Return of the Mount Hua

Go ahead. Try and kill me. (2)

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Blue flames swirled and came hurtling in.

That heaving wall of fire was a single mass of condensed internal energy. There’s no way a human body made of mere flesh and bone could possibly withstand it.

Hair stood on end and muscles screamed in agony.

This was unmistakably ‘fear.’ No matter how many times one had crossed the boundary between life and death, even if one had managed to return from death itself, instinctual fear could never be wholly erased.

The fear that had been dulled beyond measure and buried deep in his chest came back to life, raging and thrashing about.

Yet Chung Myung was not consumed by it.

He knew better than anyone that the surest way to conquer fear was to face it head-on.

Fwoosh.

Chung Myung raised his sword as though to pierce the heavens.

The instincts he had honed on the battlefield sent a sharp warning: with his current body it was impossible to break through the attack engulfing his vision.

But Chung Myung ignored the common sense he himself had established and poured his internal energy into the sword.

“Ooooooh!”

Crimson sword energy swirled around the Dark Plum Sword.

The union of essence, energy, and spirit*. A soul boiling like magma was infused into the cold metallic edge that could never be mere flesh.

In the blink of an eye, Chung Myung’s sword slashed straight down from above.

Flaaaash!

The river of blue flames that had poured like an ocean split in a single stroke.

It was a sight that could not be explained by the laws of the world, nor by the logic of martial arts. It was closer to a miracle than to martial arts technique.

Before the flame, split only for a moment, could surge back in and fill the gap with tremendous force, Chung Myung charged forward without looking back.

“Jang Ilsooooo!”

Chung Myung’s sword swept sideways like a bolt of lightning.

Claaang!

Sword and fist collided head-on. The shockwave from the impact swept through the surroundings like a storm.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Chung Myung relentlessly swung his sword at Jang Ilso. He struck down from above, stabbed in like a lightning bolt, and slashed upward from below as if a dragon ascending to the sky.

Clang! Clang!

Under the blows that poured down like a storm, Jang Ilso’s eyes twisted. Just keeping up with the sword strikes left his hands and feet in disarray.

“Kgh!”

Damn it, he really was pulling off the impossible.

No matter how swiftly a sword is swung, a sword is still just a sword. It cannot be faster than the hand. That is the way of things. Unless Chung Myung’s martial skill completely overpowered Jang Ilso, this was simply common sense.

Yet in this moment, Jang Ilso’s common sense was being shattered mercilessly.

A sword he hadn’t quite managed to deflect grazed perilously over his shoulder. With its trajectory twisted, it should by all rights have been a wasted strike.

But at that instant, Chung Myung’s waist bent in midair as fluidly as a snake, and his sword raked across Jang Ilso’s shoulder in a single breath.

Paaat!

A long gash opened along his shoulder, and crimson blood spattered out. At the chilling pain radiating from the torn wound, Jang Ilso’s face contorted like a demon’s.

“Hahahahahaha!”

Even with his foe before him he burst into mad laughter. At the same time both his hands began to glow blue. Blue flames spun long tails, ripping the air in wild arcs with the movement of his hands.

Lines of blue brighter than the sea embroidered the sky. It was a sight of peerless beauty and deadly peril.

For an instant, shock flickered in Chung Myung’s eyes as he swung his sword. The lines of blue light were blocking every path his sword could take, always one step ahead.

Kagang!

The wayward blade collided with Jang Ilso’s Steel Flames [염강(炎鋼)]. Unable to withstand the rebound, Chung Myung’s sword was flung away even faster than it had been swung.

‘That bastard…’

The residual qi [잔기(殘氣)] of Steel Flames crisscrossed the air like spiderwebs. If he attacked with a sword charged with his full internal energy, he could easily cut through those faint, weak strands of qi.

But Chung Myung, too, had minimized the energy in his sword to achieve extreme speed, so there was no way to break through that qi now. It was as good as an impenetrable shield.

Chung Myung felt a chill run down his spine.

In that fleeting instant when sword and fist clashed, Jang Ilso immediately grasped Chung Myung’s limitations and devised a countermeasure on the spot? Even for Chung Myung, who had fought countless battles, this was a level of improvisation he had never experienced before.

