Chapter Fifty-Two: Blood Ignition Unleashed, Slaying the Half-Step Grandmaster!

“So fast—he’s really impossible to catch up with. If my lightness skill weren’t so accomplished, I wouldn’t even see his shadow... It seems I have no choice.” Bai Xuan, trailing behind, steeled himself as murderous intent surged in his eyes.

His pace had slowed ever so slightly; at this rate, he would lose Yuan Mo. Once that happened, with Qianshan Island so vast, where would he even begin to search? If Yuan Mo fled by sea, there was still a chance of catching up, but here on land, his swimming abilities were useless—his mastery over water counted for nothing.

How could he simply let the man escape? Even if it cost him dearly, when he set out to kill, it was with the certainty of death—leaving no threat behind.

“Bloodburn Eye Technique, awaken!”

A surge of force exploded.

After three breakthroughs in the Bai clan’s Azure Scale Technique, one could unleash the Bloodburn Art, pushing every facet of the body to its limits in a short span. But this forbidden art came at a cost: burning away at one’s life, sacrificing longevity for a burst of power. In the direst moments, it alone could decide life and death.

In an instant, Bai Xuan’s pupils flushed crimson, blood essence igniting like wildfire. His speed vaulted beyond prior limits, reaching astonishing heights—within a single breath, he spanned a hundred meters, closing the gap.

“What?” Yuan Mo glanced back and nearly lost his soul in terror.

He had been sustaining his Sea God Bodyguard for so long, his vitality was nearly spent—how had his pursuer caught up so effortlessly?

“No!” Yuan Mo was stricken with dread.

He had only just stepped into the threshold of a Grandmaster, with a bright future ahead—if he could master the power of the Abyssal Body Refinement, he could have lived another twenty, no, thirty years!

How could he die here, in this rural backwater of Qianshan Island?

“Spare me! The Sea God Sect possesses secret arts, treasures—I have rare medicines to offer, five thousand taels of silver, ironwood warships, weapons of blacksteel, even beautiful followers—”

Sensing his own impending death, Yuan Mo shouted frantically, begging for mercy.

But.

“Die.”

Bai Xuan had already closed in.

He showed no mercy, no hesitation, ignoring Yuan Mo’s desperate pleas. His figure was a blur, and with a single palm strike, twin vortexes of force spiraled forth, their roar like a storm unleashed, power pushed to the absolute limit.

At the same time, the invisible aura of the Shark Fighter burst out, fusing with Bai Xuan’s killing intent and, in a heartbeat, pierced through Yuan Mo’s skull.

A thunderous impact—Yuan Mo raised his arms to block, but his defense was a half-beat too slow. The strike landed with terrifying force; with a sickening crack, his right arm was shattered.

Again and again, Bai Xuan’s attacks rained down, each blow fueled by burning life, each palm strike carrying fifty thousand pounds of force, skin of bronze trembling under the onslaught, as if ten elephants crashed down from the heavens.

Under this monstrous barrage, Yuan Mo’s arms were broken inch by inch, and in the next instant, his head burst apart, the unwillingness on his face shattering away, blood and brains spraying in a gruesome rain.

With a crash, his corpse flew back, colliding with a boulder, caving it in and leaving a gaping pit.

“At last, he’s dead.”

Bai Xuan halted, gouging two deep furrows into the earth as he stopped.

The burning vitality in his eyes gradually receded. In that brief explosion of strength, he had consumed a tenth of his life force—he could feel a hollow ache deep in his bones, a fundamental weakness settling in.

“But killing that monk was worth it.”

Bai Xuan’s gaze was cold.

His skills in body-forging had reached their peak, slaying a half-step Grandmaster in open combat. It was both a proof of his mastery and a preemptive strike against future threats. Whatever schemes the Sea God Sect had for Qianshan Island, they ended here.

“Clear the body.”

Without delay, Bai Xuan quickly searched the corpse, finding only two sealed booklets, a porcelain bottle, two banknotes of a hundred taels each, and some scattered silver.

“A pity. Why can’t a man carry all his wealth with him? Born with nothing, gone with nothing—what use is hiding it all away?”

