Chapter 56

## Chapter 56. Thinking and Thinking Again

The image of a man collapsing while spitting blood vividly came to mind.

-Cough...

His entire body was covered in severe wounds, and a large hole was pierced through his chest.

A state even the Great Immortal couldn't save.

Despite his condition, the Demon Blade tried to get up again, using his broken sword as a cane.

-This can't end like this... Cough!

Blood spurted out again.

Seeing this, the Green Forest Bandit King approached and roared.

-Stay still, brat! I'll try to stop the bleeding first!

Only then did the Demon Blade look down at the hole in his chest and smile bitterly.

-...I'm fine.

-What the hell! What's fine about this!

-Move aside.

Suddenly, the Demon Blade threw away his sword and knelt on the ground.

Startled, the Green Forest Bandit King stepped back.

The Demon Blade, with a choked and hoarse voice, began to speak.

-Father, Mother, Elder Brother, Younger Siblings, and all my blood relatives...

The Demon Blade slowly started to bow.

The direction was probably toward where the Xianyuan Clan was located.

-...I don't think I can repay your kindness in this life.

Lifting his head, the Demon Blade looked at the cloudy night sky and muttered. Blood tears streamed down from his eyes.

-If I can be reborn... I will repay the kindness I couldn't repay in this life.

-You bastard! Don't leave behind such unlucky words! You're not dead yet!

-Hey, bandit.

-What the hell, crazy sword wielder!

The Demon Blade, with a bitter smile, turned his eyes to the Green Forest Bandit King and then to me.

-Thank you for everything.

-Crazy bastard... Hey! Snap out of it! Snap out of it!

-...

Gradually, the Demon Blade's eyes lost their light and he collapsed to the side, his body covered in wounds, lifeless.

-Aaaaaah! You bastards! I'll kill you all!!

The Green Forest Bandit King's scream of anguish shook the battlefield.

...

...

“...Elder Brother. Elder Brother?”

“...”

When I opened my eyes, three people were looking at me with worried faces.

Perhaps because I had been wandering through the past, the present suddenly felt unreal and blurry.

Akyeonho looked at my expression and asked.

“Are you okay?”

“...I'm fine. The alcohol isn't sitting well with me today.”

That day, Master Demon Blade died.

Not only Master Demon Blade, but also Master Meng, Master Jianzun, and Master Yin all died right before my eyes.

And I was the only one in the world who knew that they had fought and died there.

'Whoever it was.'

Unless the dead could come back to life, the one who caused the bloodshed in the Xianyuan Clan couldn't have been Master Demon Blade himself.

No, even if he had come back to life, Master Demon Blade wouldn't have done such a thing.

However, it's said that the head of the Xianyuan Clan mistook him for Master Demon Blade and gathered people for a banquet.

'After being missing for decades, his appearance could have been passed off with some deception.'

But to a martial artist, there's something more important than appearance.

It's martial arts.

Appearance can be mimicked with a human skin mask or the Yigong technique, but the powerful martial arts of the Demon Blade are not something just anyone can imitate.

'That means the culprit must be someone with martial arts powerful enough to mimic Master Demon Blade. And they must also know the martial arts of the Xianyuan Clan...'

At that thought, I felt a shock as if I had been hit on the head with a hammer.

"Could it be..."

In this world, there is only one organization that could do such a thing, as far as I know.

The ones who taught Xue Tian the Blood Demon Art and gave Wei Zhiqian a fake Wuji Sword.

The ones who knew Master Demon Blade's martial arts and kept him locked up for over a decade, taking everything from him.

"...The Blood Sect."

If the Blood Sect hadn't completely disappeared, or if they had been planning a revival for decades...

'The bloodshed in the Xianyuan Clan was revenge for what happened to us that day.'

If my guess is correct, Master Demon Blade would never rest in peace.

After all, it would mean that the Xianyuan Clan fell because of him.

A sigh escaped me at the thought of his tragic fate.

"Ha..."

My guess could be wrong.

It could have been someone with a personal grudge against the Xianyuan Clan, pretending to be the Demon Blade.

But even if that were the case, it wouldn't make me feel any better.

-If I can be reborn... I will repay the kindness I couldn't repay in this life.

I walked, recalling Master Demon Blade's final moments.

-I don't regret my choice.

By orthodox standards, he was certainly a villain.

He shed countless lives to perfect his martial arts.

