Where Do You Think You're Touching..!

"So now I see — you were a Taoist after all. You learned the Two Extremes Divine Art, and now a righteous cultivator has even mastered demonic arts. Hwahahahahat!"

The old monster let out a mad howl of laughter as a black vortex coiled around his body. It was a monstrous storm, one that would shred an ordinary man to ribbons at the mere touch of it.

And that storm was pulling everything around it inward.

KWAAAAAANG—!

The dragon vortex, surging skyward, blew the ceiling of the cavern clean off.

I tilted my head back to look, and through the ragged hole above, countless stars were pouring their light down into the pit.

And then...

"KYAAAAAAAAK!"

"...Nok Soyun?"

The shockwave of the dragon vortex had launched Nok Soyun, who had been waiting above, into the air — and now she was falling straight back down into the pit. Left alone like that, she'd be shredded by that vortex of blade-force for sure.

"...Well, she is the one who gave me the Green King Divine Art."

Letting her die like that would have pricked at my conscience a little. Come to think of it, the fact that my conscience was functioning again at all meant the demonic art's influence had been pushed back quite a bit by the Two Extremes Limitless Divine Art.

With a faint smile, I spread the Heaven-Ruling Taiji Step and shot upward from the floor.

In an instant I reached where Nok Soyun was falling and pulled her carefully into my arms.

"KYAAA... Huh?"

"Hold still."

And so the two of us, wrapped around each other, fell back down into that deep darkness together. The pit was deeper than I'd thought — its depths were completely invisible from where we were.

But just because I couldn't see it didn't mean I couldn't feel it.

The malice of what dwelled below reached me with startling clarity — a searing killing intent, like needles stabbing into my skin again and again. Feeling it out, I asked the woman in my arms:

"Do you happen to have any hidden weapons on you?"

"In the inner part of my... Ah, my arms can't reach from this position."

She pointed a finger at her own chest with a troubled look, and I gave a solemn nod and asked for her understanding.

"Then forgive me."

"What—? No, wait—!"

It was a situation where a second counted, so I plunged my hand into her robes without a moment's hesitation. The moment my fingers brushed the area near her chest, a soft, yielding warmth enveloped my hand. Nok Soyun's violent reaction came as a bonus.

"Hyaa—! Wh-what do you think you're touching..!"

"Ah, found them."

Four hidden blades caught between my fingertips. I threaded the thread-thin qi of the Heaven's Net Severing Thread through the rounded ends of the blades, drawing them out and binding them together. A thought I'd only just conceived — and even I couldn't help but be impressed by it.

Nok Soyun asked me, her voice full of confusion.

"What... are you doing right now?"

"Watch. Hold on tight and don't let go."

Then I hurled the thread-bound hidden blades with Void-Ripping Object Seizing, pinning them into the cavern wall. My body began to fall under gravity — but the thread of Heaven's Net Severing Thread pulled taut around my wrist, adjusting our falling trajectory.

The next instant.

FWOOOOOOSH—!

A black shockwave tore through the exact spot where we had been plummeting. Had we simply fallen straight down and taken that hit, we'd have been seriously hurt.

And so, throwing the thread-bound hidden blades again and again to dodge every incoming attack, we finally landed back on the cavern floor, and I turned to face him.

"Well? Fun, right?"

"...I feel nauseous."

"That's a problem."

An enemy stood before us. Expose your own weakness now, and you'd only get killed for it. I said it half in jest as I stepped in front of her and raised my sword ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠once more.

Behind my back, a taiji wreathed in dark crimson demonic energy appeared. That blood-demonic qi gnawed ceaselessly at the taiji, trying to erode it from within — but in terms of the image, the enlightenment, and the sheer depth that the martial art itself embodied, the two weren't even close. As a result, the Blood Soul Demonic Art couldn't even dream of prying open the seams of the Taiji Wisdom Sword; all it could do was wrap around it.

From ahead came the old monster's enraged voice.

"You... you worthless flies..."

"For a Grand Master, you can't even catch a single fly?"

"You wretched Taoist bastard..."

"A man without a single follower to his name, mouthing off like that? What exactly did you do wrong, to be carrying on alone in a place like this?"

"Alone? Ha... Hahahaha..."

The black vortex blooming around the old monster's body swelled larger and larger, and his laughter swelled along with it.

"Heh heh heh... you know nothing. It's settled, then. Your flesh and blood shall serve as the offering for my ritual... and your screams and your soul shall become one with me."

"How frugal of you."

So the people who'd been vanishing across Sichuan were this bastard's doing, too, then. That was the end of the conversation.

The Blood Soul Demonic Art, fused imperfectly with the Two Extremes Limitless Divine Art. The circulation of the taiji draped in tyranny responded to my will and began to spin with ferocious intensity.

A ghost claw woven of blade-force came flying at me. The power and killing edge packed inside it honestly surpassed a single strike of the Taiji Sword Form. The flow of the Taiji Wisdom Sword wrapped gently around the claw — but that flow couldn't fully contain the rampaging force of the old monster.

