Redemption of a Born Demon

Chapter 144 - 143: Ended with One Palm: See Me as a God Hereafter

With six stars now visible, Yi Beidou’s aura was monstrous as he bore down on Ooshima Junichi.

BOOM!!

With a tap of his foot, the ground exploded, and his figure shot forward.

Before he even arrived, the Demon Flame had already swept in, engulfing Ooshima Junichi.

At that moment, Ooshima Junichi felt a bone-chilling cold. He could barely extend his True Intent beyond his body, and it was as if the entire world around him had been sealed off.

The Heaven-Devouring Demon Flame severed his connection to heaven and earth.

Ooshima Junichi was the Sword Saint of Japan’s Shindo Tenryu School. The hallmark of his school was blending with nature to achieve a state of Unity of Heaven and Man.

His techniques blended with nature; every blade of grass, every tree, could become his sword.

His True Intent blended with nature, allowing him to command the Heaven and Earth True Qi at will.

His True Intent had even reached the terrifying level where he could manipulate the world’s magnetic field, influence air currents, and wield Qi as sharp as a blade.

This was the origin of his so-called "Heaven," "Earth," and "Man" swords.

And yet now, his opponent’s burning Demon Flame could sever his connection to heaven and earth.

’No! It would be more accurate to say his opponent’s True Intent has changed the entire world!’

’To have such power even while injured... just how terrifying would this man be at his peak?’

Ooshima Junichi simply couldn’t imagine it.

He prided himself on being the number one swordsman of Japan’s new generation, and he had come on this trip thoroughly prepared. Yet, before they had even truly clashed, he was already being suppressed by his opponent.

BOOM!!

However, he had little time to be shocked. Yi Beidou had already launched his attack.

A massive palm, wreathed in what seemed like world-ending Demon Fire, grew larger and larger in his vision until it blotted out the sky.

At this moment, the world around him was enveloped in Yi Beidou’s Demon Flame, greatly weakening his state of Unity of Heaven and Man. With the attack right before him, he had no way to successfully form his Heaven and Earth swords.

His strength was being countered by his opponent’s technique.

But the Heaven and Earth swords were merely an appetizer. His true killing move was, in fact, "Man."

HAH!!

Ooshima Junichi let out a low cry as he pushed his Qi, blood, and spirit to their absolute limits. A light flashed in his eyes, faintly revealing the shape of a Tachi.

An embodiment of deep obsession, monstrous killing intent, and a hatred for all of creation.

He had absorbed the Spirit of the Demon Blade into his own True Intent, making it a weapon for his very soul.

This method was strikingly similar to the ancient Soldier and Horse Skill of Donghua.

One takes a God into the body to stimulate their own potential and spirit. Although this "God" integrates with the body, it actually maintains its own independent and complete magnetic field.

Divine Thought Sword Tomb Technique!

Ooshima Junichi raised his arm, his hand held like a blade in a preparatory chopping stance. A tangible, solid-looking radiance emanated from his arm, extending from the edge of his palm to form a blood-red Tachi.

Unlike a normal manifestation of light, this Tachi’s radiance was far more condensed and three-dimensional, as if a divine weapon were revealing its true form.

KSSSHH!!

The moment the Tachi appeared, its sheer presence sliced through the surging Demon Flame around Ooshima Junichi, tearing an opening in the worldly seal.

The Demon Blade, "Three Generations Cut."

It was a Dharma Artifact left behind by a reincarnated Immortal.

With each reincarnation, this person would use his own broken body, blood, and obsession to nourish the blade, imbuing it with a unique magnetic field and gradually turning it into a Magical Treasure capable of Divine Communication.

This reincarnator lived for three lifetimes. By his third life, with reincarnation no longer possible, he used the Corpse Dissolving Technique to pour all his obsession, his indignation, his craving for Longevity, and his jealousy and hatred for all living beings into the Tachi, causing it to become completely "demonized."

