Chapter 245. Within Ten Paces, You’ll Find A Fragrant Flower (16)

Chapter 245. Within Ten Paces, You’ll Find A Fragrant Flower (16)

“Damn you, bastard. I’m starting. You have to stop them!”

Woo-Moon sat cross-legged and brought the unconscious Cho-Ah floating in front of him.

He moved his fingers in a dazzling manner as if he was picking gold from thin air, examining Cho-Ah’s meridians and trying to find a solution.

The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor stepped back, holding his breath. He was afraid of disturbing Woo-Moon. He then looked closely at Cho-Ah’s face, the face of his younger sister whom he hadn’t seen in forty years.

He laughed while shedding tears.

‘You have to live, no matter what, Cho-Ah. I... even if I live, I can’t be with you. The smell of blood on my hands can never be cleansed, and this cursed demonic art of mine makes it impossible for me ever to escape it or control my desire for blood. So, don’t be sad. I was destined to die anyway.’

On that fateful day of his awakening, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor had killed the Blood Cult leader in his bed, absorbed the entirety of his Blood Devil Merciless Art cultivation, and then knocked out Cho-Ah by pressing her acupoints.

Then, he murdered every single member of the Blood Cult and used every single drop of their blood to hold a bloody banquet for himself. It was nothing to write home about; after all, he had become an Absolute Master, and none of the Blood Cult members could stand up to such power, much less one that used the Blood Devil Merciless Art.

He had only ever had a few happy moments: when he was young, when he was with his family, and later when he was with Cho-Ah.

Thinking back to that time of his life, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor imbued his finger with qi and pressed his Huiyin acupoint.

As the Blood Devil Merciless Art qi passed through the acupoint, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor writhed in pain. But he continued, pressing onto the next acupoint.

Then, part of his qi started to boil and flow in reverse, according to the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor’s guidance.

‘I didn’t want to show you this side of me, the side of me that enjoys killing people and lusts for blood. I’m sorry for what you’ll hear about me when you wake up.’

That was why the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor had knocked out Cho-Ah before murdering the entire Blood Cult.

How could he know that was the last time he would be able to talk to Cho-Ah?

The Sword King had been sent to subdue the Blood Cult, and he’d arrived just in time to find that there was no Blood Cult to be subdued.

Meanwhile, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor had been taking a bath to get rid of the dirt and the thick smell of blood on his body. He planned to wake Cho-Ah up once he got clean. However, the Sword King simply beat him up as if he were a dog. Then, he took Cho-Ah as a hostage, and the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor had to live as a puppet of Martial Heaven.

The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor’s finger pressed his last acupoint. The rampaging qi boiled throughout his body, bringing forth a power that he had never felt before, as well as an equally strong thirst for blood.

Under the long and luscious hair that was even more beautiful than a woman’s, the white face of the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor was lit up by an eerie smile.

“Goodbye.”

He couldn’t stay here any longer.

The desire for blood was too strong, and the moment he lost control of his sanity, he would even attack Woo-Moon and Cho-Ah without a second thought.

Seob Un-Ha dug through the ground and emerged from the chamber, stepping onto the dirt.

“As expected. It’s you, Blood Cloud Devil Emperor! You were the one who dragged Song Woo-Moon all the way here! I knew it, you brought that bastard here!” said the vice cabinet leader of Martial Heaven’s Worshiping Martial Cabinet, Yoo Dae-Gwang.

He brought his palms together, creating a massive Palm Sphere, and threw it at Seob Un-Ha.

Fortunately, he was the vanguard. In other words, all Martial Heaven underlings were behind him. In other words... As long as the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor blocked the entrance, Cho-Ah would be safe.

His eyes turned red as he watched the flying Palm Sphere, and terrible madness flowed through him.

“Hahaha, a new bloody banquet! Kehehe!!”

As Seob Un-Ha’s thin white hand cut through the air, Yoo Dae-Gwang’s Palm Sphere bounced off weakly, piercing countless other Martial Heaven warriors.

“What the... my Palm Sphere?”

Seob Un-Ha was an Absolute Master, but so was Yoo Dae-Gwang. Their strengths were similar, incredibly similar for that matter.

‘So how did he block my attack so easily?’

Before Yoo Dae-Gwang could finish his thoughts, Seob Un-Ha moved, leaving countless afterimages behind him, and arrived in front of him. It was only then that Yoo Dae-Gwang realized that Seob Un-Ha wasn’t in a normal state.

