Chapter 428. Zhou Xuchuan (1)

Regaining consciousness, the haze in Zhou Xuchuan's mind began to clear.

"...!"

He got up in surprise. He instinctively tried to reach for his sword but stopped.

"Where am..."

His voice sounded dry and rough, like sand scratching against stone.

He looked around. Above him was an unfamiliar ceiling, and beneath him, a bed. Beside the bed sat a round table with a flask of water.

His mind stalled for a brief moment before he reached out, grabbed the flask, and took a sip to wet his parched lips and throat.

Gulp, gulp.

His Adam's apple moved up and down. The cool water soothed his chest.

“Ha..."

He lowered the flask and exhaled the breath he’d been holding.

Then, he closed his eyes tightly, memories flooding back in.

WOOHOO!!!!!

A triumphant roar echoed in his ears, loud enough to shake heaven and earth.

I won. I really won.

The Dark Heavens Association Lord.

An enemy Zhou Xuchuan had grown sick of.

Even considering the man's power, which was as strong as his arrogance, he had gone so far as to prepare a desperate strike for the final moment.

That power wasn’t just impressive, it wasn’t good, or even great. It was madness itself.

But, unfortunately for him, his opponent was Zhou Xuchuan.

Zhou Xuchuan had assumed that if it was the Dark Heavens Association Lord, whose mind for scheming was as deep as Blessed Existence's, he would hold back and save a fatal blow for the final moment.

Since he was someone who had been able to keep quiet for decades, even though he had the power, force, and financial resources to turn the world upside down, in order to achieve a more perfect victory and defeat his foes, I assumed that he would have prepared a suitable strike for the moment that would determine his fate.

The Dark Heavens Association's Seven Stars Division and the Archive were no small forces. Yet no information about them had ever been leaked.

While the efforts of the Seven Stars Division, the long-term pawn of the brain of the Dark Heavens, Blessed Existence, couldn't be discounted, maintaining secrecy for so long had required careful judgment from the leader.

In any case, Zhou Xuchuan had been able to win because he had never let his guard down, even until the very end, and predicted the enemy's movements in advance.

To confirm it wasn’t a dream, Zhou pinched his cheek and flexed his fingers.

My Innate True Qi.

The fourth martial art that he had obtained by aiding the North Sea Ice Palace, the True Yuan Flame, was a trick of the Gods.

As expected, the Innate True Qi, which even those who had realized their Path struggled to wield, had been extraordinarily difficult to cultivate.

Even though he had used his Imitation, it was difficult to achieve.

Still, he had cultivated whenever he had time, and somehow had succeeded in mastering it before the decisive battle. When Luo Xiaoyue had come to find him and had been impressed by his dedication, he had been cultivating the True Yuan Flame.

And the side effects...

Like the name of the martial art suggested, he had burned his Innate True Qi. Fortunately, he had been lucky and didn't die on the spot.

As he was thinking about his Innate True Qi, the side effects of using it, and the price he had to pay, he felt something.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Senior Brother?"

At the sound of the familiar voice, Zhou Xuchuan opened his eyes.

A familiar face appeared in front of the open door.

“Ah, Juni—

agh!

"

“Senior Brother!”

Luo Xiaoyue flew over and hugged him.

“Senior Brother, Senior Brother!”

Luo Xiaoyue was so touched that she called his name again and again. Her voice trembled with all sorts of emotions.

Zhou Xuchuan tried to say something to Luo Xiaoyue, but then closed his mouth and patted her back, which he had always only been able to look at, and laughed.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"

Sob, sob!

Do you know how much I—!"

Her tears soaked his chest. Her trembling voice carried all the worry she had kept bottled up.

“I’m sorry for worrying you," Zhou Xuchuan whispered in a gentle voice, moving his hand from her back to pat her head. Luo Xiaoyue couldn’t stop crying at that touch. In fact, she cried even harder, until she finally began to calm down.

“Senior Brother, how are you?” Luo Xiaoyue asked worriedly.