Anyone who wielded this sharp weapon would be influenced by the intense will within it, causing them to despise life, despise themselves, and ultimately, in a state of madness, use the blade to commit suicide by seppuku, becoming a part of it.

This is how Three Generations Cut earned its name.

In all of Japan, those who could control this blade were few and far between.

By binding the blade’s Spirit within his True Intent, it was as if his very soul wielded a sharp edge. Empowered by the Corpse Dissolving Immortal’s might, its power became incomparable.

This was why the "Man" sword was his strongest attack.

However, the Demon Blade’s True Intent was simply too tyrannical. Even for him, unleashing the "Man" sword at full power carried the risk of his own True Intent being invaded, so he would not use it lightly.

But now, facing the man before him, he had no other choice.

"Slash!!"

Ooshima Junichi roared, his True Intent connecting with nature. As Heaven, Earth, and Man became one, he viciously chopped down at Yi Beidou with his hand-blade.

For a moment, a brilliant light surged forth, incomparably sharp.

Yet, Yi Beidou was not the least bit afraid.

Killing intent billowed. Destruction Killing Tribulation.

Ooshima Junichi’s willingness to use any means to achieve his goals was a heretical path.

The path of the Corpse Dissolving Immortal was a heretical path.

To fail Corpse Dissolution, only to imbue a weapon with resentment and bring disaster upon future generations, was even more of a heretical path!

’No matter how many heretical paths are piled on, they are still just that—heresies. What is there to fear? I will destroy them all!’

The True Intent of this palm strike was precisely to kill and destroy all heretical paths!!

Provoked by his opponent piling one heresy upon another, Yi Beidou’s Destruction Killing Tribulation broke through its limits, generating an unprecedentedly terrifying power.

This strike was nearly comparable to his attack when the Seven Stars Appear Together.

BOOM!

Yi Beidou met Ooshima Junichi’s hand-blade head-on with his palm. Upon impact, blasted by the Demon Flame, the light-form of the Demon Blade condensed on Ooshima’s palm suddenly shattered. A terrifying force crashed into his body as the Demon Flame seized the opportunity to invade, destroying his Life Magnetic Field.

PFFT!!

Ooshima Junichi spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying backward. He tumbled for more than twenty meters across the ground before coming to a stop.

"Mr. Ooshima!!"

The faces of the few Japanese men in his entourage changed drastically. They rushed over to Ooshima Junichi’s side and helped him up.

Ooshima Junichi, however, wore a dazed expression. His gaze toward Yi Beidou was filled with boundless terror.

In his mind, that figure now seemed infinitely vast—an insurmountable, unbeatable force.

He couldn’t help but avert his gaze, unable to look directly at his opponent any longer.

’He... he was defeated, just like that?’

’He had found the perfect opportunity, attacking while his opponent was injured and not at his peak. He had seized the initiative.’

’At the same time, he had been prepared, absorbing the Demon Blade’s Spirit into his True Intent, as if he had brought a divine weapon.’

’But even so, he was still defeated. In a single blow!’

The True Intent of that last technique was still seared into his mind.

It was a kind of disdain.

Everything he believed in, everything he held dear, was nothing more than a worthless heretical path in that man’s eyes.

This couldn’t help but make him doubt himself.

He considered himself to have a place among the world’s new generation of Saint Experts. Yet, while Western Europe’s Blasphemer Moncalis could trade blows with this man, he couldn’t even withstand a single one of his attacks.

This gap in power, this inescapable feeling of helplessness and fear—this was what had truly wounded him.

With the Qi stagnating in his heart, the effects of his physical injuries and the chaos in his Life Magnetic Field grew even worse.

UGH!

He couldn’t stop himself from vomiting another mouthful of blood.

「Meanwhile.」

Yi Beidou glanced at his own palm. A clear cut mark was visible. Although the skin wasn’t broken, blood was seeping out from the pores.

This was the result of his opponent’s earlier slash disrupting the magnetic field in his palm, causing necrosis of the flesh, just as if he had been truly struck by a sharp blade.

