Chapter 80: Annihilation

“Is there anyone left?” Bai Li Feihong asked coldly.

“You brat from the Demon Suppression Office of East Shore City, acting so arrogant even in the face of warriors from the Great Sakura Empire,” the gate sergeant spat out angrily. “Where’s your swagger from earlier? Relying on your status from the Demon Suppression Office, you dare look down on me? I’ll make sure you die here.”

Bai Li Feihong cast him a cold glance, his smile gone. Compared to foreign invaders, he despised traitors even more. For those without allegiance, there was only one outcome—death.

“I didn’t look down on you before, but now you’ve guessed correctly—I absolutely look down on you.”

With his spiritual sense, he had already counted the enemies around him—nearly three hundred. The weakest among them were all Second-Blood Martial Masters. No wonder regular soldiers stood little chance against this band of pirates.

“Kill him. Later, I’ll open the gates and let you into the city,” the sergeant said icily.

The middle-aged man dressed in ornate clothing smiled and nodded to the ninja leader perched in the tree.

“Kill!”

A group of samurai, fearless of death, charged at Bai Li Feihong. Arrows flew in a volley, but the musketeers held their fire, afraid the gunshots would betray their presence.

The ninja in the tree watched the Demon Suppression Officer coolly. Familiar with those from the office, he knew well their strength. But this was only a Grade A officer. Three or four had already perished at the hands of their leader. To capture the county and its riches, they had brought over fifty musketeers—all elite warriors. With their skill and coordination, they could slay not only a Demon Suppression Officer but even a Guardian.

Bai Li Feihong patted his horse’s haunch. Frightened by the charging samurai, the untethered steed bolted, fleeing far away.

Blades gleaming coldly slashed down. Bai Li Feihong did not dodge. A faint golden light shimmered over him; the swords struck the golden shield with a crisp metallic clang, the terrifying rebound force knocking their weapons from their hands.

“The Thirteenfold Golden Body Tempering—indeed, it did not disappoint,” Bai Li Feihong said icily.

The arrows struck but could not break his defense.

The ornately dressed man’s face darkened. He realized he’d met a tough opponent.

“Let’s go,” he whispered to the gate sergeant.

“Do you think you can escape?” Bai Li Feihong’s voice echoed.

“Blood Quells Mountains and Rivers!”

He unleashed his blood-forging technique—Blood Quells Mountains and Rivers. In an instant, a terrifying aura of blood surged out, enveloping a hundred yards and swallowing pirates, ninjas, and traitors alike. The blood energy drew in the fiery essence of heaven and earth, blazing like the rising sun, purifying all evil within its reach.

The power of this divine technique had reached the second stage. With ninefold blood forging, the peak of spirit refinement, and the level of a nascent soul seed, Bai Li Feihong was now dozens—perhaps hundreds—of times stronger than back in Chushi Village. Even without exerting his full strength, everything within a hundred yards was incinerated, flesh and soul reduced to nothing but ashes. Such was the horror of his divine power.

Blood forging was the most arduous cultivation method in the world. Ninefold blood forging rivaled the Soul Embryo stage. The second stage of the blood-forging divine art unleashed the full might of blood’s yang energy—like a rising sun, anything touched was reduced to dust.

Notifications from the Book of Skills flashed continuously. The rapid increase of skill points dazzled Bai Li Feihong, intoxicating him. Pirates were, after all, the scum of the earth.

Atop the treetops, the ninja leader stood charred black like a piece of charcoal. He tumbled from the tree, his mouth moving faintly. As a Jonin, his strength rivaled martial spirit refiners, but even he could not resist the power of the divine art. His soul still burned, though more slowly than an ordinary person.

Bai Li Feihong walked over, staring coldly at the scorched man before him. The fire of life still burned, but even a god could not save him now.

“I’d hoped to spare your life and interrogate you about how many pirates you brought, but it turns out you’re pitifully weak.”

Bai Li Feihong shook his head, not bothering to finish him off immediately. In his eyes, the man was already dead.

When the Book of Skills announced a hundred points attained, Bai Li Feihong waved his hand casually, releasing his elemental fire to consume the corpse. Within a hundred yards, nothing remained but ash—yet the flowers, grasses, trees, and all creatures within were unharmed. Such was the precision of this divine art, targeting only evil.

What constituted evil was determined by Bai Li Feihong’s own judgment while wielding his martial divinity. This technique carried a judgmental law, growing more precise at the second stage.

Like the sun at its zenith, the yin energy in the area was burned away, the blood’s yang force driving back all shadow for miles. Yun Piaomiao’s hand still trembled, her heart gripped by fear. Blessed with extraordinary intuition, she sensed danger at once and retreated hundreds of meters before daring to stop. Her eyes, vacant, stared at the dissipating blood energy, but its lingering presence still warped the sky and earth, keeping her from approaching.

“A blood forger!” The thought burst into her mind and would not leave.

The Blood General who guards the capital has refined his blood eighteen times and held the imperial city safe for twenty years. In that time, no demon below the level of divine art dared enter the capital.

“His blood-forging cultivation has already broken through the supposed fivefold limit of physical refinement.”

Another prodigy in blood forging. With him here, the county was safe from harm.

“The first path of the Six Paths of Demon Suppression—the art has already been mastered by Bai Li Feihong, and he has grasped the mysteries of the blood-forging divine art.”

“Before such divine power, all martial skills are meaningless in his eyes. The first divine art of the Demon Suppression Office is no empty boast.”

“Miss Yun, should we still intervene?” Six Lin’s face was now pale with terror, all his earlier arrogance gone.

“Can the three of us withstand his Blood Quells Mountains and Rivers? This technique, the more evil it slays, the stronger it grows.” Yan Kai shook his head with a bitter smile.

They were from the Underworld, considered heretics by the imperial court. This blood-forging technique naturally restrained them. Unless they cultivated the Underworld itself, taking shelter in its power and using extreme yin to resist extreme yang, they stood no chance.

“Let’s go. This is no longer a place for us—the root of chaos here has found its cure, and trouble will not arise.” Yun Piaomiao spoke coldly.

“Report to the commander and let him decide. This is beyond us. Still, our mission wasn’t fruitless—we’ve glimpsed a Demon Suppression seedling cultivated by Gongyang Yan. That alone is a great accomplishment.”

Yun Piaomiao turned and left, never stepping into the county again. Now that the opponent was a blood forger who had mastered Blood Quells Mountains and Rivers, they were no longer people she and her peers could handle.

The Demon Suppression Office was always seeking its own seeds, passing down to them the Six Paths of Demon Suppression, favoring blood forgers above all. The scripture was tailor-made for them. With Bai Li Feihong’s talent, he was bound to become a pillar of the office.

Now that his identity was discovered, the organization could eliminate him early, removing a future threat to the Underworld.

“Have they gone?” Bai Li Feihong sensed the three powerful auras slipping away quietly.

“I don’t know what faction they belong to, but they’re certainly vigilant—able to sense my divine art in advance and evade the attack. The only thing I know is their speed; they can already rival my own Carefree Steps.”