Chapter 1971 - Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1971. That’s Not How the Story Went. (1)

A graceful sword strike, flowing like water, cleanly cleaved through the neck of a Demonic Cultist.

It was a chillingly swift sword technique, yet its movements were so smooth and graceful that it even seemed slow. The enemies before her couldn’t properly resist at all.

Seogeok!

The Demonic Cultists whose necks had been half-cleaved clutched their throats and desperately coughed up mouthfuls of bloody foam.

Though their necks had been split, they were still demonic person.

Generally speaking, a sword strike that failed to sever the neck completely wouldn’t be enough to take their lives.

Yet the demonic person cut by Yoo Iseol’s sword merely trembled while clutching their necks, as though denying this common understanding.

Looking closely, the cause could be seen. The Demonic qi surging from their bodies couldn’t advance any farther around the wounds and merely writhed there. The Immortal qi clinging to Yoo Iseol’s sword was preventing the wounds from recovering.

Thud. Thud.

The demonic person who had fallen one after another trembled violently before soon going limp.

“Ugh.....”

Perhaps because they’d seen that sight, or perhaps because they instinctively sensed the Immortal qi flowing from Yoo Iseol and were wary of it, even the demonic cultists who had been rampaging without reason could no longer easily approach Yoo Iseol.

Even so, nothing would change significantly.

Whoosh.

Yoo Iseol kicked off the ground and launched herself into the air.

To borrow Yoon Jong’s words, it was a feast of martial skill that had reached its utmost height. To borrow Baek Cheon’s words, it was the pinnacle of sensation that he couldn’t even dare attempt to imitate. And to borrow Jo Geol’s words, it was an insane act that required leaving half one’s life behind.

Based on the lightest of movement techniques, she targeted the opponents’ heads as her unique aerial sword art unfolded toward the demonic cultists.

[Gongjung Geombe. 공중검예(空中劍藝). Literally “aerial sword art.” Yoo Iseol’s distinctive sword technique of fighting while airborne, particularly by using light movement techniques to attack from above.]

It was a unique method whose origins couldn’t be found anywhere in Mount Hua’s sword techniques. Yet no one called this sword the unorthodox path. For so long as it contained only the true intent that Mount Hua’s sword ought to contain, whatever method it followed, in the end, it was still the sword of Mount Hua.

Swaeaeaeaeaeaeg!

Yoo Iseol swiftly raised her body into the air and swung her sword. It was a movement like an illusion.

The reason occupying higher ground on a battlefield had always been a core principle of military strategy was because people found it difficult to defend against attacks coming from above. This principle applied equally to martial arts.

The demonic cultists reflexively raised their weapons.

The cheap iron swords and iron sabers that had been left uncared for, rusted and with their edges chipped, looked as though they couldn’t even cut through a dried, withered old tree.

[Cheoldo. 철도(鐵刀). Literally “iron blade/saber.” A simple iron weapon.]

Yet the moment those heaps of scrap iron were enveloped in Demonic qi, the rusted junk transformed into Demonic weapons, no different from famed divine weapons. Anyone who had faced the Demonic Cult would know this.

[Mabyeong. 마병(魔兵). Literally “demonic weapon.”]

But at this moment, Yoo Iseol’s sword once again shattered that common knowledge of martial artists in an instant.

Kaaaang!

The moment Yoo Iseol’s sword struck, the Demonic Cultists’ weapons were sliced apart like rotten pieces of wood.

Stimulated by the Demonic qi, the Immortal qi naturally flowed into Yoo Iseol’s sword and sliced through the Demonic qi surging along the enemies’ weapons. A weapon that had lost its Demonic qi was nothing more than scrap iron. The rusted iron swords were utterly incapable of withstanding Yoo Iseol’s Plum Blossom Sword.

Through the opening created as the weapons were cut apart, Yoo Iseol’s Plum Blossom Sword flowed smoothly inward.

seogeog! seogeog! seogeog!

With a single sword strike cutting across the chests of three people, Yoo Iseol used the instep of one foot as a support and kicked off, spinning her body.

Parararak!

Atop the heads of the Demonic Cultists who had been waiting for the moment Yoo Iseol fell downward, hundreds of plum blossoms poured down like rain.

Startled by the sudden shower of flowers, they violently swung their weapons. Every plum blossom petal that touched those rough blades crumbled helplessly, but it didn’t matter.

[Hwau. 화우(花雨). Literally “flower rain,” a poetic expression for flowers or flower petals falling through the air like rain.]

