217: Bitter Spirit Island: Hand-to-hand combat and the Demon Lord's nightmare

Demon Realm, Bitter Spirit Island.

This island, completely enveloped by a "Devil-Sealing Domain," has gravity a hundred times that of the outside world. The air is as heavy as lead; ordinary Void Refining Stage Cultivators would have their alveoli burst just from breathing here if they didn't activate protective shields.

Yet, on the mountainside at this moment, a one-sided display of violent aesthetics was unfolding.

"Thud!"

A dull sound, like a heavy hammer striking a drum.

A three-zhang-tall Demon Race warrior clad in heavy black armor didn't even have time to scream before the armor on his chest collapsed like paper, and his entire body was sent flying backward like a cannonball, crashing through a massive rock behind him and embedding deeply within it, his fate unknown.

"The one hundred and eighth."

Zhou Wannian retracted his fist and lightly blew off the bone dust from his knuckles.

He was still wearing that same blue robe, not even a corner of it out of place. In this dire place where everyone struggled to move and all magical power was lost, he strolled leisurely as if taking a walk in his own backyard.

"Monster... this Human Race guy is a monster!"

Ahead, the remaining dozens of Demon Race guards watched this scene, their hands trembling as they gripped their weapons.

They were elite "Physical Body Flow" experts meticulously selected by the Sacred Ancestor, who usually took pleasure in tearing tigers and leopards apart with their bare hands. But before this seemingly frail Human Race youth, they felt like infants who had just learned to walk.

"What? Not coming?"

Zhou Wannian cracked his neck, producing a series of popping sounds.

"Then I'll come to you."

Boom!

The rock beneath his feet shattered.

Zhou Wannian's figure shot forward like lightning, instantly charging into the midst of the demon horde.

No Spell lights, no Magic Treasure roars.

Only the most primitive, purest sounds of physical collision.

"Crack!" (arm breaking)

"Thump!" (fist sinking into flesh)

"Thud!" (head hitting the wall)

In just ten breaths.

The canyon fell silent.

The ground was littered with groaning, limb-broken Demon Race brutes.

"Whew... warm-up over."

Zhou Wannian clapped his hands.

Behind him, Xiang Zhili was sweating profusely, carrying the shrunken giant crab puppet (though shrunken, it was still as heavy as a mountain under the hundredfold gravity), panting heavily as he caught up.

"Han... Junior Brother Han, slow down..."

Xiang Zhili said with a pained expression.

"This old man's bones may have been tempered, but they can't compare to your freakishness! This crab is dead weight; why not just toss it?"

"Don't toss it; we'll need it to smash people later."

Zhou Wannian glanced back.

"Purple Spirit, Nangong, can you still hold on?"

Though Nangong Wan and Purple Spirit were drenched in fragrant sweat, both were at the Late Stage Soul Transformation and had consumed countless Spirit Pills and miraculous medicines, giving them a solid physical Foundation, so they could barely keep up.

"Don't worry, husband, we can manage." Nangong Wan wiped her sweat, a flash of determination in her eyes.

"Good."

Zhou Wannian looked up toward the mountaintop, now within reach.

"The final checkpoint."

"Finish this and we're done."

... At the mountaintop, by the Spirit Cleansing Pool.

This was a flat, open area. In the center was a ten-zhang-wide pool, its water showing an eerie half-black, half-white color that refused to mix, slowly rotating to form a Taiji pattern.

By the poolside, a burly man sat cross-legged, his entire body crimson with bizarre demonic patterns carved into his skin.

He wore no armor, only baring his upper body, every muscle seeming to contain explosive power.

The Demon Realm's number one Physical Body Venerable—[Great Strength Demon Venerable] (the top fierce general under Sacred Ancestor Yuan Sha, specializing in the path of Physical Body sanctification).

"Hmm?"

Great Strength Demon Venerable suddenly opened his eyes, both crimson as blood.

"Someone's come up?"

"They didn't even trigger the alarms... seems the trash below are all dead."

He slowly stood up.

With his movement, the surrounding air groaned under strain. He could actually stir airflow even within the Devil-Sealing Domain!

"Whoosh!"

Zhou Wannian's figure appeared at the edge of the platform.

Followed by Xiang Zhili, Nangong Wan, and Purple Spirit.

"Spirit Cleansing Pool."

Zhou Wannian didn't look at Great Strength Demon Venerable, his gaze directly falling on that black-and-white pool, a flash of fervor in his eyes.

"Truly a creation of Heaven and Earth."

"Human Race?"

Great Strength Demon Venerable looked at Zhou Wannian, a cruel smile splitting his lips.

"To make it here relying on your Physical Body, you're quite something."

"But unfortunately..."

"This is a Forbidden Ground."

"Die!"

Without any further words.

Great Strength Demon Venerable stomped his foot, shaking the entire mountain three times. His entire body charged like a heavy war chariot, carrying a violent airflow as he threw a punch aimed at Zhou Wannian's face.

This punch, pure power, was enough to shatter the Void Realm!

"Well met!"

The Battle Intent in Zhou Wannian's eyes instantly ignited.

