Chapter 18: The Corpse Blood Demon - Dark Sky Martial Emperor

At the rugged foot of Mt. Kongtong, where sheer cliffs and dense forest tangled in an impenetrable maze, the Iron Soul Unit came to a halt.

A thick fog veiled the darkness, blinding their sight, and before them lay a merciless fork in the trail. One path was a treacherous rocky climb scaling a steep ridgeline; the other was a faint forest track plunging into a deep, shadowy gorge.

Yeom Baek knitted his heavy brows.

Troublesome.

Throughout their forced march, carrier falcons from the Heavenly Mechanism Hall had fed them constant intelligence. He knew Grand Elder Yong's granddaughter, Yong Chae-rin, had fled up Mt. Kongtong to evade her pursuers. Upon reaching the mountain's borders, they had managed to pick up her trail. But as the rocky earth gave way to snowfields and fresh drifts blanketed the slopes, all tracks had vanished.

Yoo Seol-ah could not hide her concern as she stepped up beside him.

"Squad Leader, what is the plan?"

Time was slipping away, and Yong Chae-rin's life hung on a knife's edge. They had no luxury to dither.

A sharp glint flashed in Yeom Baek's eyes.

"We're out of time. We split up."

The warriors tensed at his curt command. Dividing their forces in territory virtually ruled by the Kunlun Demon Palace was a reckless gamble, but given the circumstances, they had no alternative.

"Squad Three, half of Squad Four, and I will take the left ridge," Yeom Baek said, turning to look Yoo Seol-ah in the eye. "Vice-Commander, take Squad One and the remainder of Squad Four to sweep the valley path on the right. The canopy is dense there and visibility will be miserable, so keep your guard up against ambushes."

"Understood, Squad Leader."

"If you locate Yong Chae-rin, do not linger—withdraw immediately. Better to fall back alone than risk stumbling into the enemy while attempting to regroup."

"Understood, sir."

The Iron Soul Unit split into two detachments without a wasted breath. Yeom Baek led the main force up the jagged rock face toward the ridge, while Yoo Seol-ah's detachment plunged into the gloomy depths of the valley forest.

Dokgo Jin, as part of Squad One, naturally fell in behind Yoo Seol-ah. As his feet ate the distance, his thoughts turned.

Come to think of it, I remember hearing something peculiar about Grand Elder Yong's granddaughter...

He was certain he had read it in the dossier Wi Geum-seong prepared, but the exact detail eluded him for the moment.

"Move out! Don't fall behind!"

At Yoo Seol-ah's command, the warriors, Dokgo Jin among them, leapt into the darkened canopy of the gorge.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Well over half a shichen had passed since parting ways with Yeom Baek. Having pushed through the winding ravine and scaled a steep mountain track, the detachment's pace was visibly flagging. Despite the biting chill of the night, pale steam poured from the men as sweat evaporated off their bodies.

"Haa, haa..."

"Phew..."

Labored breathing echoed from every side. It was only natural. They had endured two days and nights of continuous forced marching with barely a moment's rest, followed immediately by this grueling mountain ascent. Even the warriors of the Iron Soul Unit, celebrated throughout the alliance for their ironclad endurance, were approaching their breaking point.

We cannot keep going like this, Yoo Seol-ah thought, taking in the pale, hollow faces of her subordinates. Pushing them any further would leave them incapable of even lifting their blades when the clash finally came. She decisively raised a hand.

"All units, halt! We rest for one ke. Regulate your breathing and restore your internal energy through meditation!"

"Understood..."

Only then did the warriors exhale long sighs of relief, collapsing where they stood or slumping against nearby trunks. Yet while everyone shut their eyes to nurse their drained reserves, a single man remained standing straight as a spear.

Dokgo Jin.

Yoo Seol-ah stared at him in sheer disbelief.

"Oh? You still have breath to spare?"

"It is manageable."

"Ha. Not even a break in your rhythm. I suppose the Dragon Tiger Plaque Master is truly cut from different cloth."

Rather than acknowledging her praise, Dokgo Jin addressed her in a low, measured voice.

"Vice-Commander."

"Yes?"

