Isn’t this the situation you were hoping for? (4)

Kaaaang!

As Jin Hyeon blocked the incoming force, his body was relentlessly pushed back. 

“Ugh!”

His hair, falling loose, sizzled and burned with a crackling sound.

Each exchange brought an unbearable heat that scorched his clothes and reddened his skin, as if he had fallen into the midst of a blazing fire.

‘Southern Sea Sun Palace!’

Sun Palace was renowned for its scorching hot yang technique, a technique that even the prominent martial arts sects of the Central Plains dared not follow. The heat made it clear why its fame had reached the Central Plains from a distant land.

Ching!

“Ugh…”

What was even more unbearable was that the sword was getting hotter the longer he faced the hot yang energy. If he hadn’t suppressed the heat with his internal energy, his Pine Crest Sword would have already turned as red as heated iron.

However, this method had its limits. As time went on, even holding the sword became difficult.

This was an issue of internal energy rather than martial arts proficiency. The immense energy accumulated by those old masters over a lifetime was difficult for Jin Hyeon to withstand.

‘No more, I can’t…!’

Just as a scream of pain was about to burst from Jin Hyeon’s lips.

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!”

Someone caught Jin Hyeon’s eye, rolling on the ground engulfed in flames.

“Sajeeeeeee!”

Instead of a scream, a shout erupted from Jin Hyeon’s mouth. His voice, filled with rage, anger, and sadness, echoed across the burning mountainside.

“Damn it!”

As Jin Hyeon prepared to launch himself forward in anger, a hand shot out like lightning, blocking his path.

Thunk!

As the sword and the palm collided, Jin Hyeon’s body was pushed back once more.

“Ugh!”

“You insolent fool, how dare you take your eyes off me?”

A Guardian* of the Sun Palace, his body wrapped in a fiery yang energy, approached Jin Hyeon with a fierce and menacing expression.

“You don’t even know your place.”

“Ugh!”

As the heat surged, Jin Hyeon’s breath was cut short, and he coughed harshly. The Guardian spoke angrily.

“To face me, at least an elder should come. Yet you, merely a mediocre swordsman, dare to stand in my way? Have those esteemed elders of Wudang all fled in fear?”

“Damn it, don’t speak so carelessly! They are not people to be insulted by someone like you!”

“You still don’t know your place!”

Rage surged in the Guardian’s eyes.

Wooooooong.

Crimson energy surged like molten lava from his hands.

“It doesn’t matter. Once l’ve killed all of you, those cowardly old ones will have no choice but to show themselves.”

The energy erupting from the Guardian’s hands stormed toward Jin Hyeon like a violent tempest.

Martial arts that stood at the peak of extreme yin, like the White Ice Divine Palm [빙백신장(氷白神掌)] of Northern Sea Ice Palace, were completely opposite to extreme yang of Southern Sea Sun Palace, the Sun Fire Divine Palm [태양화신장(太陽火神掌)], that was being unleashed here at Wudang.

Jin Hyeon barely managed to gather his wits, rolling his body to dodge the incoming force.

The scorching hot energy struck the ground narrowly, instantly burning the grass and even turning the soil red.

“You dodge like a rat!”

It was different from the usual palm force that strikes with inner strength. It also follows a different trajectory from Wudang’s Soft Palm [면장(綿掌)], which pushes the opponent away.

It was the pinnacle of yang palm force, which melts the opponent with the heat contained within the palm force alone. It is an intense heat, not even fire, so Jin Hyun could not easily find a way to deal with it.

“Ugh!”

Softness can overcome strength. But can softness suppress the heat itself?

The world was vast, and relying solely on the gentleness and softness was not enough. His sword had not yet reached that level of harmony.

Facing the incoming force was not the only challenge. The intense heat from the yang energy made even breathing difficult. Each breath felt like his lungs were being scorched black. 

Martial arts from outside the Central Plains had developed along different lines, and adapting to their strangeness was no easy task. It was unbearably agonizing.

Would he be the only one to experience this?

“Ahhh!”

“Jin Hwa!”

“My arm! My arm…!”

Wudang’s swordsman with one arm engulfed in blazing flames screamed in agony. He was prepared to face death for Wudang, but the burning pain from his body being on fire was not something that could be endured with sheer willpower alone.

“Aaaaah!”

It wasn’t just that.

