Night Without Borders Chapter 206
Chapter 206: A Rebirth Through Blood
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
In the secret realm, a soft glow drifted like an eternal twilight, weaving a thin veil over the forest. Shadows and light mingled, forming a scene that was both peaceful and dreamlike.
Qin Ming sat in silence, channeling the Dragon-Snake Sutra. His body was a horrifying canvas of pain—skin splitting open, flesh tearing in dreadful patches, and blood steadily oozing from the wounds. Crimson soaked every inch of him, making his features impossible to recognize.
“Brother!” Yao Zu called out, his voice tight with worry. Had this happened because he was practicing the Dragon-Snake Sutra, or was the fragmented Demonic Seed inside him running wild?
Close by, Xin You Dao, Jiang Ruo Li, and Liu Han Ya shared looks of alarm. Even after his fierce battles—where he killed famous young demons from the Plateau—Qin Ming had seemed untouched. But now, he looked as though he might break at any moment.
His body appeared painfully thin, like a fragile “blood seedling,” with patches so worn that bone peeked out from the gashes. Even his once-handsome face was now a ghastly, unrecognizable sight.
Yet there was a sign of hope: an intense vitality kept flowing inside him. It was as if faint dragon roars echoed in his body, while his Celestial Light Force surged steadily. Despite his ruined form, it glowed brightly through his split skin, like sunlight shining through storm clouds.
Gradually, a glowing halo formed around him, radiating a power that felt almost divine. Within that brilliance, shapes of a dragon and a snake danced, though they were still hazy and unfinished.
Qin Ming showed no hint of pain; his mind was fully fixed on the Dragon-Snake Sutra. A newfound clarity came to life in his thoughts.
“To change from snake into dragon,” he reflected, “is as vast as crossing a bottomless chasm—from one shore to the opposite bank. It is a passage between extremes, a shift from deep yin to pure yang.”
The sutra carried profound lessons on yin and yang, which he had spent so long searching for. His fascination with the Withering and Flourishing Sutra had only grown because it promised wisdom on the delicate balance of yin and yang. But today, through the Dragon-Snake Sutra alone, he felt a flash of realization.
Those watching—Liu Han Ya, Gan Jin Cheng, and the others—were speechless. Even in this dire state, Qin Ming was elevating his skill with the sutra. It was clear again why he stood apart from the rest, shining in a way they could only respect.
Without warning, Qin Ming opened his eyes and looked solemnly at his companions. “All of you, leave,” he said. “I can sense a strong team of demons coming this way.”
The fragmented Demonic Seed inside him was acting like a call, attracting other demons who shared that dark “gift.”
Some of them hesitated, but he waved them off with a sharp motion. “I don’t need your help. If I truly unleash my power, you’ll only get in my way.”
His blunt words brought an awkward silence. Gan Jin Cheng and Liu Han Ya realized that yes, he was saying they’d be a burden.
They were talented in their own right, but they knew they couldn’t stand against a fully awakened demon of the Second Realm, especially one boosted by the Demonic Seed.
“Brother, I’ll stay to help!” Yao Zu said firmly.
“Let me handle it on my own,” Qin Ming replied. Whether it was because of the link between their fragmented seeds or his deeper understanding of the Dragon-Snake Sutra, he felt drawn to this impending clash—a confrontation in blood and fire that he had to face alone.
Jiang Ruo Li spoke up. “We’ll remain close. If you need support at a crucial moment, we’ll jump in.”
Yao Zu paused, then awkwardly suggested, “Since we’re allies now, maybe everyone can swear a binding oath? I hope you see our point—we just want to keep a low profile.”
He used a forbidden technique from his home, the Fourth Forbidden Land, and asked everyone to swear secrecy. “You’ve seen what my brother and I can do. For now, we want to avoid drawing attention.”
Gan Jin Cheng agreed at once. “Absolutely. We’ve fought side by side. I won’t say a word!” The rest quickly followed, though they wore uneasy expressions.
When they turned back to Qin Ming, they were alarmed to see that his condition had worsened.
“Brother, are you okay?” Yao Zu cried.
Qin Ming looked worse by the second. His flesh cracked and fell away in large chunks, and even his face was splitting apart. Strips of scalp peeled off, sending bits of hair tumbling to the ground.
But Qin Ming’s voice was calm. “It has to be this way. Becoming a dragon from a snake takes a complete rebirth.”
He let the fierce power of his Celestial Light Force destroy what remained of the Demonic Seed inside him. Then, summoning the Dragon-Snake Sutra, he refined the raw essence of that “gift,” forcing it into submission.
Energy from the sutra coursed through him, lifting his mastery from simple competence to something far deeper. Right in front of their stunned eyes, his ruined skin peeled away like a snake shedding its scales, exposing fresh, healthy muscle beneath.
That was the true secret of the Dragon-Snake Sutra.
