Dual Sword God: Book 7: The Crimson Devil of the Redlands

by Shadows Finger

  'Even if I can't fight it, I can at least help her from a distance.'

  With that thought in mind, Tao Shen hurried towards the scene, readying himself to give Tiana an opportunity.

  Naturally, a few others who watched saw when the puppet had appeared; they didn't bother observing Tao Shen's chase as they knew that the meaning behind the puppet was something one shouldn't overlook.

  "Hey, isn't that one of those things?" One person said with a look of horror.

  "Indeed, it can only be that thing, I have no idea how a faction like that Black Sand Commerce could procure one, but I have to say that their connections must run quite deep." Another person said with a grave look on his face.

  Bai Zan also made a stern look in her eyes as she gave Han Yi a look; her eyes seemed as if asking if it was someone from their faction. On the other hand, Han Yi shook his head in reply as if rejecting what she was implying.

  With everyone shocked by the revelation, in place no one else could see, a strange old female silhouette who stood beside another person smirked as they spoke, "Old coot, it looks like that Black Sand Commerce has its hands into some deep pockets, to think they'd find one of your toys."

  The man silhouette shook his head as he replied, "You've got to start treating your elders with respect, your life span isn't even near its end, yet here you are pretending to be of age."

  "Hehe, I do what I please," The old female silhouette said as she rolled her eyes, not saying anything; the man shook his head and stared at the scene as he spoke once more.

  "Anyways, you're right, while this one is only a toy, those Element Rune Droids shouldn’t be so easy to acquire. Since it's so, this toy was likely something gifted by an old retainer."

  When the old female silhouette heard those words, she nodded with deep eyes, but as if something else caught her attention, her eye turned towards an empty corner as she spoke, "It doesn't matter where it came from, we can find its source later. With the way things are right now, it won't take long for those sly pests to show their hands."

  The man in white nodded as his eyes underneath his robes shone in four different colors when he stared around the room, his wrinkled lips that were revealed from the hooded robe curved into a smile as he spoke, "Well, of course, those children are already doing a good job."

  The old woman nodded in agreement as she said nothing more, the two observing in silence as no one seemed to notice their presence.

  Chapter 312

  The Grim Dust Brothers, A Quick Death

  With the fights of Lang Kuang and the others leaping into full swing, Hai Jinren, Feng Yu, and Dai Lin was only moments away from their encounters.

  Hai Jinren was the first after Leon and Myria to clash against one of the enemy leaders, charging directly in front of Zan Jin with immense speed.

  Zan Jin finally stood in place as Hai Jinren arrived in front of him; he stared at him intently as he placed one of his palms onto one of the bottle gourds strapped on his side.

  "I've heard rumors of you, but now that I see you in person, you don't amount to much, Dark Weaver Hai..." Zan Jin said as he mockingly stared at Hai Jinren.

  By now, Hai Jinren had already come to a halt, the wind fluttering his hair and clothing as he confidently faced Zan Jin. As if Zan Jin's words of provocation didn't affect him, he slowly reached both of his arms into his sleeves as he lowered his torso.

  Suddenly, two giant needles that shimmered like swords fell down his sleeves into his palms; he twirled them around before he gripped them firmly as his Peak Initial Rank Warrior Realm battle qi rise steadily.

  "As do I of you, Essence Sealer Zan... but a word of advice, you shouldn't underestimate my power. Dark Weaving Arts - Black Threads Net!"

  Following his shout, Hai Jinren's cultivation base exploded in full power; he then rapidly moved the giant needles in his arms in a cross manner as a series of black threads appeared around the edge.

  He then waved the needles in a cross-slash manner as the black threads moved by themselves, wounding around repeatedly as they rapidly expanded to an eight-meter-wide radius, aiming to bind Zan Jin at its center.

  "Hmph! Your arts might be different from most, but everything in this world requires essence! Sealing!"

  When he made his command, his arm, which rested on top of a single bottle gourd, quickly pulled it from his strap as he spun it in his palms and held its mouth ahead of him.

  Once this happened, a bright light shone from a 吞(Tūn) mark on its surface, followed by a spiraling gust of devouring wind that seemed as if it was trying to swallow all things in the immediate vicinity.

