Volcanic Age

Chapter 225: Sword's Manifestation, Blood's Display (2)

the sect master of the mount hua sect, you riwen, had reached his current heights through his sword. the only swordsman that could be compared to him was the completion sword, nangong weiwu.

as sword attacks rained down from above, the blood demon drew blood from the nearby corpses and shot it out with a flick of his finger.

swoosh!

the purple lines and crimson lines in the air collided, creating an awe-inspiring scenery.

however, the scenery was not one to enjoy.

those with weak cultivations had to focus on withstanding the shockwaves to ensure that they wouldn't suffer any internal injuries.

meanwhile, the blood demon was moving closer and closer to you riwen. the ability to shoot clumps of aura wasn't bad, but the blood demon's qi and the blood demonic art truly shone once he was in close proximity to his enemy.

to be precise, he had to make skin contact with his enemy. his strongest move was to manipulate a target's blood flow and reverse it to sever one's airway, like what he had done to hao dechang.

the blood demon's arm shot out like lightning from the blood mist. his fingertips barely brushed against you riwen's sleeve.

woosh!

the blood demon turned halfway at the waist. then, he extended his other palm forward and chained another attack.

shing!

on the surface, it looked like he only extended his palm forward. behind the scenes, a massive aura made out of palm had rushed out of his palm.

if it weren't for the formless aura, the ominous crimson aura would be visible as it rushed toward its target.

"aren't you going to answer?"

"why are you so interested in a disciple of someone else's sect?" you riwen held his sword vertically and blocked the palm aura. the aura of the sword immortal and the blood demon collided and exploded.

boom!

a massive sword wind and palm wind billowed out. just like everything else that had been displayed so far, the aftermath of the collision was simply incredible.

you riwen and the blood demon were pushed backward, leaving deep footprints on the ground.

as expected of a demonic art. its power is extraordinary.

they were having a leisurely conversation, but they weren't in a good situation at all.

you riwen's sword trembled slightly and whined. he frowned as he listened to the sword's voice. just how many martial arts has he mastered?!

so far, the blood demon had showcased finger techniques, fist techniques, and now, a palm technique. he was using those three types of techniques as if they were his main techniques.

under normal circumstances, one's attack using a technique they didn't specialize in was bound to be weak, but thanks to the nature of demonic arts, the blood demon's techniques were strong—as strong as an empyrean overlord.

however, the blood demon practiced many different techniques, so the power of his techniques couldn't be compared to you riwen, who focused solely on his sword.

however, his adaptability meant that he could respond to various attacks.

realizing that he would never win if this were to continue, you riwen decided to throw all caution to the wind in an attempt to end everything in one fell swoop.

indeed, he's as strong as the rumors say! the blood demon was surprised. this was his first time fighting with an empyrean overlord. his surprise would have been evident if his eyes hadn't been gouged out or his face hadn't been torn off.

he had never experienced a battle of this magnitude since he reached the unfettered demon stage.

the sword immortal and the blood demon's eyes flashed. regardless of their affiliation, the two quietly acknowledged the other as an equal.

"ha!" you riwen stretched out his sword—violet haze sword sutra, first form.

rumble!

a thunderous roar blasted the onlookers' eardrums. then, with a whir, a violet aura spun around fiercely and shot forward.

again?

however, blood demon felt something amiss.

you riwen's aura wasn't colorless. it was violet.

however, the sword immortal had been using a formless aura and a tangible aura alternately, so it didn't really matter. what was suspicious here was the first form.

in a fight between two masters, the result could be determined by a single move, so using the first form of the violet haze sword sutra, which was incredibly predictable, wasn't a good decision.

of course, if the opponent wasn't strong enough to block or avoid the attack, the decision to use the first form wouldn't really matter. in fact, if one were certain that it would work, the idea of using the first form would become a great idea.

however, it would be dangerous if that weren't the case.

the enemy could see through one's attack, read one's intentions, and then use that to counterattack. there was no way you riwen would commit such a rookie mistake, and that was exactly why the blood demon felt suspicious of it.

in the end, the indescribable ominous suspicion ended up helping him avoid a crisis.

i knew it! the blood demon seemed to have noticed something as he moved to the side in the blink of an eye. violet haze dawnbreaker swept past him the next second.

boom!

"aaarrgh!"

the scream had not come from the blood demon. it was from a blood cultist lurking behind him. the blood cultist had become the victim of the sword that the blood demon had dodged.

schwing!

just then, a pure white streak of light shot out from the tail of the attack that resembled a shooting star; the pure white streak of light made a beeline for the blood demon's back.

the blood demon made a half turn and swung his sword lightly as if he had been waiting for the attack.

clang!nôv(el)b\\jnn

the pure white streak of light aimed at his back had turned out to be you riwen's sword.

