Chapter 241: Chapter 241
Looking at the numerous disciples of the Mount Hua Sect gathered at Peach Forest Plaza, the Sect Leader opened his mouth.
“Flowerless Pavilion Master.”
“Hoho, did you call me?”
At the call, Hyeon-cheong stepped forward.
The Sect Leader gazed quietly at Hyeon-cheong, smiled softly, and opened his mouth.
“Please guide the Third-Generation Disciples and lay disciples to Soyodong.”
Everyone was startled by those words.
Soyodong was a deeply hidden cave, one of the Four Great Cave Heavens of Mount Hua, primarily where the elders went into closed-door training.
However, to tell them to go there was…
“You are telling us to hide.”
“That is correct.”
Hyeon-cheong nodded his head.
This was because he also well understood the reason the Sect Leader had made such a decision.
The Third-Generation Disciples were young boys and girls who had just recently entered the mountain.
Furthermore, the lay disciples were those who had places to return to, were they not?
However, the lay disciples strongly rebelled against the Sect Leader’s decision.
“What are you saying?!”
“We are also disciples of the Mount Hua Sect!”
They might not be a huge fighting force, but without even them, Mount Hua’s forces would be less than a hundred people.
They shouted appealingly, but…
“It is already decided.”
The Sect Leader did not waver.
The Green Forest was not an easy opponent.
They might lose their lives in the process of the clash.
So how could he force them to sacrifice themselves?
“But Sect Leader…!”
Just as the lay disciples’ backlash was growing.
“Calm down.”
Hyeon-cheong intervened.
He had moved his position at some point, and as he patted the heads of the Third-Generation Disciples who had begun to cry, unable to endure the suddenly changed atmosphere, he said.
“Are the children not getting scared?”
When the lay disciples, flustered by that, merely opened and closed their mouths.
“Then may I take my leave now?”
Hyeon-cheong asked while looking at the Sect Leader.
The Sect Leader nodded his head.
“Now, stop your tears and let us go together.”
To calm the Third-Generation Disciples who looked ready to burst into tears, Hyeon-cheong, with a smile on his face, gathered the children and began to move.
A moment later, Hyeon-cheong and the Third-Generation Disciples left Peach Forest Plaza, but the lay disciples did not move a single step.
The Sect Leader looked at them and asked.
“Why did you not go with them?”
“No matter if we are lay disciples, we are also disciples of the Mount Hua Sect. So how could we stay hidden when our martial brothers are risking their lives to fight?”
“Are you perhaps discriminating against us because we are lay disciples?”
The Sect Leader shook his head at a lay disciple’s question.
“When have I ever discriminated against you?”
“Then, why are you telling us to hide?”
“I am not telling you to hide, but to relocate for the future of the Mount Hua Sect.”
The Sect Leader spoke softly.
“I entrust the children to you.”
The lay disciples’ eyes wavered.
Having heard such words, insisting on continuing to fight was no different from childish whining.
“So you should quickly go, right?”
Cheon-hwi moved his lips while glancing over the few lay disciples.
“With your level of skill, staying here will only be a hindrance. Do you know how hard it is to fight while protecting someone?”
“…….”
“Ah, are you perhaps worried that the cave will be stuffy? If so, do not worry. We will finish this quickly and come find you.”
At Cheon-hwi’s confident words, the lay disciples stood silently for a moment.
At that time, registered disciples including Hyeon-yang and Jeok-geom approached and tightly grabbed their hands.
The lay disciples met the eyes of the elders and martial brothers who were holding their hands.
“I entrust the children to you.”
“We believe in you, Senior Martial Brothers.”
“You can do at least this much, right? Is that not so?”
Seeing the earnest words and gazes, the lay disciples collected their minds and moved their lips.
“…Understood. Even if we must lay down our lives, we will protect our martial nephews. So please, make sure to return safely.”
At the words of Song Yang-jeong, the Second-Generation Disciple who had stayed the longest on Mount Hua among the lay disciples, Hyeon-yang smiled softly and said.
“Do not worry.”
“Understood.”
Song Yang-jeong turned his body and said.
“Let us go as well.”
A few lay disciples still looked dissatisfied, but they too soon nodded their heads.
And they slowly bowed their heads.
“We will wait in Soyodong.”
“Please make sure to come quickly.”
After bowing deeply once, the lay disciples quickly chased after Hyeon-cheong and the Third-Generation Disciples who had left.
Soon, as they hid their figures.
The Sect Leader erased his smile and said.
“I believe you all know.”
It was a remark tossed out without any explanation, but a sense of tension hung over the area.
Soon, the Sect Leader’s mouth opened again.
“The malicious horde of the Green Forest is climbing up to trample the sacred Mount Hua that has been protected since the times of our ancestors.”
The disciples tightly clenched their fists.
It was a story they already knew because they had heard it.
However, the moment they heard this directly from the Sect Leader, the pressure they felt was different.
The Sect Leader observed those disciples.
It was a force of not even a hundred people.
A small number compared to the Green Forest bandits currently coming up.
