Chapter 182 :

<Rewriting the Sichuan Blood Incident (2)>

Fweee—

A signal flare suddenly shot up from inside the Blood Cult's camp.

As it soared noisily into the night sky, the Blood Cult members erupted into an uproar.

"An intruder!"

"Over there!"

"Kill him!"

Hundreds of men began charging toward me like mad.

There was only one reason I had fired a signal flare despite the danger of doing so in the middle of enemy territory.

'Go, Moyong Jaehwa!'

Pop—

A faint explosion barely reached my ears from two hundred jang away.

Then, with a sound that tore through the wind, an arrow fell into the middle of the Blood Cult's camp.

Boom!

It was an incomplete thunderbolt arrow that relied on the arrowhead exploding rather than the original technique.

But the dozens of scattered arrow fragments were powerful enough to punch holes through fragile human bodies.

"Aaaaargh!"

"Urgh!"

"Gah!"

The holes were as small as grains of millet, but the fragments penetrated deeply enough to stop a body from functioning.

The sudden calamity descending from the sky struck terrible fear into the Blood Cult members who had been murderously pursuing the intruder.

"Sh-shields! Bring the shields!"

"Run! Another one's coming!"

"Get out of the way!"

I had only narrowly avoided it myself.

"…He didn't do that on purpose, did he?"

An uneasy thought crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it.

"Of course not. Our Jaehwa would never do that to me. Eunho or Geumpyo, maybe."

Jaehwa had been especially attached to me since our first meeting.

He was different from those ill-mannered brats, Geumpyo and Eunho.

Yes, surely he was.

Anyway, thanks to Jaehwa planting his thunderbolt arrow in just the right spot, I had escaped the Blood Cult bastards' sight and could move freely.

Boom!

Another thunderbolt arrow fell, plunging the camp into utter chaos.

Blood-robed men collapsed bleeding all around, while art practitioners who failed to flee in time suffered serious injuries from the metal fragments.

'Uh… Huh?'

Then an arrow fell toward me.

Horrified, I used the World-Solitary Divine Movement to escape.

Boom!

Metal fragments scattered among the Blood Cult members who had noticed me and were approaching, dropping them where they stood.

Amid the screams filling the Blood Cult's camp, I sought out the shadows and used the Ghost-Breathing Step.

Then I approached that distinctively shaped tent.

It was made entirely of red cloth.

Golden grass patterns decorated its corners, and, most tellingly, a golden monstrous bird symbolizing the Blood Cult sat atop it.

"Right in here…"

I was approaching eagerly when a sudden commotion brought me to a halt.

Dozens of men were running this way.

"Don't tell me they noticed the Ghost-Breathing Step?"

I quickly added the Ghost-Breath Art to my Ghost-Breathing Step, concealing my presence as thoroughly as possible.

Byeon Hoseong, who had spread his Blood-Sea True Energy throughout the camp, abruptly opened his eyes.

The unfamiliar presence he had sensed until a moment ago was slowly disappearing.

"They got him."

Someone whose presence clearly differed from those of the Blood Cult had appeared inside the camp.

He had then fired a signal flare, seemingly to expose their location, before disappearing a short while later.

"Foolish. Even if they know our location, no one can pass through the Blood-Sea Illusion Mist Formation."

An analysis conducted within the Divine Cult in the past had concluded that even the mystical formations of the Jegal Family, supposedly the cleverest of the righteous faction's hypocrites, could not compare to the Blood-Sea Illusion Mist Formation.

Those who could not even properly navigate the Jegal Family's mystical formations would never pass through the Blood Cult's Blood-Sea Illusion Mist Formation.

Just then, a loud explosion sounded outside the tent.

Boom!

The explosion was followed by the agonized screams of his proud Blood Cult followers.

'Those bastards deserve to die…'

But those damned arrows made him grind his teeth.

Only a single arrow would fall, yet each one rendered at least three or four men unable to fight.

Worse, unlike yesterday, when they could at least estimate the enemy's position, today they could not even tell where the arrows were coming from.

As a result, the blood-robed men, braver than anyone, were complaining of fear.

Crunch.

The corner of his desk crumbled into powder and fell to the floor.

What infuriated him most was that this was the only way he could vent his anger.

Then he heard dozens of men rushing toward his tent.

"Young Cult Leader!"

"Are you unharmed?"

Dozens entered at once, quickly filling the large tent.

Byeon Hoseong spoke with a deep frown.

"What is this commotion?! Do you think I would fear such paltry arrows?"

The blood-robed men looked troubled at his rebuke.

"Th-that is not our intention."

"Have you caught that damned archer?"

"We are still searching for him…"

Bang!

Before the report was finished, Byeon Hoseong slammed his fist into the desk.

"You useless fools! You cannot even carry out that one order!"

"N-no, Young Cult Leader! More importantly, there is an intruder inside the camp."

"What?"

Byeon Hoseong's expression turned sharp at his subordinate's words.

"You haven't caught him?"

