The Path of the Martial Arts BOSS
Chapter 396 - 208 Winner

Chapter 396: Chapter 208 Winner

At the summit of Nameless Mountain, a sudden battle seemed to be entering its final stage, and the victor was about to harvest the fruits of victory.

The Blood-clothed Man, with a chest as withered as kindling, vigorously pulsed his chest, using his unique Breathing Technique to draw the remaining blood mist into his body.

The Forbidden Techniques of the Demon Path are do or die, often risking life itself, but the Blood Demon Sect, once The World’s Number One Great Sect, naturally couldn’t be like other Demon Techniques, risking their lives to win only to lose them in the end.

The Blood God Curse, using one’s own fresh blood as a medium, unleashed power far beyond oneself’s capabilities. Once executed, the result was typically an utter depletion of essence blood, like a candle flickering in the wind.

However, the Martial Arts of the Blood Demon Sect were cultivated by drawing blood, seizing the Three Elements of the enemy’s spirit, and if victorious, one could absorb the opponent’s spirit to replenish what was consumed.

"Heh heh heh... That ignorant young man’s body was shattered, unable to provide essence blood for this old man’s healing, but with the Blood Dao Treasure in hand, this little essence blood is but a trifle," the Blood-clothed Man cackled.

The reason he was so desperate to seize the Blood Dao Treasure was precisely because he sensed the strong essence blood within it. By absorbing it completely, he would not only fully recover from his injuries, but also be able to push his Power forward and assault that barrier at the beginning of transmutation.

Flesh relics formed from the flesh and blood of Divinity Realm Body Refinement warriors were deeply effective, not only for Buddhist Martial Artists but also for members of the Blood Demon Sect who used essence blood as a boost.

The dust gradually dissipated, and the Blood-clothed Man tightened his grip on the blood-colored longsword, raising his highest alert. Although he considered himself to be growing stronger with age and not to be underestimated compared to the young man, the fact that his opponent had driven him into a corner was undeniable. Having killed countless in his life, he knew that caution was the most precious quality among worldly society and naturally did not want to capsize the ship this late in his life.

However, sometimes, caution was not very effective.

Or rather, the Blood-clothed Man had been so dazzled by the meat relics that as soon as he relied on his strength to charge forward, he had already lost any connection to the words ’caution and prudence.’

As the dust cleared, the newly risen Taiyang illuminated this highest peak, turning the area into a golden expanse.

But within this universally shining sunlight, a streak of moonlight suddenly appeared.

That streak of moonlight was fleeting, but the brilliance of that instant was intoxicating and admirable. Like a night-blooming cereus, it was brief, yet infinitely beautiful. The instant of radiance was eternal.

"Young man, your sword, where did it come from?" the Blood-clothed Man asked calmly.

He clearly remembered that the young man, bare-chested, had nowhere to hide a sword even if he wanted to.

"That’s not something you need to know."

Qing Yu gently caressed the blade Qingqing, and the curved sword let out a light hum.

Although the sword was not stained with the slightest blood, the Demon Sword seemed wholly content at this moment.

The demonic nature of the Demon Sword, already potent, seemed to become even more dynamic as it arrived in this world brimming with Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.

"Crack—"

Qing Yu slowly sheathed A Night of Spring Rain in a Small Tower back into its scabbard with a soft sound.

As this soft sound rang out, it was as if a switch had been flipped. The iron mask on the Blood-clothed Man’s face, streaked with bloodlines, split evenly down the middle and fell to the ground, revealing a face with a beard of mixed grey and white but a complexion that boasted the vigor of a young man.

Then, a streak of blood appeared just below the top of the Blood-clothed Man’s head, extending downward, crossing the bridge of the nose and mouth, down to the end of the body.

The Blood-clothed Man’s body split evenly into two halves, each side neither more nor less in weight, quite precisely equal.

He died, slain by Qing Yu’s "Divine Blade Slash."

