Chapter 741: The Advent (1)

'What am I even witnessing here?'

Yu Zihao no longer felt like he was living in reality. Even though it felt like he was watching a movie, he did his best to understand the event unfolding before his eyes.

However, to say he was still stuck in reality? And that unbelievable thing was really happening, not a part of his feverish dream?

Yu Zihao admitted that, yes, he already knew all that. How could he not?

However, would knowing the truth change anything?

If someone dared to say that to Yu Zihao, he'd grab that idiot by the throat, yank the victim's head close, then quietly whisper into their ear.

He'd say, "Look! Look at the crazy sh*t happening before you! But you wanna talk about what now? Reality?! Stop spewing horsesh*t, you dumb piece of sh*t!"

How could something like that happen in reality?!

Evil was supposed to be formless. Tales of evil could be found in every part of the world, but none described the physical form of evil itself.

However, behold! Evil's physical form was right here! Right where Yu Zihao was!

That horrifying sight described what evil was better than every language existing on Earth.

Behold how pitch-black it was as if it wanted to suck in everything in this world! Look how eerily dark it was! And that darkest of darkness wavered and danced like tidal waves! And this thing wasn't simply existing there like a statue, either.Findd new stories at novelhall.com

This evil growled angrily. Menacingly. As if it'd pounce at a moment's notice to chomp, stomp, tear apart its targets and howl in ecstasy!

'What the f*ck is that thing?!'

Yu Zihao was obviously a member of the martial world. Thus he knew quite well that half of all things humans considered unrealistic happened all the time in his neck of the woods. For instance...

Humans might not be able to fly, but they sure could leap very high into the air. And they might not be able to survive underwater, but they could at least last for around a day.

Martial artists constantly tip-toed on the boundary separating logical and unrealistic. In a way, one could even say that things like logic and realism held no meaning to martial artists.

Even then, what Yu Zihao was witnessing right now was still wrong. This event already transcended past the level of being judged by stuff like logic or laws of physics.

Quite literally, that was fantasy coming to life. It was despair itself! Indeed, this was a banquet of despair that his soul, not his eyes, reacted to first!

"Uh... Euh...?"

Yu Zihao's jaw unsteadily shook, his teeth escaping from his control to violently and noisily clatter.

Overpowering? No, this event was more than that.

Obviously, that demonic cultivator had to be strong. Unsurprisingly so. If a man capable of inducing such a phenomenon was weak, who in this world would be qualified enough to call themselves strong?!

Still, what was happening here wasn't as straightforward as that.

Yu Zihao wasn't shivering in fear from the opponent's strength. It was something far more primal than that.

A puppy that had never encountered a tiger would instinctively tuck its tail in and start wetting itself after a mere sniff at tiger fur. Not because it knew what it had smelled just then. No, its instincts... Its soul was reacting to the fear ingrained deep within.

Yu Zihao's soul was urgently screaming at him to fear that thing before his eyes and that he must flee with every ounce of energy stored in his body!

"Ah...!"

Others were reacting similarly to Yu Zihao. Even Cai Kechang couldn't stand still and staggered, eventually regaining his balance after a while.

Cai Kechang urgently held his face with both hands.

'Demonic cultivators!'

The term "demonic cultivators" got thrown around often and without much care. But today, Cai Kechang was getting a first-hand lesson on why they had the prefix "demonic" attached to their title! And no, it wasn't merely because they utilized demonic cultivation methods.

Martial artists relying on orthodox cultivation methods weren't referred to as orthodox cultivators, and the practitioners of evil and heretical methods weren't called heretical cultivators, either. Only those mastering demonic arts held the privilege of using the "demonic" prefix.

Cai Kechang should've realized the significance of that earlier. Those who mastered demonic arts didn't become martial artists. No, they gradually became... demons!

'Just look! Look at him!'

Cai Kechang was convinced Kang Jin-Ho wasn't a martial artist. No, he was quite literally a demon. A demonic human!

Without resorting to a dramatic hyperbole like that, how could he describe who... or what Kang Jin-Ho was?!