Between the sharply drawn blue flames that seemed to divide the world Chung Myung stood in from the world he himself occupied, he caught a glimpse of Jang Ilso’s gentle, pale eyes.

And at that moment.

Chaeaeng!

As if to stitch the two split worlds back together, Jang Ilso’s palm [장(掌)] tore through the line of blue flame in an instant, tearing it like a sheet of paper as it rushed towards Chung Myung’s chest.

Faced with an attack that made every hair on his body stand on end, Chung Myung instantly drew his rebounding sword in to guard his chest. Judging that still insufficient, he propped up the flat of the blade with his left hand.

“Haap!”

A shout burst out. At the same time, Chung Myung’s hand bloomed with over a dozen afterimages [수영(手影) – hand shadows], like crimson flowers in full blossom.

Booom!

The flat of the Dark Plum Sword collided with Jang Ilso’s fist. Chung Myung staggered, spitting blood. His leg, stretched far back for balance, screamed in protest.

Had he not aided himself with Plum Blossom Scattering Hand [매화산수(梅花散手)], the broken blade would have pierced clean through his chest.

Even now the curved sword tip, like a viper’s tongue, hovered menacingly before his heart, ready to burrow in at any moment.

Crack. Craaack.

Chung Myung’s hand, forced to its limits, twisted as though about to snap.

Thud!

With a powerful step, Chung Myung shoved aside Jang Ilso’s attack, pushing it away to the side. The energy that threatened to shatter his sword was deflected, blasting past Chung Myung’s flank along with the pushed-aside blade.

Using that recoil as a springboard, Chung Myung spun like a top and slashed sideways at blinding speed.

The sword flew straight for Jang Ilso’s neck. Sensing the force behind the attack, Jang Ilso instantly pulled back. However…

Bzzzzzzz!

The sword, which had seemed to be swung at full force, suddenly halted in mid-air and began to tremble violently. At the same instant, crimson plum blossoms burst into full bloom at the pale tip of the blade.

‘Damn!’

A look of dismay flashed across Jang Ilso’s face. He shot his hand out swiftly.

Chung Myung’s movement just moments earlier had been nothing short of a gamble with his life on the line. Had his aim been off by even a single hair’s breadth, he would have taken the full force of Jang Ilso’s energy with his bare body.

But after risking so much, to think that sword strike was nothing more than a feint? Who could have predicted such a thing? Still, regret and frustration now would do nothing to recover Jang Ilso’s lost opportunity [실기(失機)].

Before Jang Ilso could even respond, crimson plum blossoms swelled and filled his field of vision.

Ordinarily it would have been impossible to unfold such a sword technique at this range, but Chung Myung had forcibly carved out the opening to do so.

Whooosh!

Jang Ilso’s Unyielding Blue Slaughtering Flames belatedly met the surging plum blossom sword energy. Yet the blossoms had already occupied every space his energy could extend into, keeping the Blue Flame’s power from reaching even half of its true might.

Where the blue flames failed to reach, countless plum petals scattered like a dream, swirling towards Jang Ilso.

Slash!

Petals bearing lethal edges lodged themselves in Jang Ilso’s flesh.

Slash! Slash!

They even pierced the Body-Protecting Qi [호신강기(護身罡氣)] he had raised with all his strength. The delicate, fluttering sword energy drew red lines crisscrossing Jang Ilso’s body.

Yet Jang Ilso paid no heed to the wounds continuously appearing on his body. Instead, he drew his left hand back with all his strength.

Crunch!

His fist, clenched with enough force to crush bone, began to glow fiercely with blue energy.

“Haap!”

With a short shout, Jang Ilso thrust his fist out in one motion. The blue Steel Flames that burst forth joined the power already in play, forming a raging vortex of flame.

Booooom!

Blue fire and crimson sword energy collided, erupting in an explosion. Chung Myung’s body was hurled backward like an arrow loosed from the string.

Thud!

There was no way Jang Ilso would be satisfied with just that. He stomped the ground and shot forward at incredible speed, catching up to Chung Myung at a terrifying speed.

“Hahahahahah!”

Blood streamed from his face where he’d been sliced by sword energy, but Jang Ilso couldn’t hold back his laughter. His eyes, wide and blazing, shone with ecstatic delight.

