Chapter 256 - 250: Next, Who’s Stepping Up to Die?

Chapter 256: Chapter 250: Next, Who’s Stepping Up to Die?

Fu Juemin’s palm-saber fell.

There was no howling wind from the blade, no explosive shockwave of air, not even the slightest spray of mist.

Once the blade struck, the world was left with only a moment of bizarre, ear-ringing silence.

It was as if all sound—the pitter-patter of rain, the howl of the wind, the suppressed breaths in the distance—had been utterly devoured by this single blow.

The hundred-foot space before Fu Juemin was suddenly rendered "empty."

It was as if a piece had been violently gouged out of a long, misty landscape scroll.

Within this gouged-out void, only Xue Hen remained standing.

He stood frozen on the spot.

Rainwater streamed down his face, but he was otherwise motionless. No one could see if he was injured. No one knew if he was dead or alive.

Behind him—carved into the bluestone slabs of Vermilion Bird Street—a straight, three-foot-wide trench had appeared.

The gash extended all the way to the other side of the street. For several dozen feet on either side and above it, a long, bizarre zone of "Clear Sky" had formed.

The phenomenon was similar to the one created by Xue Hen’s saber strike, but there were subtle differences.

When Xue Hen had struck, his Sword Qi had filled the air, pulverizing the falling rain into a fine mist.

But the rain falling into this zone now seemed to simply... disappear.

There was no steam, no splash. It vanished without a trace, as if a long, invisible maw was greedily and silently devouring it all.

This unnatural phenomenon persisted for more than a dozen breaths before finally fading.

CLANK.

The long saber slipped from Xue Hen’s hand and hit the ground. The sound was as faint as a sigh.

He was still on his feet, but a "severance" had appeared on his body. His entire left shoulder and arm had vanished. The wound was a strange, inky bluish-black that spread silently across his body at a slow but inexorable pace.

Xue Hen stared at the Blue Tassel Saber on the ground. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

Then, he fell backward. His body crashed into a puddle, sending out a small ripple that went unnoticed.

The ripple spread, washing over the street.

Yet all of Vermilion Bird Street was deathly still, leaving only the sharp patter of the storm on the tiled eaves.

Everyone was locked in a strange silence, their gazes all drawn to the young man in the suit as white as snow.

After felling Xue Hen with that silent palm-saber strike, the young man’s aura seemed to diminish significantly. The overlapping layers of transparent, distorted space around him vanished, revealing the clear outline of his form.

But he remained untouched by the downpour. Raindrops exploded into tiny puffs of mist as they neared him, once again shrouding his figure.

Suddenly!

SHIIING—

A clear ringing of a blade broke the silence. Many people snapped their heads up, momentarily thinking Xue Hen had somehow come back to life.

Only when their vision cleared did they see that the Blue Tassel Saber, which had been lying on the ground, was now held in a firm, pale hand.

The tall, slender figure emerged from the veil of mist, saber in hand, and walked step-by-step into the center of the street.

He stood in the rain-swept street, his gaze lowered to the Blue Tassel Saber in his hand. In a calm, almost gentle tone, he began, "I really didn’t want to get involved in this.

Whether you want to kill Li Mingyi or Ji Shaotong, go right ahead. Why on earth did you have to provoke me?"

"I’ve always been a good-tempered person, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let people walk all over me..."

Fu Juemin looked up, his eyes sweeping over the silent figures standing around the street. A smile slowly crept onto his handsome face.

"So, I’ve changed my mind."

"If you want to see the Demon Elephant, you’ll have to get through me. Next..."

Fu Juemin slowly raised the Blue Tassel Saber, the smile fading from his lips. "Who’s coming up to die?"

As he finished speaking—BOOM!

A massive surge of energy erupted from him, instantly blasting away the rain and mist in a ten-meter radius.

The transparent distortions that had just faded flared up once more. At this moment, Fu Juemin stood in the middle of the street, saber in hand, his presence so immense it seemed to pierce the heavens, as if even the rain itself was shying away from him.

No one on the street answered. The staff-wielding Instructor’s lips were pressed into a thin line; he remained silent. Beside him, Tang Jing roughly wiped the rain from his face, his eyes filled with bewilderment. He simply couldn’t reconcile the man before him with the annoying figure from his memories.

Up on Dingqing Tower, Madam Ding stood motionless, her expression dazed. Wen Zhiqiu, beside her, seemed to say something, but she didn’t hear a single word.

Meanwhile, Nie Yunzhen and his group, who had just managed to make it back upstairs in time to witness Xue Hen’s death, wore faces of pure, unadulterated shock.

They had even forgotten what they had come back to do.

...

SHHHHHHH—

Amid the downpour, a voice spoke, slow and deliberate.

"So young, yet so remarkable..."

Fan Wuyan lowered his gaze and sighed, his tone holding a hint of admiration. "He is truly worthy of being the successor chosen by Demon Elephant Ji Shaotong."

