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Chapter 6 - shadow brook pass!?!

The air in the middle of the forest hummed with the tension of impending violence, a stark contrast to the distant, innocent chirping of unseen birds. Harish, his spear a familiar weight in his hands, stood protectively in front of a small, huddled group: Khaira, a wide-eyed eight-year-old, and the two elderly figures, Jeevakh and Mo Jin, their faces etched with fear and a desperate hope. Facing them, astride a snarling, crimson-eyed steed, was the General of the Blood Demon Cavalry, a towering figure cloaked in the grim regalia of his fanatic cult. He was a Flowering Realm warrior, a terrifying tier of power in this Murim world, and the forest floor beneath him seemed to ripple with his malevolent energy.

"Surrender them, outsider!" the General's voice boomed, deep and resonant, laced with the chilling undercurrent of his Blood Lust Breathing Technique. Harish could feel it, a subtle psychic pressure that sought to instill dread, to drain his will. His Hyper Senses picked up the faint, sickening pulse of absorbed vitality emanating from the General, a testament to the Blood Demon Cult's sinister practices. The air around the General shimmered with the residual energy of countless lives consumed.

Harish's PoV: A chill ran down Harish's spine, but it wasn't from fear. It was the primal recognition of danger, a warning system firing on all cylinders. This General wasn't just strong; he was a walking abyss, feeding on life. But seeing Khaira's trembling hand clutch Mo Jin's robe, Harish knew retreat wasn't an option. His modern-world conscience screamed, but his new-world system roared a fierce defiance. He felt the familiar jiggle of his chubby frame as he shifted, a reminder of the soft life he'd left behind, but it didn't slow the sudden surge of adrenaline.

"Not happening," Harish replied, his voice firm, his spear held ready.

General's PoV: The human's defiance amused the General. So many had cowered, so many had begged. This one, with his simple spear and defiant eyes, and that surprisingly soft, jiggling physique, was a rare, spicy morsel. He could already taste the vitality that would surge into him, strengthening his Blood Lust Breathing Technique. This would be a quick, satisfying hunt, a small step towards the Blood Demon's Great Plan.

The General sneered, a flash of red in his eyes. "Then you shall become another offering to the Blood Demon!" He dismounted with a fluid, terrifying grace, his two wickedly curved swords, designed for his Shadow Sword Techniques, appearing almost as extensions of his arms.

The General didn't charge. He simply vanished.

Phantom's Lunge

Harish's PoV: The world twisted. One moment, the General was there; the next, he was a flicker, then suddenly directly in front of Harish, his sword a dark streak. It was pure spatial distortion, a nightmare for normal senses, but Harish's Hyper Senses tracked the subtle ripples, his Mind's Eye processing the true vector. He instinctively knew this was a deceptive attack, designed to make him overreact. His chubby body, usually a hindrance, felt surprisingly nimble thanks to his enhanced reflexes.

Harish's Reflexes were already working. He didn't just parry; he twisted his body, letting the spear shaft deflect the phantom-like thrust just enough to graze his side. The System immediately registered the partial hit, and Absolute Regeneration began its silent work, sealing the shallow cut even as Harish moved.

Before the General could fully recover from his lunge, Harish counterattacked with an Origin Martial Arts technique. It wasn't a powerful strike, but a series of incredibly rapid, almost imperceptible jabs with the spear tip, targeting the General's exposed wrist and elbow.

General's PoV: Impossible! The human's spear moved with an unholy speed, not just blocking, but weaving through his afterimages, touching him in places he hadn't thought exposed. He felt faint, yet sharp, jolts where the spear connected. This was no ordinary staff fighting. There was a peculiar energy to these strikes, alien to the Murim he knew. How could this seemingly unathletic frame wield such precision?

The General, however, was a Flowering Realm warrior. He retaliated with his next signature move.

Eclipse Slash

His sword, seemingly appearing from nowhere, arced upwards from behind his back, aiming for Harish's neck. It was designed to bypass conventional guards.

Harish's PoV: The blade materialized from his blind spot, a deadly surprise. Instinct screamed to block, but Mind's Eye showed him the arc, the angle. A direct block would be too slow. He had to move with it, not against it. His chest, though padded with a layer of fat, was suddenly exposed.