If it were swordsmanship, he could somehow confront it, and if it were martial arts, he might somehow endure, but facing those who pushed in with internal energy head-on didn’t suit his affinity.

Especially since that internal energy manifested in the form of Hot Yang Qigong, which Wudang swordsmen had never encountered before, it was even more so.

“Mu Ryang!”

Mu Jin rushed over and embraced the charred body of his comrade.

He could sense it at a glance. There was no hope.

No matter how excellent Wudang’s medical skills were, no matter how remarkable the elixirs they possessed, they could not save someone who had been completely burned.

Nonetheless, Mu Jin had no choice but to say:

“Are you okay? Don’t worry! Okay? Right now….”

“Sahyeong….”

“Just a little longer! Just hold on a little longer!”

“Wu…dang….”

Mu Ryang’s head drooped lifelessly.

The heat burning his body remained, but an inexplicable chill seeped into him. Mu Jin bit his lower lip until it bled.

Sadness? There wasn’t even time to feel that. Sensing the approach of palm force, Mu Jin rolled away without even having the chance to retrieve Mu Ryang’s corpse.

Boom!

“Sasuk!”

Despite his quick reaction, a searing pain spread from his toes.

‘Damn it!’

Since the elders* of the Southern Sea Sun Palace had taken the lead, the narrow terrain that had allowed Wudang to hold out until now was instead working as a shackle.

Wudang’s plan to fortify the narrow passage with stronger people was fundamentally undermined by the appearance of those with superior internal energy.

‘Where are the elders?’

The most obvious way to deal with such opponents was for those with equal skill to step forward.

“Ji Won! Request immediate support from the elders who went to the other side!”

“I’ve already sent a messenger! But they haven’t…!”

Crack.

Mu Jin couldn’t suppress his dreadful feelings.

He couldn’t understand it at all.

A messenger? Was that really necessary? Even though there was some distance from the opposite slope, the edlers of Wudang, whose martial skills far surpassed Mu Jin’s, should have been able to sense what was happening here.

So why weren’t they coming to help? Was the enemy launching an all-out attack on the other side? In that narrow terrain?

The absence of the strong was destroying the balance here, so what on earth were the elders of Wudang doing?

However, the despair did not end there. Someone shouted.

“Sahyeong! Look at the cliff! You must look at the cliff!”

Mu Jin quickly turned his head in that direction, and his eyes widened.

He saw the group from Sapaeryeon climbing swiftly, clinging to the middle of the cliff.

‘When did they get this far?’

He didn’t lower his head. He merely turned it to the side. Yet now, the figures of Sapaeryeon’s warriors, who had not been visible until a moment ago, were clearly seen. This meant they had climbed over seventy percent of the cliff.

“Climb higher, higher! We’re almost there!”

The harsh voices of the enemies, which had been inaudible until now, echoed in Mu Jin’s ears. If they managed to climb up to the top of the cliff, Wudang’s disciples defending the slope would be attacked from both sides by the Sun Palace and those rogues. From both directions.

‘Sasuk!’

Mu Jin’s head involuntarily turned toward one person.

Boom!

At that moment, a massive explosion erupted from above, ringing in Mu Jin’s ears. The impact of the powerful energy made his body tremble.

In the darkness, the towering White-Faced Cliff loomed. At its peak, white and black energies and countless shadow palms clashed chaotically. It was a spectacle of superior martial arts he couldn’t even dare to imagine.

At this moment, Heo Gong was confronting Cheon Myeon Susa, who possessed a fame far greater than his own, on equal footing.

It was an incredible feat. Something to be admired without holding back. But, looking at it from another perspective, it also meant that Heo Gong, who had been guarding the cliff, was now being held back by Cheon Myeon Susa.

Mu Jin couldn’t help but sense it.

Like a solidly built dam starting to crumble from a small crack, the defensive line they had established on this cliff was beginning to show signs of breaking.

At this rate, it would collapse. The White-Faced Cliff, which they were defending for Wudang, would fall.

‘What should I do?’

His mind screamed that there was no hope left here.

And it seemed he was not the only one thinking this way.

“Sasuk, we must retreat for now! This place is too difficult!”

Would withdrawing, knowing they were outmatched, be called cowardice, or wisdom?

“S-Sasuk!”

Mu Jin’s eyes flashed open. He shoved aside the person shouting in front of him and instantly extended his sword. The tip of the sword raced toward the throat of the Sun Palace Guardian.

