Chapter 1670
There, too… a future exists. (5)
Boom!
A massive rock falls once again.
Boom! Boom!
Even though it is a nearly vertical cliff, being part of a mountain means it has to have a slight incline. Each time a rock collides with the cliff, a thunderous roar echoes throughout the mountain as if the sky were collapsing.
“Get out of the way!”
With a scream that seemed to tear through the air, the climbers on the cliff scattered frantically in all directions.
Though the attack was something they should have gotten used to by now, the aftermath of such rolling rocks was even more disastrous than before.
“Aaaaaaah!”
Those caught in the sweep were thrown into the air as bloody mess, while even those not directly hit lost their balance due to the vibrations and aftershocks, falling to their deaths.
Knowing that the attack was imminent, no amount of shouting could make a difference.
Sapaeryeon’s forces were already halfway up the cliff. Countless people clung to the steep cliff, but did they all have the ability to run along the cliff to dodge the falling boulders?
If they did, Sapaeryeon would have long since conquered the world.
Given the situation, there was no avoiding the fact that each time a rock fell, dozens of lives were cut short effortlessly.
It was fortunate that it was nighttime – had it been broad daylight, the white stone would have been clearly visible, stained crimson with the blood and flesh of Sapaeryeon’s members.
“C-Captain! This is…!”
“Shut your mouth! Don’t say a word!”
Meaningless sacrifices. Reckless advance.
Who wouldn’t know what words follow such actions? Even in his mind, similar thoughts had swirled around several times already.
But it’s not up to them to judge whether the operation taking place here has any meaning.
The ones who can decide if there’s any meaning to this foolish endeavor are all down below the cliff. Among them, especially one person.
If ‘he’ deems it meaningful, then even if it means everyone clinging to this cliff perishes, they must climb. That’s the way of Sapaeryeon.
So rather than indulging in such meaningless thoughts, instead…
The man’s eyes turned upward towards the cliff.
They had carved away so much of the rock that the top of the cliff had changed from its original shape. His eyes were bloodshot.
“That… damn bastard!”
How much inner strength does one need to have to continue this madness?
“Climb! Don’t stop until you tear that wretched bastard to pieces!”
His venomous voice echoed through the darkened canyon.
“Huff! Huff! Huff!”
The hand holding the sword trembled like an aspen tree.
Heo Gong’s entire body was drenched in sweat. The single strike that cleaves the rock – a blow that would deserve praise even if unleashed only once – Heo Gong was delivering it nearly a dozen times.
“Sa… Sasuk!”
The Mu disciples who had been guarding his back shouted with pale faces.
It was obvious to anyone that Heo Gong was reaching his limit, but no one dared to replace him in his role. Even the elders of Heo generation couldn’t dream of attempting it.
If they had learned the sword of Namgung or Paeng family’s techniques, perhaps it would be different. But delivering such powerful strikes with the sword of Wudang, which emphasizes balance and harmony, was truly a miraculous feat.
Even if someone stronger than Heo Gong stood here, they wouldn’t be able to deliver such strikes.
Crack.
The joints in Heo Gong’s hand, gripping the Pine Crest Ancient Sword, made a dull sound. Biting his lip, he looked again at the edge of the cliff.
“S-Sasuk! Please, stop this now!”
“We will descend the cliff! We can face them from the top of the cliff!”
Despite the desperate pleas of the disciples, Heo Gong merely tightened his grip on his sword without a word.
This place cannot be surrendered.
His fellow disciples were risking their lives to block the climbers on the slope. Screams and dying breaths echoed vividly up to where he stood.
He knew very well the mindset of those who were staking their lives. If this place were breached, their deaths would have been in vain.
If the central area opened up, Wudang would be unable to handle the overwhelming numbers of the enemy.
Therefore, in the end, they must stop the enemy from the top of the cliff themselves. But this would inevitably involve sacrifices, and even if they had mastered Vertical Cloud Ladder to its limits, fighting on a cliff is no easy task for anyone who isn’t a bird.
Heo Gong did not want to put his Sajes in danger just yet.
“Waaaah!”
Heo Gong’s sword glowed white once more.
As long as his dantian hadn’t burst, he needed to swing his sword one more time to block their advance.
Slash!
The crescent-shaped sword energy flew out without hesitation, slicing the cliff at an angle. A massive rock was cut. It slid and fell once again.
“Oh… oh no!”
The eyes of Sapaeryeon’s warriors clinging to the cliff filled with dark despair as the rocks tumbled down faster than before.
“These damn bastards!”
They cursed and screamed, preparing to leap once more.
“Tsk, tsk. It’s painful to watch.”
Someone lightly overtook those in the lead, soared upward, and astonishingly, charged head-on into the massive rock plummeting with terrifying momentum.
“What, what?”
In the moment when everyone was captivated by the reckless action and gasped in astonishment.
Flaaash!
A white force so intense it appeared transparent rapidly spread across the sky. From dozens to a hundred, and even beyond!
Countless shadow hands struck the falling rock, each moving in different ways.
Boom!
A series of rapid, successive impacts sounded like a single, massive explosion.
Soon, the direction of the rock sliding down the cliff shifted. It veered away from the cliff, being pushed outward.
“Stay close!”
The massive rock, narrowly missed the backs of Sapaeryeon’s warriors clinging to the cliff.
Boom!
A moment later, a thunderous sound akin to an explosion came from below the cliff.
This meant that the rock, which had been tormenting those stuck to the cliff, could no longer roll down and had finally fallen away.
In this miraculous situation, Sapaeryeon’s warriors instinctively looked toward the one who had leapt. Some of them widened their eyes in disbelief.
“M-Munju!”
“Cheon Myeon Susa!”