“I’m fine. Where am I?”

"The Martial Alliance, the headquarters in Hefei. More importantly, the Divine Physician is currently examining patients in the medical center, I'll call him over right away."

Luo Xiaoyue got up from her seat as if she was about to run out, but Zhou Xuchuan quickly grabbed her wrist and sat her back down.

“I’m fine, so don’t worry. If it's okay with you, can you explain what happened?”

“But...”

“Junior Sister.”

“...Fine. But only if you promise to see the Divine Physician afterward.”

Luo Xiaoyue relaxed, giving in.

“Of course.”

“Okay. How much do you remember?”

"Right up until after I finished confirming the Dark Heavens Association Lord was dead."

Of course, nothing had been over before he confirmed his kill. Zhou Xuchuan had stabbed the Dark Heavens Association Lord through the heart and beheaded him to finish things off.[1]

After that, he lost consciousness, and when he opened his eyes, he was here.

“To summarize, the war actually ended the moment Senior Brother lost consciousness. Some of the Dark Heavens Association resisted by following contingency orders left by Blessed Existence, but they were wiped out before they could succeed. The Martial Alliance Leader, the Evil Valley Master, and the North Sea Ice Palace Master took the lead in command, and the suppression was also finished quickly.”

The Empyrean Overlords of the Righteous, Evil, and the Northern Frontier had been severely injured, but they stood at the front lines without showing it, projecting strength.

To be honest, their physical conditions had been so bad that they wouldn't have been able to trade blows with ordinary warriors, let alone experts. However, they had still pretended to be fine for the sake of command. In fact, what truly allowed them to regain control so quickly was the Empyrean Overlords’ ability to maintain the appearance of perfect health in front of both their allies and their enemies.

The master of the Hegemon Edict Art, the Evil Valley Master, was especially helpful.

While he hadn't been much help in the decisive battle with the Dark Heavens Association Lord, he was actually less injured and was active in the cleanup.

It was perfect because his technique was advantageous when facing a crowd.

To think they still resisted even with the difference in strength and the loss of their leader. They are really vicious.

Even if it was the Dark Heavens Association, Zhou Xuchuan had assumed that they would have surrendered or given up immediately after losing the Association Lord and Blessed Existence, but he had been wrong.

Not all of them resisted, but those who did fought like cornered beasts. It was a blessing that the Evil Valley Master stepped in when he did.

"I, along with several of our disciple brothers and sisters, the Gold Will Sword Sect, and a few other sects, guarded and transported you to the Divine Physician. At the time... it wouldn’t have been surprising if you had died."

Luo Xiaoyue frowned, recalling the memory.

His bones had been shattered. His meridians severed. Even his once-boundless qi reserves had dried up.

He had been completely unconscious and had even stopped breathing at one point.

If not for the Divine Pill of the Au Co, he would’ve been long gone.

"Today is the fifteenth day since that day. Most members of the Dark Heavens Association are either dead or imprisoned in our prisons. The few who escaped are being pursued by both the Righteous and Evil factions."

She paused, then continued.

"The Nine Sects and One Gang, Five Great Ancient Families, Four Gates of the Evil Dao, Martial Alliance, Evil Valley, North Sea Ice Palace, Hainan Sword Sect, South Sea Dragon Gate. All of them, in addition to many martial forces, are joining forces to help."

"Thank the heavens."

Zhou Xuchuan was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Unlike his previous life, the martial forces were still intact even after the war had ended. While neither the Righteous Faction nor the Evil Faction were without damage, compared to his previous life, where they had been on the verge of destruction, it was a small step toward stopping the bleeding.

So, he had been worried that one side might attack the other from behind, taking advantage of the losses.

Really, a lot has changed since my previous life.

Back then, even after the war ended, the factions refused to cooperate.

The Righteous and Evil Factions, and the Demonic Path, as well as the other forces, each suffered too much damage at each other's hands, so instead of helping anyone, they were wary of their surroundings and focused only on recovering their own forces.

