Chapter 46
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Blood Shadow Sword Demon
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The old haunt of the Shandong Wicked Clan's stronghold was a place where not a single blade of grass grew.
A location shunned not only by humans but even by beasts.
Which made it the perfect spot for anyone to hide out—no better place existed.
On the desolate slope of the pass,
the Blood Shadow Sword Demon traversed the mountain paths as usual, gathering only the bare minimum supplies.
'People?'
A voice reached his senses as he headed toward his hideout.
Qingzhou Flying Horse Gang, Ancestor Sect, Nine Dragons Seven Peaks, Assembly...
His eyes flashed as he observed the man and woman.
They didn't seem to be after him, but discovering traces of others in this barren wasteland where nothing remained was no easy feat.
'I thought this place was abandoned.'
What had been ownerless land now had inhabitants, a minor shift in perception that spiked his sense of crisis.
The Blood Shadow Sword Demon approached calmly, concealing his identity.
'Lucky break.'
Having holed up in these mountains, he inquired about the current state of the murim world, and escaping the worst of it wasn't necessarily a bad turn.
'The Murim Alliance... Have the other cultists flowed into Shandong as well?'
The Blood Shadow Sword Demon's position differed from most demonic adepts.
Unlike the majority born and raised in the Divine Realm, he had zero interest in the cult's doctrines; he simply needed a place to lay low after accumulating his evil karma.
He had earned recognition for his skills and secured a position, but that very fact had forced him into seclusion against his will.
"Time to relocate."
He reached that conclusion swiftly.
Kill them both.
For such a hasty plan, he considered various possibilities.
'Once I divert attention, slipping away with my life intact should be simple enough.'
It was only a matter of time before tails caught up, so erasing his tracks through murder was a given—and sowing chaos would create an opening.
Fortune favored the Blood Shadow Sword Demon.
He had no doubt this was another stroke of good luck.
Until things started going awry, bit by bit.
"Heh."
Hollow laughs escaped him at the unfolding results.
He couldn't kill a mere first-rate non-combatant in one blow.
And that worthless maidservant had fled far beyond his reach.
Perhaps holing up away from people and ignoring the murim had dulled his instincts.
Ssshh!
As if two mistakes were enough, he unleashed his beloved weapon to decisively carry out his intent.
A thrust infused with his Five Energies' power.
The bloodthirsty four-foot sword flew toward its new targets.
Boom!
A short, resounding explosion echoed around them.
For him, it was inconceivable that his prized sharpness would fail.
The falling Seven Serpent Sword, drained of power, snapped him back to sharp alertness.
"What an unlucky day."
Sighing, he vaguely made out the figures of three young men and women with his naked eyes.
* * *
The maidservant couldn't stop chattering.
It was thanks to the three people she had stumbled upon by chance.
Though only first-rate herself, she was still a martial artist.
The maidservant, who had been helpless against the vicious old man's strikes, personally witnessed martial prowess on a whole different level from the baffling first-rate man.
"Ah..."
She marveled at how the three hadn't spilled a single drop of blood, and for the second surprise, their striking appearances that made eyes widen.
Swoosh.
Clouds parted, and shy moonlight softly illuminated their faces.
With skills and beauty like that, they had to be famous—snapping out of her frozen daze, the maidservant dazedly recited the list of late-generation experts.
"I'll leave the lady to you, Lady Baek Ri."
The owner of the calm voice revealed his identity.
"Somehow... this feels just like last time. Probably my imagination, right?"
Baek Ri-seol let out a sigh, while Seo Mun-ha smiled awkwardly.
He didn't look comfortable holding flowers in both hands; suddenly drawing his longsword, he gazed toward the distant mountains.
The direction the old man and woman had come from.
'Baek Ri Clan... then these people are...?'
Clinging to Baek Ri-seol's words to steady her mind, the maidservant cried out with effort.
"He..."
She should tell them to run.
Logically, relay news of the demonic figure and call for reinforcements—but her words outpaced her thoughts.
"Help us!"
Seo Mun-ha nodded.
"One of the Flying Horse Gang's, are you?"
His composed demeanor sparked soaring expectations, and the hope undoubtedly stemmed from the famously ruthless Nine Dragons Seven Peaks.
Seo Mun-ha pointed to the remaining one.
"Will you go?"
"Sigh, seriously."
Frowning delicately, Dang So-so slowly departed the scene. Toward the old haunt of the Shandong Wicked Clan.
"I'll put it on your tab."
Using him as an excuse, she headed into the poisonous, barren wasteland thick with venomous air.
Her extraordinary senses had picked up the intruder, and the situation before her eyes needed no further explanation.
"Y-yes!"
Her shoulders heaving, the maidservant bowed repeatedly.
Whatever the debt, it was to support her young master—the lord she served. Dang So-so didn't seem as cold-blooded as the rumors suggested.
'Please... at least a body...'
Or perhaps there was another reason.
"Not that one—over here."
Having received Dang So-so's glare in her stead, Seo Mun-ha shrugged.
The one to settle the debt was someone else.
"Tch."
Dang So-so soon vanished into the darkness.
Seo Mun-ha pointed at the demonic figure, who showed no reaction whatsoever.
"Didn't expect him to let us go so easily."
"No need to play along with such obvious bait."
The Blood Shadow Sword Demon quietly observed them.
Shallow mind games. It signaled Seo Mun-ha's brazen search for an opening, and his warrior instincts rang alarms at the thought of targeting Dang So-so's retreating back.
