Chapter 150: Slaughtering All Living Beings

The rise of one's reputation is bound to be accompanied by conflict. In this primeval wilderness, conflict meant slaughter, and slaughter would in turn intensify conflict. Only when the corpses and skeletons piled up like mountains beneath your feet and your name was dyed blood-red would you stand tall upon that mountain of bones, revered by all.

Although Nan Luo had already gained some renown, it was not yet enough to strike awe into the hearts of all living beings in heaven and earth. Therefore, there were bound to be those who wanted to kill him. Whether to step upon him and seize his fame, or to avenge friends and relatives, their purpose was simply to take Nan Luo's life.

The Samsara Brush pursued the blood river, and Nan Luo followed closely behind. Although he did not lose track of them, it was difficult to catch up. Yet, his inability to catch up with the Samsara Brush and the blood river did not mean others could not intercept him...

Stars filled the sky as a stream of light tore through the void, swift as a shooting star.

Someone stepped forward to block his path, shouting, "Is the comer Nan Luo of the human race?"
Nan Luo nodded in affirmation. The opponent grew furious, raising a hand to unleash a magical treasure whose momentum was overwhelming and majestic enough to shake the world. The Qingyan Sword flashed. Before the killing intent could even fully manifest, the man and his treasure were severed in two, plummeting from the sky, while Nan Luo drifted calmly onward.

Another blocked his path from the front, shouting with a voice that shook the nine heavens and an overbearing, ferocious aura, "Is the comer Nan Luo of the human race?"
Nan Luo nodded in affirmation. With a thunderous roar and teeming killing intent, the opponent transformed into a ferocious beast and lunged forward. The Qingyan Sword flashed, a streak of white light slicing through the void. Before the beast's roar had even faded, it was split in two and fell into the mountains, while Nan Luo vanished without a trace...

Suddenly, amidst the clouds of the nine heavens, a fish-dragon manifested with a sky-swallowing momentum. With a single open of its jaws, half the sky seemed to vanish. When the fish-dragon closed its mouth, Nan Luo was already gone. As the creature laughed in triumph, a streak of white light pierced out from its scale-covered back, slicing through it as easily as tofu. Before the fish-dragon's laughter could fade, it fell in two halves toward the earth, and a green figure stepped through the empty air and vanished into the distance.

Among the mountains, in a place of great ominousness, a cloud of toxic mist suddenly surged into the sky, filling the entire space and enveloping Nan Luo within it. A colorful mist emerged from the toxic vapors, followed by a streak of white light that pierced the void and plunged into the mountain. A brief, miserable cry rang out. While the toxic mist still churned ceaselessly, a figure shrouded in a faint colorful mist vanished into the horizon, leaving only a trail of colorful footprints suspended in the void...

Several figures arrived simultaneously from afar, shouting before they even drew close, "Is the comer Nan Luo of the human race?"
Nan Luo did not answer. His sword flashed, sending arcs of sword light slashing outward. Before those men could approach or even deploy their magical treasures, they were each severed in two, spraying mists of blood as they plummeted toward the earth. When one looked for Nan Luo again, only a single green shadow remained on the horizon, with a colorful footprint fading away in the wind.

Nan Luo flew through the nine heavens at an incredible speed, piercing the void like lightning. He traveled as a streak of sword light through space, only to vanish suddenly, as if stepping into another dimension. The moment Nan Luo disappeared, wild, arrogant laughter echoed from the void... Dozens of figures appeared atop the various mountain peaks below this region of space, and among them, someone loudly proclaimed, "The Divine Fire Cult Master's Myriad Transformation Void Array is indeed wondrous beyond compare."

"Ha ha————"
"Ha ha————"

As their arrogant laughter drifted and echoed through the void, a cold, clear voice mingled within it: "Delicate threads———"
The moment the voice rose, a stream of sword light surged from the void, within whose brilliance a long sword could faintly be seen.

The sword trembled lightly, and strands of delicate threads drifted outward, resembling floating willow catkins or fine white lines.

The people atop the mountain peaks were struck with terror! The moment they saw those willow-like white threads, they felt a stabbing pain in their throats, and then plunged into darkness... Head after head tumbled from their shoulders, and before they even hit the ground, Nan Luo's figure had already vanished into the horizon.

Along this journey, Nan Luo had no idea how far he had flown, nor how many people he had killed. At first, he would still answer the questions of those who blocked his path, but later on, anyone who stood in his way was slain with a single stroke of his sword. Once the sword was drawn, anything that obstructed his path was cleaved in two. In the beginning, drawing the sword felt somewhat sluggish, and his heart was reluctant to kill, feeling no particular grievance. But as he continued to kill, that sluggishness vanished entirely. His swordplay grew increasingly swift, and his mind became as translucent and clear as the sword light itself.

Unburdened by external things, acting in accord with his heart, his sword heart grew bright and clear...

Perhaps he himself had not even noticed that his flying technique had become much faster than before, and that executing each obstructionist had become increasingly effortless. With a casual wave of his sword, no matter how earth-shattering the magical treasure, it was cleaved in two. When the sword light rose, no matter how towering and arrogant the opponent, they could only surrender their heads to tumble from their shoulders, blood gushing from their severed necks.

