The Regressor of Mount Hua

Chapter 270. A Hero's Return (2)

The sound of rustling clothes filled the air.

Even Zhuge Xiuluan, who had remained composed throughout the entire war, couldn’t suppress her trembling this time. When she looked down, her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

"...!"

Zhuge Xiuluan bit her beautiful lip hard and barely managed to steady her trembling hands.

"R..."

Voices were on the verge of bursting out.

"RAH!!!!"

It was the shout of thousands of demon cultists.

"As expected of the Cult Leader!"

"The Heavenly Demon is here!"

"Hahaha!!!"

"The Martial Alliance experts have all fallen!"

The Demon Cult's forces taunted them with laughter.

But instead of blushing crimson with humiliation, the members of the Martial Alliance turned pale as sheets, their faces frozen with fear.

What should we do?

Zhuge Xiuluan's face also turned pale. While the absolute pressure still surrounded her, since the Martial Alliance had lost its fighting power, there was nothing else that she could do.

Even if she tried to flee, it would be impossible to escape due to the Heavenly Demon's presence.

It was uncertain if she would even be able to move properly.

We should have avoided contact with the Demon Cult as much as possible, even if it meant going to great lengths to prevent it... no, the Heavenly Demon's appearance was...

Dozens of thoughts raced through her mind as she tried to think of all sorts of ways to overcome this crisis, but the problem was that there was nothing she could do.

What should I do? Think, think of something. Otherwise, we're all going to die.

Zhuge Xiuluan whispered desperately under her breath, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.

She continued to think of ideas, but they all ended in failure.

Could this be how the Great War of Good and Demonic would end?

But, in the desperate moment filled with despair, a glimmer of hope appeared.

"Move!"

Woosh–

Zhuge Xiuluan unconsciously raised her head at the sound of the loud voice. Her gaze turned to two balls floating in the air.

The two iron balls arced gracefully through the sky before colliding and landing directly in front of the Heavenly Demon and the Demon Cult forces.

Thud, thud, thud.

Clink, clink, whir.

"Huh?"

The demon cultists looked at the iron balls, puzzled. Just as they were about to approach the iron balls to investigate, one of the iron balls exploded.

BOOM!

It happened in an instant. The iron ball spat out flames, and thousands of iron needles shot out from within it.

"Agh!"

"Ugh!"

"Agk!!"

The demon cultists who had been laughing moments ago now screamed in pain.

The demons of hell disappeared, and in their place were chunks of flesh that had been torn to pieces by the iron needles or seared by the flames.

The damage was incredibly severe as the iron ball had landed in the middle of the demon cultists. An entire five-zhang radius was engulfed in flames.

The destruction and loud noise were enough to startle even the Martial Alliance warriors who had been lost in despair.

"Ahem!"

Meanwhile, the second iron ball remained intact.

It hadn’t misfired—it had done exactly what it was supposed to.

Woosh!

The surface of the second ball cracked open, releasing a thick, ashen smoke that quickly spread, enveloping the area around it.

Just like the demon cultists, the Heavenly Demon was also caught in the radius of the iron ball's effects. Although he had some resistance to poison, he spread a thin defensive qi barrier around himself just in case.

Woosh!

Several figures leaped out of the smoke.

The Heavenly Demon raised a hand to launch a barrage of Flicking Fingers but quickly stopped himself and watched quietly as if he was deliberately letting them go.

"Retreat!"

Zhuge Xiuluan, who came to her senses before anyone else, gave the order. Also realizing what had happened a little late, the Milky Way Sage shouted.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

The Martial Alliance forces reacted immediately, turning and fleeing as fast as lightning.

While the Demon Cult tried to chase after them, the smoke in front of them was a problem, and the explosion behind them had left them disoriented.

The Heavenly Demon glanced briefly at the retreating rear guard before turning his attention back to the smoke. He snorted.

"Hmm, as Harmony Realm Masters, they still had a lifeline, it seems. Well, it's not like those who escaped would be of much use anyway..."

Not long after, he felt a presence next to him.

"What is it?"

"This is a message for the Demon Cult to reorganize and pursue."

It was a soldier from the Seven Stars Division of the Dark Heavens Association.

"Is he not asking why I let them go?"

"No."

"Well, he wouldn't be Blessed Existence if he had to ask."

The Heavenly Demon smiled faintly. Even if he had chosen to pursue the Martial Alliance, only he and the Vice Cult Leader could have moved at such a moment.

But if the two of them were to move, ordering the already uncontrollable Demon Cult would become even harder.

In addition, no matter how great the Heavenly Demon or the Demon Cult's Vice Cult Leader were, they couldn't fight against thousands of martial artists at the same time.