"Honestly, impressive. Third Realm at your age."
The Blood Shadow Sword Demon openly expressed admiration.
Having reached the Mid Realm himself—and as a senior in the murim—he spared no praise for the opponent's cultivation and youth, where arrogance might typically arise.
"And your conclusion?"
Seo Mun-ha showed no deference to the elder.
Facing a notorious demonic adept, debating etiquette with a mortal enemy was laughable.
"A pity. That skill of yours."
With a flash of crimson light, the Blood Shadow Sword Demon extended his left arm.
Woooong—
His energy spread outward, marking a broad territory.
Thud!
Hearts sank at the utterly monstrous qi projection.
"...Both of you, out of this zone!"
Under the mounting pressure, Seo Mun-ha urgently commanded.
Baek Ri-seol might endure, but the maidservant couldn't bear it.
True to his reputation as a sword-maddened demon, the Blood Shadow Sword Demon wielded other tricks too.
Not some profound formation like the Eight Gates, but the pinnacle of qi arts: pressure that constricted body and mind, sealing movement and disrupting inner energy.
Rustle.
Any average martial artist would feel their body grow heavy and vision blur within this domain.
A slender curve arrived before Seo Mun-ha as he struggled to step forward.
Ssshh.
Soundlessly, like a whip, the sword thread grazed his throat.
'What?'
The Blood Shadow Sword Demon was stunned by the unexpected outcome.
He had been certain this strike would sever that stubborn neck—yet the faded Seven Serpent Sword merely cleaved empty air.
'Not once, but twice.'
Seo Mun-ha, having tilted his head back, read the sword path and charged forward swiftly.
'He saw it?'
The Seven Serpent Sword was a treasure of ages. Its inherent sharpness went without saying, and the thread-like sword paths claimed lives before they could be noticed.
With the wielder's exceptional martial arts, failing to draw blood like this was rare.
Slice.
The Seven Serpent Sword destroyed only innocent nature, felling a massive old tree.
Crash!
As severed branches and thick trunk toppled, a startled Baek Ri-seol belatedly cried out the warning.
"Young Master Seo Mun!"
To her eyes, he seemed to be tightrope-walking on a razor's edge.
In this space restricting free movement, Seo Mun-ha performed a death-defying acrobatics show.
Dodging blades nigh invisible in the dim surroundings, he finally reached the old man's position.
The Blood Shadow Sword Demon merely watched, arm raised high.
Halt.
Suddenly stopping, he met the old man's smile.
"Figured it out now, have you?"
"Not just one, huh."
The eerie threads weren't limited to a single strand, like a name implied.
"First time facing the Seven Serpent Sword, I take it? Well, time has passed."
It wasn't due to lack of research.
Grrr—
Based on the intel from Ha Eun-ye, he had thoroughly prepared beforehand.
Grrr—
Confirming it firsthand, he channeled his true qi to counter the binding threads restricting his movements.
"Its edge rivals sword aura. Made of eternal cold iron, these four swords could slice through White Lotus Pure Gang effortlessly."
Courteously explaining, the Blood Shadow Sword Demon flicked his fingers.
Clang!
The steel sword, to which he'd grown quite attached, shattered futilely under the external force.
"Let alone a human body."
Glancing sidelong as he spoke.
Meeting his gaze, Baek Ri-seol halted, biting her lower lip.
The crimson-tinged Seven Serpent Sword flaunted its keen edge, as if forbidding her intervention.
"Among equals, a weapon's difference decides superiority. Sometimes transcending realms altogether—your downfall was neglecting your secondary weapon."
"..."
"No more cards up your sleeve?"
The Blood Shadow Sword Demon exemplified the bad habit plaguing martial artists.
"The battlefield itself."
"Hm?"
Never fail to kill when you can.
"No more hiding, then."
The old man, reveling in his superior martial arts as if time were endless, dallied for that one moment.
"I had hoped for another demonic figure. But as expected."
Glancing around, Seo Mun-ha gripped the remaining sword thread in his hand.
Squeeze.
Comparable to qi reinforcement, but strictly speaking, not quite matching it.
Tsss.
Seo Mun-ha yanked the taut thread.
Normally, it should flay skin and sever bone.
"Kuh?!"
But with his brute force grip, the Blood Shadow Sword Demon was dragged along, kicking off the ground in reverse to leap up, unleashing the remaining six threads.
Threads focused on thorough slashing.
Whip!
Like binding a target, the erratic red lines entangled his body.
'Foolish brat.'
Descending slowly, the Blood Shadow Sword Demon sneered.
Slowly drawing each other in with their hands.
Seven slender blades connected the two without yielding an inch; the momentary balance wouldn't last.
The Blood Shadow Sword Demon, who had trained his hand techniques for years to wield the Seven Serpent Sword.
Crunch.
Following his hand, the threads more firmly ensnared the faint shadow, a familiar tactile sensation reaching his fingertips.
A treasured demonic artifact soaked in the noble blood of thousands.
No doubt it would claim another prey.
Flinch.
Then, a dark shadow approached clearly.
Fwoosh.
Along with swiftly passing time.
'A spear?'
The heavy sensation wasn't mere flesh; the blood-red threads coiled around the straight spear shaft.
Crackkk.
Seo Mun-ha slammed the spear tip into the ground with a broad smile.
"This one's eternal cold iron too."
The airborne old body crashed down like lightning, the flailing threads followed by his form slamming into the earth.
Kaboom!