Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Heavenly Realm

On the day of departure, as I entered the Cult Leader's neck guard, it felt like time had stopped. Then, when he took me out again, the surrounding scenery seemed to change in an instant.

"So that's what it feels like."

Was this how everyone I'd put in and taken out of the neck guard had felt until now? If you didn't know the circumstances, you'd be bound to panic as if possessed by a ghost. Looking around, surprisingly, there weren't hordes of Divine Immortal Style experts gathered. It was just the Cult Leader and me, along with the two Dharma Protectors and Dokgo Seong standing there. I'd clearly seen dozens of Divine Immortal Style experts enter the neck guard, so I was a bit puzzled.

Then Zhuge Sa cackled.

[The Cult Leader isn't a fool. Officially, we're here just to exchange the Demonic Path Scripture, so he doesn't bring out unnecessary forces to avoid raising alarms. He'll release them when the fight starts.]

[Hmm...]

The Cult Leader glanced at the Dharma Protectors and said,

[Stay still until I give the order.]

Mokmun Bridge was in a quiet manor outside Luoyang. The Cult Leader crossed the market street with steady steps as if nothing was amiss, but our group, wearing masks, naturally drew attention. I wasn't wearing a mask since my childlike body meant my appearance wouldn't give much away even if recognized.

"And masks themselves feel uncomfortable."

Masks seemed to carry some kind of sorcerous significance.

Soon, we arrived at Mokmun Bridge, where there were no signs of life anywhere—desolate to the point where it was clear the Imperial Palace had artificially cleared the area.

On the bridge stood a mysterious man in a bamboo hat.

"You've come, Cult Leader."

Normally, I wouldn't have known his identity. I'd have wondered why Zhuge Bu wasn't appearing and some random person showed up instead. But during my past lives, I'd uncovered who he was: the true master-mind of the Imperial Palace, the Vermilion Bird of the Death God Guard, Zhuge Yuryong.

It seemed the Vermilion Bird had sensed things weren't going as planned and decided to step forward himself rather than push Zhuge Bu to the front. The Cult Leader also seemed to suspect his identity, responding calmly without much surprise.

[Have you brought the item for exchange?]

"No."

The Vermilion Bird smirked faintly.

"This is your grave."

Kugugugwang!!

The moment his words ended, a massive explosion rocked the area with terrifying force. The sheer shock made my hair stand on end in an instant.

"......!!"

This wasn't an explosion from martial arts.

It's gunpowder!

An absurd amount ignited all at once! A hundred thousand catties... two hundred thousand... no, a million?! Evidence lay in the distinctive smell of gunpowder and sulfur, along with the rising smoke clouds.

'Ugh!!'

In that split second, I gathered protective astral energy to shield my body. But even my barrier shook violently.

Kugugugwang!!

'Crazy...'

The explosions raged on wildly, my protective energy shattering repeatedly as my internal energy rapidly depleted. At this rate, no ordinary martial artist could survive.

No—at this rate, I'd definitely die!

As a premonition of sudden death dried my throat,

Wheeeing

The explosive shockwaves approaching like reapers around me vanished. Before my eyes appeared a bizarre, translucent greenish defensive barrier. Staring at the Cult Leader in shock, he floated in the air with one hand raised.

Woooo...

[Are you alright?]

"Y-Yes."

I stammered a reply, inwardly stunned.

'He's not human...'

His barrier spanned dozens of feet, shrugging off what might have been over a million catties of gunpowder as if it didn't exist. No martial arts principle could explain such a shield. No—this was beyond martial arts, into the realm of divine power!

As the explosions subsided, the surroundings turned into a fiery inferno hellscape, visibility lost to soot and flames. I gathered with the Dharma Protectors around the Cult Leader, scanning for presences.

The Cult Leader stared piercingly ahead and said,

[Thorough to the end, that one...]

Whoosh

As the smoke cleared, dozens, hundreds of monstrous figures surrounded us from all sides. Each exuded intense demonic energy, revealing them as the Imperial Palace's fusion creations: demon humans. These demon humans threatened even Absolute Realm experts with raw physical prowess alone.

Some among them were even dragon humans. The Imperial Palace hadn't just passed dragon human sorcery to the Blood God Style—they could mass-produce them themselves.

With this force, conquering half the martial world would be effortless!

"What?! They couldn't produce demon humans and dragon humans this quickly before..."

Zhuge Sa cackled darkly.

[After Zhuge Bu's defeat, they must have been desperate and used forbidden spells to rapidly produce troops. Probably borrowed heavily from the crystal stone stele's power too...]

"What? That's possible?"

[Zhuge Yuryong is one of the Central Plains' top sorcerers. Booting forces with shortcuts is child's play for him.]

