Chapter 242: The Name of the Blood Sword

Chapter 242: Chapter 242: The Name of the Blood Sword

The endless snowfall gradually came to a stop.

Across the vast, white landscape, a group of people slowly made their way through a valley.

"This snow has been falling for half a month, and it’s finally stopped! I’ve never seen it snow for this long before."

"Besides the snow, something else big has happened this past half-month. Some guy has appeared out of nowhere and started attacking and wiping out various Sub-Pillars!"

"Exactly. He uses a blood-colored long sword, so everyone’s calling him ’Blood Sword’."

"This Blood Sword is something of a legend. With only an early-stage Nascent Soul Realm cultivation, he dares to challenge the Squad Leaders of various powers, and he’s never lost a fight. What’s more, he leaves no survivors wherever he goes!"

"The key is, this Blood Sword is incredibly slippery. He strikes and then vanishes. Every time he annihilates a Sub-Pillar, he flees far away. Even though all the major Alliance Leaders have sworn to tear him limb from limb, they just can’t catch him."

...

However, this group was unaware that the Blood Sword they spoke of was in a hidden cave not far from their position.

And this Blood Sword was, of course, Yi Xiaoyao.

Yi Xiaoyao was sitting cross-legged inside the cave. An unknown amount of time passed before a ripple of energy abruptly emanated from within his body.

His long eyelashes twitched, and Yi Xiaoyao’s eyes snapped open, gleaming with a sharp light.

’I’ve finally broken through again.’

He sensed the aura of his Cultivation and nodded in satisfaction.

Over the past half a month, through constant slaughter and tempering, Yi Xiaoyao had broken through three minor realms of Cultivation in a row, now reaching the Fifth-Realm Nascent Soul.

Half a month ago, he needed to use the Soul Burning Forbidden Technique to fight someone at the Ninth-Realm Nascent Soul.

Now, however, Yi Xiaoyao could slay an expert at the Squad Leader level using only his normal strength.

If he were to use the Soul Burning Forbidden Technique, he might even be able to contend with an expert at the Alliance Leader level.

Of course, this referred to an Alliance Leader at the early stage of the Nascent Soul Transformation Realm.

If he encountered a more powerful Alliance Leader, Yi Xiaoyao would still face only two outcomes: escape with his life or die.

At this thought, Yi Xiaoyao gave a cold smile and took out a Jade Slip.

’The Chaos Alliance List.’

This was something Yi Xiaoyao had found in the Storage Pouch of a Squad Leader he’d killed. It was a list ranking the strength of every Nascent Soul Transformation Realm expert in the Chaotic Alliance Domain, with a total of five hundred names.

At this moment, Yi Xiaoyao’s gaze swept calmly over the list.

’Moon Slaying Alliance Leader, Thousand Moon Slash, ranked four hundred and eighty-seventh.’

Seeing the rank, Yi Xiaoyao sneered and continued to read about the man’s strength and Cultivation.

In truth, Yi Xiaoyao didn’t even need to look to know. The dozens of people at the bottom of the list were all at the First-Realm Nascent Soul Transformation.

’As expected, First-Realm Nascent Soul Transformation.’

After this confirmation, the cold smile on Yi Xiaoyao’s face widened, and the corners of his lips curled up.

’Only through constant challenges can I rapidly break through and increase my strength.’

Otherwise, even for someone like Yi Xiaoyao, breaking through three minor realms to reach the Fifth-Realm Nascent Soul in a mere half-month would have been impossible.

Now, it was time to continue the challenges.

And the first target for this challenge was, naturally, the Imperial Army Mansion’s eyes and ears: the Moon Slaying Alliance.

Only this time, the target wasn’t a Squad Leader from the Moon Slaying Alliance, but its Alliance Leader—Thousand Moon Slash!

With a flicker, Yi Xiaoyao’s figure appeared outside the snow-covered cave entrance. He let out a whistle. A black shadow shot out from somewhere with a SQUEAK and landed on his shoulder.

"Hm?" Yi Xiaoyao glanced over, discovering that Little Hei was showing faint signs of an impending breakthrough.

"Little fella, after I destroy the Moon Slaying Alliance, I’ll find you enough Demon Cores to help you break through."

With a soft chuckle, Yi Xiaoyao’s figure vanished from sight.

...

The Moon Slaying Alliance was a power planted in the Chaotic Alliance Domain by the Imperial Army Mansion. It was not the only one, however, as other, more powerful Imperial Army Mansion forces existed within the vast domain.

The Moon Slaying Alliance’s sole purpose was to gather intelligence for the Imperial Army Mansion.

Over the past half a month, the most frequent intelligence the Moon Slaying Alliance gathered was about "Blood Sword" and his attacks on the Sub-Pillars of various alliances.

They also paid close attention to this mysterious "Blood Sword," as the Moon Slaying Alliance had been the very first power to lose a Sub-Pillar to him.

"Alliance Leader, should we contact the Criminal Alliance and have them eliminate this Blood Sword?"

Several Squad Leaders of the Moon Slaying Alliance were gathered, proposing this to their leader, Thousand Moon Slash, who was seated above them.

"Have the Criminal Alliance deal with a single Nascent Soul Realm cultivator? Are you joking?"

Thousand Moon Slash sneered. "Besides, that Blood Sword is just some madman in the early Nascent Soul Realm. He’s already offended so many alliances; his days are numbered."

It was true. There had never been anyone, throughout all of history, who dared to so wantonly offend so many powers at once like Yi Xiaoyao.

But the Squad Leaders frowned, their faces etched with worry. They had no desire to become Blood Sword’s next target.

Thousand Moon Slash seemed to notice his subordinates’ concerns and smiled faintly. "Relax. If he dares to set foot in the Moon Slaying Alliance again, I’ll make sure it’s a one-way trip! Unless... you don’t think I can kill that brat?"

"No, no, no! Even if that Blood Sword is strong, killing him would be as easy as flipping your hand for you, Alliance Leader," the Squad Leaders hurriedly said with forced smiles.

Then, the Squad Leaders began to strategize among themselves. "In that case, we need to prepare. The moment anyone spots Blood Sword, send a signal immediately. We’ll all rush to provide backup."

"Good idea. It’s settled then."

Just as the Squad Leaders were smiling, having settled on their plan, a voice suddenly echoed from an unknown source.

"No need to go to all that trouble. You won’t be needing that plan."

The moment the voice faded, the roof above them suddenly collapsed. A brilliant flash of sword light, wreathed in raging flames, blasted the mansion where Thousand Moon Slash and his men were gathered to smithereens.

Thousand Moon Slash waved his hand, and the surrounding flames, Sword Qi, and flying debris were all swept away into nothingness.

Immediately, Thousand Moon Slash and the others looked up to see a young man in a black robe, holding a blood-colored long sword.

"Blood Sword!"

The Squad Leaders beside Thousand Moon Slash all cried out in alarm. Facing the man who had slain hundreds of Squad Leaders in recent times, they not only recognized him instantly but also felt a surge of terror.

But then they remembered their Alliance Leader was right beside them, and their pounding hearts began to settle.

"To think, the legendary Blood Sword is just some young, wet-behind-the-ears brat!"

Thousand Moon Slash said coolly, his eyes filled with astonishment as he looked at Yi Xiaoyao.

Yi Xiaoyao gave a cold smile. "There are plenty of things you can’t imagine. For instance, your Moon Slaying Alliance, you dogs of the Imperial Army Mansion, are about to be completely wiped out by my hand!"

...