Chapter 14

At the same time...

The battlefield where Araki and the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow crossed swords.

With Araki's Final Release, the endless seven-colored glazed light seemed to replace the great sun in the sky, descending from the heavens to gently caress the earth, enveloping all things within. Naturally, it also enveloped the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow and the blood pool surrounding her...

After the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow's Final Release, the endless plasma it released turned into a blood pool soaking the earth, and naturally spread to Araki's feet!

In an instant, it submerged Araki's feet, and as the plasma seeping in from all directions increased, the water level kept rising, spreading along Araki's feet toward his calves at a visible speed...

"Originally, with our two Final Release natures, it's not suitable to release them inside the Soul Society!"

"As time drags on, whether your blood sea or my glazed light, they will engulf the entire Soul Society, right?!"

Araki gazed at the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow standing in the blood sea and spoke lightly.

"Since we've both entered Final Release, what's the point of talking about this anymore?!"

Upon hearing this, the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow's eyes flashed with a hint of disdain; she had endured to her limit, and whether the Soul Society would be destroyed or not no longer mattered to her...

At this moment, the only important thing is one: 'Battle'!

Fight until someone from either side falls!

"Boom!"

Just as Araki and the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow were conversing, a spiritual pressure far more 'ferocious' and 'violent' than theirs at the moment shot up into the sky!

Unlike the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow's 'icy' and 'yin-cold' spiritual pressure, merely falling on a person causes waves of heat to surge in, giving a feeling of 'scorching,' 'burning,' and 'ardent'...

"Huh?!"

With the outbreak of that spiritual pressure, Araki and the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow, who had been preparing to engage in fierce combat, both lowered their swords and looked toward the source of the blazing spiritual pressure.

There stood a middle-aged man wearing a sleeveless white haori, with a prominent cross-shaped scar on his forehead, silently drawing the Soul-Cutting Sword at his waist and speaking softly.

"All of creation shall turn to ash! Flowing Blade Like Fire!"

"Boom!"

With the man's low-pitched release words, carrying endless 'majesty,' they slowly descended, and towering flames shot up into the sky, burning half of the Soul Society's heavens...

If it weren't for everyone present knowing beforehand, this merely being the man's Soul-Cutting Sword Final Release, they would surely mistake the soaring flames for another captain of the Guardian Thirteen Squads performing his Soul-Cutting Sword Final Release!

"So hot~"

"After all these years, Old Man Mountain's Soul-Cutting Sword is still this 'scorching hot,' practically the embodiment of violence!"

Araki turned his side to gaze at the scorching flames, couldn't help but smile; seeing his stern master still so sturdy put him at ease.

Yes, this person who initiated the release is none other than Araki's master, the founder of the Origin Style swordsmanship, the chief instructor of the Origin Character Academy, the overall commander of the Guardian Thirteen Squads, the strongest Soul Reaper of the Soul Society—Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni!

And the Soul-Cutting Sword released by Genryūsai in his hand naturally possesses the highest attack power in the Soul Society and is also the strongest flame-type Soul-Cutting Sword—Flowing Blade Like Fire!

"Boom!!"

Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni paid no heed to his long-unseen disappointing disciple; he lightly waved his Soul-Cutting Sword, and instantly endless flames moved at his will, burning in all directions—wherever the flames spread, both the blood sea and the glow retreated three leagues.

By the time Araki and the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow reacted, the scorching flames released by Flowing Blade Like Fire had already formed a towering wall of fire tens of thousands of feet high, firmly trapping the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow's blood sea and Araki's glow within a radius of two spiritual miles...

"I won't let you continue destroying the Soul Society!"

After Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni finished all that, he then calmly addressed Araki and the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow.

"Tsk~"

"Speaking of destruction of the Soul Society, neither my glazed light nor the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow's All-Ending have as much destructive power as Old Man Mountain's Flowing Blade Like Fire, right?!"

After hearing his master's words, Araki silently complained in his heart.

"By rights, the most suitable place for you two 'great villains' to fight would be my own domain, the Unintermittent Hell!"

"But never mind! Since you've already fought to this extent, then let's go all out in the blaze I've released!"

Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni didn't give Araki and the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow a chance to speak; he spoke first on his own.

Having said that, Yamamoto went on to find a stubborn stone, sat down on it, his hands as if leaning on a cane, leaning on his Flowing Blade Like Fire, he calmly watched Araki and the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow before him and continued: "Alright, no need for many words! Also no need to mind me; you two are the protagonists of this showdown!"

"Ah, I'm really afraid of you." Upon hearing that, Araki gave his master a helpless smile, then turned to the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow and said: "Now that we've come to this point, if we aren't serious, it would be somewhat impolite~"

"Battle!"

Upon hearing that, the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow merely uttered a single word calmly, and the next second the endless blood sea converged toward the blade in her hand.

"Inhale..."