What chilled me most were the figures flanking the Vermilion Bird at the front. Expressionless handsome men and women stared our way—seemingly ordinary, but I knew their identities and abilities all too well.

"Portrait Freaks!"

Artificial lifeforms from fusing the crystal stone stele with Eastern and Western sorcery! Usable as sacrifices or, when completed, turned into terrifying augmented humans. There were four of them. Not many, but their unknown techniques could threaten even the Dharma Protectors.

The Vermilion Bird crossed his arms, staring down the Cult Leader.

"As expected of the White Lotus Cult Leader. To survive that explosion unscathed..."

The White Lotus Cult Leader glanced at the encirclement and said,

[Is this your preparation?]

"Something like that. Even you, White Lotus Cult Leader, won't find this easy."

[...Come to think of it, I still haven't heard your name or title.]

The Vermilion Bird seemed surprised.

"Hm...?"

[I am the White Lotus Cult Leader, Dokgo Uncheon. I want to know the name and title of the one who truly moves the Imperial Palace.]

"......"

Why introduce himself so out of the blue now? I found the Cult Leader's attitude absurd, but the Vermilion Bird pondered briefly before cupping his fists and replying.

"I am the current head of the Zhuge family and Vermilion Bird of the Death God Guard, Zhuge Yuryong."

[Zhuge Yuryong... You've hidden your claws from the martial world all this time.]

At the Cult Leader's words, the Vermilion Bird laughed self-mockingly.

"What's the martial world to me? The human world is but a lid."

[I see... That's how you became the lord of darkness...]

"Enough pretending to know me. Let's end this."

Ttah!

[Wooooo!!]

As the Vermilion Bird snapped his fingers, dragon humans and demon humans from all directions roared and charged. Their superhuman physical abilities reached realms no pure human body could match. Even with hordes of Dharma Protectors, we'd face severe hardship.

But in that heart realm instant—

[Heh heh heh...]

I could feel the Cult Leader sneering.

[Is this all the Imperial Palace's power amounts to?]

All?

This is all?

Before I could marvel anew at the Cult Leader's arrogance, his first move began.

[Come.]

Seven Great Absolute Arts

Spider Bright King

In an awe-inspiring moment as if time were severed, the Cult Leader emitted bead-like orbs from his entire body. These "beads" were actually spheres of qi, numbering in the hundreds. Finger-sized, they vibrated briefly before piercing the heart realm instant with long beams of light.

Shweekwkwkwk

As the hundreds of beams traced their paths, every mass of flesh in their trajectories shattered and severed. Charging dragon humans and demon humans were sliced like meat chunks without even screaming, blood spraying unrealistically into the air.

But the marvel didn't end there. As a web of light formed in the air, it twisted freely up, down, left, right into a spiral. The spiral vibrated into circular motion.

Kurrurung

The web expanded three-dimensionally, greedily devouring everything! Each strand brimmed with devastating internal energy, slicing dragon human flesh like tofu—any foe caught in the paths pulverized without resistance.

Whirlic

Plop plop

With two or three more casual swings of the Spider Bright King's web, every enemy within fifty feet radius was annihilated. The description was long, but it happened so fast it was less than half a blink.

Monster corpses scattered like trash.

[Krooo?!]

[Kraaa?!]

With their minimal instincts and intelligence, the dragon humans and demon humans seemed terrified by the Cult Leader's overwhelming slaughter. And I was stunned in my own way.

'The Seven Great Absolute Arts? He combined them into that monstrous technique...?'

The Cult Leader hadn't spoken empty words. The Spider Bright King was undoubtedly a supreme art rivaling the Three Treasures Arts, refined from the Seven Great Absolute Arts!

Paat!

In that instant, Portrait Freaks appeared around the Cult Leader's body. I couldn't grasp how, but it seemed they'd ambushed him.

"That bastard!"

Among them, a white-haired Portrait Freak boy had thrust a dagger right up to the Cult Leader's throat. I'd felt it before when Xiang Yu descended, but Portrait Freaks' abilities seemed detached from martial arts. Otherwise, they couldn't fool my Absolute Realm eyes and ambush at such close range.

Yet the Cult Leader neither blocked nor dodged. The blade halted a hair's breadth away. His terrifying protective astral energy had activated, preventing further penetration.

Gazing leisurely at the blade, the Cult Leader murmured,

[An interesting ability. If it were complete, it'd be a real threat.]

Pubbubung

That was it. The four Portrait Freaks were wiped out in the next instant by a single move from the Cult Leader. Blood fountains erupted again, thick crimson scent wafting around him.

All this in mere five breaths!

