looking at him anymore.

And then, a loud voice struck Jo Geol’s ears, clear as a bell.

“MOUNT HUAAAAAA!!”

Jo Geol gasped, startled beyond thought. This voice must be…......?

His head whipped around. Even if it meant exposing his back to a fatal strike, he couldn’t help it.

“Huh…?”

Jo Geol’s eyes widened like lanterns. From a distance, someone was rushing toward him, leading an unknown group—and the figure was all too familiar.

“S-Sasuk…?”

Baek Cheon. The Baek Cheon he remembered….. To be exact, the Baek Cheon before he had been injured.

‘....What the hell? Am I dreaming?’

His mouth hung open in pure shock.

At that same moment, Yoon Jong, who had also been staring blankly in Baek Cheon’s direction, suddenly turned to Jo Geol. Their eyes met. Yoon Jong’s gaze, too, seemed uncertain if what he saw was real.

“Hey, did I really.… just see that?”

“No way.”

“Right? That doesn’t make any sense, right?”

“It doesn’t. It shouldn’t. But… it is…”

Then who else could it be if not Baek Cheon? A sudden thought struck Jo Geol, and he shouted urgently.

“That bastard! It’s Thousand Faced Manipulator! Isn’t it that Thousand Faced Manipulator bastard?!”

“…..And what does that sword look like to you?”

“Huh? Well, that’s.…”

Plum Blossom. No doubt. It is a Plum blossom. Hahaha… Then that is Sasuk…

“No. Why the hell would he show up here all of a sudden?”

“You think I know?”

Their bewildered eyes locked on the approaching Baek Cheon.

❀ ❀ ❀

“Oooooohhhh!!”

Meanwhile, the faces of the Red Dogs twisted into monstrous fury.

“….You little brat.”

Someone had appeared from the rear and was charging at them. But if they were the kind to panic from something like this, the Red Dogs wouldn’t have been so notorious.

In truth, their dominant feeling wasn’t fear, it was irritation. It stemmed from the unpleasant thought and annoyance that the time to reach their master would be delayed more than expected.

And Red Dogs, who was very honest about these emotions, didn’t hold back their rage.

“Kill him!”

“Tear him to shreds!”

A storm of bloodlust exploded from them. Some, too impatient to wait for Baek Cheon to reach them, charged forward.

Paaang!

Several Red Dogs warriors infused their weapons with energy and rushed toward Baek Cheon, screaming and cursing.

“Kaaah!”

A Red Dogs swung his sword with the force to cleave Baek Cheon in two, as he charged in, radiating a blinding brilliance.

Paaat!

Baek Cheon’s extended sword trembled faintly.

Frrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

A sound like the wings of thousands of bees filled the air as the trembling of the sword grew more intense. Then, hundreds, even thousands of plum blossoms bloomed instantly in front of him.

‘What?’

The Red Dogs warrior’s eyes went wide with disbelief. He couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.

But the blossoms gave him no time to marvel. They swelled all at once and swallowed him whole.

“What the—”

Everyone watching was struck speechless with shock.

Paaaat!

The plum blossoms exploded outward, turning into a torrent of countless petals that swept through the space like a storm.

“Kuaaaaagh!”

The screams of the Red Dogs, overwhelmed by the slicing petals, were horrible—inhuman. Baek Cheon broke through them like a flash of lightning, leaping without hesitation into the heart of their ranks.

“Y-You bastard!”

One of the Red Dogs, startled, swung his blade furiously. Baek Cheon’s sword traced a graceful arc through the air.

Slice!

The blade, which had been swung as if it would split a mountain, drew a strange trajectory the moment it met Baek Cheon’s sword and struck a place far from Baek Cheon’s body.

‘What?!’

The Red Dogs warrior was shocked.

Redirecting the path of a blade with a sword wasn’t unheard of, but what shocked him was that he hadn’t felt anything. No sensation at all in his hand during the process.

If he hadn’t seen it himself, he wouldn’t have known his blade missed. That’s how smooth it was. It didn’t feel like Sword Technique, it felt like magic.

Shhk!

Perhaps that’s why. When he saw Baek Cheon’s sword flying straight for his neck—he felt not fear, but a strange sense of emptiness.

Crunch!

His neck was pierced, and he collapsed, choking. Baek Cheon yanked the sword from his throat, immediately turned his body, and lowered his stance.

Paang!

Two blades slashed through the space where he had just been.

Shraaaak!

Baek Cheon stretched out his leg and shifted his center of gravity as if pushing the ground away. He kept his foot in place and turned his body to swing his sword wide.

A crimson aura burst forth from the tip of his sword. Like a vortex, the sword energy gathered slowly, then scattered in trails of plum blossom petals.

Fwoosh!

Flowers bloomed along Baek Cheon’s sword path.

This stunning sight made the charging Red Dogs flinch for a split second. Baek Cheon, of course, didn’t miss that brief opening.

“Haaap!”

Baek Cheon kicked off the ground and instantly dashed into the enemies. From the tip of his sword, plum blossoms burst forth once again in an explosion of petals.

“Keugh!”

But these weren’t just anyone, they were Red Dogs. No matter how strong the opponent was, if they could be so easily overwhelmed by such predictable techniques, they wouldn’t have earned the title of Jang Ilso’s loyal hounds.

