Chapter 31: One Blade, One Kill: The Hundred Steps Flying Sword
"Cloud Shuttle! Clear Frost!"
From the depths of the suffocating, blood-red mist of the Hell Road, two flying swords—one green as spring leaves, one white as winter frost—shot forth from the case on Qin Xuan's back. They transformed into long, ethereal rainbows of light.
[Inorin's Note: The Wu Shuang Sword Case and its 13 named swords (Cloud Shuttle, Clear Frost, etc.) are a reference to the Song of Youth (Shaonian Gexing) franchise.]
The chasm below was a bottomless abyss, breathing up a stench of sulfur and decay. The air was filled with the deafening, leathery flapping of thousands of crimson bats. Like a river of blood, the swarm surged toward him along the narrow, winding path.
The two leading bats, their eyes gleaming with crimson light, sensed the danger. Their flight patterns shifted, attempting to evade, but their bodies simply couldn't keep up with their perception.
Swish!
The flying swords, trailing razor-sharp sword qi, pierced their bodies instantly. The blades didn't stop. "Cloud Shuttle" and "Clear Frost" wove through the air like two living snakes, entwining each other, and continued their deadly dance, piercing another seven or eight bats before their momentum slowed.
Qin Xuan's expression was blank, his eyes cold beneath the hood of his black robe. He shouted again, his voice sharp and clear, naming the blades as he willed them forth:
"Soft as Silk! Jade Scepter! Phoenix Flute! Red Leaf! Butterfly! Shadowless! Calamity Breaker! Life Ender!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Another 8 flying swords shot out from the Wu Shuang Sword Case. Adding the previous "Cloud Shuttle" and "Clear Frost," a total of 10 blades now danced in the air, reaching the absolute limit of what Qin Xuan could currently control.
The sword qi in the void instantly surged. The 10 swords, acting in concert, created 10 miniature sword qi vortices that tore into the crimson bat swarm.
Wherever the vortices passed, the air itself seemed to shred. Massive, grotesque stalactites, shaped like hanging bells, shattered from the ceiling above the swarm, raining down rocks.
One by one, the crimson bats were caught in the metallic storm. Under the combined sweep of the 10 flying swords, they were torn to ribbons, their bodies and blood plummeting into the dark abyss below. The sheer number of bats began to decrease sharply.
In just a short while, the initial swarm of thousands was reduced to less than 50 stragglers, which were quickly dispatched.
Qin Xuan knew from his fragmented knowledge of this place that the true master of this swarm, the Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King, could recover from grievous injuries and even regrow its damaged heads by devouring these lesser crimson bats.
Therefore, he had no intention of letting a single one go. With a final, concerted effort from his will, he completely wiped out the remaining bats.
The 10 flying swords circled around him in sequence, like loyal sentinels, before returning to the Wu Shuang Sword Case on his back with a series of satisfying clicks.
He let out a long, controlled breath. "This sword case is incredible, but it consumes spirit power like a monster."
Just now, controlling 10 flying swords simultaneously for just a quarter of an hour had consumed almost 40% of his total spirit power.
Coupled with what was consumed in the Hell Slaughter Field before entering, his spirit power was already at less than 50%. "If I didn't have these pills," he thought, "I really wouldn't dare to play like this."
Qin Xuan put away the Wu Shuang Sword Case, retrieved a Low-Grade Stamina Recovery Pill from his storage spirit tool, and consumed it. A warm current spread through his meridians, and his spirit power instantly recovered to its full, pristine state. He then continued on his way, stepping over the few splatters of blood that had stained the path.
The subsequent sections of the Hell Road were thrilling but, after the bat swarm, posed no major incident. The path itself was a winding, treacherous thing, barely a meter wide, hanging over an infinite, steaming chasm.
He finally faced the Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King, which had lost its subordinates and was hanging upside down like a grotesque gargoyle beneath the narrow path ahead.
Qin Xuan had no intention of engaging in a protracted battle with it.
The moment the Bat King shrieked and launched its sonic attack, Qin Xuan acted. He used the Wu Shuang Sword Case to release 6 flying swords—not to kill, but to pin. The blades shot out, piercing the creature's massive leathery wings and nailing it against the rock face of the chasm, cutting off its retreat.
With the beast immobilized, Qin Xuan drew his own Changming Sword. He took a single step, his body becoming a blur. "Traverse the Eight Directions!"
He didn't just slash once. He unleashed the pinnacle of the Horizontal Sword Technique. In a single instant, his blade flashed 8 times, from 8 distinct angles, all aimed at the creature's necks.
The three heads of the Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King—all shrieking in different, horrifying pitches—were severed simultaneously. The creature died instantly, its body slumping before the flying swords released it, allowing it to plummet into the abyss.
As for whether it would revive in the "Bloody Mary" lake far below, that was no longer his concern.
Putting away the Wu Shuang Sword Case, Qin Xuan continued forward. He walked for what felt like hours, the oppressive, blood-red mist thickening around him.
Suddenly, a faint rustling sound came from ahead.
Qin Xuan's breathing, which had been perfectly steady, quickened involuntarily. He stopped.
The Changming Sword in his body, sensing a profound, primal threat, automatically released itself from his Spirit and appeared in his grasp, its faint golden-red glow cutting through the mist.
Qin Xuan looked ahead, not with fear, but with a gaze one might reserve for a peerless beauty.