‘If only Hyeon-do, Hyeon-jin, Cheon Yu, and the children at the Martial Alliance were here…’
A regretful thought came to mind, but he quickly shook off that emotion.
‘Should a Sect Leader be shaken?’
The Sect Leader, having closed and opened his eyes, spoke towards the disciples looking up at him.
“Is there perhaps anyone who does not wish to fight?”
“There is no one!”
A resounding shout echoed out.
Various emotions were mixed and flowing out in their gazes.
Anxiety, nervousness, fear, and so on.
There were some negative emotions, but what filled most of their eyes was determination and fighting spirit.
Reading such gazes of the disciples, the Sect Leader whispered softly.
“Good.”
Seureureung…
With those words, he drew his sword.
At that moment, a surprising change occurred.
Hwaaak…
A faint sunset glow, which began to spread centering on the sword raised high to the sky, rapidly dyed the deep blue sky.
Hyeon-sang, who operated the Purple Cloud Divine Art, looked at the disciples before his eyes and shouted resolutely.
“Then everyone, draw your swords! And pour out everything you have! It is time to show our strength to that malicious horde who is looking down on Mount Hua!”
At that, the disciples drew their swords in unison.
And like the Sect Leader, they raised their swords toward the sky and shouted powerfully.
“Yes! Sect Leader!”
“Mount Hua does not fall!”
Successive shouts echoed loudly.
Meanwhile, Cheon-hwi, who was standing blankly on one side of Peach Forest Plaza, made an apathetic expression.
“Is this not making too much of a fuss over just the Green Forest… Huh?”
In an instant, Cheon-hwi’s head turned swiftly.
‘Oh my? What is this?’
Cheon-hwi’s eyes sank heavily.
The momentum that was gradually approaching the mountain gate was blooming intensely, as if to burn Mount Hua.
‘To think a master with this level of skill would emerge from the Green Forest?’
Cheon-hwi looked at the mountain gate with surprised eyes.
‘I have heard the saying that a dragon rises from a small stream, but I never thought a dragon would emerge from the Green Forest.’
At that moment.
Kwaaaang!
A tremendous explosion was heard.
Dust rose from where the mountain gate was located far away, and through it, the shadows of numerous people were gradually approaching.
And a moment later.
Jeobeok… Jeobeok…
A man pierced through the dust and appeared.
The disciples, seeing the beast-like middle-aged man with his long hair bearing sparse white strands left untied, tensed at the pressure exuding from him.
“The day is quite nice.”
The middle-aged man, the Great Emperor of the Green Forest, looked up at the sky with his hands behind his back, pouted one side of his lips, and lowered his gaze toward the Mount Hua Sect disciples in front of him.
Thump.
The disciples’ hearts sank.
The moment his pitch-black pupils looked at them, they felt their entire bodies stiffen.
At that time, the Sect Leader walked out and stood in front of the disciples.
“Doors are meant to be opened, yet you smash it like this. Did you not even learn such basics?”
Spreading the internal energy of the Purple Cloud Divine Art with his words, he took a large step forward.
At that moment, a violent violet wind blew.
Hwaaak!
The momentum that had wrapped around the disciples scattered and disappeared in an instant.
“Oho.”
The Great Emperor of the Green Forest’s smile deepened further.
The only thing in the world that exuded such a vivid violet energy was one.
‘Mount Hua Sect’s Purple Cloud Divine Art…!’
The Great Emperor of the Green Forest, his eyes shining, said.
“You must be the Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect.”
“And are you the Great Emperor of the Green Forest?”
“Huhuhu, can you not tell by looking?”
The Great Emperor of the Green Forest, having laughed once, waved his left hand.
At that moment, a green wind began to rise from his sleeve, and soon.
Huuung!
A fierce vortex surged, blowing the thick dust covering his back up into the sky.
“…….”
At that moment, silence hung in the air.
It was because as the thickly settled dust cleared, numerous neatly arrayed Green Forest bandits revealed their figures.
Even a rough count showed a number well over a hundred. Moreover, the momentum of each and every one of them was extraordinary.
The Sect Leader’s eyebrows twitched.
‘Was the Green Forest’s power this mighty?’
No matter how large the Green Forest had become, he thought the number of masters would be few.
After all, they were merely a group of mountain bandits, were they not?
However, the reality facing him now was completely different from his expectations.
‘Even compared to the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect, they do not fall behind. Especially those two, even when compared to the elders…’
The Sect Leader quickly glanced at the white-robed middle-aged man and the shabby-looking old man who had already taken positions on both sides of the Great Emperor of the Green Forest.
Compared to the Great Emperor of the Green Forest, their momentum was weaker, but it was at a level that could never be underestimated.
Meanwhile, the Great Emperor of the Green Forest looked around and opened his mouth.
“What a magnificent view. It truly deserves to be called Mount Hua.”
He continued speaking after leisurely appreciating the scenery like someone who had come sightseeing to Mount Hua.
“But it is a pity. I should have come when the plum blossoms were blooming.”
His gaze turned toward the massive rocky peaks soaring high into the sky.