“You!”

Crack!

The Guardian swung his hand to strike the sword away and gathered his internal energy. The energy of yang expanded, ready to engulf Mu Jin at any moment.

In response, Mu Jin’s sword emitted black and white energy, drawing a small Taiji symbol in the air.

Boom!

The energy of Taiji wrapped around and pierced through the incoming palm force, driving directly into the chest of the Sun Palace Guardian.

“Ugh!”

The Guardian spat blood as he was flung away and fell down the slope. Now, only scattered bloodstains remained where he had stood.

“Sasuk!”

Of course, Mu Jin was not unharmed either.

The hot yang energy had covered the left side of Mu Jin’s face and shoulder, melting his flesh. Without even a moment to be frightened of the gruesome wound, Mu Jin slammed his sword into the ground in front of him.

He said nothing.

There was no shout to steel their resolve, no battle cry to die together. Mu Jin simply planted his sword and glared at those climbing the slope.

Even as one side of his face burned and melted from the heat, he continued. Seeing this, Wudang’s disciples who had been seeking a place to retreat stopped in their tracks.

“I too…”

Mu Jin’s lips parted with difficulty.

“I too am afraid.”

It was a very brief statement. But Wudang swordsmen shut their eyes tightly, as if resigning themselves. They could not retreat. They could not withdraw after witnessing that. After hearing those words.

“Primeval Lord of Heaven…”

Someone began to chant the scriptures.

Scriptures recited aloud to calm the mind.

Perhaps what they needed now was something they had repeated countless times before.

No more words were necessary.

“Charge!”

A massive roar erupted from below. The enemies were swarming up the slope, as if determined to sever their lives and the fate of Wudang completely.

Outnumbered and overpowered. 

It doesn’t matter what it is. Sometimes, crashing against the odds and perishing also holds meaning.

“Sasuk.”

“…Jin Hyeon?”

Mu Jin, who had lost one eye, answered without turning his head.

Perhaps Jin Hyeon felt the same despair he did. The only thing left was to make a grand finale.

But then, unexpected words came from Jin Hyeon’s mouth.

“Softness….”

“Hmm?”

“Enduring with all our strength isn’t everything Wudang stands for.”

“…What are you talking about?”

Mu Jin furrowed his one remaining brow and asked again. Jin Hyeon spoke slowly.

“They will come. If it’s them.”

Mu Jin slowly turned his head to look at Jin Hyeon. Jin Hyeon’s face, reddened by heat and blood, was serious. There seemed to be not an ounce of doubt.

It was like a drop of rain on parched earth. Seemingly meaningless and worthless, yet there was an expectation that more rain would follow.

It might be something else called hope.

“Yes, Hwasan….”

“Cheonumaeng.”

The names naturally flowed from the mouths of the disciples standing behind.

“…Hwasan Geomhyeop.”

They had been mocked and criticized. Sometimes envied, sometimes despised.

Yet the recklessness they had so scorned was now becoming a ray of light for those standing here.

‘I see.’

The recklessness that Wudang had mocked on this lofty mountain became hope for those in the deepest despair, just as Mu Jin was feeling now.

Realizing this, Mu Jin felt both a deep sense of relief and an inescapable shame at the name of Hwasan.

‘What did I truly know to judge them so carelessly?’

How could one who doesn’t understand desperation dare to speak of nobility?

“Fighting with the resolve to face death is natural. However….”

As if he had read his thoughts, Jin Hyeon gave a faint smile.

“If possible, surviving to face another day wouldn’t be so bad.”

A complex expression crossed Mu Jin’s face.

“Would they… try to help us?”

“They will come. For sure.”

Jin Hyeon spoke with conviction.

“That’s the kind of people they are.”

At that very moment, Mu Jin’s hand trembled slightly without his realizing it.

“They’re coming! They’re coming, Sasuk!”

Mu Jin shouted involuntarily.

“Retreat! Form the second line of defense on top of White-Faced Cliff!”

“S-Sasuk?”

Then he firmly grabbed the person next to him and pushed them back.

“Fall back, now! Survive until the end! For even a moment longer!”

“Yes!”

Wudang swordsmen began to withdraw one by one. Even as he shouted, Mu Jin was not sure if this was truly the right choice.

All he could do now was believe.

‘Yes, they will surely come.’

If it were them. If it were those he knew.