Just as Cade was on the verge of pushing the bloodrage back, the joints in his jaw shifted, producing an audible pop. Given the chamber’s near-complete silence and the sharpness of cultivator senses, he might as well have announced his arrival with a gong.

  “Who’s there?!” Castien sprang to his feet, pulling out his longsword as his head swiveled around. The weapon had a slight yellow hue Cade had learned to recognize at first glance. Mithril.

  The Asura was hoping that Castien’s eyes were still adjusted to the light, unable to penetrate the darkness of the cavern. It was apparent the half-dead could not precisely locate the origin of the sound due to the vastness of this underground space. With the ritual interrupted, the scarlet glow released by the bloodstone gradually dimmed to nothing.

  Cade couldn’t afford to waste a single moment. He needed to drag Castien away from Jade’s unconscious body, where he could unleash his full strength without restraint. The translucent ribbons unfurled from his torso, stretching outward like two massive, tattered wings, then immediately folded behind him, propelling him forward with the full force of the bloodseeker’s natural flight laws.

  Cade cut through the air like a crimson arrow, but Castien was already on high alert. An eyeblink before the impact, the core disciple’s expression darkened and he made an evasive leap, putting his impressive agility on display.

  But this wasn’t an ordinary opponent the half-dead was facing. Cade twisted in midair, altering his flight just enough to latch onto the disciple’s arm. His black claws tore through muscle as they closed like a vise. Without slowing down, he pulled the core disciple along with him, the man’s weight seeming nonexistent in his grip.

  A sickening crunch was followed immediately by Castien’s shrill howl. The pain of having his tissues torn and the joint ripped from its socket must have been nigh-unbearable, yet his instincts were well-honed. Even in obvious agony, the half-dead swung down with his sword arm without hesitation, cutting at the dark, winged shape with a mithril blade brimming with anti-law energies.

  Cade immediately realized his sixth sense wasn’t working properly, same as with the rotting werecat. He was already used to relying on it in direct combat and didn’t expect the core disciple’s attack to arrive so fast and without warning. He simply wasn’t in a position to stop the blow from landing. Unwilling to take serious damage in their first exchange, Cade instantly released his grip on Castien, who briefly tumbled through the air. Almost immediately, a yellow-green light wrapped around the half-dead’s silhouette, stabilizing his flight.

  “Courting death!” Castien roared. Tendrils of black smoke erupted from his shoulder, covering the wound and binding torn tissues, pulling them back into place. Cade frowned, not expecting death qi to have such a capability. Yet, he wasn’t about to lose his advantage and give the half-dead more time to plan his next move. He slashed Legion downwards, slicing through the laws governing spiritual qi. He had only grasped the basics of two types of law-severing strikes, and this was one of them. Blood qi surged through the sword, and a broad arc of crimson energy shot towards the core disciple with incredible speed.

  “Hmph. Don’t try to teach a father how to make children,” Castien snarled, unleashing a fierce law-severing surge of his own. A dense bolt of rippling darkness shot forward to meet Cade’s attack—only to be cleaved cleanly in two, scattering into nothing.

  “What?!” the half-dead exclaimed, part surprised, part enraged. He didn’t know that this was the strongest law-severing attack Cade was capable of producing at his current level of understanding. Fortunately for the Death Dao disciple, his quick riposte had managed to slow and diminish the incoming discharge. Castien twisted his body to the left, moving himself out of its path.

  Yet, according to the Four Faces of War doctrine, every moment in a cultivator battle was an opportunity, and even the opponent’s evasive maneuvers could become an opening. Cade’s Blood Wings flashed, the entirety of their qi ignited for barely a thought. His body blurred, appearing next to Castien. The surprised look on half-dead's face contained a trace of dread, as he strived to shift himself away, wrapped in sickly green energy. The Asura could see beads of sweat shining on his forehead.

  Too little, too late, you undead fuck.

  Cade grinned like a mad demon, and Legion flickered through the air, striking from the exact direction the half-dead started moving towards. The dark blade swept horizontally, aiming for the soft gap between the hip and the lower ribs.

