The Eternal Sin-Chapter 44: The Stubbornness of a Falling Man.

The wind roared past Jiang Chen’s ears like the wailing of ten thousand resentful spirits.

His body plunged through the vast emptiness, robes torn and stained with fresh crimson. The cliff face rushed upward beside him, while the earth below remained at a welcoming distance of at least several thousand meters.

Jiang Chen could not even glimpse the ground. He only knew that once he reached it, there would not even be a corpse left to bury, only a scarlet smear upon the rocks.

’Is this the limit of my path? Heh, to die as a feast for the crows before I even glimpse the edge of Immortality?’

The thought flashed through Jiang Chen’s mind like a streak of cold lightning.

He could not allow himself to fall freely.

With a snarl, he forced his left hand toward his waist and closed it around the hilt of his sword. The blade left its scabbard with a clear cry that was instantly swallowed by the storming air. He slammed the blade toward the sheer granite face, seeking to anchor his life to the stone.

CLANG!

The impact was catastrophic. The sword struck the cliff with such force that the blade bit directly into the rock.

For a brief instant, hope flashed through his chest.

Then a sickening pop echoed through his torso, followed by a searing flare of agony that eclipsed the sun. His left shoulder joint was ripped from its socket, the ligaments tearing like rotten silk.

Now Jiang Chen was falling with two nearly useless arms, his only connection to the living world being the loosening grip on the hilt of a sliding blade that was slowly working free from the shallow groove.

Pain and desperation flooded him instantly.

Jiang Chen’s eyes bulged, blood vessels bursting within the whites. He knew with the cold clarity of a dying man that this could not hold.

’Gah, if this continues, I will surely lose my grip. Or worse, the weight of my body might eventually tear the arm clean off. Hanging here is no different from waiting for death.’

With a guttural grunt, Jiang Chen yanked the sword free from the cliff, his body once again entering a terrifying freefall.

The wind screamed in his ears as his speed tripled in an instant.

In a feat of madness that would have made most cultivators gasp, Jiang Chen caught the sword between his teeth, biting down on the cold metal until his gums bled. He leaned forward, using the weight of his head to ram the blade back into the cliff.

SCREEEEEEE—

The sound of metal striking the hard cliff wall was like the wail of a dying god. Sparks exploded before his eyes, hurting his vision. But the blade did not sink in. Instead, it carved only a jagged, shallow line down the rock. The cliff was far tougher than he had anticipated.

The friction grew terrifying. The hilt turned white hot, scorching the sensitive flesh inside his mouth and searing his tongue. The taste of iron and burnt flesh filled his mouth.

But he did not release his grip.

For that would be accepting death.

Jiang Chen’s body slammed repeatedly against protruding stones. Each impact forced air from his lungs and punished his internal organs. He pressed his boots against the cliff face, attempting to slow himself, but he only succeeded in leaving a long, morbid trail of blood and skin behind him.

The descent seemed endless.

Then fate finally relented, and the blade caught a hairline fracture. The sword wedged into a narrow vertical split in the stone. The halt was so sudden that his spine felt as if it had shattered. A mouthful of blood sprayed outward from between his teeth.

He dangled there like a broken marionette.

Jiang Chen’s left shoulder was a dislocated mess. His right shoulder was bloody and swollen, and the hand extending from it was mangled beyond recognition. His legs were flayed of skin, his boots torn to shreds. Every rib in his chest felt like a shard of broken glass, and his spiritual essence had truly hit the dry bottom of his dantian.

The only thing keeping him from the abyss was the strength of his jaw.

The wind circled him and howled.

Then a low, ominous groan echoed from the sword. Jiang Chen felt his blood run cold. It was, after all, only a mortal grade spirit iron blade acquired from the outer sect storehouse. Under the immense stress of his weight and the sudden stop, the metal began to bend.

Cr-crack.

Jiang Chen stared fiercely with sweat dripping down his back. But he quickly realized, it was not the sound of blade breaking, it was the fracture in the cliff surface that had started to spiderweb outward, fine dust trickling down like sand in an hourglass.

A small fragment of stone broke loose and fell past him, disappearing into the abyss.

Jiang Chen’s heart pounded against his ribs like a frantic trapped bird. He lifted his gaze upward, his eyes bloodshot and unyielding, staring at the indifferent sky.

’Is this the end of the road? I refuse! If the heavens wish to take my life, then they must come and take it themselves! I, Jiang Chen, will not yield!’

His divine sense flared.

Three Yellow Rank vitality replenishing pills appeared in his mangled right hand. Slowly, he attempted to raise them toward his mouth.

