Return of the Mount Hua Sect

Novel Return of Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1103

The dazzlingly white sun hangs halfway on the horizon. The pure white sun, which gives an infinitely warm feeling just by looking at it, flutters gently….

“Why aren’t you standing straight?”

Kiiii….

No, it’s not the sun. The pure white marten, which had been arching its back, quickly lifted its slightly lowered waist at the sound of Chung Myung’s voice.

Of course, it’s not unusual for a marten to curl its waist. When animals feel threatened or just stretching, they naturally lower their upper body and lift their waist upward with all their might.

But it’s not the dainty front paws that have touched the ground, but the small, adorable head…. No, it was definitely a strange thing that it was the head.

And it was beyond strange to see a large sack that looked ten times the size of the marten’s body being placed on top of a body the size of a human forearm.

Kiii… iii….

Baek-ah, who was trembling under the weight of the bag full of fist-sized stones placed on its back, lowered its body again with a whimper.

“No, this little guy?”

Startled by the ghost-like voice, Baek-ah lifted its back again. However, such efforts were useless as Chung Myung rushed over in an instant and kicked Baek-ah.

Kiiiiiiiiiii!

Baek-ah, who had flown high in the sky, flailed both front legs and crashed to the ground. It quickly turned its body in the air and landed with a determined look, then hurriedly gathered the scattered sack and carried it on its back again. And swiftly planted its head back down.

“Who said that even beasts know the grace of being fed and raised. Who said that!”

“….”

“No!”

Chung Myung’s eyes glared.

“Fine, you don’t need to know grace. But if you’ve eaten, you should pay for your food! I asked you to run an errand in exchange for feeding and raising you, and you can’t even do that without slacking off?”

Kii…!

Before even Baek-ah could retort, Chung Myung kicked Baek-ah away again.

Ppoooooong!

Baek-ah, who had flown into the sky, quickly repeated what he had done a little while ago.

Taak!

Baek-ah, who had planted its head like a lightning bolt, struggled to clasp its short front paws behind its back. It’s as if it’s guaranteed that if Baek-ah messes its step now, it will become the only rare scarf in Jungwon.

“Whether people or beasts…”

Chung Myung clicked his tongue and glared at Baek-ah as if he didn’t like it at all. Tears welled up in Baek-ah’s eyes at the sight of his gaze.

Of course, they weren’t tears of pain or sadness. They were purely tears of injustice.

If Baek-ah were a person who could speak, it would have asked, ‘When did you, in good conscience, take care of my food? You bastard, you’re worse than a beast!’

Needless to say, in fact, all Chung Myung did was roughly drag Baek-ah around. Baek-ah hunts and eats on its own, goes to the kitchen to find food and eats, steals, and eats…. No, except this one. Anyway.

But Chung Myung boasted about feeding and raising Baek-ah so much that it made Baek-ah jump around in frustration.

But what could it do? It couldn’t vent its frustration with words… Even if Baek-ah could speak human language, would it make any difference to that guy?

At times like this, all it could do was lie down flat and pretend to be dead.

“If you’re part of Mount Hua Sect! Huh? You live and die together! While your Sahyung are training hard, you’re slacking off alone? Straighten your back!”

Kiiii….

Baek-ah swiftly raised its back high.

Yoon Jong and Jo-Gol, who were watching from the side, looked at each other.

“When did we become Sahyung of a marten?”

“…It’s my first time hearing this too.”

“Anyway… isn’t this animal abuse?”

Baekcheon shook his head, indicating that was not the case.

“It’s more like mystical creature abuse.”

“Abuse is abuse, isn’t it?”

“I don’t agree with that. As far as I know, Chung Myung loves animals more than anyone in this world.”

“Yes?”

Jo-Gol looked back at Baek Cheon with eyes that asked, ‘What kind of nonsense is this?’ Baek Cheon continued in a calm voice.

“Because it’s an animal, it ends with that. Had we done the same, we would have been stuck at the bottom of the Yangtze River right now, asking the fish how they were doing.”

“Oh, I see.”

Jo-Gol quickly understood. It became clear in an instant that Baek-ah was receiving special treatment. Someone played a prank during training and they barely get kicked in the head. If it had been them, they would have been beaten to the point of death and hung upside down for three days without food or water.

“…Chung Myung has a surprisingly kind side.”

“Right?”

“And if you think about it, it’s very reasonable, right? If you slack off, you get punished, even if you’re an animal.”