In that moment, even as half his consciousness was fading while he soared through the air, Chung Myung’s eyes snapped open. He immediately drew his sword all the way back.

“Uaaaaaahp!”

At last, Chung Myung’s sword thrust straight forward.

Thunk!

Using the momentum from swinging his sword, Chung Myung changed direction in midair and faced the charging Jang Ilso head-on. Taken aback by Chung Myung’s unexpected counter, Jang Ilso, who had been about to throw a punch, hesitated for a split second.

Flash!

In an instant, Chung Myung unleashed a dozen sword images, all aimed at Jang Ilso’s vital points. With his feet still off the ground, Jang Ilso found it difficult to respond.

Paaaat!

But there was no way Jang Ilso would be struck like this. He thrust both hands forward, and the bracelets he’d been wearing seemed to come to life, slipping off his wrists and scattering through the air to block the incoming sword images.

Kagagagang!

Sparks flew again and again in midair.

Paaaat!

Chung Myung swung his sword sideways, blasting away the bracelets that had stood guard around Jang Ilso.

Bang!

Jang Ilso missed no opening. He seized the extended blade that had yet to be withdrawn.

At the very moment a gleam of triumph rose in Jang Ilso’s eyes…

Thud!

Chung Myung slammed his forehead into Jang Ilso’s face. Jang Ilso’s head snapped violently back.

Thud!

A perfect moment to press the attack. But Chung Myung couldn’t follow up. The instant he’d headbutted Jang Ilso, two rings flew from Jang Ilso’s outstretched fingers and embedded themselves in Chung Myung abdomen. They moved so fast that blue trails lingered in their wake.

A split-second silence passed. Then, both men simultaneously gritted their teeth.

“Ooooooo!”

“Hhhhaaaaaap!”

Chung Myung, having drawn his sword all the way back, now thrust it forward with force. At the same time, Jang Ilso’s waist twisted as he hurled his tightly clenched fist to meet it.

Boooom!

Sword and fist collided in mid-air. Chung Myung’s body slammed into the ground, then bounced back into the air.

“Kugh!”

This time the impact was so great that a groan escaped Chung Myung’s lips before he could stifle it.

Crash!

Chung Myung, hurled more than five jang away, plummeted hard to the ground.

“Haah…. Haah.”

Catching his ragged breath, Jang Ilso looked down at his hand.

The back of his right hand was split open so deeply that the bone was visible, and blood soaked it through. Jang Ilso brought his hand to his lips.

“My, my… you must have taken me far too lightly.”

He slowly licked away the flowing blood. His eyes curved gently, and his pale irises flashed.

“Hm? Hwasan Geomhyeop.”

Chung Myung, still lying on the ground, opened his eyes.

The dark clouds slowly parted, and a faint waning moon revealed itself between them. It felt just like ‘that day’. Even that mocking moon, surveying the world from up high.

“Kuk……”

Something between a dry laugh and a cough leaked from Chung Myung’s mouth. Propping himself up on the ground, he slowly licked the blood from his split lips.

“Isn’t it strange… I ought to feel wretched right now, yet…”

As he muttered, a curious light rose in Jang Ilso’s eyes. Chung Myung yanked out Jang Ilso’s ring lodged in his abdomen, flung it aside, then flashed a chilling grin.

“…Yet somehow I don’t.”

Jang Ilso answered with a smile much like Chung Myung’s.

“It’s the same for me, you know.**”

With similar expressions, the two men smiled at each other. Ferocious hostility blazed between them.

Next chapter >>>

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*정(精), 기(氣), 신(神) – essence, energy, and spirit. In Taoism: vital essence – the body’s foundational life force (jing); life energy or breath (qi) – flows through meridians, the force used in martial techniques, internal strength, and breath control; spirit, mind, or consciousness (shen) – associated with awareness, mental clarity, willpower, and spiritual cultivation. In traditional internal cultivation and Taoist philosophy: jing transforms into qi, qi transforms into shen, shen returns to the void (Tao). 

**I just love how Jang Ilso speaks to Chung Myung. For example here he uses a so-called ‘declarative ending’ –란다 (the sentence 나도 마찬가지란다.).  –란다 is used to inform about something while adding a soft, familiar tone – often used by older people speaking to someone younger, like a parent to a child, or between close individuals. While Chung Myung always speaks like a thug.

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