Harish, his Mind's Eye feeding him instantaneous data, didn't block. Instead, he dropped into a low crouch, rolling slightly to the side, allowing the deadly arc to pass harmlessly over him. This was akin to the General's own defensive feint, but born from Harish's intuitive understanding of martial flow.

Veil of Shadows (Defensive Feint)

As he came up, his spear swept horizontally, aiming for the General's unprotected legs.

The General, displaying supreme mastery, executed his defensive counter.

Black Mirror Parry

His sword intercepted Harish's sweep at an oblique angle, deflecting it away and simultaneously twisting his body, turning Harish's offense into an opening for himself. He followed immediately with a devastating strike.

Nightfall Guillotine

A downward vertical slash combined with a sudden drop in posture, making the attack seem to come from above unexpectedly, aiming for Harish's head.

General's PoV: This was the end. The lowly one had dodged well, but no one could escape the 'Nightfall Guillotine'. His blade would cleave through the very air, and the human's head would be his. It would be a fine tribute to the Blood Demon's transcendent skill. He watched the fleshy neck of the human, anticipating the clean cut.

Harish was forced to commit. He brought his spear up in a desperate block, the impact jarring his entire body. The General's strength, amplified by the Blood Lust Breathing Technique, was immense. Harish felt his feet dig into the forest floor, a faint tremor running up his arms. The General's smile was a cruel slash across his face.

"You bleed, commoner!" the General snarled, pressing his attack with a relentless series of slashes.

Dusk Waltz

A flowing sequence of three to five rapid slashes that blurred into an impossible pattern. Harish found himself pushed onto the defensive, his spear moving like a whirlwind, deflecting the rapid-fire strikes. He felt faint nicks and cuts as the razor-sharp blades slipped past his guard, but Absolute Regeneration worked tirelessly, sealing them as quickly as they appeared. The constant drain from the General's Blood Lust Breathing Technique gnawed at his reserves, but Harish's Absolute Harmony kept his mind clear, his focus unwavering.

Harish's PoV: He was getting overwhelmed. The regeneration was amazing, but it wasn't infinite energy. He could feel the General's blood-lust energy trying to seep into him, subtly draining his stamina. He needed to turn the tide, and quickly. The Origin Martial Arts... it felt like the key, but how to use it decisively? He needed an opening, a perfect moment to disrupt the General's flow. His chubby frame felt surprisingly resilient, absorbing some of the impact, but the constant pressure was wearing him down.

He needed an opening. He needed to apply the Origin Martial Arts decisively.

As the General executed a wide, arcing slash, Harish saw it – a fraction of a second when the General's weight shifted, his stance momentarily less stable. This was his chance.

Instead of parrying, Harish suddenly lunged forward, not at the General, but slightly past him. The General, expecting a direct block or retreat, was momentarily disoriented. This was the moment. Harish spun, his spear blurring in a complex, yet utterly natural motion. He unleashed an Origin Martial Arts technique that was pure, distilled precision. It wasn't about power, but about striking the very core of the General's martial flow.

His spear tip, guided by Mind's Eye, didn't just strike. It threaded through the air, bypassing the General's guards with impossible accuracy, landing a series of almost imperceptible taps on vital pressure points. It disrupted the General's internal energy, momentarily severing his connection to the Blood Lust Breathing Technique.

General's PoV: What was this?! His entire being recoiled. The human's spear wasn't striking with brute force, but with an uncanny precision that felt like tiny, invisible needles piercing his very soul. His Blood Lust Breathing Technique, the very foundation of his power, sputtered, choked off. He felt a moment of profound weakness, a horrifying vulnerability he hadn't experienced in decades. This was unlike any martial art he knew, utterly alien to the paths laid by the Blood Demon. He could not comprehend how such a soft-looking body could contain such an insidious, precise power.

The General gasped, his eyes widening in shock, the crimson glow fading from his pupils.

This was followed by Harish executing a variant of what could be described as an evasive counter.