“If you think about it the other way around, it means he sees us as no different from animals.”

“…That’s so Chung Myung.”

Yoon Jong, who was listening to the conversation, unknowingly stepped away from them.

‘These guys are not normal either. They’re completely crazy.’

However, unlike the people of Mount Hua, who found an unexpectedly friendly side in Chung Myung, the people of Nokrim and Tang Family could only gape in astonishment.

“…What kind of marten….”

“Yeah…”

Their pupils shook with shock.

However, despite their surprise, it was hard to explain exactly what was so shocking. Are they really surprised because marten is being punished like humans? Or is it because of someone who harasses and mistreats even marten?

“Hahaha.”

“We’re something too, but really…”

“Still, we need to think about which one of the two is actually the beast…”

At that moment, Chung Myung, who was giving a long speech to Baek-ah, suddenly turned his head.

‘Yikes!’

‘Don’t make eye contact.’

‘Hold your breath, hold your breath!’

People of Nokrim and Tang Family, who met each other’s eyes, quickly looked down. Haven’t the past few days proven that just making eye contact with that person makes life difficult?

“Are you laughing?”

“….”

“You’re laughing now, right?”

Chung Myung’s two eyes glared fiercely.

‘Wow, look at those eyes, eyes.’

‘I’d rather deal with Evil Sects.’

‘It would be more comfortable under Jang Ilso, damn it.’

A taste of Mount Hua Sect. It was a moment when the unique taste of Mount Hua, which can only be felt at the top of a high Mt. Hua in Shaanxi, was recognized by famous mountains throughout Jungwon and the distant Sichuan region.

“Anyway, whether it’s people or beasts!”

“….”

“The beast is just playing around without even knowing the grace of being fed and slacking off! People who carry swords haven’t been training properly, and after just a little rolling, they’re panting and collapsing.”

“….”

“Aigoo, My fate, what did I do in my past life to deserve this… No, right, I did commit sins. I committed sins, but!”

Yoon Jong looked back at Baek Cheon and asked.

“What is that bastard ranting now?”

Baek Cheon smiled warmly.

“He’s just spewing nonsense as usual.”

“Ah.”

“Just let it be.”

“Yes.”

Meanwhile, Chung Myung rested his chin on his hand with a disapproving look on his face and looked at people of Nokrim and Tang Family lying here and there.

‘It’s more serious than I thought.’

After making them go through several rounds of training, it became clear what Mount Hua had been missing in the past.

Basically, their martial arts skills are by no means low. Sichuan Tang Family is a prestigious family. And it would be even more strange if the elites of Nokrim, the rulers of Jungwon’s mountain range, were weak.

The problem is that strength is never made up of just one element.

In terms of ‘martial art’, they may be judged as lacking, but the problem is their physical strength.

“How can martial artists be weak… It’s like fish drowning.”

Although internal strength and stamina are similar, they are not perfect synonyms. No matter how abundant one’s internal strength is, if they are made to exert themselves for three days and nights without rest, their stamina will run out first.

And the moment a person loses their physical strength, their internal strength is diminished. Such individuals might be able to display their power at the start of a fight, but as the battle drags on, they won’t even be able to exhibit half of their true strength.

Huh? Doesn’t that mean they’ll get trained?

Of course, they’ll. If they keep fighting and fighting, even when they can’t show half of their strength and risk their lives in the process, their stamina, mental strength and everything else will surely be honed.

‘Those who survive, that is.’

The problem is that most will die before that happens.

The terrifying thing about the demonic cultists is that they are fanatics. And what makes fanatics scary is not simply that they do not fear death.

Haven’t they already experienced it?

Demonic cultists do not tire. Their bodies might be exhausted and weary, but their minds are encased in an ironclad will that ordinary people cannot even imagine.

Wars never end quickly. Depending on the situation, hellish conditions of killing and being killed can last for over seven days and nights.

No, even if the battle does not continue, war means having to endure each day with the anxiety of not knowing when the enemy will attack. Even those who believed that their skills were outstanding were unable to overcome the horrors of the war and were likely to lose their heads.

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung scratched his cheek nervously.

“I was so critical of those so-called prestigious bastards… In the end, I also came from a prestigious Righteous Sects.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Nothing.”

Chung Myung sighed deeply.

‘I’m not without fault either.’

A conversation he had with Cheong Mun in the past suddenly came to mind.