SHRAAAAAAK—

"Ghk—!"

Blade-force exploded outward in every direction. My arms, my legs, my body — they were slashed and torn apart by the fragments of force. Not mere scratches; the wounds went down to the bone. The pain, enough to wring groans from my throat, snapped my mind awake.

And I fed the portion of that power I'd managed to accept into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the taiji's rotation. Facing a Grand Master required at least that much strength — even if it meant my body would explode after the fight, I needed enough power to punch through that grotesque output.

Then a welcome voice reached my ears.

"...I have no idea what situation this is, but allow me to assist."

"I'd be grateful if you did."

It was Dang Jeong. The only remaining Grand Master of the Tang Clan. The Willow Leaf Flying Dagger in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his hand gleamed with a sharp, cold light.

And then — from the shattered ceiling, a green energy began trickling down into the pit. It flowed toward one place: Nok Soyun, still running the Green King Divine Art. That was the only way she, at her Master realm, could help in this fight — threading a single, precise strike into the gaps that Dang Jeong and I opened.

Gritting my teeth, I began swallowing the raging storm of ghost claws into the flow of the taiji. My blood-dark qi, hardened further by the Tai Azure Pill, swelled as if it would burst, and my limbs ached as though they were being torn apart.

"Nnghhh..."

It's fine. I'm used to this. I'd felt this kind of pain until I was sick of it, back when I trained the Three Calamities Sword Art like a madman. My body might collapse, but my will would never break.

Hardening that resolve in my heart, I forced strength into my trembling limbs.

SHRA-SHRA-SHRAK—

Dozens of gashes like a beast's claw marks tore themselves into the walls. In the intervals between those strikes, Dang Jeong's flying daggers streaked through the air trailing streaks of green.

He was a Grand Master for a reason — the daggers pierced straight through the dragon vortex, aiming for the old monster's heart at its core. Of course, the daggers, drained of their power from punching through the storm, were deflected by a casual flick of the old monster's hand.

But every time he wasted one of those attacks, I gained another step.

Step by step, the distance between the old monster and me dwindled until exactly seven paces remained. The power I had accumulated in my body had grown to the point it could withstand his blows. No longer was I accumulating — now I was detonating what I'd built, pushing forward a step at a time.

"...Stay back, you brat..."

"You're one to call anyone a brat."

Every time I swung my sword, the sickening sound of my bones grinding out of place rang in my ears.

One more step.

"Fine... let's see how long that body of yours holds."

The ghost claw came crashing down onto the crown of my head, and I swept out the Mount Tai Crushing Decree, deflecting it. A downward strike carrying both the force of the taiji's rotation and the savagery of the Blood Soul Demonic Art shattered the claw to pieces.

And at the same moment, my internal organs shattered along with it.

Two steps.

GYAAAAAAAH—

A ghost's wail — the kind that shatters the mind just to hear it — shrieked through my skull.

Three steps. A turbid torrent of vengeful souls swept over me. Clutching my cracking head, I poured everything I had into circulating the taiji around my body to channel it away. The attack, bearing the nature of a current, was swallowed by an even greater flow, its trajectory bending — and the twisted torrent of souls smashed the cavern floor to rubble instead.

KWAAAAAANG—!

And so, absorbing one attack with every step I took...

I finally managed to stand before him.

"...You madman. I wouldn't blame a soul for calling you a demon rather than a righteous cultivator. No — even the Heavenly Cult couldn't keep pace with your madness."

"Thank you for the compliment."

The tip of my sword pointed at the man who looked down at me as if I were beneath comprehension.

A thrust carrying every ounce of my power became a violent torrent braided of three colors — black, white, and blood-red — and swept over him. The dragon vortex that had swirled around his body, blocking every attack until now, was scattered entirely by that single strike.

And then, my knees buckled. At last, my body had crossed the threshold of what it could endure.

But a smile was spreading across ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my lips.

"...Leave the finish to me."

"Going in."

Four flying daggers, each carrying everything Dang Jeong had, cut through the air toward the old monster's heart. Behind them followed a massive crescent of sword qi, swung by Nok Soyun.

The old monster's face twisted into a mask of murderous fury.

"You... you vermin..."

"Where do you think you're running?"

I wrung out the Blood Soul Demonic Art to force my body back into motion and seized the old monster by the throat. Because of that, he was pinned to the spot, unable to dodge at all.

"N-no... it's almost complete, I'm almost—!"

And at the moment he screamed it — before he could even attempt anything — his heart, his throat, his dantian, and his forehead were pierced through by the four daggers, and Nok Soyun's sword qi followed, splitting his upper and lower body clean apart.

"Guh... aghk..."

But then.

"Huh..?"

Everyone's gaze converged on a single point. The altar where the tower of skulls had once stood, now reduced entirely to rubble — that altar was emitting a light so strange it defied description.

"Why is that thing glowing..?"

"What is that..."

The altar, having drunk up the tower of skulls and every drop of blood the old monster had spilled, fired its light skyward.

A pillar of blood-red bridged heaven and earth.