‘The Blood Devil Merciless Art... wait, that’s not it! What the fuck is he doing?!’

“Y-you, you’re throwing your life away! You’re using Reverse Bloodstream!”

Reverse Bloodstream—it sounded simple enough, but what it did was reverse the flow of the Blood Devil Merciless Art qi and cause the user to go berserk, producing an even stronger burst of power than the typical qi deviation. The duration varied depending on the level of the user, but it lasted roughly the length of time to drink a cup of tea. Once it ended...

...the user’s blood would burst out of their every pore, and they would die without question. And it would hurt the whole time they died.

“Ke—hahahahaha!”

Blood Cloud Devil Emperor used his beloved weapon, the Mad Devil Blood Fan, to continuously attack Yoo Dae-Gwang.

“Cut off his head!” someone else’s shout rang out again.

The one closest to Seob Un-Ha raised his sword and struck down. However, at the last moment, an image appeared in the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor’s mind. It was Cho-Ah’s smiling face—the last smile he’d seen forty years back.

“RAHHHH!”

He snatched the opponent’s sword and turned the man’s wrist, using it to cut off its master’s neck. Then, having regained his senses for a moment, he looked behind him.

Taking advantage of his distraction, several Martial Heaven warriors had slipped past and were heading toward the stairs leading to the basement.

Bang, bang! Crack!!

He slashed the bottom of the pillar next to him with the sword. Then, gathering his remaining qi, he knocked it over. He lifted the pillar sideways and swung it around with immense strength.

BOOM!

“Ugh!”

Those who had slipped by and were trying to go down the stairs were unable to avoid the pillar and screamed as every bone in their bodies was crushed.

“STOP!” the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor shouted as he ran forward. The long pillar simultaneously pushed the Martial Heaven warriors backward.

‘None of you can pass. None of you will get down there!’

Squelch!

Seob Un-Ha had pushed the pillar with the last of his strength, and he was once again pierced by swords and spears.

Despite his efforts,despite trying to avoid getting hit in the head at all costs, a spear finally pierced his temple. And it was only then that Seob Un-Ha’s heart gave out.

“You fucking undying bastard! And what the hell are you all doing? Hurry up and go down!”

The warriors of Martial Heaven went down the stairs, stepping over Seob Un-Ha’s body.

BOOM!

An explosion echoed from the bottom of the stairs, and bone fragments and blood spurted out onto the stairs!

“W-what!” shouted in surprise the man who had been giving orders from the safety of the rear.

Then, a black shadow flashed from within the stream of blood spurting up the stairs.

Squelch!

Woo-Moon’s Inkblade cleaved through his head right at nose level.

He looked at the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor’s body as he flew past the falling dead body.

‘He was a villain, but...’

He didn’t finish his thoughts; he just stretched out a hand and struck the air, setting the corpse of the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor on fire and instantly incinerating it. In the same move, he grabbed the remaining ashes in his hand.

‘I’ll definitely pass this on to Cho-Ah.’

Cho-Ah was on his back. He had finished the treatment, and she was still unconscious.

There was no one who could block Woo-Moon’s path or chase after him. However, he was still anxious until the very end. He jumped into the lake, hoping that the Martial Heaven God wouldn’t appear.

And the Martial Heaven Emperor... did not, in fact, appear.

This should have made Woo-Moon feel relieved, but what it actually did was make him question things.

‘What’s going on? He didn’t even come out even though there was such a commotion in the courtyard, even until the very end. It’s too strange just to assume it’s because his ass is too heavy.’

He emerged from the lake, but Sang-Woon and Jin-Jin weren’t waiting for him. It was an obvious decision; the important thing was to get as far away from Martial Heaven as possible. Staying behind and waiting could have caused them to become a burden for him.

‘The Baek Family. Grandfather will definitely go to the Baek Family. I can meet him if I go there. I can see my grandfather and my mother!’

His mind was already racing as he blasted through the sky like a comet, heading toward the Baek Family.

Meanwhile, the martial artists of Martial Heaven were engulfed in anger as if they would explode at any moment.

“How dare those scumbags!”

In the long history of Martial Heaven, something like this had never happened before.

Instead of them going out to fight, their enemies had invaded their base, killed countless of their people, and leisurely escaped!