"Kuhahahahat. The taste of blood is delightful."
The Blood Demon Sword, soaked with blood on its blade, seemed immensely pleased.
Since I was sharing its vision, I could see just how many it had slaughtered.
Over a hundred people had been pierced and killed by the Blood Demon Sword, and barely ten had survived.
For now, I retrieved the jade form from the Blood Demon Sword.
The constantly depleting innate qi stopped being consumed.
Indeed, maintaining the jade form for more than seven days had consumed nearly half of my innate qi.
It was a relief that I had secretly circulated my energy intermittently during that time.
"T-That sword!"
Just then, someone who had recently run into the underground chamber pointed at the Blood Demon Sword and shouted.
I cast a cold glance at the man.
"Kugh!"
As soon as I did, the man clutching his chest spewed out a mouthful of blood and collapsed.
Only four of us, including myself, remained standing in the room.
The one called Galju looked dumbfounded.
"The Blood Demon Sword? What the hell is this..."
Though the Blood Demon Sword is a treasure of the Blood Sect, it also symbolizes the Blood Demon.
For such a notorious artifact to fly into the hands of someone thought to be from Baekryeon, surprise was only natural.
'Huh?'
Suddenly, the flow of air shifted.
The entire room grew cold at an alarming rate—so cold that one could see their own breath.
Galju flinched and shouted in panic.
"P-Please, stop for a moment..."
"Why stop now, when the Blood Demon Sword is right in front of me?"
Before she even finished her sentence, a terrifying chill burst forth.
It went far beyond normal levels.
As though an avalanche had swept through, the freezing cold surged like waves and froze everything in the room.
"Damn it..."
"Gahh!"
-Crack crack crack!
In an instant, Galju and the elderly half-hundred warriors trying to flee were frozen alive.
Their forms, now like ice sculptures, were a horrifying sight.
Though she had exuded intense cold in the past, this was on an entirely different level.
She had become a walking catastrophe.
–Such terrifying cold. Are you alright?
The Blood Demon Sword asked.
As the room filled with cold in the blink of an eye, I too became frozen like a statue.
Of course, I wasn't completely frozen like the others.
It was more like my outer skin had frozen.
"Hmph."
Maybe thinking I was just as immobilized as the others due to the frozen exterior, Seolbaek snorted and walked toward me.
Emitting a massive cold aura from her entire body, the silver-haired woman resembled a legendary Snow Woman.
This was on a completely different scale from Chosa's martial arts.
I had assumed she would be comparable, but that had clearly been a mistake.
As she approached and reached out to take the Blood Demon Sword—
'Hoo...'
I circulated the Flame Yang Fist of Seoleum Hwayang Seonmu.
Heat rose within me, and the frozen exterior began to crack.
-Crack crack crack!
"What?"
Seolbaek's delicate brow furrowed.
She must have believed I was fully frozen and unable to move.
Panicked, she quickly reached toward me again.
Snow flurries burst from her hand like a blizzard, attacking my whole body.
This wasn't just cold—it was likely the martial art of the North Sea Ice Palace.
–That's the Ice Spirit Divine Art.
Ice Spirit Divine Art?
–The first Blood Demon once fought a master from the North Sea Ice Palace. But this level... it's far beyond that. Even my sword body feels like it's freezing.
If even the Blood Demon Sword was recoiling, she had truly become a monster.
But I couldn't go down that easily.
It was the first time I tried drawing out more than 5-star energy from the Flame Yang Fist. I hoped it would be enough.
-Ssssssssh!
Steam erupted from my entire body.
It was the result of the heat from the Flame Yang Fist clashing with the cold from Seolbaek's hand.
"This heat..."
Even Seolbaek seemed alarmed.
She raised her cold energy even further.
What on earth happened to her over the past 300 years?
Even deploying 7-star Flame Yang Fist wasn't enough—her cold overwhelmed and tried to penetrate my body faster than I could melt it.
[Avoid using anything higher than 8 stars, if possible,] my master who taught me Seoleum Hwayang Seonmu had once warned.
But if I didn't use higher, my body would freeze.
And I wasn't in a situation to hold back.
'9-star Flame Yang Fist.'
I pushed it directly to 9 stars.
Instantly, flames—not just heat—burst from my entire body.
"Ah!"
The swirling flames surged around me as if to protect me, creating a Dragon Flame Fist Wind.
Seolbaek, who had been launching her Ice Spirit Art at close range, instantly leapt backward.
She was clearly rattled by the technique, which went beyond mere heat and was its natural nemesis.
"Phew... Now I can finally breathe again."
The cold could no longer invade my space.
