Chapter 63
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Wildfire, Blood, and Sword - Dispersion (2)
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Before leaving, he met Zhang Ping. The man spoke of a very simple matter.
"Look here. Guipan and Zhishan. These two cities lie in a straight line."
"Anyone desperate to rescue someone will always be in a rush. Logically, they'd never pick another route. You can count it as certain."
A slender brush pointed to a junction on the map.
The location of the Murim Alliance. And the spot Zhang Ping had marked for the ploy. A well-paved official road connected the two.
"They'll definitely pass through this place. Right here."
"What do I do there?"
It was an utterly ordinary spot. Just an open field—nothing more than a convenient rest area for passing travelers.
The Demon Brain spoke.
"Until dawn breaks, kill every Murim man in sight."
And the Sword Demon replied.
"Understood."
He drew his blade. Blood erupted from the enemy's heart.
His entire body blazed. It hurt, it burned, but the laughter wouldn't stop.
Bai Hui reaffirmed his task.
"Ha..."
Schling. The blood-drenched sword slid into its sheath. He drew a deep breath, his respiration still ragged from the thrill of slaughter. He'd been lucky.
His foe had been radiating the fiercest aura. Without the surprise attack, it would've been a tough fight.
But that was just one. Plenty of enemies remained.
A stinging wave of hostile energy prickled his skin from all sides. The faint scent of plum blossoms began to waft from somewhere nearby.
It thrilled him, in a way. With no cultists around, he could relax halfway.
His heart pounded fiercely.
"Haha."
Reverse Heaven True Qi scorched his meridians, rampaging wildly on its own.
The enemies reacted swiftly. Phantom Sword required speed above all—deception demanded momentum.
The world smeared with crimson trails. Nearly twenty vivid plum blossoms already scattered in the air.
No escaping the dazzling flurry. Frontal assault, he concluded—and in that instant, Bai Hui's hand flickered to his sword hilt.
Flash! Slash!
The world shattered diagonally.
Demonic true qi, pushed to its limit, surged into his sword. The terrifying inner force sheared through the enemy's blade.
And whatever lay beyond it.
Blood sprayed again. He exhaled. His hot breath clung stickily to his lips.
He felt madness encroaching on his mind. He wanted to kill. He craved blood. Normally, he'd suppress it with all his might.
The people around him were cultists, after all—and he couldn't kill them.
But now...
"Two."
Bai Hui retreated a step from the surface of his consciousness. He couldn't tell if he wielded the sword, or if sensation wielded him. His body seemed to move on its own.
He didn't care. Anything that moved was an enemy.
Look—dozens more plum blossoms charged at him.
"Senior Brother!"
"You damn demon spawn!"
He didn't know their nicknames, so he couldn't identify them. Only the shifting sword forms revealed their skill.
One on par with Peng Xiaoying. Another just a shade below.
And after them, four more sword experts remained. Not a weakling among them.
Thousand Kills Star's instinct whispered: You could die here.
Bai Hui closed his eyes. He urged his heart harder. More. Stronger.
He indulged in demonic arts. Awakened his instincts. His filthy blade swung toward the shower of petals.
Gazing at the trajectories his senses traced, he recalled old memories. The cold, dark prison.
"Do you want to grow stronger?"
Clenching his teeth, yearning for power until his chest tore.
He raised his sword against the oncoming wave of plum blossoms. His battered, jagged edge clashed with the enemy's pristine blade, sparking flames.
He pressed forward. Sheer force from whipping his heart made up the deficit.
He sank his awareness into darker depths. His vision flushed redder.
The foe was strong, and this was all he could do.
"Hraaaagh!"
A clash of raw power.
The enemy's forearm thickened. Intensity filled his eyes. Bai Hui stared back steadily.
Reverse blood flow doubled his power with each cycle. His Breaking Sword repelled the dual assault of the Plum Blossom sword experts. The foe's gaze shifted from resolve to desperation, then to terror.
The Plum Blossom swordsman's arm yielded slowly. At last, fear pinched his eyes shut.
Then the filthy blade flashed like lightning. Fierce and razor-sharp, as if bellowing.
Bai Hui tallied.
Three.
"Junior Brother! You bastard!"
A wretched scream. Clang! Clang! He'd watched his pitiful junior's end from right beside. Swords laced with fury followed.
Bai Hui, staring at the ceaseless blooming and wilting plum blossoms, suddenly hurled his sword into the fray—at a razor-thin gap amid the sword flowers.
