Chapter 77: Annihilation of the Blood Cult

“Run!”

Knowing full well the destructive power of the Thunderburst Bomb, the bastards flung themselves desperately aside the moment the iron sphere hit the ground.

Kwaaang–!

Even so, a blazing inferno swept mercilessly across the enemy ranks.

The shockwave and flying debris engulfed them, instantly incapacitating a large number.

“Aaagh!”

“Gwaaah!”

Blood Cultists rolled across the ground, their bodies scorched and seared.

From all directions, groans of agony resounded amidst burns and wounds, big and small.

“So? How does it feel to taste your own medicine, you Murim terrorists?”

They had hurled those weapons at us first. I merely returned the favor.

And as you can see, the effect was devastating. A massive hole had been blown open right in the center of their formation.

“Mujin has opened the path!”

“Everyone, press forward!”

Sensing the chance to break the encirclement and turn the tide, Jo Harang, Murong Hui, and Tang Yeo-hye unleashed their martial arts at full strength and surged ahead.

Originally, these were formidable martial artists who should have been clashing for victory in this Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.

Now, they poured out all the frustrations they had failed to resolve in the dueling arena onto the battlefield.

Puh-ong!

“Damn it! Someone stop that bitch with the poison!”

“Forget her! That woman with the greatsword is tearing our formation apart!”

The four of us rampaged through the enemy lines, cutting our way forward.

My saber technique roared like a mountain beast, scattering foes in every direction. And yet, despite our efforts, dozens still remained.

“Do not falter! As before, employ Blood Arts and wheel formation tactics!”

Among them stood one supreme master, one who had evaded the blast.

He was the de facto commander, rallying the cultists and leading the fight.

Chae-chae-chaeng!

Like a lightning flash, he easily parried Murong Hui’s Sword Flash of Heaven and Earth.

Jo Harang’s broadsword came right after, but he bent his waist low, slipping under it, and drove his shin mercilessly into her torso.

“Die!”

Then, when Tang Yeo-hye rained poisoned needles at him, he blocked them with a barrier of blood—an eerie Blood Veil.

Tang Yeo-hye’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar sorcery.

“You worthless gnats dare to swarm me!”

His killing intent exploded outward, prickling against my skin, as his fists stabbed toward us from every angle.

I lunged forward, thrusting out the Dog-Beating Staff to block the strike that was headed for Tang Yeo-hye. The impact lifted me clear off the ground.

Thud!

Jo Harang too barely stopped a sweeping leg strike with her broadsword, the clash reverberating like hammer on steel as she skidded backward.

“Khuhk!”

We had been pushing forward well—until we ran headfirst into this wall of a supreme master.

The influence of a single master on the battlefield was overwhelming.

I had even accepted the karmic burden of killing, going so far as to detonate Thunderburst Bombs. But to be stalled like this…

Come to think of it, this whole force had originally been gathered to capture Thunder Sword Murong Cheon.

I cast a glance behind me at the tattered Murong Cheon, who was barely standing with Ilhong’s support.

“Noona, do you still have poison powder left?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then lend me some.”

“Huh? This stuff is lethal! Even you won’t last a single breath if—”

It didn’t matter. Stay here, and we’d be finished anyway.

I grabbed a handful of her poison powder and immediately dashed forward with Whirlwind Steps.

Puh-ong!

A thick poisonous mist burst forth, blinding the field of vision and burning the lungs of anyone who inhaled it.

Normally, you used this to cover an escape or spread it with the wind at your back. But I trusted my brutish regenerative ability and charged straight into the poison.

“Damn fool, are you trying to die with me?!”

Beyond the dark green haze, I could clearly sense the trajectory of his killing intent. He must have held his breath, for he spoke no further.

A fist wreathed in force tore through the poison cloud, rushing straight for my throat.

I twisted slightly, taking it on my shoulder. Pain exploded through my body, but I gritted my teeth and drove a Hundred-Knot Divine Fist into his chest.

“Khuhk!”

Just as Hwang Geolgae had taught me—my five fingers sank in smoothly, like flowing water.

He faltered, his breath breaking, caught off guard by my reckless assault.

