Chapter 427. Hero of the Murim (2)

"What the hell... is that?"

It was overwhelming.

Too many things had happened in an instant.

There had been countless unbelievable moments, like a severed arm reattaching itself, but the onlookers dismissed them as hallucinations. Everything was too surreal.

More than that, the battle hadn’t moved at a pace the human eye could follow.

From the moment the battle entered the Extremity Realm, the onlookers stopped trying to follow the action. They could only catch fleeting glimpses when the clash happened to pass through the narrow point their eyes were already focused on.

BANG!

"Ugh!"

"Agh!"

Their heads jerked back violently as if their necks had snapped.

This was no longer a martial arts battle. Not even a proper fight. There were no techniques, just bare fists.

Compared to the divine might they had shown earlier, this fight seemed almost insignificant. However, strangely, they couldn't look away.

Neither combatant moved their legs. They were rooted in place like trees. Sweat slid down their bodies from sheer tension.

The crowd of people, the martial artists, were caught up in an atmosphere that couldn't be expressed in words, so they couldn't approach rashly.

Even wounded, a beast remained a beast. In fact,

because

they were so wounded, their ferocity was more terrifying.

The Martial Alliance and the Dark Heavens Association.

Even though the enemy leader was completely wounded, neither dared to interfere as the warriors just watched.

“Sword God!”

Yun Guang helplessly called out Zhou Xuchuan's title.

While he wanted to help, his body wouldn't allow it.

What could a swordsman do with broken wrists and a broken body? It would only cause problems if he were to interfere and cause trouble.

The other Empyrean Overlords were also in a terrible state.

Leng Yuefei had a hard time lifting her broken arm, and the Evil Valley Master and Wu Qu had suffered injuries to their brain and side respectively.

“Senior Brother...”

Luo Xiaoyue also stamped her feet as if she was in pain.

Seeing the one she loved in such a state, her heart couldn’t help but break. It was unbearable.

"What are you doing, just standing there?!"

A martial artist finally couldn’t take it anymore and gestured to help. However, no one followed.

Whether it was the Righteous Faction or the Evil Faction, they all stared straight ahead as if possessed.

“Hey, what are you all doing...”

The martial artist was about to raise his voice before he was interrupted.

“Shut up.”

Another martial artist had cut him off, irritated.

"The Battle of the Generals. No, this spar."

One person was cut off, and another person continued.

"We're watching their spar."

Zhou Xuchuan and the Dark Heavens Association Lord, both of them were at their limits.

It wouldn’t have been strange if they passed out right then. However, both of them held on to the very end and clashed.

“Why?!" the Dark Heavens Association Lord screamed.

A solid punch flew toward Zhou Xuchuan. But he had no intention of taking it head-on like a fool. He simply turned his shoulder slightly in order to dodge the blow.

"Just why?!"

In a flash, Zhou Xuchuan immediately grabbed the Association Lord by the collar. Then, he pulled him back and slammed his forehead against his.

Bang!

“Why must you interfere with me like this?!”

The Dark Heavens Association Lord spat out his bitter grudge.

He had prepared many things for a long time. He had carefully refined and developed the perfect plan. However, that plan, which had seemed to have no loopholes or openings, had been destroyed within a few years of being put into action.

“Why?”

Zhou Xuchuan looked stunned for a moment. Still gripping the Association Lord’s collar, he threw his head back and slammed the man down with all his might.

“Open your ears and listen carefully!”

BANG!

“People are dying!”

The Era of War and Chaos.

The year Zhou Xuchuan was eighteen, the Tomb of the Ominous Demon had been unearthed, and the Seven Swords War, which lasted for a year, had led to the start of the Era of War and Chaos.

After that, the Righteous, Evil, and Demonic Path had fought each other fiercely for about ten years without even knowing about the existence of the dark curtain looming overhead.

The Dark Heavens Association had appeared when Zhou Xuchuan was twenty-eight years old.

From that point on, the warfare didn't decrease, but rather intensified.

"So many people are dying!"

Men, women, and children had died randomly. Not only martial artists, but also unrelated civilians had lost their lives.

It wasn't a memory, it was a nightmare.

The scent that reminded him of the past wasn't plum blossoms, but blood. Corpses, piled up on an endless wasteland.

That unprecedented warfare had come to an end when Zhou Xuchuan had been in his seventies, well into his old age.

Fifty years. It would have been only after about fifty years from this day that the hell of the world would have come to an end and the curtain lifted.

The Dark Heavens Association Lord had long since surpassed the lifespan of humans, and would have been trampling, toying with, and trampling on the martial arts world for the next fifty years.

"Because I have to stop it!"

Anger surged to the top of Zhou Xuchuan's head.

“Because it's the right thing to do!"

At the beginning, his motives may have been different.

If Zhou Xuchuan claimed he never dreamed of being a hero, it would be a lie. If he said he never wanted that kind of life, it would still be a lie.

Even now, that was the case.

More than anything, he believed he had to stop the massacre, the tragedy. That obsession had become his driving force.

It was wrong, so he had to stop it.

That was all.

"But you're saying that you didn't have a reason?"

His anger boiled like lava.

"That it's not something for you to care about?!"

"You martial artists... you always love attaching pointless meaning to things," the Dark Heavens Association Lord muttered in a low, seething voice.

"Listen carefully, martial artist. Whether it's the Righteous Path or the Evil Path, the Demonic Path or even that great human cause or whatever... the only ones who give a reason to killing people are you martial artists."

