Devil-Slaying Bladesman (Part Two)

According to old Chen, once unleashed, the Evil-Subduing Divine Thunder was equivalent to a full-power strike from a cultivator at the great perfection of Three Flowers and Five Qi. Everything within ten zhang would be reduced to powder, and wherever it passed, sinister winds would scatter and evil miasma would melt away.

And Hu Mang had used two at once.

It was not that he did not want to use a third, but that he had only two hands and could activate only two at the same time.

Almost as soon as he hurled them out, an indescribable presence began to emerge from the "red apricots"-the air suddenly grew heavy, as though the entire valley had been throttled, its breath cut off. A buzzing filled his ears, and even the surrounding thunderlight began to flicker uneasily.

The thunder had yet to arrive, but its pressure had already crushed down on the minds of every living thing present, chilling them to the marrow and threatening to tear their souls apart.

Hu Mang stared wide-eyed at his opponent. No matter how powerful this "remnant of the divine dynasty" in Demon-Subduing City was, he could not have surpassed the level of Three Flowers and Five Qi.

After all, once someone reached the great perfection of Three Flowers and Five Qi, they would be engulfed by endless thunder tribulations. Had Zhou Yu not said that when the first wave of Rogue Cultivators entered the city, he saw a great cultivator of Three Flowers and Five Qi struck dead in the city?

Even so, he had underestimated his opponent-

Or rather, he had underestimated the Devil-Slaying Bladesman's blade arts.

Even while still suppressed by the seal, the three-chi Saber Domain spread out with overwhelming force.

Only this time, the domain contained more than just frigid killing intent. Sinister winds howled and ghostly shadows surged, as though the Nine Netherworlds had opened and ten thousand ghosts had returned to life. Even the light was swallowed whole.

The next moment, the Saber Domain did not withdraw—

It shattered!

With the entire Saber Domain offered up as a "sacrifice," four or five fissures abruptly tore open in the void.

Scorching pure yang Qi churned along the edges of the fissures, like wounds ripped open from another world, burning the eyes of anyone who looked at them.

Immediately afterward, a dense swarm of blade lights burst forth from the fissures.

Strangely, these blade lights seemed to be alive, each with a temperament of its own, chattering and arguing all at once:

"Red apricots, black apricots, have a taste of my big apricot!"

"Tsk, being alive again feels pretty good."

"Dead man, stop daydreaming. It's time to go!"

"Coming!"

In an instant, countless blade lights rained down, blotting out the sky as they struck the surfaces of the two "red apricots" with pinpoint accuracy.

They did not cut-because cutting them open would set them off.

These "living blade lights" seemed to have calculated everything in advance. With every strike, they actively devoured and neutralized part of the explosive force of the "Evil-Subduing Divine Thunder," sacrificing themselves to wear that destructive power away bit by bit until nothing remained.

Hundreds and thousands of blade lights thus "spent their lives" to grind the two "red apricots" down from the brink of detonation into heavy, deathly still "iron apricots."

At last, they fell to the ground with two soft clatters.

He wielded the arts of the dead and sacrificed the blades of the living!

The Devil-Slaying Bladesman's blade arts had reached an inconceivable level.

Then the "seal" covering his body shattered and exploded.

The madman surnamed Jiang walked out of it once more, blade in hand.

Only this time, the blade in his hand was half a blade.

Hu Mang was quite gifted when it came to fighting and killing with cultivation arts.

"Quite gifted" was actually a modest way of putting it. He genuinely believed he was very strong in this regard.

Leaving aside the utterly unscrupulous social environment within the Heavenly Gate, the overseas cultivators were steeped in the ways of the "old world," yet had he not fought his way through them all the same?

But searching through Hu Mang's memories, there were only a few people who could match the monstrous display his opponent had put on.

Perhaps Xie Xianyu, whom his mother had spoken of, or the "heavenly soldier big sis" he had just seen, or Boss Gu of the Four Heavenly Kings could put on such an outrageous display.

Even so, Hu Mang keenly sensed that his opponent's blade intent had weakened considerably after he detonated his Saber Domain. In particular, the bladesman's will, which had almost seemed to "descend" upon him, had dissipated by at least half.

His opponent had not come through unscathed!

What was more, his opponent was in no less miserable a state than Hu Mang.

Hu Mang had his reasons for choosing this place for their decisive battle.

His greatest reliance was none other than the "fragment" that had brought him across worlds.

If the Thunder-Warding Robe could absorb only thirty to forty percent of the thunderlight, then with its help, this "fragment" could absorb as much as ninety percent!

Whether it was the Qianyang Divine Thunder Net or the Taiyin Divine Thunder that struck Hu Mang, its thunder intent was ultimately absorbed, leaving only an impact of pure spiritual power.

Risking his life at this "thunder net hub"-that was what he was truly relying on!

The ratio of damage he and his enemy suffered was not one to ten, but one to a hundred!

The corner of Hu Mang's mouth twitched.

"So you can feel pain, and you can be hurt..."

The viciousness in his heart that had been suppressed slowly began to rise again.

"Then you can be killed!"

Only, Hu Mang would not be the one to do the killing himself.

Hu Mang flipped his hand and fastened the Ghost Makeup mask over his face.

The instant the mask settled into place, it was as though his flesh had been forcibly overlaid by another life. Hu Mang's demonically alluring, fiercely menacing face rapidly faded, replaced by an androgynous face with sharply defined features and an undisguised edge.

Most frightening of all were the eyes-

As cold as frost and snow above the nine heavens, without a trace of a living person's emotion, holding only a pure will to kill.

At the same time, the spear shaft trembled, and the Innate Thunder Patterns lit up one by one.

