The Demonic Supreme Sword Novel - Chapter 91

Chapter 91
## Chapter 91: Night Drenched in Crimson (3)

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Crash!

A violent impact, reminiscent of a sledgehammer slamming into a metal sheet, echoed through the air as Cheol Woo’s massive frame was forced several paces back.

A deluge of sword phantoms trailed him relentlessly.

Cheol Woo recognized that the majority of these blades were mere optical illusions, yet he could not afford to drop his guard. Several times already, the genuine steel hidden within that shimmering haze had bitten into him. His Diamond Body technique prevented any single strike from being fatal, but the cumulative internal trauma was becoming a serious burden.

It was this same deceptive swordsmanship that had allowed Feng Tianlei to land those earlier blows.

‘The Ghost Phantom Clan… they are a persistent plague.’

In the chaotic landscape of the demonic realms, the Ghost Phantom Clan was notorious for their mastery of misdirection and phantom blades. While they lacked sheer physical dominance, their guile made them a nightmare to corner. During the bloody campaign to unite the cult, the Divine Demon Division had found them to be one of the most frustrating obstacles in their path.

As Cheol Woo swung the Tyrant’s Sixteen Fists to shatter the pursuing illusions, a surge of killing intent erupted from Feng Tianlei—the man who had just struck his sternum—accompanied by a lethal palm strike.

Simultaneously, a wave of blistering heat surged toward his spine.

There was no need to look.

Only Ma Sogwan, the leader of the Crimson Flame Clan, possessed such a searing, scorched-earth signature.

‘I should have made sure he stayed down.’

Cheol Woo’s expression darkened into a grimace.

Despite being on the verge of death, Ma Sogwan pressed the attack with the frantic desperation of a cornered beast. He had abandoned all thought of self-preservation, throwing himself into a suicidal gambit for revenge.

Yet, the most persistent thorn in Cheol Woo’s side was Yin Xuehui of the Ten Thousand Poison Valley.

Loss had transformed her; the memory of her family being slaughtered before her eyes served as her only fuel. Her previously striking features had been warped into a mask of horror by the sheer intensity of her forbidden poison cultivation. Her skin, once fair, now pulsed with a sickly emerald radiance.

Her hands, visible under the moon’s cold glow, were as dark and polished as obsidian. They carried a lethality that promised certain death to anyone they brushed.

The coordinated assault of these four masters, fueled by a shared, fanatical hatred, was airtight and devastating.

Had it not been for Cheol Woo’s peerless physical resilience, his vast reserves of inner qi, and a martial style capable of leveling peaks, he would have been overwhelmed in the opening seconds of the fray.

“Hyah!”

Letting out a guttural roar, Cheol Woo activated the Wind Shadow Step, weaving dangerously through the gaps in their formation. He countered with a relentless storm of strikes.

He met Feng Tianlei’s frontal charge with the Crashing Heaven Drop and pivoted instantly to launch the same devastating technique at Yin Xuehui on his flank and Ma Sogwan at his rear.

Sensing a fleeting window of opportunity, Feng Tianlei unleashed his sect’s most forbidden art: the Bloodless Palm Method.

This sinister technique was designed to liquify a target’s internal organs while leaving the skin completely intact—a perfect counter to a martial artist who relied on external durability like Cheol Woo.

The dark, insidious energy of the Bloodless Palm collided directly with the force of the Crashing Heaven Drop.

In terms of raw momentum, Cheol Woo held the advantage, but the Bloodless Palm was not a technique of force. A serpentine energy slithered past the impact, seeking his vitals.

Cheol Woo tried to shift his weight to avoid the brunt of it, but Jwa Muk’s strike from behind and a concealed projectile that managed to pierce his defensive shroud caught him off balance.

Thump!

With a heavy, wet sound, Cheol Woo’s powerful body lost its footing and tumbled across the dirt.

Jwa Muk lunged forward, his blade flashing in the moonlight.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Wave after wave of sword qi hammered into Cheol Woo as he rolled across the ground.