"Our situation does not afford us the luxury of waiting for everyone to recover. What if I go ahead and narrow down the search area?"

"What?" Yoo Seol-ah's eyes widened. "Alone? This is practically the enemy's front yard."

"I am well aware. But is time not of the essence?"

"..."

Yoo Seol-ah fell into brief deliberation. Striking out alone during a mission was strictly forbidden by protocol. Yet, just as Dokgo Jin said, time was their fiercest enemy. Moreover, his martial prowess had already been thoroughly proven—having crossed blades with him herself, she could personally vouch for his terrifying capability.

With a short sigh, she nodded.

"Normally, I would never permit it... but I will trust the weight of your title as Dragon Tiger Plaque Master."

"Thank you."

"Remember this, however. If you find the target, do not be reckless. Wait for us."

"I will keep that in mind."

The moment the words left his lips, Dokgo Jin's silhouette blurred. In the span of a single heartbeat, he vanished into the fog-drenched canopy above.

It was a blinding burst of movement that showed not the faintest hint of fatigue. Watching his departing back, the resting warriors shook their heads in astonishment.

"Incredible... Where does he get that kind of stamina?"

"He really is an utter monster."

Hearing their awestruck murmurs, Yoo Seol-ah shot them a fierce glare.

"Instead of flapping your gums, focus on your breathing! The enemy is right under our noses!"

"Y-Yes, Vice-Commander!"

The warriors clamped their mouths shut and hurriedly turned their minds back to circulating their qi.

Meanwhile, Dokgo Jin swept through the dense woods without stirring so much as a whisper of wind. Throughout his advance, he pushed his senses to their absolute limit, sweeping every inch of the surrounding forest. Yet the woods remained eerily deserted.

Not even a rat stirs.

An ordinary young noblewoman and a wounded guard had vanished without leaving a trace. Under normal circumstances, it was an impossibility; by all rights, the pursuers should have captured them long ago. Then, the missing piece of information about Yong Chae-rin resurfaced in his mind.

Yong Chae-rin. Blind from birth, yet gifted with eyes that perceive what ordinary men cannot.

Only then did it make sense. She had been perceiving the pursuers' murderous intent from afar, deliberately steering through paths where no malice lay.

She must have altered her route countless times, which explains why tracking her has proven so difficult.

If anything, it was a miracle they had not yet blundered into the hunting party.

Dokgo Jin's gaze sharpened.

If I cannot find her, I will make her come to me.

Slowing his stride, Dokgo Jin drew qi from the deepest recesses of ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his dantian, channeling the Nine Nether Dark Sky Scripture. A heavy, pitch-black haze of Ink Flame Qi drifted upward like heat shimmer. Rather than compressing it into a lethal spear, he diffused it into a vast, paper-thin veil across the forest air.

I will cast a beacon.

It was a total inversion of conventional tracking. Instead of masking his presence, he chose to radiate an unmistakable, colossal existence. However, he ruthlessly purged every scrap of hostility and bloodlust from the dispersion, infusing the wave with nothing but sheer mass and tranquil stillness.

To her, the world must feel like a pitch-black storm of murderous red blades, tossing her fragile boat upon the waves.

She would be desperate, clinging to any straw of hope. What if, amid the suffocating sea of crimson ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠malice, she suddenly sensed a single, boundless current of power that bore no desire to harm her?

She will see this qi as salvation.

There was the risk that it would draw the enemy instead, but that was hardly a drawback.

I need only slaughter them.

Moving alone, he had no reason to conceal his true strength from prying eyes. As he ran, Dokgo Jin pulsed rhythmic ripples of Ink Flame Qi through the forest, casting out distress signals across the dark.

Come to me, Yong Chae-rin.

Before long, his intuition proved correct.

Rustle.

At the outer edge of his sensory field, a faint tremor brushed against his awareness. Dokgo Jin came to a halt and turned. Parting the tangled brambles, two figures stumbled into view.

A woman drenched in crimson, gasping for every breath—Han Seo-ryeong. And clinging to her back, her face drained of all color as she stared unseeingly in his direction, was Yong Chae-rin.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Han Seo-ryeong leveled the tip of her trembling sword, shouting through gritted teeth.

"I asked who you are!"

