The Regressor of Mount Hua-Chapter 343. Hell Itself (2)

"Soul Lock!"

The Phantom Sovereign gave the command.

Rattle!!

Ten of the sixty or so Phantoms threw something—not their usual daggers, but chains forged by Gan Yezi.

Though they were originally made as a test to deal with cold iron, that didn't mean that it was a flawed prototype.

The chains flew straight at first, then curved in midair.

Ten chains twisted and weaved like serpents before wrapping tightly around Destructive Soldier, binding his limbs and torso.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xuchuan rotated his wrist and raised his sword diagonally, still pressed against the spear.

Before the spear could slip away, he redirected the sword upward, then brought it down with full force.

There's a crack in the armor.

While his attack had partly been a shot in the dark, he had succeeded.

Although the crack's size was insignificant, that was enough. It meant that the attacks they had made so far were effective.

No matter how legendary a metal that is, it still has its limits.

As absurd as it was that even Formless Aura could not pierce it, no material was truly invincible.

Even if the metal was known to disperse aura, it stood no chance if attacked with overwhelming force before it had a chance to fully dissipate the impact of a prior strike.

In other words, there was a limit to the amount of force it could endure.

The Black Iron Armor’s threshold was not particularly low. It could withstand an entire sexagenary cycle’s worth of qi.

However, even if the Black Iron Armor was forged entirely out of Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, the opponent was just too ridiculous.

Even among Absolute Masters of the Coruscant Realm, Zhou Xuchuan was unrivaled in terms of qi reserves. Moreover, Destructive Soldier had to withstand the attacks of ninety-nine experts.

Left arm, underneath!

When it came to armor, the thickness of the metal wasn't uniform throughout.

For example, in the cases of joints, if the armor didn't bend well or impeded the movement of the surrounding metal, it would end up limiting the movement of the body itself.

Even though armor was meant to protect the body, those areas had to be made thinner, as the armor itself would be completely useless if one couldn't move within it.

In other words, the armor in those areas was somewhat weaker than compared to other parts.

This principle applied to most armor, except in rare cases like this, where the material was Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron.

There's no such thing as perfection in the world!

Shing!

The sword that had knocked the spear upward paused in midair.

Time seemed to slow. The inertia that had been resisting the motion faded, and the air itself felt still, the resistance vanishing completely.

The sword descended, not abruptly, but as if it had always been meant to follow that path. As if the flow of time had reversed.

Bang!

The movement didn’t end there. The arm that had drawn a diagonal line suddenly flicked sideways and halted, with the sword following that precise trajectory.

At that moment, a flash of light flickered as the slash tore through the air and struck the crack that had first appeared.

Crack!!

A sharp metallic sound rang out. Zhou Xuchuan inwardly cheered at the feeling of the metal splitting beneath his fingers.

“...!”

Inside the helmet, Destructive Soldier’s expression shifted. For the first time, he felt a genuine sense of danger.

As expected of a master who had achieved the pinnacle of martial arts, his speed at noticing changes in his body and the way he sensed shock was extraordinary.

The Black Iron Armor?!

The instant his unshakable belief crumbled, Destructive Soldier quickly acted.

"GRAH!!"

He drew out his inner strength from deep within his lower abdomen.

The eyes behind the helmet glowed crimson. As if resonating with the red light, flames swayed like snakes from the tip of the Flame Point Spear.

Creak, creak, creaaak!

As he braced and pushed with his upper body, the iron chains tightened further.

Like snakes that refused to let go of their prey, they tightened their links as if they were going to crush his bones. However, that was nothing but a nuisance to Destructive Soldier.

While the ten Phantoms tried to hold out, Destructive Soldier overcame the bindings with brute strength and broke the chains.

Crack, crack, clang!

The links that were connected to each other broke. Some had half-melted from the heat.

Six Directions Spear, Third Direction!

He grasped the lower part of the spear with his left hand and the upper part with his right, leaving a wide gap between both grips.

Groan.

He tightened his core. His trained abs flexed, and starting from his trapezius, his entire arm swelled with muscle.

‘Sweep Across a Thousand Soldiers!’

Just once.

He swung the spear horizontally just once.

He poured every drop of desperate willpower into that one motion. He exerted so much force that his meridians and muscles tore. No—they ruptured. The wind raged due to the movement of the spear. It wasn’t just a gust of wind, it was a storm. The very air was crushed and swept away.