’But it’s just a superficial wound. Nothing serious.’

"The little interlude is over. Let’s get back on the road."

Yi Beidou turned and walked toward Meng Qianyuan and the others, his Celestial Slaughter Seven Stars state deactivating as his body returned to normal.

"Sir, you’re just going to let him go like that?"

Meng Qianyuan’s eyes narrowed, his sharp gaze fixed on Ooshima Junichi.

He felt that Yi Beidou had been too lenient.

"It doesn’t matter. His confidence is shattered. From now on, whenever he sees me, it will be as if he is seeing a god," Yi Beidou said calmly.

Whether the man could ever overcome this mental block would be a challenge in itself. For a Saint, this was the greatest torment and punishment of all.

He strode toward where their vehicles were parked.

Meng Qianyuan and the others immediately followed, leaving only Ah Nan and the other young roller-skaters standing stunned, watching them disappear into the distance.

「Back at the main command center.」

Everyone had watched the entire battle on the surveillance monitors near the plaza. For a moment, the room was silent.

"It seems we’ve underestimated the younger generation. How can the new generation of experts from our Donghua be compared to those from some petty little island nation? The times have changed. The humiliations of the past will not be repeated."

After a long moment, a veteran Saint Expert broke the silence, a gratified smile on his face as he let out a breath.

The bygone era was gone, never to return.

In the eyes of the great Donghua, modern Japan was nothing more than a pest in the sea.

Just then, however, the screen suddenly flickered. A new image replaced the view of the plaza where Yi Beidou and his group were.

It was a devastated alleyway, littered with rubble and upturned earth. The walls of the buildings on both sides were covered in terrifying cracks.

A huge crater marred one wall, with spiderweb-like cracks spreading across its entire surface.

And embedded within that crater was a person.

He was a tall man, now soaked in blood, his clothes torn. His limbs hung limp, and it was impossible to tell if he was alive or dead.

Opposite him, a figure of South American descent in a black hoodie was slowly walking away.

Every Saint Expert present recognized the identity of the man in the wall.

From the Northeast, the Spiritual Painter, Huang Tianhu.

Not long ago, he had encountered Earth Giant God Yuri—one of the Starry Sky Country’s three Saints of Sea, Land, and Air—on a street corner.

No one could have expected him to be defeated so miserably.

Among the new generation of Saint Experts, Huang Tianhu was considered one of the very best.

"What’s the situation?! How is Huang Tianhu now?" Wei Cheng asked a member of the Special Security Bureau, his expression grave.

"Mr. Huang is severely injured and unconscious. However, his Life Force is extremely strong, so his life is not in immediate danger. We have already arranged for personnel to get him medical attention as quickly as possible," a staff member quickly stood up and reported.

"How did he lose? With his strength, he shouldn’t have been defeated so miserably," a Saint Expert who knew Huang Tianhu relatively well asked.

"According to the report from our field personnel, Mr. Huang was suppressed by his opponent from the very beginning of the fight. It’s suspected that the opponent’s abilities had some kind of countering effect on Mr. Huang. We won’t know the specifics until he wakes up," the staff member said in a low voice.

Hearing this, the crowd fell silent for a moment.

In his current condition, Huang Tianhu would be unable to fight again anytime soon. They had lost a key player.

Yi Beidou’s victory over four Saints in a single day was certainly gratifying, but the real crisis was far from over.

The Starry Sky Country had combined modern technology with ancient Cultivation, forging an unprecedented path.

In this era, the tiny island nation was no longer a threat. The real threat came from across the ocean.

This was no time for celebration.

「At the same time.」

Street brawls involving Saints broke out in multiple locations within Modu, and shocking images of these battles began to spread rapidly.

Superman-like physiques, battles that defied common sense like those of Immortal Gods, and clashes between local and foreign Martial Artists...

All of it was explosive material, and the attention it garnered was beyond imagination.

The legendary term, Body Ascension, had now fully entered the public consciousness.