Proofreader: Papatonks
“W-where am I?”
The heavy night descended as a bloody man crawled out of the grass. The stench of blood around him made him cough, sometimes even vomit.
The clear moon sent her soft rays, shining its light on this weary man’s face.
Facepalming, Zhao Dezhu pondered before getting up. He was ordered by his sect to kill the demon Zhuo Fan. But he was just too strong, unable to get him even with superior numbers. That last tail swipe from the Almighty Scarlet Dragon King killed so many, and since he was at the front, even if he survived it, only now did he wake up from the heavy blow.
He was in the dark about whether that Zhuo Fan was finished or not.
Zhao Dezhu looked at the moon above and sighed, “It’s already dark. He has to have fallen by now. But how many died?”
As if on cue, the world seemed to answer him as the moon shone on the limbs and bodies laying in bloody mud.
Where he was right now, was right in the middle of a river of blood…
“T-that many?” Zhao Dezhu looked around in shock at the hellscape and gruesome display, at the limbs without a body to match.
Zhao Dezhu shook and muttered, “What now? What now? I can’t take the blame for these losses…”
Boom!
However, his musing to weasel out were put on hold at the sound of that explosion and the incoming gale whipping his face.
Startled, Zhao Dezhu rushed forward, flying towards the fire in the sky.
The Universal Righteous Sect still had a hundred Ethereal Stage experts gasping for breath and staring at their enemy with fear and shock. But what was more pronounced were the feelings of hatred and terror.
In front of them stood three elders in dirty and ripped clothes, the spiritual weapons in their hands shaking.
“N-no way! He’s still alive?”
Zhao Dezhu’s heart sank and flew over, squeezing between the men and getting in front. But the scene he saw left him shellshocked.
Before them was the same dragon, although wretched and with broken scales, about to breathe its last, it still swiped its tail as it fought the crowd with utter determination. Just like Zhuo Fan, it was going to fight to the last breath.
In front of it stood a man covered in blood, holding a demonic sword as blood dripped from his face. His eyes were welcoming death, his face was flat. The tens of ghastly wounds on his body kept spewing out blood. Some of the wounds even had dried blood on them. Despite all the pain and damage, he still stood. He stared at the men before him with a dead and firm look.
Pa!
An elder shifted his leg and shot forth. The sword pierced forward but then he jerked back even faster.
Frowning, the elder looked at the others with fury, “Is Zhuo Fan even human? We’ve ruined his body to this degree, his innards are crushed, but yet he still killed an elder. He had killed four hundred Ethereal Stage experts and took down five Soul Harmony elders as well. He had paid for it, getting so many wounds on his body and soul. I just can’t believe he’s alive even after all that. Will he die only when his soul is ripped apart?”
“This kid is too tough. Is he really in the Radiant Stage?”
Another elder panted, his whole body covered in blood as he stared at Zhuo Fan with bitterness, “If we want to destroy his soul I fear we’ll all be annihilated. He might be on his last breath, but I know that his body is as tough as a zombie’s. If we want to kill him, we’ll have to pay the price. And to think this used to be an easy mission. Now look what came of it.”
The other two nodded, “Yeah.”
“What?!”
As the trio discussed, a shout had them all startled. They saw Zhao Dezhu in shock as he wobbled over, “Elders, what are you saying? We’ve lost so many? Five Soul Harmony Stage elders and four hundred Ethereal Stage experts?”
The elders sighed and nodded.
Shaking all over, Zhao Dezhu turned around and looked outraged at Zhuo Fan panting in the distance, “Zhuo Fan, why aren’t you dead yet? I personally asked for this mission from the sect. With so many dead, how am I to explain it?”
Zhao Dezhu’s raving was unheard by Zhuo Fan. He just stood there with a cold gaze.
“Five hundred Ethereal Stage experts and eight elders were sent yet we can’t even catch a Radiant Stage cultivator after a whole day of fighting? We even lost so many men and five elders!”
This outcome had finally sinked in to Zhao Dezhu as he raved, “Just what the hell are you? Why can’t you just die? You just kept fighting the Universal Righteous Sect’s five hundred experts to not overtake you for one day. You ruined my life, you ruined my future!”
Zhuo Fan just stood there in silence.
The others reminded Zhao Dezhu, “Senior brother, we’ve been fighting for three days, not one.”
“What?!”
Zhao Dezhu’s butt hit the ground from the shock, “I’ve been out for three days? He’s been holding on for three days?”
The three elders flushed and lowered their heads in shame. So many men were fighting yet they could not take one Radiant Stage cultivator down even after three days? Talk about a humiliation.
The ever silent Zhuo Fan finally let out a stiff voice, “Ha-ha-ha, I see, it’s been three days. That means you won’t catch them…”
WIth those words, Zhuo Fan collapsed and the dragon soul closed its eyes and vanished.
Only the sword entered Zhuo Fan and was gone.
Startled, the men looked around stumped. Why did he suddenly collapse when no one did anything when he lasted three days of fighting?
Zhao Dezhu was also startled. An elder came to Zhuo Fan and sighed, “I see, he’s already dead.”
“He’s dead?!” Zhao Dezhu cried, “But he was still…”
The elder shook his head, “He was holding on that last breath to stop us from chasing the girls. With this last effort he held us back for three days. In fact, his body must’ve died long ago, only his soul remaining.”
“How strange, he is covered in deep wounds, each deadly, yet he could still stand. He must’ve died on his feet.”
Taking a deep breath, another elder stared at Zhuo Fan, “When any other’s body is destroyed, their soul would scatter. But he could drag out the last breath with his body up till now. Such willpower, even for a demonic cultivator, it’s that of a hero.”
“How freakish, he’s an unheard of monster.”
The third elder’s eyes flashed, filled with bloodlust, “Don’t forget, he controlled his heavily wounded soul and this broken corpse to fight us for three days. No matter how heroic, how can one breath last him for so long? Who can control both the body and the soul? This thing would be to dangerous to be left alive.”
The three elders nodded and shouted, “Kill!”
They all struck at once, holding nothing back even against his corpse. They were Soul Harmony experts and their blows would sure wipe off every trace of his existance.
However, a flash of golden slammed the trio away. When they stopped, they saw a youth in a golden cloak.
“Ye Lin! What are you doing here?”
Zhao Dezhu cried out.
Ignoring him, Ye Lin only looked at Zhuo Fan, placing him on his shoulder.
The elders shouted, “Put him down right now!”
“You want to kill him?”
Ye Lin sneered as he looked at them with despise, “You’re not worthy!”
