31: Fighting the demon general alone, the Vajra Shield roared.

The vile blood of the Blood-Winged Demon General, Scarlet Nightmare, had not yet dried on the city wall. The deafening cheers in Lin Jingyu's ears had not completely subsided when an even heavier, more tyrannical Demonic Qi, like a cold current surging from the depths of the Nine Heavens, instantly froze the lingering fervor of the battlefield!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The earth trembled... footsteps ten times heavier than an Earth-Shaking Rhinoceros, like muffled thunder rolling across the wilderness. With each step, fragments of stone on the city wall rattled down!

A sickeningly Intense stench of decay, mixed with rock-like ferocity, crashed like an invisible tidal wave against everyone's hearts!

Lin Jingyu spun around abruptly, his golden pupils instantly locking onto the rolling, inky shadow behind the beast tide!

The shadow, like boiling sludge, was violently torn open by a brute force!

A colossal creature, with heavy steps, slowly revealed its form!

It stood nearly five meters tall, its body as massive as a moving hillock!

Its entire body was covered in grey-black armor, thick and hard like rough rock. Viscous, dark green pus oozed from the cracks in the armor, emitting a pungent stench of decay.

Its head resembled a giant bear, but its tusks protruded outwards, and two icy, eerie green Soul flames burned in its eye sockets, filled with dead silence and tyranny!

“Warning! High-energy demon reaction detected! Target: Iron-Armored Corpse Bear, Mountain Guardian (Tendon Changing Realm Fifth Rank)! Threat Level: Extremely High! Characteristics: Terrifying Strength! Peerless Defense! Slow Speed!” The System's alert tone carried a strong warning!

The Iron-Armored Corpse Bear, Mountain Guardian, with its Soul-fire burning eyes, locked onto the human on the city wall, who radiated a golden light that it intensely loathed.

It opened its massive maw and let out a roar, deep as rolling thunder yet grating like metal friction:

“Roar—!! Scarlet Nightmare... trash! Human... crush!”

Its voice carried contempt for its comrade and blatant killing intent towards Lin Jingyu!

Its enormous body suddenly accelerated, like an out-of-control steel war chariot, ignoring its fleeing kin beneath its feet. With a terrifying Aura that sought to crush everything, it charged towards the city wall! Its target was directly Lin Jingyu!

“Heavens... oh heavens! It's Mountain Guardian! The gatekeeper of Rotting Bone Forest!”

“Tendon Changing Realm Fifth Rank! Its defense is so strong that even the city's heavy crossbows can't pierce it!”

“It's over! Lord Lin just went through a major battle...” The cheers on the city wall instantly turned into terrified screams.

Zhao Tianhao's face was pale, his hand gripping the hilt of his saber trembled.

Mountain Guardian's fearsome reputation was even greater than Scarlet Nightmare's in the Border Wilds! It was a monster truly renowned for its absolute strength and defense!

However, a more blazing Battle Intent ignited in Lin Jingyu's eyes than before!

He had just achieved a Breakthrough to Bone Forging Fifth Rank, and the power surged within him like a river. He needed a sufficiently hard whetstone!

The power of the newly achieved Indestructible Vajra Divine Art also needed stronger pressure to be tested!

“Good timing!” he shouted, and directly leaped down from the ten-zhang-high city wall parapet!

Boom!

His heavy body, like a meteorite falling to earth, created a shallow pit in the path of Mountain Guardian's charge!

Amidst the dust, that figure, flowing with immortal golden light, formed an extremely disparate yet incredibly shocking contrast with the charging Corpse Bear beast!

Mountain Guardian saw this minuscule human dare to block it head-on, its Soul fire flickering wildly, letting out an even more brutal roar!

Its massive bone hammer forelimb rose high, carrying a terrifying shriek that tore through the air and a force of ten thousand jun, like a collapsing mountain, smashing down on Lin Jingyu's head!

This single hammer blow was enough to flatten a steel city gate into an iron pancake!

Facing this terrifying strike capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, golden light burst forth from Lin Jingyu's eyes!

Instead of retreating, he advanced, his right fist clenched tight. The Qi and blood of the Dragon Tendon Tiger Bone Art and the immortal golden light of the Indestructible Vajra Divine Art instantly merged within him, furiously pouring into his fist!

“Dragon Elephant Suppressing Prison! Vajra Break!”

Roar!

The phantom of a Dragon's roar and an elephant's bellow flashed behind him! His right fist seemed to transform into a meteor burning with dark golden flames, not dodging or evading, but defiantly smashing towards the falling giant bone hammer!

