Return of the Mount Hua

There’s no need for you to understand. (2)

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It hurt. It hurt so badly he felt as though he might go mad.

Had there not been so many people watching, he would have clutched his face and rolled around on the ground. It hurt that much.

“Khhhhh……”

They said that when the pain became too unbearable, one could not even scream. At this moment, Illusory Phantom realized that it was true.

Why was this pain so unfamiliar?

Then Chung Myung’s voice pierced his ears.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?”

There was unmistakable mockery in that voice.

“What was it you said? How many years did you spend in seclusion? And they said even before that, you were the sort of gentleman who went around holding his head high, so let’s see… Then it must have been at least thirty years since you last had a proper fight.”

“…”

“Long enough for you to forget what pain feels like.”

The pain remained. But after hearing such words in front of all these people, he could not simply stay like this.

Thud.

Illusory Phantom forced strength into his body, his back jerking upward, then planted his hands firmly against the ground as though he would crush it and rose to his feet.

“Y-You bastard……”

“You look like someone who cares a great deal about keeping up appearances. How about wiping your face before you get angry?”

Illusory Phantom reflexively clutched at his own face. When he felt around, perhaps because his nose was broken, or perhaps because his lip had split, bright red blood came away on his hand.

Once he saw the blood with his own eyes, the pain abruptly vanished.

Not that the pain itself had gone away, but that he no longer had the presence of mind to pay attention to it.

This blood restored his memory.

In a single instant, that sword had appeared in his world as he pushed forward at maximum speed. What if that sword had not been covered by its scabbard?

A chill ran down Illusory Phantom’s back.

“You kept up with… my speed. You?”

Disbelief filled both his eyes.

“Impossible. It’s impossible! Never! That can never be possible!”

Illusory Phantom shouted as though seized by a fit.

The way he denied what had already happened could hardly be called the behavior of someone in his right mind.

But at the same time, it was not entirely impossible to understand.

There was no way to know whether Illusory Phantom had truly remained in seclusion, as he had always claimed. But it was surely true that he had continued training throughout the time he spent in hiding.

More than twenty long years of training could only have been for one thing: to gain that speed. Yet the first person he encountered after emerging from seclusion had caught up to it as though it were nothing.

Then what, exactly, had Illusory Phantom’s past twenty years been for?

“Impossible……”

“Ah, you don’t understand?”

“…”

Chung Myung grinned.

“Then there’s no need for you to understand.”

He casually flicked his sword through the air a couple of times before resting it back on his shoulder

“Why force yourself to understand something you can’t? That’s not what matters, is it? Right?”

Illusory Phantom’s gaze wavered violently.

The person before him was an enemy.

Of course, he was neither as hateful as those against whom he had accumulated grudges while roaming Gangho, nor as loathsome as the ones whose lives he himself had ended.

But this young Taoist was the most dangerous enemy he had ever faced. Perhaps he would destroy not only his life, but his past and future as well.

Even so, those words alone were undoubtedly correct. What mattered now was not ‘how.’

“Huu.”

Biting down hard on his lip, Illusory Phantom thrust a hand into his sleeve.

“Yes… That is not what matters.”

“Hm?”

“This is no time to cling to something as trivial as appearances.”

He drew something long from within his sleeve.

“Oh?”

Chung Myung watched with apparent interest. What emerged from Illusory Phantom’s robes was a blade of bizarre design.

“Uh, that… what was it called again? I’ve heard of it before.”

“Yuanyang Yue [원앙월(鴛鴦鉞) – Mandarin Duck Blades – google how they look].”

“Ah, right. That was the name.”

Chung Myung grinned as he looked at the strange short blades [소도(小刀)] fitted over Illusory Phantom’s hands.

The Yuanyang Yue was a distinctive exotic weapon formed from two intersecting crescent moons. One crescent was sharpened into a blade, while the other was wrapped in leather and used as a grip. In other words, when held by its handle, the semicircular blade covered the back of the hand, while the pointed tips of the crescent jutted out towards the thumb and forefinger.

It was a weapon that allowed even the simple act of throwing a punch to produce the effect of a sword slash.

“You picked your weapon well. I was planning to laugh at you again if you pulled out some oversized blade. Looks like you’re not completely stupid, at least.”

Instead of answering, Illusory Phantom glared at Chung Myung, his gaze laden with killing intent. At that sinister aura, the Sect Leaders watching swallowed hard.

“Th-That…..”

“Shin Gun, what exactly are you trying to do?”

Anyone with even the slightest understanding of martial arts could not help but sense it instinctively.

Illusory Phantom Divine Lord’s speed lay in a realm they had never experienced before. But could he, having reached such a level, truly maintain complete control over his martial arts within that insane speed?

While charging at that kind of speed, was it really possible to avoid the opponent’s vital points and precisely drive a weapon into them?

‘Impossible. Absolutely impossible.’

Not even Illusory Phantom could possibly do such a thing. And did that not mean it would be no surprise if Chung Myung’s head were severed instantly, in a single moment of being careless?

This was no longer simply a matter of using killing techniques. At this rate, it would become a fight that could only end with one of them dead. How in the world did he intend to bear the consequences?

“You’re not going to say you’re scared now, are you?”

Chung Myung laughed at Illusory Phantom’s question.

“I haven’t even said anything much, but you’re already making a fuss because your guilty conscience is getting to you.”

“…”

“They say people attack their enemies over their own weaknesses. To hide those weaknesses, you see. In that sense…”

The corner of Chung Myung lips twisted slightly.

“Could it be that the one who’s truly afraid isn’t me, but you?”

Illusory Phantom flinched and stared at straight at Chung Myung.

“What are you talking about, you bastard? Afraid!”

“There really haven’t been many, have there?”