– Chung Myung. What do you think is the reason why Wudang lacks skills?

– They have no talent.

– …Then Southern Edge Sect.

– They aren’t fully human.

– …Then Namgung.

– They have no manners.

– …Is there no way to fix them?

– Ei, Sahyung. Does polishing a stone turn it into gold? At best, it becomes a pretty rock. How can you change what they were born with? Just leave them be.

– ….

Ah… thinking about it now, there really was no answer.

Chung Myung buried his face in his hands.

‘No, it really seemed that way at the time. What was I supposed to do?’

If you learn the same martial arts but your skills do not improve, it’s because you lack talent. At that time, Chung Myung did not know what other reason was needed. He didn’t even want to know.

However, he only found out after trying to make these non-human bastards act like people by pushing, kicking, and dragging them up by the collar.

The fact that even a stone can become gold if polished well.

However, Chung Myung of the past, Chung Myung of Plum Blossom Sword Sovereign, did not know, and there was no need to know. Rather than expend all his mental energy doing so, it was easier to just go and beat them all to death.

‘That method won’t work anymore.’

Chung Myung raised his head and glared at Tang Family.

“…Flowers in a greenhouse.”

“…Yes?”

Chung Myung’s brow furrowed deeply.

Several times in the past, he had commented on Southern Edge Sect and Wudang’s young disciples as flowers in a greenhouse. Let alone Magyo, they are just fake half-baked martial artist who can’t fully utilize their skills even if they only meet Evil Sects bastard.

That’s exactly where Chung Myung was wrong.

‘It wasn’t just the young ones who were the problem.’

What happens when flowers in a greenhouse grow well?

What else? It becomes a well-grown greenhouse flower. It looks healthy and grand on the outside, but with a few cold winds, it wilts. In the end, it becomes a useless decoration unless it is in a warm room.

It was a mistake to believe without a plan that those who grew up that way would fulfill their roles as they aged and gained skills. Even Tang Family and Nokrim are in this state. What’s the point of looking at the others?

“No wonder the rear collapsed no matter how hard we fought in the front…”

A lament escaped Chung Myung’s mouth as he remembered a memory he did not want to recall.

It made sense that whenever he was fighting desperately here, the other side would collapse, and when he was fighting desperately over there, the front would fall apart again.

Looking back, the time that Chung Myung, who received Cheong Mun’s urgent orders, wasted moving around the battlefield spread across the entire Jungwon was comparable to the time spent actually fighting.

Whether the opponent was from Evil Sects, Magyo, or Righteous Sects, it was the same.

For him to launch a proper attack, those in the rear needed to at least hold their ground. If that doesn’t work, no matter how hard Chung Myung tries, the hell of the past will only repeat itself.

So, the solution?

“…Is there any other way?”

Chung Myung’s two eyes blazed like hellfire.

“Stamina improves with training, and mental strength builds when you get hit and scolded.”

As he muttered, everyone’s eyes widened as they felt something ominous. Chung Myung clapped his hands.

“Now, everyone. Let’s start again.”

“U- Um, Chung Myung Dojang.”

“Yes?”

Tang Pae pointed to the sky with an awkward expression.

“Uh… the sun’s already setting?”

“So?”

“Ah… Dojang may not know this, but we also have duties for each sect. At night, we have to do work, including organizing papers, to keep the sect running….”

“So?”

“Thi- This is something that must be done….”

“So?”

Tang Pae, who was speechless, looked at Chung Myung with blank eyes.

Chung Myung tilted his head as if he didn’t understand at all.

“So, you’re saying you don’t have enough time to do other things right now?”

“Yes, that’s right! Dojang does understand.”

Tang Pae’s face brightened. But Chung Myung soon tilted his head again and spoke.

“That’s a strange thing to say.”

“…Yes?”

“If you don’t have enough time, just don’t sleep.”

“….”

“A war is something that often lasts for ten days without sleep. This is a great opportunity. Well then, let’s experience it in advance this time. I was planning on staying until midnight today. Now that it has come to this, let’s add another hours.”

Tang Pae realized in an instant that something had gone terribly wrong. Everyone of Nokrim and Tang Family around him glared with eyes that looked like they were going to kill him. For now, he had no choice but to lower his head and avoid those murderous gazes.

“Okay, let’s get started! You all need to get stronger for me to survive! So, grit your teeth!”

Mount Hua-fication of the entire Jungwon was steadily progressing.