Return of the Mount Hua Sect
chapter-696

Nanchang, Jiangxi province.

Nanchang, the city that represented Jiangxi, wasn’t as big compared to the cities in other provinces.

Compared to Wuhan in Hubei, which was located near Hangzhou in Zhejiang, and Hefei in Anhui, located to the side, Nanchang’s reputation was a bit ambiguous.

But even so, a city was a city. Even today, people are coming and going in the downtown area of Nanchang without any place to even move.

And the same was true for the White Crane Tower, which was the largest building there.

The people who filled the top floor of the tower were heavily drunk and all busy talking about something. Although it is a thousand miles from Hunan, which can be called the center of the Central Plains, the most talked about topic among people here was, by far, the Heavenly Friends Alliance.

“So!”

A man explained something while speaking with his red face.

“And Mount Hua came walking in! Haha! Really!”

“Oh?”

“How was it?”

The people sitting around listened to the man with bright eyes.

The person sitting in front of them now was someone who had traveled to Shaanxi and witnessed the ceremony of the Heavenly Friends Alliance with his own eyes, so everyone was interested in every word he said.

“I don’t know if it is because I am from the Central Plains, but it surely felt so different. Should I say it felt majestic?”

“Yah, brat! No matter how well Mount Hua is doing these days, can you really compare it with North Sea Ice Palace and Nanman Beast Palace, which are the major Palaces? I heard even Sichuan Tang was there!”

“Ah, no! Tsk tsk! Were you there then?”

“… No.”

“If you haven’t witnessed it, then don’t say anything! Before I went there, was there any other news coming from Mount Hua?”

No.

The person in front of them, Jin Pyung, was someone who normally underestimated Mount Hua. Didn’t the people make it a habit to say that no matter how long it took, Mount Hua would eventually fail to rejoin the Nine Great Sects and simply remain a shadow of the Sect it was before its fall?

“You will not know until you see it with your own eyes!”

“So that is how amazing it is….”

“The rumors going around in Kangho don’t even describe Mount Hua correctly! People, think about it. As you said, there is the Sichuan Tang family, the North Sea Ice Palace, and the Nanman Beast Palace, and are they all normal sects?”

“No.”

“Would such sects mindlessly hand over the position of alliance leader to Mount Hua?”

“Hmm. Now that you say it…”

The person speaking was becoming passionate, raising his voice as he snatched the alcohol glass and gulped it down.

“Ugh! My throat is burning!”

He then reached for the alcohol bottle, but it was empty, which made him frown.

Before he could even ask or say anything, the people around him ordered more drinks.

“Server! Listen here! What are you doing? Get drinks for us! Nice ones! And bring us a suitable side dish, too!”

“Right! Right! I will bring it right away!”

Only after the new drinks arrived did the man open his mouth and speak with a happy look.

“Anyway, if any of you had seen Mount Hua with your own eyes, you would also agree. Mount Hua is a much more excellent sect than we all had imagined. Of course, it still might be lacking in some areas even now. But if that were a problem, Mount Hua’s reputation wouldn’t have risen at all.”

“Right. Right.”

“One can say that Mount Hua is already the ruler of Shaanxi, but from what I see, it doesn’t seem like it will stop there. Let’s see, then, with the Heavenly Friends Alliance, Mount Hua will gain its wings! The day will not be too far when Mount Hua will be called a greater sect than those in the Nine Great Sects.”

“Oh… right.”

“Well, listening to that, it doesn’t seem like a rumor anymore. Isn’t it said that even Jang Ilso of the Ten Thousand People Clan had visited Mount Hua to keep it in check?”

“So amazing. Jang Ilso too….”

Everyone sitting at the surrounding tables was now listening to their conversation.

While some people only pricked up their ears to save their pride, others who turned their chairs around were openly showing interest in this.

“Look here!”

At that time, one of those who had been listening quietly said,

“I am sure there were guests from the Nine Great Sects. What about them?”

“What about them? What do you mean?”

“Did they show expressions of signs of hate?”

“Ahh.”

The man chuckled as if he understood what was being said.

“I didn’t see any such thing.”

“Ah… is that so?”

The man who asked the question seemed a bit shocked.

“From the Nine Great Sects’ side, they couldn’t have been very happy with the Heavenly Friends Alliance?”

“You are saying that because you don’t know. Even if that was the case, it wouldn’t be like they would easily show it. That is how great the force of the Heavenly Friends Alliance was.”

“Ahhhh.”

Jin Pyung grinned.

“You might not know, but there will probably come a time soon when they will have to care about everything the Heavenly Friends Alliance does.”

“Ehh. Does it make sense?”

“Hahaha. It is normal to think so. But then just think once. When I heard the name Mount Hua, which was considered to be ruined by Southern Edge, I trusted and now the same Sect rules Shaanxi?”

“… that.”

Everyone went silent.

They couldn’t refute this. Among the Nine Great Sects, did anyone think Southern Edge, who had a high reputation, would be disgraced by Mount Hua, who was supposed to be ruined?

Of course, there were complicated circumstances, but they weren’t informed of those and there was no need to care too.

