Chapter 40
Chapter 40
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Bloodflow Valley (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This was a world inside a game.
Cheongun knew that full well.
With system windows floating aimlessly in the air, how could he not realize he was in a game world?
But at the same time, it was reality.
If you didn't eat something, you'd starve to death. Get slashed by a sword, and blood would spray. Even ordinary passersby carried their own life stories, revealed in casual conversation.
So, after years scraping by as a beggar, Cheongun had developed a new approach.
Selective perception.
When it benefited him, he'd act with cold pragmatism, treating it like reality. When it got annoying, he'd shrug it off as just a game world.
Thus, he chose not to agonize over it.
Who could even tell if it was real or a game? Why dwell on it?
What mattered now was his rotten mood, caused by those bastards, and the certainty that letting them slide would leave him tossing and turning for days, appetite gone.
Wasn't that reason enough to kill them?
It was a game anyway. Who cared?
Those lunatics were willing to immolate themselves—what made killing them a big deal?
Yeah, forget batteries or whatever. Just kill them all.
You think you're the only crazies? I'm crazy too.
Crazy on crazy. Let's kill or be killed.
Yeah, this was a battle to the death.
"Alright, let's die."
"Kill him!"
He looked up, and the enemies lined up on both sides charged like a swarm of ants.
Ambushers hidden behind trees and in rock crevices leaped out like locusts from all directions.
Cheongun swung his sword, greeting them with Crimson Night Heaven-Severing Sword.
His Primordial Unity Qi resonated with the natural qi, unleashing Azure Thunder Qi in a massive circle through the air.
Having ditched the fishing rod for once and wielded a proper sword, he felt an unexpected thrill.
Cheongun slowly unfolded the Crimson Night Heaven-Severing Sword passed down by his master.
Each form was akin to a seasonal technique, so after just a few swings, his inner energy drained rapidly, the ground cratered deeply, and chaos reigned supreme.
Of course, the effects were outstanding.
Projectiles flying from all sides were deflected by the whirlwind sword wind. Charging blades were parried or disrupted, dodged with skillful maneuvers.
Exploiting openings: an exposed nape met a qi-wrapped hand chop to the carotid; ducking low revealed ankles, which he promptly stabbed.
Oh, an opening!
"Gahk!!"
He stomped an ankle and leaped into the air.
Darts, whips, poison-laced sand, all sorts of nonsense flew at him, so he unleashed his protective qi, repelling them with rebound force.
Those that pierced through, he swatted away one by one with his sword. A palm strike from behind was too tricky to dodge, so he grabbed a charging foe's nape and used the body as a shield.
Bam-bam-bam—!
The minion ate a palm blast meant for him, spewing blood and dropping dead.
Cheongun flung the used-up corpse aside and shouted.
"How dare you kill your own comrade, you vicious Demonic Cult scum!"
"You mad bastard!"
A thrusting sword tip aimed straight for Cheongun's throat center.
He jerked his head aside.
The flashing blade grazed past his nape by a hair's breadth.
Then, a shadow descended from above his crown.
Another foe diving sword-first from the sky.
Damn, why so many?
Cheongun channeled power into his soles and stomped with an earth-shaking step.
Boom—! The ground cracked in a three-meter radius, sharp rock shards erupting like spears.
Dust billowed thickly, blinding them momentarily as the unbalanced foes hastily retreated.
By the time the dust cleared briefly, Cheongun's figure had vanished.
'...Where?'
A sniper perched in a tree, firing darts at every opportunity, whipped his head around searching for traces.
Then he glanced sideways—and locked eyes with Cheongun, who had appeared out of nowhere.
"Hiding here, huh?"
"W-Wait a sec..."
Cheongun swung his sword through empty air.
There was no dodging it.
It skipped space itself, utterly unpredictable.
Shhh.
A red line slashed horizontally across the nape; diagonal marks formed triangles on both limbs.
—Splash!
The head separated from the torso; cleanly severed arms and legs thudded to the ground.
—Whoosh!
Cheongun's afterimage lingered as he vanished again.
Sporadic crackles of Azure Thunder Qi sparked in the empty air, erupting into tearing screams wherever he reappeared.
The masked foes' faces paled to ashen hues.
Cheongun's prowess far exceeded expectations, his attacks brutally savage.
What the hell?
Hadn't they caught all the demonic humans alive so far?
The red-masked ones gulped nervously, eyes fixed on him.