  Hai Jinren's eyes narrowed as he noticed that every strand of his energies that flowed within his mystical black net vanished, weakening their effects. In mere seconds, they fell to the ground motionless as if they lost their functions.

  'Che... such a troublesome container...' Hai Jinren thought as he saw the current scene.

  "Haha, now you see why you're outmatched? Prepare to suffer, Repel!" Zai Jin said with a smirk as he reached for the second bottle gourd in his arm and tapped its surface.

  The gourd then shone once more with the 击退(Jítuì) symbols before its mouth spewed out a series of energies that replicated Hai Jinren's former attack.

  Not daring to dally, Hai Jinren promptly reacted by waving his arm, causing the black threads that fell to the ground to rapidly recede to his position. His aura once more rose as the threads danced around him when he spoke with a bright glimmer in his eyes, "Your methods are unconventional, but it's not so easy to use my techniques. Black Thread Blades!"

  With those words, the threads rapidly coiled around needles before forming into a pair of black blades that emanated a dense slaughtering will.

  As this happened, Hai Jinren firmly held the two blades that shimmered in his arms as he leaped towards Zai Jin's attack. His figure moved like ray of light due to his immense speeds.

  Swing! With a cry similar to blades, he swung the black blades towards Zan Jin's attack. With two bright flashes of baleful lights, they shredded the energy threads fired by Zan Jin to bits of pieces as Hai Jinren flickered and appeared in front of Zan Jin, aiming to stab them into his chest.

  "You honestly think that I can't fight without my gourds, wrong again!"

  Zan Jin said with a teasing tone; he tensed his rippling muscles, causing his warrior qi to explode; he then struck his fist towards Hai Jinren's blades, clashing with them directly before generating an explosive boom.

  More shockwaves formed because of their continuous clash, but this was only the beginning of a battle of many.

  At this time, Feng Yu, who, streaked across the battlefield like a gush of flames had landed in front of the Grim Dust Brothers.

  When they saw him, Lex and Gram had halted their movements, reforming from what seemed like a cloud of dust. They stared at him with their reaper wear fluttering in the chaotic wind as their eyes shone with a teasing light, looking at him as if he was nothing more than a mouse that brought itself to its demise.

  "Kikiki, Crimson Mask, you're quite brave actually to challenge us, brothers, by yourself."

  The tall and grim-looking Lex said as he slowly pulled out a katar from the sleeves of his reaper robes, bringing its edge to his mouth where he creepily licked the edges.

  "Kukuku, you don't know your limits, don't let your rising fame get to your head, little punk," Gram said as he too pulled out a sickle with one arm, performing the same action as Lex.

  Feng Yu stared at the two with an indifferent look as he slowly unsheathed a single and ordinary Earth Grade Sword from his holder strapped to his back. Its edge shimmered in a sharp light as he held it at an angle when he spoke, "For professional assassins famed across these southern lands, you too are quite talkative. I most hate assassins like you."

  When both brothers heard Feng Yu's mocking words, the looks on their faces turned dark, their pale skin turning paler as their mood transformed into eerie and solemn silence.
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  "Now, that's more like it..." Feng Yu said with a smirk as he firmly held the handle of his sword, staring at them without even moving an inch.

  An odd dust cloud started to form within the area around them, sealing off this section of the room from everywhere else. It didn't take long for not only those on the outside but even Feng Yu himself to lose sight of the two brothers.

  "Huh? That's the Death Sand Technique of the Grim Dust brothers, to think they'd start with their sure kill technique!" An onlooker said from the side of the safe zone.

  "That Crimson Mask sure is a fool, to think he'd make such a mistake challenging two monsters such as those freaks!" Someone else said.

  While many others thought as such, the beautiful eyes of Bai Zan flashed as she stood amongst the ranks of others with keen eyes, staring at each of the battles with interest while thinking to herself.

  'These Crypt Sorcerers were quite prepared, but it seems that those of the Weavers House aren’t to be taken lightly. Oh, that Crimson Mask is about to take action, I wonder, how strong is he compared to his powerful allies?' Bai Zan thought with profound looking eyes.