After all, the role of these flower petals from the very beginning was to steal their attention for a single moment.

Whoosh!

Yoo Iseol plunged through the forest of plum blossoms like a ray of light.

Having instantly changed her position from above to below, Yoo Iseol lowered her body the moment she landed and swung her sword like a flash of lightning.

Saaaaaak!

With a sound like silk being sliced apart in a single stroke, a vivid red moon bloomed across the ochre-colored earth. Sword qi containing a chilling killing intent, so much so that its beauty was rendered meaningless by it, instantly cut down the Demonic Cultists surrounding Yoo Iseol.

“Aaaaargh!”

Whether from the pain of their flesh being cut apart, or the pain of the Demonic qi that had filled their bodies being shattered, the Demonic Cultists collapsed while letting out agonized screams.

“Sago! Behind you!”

And then, Tang Soso came flying in behind Yoo Iseol, knocking away in a single blow the blade a Demonic Cultist had swung in desperation.

“Be careful, sago.”

“Yeah.”

Even as Yoo Iseol slowly nodded her head, she calmly glared at the Demonic Cultists.

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“....Th-That.....”

Jo Geol turned to Yoon Jong with an expression of utter disbelief.

“Isn’t that practically cheating?”

“......”

“How the hell is she beating down Demonic Cultists like she used to beat the shit out of those Evil Tyrant Alliance bastards? She doesn’t even look like she’s any different.”

“......Honestly, I’m a little taken aback, too.”

Who could’ve imagined that Yoo Iseol’s Immortal qi would be this powerful?

Of course, among the Five Swords, Yoo Iseol is the one whose life is closest to the Tao of Immortality [Seondo. 선도(仙道). Literally “the Way of Immortals.” A Taoist path of spiritual cultivation and practice toward transcendence.].

If Yoon Jong focuses on the state of mind he must maintain as he walks the path of a Taoist, Yoo Iseol is someone who practices the life of a taoist by keeping away from the five desires and seven emotions and staying close to nature.

[Oyokchiljeong. 오욕칠정(五慾七情). A traditional East Asian classification of human desires and emotions: the five desires and seven emotional states that bind ordinary human beings.]

If one were to ask which way was closer to the Tao of Immortality, naturally, it would have to be Yoo Iseol.

‘But even so, I didn’t expect the difference to be this great.’

Yoon Jong looked at Yoo Iseol without being able to hide the bewilderment on his face.

Of course, even without considering Immortal qi, Yoo Iseol was stronger than Yoon Jong. Perhaps she was even much stronger than Jo Geol. If someone like Yoo Iseol also possessed the advantage of overwhelmingly powerful Immortal Qi......

“......At this rate, doesn't Sago operating on a completely different level against the Demonic Cult?”  

“Seems like it.”

There was no need to think deeply about it. Wasn’t the result already unfolding right before their eyes?

Of course, all of this was because Yoo Iseol was a special person. In Yoon Jong’s view, Yoo Iseol’s Immortal qi might have reached a realm that was difficult to compare even with the elders of Mount Hua, and perhaps even with the elders of Wudang.

It was precisely because she was such a person that she could fight as the natural enemy of Demonic Cultists who used Demonic qi.

“......If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve meditated more and eaten less meat.”

“You really want to say that in a battlefield like this?”

Yoon Jong shook his head as though Jo Geol was beyond saving. Even so, he felt a little pricked because, deep down, he’d been thinking the same thing.

Truth be told, he had thought that the Taoist immortal qi was merely proof of cultivation, and it wouldn’t offer much help to martial arts itself. Yet who could have guessed that such an assumption would be overturned like this?

‘In any case, this is good news.’

It’s working better than they’d expected.

Everyone was performing far better than they’d thought.

Even the powerful expert who had appeared out of nowhere had fallen to Baek Cheon’s hand, while Yoo Iseol and Hye Yeon were sweeping through the enemies like leaves scattered by the autumn wind.

“Ooooohh!”

Even in the midst of this, Hye Yeon’s fist swept through the enemies once more.

Ever since Hye Yeon had completely withdrawn his mercy toward the enemy, his fists had become exceedingly violent. The Demonic Cultists couldn’t even properly resist before being swept away by those powerful fists.

A fist that didn’t merely push them away or crush them down, but smashed and shattered them.

“......It’s seriously fucking cheating. I should’ve just gone to Shaolin.”

“Why the hell are you jealous of so many things, seriously?”