After a moment, he lifted his eyes and shot a cool glance at the cloaked giant and the girl with the red umbrella beside him. His tone turned icy. "What are you still gawking at?..."

Fan Wuyan’s gaze swept over the still figures surrounding them, their eyes glinting in the dark. He sneered. "Don’t tell me you’re expecting *them* to go first?"

The two were silent for a few breaths. Then, a sudden gust of wind!

The ink-black cloak billowed up, and a hulking figure shot out from under it like a cannonball.

Almost simultaneously, a sweet giggle echoed as a red umbrella floated into the air. As if carried by the wind, it darted about unpredictably but with incredible speed, one high and one low, as it and the cloaked giant rushed toward Fu Juemin in the heart of the street.

They broke through the curtain of rain, covering the several hundred meters in just a few breaths.

’Black Tower?’

Fu Juemin’s eyes glinted as he saw the cloaked giant and his companion arrive in a flash.

Along with Fan Wuyan, these three had always been priority targets for his [Yao Ling]. Their attack was not unexpected.

Having just grasped the rudiments of the [Muddy World Saber], Fu Juemin was eager to test his Saber Technique. Seeing the cloaked giant charge him, he flicked his right wrist. The Blue Tassel Saber danced, its attached Vitality pulling up sheets of water from the ground to form a shimmering curtain of Sword Qi that enveloped the giant!

This strike from Fu Juemin followed the "Blessing of the Nectar of Healing," one of the nine forms of the "Purifying Light Saber".

The intent behind this blade was— "May all sentient beings, beset by illness, with no aid and no refuge, be cleansed of all sickness..." The move itself traced a gentle arc, its path like falling nectar, light and continuous.

But he channeled it with his Five Poison Qi, intending to create his Muddy World Saber, and so he deliberately inverted the blade’s intent.

Nectar became frost. Lightness became deceit. Continuity became a cold, yielding ice.

When he struck, it was not the gentle touch of nectar, but the silent, creeping corrosion of a frost-like poison!

The curtain of blade-light met the cloaked giant and, with a deafening BOOM, was instantly shattered.

From within the shattered curtain of water and light, two massive, hairy hands shot out. A dense, focused yellow light coated the fan-sized palms.

"Tearing Wind!"

The hands clenched into hook-like claws, radiating an intensely cold, cruel, and savage aura, like that of a wild beast.

Heart Sensing!

He too was infusing a Martial Arts technique with overwhelming emotion, but this cloaked giant made it look far more effortless than Xue Hen ever had!

Fu Juemin’s eyes narrowed. The Blue Tassel Saber struck out in a rapid flurry, its tip clashing against the giant palms again and again, producing a dense series of metallic CLANGS.

The cloaked man’s Vitality was immense. Though he appeared clumsy and brutish, his Palm Technique was bizarrely intricate and refined. Despite having the long saber, Fu Juemin was forced back, step by step, in their first exchange.

"Hee hee..."

Just then, a sweet giggle came from directly above.

Fu Juemin looked up abruptly to see a red umbrella descending from the sky.

The rim of the umbrella hung low, obscuring its wielder’s face, revealing only a pair of long, straight, perfectly-formed legs, as white as snow.

Seeing the pincer attack from above and below about to close in, Fu Juemin suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh and shook his head. ’Why am I even bothering to compete with them in technique?’

With that thought, he abruptly retracted his blade.

Seeing Fu Juemin’s blade-light vanish, the cloaked giant gave a cruel sneer, seized the opening, and lunged.

But Fu Juemin didn’t dodge or evade. He paid no mind to the descending red umbrella and its naked killing intent. Instead, in a single instant, he poured every last ounce of the terrifying Vitality from his state of All Five Orifices Opened into the body of the saber.

Under layers of transparent, rippling distortion, the Blue Tassel Saber in his hand began to groan as if overwhelmed, its blade vibrating like the wings of a dying cicada.

When the power had built to its absolute peak, Fu Juemin unleashed a vicious, diagonal slash!

RRRRIP—

Beneath the vast curtain of rain, the profound black cloak and the red umbrella were, without warning, torn to shreds!

A blinding flash of blade-light, as sudden as a thunderclap, illuminated two faces frozen in astonishment. In the next instant—

BOOM!!!

The two figures, one high and one low, were sent flying by the slash, and for a single moment, the very rain was blasted from the sky!

The suspended drops mixed with the falling rain, descending like a collapsing galaxy. Fu Juemin, saber in one hand, walked forward step by step, his boots splashing in the exploding puddles.

His suit was a bit damp now, so he reached up and casually loosened his collar.

A single drop of rain traced the line of Fu Juemin’s jaw.

His gaze swept across the scene and locked onto one of the flying figures. A demonic, unrestrained smile slowly spread across his handsome face.

「In the next instant.」

His figure shot forward, kicking up a brilliant curtain of water in his wake...