The Cunning Treasure Hunter

Chapter 89 Blossoms in Crimson Storms

"Do you know who I am?"

"I'm not interested."

In the martial world, it is said that one should never reveal their blade carelessly.

Vera knew this adage well.

She had no intention of exposing her level by flaunting her Sword energy.

Her opponent still didn't seem to know who she was.

Gripping the hilt of the Falling Blossom Sword, she let her inner energy surge through her slender arm and wrist.

The Black dragon awakened in her core, coursing through her Eight Meridians.

Precisely controlled, her energy filled the blade only as much as she desired.

Soon, the Falling Blossom Sword began to hum with a clear, resonant tone.

It was the sound of a Sword Cry, a hallmark of a martial artist who had reached the pinnacle of the First-Class Realm.

"Ho… That's a fine Sword Cry. It's been a while since I've heard one like that."

"This is the Fiery Blade clan's territory. Leave at once."

"Shall I tell you something amusing, little girl?"

Ashen, the Night Ghost and leader of the Blood Sword Corps, infused his Great Curved Blade with his inner energy.

A sinister aura, laden with the stench of blood, surged around him.

The blade became enshrouded in crimson Blade energy, shimmering like a heat haze.

"…The Supreme Peak Realm."

"That's right! This is Blade energy, you insolent little girl! Did you think the Cherry Blossom Arts of Mount Suncrest would mean anything in the martial world?"

He clearly believed that Vera was relying solely on the reputation of Mount Suncrest.

Vera, maintaining her composure, raised her sword toward him.

"You won't try to run?"

"If I run, will you let me live?"

"Keh keh keh, not a chance. So, shall we fight?"

"…Words are useless."

Her inner energy surged to her feet.

She drew on the essence of Hidden Fragrance Step, pushing off the ground.

The surroundings blurred, and in an instant, Ashen's figure loomed large before her.

—Clang!!!

"Ha! Your footwork isn't bad!"

"Thank you."

Vera replied indifferently, stepping forward again.

—Boom!!!

The ground cracked in a spiral beneath her step, despite being well-packed earth.

"What… What is this?!"

It was impossible for someone in the First-Class Realm to create such an impact.

Unless they possessed an absurd amount of inner energy… but at her age? With her petite frame?

It made no sense.

Yet, whether his rational mind accepted it or not, Vera's sword was already rising toward him.

He should have noticed it earlier.

No ordinary sword, no matter how finely crafted, could withstand a clash with Blade energy.

Yet the slender sword in the girl's hand collided head-on with his Great Curved Blade and remained unbroken.

Still, Ashen had no time to dwell on this anomaly.

—Clang! Clang! Clang!!!

He barely deflected her strikes, the last one narrowly missing his neck.

His breathing faltered, and his Blade energy dissipated.

His eyes gleamed with murderous intent.

"You dare mock Ashen, the Night Ghost?"

"Perhaps you shouldn't have been so easy to mock."

"What did you say?!"

He unleashed the full power of his Red Shadow Blade Arts.

His slim body seemed to swell with energy, his sleeves fluttering as the scent of blood thickened in the air.

Vera felt something deep within her stir in response to the overwhelming stench of blood.

Her dark, hollow eyes flickered with starlight, her gaze sharp as a blade.

"I am Ashen, leader of the Blood Sword Corps of the Crimson Demon Gate!"

"I am Vera, Third Disciple of Mount Suncrest."

Her introduction was unexpected.

But Ashen wasted no time, sheathing his Great Curved Blade only to draw it again in a fluid motion.

This was the first form of the Red Shadow Blade Arts: Chasing Shadow, Blood Scythe.

The blade's trajectory painted a crimson arc in the air, as sharp as a scythe's edge.

With Blade energy enveloping the strike, no ordinary weapon, even one forged from the finest steel, could hope to withstand it.

—Clang!!!

Yet, once again, her slender blade did not break.

Instead, it slipped through a gap in his technique, forcing him to halt his attack and reset his stance.

"Urgh…!!"

A sword that should have shattered had held firm.

Ashen's eyes wavered.

Impossible occurrences were piling up, one after another.

Vera understood why.

The key lay in her mastery of Soul Harmony Realm Technique, which allowed her to freely control the output and retraction of her energy.

In the instant their weapons clashed, she created Sword energy only over the surface of her blade, using the minimal energy necessary.

Of course, such finesse wasn't achievable by normal means.

But Vera was born under the Celestial Blade Star.

She had mastered the supreme Soul Harmony Realm Technique and harbored the divine beast, the Black dragon, within her.

"…You should have been dead already. What are you hiding, girl?"

"You're slow to realize."

Yet, beyond her calm facade, Vera felt something boiling within her.

