Hyun Jong stared at everyone, and the silence persisted. The people of the Central Plains gulped, feeling the tension rise.

The sect leader of Mount Hua.

In the past, he was a sect leader whom no one cared about, but now, no one would dare think of Hyun Jong in such terms.

The Sichuan Tang family had given him the position of alliance leader, and the leaders of the external sects bowed to him.

Was it said that place maketh a man?

Hyun Jong didn’t flaunt his presence or strength; he simply looked around. Yet, one could feel the warmth like a warm summer breeze and a weight that overwhelmed them, compelling them to maintain polite form simultaneously.

Those who knew Hyun Jong before the change and those who didn’t were equally in awe of his majestic presence.

But Hyun Jong wasn’t aware of the attention focused on him.

“Okay…”

As if he had a rough idea, he let out a deep exhale.

“… I don’t know why, but I feel like I’ve seen this before. Is it my imagination?”

No, sect leader.

This was no imagination… he had often seen it, right?

Jo Gul’s gaze shifted to Hyun Jong, or more accurately, to the person behind him.

“… t-that…?”

“… Woah, sasuk.”

Baek Cheon stood behind Hyun Jong with a happy smile. The look in his eyes as he observed the rest of the disciples seemed to say, ‘Stupid idiots.’ It was as if he was chiding them, ‘You should have brought the sect leader right away.’

“… I heard there are some really smart ones here.”

“No, if you think about it, he just left us even after seeing the trouble that bastard was causing and us struggling to stop him, right?”

“I feel upset for some reason?”

“Tsk.”

The disciples of Mount Hua, grumbling, glanced at Yoon Jong, who had come to their side.

“Hmm.”

Hyun Jong’s gaze then turned to Yang Kyung.

“I am Hyun Jong of Mount Hua.”

“…Yang Kyung, clan leader of the Hunan Clear White Clan.”

Yang Kyung spoke with a somewhat intimidated expression. He had never imagined encountering such a person.

Regardless of the sect, sect leaders typically didn’t act out of line, and this man represented both his sect and the alliance. Since the character of the leader often reflects the nature of the sect he leads, one must tread carefully.

However, the sect leader of Mount Hua arrived before the other disciples from Mount Hua. As the situation rapidly changed, Yang Kyung shrugged his shoulders, feeling overwhelmed.

“May I ask what is happening?”

“…Yes, sect leader. What happened is that….”

Yang Kyung recounted everything he had experienced. Naturally, since he was telling the story from his perspective, he downplayed his own mistakes and emphasized those of Chung Myung… no, he didn’t need to exaggerate much; he simply relayed what Chung Myung did. There was no need to embellish the story.

“So that is how it is.”

“Hmmm.”

Hyun Jong, having listened to everything, frowned and then turned to Chung Myung, who was being restrained by the disciples.

“Chung Myung.”

“Yes.”

“Is everything that clan leader Yang said true?”

“Yes.”

Although Yang Kyung had highlighted his side of the story, Chung Myung didn’t point out any errors and answered honestly. It was because the main issue was indeed addressed.

“I see.”

Hyun Jong looked at Chung Myung, who stood there confidently and then nodded.

“Let me ask one thing.”

“Yes, sect leader.”

“Do you regret what you did?”

“No.”

The answer came immediately, without a moment’s hesitation.

Hyun Jong looked at Chung Myung and then nodded. A little later, he shouted.

“Un Am!”

“Yes! Sect leader!”

Un Am, who stood like a guardian beside Hyun Jong, rushed forward and bowed his head.

“Get the people of the Clear White Clan, including clan leader Yang Kyung, out of Mount Hua right now!”

“Yes!”

“And as of today, entry to the Clear White Clan into Mount Hua has been banned. And we have declared that we will not have any ties with them in the future.”

“Yes, sect leader!”

Yang Kyung’s face turned gray in an instant.

“S-sect leader!”

He looked at Hyun Jong in a pleading manner. However, Hyun Jong clicked his tongue, looking at Chung Myung, not caring about Yang Kyung.

“Even so, you are a Taoist; you should be patient.”

“There are times to be patient and times not to be.”

“So, did you think this was a time not to be patient?”

“It isn’t that… hehe.”

As Chung Myung scratched the back of his head with a grin, Hyun Jong shook his head as if he couldn’t do anything about it. And he said quietly,

“You did good.”

“…”

“If something like this happens again, you do not have to be patient then, either.”

“Yes.”

Chung Myung puffed his chest out as if he loved the answer, and the faces of the disciples contorted at that.

“What, no Sect leader… if you say that…”

“How can he be controlled…”

“Y-You don’t say that. Please!”

Meanwhile, the Central Plains people were still in shock. This was the first time in their lives they were seeing such events unfold. The first time they saw a sect leader step forward in a conflict and the first time a sect leader protected his disciple and expelled another clan leader from the sect.

But the most embarrassing thing was that the young disciples were objecting to what the sect leader did.

The elders, who should have stepped out and reprimanded their disciples, stood beside them, not reacting at all as if this was a very familiar scene.

Hyun Jong smiled.

“If there is a problem like this, you can stop him like you did now.”

“… we didn’t stop him, though.”

“And we won’t be able to either…”

“Hahaha.”

Hyun Jong, who observed the sad smiles of the disciples, responded with a kind smile before turning his gaze to Yang Kyung. There was a coldness in his eyes that hadn’t been there when he looked at the disciples.

“What are you doing? Take him out!”

“Yes!”

Yang Kyung, with trembling eyes, looked around as he saw the group of disciples approaching him and shouted.

“S-sect leader! Is this really what Mount Hua wants?”

Hyun Jong didn’t answer.

