Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Blood Emperor's Claw
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Thud!
Two Yellow Squad members collapsed to the floor in the exact pose they had been holding their longswords.
“……!”
A suffocating silence filled the side chamber.
The ones who had charged first were the Yellow Squad members.
Yet they were the ones who fell.
Most swallowed hard without understanding how the situation had unfolded.
‘Such a vicious technique!’
‘Th-that’s……?!’
Only Tathagata Divine Fist and Bright Moon Blade were different.
“A-Amitabha.”
Tathagata Divine Fist pressed his palms together to calm his racing heart.
It was a technique he could scarcely believe even after seeing it.
When the young man swung his hand, a chilling azure glow ravaged the Yellow Squad members.
“A fearsome technique indeed.”
Cold sweat dripped down his face as he signaled to the Arhat monks beside him.
“All of you, circulate your Arhat Qi Arts.”
The Arhat monks' eyes widened slightly.
Circulating the Arhat Qi Arts meant preparing to form the Arhat Formation at any moment.
The Arhat monks exchanged glances.
And then simultaneously drew up their internal energy.
Hummm—
In that instant, a faint golden glow illuminated behind the Arhat monks like a halo.
All of them, enveloped in the unique radiance of the Arhat Qi Art, were fully prepared to deploy the Arhat Formation at a moment's notice.
Meanwhile, Bright Moon Blade could not shake off the technique that had just been unleashed from his mind.
Especially the dazzling azure glow that had filled his vision the moment the hand was swung!
Bright Moon Blade swallowed dryly.
‘If I’m not mistaken……’
He quickly scanned the corpses.
The fallen pair looked gruesome.
It was clearly a technique that had felled them, yet the bodies were shredded as if hacked apart by blades.
And that was not all.
Through the torn clothing, ruptured meridians and blood vessels were vividly exposed.
And the moment his gaze shifted to the corpses' chests.
“Gasp……!”
Bright Moon Blade drew in a sharp, involuntary breath.
Five distinct blade marks clearly etched on the corpses' chests!
They matched the traces of an ultimate technique he had once seen described in ancient texts.
His eyes bulging, he glared at Cheonhwi, who was dusting off his hands, and moved his lips.
“Have you mastered the Remnant White Remnant Blood Claw?”
“Oh, you recognized it?”
Bright Moon Blade's pupils shook at Cheonhwi's response, turning suspicion into certainty.
‘I suspected, but it’s real.’
Bright Moon Blade gulped.
Muyoung Shintu was famous, but he had thought it held only treasures or artifacts at best.
Yet what was this?
The Remnant White Remnant Blood Claw existed.
The technique of the Blood Emperor who had once swept through the martial world!
And with their exchange, the side chamber erupted in great commotion.
The moment they heard "Remnant White Remnant Blood Claw," one nickname fully occupied their minds.
The moniker of the supreme evil faction master who had nearly dominated the martial world back then.
“R-Remnant White Remnant Blood Claw?!”
“Damn it all!”
The martial artists clung to the walls in terror, and even the Arhat monks who had been wary of the fight grew increasingly grave.
It was only natural, perhaps.
The Blood Emperor, though dead for centuries, was invariably mentioned whenever the evil factions debated the greatest master of all time.
Tathagata Divine Fist and the Arhat monks, unable to hide their shock, whispered while trembling.
“How could that fiend’s technique reappear in the martial world……”
“The Evil Emperor Hall was wiped out over a century ago…… A survivor?!”
“Martial Uncle.”
One of the Arhat monks called out to Tathagata Divine Fist with a subtly hardened expression.
“We will form the Arhat Formation.”
As the Arhat monks, sensing the gravity, moved to form ranks in unison.
“No. Wait a moment.”
Tathagata Divine Fist restrained them.
Alternating glances between Bright Moon Blade and Cheonhwi, he whispered in a very low voice.
“Don’t you think something’s off?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you sense any evil qi in the technique he just used?”
“No, but……”
“We sensed no evil qi.”
The Arhat monks slowly shook their heads.
It was a brutal technique, but what they felt from the youth wielding it was not evil qi.
Rather, it was pure inner energy.
“That’s not all.”
Tathagata Divine Fist narrowed his eyes as he watched the standoff between Cheonhwi and the Moon-Sun Sect.
“If that one is a successor of the Evil Emperor Hall, why is he fighting the Moon-Sun Sect?”
“Well……”
Now that he thought about it, it made sense.
The Evil Emperor Hall had fallen due to attacks led by the Nine Great Sects and the righteous factions.
