plumnovel Chapter 264
Chapter 264
Namgung Hyun quietly shook his head.So-hwa came to her senses at that soundless warning.
What she could do right now was not to interfere in the fight. Even if she went out, she would not be of any help.
'Let’s stay calm. I already expected that if the Blood Demon obtained the Blood Jade, he would be able to integrate his energies as he wished.'
She simply had not expected it to be this fast.
The monstrous old man formed a dantian in the midst of fighting his opponent.
No—formed was not quite the right word.
He had merely refined and fused the internal energy he already possessed.
Several of the brilliant colors that had shone across the Blood Demon's entire body disappeared. As those colors diminished, the internal energy piled up in his dantian grew larger.
It meant he could repeat that process several more times.
To make matters worse, the purple sphere settled in the Blood Demon's dantian began to divide.
It split into chestnut-sized pieces, then into bean-sized ones, then fragmented into grains smaller than millet.
The Blood Demon scattered them throughout his body via his meridians.
The moment those tiny pills were evenly placed across his acupoints, all light vanished.
So-hwa knew the poisoning had ended.
Indeed, the Blood Demon's internal energy could no longer be felt.
Step.
The Main Blood Hall Lord, having apparently steadied himself in the meantime, stepped closer to the Blood Demon.
The Blood Demon watched Haerak approach and rolled one shoulder.
Crack.
It was an uncanny sound—whether it was the noise of the burned pavilion collapsing or the Blood Demon's bones shifting, she could not tell.
As if to confirm So-hwa's suspicion, the Blood Demon rolled his other shoulder as well.
Crk. Crack.
Even with the flames forming a curtain between them, the sound carried clearly. It meant she was focusing on every detail of the Blood Demon.
Between the torn remnants of his clothing, skin that was becoming smooth came into view, and the grotesquely twisted lines of his body grew fluid and graceful.
The approaching figure of the Blood Demon was soon hidden by the flames.
Yet So-hwa felt a gaze within the fire.
It felt as though someone were staring straight through her.
As if proving that her intuition was correct, a single tiny purple grain flashed into view. At the same time, a piercing sound roared against her eardrums like a tempest.
Kwaaang!
A pillar of fire shot up high, swallowing the flying internal energy.
The fireball, swelling to twice its size as if it would burn the sky itself, rose upward. Without realizing it, So-hwa squeezed her eyes shut for a moment.
Kwaaang! Kwang!
The thunderous noise battered her eardrums several more times.
When the heat receded, So-hwa opened her eyes again.
The figures of the two martial artists, backs to the pavilion, grew dim as the pillar of fire finally sank completely into the ground.
So-hwa touched the back of her hand. Her body was cooling rapidly.
It was an empty, fleeting moment—like a candle snuffed out by the wind.
Bang!
The Blood Demon, having fully recovered his body, extended his hand.
This time, the Main Blood Hall Lord did not offer his own.
Instead, their positions shifted.
She could not see clearly due to the speed, but it seemed a leg had been caught. Using the Blood Demon's hand as a foothold, the Main Blood Hall Lord sprang upward and pressed an acupoint at the back of the Blood Demon's neck.
The Blood Demon twisted his body in retaliation.
Kwaaang!
The two of them were flung farther away from the pavilion.
With no light reaching them, it was no longer possible to follow their movements with the naked eye.
Only by the faint heat drifting through the air could she gauge the Main Blood Hall Lord's movements. He seemed to be pouring out his strength, yet his momentum had greatly diminished.
From afar, the Blood Demon's purple internal energy flickered twice.
In contrast, Haerak's presence—having lost the initiative—grew fainter and fainter. Soon, even the residual heat vanished.
When the scent of peony drifted on the wind, the Blood Demon's silhouette was reflected in So-hwa's eyes.
The Blood Demon halted his steps as he approached the pavilion and rolled one shoulder. The arm that had been grotesquely twisted found its proper place again.
He took a few more slow steps forward. Since the fire clinging to the pavilion had not yet gone out, once he came a bit closer, his figure became clearly visible.
The Blood Demon, perhaps still uncomfortable, rolled his shoulder once more.
Crack.
However, the sound came from the ground. It was the sound of the Main Blood Hall Lord’s head, whose pressure points had been struck, being pulled up by the Blood Demon’s hand.
The Blood Demon spoke in a voice tinged with amusement.
“It is only natural that two fearless children would make such a stupid judgment when working together.”
As he lifted his hand higher, the sound of hair snapping apart was heard.
"So you were trying to deal with me quietly."
Crunch.
Standing still, the Blood Demon's bones twisted audibly. It was the sound of distorted muscles and tendons returning to their proper places.
The Blood Demon's body was not unscathed. Even so, as he walked, he restored the damaged parts.
The realization that he was an unbeatable opponent hit home vividly.
No matter how fiercely one fought with all their strength, unless his lifeline was severed, his body would return as good as new, while the one opposing him would be worn down and fade away.
"It was wise to keep the others from coming. You've earned yourself one more chance."
Crack.
The Blood Demon raised his hand a little higher.