But does that mean he should bear the sins he didn't commit?

Should he be recorded in history as a great villain?

Is it enough that he spent decades in a pitch-black prison, haunted by nightmares?

At the same time, I thought of Xianyuan Jiang.

-Demon Blade? Are you talking to me?

When I first saw him, I felt he was almost a reincarnation of Master Demon Blade.

-Damn... What the hell are you babbling about?

A gem with unparalleled talent, but one that couldn't shine due to the environment.

-If you think that no matter how hard you practice martial arts, you'll end up as a slave to the Pang family, then you're a fool.

"Shut up."

-Your talent is far greater than that.

"Shut up, I said."

There had been many teachers who tried to teach him martial arts.

He often heard that he had talent since he was young.

A common story.

But no matter how hard he practiced, he would ultimately end up as a sharp blade for the Pang family.

And he would be manipulated by someone like Pang Shaxie.

-Even with the martial arts we have now... the best we can hope for is to become a peak expert.

This time, his father's face appeared.

A face much older and more tired than his age.

Always struggling due to the family's poor circumstances, the head of the Xianyuan Clan would bow to the chief of the Pang family.

-If we could perfectly restore the Heaven-Cleaving Saber, or even the Heaven-Entering Saber...

I saw the image of his father sighing and drinking alone late at night.

His father looked at him with a guilty face.

-I'm sorry. There's not much I can do for you...

"I don't need you to do anything."

-How is life at the Azure Dragon Academy? Are you getting along well with the young master of the Pang family?

"Yes. We get along wonderfully."

Xianyuan Jiang chuckled as he answered. His father's worried face slowly faded away.

"Father. I have no intention of becoming a loyal dog to the Pang family."

It would be better to be a reckless fool they find pitiful and ignore.

At that moment, the face of Baixulong, who had disappeared, reappeared.

-If you keep living by reading Pang Shaxie's moods, the Xianyuan Clan will continue to be a dog on a leash to the Pang family.

"Shut up! Just shut up!"

Xianyuan Jiang got up from his bed.

If he stayed in the room, the face of that unlucky man would keep appearing.

'I need to go out and have another drink.'

Xianyuan Jiang put on his clothes roughly and left the dormitory, signing out for an overnight stay.

Today, he planned to go to a cheap tavern and drink until he couldn't think anymore.

As he walked across the main training ground from the dormitory, something flew toward him from behind.

Whoosh!

He dodged to the side, and the ball, made from a pig's bladder, hit the ground and rolled away.

"Sorry!"

'Did they gather to play a game or something?'

At that moment, Xianyuan Jiang's expression twisted when he saw one of the students gathered.

"Hey, Xianyuan Clan's troublemaker."

Pang Shaxie called him with a sneer. Xianyuan Jiang, as usual, didn't respond and turned to leave.

"Pick up the ball over there."

"..."

"Do you ignore me? Is the Xianyuan Clan doing well these days?"

Xianyuan Jiang sighed deeply and kicked the ball toward Pang Shaxie.

Thud!

The ball landed precisely in front of Pang Shaxie's feet.

However, Pang Shaxie laughed, looking surprised.

"Haha. Is this kid joking?"

Then he kicked the ball in front of him with all his might.

Thud!

The ball flew dozens of feet and went beyond the main training ground, out of the academy.

"You should respectfully pick it up with both hands when your master calls. Go get it again."

"..."

Under normal circumstances, he would have ignored it and left.

He would have given a harsh retort and avoided the situation.

He had endured for three years, so it shouldn't have been difficult.

But for some reason...

"Haha... Hahahaha!"

"Why is he like that?"

"He must still be drunk."

Xianyuan Jiang couldn't bear this moment any longer.

Three years of endurance didn't mean he could keep enduring.

Three years of endurance meant he couldn't endure any longer.

Suddenly, Xianyuan Jiang stopped laughing and called out to Pang Shaxie.

"Hey, Pang Shaxie."

"...What?"

Swish.

Xianyuan Jiang drew his sword and started walking toward Pang Shaxie.

"Let's have a match."

"...What?"

"We've never had a proper match since we were kids, right?"

Xianyuan Jiang's fierce smile made Pang Shaxie look unusually flustered.

"Is he crazy..."

"Why? Scared? Afraid you'll lose and cry like when we were kids?"

"...Come at me, you brat."

A moment later, the two students, both with their swords drawn, clashed in the center of the main training ground.