Chapter 291
Chapter 291
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 291
Chapter Title: Blood Emperor
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Sablood Emperor.
It had been well over two hundred years since that name emerged in the martial world and wrought havoc.
Yet even after all that time, the Blood Emperor was still spoken of by the current generation of martial artists.
It was inevitable. How many sects had crumbled beneath his hands?
The Kunlun Sect, boasting centuries of history, had been utterly destroyed, and several of the Nine Great Sects and clans had been forced to seal their gates for long years just to evade his gaze.
His prestige had pierced the heavens.
The supreme warrior of his era.
The one who ruled the martial world through terror.
But a hundred years ago, with the fall of the Four Emperors War, his martial arts had vanished from the world.
Or so everyone thought.
Yet the Blood Emperor's martial arts—so long thought lost—had reemerged.
From Nongjil's hands, no less, manifesting his signature ultimate technique laced with all manner of embellishments: the Layered White Blood Claw.
Whiiiir!
The Layered White Blood Claw rent the air as it tore through the atmosphere, engulfing Cheonhwi and the surrounding area.
But contrary to its astonishing momentum, a quiet silence fell.
It was the hush before the storm.
But that lasted only a moment.
Soon, changes began to stir.
Grrrrrind—
It started when the ground where the Layered White Blood Claw had struck began shaking violently, as if struck by an earthquake.
An ominous portent.
Before long, the trembling earth split wide open with a crack.
And then.
Kabooom!
The ground erupted in a massive explosion.
An internal destruction technique that ravaged from within rather than without.
The pinnacle of Penetrating Energy.
A earth-shaking shockwave burst outward in a circular blast, sweeping over the sect grounds.
Everything nearby was mercilessly hurled away.
And among them was Nun So-un.
The fierce shockwave sent her flying nearly twenty zhang.
Thud!
She slammed back-first into a temple wall before crashing to the ground.
"Guhk!"
Though she had been unconscious as she flew, the impact dimly roused her.
'...Wh-what... is happening...'
In her hazy, unfocused state, she struggled to lift her eyelids and grasp the situation.
Her slowly opening vision was stained red.
Then, in her blood-smeared, blurry sight, the scene before her stole her breath.
"Ha ha hat!"
Nongjil was laughing uproariously amid the pulverized earth and the thick dust rising from it.
She didn't look sane at all.
The aura rippling around her was wildly unstable, and her eyes were clouded with madness and killing intent.
She resembled a demon fallen into qi deviation.
Yet unlike the others charging at her from all directions, unleashing their full power, she seemed to move and judge with cold reason.
That made it all the more chilling.
Maintaining her sanity in that state was an enigma to Nun So-un.
'...A Blood Ghost.'
As despair settled into Nun So-un's hazy gaze fixed on Nongjil.
"Kuhk!"
Nongjil suddenly groaned and flinched. Her expression twisted savagely, her entire body shuddering.
As if struck by some impact.
She hurriedly bent down and snatched up her fallen pipe from the ground.
With uneasy eyes, she reached into her bosom and pulled something out.
A powder she had personally concocted by mixing various toxic herbs and medicinal plants.
She quickly stuffed the powder into the pipe, snapped her fingers to ignite it with samadhi true fire, and placed it in her mouth.
"Fuu."
As pure white smoke billowed out, her tremors and pain gradually subsided.
The raging aura around her slowly stabilized.
"That was close. Nearly lost my mind there."
Her eyebrows arched sharply.
"For a brat, you're surprisingly strong. If I'd let you live, you might've become a real threat down the line."
The kid who felled the Bandit King with sheer luck wasn't ordinary—his talent was heaven-sent.
And young to boot. Leaving him be, who knew what heights he might reach?
'Perhaps even to the Eight Divine Arms...'
She shook her head, dismissing the thought.
'He's dead anyway.'
The murkiness in her eyes slowly cleared, turning calm.
"Now that I've claimed the Plum Blossom Divine Sword's head..."
She whipped her head around.
Her gaze landed on Nun So-un.
To end the war with the Emei Sect, she needed that nun's head.
"Time to bring this to a close?"
With those words, she swept back her disheveled ash-gray hair and twisted her lips.
A demonic smile.
Nun So-un, who had witnessed it all, bit her lip hard.
Nongjil's killing intent stabbed at her like a honed blade.
She wanted to rise and fight.
But.
"......"
She couldn't even twitch a finger.
Her meridians were twisted from Nongjil's attack, and her internal injuries were severe.
Her vision blurred.
She had no strength left to endure.
'...I leave the rest to you.'
Recalling her junior sister who had led the young disciples away through the rear path, she prepared to accept the death approaching.