Both the Heavenly Demon and Blessed Existence saw through this and deliberately avoided pursuing their enemy right away.

"By the way, is that the Sichuan Tang Family's new hidden weapon? How strange... Since I wasn't informed of it, it seems Avaricious Wolf isn't aware of it either."

The Heavenly Demon narrowed his eyes.

"The recent younger generation talents truly are outstanding..."

They lost a horrifying two thousand five hundred warriors out of six thousand five hundred. Not only had they not been able to collect the corpses, they weren't able to even bring along the seriously injured.

The heaviest casualties came from the main force.

Nangong Shanxu, Hong Jin, Bai Gongzi, Wei Zhijie, and Gu Yeyin.

These five were completely out of commission. While none of them had any severed limbs or fatal injuries, they were in no condition to continue fighting.

"We survived, thanks to you."

Zhuge Xiuluan thanked Tang Hui.

If Tang Hui hadn't arrived on the battlefield when she did after using the Madness Inducing Poisonous Fragrance to stop the Demon Cult earlier, they would have been completely wiped out.

"What did you do?"

"It's a secret weapon called the Heavenly Thunder Sphere. That was the last one I had left, so don't expect me to do that again," Tang Hui answered with a frown.

It was a weapon she had used when fighting the Cannibal Tribe of the Southern Jungles. As it really didn't fit the murim's ideology, she originally hadn't wanted to use it.

However, after Zhou Xuchuan's death, she made one as a last resort when she entered secluded cultivation.

She only made a small batch because she was worried that if too many were made, they might leak or cause trouble in some unforeseen way.

"What a pity."

Zhuge Xiuluan had asked about the Heavenly Thunder Sphere not because she had wanted to make a problem out of it but because she was wondering if she could use it in her next strategy.

Four thousand...

Half of their initial forces had been lost.

The Demon Cult also seemed to have suffered significant casualties. A rough count estimated their losses at around two thousand members.

The loss had occurred solely because of their reckless, pyrrhic ideals of not caring about their lives and the characteristics of demonic nature, where one loses rationality once they get engulfed in madness.

Since there were about five thousand five hundred of them before the most recent clash, they should have decreased by at most about two thousand five hundred members, leaving about three thousand who could fight.

Considering that there had been around ten thousand of them at first if one had just looked at the numbers of the two forces, the Martial Alliance should have had the advantage.

However, the situation wasn't like that at all. The morale of the Martial Alliance had fallen to the abyss, while the Demon Cult's morale reached the heavens.

Above all, the Martial Alliance didn't have any masters left who could fight.

"How are the Plum Blossom Swordsmen?"

"Ten of our members are too wounded to continue fighting. Above all, the Sword Captain..."

Luo Xiaoyue shook her head, her expression dark.

"The Hundred and Eight Arhats...?"

"We're still alive and well, so don't worry," Hong Gao shouted confidently. He expressed that they could go back and fight at any moment.

No...

While Zhuge Xiuluan didn't show it on the outside, on the inside, she was so depressed that she didn't know what to do.

The Benevolence Clinic physicians were busy treating those of the main force who were seriously injured and were forced to take emergency measures while on the move.

The situation was not good.

"Chase them!"

"Kill them!"

The greatest difference between the Martial Alliance and the Demon Cult was whether or not they brought along the injured.

To prove this, the Demon Cult, whom they had thought they had distanced themselves from, could be seen running toward them in the distance.

"The Wudang Sect is right in front of us, though..." the Milky Way Sage muttered regretfully.

While Zhuge Xiuluan panicked, not knowing what to do, Zhi Yiguang, who was accompanying them, suddenly stopped.

Then, the main experts and their troops followed suit.

"One Sword Seven Kills?"

"...Tactician Phoenix, how far is the Wudang Sect?"

"They shouldn't be that far. If they're traveling here without rest, they're most likely one to two hours away... wait, you can't be thinking...?"

Zhuge Xiuluan's eyes widened in realization.

"I'll buy time."

Zhi Yiguang turned around, looking behind the forces instead of ahead.

"One Sword Seven Kills!"

The wrinkled brows of the Milky Way Sage furrowed.

Concerned cries also came from around them.

"This is the only way. We can't have everything. While I'm buying time, run as fast as you can."

"But—!"

"Don't you know better than I do that there isn't any other way, Tactician Phoenix? You probably thought of this method before I did. Am I wrong?"

Zhuge Xiuluan opened her mouth to deny it but stopped.

It was just as he said. There was no other way.

While they could have tried to hold out if the Wudang Sect had been nearby, it was too much of a gamble.