Fist against hammer!

“Seeking death!” A cruel pleasure flashed in Mountain Guardian's Soul fire.

Clang——!!!!!!!

A metallic roar, a hundred times louder and more violent than when the Vajra Shield had previously resisted claws, exploded like Nine Heavens thunder across the wilderness!

A visible circular shockwave spread out, forcefully scraping away a layer of ground within dozens of zhang! Several fleeing demons caught nearby were instantly pulverized into meat paste!

The ground beneath Lin Jingyu's feet collapsed with a crash, his legs sinking deep into the earth up to his knees!

“Ding! Indestructible Vajra Divine Art (Introductory) is enduring extreme force impact! Defense strength is being judged...”

“Judgment passed! Current defense strength: 1200/1200!”

“Force rebound! Inflicting minor shock damage to target!”

“Hmm?!” Mountain Guardian's Soul fire trembled violently!

It felt as if its bone hammer had struck an ancient divine mountain!

Not only did it fail to crush the opponent, but a powerful rebound force traveled up the bone hammer, making its thick forelimb bones emit a faint groan!

This human's defense and strength far exceeded its expectations!

“The strength is decent, but nothing more!” Lin Jingyu felt the terrifying pressure on his fist. Far from pain, a feeling of exhilaration surged within him under the protection of the Indestructible Vajra Divine Art!

He took a sharp breath, his chest swelling like a bellows. His deeply embedded legs' muscles coiled like Dragons, and dark golden Qi and blood erupted!

“Rise!”

Rumble!

He actually managed to pull his deeply embedded legs out of the ground, directly resisting the massive bone hammer!

At the same time, he twisted his waist, and his left fist, like a cannonball, wrapped in the same dark golden flames, fiercely slammed towards Mountain Guardian's relatively vulnerable chest-abdomen connection—the gap in its thick armor!

Mountain Guardian reacted extremely quickly, its other bone hammer, like a huge door panel, whistled through the air, blocking in front of it!

Bang——!!!

Another incredibly dull, massive thud!

Lin Jingyu's left fist slammed hard into the side of the blocking bone hammer!

Violent power exploded, shattering bone fragments from the hammer's surface, leaving a shallow fist print!

Mountain Guardian's massive body was actually shaken slightly backward by the terrifying force contained in this punch, its charging momentum abruptly halted!

“Roar!” Mountain Guardian was utterly enraged! It wildly swung both hammers, like two moving bone mountains, raising a sky full of mournful hammer shadows, raining down on Lin Jingyu!

Each hammer blow contained immense power capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, enough to pulverize an ordinary Tendon Changing Realm Martial Artist into meat paste!

Golden light blazed in Lin Jingyu's eyes, and Phantom Step instantly activated! He rapidly weaved through the gaps between the two hammers, leaving behind solid golden afterimages!

He no longer took all attacks head-on, but rather used his Indestructible Vajra body to resist the glancing hammer winds, seizing every interval between attacks. He pushed the Dragon-Elephant Suppressing Prison Strength to its limit, his golden fists, palms, elbows, and knees striking like a furious storm, precisely attacking the gaps and joint connections of Mountain Guardian's armor!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Collision sounds, dense as rain hitting banana leaves, exploded across the wilderness!

Sparks flew! Bone fragments scattered!

Dark green vile blood was shaken out from the gaps in Mountain Guardian's armor!

Frustration! Utter frustration!

Mountain Guardian's Soul fire flickered wildly, letting out enraged but helpless roars!

Its proud strength and defense seemed to have lost their absolute advantage in front of this human!

“Roar! Insect! Catch you! Crush!” Mountain Guardian went completely mad. It abruptly abandoned defense, its two massive bone hammers splayed open like giant pincers, adopting a suicidal stance. Disregarding Lin Jingyu's heavy punches to its ribs, it fiercely clamped down on the golden figure in the center!

It intended to use its most terrifying brute force to crush this hateful human into a meat patty!

A huge shadow instantly enveloped Lin Jingyu!

The two bone hammers, carrying an Aura of destroying everything, clamped down fiercely from left and right! The air was compressed, emitting explosive crackles!

The terrifying oppressive feeling even suffocated Zhao Tianhao and the others in the distance!

“Lord Lin!” A heartbreaking cry of alarm rang out.

Facing this killing blow, Lin Jingyu's eyes showed no fear; instead, an even more intense golden light burst forth!

The Indestructible Vajra Divine Art circulated to its peak, and the immortal golden light covering his entire body instantly solidified as if cast from divine gold!