His change seemed almost miraculous. In mere moments, every wound disappeared, his skin looked newly alive, and a crop of short hair sprouted on his head.
Everyone watched, speechless, as Qin Ming’s entire body shone with a holy radiance. Inside him, it was as if a tiny sun burned, displaying faint shapes of dragons and snakes. The broken fragments of the Demonic Seed became nourishment for his transformation.
A distant dragon’s roar echoed, sending shivers through each onlooker.
Standing, Qin Ming stretched, feeling his renewed strength surge. Though echoes of the Demonic Seed remained, they weren’t an urgent threat anymore.
And most importantly, the Dragon-Snake Sutra was now ready for battle.
“What… what are you now?” Xin You Dao stammered, staring at this dazzling figure—a young man radiating beauty and power, nothing like the grisly sight from before.
Yao Zu let out a broad grin. “Well then, everyone, let’s refresh that oath!”
Qin Ming stepped beneath a waterfall nearby, letting the cold water wash away the blood and debris clinging to him. He used his Celestial Light Force to dry his clothes instantly, leaving him prepared to meet the enemy rushing ever closer.
Far in the distance, birds fluttered into the sky, their flight startled by distant cries. A troop of demons was coming, hurrying toward them, crashing through the forest in a frenzy.
“You’d all better leave. If anything happens, let me know right away!” Qin Ming’s voice was firm, his face grave. He could sense the might of the demons who were drawing near.
Their journey into the secret realm had grown wildly dangerous. Stranded demon squads roamed this place, battling viciously among themselves. Such chaos would eventually create a perfect Demonic Seed—an enormous danger for the young Kun Lun Academy disciples.
Gan Jin Cheng, Liu Han Ya, and the others slipped into the forest shadows, carefully watching from a distance. Yao Zu refused to back down, however, positioning himself close by. “Brother, I’ve got your back!” he declared.
Qin Ming nodded. At that moment, an unexplainable clarity surged within him—a deeper connection to the Dragon-Snake Sutra. His bloody transformation felt utterly necessary.
“Splitting flesh, forming dragon scales… it’s all just on the surface,” he muttered. The path from snake to dragon was bound to be chaotic, for it defied the natural order, rebelling against the heavens themselves.
He finally understood why the sutra described this transformation as so agonizing, steeped in blood and torment. In this universe, where laws and strict patterns ruled, escaping a mortal shell was never easy. To leap from ordinary to extraordinary demanded a massive price.
“I can’t hesitate,” he told himself, “I have to fight with every bit of strength I have.”
Up ahead, two figures were running for their lives. Behind them, a large group of demons gave chase, stomping the earth with thunderous steps. In a flash, the fleeing pair was caught and skewered by long iron spears, their bodies lifted high in a grisly display.
Three other corpses dangled limply from spears, bloodied and motionless. Gan Jin Cheng’s fists clenched in despair. “They were part of my squad… They escaped the village only to die like this.”
A heavy silence fell over the watching group. Jiang Ruo Li and Xiao Ya Qin let out quiet snarls of anger; they recognized some of the fallen.
Nineteen demons strode into sight, their killing intent filling the air. Leading them was a silver-clad youth, his face cold and unreadable. A faint silver glow circled his body, giving him a majestic, almost sacred aura.
He studied Qin Ming and Yao Zu with a small, mocking smile. “Only two of you? Interesting.” Stepping forward across the blood-soaked ground, he kept his gaze fixed on his targets, while the rest of the demons gathered behind him.
They were far more dangerous than anything Qin Ming had faced before. Several demons stood close to the silver-clad youth, marking them as trusted comrades. They still flaunted certain demonic traits, unwilling to hide them fully—either from pride or scorn.
One demon had a human torso but the head of a golden elephant, its tusks gleaming like polished gold. He stood a towering five meters tall, swinging a massive blade. Another demon was a white-haired youth with jet-black bull horns jutting from his head. Near him crouched a feral young man, a woman dressed in peacock feathers, and a girl with four snowy wings.
Qin Ming’s expression hardened. This was a terrifying group. The silver-clad youth had five sworn brothers with him, and their fragmented Demonic Seeds all pulsed in harmony with Qin Ming’s. They’d rushed here fast, likely wanting to hunt him down before other squads intervened.
Yao Zu moved forward, but Qin Ming halted him. “Stay back,” he said quietly.
His mind raced with the sutra’s teachings. “A snake doesn’t become a dragon by destroying itself, but by surviving ordeals. True transformation has to be tested by battle.”
He braced himself. The road to become a dragon would be paved with blood and fury, clashing with the ones who stood in his way.
The golden-elephant demon stomped on a corpse as he walked, letting out a thunderous growl. “Big Brother,” he rumbled, “I’ll check how strong he is.”