The flame's heat melted the frozen room.
–Where the hell did you learn that?
Even the Blood Demon Sword couldn't hide its surprise.
It had stayed mostly within the scabbard while I was on Do-hwaseon, so it hadn't seen me train in Seoleum Hwayang Seonmu.
Even I was using the 9-star version for the first time.
Now I understood why Master told me not to go beyond that.
The intense heat hadn't just melted the room—it had nearly set it ablaze. If I'd gone any higher, I might've burned the whole Do-hwaseon island.
–Your clothes are burning too.
'What?'
Startled by the sword's words, I looked down.
While my body could withstand the heat, my clothes couldn't.
The flames meant to protect my body were clinging to my garments and burning them.
'Damn it.'
I tried to control the flame emissions from my body.
It was harder than expected, since it was my first time.
My clothes had burned enough to expose my chest and skirt hem.
–If you end up naked in that body, that'll be fun.
Outrageous.
That wouldn't be any different from Baekryeon Ha exposing her body.
-Ssssssh!
'Incredible...'
I couldn't help but click my tongue at the way the heat and her cold energy were now in perfect balance, forming a clear border.
Even though she backed off in caution, her cold didn't retreat an inch.
It seemed she wasn't even using her full power yet.
Seolbaek looked me up and down and spoke.
"So the rumors about the Blood Demon being a woman were true."
She must've misunderstood because parts of my body had been exposed due to the burned clothes.
True, ordinary disguise or masks couldn't change one's body gender. Only something akin to spiritual transformation techniques could do that.
'Is it because of Baek Hyang that this rumor started?'
I'd never heard anyone say the Blood Demon was a woman.
Apparently, even the Golden Emperor's faction was getting bits of information leaking from the Martial Alliance.
–Swoooosh!
Just then, even more intense cold energy erupted from Seolbaek's body.
The border of heat I'd created began to waver.
"If I kill you here and take the Blood Demon Sword, he will be pleased."
–Pop!
Before the words had even left her mouth, she dashed at me.
Sheathed in cold, she came at me while I raised the Flame Yang Fist.
Flames and snow collided instantly, and the entire area was engulfed in thick steam.
-Whoooosh! Swoooosh!
-Bababababang!
The underground room was too small, and with visibility lost in the mist, we must've had the same thought—
Soon, we smashed through the ceiling and ascended to the surface.
The heat of flames and her cold together destroyed the entire house in an instant.
-Bababababang!
In an instant, Seol Baek and I collided in midair, creating trails of flame and frost across the sky.
That's how extreme and opposing our energies had become.
I glanced around, shifting my gaze subtly.
"Where do you think you're looking?!"
Seol Baek hurled a sharp chunk of ice at my forehead like a throwing weapon.
I quickly extended my hand, forming a wall of flames to block it.
"Is that… is that even martial arts?"
"I get that Seol is amazing, but who the hell is that woman?"
Murmurs rose from below.
They were the ones whom my Blood Demon Sword hadn't finished off.
Now watching our battle, they were utterly speechless with shock.
Two women—one spewing flames and the other shooting snow while clashing midair. Who wouldn't be stunned?
'Finish them all.'
—Understood.
I hurled the Blood Demon Sword at them.
I had no intention of letting a single one of them walk away alive.
Under Okhyeong's influence, the Blood Demon Sword flew freely, like executing the "Sword of a Thousand Wills," cutting down the dazed watchers below.
"Gasp!"
"T-That sword!"
"It's the Sword of a Thousand Wills!"
If they survived, they should've run.
Why stay to watch and end up dead?
Seol Baek, unfazed by the carnage below, unleashed her best techniques in an attempt to subdue me.
Not just her cold energy—her palm techniques were also terrifyingly precise.
Unlike me, who trained in many martial arts, she had likely spent 300 years honing just her palm techniques. The variations were so complex, it was hard to read the flow of her movements.
—Papapapapak!
Meanwhile, she was gradually getting used to my Flaming Sun Palm, one of Master Jo's two proudest arts.
Her palm technique was perhaps the best in the world, strong enough to overwhelm even that.
In pure hand-to-hand combat, I had to admit she was a step above me.
—Pak!
In an instant, her hand pierced through my flames and struck my chest multiple times.
The blows knocked me down to the ground.
—Chwarururur!
I landed and braced myself with one hand.
Steam rose from my chest.
'This unending cold...'
Unless one had divine arts with solar energy or was outright stronger, she would be hard to deal with.
So the Golden Emperor had hidden away such a deadly weapon.
—Tak!
Seol Baek landed on the ground as well.
Snowstorm-like flurries raged around her as if it were the middle of winter.
