Return of the Mount Hua Sect

‘Uhh…’

The Yin qi slowly seeped into Chung Myung’s body as his internal qi moved through the ground.

‘This is serious; this place is serious.’

They could see why the cold here was different from the north. The cold and Yin were similar but with different properties. It might be colder, but there wouldn’t be many places as intense as this.

Chung Myung pushed ahead, and his internal qi spread out like a spider’s web.

That sensation flowed down into the valley.

‘Slowly.’

The important thing wasn’t seeing but finding it accurately.

Searching for the ice crystals in this valley filled with Yin qi was like finding white sand on a white beach.

So, it wouldn’t be possible to notice it by searching roughly.

‘It should be here for sure.’

However, Chung Myung’s face turned darker and darker. No matter how much he searched, he couldn’t find any trace of the ice crystals.

There were two possibilities if he couldn’t find the ice crystals even after all this.

One, the crystals had all been taken away, and none were left.

And the other…

‘Am I unable to find them?’

Chung Myung’s eyes twitched.

This was a matter of pride.

‘Ugh. I didn’t want it to go this way.’

Chung Myung bit his tongue. He decided to absorb more Yin qi into his body. The Yin qi and coldness seeped through his body, and white frost began to form on his skin.

“Huh….”

“Sasuk, what’s wrong with him? What’s going on?”

“… Let’s wait a little longer.”

The disciples of Mount Hua all looked worriedly at Chung Myung.

Shhh.

Chung Myung, who had immersed himself in the Yin qi, focused his entire mind.

In his normal, heated state, he couldn’t distinguish between what was colder and less cold. But in a naturally cold place, he could discern the subtle differences.

A delicate and hard qi circulated around him.

“It should definitely be here!”

There was no way there were no ice crystals in a place with so much Yin qi. If all the ice crystals were gone, it would mean that the Yin Qi should no longer be here.

So there should be ice crystals!

At that moment…

Flinch!

Chung Myung’s body twitched.

His body moved through the cold and gloomy qi as if moving within a deep sea.

There was a ray of light, and it felt quite hard…

“Here!”

Chung Myung jumped.

He ran to where he had felt it and slammed his fist against the ground.

Thud!

“Sasuk! It’s here!”

“You found it?”

“Yes! It’s here! We can dig from here!”

Baek Cheon rushed out with the pickaxe he had prepared in advance.

“Nice. How much do we dig?”

“I think we need to dig around 90 meters or so.”

“Right, 9… what now?”

90 meters?

Did he really just say that kind of distance in the mountains?

“… Is there nothing until there?”

“We need to look.”

“… Then let’s put this on hold for now.”

Chung Myung smiled.

“Stop talking nonsense and hurry up.”

“…”

Baek Cheon gazed at Chung Myung with fear in his eyes. Yoon Jong, who stood beside him, nudged Baek Cheon and stepped forward.

“So, is this spot enough?”

“Yes.”

“Great! I’ll work here, you go search somewhere else! 10 times! 10 times!”

Yoon Jong’s eyes gleamed as he started swinging his pickaxe.

Clang!

The hard, frozen ground didn’t easily crack, even with his internal qi. But if it didn’t work once, he would do it twice, and if it didn’t work twice, he would do it 10 times.

Clang! Clang!

The ground struck by the pickaxe shattered and scattered like pieces of iron.

“Sahyung! I’ll help too!”

Jo Gul tightly grasped his pickaxe and joined Yoon Jong in digging.

Clang! Clang!

Within moments, they had dug up to their waists, their eyes wild like those of madmen.

Jo Gul cursed.

“AHHHHHH! Damn it!”

“Don’t straighten your back! Do a hundred more movements, and then look at the sky!”

“S-sahyung, this is harder than I thought…”

“Shut up!”

Jo Gul flinched as Yoon Jong shouted.

“He can’t see things anymore.”

This man would act strange from time to time. And right at that moment…

“Amitabha. Disciple Yoon Jong and Jo Gul. Stop for now.”

“… Huh?”

Hae Yeon approached them with a stern expression.

“Monk?”

“Please come out for a moment.”

“…”

Without any further questions, the two of them stepped outside the hole. They wouldn’t have followed the request if it was Chung Myung, but Hae Yeon wasn’t the kind to speak without reason.

And he then spoke with a serious expression.

“It would easily take 10 days to acquire those ice crystals by doing it this way.”

“Then…”

“Amitabha.”

After closing his eyes and appearing sorrowful, Hae Yeon then opened his eyes, revealing a blue shine that didn’t appear very benevolent.

Woooong!

Soon, a golden hue emitted from his body.

“Burst through this land with a strength mightier than metal! OHHHHH!”

Hae Yeon’s power spread throughout the area. The disciples of Mount Hua, who had witnessed this once before, involuntarily opened their mouths.

“A-Arhat Divine Fist?!”

Kwannggg!

Shaolin was recognized as the greatest sect in the world and was known for its martial arts. The Arhat martial arts was one of the Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts, supposedly engraved in every disciple.

Grrrrrng!

The world shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and even the ground cracked.

If one were to speak of the power, it would be…

“…Now dig.”

“If the Abbot of Shaolin witnessed this, he would have been in agony.”

“But this yields the best result.”

When it came to slashing and cutting, Hae Yeon couldn’t match the disciples of Mount Hua, but when it came to shattering and crushing, there was no contest.

His immense strength and force crushed the land, which was as hard as iron, like tofu.

“Dude, check it out!”

“Come on, let’s do it!”

Baek Cheon and the other disciples hurriedly jumped into the pit, each wielding a shovel, and swiftly dug out the crushed ice stones in an instant.

“Wow!”

BOOM!