In Sword Technique, the aspects—body part, timing, power, speed—with the aid of the Heavenly Son’s Qi Observation Skill, Qing Yu calculated these five aspects to perfection, unleashing the ultimate power.

Under such circumstances, plus Qing Yu’s intention for a surprise attack, who else but the Blood-clothed Man would die?

However, after defeating the powerful enemy, Qing Yu felt an inexplicable emptiness, feeling that although the battle was thrilling and dangerous, in its aftermath, he only sensed a baffling void.

The Blood-clothed Man had suddenly rushed over to seize the meat relics and then, in the midst of the fight, started to wage a life-or-death battle. Qing Yu had never met him before, but within less than an hour of meeting, life and death had already been decided between them.

"Perhaps this is what worldly society is all about," Qing Yu could only say.

In a vast forest, you find all kinds of birds; in a large worldly society, all sorts of strange things can happen. This world is merely a collection of countless coincidences that constitute the norm of reality.

After briefly lamenting the world, Qing Yu put his upper garment back on which had fallen to his side and started to examine the corpse of the Blood-clothed Man.

The origins of the other party were somewhat surprising to Qing Yu, who wanted to investigate thoroughly.

It was evident that the Blood-clothed Man was no longer young, yet he maintained a posture of full life force solely through the practice of the Blood Demon Sect’s Martial Arts.

In terms of prolonging life, even the health preservation techniques of the Taoist Sects are no match for the Martial Arts of the Blood Demon Sect. Although it is of the Demon Path, and the Cultivation Technique follows a path of quick success, if one travels down the right path, the later stages can be as solid as those of the Righteous.

Just like the Blood-clothed Man’s blood mist, which could be transformed into yang essence blood, when Demon Path reaches such a point, it is not an exaggeration to consider it Righteous.

Ultimately, the labels Righteous and Demonic are merely tags applied by the people; Righteous Sect or demon sect, both are human constructs.

And if one were to label Martial Arts, it shouldn’t be with tags like Righteous Sect or demon sect. According to Qing Yu’s understanding, there should be distinctions such as Righteous or Left Path, or perhaps Righteous Oblique Path.

Righteous here does not refer to the Orthodox Righteous Faction’s righteousness but to the straightforward and upright righteousness. This path is a grand and majestic one, leading straight to the endpoint of Martial Arts.

Left Path or Oblique Path, in comparison to the large and straight Righteous Path, is likened to a winding sheep intestine trail; although it can also reach the endpoint, the time and effort spent along the way far exceed that spent on the Righteous Path. Moreover, most of those on the Left Path never reach the endpoint, wasting their entire lives on the wrong path.

The Martial Arts of the Blood Demon Sect, if they can forsake the Demon Techniques that easily lead to Deviation in the middle and later stages, are superior and extraordinary compared to the vast majority of Righteous Martial Arts.

Then the question arises, although the Blood-clothed Man was advanced in age, it was evident that he reached the Divine Origin Realm Peak through the accumulation of time, but his foundation in Martial Arts was solid and pure, not like the half-baked efforts of someone like Ji Tang.

Since the Blood Demon Sect’s destruction, their Martial Arts have spread throughout the worldly society, and while difficult to acquire, they are not unattainable.

Nowadays, many Jianghu Sects’ life-or-death Forbidden Techniques are in fact shadows of the Blood Demon Sect’s Blood God Curse, which are essentially burning essence blood in exchange for a temporary increase in power.

However, there are none like the Blood-clothed Man who practiced the Blood Demon Sect’s Martial Arts to the peak of the Divine Origin Realm.

Sects with long lineages like this are not like the minor schools; they all possess Daoist Orthodoc that can be transmitted through the ages.

Such Daoist Orthodoc Martial Arts can only be practiced to and beyond the Mid-stage Divine Origin Realm if the paths are similar or even coincide. The fact that the Blood-clothed Man practiced the Blood Demon Sect’s Martial Arts to such a level indicates that he was a genuine inheritor of the Blood Demon Sect’s Orthodoc.