Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Plum Blossom Blood Rain
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The chief steward subtly stepped back.
His eyes fixed on the scene unfolding before him, a sly twist creeping onto his lips.
The pill he had just tossed out.
Rather than stripping away one's sanity, it granted immense power.
Heh. He wouldn't touch the Soul Loss Pill no matter what, but who would've thought the Mount Hua Sect would help force it down his throat.
The chief steward's eyes gleamed with demonic light.
Normally, any martial artist who obtained a pill that suddenly boosted their internal energy would rush to swallow it first and foremost.
But the Sayu Valley Lord was different.
He suspected and suspected again.
That's why he had tested the Soul Loss Pill and the accompanying cultivation method on others.
After taking time to confirm its effects and side effects, he had staunchly refused to put it in his mouth.
Thus, the chief steward had half-given up on making him ingest the Soul Loss Pill...
But with his life on the line, he finally...
His gaze turned to the Sayu Valley Lord.
A man full of suspicion and caution, yet even he wouldn't have time for such thoughts when death loomed.
But his skills were surprisingly strong. Has he been hiding his true power all this time?
The chief steward observed the changes in the Sayu Valley Lord.
According to his assessment, the man's cultivation had been at the early pinnacle stage or perhaps the peak of first-rate.
Yet the power he had just displayed was at the mature pinnacle realm.
He could've reached the transcendent realm with a decade or two more of training.
And then.
With that level of skill, he must've been confident he could control even the Soul Loss Pill.
The chief steward's lips curved up to his ears.
A bit of a shame, though. It would've been better if I'd fed it to him when his cultivation was even higher.
The pill granted astonishing power.
But the chance came only once.
And now that the Sayu Valley Lord had swallowed it, further growth was unlikely.
He's as good as dead anyway.
He could no longer raise his realm.
His damaged innate essence would keep leaking out, faster than any postnatal essence he could build up.
I need to find and groom a replacement within five years.
As he pondered his future plans,
Whoosh!
The Sayu Valley Lord's aura exploded outward.
That tremendous pressure blazed like roaring flames, dominating the entire Sayu Valley.
"Whoa, he actually ate that thing? He's gone completely insane wanting to die."
Cheonhwi eyed the Sayu Valley Lord.
Not only had his aura changed after swallowing the pill, but even his presence felt entirely different.
As if he were a whole new person.
"Faster than I expected. To think it'd already invaded his upper dantian in such a short time."
Cheonhwi stared into the Sayu Valley Lord's eyes.
The black pupils had vanished.
Those eyes, filled only with stark whites, radiated a terrifying glare.
Has it already taken over his marrow?
Reading the madness in those eyes, Cheonhwi slowly raised his sword and spoke.
"What a waste of your innate essence."
His realm had indeed risen.
But that was it.
He didn't see the value in gaining power at the cost of one's sanity and lifespan.
At that moment, the Sayu Valley Lord drooled like a starving beast, growling.
"...I'll kill you."
"Oh? Give it a try then."
As Cheonhwi flicked his sword,
Kwachik!
The Sayu Valley Lord kicked off the ground.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor in an instant, shaking the entire hall's roof.
"Nice aura. But a realm boosted by borrowed power is just an empty shell—doesn't feel threatening at all."
The Sayu Valley Lord's eyes bulged in fury.
"Don't call me an empty shell!"
His hand shot toward Cheonhwi's head with ferocious speed, as if his reverse scale had been touched.
At that moment.
Swipe—
Cheonhwi's sword thrust out.
From it, red sword qi unspooled like thread, soon blooming into plums redder and more vivid than blood.
One, two.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds upon hundreds embroidered the air.
So many plum blossoms...?!
The chief steward's eyes widened in shock.
He had witnessed the Plum Blossom Sword Art a few times in the past.
But this was different.
Because there were so many blossoms? No.
It was clearly the same technique, yet he couldn't call it the same.
Cheonhwi halted his sword.
Yet both the Sayu Valley Lord he faced and the watching chief steward sensed that this stillness heralded the storm.
Soon, Cheonhwi's sword descended.
"Among the Plum Blossom Sword Arts, this one's the most domineering. Take it well."
Hundreds of petals drifted down in their own rhythms, as if alive.
...!
The mindless Sayu Valley Lord halted his attack and crossed his arms.
It was an instinctive reaction even the soul-stealing Soul Loss Pill couldn't suppress.
The Sayu Valley Lord's fists whipped out.
The Sayu Eight Palms, followed by the Eight Trigrams Palms, Ancient Mystery Fist, Small Classic Fist, and more...
Fierce fist and palm techniques unfolded.
As if showcasing all his accumulated training, his qi-infused strikes tore through the falling plum petals before him.
But.
"Now it begins."
The plums poured down like rain.
The most domineering and murderous stance of the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art.
The manifestation of Plum Blossom Blood Rain.
The fluttering petals shot straight in an instant, piercing the Sayu Valley Lord.
Slash!
Bloody gashes etched across his body wherever the petals touched.
