Chapter 1936 - Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1936. There’s No Need to Understand. (1)

Everyone who had climbed Mount Hua fixed their eyes on the training ground.

The greatest under heaven of the past, and the greatest under heaven of the present. Those two stood ready to clash, staking their pride against one another. No, perhaps they were staking their very lives. It was the sort of duel that would leave even the spectators holding their breath.

And yet, there was a distinct difference in the eyes of those watching.

Most of the sect leaders gathered here couldn’t hide the tension written across their faces. They were excited by the knowledge that they were about to witness a legendary match they might never see again in their lifetimes, and by the possibility that its outcome could send enormous ripples throughout the jianghu.

There were others, however, who displayed neither tension nor excitement, watching the duel with calm, indifferent eyes.

The disciples of Mount Hua standing behind Hyun Jong clearly belonged to the latter group.

“Looks like they’re really going through with it.”

“Looks that way. And of all days to pick.”

At Baek Cheon’s words, Yoon Jong slowly shook his head as though already exhausted.

“No. It’s because it’s a day like today that it means something.”

“I suppose that’s true... Huft.”

As they spoke with complete nonchalance, Tang Soso abruptly turned her head toward them.

“Sasuk, sahyung, aren’t you nervous at all?”

“Are you?”

“....No.”

“Exactly.”

Baek Cheon looked toward Cheong Myeong standing atop the training ground, as though the answer was obvious without even needing to watch.

“Can you even imagine that bastard losing?”

“But they say he’s the greatest under heaven from thirty years ago. Uh... or was it twenty years ago?”

“Whether it’s twenty or thirty years, what difference does it make?”

Baek Cheon let out a scoff.

Phantom Divine Lord?

Sure, he’d be strong. Of course he would. Back when people spoke of the greatest figures of the jianghu, Cheong Myeong hadn’t even been born.

But did that actually matter?

“Go easy on him, Cheong Myeong. Please. Let’s at least avoid people calling us an unfilial sect.”

[unfilial sect. paeryun munpa. 패륜 문파(悖倫 門派). Paeryun (悖倫) literally means “violating human ethics or familial morality”, especially acts that overturn Confucian relationships such as harming or disrespecting one’s elders.]

“I think it’s already too late. Look at that bastard. He’s smiling.”

“Isn’t smiling a good thing?”

“That’s the smile he makes when he’s really pissed off.”

“Ah...”

Baek Cheon squeezed his eyes shut and slowly shook his head.

“At this point, I just hope that old man called the Phantom Divine Lord is stronger than expected. Then at least nobody will say he beat up a weak old man.”

“Think that’ll happen?”

“.....”

Letting out a long sigh, Baek Cheon quietly stared toward the training ground.

To outsiders, it might have been difficult to understand why the disciples of Mount Hua could calmly trade jokes in a situation like this.

But honestly, the ones who couldn’t understand this situation were the Mount Hua disciples themselves.

‘What in the world does he think he’s relying on to challenge him?’

Baek Cheon finally understood.

He understood why Cheong Myeong had created a situation like this, and why the sects of the world hadn’t given a single thought to Mount Hua’s warnings.

They simply didn’t understand.

They had no idea what it meant to have led that dreadful war to victory. What it meant to have stood at the very vanguard of that war, fighting without end, and still survived. What it meant to finally behead Paegun himself.

They understood it with their minds, perhaps, but they couldn’t truly accept it. They knew he was strong, but they couldn’t feel in their bones just how strong he really was.

“...Right. When you’re foolish, your body ends up paying the price.”

Baek Cheon looked with sympathetic eyes toward the Phantom Divine Lord standing before Cheong Myeong.

Meanwhile, the Phantom Divine Lord solemnly and carefully began raising his qi.

It was true that he had stepped onto the training ground overflowing with anger that looked ready to erupt at any moment. But that didn’t mean he intended to recklessly charge in without a plan.

A thousand thoughts, one mistake.

[Cheonlyeoilsil. 천려일실(千慮一失). Literally, “one mistake in a thousand considerations.” A classical idiom meaning that even after the most careful planning, a single error may still occur. Used here as a warning against allowing anger to ruin meticulous preparation.]

Considering everything he had prepared for this very moment, how could he possibly let mere fury ruin it all?

Moreover, the Phantom Divine Lord acknowledged the young swordsman standing before him.

The prodigy of Mount Hua who had defeated none other than the Paegun. If he couldn’t acknowledge the Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword, then whom in all the world could he acknowledge?