And then, his face began to darken. He must have inhaled just the tiniest bit of the poison.

“Ugh, you— damn it!”

I too roared, feeling as though a swarm of fire ants were devouring me from the inside out.

My lungs dissolved and regenerated, again and again.

Behind me, my comrades stared at me like I had gone mad, but they still rushed in to support me.

Murong Hui engaged the remaining cultists while Jo Harang and Tang Yeo-hye struck together.

“You’re insane, you know that?!”

Jo Harang’s broadsword whirled like a windmill, stirring a violent gale.

The poison mist scattered, sweeping into the cultists behind. Their faces darkened instantly as they coughed blood and collapsed.

“Unbelievable! What the hell is your body made of?”

Tang Yeo-hye, who had long been curious about my physique, let out a half-laugh as she exclaimed.

Swaaaak–!

Her sleeves snapped as she flung a storm of hidden weapons.

The Blood Cult master tried to dodge with footwork, but his body convulsed—he had injured himself drawing qi, spitting blood.

“Khuhk!”

He avoided becoming a pincushion by unleashing a Rolling Dive, but Jo Harang’s broadsword came crashing down right after.

Boom!

The ground caved in, stone fragments flying.

The master barely avoided having his face crushed, scrambling to rise—only for my staff tip to smash into his chest first.

‘Dangdubonggal!’

A strike meant to scold harshly—the Dog-Beating Staff Technique’s crushing move.

I felt his ribs shatter beneath my fingertips. The impact was so great he couldn’t even scream before collapsing.

Slash!

Fearing he might rise again with some blood sorcery, Jo Harang swiftly swung her broadsword and severed his head.

Before everyone’s eyes, his head rolled across the ground, blood spraying.

“Mujin, why are your finishes always so sloppy?”

“Because you’re here to clean up after me.”

Today, for survival’s sake, I had piled up too much Killing Karma.

From the moment I set foot in the Murim as a martial artist, I knew this was part of the path.

But still…

‘I can’t afford to invite the danger of losing myself to darkness.’

With that thought, I began circulating the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method.

Still, the fortunate thing was that thanks to the immense Good Karma I had accumulated today by avenging my enemy, the Evil Star within me was suppressed despite this slaughter and did not run rampant.

“You bastards are dead! If you don’t want to die, surrender right now!”

Tang Yeo-hye lifted the enemy’s severed head high, blood dripping down, and shouted sharply.

But even with their leader slain, the Blood Cultists only faltered briefly before raising their weapons and reigniting their will to fight.

“Persistent bastards.”

Tang Yeo-hye clicked her tongue as she set the severed head down.

“It’s no different from thirty years ago. Only annihilation is proper dialogue.”

Ilhong muttered beside her, and even Murong Cheon, battered and broken, drew the sword at his waist.

“All members! Take the Exploding Blood Pellets (爆血團)!”

One of the Blood Cultists shouted.

From their robes, they pulled out ominous pills and, without hesitation, swallowed them all at once.

“Khrrrk!”

The blood vessels in their eyes burst one after another as a savage and brutal energy flared from their bodies.

Their entire frames trembled violently.

“……What the hell is that, Ilhong?”

“That’s likely the Blood Cult’s pill that forcibly detonates latent qi.”

Her face carried disbelief as she added that it hadn’t appeared in decades.

“That latent qi—doesn’t using it recklessly kill you?”

“It does. But for a short while, it gives them strength beyond their level.”

So that was the effect of the Exploding Blood Pellet.

In short, every Blood Cultist before us had now entered a fanatical state, utterly forsaking their lives.

“These bastards really pull out everything, don’t they.”

Poison, bombs, and now turning themselves into living weapons. No wonder the Murim trembled at the very mention of the Blood Cult or the Demonic Cult.

“Blood Asura Soul (血世修羅魂)! Descent of the Heavenly Blood God (血穴天神降臨)!”

“For the great cause!”

“The time has come to repay our blood debts—!”

Eyes rolling back, they screamed like fanatics.

The sight made my skin crawl.

We gathered into a defensive formation around Murong Cheon.

Droplets of blood floated against gravity, suffused with qi. They were about to unleash some ominous sorcery by sacrificing their lives.

