Chapter 225 - 219: Finale

Chapter 225: Chapter 219: Finale

A fierce wind once again swept across the embankment.

But unlike the bitter, cold current stirred by Yu Zhonggui’s Finger Force, what swept the embankment this time was a wave of heat, scorching as if spewed from a furnace.

The hot wind brushed across every face, each one a mask of shock, searing them with a faintly burning sensation in the cold night.

Everyone’s gaze was riveted to the center of the eruption. When the silhouette, which had finally stopped expanding, came into view, pupils contracted and throats felt as if they were being choked by an invisible hand.

On the embankment stood a ferocious figure over two meters tall, silent and still.

His specific features were impossible to discern. A dark, turbid aura, so dense it was almost tangible, swirled around him, blurring his entire silhouette.

It was as if clouds of living, gray-black miasma were rising from every pore of his body, twisting and obscuring even the moonlight that fell upon him.

Beneath this haze, the crowd could barely make out a pair of shoulder blades that flared out like wings, muscle lines as jagged and steep as mountain ridges, and strange patterns that snaked across his body, glowing with an orange-red light like cracks in the earth.

The moment their eyes fell upon this figure, an uncontrollable, instinctual shudder ran through everyone. It was as if a primal memory, etched deep in their bloodline—the memory of facing an ancient, powerful, and ferocious being—was resurfacing.

Compared to this figure, Yu Zhonggui, who had previously seemed so imposing, now looked utterly frail and... insignificant.

Three Souls in One Body, combined with the "Black Flower" state augmented only by the Snake Demon Soul, had resulted in an unprecedented "all-new version of the Demon Body"!

The vortex of Innate Primordial Qi in his Dantian whirled freely. The frustration and helplessness he had felt moments before now dissipated like foam on water.

Perhaps because he had recently added a point to [Life], Fu Juemin felt that the strength of his [Demon Body] had increased. Of course, the new sensations came mostly from the "Black Flower" state.

The [Demon Body] utilized only the effects of the Demon Talent itself; this did not overlap with the "Black Flower" state, which used Demon Soul Force to stimulate the body and unlock its potential for an augmentation.

If, in the simple [Demon Body] state, Fu Juemin felt only a destructive power threatening to overflow from his entire being, then activating "Black Flower" on top of that elevated the core of this power. It began to radiate and extend outward, invisibly expanding the range his strength could reach and control.

Fu Juemin lowered his gaze slightly, his stare pressing down on the nearby Yu Zhonggui with tangible weight.

Yu Zhonggui’s expression was quite interesting—a mixture of bewilderment and shock, the look of a man whose absolute confidence and fundamental beliefs had just been shattered.

He remained in a punching stance, staring blankly up at Fu Juemin.

In the dead silence, the two figures, one large and one small, faced each other without a sound.

A few breaths later, the calm was broken—

CRUUUNCH—

A sharp pain dragged Yu Zhonggui from his stupor. He looked down and saw the inhuman hand gripping his fist slowly closing.

A terrifying force, like a million-pound floodgate slowly descending, washed over him. Yu Zhonggui’s face changed instantly. He instinctively tried to yank his arm back, only to watch his Profound Gold Finger Tiger slowly twist and deform under an indescribably monstrous grip.

Immediately after, from beneath the Finger Tiger, came the crisp sound of the bones in his entire hand shattering, one by one.

"Guanghan Flying Star!"

In agony, Yu Zhonggui let out a low roar. He spun, his body rising, and jabbed his left hand forward, fingers together like a sword. Vitality condensed into Finger Gang as he thrust viciously toward the eyes of the man before him.

But before the Finger Wind could reach its target, another monstrous hand, with knuckles bulging, shot out. Its five fingers closed around his entire forearm like a cage and then... clenched!

"Still flying?"

CRACK, CRACK—

Along with a sickening crunch of breaking bone, Yu Zhonggui’s face contorted. The intense pain left him momentarily speechless.

But he was, after all, a top-tier Martial Family expert who had painstakingly cultivated to the Great Success of Gratitude. With both arms restrained, he kicked off the ground, using his core strength to flip backward and strike at Fu Juemin’s throat with his leg, treating it like a spear.

Fu Juemin’s expression was indifferent. The giant hand gripping the fist suddenly released it, revealing an arm twisted like a mangled pretzel. At the same time, his freed hand formed a blade and chopped violently at Yu Zhonggui’s incoming thigh!