His crossed arms were shredded to the bone, and blood had already pooled around him.
And finally.
Thud.
The Sayu Valley Lord collapsed to the floor.
...This is Mount Hua's Plum Blossom Sword Art?
A chill settled in the chief steward's chest.
The fallen Sayu Valley Lord's state looked dire even at a glance. Not a single inch from head to toe was unscathed, and blood slicked the ground.
This felt less like righteous faction martial arts and more like...
Something closer to our side.
As the chief steward tried to suppress his shock inwardly, Cheonhwi cracked his neck.
His gaze fell on the chief steward.
More precisely, on the internal energy hidden deep in the chief steward's lower dantian, concealed with effort.
The same energy as the one who had used Reverse Yin Technique.
"Now, time for the real deal."
The chief steward's blank expression cracked for a moment.
But it quickly recovered, twisting into a mask of surprise.
"Wh-what do you mean, sir?"
"Quit the lousy acting."
"Pardon? I don't understand what you're—"
"Ugh, I hate dealing with annoyances."
Cheonhwi raised his sword.
A casual motion.
But having witnessed Cheonhwi's martial arts moments ago, the chief steward instinctively circulated his qi and assumed a defensive stance.
Cheonhwi smirked at the sight.
"Exposing yourself like that."
"......"
The chief steward's face grew icy.
"How long have you known?"
"From the start."
The chief steward's eyebrow twitched.
"Nonsense."
"Think what you want."
Cheonhwi shrugged it off nonchalantly.
No, it truly didn't matter.
Whatever he thought, what needed doing remained the same.
"I don't care who you are anyway. Oh, one thing—I'm curious about that pill."
Cheonhwi chuckled softly.
"Not planning to tell me, right?"
"......"
"Yeah, figured. Wasn't expecting it anyway."
Cheonhwi swung his sword.
Sharp sword qi sliced through the air like wind, engulfing the chief steward's position.
Kwabang!
Dust billowed up instantly.
And then.
Whoosh!
Something shot through the dust.
A fan?
He deflected the flying iron fan radiating sharp intent with his sword.
Sparks flew as it bounced away.
But the chief steward, already airborne, bent his knees and kicked off the wall.
"This one's got some flair."
Cheonhwi twisted his sword while watching the chief steward unleash freeform martial arts.
Clang! The iron fan and chief steward flew sideways for a moment.
Whirl—
The chief steward spun midair.
And hurled the iron fan straight at him.
As Cheonhwi moved to knock it away,
Pababat!
The chief steward unleashed a flurry of punches like a madman.
It was one of his signature ultimate techniques, the Iron Shattering Fist said to pulverize steel.
Eighteen strikes in a single breath—but Cheonhwi dodged them all with mere head shakes.
"Flashy moves, but your fist and palm arts are mediocre."
Cheonhwi's left hand shot up, seizing the chief steward's wrist on the final swing.
"Kuk!"
The chief steward gritted his teeth.
But the grip was too strong to break free.
And soon, he paled at the intensifying pressure.
Crack!
A sinister sound rang out, and his wrist bone shattered.
"Kaaaaak!"
Cheonhwi stared intently at the screaming chief steward and yanked him forward.
Their faces were inches apart in an instant.
Terror finally crept into the chief steward's eyes.
"Not yet."
Twisting his lips, Cheonhwi hurled him away.
As he swung his sword wide at the airborne chief steward,
"Stop!"
Cheon Yi-gae shouted, charging in.
But the already swung sword pierced the fallen chief steward's body first.
Slash!
The chief steward's body trembled violently.
"......"
Cheon Yi-gae froze in place.
He alternated glances between Cheonhwi and the chief steward with horrified eyes, then mumbled.
"You killed him?"
Cheonhwi lifted his sword.
Blood droplets beaded up and dripped down.
"Not yet."
Cheon Yi-gae immediately checked on the chief steward.
"Huk, huk."
His condition was gruesome.
A sword wound from his left shoulder to his right waist gaped open, blood pouring ceaselessly.
The depth suggested his organs had barely been spared, but the shock had cracked ribs—his face twisted in agony with every breath.
Cheon Yi-gae's brow furrowed deeply.
He was somehow still alive.
No, this wasn't living. Death would've been mercy.
"......Is this guy even alive?"
"He's still breathing, isn't he?"
"Even so, this is too much..."
Cheon Yi-gae started to say something but swallowed his words and shook his head.
"Never mind. For a bastard like this, it's a fitting end."
Cutting himself off, he locked eyes with the raggedly breathing chief steward.
"Didn't expect to see you here. Myriad Weapons Freak."
"......!"
The blood-soaked chief steward's eyes shook.
Cheonhwi asked Cheon Yi-gae, who seemed to recognize him at a glance.
"You know him?"
"Of course I do."
Cheon Yi-gae's lips curled up.
"This vicious killer who tests new weapons on innocent passersby to check their sharpness... Lately, he's been publicly declared a public enemy of the martial world."