  Han Yi stared at her deeply, but after a short while, he made up his mind and spoke, "Miss Bai, I might be going off topic, but I still find it a bit odd, why did you—?"

  He was about to ask something, but before he could do so, his words were cut short by Bai Zan, who replied, "You're rather curious today, aren’t you, Han Yi.”

  “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t,” Han Yi said with a smile.

  Bai Zan gave him a look and shook her head as she replied, “Fine, since you've gone out of your busy schedule to accompany me here, I'll tell you something..."

  Han Yi remained silent, staring at her with a pensive look as Bai Zan continued once more, "I didn't share the same objectives of that clan. You could even say that my purpose here... was entirely different from the start. One of them is that I came only to inquire a tiny a bit about the movements of those darn elders from the left branch."

  When Bai Zan said this, her eyes flashed in a bright ray as she stared at the scene with a lost look. Han Yi stared at her with his eyes showing an in-depth and reflective look.

  ‘That Bai Yun’s branch, no wonder…’ He thought with sharp eyes but said nothing in the end.

  As many shared their opinions regarding the battles occurring, Feng Yu and the Grim Dust Brothers' fight entered a new phase.

  Feng Yu stood silently within the cloud of sand with his eyes closed, the world in his mind no different from pitch black as he steadied his breathing.

  His lips curved into a smile as he thought, 'From what I've read, I know that only those of the Sand Palace could command sand in such a manner. This technique is innately attuned to one's mastery of the Martial Path of Sand. Judging by this, I can assume that these fellows are related to them somehow. It's an excellent technique to dull one's primary senses, but sadly, I have too many ways to counter it.'

  Suddenly, two vague light sources light up in his mind, both shining from two separate directions. Feng Yu's eyes then opened at this moment, releasing a sharp ripple in all directions. It was a power that seemed no different from a sword that was unleashed on the surroundings.

  Once this happened, the formation sent a suppressive power, causing the circular field around his body to reach a scale of 6 meters. Within this area, the world now transformed into a crimson color as murderously sharp energies emanated in the air.

  Hidden within the shrouding sands that had been pushed back by the exact size of Feng Yu's Sword Domain, both Lex and Gram stared at Feng Yu with slightly solemn expressions. Their indistinct figures shook slightly due to their anger as their eyes had an endless killing intent emitting from their eyes.

  'Hmph! So, the rumors of him having a powerful Sword Domain were true, but so what? Even if he's a fabled genius, we brothers aren't like those weak slaves of the Devil's Nest,' Lex thought with cold looking eyes; he then sent a mental message to Gram on the other side before they finally acted in one swift motion.

  Instantly, both had blurred rapidly, traversing the ground at speeds unviewable to the naked eyes, their steps leaving no trace of sound as if they were stepping in air with their rapid style movement. In a flash, they had arrived within his range and launched two devastating attacks.

  'Let's see him dodge this, Heart Piercing Flash!' Lex yelled in his mind as he stabbed his katar towards Feng Yu's heart at incredible speeds, his arm moving so fast that it vanished, leaving behind only a few afterimages of him stabbing it forward.

  Still, as if Feng Yu had already seen his technique coming, he smirked and twisted his body from side to side, narrowly avoiding the stab with great precision.

  'Hmph! Fool, it's not one but an endless succession of attacks, die!'

  Lex said to himself with a mocking look in his eyes. He suddenly released a dense warrior battle qi before his arm, which held the katar moved like a snake as it flexibly pulled back and struck forward the weapon with incredible speeds, attacking each of Feng Yu's vital points in the blink of an eye.

  Feng Yu didn't dare to dally; he skillfully twisted his body at each stab of Lex's katar, its edge passing his skin by only a few centimeters each time as they both vanished from here to there due to their immense speed.

  It would almost seem as if two ghosts were dancing within a crimson red field surrounded by an endless smog of sand from a distance. Suddenly, while Feng Yu dodged Lex's attacks, the ground below his feed burst open as a short figure jumped towards him at a low angle.

  "Kuku, let's see you dodge this, Crimson Mask."

