Chapter 254 - 248: A Sea of Blood and Deep Hatred

Chapter 254: Chapter 248: A Sea of Blood and Deep Hatred

After reaching Great Success in the *Five Aggregates Profound Slaughter Technique* and achieving the state of "Five Evils Reincarnation," the amplification effect from the "Black Flower" was still present.

However, instead of activating the Poisonous Seeds one by one to release Poisonous Killing Qi, he now mobilized the five major Poison Acupoints within his body.

Currently, Fu Juemin had only mobilized the power of a single Poison Acupoint, equivalent to activating only Phase One Force. Yet, the resulting Vitality amplification was already nearly comparable to his previous state with three phases active at once!

When he used the Five Poison Qi to execute the killing move of the Five Beasts Bird Form, "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix," the resulting effect made "Ten Thousand Snakes Return to the Ancestral Temple" seem like a more fitting name.

The six figures from Jiangzuo were sent flying by the terrifying burst of Vitality.

The curtain of rain exploded into a dense mist, spreading outward like a shockwave and carrying a strange, bone-chilling cold.

One of the six crashed into a pillar of the memorial archway. A dull THUD was heard as his body slid limply down. By the time he hit the ground, his lips were a bluish-black, and dark blood trickled from his seven orifices. He was dead.

Reaching Great Success in the *Five Aggregates Profound Slaughter Technique* didn’t just massively boost Vitality; the poison contained within the Vitality was also incredibly potent. A Martial Artist who had reached the Gratitude realm might fare better, but for anyone below that... there was no need to even look. Death was a near certainty.

Fu Juemin stood in the torrential downpour, an aura of dark Vitality like a miasma surrounding him and warding off every raindrop.

He calmly took a step, and in the next instant, his figure appeared like a phantom before the short-bearded, dark-faced, burly man.

This was the man with the spear. Among the Seven Heroes of Jiangzuo, his strength was second only to Xue Hen’s.

A flash of panic crossed the burly man’s eyes at Fu Juemin’s sudden appearance, and he instinctively thrust his spear forward.

Despite his injuries and haste, the burly man’s thrust was still fierce.

The three-meter-long spear lunged like a black dragon, piercing the curtain of rain in an instant and aiming straight for Fu Juemin’s face.

Fu Juemin merely tilted his head.

The tip of the spear grazed his cheek...

To an outside observer, it looked as if the burly man had thrust at empty air. Fu Juemin seemed to simply step in along the spear’s shaft, reach out, and lightly tap the man on the forehead—

CRACK—

The sharp crack of a collapsing skull was muffled by the rain.

The light went out of the burly man’s eyes. As if struck by a sledgehammer, he flew backward without a sound, a corpse before he even hit the ground.

As Fu Juemin’s palm struck, he followed the motion, his fingers clamping around the spear shaft like iron pincers, arresting its movement.

He then twisted at the waist and swung his arm. The long spear whipped out from his side, whistling through the air like a black dragon’s tail!

A turn, a push.

The movements flowed like water, executing a flawless parting shot.

SQUELCH—

The muffled sound of a sharp object piercing flesh and blood.

Fu Juemin held the cold butt of the spear with just two fingers, yet the entire weapon remained motionless, as if welded in midair.

Torrential rain hammered against the shaft, exploding into countless tiny droplets.

Following the shaft of the spear upward, one’s eyes would land on a handsome, long-haired man in a long robe, holding a Black Gold Iron Fan. The tip of the spear had run him through the chest.

He was completely impaled, suspended in midair, an expression of shock and disbelief still lingering on his face.

This man had tried to launch a sneak attack while Fu Juemin was dealing with the burly man. He never expected that before he could even get behind his target, he would be run through the heart by his own companion’s weapon.

CLANG—

Fu Juemin let go. The spear and the corpse fell into the muddy water together.

He narrowed his eyes and surveyed the scene.

Of the six who had attacked him, the three Half-step Gratitude martial artists were already dead. He had killed two of the Outer Sensing ones, and now only one remained.

Fu Juemin’s gaze shifted, locking onto a petite figure.

She was the only woman among the Seven Heroes of Jiangzuo, a fairly attractive woman in her early thirties.