"Fuu."
Nongjil eyed the seemingly resigned Nun So-un and removed the pipe from her mouth.
She felt a momentary surge of exhilaration.
The ecstasy of the Emei Sect's elite power infiltrating her body lingered.
Just as she steadied her mind and stepped forward.
"Tch. Had high hopes, but what a letdown. Of all things, the Layered White Blood Claw."
A low voice came from behind.
Startled, Nongjil turned.
Footsteps echoed through the dust.
Moments later, Cheonhwi emerged, piercing the thick haze.
Nongjil's expression hardened upon seeing him.
Only the hem of his pants was slightly torn—otherwise, not a scratch.
"...How are you unscathed?"
The words slipped out unbidden.
It was simply unbelievable.
Cheonhwi met her incredulous stare and smirked.
"Because I know it well."
Suddenly, he raised his left hand.
Fingers splayed like an eagle's talons.
Exactly matching the hand shape she had used in her attack moments ago.
Nongjil stared at his hand in disbelief.
Mimicking the Layered White Blood Claw? Absurd.
Martial arts required proper internal energy circulation and disposition to execute properly.
Could one just ape the form and make it work?
But soon, her face filled with shock.
The surging energy was no joke.
"What trickery is this...!"
She hastily circulated her qi.
Dark, murky energy layered around her, firmly enveloping her body.
At that moment.
Whish!
Cheonhwi swung his left hand wide.
A flash of light gleamed.
Five streaks of azure light tore through the world like a dragon's claws.
Whish!
They grazed past Nongjil in an instant.
Scores from five blades scarred the ground behind her.
Kabooom!
A fierce explosion erupted.
Dust surged behind Nongjil.
Her neatly combed ash-gray hair was tousled once more by the blast wave.
'What in the world...?'
Nongjil was utterly confused.
The Layered White Blood Claw had been sealed away as a forbidden text in the sect that took her in.
'They said there was only one in existence.'
Tumult churned in her eyes.
Her master had said it was the only one under heaven.
Yet here it was, unfolding before her eyes.
From the hand of a Mount Hua Sect Daoist, no less.
"How do you know the Layered White Blood Claw...?"
Cheonhwi twisted his lips in faint mockery.
He looked at her and spoke.
"You think I'll tell you?"
Veins bulged on Nongjil's forehead.
Utter disdain.
Her grip tightened.
Crack!
The pipe shattered in her hand.
She ignored the pieces falling to the ground and fixed her gaze solely on Cheonhwi.
"I'll make you spill it."
Cold killing intent and madness flickered in her eyes as she stared at him.
Her pupils grew increasingly clouded.
At the same time, unstable energy rose from her body, soon turning into a translucent ash-gray aura.
Deadly Evil Heavenly Qi.
The unique energy of the Four Heavenly Evil Arts, culmination of evil methods and sorceries, bloomed around her.
"So that's why you're losing it."
Cheonhwi muttered as he observed her.
His eyes gleamed sharply.
The inner power of the Plum Blossom Divine Art in his gaze read the flows emanating from her.
Clouded and distorted.
It was only natural, perhaps.
A living human body harboring the deathly yin qi only the dead exuded.
And not just that.
Evil qi mingled with demonic yin.
The ash-gray energy pouring from her was a conglomeration of all manner of reverse-nature forces.
"A miracle you're still sane."
Having assessed her state, Cheonhwi shrugged and murmured.
She was unstable.
Even more so than the aura she now emitted.
A house of cards.
As he examined her.
Her figure in his vision rapidly grew larger.
She had unleashed the Evil Phantom Step.
Turning into a streak of gray, she clung to his blind spot and thrust up with her left hand.
Energy roiled from her palm.
The wildly unstable aura shot out in tendrils, charging forward.
A perfect ambush from the blind spot.
That was when.
Swish—
Suddenly, a red trajectory etched itself clearly into Nongjil's vision.
It was Blood Moon.
Craaaack!
Cracks spiderwebbed through the air.
"Too predictable."
Cheonhwi merely flicked his eyes toward her, then thrust out his left hand.
A light gesture, as if dusting off his sleeve.
But.
Boom!
A drum-like thud resounded.
Nongjil, who had crossed her arms to block, was hurled backward.
She flew about five zhang before landing and immediately kicked off the ground again.
Thud!
The earth cratered where she pushed off.
And with that.
Kaboom! Craaaash!
Roars and blasts erupted in succession.
For the two whose minds spun at peak alertness, split seconds felt eternal.
Whish! Whish!
Nongjil, executing Evil Phantom Step, vanished and reappeared repeatedly, pressing her relentless assault without pause.