Bai Xuan frowned.

A philosophical question, perhaps only understood by someone who lived as he did, always at the edge of life and death.

“Time to go.”

Finishing his search, Bai Xuan vanished into the night.

...

Moments later.

“Yuan Mo is dead?”

Zhao Yuancheng and the constables arrived in haste.

He saw the corpse: the mountainside looked as if a storm had torn through, branches broken, a body lying dead among shattered rocks, its skull crushed.

The robes left no doubt—it was Yuan Mo.

“Terrifying. Yuan Mo unleashed the Sea God Bodyguard and fled at great speed, yet he was still overtaken and killed.”

Shock trembled in Zhao Yuancheng’s heart.

He had not believed the Whale Hunter’s strength could be so monstrous, but he had underestimated the man.

“He didn’t even use his spear. If he had, who knows how dreadful it would have been.”

Zhao Yuancheng remembered all too well: the Whale Hunter had slaughtered the Qian Yuan warship’s crew with a long spear.

“Let’s head back!” he ordered. “Carry the body. For the success in exterminating the Sea God Sect, everyone will be rewarded!”

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the manor.

With Yuan Mo dead, the remaining sect members were vicious but powerless against the authorities. In just an hour, the soldiers stormed the Sea God Sect’s stronghold, cutting down the followers in a bloody purge, binding the few survivors and lining them up as they cleared the battlefield.

Inside the manor.

“Thank goodness we made it in time.”

Bai Xuan, having disguised himself and removed his battered shark mask, returned to carry out the sailors from his own household.

The old fisherman, Chen, was unharmed, now standing among the soldiers, dazed and bewildered.

“Hey! You there, stop right now—don’t move!”

A soldier barked an order. In his eyes, Bai Xuan, carrying a wounded sailor, looked suspicious.

“Wait, that’s the Sword-for-Hire—let him through.”

A stern-looking middle-aged chief stopped the soldier.

He had once met Bai Xuan at his home, after Bai Xuan had killed the local swordsman.

Suddenly, a chill ran through him.

“Why do I feel such a strange, menacing coldness?”

The chief sensed a terrifying aura about Bai Xuan—a murderous presence.

He had no idea... Bai Xuan had just slain the old monk Yuan Mo. His killing intent had not yet faded, still lingering about him.

“Thank you,” Bai Xuan said as he passed, carrying the sailor.

“It’s nothing. The Sea God Sect was utterly depraved, tearing countless families apart. With their lair destroyed, Qianshan Island will be peaceful for a long time.”

The chief sighed.

“Fortunately, a martial titan—a peerless master—came and slew the Monk of Black Gold. Otherwise, who knows what might have happened?”

Bai Xuan showed no reaction, his expression calm, as he carried the sailor away.

In the distance, more than a dozen soldiers held torches aloft. Zhao Yuancheng was discussing matters with General Liu. As his gaze swept past, he caught sight of Bai Xuan’s departing figure.

“Why does he look so familiar?” Zhao Yuancheng felt a flicker of suspicion, but with Bai Xuan’s altered stature, no one could recognize him. In a few moments, Bai Xuan had already slipped away from the manor.

At that moment—

“Barrels of incendiary oil and armor have been discovered. According to the interrogation, they were to be used in conjunction with the Star Pirates in a few days, to launch a coordinated assault on the docks!”

A soldier rushed in with the report.

From the storeroom, dozens of men strained to haul out barrel after barrel of oil.

“What?” General Liu’s face paled. “Of course—the navy is about to go out on a campaign. If we hadn’t uncovered this plot, these Sea God Sect followers could have risen up behind our lines, causing unimaginable disaster!”

A cold sweat broke out down his back as the terror sank in.

If not for the timely report and the intervention that wiped out the Sea God Sect’s branch, the docks might not have withstood the assault, and the losses would have been catastrophic.

...

The destruction of the Sea God Sect’s stronghold sent shockwaves through the land.

Some ordinary fishermen who had joined the Seven Seas Association pounded their chests in regret—mainly because the free grain and oil would be no more.

But most people grew wary, alert; others buzzed about in panic, seized by fear alone.