As she raised her hands, sharp shards of ice formed on her shoulders.
"You can't beat me. Blood Demon."
She was certain of her victory.
Probably because she had the upper hand in the exchange of techniques.
At that moment, I heard the voice of Sodam Sword in my head.
[They're all dead now. No one else around.]
Really?
I've been waiting for this moment.
I slowly got up.
Seol Baek looked ready to shoot the ice shards at me as she spoke.
"If you hand over the Blood Demon Sword now and surrender peacefully, we'll let you keep your position as the Blood Demon."
I chuckled and replied,
"Good thing I marked the Blood Path over 300 years ago. Otherwise, this would've been troublesome."
'!?'
Her brow furrowed at my words.
Did she understand what I meant?
"You... what are you saying..."
"Now I'll fight properly."
"What?"
—Pah!
I dashed toward Seol Baek.
As she hurriedly stretched out her hand, sharp ice shards rained down like arrows.
'Come.'
—Shoooosh!
As I reached out, the Blood Demon Sword came flying into my palm with a slicing sound through the air.
Gripping the sword, I unleashed the fifth form of Blood Heaven Grand Sword: Blood Rain Pierces Ten Thousand (血雨萬穿).
Dragging the sword to the left like a draw-cut technique, I slashed.
—Chachachachacha!
Countless red sword trails shot out like a torrential downpour from the blade.
The red energy shattered the ice shards like breaking through a rainstorm.
Past the shattered shards, Seol Baek summoned a blizzard of extreme frost.
'Thunder Sword: Sky Burial!'
—Pachichichik!
At that moment, a red lightning enveloped my sword.
When Thunder Sword is performed while channeling Blood Heaven Energy, even lightning turns red.
Sliding toward Seol Baek like a hawk, I carved a crescent arc with the sword amidst her snowy storm.
It was the Blood Demon Sword's "Heavenly Blood Crescent".
"No way...!"
Her eyes widened at the sight of the lightning-wrapped Blood Demon Sword.
—CHWAAAAH!
The red arc, soaked in lightning, split the flurries apart.
In an instant, I sliced through the storm and passed Seol Baek.
Five steps past her, I lightly swung the sword.
—Chak!
Droplets of blood flicked from the blade and splattered on the ground.
—Thud!
Something fell behind me.
Her form, unable to withstand the arc of the Heavenly Blood Crescent, was swept into the air by the energy and crashed to the ground.
Turning around, I saw her clothing slashed according to the sword's path, torn more than halfway, with blood oozing from the wounds.
"You...!"
Bloody and wounded, she tried to push herself up.
But—
—Bzzzt! Crackle!
"Gah!"
The thunderous energy of the Thunder Sword that had penetrated her wound forced her back down on her knees.
In disbelief, Seol Baek murmured,
"...That wasn't your full strength?"
Truthfully, it still wasn't.
Not that I needed to tell her that.
I walked up to her.
Aimed the tip of my sword at her neck and said,
"If your head gets cut off, you die."
Even with the Golden Emperor's surgical enhancements, decapitation means death.
—Ssssssss!
Already, her wounds were healing.
Her regeneration speed was incredible.
Still, I hadn't killed her yet for just one reason.
"Where is the Golden Emperor?"
At my question, she slightly raised her head.
Her eyes trembled subtly as they met mine.
Had she accepted death?
Honestly, I wasn't expecting much. Of all the Golden Emperor's subordinates, only one—the mad, brainwashed Sect Master of Ghost Slayer Fist—had ever talked.
Then, she opened her lips.
"What are you… really?"
"Really?"
"Are you the Blood Demon? Or a descendant of the Sword Immortal?"
I chuckled and answered.
"Let's just say I'm both."
"Both? Ha!"
She looked incredulous.
Understandable.
Until now, no one equated the Blood Demon with the Sword Immortal's lineage.
One represented the pinnacle of righteousness and Taoism; the other, the peak of demonic arts.
Scoffing, she asked again.
"...Was it also you who marked my Blood Path over 300 years ago?"
I didn't deny it.
If I couldn't get answers here, I'd kill her anyway.
With Sodam Sword circling the sky, she wouldn't escape me.
Then Seol Baek asked sincerely,
"Why didn't you kill me back then?"
Why?
There were too many variables at play back then.
It wasn't that I deliberately let her live.
No need to explain that much.
"Who knows."
At my vague reply, her expression suddenly brightened.
What?
Even with death hanging over her, she looked… happy?
With a wide smile, Seol Baek said,
"I knew it. You wanted me too."
"…What?"
…She definitely misunderstood something.