He moved with the caution of someone treading on thin ice over a frozen lake. His fingers were deformed, the bones shattered into a dozen fragments, making it nearly impossible to maintain a grip. He balanced the pills precariously on his palm, his arm barely obeying him.

But his mouth was occupied by the sword.

He inhaled slowly, calming his racing heart. With extreme carefulness, he wrapped his right forearm over the blade, gradually loosening his bite while ensuring that the shift in weight did not worsen the fracture in the cliff. It was a delicate dance with death.

At last, he freed his teeth from the hilt.

He brought the pills toward his lips when a treacherous gust of wind whipped across the cliff face, blowing a cloud of grit and dust directly into his eyes.

Jiang Chen’s heart dropped into his stomach.

In a split second, one pill slipped free and fell straight downward. He could only watch it vanish into the abyss. The second pill rolled down his chest, tracing a path over his bloody robes and slipping past his legs.

’No!’ Jiang Chen forced his ankles together, trying to trap it.

He succeeded, but in that instant, the brittle pill cracked under pressure and shattered into fine powder that scattered in the wind.

His expression darkened until it was as cold as a tombstone.

’Heavens, you truly have a sense of humor. Damn it!’

Then, Jiang Chen suddenly remembered there had been three pills.

His gaze scanned madly until his divine sense pointed it out to him.

’There!’

The final pill had lodged within the torn flesh of his right forearm. It was partially embedded among coagulating blood.

For a second, a hysterical urge to laugh rose in his throat, but he had no strength to spare for it.

Without a second’s hesitation, he bent his head down and bit directly into the flesh of his own arm. He swallowed the pill whole, along with fragments of his own flesh and the salt of his blood.

Warmth exploded within his body.

Vital energy spread like spring water flooding a drought stricken field. His meridians tingled intensely. Jiang Chen urgently directed the surging vitality first toward his shoulders.

’If the shoulders do not hold, then strength cannot travel through the arms. Without my arms, I am sure to die.’

The energy gathered at his joints and began repairing them quickly. At the same time, he bit down hard on the sword again to anchor himself and used his right arm to forcefully pop his dislocated left shoulder back into place. It was a common practice he had learned during his years of missions in the Heavenly Tiger Sect’s hunting grounds.

With his resilient tiger bone essence and the vitality pill helping, the bone seated itself without issue.

About thirty percent of the pill’s energy remained. Jiang Chen knew it would not suffice to mend his crushed right hand. That would require time and a greater grade of medicine.

So he guided the remaining vitality toward his ruptured eardrums, cracked ribs, and bloody legs. The ringing in his head softened. The stabbing pain within his chest eased to a manageable state, and the flesh on his feet healed. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

As the last thread of medicinal power faded, Jiang Chen exhaled slowly. With his left arm now capable of bearing weight, he grasped the hilt of the sword.

The sword still groaned within the fracture.

Jiang Chen quickly began the agonizing process of traversing the cliff face.

He would pull the sword free, then thrust it into another narrow crack. His feet searched for protrusions. His body hugged the rock like a gecko clinging to a wall.

Below remained an endless expanse of emptiness. Above, the sky had mostly quieted. The surviving Sky Rupturing Owls had long since left.

’Today I nearly perished in midair. This is a lesson for me. With recent improvements in my strength, I have become more careless in some aspects. Even a Rank One demonic beast forced me into such a state. I should have never let myself get captured. If I act so ignorantly, how can I speak of immortality? Jiang Chen, oh Jiang Chen. The strong devour the weak. The heavens devour the arrogant. If you wish to stand above all, then you must treat every breath as your last.’

With such thoughts, Jiang Chen continued traversing.

Blood dripped from his chin. Sweat mixed with dust, forming streaks upon his face. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a dark shadow in the cliff wall several dozen meters away. It appeared to be a hollow, perhaps a natural grotto, a bird’s nest, or even a cave carved by wind and rain.

Hope flickered in his eyes. He had to reach it, recover his spiritual essence, and rest before he could think about climbing higher.

Jiang Chen steadied his breathing and struggled toward it.

Each thrust of the sword tested the cliff surface before bearing his weight. Several times, fragments broke loose and fell. Each time his heart tightened, yet his hand remained stable.

After what felt like an eternity, he reached the edge of the hollow.

It was indeed a deep hole within the cliff wall, wide enough for a man to crawl into. The interior was shrouded in darkness.

’Even a beast’s den is better than hanging outside to feed eagles. But hopefully, there is no beast inside,’ Jiang Chen sighed inwardly, while extending his left hand toward the edge, preparing to pull himself inside.

A rocky protrusion beside the opening suddenly shifted and shot toward him with vicious speed, stabbing straight at his throat!