*Fwhoooo—*
A cool wind swept across the low mountain.
In the quiet forest where thickets and trees grew densely, a young man holding a sword stood.
Whenever the wind blew, the bizarre black-and-red Daoist robe the young man wore fluttered, and the red plum blossom patterns mingled with the blue moonlight, emitting a hazy hue.
*Swish—*
The young man, Tianhui, lightly grasped the Bailian Sword, which he had drawn for the first time since stepping into the Jianghu.
In an instant, the surrounding air shook.
No, the trembling emotions of the Shahundai members hiding in the darkness and surrounding him flowed through the air.
Sharply heightened vigilance.
Thick killing intent brimming with confidence.
And even the anxious minds unsettled by the unknown of what was about to happen.
Their complex states of mind and emotions, both positive and negative, were transmitted to him through the air.
‘Yes. This is it.’
The corners of Tianhui's sword-wielding eyes curved.
He liked this feeling right now.
The cool and cold sensation felt in the palm grasping the sword.
And the thick killing intent directed at him and the tense, razor-sharp atmosphere roused his senses, which had grown dull from peace.
But soon, he erased his smile.
And quickly scanned his surroundings.
‘Fifty-seven in total.’
After grasping the presence of every secretly hidden Shahundai member, he drew up his internal energy.
Then, the internal energy of the Meihua Shengong, which had been tightly coiled in his lower dantian, manifested, generating a transparent airflow that enveloped him.
The materialized martial power soon transferred to his hand, and eventually touched the blade.
Into the beautiful blade reflecting the moonlight, internal energy that no one but himself could see began to seep.
*Ssshhh—*
His imposing aura spread slowly like smoke.
“……!”
The bodies of the Shahundai members, who had been holding their breath waiting for Tianhui to show an opening, stiffened.
It was the same for Yinshou Cansha.
His face, which had been blankly watching Tianhui's series of actions, subtly hardened.
He didn't know the reason.
Just watching him, yet he felt a pressure.
As if it was a natural order predetermined from the beginning, it weighed down on their bodies.
When they couldn't even move a finger.
*Swish—*
Tianhui moved his eyes and looked at the empty air.
Toward the one hidden in the pitch-black darkness.
‘Don't tell me... me, right now?’
In an instant, Yinshou Cansha's eyes wavered.
The stealth art he was currently employing, Guixi Xiangong, was what had elevated Yinshou Cansha from a mere assassin to a master of the Jianghu, and to his current position.
Yet now, Guixi Xiangong had been broken.
And by a mere young Daoist at that.
‘He's a dangerous guy!’
He quickly sent a sound transmission to the Shahundai.
[Kill that man.]
As his command through the sound transmission reached them, the atmosphere of the Shahundai changed completely.
Those who had scattered in all directions emitted a sharp aura, looking as if they had now fully prepared to attack.
It was then.
*Swish—*
Tianhui raised his sword, pointing upward.
However, he did not swing it.
He merely silently pointed at the sky swallowed by darkness, at the bright moon hanging gracefully.
Yet with that alone, the atmosphere shifted.
Tianhui's eyes flashed.
His pitch-black pupils, sunken into an abyss like the Wudi Keng, were on the verge of swallowing even the darkness.
*Swish—*
The sword was swung.
*Hwaaah!*
Massive martial power surged into the sky.
Afterwards, at the moment the Shahundai grimaced at the intensely rampaging storm of martial power.
“……?!”
They fell into shock.
Up in the sky, an uncountable number of sword silhouettes existed in the air.
Emitting a red light like blood.
The red radiance spreading from the sword as the center created the illusion as if plum blossoms were blooming in the empty air.
Perhaps because it was an alien sense of something that should never exist in this world, the red sword shadows were beautiful as they harmonized with the moonlight, yet chilling.
“How is it? Quite beautiful, isn't it?”
At that moment, Tianhui's voice flowed in.