"Will you follow me quietly like this, or…"
His gaze shifted to the dark forest.
"Will you bury all your lingering attachments here and be dragged away?"
When So-hwa did not answer, the Blood Demon pressed his fingers together as if to threaten her.
She felt she understood why the Blood Demon had struggled so much to create the medicine meant to mutilate his own body.
After loosening his body for merely a quarter of an hour, he had ultimately fused several types of internal energy into one.
Even though the new internal energy had been divided into extremely small fragments, its strength was tremendous.
Rubbing his fingertips together, he demonstrated that he could sever the Main Blood Hall Lord's head at any moment.
A mere quarter of an hour.
A realm that would require decades of cultivation for someone else, he had surpassed in that brief span of time.
Whether it was stitching together internal energy that others had accumulated over decades and making it his own, the result was the same. Perhaps the ability of one who arbitrarily split apart and reassembled what belonged to others, and then used it as his own, produced an even more powerful effect than that of someone who devoted pure time and effort.
So-hwa vaguely understood the Alliance Leader's despair.
He must have seen something like this as well.
‘How could anyone possibly defeat such a monster?’
So-hwa, feeling fear and despair, had no expression on her face. Just as the Blood Demon, unaware of her inner thoughts, was about to pull up the Main Blood Hall Lord’s hair again—
Shlick!
The tightly pulled hair, stretched taut like black silk, was cleanly severed by something.
Thud.
The Main Blood Hall Lord's body dropped to the ground.
The Blood Demon's eyes immediately turned toward the direction from which the projectile had flown. He blocked the flying dagger that was aiming for his eyes with his hand.
Pop!
His palm burst open, yet the blade's tip stopped a hair's breadth from his eyes.
In that instant, the Main Blood Hall Lord rolled away and kicked at the Blood Demon's leg.
Thud!
As the Blood Demon reflexively leaped, the sound of flesh bursting rang out in succession.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Pieces of metal reflecting the burning pavilion flashed in the sky.
It was a sight like scattering sparks.
For reasons unknown, the Blood Demon offered his body without hesitation.
Before the wounds could even close, hidden weapons spun in a spiral and tore through the Blood Demon's body.
Schluuuck!.
The sound of bone and flesh being cut drowned out all other noise.
The hidden weapon technique of the one said to turn the sky black instead made the sky bright at night.
The light-reflecting metal pieces flashed continuously in the sky like red stars.
Shlick!
Perhaps it was starting to get annoying, as the Blood Demon spread his hand and showed his palm to the sky.
Just as So-hwa noticed the purple grains bursting from his forearm and was about to shout, the Black Sky Demon, who had seen it first, sprang high from the tree.
Kwaaaaang!
The tree he had been standing on was instantly reduced to ashes, and the forest vanished.
"Y-you.....!"
Truly enraged, the Black Sky Demon scolded him aloud.
"Do you have any idea how long it takes to grow trees like that? To enter another's grounds and destroy their property—you've got some nerve! I will extract full compensation!"
The Blood Demon merely laughed at the words and did not reply.
Thudududk.
Hidden weapons were embedded in a line along the Blood Demon's forearm, yet he did not care. Rather, he swung that arm as if it were clad in solid metal, blocking the Black Sky Demon's thrown weapons.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
His movements were relaxed, like a crane leisurely flapping its wings.
There was no sign of impatience.
Nor did he look down on his opponent as beneath him.
Instead, gleaming predatory eyes stared intently at the Black Sky Demon, like a carnivore gazing upon a delectable form.
The moment So-hwa read that intent and strength gathered in her hands, the Blood Demon twisted his body.
Kwaaaaang!
A massive pillar of fire erupted where he had been standing.
The Main Blood Hall Lord's scorching Fiery Yang Art continued to fly toward him.
From the sky came crimson hidden weapons, while from the ground fists and kicks wreathed in flame surged forth. Though they had not coordinated beforehand, perhaps because their domains were distinct, their attacks did not interfere with one another and battered the Blood Demon.
After yielding his body to several strikes of fists and kicks, scorch marks appeared on the Blood Demon's clothes.
Up until then, he was clearly still at ease.
He did not seem intent on killing anyone.
Yet each time he smiled, baring his white teeth, chills ran down So-hwa's spine.
She felt as though sharp fangs might sink into the Main Blood Hall Lord's arm or the Black Sky Demon's neck at any moment.
At that moment, So-hwa sensed the heat surrounding the pavilion. The Tang Clan's martial artists who had returned were drawing near.
Now, even the Blood Demon would no longer be able to act so leisurely.
So-hwa did not welcome that fact.
Kwaaang! Kwaaang! Kwang!
The Blood Demon moved his arms without pause, batting away the hidden weapons raining down upon him.
Kwak!
No sooner had he cleared away the Black Sky Demon's storm of hidden weapons than a fire-scorched projectile buried itself in the back of the Blood Demon's head.
At some point, a Tang Clan martial artist had climbed onto the pavilion roof, taken position, and attacked the Blood Demon from behind.