Facing the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow condensing the blood sea, Araki drew a sharp breath of cool air; at that moment his eyes seemed to have scarlet electric light drawn into fine threads, and future images flashed like frames of a PowerPoint presentation in his rapidly turning mind.

"...... Exhale!"

Accompanying the exhalation of turbid air from Araki's mouth, the veins on his sword-wielding arm rose like one after another 'sea-overturning' azure dragon 'roaring,' continually bulging!

Jet-black lightning, carrying endless majesty, coiled around the sword in Araki's hand; the spiritual particles within the sky's glow also continually gathered and roared at this moment...

At this moment, all of Araki's inner power was unified as one!

Then, he swung down with force!

"Boom!!"

The immense 'sword pressure' and 'sword aura,' also called 'Flying Slash,' resembled a rising and falling mountain range, like the teeth of a spinning electric saw, as it chopped down toward the blood sea gathered by the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow...

In just a single exchange, whether the blood sea or the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow's prepared sword technique, all paled before this blade and were completely severed!

"This...... what?!"

The Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow could not comprehend the 'exquisiteness' of this sword technique,

In the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow's view, Araki's strike had no name, seemed not to be any remarkable move; he appeared to have returned to the most primitive chopping, merely raising his sword and then bringing it down with force...

But such an ordinary-looking strike left the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow stunned in place; her brain seemed to crash at that moment, unable to comprehend how Araki could have swung this 'almost the extreme of violence' blow.

By the time the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow reacted, her underfoot blood sea had been split in two by this blade, and even the flame wall forged by Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni's Flowing Blade Like Fire on both sides of the spiritual realm was cleaved open a huge gap by Araki's strike!

But Araki's endless sword pressure did not stop there; after cleaving the wall, it soared to the clouds, crushing the airborne clouds into pieces and gradually dissipating into the boundless horizon...

"What are you looking at?!"

Before the Deutzia Eight-Thousand Flow could think further, a blade emitting icy cold light had already been placed against her snow-white neck; the calm Araki gazed at her slightly surprised expression and spoke lightly.

Mao Zhi Hua's pale lips twitched, as if about to say something.

"Mao Zhi Hua, your opponent right now is me, don't get distracted!"

Araki returned to Mao Zhi Hua Ba Qianliu the words that Mao Zhi Hua Ba Qianliu had said to him before, at this moment.

"Huh!"

Mao Zhi Hua, upon hearing that, let out a long exhale of foul breath; her spirit, disturbed by Araki's slash, gradually calmed with Araki's cold voice, and immediately endless battle intent surged up from Mao Zhi Hua's chest!

"Battle!!"

This is Mao Zhi Hua Ba Qianliu, saying this word to Araki for the second time; however, compared with before, her battle intent is stronger this time, and the word from her mouth is more resonant and powerful.

I must say, even though Mao Zhi Hua Ba Qianliu standing in the sea of blood is extremely beautiful, now no one has the mood to appreciate this scenery; standing in the blood sea with murderous intent, Mao Zhi Hua resembles a devouring Rakshasa! Beautiful beyond compare, yet deadly!

Araki, seeing her mouth corner lift, the blade in his hand turned into a afterimage…

"Swish!!"

Just a flash of cold light!

On Araki and Mao Zhi Hua's shoulders, blood‑red roses instantly bloomed; blood spattered onto the ground, dissolving into the sea of blood, the blood pearls vanished in an instant, and their wounds disappeared in the blink of an eye under the illumination of multicolored light, continuously nourished by the sea of blood.

"Hahaha..."

The maniacal laughter kept reverberating!

At this moment, whether Araki or Mao Zhi Hua Ba Qianliu, they no longer cared about the glowing sunrise in the sky, the blood pools covering the ground, nor even the Yamamoto Motoyasu Jukoku sitting statue‑like not far from them…

In each other's eyes, only the other remained; they enjoyed this feast of slaughter! Like two hair‑mad beasts constantly swinging their blades, dancing gracefully in the blood‑sea sunrise, battling to madness within the walls of fire turned into a hellish sea of flames, until death!

"Hehe~"

Yamamoto Motoyasu Jukoku, watching the two before him fighting like beasts, revealed a grim smile.

The fire wall split by Araki's single slash was not sealed by Yamamoto, but left wide open! This duel between top swordsmen of the Corpse Soul Realm, if observed by only him, would be rather bleak and sorrowful~

Yamamoto knew that battles between beasts always attract jackal spectators, but since they came, he would watch closely to see just how strong his disciple, Yamamoto Motoyasu Jukoku's disciple, truly is!

Then, after grasping the power of his own direct disciple Araki, let them tremble fully! Because from now on, within the vast Jingling Court, those petty scoundrels will fear not only the flowing blade like fire in Yamamoto Motoyasu Jukoku's hand!

Two chapters, six thousand words~ This chapter was revised many times, written to waste several times, always feeling a bit off. In fact, I don't know how this chapter turned out; anyway I just did my best! Hope everyone can like it.

(End of Chapter)