“Indestructible Vajra! Hold your ground for me!”

Rumble——!!!

The two massive bone hammers, like two collapsing mountains, fiercely collided and closed in on Lin Jingyu's position!

Terrifying crushing power erupted instantly! At the center of the impact, the air was completely expelled, emitting an incredibly dull explosion!

A huge deep pit was pressed into the ground, and spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly!

Dust soared into the sky, obscuring everything!

“No—!” A despairing wail echoed from the city wall.

However, amidst the dust, there was no sound of bones shattering.

Only a low roar, suppressed with pain yet carrying supreme majesty, like the groan of an injured primordial Dragon, pierced through the dust and resounded across the battlefield:

“Ugh... cough cough! The strength... is decent! But to crush this old man... you're still far from it!”

The dust gradually cleared.

In the center of the deep pit, Lin Jingyu's burly figure stood proudly!

His arm muscles bulged like ancient Dragon pythons, shining with dazzling immortal golden light, like two golden pillars supporting the sky, firmly propping up the two massive, clamping bone hammers!

The sharp bone spurs on the hammers pressed deeply against the golden light on his arms and chest, emitting grating friction sounds and

The ground beneath his feet sank deeper again, and a trace of pale golden blood even overflowed from the corner of his mouth (internal organs injured by the shock), but his golden eyes burned with an even more intense flame!

He had, against all odds, withstood the death squeeze of a Tendon Changing Realm Fifth Rank Corpse Bear!

“Ding! Indestructible Vajra Divine Art (Introductory) is enduring extreme crushing attack! Defense strength: 800/1200! Continuously decreasing!”

“Warning! External pressure exceeds critical point! Indestructible Vajra Divine Art proficiency skyrocketing! Evolution conditions met! Deduce evolution direction...”

“Deduction successful! Can evolve into: Indestructible Vajra Divine Art (Minor Achievement)! Cost of evolution points: 30,000 points! Evolve now?”

Mountain Guardian's Soul fire was filled with disbelief!

It felt as if its bone hammers had clamped onto a red-hot, indestructible divine iron!

Not only could it not crush it, but the force emanating from the opponent's arms grew stronger and hotter! That dark golden light even made its sturdy bone hammers begin to heat up!

“Evolve!” Lin Jingyu roared in his heart!

“Consuming 30,000 evolution points! Beginning evolution of Indestructible Vajra Divine Art (Introductory) → (Minor Achievement)! Deducting... Deduction complete! Instantly mastered!”

Buzz——!!!

A more vast, more profound, immortal golden light, seemingly originating from the primordial Universe, burst forth from the depths of every cell in Lin Jingyu's body!

An unbreakable pressure, many times stronger than before, like a deity descending, spread out with a roar!

“Roar?!” Mountain Guardian's Soul fire trembled violently. It felt as if what its bone hammers were clamping was no longer a human, but a golden star about to explode!

That terrifying pressure and the suddenly surging defensive rebound force made its incredibly sturdy bone hammers emit creaking sounds of unbearable strain!

“Now!” Golden light in Lin Jingyu's eyes, like solid sharp swords, pierced into the depths of Mountain Guardian's Soul fire! His arms, supporting the bone hammers, muscles suddenly swelled another circle, and his dark golden divine armor shone brightly!

“For this old man——open!”

Roar——!!!

Accompanied by a roar that seemed to come from an ancient god or demon, Lin Jingyu's arms erupted with terrifying power capable of tearing apart stars!

Crack! Crackle crackle——!!!

Hair-raising shattering sounds echoed!

Under Mountain Guardian's utterly terrified Soul fire gaze, and the stunned eyes of countless people on the city wall, Lin Jingyu's divine gold armored arms forcefully pried open and bent the two massive, incredibly hard bone hammers from their clamped state!

The parts of the bone hammers that were gripped even showed clear, spiderweb-like cracks!

“No——!!!” Mountain Guardian let out a shriek of extreme terror! It felt its forelimbs being torn apart by an irresistible brute force!

Lin Jingyu, like a golden god or demon breaking free from shackles, transformed into a golden lightning bolt tearing through the dust in the instant Mountain Guardian froze from intense pain and shock. He instantly closed in on Mountain Guardian's huge, Soul-fire burning head!

A pair of iron fists, covered in divine gold armor and flowing with immortal radiance, carrying the will to crush everything, like two hammers of divine punishment descending from the sky, fiercely slammed towards Mountain Guardian's eye sockets!

“Die!”