The flames that had formed on the spear's body were compressed, unable to maintain their form, and instead were transformed into a crimson spear aura.

Then, a loud noise struck their eardrums.

BOOM!

“...!”

The group of Phantoms that had tied up Destructive Soldier’s body couldn’t hold on.

Not only had they lost the weapons they were holding, they couldn't even control their own bodies. They were simply hit by the spear and collapsed.

Crunch!

It truly was a shock. If it hadn't been for their Mind Killing training, they would have been completely frozen in astonishment.

The moment they were hit by the spear, they couldn’t hold on at all.

The group of Phantoms flew like weeds swept by a natural disaster without any resistance, and crashed into the ground or walls.

"Cough!"

The area where their mouths should be under the mask turned red as the focus in their eyes went out.

It was an instant kill.

How terrifying, Six Directions Spear!

Zhou Xuchuan couldn’t keep his mouth shut this time either.

It was truly the Divine Art of the Spear God.

If I had tried to block it instead of dodging, I wouldn't have been safe even if I used a defensive qi barrier.

He had narrowly avoided the attack by dropping flat on the ground like a frog.

As for the rest of the Phantoms, they had kept their distance from Destructive Soldier, meaning that they were lucky to survive.

"You loach-like bastard!"

Destructive Soldier’s face twisted in anger.

The Third Direction, Sweep Across a Thousand Soldiers, was a technique for targeting a large force.

But for all its destructive power and wide range, its motions were broad and repetitive.

So, he had used it only once he had been 'captured', thinking that Zhou Xuchuan would let his guard down. However, it had failed.

"You're the tiresome one!"

The Black Iron Armor, the Flame Point Spear, the Six Directions Spear.

They were all ridiculous.

It was obvious how powerful the strongest among Harmony Realm Masters would be if they were given unrivaled artifacts and a divine art.

The wall between the Harmony Realm and the Coruscant Realm wasn't even low—Zhou Xuchuan never expected Destructive Soldier to be this threatening.

"HA!"

The two men’s voices overlapped almost perfectly.

At the same time, a sword and a spear clashed in the air.

BOOM!

This wasn't the sound of metal scraping metal.

This was an explosive sound, like siege weapons clashing against each other.

Neither Zhou Xuchuan nor Destructive Soldier stopped moving. When their attacks were blocked, they would move on to the next. Their speed was like lightning.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Every time the purple and red flashed, a shockwave erupted. The dirt and dust at their feet also dispersed like fog.

The group of now fifty Phantoms, kept their distance and endured, crossing their arms before them like a shield.

"Why?!" Destructive Soldier asked.

"Just why must you...?!"

He had lived his whole life in the hell of war.

He had endured so much just to escape that hell.

He had pledged allegiance to the Dark Heavens Association Lord and prayed for freedom.

It hadn't been easy. Sometimes, he thought that he might have chosen another hell to replace his own.

However, no matter what, that dreamlike world called the murim seemed better than the hell of the imperial government and the hell of the nation.

"Just why must you go so far to interfere like this?!" Destructive Soldier shouted in anger.

"I! I! I just wanted to escape that hell!!!"

In the midst of the blazing sword strikes, the past flashed before his eyes.

When he had been drafted and had first gone to war, he had hidden among the corpses and somehow survived while losing all the liquid he had within and on him.[1]

After that, he had been assigned to a Ten Man Unit. The Ten Man Commander had kindly taught him how to swing a spear, saying that he reminded him of his son.

That very next day, the entire Ten Man Unit was completely wiped out except for him.

After that was more of the same.

He met many people and made connections throughout the war.

However, the blasted wars of this nation had taken everything away from him.

The friends that he had shared drinks with, the comrades he had fought back to back with, the lover he had fallen in love with in a single night—they all disappeared in the fire of war.

He had covered his comrades’ bodies with blankets and washed his body with blood instead of water.

He had fallen asleep to screams serving as lullabies.

People died yesterday.

People died today.

And people would die tomorrow.

Fourth Direction!

Destructive Soldier slightly loosened his grip on the spear.

It wasn’t because he had lost strength. It was to allow the Six Directions Spear to connect properly.

Though it looked like the spear was slipping from his fingers, strangely, it began to rotate in the air.

It appeared to have no connection to Destructive Soldier’s hand, but that wasn’t the case.

The qi surrounding the spear wrapped around its body, forming a swirling air current that caused it to spin.

