Chapter 235. Within Ten Paces, You'll Find A Fragrant Flower (6)
Ma-Ra threw more Profound Iron Daggers hidden within her bosom.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
The left side of Da Wu body, which had been wrapped comparatively loosely, was now tied stiff with even more Millennium Blood Thread.
"Y-you...!"
Da Wu started to become a little worried. He thought that there had to be a reason Ma-Ra was trying to prevent him from moving. So he gathered his strength and tried to break the Millennium Blood Threads.
Squelch!
The Millennium Blood Threads stretched and dug into Da Wu's flesh. However, they didn’t break. These threads were the treasures of the Pure Flower Hall of the Four Great Assassin Gates that were now subservient to the Death God Ma-Ra, and they were almost unbreakable, even for an Absolute Master.
With that said, though the threads resisted, Ma-Ra knew they were at their limit. Against a physique cultivator like Da Wu, who could quite literally increase the size of his body and had iron-like skin, all they could do was temporarily prevent him from moving.
Ma-Ra threw her forty remaining Profound Iron Daggers and the twenty Millennium Blood Threads connecting them, wrapping around Da Wu's entire body again.
"AGH!!"
Da Wu screamed and strained. However, the forty Millennium Blood Threads supported each other and barely held on.
She had to finish him off before they broke.
Ma-Ra deactivated her stealth technique and dropped to the ground while fully exposed. At the same time, she drew her sword, Death’s Pursuit.
‘Death God's Secret Technique, Illusions of Heaven Hiding Shadows.’
Ma-Ra's figure went from one to two, then four, then eight.
In the end, a total of one hundred twenty-eight Ma-Ras appeared; the hems of their white gowns fluttered in the wind, filling the heavens and the earth with flowers.
‘Meteor Stealing Soul Sword.’
The first Ma-Ra unleashed the Meteor Stealing Soul Sword and slashed Da Wu’s side. Then, the second Ma-Ra struck the same spot before the qi of the first Meteor Stealing Soul Sword faded.
This action repeated a hundred twenty-six more times; one hundred twenty-six swords unerringly struck the exact same spot on Da Wu's waist.
After her barrage of Meteor Stealing Soul Swords unleashed using the Illusion of Heaven Hiding Shadows was over, Ma-Ra's clones merged back into one. She unleashed three Silver Moon Discs, a Blood Sickle, and a flying dagger in quick succession, leaving Da Wu no time to breathe.
It was truly a magnificent series of strikes.
Right as the flying dagger bounced off Da Wu's side, Ma-Ra had already rushed directly in front of him; she used all of the momentum she had gained and all of her qi to drive her sword.
Riiiip!
The sound of something tearing rang through the air.
Ma-Ra's thrust, with all of her power accumulated into a single point, broke through Da Wu's defensive qi barrier and his incredibly tough skin, ripping through his flesh and entering his body.
'The stab is not enough!'
As that thought crossed her mind, Ma-Ra's sword pierced deeper into Da Wu’s abdomen, and her qi poured out like a tidal wave. She was driving her own qi to its limit!
"Ugh!"
It was a very minute hole, yet the blade that entered through it completely tore apart Da Wu's insides.
Unable to withstand the internal pressure, blood spurted out from Da Wu’s eyes, ears, nose, and all other orifices at the same time.
Fearing that the blood would get on her clothes, Ma-Ra quickly stepped back to avoid it.
“Seven Deaths.”
At Ma-Ra's soft call, the assassins who had been hiding within the shadows revealed themselves and prostrated before her.
"The Seven Deaths are present, my lord."
Ma-Ra pointed to Da Wu's body.
"Handle this."
"Understood."
The Seven Deaths untangled the Millennium Blood Thread from Da Wu's body and pulled out the daggers, carefully cleaning the blood and grime off the metal.
In the end, she had won. However, it had been a more intense and difficult match than she had expected.
Ma-Ra arranged her disheveled clothes and straightened out her hair as she watched Xiao Wu and Ra Mi fight.
'Looks like she has it handled.'
As soon as the Seven Deaths cleaned her weapons and brought them to her, she bolted away.
