Chapter 1. Prelude

“Huff, huff!”

It’s tough.

My stomach has been churning for a long time, and my lungs feel like they’re about to tear. My limbs, which have been overworked the most, wobble like jelly.

Even the long sword, which felt as light as a switch, now weighs like hundreds of kilograms of iron.

I wait for my erratic breathing to calm down, and suddenly something surges up from inside my chest.

“Ughh!!”

Damn, did I eat ox blood soup this morning?

My vision blurred. I couldn’t regain my senses, as if I had lost too much blood all at once.

‘Move, move!’

I bit my tongue. The shocking pain made me snap back to reality.

Snap!

The scenery on both sides of me changed rapidly as I started running forward again.

‘Just a little more...’

If I can get out of this forest, there’s a secret hideout I’ve prepared.

There, I’ve stored all kinds of rare medicinal herbs and ingredients. If I can make it there safely, I can easily infuse life into this body that’s on the brink of death.

Just then.

‘Huh?!”

Someone leaped down, blocking the bright moonlight.

‘Damn. What a remarkable stealth technique.’

A pitch-black sword, appearing out of nowhere, aimed for my shoulder like a bolt of lightning.

Qianxiatian’s eyes wavered.

‘Death Lord!’

The most formidable assassin in the southern part of the Central Plains, striking at the perfect moment.

Qianxiatian instinctively twisted his body.

Swish!

The masked figure who was about to fall had a deep sword wound carved into his chest.

He had killed one of the top three assassins in the world with a single strike. Normally, he might have given him a glance, but now was not the time.

There was no time to savor the moment.

Crack!

How long had he been running?

‘Suck!’

Qianxiatian suddenly stopped and looked around.

The forest at night. The view was not clear. Although his eyes could pierce the darkness as well as anyone’s, the trees were densely packed.

‘...’

His heavy breathing suddenly stopped. In the extreme crisis, his body had become calm.

Qianxiatian took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

A moment later.

“Come out.”

A voice filled with admiration came from far ahead.

“Impressive?”

Thud, thud.

A woman approached, revealing herself completely, as if there was no reason to hide her presence.

Swoosh.

The aura she exuded was so powerful that it seemed to make the thick trees on either side of her path tilt.

Qianxiatian’s face contorted like crumpled paper.

There are many people he doesn’t like in the world, but one of the people he dislikes the most has appeared.

“Fei Yaowang.”

The woman smiled.

“It’s an honor that you remember me. Was it about five or six years ago?”

She looked like she was just in her thirties and exuded a refined aura, but Qianxiatian wasn’t fooled by her appearance.

She might look like she can’t even kill a bug, but in reality, she’s a deranged killer who suffers from insomnia if she doesn’t kill someone every day.

Swish.

Fei Yaowang smirked at Qianxiatian, who was pointing his sword at her.

“Want to fight?”

“We don’t have the hobby of offering our necks so easily.”

“Just go easily? You won’t even last a few moves.”

“Long or short, you’ll know when we fight.”

“Do you really need to fight to know what’s obvious?”

“Sure, you’re so knowledgeable. Will I be as wise as you when I’m sixty?”

Fei Yaowang’s face turned cold.

She looked like she was in her thirties, but she was actually over sixty. She maintained her youthful beauty with a youth-preserving technique.

Naturally, she was sensitive about her age.

Fei Yaowang snorted.

“What won’t you do to die?”

“You think I’ll beg for my life?”

“At least I can spare you the pain of having your ribs torn out before you die.”

What a cruel woman.

Qianxiatian’s eyes turned red with anger.

“Come on, get it over with, you bitch.”

“Really? You seem to have some trick up your sleeve?”

“What’s there to be afraid of from a sixty-year-old old lady who can only talk?”

Fei Yaowang stared at Qianxiatian, who was spouting rough words as if he had made up his mind.

‘...Not good.’

Cold sweat trickled down Qianxiatian’s back.

Fei Yaowang was one of the Ten Great Martial Artists. With her skills, which were among the best in the vast Central Plains, she was a monster.

Of course, Qianxiatian was no different.

He was also known as the King of Assassins and was counted among the Ten Great Martial Artists.

The problem was that his martial arts were specialized in assassination rather than direct combat. Moreover, his body was in the worst condition after days of pursuit.

The outcome of the fight was clear to anyone.

Of course, it would be different if he used the one move that had helped him survive all the crises so far.

Whizz.

