Chapter 97
Chapter 97
************************-
Translator: uly
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: The Standard of Ideals
************************-
What is the standard of an ideal?
I don't know. I have no clear idea where it begins or ends-what exactly qualifies as an ideal.
Do the learned know? I doubt it. Even if my own knowledge is limited, I suspect those with far more learning than me would struggle to pin it down definitively.
But still. Everyone knows it. They may not articulate it logically, but they feel it in their bones.
They call it an ideal-the thing you can't rashly sketch out with your fingertips.
And they know that grasping it demands more than ordinary effort.
I'm feeling it right now, too.
Amid this vicious bloodlust.
---Kaaaaang!!!
We clash. But I'm immediately pushed back by sheer power.
Fragments of qi scatter everywhere. A single downward sword strike makes White Night scream.
It's not breaking. White Night's blade itself is sturdy. True to its name as a spirit sword, its durability and strength far surpass any ordinary blade.
But this bloodlust wasn't targeting the sword alone.
The ferocity lunging at my sword arm swallowed my entire limb in an instant.
A force that pierced through my defenses despite my guard.
---Chaaaaak!!!
After thirty exchanges of blows, my arm was reduced to tatters.
"All talk and no substance. Pathetic. And your blood tastes mediocre at best."
I instantly created distance. I gazed down at my slowly regenerating arm and caught my breath.
Without Heavenly Tribulation, the gap would have been even tougher. My straightforward style only made it worse.
Bad matchup in martial arts terms.
He's all flair and technique. An illusory sword mixing one real strike amid nine feints.
It's insidious. Beyond that, the blade itself carries an unsettling malice.
I fell for it time and again.
I was slashed repeatedly.
Catching up was impossible. I'd never faced a sword like this before.
The pinnacle of illusionary swordplay. It evoked the blade of the Nine Heavens Jade Maiden I'd glimpsed sidelong.
Same roots, different branches. A genius's flair danced atop the sword-unlike my own stubborn straightforwardness.
...That's precisely why.
It grates on me even more.
"...Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why aren't you focusing on what you already possess, wielding a sword like that?"
"What a stupid question. True power lies in greed. You have to seize everything you can to look down on the rest."
Gokcheong ground his teeth. His blood-corrupted eyes gleamed.
Discarding his half-hearted bluster, his whisper carried an eerie edge.
"I've devoured countless bloods over the years. Those who suppressed me. Envied me. Coveted me. Sought to surpass me. Even those who tried to help... I consumed them all without exception. That's why I'm here now."
"......"
"To climb higher, I must take everything. What nonsense is it to leave what's within reach untouched? In a world where the stagnant get devoured, foolishness is a self-devouring worm. The moment you spout ideals, you're as good as blinding yourself."
"We take up the sword to realize our convictions."
"Everyone in the world harbors convictions. But only one survives. Why can't you grasp that simple truth?"
---Kaaaaang!!!!
Blood traces an arc. Surging qi rends the air in an instant.
I charge. I deflect it. I exhale the breath boiling up to my throat.
I steady my stance. I let the feint slip by and seize the real strike. I layer my sword atop it.
Blood qi settles at the tip of my gripped blade, swelling like it's about to burst.
I shout.
With my entire body. The path I've walked, diametrically opposed to his.
Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art
Fourth Form
Flash Scatter - Nine-Headed Dragon Slaughter
A world meant to shatter one thing splits into faint lines of nine.
The extended sword strike engulfs the air in an instant. Devouring even the blood qi, it surges forward.
"You dare climb?!"
My opponent counters as if it's only natural. The qi I unleashed is utterly pulverized.
But I'd already anticipated that much.
I kicked off. Hiding myself amid the scattering qi.
I unleashed Ghost Spirit Step, accelerating my body. I didn't come here just to take a beating.
I came to save her.
A precious person's acquaintance.
So surpass him. Even if his skill outstrips mine, surpass him.
Nothing is impossible. Even if it is, believe it isn't.
Believe in what's always at your fingertips. The path I've forged. The footprints visible when I look back.
Make what should bloom from your fingers bloom from your sword tip instead.
Acknowledge the gap between us and close it.
With all your might!
"Wha...?!"
Nine Heavens Blood Demon Sword lunges at my momentarily delayed foe.
I catch up to his back for a fleeting instant. I ignite all my qi, cloaking my body in bloodlust.
Yet it's still far. The gap remains vast. But still.
I know.
The way I've fought until now.
That if I burn everything, I can surpass something, if only for a moment.
What did I come here for?
What have I swung my sword for?
What made me tread that grueling path again and again?
"...Huu...!"
It sharpens. My conviction at the blade's edge.
Imperfect, but it moves. The resolve within me.
Shout it. With all your strength.
If you don't shout now, there won't be time later.
What we always cling to is the momentary blood sword.
The blood we've shed.
Infuse it with conviction.
To walk the path all call foolish.
To seize what we desire!
Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art
Fifth Form
Blood Shadow Twin Blooms - Myriad Piercer
An ascending technique. A form integrating the later stages of qi manipulation into the sword.
White Night, accelerated twice over, screams. The qi clinging to its tip bites into the enemy in an instant.
Like a beast. Like a beast clawing into an invisible cliff.
Two blossoms pierce the foe.
---Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!!
The belated explosion erupts. The world trembles as if collapsing.
Dust pours down. Boulders tumble like dirt, crashing into the cavern.
