Baek Cheon’s words were like a bolt of lightning.

Everyone stared at him, eyes wide. The words had sounded so clear that, though impossible, people wondered if they’d misheard—sheer shock. There was no other way to describe it.

But no matter how stunned others were, could it compare to the shock felt by the disciples of Mount Hua?

Those who had taken the name Mount Hua as their destiny—all of them—stared at Baek Cheon with eyes wide open, as if unable to believe it.

Even Jo Gul, who had been in the fiercest conflict with Baek Cheon moments ago, stood with his mouth agape like a fool, staring blankly.

“Um...”

At that moment, a sound half like a lament, half like a groan, escaped Chung Myung’s mouth.

“That madman...”

The wording might differ, but nothing better captured the current feelings of Mount Hua’s disciples. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Even more shocked than those disciples was Hyun Jong, who stared at Baek Cheon in bewilderment and asked.

“So, you said Sect leader?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“...To you?”

“Yes.”

In the space whipped by confusion and distrust, Baek Cheon—alone keeping his composure—nodded calmly.

“To be precise, I petition to be appointed as acting Sect leader. Becoming the Sect leader requires the rites and formalities of the sect, but as I understand it, appointing an acting Sect leader who is delegated the Sect leader’s authority can be done at the current Sect leader’s command.”

“Th-that’s true, but...”

But what meaning is there in arguing that now? Sect leader or acting Sect leader—it’s only a difference in name, isn’t it?

What this means now is that Baek Cheon intends to directly decide Mount Hua’s affairs in place of Hyun Jong.

No matter the circumstances, in Mount Hua—strictly bound by sect rules—it was unthinkable for a disciple to directly request this of the Sect leader.

“Baek Cheon. I understand what you’re saying, but this is unreasonable. You may be Mount Hua’s great disciple, but you’re not the Sect leader. Above you is Un Am. Even if you request it, Un Am...”

“I’ve already discussed that matter with Un Am sasuk.”

“...With Un Am?”

“Yes.”

Baek Cheon nodded and elaborated.

“This morning I already conveyed my intentions to Un Am sasuk. Un Am sasuk permitted it.”

“No, that fellow...”

Hyun Jong opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it.

It troubled him too much that Un Am wasn’t present to blame for such a unilateral decision. Un Am’s absence here suggested he couldn’t influence the Heavenly Friends Alliance and Mount Hua’s major decisions, didn’t it?

‘No wonder he refused to come even when asked.’

If Un Am had stayed and supported Baek Cheon, the appearance might have been better, but it would have given the impression that Baek Cheon had many above him. By absenting himself he bolstered Baek Cheon’s position. Un Am is that sort of person.

Hyun Jong struggled to calm his dismay and embarrassment and spoke.

“This isn’t something to decide and announce lightly in this setting.”

Baek Cheon nodded.

“Yes. Sect leader, this request comes after long, deep consideration. Know that it is not the conclusion of youthful recklessness or rash bloodlust.”

“...But, Baek Cheon. If you intended this, shouldn’t you have sought the agreement of the other disciples? Judging by their reactions, doesn’t this seem like the first time they’re hearing of it?”

“That must not be the case.”

Baek Cheon shook his head firmly.

“Gathering the unanimous will of lower-ranked disciples to petition for the Sect leader’s seat—though different in form—amounts to uniting below to overthrow the Sect leader. Such a thing must never happen at Mount Hua.”

“...”

“Therefore, this is something I must bear entirely on my own.”

At that, some of Hyun Jong’s bewilderment eased.

For a disciple to raise such words is exceedingly difficult. It might even be harder than throwing oneself into mortal danger.

Yet Baek Cheon showed not the slightest falter. That resolute stance even restored Hyun Jong’s composure.

“I see. Is that so.”

Hyun Jong nodded slowly.

“No, what is...”

But Hyun Young’s reaction was somewhat different from Hyun Jong’s.

“Even if the sect’s rules were turned upside down, how could something like this occur? And in front of people from other sects?”

Hyun Young’s eyes flashed with rage.

“Sect leader, you must punish that insolent fellow at once.”

“Wait.”

“Sect leader!”

“I said wait!”

A momentary stern aura spread from Hyun Jong, and Hyun Young flinched and shut his mouth. With him quiet, Hyun Jong faced Baek Cheon—more like a Sect leader than ever.

“If the request is unreasonable, then of course punishment fitting the crime will follow. But first, I must hear you out. Baek Cheon.”

“Yes, Sect leader.”

“As you told me, everything needs a reason. Why do you demand the Sect leader’s seat? Because I am lacking?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then is it because you don’t like my choices?”

“Far from it.”

“Then why?”

“As I said, it’s because our positions differ.”

Hyun Jong waited without speaking, urging him to continue.

“Sect leader, you are not wrong. You are entirely correct. One of the Sect leader’s greatest duties is to protect the disciples—to pass Mount Hua’s will to future generations. How could one fault you for wanting to uphold that duty?”