Chung Myung sneered, one corner of his mouth lifting.

“Times when you actually fought with your life on the line.”

Chung Myung spoke in an even tone, which only made his voice feel all the more chilling.

“That is why, even as people were dying in droves, you must have been cowering in fear, trying to save your own life at all costs.”

“I clearly……”

“Even an ordinary coward would not go that far. They might avoid those stronger than themselves, but even if it meant seeking out someone weaker to face, they would have tried to be of at least some help. That is simply the natural duty of a human being. But…. what did you say? That you did not know there was a war going on?”

Chung Myung chuckled as though he found it utterly ridiculous.

“I’ve got to hand it to you. That’s really something.”

“Y-You bastard, who are you calling a coward…”

“Don’t misunderstand.”

Chung Myung cut him off in a flat voice.

“The fact that you’re a coward is not particularly something to mock. Nor do I think it is wrong. Life is precious to everyone. Rather than getting yourself killed by rushing in without a shred of fear, it is smarter to survive, even if you have to do so in disgrace.”

This was Chung Myung’s sincere belief.

To risk one’s life to take another life. And, in doing so, to protect something.

It might be something worthy of praise as noble. But it must not be used as a weapon to condemn those who could not do so. For every person holds their own life dear.

“What’s truly disgusting comes after that.”

Chung Myung bared his teeth viciously.

“Once you’d preserved your life this way, you should have simply gone on living, you son of a bitch. While being grateful to those who died to protect your life. But the moment you thought the danger had passed, you strutted back out with your head held high, expecting people to treat you with the respect due an elder?”

The hand with which Illusory Phantom gripped the Yuanyang Yue trembled faintly.

“What a pathetic bastard you are. If you were someone worthy of being treated that way, you would not have spent the war with your head buried in the ground. You know it too. That you are not even half the man you should be.”

“You dog-like….”

Just as Illusory Phantom was about to spit out a curse, he reflexively threw both hands up.

Kaaang!

The crossed Yuanyang Yue blocked Chung Myung’s sword as it came crashing down like lightning.

“Ghkkk….. ”

Kagak. Kakagagak.

Chung Myung’s sheathed sword drove downward like the teeth of a snarling beast. It was strength so immense that it was impossible to imagine it coming from a body smaller than his own. That overwhelming force bore down as though it would crush Illusory Phantom’s body at any moment.

In an instant, his entire body was drenched in sweat.

Had he been even a moment – truly, the slightest instant – slower, his head would already have burst like a watermelon. This young bastard had swung his sword with no concern at all for whether he lived or died.

“Y-You madman…”

“Why? Weren’t you the one who drew a blade?”

“…”

“If you were that afraid of dying, you should never have dared show your face to the world again.”

The crushing force with which Chung Myung had been pressing down on Illusory Phantom had suddenly vanished. With his scabbard hooked around Yuanyang Yue, Chung Myung had unsheathed his sword with nothing more than a simple pull of his hand.

Sensing danger, Illusory Phantom threw himself back with all his strength, but by then Chung Myung’s sword had already swept past both his legs.

Slash! Slash!

Illusory Phantom staggered violently. Bright red blood gushed from the deep cuts carved into both of his calves.

“Ghk!”

Illusory Phantom’s hands, clutching his calves, were quickly stained crimson.

“What are we going to do about this? I don’t think you’ll be able to use that famous speed of yours anymore.”

The corner of Chung Myung’s mouth twisted upward.

Illusory Phantom could tell. Chung Myung was smiling, but… the look in his eyes as he stared at him – the nature of that gaze had unmistakably changed from what it had been at the beginning.

“What will you do now? Go back into seclusion again? Until the day I die?”

Illusory Phantom ground his teeth.

“Stop running your mouth as though you’ve already won.”

He removed his hand from the wound on his calf. Then he gripped the Yuanyang Yue once more.

“A few cuts won’t stop me from running. Since long before you even existed in your mother’s womb… I have risked my life roaming Gangho.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Once again, Chung Myung spoke calmly, his voice brimming with mockery.

“Then what are you waiting for? Prove it.”

The instant Chung Myung finished speaking, an immense wave of internal energy began pouring from Illusory Phantom’s entire body. It was distinctly different from before. As his energy surged like a tempest, the robes enveloping Illusory Phantom’s body billowed so violently that they looked ready to tear apart at any moment.

“Sasuk.”

“…So he still has one move left.”

Baek Cheon muttered as he held back the hair being whipped about by the fierce energy waves.

Time is granted equally to the brave and the cowardly alike. Whatever anyone might say, the internal energy that old veteran of Gangho had accumulated over so many years was truly terrifying. There was no denying it.

Gush.

Blood burst once more from Illusory Phantom’s calves, which had only been temporarily staunched. Swept up by the surging energy, the droplets scattered in every direction, swirling through the air like a crimson sandstorm.

Kaang.

Illusory Phantom struck the ground with his Yuanyang Yue and shouted.

“Right here!”

Woooooooong!

Having drawn his internal energy up to its limit, Illusory Phantom kicked off the ground with a roar.

“I’ll show you!”

Kwaaaaaaang!

Converting all of his internal energy into speed, he transformed into a single streak of light and shot towards Chung Myung.

At the same time, Chung Myung’s gaze settled calmly.

Shrrng.

Chung Myung slid the drawn sword back into its scabbard, lowered his stance, and gripped the hilt.

A row of white teeth showed between Chung Myung’s crooked smile.

“No matter what you do… it’s nothing but the desperate struggle of a greenhorn.”

Thud.

Planting a heavy step into the ground, Chung Myung tightened his grip on the sword hilt and, at last, hurled himself head-on towards the streak of light rushing straight at him.

Main Story Chapter 1938 >>>

Special Spinoff Chapter 56 >>>

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