Return of the Mount Hua

That’s not how I am. (4)

ROTMHS Glossary || About page

Flinch.

Tang Soso involuntarily took a step back. 

‘Monk?’

The aura radiating from Hye Yeon vastly exceeded anything she had imagined.

Tang Soso had never once considered it – that Hye Yeon, of all people, could unleash an aura this wild and violent.

Perhaps she – and everyone else – had simply been too complacent?

Shaolin had been ruthlessly crushed under Jang Ilso’s feet. In the process, Hye Yeon had lost people who were no less than family to him.

Because he was a monk accustomed to controlling and suppressing emotions, because he always paid attention to others’ sorrow before his own, it had never shown. Yet the grief and resentment piling up in Hye Yeon’s heart could hardly be any less than anyone else’s.

And now those buried emotions were erupting. Even someone as peerless as Jang Ilso hesitated for an instant before it.

“Hmm, Shaolin, is it…”

His eyes curved into a gentle arc.

“Is there anything left worth seeing? They all looked like fools to me.”

Even at the blatant provocation, Hye Yeon’s expression did not change. Jang Ilso snorted, as though bored, and stepped forward.

At that moment.

Twaaang!

With a sound like a tough leather strap snapping after being stretched to its limit, a lightning-fast fist surged towards Jang Ilso’s face. Startled by the unimaginable speed, Jang Ilso hastily tilted his head.

Whooosh!

The punch narrowly grazed past the side of Jang Ilso’s head. His fluttering hair slowly settled back into place.

A speck of seriousness flickered in Jang Ilso’s gaze.

“Hye Yeon, was it?”

“…”

“You seem a little different from what I’ve heard.”

Feeling the wariness swelling inside him, Jang Ilso slowly ran his tongue over his lower lip.

Strange indeed. That monk was already completely exhausted. Even if he were not, he still wasn’t someone capable of matching Jang Ilso. Hadn’t even this young monk’s teachers been miserably trampled by Jang Ilso?

Unless Hye Yeon, standing before him, were someone who could, by sheer talent alone surpass absolute factors such as time and accumulated cultivation, he could never threaten Jang Ilso.

Despite knowing this, Jang Ilso did not let his guard down.

‘Rare, but they do exist.’

Those who effortlessly defy the common sense of the world.

Right now, Jang Ilso’s instincts warned him clearly: the person before him belonged to that very category.

“If you won’t come, then…”

Crunch.

Hye Yeon clenched his fist tightly. The grinding sound of calluses, hard as iron, sent shivers down Tang Soso’s spine.

“This humble monk shall come to you.”

Boom!

As soon as he spoke, Hye Yeon stamped his foot firmly, disappearing instantly from the spot as though he’d sunk through the ground, only to immediately appear right before Jang Ilso.

A peak level of Swapping One’s Position [이형환위(移形換位)]. Yet no fierce aura accompanied it. His internal energy had reached such a perfected state that not even the smallest bit was wasted.

Before Jang Ilso could even react, Hye Yeon’s fist, blazing with golden buddhist light, flew straight towards the center of Jang Ilso’s chest.

Fwooosh!

Jang Ilso’s hand, wrapped in blue flames, swiftly intercepted Hye Yeon’s approaching fist.

Boooooom!

At the moment their hand and fist collided, Jang Ilso’s eyes widened sharply.

An unexpectedly powerful force surged against him – not destructive or explosive, but heavy, pushing relentlessly forward.

Thud.

Jang Ilso involuntarily took two steps back. As if Hye Yeon had anticipated exactly this outcome, he was already advancing with precise footwork to press the attack.

Swoosh!

Jang Ilso naturally raised his arm to block the fist aimed at his face. The bracelets on his wrist, infused with inner strength, blocked Hye Yeon’s strike.

Clang!

But then, Hye Yeon’s tightly clenched fist abruptly unfolded. His palm strike, delivered with the base of his palm [장타(掌打)], slammed heavily into Jang Ilso’s forearm.

A dull pain shot up his arm, and Jang Ilso’s eyes twisted.

Whooosh!

Jang Ilso swiftly raised his left hand and slashed downward. Wreathed in blue flame, the hand looked ready to cleave Hye Yeon in two.

Thud.