Dokgo Jin reached into his robes, producing the iron token engraved with the emblem of the Iron Soul Unit.

"I am Dokgo Jin of the Northern Heavenly Alliance's Iron Soul Unit. I have come to rescue Lady Yong, so put your heart at ease."

"Ah...!"

Recognizing the insignia ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the alliance's most fearsome strike force, the fierce hostility finally drained from Han Seo-ryeong's face. A wave of profound relief crashed over her, leaving her legs nearly too weak to hold her upright.

"Haah... We're saved. My lady, did you hear? The alliance sent a rescue unit."

"..."

Yet Yong Chae-rin gave no answer. Instead, she whipped her head toward the empty air behind them, her expression taut with terror. Her supernatural senses were screaming.

"My lady?"

"Look out!"

Before her cry could fully ring out, a ghostly white streak of steel cleaved the air from behind Han Seo-ryeong, lunging straight for her exposed throat. Dokgo Jin's pulse of energy had baited the pursuers as well.

A flawless ambush. It was executed at an angle and velocity that the battered guard had no hope of countering.

I'm dead...!

The instant the icy chill of steel grazed her skin, Han Seo-ryeong squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable. Yet death did not fall upon her.

Thwack!

With a dull, hollow impact, the assassin's dagger spun wildly into the air.

Crash!

"...!"

Opening her eyes, Han Seo-ryeong witnessed an impossible sight. The black-clad assailant had been hurled backward through the air, crashing violently into the snowy brush. Between his brows was a hole no larger than a dried bean, from which dark blood welled and dripped down his face. He was dead before he touched the earth.

Ah!

Instinctively, Han Seo-ryeong snapped her gaze toward Dokgo Jin. He stood rooted in place, smoothly withdrawing his extended index and middle fingers.

Not bad.

The technique Dokgo Jin had just deployed was the Returning Seal Finger, a secret art of the Dark Soul Style he had learned to support his cover identity. Though it was his first time testing it in life-and-death combat, its potency far exceeded his expectations. When the sheer destructive weight of Ink Flame Qi merged with the insidious, penetrating force of the Dark Soul Style, it sublimated into a terrifying art capable of silently shattering an enemy's vitals from within.

Even so, Dokgo Jin was not entirely satisfied.

Had it been truly perfected, there wouldn't even be a mark on his brow.

Right then, two fresh surges of killing intent erupted from the woods on both flanks. This time, the blades were aimed straight at Dokgo Jin.

Without flinching, Dokgo Jin lightly flicked both hands, releasing the Returning Seal Finger once more.

Thwack! Thwack!

"Urgh!"

"Gah!"

Two airborne silhouettes crashed into the snowbanks with muffled death rattles. Once again, it was a lethal strike that pierced cleanly through the center of their foreheads. Remarkably, the holes this time were noticeably smaller. With merely a single repetition, his control had already sharpened.

"..."

Dokgo Jin broadened his qi perception, sweeping the clearing. No other bloodlust lingered in the surrounding dark.

"There are no others. You may rest easy."

Han Seo-ryeong's eyes stretched wide as lanterns.

With mere finger force... he felled those monsters?

These were the very killers who had slaughtered her seasoned subordinates before they could even exchange three blows.

"Incredible... According to your plaque, you are neither a squad leader nor a team leader, merely a common member. How can you wield such divine martial prowess...?"

"The rest of my detachment will join us shortly."

Evading her question, Dokgo Jin closed the distance between them.

"That is... a blessing. Truly..."

Perhaps the sudden dissipation of mortal terror was too much to bear. Mid-sentence, Han Seo-ryeong swayed violently and collapsed into the snow. The moment her unyielding willpower snapped, her overtaxed body simply caved in.

"Sister!"

Panic in her voice, Yong Chae-rin reached out blindly, frantically searching for her companion.

"..."

Dokgo Jin moved quickly, crouching down to inspect Han Seo-ryeong's condition. Her blood loss was heavy and her internal organs had suffered severe trauma, but fortunately, the wounds were not fatal. Han Seo-ryeong weakly grasped the blind girl's hand to soothe her.

"I am fine, my lady. The relief simply overcame me all at once."