Completely fed up with Jo Geol, Yoon Jong shook his head again and again. Even at this moment, his eyes remained coolly fixed on the Demonic Cultists.

‘As far as we’ve come.....’

The Demonic Cultists were strong. Horrifyingly strong. They had fought countless enemies, but never before had they faced an enemy against whom merely crossing swords was this frightening.

And yet, they were fighting. They were even holding those enemies back with such a small number of people.

“......So, everyone’s gotten stronger.”

“What?”

“......Never mind. Don’t listen.”

“Why do you keep muttering to yourself like that?”

“Shut up and just fight!”

Yoon Jong wore a bitter smile.

‘That damn bastard.’

And yet even that damn bastard was performing well. He was suffering because of the Demon Flower, but in truth, that too was because he had been the one fighting the Demonic Cultists most actively, right at the very front.

‘We’ve grown stronger.’

Incomparably stronger than we were in the past.

The frustration over their lack of martial power that they’d felt while fighting the Evil Tyrant Alliance.

The thirst they’d had to endure because none of them had been strong enough to stand out individually was now almost imperceptible.

If even Yoon Jong, the one who was lacking the most, felt this way, how could the others possibly feel any differently?

They didn’t know how much longer they could hold out. But if they weren’t trying to defeat these people, merely holding them back from reaching the common people, it seemed they could manage for a while longer.

‘If it gets too dangerous, we can retreat as we fight.’

As long as they didn’t collapse rapidly, the more mobile side had the advantage. The jianghu wasn’t a place where having greater numbers necessarily meant victory.

Rather, depending on the conditions of the fight, the smaller side could even have the advantage.

Yoon Jong clenched his fist tightly.

“We can do this.”

“What?”

“I said we can do this, you damn bastard!”

Jo Geol blinked.

“Sahyung, isn’t your Immortal qi weaker than sago’s because you keep losing your temper like that every now and then?”

“Shut up, you bastard!”

“......Looks like ascending to immortality is out of the question for you.”

Listening to Jo Geol’s voice, Yoon Jong smiled.

If that bastard hadn’t been so shamelessly easygoing, Yoon Jong wouldn’t have been able to look at the situation with such a calm mind. Not becoming serious even when a blade was at his throat was a strength unique to Jo Geol.

“Geol-ah! We’re breaking through the center. Support sago!”

“Do you think battle formations and such will work on these bastards?”

“Splitting them apart to the left and right is enough! Then they won’t be able to properly make use of their numerical advantage.”

“Of course the difficult job has to be mine. Yeah, I’m going!”

Jo Geol surged forward. Watching his retreating back, Yoon Jong clenched his fist.

‘Yeah, we’ve grown stronger.’

They could fight now even without Cheong Myeong here.

Mount Hua is strong.........

It was right then.

“Pathetic.......”

A chilling voice pierced his ears. It wasn’t particularly loud, yet somehow it cut through all the noise of the battlefield and reached him with uncanny clarity.

‘What?’

Soon after, Yoon Jong saw it.

A darkness that was impossible to describe simply as “black” surged upward as though reaching the heavens, ominous beyond measure.

The newly risen black radiance was so dense and deep that it made the Demonic qi emitted by the other Demonic Cultists look faded in comparison.

It shot forth like a flash of lightning, tearing the Demonic Cultists apart, then flew toward Yoo Iseol, who stood at the forefront, as though plunging straight down upon her.

At the sudden attack, Yoo Iseol’s eyes widened.

The moment Yoo Iseol’s sword, with all the energy she could muster instinctively drawn up into it, collided with that Demonic qi, a thunderous explosion rang out, almost enough to burst their eardrums.

Then, Yoo Iseol’s body flew backward like a kite whose string had been cut.

“Sagooooooo!”

Tang Soso let out a tearing scream and rushed toward Yoo Iseol.

But the others couldn’t bring themselves to turn their gazes toward Yoo Iseol as she was flung away. They couldn’t dare do so.

Because an overwhelming presence had seized the gazes of everyone here, dragging every eye toward itself.

Yoon Jong’s complexion had gone pale as he swallowed dryly, staring at the figure standing in the far distance.

The one who had crushed not only Yoo Iseol with a single blow, but even the Demonic Cultists who had stood in his way.

“......Heavenly Executioner.”

At the weight of the word he’d uttered himself, Yoon Jong shuddered.

He had come.

“......Against mere bastards like these.”

Grinding his teeth, Heavenly Executioner stepped forward toward them, exuding an imposing aura like a black lion.

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