She was headed toward the other major battle—Great Justice Palace Master and Si-Hyeon.
***
The battle between Ra Mi and Xiao Wu ended blandly.
To be fair, it was a battle that should have ended quite a bit faster, considering the compatibility between their techniques.
However, Ra Mi was fighting an Absolute Master for the first time since becoming one herself. She had difficulty adjusting to both the opponent and her own abilities, and she struggled at the beginning, which was what caused the battle to drag on for so long.
Swish!
After blocking Xiao Wu's frost art with her sword, Ra Mi cut off Xiao Wu's head with her frozen sword.
Her Sixth-Sense Sword had grown sharper during the battle. As she was getting used to her newfound power, her senses were gradually awakening and becoming more and more sensitive.
Conversely, however, the longer she went without fighting, the more her senses would dull.
'Before I lose this sensitivity, might as well profit!'
Ra Mi used her movement technique to the utmost and headed toward another battle, where she continued to display her splendid Sixth-Sense Quickdraw.
The tip of her sword took life after life.
It seemed like it wouldn’t take long for the title “Sword Empress of the South Sea,” which Ra Mi’s father had personally created and forced the disciples of the Hainan Sword Sect to call her, to spread throughout the Central Plains.
Her prowess and beauty were on full display.
On this side of the battlefield was the Sword Empress of the South Sea, and on the other side was a beautiful girl riding a giant white tiger and spreading around her the cold of the North Sea.
Yeo-Seol and Eun-Ah.
The situation was rapidly becoming unfavorable for Martial Heaven.
However, it was still too early to relax.
Even if everyone here were to stop fighting and join forces, that wouldn't be enough to be considered their win.
After all, the real battle—the battle of the Paragons—was not over yet.
The Great Justice Palace Master and Si-Hyeon’s fight was the only thing that really mattered; once one of them secured victory, the other side was doomed altogether.
***
The twenty-four swords spread out in formation, surrounding Si-Hyeon like a cage.
However, Si-Hyeon wasn't flustered in any way. While the formation grew stronger and stronger, while even the air grew heavy and weighed down on her entire body, she remained calm.
Swish.
Two thick strands of demonic qi stretched out from the darkness behind her.
"Spiral Line."
The two strands of demonic qi began to intertwine and twist into one. As they repeatedly twisted around each other, they stored an incredible amount of force; the twisted strand held much more power than the two individual strands added together.
Spiral Line swung through the air and struck the right side of the Great Justice Invincible Formation.
"Your formation is pretty impressive."
Spiral Line failed to penetrate the formation and was forced back. But then, six more strands of demonic qi split away from the mass behind Si-Hyeon. Then, they paired up in twos to form three more Spiral Lines, then entangled with the original one to form an even thicker Spiral Line formation.
BOOM!
The Great Justice Palace Master's eyes twitched at the sight.
He could sense his formation trembling slightly.
‘What an impressive power. Still, it doesn't seem like she can make anything stronger than this.'
As if mocking the Great Justice Palace Master, Si-Hyeon immediately formed another eight strands.
'Damn, that might be a problem.'
Thinking that Si-Hyeon's terrifyingly concentrated power would be able to destroy a part of his formation, the Great Justice Palace Master concentrated the power of the formation toward the direction where Si-Hyeon's Spiral Line was targeting.
Thump!
The Spiral Line that the Great Justice Palace Master had assumed would contain incredible power collided with the sword formation only to bounce away like a powerless piece of rubber.
'What?'
The moment the Great Justice Palace Master understood that this was a feint, another Spiral Line that Si-Hyeon had been secretly braiding right behind her flew out and struck the opposite side of the formation.
BOOOOM!
A powerful explosion ensued, and four of the swords were blasted out of the formation. Even the Great Justice Palace Master’s Sword Control was not enough to keep them in place under such tremendous stress.
Si-Hyeon sneered at the Great Justice Palace Master.
"It’s an amazing formation; too bad the formation master’s not up to par," she said.
As a hole appeared in the formation, aura began to leak. Not missing the opportunity, Si-Hyeon flew out, escaping the cage.