And then, from afar, a voice of hope rang out.

“Hui! And Young Hero Dan Mujin!”

It was none other than the one who had entrusted Murong Hui to me—the one whose path had diverged from mine—Murong Cheonghye, leading righteous martial artists and the Demon-Slaying Unit.

“Everyone! Annihilate the Blood Cult!”

She shouted, closing the distance in a flash with wondrous movement arts.

At her fingertips, the Sword Flash of Heaven and Earth blazed, brilliant enough to split lightning itself.

Shwiik–!

In a single strike, she severed the necks of five Blood Cultists consumed by bloodlust.

“Uwooooh!”

The Demon-Slaying Unit and righteous martial artists surged forth, crashing down upon the Blood Cult’s formation.

Even if the bastards had taken the Exploding Blood Pellets, the Demon-Slaying Unit was still the Murim Alliance’s elite strike force.

And with righteous comrades rushing in after hearing the detonations of Thunderburst Bombs, the Blood Cultists were subdued in no time at all.

“At last, a breather.”

A heavy sigh welled up from my chest.

The surroundings were a sea of blood, corpses strewn everywhere, smoldering embers still burning, and debris scattered across the field.

The word “devastation” fit this scene perfectly.

These were the marks carved into the land by the Blood Cult’s claws.

“To think the Blood Cult gathered so many against Murong Cheon.”

“And look—there are traces of Thunderburst Bomb explosions three times over….”

“It’s unbelievable. How are these people still alive?”

The Murim Alliance members cast astonished glances at us.

It wasn’t us who had survived the Thunderburst Bombs—it was Murong Clan Head Murong Cheon.

Only because he was a Flame Realm martial artist capable of deploying Qi Projection had he endured two direct hits.

Normally, even a single strike would be enough to scatter someone into six pieces.

But then, had it not been for this suicidal encirclement, we wouldn’t have been caught in the blasts at all.

“Young Hero, I heard from Clan Head that most of these corpses were slain by you?”

Murong Cheonghye, eyes shadowed with fatigue from running about all day, gestured toward the bodies as she asked.

At that, murmurs spread among the gathered righteous warriors as they counted the sheer number of slain Blood Cultists.

“He fought nearly a hundred Blood Cultists with just that few?”

“And there was even a supreme master among them?”

Brief whispers rose. Some righteous warriors now looked at me with newfound respect.

It had indeed been a fierce battle.

“After saving both my younger brother and Clan Head… I hardly know how to repay this debt, Young Hero.”

With both Murong Hui and her Clan Head safe, Murong Cheonghye offered me a clasped-hands salute in gratitude.

Despite being Vice Captain of the Demon-Slaying Unit, she was not one for empty formality. I returned the salute as if it were nothing.

“It’s fine. I’m being compensated.”

I wasn’t working for free. Especially against the clan that had once cast me aside—I would make sure to collect full payment.

“Oh, that’s the Namgung Clan’s warriors.”

As I thought that, a group of martial artists appeared in the distance.

From their light-blue uniforms, they were clearly from the Namgung Clan.

It seemed they had already slaughtered the Blood Cultists that attacked the Celestial Sword, and were now sweeping the area for survivors within the Murim Alliance.

Alongside the Alliance Leader Celestial Sword were elders and clan heads of various sects, patrolling together.

And at the very front strode the man I had only heard of—the next candidate for “World’s Best,” the Cheongun Sword Namgung Jin, walking with overwhelming presence.

“There’s something strange about him.”

Contrary to his alias of Cheongun Sword, the young man carried a staff bristling with wolf-like fangs.

And he radiated a mysterious aura. It was similar to the feeling I had when I first encountered Jo Harang.

I remembered my teacher Hosoin had once warned me to be careful at such times.

“Wow, but… up close….”

The closer I got, the more I was struck by the shining jade-like face of the Cheongun Sword.

Until now, the most handsome man I knew was Ilhong in his boyish guise.

“He’s really handsome. You’re in trouble now. He’s going to steal all the women from you.”

“…Even if he does, I don’t care. Seriously.”

Ilhong just shook his head in disbelief at me treating him like my man.

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