The Regressor of Mount Hua

Chapter 221. Qi and Blood Demonic Art (1)

Clang!! n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the air. Sparks flew, blood splattered, and flesh and bones were sliced as the chaos of the battlefield unfolded.

The Martial Alliance forced their way through the enemy lines, creating an opening for the special task force to advance. The frontlines were a mess, with attacks coming from every direction.

"Plum Blossom Order Sword!"

"It's Zhou Xuchuan!"

"Let's have a taste of a hero's blood!"

Blood-red eyes turned toward them.

It seems I've become quite famous.

Some of the blood cultists recognized him. The fact that even those in a crazed state could identify him showed how much his reputation had grown.

But even as they acknowledged him, the cultists and jiangshi continued to rush in. Their numbers were uncountable.

Seeing the incoming wave, the special task force of roughly a hundred martial artists struck first.

"Heup!"

Hong Gao stepped forward, throwing a single punch at a blood cultist charging toward him.

Bang!

The blow landed with a satisfying impact, sending the cultist flying backward. Blood spurted from his mouth as his wide eyes stared in shock.

As expected of the Hundred Paces Divine Fist.

It was a fist that could reach a distance of a hundred paces.

This technique alone was such an incredible art that it would later be called the Divine Fist.

While Hong Gao seemed not to move whatsoever, he continued along with the movements of the special task force little by little and defeated the enemy.

He fought the blood cultists while restraining his qi as much as possible, preventing any unnecessary consumption and conserving his strength for when he would reach the Blood Demon.

"Ugh!"

"Agh!"

Hong Gao's performance stood out more than others. Not only did he possess extraordinary Buddhist Force, but his demon-purifying force was also extraordinary.

The other martial artists also possessed extraordinary skills. As a force created to keep the Blood Demon occupied, the average ability of the force was incredibly high.

Among them, the performance of the Seal Dragon Hao Dechang stood out.

Five Thunder Peak Seals!

Crackle, crack!!

Extreme Yang Qi was concentrated at the tip of his fingers, spitting out a bolt of light. It looked as though lightning itself was wrapped around his fingers.

As a foundational technique of the Zhongnan Sect, it was rare even within the Righteous Faction. Its power matched its reputation as one of the most formidable techniques.

The Five Thunder Peak Seals struck a blood cultist who had charged toward Hao Dechang. The cultist's body burned instantly, his skin and internal organs charred black.

"Die!"

"The Seal Dragon's neck is mine!"

The names of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes were as well known as the Plum Blossom Order Sword.

The blood cultists swarmed and aimed for Hao Dechang.

Hao Dechang, however, lived up to his title as one of the greatest of the younger generation and was no easy target. Each flash of lightning from his attacks was followed by a scream of pain.

"Die!"

A blood cultist rushed toward Zhou Xuchuan, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Oh, that's right. This isn't the time.

For a brief moment, Zhou Xuchuan found himself distracted by Seal Dragon's skills. Watching the impressive display, even amidst the chaos of battle, he raised his sword just in time to deflect a blade aimed at his neck.

Clang!

The cultist's eyes widened in surprise, but a sinister grin quickly spread across his face.

Woosh!

Zhou Xuchuan wondered what he was after, before eventually realizing that he was waiting for a jiangshi.

A jiangshi suddenly leaped toward him, its outstretched arms aiming for him.

"Mmm!"

The attack was well-coordinated. Zhou Xuchuan considered spinning his sword to counter, but he realized it would take too long.

Instead, he dropped his sword and spun his body in place.

Swish!

The jiangshi's hands met empty air as the blood cultist made a shocked expression. It was a natural reaction since he never could have expected that a swordsman, and more importantly, a Righteous Faction member who values ​​honor, would throw away his sword.

"Two."

Zhou Xuchuan spun around and swung his leg. The curved roundhouse kick struck the jiangshi's arm.

Crunch!

Not even the jiangshi's augmented body could withstand a roundhouse kick that carried the power of a Harmony Realm Master.

Things might have been different if it was a diamond jiangshi or a living jiangshi, but a regular jiangshi, especially one that had been revived through the Death Yin Staff had lower durability and wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Its bones were broken, and even the flesh of its arm was torn off, leaving it dangling. Before the arm could even drop to the ground, Zhou Xuchuan kicked his fallen sword into the air, catching it effortlessly.

"No!"

The blood cultist, terrified, tried to raise his weapon, but before he could react, a beam of light flashed, and his head was severed.