  Four Faces of War: Final Cleave!

  Legion lit up with scathing radiance, blazing with powerful severance laws. It was the worst possible angle to defend from in Castien’s position, not to mention the eye-piercing power of the exotic combat art powering the strike. Forced to burn through his qi to reverse his momentum and avoid being cut in half by the seething blade, Castien raised his sword to meet the incoming weapon at an angle, hoping to deflect the strike.

  His frantic defense would have definitely been enough if he were facing an ordinary early Skeletal Reinforcement body refiner. Alas, he had no clue about the Asura’s true strength. Two thousand spherules spun into a wild dance, and Legion slammed into the mithril blade with a metallic clang, nearly tearing the weapon out of Castien’s grip. Despite the half-dead burning through his qi reservoir to reinforce his strength, the six-foot sword still sliced several inches into his torso, stopping a finger away from his spine. The powerful severance laws within the Final Cleave diagram weren’t so easily restrained.

  Although the contact between Legion's blade and the half-dead's flesh was brief, Castien screamed as if the very essence of his being was being refined in hellfire. His face paled immensely and the worm in his brain trembled, black tendrils erupting from his wound. Unbeknownst to the half-dead, Cade’s attack was infused with the addition of blood severing laws. It was the second type of severing attack he had trained in, one he chose purely because of his innate understanding of its complexities.

  At the same time, Cade sensed a surge of emotion coming from his weapon. With an exhilarating cry, the sword spirit finally came back to life.

  “What… the fuck…” the half-dead rasped in sheer terror, spitting out foul, dark, clotted blood. His wound sizzled as steam rose up into the air. Castien pushed all his qi into flight, forcing a desperate escape while more black tendrils wrapped around his wounded side.

  “Haha! Delicious! Master, I want more!” a metallic laughter reverberated through the huge underground chamber.

  “Legion! You’re back!” Cade exclaimed excitedly into his realm of consciousness.

  The Asura wasn’t surprised at all by the disciple’s horrified reaction. Not only was the wound severe, residual anti-blood laws roasted his flesh from the inside, and Legion’s ancient formations took a bite out of his soul. Yet, the half-dead’s frenzied burning of qi paid off, and he successfully pulled away, leaving behind a glowing, green trail.

  “Master, I’m sorry for sleeping so long. Haha, this youngster’s soul tastes like shit—but beggars can’t be choosers!” the spirit responded in his thoughts, releasing a greedy chortle.

  Their exchange lasted less than an eyeblink. The Asura’s jaws clenched, and his demonic grin turned into a grimace of bloodlust. Deep inside, he knew that this was a great moment to retreat and save Jade, yet the need to kill was far too strong, and Legion’s awakening served only to reinforce it. The sword’s thrill for battle and destruction seeped into Cade’s soul through their link. With the spirit’s presence, his mediocre law-severing art attacks would reach a new, deadly height.

  Knowing he had the upper hand, Cade’s lips stretched wide, revealing two sets of sharp fangs. At some point, all of the changes in his appearance had reverted, and he couldn’t even pinpoint when it had occurred. Right now, it was of no consequence. He immediately gave chase, shooting through the air with his wings folded behind him like a bolt of scarlet light.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Despite his serious wound, the half-dead hardly slowed down. Even a Muscular Enhancement cultivator would have trouble focusing after receiving a blow that struck on three separate fronts. Cade was beginning to understand why accepting a death worm was tempting for those who sought power at any cost.

  For a short while, two trails—green and red—pierced through the darkness, spiraling around each other. Their swords clashed occasionally, the chamber’s polished walls reflecting the light as the echo of their strikes resonated through the dense stone.

  The half-dead definitely wasn’t planning on laying his head down on a chopping block. As he pushed himself to the very limits of his speed, black smoke burst from his pores, wrapping around his body and solidifying into a set of dark, heavy armor—its helmet shaped into the head of a snarling wolf. Cade suspected the armor also worked to stop the bleeding, or maybe even rejuvenate him, as Castien’s life signature began to noticeably improve.

