Chapter 34: Speculation

Clang—

With a crisp sound, Red Cloud stepped back slightly, feeling the slender crack that had appeared on his black iron staff. He could not help but be momentarily astonished.

So they resort to violence at the slightest disagreement?

He noticed that after clashing with him in a contest of strength, the opponent’s body beneath the armor remained immovable. Secretly impressed, Red Cloud tightened his grip on the iron staff, letting a murderous aura rise around him.

“We’re all kindred spirits here. Why rush to fighting? Isn’t there anything that can’t be resolved calmly, sitting down together?” he said.

But the other ignored his words and did not pause. After missing his strike, the opponent’s aura surged just as Red Cloud’s did, and a silver glow enveloped the giant sword in his hand, its cold brilliance piercing the air.

As the sword swept out, streaming light danced like a rain of blades.

Looks like he’s still testing me…

Red Cloud thought to himself, chuckling quietly. He raised the iron staff, its sharp energy flowing, and pointed it at the tip of the giant sword.

With a single strike, all the murderous aura shuddered, the flowing light scattered into sparkling fragments and faded away.

Having missed his attack, the opponent promptly threw a short blade at Red Cloud’s head.

Seeing this, Red Cloud realized he could not dodge in time, so he could only lift his arm to block.

Clang—

The sound of weapons clashing rang out, and the short blade was sent spinning back to the opponent’s hand.

The man in silver armor then affixed the short blade onto his giant sword; with the click and clatter of mechanisms, the blade suddenly expanded several times.

What a door panel of a sword!

Red Cloud thought, growing wary. The previous strike had already been difficult to absorb; now, with the sword enlarged, whether swung or slammed, it would be nearly impossible to withstand.

Whoosh—

A gust of wind whipped up swirling sand and stones.

The giant sword was suddenly upon Red Cloud, its speed startling him.

If he did not manifest his anomaly, he feared he would be unable to withstand such a blow.

With that in mind, he stopped hesitating and retreated swiftly, seeking to avoid the sword’s edge.

He wasn’t foolish—why linger here just for curiosity’s sake, fighting to the death with a mysterious expert? That would be absurd.

As for the plundered remnant soul, he decided to leave it here for now.

He had already assessed the strength of the demon cultivators in the hall: most were at the early or middle stages of the Treasure Body Realm, only a few had reached the late stage, and they posed little threat to him.

If someone else took it, he could always snatch it back.

He had spent so long in this world and had never heard mention of fate or karma.

If there was karma, it would be the conflict between humans and demons—the greatest karma in the Bottle World.

Once he entertained the thought of retreat, his aura weakened considerably.

As the opponent’s attacks grew fiercer, Red Cloud dodged another blow, closed in, and with a swift movement drew the crescent moon blade from his sleeve.

With a teeth-grating sound, the blade struck the silver armor, leaving a long scratch.

When the opponent raised his hand to block, Red Cloud used the force of the giant sword’s swing to retreat lightly to a distance.

“The old blind man has business to attend to—let’s fight another time,” he said.

With those words, his figure faded into the mist and vanished.

The armored man rose to chase, but then seemed to recall something, and instead sheathed his sword, standing near the small tree.

“How strange—why is there no change at all?”

He muttered, glanced again in the direction Red Cloud had gone, then lowered his head and thrust the sword into the soil before him.

“It’s close, so close…”

…

Red Cloud sped away; once out of the dense fog and seeing the opponent did not pursue, he let out a sigh of relief. If he were to face that opponent again now without manifesting his anomaly, he would only be able to defend.

After gaining some distance and confirming his safety, he took a deep breath and struck his own chest with both palms.

Though not exerting his full strength, he used about a third of his power; after a moment, his face flushed, and he adjusted his breathing before spitting out a clump of shattered organs.

Not only that, but a streak of silver sword light accompanied his vomit, leaving countless pits on the stone before him.

At last, he relaxed and quickly sat cross-legged to meditate.

It seemed being too robust was not always a blessing: his strong physical recovery had caused him to be wounded by the opponent’s weapon during the fight, and there was a lingering murderous aura not his own, hard to dispel.

He had no choice but to resort to such means.

When he regained awareness, the sky had completely darkened.

In the distant mist, a pillar of murderous light shot skyward, drawing Red Cloud’s repeated glances.

This was not naturally formed—it was the armored man’s handiwork.

Red Cloud could perceive it, but others would find it difficult. Even those demon cultivators at the late stage of the Treasure Body Realm struggled to resist, let alone those below his level.

He could fight ten of them at once; thus, the armored man, who fought him to a draw, must be able to do the same.

As he pondered, a tawny pillar of light suddenly formed in the sky and transformed into the shadow of a fierce tiger. As it solidified, it lunged toward the central column of murderous light like a tiger descending from the mountain.

“Roar—”

But with that roar, a silver giant sword soared into the sky, abruptly ending everything.

Ha, another demon cultivator of the Treasure Body Realm has been slain.

Such ambush tactics—waiting for prey and fishing for lawbreakers—might be worth learning.

Red Cloud thought to himself, and the idea quickly took root.

Whatever the opponent’s motives, whether hidden or otherwise, he had no reason to stop now.

He realized the opponent was employing these methods to continually attract Treasure Body Realm cultivators to investigate.

Could it be that the opponent, like himself, sought to refine with murderous pills?

He mused, beginning to analyze: though possible, it seemed unlikely.

After all, once demon cultivators broke free of their beastly nature, whether carnivorous or herbivorous, their diets expanded to include… humans.