Demon Yin Blood Shadow (3)
"Huff... huff..."
Her disheveled hair, scattered like wild flames, flowed like red serpents. Sweat-soaked strands writhed like seaweed, tinged with blood to resemble reddish-brown fronds swaying in the sunlight. Despite pouring everything into evasion, she hadn't dodged them all—slashes marred her body here and there. Agonizing pain shot through her shoulder and legs, as if they might snap at any moment.
I can't stop.
Gal Ye-ryeong gritted her teeth. She'd volunteered as bait. It made more sense for her, the swiftest among them, to draw out the enemy rather than Cheongpyo or Jeokjo. Luring them out by venturing alone to where the Haomen members' trails vanished had worked, but the blood-robed man trailing her so leisurely from behind acted as if he planned to slaughter everyone anyway.
"Damn it..."
She was confident in her escapes. Haomen's specialty was survival, built on their unrivaled lightness skills—their qinggong. Among them, Gal Ye-ryeong boasted the highest attainment, her body light as a feather in flight. Excluding Baekwon, the youngest not yet deemed a division leader, she was Haomen's fastest. Yet she'd taken hits to her shoulder and legs before she could even react.
If it had been Jeokjo or Cheongpyo, they'd be dead.
Grit.
A grinding sound escaped through Gal Ye-ryeong's clenched teeth. Jeokjo and Cheongpyo outclassed her in raw power. Their overall strength was comparable, but Jeokjo prioritized speed at the cost of destructive force, while Cheongpyo emphasized power, sacrificing agility. Gal Ye-ryeong was praised for her balance, though her true mastery lay in qinggong.
That was why she'd stepped up as bait.
"You run well for a rat."
The blood-robed man's voice whispered right in her ear. He'd closed the gap in an instant—hadn't he been far off just moments ago? Now he loomed directly behind her, a ghostly figure. The sword in his hand glowed with blood-red inner energy.
"Did you think you could escape me?"
Kwagang!
His sword carved a savage arc, shredding the air. At its end stood Gal Ye-ryeong. But even a ferocious blade of inner energy meant nothing if it didn't connect. Her form blurred, then vanished like mist.
"Petty tricks!"
The man yanked his left arm back like a taut bowstring releasing. A torrent of blood-red palm force erupted like a raging river, sweeping over the fading afterimage of Gal Ye-ryeong within five zhang. The devastating energy leveled the forest not far from Luoyang, scouring the earth flat as if shaved clean.
Yet nowhere was Gal Ye-ryeong to be seen. Only spots of her blood remained.
"Oh ho..."
A feral grin twisted the man's lips. His gaze swept left and right.
"Pursue."
"Understood!"
"They mean to lure us to Luoyang. You can't hide your blood scent, girl."
His chuckling footsteps echoed down the road toward Luoyang.
"It's the Blood Cult!!"
"B-Blood Cult?!"
"Why are the Blood Cult here in Luoyang!!"
Shouts revealed the intruders crashing the Yongmun Assembly's martial arena. As Haomen scouts planted by Jeokjo and Cheongpyo bellowed, the warriors' coordination faltered in shock. Blood Cult warriors unleashed their inner energy mercilessly at the gathered crowd.
"Kill them all."
"Leave none alive!"
"They say an imperial princess is here! Find and slaughter her!"
"Exterminate the righteous sects' seed!"
The Blood Cult warriors were few. But among the assembly were many commoners ignorant of martial arts, and warriors exhausted from fierce bouts. Their assault turned chaos in an instant.
Blood Cult warriors hurled black, spherical orbs from their sleeves, igniting flames everywhere. Deafening explosions followed, then panicked cries from the warriors.
"Th-Those are thunderclap bombs!"
"The mad bastards!"
"Blood Cult using thunderclap bombs!!"
Forbidden in the jianghu, these were imperial treasures under strict control—trading their gunpowder was illegal. But the Blood Cult cared nothing for such laws. Had they, they never would have stormed a gathering of righteous forces.
"Argh!"
"Aaaack!"
"They're lobbing thunderclap bombs! Scatter!!"
Screams erupted amid the echoes of Blood Cult shouts.
"Find the writer Baek Su-gyeong!"
"The master's command is to spare only him!"