Then, her counterattack began. Her delicate, jade-like hands turned into blades, the billowing black robe sleeves barely able to disguise their sharpness. And through a side slit of her fluttering robe, one could sometimes glimpse her long, white legs as she moved at a ridiculous speed.
Everything about her appearance was captivating, but the Great Justice Palace Master had more important things to pay attention to—namely, the sheer power behind her every move.
Four of his swords blocked Si-Hyeon's Palm Blades, and six more rose to meet her demonic qi.
"Ho ho," Si-Hyeon laughed lightly.
At the same time, a wave of demonic qi rose right behind the Great Justice Palace Master. It was a strand of demonic qi that she had secretly sent underground.
"As if I’d get fooled by the same trick twice!" shouted the Great Justice Palace Master.
Ten of his swords rushed in and formed a Great Justice Minor Invincible Formation to block the wave of demonic qi.
The remaining four swords came flying in from above, below, and either side of Si-Hyeon, slashing down at her at the same time.
Shing!
The swords cut through nothing but her afterimage.
Si-Hyeon activated the Empty Hand Demonic Art on both hands, both palms turning a translucent white and giving off a menacing might as she ran toward the Great Justice Palace Master.
With a single thought from the latter, ten of his swords came in front of her to block her, while fourteen more came from behind to attack her.
Tap, tap!
An incredible scene unfolded.
Si-Hyeon simply sidestepped the ten swords that floated in mid-air, then used them as footholds to shoot forward at an even greater speed. It was clear that her movement art was not something to take lightly, and the more she fought, the more proficient she became.
“How dare you?!”
The Great Justice Palace Master waved his hands in a chaotic manner in front of his chest, forming hand seals, and finally pointed at Si-Hyeon. The twenty-four swords under Sword Control intertwined as they flew in, striking at her simultaneously.
Si-Hyeon’s demonic qi wings wrapped around her.
Clang, clang, clang!
Not a single one of the swords could pierce through her wings, and the moment she spread them outward, the black demonic qi around them condensed into spears.
Thousands of these demonic qi spears flew toward the Great Justice Palace Master.
Once again, the sound of the Great Justice Palace Master’s swords clashing with Si-Hyeon’s demonic qi rang out loudly through the air. In the meantime, Si-Hyeon finally approached the Great Justice Palace Master.
Woosh!
Her white fingers bent like an eagle’s talons and shot at the Great Justice Palace Master's neck.
Clang!
One of the swords flew over to block her hand; even though it managed to deflect the strike, the sword was also flung away. Si-Hyeon immediately followed up with her other hand, and it too was blocked by a second sword.
She kicked the ground with her left foot and jumped up, leading with a right knee kick.
Boom!
The Great Justice Palace Master blocked Si-Hyeon's knee attack with his left forearm. Then Si-Hyeon spun around in the air and kicked him with her right foot.
Another sword blocked Si-Hyeon's foot, while six others tried to stab Si-Hyeon in the back. However, she was not about to disengage just because of that. Her demonic qi encroached on her opponent from all sides in an all-out attack!
Both of them were now attacked from behind, and both took the same evasive action. They disappeared at the same time, reappearing about three zhang from their original location.
Although they both used Illusive Shift, it wasn't by chance that they had both appeared in the same place. Si-Hyeon had actually followed the Great Justice Palace Master's movements during the split second it took him to use Illusive Shift.
As soon as they appeared, Si-Hyeon grabbed her right fist with her left hand and twisted her torso, throwing a powerful elbow strike at the Great Justice Palace Master’s ribs. It was so fast that it whistled through the air, as if she was wielding a sword.
However, the strike barely cut through the Great Justice Palace Master’s robe before he used Illusive Shift once more.
The two appeared in a different location again. And just like before, Si-Hyeon used Illusive Shift just a fraction of a second later, sticking to the Great Justice Palace Master’s side like a bramble.
The two used Illusive Shift successively dozens of times, blinking in and out of existence as if they were ghosts on a chase.
Finally, the Great Justice Palace Master emerged from a shady spot under a large tree.
Swish!