A dazzlingly white sun hangs halfway on the horizon. Just looking at the pure white sun gives an endlessly warm feeling, and it trembles slightly…
"Aren't you going straight in?"
Kiiii…
No, it's not the sun. The white marten, which was curling its back, quickly straightened up its lowered back at Chung Myung's voice.
Of course, it's not strange for a marten to curl its back. When feeling threatened or stretching, animals naturally lower their upper body and lift their back with all their strength.
But what was strange was that it was not the cute front paws touching the ground, but its small and adorable head… no, its head.
And on top of its body, about the size of a human forearm, was a huge sack that looked ten times its size, resting heavily — beyond strange, it was grotesque.
Kkii…ii…
When Baek Ah, trembling from the weight of the sack on its back filled tightly with fist-sized stones, let out a whimper and slightly lowered its back again.
"Wait, but this bastard?"
Startled by the ghost-like voice, Baek Ah raised her back. But despite the effort, Chung Myung quickly ran over and kicked Baek Ah hard.
Kiiiiiiii!
Baek Ah flew high into the sky, flailing its front legs as it fell to the ground. Spinning in midair, it landed resolutely, then hurriedly dragged the scattered sack and slung it back on her shoulders at a speed like a whirlwind. Then she quickly lowered her head again.
"Who said that even beasts know the grace of being fed and raised? Who said that!"
"…"
"No!"
Chung Myung's eyes gleamed fiercely.
"Fine, you don't have to know gratitude. But if you eat the food, you have to pay for it! I asked you to run an errand as payment for feeding and raising you, and you can't even resist slacking off?"
Kii…!
Before Baek Ah could retort, Chung Myung kicked her away again.
Ppeoeeeoong!
Baek Ah flew spinning into the sky again and quickly repeated the previous action.
Thud!
Baek Ah slammed her head down like a whirlwind and desperately tried to clasp her short front paws behind its back. It seemed certain that if it provoked the wrong mood now, it would become the only precious scarf in the Central Plains.
"Whether it is a human or beast…"
Chung Myung clicked his tongue in displeasure and glared at Baek Ah. Receiving that gaze, Baek Ah's eyes filled with transparent tears.
Of course, the tears were not from pain or sorrow. Their meaning was purely injustice.
If Baek Ah could speak, she might have shouted, "Conscientiously, when did you ever feed me? You beast are worse than an animal!"
To be fair, what Chung Myung actually did was just roughly wrapping around Baek Ah. Baek Ah hunted for her own food, went to the kitchen to find food, stole food… well, except for that. Anyway.
But since he bragged so much about feeding and raising it, from Baek Ah's perspective, it was maddening.
But what could she do? She couldn't express her frustration in words… and even if she could speak human language, would that guy even understand?
At times like this, she could only lie flat and say, "I'm dead."
"If you're also stationed at Mount Hua! Huh? If you die, die together; if you live, live together! The sworn brothers are rolling in training, and you're slacking off alone? Can't you hold your back straight?"
Kiii…
Baek Ah quickly lifted its back high.
Yoon Jong and Jo Gul, watching from the side, looked at each other.
"Since when did we become sworn brothers with a marten?"
"…I'm hearing this for the first time too."
"Anyway… isn't this animal abuse at this point?"
Baek Cheon shook his head as if to say that was wrong.
"It's abuse of a spiritual beast."
"Abuse is abuse, isn't it?"
"I don't agree with that. As far as I know, Chung Myung loves animals more than anyone in this world."
"Huh?"
Jo Gul looked at Baek Cheon with eyes saying, "What nonsense is this?" Baek Cheon spoke calmly.
"Because it's an animal, it ended at that level. If it were us, we'd be thrown into the Yangtze River now, asking the fish how they're doing."
"Ah, that's true."
Jo Gul immediately understood. He realized Baek-a was treated very specially. Slacking off during training and only getting headbutted and kicked? If it were them, they'd be beaten to near death and hung upside down without food or water for three days.
"…Chung Myung surprisingly has a kind side."