The Imperial Palace forces were already on the brink of annihilation. The Dharma Protectors didn't even need to use Infinite Internal Energy Pills.

"The Cult Leader alone took them all out..."

Some dragon humans and demon humans remained, but it was obvious they couldn't touch him. How do you attack a monster that sweeps away a hundred demon humans in one move?

The Cult Leader had always been strong, but not to this extent. Clearly, after learning the Seven Great Absolute Arts from me, he'd reached an even more terrifying realm.

As defeat was sealed in an instant, the Vermilion Bird said, somewhat flustered,

"This is..."

Perhaps too quick for resolution, even Yoo Donghin showed no sign of descending on me. The Cult Leader coldly aimed one hand at Zhuge Yuryong.

[Now, you go too.]

Puk!

That was the Vermilion Bird Zhuge Yuryong's end. He couldn't even resist as the White Lotus Cult Leader's palm strike tore his limbs apart. But knowing he'd merely discarded one body and could revive with a spare, I didn't let my guard down. I'd been burned badly by that trick before.

After dispatching the Vermilion Bird with a remote palm strike, the Cult Leader ordered us,

[Clean up the small fry.]

[Understood!]

The Dharma Protectors then began sweeping away the remaining dragon humans and demon humans. Countless streams of qi flew, explosions booming.

[Kraaa!]

They charged screaming, but Dokgo Jun and Han Baekyeong possessed combat power beyond them. Dokgo Seong, too, had surged in strength studying the Seven Great Absolute Arts back at the temple, single-handedly slaying five dragon humans. I assisted, severing dragon human necks.

Once cleanup finished, I cautiously spoke up.

"Cult Leader..."

Before I could warn him, the White Lotus Cult Leader gazed at the sky and murmured,

[Hmm... Now the real show begins.]

"Yes?"

Kugugugu...

The sky dyed blood-red. Intense demonic energy radiated from its center, an eerie aura blanketing heaven and earth. Knowing exactly what this was, I bit my lip hard.

"Dalgi!"

What to do when the apostle Dalgi descends!

With our current forces, we might repel it somehow. Though I lacked divine summons, using just the baleful spirit incantation for the Cult Leader would shatter Dalgi's sorcery defenses. Then the Cult Leader could probably handle it.

But using the baleful spirit incantation would immediately arouse massive suspicion from the Cult Leader.

"Can't just die to Dalgi either... Even if the Cult Leader's strong, without breaching its sorcery defenses, it's meaningless."

Kugugugu

A little time remained before Dalgi's descent. As I agonized, Zhuge Sa said,

[Hey, just watch.]

[What? If the Cult Leader loses to Dalgi...]

[The Cult Leader already knew the Imperial Palace had Demon Battlefield backing. He knew he'd face an apostle. Yet he accepted the lure today. Means he's confident he can win.]

[Hmm...]

[Something fun's about to happen.]

Doubtful but trusting Zhuge Sa for now, I waited.

And sure enough, the "fun" he predicted began unfolding.

As the massive bubble-bearing great yokai Dalgi slowly emerged from the Blood Heaven, the White Lotus Cult Leader abruptly drew a crescent blade from his neck guard. Seeing its form, I jolted.

"Z Zaling Crescent Blade!"

Indeed.

The Zaling Crescent Blade, obtained from the Twelve Rhythm Lords in exchange for the divine summon, had suddenly appeared.

[Fighting a god's apostle unprepared would be idiotic. I anticipated this fully.]

The Cult Leader aimed the Zaling Crescent Blade at Dalgi.

Paat!

He unraveled five strands of black silk thread from the blade. Nine strands total, so four remained. Preparation complete, he bellowed,

[So I'll banish you.]

The Zaling Crescent Blade glowed blue. The glow was brief, but the enveloping Blood Heaven vanished as if washed away.

Shh shh shh shik!

Was that the sound of something rewinding?

A@ filled scream echoed through the air.

[Aaaaaah! I'll remember this!!]

That was it.

Dalgi, who'd built such ominous tension for descent, spewed venomous grudge and was seemingly returned to Golden Crow Isle. The sky cleared again.

"......"

Staring at the Cult Leader in bewilderment, he sheathed the Zaling Crescent Blade in his neck guard and said,

[Four strands left means refilling the other five will take immense time and effort. But as payment for repelling an apostle, it's a bargain.]

"Wh-what is that?"

[The true way to use the Zaling Crescent Blade.]

Replying thus, the Cult Leader surveyed the area. The Imperial Palace forces within had been utterly massacred; no life signs remained besides us. Gazing indifferently at the Vermilion Bird's corpse, he said,

[Let's go. Now we kill the Emperor and seize the Imperial Palace.]

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!