Structures unable to withstand the clash crumble. Gokcheong, swept back for the first time, vomits blood.
"What... is this...? You... of all people... how...? Could you... against me... be surpassing... the wall?!"
I'm far from unscathed either. Crossing that line for an instant has my entire body shuddering wildly.
But I heard it. I still heard it.
My body may shake, but my conviction holds firm.
I'm still standing here. Sword in hand, upholding my ideal without crumbling.
"...Blood Cult Vice Leader Gokcheong."
Hasn't a flower always bloomed at my sword's tip?
A red bloom steeped in shed blood, pregnant with ideals.
"Take up your sword."
Gokcheong, staring at the blood pooling on the ground, howled.
"...How... dare... youuuu!!!! You insolent bastard!!!! Don't you dare climb over me, you worm!!!!!!"
...
---Kwaaaaaang!!!!!
The Left Protector looked up. He gazed at the underground structure shaking as if about to collapse.
This grand domain had been prepared over long years for the Great Realm. It had taken over twenty years just to build.
Of course, it had already served its purpose. Blood had gathered in abundance at the basin's bottom, and the refined true blood from it was already in Vice Leader Gokcheong's possession.
The conditions for true Blood Demon Descent were essentially met. But that wasn't what concerned the Left Protector.
This structure. Built with such care over ages, it should have been sturdy...
Yet it crumbled. To an explosive crimson qi like a erupting volcano.
"Don't get distracted!!!"
The Left Protector turned his head. From the base of the roiling underground structure, he raised his hand.
A blow flying in to smother him. He met it head-on.
---Kwarrrrrrung!!!!!
His body jolted in an instant. Unable to fully dissipate the impact, he slid backward.
Flames' heat encroaches everywhere. Even his blocking arm suffers minor burns.
A terrifying strike that pierces even his protective qi.
"...Impressive indeed. Well deserving of the title Fire Heaven Fist Demon."
"Fight properly!"
"But you're still lacking against me. Fire Heaven Fist Demon. As one of the two pillars upholding the Blood Cult, I can't fall to the likes of you."
The Left Protector shook out his hand. With a crackle, he loosened it simply, then clenched his fist.
"Fire, you say? I wield it too. Fire born of blood. I call it Blood Flame. You've barely crossed the threshold. Behold."
The Left Protector stepped forward.
"This is the fist of one who has reached the end."
Blood Flame Body Art.
Rakshasa Hundred Flames.
The gripped flames of blood swept over the Fire Heaven Fist Demon. The momentarily shaken earth roared fiercely.
---Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!!
Qi. That qi laden with intent not only tore into the Fire Heaven Fist Demon's body but rent the terrain itself.
Walls collapsed. A belated gale split apart with deafening noise.
Scorching heat bored a massive hole into the cavern. Burning all in its path, it heralded the world of blood to come.
A decisive finish.
A strike poured in with full power.
The Left Protector sighed. He blamed his foolish foe for meeting his full intent head-on.
"Foolish. Taking it straight without dodging. Did you trust that flimsy protective qi? The coming Blood Calamity is full of trash like you."
---Tadak.
Flames crackled. The Left Protector turned toward the thick hole bored in the cavern's center.
"Still, I'll praise you. You traded blows with me admirably. Blame your own judgment for not dodging that fist. Mere toughness shatters against greater toughness. Not that you'll hear me."
The Left Protector took a few more steps.
But he halted as another blaze erupted from the flames.
...Something's off.
The air currents. They're surging upward. Exploding outward like more than mere fire.
A chain of flame explosions. The death throes of one who should be dead.
In the ruins where debris crashes down.
At its center, a still-burning body rose.
"...Kuhuhu... Just when the heat was fading and sleep beckoned. Thanks for waking this seat."
"You had a hidden card?"
"Hidden card? Bullshit! This seat always gives full power, anytime, anywhere! That's my martial way!"
Mad laughter exploded amid the wildly churning flames. As if only now igniting fully, the heat intensified.
"But still! Even giving full power every instant, some take longer to ignite! This seat is like that! My true intent always arrives a beat later than desired!"
"...What nonsense are you spouting?"
"It just started burning now! Yeah! We'll shelve Mireung's vengeance for later! Right now, before me stands a foe worthy to clash martial arts equally! Ahh! It's blazing! Burning so desperately!"
Panting. It's definitely panting.
The scream of one turning to ash.
...But why? What's this?
Isn't it burning even more fiercely? Even after being swept by my Blood Flame Body Art?
The Left Protector's teeth ground audibly.
"What kind of monster are you?"
"What kind? Didn't you say it yourself! This seat is the Fire Heaven Fist Demon! Flames that will one day scorch even the heavens!"
The Fire Heaven Fist Demon growled. On his fully risen body burned flames of a color utterly unlike before.
Beyond crimson to azure flames. Their temperature even more vicious.
"Reached the end? Bullshit! This seat has reached it too! I was pissed at the Nine Heavens Jade Maiden for not seeing it properly, and now trash like you ignores me too?"
"...This bastard...?"
"I'll show you! What Fire Heaven Fist Demon truly means! Why this world fears the Fire Heaven Fist Demon!"
The Left Protector unwittingly stepped back.
Vicious. Beyond vicious, this is...
Rising...?
His internal energy depth... his realm?!
"You! You were hiding your power!"
"Flames that dye even the heavens at the end! That's why this seat is the Fire Heaven Fist Demon!!"