Her clothes were soaked through by the rain and her face was pale. When she saw Fu Juemin’s gaze turn to her, she instinctively took a panicked step back, cutting a rather pitiful figure.

’But if I recall correctly,’ Fu Juemin thought, ’this woman fights with her legs. During the siege just now, she kicked at my groin twice...’

’Such a venomous mind.’

’She’s the one who deserves to die most of all!’

Just as Fu Juemin started toward the woman, a terrifying flash of saber light suddenly exploded ten paces to his side!

The Blue Tassel Saber reappeared. Xue Hen, who had been sent flying by Fu Juemin’s palm earlier, was now leaping through the air to slash at him with bloodshot eyes!

"Mountain Opening! Water Dividing!"

"Earth-Splitting! Swallowing Sea!"

"Duan Yun! Zhan Yue!"

His roars drowned out the downpour. Within a distance of ten paces, Xue Hen unleashed a dozen slashes in quick succession!

He poured all his strength into every strike. The saber light layered, one on top of the other, like a collapsing avalanche or the cascading Milky Way!

Brilliant Sword Qi tore through the curtain of rain, blanketing the area and completely pinning Fu Juemin in place!

Yet Fu Juemin didn’t break his stride.

He didn’t even glance in Xue Hen’s direction, merely raising his right hand casually...

HUMMM—

Beneath his white suit, dark veins bulged on his skin. Within his body, two more of the five major Poison Acupoints flared open!

BOOM!

Beneath the curtain of rain, all the saber light shattered, and the rampant Sword Qi was swept away in an instant.

When the hazy mist settled, Fu Juemin was standing silently before the woman—his original target—gazing at her calmly.

The woman’s expression was dazed. Her eyes, however, weren’t on Fu Juemin, but fixed on his raised right hand. There, clutched by five long, fair fingers, was Xue Hen, his throat constricted, his face turning purple as he struggled for his life.

"Do it yourself, or shall I?"

Fu Juemin asked, his voice deceptively gentle as he looked at the woman.

The woman snapped out of her daze. She gave Xue Hen a long, complicated look, then smiled tragically. She raised a hand and struck her own forehead, ending her life.

At the exact moment the woman fell, Fu Juemin was surprised to feel Xue Hen’s struggles cease.

He glanced at the woman’s corpse, then at the now ashen-faced Xue Hen, and a thought occurred to him—perhaps they had been lovers.

SWISH—

Without warning, the Blue Tassel Saber lashed out, striking at Fu Juemin’s arm like a viper.

Fu Juemin remained motionless, calmly tightening his grip.

But Xue Hen, who just a moment ago had been utterly suppressed by Fu Juemin’s three active phases, now erupted with a surge of Vitality nearly as powerful as Fu Juemin’s own. The blast forced Fu Juemin’s hand open a fraction, and with a WHOOSH, Xue Hen shot backward.

RRRIP—

As Xue Hen retreated, the flash of his blade caught Fu Juemin’s arm, making the soft sound of tearing fabric.

Fu Juemin glanced down at the small tear on the sleeve of his right arm. His brow furrowed slightly.

When he looked up again, Xue Hen was standing stock-still in the rain ahead, head bowed, holding his saber in one hand.

The cold rain washed over him, sluicing down from his hair, his cheeks, and the hem of his clothes.

All of his Sword Qi was now restrained, making him seem like a completely different person from the one whose presence had been as sharp as a blade just moments before. Yet, an incredibly potent aura now radiated from him—one that sparked a faint, almost imperceptible sense of alarm in Fu Juemin’s mind.

"Ji Shaotong murdered my father, my brother, my mother, my sister-in-law... He murdered my entire family."

"For twenty years, I’ve worked day and night to avenge that blood feud. I haven’t dared to rest for a single day."

Xue Hen slowly raised his head as he spoke.

Fu Juemin saw his face clearly now; it was twisted beyond recognition.

"Because every night, as soon as I close my eyes, I see the eight members of my Xue Family, standing before me covered in blood, crying out to me..."

"And now!"

Xue Hen’s voice turned sharp, his face savage. His eyes were bleeding, and a towering hatred burned in the depths of his pupils.

"Six more have joined them!"

....