Chapter 354: Kunlun (3)
At the center of the Kunlun Sect—at the very source of the anomaly—what I found was a shadowy figure flickering in black, with only its eyes dyed red.
“…We’re screwed.”
The moment I saw it, I knew. It would’ve been stranger not to.
That familiar swordsmanship. That killing intent sharp enough to make my skin tingle.
The one slaughtering the rogue monks of Potala Palace… was none other than me.
And not just any me—me as the Sword Demon, having reached the Flowering Stage.
Those who had crossed swords with me or seen me fight turned their gazes toward me.
But even if they looked, there was nothing I could tell them. So I decided to ask someone who might know.
“Illusory Illusion Witch. You might’ve noticed, but that’s me.”
“Ah! No wonder… there really shouldn’t be two such vicious beings in the world.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Ah, it’s nothing!”
“Forget it. That’s not important right now.”
I pointed at the Sword Demon, who had just cut down another rogue monk.
“That’s the Heart Demon I cast off when I reached the Flowering Stage. But for that shell to remain, and to wield power comparable to my current self—is that even possible? From what I can see, it shouldn’t be. There must be a weakness. Can you figure out what it is?”
“A weakness… of course there is one.”
The Illusory Illusion Witch spoke while staring intently at the Sword Demon.
“I heard you used the bell to perform that grand technique several times before, right? During that process, your Heartscape must have been imprinted into it without you realizing. And this scene… it must’ve been drawn out by your experience of destruction, then mixed together like this.”
“…Hmm.”
At this point, there was no denying it—it was my fault.
Feeling slightly guilty, I glanced around.
The Murim Alliance Leader listened calmly without any particular emotion. Abbot Jeong Hyeon met my gaze and pressed his palms together as if to say it was fine. Tang Jincheon smirked as if telling me not to worry, and Seo Mun-Hwarin thumped her chest as if to say to trust her.
It seemed none of them intended to blame me.
A beat late, the Murim Alliance Leader caught onto the atmosphere and cleared his throat.
“Ahem. White Moon Sword Lord, you have done much for Murim. More importantly, you are still young, barely past your coming of age. Sometimes, leave things to us elders.”
“…Thank you.”
I cupped my fists respectfully, and he returned it with a pleased smile before urging the Illusory Illusion Witch to continue.
“So? I understand how this happened, but what should we do about that… hmm.”
“Let’s just call it the Sword Demon.”
“…Can we defeat the Sword Demon? Calling it an illusion feels strange—it’s far too vicious.”
At his question, the Illusory Illusion Witch let out a small sigh.
“That’s a valid concern. See those monks from Potala Palace collapsing and not getting back up? They’re really dead. They must’ve mistaken it due to the overwhelming killing intent—believed they had truly died. And that applies equally to us… and to the Sword Demon.”
“What do you mean?”
“If we’re struck badly by the Sword Demon’s sword, we’ll die. But the Sword Demon, already drunk on killing intent, can also be killed—even though it’s an illusion.”
After saying that, she hesitantly pulled out her artifacts and grasped them tightly in both hands before stating the conclusion.
“The Sword Demon’s weakness… is that it dies if you cut off its head.”
It sounded absurdly obvious for such a solemn declaration… but considering that thing had no real body and was merely an illusion, it was indeed a weakness.
“One last question. If we destroy the Sword Demon, we can leave this place, right?”
“Yes. That much is certain.”
“Good.”
I nodded once and looked at the Potala Palace warriors, who were nearly annihilated.
“Once they’re all down, we strike together.”
There were six Flowering Stage martial artists here. And one of them was me.
No matter how monstrous the Sword Demon was, it wouldn’t be able to withstand a combined assault.
Though some seemed uneasy—whether at the idea of joint attack or of cutting down “me”—they all eventually nodded.
And in the silence, another scream rang out.
A perfectly unharmed chest, yet the monk clawed at himself as if his heart had been pierced, collapsing in agony.
Needless to say, having destroyed the Kunlun Sect, Potala Palace’s forces were formidable.
From the energy I sensed, there were three at the Flowering Stage. Beyond them, many experts at Sub-Perfection and Peak Stage…
But all of them fell before the Sword Demon.
Two of the Flowering Stage fighters had already collapsed clutching their throats while we observed, and the last one struggled desperately with one arm hanging limp.
Others died fighting head-on, while some were cut down while trying to flee—struck by spatially severing sword strikes.
Finally, the last Flowering Stage warrior realized there was no chance of victory and began igniting his innate true qi.
His frail body, unbefitting a Flowering Stage martial artist who had undergone rebirth, swelled with muscle, and incomprehensible chants poured from his mouth.
Black energy rose from the corpses of the fallen monks and gathered into him.
Soon, even the whites of his eyes turned black, and behind him flared a radiant aura like blazing flames.
And before anything could even begin—
He was cut down.
More precisely, he attempted to block a downward strike in a moment of intoxication with his own power, only to be cleaved entirely in half.
As someone who used the same martial art, I could tell.
In that brief instant, the Sword Demon had overlapped the Formless Sword to amplify its sharpness to the extreme.
…So its true strength really is on par with mine.
I swallowed the sigh that almost escaped me and spoke quietly.
“Now.”
As if that single word was the signal, everyone charged at once.
The first to move was Tang Jincheon. His sleeves fluttered, and from within burst countless hidden weapons along with clouds of poison.
Sensing this, the Sword Demon raised its sword and unleashed Thunderclap Step.
Kwa-rung!
Energy surged from the Yongcheon point, shaking the ground as the Sword Demon closed the distance instantly.