  The disciple was maneuvering during flight with both skill and speed, and Cade grimaced—without igniting more blood qi in his wings, he was struggling to catch up. However, even that short burst he had used previously to rapidly close the distance between them had forced his body to pay the price. His bones were covered in faint cracks, and his muscles suffered small tears—a result of him pushing the blood ignition diagram to its absolute limits.

  His body was already working to heal itself, but the process wasn’t instantaneous. Briefly overloading his wings with ignited blood qi wasn’t nearly as damaging as using ignited red mist—like in the desert outside Tower Oasis. Still, repeating it in short order would force him to pay a heavy toll.

  “You don’t know who you’re fucking with, you filthy demon!” Castien spat out, clearly in pain, as he moved away at full speed, pushing off the walls to help with adjusting the direction of his flight.

  Cade knew he had to catch up quickly, but he couldn’t risk taking more internal damage without being absolutely sure the payoff would justify it. Right now, his opponent was rapidly emptying his qi reservoir. The Asura knew Castien would soon either attempt to escape or go all out on the offense, and decided it was time to regain the initiative.

  The moment Castien looked behind to check on his pursuer, a sea of glowing crimson mist exploded from the Asura’s body. The half-dead was currently flying towards another wall at full speed, crossing nearly the full width of the underground chamber in a blink. When the red mist appeared, the human part of Castien’s mind was instantly seized with terror, and his body spasmed from shock. Cade used the opportunity to burst forward, closing the distance in a flash and releasing his disabling pulse. He planned to stack the effects of both abilities, aiming to interrupt his opponent’s control over spiritual qi.

  To his surprise, the black armor didn’t vanish. Still, the combination of the mist's terror and disabling pulse wasn’t a complete failure—Castien completely lost control of his flight, smashing into the cavern wall at full speed. Stone dust and rocky shards exploded in all directions as a deafening shockwave rippled through the underground chamber, dangerously shaking the ceiling.

  As the dust cleared, a truly pitiful sight emerged. Most of Castien’s armor had evaporated into dark, flickering smoke. His body was soaked in blood, his robes in tatters, and his flesh was marred by deep, jagged fissures, with bone shards jutting through the skin in several places. The pain he must have been enduring was unimaginable, considering he probably didn’t have Cade’s tolerance.

  The fact that he was still alive was a testament to the formidable defensive powers of his protective death arts. Any other late Foundation Establishment cultivator would have been turned into a bloody splatter after barreling with such force into this extremely tough black rock.

  Yet, Castien didn’t even fall to the ground, somehow managing to initiate flight. However, he appeared to be barely holding on, his chest now standing wide open to an attack.

  Cade used this opportunity to the best of his ability.

  Four Faces of War: Piercing Thrust!

  Legion sang, radiating a red, eye-piercing light. The Asura’s body shot forward like a crimson spear, wings folded behind him, his sword pointed at his opponent’s heart, ready to deliver a death-dealing thrust. Just before the attack landed, Cade realized that Castien’s eyes were completely blank, filled with swirling black smoke. An evil sentience radiated from them, and he immediately recalled the malicious gaze of the putrid werecat.

  The half-dead’s body answered by twitching unnaturally and performing a stiff, evasive maneuver. It wasn’t enough to completely escape the the glowing blade, but it did save him from having his heart speared through. Thanks to this last-moment shift of position, Legion pierced through Castien’s ribs just above the liver, parting bone and flesh like softened butter. The sword spirit released an excited, metallic cry. A rebound from the severing laws combined with the Piercing Thrust diagram immediately turned all the blood around the wound into ruby steam.

  The right part of the half-dead’s upper torso could not bear the immense pressure rising from within and exploded into scarlet mist, freeing Legion, to the spirit’s great disappointment. Castien’s sword arm was torn away from his body by the blast, hurtling through the air only to disappear into the darkness below like discarded trash. A fountain of dark blood containing bits of steamed lungs erupted from his throat. Blood, shards of bone, and shreds of scalded flesh sprayed all over Cade’s upper body.

