Chapter 263. Quarter of an Hour

The word ‘for today’ caught in Namgung Hyun’s mind, yet he could not ask.

Though there was not the slightest breeze indoors, the lamp suddenly went out.

As if trapped underwater, breathing became difficult, and his movements slowed.

It felt as though his vitality was being drained away.

The unknown suction steadily grew stronger.

It was the opposite of failing to hide one’s presence. As if a part of the world had been carved away, all sense of existence vanished.

Wind and warmth were sucked into the darkness, leaving the world feeling hollow.

Namgung Hyun’s gaze shifted to the window.

Whether because his eyes had grown accustomed to the dark, or because the moonlit outside was brighter than this place, the Blood Demon’s shadow was visible on the window.

Hair fluttering in the wind, long fingers landed lightly upon the window frame.

Tap. Tap.

The sound of fingers striking the lattice split the silence.

Compared to the overwhelming presence, the gesture was cautious. Thus, it felt almost like a mockery.

Creeeak.

The slowly tilting window revealed the Blood Demon’s face. From beyond the frame came a voice tinged with amusement.

“So you were here.”

Namgung Hyun felt the hair all over his body stand on end. Yet Tang So-hwa, standing barely a step away from the Blood Demon, looked indifferent.

She stared at him and asked in a calm voice,

“You must have come a long way. Shall I at least offer you some tea?”

“So you knew I would come.”

It was a question and an answer both of them already knew. Even so, the Blood Demon was relaxed enough to waste time on pointless words.

His dark red eyes rolled lazily, capturing Namgung Hyun standing behind her.

“What are you scheming, taking even a hostage?”

Suddenly, the Blood Demon drew in a deep breath, then exhaled heavily and closed his eyes.

As if savoring something, he spoke in a languid voice.

“You’re a child far removed from laziness. Not everyone with innate talent sees it bloom, but with such diligence, your talent will surely reach full bloom one day, just like your name.”

Namgung Hyun could not understand what he meant. Tang So-hwa, however, seemed to grasp it.

Her expression subtly changed.

So-hwa realized from his words that he had been poisoned by the poison smoke.

Because she understood that poison smoke produced the same effect as Blood Jade.

Carefully, So-hwa moved her hand and poured out the water in the cup.

Quarter of an hour.

From now on, the poisoning would likely last for a quarter of an hour.

Yet something did not sit right.

Even though the Blood Demon had noticed the poisoning, he neither pulled his body away from the window nor held his breath. He did not even try to disperse the poison smoke.

The moment a powerful stench surged forth, So-hwa realized why the Blood Demon was in such good spirits.

Thud!

So-hwa immediately grabbed Namgung Hyun’s arm and fled out the door.

Ssshhhhh.

By a hair’s breadth, the medical hall they had been in vanished. The wind released from the Blood Demon’s palm had rotted the wood away.

For reasons unknown, the Blood Demon continued to open his acupoints, expelling several kinds of internal energy as if discarding them.

Sensing that internal energy as well, Namgung Hyun did not hesitate and kept running down the corridor after So-hwa.

The darkness, as though devouring them, clung to the two and swallowed everything around them.

Kwang!

When a pillar disappeared, the railing resting upon it fell, letting out a thunderous explosion.

‘I’ve failed to handle this quietly.’

The plan had already gone awry, but she could not think of an alternative immediately.

Her nose was numbed by the stench, and her breath was stifled by the scorching heat.

What kind of body did the Blood Demon possess? Even while discarding internal energy by opening his acupoints, he was also forging new meridian paths.

So-hwa bit her lip.

She wanted to stop her steps.

She wanted to observe his body to see how the internal energy within him collided, yielded to one another, and became one.

From such a distance, she could not clearly perceive those delicate movements.

Greed flickered in So-hwa’s eyes.

When Namgung Hyun tried to head outside the pavilion, So-hwa pulled him and ran up the stairs together.

Namgung Hyun was startled, but, perhaps thinking she had her reasons, he soon followed without complaint.

After climbing to the third floor, So-hwa did not continue upward and instead headed toward the side where the Medical Hall was. He called out to her.

“Young Lady Tang!”

Yet So-hwa seemed not to hear. Releasing Namgung Hyun’s hand, she ran down the corridor.

Entering a room located exactly two floors above the Medical Hall, So-hwa hurriedly leaned her head out the window.

Perhaps because the distance had closed, she could already feel that something about the Blood Demon’s internal energy had changed.

First, the stench was gone.

Then, an immense chill surged up from the floor.

Thud!

Reacting instinctively, So-hwa leaped and clung to the ceiling ornament.

Soon, the colors of the floor and walls subtly changed. A thin layer of frost had formed on their surfaces.

The cold rising like a mirage was just about to touch the hem of her skirt.

Whoosh!

Outside the pavilion, a fierce pillar of fire erupted, erasing all the cold.

So-hwa descended onto the railing and examined the situation carefully.

With the surroundings bright as day, the scene came clearly into view.

Flames rose high like a curtain, separating the pavilion and the Blood Demon. Beyond that heat, she saw someone dressed in black nightwear, their face thoroughly concealed, clashing with the Blood Demon before darting away.