As a blue aura enveloped Qianxiatian’s long sword, Fei Yaowang’s eyes sparkled.

The aura emanating from the sword was not ordinary.

To be able to produce such an aura with a body that could collapse at any moment, he truly deserved to be called one of the Ten Great Martial Artists.

However, she was not surprised by Qianxiatian’s strength.

“It’s true.”

“What?”

“That you were a trained assassin raised by the Yitian Alliance.”

“...!”

Qianxiatian’s face stiffened.

Fei Yaowang smiled.

“Indeed, there was a reason why the Iron Blood City entrusted a mission to me.”

While the Yitian Alliance pursued the righteous path, the Iron Blood City aimed for the path of dominance, straddling the line between good and evil.

The reason the Iron Blood City entrusted a mission to Fei Yaowang.

“Your inner energy is tainted with repulsive righteous energy and immortal energy. It’s definitely from the Nine Great Sects.”

This was because Fei Yaowang had inherited the ultimate techniques of the Evil God, a hero of the evil sects in the past.

Except for the demonic arts of the Heavenly Demon Sect, which had been inactive for over thirty years, her martial arts were the most sensitive and accurate in detecting orthodox martial arts.

“What difference does it make to know that?”

“It makes a difference.”

Fei Yaowang’s eyes gleamed.

“Many things can change.”

Qianxiatian didn’t ask what those things were.

He adjusted his breathing slightly and said,

“You were the one who recruited Death Lord and the Blood Killing Tower for the Iron Blood City.”

Fei Yaowang smiled.

“Right. And the elite forces of the Eight Iron Kings that you wiped out over the past four days were all from the Iron Blood City.”

“...”

“I’m really impressed. Even if your goal was to capture them alive, I’m curious how you managed to kill so many experts.”

Fei Yaowang’s surprise was not unfounded.

The Eight Iron Kings were the eight major forces supporting the current Iron Blood City.

Although their numbers were small, each was an organization composed of peak experts. He had killed over two hundred of them alone and managed to escape.

Even more shockingly, just the day before, he had slaughtered the Heaven and Earth Twin Freaks, whose strength was close to that of the Ten Great Martial Artists, in just half an hour.

Considering his physical and internal injuries, it was a truly terrifying feat.

He was not just the King of Assassins but could be called a God of Death.

The reason for this was one.

“Indeed, you’ve learned the martial arts of the Nine Great Sects. And not just any, but their secret techniques.”

Qianxiatian didn’t respond. Denying it would be futile, and it was the truth.

Qianxiatian, who had been staring at Fei Yaowang, suddenly smirked.

“I understand why you, who prefers spilling blood over talking, are so talkative.”

“What do you mean? Guess.”

“It’s an extension of the Iron Blood City’s plan to capture me alive. They want the secret techniques of the Nine Great Sects and the confidential information of the Yitian Alliance from me.”

Fei Yaowang smiled.

“You’re smart.”

It was a fact that anyone who wasn’t completely stupid could figure out with a little thought.

However, Qianxiatian had been running and fighting for four days without sleep.

The ability to observe the situation so calmly, even in a body that could die at any moment, was not something just anyone could do.

But Qianxiatian’s insight didn’t stop there.

“Of course, you don’t plan to stop there, do you?”

“What?”

“The secret techniques of the Nine Great Sects and the confidential information, you plan to take everything for yourself, ignoring the Iron Blood City’s request, don’t you?”

Fei Yaowang’s face stiffened.

Qianxiatian sighed, looking up at the sky.

“Why are there so many unprincipled people in the martial world?”

The Yitian Alliance, under the guise of justice, secretly trained assassins like him.

They didn’t just train them; they threw them into a hell where they had to kill each other to survive. He was only thirteen at the time.

The Yitian Alliance trained assassins so fiercely for one reason.

To kill the leaders of the other two major forces in the martial world, the Iron Blood City and the Heavenly Demon Sect, and create a world dominated by the Yitian Alliance.

And Qianxiatian grew very strong according to the Yitian Alliance’s wishes.

Fei Yaowang smacked her lips.

“You’re incredibly perceptive.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

He had a strangely enlightened look on his face.

Fei Yaowang tried to persuade him with kind words.

“You don’t need anything else. The confidential documents of the Yitian Alliance are fine, but what use are they to me, who prefers solitude? However...”

Her eyes sparkled.

“The secret techniques of the Nine Great Sects. If you give me that, I’ll spare your life.”