"sword control!"

a sword was meant to be an extension of a swordsman's hand, and a swordsman ought to never drop their sword. however, this rule didn't apply to the sword immortal.

both the heaven and the earth trembled; even the gobi desert itself seemed to cry out in fury at the broken peace of the sands. ten swords descended, piercing the blood demon's shoulder, back, spine, and waist.

then, a waterfall of aura crushed the blood man nearby. the waterfall smashed it to the ground and pounded it into a paste.

an explosion reminiscent of a massive number of firecrackers detonated at once erupted, but before the commotion could end, zhou xuchuan bounced off the ground like a ball and rose into the air, sending sword fragments flying upward.

wooosh!!!

the scent of plum blossoms erased the smell of blood, and the crimson hue in the air disappeared completely. the blood fog obscuring his vision vanished without a trace.

the blood demon was completely torn apart. a myriad of small holes trailed from his legs to his calves. the blood around him rippled weakly, and the little skin that remained was torn away, revealing all the bones inside.

he had never let go of the coffin, but he was forced to throw it down in the end.

"..." the light in his eyes indicated that he was still alive. he blinked once, twice, and then the light finally vanished. the blood demon remained still; neither his breathing nor his pulse could be felt from him.

"ha... ha... ha..." zhou xuchuan exhaled heavily. he was covered in sweat, and his hand holding the sword trembled like an aspen tree.

he had really poured everything out in that one blow just now. he felt as if he had completely emptied his dantian, exhausting all his qi. it had been a long time since he was this tired. it was such a long time ago that the sensation felt strange.

"whew..."

you riwen fared not any better than zhou xuchuan. his hair and beard were disheveled, and his clothes were messy and torn in several places. his straight shoulders were sagging as well.

"ha... that was scary."

if zhou xuchuan had been even a beat late, he would have lost. he was truly taken aback to see that last blood man.

he was already having a hard time fighting just one, so having to fight four more enemies for a total of five... the thought of it alone was terrifying.

"i would have been in danger if it hadn't been for your help just now. thank you," you riwen said. he hadn't expected that zhou xuchuan would lend him a hand at the critical juncture.

his goal was to unleash multiple instances of sword control at the same time, but he suddenly found himself in a pinch. fortunately, zhou xuchuan had shown up to help him.

"it was... nothing..." zhou xuchuan took a deep breath and exhaled. having caught his breath, he felt much better.

"once this is done, i have some questions to ask you, and i'm sure you know what i'm talking about."

"yes," zhou xuchuan replied, scratching the back of his head, looking like he was in big trouble. this is a big problem.

while the violet haze divine art could somehow be explained in a roundabout way, the violet haze sword sutra was impossible to explain.

even if he were to understand the secrets of the violet haze divine art, he wouldn't be able to use the unique technique known as the violet haze sword sutra.

he had even performed four out of the five forms perfectly, so it was natural for him to fall under suspicion.

fortunately, they managed to kill the blood demon without any of them dying.

or so he thought...

squelch!

"argh!" you riwen's eyes widened. "this, this—what... the hell..."

you riwen's pupils shook as if an earthquake had occurred in his mind. he looked down and saw an arm that seemed to be made out of blood sticking out of a hole in his chest.

zhou xuchuan was so surprised by the sight that he couldn't say anything.

you riwen turned to look behind him, but there was nothing there except for a clump of blood.

"no... no...!" you riwen roared in his aged voice. then, his figure slowly fell backward.

before zhou xuchuan could reach out and catch him, the coffin on the ground lunged forward and opened up, swallowing sect master you riwen.

"sect master!" zhou xuchuan roared and tried to grab the coffin.

however, you riwen jumped out of the coffin as quickly as he disappeared into it.

"sect master! sect master!"

"ha... what should i do?"

you riwen's surprised face had returned to normal.

"...!" zhou xuchuan flinched and stepped backward. that voice...

the voice made his hair stand on end. it resembled scraping iron, and it also sounded like the speaker's throat was churning with phlegm.

"impossible. no...!" zhou xuchuan was shocked, and his expression betrayed his incredulity.

unfortunately, what he thought was impossible became a reality.

you riwen's figure decomposed quickly, and in just a few moments, he became similar to a corpse rather than a living human being. it started from his right cheek, but the entire left side of his face was soon torn off as well.

tears of blood flowed down his eyes, and then his eyes bulged before they eventually fell out of their sockets. it was like someone had gouged his eyes, leaving behind nothing but pitch-black pits.

"he's an empyrean overlord, but a body with such little life left is worthless..."

woosh!

a crimson light flickered from the dark, hollowed-out eye sockets.

"hehehe. the skin and muscles under my nose have fallen off, so i can't even tell whether i'm smiling or not."

the dazzling white beard fell off listlessly, and the hair disappeared into the wind as well.

zhou xuchuan couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"so, did you learn the violet haze divine art from the sword immortal, or were you enlightened to it upon reaching that level?" asked you riwen—no, the blood demon.

1. 顯 a different form of the word in coruscant. it's actually read the same way in korean but different in chinese (xian vs xuan). this ends up being wordplay because, in chinese, it's a homonym for immortal, (xian (manifest) and xian (immortal), but in korean, it's a homonym for dazzle (현 (dazzle) and 현 (manifest)). ☜

2. the title should technically be sword manifestation blood manifestation. i took a little liberty in changing the latter half so that it read better. ☜