Chapter Two Hundred and Six: “Mad Dog”
The sword handle was pitch black and felt slightly cool to the touch.
As Bai Kai gripped the “Assaulting Moon White Rainbow,” he stared into the eyes of the First Generation Miracle Saint and narrowed them slightly.
He did not chant poetry as he usually did when activating spirit patterns, yet the sound of those verses echoed around his body on its own.
Throbbing, like the buzzing accompanying a violently beating heart.
In a daze, shadows emerged behind him, seemingly melding into one, overlapping with his figure, gripping the long sword alongside him, causing his form to blur.
Suddenly, the spirit energy within him surged violently from that tall yet slightly slender physique, spreading outward in all directions, forcefully dyeing a dazzling silver against the gold and red-streaked heavens.
Bai Kai’s silhouette flashed through the sky like a streak of silver lightning, leaving behind countless flickering afterimages in his wake.
Those afterimages appeared highly unstable, yet contained immense power.
Braving the spirit energy fluctuations that nearly shattered his body, he finally broke through to the side of the First Generation Miracle Saint.
Close enough to touch!
His wrist twisted, and the long sword was drawn.
The crisp sound of the sword rang out, spreading across the short-lived silence of the sky. The silver light that surged from the sheath extended a long distance in an instant, wrapping around much of the Yumen City Gate like a spiraling white dragon.
The sudden attack caused the First Generation Miracle Saint to pause, instinctively looking toward the figure shrouded in silver light.
Confused and surprised.
As the light filled his eyes, it soaked into his mind, imprinting itself on his heart, becoming a full moon that left the entire world blanketed in vast silvery whiteness.
The spreading hurricane swept in all directions, the terrifying shock causing the already decayed structures within Yumen Pass to collapse.
Everything was violently upheaved, torn apart, and ground to dust in the terrifying waves that seemed to rip apart the God Realm Yumen.
Even the already broken and restored city walls in the southern part of the city revealed countless cracks.
This was Bai Kai’s strongest sword!
———
At the moment Bai Kai found himself in crisis, in the center of Yumen Pass, within the former palace of the Nanling County King.
Below, in the dark dungeon, someone opened their eyes.
His back was curved, slightly hunchbacked, bound by countless black iron chains, with a head of dull, white hair matted with sticky grime, hanging down, obscuring his face.
A pair of murky eyes peered through the hair, looking out the narrow window of the dungeon at the sky outside, trembling for some unknown reason.
“Child… it’s not yet time!” the elderly voice quivered.
He recalled a day many years ago when, after lulling his granddaughter to sleep, he sat alone in front of the twisted, bizarre poplar forest, accompanying the campfire and slowly savoring his pipe, gazing at the Gobi Desert, focusing on the “Yumen Pass” scattered across it.
But he didn’t expect that night, he would see his disciple appear before him.
Seeing his disciple’s dirt-streaked face, he felt he had somehow foreseen what his disciple had gone through and calmly asked, “Do you blame her?”
“…” His disciple remained silent for a long time, shook his head, “I don’t blame her. She really did deceive me, but the happiness she once brought me was real.”
After speaking, there was another stretch of silence.
Eventually, his disciple spoke again, “Master, I want to return, to guard Yumen Pass with you, and never leave again.”
He did not respond to his disciple’s request but silently rose and returned to the cave, retrieving a roll of silk and a particularly elongated sword with a very old sheath.
“This silk is the outline for the sword nurturing technique of our Yumen Sands Sea Branch. This sword is called ‘Assaulting Moon White Rainbow,’ inspired by the tale of ‘Fu Zhuan’s assassination of Wang Liao, like a comet striking the moon; Nie Zheng’s assassination of Han Kai, as a white rainbow pierces the sun.’ Take it, and return from where you came…”
“When to return to guard Yumen Pass is not for me to decide. When you decide to draw this sword again, it will provide you with an answer.”
Today, “Assaulting Moon White Rainbow” was drawn again.
He had thought that his disciple had reached the moment to listen for answers, but now it seemed…
The timing chosen by his disciple was perhaps wrong.
———
Above Yumen Pass.
The sword light emitted by “Assaulting Moon White Rainbow” was indeed dazzling, yet it gave no warmth, only an intense coldness.
In an instant, Bai Kai and the First Generation Miracle Saint’s figures intersected, the sword cutting through.
“Clang——!”
The long sword returned to its sheath, and the myriad silver rays vanished in an instant, revealing a gory wound on the First Generation Miracle Saint’s chest.
His form swayed, trembling, as if he might fall from midair at any moment.
In fact, he had long since realized that within Yumen Pass, there were several potential threats to him, with Bai Kai being among them.
However, over a thousand years ago, the outcome between him and the Shaman Queen had only led to the victory of the living and the d*ath of the defeated, and even over a thousand years later, this unfinished outcome would continue.