In this world where Spells were sealed, encountering an opponent who had also achieved Physical Body sanctification was like a heaven-sent sandbag!

"Fan Sheng True Demon Art·Demon Body Liberation!"

Zhou Wannian roared low.

Though unable to use magical power, changes in physical form were instinctual.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

His body instantly grew to over a zhang tall, his skin turning dark gold, with bulging veins on both arms like two coiling flood dragons.

"Head-on clash?"

"I like it!"

Zhou Wannian didn't dodge or evade, throwing a punch in return.

Two fists, one large and one small, collided mid-air without any fancy moves.

"Thud————————!!!"

An extremely dull, thunderous sound, as if two great mountains had crashed together.

A terrifying shockwave swept out, pulverizing the surrounding hard rock ground. Xiang Zhili and the others had to retreat together to avoid being injured by the aftershocks.

"Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!"

Great Strength Demon Venerable retreated three steps in succession, each step leaving a deep crater in the ground.

While Zhou Wannian only retreated half a step!

"What?!"

Great Strength Demon Venerable's face was filled with shock as he looked at his slightly trembling right fist.

"Your strength... is actually greater than mine?!"

"I am Great Strength Demon Venerable! The favored one of the Demon Realm's Law of Strength! How is this possible?!"

"Nothing's impossible."

Zhou Wannian shook his wrist.

"Because I've eaten better than you (various Heaven And Earth Treasures, dragon liver and phoenix marrow)."

"Trained more diversely than you (Bright King Arts, Tuotian Demonic Technique, True Demon Art)."

"Plus..."

Zhou Wannian's figure blurred as he charged forward again.

"I'm in a hurry!"

"Thousand Strikes Purgatory!"

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!—

Zhou Wannian's fists turned into a sky full of afterimages. Each punch weighed as much as ten thousand jun, each aimed at vital points.

Great Strength Demon Venerable could initially parry, but after ten moves, he could only passively take the hits.

After fifty moves.

"Pfft!"

Great Strength Demon Venerable spat out a mouthful of blood, his proud demon body covered in fist imprints, with who knows how many bones broken.

"I refuse to accept this!!!"

Great Strength Demon Venerable let out a despairing roar.

"Demon God Transformation!"

He wanted to burn his essence blood for a desperate fight.

"Senior Brother Xiang! Now!"

Zhou Wannian suddenly shouted.

"Got it!"

Xiang Zhili, who had been watching from the sidelines (while looking for an opportunity), was already poised to strike.

He lifted that dead-weight giant crab puppet (now just a super iron lump).

"Take this!"

Xiang Zhili coordinated his waist and legs, mustering all his strength, and hurled the crab like a bowling ball straight at the back of Great Strength Demon Venerable's head.

"Clang!!!"

A clear, pleasant metallic impact sound.

Great Strength Demon Venerable, about to unleash his power, felt a chill at the back of his head, then everything went dark.

"Despicable..."

He rolled his eyes and collapsed like a great mountain.

A generation's Demon Venerable.

Knocked out by an iron crab.

"Whew... whew..."

Xiang Zhili plopped down on the ground, wiping his sweat.

"That throw must have cost this old man at least fifty years of Lifespan (strength)..."

Zhou Wannian walked over, kicked Great Strength Demon Venerable to confirm he was completely unconscious, then casually stripped the storage bracelet from his body.

"Well done."

"Area cleared."

Zhou Wannian turned and looked at the Spirit Cleansing Pool, emanating an enticing aura.

"Nangong, Purple Spirit, Senior Brother Xiang."

"This pool's energy is immense, enough for all four of us to use together."

"This opportunity is rare; let's go in together."

The three women (plus the old man Xiang as a third wheel) exchanged glances, their eyes filled with excitement.

"Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!"

Four sounds of bodies hitting the water.

Zhou Wannian sank to the bottom of the pool.

The sensation was as if every cell in his body was being torn apart, then reassembled.

Black Devilish Qi and white Spiritual Qi clashed wildly within him, finally guided by the "Fan Sheng True Demon Art" to begin a wondrous Fusion.

The originally distinct spiritual power and Devilish Qi gradually vanished.

In their place emerged a new energy—gray, Chaotic, yet all-encompassing.

[Spirit-Demon Unity].

Zhou Wannian closed his eyes tightly, his consciousness entering a mysterious Realm.

He saw his Nascent Soul, transforming from gold into a transparent crystalline form.

He saw his Physical Body, generating Law runes invisible to the naked eye.

The Bottleneck shattered.

Rumble—

Above Bitter Spirit Island, the tribulation clouds that couldn't gather due to the Restriction now defied the rules, forcibly coalescing.

Not an ordinary Lightning Tribulation.

It was the Great Five Elements Primordial Chaos Annihilation Divine Thunder.

That was the world-ending Heavenly Tribulation that only descended when breaking through to the Body Integration Stage with Heaven-Defying potential!

"About to Breakthrough."

At the pool bottom, Zhou Wannian suddenly opened his eyes.

In those eyes, the left shone with golden spiritual light, the right with black Devilish Qi.

Finally, both eyes simultaneously swirled, turning into Chaos.

"Body Integration Stage..."

"Break for me!!!"