"Kill as many as you can!"

Their ultimate target was the Blood Demon. They needed to keep pushing forward on the front lines until he revealed himself.

"Whew..."

He concentrated his qi, bending his knees as his thigh muscles contracted. Holding his breath while exerting his strength, the shape of his abs with the character '王' carved in them became even more distinct.[1]

"Young Master Zhou!" Zhuge Xiuluan warned Zhou Xuchuan, who had stopped moving. A full thirty blood cultists and jiangshi were swarming in front of him.

Roadside Plum Blossom.

The first form of the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom unfolded.

Plum Blossom Butterfly.

He leaped forward while straightening his knees. His movement was explosive, but the sword he had just started swinging moved completely differently.

It danced among the enemies like a butterfly fluttering.

Shing!

With a light swing of his sword, Zhou Xuchuan cut cleanly through flesh. His strikes weren't random but they were precise, targeting the arteries.

Moving into the third form, a bewitching aura began to emanate from him, seemingly out of nowhere.

It was the Plum Blossom's Seduction.

The dazzling and bewitching aura began to bloom like plum blossoms, and the force it exuded became sharp.

"KEKEKE!"

A blood cultist who had lost his senses flew towards Zhou Xuchuan.

Zhou Xuchuan swung his sword straight down.

As the beam of light reflecting off his sword flashed, the blood cultist who had been laughing madly was split vertically like a piece of wood. From Plum Blossom's Lead, Plum Blossom Rays flowed like water.

"Die!"

"I'll show you the demonic arts of the Blood Cult!"

"Brat of Mount Hua!"

Although the blood cultist in front had been split in two, no one seemed frightened.

Zhou Xuchuan remained calm, showing no reaction to their aggression. He wasn't surprised, afraid, or dismissive of them. Instead, he silently moved on to his next attack.

Plum Blossom Plunge.

Flutter!

He continued with the sixth form. Like the fifth form, Plum Blossom Rays, a ray of light made of sword qi fell down, followed by an array of falling sword qi.

Then, with the seventh form, Plum Blossoms Scattering, he continued on, blocking their vision and making them dizzy.

"Ugh!"

"Agh!"

"You d-dog... ugh!"

It wasn't just a visual trick. The lines of sword qi that stretched out chaotically soon soaked the enemy in their own blood, turning into rain.

"Blood!"

Those who were lucky enough to survive became even more deranged, perhaps because of the Blood Cult's Demonic Art. Drool dripped from their mouths as their brains visibly contracted and expanded, turning faintly red.

Now that the eighth form, Plum Blossom Blood Rain, was over, next came the ninth form, Nine Transformations Plum Blossom.

The tip of his sword began to tremble slightly.

This wasn't some aftereffect of an uncontrollable power or a faltering from a lack of stamina. This was the beginning of the transformation and illusory sword forms.

"Ugh!"

"Agh!"

Screams echoed across the battlefield. Before Zhou Xuchuan's eyes, nine blood cultists collapsed, blood spraying into the air.

Although it had been a single form, it seemed to contain multiple transformations within it.

"Hmph!"

But not all of his opponents were mere small fry. There was someone who had managed to defend himself against the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom until this point.

It was a blood cultist with a fierce expression on his face wielding a knife that was as large as his body and a necklace made of human ears.

"Even the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom of the Mount Hua Sect are useless in front of I, the Ear Collecting Demon!"

The Ear Collecting Demon!

The Righteous Faction members around him gasped in surprise.

Even in the middle of the fierce battle, they momentarily turned their heads to look.

The Ear Collecting Demon was a notorious Blood Cult expert. Having reached the Extreme Demon Stage, he was listed among the One Hundred Experts Under Heaven.

As his title suggested, he liked to cut off people's ears and collect them. It was said that he enjoyed watching his victims bleed out until they died.

"Ahahaha!"

Bloody, rippling qi surged from the Ear Collecting Demon's knife. Even at a glance, it seemed to contain extraordinary power.

"Plum Blossom Blooms."

Zhou Xuchuan responded by naming the tenth form.

It was already too late to dodge after hearing the technique's name. The remaining sword qi around him had already bloomed.

With a bitter sneer, the Ear Collecting Demon raised a defensive qi barrier. It had an ominous red glow.

Though the Plum Blossom Blooms was blocked, Zhou Xuchuan didn't waver. Instead, he continued with the next forms, Dormant Plum Blossom, Emerging Plum Blossom, Blossoms Through the Wind, and Resplendent Plum Blossom.

