Free Web NovelChapter 108: Chapter 101: What Is the Price?
’Was he that easy to kill? That can’t be right...’
Su Xing frowned, murmuring in disbelief.
He had truly considered the Catastrophe High Priest an extremely powerful enemy, just shy of being a Tier Five powerhouse. After all, the man possessed four sequences: Spatial Items, Catastrophe, Zombie, and Metamorphosis.
But he never expected a Catastrophe High Priest like this to be so fragile, nearly finished off by a single sword strike.
However, Su Xing immediately realized—how could someone with the "Zombie" sequence be taken down so easily?
Catastrophe seemed to be embedded in the wall. But in the next instant, his figure blurred and reappeared right next to his severed hand.
He nonchalantly bent down, picked up the hand, and reattached it directly to his severed wrist, saying:
"I just wanted to take off your mask. Was there a need to be so brutal?"
Catastrophe’s voice was eerily calm.
He reattached his hand, gave it a little shake, and his gaze returned to Su Xing. A smile touched his lips as he spoke:
"I don’t know how you killed that ’Space’ fellow."
"But... against me, you don’t stand a chance."
As he spoke, his figure vanished. Then, his fist suddenly slammed into the Black Sword, which Su Xing had positioned horizontally to defend himself.
A wave of catastrophic power began to tear at the Black Sword from within, and cracks immediately spiderwebbed across its surface. It looked as if the Black Sword was about to shatter.
Then, Catastrophe reappeared in his original spot and said with a laugh:
"I’m a super Sequencer who possesses four top-tier sequences!"
"You..."
Watching this, Su Xing focused his right hand, and the Black Sword immediately became whole again. He narrowed his eyes and enunciated each word deliberately:
"You... son... of... a... bitch."
"What an arrogant and pathetic creature."
Catastrophe stared at Su Xing with his dark eyes, his expression full of disdain. He spoke calmly:
"A Tier Four Martial Artist. Not bad. A pity... but you insisted on getting involved in the Spiritual Sect’s affairs. Today, I’ll show you the price for offending us!"
Su Xing didn’t hear a word of Catastrophe’s threats. He was completely focused on one question: why did the Catastrophe High Priest suddenly possess a full four sequences?
The more he thought about it, the more his blood boiled. No matter how he looked at it, there was only one possibility: Catastrophe had used *His* blessing. The thought made Su Xing want to kill Catastrophe and drain his energy!
Su Xing asked with a smile, "And what is the price for offending the Spiritual Sect?"
As if amused by the question, the corners of the Catastrophe High Priest’s mouth twisted into an exaggerated smile. His eyes narrowed as he said in a chilling voice:
"The price? Naturally, it’s to..."
Before he could finish, Catastrophe’s expression changed dramatically, and his figure vanished on the spot.
WHUM! WHUM! WHUM!
Following three sword hums, thirty swords from his "Myriad Swords Return to One" technique flew in a continuous stream toward the spot where Catastrophe had just been standing!
BOOM!
Su Xing’s eyes were locked onto the direction his opponent had moved. He slammed his right foot into the ground, and a large crater instantly appeared in the hard floor, sending shards of stone flying!
With the powerful recoil and the enhancement of "Flying Catkin," Su Xing exploded forward with unprecedented, terrifying speed!
Su Xing’s entire body shot forward like a missile fired from a cannon. He appeared in Catastrophe’s face in an instant, too fast for even his Spatial Items to react.
The air roiled as a fierce Gale blasted him in the face!
"The price for offending the Spiritual Sect..."
CRACK!
With a swing of the Black Sword, cracks ripped through space itself. Accompanied by an unparalleled explosive sound, the sword slashed directly at the Catastrophe High Priest, who hadn’t had time to react at all!
Catastrophe’s eyes constricted. He subconsciously tried to use his Spatial Items to escape.
But just as he was about to slip into a spatial rift, the sword struck him heavily. He vanished from the spot only to be violently blasted out of the rift a short distance away!
BANG!
Catastrophe’s entire body slammed into the wall. The sound of bones cracking echoed from within him, and the whole underground passage began to tremble from the impact.
Blood sprayed from his body as his consciousness instantly plunged into darkness.
"The price..."
When he came to, Catastrophe found his hair gripped tightly by the mysterious expert. He looked up in surprise at the masked face as a cold voice echoed in his ears:
"What is it?!"
Blood streamed endlessly from Catastrophe’s head, flowing everywhere.
Nearly every bone in his body had been broken by that last strike. He lay limp on the ground, his eyes vacant.
But Su Xing had no intention of letting him go. Having fought the Corpse High Priest many times, Su Xing knew exactly how disgusting the "Zombie" sequence was.
As long as you didn’t grind him into a pulp, he would just get back up again and again to continue fighting. Su Xing couldn’t give Catastrophe a chance to recover!
Su Xing pressed his knee against Catastrophe’s neck, then grabbed his head and began smashing it against the wall again and again!
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
The first impact caved in Catastrophe’s head, sending red blood and white brain matter spraying out.
The second impact caused Catastrophe’s eyeballs to bulge before flying out of their sockets, splattering against the wall into a mushy pulp.
The third impact sent all his teeth flying out, mixed with blood, leaving his face looking like it had completely withered.