When the Shahundai had forgotten even to attack Tianhui and were blankly staring at the sword shadows above their heads.
‘What are you doing! Snap out of it!’
Yinshou Cansha, the first to come to his senses, urgently sent a sound transmission to the Shahundai.
[You bastards...!]
But his sound transmission didn't reach the entranced Shahundai at all.
*Click!*
Gnashing his teeth, Yinshou Cansha ultimately couldn't hold back any longer and shouted aloud.
“It's an evil art (Xieshu)! Snap out of it!”
Whether they came to their senses at the voice imbued with internal force, life flowed back into the eyes of the Shahundai.
As soon as Yinshou Cansha grasped that brief change, he sent an even stronger sound transmission.
[Do not act rashly!]
The stiffened Shahundai nodded.
Looking at the Shahundai who had returned to their original calm state, Yinshou Cansha once again completely erased his presence.
[Attack when an opening appears.]
Yinshou Cansha earnestly instructed, leaking a sound transmission to each and every member of the Shahundai.
Then, just as he was about to move to lead the Shahundai and exploit Tianhui's opening.
“An evil art? Well, think what you want.”
Tianhui said nonchalantly.
He actually thought it was amusing.
Baigui Cheng was an evil sect, yet for them to call it an evil art made the situation funny.
“Then what kind of evil art are those sword shadows? Meng? Or Huan? If not that, what else was there.”
At his teasing tone, the Shahundai reacted.
“Then I'll show you so it's easy to find out.”
Watching them, he added to his words.
“Look closely.”
With his words, he traced the sword downward.
The Fifth Stance of the Qijue Meihua Jian.
Luomei Tianyu Hua.
*Hwooung!*
The sword shadows floating in the sky fell.
It was an ecstatic sight, as if flowers were falling like rain from the night sky.
A captivating appearance that seized the gaze.
But the result was horrific.
In the blink of an eye, the first falling sword shadow reached the head of Shisan Hun.
*Thwack!*
Blood and brain matter splattered.
“……!”
The nearby Shahundai members, drenched in the viscous brain matter and blood, glared their eyes wide open.
Along with that, they raised their heads.
The sword shadows were piercing down right above their own heads, where they were hiding their presence.
Only then did they realize that the number of sword shadows matched their own numbers.
‘O-Our positions are exposed!’
In that instant, they had a premonition of death.
Immediately terrified, they pushed off with the soles of their feet without even a moment for anyone to speak.
It was an instinct they had forgotten while living as members of the Shahundai.
The instinct to survive.
However, the falling sword shadows had already reached their crowns.
*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*
The light sound of watermelons bursting rang out simultaneously.
Yet there was not a single scream.
Because they had all been killed instantly.
Watching the corpses of those who had hidden themselves in the darkness reveal themselves one by one, Tianhui opened his mouth.
“This is quite decent.”
He evaluated the utility of Luomei Tianyu Hua.
Luomei Tianyu Hua, the pinnacle of illusion swords, flowed martial power to bloom the illusion sword known as sword shadows, and mercilessly severed the opponent's life.
‘As expected, you have to execute martial arts to kill for its true power to be revealed.’
Tianhui wore a satisfied smile.
It was the first time he had executed Luomei Tianyu Hua—no, the Qijue Meihua Jian itself—with the intent to kill an opponent.
And the result was to his liking.
“You think so too, right?”
Tianhui's gaze moved to the side.
At that moment, the pitch-black darkness seemed to ripple, and soon split in half.
“Keuk!”
Through the darkness, Yinshou Cansha, whose entire body was drenched in blood, revealed himself. As if breathing was agonizing, he clutched his chest with his hand and collapsed to his knees.
Just as Tianhui was looking at him and speaking.
*Flinch—*
Yinshou Cansha's back heaved once.
“Uwek—”
Vomiting the blood he had been holding in, he clutched his chest with a haggard appearance.
‘W-What on earth was that just now...’
His head was dizzy.