The Great Emperor of the Green Forest, who saw the peaks that looked like fully blossomed flowers, twisted one corner of his mouth very slowly.
“Because plum blossoms will never bloom again in the Mount Hua Sect.”
“Where do you think this is to spout such reckless remarks?!”
“That bastard!”
When the disciples flared up and shouted.
“Kill them all.”
The Great Emperor of the Green Forest ordered coldly.
“Hehehe, we have been waiting for those words.”
“Kill them all!”
“It is time to show the power of the Green Forest!”
Starting with Gi Ryeon-no, the Green Forest bandits lunged toward the disciples of the Mount Hua Sect.
The Sect Leader, staring at the incoming Green Forest bandits, slowly raised his sword.
“Do not lose, everyone!”
The moment those words ended.
“Yes! Sect Leader!”
The disciples of the Mount Hua Sect threw their bodies without delay and mingled with the Green Forest bandits.
* * *
Standing on one side of Peach Forest Plaza and quietly watching the fight, Cheon-hwi smiled.
‘It is the perfect level of skill for gaining real combat experience.’
Currently, the disciples’ skills were very slightly ahead of the Green Forest bandits.
Instead, the number of Green Forest bandits was greater, offsetting that advantage, so the balance was roughly matching.
‘Hmm, I just need to step in when it is dangerous.’
As Cheon-hwi was lost in thought while looking around for a long time, some shadow pounced.
“How dare you look away!”
A Green Forest bandit roughly swung the axe held in his two hands.
The moment the axe, struck down like lightning, was about to reach the crown of Cheon-hwi’s head.
Seugeok!
A gruesome sound rang out.
‘Huh? Why is the sky suddenly?’
The Green Forest bandit was dumbfounded.
He had certainly swung his axe toward the young Taoist bastard standing stupidly.
But suddenly his vision shot up, and a clear, blue sky could be seen.
‘Could it be that I was hit…’
In the vision of the Green Forest bandit who belatedly realized the situation, the blue sky began to be increasingly dyed red.
And just like that, his consciousness was cut off.
Degururu…
“Coming forward just to die.”
Looking at the head that belatedly fell to the ground and rolled about, and the body that had not yet fallen, Cheon-hwi muttered as he flicked the blade of his sword.
Tududuk…
Blood drops splattered everywhere, and the surrounding Green Forest bandits froze in the posture of their charge.
Cheon-hwi looked at them, who were stiff like trees, and moved his lips.
“Why? Are you guys coming too?”
Gulp…
The Adam’s apples of the Green Forest bandits, swallowing dry saliva, bobbed noticeably.
‘How did he kill him?’
‘What on earth just happened?’
They could not understand.
In the hands of that young Taoist bastard, who they thought would soon die by their comrade’s hand, a sword was already held, and their charging comrade had lost his neck and collapsed on the ground.
It was in the blink of an eye.
Yet they saw nothing.
Not to mention him swinging the sword, they didn’t even see him draw the sword.
What that meant was one thing.
‘A master…’
‘Someone we cannot match…’
Cold sweat ran down their foreheads.
They could not turn their bodies around here.
Showing their backs to a master of that level was tantamount to courting death.
At that time, Cheon-hwi suddenly tilted his head to the side and his eyes shone.
“Oh? Are you doing it properly now?”
The Green Forest bandits were flustered by his defenseless action of suddenly looking elsewhere, but…
That was only for a moment.
Tat!
The Green Forest bandits, without anyone going first, all lunged at Cheon-hwi in unison.
‘It is an opportunity!’
‘Now is the only time!’
The moment they put strength into their feet and kicked off the ground, a large dust storm rose.
“Huh?”
Cheon-hwi turned his head at the commotion.
However, before his head completely turned, a total of eight Green Forest bandits had already reached a very short distance from Cheon-hwi.
Buuung!
The Green Forest bandits swung their axes and blades roughly, as if to hack Cheon-hwi to pieces right away.
Udeudeuk…
They swung so fiercely that their muscles seemed to scream.
Presently, the moment sharp auras from all directions split the air and descended upon Cheon-hwi.
Flash!
A flash of light swallowed their vision.
And.
Tududuk…
Blood rain fell around Cheon-hwi.
“I have no time to deal with you guys.”
Cheon-hwi did not even cast a glance at the fallen corpses, and immediately moved his steps.
Jeobeok…
Just a single step.
However, Cheon-hwi, who vaulted over a distance of dozens of zhang in a single breath with that one step, was suddenly staring at the situation before him from the corner of Peach Forest Plaza.
Amidst the entanglement of numerous Green Forest bandits and Mount Hua Sect disciples fighting, there was a sight that distinctly captured the vision.
The Great Emperor of the Green Forest and the Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect.
The two elders representing the Green Forest and the Mount Hua Sect were now looking at each other, slowly raising their internal energy.
A green internal energy harboring an intense fighting spirit.
Contrary to that, the violet Purple Cloud Divine Art that gently dyed the space.
Jjeojeojeojeok!
Watching the two contrasting energies encroaching upon Mount Hua, Cheon-hwi grinned.
“This is something to look forward to.”