The Dark Heavens Association Lord's eyes, which were glinting with a dark light, were calm.

"An army is a weapon that catches people, war is something that goes against virtue, and a general is an official who grants death. There has never been a good war or a bad peace throughout history. Something that I can say for sure is that war is a collection of evil, and one that starts with killing someone. Don't attach beliefs to murder."

They weren't the eyes of someone who had gone mad.

They were as cold as ice and as calm as a lake.

"If there's anyone who attaches some lofty ideal or principle in taking someone's life, they're either trying to deceive themselves to numb the guilt, or they’re a commander trying to use soldiers like they're nothing more than weapons, effectively. Living for an ideal? Killing for a cause? Ridiculous. It’s disgusting to even be treated that way."

He frowned as if he was truly offended. Even his bottomless eyes were filled with displeasure.

"You want to ask what the reason was for this massacre?"

The bitter smile on his lips had no intention of disappearing.

“Evil is evil, nothing more, nothing less! It cannot be rationalized, and I do not intend to!”

The Dark Heavens Association Lord slammed down on Zhou Xuchuan's foot.

Boom!

He had aimed for Zhou Xuchuan's instep, but missed. He had to have lost his strength, because unlike before, the ground didn't shatter.

“Don’t give it any meaning!”

Xun Yingguan, no, the Dark Heavens Association Lord, wasn't a martial artist.

However, at the same time, he was more of a martial artist than anyone else.

Woosh!

His well-trained shoulder stretched wide and then contracted. He slammed his wounded fist into Zhou Xuchuan’s right cheek.

Pow!

Zhou Xuchuan's neck snapped back. The impact was strong enough to break bones.

The Dark Heavens Association Lord was about to throw another punch.

“Yes, you're right.”

Pure white hair fluttered, not in the wind, but due to the shock of the blow. Between the pale strands, an honest gaze shone through.

"It's a relief that you don't change your stance until the end."

Zhou Xuchuan's response was strange as he pulled his right arm back tightly.

He poured all his strength into his fist, as if he was pouring his entire life into it.

His fingers had turned purple for a while now.

“Yes, just as you said...”

BANG!!!!!!!!

The Dark Heavens Association Lord’s neck snapped before he could finish his sentence.

His eyes, which always showed composure and arrogance, widened. The cheek where the fist had landed trembled, and his nose had been crushed.

One of his molars broke, but before he could spit it out, the next punch landed in his chest.

BANG!

“Ugh!”

The Dark Heavens Association Lord crouched down.

Zhou Xuchuan drew his arm back again, and a slight opening appeared as he moved to continue.

There!

The Dark Heavens Association Lord lowered his head, and a smile formed on his lips.

Opposing Heaven!

His head ached as if it was burning. The whites of his eyes turned black again, and blood poured out like a waterfall.

I was waiting for this moment.

At the same time, his eyes flashed and a dark light flickered.

The use of Opposing Heaven had already reached its limit. However, he had reserved enough for just one more blow, just in case.

It was such a rush that it made him stick out his tongue.

The Dark Heavens Association Lord regained power strong enough to confront the heavens. He had extraordinary intelligence compared to ordinary people. Not only that, Zhou Xuchuan had even let his guard down.

Just from the power he showed now, it was easy to see that it hadn't been for nothing that it had taken the

murim

fifty years to defeat the Dark Heavens Association Lord.

It wasn’t that the

murim

was weak.

The Dark Heavens Association Lord was simply a monster.

"You should have grabbed your sword instead," the Dark Heavens Association Lord whispered softly as he entered the Extremity Realm.

The world slowed again. Only he was moving. The blood that had been hot became cold. The power to look down on the world surged.

“Goodbye.”

Shing!!!

Space, made up of layers of air, split in two. The fist transformed into a sword in a single moment and made a hole.

There was no place to escape. The problem was that he had approached to attack. He expected victory while mocking Zhou Xuchuan's pride, which hadn't allowed him to back down.

But...

“No," Zhou Xuchuan answered in a low voice.

"It's because I knew this would happen, which is why I didn't pick it up."

The world, the heavens, spun around.

"How could this be..."

The fist went back. The spine that had been straightened bent. Everything tilted from above.

In the world, only one person, the Dark Heavens Association Lord, regressed for the third time.

“Goodbye, Dark Heavens Association Lord.”

Zhou Xuchuan continued his next movement. He clenched his fist tightly. Whether it was the elixir's qi, his Violet Haze True Qi, or his Innate True Qi, he squeezed it all out.

He didn't even remember what he had put into his blow. He just clenched his fist.

And then, he shouted strongly.

"RAH!!!!!"

"No..."

B

O

O

M

A sound erupted.

The sound of someone getting punched.

The time that had stopped flowed again.

No one could speak.

Even though the vicinity was filled with thousands of martial artists, it was still quiet. There was an eerie silence.

People watched the center. There wasn't even the sound of swallowing. They just stared without even taking a breath.

"Haa, haa..."

Someone's ragged breathing finally broke the silence. It wasn’t anyone from the Martial Alliance or the Dark Heavens Association.

It came from the very center where all eyes were fixed.

One was standing and the other was lying down. The former was a disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, and the latter was the master of the Dark Heavens.

The white-haired young man looked down at the black-haired middle-aged man from above, then pulled out a sword that had fallen nearby and finished him off.

He stabbed the heart three times and confirmed the Association Lord's death by beheading him.

After that, he got up with his staggering body, looked around, and soon raised the sword in his hand and said something.

"We won..."

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

And then, a cheer filled the world.