“I’m already dying. It’s not a very attractive deal.”

“Because of the Blood Puppet?”

Qianxiatian’s eyes widened.

“You know about the Blood Puppet?”

Fei Yaowang snorted.

“I inherited the ultimate techniques of the Evil God. I’m well-versed in evil arts and all kinds of poisons.”

“...I see.”

“And with my evil arts, I can remove the Blood Puppet from your body.”

Blood Puppet.

The worst means the Yitian Alliance used to control the overly powerful Qianxiatian. As long as the Blood Puppet was dormant in his body, he could never betray the Yitian Alliance.

Qianxiatian smirked.

Fei Yaowang flinched.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Hey, Fei old lady.”

“...”

“Did you really think I was being chased by the Iron Blood City?”

“What?”

Qianxiatian playfully twirled his long sword.

“You kept saying four days, four days. That’s right. I was chased by the Iron Blood City for four days.”

“So?”

“It’s been seven days now. I was being chased by the Yitian Alliance.”

Fei Yaowang felt a chill run down her spine at Qianxiatian’s words, which he spat out as if he was fed up.

So, he had killed all those experts with a body that had already fought off the Yitian Alliance’s forces?

“Why did the Yitian Alliance... Did you, by any chance, decipher the Blood Puppet?”

Qianxiatian remained silent.

She was right. Seven days ago, he had deciphered the Blood Puppet.

The Yitian Alliance immediately detected it.

Unlike other poisons, the Blood Puppet was divided into male and female. If one died, the other would also be affected.

‘Damn it.’

He gritted his teeth.

He had been biding his time for thirty years to escape the hell of the Yitian Alliance.

He had known how to decipher the Blood Puppet five years ago. But at the time, he didn’t have the confidence to escape their all-encompassing net.

The past five years of hard training were for that reason.

In any case, he had broken through the Yitian Alliance’s net in just four days.

He never expected the Iron Blood City to get involved in this mess.

‘Damn life, damn world.’

At first, he lamented.

As time passed, he even considered giving up on life.

Now?

Sssss.

Fei Yaowang unconsciously took a step back.

A terrifying killing aura emanated from Qianxiatian, who was gripping his long sword tightly and had his eyes closed. It was the killing aura of the King of Assassins, the inheritor of the secret techniques of the Nine Great Sects.

Qianxiatian opened his eyes.

Flash!

His eyes, glowing with explosive anger.

“The secret techniques of the Nine Great Sects? You’ll spare my life? You think I don’t know your evil intentions?”

Fei Yaowang unconsciously swallowed.

She would definitely win if they fought. But in front of this overwhelming spirit, her body couldn’t help but stiffen.

“I’ve lived my life under the control of others for thirty years. Now, I’m ashamed of my own life.”

Rumble!

The light from the long sword grew stronger, and eventually, the blade itself became invisible.

“I’ll say this one last time. Get out of my way, and leave this stage quietly.”

“...”

“At least you’ll be able to save your dirty life.”

Fei Yaowang’s face contorted like a demon’s.

“What’s a dying man like you boasting about!”

Qianxiatian growled.

“You stupid woman! It’s not me! The Iron Blood City’s forces have caused the Yitian Alliance’s troops, which I had shaken off, to catch up again!”

“What, what?!”

“And use your brain! Do you really think the Iron Blood City doesn’t know about your greed? They’ll definitely betray you!”

Fei Yaowang’s eyes wavered.

Perhaps due to her high martial arts and arrogance, she hadn’t considered that she might be betrayed by any organization, no matter how powerful.

“Get out! Let’s each find our own way to survive!”

“...”

“If you don’t, we’ll all die...”

“Don’t worry.”

Fei Yaowang smiled.

As she slowly raised her hand, her well-manicured nails grew longer and turned red.

“I’m not like you, a fool. And I’ve never spared someone who insulted me.”

Whoosh!

A thick evil aura was released from Fei Yaowang’s body.

A unique aura, more intense than killing intent. High-level experts began to converge from afar, sensing this evil aura.

“You won’t tell, will you? Your eyes say so.”

Flash!

A terrifying killing intent surged beyond the suffocating evil aura.

“Then die, you useless brat.”

Qianxiatian smirked.

A laugh mixed with anger, sadness, resignation, and despair.

“I’ll prove my worth, you bitch.”

Boom!

Qianxiatian charged at her.

Fei Yaowang also ran towards him.

The two’s swords and nails clashed head-on.

Bang!