C1674. Isn't This the Situation You Were Expecting? (4)
Kaaang!
As Jin Hyun blocked the incoming attack, his body was uncontrollably pushed back.
“Ugh!”
The hair falling over his forehead sizzled and burned.
Every time they exchanged blows, an unbearable heat burned his clothes and reddened his skin, as if he had fallen into a fire.
'Southern Sea Sun Palace!'
It was said that the Southern Sea Sun Palace, where even the renowned sects of the Central Plains dared not compete due to its scorching heat technique.
It was clear why its fame had spread from distant lands to Kangho.
Chiiiiik!
“Ugh...”
Moreover, what was even more unbearable was that the more he faced that heat technique, the hotter his sword became. If he wasn't suppressing the heat with his own internal energy, his Pine Pattern Ancient Sword would have already turned as red as burning iron.
But this method had its limits, and over time, even holding the sword became difficult.
This wasn't about martial arts skill, but about the amount of internal energy. The immense energy accumulated by those old masters over their lifetime was too much for Jin Hyun to handle with his own technique.
‘I can't... endure anymore...’
Just as a cry of pain was about to escape Jin Hyun's lips...
“Aaaah!”
He saw someone rolling around in flames.
“Sajae!”
Instead of crying out in pain, Jin Hyun shouted in rage. His voice echoed through the burning mountain, filled with fury and sorrow.
“Aaah!”
As Jin Hyun, furious, was about to charge, a hand shot out and blocked his path.
Boom!
The sword and the palm clashed, and once again, Jin Hyun's body was pushed back.
“Ugh!”
“A miserable person like you, daring to be distracted in front of me?”
The Guardian of the Southern Sea Sun Palace, wrapped in a fiery red aura, approached Jin Hyun with a sinister expression.
“Don't you know your place?”
“Ugh!”
The spreading heat made him cough violently. The guardian spoke angrily.
“To face me, at least an Elder should come. But, a mere swordsman like you trying to stop me? Have all the old men of your Wudang Sect turned coward and fled?”
“Don't speak so lightly! They are not people who can be insulted by someone like you!”
“You still don't know your place!”
Fury filled the Guardian's eyes.
Woooong!
A red energy as bright as lava surged from his hands.
“No matter. After killing all of you, those cowardly old men will have to show their faces.”
The energy surging from the guardian's hands swirled like a storm and rushed toward Jin Hyun.
The technique of the Southern Sea Sun Palace, the Solar Fire Divine Palm, was completely opposite to the Ice White Divine Palm technique of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, which was at the extreme of cold.
Jin Hyun, struggling to stay calm, rolled on the ground to avoid the burning attack. The energy of the palm, which hit the ground, not only instantly burned the grass but even turned the soil as red as fire.
“You move like a rat!”
This wasn't a typical energy attack. It was different from Wudang's Palm, which pushed the opponent.
The energy of the Solar Fire Divine Palm could melt the opponent just with its heat. It wasn't even real fire, but an extreme heat that left Jin Hyun with no options to face it.
‘Damn it!’
Softness can overcome hardness. But can softness overcome extreme heat itself?
The world was too vast to face it with just the principle of softness. And his sword had not yet reached a level of true harmony.
Not only did he have to face the direct attack, but the extreme heat of the Solar Fire Divine Palm made it difficult to breathe. Every time he inhaled, it felt like his lungs were burning.
Foreign martial arts had developed differently from those of Kangho, and the difference was clearly felt. It was extremely painful.
And he wasn't the only one suffering.
“Aaaah!”
“Jin Hwa!”
“My arm! My arm is...!”
A Wudang Swordsman, with an arm wrapped in flames, screamed in pain. Although he was willing to die for Wudang, the burning pain was not something he could endure with sheer willpower alone.
“Aaaah!”
And not just him.
They could face sword and fist techniques, but directly facing those internal energy attacks was too much.
Especially when that internal energy manifested in the form of the extreme heat of the Solar Fire Divine Palm, something the Wudang Swordsmen had never faced before.
“Mu Ryang!”
Mu Jin hurriedly ran and picked up his comrade's charred body.
He could see it at a glance. There was no hope.
No matter how excellent Wudang's medicine was, they couldn't save someone who had been burned that way.
Still, Mu Jin could only say this.
“Are you okay? Don't worry! Just hold on a little longer...!”
“Sahyung...”
“Just a little longer! Hold on a little longer!”
“Wu...dang...”
Mu Ryang's head fell lifelessly.
The heat that had burned his body was still there, but a cold feeling of helplessness seeped into Mu Jin. He bit his lower lip until it bled.
Sadness? He had no time to feel that. Sensing the incoming attack, Mu Jin had no time to pick up Mu Ryang's body and rolled on the ground.
Boom!
“Sasuk!”
Although he reacted quickly, a burning pain shot through his foot.
‘Damn it!’
Since the Elders of the Southern Sea Sun Palace had taken action, the terrain that had previously favored Wudang now acted as a shackle.
Wudang's strategy of using narrow terrain with stronger fighters had collapsed with the appearance of opponents with superior internal energy.
‘Where are the Elders?’
The best way to face these opponents was, obviously, with fighters of equal skill.
“Reinforcements! Ask for reinforcements from the Elders on the other side!”
“We've already sent messengers! But still...!”
Mu Jin couldn't contain his despair.
He didn't understand.
Messengers? Were they really necessary? Although there was a considerable distance between them and the other slope, the Wudang Elders, with their levels of skill, should have sensed what was happening here.
So, why weren't they coming to help? Could it be that they were facing a full-scale attack from the enemy on the other slope? In that narrow terrain?
The absence of the strongest was destabilizing the balance here, and Mu Jin wondered what the Wudang Elders were doing.
But the despair didn't end there. Someone shouted.