Yet just before the impact, Hye Yeon’s knee nudged the inside of Jang Ilso’s knee outward. Thrown momentarily off-balance, Jang Ilso’s strike narrowly grazed past Hye Yeon’s head. Seizing this brief opening, Hye Yeon unleashed a relentless barrage of punches.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the span of a heartbeat, the centers of Jang Ilso’s palms [장심(掌心)] and Hye Yeon’s fists collided repeatedly.

With each impact, Jang Ilso’s body trembled, however slightly.

‘This wretch…’

Jang Ilso’s eyes twisted with ferocity.

Kwaaaaa!

The blue flames engulfing him flared violently, emitting tremendous power. The fire itself seemed alive as it surged forward, wrapping around Hye Yeon.

“Amitabha.”

Not to be outdone, a golden Buddhist light burst from Hye Yeon’s entire body.

Supreme Power of Nothingness [무상대능력(無上大能力)]. The ultimate expression of Dharma, founded on the pure inner energy of the Muscle/Tendon Transformation Classic [역근경(易筋經)] – pushed out the onrushing blue flames in an instant.

Energy collided with energy, neither yielding so much as a chi. Yet through it all, the two kept hurling attacks at each other without pause.

Thump!

Then, moments later, Jang Ilso’s hand was slowly forced back by the impact of Hye Yeon’s fist.

Barely a chi or so. A distance too slight to decide anything. Yet for Hye Yeon, that was plenty.

Thunk.

Hye Yeon’s foot shot forward. His shoulder followed, driving heavily towards Jang Ilso’s solar plexus.

Yet, at that very instant, Jang Ilso kicked out fiercely at Hye Yeon’s knee.

Crack!

The strike was powerful enough to send chills through anyone who heard it. Nevertheless, Hye Yeon didn’t retreat one chi. Instead, he rammed straight into Jang Ilso’s chest.

Kuuung!

The sound echoed like a massive rock plunging off a cliff, followed by Jang Ilso staggering back helplessly.

“Haaap!”

Without hesitation, Hye Yeon stamped down firmly and launched the Hundred Steps Divine Fist [백보신권(百步神拳)] – straight at Jang Ilso.

“Kuh!”

Jang Ilso crossed both arms in a flash. His bracelets clattered as they met the oncoming fist.

Booom!

Energies clashed violently, sending shockwaves radiating in every direction.

In the fierce gusts, Jang Ilso’s hair rose wildly before slowly settling back down. Disheveled, he silently lowered his gaze.

Marks marred the ground – none other than the tracks Jang Ilso had left while retreating.

The man who had toyed with even Shaolin’s Abbot was now repeatedly stepping back against this young, inexperienced monk.

“Amitabha.”

Just then Hye Yeon’s voice rang out, reciting the Buddha’s name.

Exhaustion weighed on him, yet his clear, big eyes shone with an unsettling clarity.

“Shaolin’s fists are not weak. An Evil Path [사도] is still Evil Path [사도], the Orthodox Path [정도 or Just Path] cannot be overcome by it.”

“…Haa.”

A dry laugh slipped from Jang Ilso’s lips.

“This is why I can’t stand Just Sects’ idiots…”

Irritation surged within him.

Compared to his opponent, Jang Ilso lacked nothing. The inner strength driving his blows was greater, and his ability to manipulate his inner strength could more than overwhelm the youngster.

And yet he was being pushed back. Something that should have been impossible was happening to him now.

And what troubled him most was that he had no grounds for feeling wronged.

Heavy, hence powerful. Unlike the flashy and flamboyant martial arts of the Evil Path, Hye Yeon’s fists sought the Orthodox Path, and the Orthodox Path alone.

Heavy, and solemn.

So in explosive force they fall short of the Evil arts, and precisely because of that…

‘You can’t stop it.’

How could one stop a fully loaded cart rushing down a steep slope?

Could swinging a sword or making elaborate movements with hands and feet stop it? Could even a massive explosion completely deflect its course?

No, impossible. Such was heaviness – something impossible to move by external forces, steadfastly pressing onward in its chosen direction.

Within this young monk’s martial arts lay the very essence of that weight [중(重)]. The most fundamental of fundamentals. Precisely the essence of the Just Sects’ martial arts that no one in the world had ever dared openly demonstrate against Jang Ilso.

“Tsk.”

Jang Ilso clicked his tongue.

So this monk brat is at this level? Jang Ilso wondered if he had somehow overlooked his presence, but he soon dismissed the thought.

‘No, it can’t be that.’

Such a state undoubtedly existed – moments when one’s ability suddenly soared, despite no discernible change from before.