“Southern Edge was like that too, and there is no way they wouldn’t be like that just because one or two lost. Southern Edge is probably just scared to open the gate. Haha!”

It was at that moment.

Kwaaang!

Someone banged the table.

The people who were talking loudly looked in one direction.

A middle-aged man with a grim look, who was sitting in a corner drinking, was glaring at Jin Pyung.

“Let’s hear it… since you are so good at talking about things!”

Jin Pyung flinched at the killing intent emanating from the man.

‘W-who is….’

He moved his eyes and looked at the clothes of the middle-aged man. There was a symbol engraved on the shoulder, and this made Jin Pyung turn pale.

‘S-Southern Edge….’

Of course, it had been a long time since Southern Edge had gone into seclusion.

Now that they had, it couldn’t be that they knew what was happening. But the only ones who knew were the sub-clans of the Sect, which were all around the Kangho but with no contact with the main Sect.

As if to prove Southern Edge’s high level, the number of sub-clans was also high. Unfortunately, Jin Pyung had come across one of them here.

“Who is the ruler of Shaanxi?”

The man had a fierce attitude.

Still, those gathered on the top floor of the White Crane Tower were confident in their skills, but in the face of the ferocious force, they couldn’t speak and only gulped.

“I tried to hold back as much as I could! Southern Edge went into seclusion because it was worried about Mount Hua? Look into my eyes and say it again!”

“Ah, goodness. It isn’t like that.”

Jin Pyung was sweating and trying to calm himself down, but the man didn’t show any signs of it. At that time, the companion said,

“Great warrior, calm down. Why are you angry at them for saying something ignorant?”

“So you are saying we should just let those who know nothing speak?”

“Of course, I didn’t mean that. Words cannot be taken back once they are said. And one has to pay the price, too, right?”

However, even the companions of the man, who were expected to stop him, were getting up.

Those who finally recognized who they were all said,

“…Taihang Three Swords!”

“W-why are they here?”

The Taihang Three Swords.

They were swordsmen who focused their movements and activities on Taihang Mountain. They were from the sub-clan of Southern Edge and were known for not using their strength without reason.

They were known to have a lot of pride as part of being in Southern Edge, so it was natural that they couldn’t bear it since they heard such words said to their faces.

The man standing next to the person who got angry first spoke to Jin Pyung. He was a man with a cold look.

“Did Southern Edge say that it was scared of Mount Hua?”

“…i-it isn’t that…”

“Then why did you say it?”

“….”

The man clicked his tongue as if this was pathetic.

“You seem to have forgotten that you have nothing to say even if your head gets cut off now because of those careless words. What do I do? Will you be willing to let go of that tongue of yours? Or will you give me a hand?”

“G-great warrior! I wasn’t in my right mind and spoke nonsense. Please….”

Jin Pyung, who had turned to think, asked for forgiveness, but the three men’s faces were cold.

“If you said something outrageous, you will have to pay the price.”

As the men slowly got closer, the eyes of Jin Pyung turned to despair.

‘Ah, so ruined.’

It cannot be said that Taihang Three Swords were peak warriors, but they were not someone Jin Pyung could go against.

And the saying that he wasn’t a great warrior was only when compared with Southern Edge’s main disciples. Weren’t the murim warriors no different from grim reapers to normal people?

So, not pissing his pants was already a brave thing for him.

“S-spare me….”

It was the exact moment when Jin Pyung had fallen down to ask for forgiveness.

“I… I don’t think it is that wrong. Do you really have to scare people like that?”

Flinch.

The three people walking to Jin Pyung went still. They all turned at once, and there it was, a man with a long white robe near the window, sitting alone.

One of the three asked.

“It wasn’t wrong?”

“He exaggerated things. But what would be said if you blocked his mouth for saying such things?”

“…”

“Only those who are dishonest will try to silence and control others. Isn’t that why you are also intimidating that man now?”

The three of them became stiff at that.

“Just who are you?”

“I don’t really have a title for now because I am an unknown person.”

“How dare a no-name person say something like that to us!”

“Haha.”

The man laughed briefly and slowly got up.

“Just because there is fame, wrong doesn’t turn to right, and because you don’t have fame, there is no need to tolerate injustice. At least that is how it should be if you hold the plum blossom sword.”

“Plum blossom Sword?”

This cold look settled on the face of the Three Swords.

It was only later did they notice the embroidered part of his shoulder.

Of course, they were sub-clan disciples and it had been a long time since Mount Hua matched up to Southern Edge, and so they hadn’t seen the plum blossom with their eyes yet. But was there any other sect that used a flower as their symbol?

“You… you! You are from Mount Hua?”

The man smiled.

“Why should that be so important? The important thing is that I have no intention of looking over injustice. Step away from here. If not, I will have to show you how fast the sword is.”

“You!”

Shhh! Clench!

The Taihang Three Swords pulled their swords at once.

And then the man shook his head like there was no more choice.

“Please don’t blame my sword for being merciless now.”

Srrng.

A sword was slowly pulled from the man’s waist. The inside of the tower was filled with tension.