Journey of True Cultivation-Chapter 70: The End of the Silver Snakes

"DIE!" Both of them roared as they rushed at Yuan like wild animals, their rage blinding them to strategy.

Yuan's sword met Emilia's with a sharp clang, their blades locked for a brief moment before separating.

With his other hand, he blocked Jack's erratic swings, his poisoned dagger clashing against Jack's blade with dull thuds.

To anyone else, it might have looked like chaos. But to Yuan, it was nothing more than a game.

Jack's stamina was rapidly depleting, his remaining spiritual blood waning with every reckless strike. The blood that still oozed from his severed arm only worsened his condition, each heartbeat draining him further.

He's losing strength... Yuan noted, his cold eyes flickering with calculated disdain. Just a little longer and he'll collapse from blood loss.

But that would take too long. He needed to end this quickly.

They clashed again and again, the metallic shriek of swords clashing filling the air. With each exchange, Jack's swings grew slower, his movements sloppier. His breathing was ragged, and his face pale.

Finally, Jack stumbled, his knees buckling for a mere instant as pain ripped through his body.

It was all Yuan needed.

In a blur of movement, Yuan's dagger whipped forward, slashing across Jack's remaining arm. The blade bit deep into his flesh, leaving a jagged wound stained with poison.

Jack howled in pain, his eyes widening as he staggered backward. Blood seeped from the new wound, mingling with the sweat pouring down his face.

But Yuan's strike had come at a cost.

"BASTARD!" Emilia's scream tore through the air as she threw herself at Yuan, her sword slashing wildly. Her Crystal black eyes blazed with hatred, her strikes driven by desperation rather than skill.

Yuan blocked her attack with his sword, his arm trembling slightly from the force of her blow. He took a quick step back, creating distance between himself and Jack.

Now, several meters away from his prey, Yuan watched with mild amusement.

The damage was already done.

Jack's arm trembled violently as the poison began to take effect. Panic flickered in his eyes as he looked down at the wound, his breath coming in short, frantic gasps.

"What... What did you do to me?" Jack choked out, his voice slurred and weak.

But Yuan only smirked, his gaze cold and merciless.

Both Jack and Emilia had no idea what kind of poison the dagger was stained with. And without knowing, they couldn't determine what kind of antidote pill to use.

"Alone now, aren't you?" Yuan's voice dripped with sarcasm, his black azure eyes gleaming with amusement as he looked down at Emilia's sad, regretful gaze.

Hearing his mocking tone, Emilia gritted her teeth and snapped back, her voice trembling with emotion.

"So what? It's already happened, so what's there to say?" She laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and strained. "Should I be sorry for my grandfather using you as a slave? Should I ask for forgiveness for staying silent back then? Would you stop if I begged you?"

Her hands trembled as she continued, her voice breaking.

"What if I fell to my knees and groveled for your mercy? What if I offered my body to you? Would you have stopped then?"

Yuan's expression didn't change. If anything, her words only seemed to amuse him.

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"Forgiveness?" he repeated, his tone oddly calm. "You think this is about something as simple as revenge?"

His words made her pause, eyes widening in disbelief. She'd expected him to mock her or strike her down. But this?

"Asking you to atone for your grandfather's sins was never my intention." Yuan's voice was cold, his gaze sharp and unyielding. "You misunderstand, Emilia."

"Then... why?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.

Yuan continued, his tone almost bored.

"The reason I attacked you and your friends has nothing to do with your grandfather. You were never important enough to be the reason." His words were delivered with an icy indifference that left her stunned.

"But... there is one thing that is your mistake." Yuan's eyes narrowed, his voice growing colder. "You know too much."

Emilia's breath caught in her throat, confusion turning into terror.

"Curse your grandfather for not binding me to him instead of you," Yuan said with a quiet, almost pitying smile. "Your existence is a liability. You made yourself a target the moment we became bounded to each other."

She couldn't believe it. Revenge wasn't his goal, only the elimination of those who posed a threat to him.

Her shock left her paralyzed, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and disbelief.

And that moment of hesitation was all Yuan needed.