"Four."
"Hui, my child."
"Tell them this unfilial son met a death without shame!"
The deeper he sank into demonic arts, the louder the whispers grew. He could no longer tell if they were real.
Still, it wasn't enough. He'd thought so since killing Nangong Dan.
The path ahead stretched endlessly. No matter how much he cut down, it fell short.
Madness surged, with no outlet. It threatened to burst uncontrollably, so he'd sought out Zhang Ping on purpose.
True to a scholar, the solution he'd offered fit perfectly.
Kill every Murim man in sight.
Thud. A Plum Blossom swordsman crumpled. In the midst of clashing blades, Bai Hui clutched his head.
He ignored the incoming swords. He shoved the rising irritation, pain, rage into his heart.
From his subconscious, he murmured.
My grudge isn't this trivial.
Ending it after killing this many won't suffice. Toppling Mount Hua and the Huangfu Clan falls short.
Flash. A small shadow peered from behind Bai Hui's back.
Transformation Realm. Becoming something beyond human.
The Fist King's yellow giant on Mount Hua. The black flame phantasm the girl had shown.
A realm still forbidden. Even Thousand Kills Star's talent could only glimpse it.
He tore that boundary by force.
True qi defying nature rejected the limit. Meridians surged backward.
A torrent of energy whipped through his body. Three peak experts slain today alone. More to kill ahead. No time, only urgency.
He'd achieve it, surrendering to madness, letting it devour reason.
He remembered. Beneath the Tian Clan bars, the girl had spoken while gripping his pulse gate, infusing power, whispering.
"Let's burn the world together."
And the demonic arts responded.
Click—
Time froze like a painting.
Bai Hui, sword discarded. Four swordsmen charging, tracing plum blossoms. Mount Hua's swordsmanship was formidable.
The ever-shifting petals never missed. Especially from Plum Blossom sword experts, the sect's symbol.
Four Plum Blossom swordsmen's floral barrage filled the sky, enveloping Bai Hui entirely. Just as the sword flowers bloomed...
Hiss—
A snake slithered through grass.
The Exposed Flower Sword doubted his eyes, if only for an instant.
The enemy had dropped his sword—a perfect opening. No defense, no fighting spirit. It screamed surrender.
Yet in that fleeting moment, an illusion: a dark shadow looming behind the Sword Demon.
Darkness cloaking all sides, like pitch-black night.
'Huh?'
A moment's doubt. Nothing more. No lapse in guard. Forms flawless, coordination precise.
And that sealed the Exposed Flower Sword's fate.
Shraaak!
When had it moved?
Unnatural. One motion failed to connect to the next. A gap, as if interrupted midway.
The Sword Demon's hand, still moments ago, now gripped a blade.
Plip. Plop.
Blood rained. Next instant, severed corpse chunks scattered. Flesh in Mount Hua's crimson robes tumbled in pieces.
One survivor. Even that wasn't his doing.
Schlick. Thunk. The bloodied blade vanished into its sheath. The lone survivor trembled.
What he'd witnessed transcended simple terror. He couldn't even guess what happened.
A nightmare.
It has to be a nightmare. This can't be real.
"Senior Brothers... where did everyone..."
"Hik!"
"Impossible. How..."
"They say Murim folk classify people by realm."
A chilling smile floated in the shadowy thicket. He approached the last Plum Blossom swordsman, whose eyes had glazed over, and prodded him with his sheath.
The power squeezed to its extreme tasted sweet and refreshing. Right now, he could ravage the Murim world.
"They say you climb higher realms by killing well. Hey. Where do I stand now?"
Infusing intent into the blade tip. The superhuman realm, transcending mortality. The Plum Blossom swordsman murmured weakly.
"Tra... Transformation... Realm..."
"I don't like the name."
"Gahk!"
Invisible, Bai Hui's sword pierced the man's heart. Click. A final twitch, and life ended.
"Transformation Realm" didn't suit this. If anything, Extreme Demon—the vista at demonic arts' pinnacle.
Eight fresh corpses in a blink. The Sword Demon gazed at them, muttering.
"Tell your pathetic latecomers the Sword Demon slew us."
The corpses didn't answer. Only thick blood-scent lingered.
Naturally, the Sword Demon returned to his spot.
Silently staring at the campfire, he looked from afar like any traveler warming himself. No different at all.