So if he were a successor of the Evil Emperor Hall, he should be hostile to them—the Shaolin—instead of fighting the Moon-Sun Sect.
“But Martial Uncle.”
Still, the Arhat monks could not dispel their doubts despite Tathagata Divine Fist's words.
“Didn’t he admit himself that he mastered the Remnant White Remnant Blood Claw?”
“He could have only obtained the technique.”
“Only the technique……”
“Have you forgotten where we are?”
“……!”
The Arhat monks' eyes widened in realization.
“Muyoung Shintu has the Blood Emperor’s manual?”
Most of the Arhat monks exclaimed in surprise, but one.
Gongjin hardened his face.
“Even so, it doesn’t change that he has mastered the Blood Emperor’s manual.”
“If he hasn’t learned the Blood Emperor’s heart method, couldn’t he reform?”
As Gongjin wore a dissatisfied expression, Tathagata Divine Fist added in a low voice.
“So for now, let’s observe how the situation unfolds.”
Tathagata Divine Fist glared at Cheonhwi.
His gaze was sharp, unlike the compassionate expression he had worn until now.
“If we watch, and it seems he will become a Blood Ghost continuing the Blood Emperor’s legacy, it won’t be too late to act then……”
Meanwhile, Cheonhwi tilted his head at the greater reaction than expected from those around him.
‘Is this really such a big deal?’
He hadn’t expected one of the Three Great Demonic Claws to cause such a stir.
The Blood Emperor was famous, but the Remnant White Remnant Blood Claw was just a claw technique at best.
‘Well, it worked out anyway.’
Cheonhwi’s lips twisted into a smirk.
It was perfect for concealing his true identity, wasn’t it?
“Did you obtain it here in this side chamber?”
Bright Moon Blade spoke up.
His eyes, once filled with shock, now gleamed with greed.
Cheonhwi chuckled.
“Where did that commanding attitude from when you ordered me killed go? Suddenly showering me with questions. Why don’t you just come at me already?”
As he finished speaking and crooked his index finger.
“You must think that obtaining the Blood Emperor’s technique makes you the Blood Emperor.”
Bright Moon Blade’s eyebrows shot up.
“Yellow Squad.”
His voice calling the Yellow Squad was calm. But the Yellow Squad members, knowing he was at the peak of fury, lowered their eyes and awaited orders.
The command soon came.
“Rip him apart for all I care—just bring him back alive.”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
The Yellow Squad members responded in unison.
Shing!
And drew their longswords.
As the roughly forty Yellow Squad members raised their longswords together, murderous intent spread in all directions.
Cheonhwi lightly brushed off the stabbing killing intent like thorns and pondered what to use.
‘For now, avoid anything from the Nine Great Sects, Eight Great Families, or major righteous sects……’
As Cheonhwi fell into thought.
Tap!
The Yellow Squad members, thinking he had let his guard down, charged at him.
Cheonhwi paid no heed to the charging Yellow Squad members and smiled.
“For the first one……”
No sooner had the words left his mouth.
Whoosh!
A massive gust of wind raged.
At its epicenter, Cheonhwi swept his gaze over the oncoming Yellow Squad members and casually swung his hand, twisting the trajectory of their longswords.
Then he swung his foot.
Crack!
The Silent Kick lived up to its name, soundlessly kicking a charging Yellow Squad member and shattering his nasal bone.
“Arghhh!”
Cheonhwi passed by the Yellow Squad member who threw his head back screaming.
“Too predictable.”
Right behind, he redirected the sword of another attempting a sneak attack and stabbed the nape.
Pfbt!
The longsword pierced its owner's neck, claiming his life.
Two attacks executed in the blink of an eye, barely enough time for one breath.
Yet the Yellow Squad did not falter.
They pressed even harder.
“Next……”
Cheonhwi circulated his internal energy.
Then something astonishing happened.
Cheonhwi’s form stretched out, and he suddenly appeared behind a Yellow Squad member in front.
“Wh-what kind of bizarre……”
The watching Arhat monks gasped in shock.
“Is such a thing possible?”
“How does he change direction like that……”
A truly eerie phenomenon unfolded.
Not even Body Shifting Soul Swap—his form suddenly elongated like a ghost, slipping past the pressing Yellow Squad members and toying with them instead.
“Impossible……”
Tathagata Divine Fist especially stared in disbelief, eyes wide.
A lightness skill that crossed space without stepping, sweeping all directions.
‘It resembles Shaolin’s legendary Diamond Immovable Body Technique!’
Meanwhile, feeling his body lighten, Cheonhwi smiled.