  The Asura didn’t believe any amount of death qi could now save Castien’s life. A hoarse, tormented screech passed through the half-dead’s throat, but Cade wasn’t giving the foul creature any chances. Swapping Legion to his left hand, he grabbed the disciple between the shoulder and the neck, nails piercing under the clavicle to secure his grip. It was very obvious the worm was now in control, struggling to mobilize the dying flesh into action.

  With Castien in his grasp, Cade’s jaw widened with a series of sickening crunches, his teeth lengthening into inch-long daggers that gleamed with piercing laws.

  Feral Path: Tearing Bite!

  His powerful upper back flexed, all the muscles in his body now working with several times more efficiency thanks to the new diagram perfecting the move. His extended jaws rapidly closed on their target, inches away from biting down on the disciple’s skull. There was simply no way for the half-dead to avoid demise, death worm or not. The powerful laws embedded into this technique would tear through mithril armor, not to mention weak, necrotic flesh.

  At least, that was Cade's assumption, but he was completely unprepared for what came next.

  “Master, save me!” A frothing, hoarse scream escaped from Castien's throat. A beam of blistering black fire, three fingers thick, unexpectedly shot out from his open mouth, piercing the right side of Cade’s neck right below the jawline and vaporizing all tissues in its way. It made an exit through the back, less than an inch away from his skull, leaving a dark, steaming hole. A gravelly chill passed through Cade’s spine before the wound erupted with searing pain, instantly overwhelming his extensive pain tolerance. The muscles in his jaw seized right before Tearing Bite reached its target. Debilitating waves washed over his mind as the smell of burning meat filled his lungs, charred flesh smoking inside his speared neck. His grip on Castien loosened, and the evil presence controlling the disciple immediately took advantage, tearing its body away.

  However, Cade had bigger problems than the half-dead’s escape from his grip. The beam carried powerful death qi which was now invading his body, spreading rapidly towards his major organs. It was the same vile energy that the rotting werecat’s claws had left behind in the deep trenches they had carved into his back. Knowing what had to be done, he immediately ignited all the blood qi in his upper body, instinctively sensing that he could not allow the withering laws to reach his voracious heart.

  The whites of his eyes turned red as two crimson rivers poured down the Asura's face. Streams of softly glowing blood surged from his ears and nose. He fell into a coughing fit, spitting out mouthfuls of blood mixed with foul, coagulated clumps. Thankfully, the huge amount of ignited blood qi rapidly overwhelmed the invading death qi, immediately arresting its progress. His cauterized neck wound began bleeding, pushing out putrid, infected blood.

  However, Cade was forced to shift his focus away from his wound upon witnessing the scene in front of him.

  Space cracked like fractured glass with a piercing shriek that stabbed into his eardrums. Then it collapsed inward—splitting open a jagged rift behind Castien’s body. Glancing directly into its depths made his eyes bleed, forcing him to avert his gaze and keep the anomaly at the edge of his vision.

  Through a red haze of blood-tears, he saw a massive hand—formed of dense black smoke—surge forth from within the dark void. It seized the half-dead man like a toy figurine, yanking him into the rift.

  “I’ll remember you, demon! Death Dao will find you!” the possessed husk howled, right before vanishing into the breach.

  A flash of scathing light erupted inside the cave, and the shattered space imploded. A huge shockwave slammed outward—hurling Cade’s body like a pebble caught in a hurricane. A torrent of blood exploded from his mouth, most of his bones instantly broke, and his organs were ruptured by the colossal energies hammering his flesh. Excruciating pain stabbed into his mind, threatening to overwhelm his consciousness.

  He knew his life hung in the balance. If he struck the ground with his current speed, not even his potent physicality would save him. Gritting his teeth, Cade desperately pushed all the ignited blood qi into his wings, trying his hardest to arrest the deadly momentum just before smashing into a massive pile of rubble.

  Short reminder: a patreon with advance chapters exists ;)

  Thanks for supporting the story!