Rather than retreating, it charged forward—making Tang Jincheon’s eyes twitch.
But he soon realized its intent.
A blood-red sword aura compressed to a level comparable to the White Sword—
The moment the blade wrapped in it pierced into the center of the hidden weapons and poison cloud—
Boom!
The compressed aura exploded outward, creating a storm of internal energy that blasted in all directions.
The shock scattered the poison and twisted the trajectories of the hidden weapons.
No matter how infused with qi they were, once their paths were distorted, they lost their effectiveness.
As the attack failed to deal meaningful damage, Tang Jincheon clenched his teeth and moved again.
“Not so fast!”
The dispersing poison gathered again around the Sword Demon, growing denser.
A poisoner’s body capable of converting internal energy into poison. And the Flowering Stage, where internal energy could manifest wherever one’s will reached.
A venom technique without limits, permitted only to one who had achieved both.
I didn’t know what poison it was, but it certainly wasn’t ordinary—judging by its color, it was at least five types of deadly poison mixed together.
Yet the Sword Demon plunged straight into it—
And emerged completely unharmed, swinging its sword.
“Ah.”
Realizing that my immunity to all poisons applied to the Sword Demon as well, Tang Jincheon retreated in shock.
And then—
“The one who knows your sword best is this one!”
“I shall assist!”
“So this is what you harbored, Benefactor Cheon?”
Seo Mun-Hwarin, the Murim Alliance Leader, and Abbot Jeong Hyeon stepped in simultaneously.
Seo Mun-Hwarin’s fist met the descending blade head-on.
Kagagak!
The Sword Demon’s blade dug into the qi covering her fist… then stopped.
It was as if overwhelming force crushed the blade’s unnatural sharpness.
But that wasn’t all.
The Murim Alliance Leader circled to the side and brought down his staff at a precise angle, while from the opposite side, Abbot Jeong Hyeon thrust out a palm imbued with golden qi. The sheer weight of the attack made it anything but trivial.
In an instant, the Sword Demon was surrounded by three Flowering Stage experts.
Even if this wouldn’t end it, it should at least deal meaningful damage—even I thought so.
But the Sword Demon’s movements defied all expectations.
Still blocking Seo Mun-Hwarin’s strike, it extended one hand and grasped at empty air.
At the same time, the protective qi that had been blocking the hidden weapons vanished, and all that internal energy and will gathered into its empty hand.
Woooong—
A shimmering, translucent sword took shape.
Instead of overlaying the Formless Sword onto its blade, it summoned it separately and swung it.
Invisible to the eye, yet so dense with killing intent that it was unmistakable to the senses—
The strike collided with the Murim Alliance Leader’s staff.
“A good attempt, but reckless!”
The Murim Alliance Leader widened his eyes and poured in more internal energy.
The power of a technique came from bodily movement and the flow of internal energy.
Seo Mun-Hwarin’s clash had halted, so additional energy wouldn’t push the Sword Demon back—
But the Murim Alliance Leader’s staff, still mid-swing, grew even more ferocious.
At that moment—
The Sword Demon’s wrist twisted sharply, and its posture shifted.
Like smoke swaying in the wind, its form blurred—
And thunder roared in my ears.
Kwa-rung!
A sonic boom from its full-speed movement.
It had used the internal energy flow of Thunderclap Step not for attack—but to deflect the staff.
In that split-second, the Murim Alliance Leader’s staff naturally changed direction.
“What is this—?!”
Even he hadn’t anticipated such madness, trying to pull back—but it was too late.
The slight timing difference caused by the length of their weapons—
That alone twisted their trajectories into collision.
Boom!
The staff curved perfectly into Abbot Jeong Hyeon’s palm strike, and the impact forced Seo Mun-Hwarin to release the Sword Demon.
Not only did it create distance instantly—
It swung its blade toward the now-exposed trio.
Since reaching the Flowering Stage, my sword had become far less restricted by distance.
If that spatially severing strike landed, someone would be seriously injured.
Sensing this, the Illusory Illusion Witch released her prepared technique in urgency.
Jingle.
Multiple small bell sounds rang out, accompanied by the scent of peaches.
But instead of anything auspicious, what appeared between them and the Sword Demon—
Was a grotesque boar.
Standing on two legs, clad in armor, wielding a weapon larger than its body—like a distorted version of something from a Buddhist painting.
It didn’t seem to have a physical body, yet it wasn’t a mere illusion either. Its presence felt threatening.
The Sword Demon paused briefly—
Then gathered its killing intent ahead of its blade.
The scattered killing intent condensed into a single point, piercing the boar’s heart like a thrust.
And the illusion scattered as if it had never existed.
…Same principle as when I cut through her techniques.
Killing intent was a basic application of willpower. When focused with clear direction, it could cut even what shouldn’t be cut.
The Sword Demon desired only one thing—killing.
That overwhelming will shattered the will embedded in her technique.
Perhaps it judged her as the greater threat. Or perhaps it simply chose to eliminate the unfamiliar first.
Its blade changed direction.
A spatial slash shot toward the Illusory Illusion Witch.
“Eek!”
She tried to retreat—but it was too late.
So I swung my sword as well.
Clang!
Sparks erupted in midair—
As if two blades had collided at full force.
Leaving that behind, I stepped forward at full speed.
Like a mirror reflection—
Two identical yet opposite trajectories clashed.
Staring at the flickering shadow and red eyes right before me, I grinned.
“To think you could fend off five Flowering Stage martial artists without a scratch. I don’t know which one of us is the original, but… you sure know how to handle a sword.”
Honestly—I felt a little proud.