“Sahyung! Look at the cliff! Look at the cliff!”
Mujin turned his head sharply to that side. And his eyes widened.
The men of the Evil Tyrant Alliance were quickly climbing up the center of the cliff.
'When did they get here?'
He hadn't bowed his head, only turned it to the side. Yet, now he could see the men of the Evil Tyrant Alliance who were not visible a moment ago. That meant they had climbed more than half of the cliff.
“Climb higher! We're almost there!”
The shouts of the Evil Faction men echoed in Mujin's ears, something he hadn't heard before. If they managed to reach the top of the cliff, the Wudang disciples defending the slope would be attacked by the Southern Sea Sun Palace and those men from both sides.
‘Sasuk!’
Mu Jin's head instinctively turned to one person.
Boom!
At that moment, a great explosion thundered from above, shaking Mu Jin to his bones.
In the darkness of the night, at the top of the towering White Cliff (BaekAnAm), black and white shadows mixed in a frenzied dance. It was a display of high-level skills that Mujin couldn't even imagine.
Heo Gong was fighting evenly against the Thousand-Faced Gentleman, whose fame far surpassed his own.
It was impressive, worthy of admiration. But it also meant that Heo Gong, who had been defending the center of the cliff, was now held back by the Thousand-Faced Gentleman.
Mu Jin had no choice but to realize.
Like a dam collapsing from a small crack, the defense line they had built on this cliff was beginning to crumble.
If they continued like this, they would collapse. This White Cliff, which was key to defending Wudang.
‘What should I do?’
His mind screamed that there was no more hope in this place.
And it seemed that he wasn't the only one thinking that.
“Sasuk, we must retreat! This place is untenable!”
Was it cowardice to retreat when they knew they were at a disadvantage, or was it prudence?
“Sasuk!”
Mu Jin opened his eyes wide, pushing the person shouting in front of him, and thrust his sword toward the Guardian of the Southern Sea Sun Palace.
“What?”
Crash!
The Guardian swatted the sword aside with a flick of his hand and gathered his energy. The burning energy of the Southern Sea Sun Palace grew menacingly.
In response, Mu Jin's sword emitted a black and white energy, forming a small Taiji in the air.
Boom!
The Taiji enveloped and pierced the guardian's energy, striking his chest directly.
“Argh!”
The Guardian was expelled towards the base of the cliff, spewing blood. Only splashes of blood remained where he had been.
“Sasuk!”
Mu Jin was not unscathed either. The energy of the Southern Sea Sun Palace had burned his face and left shoulder, melting his skin. With no time to grasp the severity of his injuries, Mu Jin planted his sword in the ground before him.
He said nothing.
There were no shouts to muster courage or calls to die together. Mujin just stared intently at those climbing the cliff.
Even as his face burned and melted from the heat, he didn't retreat. The Wudang disciples, who were looking for a safe place to retreat, stopped.
“I too...”
Mu Jin spoke with difficulty.
“I too am afraid.”
It was a very brief statement. But the Wudang swordsmen closed their eyes in resignation. They couldn't retreat. They must not retreat. Not after seeing such determination. Not after hearing those words.
“Yuanshi Tianzun...”
Someone began to recite a sutra. Sutras are recited to calm the mind. Maybe what they needed now was that, something they had repeated countless times.
Words were no longer needed.
“Aaaaaah!”
From below, a great roar resonated. The enemies were climbing the slope. They were going to cut their lives, the fate of Wudang, once and for all.
Numerical disadvantage, or a mantis trying to stop a cart?
No matter. Sometimes, facing and being defeated also has its meaning.
“Sasuk.”
“...Jin Hyun?”
Mu Jin, with a lost eye, responded without turning his head.
Jin Hyun probably felt the same despair. Only decorating the end with some brilliance was left.
But then, Jin Hyun said something unexpected.
“Softness...”
“Hm?”
“Isn't all of Wudang enduring with all our might.”
“...What do you mean?”
Mu Jin frowned with his one eye. Jin Hyun spoke slowly.
“They will come. If it's them.”
Mu Jin slowly turned his head towards Jin Hyun. His face, reddened by the heat and blood, was serious. He seemed to harbor no doubt.
Like a drop of rain on dry land. Useless and insignificant, but still, there was an expectation that more rain would come.
Perhaps what they called hope.
“Yes, Mount Hua...”
“Heavenly Comrade Alliance.”
The names naturally emerged from the lips of the nearby disciples.
“...Mount Hua’s Chivalrous Sword.”
They laughed and scorned. Sometimes they envied and other times despised them.
But the recklessness of those they so despised now gave a glimmer of hope to those here.
‘So that's it.’
The recklessness that Wudang had despised on this noble mountain had become the hope for those mired in despair. As Mu Jin felt now.
Realizing this, Mu Jin felt both relief and shame for the name of Mount Hua.
‘Who am I to judge them?’
Someone who does not understand despair, how can they judge nobility?
“It is natural to fight prepared to die. But...”
As if he had read his mind, Jin Hyun weakly smiled.
“It wouldn't be bad to survive and meet again.”
A complex expression crossed Mu Jin's face.
“They... will come to help us?”
“They will come. Certainly.”
Jin Hyun spoke with conviction.
“Because that's how they are.”
Just as Mu Jin's hand began to tremble slightly.
“They're here! They're coming, Sasuk!”
Mu Jin shouted unconsciously.
“Retreat! Form the second line of defense at the top of White Cliff!”
“Sa, Sasuk?”
And he pushed the one beside him back.
“Retreat, now! Survive until the end! One more moment!”
“Yes!”
The Wudang Swordsmen began to retreat quickly. Though he shouted, Mu Jin wasn't sure if it was the right decision.
He could only believe.
‘Yes, they will definitely come.’
If it's them. If it's the ones he knows.