Clangclangclangclang!

The Red Dogs raised their blades, relentlessly deflecting the waves of plum blossom sword energy. Braced for minor wounds, they used the broad faces of their swords to thoroughly guard their vital points with practiced discipline

Hunched over, the Red Dogs gritted their teeth and waited for Baek Cheon’s sword energy to stop.

Their specialty was leaping in like wolves the instant the barrage ended, slicing off the opponent’s head in a single, clean strike. They were experts at waiting for that fleeting opening.

Clangclangclang!

But contrary to their expectations, the barrage of sword energy showed no sign of stopping. And the longer it went on, the more wounds opened across their bodies, pierced by the sword energy.

‘W-when will he—?’

They clenched their teeth harder. Blood-tears began to leak from their eyes, which were wide open from the effort of enduring the pain.

Clangclangclang! Srak! Srak! Srak!

The sound of sword energy striking metal and flesh resounded endlessly.

‘O-once… just once…’

It would’ve been better to not even have hope. But just when it seemed the sword energy would stop, it didn’t. Like a mountain stream that narrows but never dries up, the sword never ceased.

“Keuaagh!”

Realizing they would bleed out and die at this rate, the Red Dogs couldn’t hold back anymore. The moment they shook off the blades that had been guarding their vital areas—

A vivid red sword aura rushed directly toward their exposed throats.

“You—!”

Crackkk!

“...you goddamn…”

Thump. Thump.

The Red Dogs collapsed like rotten straw bundles, crumbling to the ground.

“Haaap!”

Nearly ten Red Dogs were felled in an instant. Baek Cheon, riding that momentum, surged forward even faster.

“Euaaaaahhh!!”

His unstoppable charge ignited the morale of those following behind him. Gripping their swords tightly, they rushed after him toward the Red Dogs.

“Break through!”

Kwaaaaaaaang!

It was a sound that technically shouldn’t exist, but it felt like the air itself was roaring.

With Baek Cheon at the tip of a wedge formation, the group tore into the side flank of the widely scattered Red Dogs ranks. Without Ho Gamyeong’s direct orders, the Red Dogs hadn’t formed a proper battle line and were thrown into confusion.

The masked swordsmen of Diancang, who had charged in alongside Baek Cheon, crashed into the Red Dogs without hesitation.

“You fucking bastards!”

“I’ve been waiting for this moment! Euaaaaaah!”

These were the ones who had been endlessly oppressed by the Red Dogs. They must’ve felt deeper rage than anyone else here. It was only natural for them to fight like madmen, heedless of their own lives.

In that moment, the tide of the battlefield began to shift dramatically.

Jo Geol blinked in disbelief.

“That’s…”

It was Baek Cheon. No matter how he looked, it was Baek Cheon.

But something was different. It was Baek Cheon, and yet not the Baek Cheon he knew.

“What the hell? How is he so strong?”

He had cut down nearly ten Red Dogs in an instant. That level of force was beyond Jo Geol’s imagination. Of course, Jo Geol is not at the level where he would be afraid of Red Dogs too, but even so, isn't that too much?

At that moment, Yoon Jong voiced exactly what Jo Geol had been thinking.

“No, more importantly, is that really Plum Blossom Sword Technique?”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

Both men groaned in unison.

Right, where else in the world would you find a sword that unleashes plum blossoms other than the Plum Blossom Sword of  Mount Hua? Of course, that has to be the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

But this was clearly different from the Plum Blossom Sword Technique they knew. How to describe it… It was as if the overall framework of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique remained intact, yet everything within it had been completely reshaped.

“….Is that even possible?”

He could understand it to some extent in his head.

Even if it’s the same Plum Blossom Sword Technique, Yoon Jong’s and Jo Geol’s versions are different. Let’s not even bring up Yoo Iseol. Even if people learn the same thing, they won’t all interpret it the same way. Each Mount Hua swordsman understands the Plum Blossom technique in their own way.

But this... this level of variation was beyond belief.

“That... that ridiculous bastard actually…”

Jo Geol let out a dry laugh. He didn’t even know how to describe what he was feeling.

He was so happy to see Baek Cheon return. Incredibly joyful. And yet, at the same time, something inside him was boiling. Was it competitiveness? Seeing Baek Cheon step into a realm he hadn’t even approached? Or perhaps… something a little baser than that.

Some burning emotion was heating up deep in his gut.

With a short sigh, Jo Geol turned his body around.

“Hey.”

The demon cultivators, momentarily frozen by Baek Cheon’s divine presence, slowly turned their narrowed eyes toward Jo Geol at his sudden call.

[sin-wi, 신위: overwhelming presence]

Jo Geol tapped the side of his head with the back of his sword.

“Well… I probably look like a brat puffing up his chest because his big brother showed up, huh?”

The pain from the wounds carved into his body no longer mattered. The moment he saw Baek Cheon with his own eyes, strength began to rise in him like a tide.

“Somehow… I feel like I finally understand something too. So…”

Jo Geol extended his sword and grinned. The mischievous glint that had once vanished was now back in his eyes.

“Let’s go again.”

Crimson sword energy surged along Jo Geol’s blade.

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