It wasn’t being manipulated through the air like with Spatial Manipulation. Instead, it was controlled by the wind forming between his fingers.

Void Returning Spear![2]

Whir!!!

Destructive Soldier's Divine Soldier Qi matched the divine art of the Spear God.

The rapidly rotating spear released a destructive power that was no less than that of a demonic art.

He pushed forward towards the enemy, being careful not to touch the spear with his flesh and create friction.

Zhou Xuchuan faced the oncoming spear head-on, its rotation tearing through the air as if it were cutting beyond the void itself.

Does he want to die together?

In an instant, time slowed down again.

Destructive Soldier’s eyes moved up, down, left, and right.

He looked toward Zhou Xuchuan’s feet, guessed what direction the sword would come from, and tried to predict his next movements.

Zhou Xuchuan would attack in a straight line. However, it was too late. His spear would hit first.

It seems like he's trying to scare me off with his sword and make me dodge, but it's no use.

Destructive Soldier didn’t hesitate even a bit. He didn’t have any worries.

Even if I have to give up my left shoulder, I’ll kill you!

Exchanging an arm to kill Zhou Xuchuan was more than worth it.

A thrill rushed through him as he confronted Zhou Xuchuan.

He's not human.

No matter what words he used to describe that monster, they wouldn't be enough. Zhou Xuchuan surpassed the concepts of monster and human. The Dark Heavens Association Lord came to mind when Destructive Soldier thought of that swordsman.

This is the end...

Shing!

His spear passed by.

What?

There was a sharp piercing sound.

The problem was that there was no resistance. He hadn't hit Zhou Xuchuan's forehead.

Pfft!!

Blood spurted out as his spear drew a thin line of blood on Zhou Xuchuan’s cheek and lightly touched his hair.

It missed?

Zhou Xuchuan hadn’t dodged. Destructive Soldier had been the one who moved.

That was why it was even more unbelievable. There was no way that he, of all people, would make a mistake on a battlefield where his life was at stake.

Even if all the bad luck in the world were to gather together, it was impossible.

In the red light behind the helmet, his focus narrowed in the fading glare.

“Don’t forget that you are alone right now.”

His shock and disbelief disappeared, and instead, another question arose.

He could feel a weight on his arm.

When he turned his eyes to the side, the girl who had been annoying him like an insect earlier could be seen grabbing his arm tightly.

A Phantom? No, that's impossible.

Even though he was in the middle of using a Direction of the Six Directions Spear, he wasn't one to be affected even if he were to be grabbed by an outsider.

The technique wasn't called the Greatest Spear Technique Under the Heavens for nothing. While it was monotonous as it only had six forms, its strength was its defining characteristic.

Even if a Harmony Realm Master tried to restrain him, they wouldn't have been able to affect his strike.

While it might have been different if the one messing with him was an absolute master like the Six Empyrean Overlords, that wasn't the case here. He racked his brain, wondering what was going on.

In that split second, questions and doubts followed one another, and soon the answer was given.

My breathing...?

His breathing was strange.

One's breathing was the beginning and the end of martial arts. If one's breathing was affected in the middle, the movement of one's body would shift.

His breathing was wrong. He wondered if there was something wrong with his lungs or his airway, but that couldn’t be the case.

"Aren't you out of breath because of all that fire, Destructive Soldier?” Zhou Xuchuan asked coldly.

The great cave they were in was located underground. Naturally, the air would be thin.

“You... bastard..."

Although the surroundings were wide, if he kept shooting fire every time he swung his spear, there would naturally be changes.

"You... BASTARD!!!"

Unless one could survive by breathing only once a day using the Great Tortoise Breath Technique, one wouldn't be human if there wasn't any problem with such little oxygen in the air.

“Zhou Xuchuaaaaaaaaan!”

Even for Destructive Soldier who was familiar with battlefields, he had never fought in such a special place.

Even if the Black Iron Armor enhanced his physical abilities and blocked all poison, it couldn't create air that didn't exist.

"If you insist on creating a new hell just so you can escape your own."

Destructive Soldier's vision spun. His head was spinning because his brain was lacking oxygen. His senses dulled. Eventually, he mustered up his strength and stretched out his left hand.

“I will become that new hell.”

Squelch!

1. He lost his actual water, and also cried, bled, pissed, and shit. ☜

2. In Korean, the word for rotating and the word for returning have synonyms. Thus, it's a spinning spear that returns things to the void (aka destroys everything). ☜