The Phantom Divine Lord simply believed. That he possessed the strength born of years the boy had yet to accumulate. And because of that, for now, he could not help but be stronger than the boy.

“How much longer am I supposed to wait?”

“There’s no need to be so impatient...”

However, refusing to be drawn into his opponent’s pace did not simply mean he intended to remain cautious. His martial arts had never followed that sort of path to begin with.

“I was just about to show you. Try not to be too surprised, you brat!”

Tuuung!

The Phantom Divine Lord kicked off the floor of the training ground. In that instant, his body literally vanished before everyone’s eyes.

“Oh.”

Cheong Myeong let out an exclamation, looking as though he might applaud.

“That’s seriously absurdly fast.”

The Phantom Divine Lord’s figure had disappeared. And yet, he was unquestionably still here.

Violent waves of qi poured in from every direction. And the immense presence that could never be concealed proved the fact. At this very moment, with Cheong Myeong at the center, the Phantom Divine Lord was circling him with astonishing speed, employing his footwork as he searched for an opening.

“Good heavens....”

The sect leaders who realized what was happening let out groans of disbelief.

Just how fast could a person be for even their eyes to fail to catch the slightest trace of him? This was different even from the miraculous feat he had displayed earlier. Being too fast for the eye to follow was one thing. Knowing with certainty that someone was there, yet still being unable to perceive even their form, was something entirely different.

“There’s nothing to be surprised about. He’s the Divine Lord, isn’t he!”

Someone shouted with absolute certainty.

“Even twenty years ago, he was already competing for the title of the greatest under heaven in light-body movement (輕身). Now that his internal cultivation and mastery (火候) have deepened, it’s only natural that no one under heaven can rival him!”

[Gyeongsin. 경신(輕身). Literally “light body.” A martial arts discipline centered on making the body extraordinarily light and agile. It encompasses light-body movement techniques in general, whereas gyeonggong is one practical application of such cultivation.]

[Hwahu. 화후(火候). Literally “fire timing” or “degree of the fire.” Originally a Taoist alchemical term referring to the precise control of heat during the refining process. In martial arts literature, it denotes the maturity, refinement, and degree of mastery attained through long years of cultivation. It describes the polish and control of one’s martial attainment rather than the amount of internal power itself.]

The sect leaders familiar with the Phantom Divine Lord all nodded in agreement.

Back when he had still roamed the jianghu, there were only two people acknowledged as the fastest under heaven. One was the Beggar Union’s Pungyeong Singae. The other was the Phantom Divine Lord.

Each excelled in different specialties.

The Beggar Union’s Pungyeong Singae specialized in surging forward with overwhelming speed, in other words, lightness technique.

Then the Phantom Divine Lord had reached a realm in footwork that no one dared aspire to, a speed created for fighting itself.

[Bobeop. 보법(步法). Literally “stepping method.” Combat footwork governing positioning, angles, balance, evasion, and offensive movement during battle.]

After all, even the title Phantom Divine Lord had originated from the idea that fighting him was like trying to seize an untouchable illusion.

The divine prowess displayed by the Phantom Divine Lord upon revealing himself to the world after twenty years naturally brought to mind the phrase ‘worthy of its reputation’. Who could ever have imagined footwork that remained impossible to follow even while witnessed with one’s own eyes?

The sect leaders arrived at the same conclusion.

No matter how ghost-like the Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword’s swordsmanship was said to be, there was no way it could keep up with such impossible speed.

And the Phantom Divine Lord thought exactly the same.

“What’s wrong? You look different from before.”

His voice seemed to come simultaneously from every direction. No, that was likely the truth. During the time it took him to utter that single sentence, he had probably circled Cheong Myeong dozens of times.

“Where has all that imposing spirit gone?”

The Phantom Divine Lord’s voice thundered from every side. Even for Cheong Myeong, who had fought countless opponents, this was an unfamiliar experience.

“Well, but...”

Cheong Myeong scratched his cheek.

“Wouldn’t Ghost-Wailing Divine Lord fit you better than Phantom Divine Lord at this point?”

[Gwigok Singun. 귀곡신군(鬼哭神君). Gwigok (鬼哭) literally means “ghosts wailing” or “the cries of ghosts.” Cheong Myeong jokingly twists Hwanyeong (phantom illusion) into Gwigok.]

He really is practically a ghost.

“It seems you still have some leisure left. Let’s see how long that composure lasts!”

The Phantom Divine Lord’s voice had completely regained its calm. No, it carried more than calm. There was even leisure in it. Now that he had begun displaying the martial discipline in which he excelled most, confidence had naturally welled up within him.

