Chapter 24: The Black Dragon of the Slaughter Field
"Then let's do it."
Qin Xuan's voice was devoid of emotion. He stood in the narrow, suffocating passage, the massive, blood-stained gate of Slaughter City looming behind him.
His left hand clenched into a fist behind his back, a simple gesture of readiness. His right hand surged with a contained, crimson light. This time, there was no triumphant phoenix cry, only the silent, deadly appearance of the crimson Changming Sword.
After nearly half a month of intense integration and cultivation with the Ghost Valley Breathing Technique, Qin Xuan was already able to control the Vermillion Bird soul sealed within the Changming Sword at will. He could suppress its cry, mask its aura, or unleash its full, terrifying presence.
The leading knight said nothing more. He had his orders.
He glanced sideways at the narrow passage, confirming that the tall, red-robed young man had no space to dodge to the left or right. He was trapped in a corridor.
The knight slowly raised his own knight's long spear, its tip stained with old, black blood. He squeezed the horse's belly with both legs, and the skeletal, red-eyed warhorse beneath him snorted a cloud of hot, sulfurous air before suddenly accelerating.
"Remember the one who killed you, fallen knight, Chegrava!"
He charged towards Qin Xuan with a tragic, unstoppable aura. A chilling presence permeated the air, and a solemn, heavy killing intent surged forward like a physical wave. This was the raw, unrefined killing intent of a man who had long since lost his mind to this city.
The spear was a blur, aimed directly at Qin Xuan's heart.
Just as the spear tip was about to strike, Qin Xuan moved.
It was not a dodge. It was an ascension.
His right foot stepped lightly on the ground, and in an act that defied gravity, his left foot leaped up, landing with impossible lightness directly on the charging spear tip itself.
The passage was narrow, but its ceiling was high.
Using the knight's own momentum as a launchpad, Qin Xuan flew over Chegrava's head, performed a single, fluid front flip in the air, and swung his sword in a downward arc as he passed.
"How is this possible!?"
Chegrava had never expected anyone to use his spear as a ladder. He had anticipated a block, a desperate side-step, or a quick death. He had not anticipated a master of lightness kung fu.
He wanted to pull his spear back, to raise it, but it was already too late. The man was already over his head.
He subconsciously tried to raise his spear to block the attack from behind.
Clang—!
Crack—!
The sharp ring of a sword and the sickening sound of metal breaking rang out almost simultaneously.
The knight's thick long spear, along with Chegrava's heavy helmet, was split cleanly in two. The Changming Sword, empowered by a Spirit King's dense spirit power, cut through them like paper.
The strike revealed the knight's terrified, bloodless, and ferocious face.
A thin line of blood quietly appeared on Chegrava's forehead, extending all the way down to his chin.
Chegrava's charge stopped. He numbly held the two broken sections of his long spear, his body convulsed violently a few times, and then he toppled sideways off his horse. The warhorse neighed, its red eyes frantic, and galloped back into the darkness.
Qin Xuan landed softly behind him, his heel touching the ground without a sound. He put away his Changming Sword Spirit.
The massive gate, which had closed, was opened again. A young woman, her form shrouded in black gauze and her face hidden by a veil, emerged from within.
"You killed him?" The young woman's voice was very pleasant, a melodic sound in this place of death. She came to stand before Qin Xuan, her eyes, the only part of her visible, filled with disbelief.
It wasn't fear that this young man, roughly her age, possessed the strength to defeat an Evil Knight.
Nor was it fear that Chegrava, a guard, had been killed.
Instead, it was a complex surprise, mixed with fear for him. She was shocked at the audacity, and afraid of the Slaughter King's potential wrath.
Even when beating a dog, one must consider its owner.
It was hard to imagine what kind of wrath the Slaughter King would unleash if someone killed his people right on his doorstep.
However, Qin Xuan's reply made her re-evaluate this young man completely.
"He wanted to kill me, so naturally, I can kill him," Qin Xuan stated calmly, as if discussing the weather. "It's just that I also understand the rules of this place. The town outside is the town. Slaughter City is Slaughter City."
He glanced at the groaning, bleeding knight. "If I were to kill an enforcer here, inside the city, I'm afraid I would face that one's wrath. I am not so foolish."
The Black-Gauzed Woman looked at Qin Xuan with genuine surprise. She stepped forward and knelt to examine Chegrava.
After confirming that the knight was only severely injured and unconscious—though the head-wound was grievous and would almost certainly kill him slowly—she stood up and tossed a metal token to Qin Xuan.
"It seems you are not a brute, but rather very intelligent."
"So, have I passed the test now?" Qin Xuan casually took the token, glanced at the number etched on it—'9527'—and quickly lost interest.
[Inorin's Note: "9527" is a famous comedic pop culture reference, particularly from Stephen Chow's films (like Flirting Scholar), where it's a code-name for a low-status or funny character. Its use here implies the city sees new arrivals as jokes.]
His gaze turned past her, to the inside of the gate. He finally saw the full panorama of Slaughter City.