The fourth impact...
At this moment, the Catastrophe High Priest finally regained some clarity. His ruined mouth opened and closed a couple of times, as if trying to say something.
Then, his tongue suddenly transformed into a sharp blade and shot toward Su Xing!
SHINK!
Catastrophe’s dying counterattack caught Su Xing slightly off guard.
He instinctively grabbed the sharp blade with his bare hand. It nearly severed his palm, but Su Xing didn’t care. Gritting his teeth, he tightened his grip on the blade that was once Catastrophe’s tongue, then swung him, smashing his body against the nearby wall!
Slammed like that, the Catastrophe High Priest felt as if he’d been hit by an airplane. His internal organs completely shattered.
The wall behind him let out a "CRACK" before completely exploding, revealing a huge hole!
Catastrophe’s mouth flew open. A stream of abnormally black, foul blood trickled from the corner, followed by a huge spurt that was filled with chunks of internal organs. The stench was unbearable.
His dark pupils quivered. His lips trembled, letting out a few hoarse, grating syllables that couldn’t form words.
WHUM!
The Black Sword materialized instantly. Su Xing gripped it with both hands and plunged it into the Catastrophe High Priest’s chest. His entire torso caved in, and the last remaining bits of flesh were completely severed by the strike.
Catastrophe’s body twitched, trying to muster a final resistance, but Su Xing kicked him directly in the head.
His head flew off like a rotten watermelon and smashed against a nearby wall. Su Xing’s face was impassive as he began hacking at the Catastrophe High Priest’s body, one strike after another.
Without his head, the Catastrophe High Priest completely lost his sense of direction and the ability to make a sound.
He was like a wooden post, lying on the ground and enduring Su Xing’s relentless slashes. Su Xing brutalized the corpse, venting all his recent frustration and disgust for the Spiritual Sect.
The overwhelming power ravaged the underground passage, causing the nearby walls and floor to tremble violently.
Su Xing’s brutal assault wreaked havoc on Catastrophe’s remaining flesh. Even without a head, the body would still tremble from the torment, a sense of despair, humiliation, and fury rising in what was left of his consciousness.
’Next time!’ Catastrophe screamed again and again in his heart. ’Next time we meet, I’ll grind this mysterious expert to dust!’
He desperately wanted to open his mouth to curse, to vent the rage in his heart, but without a head, he couldn’t make a single sound. He could only endure Su Xing’s unending torture.
In the darkness, the hum of the sword and the tremors echoed endlessly.
BOOM!!!
With a massive explosion, Su Xing blasted completely through the underground passage.
A sliver of moonlight shone in, allowing Su Xing to finally see what he looked like. He was covered in chunks of flesh and filth, a terrifying sight to behold.
As for the Catastrophe High Priest, he had been reduced to a pile of mangled flesh, utterly unrecognizable.
Tiny fragments of shattered bone, stinking black blood mixed with pieces of organs, and putrid, mushy flesh were all fused together. It was an exceptionally nauseating sight. A normal person would probably vomit until they passed out if they saw it.
"Haaah."
Su Xing slowly stood up and let out a long breath.
He glanced at the head he had smashed against the wall earlier. It had completely lost its luster, but he still felt uneasy. He walked over to it and stomped, crushing it completely!
SPLAT!
Blood and brain matter exploded under his foot, splattering in all directions!
A system notification suddenly appeared before Su Xing’s eyes, and a rare hint of joy appeared on his cold face.
[Energy suitable for absorption by a Martial Artist has been detected. Now absorbing and converting into Sword Dao Points.]
...
「The next morning.」
In an apartment near a school district in Ningshui City,
Catastrophe’s eyes shot open, filled with a despair and terror so overwhelming it nearly drowned him.
He sat up, then collapsed onto the sofa, gasping for air. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, soaking his entire body in just a minute or two.
Just then, his wife came out of the bedroom. Seeing her husband drenched in sweat, she said with a sigh:
"Look at you. You insisted on sleeping out here last night. Didn’t sleep well, did you? Have a nightmare?"
Catastrophe’s dilated pupils snapped back to normal. He silently swallowed and forced a smile.
"Yeah, a really bad one."
’It was terrifying... but what was the dream even about?’
Catastrophe froze. He tried to recall his fight with the mysterious expert, but he couldn’t remember a single detail, as if the memory had been completely erased.
He knew he had activated his clone, and he knew he had fought the mysterious expert, but he just couldn’t remember the process at all.
It was as if his clone had been absorbed by someone...
...and hadn’t returned to his body.
"Alright, alright. I’ll make you breakfast this morning. Why don’t you go back to the room and rest for a bit."
His wife sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. She sniffed the air and said:
"Goodness, you’re all sweaty just from a dream. Go take a shower first."
"Okay."
Catastrophe’s usual smile returned. He grabbed a change of clothes and his phone and slipped into the bathroom.
He turned on the water, then immediately dialed the Vice Bishop’s number. The person on the other end seemed to be expecting the call, picking up instantly and asking:
"How did it go?"
Catastrophe’s lips trembled. After a long moment of thought, he finally spoke:
"Vice Bishop, my memories of the clone’s fight with the mysterious expert... they’re completely gone. I have no way of tracking him down."
"What did you say?"
