Chapter 288 : Entry into the Blood Palace (1)
Chapter 288: Entry into the Blood Palace (1)
“Guaaaah!!”
At the moment when the storm of demonic qi, black as pitch, shattered into pieces under the pure white sword radiance, the agonized screams of Blood Wheel Asura and Sword Demon Jo Yangpung shook the battlefield.
Clang!
Kwa-ga-ga!
With a tremendous explosive roar, the instant Jo Yangpung’s sword and Blood Wheel Asura’s Blood Wheel collided with Sewoon’s sword, they failed to endure even a moment and were smashed to pieces.
Crack!
At the same time, what burst apart was the Dantian of the two men.
They felt with their entire bodies the inner power they had accumulated over their lifetimes collapsing into nothingness.
But Sewoon did not stop.
After rendering the two of them powerless, he swung his sword once more, imbued with the True Intent of the Yin-Yang Pattern.
His sword was clearly formless, yet its energy cleaved a thousand li and took shape.
Paaat!
Slash!
The formless blade Sewoon extended severed the last remaining arm of Jo Yangpung.
“Kuh, kuh-huk…!”
Jo Yangpung’s eyes widened as if he could not believe what he was seeing.
The formless blade that had invaded his body fragmented into countless invisible shards, shredding his flesh from within.
Thud.
Collapse.
His body crumpled helplessly to the ground like a rotting branch.
“I do not like that look of defiance in your eyes.”
With that, Sewoon twisted the sword that had pierced the man’s body and plucked out his remaining eye.
“Gaaaah!! No, no…! Nooo!!”
As his vision plunged into darkness, Jo Yangpung screamed.
Having lost both arms and both eyes, he had lost all value as a martial artist.
Jo Yangpung writhed and wailed in a miserable state.
It was a pitiful sight beyond imagination for someone who had once reigned as the Vice Cult Leader of the Blood Cult.
“It suits you perfectly, Jo Yangpung.”
“Ghk…! M-Master…! P-please grant me more power!! I-I will offer his head… I will, I swear…!”
With eyes that had lost everything, Jo Yangpung raised his head and gazed up at the sky.
But the sky gave no answer whatsoever.
Watching him, Sewoon’s gaze filled with contempt.
“You already know you have been abandoned, yet you beg for your life so shamelessly. How laughable.”
“No, no! T-The Master would never…!”
“Then keep begging until the very end.”
“…!!”
Slash!
Ignoring Jo Yangpung’s final desperate struggle, Sewoon severed his neck.
Black blood gushed violently from the stump.
“Gk… gk.”
The headless corpse of Jo Yangpung rolled on the ground, slowly turning ash-gray.
Even as he breathed his last, he had been staring up at the sky.
Sewoon’s gaze turned toward Blood Wheel Asura.
“Now it is your turn.”
“Cough, kh-heh-heh. How impressive. Do you really think killing us means you can harm our Master?”
Having already expended all his energy, Blood Wheel Asura was kneeling, utterly unable to counterattack.
Sensing that his life was about to end, he looked as though he had given up on everything.
But soon, a crazed gleam lit up his eyes once more.
“Wait for me in hell. I will send your Master there soon enough.”
“Blood Demon Descends! Eternal Glory to the Blood Cult!”
Tudududud!
At that moment, Blood Wheel Asura squeezed out every last ounce of strength from his body and charged at Sewoon.
Like a flame burning itself out, he was consuming all his remaining life force.
By activating an explosive incantation and detonating his own body like a thunder bomb, he intended to perish together with his enemy.
“M-Martial Emperor!!”
“No!!”
Those watching screamed, but Sewoon himself did not move an inch.
His sword had already reached a realm beyond all things.
Shing!
Though no movement was visible, the sound came first.
At a speed no one could perceive, Sewoon swung his sword.
As his blade lightly cut through empty air, Blood Wheel Asura’s body froze.
Crack!
Then his body split cleanly into two.
Thud.
Splat!
As Blood Wheel Asura’s corpse fell to the ground, it let out a horrific sound.
Sewoon stared at the body with eyes devoid of emotion.
Hiss!
Black blood sprayed from the corpse before quickly stopping.
Soon after, his body, like Jo Yangpung’s, turned ash-gray.
The two Protectors of the Blood Cult met their deaths simultaneously.
“Aaaah! R-Run away!!”
“T-The Right Protector is dead!!”
Witnessing the deaths of Blood Wheel Asura and Jo Yangpung, the demonic practitioners of the Blood Cult fled in terror.
Only the remaining Jiangshi, devoid of will, stood motionless like puppets with severed strings.
At that moment, Sewoon unleashed a lion’s roar.
“All units, advance!!”
Kwarururur!
It was as if a thousand thunderbolts struck at once.
Yet strangely, every martial artist of the Allied Forces who heard the command felt their hearts surge with fervor.
Upon stepping into the Life and Death Realm, even Sewoon’s sound arts had transcended their limits.
The inner power of the Golden Heaven Harmonizing Qi carried within his lion’s roar was invigorating the true qi of every martial artist.
“Exterminate every fleeing enemy!!”
“Do not spare a single one!!”
“Kill every last demonic practitioner!”
The demonic practitioners fled in utter panic as if they had seen hell itself, while the martial artists of the Allied Forces pursued them relentlessly.
The roles of hunter and prey had now been reversed.
Without mercy, the Allied Forces chased down and slaughtered every remaining demonic practitioner.
Before long, the demonic practitioners who had encamped at Sammun Gorge were completely annihilated.
Waaah!!