‘Pretty useful, huh?’
Cheonhwi, unleashing the Flying Heaven Steps created by Demon Horse for the first time, was satisfied.
The internal energy consumption wasn’t high, yet the speed surpassed most lightness skills.
‘They can’t keep up.’
Cheonhwi toyed with the Yellow Squad members wandering in confusion to find him.
Sring—
Slowly, he drew his sword.
The pristine white blade of the White Lotus Sword, drawn after a long time, emerged into the world and reflected the light.
As if jealous, the demon sword let out a faint hum.
‘You can’t come out now.’
But as Cheonhwi resolutely circulated the Absolute Dominion Art’s energy.
The demon sword immediately fell silent.
Subduing the demon sword in an instant, Cheonhwi infused internal energy into the White Lotus Sword.
Taat!
But the Yellow Squad would not tolerate Cheonhwi focusing on his energy.
Whistle!
Cheonhwi turned his head at the sound of slicing wind, and a sharp dagger grazed his cheek.
And simultaneously.
Whoooosh!
Eight longswords sealed off all eight directions.
Cheonhwi swayed his body left and right.
Lightning Shadow Image!
One of the World’s Seven Great Movement Arts, renowned as unmatched in speed throughout history, activated.
Clang!
The longswords sealing all directions failed to even graze Cheonhwi’s clothes and embedded in the ground.
“Over here.”
The Yellow Squad members turned in shock.
Cheonhwi, now behind them, swung the White Lotus Sword infused with internal energy.
Slash!
Eight heads soared into the air.
Before the heads could fall, Cheonhwi kicked off the ground, closing the distance to the distant Yellow Squad members preparing follow-ups.
Some Yellow Squad members hastily flung hidden daggers and projectiles from their sleeves.
But Cheonhwi dodged with a casual tilt of his head, then swung his sword.
Slash!
The sword in his right hand claimed their heads, while the technique from his left hand took lives in various ways.
“Gack!”
“Kaaaaah!”
Cheonhwi freely unleashed the techniques he had read inside.
Sword arts, of course, as well as claw and kick techniques.
The onlookers held their breath.
Bright Moon Blade and Tathagata Divine Fist gasped in shock with every technique Cheonhwi displayed.
He was using more than one or two arts.
A feast of at least five different techniques.
Most were unrecognizable, but occasionally, they could identify some.
“That’s the Killing Curtain’s Five Elements Killing Method?”
“The Complete Truth Sect’s sword art?”
A spectacle of techniques from both righteous and evil factions left them dazed.
Cheonhwi toyed with the Yellow Squad members, wielding all manner of techniques freely.
The result was a one-sided massacre.
Terror crept into the eyes of the Yellow Squad members who had pressed without retreat.
“F-form ranks……”
Slash!
The deputy squad leader’s head, trying to fall back the Yellow Squad members, soared into the air.
“D-Deputy Squad Leader!”
A nearby squad member cried out in horror.
Unable even to scream, the deputy squad leader’s body collapsed belatedly.
Thud!
The Yellow Squad members' faces paled.
Cheonhwi gazed at them as they retreated fearfully and quietly asked.
“Not coming anymore?”
At his question, the Yellow Squad members trembled.
Even after the great slaughter, his expression remained unchanged.
And that very sight further stirred the fear unwittingly planted in them.
As they tried to back away.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Cheonhwi kicked a longsword dropped on the ground by its fallen owner.
Whiiiiiistle—
The longsword flew at astonishing speed disproportionate to its size, piercing them.
Kwachik! Kwachik!
“G-guhk!”
“Sq-Squad Leader……”
He must have kicked about five longswords.
“I was getting tired of waiting.”
Cheonhwi turned his head.
There stood a man who had hidden his presence, waiting for a chance to ambush.
“……!”
The man panicked at his ambush being discovered but gripped his greatsword tighter.
“Die!”
With a heroic shout, the greatsword swung down, generating intense wind pressure.
Cheonhwi raised his finger.
And in that moment.
Clack.
The greatsword was stopped by Cheonhwi’s thumb and index finger alone, sending shockwaves in all directions.
“……Y-you demon spawn.”
“Those your last words?”
Cheonhwi grinned.
And infused his fingers with internal energy.
Crang!
The greatsword snapped in half.
“……!”
Cheonhwi hurled the broken blade at the shocked man.
Thud!
The man, impaled by the blade fragment, slowly collapsed in a pitiful state.
Cheonhwi surveyed the chamber filled with corpses, then shifted his gaze to Bright Moon Blade.
“Now, you’re the only one left.”