Before long, that confidence manifested in action.

Tuuung!

Something brushed past Cheong Myeong. His clothes instantly whipped about like they had gone mad, and before the cloth covering his shoulder blade had time to do anything but tear, it scattered into shreds.

Paaang!

Before he even had a chance to realize what had happened, something slammed violently into Cheong Myeong’s back.

“Kugh!”

This was far more than the sort of impact that merely left one startled.

How strong something is and how fast it is are inseparably connected. Even an attack that merely grazes its target, once endowed with overwhelming speed, becomes a lethal strike capable of crushing flesh.

If he committed all of his speed into a single attack, the Phantom Divine Lord could likely unleash a blow powerful enough to shatter Cheong Myeong’s body. But he had not chosen that method. The moment he collided directly with his opponent, he too would lose his speed.

‘There’s no need to rush.’

As long as he never lost his speed, the Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword could never catch him. That being the case, all he had to do was slowly break him down, just as a hunter toys with prey already caught in its trap.

Tuuuuung!

The Phantom Divine Lord casually threw out a punch that grazed Cheong Myeong’s head. Cheong Myeong’s hair was swept violently aside. The ribbon binding his hair snapped apart, and his now-loosened hair flew upward in the pressure of the wind.

‘There’s nothing particularly remarkable about him after all.’

The Phantom Divine Lord smiled inwardly, brimming with satisfaction.

Yes, this was right. This was how things ought to be. No matter how much they called them the Mount Hua Chivalrous Sword or the Paegun, those were all people who had only risen to fame after he had withdrawn from the jianghu. There was no way they could truly stand as his equal.

Now, before everyone gathered here, he would prove that fact. He would seize the position of the greatest under heaven he had dreamed of all his life, and reign over the world until the very moment he died.

“Is this all you’ve got, you brat!”

The Phantom Divine Lord increased his speed even further. His speed rose to its absolute limit, until even his own vision blurred into indistinct smears. But it didn’t matter. Even through that blur, there was no possibility of losing sight of that unbearably slow fool!

Paang! Paaang!

Again and again, the Phantom Divine Lord brushed past Cheong Myeong, driving quick punches into his body in passing.

The dull impact alone told him everything. The attacks were landing cleanly. It wouldn’t be much longer now. Just a little more, and....

The Phantom Divine Lord drove his speed to its utmost extreme. Once he entered this domain, everything except himself always seemed to stop. Though they remained within the same space, it felt as though they lived in entirely different flows of time. His world and theirs became completely separated.

This was the absolute speed he had obtained after years of secluded cultivation. So long as one remained human, it was absolutely impossible to match this spee....

“Ah, come on. You’re fidgeting around like crazy. You’re worse than a flea.”

At that very moment, something pitch-black suddenly surged into the Phantom Divine Lord’s vision.

‘What?’

Phantom Divine Lord’s heart nearly leaped out through his throat.

Into this world where everything had stopped, the uninvited intruder burst in. Worse still, it came flying even faster than the Phantom Divine Lord himself.

‘T-That’s impossib...’

By the time he realized that the black object was Cheong Myeong’s sheathed sword, it had already buried itself squarely in his face.

“Keuaaaaaagh!”

Kwaaaaaang!

The Phantom Divine Lord was launched away at terrifying speed before crashing into the ground.

The impact was so tremendous that merely shattering the training ground’s hardened bluestone floor wasn’t enough. He drove straight through it, gouging deep into the ground beneath.

“Sheesh. You’re making my head spin.”

Shaking his head as though genuinely annoyed, Cheong Myeong bent down and picked up the green ribbon that had come undone. He gathered up his loose hair with one hand and tied it back in a tight knot.

Then he looked toward the Phantom Divine Lord, who was still embedded in the ground, and spoke.

“There’s something I genuinely don’t understand.”

His voice suddenly carried an overwhelming weight. The sect leaders swallowed dryly as they waited for what Cheong Myeong would say next.

Then Cheong Myeong’s face twisted into an exaggerated grimace.

“You said you were in closed-door cultivation. Closed-door cultivation! Just how enormous would a cave have to be for you to practice this inside it? Don’t tell me this old man claimed he was in secluded cultivation while actually living in a place bigger than a royal palace, eating and drinking in luxury all this time?”

“Ah...”

The sect leaders exchanged awkward glances.

“....Is that really what you’re wondering about at a time like this?”

“Well... now that he mentions it, it does sound a little suspicious...”

“Hmm...”

The gathered martial artists could only clear their throats awkwardly.

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