That's right. He had found it. This was one of the biggest targets of his trip: the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent.
A dark-red, serpentine body was coiled on the narrow path ahead, completely blocking it. Its immense size was unclear in the mist, but the sheer bulk of it was terrifying. On its massive head, nine prominent protrusions, looking like fleshy, pulsating tumors, were clearly visible.
Below the tumors, a pair of fiery red eyes met Qin Xuan's gaze. The emotions within them were identical to what pulsed through Slaughter City: greed, malice, bloodlust, and a burning desire to possess.
Clearly, both man and serpent regarded each other as prey.
Both sides sensed the malice. Accompanied by that sickening rustling sound, the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent could no longer hold back its hunger. Its dark-red, scaled body began to slowly slither forward, its scales scraping against the narrow stone path, gradually closing the distance.
Qin Xuan knew what trick this primeval serpent was up to. He tightened his grip on the Changming Sword, infusing it with his spirit power. A faint red glow emanated from the surface of the crimson sword body.
When the distance between them was less than 20 meters, the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent finally attacked.
It let out a "wa... wa..." sound from its mouth, horrifyingly like a baby crying. The 9 fleshy tumors on its head began to glow a deep, golden-red.
Its gaping maw suddenly opened. A torrent of fiery red light, carrying a strong, fishy, and sulfurous stench, spewed out. The light instantly transformed into viscous, clinging flames, spreading rapidly along the narrow path toward Qin Xuan.
"Let me see," Qin Xuan muttered, his eyes narrowing. "Is your poisonous fire more powerful, or is my Vermilion Bird Flame stronger?"
He was already prepared. As the faint cry of a phoenix echoed from his blade, he did not strike. Instead, he turned sideways, pointing his long sword diagonally down the narrow path, directly at the incoming wave of fire.
The Vermilion Bird sealed within the Changming Sword, sensing a challenge, erupted. It unleashed a wave of divine, golden-red flame, no less intense than the serpent's, meeting the attack head-on.
A surprising scene unfolded.
The Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent completely ignored Qin Xuan's Vermilion Bird Flame. Its head, which was originally coiled and spitting fire, suddenly lifted. The flames clung to its scales, doing no damage. The rapidly spreading poison-fire on the narrow path was not extinguished; it was merely pushed by the Vermilion Bird Flame, accelerating toward Qin Xuan.
Qin Xuan leaned back, the heat scorching his hood. He narrowly dodged, performing several quick backflips to retreat out of the serpent's attack range.
In contrast, the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, now bathed in the divine Vermilion Bird Flame, was completely unharmed. Not even its dark-red scales showed signs of scorching.
Bathed in the divine fire, the serpent hissed and flicked its forked tongue at Qin Xuan. It was clearly mocking him, mocking his incompetence, unable to harm it in the slightest.
"As expected of the primeval Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent," Qin Xuan said, his voice low. "To possess the ability to be immune to flames. However..."
He held his sword upright in his right hand, gently stroking the flat of the blade with the index and middle fingers of his left. "However, my Changming Sword doesn't just have the flame attribute."
As he spoke, the divine flames covering the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, which were gradually dissipating, suddenly erupted with brilliant, blue-purple lightning. The lightning, rendered crimson by the flames, arced violently over the serpent's body.
The Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent had no immunity to lightning. Upon zero-distance contact with the divine thunder, its entire body convulsed. It was momentarily paralyzed, its head thrashing as it roared in sudden, genuine pain.
"Now's the time."
Qin Xuan's eyes narrowed. A blue lightning dragon was instantly summoned from the blade, and all his cultivation, all his spirit power, was concentrated into the sword.
He did not just throw the sword. He used an extremely strange, profound technique. He became the sword.
This was the first time Qin Xuan displayed the other supreme swordsmanship from the Ghost Valley to the world: "A Single Blade Severing the Throat... Hundred Steps Flying Sword!"
He himself followed behind the hilt of the Changming Sword, his feet off the ground, merging with the blade. He moved at a speed so fast that it surpassed even the flying swords within the Wu Shuang Sword Case.
The two figures, one man and one serpent, crossed paths in a flash of crimson light.
Although the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent recovered quickly from the electric shock, it was all too late.
In that critical instant, the blue lightning dragon coiled, pressing down on its 10-meter-long red body. The Changming Sword, merged with Qin Xuan himself, reached a temporary state of man and sword becoming one. With incredible, unstoppable speed, they passed straight through the serpent's still-open, roaring mouth.
Drip...
Hot, dark blood dripped from the ceiling of the chasm. The Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent roared unwillingly at the sky.
Its main head, covered in fleshy tumors, exploded under the force of the Hundred Steps Flying Sword, which contained the terrifying power of divine lightning.
At the same time, the 9 small, tumor-like heads also exploded. They transformed into a golden-red liquid, which strangely merged together in the air. The liquid condensed, forming an egg-sized, perfect, golden-red sphere. It floated silently above the serpent's massive, twitching corpse.
"Hoo—" Qin Xuan, standing on the path behind the dead serpent, let out a long, shuddering sigh. A hint of deep fatigue appeared on his face.
He consumed another Stamina Recovery Pill, and his spirit power instantly recovered by more in half. Only then did he walk cautiously toward the corpse of the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, his eyes fixed on the glowing red-gold sphere.
[Inorin Note:
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