From the eleventh to the fifteenth, he attacked in that order.

After a brief silence and withering, the plum blossoms started to bloom once more, spreading wildly before exploding into disarray.

"You dare!"

The Ear Collecting Demon scoffed, dismissing Zhou Xuchuan's actions as pointless. Lowering his barrier, he swung his massive knife in a wide arc. The blood-red knife wind flew forward.

While the knife wind scattered the blossoming plum blossoms and the sword qi, they didn't disappear but flew chaotically into the air.

"Hmph!"

The Ear Collecting Demon frowned.

His eyes, already overwhelmed by the dazzling illusory sword, couldn't tell whether he was seeing bursts of sword qi or plum blossoms.

"Ha..."

"What is..."

The special task force and the blood cultists around them had similar reactions. Except for the jiangshi, they all had blank expressions.

"Were the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom originally like this...?" someone muttered. It was the first time they had seen plum blossoms filling one's entire surroundings.

It was understandable, as there weren't many people who could use an ascendent technique easily and pour out their qi to such an ignorant degree.

"Damn it!"

The Ear Collecting Demon cursed, knowing what was coming. As expected, the dizzying blossoms began to descend, resembling falling rain.

Consecutive Falling Plums, Raining Plum Blossoms, Blossom's Shadow Become Rivers!

The fifteenth and the sixteenth forms ended neatly as the seventeenth form unfolded. It wasn't an illusory sword anymore, but an unfettered sword.

The scattered plum blossoms gathered together, their shadows numerous enough to create a river.

Squelch!

They attacked multiple vital points at once. The blows were so powerful that the Ear Collecting Demon couldn't block them all, forcing him to take a hit on his shoulder.

"Y-you crazy bastard!" The Ear Collecting Demon spat.

Each blossom was filled with power that was as strong as aura. To just cast a technique like this while wrapping a sword in aura, he really was a crazy bastard.

There was no way that Zhou Xuchuan would have any qi left—the Ear Collecting Demon couldn't accept it. Normally, such techniques would have drained one's qi completely. But Zhou Xuchuan's attacks, exceeding all expectations, kept coming without pause.

He couldn't help but curse.

"What are you doing? Kill him!" the Ear Collecting Demon roared, clutching his injured shoulder.

At his shout, the surrounding blood cultists snapped out of their daze and charged in, surrounding their weapons with qi as they attacked.

"Look out!"

Zhuge Xiuluan was startled and warned Zhou Xuchuan, giving orders for the others to help him.

But her concern was unnecessary.

Zhou Xuchuan's sword moved again, deflecting every attack with dazzling speed.

It was one of the few defensive forms of the Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom, Plum Blossom Endures.

Plum Blossom's Scent.

He had finally entered the realm of secret arts. It was almost the first time he had used it in actual combat.[2]

The scent of plum blossoms...!

Zhuge Xiuluan, who had been anxious, stopped. The scent of plum blossoms filled the air, covering the scent of blood that spread across the battlefield.

The plum blossoms fragrance forms waves, seeping into one's bones. The scent intoxicates butterflies, drawing them to play amid the green bamboo.

From the nineteenth to the twenty-second, the techniques continued.[3]

"Plum Blossom World."

The moment he murmured, the plum blossoms' fragrance enveloped the surroundings.

Not only was the Ear Collecting Demon's body torn apart, but the surroundings were left in ruins. Around him, a hundred blood cultists and jiangshi collapsed like puppets whose strings had been cut. At the center of it all, Zhou Xuchuan stood alone.

In the end, it's I, myself.

The disciples of the Mount Hua Sect were swordsmen, the swords of the sect itself. Adding oneself to the twenty-third form, the Plum Blossom World, one completed the cycle with twenty-four.

The Twenty-four Sword Forms of the Plum Blossom.

Even the warriors who had witnessed the battle were captivated, lost in their beauty.

1. In Korea, the way one describes six-pack abs is called a 왕자, or literally, 'the character 王.' 王 in Chinese/Korean/Japanese/etc means king, and thus a 'kingly body' in Korea is one with a six-pack. This has absolutely nothing to do with the story. ☜

2. This is written weirdly, referring to how he had used it previously in secret. ☜

3. Technically, the twenty-four sword forms are part of a poem. From the nineteenth on, the actual poem is recited rather than the names specified. ☜