The Bloodwood Daoist Strikes
I will kill him.
I will tear that bastard apart with my bare hands and stomp him into the dirt.
SWISH! SWISH!
As I blasted through the air, the black curses rained down like a swarm of ants, leaving trails of darkness behind me.
I followed his trail with my soul vision active.
Tracking his path was easy. The qi everywhere he passed was unstable, flickering like a dying flame, and the thick reek of blood clung to the air like poison.
SHIIIII—
I inhaled the ghost curses exploding around me, absorbed them into my law energy, converted it into my core, then poured it into my formless sword to accelerate it even further.
KUGUGUGU!
The sonic boom shook the heavens as shockwaves from my passage scattered the sand into a howling storm.
And I ran toward the area thick with blood, my eyes bloodshot.
“...”
It was another desert tribe below Cheon-saek Castle.
This one had been reduced to a slaughterhouse as well.
Won Rip was still in the process of channeling blood energy to slowly recover his Nascent Soul power, and his speed was steadily increasing.
If this continued, I wouldn’t be able to catch him.
He would only grow faster.
What should I do?
Just as I was considering my options.
SWISH!
A sonic boom rang out as a brown cloud of law energy streaked toward me from afar.
KWAAANG!
I blocked it with my formless sword and spotted the one who had fired it.
“You... it’s you! You’re the one who massacred the tribe under the Gongmo Clan!”
He looked like an elder of the Gongmo Clan’s Core Formation stage.
His face was flushed as he stared at the slaughtered tribe and shouted at me.
“You! Answer me!”
I said nothing and swung my formless sword.
KUGUANG!
Even weakened compared to when I had faced Won Rip, the power was still enough for a Core Formation level strike.
The Gongmo elder’s eyes widened in shock upon seeing the display. He retrieved his cloud of law energy and glared at me.
I stared at him with empty eyes and spoke.
“If you saw what happened just now, you already know it. In this realm, the aura of blood energy and my single strike are completely different... I am also hunting the murderer behind this atrocity. He killed my most precious people.”
“T-that... there’s no proof you’re unrelated to this! Don’t you know how precious these resources are?! Pay compensation...”
KWAAAAANG!
I fired another formless sword at the noisy Gongmo elder.
A small ravine formed right beside him.
“Shut your mouth. Die before I kill you.”
SWISH SWISH—
Every time I opened my mouth, hundreds of ghost curses poured out, filling the surroundings.
The curses had filled the area so densely that they looked like a black fog surrounding me.
“U-ugh... How am I supposed to believe the words of a demonic cultivator who has mastered such evil arts...! ...This isn’t demonic cultivation.”
Cough, cough!
My chest felt tight. As I coughed, even more ghost curses spewed from my mouth.
“It’s the series of the Precursor After-Seeing Pain technique... that understands suffering. Yes, the cultivation method that doesn’t sacrifice anyone and has no one to sacrifice... It’s not demonic cultivation...! No one was sacrificed...!”
I clutched my head and screamed.
KAK, KAKHAK!
Every time my mouth opened, the black ghost curses rained down.
“Why...! Why did it take you away from me...! Why...! Why! Why!”
I wept black tears mixed with the ghost curses and vomited a black fog of curses from my entire body.
“Why!!!”
It was the moment the Gongmo elder, watching my glowing form, flinched.
PAHAAAAAT!
From far away, toward Cheon-saek Castle, a ray of clear light flashed as someone flew in.
“Who!!! Who killed Ryeong! Who!!!”
Cheongmun Jung-jin.
The head of the Cheongmun Clan.
He must have rushed here after hearing the news of Ryeong’s death, but it was already too late.
He made eye contact with me, lost in the black fog.
“You... you! What is the meaning of this! Explain!”
“Ah, it’s the head of the Cheongmun Clan. You must be familiar with me?”
“He is a friend of Cheongmun Ryeong.”
“I suspect this man is the culprit behind this massacre. That black thing... what is it?”
“...I will vouch for this fellow’s identity. And the Ryeong inside Cheon-saek Castle has also died. Since he was a friend of Ryeong, it couldn’t be him.”
Cheongmun Jung-jin vouched for my identity to the Gongmo elder, and I explained the situation to him with my empty eyes.
“...So the Nascent Soul monster pretending to be a Core Formation expert in the Dabcheon Desert triggered this slaughter when the Heavenly Person seniors were defeated...!”
I nodded, and Cheongmun Jung-jin’s face, along with the Gongmo elder’s, grew grim.
The Gongmo elder said seriously, “We must capture him! If what this fellow says is true, that Nascent Soul monster is recovering his power every time he stops at a city to absorb blood energy, and by absorbing the vital energy of the cities, he’s becoming even stronger than his original Nascent Soul level! We must kill him now, while he is at his weakest!”