"Locate Baek Su-gyeong!"
"No description of his looks—how?"
"He'll show eventually! They say he travels with three women—find the man with three women!"
Clashing weapons exploded from all sides. Chaos congealed in moments, weapon clamor blooming like flames fueled by blood, enveloping the arena.
Through the iron din, So Seon-ha's form flashed like lightning. A ear-splitting rupture forced advancing Blood Cult warriors to retreat in dismay, shoved back by her force. She cried out,
"Master! They're looking for Teacher Su-gyeong!"
"Don't let a single one through, Seon-ha!"
"Got it!"
She drew the ancient sword from her back; Baekmyo leaped onto her shoulder. Damcheon Ye-hong Divine Art surged through her body.
Inner energy courses fiercely through her veins.
The charging Blood Cult warriors weren't numerous. Compared to the thousand-plus warlords assembled, perhaps half. But their baleful aura was overwhelming, stirring even the Damcheon Ye-hong Divine Art to rage in response.
Proof of their hair-trigger demonic energy.
"Haat!"
Gripping the ancient sword two-handed, she thrust forward. Invisible sword waves burrowed through the warlords like seeking eyes, erupting to hurl five Blood Cult warriors into the air.
Pububuk.
As the exposed foes staggered, recovering their stance, So Seon-ha vaulted over the warlords' heads. Her ancient sword stabbed the air in rapid alternation, forming a massive swirling sword circle that battered the sword-energy-wielding Blood Cult warriors.
"Urk!"
"What the hell is that kid?!"
Chak.
Having repelled them with a single stroke, So Seon-ha swung her ancient sword lightly. A blur of speed etched a long line three zhang ahead, steam rising from the scorched earth like molten lava.
"Stop right there? If you don't wanna die."
Baekmyo meowed from her shoulder. The Blood Cult warriors' faces twisted.
"A white cat?"
"Wenbaek Yamyo!"
Astonished cries from the Blood Cult ranks. Its fur gleamed snow-white, cloud patterns shimmering in the sun. Eyes of gold and blue cast an eerie glow.
A yokai? No, far superior. Even perched calmly, its subtle spiritual aura disrupted the Blood Cult warriors' demonic energy.
Their expressions warped at the sight of Baekmyo casually repelling Blood Essence Demon Spirit Art malice.
"Damn it all! Why is that here?!"
The Wenbaek Yamyo hunted evil auras. Said to bear the Star of Six Malevolent Calamities, it brought fortune to its master and disaster to demonic foes—a sacred beast. Yet records of it ended over five centuries ago, mere legend and rumor.
Now manifest in the Central Plains, bonded to a young female warrior.
"Kill it!"
"Light Blood Unit, Blood Tribulation Demon Formation!"
The Blood Cult warriors moved in unison. As the Light Blood Division stirred, So Seon-ha's eyes narrowed. Her ancient sword stabbed all directions in a flash.
Sword qi rises like pillars in dense array, then crashes down like roof tiles sealing them.
Swords stabbed the ground, then soared skyward—a bizarre stance like casting a spell.
"What nonsense—!"
"Follow the Pillars, Cover with Tiles!"
Pillars erected, tiles capping them. Sword qi formed a thicket forest, then poured down like a sealed lid. The Damcheon Ye-hong Divine Art upheld her sword intent effortlessly. Her eyes tinted verdant jade.
The sword-qi forest became countless pillars, capped vertically crashing down. A deafening roar overshadowed the arena's clamor, shaking the earth.
"Arrrgh!"
"Khek."
Blood rain fell. Those cultivating Blood Cult demonic arts—devouring others' blood and vitality—now bled from their own bodies, collapsing. Over twenty combat-ineffective in a blink.
They absorbed their own blood to regenerate, but the feat loomed large: rendering Blood Cult's regenerative warriors powerless in one strike.
So Seon-ha lowered her sword.
"......"
Heavy silence descended. She was barely out of her teens. That truth deepened the hush.
So Seon-ha spoke.
"If you wanna pass, you'll have to go through me."
The master of the Wenbaek Yamyo. The young warrior who'd summoned the legend after five centuries. Her prowess blanketed the chaotic arena under Blood Cult assault. In an instant.