"No! Th-that is correct. He escaped our encirclement amid the confusion, and… We have no idea where he disappeared to…"

Byeon Hoseong raised his Blood-Sea True Energy again.

His internal energy had already reached two jiazi. Within a camp this size, he should not have missed even a single ant.

After concentrating briefly, his brow twisted.

'There's nothing…?'

Yet no matter how thoroughly he searched the camp, he could not sense that unfamiliar presence.

Boom!

"Aaaargh!"

"Urgh!"

"S-save me!"

Meanwhile, the screams of the blood-robed men rang out once again beyond the tent.

A vein bulged prominently on Byeon Hoseong's forehead.

"Catch the bastard firing those damned arrows first!"

"B-but, Young Cult Leader!"

"Do I look like someone who would fall to a mere assassin?!"

"…"

The young cult leader had reached a level unmatched by anyone his age, not only within the Blood Cult but throughout Tibet.

People often said that even in the distant murim world, only someone like Yong Soa could compare to him.

The blood-robed man finally nodded.

"Understood. We will leave only the minimum number of guards and send everyone else to hunt down the archer."

"Do not kill him with a single blow. Slice his flesh off piece by piece. Make him watch until every scrap of flesh is gone from his body before you kill him."

"As you command!"

Even after the blood-robed men left the tent, Byeon Hoseong's anger did not subside.

"How… How did it come to this…?!"

What furious reprimand would his father at their headquarters deliver if he saw this?

"Aaaaargh!"

The table, which had been rattling violently, finally succumbed to Byeon Hoseong's surging energy and crumbled into powder.

"Damn it… Damn it…"

He had absurdly lost one of the iron jiangshi his grandfather had brought with him when he left the Divine Cult.

Now only two iron jiangshi remained at their headquarters.

What angered him most was that, contrary to his expectation that they would encounter difficulty only against the Martial Alliance's main force, academy students had neutralized an iron jiangshi.

"What the hell was that bastard?"

He had known Ilgak could use Vajra Power.

But no one within the Blood Cult had anticipated that the man who appeared afterward would use a higher form of energy.

"Wudang didn't participate in this event, so it couldn't have been Taiji Power… Then, the Three Pure Sect?"

He had never heard that the Three Pure Sect had a successor…

It felt as though every last part of their plan was going wrong.

At this rate, their grand plan to conquer the murim world could be shaken to its foundations.

Calming his agitation, Byeon Hoseong quietly called for a subordinate.

"Chuhyeol…"

A blood-robed man standing guard stepped forward and knelt.

"Yes!"

"Tell them to reorganize the troops."

"…"

…

When his subordinate failed to answer readily, Byeon Hoseong gave the order firmly.

"While the pursuit squad catches the archer, we will strike Shaolin and the Diancang Sect from behind."

The man called Chuhyeol still did not answer.

As though understanding his concern, Byeon Hoseong continued.

"We still have the Blood-Sea Jade and the Illusion Ring. As long as we keep that unidentified bastard occupied, we can kill every last one of them here."

Chuhyeol briefly raised his head to look at Byeon Hoseong, then nodded.

"As you command!"

The instant he answered, Chuhyeol vanished without a trace.

Yet no one inside the tent found the sight remarkable.

Byeon Hoseong looked at the red monstrous-bird ring on his finger and muttered.

"Even a successor of the Three Pure Sect will be unable to withstand the Blood-Sea Illusion Mist Formation and the Blood-Drinking Spirit-Chaos Formation."

He intended to make the bastard who had ruined the Blood Cult's grand plan die even more painfully than that damned archer.

No, he would go further and slice the man's family and friends apart one by one.

He would watch them writhe in agony with his own eyes.

"Really?"

Startled by the unfamiliar voice, Byeon Hoseong raised his head.

And he saw it.

A long black sword appeared out of thin air and pierced his guards through their backs.

"Guh…"

"Ur…"

Perhaps their lungs had been pierced in an instant. The guards died without managing even a proper scream.

Then came the chill of a blade pressing into his neck.

A voice even colder than the blade reached his ear.

"Ahem… Don't move. Move even a little, and I'll stab you to death."

"…"

Struggling to maintain his composure, Byeon Hoseong addressed the stranger who had drawn close to his ear.

"Who are you?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I'm probably the person you were just calling a successor of the Three Pure Sect."

At that nonchalant voice, Byeon Hoseong swallowed.

Was this the bastard who had killed the iron jiangshi?

"I have a question, too. That Blood-Sea Illusion Mist Formation you mentioned—is that what's set up around this camp?"

"It is."

"Oh! Really? But you looked at that strange ring when you mentioned the Blood-Sea Illusion Mist Formation. Are they connected?"

"You noticed correctly. This is the Illusion Ring, a sacred relic of our cult."

"How do you use it?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'll need to know how to use it once I become its owner, won't I?"

The shameless answer made Byeon Hoseong let out a short laugh.

"You need only infuse any mystical formation with the Illusion Ring's energy."

"Really?! What an incredible sacred relic."