If Nan Luo's previous swordplay against the Samsara Brush had shocked countless people, then his transformation in sword dao and realm of magical power along this journey made countless people look at him with newfound respect, engraving his image deeply into their hearts. One after another, swords of light pierced the sky, devoid of ostentation, possessing only profound stillness.

That silent intent to kill sent a chill through every heart...

Finally, he caught up with the blood river once more. The Samsara Brush was once again writing terrifying, massive characters above the blood river, attempting to grind the blood river into nothingness right here.

Nan Luo did not know what kind of existence this blood river was, but he knew it was not its true body. Although Dijiang's true body had not arrived either, this blood river was able to fight the Samsara Brush to a standstill, so its true body was likely no less formidable than Dijiang, the Ancestral Witch.

Amidst the bloody waves, the colorful butterfly transformed by Beiling still fluttered and danced along with the churning blood river. Naturally, this blood river did not stay in one place to fight the Samsara Brush; instead, it broke through the void and surged forward all the way, while blocking the sealing attacks of the Samsara Brush.

As soon as Nan Luo appeared, he attacked the Samsara Brush once more. His sword swept across the void, stirring faint ripples of sword hums... The Samsara Brush, which had been attacking the blood river, suddenly erased the character it had half-written the moment Nan Luo's sword struck, vanishing into the void to evade the Qingyan Sword.

The Qingyan Sword did not stop; it vibrated continuously, releasing wisps of silver threads that scattered through the void. The Samsara Brush seemed entirely unwilling to make contact with Nan Luo's sword, transforming into a plume of black smoke that drifted away from the sword threads. The sword threads sliced through the black smoke, failing to obstruct it in the slightest.

That black smoke seemed as though it no longer existed in this dimension of space. The moment it drifted out of the sword light's containment, it gathered once more into a pitch-black Samsara Brush and tore through the void to depart. Nan Luo pursued it once again, but the Samsara Brush still refused to entangle with him, transforming into black smoke to evade him once more.

By this time, the blood river had almost vanished from sight, and if the Samsara Brush wanted to catch up again, it would take a considerable amount of time...

Nan Luo's speed was now no longer inferior to that of the Samsara Brush, and he closed in to entangle it once more. An angry snort came from the Samsara Brush as its tip trembled, instantly forming a single character. The character was intricate, profound, and unfathomable; Nan Luo could not recognize it at all.

Although it looked bizarre and carried a faint aura capable of capturing and shaking souls, the Qingyan Sword in Nan Luo's hand still slashed outward. As the sword passed, the character scattered like black smoke, yet did not dissipate. It coiled upward along the Qingyan Sword. Nan Luo frowned, the sword light in his hand trembling and releasing billions of rays of brilliance, yet it offered no obstruction whatsoever to the coiling black smoke.

Nan Luo could sense a gloomy and eerie aura from the coiling black smoke; the moment it completely wrapped around him, he feared he would face the peril of annihilation... He immediately retreated and evaded, only to find that the distance between the black smoke and himself had not changed; it was still winding its way up the Qingyan Sword. By this moment, it had already stained the Qingyan Sword, seemingly merging with Nan Luo into a single entity, impossible to shake off or escape.

The Qingyan Sword radiated towering killing intent, blooming with lotus flowers of sword light in the void, but the black smoke existed in another dimension and remained entirely unaffected. A cluster of colorful, delicate mist overflowed from the sword, moving with it and instantly transforming into a mass of colorful clouds. It finally halted the momentum of the black smoke attempting to engulf Nan Luo. Immediately afterward, Nan Luo softly chanted the profound Daoist incantations. The colorful mist churned in response to the incantation, faintly producing a resonance with heaven and earth. It was as if the colorful mist had formed an independent space, finally trapping the black smoke within it. Drawing back his presence, Nan Luo retreated, while the Samsara Brush and the blood river had already vanished without a trace.

His green robes fluttered as he pursued them once again.

Nan Luo could not fathom why Dijiang would prevent the blood river from returning, but in his heart, he knew it was certainly not merely because the blood river devoured living beings; perhaps it was for some other reason entirely. Earlier, countless individuals had blocked Nan Luo's path, attempting to kill him—some for revenge, others harboring alternative motives to slay him and seize his treasures. Open assaults, stealthy ambushes, and all manner of divine arts and secret techniques had all been shattered by a single stroke of Nan Luo's sword. Following that, such people grew fewer and fewer, until he caught up with the blood river and the Samsara Brush once more, and not a single one appeared again.

Unwittingly, through this entire chase, he had reached the extreme West.

In the distance, bloody waves surged to the heavens, and the Samsara Brush hung above the nine heavens, radiating a vast and terrifying aura. Yet before the blood river, several figures stood in obstruction. Though they had not yet made a move, their intent to block was clear, and they were evidently no weaklings. Among them was even one person who filled Nan Luo with astonishment.

"It's her... Why would she be here too? Ah, of course... she is also of the Wu tribe, so it is only natural that she might be here."

Seeing from afar that the blood river seemed already surrounded, he nevertheless charged forward with resolute determination, his flight speed unabated and his aura completely unhidden.

Today, perhaps, he would truly face the supreme powerhouses of heaven and earth. There was not the slightest trace of fear within him, nor was there any excitement; there was only a profound stillness, as tranquil as an ancient well, where everything unfolded as naturally as water flowing to form a channel.

*(PS: The second chapter might be a little late.)*