Shadowstep Reversal (Harish's intuitive variant)

He feigned a retreat, then used his enhanced Reflexes to dart to the General's blind spot, delivering a powerful, two-handed spear thrust to the General's midsection, a point where his absorbed vitality would be concentrated.

The General roared, a sound of fury and genuine pain. The attack didn't just push him back; it disrupted the very essence of his Blood Energy Cultivation. He stumbled, his powerful frame wavering.

"You… you cannot defeat the Blood Demon's chosen!" the General spat, recovering quickly, but his movements lacked the earlier fluidity. He lunged at Harish with a desperate, silent strike.

Whisper of the Blade (Silent Kill)

It was an ultra-precise, silent stab, designed for instant lethality, aiming for Harish's throat.

Harish's PoV: This was a desperate, all-or-nothing move. The General was aiming for a quick kill. Harish didn't have time to think, only to react. His instincts, honed by the system's gifts, took over. He had to be perfect. The wind of the blade brushed his cheek, a sensation that would have frozen him in his old life, but now just spurred him on.

Harish met it with a counter-intuitive move. Instead of a direct block, he used the shaft of his spear to deflect the General's wrist just as the blade came in, throwing the aim off by mere millimeters. The blade zipped past his ear, too close for comfort.

With the General off-balance, Harish pressed his advantage. He didn't allow the General to regain his composure. He unleashed the final, devastating Origin Martial Arts technique he had recently acquired. It manifested not as a single strike, but as a constellation of flowing, interconnected movements, each leading to the next with perfect synergy. His spear moved in a dazzling array of thrusts, sweeps, and parries, each one targeting the General's remaining vital points, his joints, and the flow of his internal energy.

General's PoV: He was lost. The outsider's movements were unfathomable, his spear dancing like a vengeful spirit, bypassing all his defenses, striking him in ways that crippled his internal energy. His mighty Shadow Sword Techniques were useless. He felt his power draining, his strength failing. This wasn't just skill; it was something ancient, something that fundamentally opposed his Blood Lust Breathing Technique. He, a Flowering Realm warrior, was being defeated by a mere human! The Blood Demon, with his human transcendent martial skill, would not be pleased. The very thought that this soft-bellied commoner had bested him was an unbearable humiliation.

The General, his powerful Shadow Sword Techniques countered, his Blood Lust Breathing Technique disrupted, was overwhelmed. Harish's attacks were too fast, too precise, too alien to his blood-based martial arts. He parried wildly, his movements becoming increasingly desperate. Finally, with a powerful, twisting thrust, Harish disarmed the General, sending both of his twin swords clattering to the forest floor.

The General, panting, bleeding from numerous minor wounds that even his powerful cultivation struggled to seal, stared at Harish, a raw, primal fear in his eyes. He was a general, a Flowering Realm warrior, but he had been utterly outmaneuvered by this "normal human."

"Run, children!" Harish shouted, his voice strained but clear. "Go! Now!"

Khaira, Jeevakh, and Mo Jin, who had watched the impossible battle unfold with bated breath, needed no further urging. They scrambled away, disappearing into the dense undergrowth.

The General, seeing his prey escape, let out a frustrated roar and lunged at Harish with bare hands, fueled by raw Blood Demon Cult fury.

Harish didn't hesitate. His spear, with a clean, precise thrust, found its mark, incapacitating the General without killing him. Harish was a good-natured person, and while he would fight to protect, he wouldn't take a life unnecessarily, even a cultist's.

Harish's PoV: He watched the three disappear into the trees, a wave of relief washing over him. The fight was over, for now. He hadn't killed the General, a decision that felt right to his core, even in this brutal world. He felt the residual wobble of his chubby stomach as he breathed heavily, a strange comfort in its familiarity amidst the alien terror of Murim. He was a survivor, yes, but he wouldn't let this world turn him into a monster. Not yet, anyway.

He stood over the fallen General, his chest heaving, the sounds of the forest slowly returning to normal. The threat had passed. For now. Harish knew this was just one battle in a war he hadn't asked for, but with his newfound abilities and his unbreakable resolve, he was ready for whatever the Murim world threw at him next. His focus, however, was already on ensuring the safety of Khaira and the elders. The fight was over, the rescue complete.

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