One, two, ten... until the eighteenth thunder pattern joined the rest in erupting with dazzling light. It was as though heaven and earth had been forcibly torn open, and rolling thunderclouds sprang into being, enveloping them both.

One of the Three Devil-Subduing Forms-Heavenly Star Falls-appeared in the world once more.

Thunderclouds surged and serpents of lightning danced wildly. Every strand of thunderlight was like a meteor crashing down from the depths of the sky, threatening to grind this space and the opponent within it into nothingness.

Hu Mang's figure flickered in and out of sight amid the thunderlight. The instant the spear thrust out, it was as though even "death" itself had to retreat before its edge.

Even the "heavenly eye" flickered in and out of sight among the thunderclouds. Whenever his opponent's terrifying blade light split the clouds, a huge vertical pupil would appear in the opening, sweeping over his blade arts with an utterly cold and merciless gaze, seeking a chance to kill him amid blade moves that were almost flawless.

Hu Mang's heart jolted.

He had never imagined that the "Heavenly Eye Technique" could be used this way—not to peer into the workings of heaven, but to hunt down the spark of life.

"It's you!"

Madman Jiang spoke again, but this time his voice was full of wariness.

The "heavenly soldier big sis" did not answer. Her spear attacks only grew more dangerous and terrifying.

Hu Mang's consciousness, meanwhile, was like a third party, observing the spear art closely from a perspective that was both within this place and detached from it.

Not the three explosive Devil-Subduing Forms, but the timing of every thrust, every instance of sensing Qi movements, and every change in footwork. That was where the "Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier's" true strength lay.

Experience!

Experience forged through countless trials and honed over tens of thousands of brushes with death. It was intuition built from flesh and blood and years, a skill no manual, inheritance, or spoken instruction could replace.

Hu Mang's judgment had been correct.

In the fighting before this, apart from the Thunderfire Bow he had used to detonate the Devil Subjugation Restriction, he had used almost none of the "Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier's" abilities, especially not the Three Devil-Subduing Forms, which looked immensely powerful.

The reason was simple: whether it was a "move" or a "Divine Ability," seeing it did not mean one could use it, and using it did not mean one could use it well.

The "Devil-Slaying Bladesman" and the "Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier" in particular were natural enemies. There was no telling how many times the two had fought and killed each other, so naturally they knew their old opponent's abilities inside and out. Any tiny flaw would certainly be seized upon by the other.

By contrast, the spear and sword arts Hu Mang had practiced since childhood had given him the initiative in this battle, at least earning him the chance to use the Thunderfire Bow.

His "Mysterious Yin Devil Moon" State of Mind frantically picked up and absorbed the essence of the spear art, copying and pasting it almost exactly.

As Hu Mang immersed himself in the changes of the "heavenly soldier big sis's" spear art, he also spared some attention to observe his opponent's condition.

The conclusion he finally reached was—he really could be killed!

Though he was not in good shape himself, his opponent was in even worse condition.

Three layers of Devil-Subduing Thunderclouds, the Qianyang Devil-Subduing Net, the Taiyin Divine Thunder, the Evil-Subduing Divine Thunder...

After all those attacks, even if his opponent really were a great cultivator of Three Flowers and Five Qi, he would probably have been blasted to death.

The fact that his opponent could still counterattack with blade arts of this level had already exceeded expectations.

His only concern now was whether he could kill his opponent before the "Ghost Makeup" was used up.

According to old Chen Sheng's instructions, the rate at which "Ghost Makeup" was consumed was not fixed. Under normal use, it could last for the time it took an incense stick to burn, but if pushed beyond its limits, it might last a hundred breaths or fifty, depending on how well the user matched the "Ghost Makeup."

Moreover, as the "Ghost Makeup" was consumed, the makeup on the face would melt.

For example, Hu Mang's chin was exposed now.

Hu Mang used this to confirm the time as well: a hundred and fifty breaths!

So, when it came to spear arts, he and the "heavenly soldier big sis" were actually quite well matched.

As the two fought, neither noticed that with the repeated explosions of the Demon-Subduing Well, the illusory Devil-Subduing Seal above the central main well was disappearing bit by bit.

Another thirty breaths passed, and "Hu Mang" finally found a chance to kill.

Four heavenly eyes appeared simultaneously in the layers of thunderclouds and opened almost at the same instant.

In an instant, dazzling divine light burst from the dark clouds, turning the battlefield as bright as day and revealing every minute detail.

Almost instinctively, Madman Jiang identified the true killing move. He slashed upward, his blade braced firmly against the spear as "Hu Mang" pressed it down from the web between thumb and forefinger. The two forces collided in midair with a boom, sending waves of air roiling outward.

But in that split second-

The four heavenly eyes closed at once.

Heaven and earth abruptly fell into a strange interplay of black and white, as though all color had been drained away in an instant.

At that very moment, "Hu Mang" suddenly turned the right arm that had been holding the spear, whipping the shaft around as he stepped sideways and swept it upward in a feint. But his left hand carried the real killing move, sweeping through the void as a streak of blood-red light flashed silently past.

The next moment, his opponent's arm flew high into the air, blood gushing like a fountain.

Above the web between the thumb and forefinger of "Hu Mang's" left hand, a blood-colored sword shadow slowly faded from sight, answering and resonating with the intricate blood patterns on his arm.

The spear became a sword; the spear was the sword.

Blood was pierced to make a sword; the sword was also a spear!

The third layer of the "Blood-Piercing Essence-Reversal Art" had displayed its power for the first time, and it had severed one of the Devil-Slaying Bladesman's arms—the very arm that wielded his blade!

After hunting geese all day, he had been pecked by a goose. He had failed to slay a devil, only to be slain by a Devil Cultivation Method.

He had won!

And at that point, the "Ghost Makeup" on Hu Mang's face had barely burned away halfway.