However, Cheongmun Jung-jin’s expression was not good.
“What do you plan to do? That Nascent Soul monster is steadily recovering his Nascent Soul power and will only become faster and stronger. We can’t even chase him down, let alone catch him!”
The Gongmo elder took out his transmission jade slip.
“I will contact the elders of my family and the clan head! You too, send word to the Cheongmun Clan elders to gather the Core Formation experts! If the Nascent Soul monster visited the northern great grassland, the Core Formation hunters from those tribes should already be chasing him frantically!”
He said, “The Core Formation experts from across the entire continent must gather immediately and kill this Nascent Soul monster!”
The two Core Formation experts sent transmission jade slips to their families.
“...By any chance, is there a way to predict how that Nascent Soul expert named Won Rip will move?”
I shook my head.
We could only follow the traces, but the gap was widening as his speed gradually increased.
At that moment, I remembered the location of the city where Won Rip was.
“...I don’t know where that monster will go, but I do know where he will return to.”
“What...? Really?”
I recalled the black city I had seen and the corresponding constellation, and told them both.
“Good. Then we should also contact the elders of my family and the head of Byeokra Kingdom. Since it’s a matter that the entire continent must know— a Nascent Soul demon has begun his rampage—we will inform the True Army of Yeon Kingdom and the Makri Clan as well.”
“The Seongje Empire will receive it from the Yeon Kingdom families. From the eastern nations beyond the Dabcheon Desert, the Gongmo Clan will send a warning. Whether or not he has already visited, we can at least alert them.”
“The Cheongmun Clan will contact the tribal leaders of the northern great grassland.”
Cheongmun Jung-jin and the Gongmo elder took out their transmission jade slips and made contact, their faces serious.
After a while, both nodded.
“The signal should have reached across the continent. Now, let’s head to the eastern part of where Won Rip will return, following the coordinates he gave!”
After speaking, the Gongmo elder flew toward the Dabcheon Desert using cloud-step.
Cheongmun Jung-jin looked at me and said, “You return for now and recover the remains of the rest. Since he was a friend of Ryeong... the child’s remains too...”
“I will go with you.”
I looked at Cheongmun Jung-jin and said, “I also have a score to settle with him.”
“...You don’t seem to understand what I’m saying. With only Foundation Establishment level strength...”
KWAAANG!
I swung my formless sword to demonstrate my power.
Cheongmun Jung-jin flinched and stared at me.
“I apologize for hiding my strength. I am at the Core Formation level. Please allow me to seek revenge for Ryeong as well.”
“...Understood.”
Cheongmun Jung-jin nodded, and I flew toward the place where Won Rip’s base was together with him.
* * *
WHIIIII!
“There is indeed an array here.”
I, Cheongmun Jung-jin, and the Gongmo elder looked at the massive sandstorm in the center of the Dabcheon Desert.
“If there is an array here, the center inside the array is most likely the base of that Nascent Soul monster.”
“I don’t know much about arrays...”
The two of them seemed a bit awkward, and I said nothing as I stepped forward and began analyzing the array.
“Ah, do you know how to touch arrays?”
“That’s fortunate. After all, I did research arrays together with Ryeong...”
Thinking of Cheongmun Ryeong made his death flash through Cheongmun Jung-jin’s mind. He clenched both fists tightly.
Several days passed.
PAHAAAAAT!
The center of the Dabcheon Desert.
Core Formation experts began gathering there.
Core Formation experts who were tribal leaders dressed in grassland robes from the northern great grassland.
Core Formation experts from beyond the Dabcheon Desert in the east, ruling as monarchs there.
The three families of Byeokra Kingdom.
And Cheongmun Jung-jin, head of the Cheongmun Clan, along with six Core Formation elders under his command.
Gongmo-sega head Gongmo Ryeong and six Core Formation elders under his command.
Byeok-sega head Byeok Cheon-ki and five Core Formation elders under his command.
The Twin Families of Yeon Kingdom.
Makri-sega head Makri Hwangcheon and seven elders under his command.
Jin-sega head Jin Yeoun and five elders under his command.
The Seven Families of the Seongje Empire.
Jin-ru-sega head Jin Ru Yeoncheon and eight elders under his command.
Ha-sega head Ha Ryeon.
Geo-sega head Geo Bok-won.
Jun-sega head Junje Yeol.
Yeol-jeon-sega head Yeol-jeon Ri.
Ori-sega head Ori Cheon-ryeong.
Jeon-sega head Jeon Chil-seon.
And forty-nine Core Formation experts who had come from the three nations to the west of the Dabcheon Desert.