Thunderous cheers erupted from the Allied Forces’ camp.
All of them were in awe of Sewoon’s overwhelming martial might, their hearts swelling with emotion at the miracle he had created.
After purging the demonic practitioners of the Blood Cult, the Allied Forces reorganized their formation.
Now, their objective was one and only one.
It was the subjugation of the Blood Demon that resided in Taiyuan of Shanxi Province, the stronghold of the Blood Cult.
“Time is not on our side. Before long, even the demonic practitioners who met their deaths at Sammun Gorge will rise again as even stronger Jiangshi. The commoners of Shanxi who are suffering under the Blood Demon’s curse will not be able to endure much longer.”
Sewoon had no reason to delay any further. He led the Allied Forces and immediately headed toward Taiyuan.
And when they arrived, the sight that unfolded before their eyes was nothing short of utter shock.
“This is the Blood Palace….”
“Ah… O gods….”
Every member of the Allied Forces covered their mouths at the sight of Taiyuan.
The Path of Hell.
Hell itself had manifested in the mortal world.
A colossal palace emitting a baleful aura that seemed ready to devour everything stood before them.
The Blood Palace, towering so high it looked as though it would pierce the clouds, took the form of a massive tower.
Exuding a bizarre energy of intermingled crimson and black, the palace resembled a gigantic beast with its maw wide open.
“Ugh…!”
“Ghhk!”
Everyone recoiled in horror.
Martial artists with insufficient cultivation spat blood merely from gazing upon the Blood Palace.
This was something no human power could possibly have accomplished.
It was a curse that only a being close to a god could create.
“Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden!”
“Yes, Chairman.”
“That is not the Blood Palace’s true form. It seems the Blood Demon used a formation interwoven with anomalies. Quickly search for a method to enter the interior with me.”
“Yes, understood!”
The Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden then examined the aura of the Blood Palace together with Sewoon.
With her assistance, Sewoon began tracing the origin of the dreadful grand sorcery that enveloped the Blood Palace.
No matter how deeply he searched his memories from before his regression, he had never seen such a formation.
‘The Blood Demon must have created this specifically for me.’
Sewoon ground his teeth, his hostility toward the Blood Demon flaring fiercely.
In the end, the two of them succeeded in uncovering the structure of the formation and its method of entry.
“To enter the interior of this unknown formation, there appears to be a restriction on the number of participants.”
“A restriction on numbers?”
“Yes. This Qimen Formation only opens when exactly four martial artists enter simultaneously. If there are fewer or more than that, they will be torn apart by the demonic qi and evil qi embedded within the formation.”
“!!”
Everyone was stunned by the words of Sewoon and the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden.
They had not imagined that the Blood Demon would lay such a meticulously calculated trap.
Inside the Blood Palace, there would surely be demonic practitioners and monstrous entities born of the Blood Demon, writhing with all manner of grotesque anomalies.
If only four people could enter such a place, even the Allied Forces would have to brace themselves for tremendous losses.
“We must form teams.”
At Sewoon’s grave declaration, everyone nodded.
However, the atmosphere among the Allied Forces was completely different from what he had expected.
“So the Blood Demon is telling us to choose three comrades to share blood with us!”
“Who will be the brother to stand beside me and cut down the Blood Demon’s head?”
“Hahaha, if I go with you, it’s obvious I’ll be the first to fall. Who would come along?”
“Hah! Then I absolutely must take you with me!”
Not a single member of the Allied Forces showed fear.
Instead, they joked and laughed as they began forming teams among themselves.
Having seen Sewoon fighting at the very front lines for their sake, they were already prepared to wager their lives.
Watching them act cheerful so as not to burden him, Sewoon could not suppress the surge of emotion rising in his chest.
Thus, the martial artists of the Allied Forces began forming groups of four with those they worked best with.
Some with trusted comrades, some with family, and some with their own masters.
“Young Master Tang.”
“…!”
At that moment, a woman approached Sewoon.
There was only one person who could call him Young Master Tang.
“Miss Do.”
It was Do Hayeong.
Before heading into the final battle, she had come to see Sewoon.
“I was planning to meet you as well before entering.”
“Hm, why?”
“What?”
At her words, Sewoon blinked.
It was a remarkably innocent expression for someone who had reached the pinnacle of the Life and Death Realm.
Seeing this, Hayeong let out a soft chuckle.
“I was joking.”
Her eyes were fixed on Sewoon.
Sewoon met her gaze and smiled in return.
The two of them said nothing.
They merely looked at each other quietly, as if trying to etch one another’s faces into their memories.
That alone was enough.
‘Do not get hurt.’
‘Let us meet again safely at the end of the Blood Palace.’
Without speaking aloud, their sincere feelings crossed in that way.
Hayeong returned and formed a team with the Subduing Tiger Divine Physician, Geum Hwa Satae, and Cheong Yeon.
Sewoon also selected three companions.
They were the ominous corpse who had long served as his bodyguard, a masked, unidentified monster who wielded poison arts and had been performing great feats within the Demonic Alliance, and Nameless, disguised as a martial artist of the Beast Palace.
“All forces, enter!!”
Standing at the very forefront, Sewoon raised his voice.
Saaaaah!
Slide!
As Sewoon reached the entrance of the Blood Palace, its colossal gates opened wide like the jaws of hell.
Without hesitation, Sewoon stepped inside the Blood Palace.
Shraaaah!
A blood-red aura spread like dense fog and engulfed him.
Following behind Sewoon, countless martial artists of the Allied Forces continued to enter endlessly into the Blood Palace—the final battlefield.