Standing with his hands behind his back as if the cliff were flat ground, Cheon Myeon Susa didn’t even glance at the shouts from behind but instead squinted as he looked up the cliff.
Though he had easily redirected the boulder’s path, it was impossible not to feel awe toward someone who continually sliced through such massive rocks.
“I don’t recall such a swordsman…”
In the past, the one he faced at the Yangtze River was a monk Beop Gye Shaolin. But he no longer exists in this world.
Moreover, Wudang’s Heo Do Jinin, who had matched equally with Mangeum Daebu at that time, was not the one to wield such sword strikes.
This means that another swordsman is on that cliff. Perhaps someone who is comparable to, or even surpasses, Heo Do Jinin.
If it were someone from Heo generation, they would have already shown their power at the Yangtze, so this indicates there is a new one who has reached such a level during the years of seclusion.
“…Indeed, it must be Wudang. Its depths are unfathomable.”
Before one generation’s glory even ends, another emerges to spread its fame. That’s the most fearsome aspect of renowned Just Sects, distinguishing them from the Evil Sects.
It was an advantage the Evil Sects, with no interest in nurturing future generations, could never have.
Haomun’s Munju, Cheon Myeon Susa, a peculiar smile appeared on Dam Yeohae’s face.
He hadn’t planned to step forward in this battle. However, if such sacrifices were necessary, especially when most of those sacrifices were disciples of Haomun, the situation changed.
And also…
A sudden flash of cold murderous intent shadowed the young-looking face of Dam Yeohae.
“If it’s a young Imoogi…”
He had learned enough lessons about this. Both in the Evil and the Just Sects.
If you dismiss a dragon’s hatchling simply because you can handle it now, it will eventually become a monster capable of tearing you apart with a mere tip of its claw.
“This time, I must surely cut off its breath before it becomes a dragon.”
Flaaash!
He shot up the cliff like a streak of lightning.
An absolutely formidable speed!
His movement technique, known as First Verse of the Evil Path [사파일절(邪派一節)], was executed to its peak, making Cheon Myeon Susa’s afterimage [잔영(殘影)] appear as if a blue lightning bolt was splitting the white cliff.
Flash!
‘I-I must stop him!’
Heo Gong, seeing this from above, widened his eyes. He must somehow prevent that man from reaching this place.
But at the moment, he…
“Stop him!”
Before Heo Gong could even open his mouth, the Mu disciples guarding behind him hurled themselves down the cliff.
“What are you doing!”
“We’ll handle this, Sasuk!”
Heo Gong instinctively reached out his hand, but it was futile. His disciples had already started rushing down the cliff.
“You can’t come up here! Sapa scoundrel!”
“Don’t let him reach Sasuk! Guard him with your lives!”
A cold determination flickered in the eyes of Wudang swordsmen.
Yes, perhaps it was fortunate to have the opportunity to step forward and wield their swords like this. Watching Heo Gong struggle alone from behind was far more torturous.
“You bastard!”
The warrior leading the charge down the cliff swung his sword at Cheon Myeon Susa.
Like a clear, blue stream flowing through a deep mountain valley, the pure sword energy, laden with determined resolve, rushed toward Cheon Myeon Susa.
And, to the surprise of the one wielding the sword, it struck Cheon Myeon Susa directly.
‘What?’
Then, the body of Cheon Myeon Susa, which had been split, suddenly dispersed like mist.
“Sloppy.”
Thud!
Before the emptiness from slicing through thin air could even be felt, Cheon Myeon Susa’s hand struck the side of Wudang swordsman.
It was a strike delivered at maximum speed to push away, not to defeat. Thus, it was a force too swift for the eyes to follow.
“Gah!”
As he sent Wudang’s disciple flying off the cliff with such speed, Cheon Myeon Susa barely set foot on the cliff before countless sword energies rained down upon him.
Swish!
White, black, blue.
It was like a storm made entirely of sword energy. A scene terrifying enough to make one’s hair stand on end, yet Cheon Myeon Susa maintained his expressionless face as he casually stepped through the pouring sword energy.
Whiz! Whizz!
The sword energy cleaved through the air.
In a span of time so brief it was hard to call it a blink, Cheon Myeon Susa shifted his body a dozen times. His incredible speed through the storm of sword energy resembled lightning striking within a tempest. This pinnacle of speed was astonishing even to those who had dedicated their lives to witnessing the tip of a sword.
Flash!
Cheon Myeon Susa broke through the torrent of sword energy as if it were merely an illusion and soared higher and higher.
Though those he faced thus far were of exceptional caliber, he, too, had risen to his current position by distinguishing himself among the countless Haomun’s disciples, as common as pebbles on the ground.
If not for the existence of the extraordinary figure like Jang Ilso, he would have been more than worthy of carving his name proudly into the annals of Gamgho.
“St-stop him…”
Those who had leapt with resolve turned their faces back in despair at the unexpected turn of events. They saw Cheon Myeon Susa distancing himself, going upward, showing his back to them. His hand created dozens more palm shadows in the air.
But then.
Boom!
Moments later, a deafening explosion ripped through the air, causing Cheon Myeon Susa’s hand to pause midair.
“Not bad.”
Among the dizzying array of countless palm shadows, a single sword perfectly found and struck the one true form.
As his hand met the sword, Cheon Myeon Susa allowed himself a faint smile.
“What is your name?”
“Heo Gong.”
“I am called Cheon Myeon Susa. Remember it well, for I am the one who will take your life.”
At the peak of the towering White-Faced Cliff, Cheon Myeon Susa’s hand and Heo Gong’s sword met.
The hand of the giant who grasped the past and the sword of the warrior who must advance ahead into the future.
Comments