“Is it the intention of Mount Hua to protect outsiders and harm the central plains sect? You are declaring that in front of so many people?”

Hyun Jong frowned.

“It seems like you are under a huge misunderstanding.”

“Uh?”

As soon as Hyun Jong said that, the disciples advancing towards Yang Kyung stopped. Hyun Jong spoke in a clear voice for everyone to hear.

“Mount Hua doesn’t protect anyone but its friends. No, we do not discriminate between people based on their origin, background, or where they come from, be it the Central Plains or elsewhere.”

“T-then if…”

“Mount Hua protects its friends.”

“…”

“Please be aware of this. The Nanman Beast Palace and Ice Palace are close friends of Mount Hua, and we share mutual feelings. Mount Hua will not let anyone insult its friends. Whoever it is, Mount Hua will fight back.”

“That…”

Yang Kyung couldn’t respond. There was no way to refute it. The most important thing here was the fact that the sect leader, who could be seen as the embodiment of Mount Hua itself, was siding with the outsiders and making a stand against Yang Kyung.

The courage and wit of Yang Kyung were too insufficient to overcome this now.

Hyun Jong then looked around at everyone, making it clear that his words were not just for Yang Kyung.

“As long as they are under the name of the Heavenly Friends Alliance, the Mount Hua sect will not sit idly by and watch its friends be unfairly treated! Even if it means bringing harm to Mount Hua!”

Those who unexpectedly made eye contact with Hyun Jong quickly lowered their heads to avoid his gaze. Despite their secret sympathy for Yang Kyung, they couldn’t bear to look directly at the sect leader.

“So…”

Hyun Jong paused for a moment, then quietly clasped his hands together, one enveloping the other, and smiled.

“For those of you from the Central Plains, please do not take the minor incidents to heart and enjoy the ceremony.”

“O-of course!”

“We understand, sect leader!”

The responses came swiftly from the crowd, and Hyun Jong stood tall.

“Clan leader Yang.”

“Uh? Yes!”

Yang Kyung was startled as he responded. A flicker of hope was in his heart, but all he heard was the cold voice.

“Now lead your disciples and leave Mount Hua.”

“S-sect leader…”

“It is a good day, so it ends simply with this. Had you dared to insult them in front of Mount Hua on any other day, I wouldn’t have been so tolerant.”

Yang Kyung found himself speechless.

There was no telling what kind of remarks would come if he dared to speak against the sect leader of Mount Hua. But one thing was for sure, here, no one would take his side against Hyun Jong.

“I will not tell you twice.”

That cold voice delivered the final blow.

Yang Kyung bowed his head and turned to leave without another word. Behind him, his disciples followed with slumped shoulders.

Chung Myung, who had been watching, gritted his teeth as they walked away.

“Ah, I should have hit him a bit more!”

‘…you did enough with the hitting, brat! How much more can you beat me!’

Receiving a ban from Mount Hua was embarrassing enough, but even more humiliating was the fact that a clan leader had been struck in the face by a third-class disciple.

If this fact became known, one probably wouldn’t be able to show their face in the world again.

Of course, it would be difficult to raise one’s head with a large footprint on the face.

“Tsk, right. Well, you did enough.”

“Yes, yes. So calm down now…”

“Ugh, shit, just the thought of it makes me angry! What! Barbarian? The mouth of that bastard is…”

“Ah, this, please!”

“Stop it, you bastard!”

The disciples quickly restrained Chung Myung once again. Hyun Jong smiled happily at this sight.

“Haha. As expected, such strong bonds.”

“Do you like this? This chaos?”

“Uh, please do something about this!”

“Hehehehe!”

When Hyun Jong turned back and looked at the distant mountain, the faces of Mount Hua’s disciples were contorted with frustration.

‘You know everything, and yet you act like this!’

‘I really hate you sometimes! For real!’

At that moment, the Ice Palace warriors and the Beast Palace warriors emerged from among the people of the Central Plains and stood in front of Hyun Jong. There was a hint of humility on their faces.

“… Thank you, sect leader.”

“All this for no reason…”

“Don’t say that.”

But Hyun Jong resolutely shook his head.

“I am sorry for having to hear such negative words from people who came from afar. Mount Hua will take care to prevent something like this from happening in the future, so please be at ease.”

“… Sect leader.”

The eyes of the Beast Palace warriors looking at him were full of emotion. They fully understood Mount Hua’s words about considering them as close friends and not just empty words.

This was an emotion that couldn’t be explained…

“Wouldn’t it be alright if we just smack the mouths of those who speak carelessly and pull their teeth out so they won’t speak again? Let’s start with those who spoke earlier.”

“…”

So touched…

Truly touched…

“Yah, you bastard, do you think that makes sense?”

“Why doesn’t it make sense? If you speak nonsense, you get hit! And it isn’t just those who are being ignored! They are ignoring us, too!”

“Why change words like this?”

“Think! If this was Shaolin, would those bastards have dared to speak like this against the allies of Shaolin? I am sure they would be at their feet, begging them to take good care of them.”

“…Uh? Now that I think about it, uh?”

“Right! They are ignoring us! We need to skin them alive! We have to catch those bastards and do it again!”

“Yah!”

“What? You’re stopping me again?”

“No, let us go together. Thinking about it makes me enraged, too!”

“Uh?”

The Beast Palace warriors, who were standing awkwardly, looked at Hyun Jong with an awkward look.

Then Hyun Jong spoke with a kind smile.

“Un Geom.”

“Yes, sect leader.”

“…put everyone into the pavilion to cool them off.”

“Yes.”

Hyun Jong once again realized that accidents weren’t being caused by others but by the disciples of Mount Hua.