"Right?"
"And when you think about it, it's very reasonable. Even animals get punished without mercy if they slack off."
"On the flip side, that bastard probably thinks we're no different from beasts."
"…That's so like Chung Myung."
Hearing the conversation, Yoon Jong unconsciously stepped away from them.
'These guys aren't normal either. They're completely crazy.'
But unlike the Mount Hua people who found an unexpected kindness in Chung Myung, the Green Forest and Tang family people could only gape in shock.
"…What kind of marten is this…"
"Exactly…"
Their pupils trembled.
But even as they were shocked, it was hard to explain exactly what they were shocked about. Was it because the weasel was being punished like a human? Or because even the weasel was being harassed and scolded by a person?
"Hehehe."
"We're something else too, really…"
"But first, we should think about which of the two is the real beast…"
At that moment, Chung Myung, who was giving a long lecture to Baek Ah, suddenly turned his head.
'Eek!'
'Don't make eye contact.'
'Hold your breath, hold it!'
The Green Forest and Tang family people who met his gaze quickly looked down. It had been proven over the past few days that just making eye contact with that man made life difficult.
"Are you laughing?"
"…"
"You're laughing now, right?"
Chung Myung's eyes gleamed fiercely.
'Wow, look at those eyes, those eyes.'
'Better if the Evil Sect bastard was human.'
'It'd be easier under Jang Ilso, damn it.'
The flavor of Mount Hua. The unique flavor of Mount Hua, only felt at the very top of the towering Mount Hua in Shaanxi, was now recognized by famous mountains across the Central Plains and the distant Sichuan region.
"Anyway, whether human or beast!"
"…"
"The beast doesn't know the grace of being fed and sheltered and just slacks off! The humans who carry swords haven't trained properly and collapse panting after barely rolling around."
"…"
"Oh dear. What fate is this, what did I do in my past life… No, yes. I committed sins. I did commit sins!"
Yoon Jong looked at Baek Cheon and asked.
"What is that bastard saying now?"
Baek Cheon smiled contentedly.
"He's just talking nonsense as usual."
"Ah."
"Just let it be."
"Yes."
Meanwhile, Chung Myung, with a very displeased face, propped his chin and looked at the Green Forest and Tang family people sprawled around.
'It's more serious than I thought.'
After pushing them around a few times, it became clear what Mount Hua had missed in the past.
Basically, their martial prowess is by no means low. The prestigious Sichuan Tang family, and the rulers of the Central Plains mountain range, Green Forest, and among them the elite Green Forest pirates — if they were weak, that would be stranger.
The problem is that strength is never made up of just one factor.
In terms of 'murim skill,' they might be somewhat lacking, but the real problem is their stamina.
"A martial artist being weak… what kind of fish drowning nonsense is this?"
Internal qi and stamina are similar but not perfect synonyms. No matter how abundant one's internal qi is, if they roll nonstop for three days and nights, stamina runs out first.
And when a person loses stamina, their mental strength diminishes. Such people can exert their power at the start of a fight, but as the fight continues, they end up unable to use even half their ability.
Huh? Then doesn't that mean they get stronger?
Of course. Fighting repeatedly, risking life even when unable to use half their power, will train both stamina and mental strength.
'If they survive, that is.'
The problem is that half of them die before that.
The reason cultists are scary is because they are fanatics. And the reason fanatics are scary is not just because they don't fear death.
Haven't you already experienced it?
Cultists don't get tired. Their bodies may tire and struggle, but their minds are encased in armor so strong that ordinary people can't even imagine.
War never ends quickly. Sometimes, hellish situations of killing and being killed continue for over seven days and nights.
Even if fighting doesn't continue, war means enduring each day plagued by anxiety over when the enemy might strike. Even those who believed in their great skill often couldn't withstand the horrors and lost their lives.
"Tsk."
Chung Myung scratched his cheek irritably.
"I criticized those so-called prestigious sects so much… but in the end, I was from a prestigious Justice faction myself."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"No."