  With those words said, Gram had eyes had a menacing look as his battle qi erupted. The chain connected to one of his arms was pulled from out of the ground as Lex, who attacked another side, yanked it with his arm holding the other end. With a series of clanking sounds, the chain then tightened as it bounded Feng Yu firmly.

  "It's time to die, you slippery bastard, Cross Reaping Slash!"

  Gram yelled as he chopped his sickle towards Feng Yu. He twirled his sickle that glowed in bright red lights and chopped it across in a horizontal sweep that formed a red arc of sharp energies that swept outward.

  The situation now seemed drastic, as even Lex had a smirk as if he expected such an event, his katar swept forward as it aimed for Feng Yu's heart. Yet, despite these changes, Feng Yu only looked at this with a calm gaze.

  His body started to show signs of changes, as his eyes turned golden with red eye shades appearing at their corners. A blazing energy started to form around him as his hair slowly rose above his head.

  In this instance, the world in his eyes seemed as if it was in slow motion as his pupils had turned golden with red eye shades.

  'I was right; their strengths are roughly at the middle stages of the Low-Level Initial Rank Warrior realm. However, it might be a bit troublesome to deal with them at the same time in my normal state. Since I can’t waste too much time, I'll crush them in one go.'

  Gram had a look of excitement as he laughed and licked his lips, letting his guard down completely. Yet, this was only their fantasy as Feng Yu's body had vanished from both his and Lex's field of sight.

  "This, where did he go?" Gram said in alarm.

  Lex, on the other hand, was a bit more powerful than Gram. He quickly recovered from his shock and hurriedly used his sending; this caused him to lift his head in surprise as he shouted, "Gram, watch out, he's above us!"

  "Huh? Above?" Gram said, a bit confused, but he soon felt a terrifying feeling of danger descending from above.

  "Oh no! I have to resist it!" Gram said as he hurriedly lifted his head while simultaneously slashing his sickle upwards to counterattack. However, it would seem that it was a futile attempt.

  With a sharp sound of a sword cutting through the wind, a white line drew vertically from above into Gram's body, crashing onto the ground in less than a few seconds with an effect much like thunder.

  Ka-bang! The shockwave's
sound spread out, forming a spiderweb fissure on the ground beneath Gram's feet. Feng Yu had appeared in front of Gram with his now blood dripping sword resting at his side.

  Gram felt terror looking at the blood dripping onto the ground from Feng Yu's sword edge. He felt as if he'd lost something but didn't dare to think about it. He trembled while speaking, "Y... you... did you use your Sword Intent?"

  Feng Yu slanted his head, giving him a look as he spoke with a slight tease in his voice, "Sword Intent? Yes... well, no, I only needed a single strand of its power and a slash of my sword."

  "D... damn... you..." Gram tried to curse, but sadly, his body split into two halves as his mind faded into the realm of true darkness.

  When the crowd saw the current scene, the entire area had fallen into silence before a commotion sounded.

  "What the hell? Did... did the legendary Gram of the Grim Dust Brother's die to that Crimson Mask's sword?" One man said in alarm.

  "Impossible; what kind of strength is this? Gram is obviously at the Warrior realm. From what I can see that fellow is only at the peak of Aura Disciple realm." Another person said with fear in their eyes.

  Bai Zan who was more attuned to this feeling looked at Feng Yu in shock as she exclaimed, "This is... this is a bloodline power, one that grants this fellow the power of Extreme Third Layer Boundary, but how can this be? Wouldn’t this make him the third official monstrous talent with that kind of power?"

  Han Yi was also surprised, but he calmed himself down and glanced at her and as he spoke, "Miss Bai, you're a bit mistaken; he would be the fourth officially recorded Extreme Power Talent."

  "What? When did it change? Who’s the most the recent?" Bai Zan asked with surprise.

  Han Yi thought for a bit before he lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered; Bai Zan's face then turned from curiosity to alarm as her eyes showed a look like never seen before.

  By this point, Lex was staring at the dead Gram with a dismayed expression, but that soon transformed into a rage as he gripped his fists tightly, his warrior battle qi rising as it pushed away even the sand that shrouded the environment.