"It is an object that has accompanied our cult throughout its history."

The man who had killed the iron jiangshi asked in apparent puzzlement.

"But is it all right to tell me so easily?"

"Heh. Do you think you can take it from me?"

"Hm?"

As he spoke, Byeon Hoseong raised his Blood-Sea True Energy.

The owner of the unfamiliar voice immediately drove his blade into Byeon Hoseong's artery.

But—

"Huh?"

The blade, which should have easily sliced through his skin and damaged the artery, would go no farther.

Instead, the wound was rapidly healing and pushing the blade out.

"Did you undergo the blood-maddened warrior procedure?"

At the intruder's words, Byeon Hoseong exclaimed in surprise.

"How do you know about blood-maddened warriors?"

It was not information an ordinary member of the righteous faction could possess.

Yet the intruder replied calmly.

"Your skin and hair turning red make it obvious you're a blood-maddened warrior."

"…No, I'm asking how you know about that…"

But Byeon Hoseong could not finish.

At some point, his true energy had begun to be sucked out through the spot on his neck where the intruder's hand rested.

"Guh… Th-this is…"

"A little unsettling, isn't it? This is our little secret."

"A b-bloodsucker? Did the Demonic Cult send you?"

"No, I'm not from the Demonic Cult. To be precise, I'm from the side that hates them."

Transforming into a blood-maddened warrior unleashed his potential, tripling his internal energy.

Yet the intruder before him was endlessly absorbing that vast internal energy, which flowed like the Yangtze River.

Even his reddening skin was returning to its original color.

"Anyway, thanks for explaining. There wasn't anything like this in my previous life. Looks like it'll be a huge help in this one."

Through his darkening vision, he saw the bastard wave a hand dismissively.

"Goodbye. Go ahead and settle into hell. The rest of your Blood Cult will be following soon, and then the Demonic Cult."

"Uhh… Uhh…"

After severing the neck of the bastard who had been transforming into a blood-maddened warrior with a single stroke, I activated the Azure Dragon Ring until he became a mummy.

'Blood-Sea True Energy is easier to absorb than demonic energy, at least.'

Moreover, perhaps he had inherited internal energy passed down through generations using Dual-Origin True Energy. As I absorbed his energy, I could feel my own reserves growing as though I had consumed an elixir.

"If I'd known he would give me this much, should I have heard his last words?"

It seemed he had wanted to say something at the end…

"Anyway, what a windfall."

I had obtained not only the Blood-Sea Jade but also an absurd sacred relic called the Illusion Ring.

Thinking of what had happened during the official exam, I could not even begin to imagine how useful it would be in future battles and wars.

"People really should go through life doing good deeds."

I summoned the Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Art and placed a flame on the mummified corpse and on each of the guards' bodies.

Using the sinister energy in their bodies as fuel, the flames burned even more fiercely than usual and began spreading in every direction.

"F-fire!"

"Fire!"

"The young cult leader's tent!"

People began gathering one by one in alarm.

I used the Ghost-Breathing Step again and slipped out of their camp.

"Hehehe…"

Only after putting considerable distance between myself and the bastards did I finally release the laughter I had been holding back.

"Mwahahahahaha! You damned Blood Demon Sect bastards, this is only the beginning! Just you wait, Demon God!"

I roared so loudly that my voice thundered through the night sky.

Far beyond the reach of Jin Sowoon's booming voice.

A man standing atop a cliff looked toward something too distant to see and chuckled.

"What an amusing fellow. Does he think the Blood Demon Sect represents the Divine Cult's full strength?"

Standing with lofty confidence, the man let out another short laugh.

A voice emerged from empty air.

"He dared insult the Demon God. Shall I capture him?"

There was clearly no one there besides the man, yet the voice rang out distinctly.

The man shook his head as though it did not matter.

"Leave him. It was originally my task, and he did it for me."

"But the Illusion Ring is a sacred relic of the Divine Cult."

"If it were a true sacred relic, we would already have it. You know that, too. A half-baked thing like that cannot compare to our cult's true sacred relics."

"…"

The man smiled into the seemingly empty air, as though he could see someone there.

"Still, it's fascinating. He uses the Three Pure Sect's power, and when he infiltrates somewhere, he suppresses his presence like a dead man. Have you ever seen anything like that?"

An answer once again came from the empty air.

"Our cult's concealment arts…"

"Oh, come on. Those leave a trace of demonic scent. Can they erase all traces like he does?"

"…"

As silence settled, the man tilted his head in apparent curiosity.

"Who is he?"

"I will investigate."

"Huh? Oh, come now. Am I the sort of person who would assign such errands to the Heavenly Demon Black Sword Unit?"

"Anything you desire is our duty, Young Cult Leader."

The man addressed as the young cult leader waved a hand toward the empty air and smiled easily.

"Haha, never mind. Someone of his caliber will draw enough attention for information to reach us without our intervention. Let's take our time learning about him."

"As you command!"

The man once again gazed into the empty air and smiled.

"I hope you're still alive when we meet again."