Chung Myung sighed deeply.
'I'm not without fault either.'
A conversation with Chung Mun from the past suddenly came to mind.
Chung Myung, why do you think Wudang's skills are lacking?
Because they have no talent.
…Then what about Southern Edge?
They are immature people.
…Then Namgung?
They are rude.
…Is there no way to fix them?
Ah, sahyung. Does carving stone turn it into gold? At best, it becomes a pretty stone. How can you change those born that way? Leave them be.
…
Ah… thinking about it, there really was no answer.
Chung Myung covered his face with both hands.
'No, back then it really looked like that. What was I supposed to do?'
If you learn the same martial arts but don't improve, it means you have no talent. Chung Myung didn't know what other reasons there could be then, nor did he want to know.
But only after scolding, kicking, grabbing by the collar, and pulling up these immature brats did he realize.
That if you carve stone well, it can become gold.
But the past Chung Myung, the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, didn't know and didn't need to know. It was easier to just go and beat them all up than waste qi.
'That method won't work anymore.'
Chung Myung raised his head and glared at the Tang family people.
"…Greenhouse flowers."
"…Huh?"
Chung Myung's brows furrowed sharply.
He had often called the Southern Edge and Wudang's young disciples greenhouse flowers before. They were half-hearted fighters who couldn't show their true strength even when facing the Evil Sect or the Demonic cult.
The part Chung Myung was wrong about was exactly that.
'It wasn't just the youngsters who were the problem.'
What happens if greenhouse flowers grow well?
What else but more greenhouse flowers. They look healthy and splendid on the outside, but after a few cold winds, they wither. In the end, they become decorations useless outside the warm indoors.
Believing without basis that those who grew like that would fulfill their roles as they aged and improved was a mistake. If even the Tang family and the Green Forest bandits are in this state, what hope is there for others?
"No wonder the rear collapses no matter how much we fight upfront…"
A sigh escaped Chung Myung's lips as he recalled unpleasant memories.
No wonder when fighting desperately here, the other side collapses, and when fighting desperately there, the front collapses again.
Looking back, the time Chung Myung wasted moving battlefields all over the Central Plains after receiving Chung Mun's urgent order was almost as much as the actual fighting time.
Whether the opponent was the Evil Sect, the Demonic cult, or the Nine Great Sects, it was the same.
If he wanted to attack properly, those in the rear had to at least hold out. Without that, no matter how much Chung Myung rampaged, the past hell would repeat.
Then what's the solution?
"…Is there really any other way?"
Chung Myung's eyes burned like hell.
"Stamina comes from rolling, and mental strength comes from getting punched and scolded."
As he muttered, everyone felt an ominous feeling and opened their eyes wide. Chung Myung clapped his hands.
"Alright, everyone. Let's start again."
"Um, um, Taoist Chung Myung."
"Yes?"
Tang Pae awkwardly pointed at the sky.
"Um… the sun is already setting?"
"So?"
"Ah… Taoist Chung Myung, you might not know, but we also have duties in each sect. At night, we have to do paperwork and other tasks for the sect to function…"
"So?"
"Th-this is something that must be done…"
"So?"
Tang Pae, lost for words, stared blankly at Chung Myung.
Chung Myung tilted his head as if he couldn't understand at all.
"So, you're saying you don't have enough time for other tasks now?"
"Y-yes! You understand."
Tang Pae's face brightened, but Chung Myung tilted his head again and said.
"That's a strange thing to say."
"…Huh?"
"If you don't have enough time, just don't sleep."
"…"
"War usually goes on for ten days without sleep. Perfect timing. Let's get some experience now. I was thinking to stop at midnight today, but since it's come to this, let's add one more hour."
Tang Pae suddenly realized something was terribly wrong. All the Green Forest bandits and Tang family people around glared at him as if to kill. He had no choice but to bow his head deeply to avoid their murderous stares.
"Alright, let's start! You have to get stronger for me to survive! So grit your teeth!"
The Mount Hua fire across the Central Plains was progressing steadily.