Therefore, he was not concerned about those non-lethal threats.
But what he did not expect was that among those he did not care about, the most insignificant one actually attacked him.
A mad dog that charged out, barking and biting mindlessly.
Yes, a mad dog, because Bai Kai had indeed “bitten him”!
As the golden bl**d gushed from the First Generation Miracle Saint’s wound, he lunged forward without hesitation, like a bloodthirsty demon, biting into the wound that was bleeding from the First Generation Miracle Saint.
He knew that even with the power of the sword he had nurtured for nearly twenty years, it would be nearly impossible to k*ll the First Generation Miracle Saint.
He also knew that the First Generation Miracle Saint held partial control over the God Realm Yumen.
But he did not know the method to seize that portion of control.
So, he decided to directly consume the First Generation Miracle Saint’s bl**d, using the small amount of authority contained within it for his own benefit, thereby obtaining partial control over the God Realm Yumen.
It was similar to the method of mutual devouring and power plundering found in urban legends.
Simple and violent!
In fact, biting wasn’t a big deal. Winning was what mattered… Bai Kai thought, and the figure of Lu Ming suddenly appeared in his mind, causing the corners of his mouth to slightly curl up.
When they were young, the three disciples of the Yumen Sands Sea Branch often practiced combat under their master’s guidance.
At that time, the only area where Bai Kai could surpass his two senior brothers was swordsmanship.
During swordsmanship exchanges, he not only defeated his two senior brothers but also exchanged blows with his master, yet ultimately lost to Lu Ming during one of their swordsmanship practices.
Lu Ming intentionally exposed a flaw during their bout, and when Bai Kai aggressively attacked, Lu Ming quickly dodged, stepped forward, and bit his ear…
Later, with bl**d streaming from his mouth, Lu Ming was suspended by his master from the poplar tree, whipped, and while justifying himself exclaimed, “What’s so shameless about biting? Winning is what matters!”
Though his protests were loud, the screams from the beating he took were even more melodious.
Recalling his dear Senior Brother Lu being whipped by their master hanging from a tree, squirming like a fat white maggot, Bai Kai felt as though he had taken a stimulant, the fierce “flames” in his eyes blazing even hotter.
Enveloped in golden light, his hands instinctively pounded against his head and shoulders, trying to break free from the entanglement.
With each explosive sound, Bai Kai’s body showed horrific scars and grotesque concavities; his form swayed, sometimes leaning back, bl**d-stained hair and dark coat whipping in the wind.
But he did not let go.
As immense pain assailed him, a familiar voice echoed in his mind like ripples resonating from the depths of his soul.
“Why? Why… are you all always like this?”
Bai Kai recognized that voice; it was the one that had urged the people within Yumen Pass to make wishes when the First Generation Miracle Saint awakened not long ago.
Hearing the voice, he cracked a smile, exposing bloodied teeth, looking somewhat grotesque.
“Because… I want to stop a disaster from occurring, and you all interfered!”
With that, he lunged once more at the First Generation Miracle Saint’s wound, drinking eagerly from his bl**d.
That golden bl**d was cold, bearing a strange and rich floral scent, creating a peculiar illusion at first of tasting some special herbal tea.
However, as the bl**d slid down his throat and into his stomach, Bai Kai’s body immediately went into violent spasms.
That bl**d had a certain strange vitality, activated the moment it entered his belly, much like seeds falling into nourishing soil.
Golden light spread beneath Bai Kai’s skin, coursing through his veins like robust and thriving root systems, gradually spreading, swiftly growing, ultimately tearing through his skin, bursting forth on the surface of his body as a tangle of golden, chaotic arcs, like flowers blooming.
At that moment, the First Generation Miracle Saint recovered from his brief shock and looked coldly at Bai Kai.
Whether it was an illusion or not, he felt he had encountered someone like Bai Kai—a nonsensical person who had brought him tremendous trouble—a thousand years before, and this likeness sparked a desire to k*ll within him.
Thus, he raised his hands above his head, unseen petals swirling.
The precious sword appeared silently.
A mad dog that bites indiscriminately can only meet one fate: its spine severed.
The Shaman Queen also surged forward from behind Bai Kai, lifting the black long spear against his back.
If they could seize this brief moment of control over the First Generation Miracle Saint to pierce through his chest with the spear, the scales of victory would tilt in their favor.
Of course, the spear would certainly first shatter Bai Kai’s body before it penetrated the chest of the First Generation Miracle Saint…
In this critical moment, a figure resembling a small mountain rose from Yumen Pass, raising the giant bow over ten meters long in hand, and with the surge of spirit energy, three arrows of condensed spirit energy quietly materialized on the giant bow.
In the next moment, the bowstring trembled and thunder erupted.
[Top Hundred Generals: Part Eleven – Three Arrows Settle the Tianshan]!