A manic light flickered in Jwa Muk’s eyes. Previously, hitting the giant felt like striking a mountain of granite, but now, the resistance was fading. He could feel the blade finally biting deep.

Just a little more. The moment of vengeance was at hand.

The surrounding warriors watched in a trance, caught up in the same bloodlust as Jwa Muk continued his frantic hacking.

“B-Brother!”

“No!”

In the distance, Noejeon and Hahuyeon were locked in their own desperate struggles. They saw Cheol Woo falling but were too far away and too besieged to help. Hahugok was nowhere to be seen; even if he were present, facing the combined might of One Sword Transcends Fate and the Small Face Killer would have been a tall order.

Finally, Cheol Woo’s movements ceased.

Jwa Muk, gasping for air and drenched in sweat, stared at the motionless form and began to laugh hysterically.

“Hahaha! It is finished! When you reach the underworld, beg for mercy from my kin, Diamond Yaksha!”

Trembling with adrenaline, Jwa Muk raised his weapon for the final execution.

In that silence, a low, gravelly voice spoke directly to him.

“I don’t think so.”

Cheol Woo’s hand, seemingly lifeless moments ago, snapped upward and clamped onto Jwa Muk’s ankle.

“Get back!”

Feng Tianlei’s warning came too late.

“Die!” Jwa Muk screamed, thrusting his sword down, but Cheol Woo’s left hand caught the steel mid-air.

Snap!

The blade shattered like brittle wood.

In the same heartbeat, Cheol Woo jerked Jwa Muk’s leg toward him, unleashing his full strength. No human anatomy could endure the grip of a man who broke high-grade steel with his bare hands. Furthermore, the dark essence of the Ink Gang Asura Qi surged through the contact point, flooding Jwa Muk’s system.

An agonizing sensation raced from his ankle to his skull—a pain so intense it transcended human endurance.

“Aaaagh!”

A blood-curdling shriek escaped Jwa Muk as his eyes nearly rolled back in his head.

Cheol Woo flung the jagged remains of the broken sword at the approaching Feng Tianlei to halt his advance, then slowly hauled himself to his feet.

“The underworld? You’re going first. Give them my regards.”

Cheol Woo didn’t wait for a response. With a chilling grin, he slammed Jwa Muk’s broken body into the earth with terrifying force.

A single impact was all it took.

The sheer kinetic energy pulverized Jwa Muk’s skeleton from top to bottom. His life vanished instantly.

Casting aside the mangled remains of the man, Cheol Woo turned his cold gaze toward Yin Xuehui.

“That poison of yours… it actually stings.”

While Feng Tianlei’s palm had caused internal damage, the true reason Cheol Woo had been forced to take those hits from Jwa Muk was the hidden weapon lodged in his side.

Yin Xuehui had utilized a needle crafted from ice jade, a material born from the deepest frost of the eternal peaks. Ice jade was legendary for its ability to bypass protective qi—a treasure of incalculable value. In the golden age of the Ten Thousand Poison Valley, they had spent a king’s ransom to forge only ten of these Dragon Slayer Nails.

They were feared not just for their piercing power, but because they were saturated with the most concentrated toxins the valley had ever produced.

With the Dragon Slayer Nail in his flank, Cheol Woo had to divert his energy to contain the poison, leaving him vulnerable to Jwa Muk. He hadn’t been able to purge it, only lock it down.

“I saved those just for a monster like you,” Yin Xuehui hissed, her voice dripping with malice. She thrust her hand forward again.

A mechanical fire tube in her palm detonated, spraying a fan of light toward Cheol Woo’s eyes.

Simultaneously, Ma Sogwan charged like a vengeful ghost. His body was a shell, battered by the backlash of hitting Cheol Woo’s Ink Gang Asura Qi. His internal organs were failing, and he was held together by nothing but sheer will.

Cheol Woo hoisted Jwa Muk’s corpse and used it as a macabre shield.

Most of the needles buried themselves in the dead flesh, though a few grazed Cheol Woo’s face. Without the ice jade’s piercing quality, they failed to penetrate his skin.