If there really was Hell, this must be it. Instead of this place, it'd be more preferable to be cast into Avichi, the Buddhist hell where the sinners were stripped of their human skin and dumped inside eternal fire!

At the very least, they would feel pain inside Avichi, now, wouldn't they! Which was something this dark space didn't permit. They were trapped inside a complete sensory deprivation. And this was far worse torture than anything these people could imagine.

They were driven to the edges of madness. In the proverbial blink of an eye, too!

***

"Get back! Hurry!" Cai Kechang cried out in alarm.

'There are no movements?!'

Martial artists who got engulfed by the flood of demonic qi were not breaking through and leaping into freedom as expected. Considering the victims were proud warriors of the Crimson King's faction, this development was very worrying.

No one sane would feel safe and secure inside that ominous-looking space. If Cai Kechang was in their shoes, he'd have tried to escape the demonic qi before it could touch him, even if it meant he'd have to sever his own leg to do so. In that case, why hadn't anyone escaped yet?

This situation was making Cai Kechang even more scared and sick to his stomach.

'How is this even possible?!'

Cai Kechang wasn't an idiot. Even if it looked as if a devil had descended into the world of living, Kang Jin-Ho obviously wasn't a real devil. In that case, this phenomenon was created through Kang Jin-Ho's martial arts. How was that possible, though?

Regardless of how strong Kang Jin-Ho was, could he actually create a miracle like this? Was it even possible to spread his qi over such a wide area and swallow up highly-trained martial artists like this?

No! It shouldn't be possible! But that impossible thing was unfolding right before his eyes.

Logical and illogical were getting tangled up into one. Fantasy was now existing together with reality. And Cai Kechang couldn't decide what was what.

Kang Jin-Ho was a world apart from every opponent Cai Kechang had fought until now.

'Do you want me to kill myself from shame, you abominable bastard!'

If the situation wasn't so urgent, Cai Kechang might have pulled out all of his hair by now.

So, that was Kang Jin-Ho, a man Cai Kechang thought so little of. A man Cai Kechang firmly believed he could kill at any time he wanted.

Even when Cai Kechang admitted there wasn't much he could do, in the corner of his mind, he always believed the geographical location had saved Kang Jin-Ho's bacon!

Yes, it was that Kang Jin-Ho.

'And here I am, stupidly believing all that crap!'

Cai Kechang was really tempted to go back in time and viciously stab his own tongue and rip it out for uttering bullsh*t like that. Just what possessed him to say all that nonsense back then? Even though he had eyes, he couldn't see the truth. Despite having a functioning brain, he couldn't think.

Kang Jin-Ho was a monster!

A creature that could be judged according to common sense was no longer worthy of the label: monster. No matter how strong a monster was, if its strength could be explained and understood, it would no longer remain an indecipherable mystery. In that sense, calling Kang Jin-Ho 'monster' seemed way too appropriate.

He could not be judged or understood, after all!

"Kill hiiiiiiiim!" Cai Kechang roared loudly.

Since they couldn't flee, that left them with only one option.

There was no need to understand anything here. A dead man didn't require understanding from his fellow still-breathing people, after all!

Cai Kechang's desperate-sounding roar prompted the Vermilion Blood Squad to charge right back at Kang Jin-Ho, their swords gleaming sharply under the moonlight.

"Cha-aaaaaht!"

They fearlessly flew right in. A dozen-plus white meteor streaks charged toward the demon king gushing out black demonic qi. This scene wouldn't have been out of place in a legendary heroic tale!

Demonic qi flooding the floor writhed like a living, conscious creature. Each strand shooting toward the incoming Vermilion Blood Squad members was like a wriggling monster.

Like a small volcano erupting... Demonic qi pounced on the martial artists in white duds.

The members of the Vermilion Blood Squad desperately resisted by swinging and chopping with their swords, but many quickly succumbed helplessly at the leech-like tenacity of these demonic qi strands. Of course, that didn't mean every member was defeated.

Those who succeeded in evading the demonic qi strands gritted their teeth and kicked the air to finally reach Kang Jin-Ho's position.

STAB!

The sharp noise of a sword penetrating something eerily echoed in the air.