Now, things were completely different.

"That's the end of what I have to say. If you want to hear more, go get a checkup first. We can't delay it any longer."

Luo Xiaoyue’s expression turned stern.

“Okay, okay I'll do that."

“Good. Then I’ll help you up.”

Luo Xiaoyue only smiled brightly then.

“No, I have something to tell you before that.”

Luo Xiaoyue was about to tell him to stop wasting time, but stopped when she saw Zhou Xuchuan’s face.

Zhou Xuchuan opened his mouth while facing Luo Xiaoyue.

“Miss.”

Yuan Dashi, bodyguard of the Tang Family, called out to Tang Hui.

“What?”

“Are you really okay?”

“Yeah, about what?"

“That brat... No, Zhou Xuchuan. They say he’s conscious now. Are you sure you want to leave without seeing him?”

Yuan Dashi’s face was filled with worry.

“...I don’t understand what you’re saying. Oh, is this because you were on bad terms with the great Hero of the Murim when he was younger? What, do you want to use this as a chance to reconcile and show off your friendship now?"

Tang Hui turned her back and spewed out her characteristic venom.

“Miss.”

“Stop it. If you want to wag your tail at the Sword God, the great Hero of the Murim, you should just go to the Mount Hua Sect and bow your head there. Moreover, if you keep making noises that I don't want to hear, I'll pour poison down your throat and throw you away."

Yuan Dashi opened his mouth again but said nothing. He eventually fell silent.

“We're going back to the Tang Family.”

Looking back at the Eight Gates of Hefei, a pitiful expression crossed Tang Hui's face.

***

Zhou Xuchuan was examined by the Divine Physician.

"If it's okay with you, do you think I could perform a dissection?"

The Divine Physician kept exclaiming in awe as he examined Zhou Xuchuan.

Martial artists, especially masters, were known for their resilience, but Zhou Xuchuan’s recovery was beyond reason.

No matter how great an expert was, it was normal for them to recover slowly when they suffered internal injuries, especially if they had other injuries.

It could take months, sometimes even years, to fully recover. However, although Zhou Xuchuan's condition had been

that

serious, his body had somehow still recovered.

"It seems the Divine Pill of the Au Co wasn't called a divine pill for nothing."

The Divine Physician genuinely wanted to dissect him, but he couldn’t do so because Luo Xiaoyue, who heard him and glared at him, was nearby.

After finishing his examination and exchanging a few brief words with the Divine Physician, Zhou Xuchuan quietly left the room.

“Are you sleeping well?”

The only light came from a torch flickering on the wall.

Its glow slowly illuminated the surroundings.

The iron bars were forged of Cold Iron, not ordinary iron. Beyond them sat a one-armed criminal.

Whether it was because he hadn’t eaten for a while or for some other reason, his skin was stretched thin. His lips were dry and cracked, stained with dried blood. On his four limbs, no, his three limbs, were chains and iron balls the size of a human body forged of Cold Iron.[2]

“Blessed Existence.”

The one-armed scholar of Hanlin Academy and the brain of the Dark Heavens.

“Zhou Xuchuan...”

Blessed Existence glared, growling softly.

Two weeks ago, Zhou Xuchuan had spared Blessed Existence instead of killing him.

While it had felt odd to let the brain of the Dark Heavens, a monster in his own right, live, Zhou Xuchuan had knocked the man unconscious for the sake of the future.

Of course, the moment Blessed Existence had been imprisoned, the prison he had been sentenced to had been fitted into becoming the most secure of all existing prisons.

The location was known only to a few of the leaders of the Martial Alliance, and the warden and guards of the prison weren't allowed to leave until Blessed Existence died.

In addition, Zhuge Shengji and Gan Yazi had also set up facilities and mechanisms throughout the prison, and the guard force was made up of over a hundred people who traded posts at random times. To top it all off, the absolutely obedient Phantoms were also placed everywhere.