He spun his body, using the momentum to whip the corpse around just as Ma Sogwan arrived, spitting blood with every breath. Sensing the desperate, explosive energy of Ma Sogwan’s final strike, Cheol Woo knew he couldn’t take it lightly in his weakened state.

Relying on the instincts honed through a thousand battles, he hurled Jwa Muk’s body directly into Ma Sogwan’s path.

As Ma Sogwan sliced through the remains, Cheol Woo’s fist followed through, striking the corpse from behind. The body exploded in a shower of gore and bone, blinding Ma Sogwan for a crucial second.

By the time Ma Sogwan cleared the blood from his eyes, Cheol Woo was already on him.

“If you’re so eager for death—”

The air groaned as Cheol Woo’s arm wound up, creating a vacuum.

“—go alone!”

The compressed energy detonated at the point of impact.

Ma Sogwan didn’t even have time to scream. His chest cavity collapsed as he was launched backward, tumbling nearly thirty feet before coming to a rest, motionless.

“You animal!”

Feng Tianlei surged forward with the Bloodless Palm Method.

Cheol Woo knew the man was dangerous. His style was the perfect antithesis to Cheol Woo’s defense. Ignoring the strain on his meridians, Cheol Woo funneled every remaining drop of qi into his guard.

As he absorbed the blow, a sharp prick stung the back of his neck.

He reached back instinctively, his fingers closing around something small and moving.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

He stared at the snow-white serpent writhing in his hand. Its tongue was a void of black, and its eyes glowed with a crimson intensity. He hadn’t sensed it at all; it had somehow slipped past his defensive aura.

“You’ve been bitten by White Fang, the sovereign of toxins… it’s over for you…”

Yin Xuehui’s triumphant sneer vanished.

Cheol Woo leaned down and bit the snake’s head off.

“Tastes worse than dirt.”

He spat out the head and crunched down on the rest of the body before spitting the remains away in disgust. It was a petty act of defiance.

Then, his vision blurred.

The toxins were beginning to take hold. Being bitten so close to the heart allowed the venom to spread with terrifying speed. The previously suppressed poison from the Dragon Slayer Nail began to surge again.

‘Focus!’

Fever dreams began to encroach on his reality. Images of his youth, the brutal training in Black Dragon Valley, the camaraderie of the unification wars, and his quiet days as a butcher flickered like shadows on a wall.

He shook his head violently to dispel the fog.

As he staggered, he saw Noejeon falling to his knees. He saw Gwayu clutching a ruined eye, and Hahuyeon taking a blow intended for his comrade.

A single, ironclad resolve unified his fracturing mind.

‘I have to save them.’

He bit his tongue until the copper taste of blood snapped him back to the present.

He moved.

With a final burst of Wind Shadow Step, he appeared beside Noejeon in an instant.

With one hand, he tore the head from an assassin reaching for Noejeon’s throat. With a backhand, he cleaved through an enemy striking at Hahuyeon.

A massive pressure built up behind him.

Gritting his teeth against the agony, Cheol Woo channeled everything he had left into one final strike.

The pinnacle of the Crashing Heaven Three Strikes: Heaven Shattering Annihilation.

Cheol Woo’s fist collided with the peak of Feng Tianlei’s Bloodless Palm—the Heaven Breaking Calamity—and the toxic mist of Yin Xuehui’s palms.

BOOM!

The resulting shockwave sent Yin Xuehui flying like a broken doll. Her face, caught in the backlash of the Ink Gang Asura Qi, was a mask of shattered features.

Feng Tianlei was knocked back seven paces, his clothes in tatters and his left arm hanging uselessly from a pulverized shoulder.

Despite their agony, the two survivors managed a weak grin.

Cheol Woo had collapsed to the ground, vomiting dark blood. To any observer, he was finished.

“Heh… you’re smiling? You fools… you’re already dead…”

Cheol Woo let out a jagged, raspy laugh.

Compelled by a sudden chill of dread, Feng Tianlei and Yin Xuehui followed the direction of his dying gaze.