A barrage of ultimate techniques poured forth.
The air wailed and sparks flew amid the feast of martial arts cloaked in ash-gray Deadly Evil Heavenly Qi.
Dozens of exchanges passed in the blink of an eye.
One might expect her energy to waver by now, but Nongjil's momentum only intensified.
As if only now getting serious.
That was when.
Claaaang!
Nongjil was repelled by Cheonhwi's Blood Moon and paused briefly, catching her breath.
"I'll spare your life. I still have questions..."
She spat a killing-intent-laced voice and stomped the ground savagely once more.
BOOM!
A resounding foot stomp.
Her Deadly Evil Heavenly Qi surged skyward from her body, leaving a clear footprint in the dirt.
"In exchange, I'll shatter your limbs!"
With a cry laced with demonic nature, her twin hands flashed up like lightning and slammed down.
The space warped along the trajectory of her descending palms, pressing downward.
And gradually, the surroundings darkened.
A skin-flaying ash-gray whirlwind devoured the sky as it descended.
As if that space alone was severed from the world, a storm of deathly yin concentrated solely there.
Four Heavenly Evil Arts: Return to Heaven, Manifest World.
The deathly ultimate technique that once terrorized the martial world plummeted toward Cheonhwi's crown.
"Impossible."
But Cheonhwi remained utterly composed, lightly stepping forward.
The hard-packed earth softened like mud where his leather shoe touched, compressing rapidly.
A subtle shockwave rippled out like waves, transmitting through the ground.
And.
BOOM!
A colossal shockwave erupted, and Cheonhwi vanished.
Transformed into light, he gazed at Return to Heaven, Manifest World and in one breath slashed Blood Moon upward.
The Plum Blossom Divine Art's power in Blood Moon sent faint crimson waves rippling.
Slash!
It cleaved Return to Heaven, Manifest World in half.
And through the gap, a beautiful crimson glow shone.
Fwaaah—
A single red plum blossom bloomed.
Seven Ultimate Plum Blossom Sword, Fourth Form.
Tyrant Sky Blood Flower Flash.
The darkened sky and raging deathly whirlwind vanished in an instant.
In their place, only one thing remained.
A faint plum fragrance.
It quietly scattered over the now-still Fuhu Temple grounds.
Flick—
As Cheonhwi shook the blood from Blood Moon.
"Heh heh heh."
A faint laugh echoed.
Cheonhwi turned his head.
On the devastated ground lay a fallen figure.
Nongjil.
Her state was wretched.
From shoulder to thigh, a long sword scar gaped, blood welling and dripping in globs.
Red blood spread across the ground beneath her, expanding its domain.
Yet she was laughing.
Even with fatal wounds portending imminent death, her smile didn't waver.
"Strong. Your realm at that age is simply unbelievable."
She exclaimed in genuine admiration.
"But unfortunate. Wrong era to be born in."
Cheonhwi finished sheathing his sword and approached the fallen Nongjil.
"Because of the Eight Divine Arms?"
He looked down at her as he spoke.
Her dazed eyes, staring blankly at the sky, shifted to him.
"Heh heh heh, yes."
"They were pretty strong, sure."
Recalling the Defeated Army he had encountered before, the corner of Cheonhwi's mouth slowly rose.
Nongjil's eyes widened slightly.
"You've met one?"
"Briefly."
"Then you know best. No matter how you struggle, you can't beat them. They're half-immortals. Not called Divine Martial Gods for nothing."
"So you're saying I'll lose?"
Cheonhwi grumbled, twisting his lips.
"Huh, that sounds fun."
Nongjil's eyes widened to their limit.
An indescribable presence emanated from the smiling Cheonhwi.
Not ordinary.
It was the aura only an absolute being like him could exude.
The one who had ravaged her lower jaw, leading her down the unorthodox path...!
At that moment.
"Nothing more to say?"
With those words, Cheonhwi raised Blood Moon.
And without hesitation, thrust it down.
Stab!
Blood Moon pierced her heart.
"Gaaahk!"
Blood spewed from her mouth.
Blackish blood.
Soon, the ash-gray energy around her slithered away and sank into the ground.
The Deadly Evil Heavenly Qi had returned to the netherworld.
Perhaps because of that, her once-pale skin turned blackish in an instant, her body withering to a husk.
In a breath, Nongjil transformed into a long-rotted corpse.
The backlash of losing the Deadly Evil Heavenly Qi.
"It's over."
As Cheonhwi moved to extract Blood Moon from her heart, Nongjil's parched lips moved, croaking dryly.
"Sa... Black Alliance... Lord..."
Murmuring his name—the one who had utterly changed her life—she lost her vitality and breathed her last.