"We must tend to your wounds first."

Dokgo Jin drew clean bandages and a jar of Golden Sore Ointment from his inner robes.

"..."

As a woman, Han Seo-ryeong felt a fleeting prickle of hesitation at exposing her injuries to a strange man, but this was hardly the time for maidenly modesty. Dokgo Jin rapidly dressed ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the lacerations with ointment and bound them tight with bandages. His gaze was so entirely devoid of base interest that Han Seo-ryeong felt embarrassed for having hesitated in the first place.

A man of absolute ice.

In less than half a ke, the treatment was finished. Adjusting her robes, Han Seo-ryeong extended a trembling hand.

"Pardon my shamelessness, but could you spare some of that ointment? The young lady was injured as well..."

Yong Chae-rin shook her head.

"I am unharmed."

Compared to Han Seo-ryeong's grievous wounds, hers were mere scratches from branches, but to her guardian, that mattered little.

"Ensuring your safety is my sole purpose, my lady."

Faced with that unyielding voice, Yong Chae-rin fell quiet. She knew that once Han Seo-ryeong dug in her heels, nothing in the world could budge her.

While the guard tended to the young lady, Dokgo Jin turned his eyes toward the valley trail below.

They have arrived.

Sure enough, a few breaths later, Yoo Seol-ah and her detachment burst into the clearing.

"Oh! You actually found them?"

Yoo Seol-ah's eyes locked onto Han Seo-ryeong resting on the ground and the maiden kneeling beside her.

"Lady Yong?"

"Yes."

"Ah!" Exhaling a breath she felt she had held for hours, Yoo Seol-ah stepped forward warmly. "It is an honor to meet you. I am Yoo Seol-ah, Vice-Commander of the Iron Soul Unit. You are under our protection now, so you may put your mind at ease."

Without waiting for Yong Chae-rin's reply, she barked sharp commands at her men.

"Form an escort perimeter! Place Lady Yong and the wounded at the center!"

"Understood!"

The Iron Soul warriors moved like water, taking up interlocking defensive positions around the girl. Yoo Seol-ah walked over to Dokgo Jin and clapped a hand onto his shoulder.

"To think you truly found them alone. You've done exceptional work. This place is dangerous, so we must fall back immediately—"

"I fear that will not be possible," Dokgo Jin interrupted, his expression carved from stone.

"...What?"

Before she could demand an explanation, the forest air grew suffocatingly heavy. The occasional rustle of nocturnal beasts ceased instantly, swallowed by an eerie silence so deep that even the wind dared not breathe.

Rustle, rustle.

The scrape of brushing leaves drifted in from every direction at once. It was not one or two. Dozens of rhythmic, calculated movements closed in like the teeth of a giant bear trap, sealing the perimeter.

Realization slamming into her, Yoo Seol-ah drew both her twin swords, screaming into the gloom.

"All hands, prepare for battle!"

Swish, swish, swish!

In that singular breath, black shadows poured from the high branches and undergrowth like a descending murder of crows.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

With heavy, coordinated impacts, over fifty martial artists completed a seamless encirclement of the Iron Soul Unit. Every man was cloaked in ink-black martial garb cinched with a crimson sash, their features concealed behind expressionless wooden masks.

"...!"

Yoo Seol-ah's expression froze solid. The aura rolling off each of their besiegers was terribly sharp.

They are not an inch inferior to our own elites.

As the net tightened, a tall, gaunt figure stepped lazily from among the masked warriors, clearly their commander.

"What a disappointment. For a force dispatched to rescue the Grand Elder's precious granddaughter, isn't this party a touch too modest?"

Staring at him, Yoo Seol-ah felt her pupils shudder as though struck by an earthquake.

Th-That man... It can't be!

Before she could stop herself, a dreaded title tumbled from her lips.

"...The Corpse Blood Demon?"

Corpse Blood Demon Guyang Hu.

The commander of the Blood Fog Brigade, the most ruthless vanguard unit of the Kunlun Demon Palace. He was a monster whose martial arts had long surpassed the level of ordinary brigade commanders, said to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the demon elders themselves.

Dark Sky Martial Emperor

The Corpse Blood Demon

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