Hae Yeon again unleashed the Arhat Divine Fist technique, causing the whole place to shake.

“… What’s he up to?”

“Oh my gosh!”

The workers were all terrified as they witnessed this. They were all skilled fighters, but this was the first time they had seen someone dig like that.

“Why is that monk making the ground crumble like that? Could he be from Shaolin?”

“How strong is he, anyway…”

The most surprised person was Song Won, who was observing from the sidelines.

“Are all the people from the Central Plains like this?”

He had heard that the martial arts of the Central Plains were exceptional, but the North Sea was not far behind. Yet, what he saw before him was truly astonishing.

How powerful would Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon be if the monk’s skills were at that level?

“Amitabha!”

Hae Yeon’s eyes blazed with each utterance.

“Ohhhh!”

Seeing this man throw a punch and shatter the floor was mind-blowing. But the disciples of Mount Hua had a different perspective.

“The monk seems a bit amped up.”

“… seems to have a ton of pent-up emotions.”

“I think I understand what Hae Yeon was thinking when he threw that punch.”

Hae Yeon’s fist had a reputation for being calm and balanced, reminiscent of the heavy and balanced fist of Buddha.

But now…

Kwanggggg!

“He’s losing control.”

“… he’s abandoned his previous demeanor.”

They all watched in silence as the ice shattered and wiped away their tears. Could anyone else in the world truly understand Hae Yeon’s heart and intentions?

Everyone joined forces to help Hae Yeon dig into the ground. Onlookers marveled at the scene, but some were shocked.

“E-Elder.”

Bang Pyo, the leader of the ice palace warriors, asked the question. He was taken aback by what he saw and turned his head.

The ice palace warrior asked cautiously.

“Is this… acceptable?”

“…ahem. It’s certainly astonishing.”

Although their martial arts styles differed, Hae Yeon’s techniques surpassed even the elders of the Ice Palace.

“But it’s all meaningless.”

Bang Pyo shook his head.

“If one can quickly mine ice crystals by digging, why would anyone go through such hardships? It’s a waste of skills and energy. Sure, there might be some results if they keep going, but humans can’t repeat the action countless times.”

“Ahhhh.”

“And even if there are ice crystals, they would turn to dust if you dig that way.”

“Exactly.”

“Leave them be. They’ll pay the price for what they did.”

Bang Pyo finished his speech casually and gulped.

‘Right. There’s no way they can find them.’

Those who arrived from the Central Plains couldn’t possibly accomplish what even those who lived in the North Sea couldn’t do. No, they simply can’t.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as expected.

“Stop! That’s enough!”

Chung Myung shouted, and the dirt-covered disciples of Mount Hu raised their heads.

“Why? We still need to dig more.”

“Do you want to shatter the ice crystals?”

Chung Myung jumped down the pit and landed on the ground as gracefully as a cat as he looked around.

“Hmmm.”

The smell. It was…

Chang!

He pulled out the Dark Fragrant Plum Blossom Sword and swiftly swung it into the ground.

Swish! Slash!

He sliced the ground into squares and ripped out the entire rock.

“Ugh!”

The disciples of Mount Hua approached quickly.

“There? Is that the ice crystal?”

“I can feel the coldness.”

“… it’s cold in here.”

“Ah, right.”

Chung Myung placed the rock on the ground and carefully broke it with both hands.

Crack.

The hard rock crumbled away like a mound of rainwater. Several times, he had to remove the rocks with caution.

Finally…

“Oh!”

“There’s something!”

Hidden within the broken rocks were the ice crystals like a jewel with a soft blue hue; a white crystal could be seen.

“Ice crystal.”

“We found it!”

“Oh my god! Is this one!”

The disciples of Mount Hua were shocked by Chung Myung. They never expected to find it so quickly. Chung Myung casually slipped the ice crystals into his sleeve, wearing a victorious expression.

“Ahem!”

“Hyaaa! Chung Myung!”

“Truly amazing! How did you manage to find this?”

“You always do things that I can’t comprehend.”

Chung Myung’s lips twitched at the praise. He tried to maintain a serious face, but his expression gave him away.

“Kuak. What’s so impressive about this? It’s just the basics.”

“Let’s head up for now.”

The disciples of Mount Hua climbed up with joy on their faces. Baek Cheon patted Chung Myung on the shoulder and smiled.

“You can be useful sometimes.”

“… Dong Ryong has grown up quite well.”

“I was always grown up. Now, let’s find the next ice crystal. Where is it? Where should we dig?”

“Ah… that’s a problem.”

“Don’t worry! We’ll figure it out!”

“Is that so?”

Chung Myung smiled and pointed to the side.

“There.”

“Uh, where?”

“There.”

“….”

Baek Cheon followed Chung Myung’s fingertips with his gaze. Before long, his eyes landed on the cliff that formed the valley.

“…excuse me?”

“Huh. I think we need to dig over there.”

“…”

“But we can’t dig that way. If the cliff collapses, no one will survive.”

“…so what should we do?”

“Why ask?”

Chung Myung smiled.

“Just dig carefully. Shovel after shovel.”

“….”

“Start. And finish it today.”

Baek Cheon smiled at Chung Myung’s words.

‘Why did I think it was easy?’

That’s right.

…a wasted life.

“Stop wasting time, and let’s get started!”

Watching Yoon Jong rush to the cliff with the shovel, Baek Cheon sighed.

“I’d rather die from the cold.”

Bang Pyo, the elder, watched all of this happen. Then he heard a voice that irritated him.

“What are you doing?”

Surprised, he turned to see Chung Myung smiling at him.

“I think it’s time for you to be busy preparing drinks and meat for everyone here?”

“….”

How dare he bet against Chung Myung? He must have a death wish.

Hehehehehe.