Before Emilia could react, Yuan surged forward. A sharp blow to the side of her head sent her crumpling to the ground, unconscious.

Yuan stood over her fallen body, his expression devoid of pity or remorse.

He reached down and pried her sword from her limp hand, then swiftly took her bag of holding.

Yuan sighed, his shoulders relaxing as the battle finally came to an end.

"Haaa... It's over."

He glanced at Jack, who lay writhing on the ground, his skin pale and slick with sweat. The poison from Yuan's dagger coursed through his veins, disrupting his blood and spiritual energy.

The agony from his severed arm only worsened his suffering. He clutched his body, his cries of pain echoing through the blood soaked clearing.

Yuan approached him with slow, measured steps. Jack's sword had already slipped from his grasp, lying forgotten on the ground.

He didn't even notice Yuan standing over him.

But Yuan's gaze held no pity. Only icy indifference.

Without hesitation, he raised his foot and brought it down on Jack's neck.

A sickening crunch.

Jack's neck snapped beneath the weight of Yuan's heel, his head twisting at a grotesque angle. Blood spattered across the dirt, painting the ground a deeper shade of red.

But Yuan didn't care. His robes were already soaked with blood. A little more made no difference.

He looked up and spotted Anna, sprawled on the ground. She stared at him with hollow, lifeless eyes. Her body was trembling, her broken leg twisted unnaturally.

But the look in her eyes...

She'd already accepted death.

Yuan could see it plainly. The resignation. The finality.

But that is a lie.

She would still try something desperate.One last effort to take him down with her.

But he wasn't going to play her game.

Yuan raised his dagger and threw it with precision.

Anna's eyes widened. Her body moved instinctively, rolling away to dodge the blade.

But Yuan had anticipated her reaction.

Before she could even recover from dodging the dagger, Yuan's sword followed. The weapon sailed through the air and pierced her chest, burying itself deep.

Her breath hitched. Her shocked eyes locked onto him, frozen in a final expression of disbelief.

Then, her body collapsed, lifeless.

Yuan waited, his gaze fixed on her corpse. When he was sure she was truly dead, he exhaled a quiet breath.

He turned away from Anna's body, his gaze drifting to the bloodstained battlefield. It was over. All of them were dead.

But Yuan's expression remained calm, his eyes void of emotion.

Yuan moved with cold efficiency, his steps steady as he approached Jack's corpse. Blood pooled beneath the body, staining the grass a dark, sickly crimson.

Without hesitation, Yuan crouched down and rifled through Jack's belongings.

He pulled out Jack's bag of holding and inspected it briefly before tossing it into his own. His sword followed.

Next, he moved to Amalia and Ron. Their lifeless bodies lay crumpled and twisted, eyes frozen in expressions of terror and pain.

Yuan looted them both with the same indifference, stashing their weapons and bags of holding away.

Once finished, he set their bodies ablaze, watching the flames consume flesh and bone. The acrid scent of burning meat filled the air, but Yuan's expression remained unchanged.

Finally, he arrived before Anna's corpse. Her dead eyes were wide with shock, her mouth partially open as if trying to utter one last plea.

Yuan inspected her bag of holding carefully, turning it over in his hand.

A small smile crept across his lips.

"Hehehe... So, you tempered your own bag of holding, huh? How foolish of you to think that would stop me."

He tossed the tampered bag aside and set her body alight, the crackling of flames drowning out the quiet of the forest. Now, only he and Emilia were left in this blood soaked clearing.

His wound had healed long ago, and he estimated he'd only expended about 20% of his spiritual blood during the battle,something he could recover within a day or two.

Satisfied, Yuan grabbed Emilia by the neck and lifted her unconscious body with ease. Her head lolled limply, her breathing faint but steady.

As he walked away from the burning corpses, he began reviewing the battle in his mind, his expression thoughtful.

"Only three techniques... That's a serious flaw. If I can only rely on the Howling Gale Step, Wind Cutter Slash, and Thunderclap Gale Strike, then my combat style is far too predictable. It is Limited."

He continued to trudge forward, Emilia's body swinging limply in his grip.