Zhuge Xiuluan was meticulous and cool-headed when it came to calculations. That was how she was able to figure out how far away the Wudang Sect was with almost no error.

"I take it that you've accepted."

Zhi Yiguang shouted, raising his sword high.

"We don't have time, so I'll be brief!"

The eyes of the audience gathered in one place.

"I am the Junior Brother of the First Demon Slaying Sword, Zhi Yiguang! I will become a blaze here for the peace and safety of the murim!"

None of the onlookers said that his actions were ridiculous.

"However, I can't do it alone! Heroes! Who among you will stand with me, knowing that death is certain?!"

No one stepped forward immediately. They all knew what staying behind meant.

"I won't pressure you! Sacrifice is something only you can decide for yourself, and it can't be done under compulsion!"

Zhi Yiguang deliberately didn't mention his sect's name. He couldn't allow his already decreased juniors to get involved.

"No one will curse you for not stepping up! No one will hold a grudge against you! There's nothing to be ashamed of! It's a foolish decision to stay here, so don't feel guilty, my fellow members of the Righteous Faction!"

Zhi Yiguang deliberately turned his back to avoid eye contact.

"While I would like to speak a little more, I'm not blessed with the ability to speak well, and we don't have the time! So, those who will stay, stay, and those who will go, go! That is all!"

Clang!

Zhi Yiguang stabbed the sword he held above his head into the ground.

"..."

There was no sound. It was just silence.

"Your... sacrifice will not be forgotten, One Sword Seven Kills."

The Milky Way Sage weighed his decision carefully, guided by wisdom rather than bloodlust.

Not everyone could stay here, especially as those who were necessary to maintain the Martial Alliance's strength needed to escape as soon as possible.

"As an old man without much life left to live, I should be the one to stay..."

"Don't we still need someone to defend the troops till the very end?"

If the Milky Way Sage were to stay behind and hold the line, the main force would lose main experts. He needed to stay with the troops to defend the retreat once the remaining forces were breached.

"While I must go, the monks of the Shaolin Temple will stand with you."

As Hong Gao spoke, the second of the Hundred and Eight Arhats stepped forward.[1]

After that, the monks with a strong sense of justice, tried to step forward. However, Hong Gao immediately stopped them like a falling blade.

We've already done everything we needed to before, and there isn't much left for us to gain by helping and sacrificing ourselves here. So, it'll be better for the others to join the Wudang Sect later and defeat the Heavenly Demon to end the Great War of Good and Demonic.

Hong Gao's eyes shone sinisterly, quite unlike those of a monk.

Behind him, roughly half of the forces made their move. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry, and they used their lightness techniques to leave.

Zhi Yiguang kept his mouth shut and stayed still, and once everyone who would have wanted to leave had already left, he turned around to check those who stayed behind him.

"Ha..."

Zhi Yiguang almost shed tears.

He hadn’t expected so many to stay.

Who would stay, knowing that they would die? He would have thought that it would have been fortunate if more than just the injured had stayed.

"I mean, why are there so many fools?"

A rough count put those who stayed behind in the hundreds. There were almost a thousand of them.

It wasn't that there weren't any injured people. On the contrary, there were quite a few of them, including those who were severely injured.

"We don't have much time left anyway."

"It would be a problem if the others slowed down because of us."

"It's better to die a hero than remain a burden."

The injured laughed as they struggled to get up.

"And... ahem, why have those with the world before them, the younger generation talents, stayed behind?"

"Instead of pretending to be cool, don't you think it would be better to take a deep breath and save some of your energy? At least that way, you could kill at least one more person."

Tang Hui answered without looking away. Her eyes, filled with venom, showed hatred.

"You say that, but deep down, you’re worrying about everyone in your own way,” Luo Xiaoyue said with a faint smile as she wiped the blood from her sword.

The smile of the most beautiful woman in Shaanxi made the men around her blush, even in the midst of the unpleasant situation.

"To think that even the Plum Blossom Swordsmen are staying behind, how reassuring."

Out of the fourteen Plum Blossom Swordsmen, only five remained behind.

It was the three youngest, who had the lowest combat power, and two of the middle ranks, who would be somewhat helpful.

"We need to avenge Junior Brother."

Zhang Xuen's eyes turned red while Zhang Hong nodded his head silently.

"Shall we make a bet?"

"It's obvious who will win."

Meng Ge and Tan Xiang exchanged words, their faces expressionless.

Half of those gathered were injured, while the rest were a mix of low-level and mid-level warriors. However, there were only a few famous experts.

They all knew that they were going to lose their lives here, meaning that the main force couldn't leave those who would be truly helpful behind.