Perhaps because he had seen a fragment of a sword style that was far beyond the realm of understanding.
Even his breath was completely choked.
‘Is there such a wide-range martial art? Moreover, grasping all the positions of the Shahundai who had erased their presence and killing them precisely to match...’
He thought and thought again.
But it was useless.
The two things shown in the sword style he had just executed were in the realm of the incomprehensible.
In the end, there was only one way to know.
Jerking his head up, he glared at Tianhui and moved his lips.
“W-Who are you?”
Tianhui looked down at him with a pale complexion and chuckled.
“Who am I? Just a moment ago, you saw me and called me a Daoist of the Huashan Sect, didn't you?”
“No... That's impossible. You are not a Daoist of the Huashan Sect.”
Yinshou Cansha immediately shook his head.
How could a Daoist of the Huashan Sect display such a cruel sword style and hold such a smile among the corpses!
“For someone showing such cruel methods to be a Daoist of the Huashan Sect...”
“If you don't believe it, then don't.”
Tianhui said nonchalantly.
Whether he denied it or whatever, he didn't care.
Then, tilting his head slightly, he smiled as he stared pointedly at Yinshou Cansha's sleeve.
“What are you hesitating for?”
“……!”
Yinshou Cansha's two eyes widened.
At Tianhui's expression and tone, which seemed to know exactly what he was going to do, Yinshou Cansha bit his lip tightly.
*Flap!*
The sleeve fluttered.
Following that, after pouring in all the remaining internal force he had left, he made them collide on both sides centered around the flying daggers.
*Bzzzt—*
The moment thunder qi wrapped around the flying daggers.
*Swish!*
The flying daggers shot out like lightning.
Yinshou Cansha's eyes flashed.
What he had just executed was the Feilei Dao, an absolute martial art that had made him the Western Branch Master of the Baigui Cheng despite being an assassin.
‘No matter how much of an absolute master you are, you cannot avoid at least severe injuries!’
Around the time Yinshou Cansha made this bold declaration.
‘Oho, a unique internal energy circulation?’
Tianhui stared at the flying daggers that had reached right before his nose, paying attention to the internal energy circulation Yinshou Cansha had just shown.
‘Splitting internal energy into two branches?’
It was quite an interesting method.
In an instant, a smile spread across his mouth.
‘Even just this guy executes martial arts I don't know; how many martial arts I don't know are there in the current world?’
Feeling elated just by the thought, he lightly caught the flying daggers flying towards him.
*Snatch—*
Yinshou Cansha fell onto his backside.
“...H-How did you catch the Feilei Dao!”
“Is the martial art's name Feilei Dao?”
Looking down at him with his mouth agape and drooling, Tianhui fully opened his palm and looked at the caught flying daggers.
The flying daggers were glowing red as if they had been heated in a fire multiple times.
“Aha, so you clash the internal energy and shoot the flying daggers through the gap.”
Tianhui, having grasped the internal energy circulation method of the Feilei Dao, immediately imbued his internal energy.
*Bzzzt—*
Lightning bolts popped out from the flying daggers.
“……!”
Watching that sight, Yinshou Cansha's eyes grew as wide as if they would pop out.
It was the lightning bolt he had barely managed to create after dedicating ten years of his life.
Yet a man who didn't even know the Feilei Dao, a man who had only seen it once, had created the lightning bolt in an instant.
“Y-You...”
“Like this, right?”
Along with his words, Tianhui threw the flying daggers.
*Thunk!*
The flying daggers, shot like a flash of light, pierced through Yinshou Cansha's head and embedded themselves in the ground.
“Is this the F-Feilei Dao...?”
Murmuring at the power of the Feilei Dao, which was on a completely different level from what he had executed, Yinshou Cansha's vision gradually darkened.
Soon, his soul left his body.
*Slump—*
The empty shell of a body collapsed.
Tianhui looked at Yinshou Cansha's corpse with interested eyes and smiled.
“I knew it, you really have to come out to the Jianghu.”