This was a black city. The city walls were black, and the buildings were black, all carved from some strange, non-reflective stone. The only light came from a sickly purple crescent moon that hung 500 meters above the city, bathing everything in a dim, perverse twilight.
Everything was black, a world existing in endless, dark night.
"Of course." The Black-Gauzed Woman moved aside, making a gesture to invite him in. "Welcome to Slaughter City. I am your guide, a Slaughter Envoy."
Gripping the token, Qin Xuan strode inside, not sparing the dying knight or the Black-Gauzed Woman another glance.
Watching Qin Xuan's tall, red-robed figure recede into the dark, the Slaughter Envoy was about to follow when a black-armored soldier's voice, full of trepidation, rang out from the side.
"Slaughter Envoy, Lord Chegrava... he seems to be dying. Should we send him to...?"
"He's already useless," the Black-Gauzed Woman said, her pleasant voice now impatient and cold. "Just find a place to bury him. I will report to the great King later."
She glanced at the soldier impatiently and quickened her pace to follow Qin Xuan.
Killing and severely injuring, though only a difference in thought, were two different concepts. Killing in the town was nothing; that itself was a test of ruthlessness. Even the receptionists of Slaughter City could be killed. If they died, they died. That boy, Tang San, had killed one in his time.
But killing an enforcer within Slaughter City was a big deal. It was a complete slap in the Slaughter King's face.
If this continued, wouldn't Slaughter City be in chaos? Who would still respect the Slaughter King?
This young man had walked that line perfectly. He had shown mercy, but only just enough to follow the rules.
Chegrava was indeed only severely injured, but the injury was quite serious. His cranial bone was fractured. Even if he survived, he would be a useless invalid.
In a man-eat-man place like Slaughter City, no one would go to great lengths to heal a mere centurion. He was already dead.
Instead, Qin Xuan had piqued her interest.
This young man, not much older than herself, reminded her of that other one. The disciple from the Clear Sky Sect who had passed through Hell Road a few years ago. That man, Tang Hao, had possessed the same indomitable, clear-eyed will.
One side was the Clear Sky Sect, the other was Spirit Hall.
A playful and expectant smile appeared on the Black-Gauzed Woman's charming face, hidden beneath her veil. This was truly getting interesting. She quickened her pace.
In a few steps, she caught up with Qin Xuan and walked alongside him, tirelessly explaining the rules of Slaughter City, of the Bloody Mary, and of the Hell Slaughter Field.
From the moment she was taken as a handmaiden by the Slaughter King, she knew that her remaining life would never escape this dark, sunless existence, day after day, for decades.
Compared to the usual, deathly silence, she hoped for someone to stir up trouble in this sinful World.
This Qin Xuan... she held expectations for him.
...
One year later.
Hell Slaughter Field.
The massive, circular arena was roaring, filled with the screams and howls of thousands of fallen ones.
Bang! Bang!
The heads of the last two opponents, who had tried to flank him, flew high into the air. Blood columns gushed from their necks, and their bodies were separated from their heads by a single, crimson-black sword stroke. They fell slowly to the bloody mud.
Qin Xuan, clad in a black robe, stood alone in the center of the arena. He casually threw away the refined iron long sword in his left hand, which had been damaged and notched from the fight.
With his right hand, he held the Changming Sword high above his head in a victor's salute.
A killing intent so thick it was almost condensed into substance—a visible, crimson-black mist—swirled around his body. He unreservedly released his terrifying, bloody slaughter aura, which formed a huge, crimson vortex in the air above the arena.
The crowd roared his name.
"BLACK DRAGON! BLACK DRAGON! BLACK DRAGON!"
Ninety-nine battles. Ninety-nine consecutive victories.
This was Qin Xuan's current record in the Hell Slaughter Field.
Because he possessed high-grade healing pills purchased from the system mall, injuries and toxins were almost meaningless to him. And because his Phoenix Fire robe could be willed to any color—which he kept a menacing black—it could isolate miasma.
This meant the maddening killing intent from the air and the Bloody Mary was almost entirely filtered, leaving only his own, pure killing intent to accumulate, unaffected by external interference. He didn't need to spend most of his time calming his mind.
Therefore, whenever he could schedule a match in the Hell Slaughter Field, he would participate.
And because whenever he finished a match, he would chop off the heads of any living creature that attempted to approach within 10 meters of him, he had earned a fearsome reputation.
Over time, Qin Xuan earned his title in the Hell Slaughter Field: the Black Dragon.
[Inorin's Note: The nickname "Black Dragon" comes from two sources: the "Black" is for the black Phoenix Fire robe he wears, and the "Dragon" is because his Ghost Valley Swordsmanship (a crossover skill) often manifests as dragon-shaped sword qi, a signature of the technique.]
Rumor has it that he always wore a black robe, and no one had ever seen his true face. He often unleashed devastating, dragon-shaped sword qi in the arena, slaying all his enemies.
And now, he was one match away from the end.
[Inorin Note:
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