Unleashing the Purifying Light Saber in his Demon Body state was like a mountain-sized guillotine descending. The moment it touched Yu Zhonggui’s leg, his Protective Qi Membrane shattered with a crack, immediately followed by the dull thud of his leg bone snapping.

Having "broken" Yu Zhonggui’s leg spear, Fu Juemin was not about to let him go. His hand-blade followed the momentum, grabbing the other leg and, with a surge of power, snapping it!

"AHHH!—"

With all four limbs broken, Yu Zhonggui finally let out a bloodcurdling howl like a dying beast.

Amidst his screams, Yu Zhonggui’s body flew into the air as if weightless.

The cold moonlight shone down on him, illuminating a face utterly contorted by pain and fear.

At the same time, Fu Juemin, standing directly below him, took a deep breath. With calm eyes, he slowly thrust a palm toward the sky.

The opening of this palm strike resembled the Infinite Seal Technique, but its conclusion far surpassed it.

The moment his palm moved, the raging flames of Vitality surging around him all collapsed into his palm, coalescing into a terrifying pillar of energy that seemed to warp space itself. It extended like a giant arm, piercing through the heavens!

The Palm Wind struck toward the moon. The horrifying pillar of energy instantly hit Yu Zhonggui in mid-air!

The screaming stopped abruptly. Yu Zhonggui was impaled in mid-air, momentarily suspended as if pinned to the sky.

Then—

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

A series of dull thuds erupted as his chest caved in. His Profound Robe exploded, his back arched upward in a grotesque bulge, and his eyes bulged wide. Even the braid at the back of his head shot up, pulled taut and straight in the moonlight...

As Yu Zhonggui fluttered down like a crumpled piece of paper, Fu Juemin reached out. His hand, unnaturally large in his Demon Body state, gently cupped his head.

Yu Zhonggui was still barely breathing. Bloody foam mixed with chunks of internal organs frothed from his mouth. His eyes were fixed on Fu Juemin, his pupils filled with shock, indignation, and the deepest disbelief.

Fu Juemin looked at him and said calmly, "You could have hit me ten times, a hundred times. But I only needed to touch you once... and you’re dead."

With that, he released a slight pulse of Vitality from his hand. Yu Zhonggui’s head exploded like a ripe watermelon.

Fu Juemin casually tossed the headless corpse to the ground and slowly shook the sticky red and white matter from his fingers.

Although Fu Juemin was interested in Yu Zhonggui’s Toad Palace Martial Arts, he figured the man wouldn’t be carrying manuals for skills he’d practiced since childhood, so he dismissed the idea of searching the body.

The battle had essentially been over the moment Fu Juemin took Yu Zhonggui’s "Broken Moon" punch and completed his Demon Body transformation.

Although with Five Phases United and the boost from surging Vitality, his attacks could theoretically reach a power comparable to the Demon Body...

...in the Demon Body state, Fu Juemin’s strength, speed, explosive power, and reaction time were on a completely different level than his normal state.

You could say that the [Demon Body] was his true, perfect form—to say nothing of stacking "Black Flower" on top of it.

The only thing he had been wary of was Yu Zhonggui’s strange Body Technique. Once that was neutralized, the man was his to toy with.

’Even a Martial Artist who has reached the Great Success of Gratitude can only contend with the Extraordinary through their Vitality.’

’Without Vitality, a body of flesh and blood is as fragile as a sheet of thin paper.’

’I possess a Demon Body and can also command Martial Dao Qi. I have the strengths of both paths... Therefore, Demon Martial Arts is the true, supreme path!’

’I wonder what a Martial Artist at the Heart Intent Realm is like, though?’

’Heart Intent is said to be the pinnacle. The absolute peak. There must be something different about it...’

As Fu Juemin pondered this, he scanned the area.

The only ones left were the Instructor, the Young Master, Tang Jing and the rest of the Revolutionary Faction, and a few Jianghu Wanderers who had come with Toad Palace.

These people had witnessed the entire battle between Fu Juemin and Yu Zhonggui. They watched Fu Juemin activate his "Dragon Elephant True Body" and crush Yu Zhonggui as easily as killing a chicken.

They were still trapped in the shock and stupor of Yu Zhonggui’s death, no one moving, no one making a sound.