“Check what?” snarled the feral youth. “We’re here for that fragmented Demonic Seed! End him before someone else shows up.”
Their patience gone, the demons rushed forward, brimming with murderous intent.
Qin Ming acted instantly. From behind him, he grabbed a bundle of iron spears he had gathered from the village. With a powerful swing, he hurled them at the advancing demons.
A sound like thunder tore through the air as the spears shot forward, snapping thick branches and shaking the ground with their ferocious momentum.
Carefully observing, Qin Ming saw the elephant demon swing his trunk like a giant blade, swatting the spears aside. He charged on, joined by the feral youth, who also batted the spears away with ease.
Realizing how strong they were, Qin Ming adjusted his tactics. He sent his remaining spears hurtling toward the weaker demons. The result was immediate—one demon, over three meters tall, took a spear clean through his body and died instantly. Another demon was struck and exploded in a cloud of gore.
Just then, the silver-clad youth and his core allies unleashed bursts of shimmering power, diverting the rest of the spears.
Seeing that further spear attacks would be useless, Qin Ming swapped weapons. He unstrapped a silver bow from his back, nocked a Jade-Iron Arrow, and channeled his Celestial Light Force into it. Letting it fly, he sent it screaming like a bolt of lightning through the trees.
It flew true, slamming into the feral youth’s arm and tearing a chunk of flesh away in a gush of blood. The white-haired youth with the black horns roared in rage as the arrow ripped off part of his left ear.
“Stay alert! That’s pure jade-iron, not some cheap metal!” one of them warned. “We can’t look down on this human!”
Meanwhile, three more of their demons were struck through the forehead. Their skulls burst like melons, and they fell lifeless to the ground.
Shimmering with silver light, the silver-clad youth rushed forward, a shining shield enclosing him. His sworn brothers did the same, layering their barriers to repel the arrows.
Qin Ming bombarded them with several more shots. One arrow slammed into the protective aura of the peacock demon girl, tearing a hole in her five-colored outfit and scraping her chest. Though it drew some blood, her defenses blunted the arrow’s lethal force.
The demon squad kept moving, showing no sign of panic. They were clearly hardened Second Realm warriors, practiced in mortal combat.
Judging it futile to continue shooting, Qin Ming lowered his bow. He drew a white jade-iron blade he seldom used, its bright surface reflecting his unwavering focus. He was ready for a bloody showdown.
Like a crashing wave, the demons charged with deadly intent. Qin Ming met them head-on, vaulting into the air with help from the forest’s thick spiritual energy. A faint green mist enveloped him, propelling him forward.
Still boiling with anger from his injury, the elephant demon struck first. His massive blade cleaved the air with a thunderous roar, ripping through the space in front of him.
Qin Ming’s blade collided with the demon’s in a burst of sparks. The giant blade shattered from the impact, and Qin Ming dashed in, challenging the towering demon up close. Their palms slammed together in a deafening blow, pushing the five-meter-tall demon back several steps.
Qin Ming spun without pause, diving deeper into the heart of the strongest demons. His blade flashed once, slicing through a Second Realm demon’s weapon before cutting off his head with a single strike. Another demon immediately fell, slashed diagonally from shoulder to hip.
Watching from afar, Gan Jin Cheng, Jiang Ruo Li, and the others stood wide-eyed. Qin Ming’s speed was like lightning, obliterating the enemy’s front line with terrifying power.
“How has the world not heard of him?” Gan Jin Cheng whispered in awe. “When people find out who he really is, everything will change.”
The elephant demon let out a furious roar, golden symbols lighting up his body to boost his strength. Before he could close in, the silver-clad youth raised a hand, speaking in a level, controlled tone. “I’ll take care of him.”
Like a phantom, the silver-clad youth streaked forward, and their battle erupted in a flash of brilliant collisions. Both unleashed the terrifying force of their Fragmented Demonic Seeds, and an eerie resonance filled the air.
To their shock, this resonance caused a strange vision: a ghostly road appeared under their feet, stretching toward some distant place. Other offshoots branched away, heading for shadowy destinations of their own.
Qin Ming glimpsed silhouettes on those paths—Li Qing Yue, Cui Chong He, and others he recognized—pressing deeper into the secret realm. He even caught a fleeting glimpse of Sun Tai Chu’s shape flickering on a far-off path.
“What do you see?” the silver-clad youth demanded, his gaze fierce. He, too, could sense the pathways but couldn’t identify the figures.
Qin Ming didn’t reply, his focus locked on his opponent. Both understood, without speaking, that claiming each other’s Fragmented Demonic Seed was the only way to move forward.
They flung themselves back into the fight, more determined than ever.
“Slaughter him!” one of the demons roared from the sidelines. “He’s human—he has no right to walk our path!”
“All roads lead to the same hidden truth,” Qin Ming said calmly. “Why should it matter who follows them?”