"I need to learn more techniques suitable for the Blood Purification Stage. Something versatile... adaptable. Who knows? It might be useful in the future."

He glanced at Emilia, her lifeless form swaying with each step.

"With her in my hands, I might not have to waste as much time as I thought perfecting those techniques."

Finding a small cave he had previously scouted while searching for Emilia's group, Yuan ducked his head and entered.

The cave wasn't impressive. Just a hollow dug into the side of a rocky hill, about ten meters long and wide. The ceiling was low, but the air was dry and stale.

"Good enough," Yuan muttered.

He walked to the deepest part of the cave and unceremoniously tossed Emilia's body to the ground. She hit the stone floor with a dull thud.

A smile curled Yuan's lips as he looked down at her.

"Now... the real work begins."

The sharp pain of her head striking stone jolted Emilia awake. Her black eyes flickered open, unfocused and glazed with confusion.

Everything was dark, damp, and cold. Her body ached from being tossed to the ground like a broken doll.

Blinking, she tried to piece together what had happened. Then, she saw him.

Yuan stood before her, his figure painted in crimson from head to toe. Blood soaked his clothes, smeared across his face and hands like a macabre mask.

His black azure eyes gleamed with cold indifference, their depths reflecting not even a sliver of mercy.

He looked more like a demon than a man.

Her body trembled, her limbs refusing to obey her commands. Even speaking felt like a challenge, her voice cracking under the weight of her terror.

"Wh-what about my f-friends?" she stammered, her words little more than a frightened gasp.

Yuan's reply came swiftly, his tone clipped and indifferent.

"Dead."

The word dropped like a stone, shattering the last threads of hope she clung to.

The silence that followed was absolute,cold and merciless. It filled the cave, pressing down on her chest until breathing felt impossible.

Then the sobs came. Harsh, ugly, choking cries that tore through her throat and left her gasping for air. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the dirt and blood smeared across her skin.

She didn't care how she looked. She didn't care about anything anymore. Everything she had known was gone.

But Yuan's expression remained unchanged. He gazed down at her with an almost clinical detachment, as if her suffering was nothing more than an interesting puzzle.

"Do you know," he began, his voice calm and almost conversational, "I think we were brought together by fate. At the last moment, when I was about to kill you, something came to my mind. A possibility I must confirm."

Emilia's sobs continued, her gaze unfocused and distant. She didn't hear him. Or perhaps she refused to.

"But here's the thing," Yuan continued, his tone growing colder. "If my suspicion is wrong, you'll be spared from further pain and just die, but If I'm right"

He paused, a hint of curiosity flickering in his gaze.

"...then you're about to experience something far worse than death."

His words barely registered. Emilia's eyes were losing their light, her mind retreating into itself, trying to shield her from the cruel reality before her.

But Yuan was not one to allow such mercy.

He bit down on his thumb, drawing blood. The deep red liquid glistened against his skin, thick with spiritual blood.

Without hesitation, he grabbed Emilia's head, his fingers gripping her hair painfully as he forced her mouth open.

She let out a strangled yelp of surprise, her eyes widening with terror as his blood trickled onto her tongue. Before she could spit it out, he clamped her mouth shut, his grip unrelenting.

"Swallow."

The command was absolute. Her throat convulsed involuntarily, the blood sliding down despite her desperate attempts to resist.

Immediately, agony tore through her body.

Her skin burned as if seared by molten iron, every nerve alight with scorching pain. The temperature within her rose to a fever pitch, sweat pouring from her skin in torrents.

It was as if her blood had turned to fire.

"No,No! AAAAHHHH!"

Every sound felt amplified, like nails being driven into her skull. Her own screams echoed inside her head, multiplied a thousand times until she thought she would go mad.

The sharp, cold stone beneath her felt like needles pricking her skin. Her fingers clawed at the ground, nails breaking as she thrashed and convulsed.

Through the haze of agony, she caught a glimpse of Yuan's expression.

Those black azure eyes stared down at her with curiosity, nothing more.

He was watching her suffering as if it were some experiment.

An indifferent smile tugged at the corners of his lips.