A few, terror-stricken, tried to flee.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Spotting them, Cheongun reached for a pine tree.
He gripped a branch, infused it with sword qi, and hurled it like a dart. It embedded in the runners' napes with rapid thuds, dropping them limp.
"...Make way."
This was the guy who had invited him.
The title "Demon Lord" marked him as a demonic cultivator of considerable age and rank among them.
His face showed no prior expectation of stepping up himself.
Yet he didn't seem flustered—rather, he looked amused by the situation.
The fiend spoke.
"Mind if I ask something?"
"No."
"……"
That was it.
Cheongun unleashed his movement technique, charging straight at him.
Oddly, his minions didn't interfere—they stepped aside.
Did a single "make way" really make them obey?
Cheongun found it disappointing.
He needed them swarming like ants to maximize his traits!
So he veered off course.
The Soul-Devouring Demon Lord, expecting a dignified one-on-one, panicked at the sudden change.
Whatever.
Cheongun tore through the remaining minions one by one.
"Let's die."
Clang! Crunch! Aaaagh!
"You too, die."
Slash! Splash! Gurk!
Each swing of Cheongun's sword rent bodies asunder.
The Soul-Devouring Demon Lord bellowed, veins bulging.
"You bastard! How dare you!"
"What? Didn't you need demonic humans for sacrifice? Can't you see I'm making them for you?"
"You, at least—I'll drive iron nails into every bone while you're alive! You'll writhe in eternal agony, neither dead nor alive!"
The Demon Lord leaped forward, closing the gap.
Cheongun eyed his stance.
He vaulted high, hurling seven iron fans downward simultaneously.
Each fan gleamed with dense, black qi condensation.
Clearly sword gang.
"Oh, sword gang."
"Shut up!"
Cheongun deployed his movement art to create distance.
He hastily assumed a qi stance while stepping nimbly.
Wielding sword gang meant a transcendent expert beyond peak realm.
Infusing it so effortlessly into fans? Late transcendent stage.
Pure realm-wise, Cheongun couldn't win.
Not even with his inner energy advantage.
To beat him, he'd need to perfect the Unity realm beyond Primordial Harmony.
But that was no issue.
If he couldn't overcome that gap...
What kind of cheat mode would it be?
The Soul-Devouring Demon Lord kicked off the air with his toes, deploying lightness skill to rush Cheongun.
Cheongun clicked his tongue, batting away incoming fans while counter-charging.
The fiend swept his iron fan horizontally.
Cheongun met it head-on with Crimson Night Sword, unperturbed.
Kagagak—!
Sword and fan clashed.
In qi form, the Demon Lord's black sword gang overwhelmingly dominated, but Cheongun thrust his power relentlessly.
Demon-Breaking True Body.
A constitution where one's qi inherently bore demon-breaking properties.
Sword gang was merely sword qi compressed to its limit and evolved.
At its core, qi clashing against qi.
Yet thunder qi that incinerated and purified evil qi, infused with Primordial Unity Qi bearing demon-breaking nature— that meant demon extermination.
"!!!"
Rooooar—!
Natural qi swirled like a vortex into the sword tip.
Brilliant blue sword qi extended in strands, magnetically clinging to the fiend's sword gang, slowly coiling around it.
Like a python swallowing an elephant.
The qi spun wildly like a windmill in a gale, forcing its way into the sword gang, prying open cracks.
The invading blue Primordial Unity Qi rippled like waves.
Simultaneously, like a drop of blue ink in black water, the dark sword gang began tinting azure.
And then.
Crackle—!
...It surged forth, splattering onto the fiend's wrist like a spiderweb.
"What?!"
The Demon Lord recoiled in shock.
Sword qi devouring sword gang? Impossible.
And qi laced with sharp intent wriggling like a snake onto his wrist?
A feat unheard of in his long years.
He frantically surged power, but the clinging blue qi endlessly spread, enveloping his entire body.
From wrist to shoulder, shoulder to head, chest, legs.
The qi wove a living net, perfectly ensnaring him.
——————!!
In the hushed silence.
A clear sword cry rang like a bell in hallucination.
As if on cue, the qi net flashed, unleashing peak sharp intent.
Bluish flames crackled like live current.
Myriad fine lines crisscrossed his body like starlight.
Beyond the lines, blood bubbled furiously.
And.
Splash—!
Crimson Night Heaven-Severing Sword - Third Form
Dismemberment
The fiend's corpse shattered into fragments, crumbling to the ground.