Zhuge Xiuluan had actually tried to force Luo Xiayue and Tang Hui to come with them, but they were so obstinate that she couldn't stop them.

"They're coming."

The aura of the remaining thousand fighters had visibly shifted. Small talk and laughter faded away, replaced by a resolute silence. Their determination to face death was palpable in the air.

Thud, thud, thud!

The ground shook as if there was an earthquake.

However, the hearts of those who were left behind didn't waver.

Three thousand demon cultists approached, raising a cloud of dust behind them.

The demon cultists' eyes grew wide with excitement, and before they could attack, the Heavenly Demon stepped forward, blocking their path.

"Oho."

A crimson light flickered ominously in his narrowed eyes. Holding up his iron sword, he smiled with satisfaction.

"Now, this is more than qualified to block Us."

The overwhelming presence of one of the Seven Empyrean Overlords was truly awe-inspiring. Just facing him head-on was more than enough to make their stomach churn.

However, those who were left behind didn't back down.

They weren't afraid. Instead, they faced him with a murderous gaze.

"Hahahahaha!"

The Heavenly Demon burst into laughter at their glares.

"Kill at least one more and buy more time."

Zhi Yiguang's final order was given.

"Good! Come!"

The Great Demon Head of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains raised his sword high above his head.

An ominous cloud gathered above his sword, and a dark aura surged forward, increasing the pressure within the atmosphere.

The Taiji Sword is our only hope.

The Milky Way Sage and the Hundred Paces Fist Monk are with them, too...

I'm worried about my family. Having to raise a child alone isn't easy, after all...

Considering it's the Tactician Phoenix, she'll definitely succeed.

I hope my sacrifice helps the sect.

The Sword Captain has to be safe...

Ugh. Holding my sword has already gotten hard. The compensation has to be properly delivered to my parents back home...

The Boundless Dragon will lead the future of the murim.

Forget the Heavenly Demon—can we even defeat the Vice Cult Leaders or the Four Great Guardians... ha?

The thoughts of the thousand warriors were similar.

They simply believed in the future and their hope, leaving the rest to the others.

That was all.

"Heavenly Demon's Three Sword Forms!"

The moment the black light covered the battlefield.

"Violet Haze Dawnbreaker!"

A violet light pierced through the darkness and arrived before them.

Clang!

"Ugh!"

Moans erupted from both sides.

No one could understand what had happened.

Even the Heavenly Demon paused, his gaze puzzled.

As he tried to use the first form of the Heavenly Demon's Three Sword Forms, a stream of sword aura poured out from the side, destroying the demonic qi he had gathered.

As if a meteor had come flying down, a shockwave formed as a sword aura struck the Heavenly Demon's sword, engulfing the surroundings.

"Cough, cough!"

The warriors, caught off guard, coughed as they stared in disbelief at the source of the violet light.

"Oho."

A glint of interest appeared in the Heavenly Demon’s crimson pupils.

"I don't believe it..."

The voice came from behind, unmistakably that of Blessed Existence.

His reaction wasn't surprising.

"I DON'T FUCKING BELIEVE IT!!!!!"

He let out a roar that was almost a scream.

"Cough cough. I mean, why are you here all of a sudden, Elder?"

"The Head Merchant sent me to help out, saying that it would be extremely problematic if his business clients were to be destroyed. He said that while there was nothing to worry about as Benefactor would be here, too, he told me to still come just in case...I hope I wasn't too late?"

"It would have been better if you had been a little faster, but there's nothing we can do now. Ha, seriously. Putting that to the side, that money-grubbing talent of his really is impressive. How did he seriously predict something like this..."

As the dust clouds that obscured everyone's vision cleared, a new figure appeared.

Actually, it wasn't just one, but two figures.

"Who are you?" the Heavenly Demon asked with a twisted smile.

One of the two was a young man with a decent appearance. The other was a middle-aged man with a height of nearly seven feet and a straight scar near his right eye.

"Mount Hua Sect," the young man said.

"Gold Will Merchants," the middle-aged man said.

Then, the two answered at the same time.

"Zhou Xuchuan."

"Wu Qu."

Zhou Xuchuan and Wu Qu stood side by side.

1. Let me know if you want a longer explanation about this, but the Hundred and Eight Arhats of Wuxia/murim are an extension of the original Eighteen Arhats that followed the Buddha. The original eighteen are numbered in order of appearance, not in strength, and the eighteen highest-ranked arhats of the Hundred and Eight Arhats take on the name of the Eighteen Arhats and their status. Hong Jin, the first, is the Deer Sitting Arhat, and the second, unnamed, is the Joyous Arhat. ☜