One may have wondered if it was necessary to do such things when the prisoner wasn't even a martial artist, but the true question was the opposite.

Even after doing all of this, he was still anxious.

"Keagh, ptooey!"

Blessed Existence spat as far as he could. The glob didn’t reach Zhou Xuchuan.

"Fuck off! How disgusting!"

"It's all over now."

"Ridiculous!"

Blessed Existence didn't believe the news of the Dark Heavens Association Lord’s death.

When he had come to, he was already inside the prison.

Zhuge Xiang had come to find him and told him the truth, but he hadn't believed it at all.

"The Dark Heavens Association Lord isn't just a human, but a true disaster. Zhou Xuchuan, no matter how great you are, you're still just a human.”

The Dark Heavens Association Lord was the Martial God. There was no defeat. Even the Demon Cult Leader had surrendered without giving him a scratch.

"Since you locked me up and let me live, it seems that either the decisive battle ended in failure or a draw. If you were really thinking of deceiving me with lies and getting me to give up, you're..."

Blessed Existence stopped talking just as he was about to continue.

His mouth was open, and his body trembled like an aspen tree. He could clearly see a head beyond the iron bars.

“Do you even... know how to deceive me?”

Zhou Xuchuan slowly put down the Dark Heavens Association Lord’s head, opened the door, and slowly walked inside.

“Someone must have crafted a human face mask based on someone who looked like him. I don’t know who did it, but their skill is remarkable. Was it someone from the Black Hand's Xia Wu Sect?”

Blessed Existence continued to deny it until the end. However, his voice was trembling slightly.

“Zhou Xuchuan, the attempt was good. But it won’t work. If you were trying to trick me into finding out the plan...”

“Blessed Existence, don’t misunderstand."

Zhou Xuchuan cut him off and pulled something from his sleeve. It was some kind of human mask.

“I didn’t come here specifically to find out anything from you. And certainly not to interrogate you. In the first place, I don’t think I can find out anything from you through torture.”

If Blessed Existence was someone who could be broken by pain, it wouldn’t have been this easy. He was suspicious to the point that Zhou Xuchuan even considered that getting captured had been part of Blessed Existence's plan. He didn’t expect to find out anything at all from the man.

"Stop pretending like..."

"Millennia Fire Carp."

Blessed Existence’s expression changed.

"Seven Horned Serpent."

Zhou Xuchuan held up the human face mask, displaying it deliberately for him to see.

“Tomb of the Ominous Demon.”

“No...”

Blessed Existence’s pupils shook. His body trembled. The iron chains clanged and rattled.

“Xia Wu Sect Master, Vast Gate.”

“It can't be...”

"Twisted Melody, Neidan Sword Gate Master."

“I said, it can't be!”

Blessed Existence shouted at the top of his lungs.

Different things came to mind. The questions he had been wondering about, along with other things, mixed together to come up with an answer.

Blessed Existence was smart. He was not only smart, he was a genius.

“No, you know. That it can be."

Just hearing a few words, he could come up with countless possibilities. And from there, he could make guesses that were close to the answer.

“You knew, right?”

Zhou Xuchuan slowly, very slowly, put the human face mask on his face.

"That's impossible! You bastard!"

Blessed Existence had seen that face. He hadn't seen it directly, but he had a portrait commissioned, and memorized it, as it had been the face on the top of the Slaughter List.

"Impossible!"

"Yes, it's me."

Tap, tap.

Zhou Xuchuan approached Blessed Existence.

“Don't be ridiculous!!”

Zhou Xuchuan squatted in front of Blessed Existence and whispered in his ears as he patted his shoulders.

"I'm the Domination God Monarch, Zhou Xuchuan."

"AGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"[3]

1. He still has PTSD from Tang Mingren. ☜

2. The word for one's extremities in Korean is literally Four Limbs. ☜

3. There were exactly 503 scream characters in the final scream of this chapter in the raws. I've replicated it here for you. ☜