Moments when one escaped the shackles not of the body, but of the mind – liberating oneself completely.

Jang Ilso fixed his gaze on Hye Yeon, studying him intently.

“Among the Buddhists… they call it casting off the shell [탈각(脫殼)], do they not?”

Well, in truth, it did not matter what it was.

Whether it was an instantaneous phenomenon or something that would persist, only one fact mattered to Jang Ilso: that monk had become incomparably more dangerous than ever before.

Shaolin had hailed him as the greatest prodigy in a hundred years, and Chung Myung – judging talent alone – had said that even he could not compare with Shaolin’s Hye Yeon. And now that very Hye Yeon was letting his ability bloom in full.

Squeeze.

Meanwhile, Hye Yeon clenched his fist hard once again.

It was a peculiar feeling.

Though undeniably exhausted, vitality coursed through him. Everything in the world felt more vivid than ever, yet at the same time hazy, as though it were very far away.

It was a sensation he had never once experienced before – yet, oddly, it felt familiar and natural, as if the world had always been like this.

He could not quite name what it was, but one thing was certain.

‘I don’t think I’ll lose.’

He felt sure that everything he had built up until now had been for this very moment.

Upon the foundation of Shaolin’s martial arts, he had added Hwasan’s freedom.

In this rapidly changing world, all these elements intertwined, merging seamlessly within Hye Yeon’s being.

He gently suppressed the quietly rising joy with a firm, immovable mind [부동심(不動心)]. Then, Hye Yeon fixed his eyes solely upon Jang Ilso.

“Haaah!”

Once again, his fist extended heavily forward.

Arhat Divine Fist [아라한신권(阿羅漢神拳)] – like the Buddha’s power that annihilates Mara, a fist that subjugates the foe with irresistible might.

A colossal weight poured down as if to crush Jang Ilso’s entire body. The blue flames surrounding his flesh wavered precariously, like a torch in a storm.

“Hup!”

Jang Ilso gritted his teeth, attempting to withdraw.

But Hye Yeon would not release him so easily. Just as before, he unleashed Swapping One’s Position and appeared right before Jang Ilso.

“Hng!”

At that moment, Jang Ilso’s bracelets rattled and all at once shot up into the air.

Fwooosh!

A dozen or so bracelets hovered in midair briefly, then shot towards a single point – exactly where Hye Yeon had just appeared. Without absolute certainty he would materialize there, such an attack would have been impossible.

There was nowhere for Hye Yeon to flee. Seizing the advantage, Jang Ilso’s face twisted into something cruel.

Wuuung.

It was at that very moment.

Even as the bracelets, packed with inner strength enough to pulverize bone at the lightest touch, came roaring in, Hye Yeon, without a hint of urgency, slowly assumed the half-palm stance. The bizarre motion made even Jang Ilso falter for an instant.

Then Hye Yeon’s body, fixed in the half-palm stance, split into nine.

‘What?’

Jang Ilso’s eyes flew wide.

Ninth Stage of the Lotus Pedestal [연대구품(蓮臺九品)*] – among The Seventy-Two Supreme Techniques of Shaolin [소림칠십이종절예 (少林七十二種絶藝)], the essence famed as the temple’s purest flower, an ultimate footwork so abstruse words could not describe it. A legendary skill so rare that only a handful in Shaolin’s history had mastered it perfectly now revealed its form here.

Nine Hye Yeons – like nine incarnations of the Buddha in different postures – surrounded Jang Ilso.

“Amitabha.”

One of the nine drove the Vajra Seal [금강인(金剛印)] into Jang Ilso’s chest.

Kuuung!

With a tremendous impact, Jang Ilso was hurled helplessly backward. The blood he spat traced a rainbow arc across the air.

Next Chapter >>>

________

*연대구품(蓮臺九品) this is what was given to us in the novel, but this 구품연대(九品蓮臺) is what I have found online with the most reasonable explanation (the word order is different). What is “Lotus Pedestal” – the lotus seat in the Pure Land, categorized into nine different levels based on the depth and shallowness of one’s accumulated karma or spiritual merit. So the ninth level of this is basically the highest level one can achieve. (Doubling down this explanation from chapter 1585 where Beop Jong used it. Biga describes it like we haven’t seen it before). 

________

Please, subscribe/donate on Patreon or Buymeacoffee – support my work and help me buy official cookies to purchase the chapters. My schedule is on the About page.