“Then?”

“But our position as those who will inherit is different.”

“...”

“The Sect leader must pass it on, but for us there is no future generation to protect, so the present matters more than the future. Therefore, what we must do is not to protect the people.”

Baek Cheon spoke in a calm but resolute tone.

“What we must do is prove to the world that what we inherited from our predecessors was not wrong.”

Hyun Jong’s eyes opened wide.

“From those close—our immediate predecessors—to those a hundred years past who gave their lives for the realm, and further back to the monk who first established Mount Hua’s Tao gate on Lotus Peak!”

“...”

“To prove with these hands, this sword, this life, that the will passed down still exists in Mount Hua, and that it has advanced beyond the past by the will of many.”

Hyun Jong’s clenched fist began to tremble faintly. None of those watching noticed—not even Hyun Jong himself. Everyone was simply drawn into each of Baek Cheon’s words.

“One cannot say choosing to protect young disciples is wrong. But one also cannot say it’s wrong for disciples to declare they will risk their lives and fight for the weak.”

“...That’s right.”

If one called those words wrong, all of Mount Hua would lose its meaning. Thus those words cannot be wrong.

“Therefore I sincerely understand and respect the Sect leader’s choice. But as disciples of Mount Hua, as those who must carry on Mount Hua’s will, our counsel must also be carried out. There is only one way to reconcile these two right yet different aims.”

Baek Cheon’s words followed like a declaration.

“That those whose life mission was to pass things to future generations should pass down their heavy duties and responsibilities to those who must now prove them.”

“...”

“That is why I must become Mount Hua’s Sect leader.”

Even the elders no longer expressed anger. They simply stared at Baek Cheon with dazed eyes.

“I conveyed this to Un Am sasuk, and I urged that Un Am sasuk take the Sect leader’s seat. But Un Am sasuk resolutely refused. He said he agrees with my intention but he is not the one to prove it—he is one to protect the people—so he cannot accept.”

“Un Am...”

“If sasuk feels that way, then those who must prove it must inherit. The most suitable person for that role in Mount Hua now is none other than me, Baek Cheon.”

Hyun Jong bit his lip gently.

It wasn’t anger. He felt his eyes sting because that small boy had grown to say such words.

‘When did he grow like this...’

He knew of the growth; he thought the boy had grown finer than expected. But a child’s growth always seems to surpass a mentor’s expectations.

This must be the very moment a teacher dreams of—an emotion that repays all those years at once.

But....

“Baek Cheon. I fully understand your intent. But you are still...”

“Would you call me lacking?”

Baek Cheon asked and then shook his head himself.

“Sect leader, when will I no longer be lacking?”

“...”

“In ten years will I not be lacking? After these ten years, will I be complete?”

“That is...”

“The moment when predecessors deem successors utterly without lack never comes. There are only appropriate times. I believe now is that time.”

“...”

“If you think I’m lacking, then lead me. If you think I’m lacking, advise and chastise me. But those are things you can fully do even if I take the acting Sect leader’s position.”

Hyun Jong looked at Baek Cheon with an indescribable expression. After moving his lips for a long time, he let out a sigh as if the earth had caved in and asked.

“Since when was this?”

Before Baek Cheon could answer, he asked again.

“Since when did you have such thoughts?”

Baek Cheon closed his eyes briefly to gather his thoughts, then answered.

“It began because of something Jo Gul sajil said.”

“...Jo Gul?”

“Yes. When Jo Gul said everything was going wrong, I told him to think about what to do. Then I thought—what must I do.”

“I see.”

“To disciples who couldn’t find an answer I said: those who will not take responsibility for decisions have no right to argue the Sect leader’s choices.”

“...”

“That applies to me as well. I respect the Sect leader’s choice and intend to follow it. But my position, my thoughts, my will differ. Yet as one who too would not take responsibility, I could not dare oppose the Sect leader’s choice. So I agonized, thought deeply, and at the end I reached one conclusion.”

Baek Cheon said with his fist clenched.

“Then I will shoulder that responsibility. If those who won’t take responsibility have no right to choose, then I will become the one who takes responsibility.”

At those words, the disciples guarding Baek Cheon’s back bit their lips tightly.

‘Sasuk!’

Especially Jo Gul looked at Baek Cheon as if on the verge of tears. He had thought his words hadn’t reached, but they had. He wasn’t dismissed as lacking. Rather, the one here who had listened to Jo Gul most earnestly was Baek Cheon.

“Therefore I will continue it. I will prove with my own hands, with the swords of my sahyung and my sajils, that the disciples taught by our predecessors are walking the right path.”

Baek Cheon inhaled slowly, as if to put all his sincerity into what he would say next.

Finally that deep breath flowed out in the name of resolve.

“That heavy responsibility, the weight of the burden, a value not to be traded for anything etched in the disciples’ lives...”

“...”

“I will endure it.”