The movements appeared simple, yet from the heat that shot up and vanished in an instant, So-hwa realized that the Blood Demon and the Main Blood Hall Lord were exchanging blows at a speed beyond sight.

A battle with nothing visible and no sound followed.

The Main Blood Hall Lord moved exactly as he had requested—not to draw attention.

So-hwa’s eyes, which had been fixed on him, lifted slightly higher.

Within pupils like black obsidian, a crimson curtain was reflected.

At the flames that seemed visible even from a thousand li away, So-hwa muttered without realizing it.

“…But if things go like this, doesn’t it make everything meaningless?”

The flames had even spread to the pavilion.

It had not yet been even half a quarter of an hour since the Blood Demon appeared.

So-hwa pressed a hand to her head and stared beyond the forest.

She felt presences rapidly drawing closer.

It was not just one or two.

Having received word that Demonkin had attacked, the Tang Clan elders who had returned were also currently staying at the main sect.

There was no way those with keen senses would fail to notice this chaos. And with an entire pavilion burning, even those with duller perception would come running.

The foremost presence closed to a distance of barely three jang.

It was a very familiar aura.

The erratically scattering internal energy waves slammed into her whole body like the incessant chatter of the Black Sky Demon.

The situation she had feared unfolded right before her eyes.

Yet So-hwa had not acted without preparation.

In a place where so many martial artists were gathered, it was impossible to confront the Blood Demon for even a quarter of an hour without being discovered.

Then, the approaching presences abruptly veered to the left.

So-hwa closed her eyes and felt them moving farther away.

Thankfully, it seemed the Main Blood Hall had done its job properly.

The poison powder placed in the bamboo grove must have dispersed at just the right moment.

It was a poison that distorted the senses upon exposure, disrupting sight, sound, and even touch.

They would believe they were running straight toward the pavilion, but in reality, they were moving farther away from it.

Because they were martial artists with excellent perception, paradoxically, they could not suspect that their own senses were wrong, and thus retreated all the faster.

However, it was not a poison that would last long.

They would soon regain their senses and return.

‘By then, the Blood Demon’s body will have recovered…’

Before they arrived, the Blood Demon had to be killed.

So-hwa wanted to shout at Haerak to hurry.

But since they were already attempting the impossible, she gathered her patience, swallowed her voice, and watched the situation unfold.

Though she could not grasp it with her eyes, she could feel the tide of battle through her skin.

So-hwa felt pain as if her cheeks were melting. She had never seen the Main Blood Hall Lord pour out such ferocious internal energy.

And yet, the Blood Demon did not evade.

Even while poisoned, he accepted the Main Blood Hall Lord’s full power head-on. Though he knew he could not fully recover, he did not fear his flesh being burned away.

Rather, he used the Main Blood Hall Lord as a trash can, throwing away the energy his body didn’t need.

Looking at his body becoming purified, it was as if he were undergoing a Marrow Cleansing process.

Indeed, as time passed, the Blood Demon’s movements grew lighter and lighter, while Haerak’s momentum gradually waned.

So-hwa was seeing the Blood Demon move in earnest for the first time.

Every hair on her body stood on end.

The Blood Demon did not lose the upper hand for even a single moment.

In that span, he even completed a full circulation of his energy.

This was something impossible.

Moving while circulating internal energy was an extremely dangerous act.

Yet the Blood Demon did not care. He opened all his acupoints to expel internal energy, or drew several kinds into his meridians, deliberately inducing chaos within himself.

So-hwa leaned farther out over the railing.

The yellow internal energy seated at the Blood Demon’s Shindo point was drawn into the meridians, forming a long line.

That was not all.

Energies of other colors were also sucked forcefully into the paths the Blood Demon had created.

And the useless internal energy was expelled outward to harass the Main Blood Hall Lord, or stretched itself thin to make way for other internal energy to pass through.

Though he was said to be a human who had devoted nearly an immortal lifespan to cultivating internal energy, the technique was absurd.

Yet, since it was unfolding before her very eyes, there was no choice but to believe it.

The moment the thread-like strands of energies, woven in fine filaments, reached the lower dantian, the beginning and end of all the meridians.

The slender internal energy contracted, filling the dantian. Before long, the various colors merged into one.

A purple sphere formed within the dantian, not flowing into the meridians but spinning rapidly in place. As it did, it gradually swelled in size.

Kwang!

Unaware of this, Haerak made a dangerous move against the Blood Demon.

Believing it to be the way to seize the advantage, Haerak grabbed the Blood Demon’s hand.

Yet the instant their palms touched, the rotating purple sphere stopped.

Realizing something, So-hwa shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Let go!”

But it was already too late.

Kwaaang!

Haerak’s heat surged into the palms, then reversed and attacked its owner. His meridians bulged as if they were bursting, violently battering his internal organs.

“Khk.”

Haerak doubled over and spat blood.

The Blood Demon hadn’t offered his hand to Haerak out of carelessness. He had intentionally lured Haerak to connect their acupoints.

In an instant, the purple strands that had surged up to the palms slowly retreated again. Fortunately, it seemed the Blood Demon’s internal energy had not penetrated into Haerak’s body.

So-hwa flinched as if to step beyond the flames, but she couldn’t go forward.

It was because Namgung Hyun, who had approached unnoticed, pulled her arm.

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