The surroundings had already grown chaotic.

It seemed that attacks were happening all over the Eastern Mountain Fiery Blade clan grounds.

The scent of blood carried on the wind—whose it belonged to, she did not know.

"I've always been dull. Can you smell this blood?"

"I can."

"A bloodbath far worse than this will unfold."

Instead of answering, Vera silently raised her sword again.

Ashen felt a chill.

The incongruity between her appearance and demeanor.

She was a small, frail-looking girl, yet she gazed at him with the same cold, unfeeling stare as the Sword Demon of the Infernal Blade Corps.

Her blade didn't waver, not even slightly.

As if she had killed hundreds before.

As if she were no stranger to death.

It was impossible, of course. And yet...

It was an unease that Ashen couldn't explain.

Humans fear what they do not understand.

And fear gnawed at Ashen's thoughts until he gritted his teeth.

"Fear? Me?!"

He was Ashen, the Night Ghost, a master of the Supreme Peak Realm!

The leader of the Blood Sword Corps, a prodigy of the Red Shadow Blade Arts!

It was absurd.

Just then, a subordinate rushed over.

"Their counterattack is fiercer than expected, Lord!"

"…Tch. Let's retreat."

This much was enough. Their goal was to keep the Fiery Blade clan from resting, and that had been achieved.

But Vera had no intention of letting him leave.

"Are you running away?"

A taunt.

From a mere fourteen-year-old girl, no less.

Ashen wasn't known for his patience.

"Running? Me? From you?"

"I haven't even shown you the sword techniques of Mount Suncrest yet."

Given her age, she couldn't have held a sword for more than a few years.

She probably hadn't killed anyone before.

Yet she wanted to use him as a sparring partner?

"If you're a kitten, I'll remind you that I am a tiger."

"Lord, we must go!"

The scent of blood grew thicker.

Both the Fiery Blade clan members and the Blood Sword Corps warriors were falling one by one.

With each breath, malice, killing intent, and despair seeped into the air.

"Haah…"

Each breath Vera took seemed to fill her body with radiant energy.

The Soul Harmony Realm Technique consumed the murderous aura around her, amplifying her power.

Her black hair rippled like a dragon's tail, and the edges of the white robe gifted to her by her master fluttered in the wind.

A pale radiance shone in her eyes, like the starlight of Celestial Blade Star.

In that moment, Vera understood.

For a brief moment, just this one moment…

She would not lose to someone of the same realm.

"It seems this kitten frightens you, tiger."

"You little…!"

Perhaps it was the humiliation of being mocked by a young girl,

or perhaps it was his own temper, unrefined by wisdom or reason.

He immediately activated the ultimate move of the Red Shadow Blade Arts, stepping forward with explosive force.

Leaping high into the air, he unleashed the Crescent Moon Blood Slash, the pinnacle of his technique.

A massive crescent-shaped trajectory of crimson Blade energy arced through the air.

Normally, Sword energy could not be "fired."

Only rare, highly advanced techniques allowed for it.

The Red Shadow Blade Arts was one such technique. Stay tuned with My Virtual Library Empire

Although the execution was crude, the heatwave-like Blade energy followed the trajectory, weaving through the air toward Vera.

Ashen smiled, confident in his victory.

No one had ever blocked this technique.

Even a sect leader two levels above him in the Supreme Peak Realm had suffered internal injuries trying to deflect it.

The crimson slash shot forward like a lightning bolt.

Time stretched infinitely in Vera's mind as her entire focus honed in on the blade.

To the ordinary eye, it was instantaneous.

But to Vera, it seemed unbearably slow.

Within that infinite moment, the instincts of the Celestial Blade Star awakened once more.

She saw it.

A vivid red line.

Her soul whispered its meaning to her:

It was the Death Line, the Killing Line, the most optimal trajectory to kill.

In the stretched-out moment of time, Vera raised her sword.

What she needed was the counter-technique to pierce the heavens:

The first form of the Nine Heavenly Cherry Blossom Sword, Blossoming Spring.

Her sword surged upward like flowers in full bloom.

In that fleeting instant, the courtyard of the Fiery Blade clan filled with a storm of crimson blossoms, swirling violently.

The Blade energy hurtling toward her faltered and began to scatter.

And Vera struck.

She followed the bright red line with her blade, carving through the attack's structural weakness.

—CRACK!!!

The sound was like jade shattering beneath a hammer.

It was the sound of Vera's sword shattering the flawed structure of Ashen's Blade energy.

In that moment, Ashen saw it.

The Sword energy rippling around the girl's blade.

And as he fell, his inner energy completely spent, he realized one terrifying truth:

Even after destroying his attack, she still had enough energy to send her sword flying toward him.