Forty-three Core Formation experts who had come from the northern great grassland to the north of the Dabcheon Desert.
Fifty-four Core Formation experts who had come from the tribal nations to the east of the Dabcheon Desert.
And three rare wandering Core Formation martial artists.
Over a hundred Core Formation experts surrounded the array tightly.
One of the tribal leaders from the northern great grassland shouted with a flushed face.
“This is ridiculous! We can’t even count how many tribes the Nascent Soul monster slaughtered!!!”
“Our Byeokra Kingdom was also attacked by that Nascent Soul monster! He committed mass slaughter in dozens of cities! We cannot allow such a demon to rampage any longer!”
“He planned to strike when the Heavenly Person seniors were defeated, hiding his true nature until now. No one knows what wicked schemes he is hiding! We cannot allow that Nascent Soul monster to rampage any longer!”
Many Core Formation experts grumbled with murderous intent outside the array, and several array masters who had mastered the array began helping dismantle the sandstorm array with me.
“We should wait here for him and ambush and kill him!”
And among them, an old man from the martial artist lineage— one of the three Core Formation experts wearing a flowing robe— shouted with a flushed face.
“He killed my grandchild! I will kill him! I will grind his bones to dust and eat them!!”
Those who had lost precious people like me.
“The tribes he massacred were under the Gongmo Clan! The amount of precious ore they mined from that tribe... He must make restitution!”
Those who wanted restitution.
“To slaughter the bloodline of the great grassland! What humiliation! I will tear his flesh apart and restore the honor of the original tribe that fell to the ground!”
Those who wanted honor.
“He completely destroyed our nation’s cities! We cannot allow such a dangerous person to rampage any longer. He must be eliminated immediately!”
Those who wanted to root him out before he grew even stronger.
Many opinions were exchanged, but the conclusion was one.
The Bloodwood Daoist, Won Rip.
We must kill this slaughtering monster.
PAHAAAAAT!
Thanks to my and the Core Formation array masters’ efforts, the sandstorm array dissipated, revealing the black city inside.
“First, we charge into his base and destroy all the law energy clouds or arrays that can provide him support!”
“Yes, good! When facing the Nascent Soul monster, we need full preparation!”
I said nothing, squeezed between the Core Formation experts, and flew toward the black city.
I approached Cheongmun Jung-jin and told him about the city’s effects.
Cheongmun Jung-jin shouted to the others.
“That city is a type of law energy cloud. The Nascent Soul monster can raise his cultivation level by one stage from inside his law energy cloud! If he recovers his early Nascent Soul power, he can display mid Nascent Soul power inside the city, and if he recovers mid Nascent Soul power, he can display late Nascent Soul power! We must turn that city into dust before he returns!”
Cheongmun Jung-jin’s words gained quick trust and spread.
Many Core Formation experts took out law energy clouds from their cores and began beating the black city.
But.
PAHAAAAAT!
A barrier-like formation appeared on top of the black city’s law energy cloud.
The barrier blocked the law energy clouds of the Core Formation experts and protected the city from collapsing.
“Ugh, it’s hard to break this barrier unless it’s a Nascent Soul level attack.”
“Then...”
The Core Formation experts gathered and held a quick meeting.
“It’s an ancient formation. Even if array masters charge in, dismantling the ancient barrier will be difficult. The only way is to destroy it with force.”
“Then how...”
Many stories were exchanged, and on the desert, one by one, with serious expressions, we discussed countermeasures against Won Rip.
And several days later.
KUGUGUGUGU!
Far away, on the horizon, blood-red clouds rose.
The faces of over a hundred Core Formation experts darkened.
“Nascent Soul... early... peak...!”
Seeing Won Rip driving the red blood clouds, the Core Formation experts gritted their teeth.
Won Rip’s momentum was far stronger than when I had faced him, and his viciousness was impossible to describe.
[Haha, the buggies are fast on rumors. So you came all this way, thinking you could do something to me?]
KUGUGUGUGU!
Won Rip circled the area and spoke arrogantly.
“No matter how strong you think you are, you believe you can defeat all these Core Formation experts...!”
Cheongmun Jung-jin stepped forward and glared at Won Rip, shouting.
KUGUGUGUGU!
Won Rip looked down at us arrogantly from inside the blood fog and said.
[With so many fireflies, how does that compare to sunlight?]
The murderous intent of many Core Formation experts surged toward Won Rip, and the Nascent Soul monster who had recovered his early peak Nascent Soul power embraced the blood clouds and muttered.
[Come at me, you bugs.]
And I was the first to advance, pulling out my formless sword.
I had fully recovered my law energy and inner energy over the past several days.
This time, I would definitely kill him.