Evil Mage Cultivation: The Immortal Enslavement Path Chapter 75

The air in the mountain pass, usually crisp with the scent of pine, hung heavy with tension and the smell of hot iron.

Han Suwen stood with his feet planted.

Behind him, Han Rong and Han Meiyi watched the exchange, unease growing in their eyes.

"Your reasoning is flawed," Han Suwen said, calm, though a sharp edge ran beneath it.

"Just because you cannot do your job does not mean we should stop. I suspect your sect master needs resources, so you started stealing and hoarding them."

Yue Hai, a woman whose presence matched the greatsword resting on her shoulder, let out a harsh laugh.

"You brat who still smells of milk. If you insult our sect master one more time, do not say this senior did not warn you."

She drove the tip of her greatsword into the ground, drawing a line.

"We are the ones who have guarded this mountain for generations, so you soft-handed townsfolk can play safe inside your walls while we clean up the mess from the terrace."

"Generations of poaching, you mean. And do not forget, we pay you, bandits."

Han Suwen struck at the oldest stain on the Flaming Cloud Sect’s pride.

The Luo family carried the glory of founding Azure Peak Town.

The Han clan held the honor of being its earliest residents and guardians.

The Flaming Cloud Sect had begun as bandits. Only through the generosity of the Luo ancestor had they been persuaded to abandon that path and stand with the town.

That was how the three great powers came to be.

Bonus history point, the Han clan ancestor at the time had wanted to eradicate them as an example.

"Perhaps your clan saw our sect leader’s seclusion as an opportunity to move in," Yue Hai said with a smirk. "Finally found your excuse, huh? What next, trying to overpower the Luo?"

Han Suwen’s composure cracked. Anger crept up his neck.

"Opportunity? You want to blame us after all the deaths happening?"

He pulled his twin swords free, stance settling.

"He’s right!" Han Meiyi’s voice sliced through the air.

She stepped forward.

"You charge protection fees and do nothing worth the money. Maybe it is time for a change."

Yue Hai’s face twisted.

"Courting death!"

Her roar rolled through the forest as she lifted the greatsword.

Flames of qi streamed along the blade, bending the air as it fell.

The strike aimed to split Han Suwen in two.

Before it could land, Han Rong stepped in. His weapon smashed against hers with a thunderous impact.

The shockwave scattered loose stones and forced everyone nearby to retreat a step. Sparks burst from the clash, metal grinding against fire.

"Now!" Han Rong shouted, muscles trembling under the heat and weight.

That was the signal. The standoff shattered into battle.

Disciples of the Flaming Cloud Sect rushed forward. The Han clan answered.

Han Suwen moved like water.

"Twin Dragon Vortex!"

His swords blurred in his hands. He kicked off a boulder, turned in midair, and dropped straight into an enemy’s reach. Steel flashed. One weapon flew away. A heartbeat later blood followed.

"Someone stop that kid!" Yue Hai barked at once. Han Suwen still carried the name of fifth among the town’s young talents.

Not far away, Han Meiyi stood in harsh contrast.

After losing her arm to Wu Han, what remained was a will sharpened past fear.

"Die, cripple!" A Flaming Cloud disciple rushed her, blade burning red as it swept toward her.

This was the first time she had stepped into a true life and death fight.

If the battle with Wu Han did not count.

She replayed that encounter repeatedly, yet that match had been decided from the start.

She never stood a chance.

Whatever he was now, he had moved beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Even with a weaker body, lower cultivation, less experience, he still defeated her.

So, she reached a conclusion. If ordinary methods could not win, she would create her own.

"Too slow!"

Wisp Swipe!

Her sword shot out and intercepted the burning arc.

Her feet stayed planted.

Instead of retreating, Han Meiyi pushed forward and met the strike with exact timing.

Her new style revolved around economy of motion.

The wide sweeping cuts were gone.

She deflected with small movements, guiding attacks away with the edge of her blade.

Flashing Firefly!

There was no grand effect, no dazzling aura, only speed.

She used the sliver of an opening and drove the tip straight into her opponent’s throat.

"Och... och..." Blood spilled from the Flaming Cloud disciple’s mouth.

Han Meiyi followed with three more strikes, one to the dantian, one to the heart, the last to the head.

It ended there.

The method carried risk. Dodging was impossible from the stance she chose.

But she had already made her decision.

From now on she would meet everything head on, until the day she could make Wu Han pay.

"Thank you for being a test subject."

She did not linger.

Her gaze swept across the battlefield, then she moved to support her husband against the ninth stage cultivators.

The main event, however, was the duel between Han Rong and Yue Hai.

They were the most important vanguard, and the victor of this fight would decide who won.

If one ninth stage broke free, it would spell death for everyone else.

"Die! You scum!"

Han Rong was a master of the Seven Star Slashes technique, a style of seven rapid, near-simultaneous cuts.

He launched his attack, his sword becoming a constellation of deadly light.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven cuts, each aimed at a vital point.

Seven Star Slashes!

It was a light cutting technique, but its purpose was to wear down the opponent with bleeding until they gave out from either pain or blood loss, a vicious method and one of the most fearsome techniques the Han clan possessed.

But Yue Hai knew the Han clan’s martial arts, having studied and fought their disciples before.

She didn’t try to dodge the impossible flurry.

She simply raised her massive sword, using its width as a shield, protecting her vitals and letting the other strikes land.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The seven strikes rang out against the greatsword’s flat.

"Is that all you ants got? Weak!"

In the brief moment after Han Rong’s seventh strike, she saw her opening.

Seven fast cuts might seem impossible to fight back, but after reading his move, she knew exactly the pattern he was using.

While the sequence was not the same, the strike points were.

Head, heart.

She guarded the vital ones and counted the strikes in her mind.

Even though her expression burned with anger, she was still a seasoned warrior.

"What’s the matter? Where are the arrogant words you were saying before?!" Han Rong mocked her, seeing her like a sitting duck as his sword drew more blood from her.

She did not answer. Instead, she sharpened her focus.

Left arm, right leg, left leg.

Wounds piled onto her body.

Blood soaked her clothes. Pain surged everywhere, yet she endured.

His technique countered hers, since speed could deal damage before power.

But.

Lung.

If one attack landed, it was over.

Right arm!

Her sword, already blazing with heat, shot forward, a mass of molten metal blasting through his guard.

"What?!" Han Rong’s stance broke as his guard opened wide.

"DIE!!!" Yue Hai used the momentum and spun her massive blade, blasting it through Han Rong’s body.

"Ah!!" Han Rong mustered up a last defensive barrier, but it shattered and he was sent flying.

Boom!

He broke through trees and landed with a massive open wound on his abdomen, bleeding out, the flesh around it continuing to burn from the flames.

The momentum of the battle shifted instantly.

"Kill them all!!"