36: Deep within the demon's lair, the old demon appeared.

The core of the Rotting Bone Forest, southwest.

The air was thick, like congealed corpse oil. Every step felt like treading on cold, life-sucking marshland.

The dark-gold Qi and blood smoke plume, rising about ten feet above Lin Jingyu's head, seemed to have sunk into a mire.

Further away, the darkness rolled and churned as if it were alive.

[Ding! Killed 3 Skeleton Demon Soldiers (Meridian Opening Realm, 3rd Layer), gained 1,800 evolution points!]

[Ding! Killed 100 Highly Poisonous Rotting Flies (Body Refining Realm, 9th Layer), gained 2,000 evolution points!]

[Current evolution points: 13,511 + 3,800 = 17,311!]

The cold prompt tone was made exceptionally clear by the dead silence of the environment.

Lin Jingyu had just shattered the last few Demon Soldiers attempting a sneak attack with a single punch, their foul blood and broken bones turning to ash in the dark-gold flames.

His golden pupils were like two never-extinguishing searchlights, piercing through layers of miasma, locking onto the area ahead.

The Yin Corpse Sect token in his embrace was no longer just hot; it was pulsating wildly!

Every beat released an intensely greedy, cold intention, pointing directly toward the deepest part of the miasma!

That was the source of the Corpse Fiend Yin Vein, and the location of the “food” the token craved!

“Almost there...” Lin Jingyu muttered softly, his voice sounding like metal scraping in the silence. He could feel that the token's craving had generated a certain resonance with a massive entity deep within the miasma!

Just at this moment—

“Buzz...”

An indescribable cold will, seemingly originating from the deepest depths of the Nine Nether Yellow Springs, swept across the entire area without warning!

The air instantly solidified!

The churning dark-green miasma suddenly became still!

Even the Qi and blood smoke plume burning above Lin Jingyu's head abruptly paused, as if frozen by invisible ice.

“Hiss—!” Lin Jingyu's gaze instantly sharpened like a blade! An unprecedented terrifying pressure, enough to freeze the Soul, struck his spiritual Sea of Consciousness like billions of ice needles! It was ten, maybe a hundred times stronger than Mountain Guardian's Soul Fire impact!

“Boom!”

The sturdy barrier in his Sea of Consciousness, forged from pure will and the Star Body Tempering Method, violently shook! It formed an indestructible shield on the spiritual level!

“Crack-crack-crack!”

The invisible spiritual collision erupted in the silence with a jarring shattering sound that only Lin Jingyu could “hear”! The invading cold will was forcibly shattered and annihilated!

Lin Jingyu's body remained unshaken, but the bone powder ground beneath his feet silently collapsed by half a foot! A clear ring of circular cracks spread out!

“Hmph!” He let out a muffled groan. A trace of solemnity flashed in his golden pupils, but it was quickly overshadowed by enraged ferocity! “Such strong Spiritual Pressure... Tendon Changing Realm? Or... even stronger?”

Just a single sweep of its will possessed such power! The true core Ancient Demon of the Rotting Bone Forest had finally been alerted!

“Wuu... wuu...”

“Hoo... hoo-hoo...”

The dead silence was broken. From the depths of the miasma came scalp-numbing whimpers and low gasps.

It wasn't a beast's roar, but rather the final wails of countless dying creatures in despair, converging into a symphony of death that could shatter the mind.

Immediately after, the earth began to shake rhythmically.

Dong... dong... dong... Each “heartbeat” was accompanied by the violent churning of the dark-green miasma and the surging release of even denser Corpse Fiend Yin Qi, capable of freezing bone marrow!

The temperature around Lin Jingyu plummeted. A thin layer of black frost even condensed on the surface of the bone powder beneath his feet!

The breath he exhaled instantly turned into white mist, which then froze into tiny ice crystals in the cold air!

“Playing tricks!” Ferocity surged in Lin Jingyu's eyes. Instead of retreating, he took a heavy step forward!

“Boom!”

The dark-gold Qi and blood smoke plume shot upward like flames doused in boiling oil!

Specks of Starlight rapidly circulated within it, bursting forth with burning, resilient radiance, forcefully repelling the approaching cold Qi and spiritual pressure by several feet!

His massive body was like the Sea-Stabilizing Needle, propping open his own blazing Domain within this “Extreme Cold Hell” formed by the Corpse Fiend Yin Qi!

“Get out here!” Lin Jingyu's voice was like a clap of thunder, carrying solidified Killing Intent and Dragon-Elephant Giant Strength, fiercely blasting toward the churning miasma ahead!

“Rumble!”

Where the sound waves passed, the viscous dark-green miasma was forcibly ripped open, creating a massive channel! The sound waves were like invisible giant hammers, shattering all the withered bones and rotten wood on both sides of the channel into fine dust!

At the end of the channel, the miasma violently churned, slowly revealing a contour so immense it was suffocating!

It was a “hill” forcibly pieced together from countless pale white skeletons, rotting flesh, and foul, ink-black sludge!

Embedded in the “Peak” of the hill was an enormous, rotting skull covered in thick frost and moss!

In the skull's eye sockets burned two wisps of ghostly, emerald-green Soul Flames—cold, wicked, and indifferent to all life—which were now fiercely “staring” at Lin Jingyu at the end of the channel!

Below the skull was a barely discernible “torso” formed by the Fusion of giant Yao Beast spines and rock, along with several “limbs” haphazardly wrapped together from twisted bone arms, decaying tentacles, and rusty iron chains, plunged deep into the churning black sludge below.

The entire “Corpse Hill” was slowly wriggling and rising and falling with that “dong-dong” heartbeat sound!

[Warning! Encountered extremely dangerous target!]

[Target: ??? (Corpse Fiend Aggregate/Thousand-Year Ancient Demon)]

[Energy Level: Tendon Changing Realm Peak (Extremely unstable, abnormal fluctuations detected!)]

[Threat Level: Extremely High! Contains massive Corpse Fiend Yin Qi and Resentment. Extremely strong physical defense and extremely strong spiritual pollution!]

The cold System prompt flashed with an unprecedented warning red light in Lin Jingyu's consciousness!

“Tendon Changing Realm... Peak?” Lin Jingyu's pupils contracted slightly, but the blood in his body instantly boiled! It wasn't fear, but the ferocity and excitement that arose from his very bones when facing a true powerhouse! “Perfect... time to test my Star Body!”

The emerald-green Soul Flames in the eye sockets of the giant rotting skull seemed enraged by Lin Jingyu's undisguised Battle Intent and provocation!

“Ant... you... disturb... my... slumber...”

A dry, hoarse thought, as if countless voices were superimposed, pierced directly into Lin Jingyu's mind like a bone-scraping steel knife! It was filled with boundless brutality and a Desire for Destruction!

“Die!”

As this thought subsided, one of the “limbs” composed of countless bone arms and tentacles suddenly lifted!

That limb rapidly expanded and twisted in the air, instantly transforming into a terrifying giant pillar, more than three meters in diameter, covered in sharp bone spurs and dripping dark-green pus!

At the top of the giant pillar, a massive Skeletal Head Phantom, formed from pure Corpse Fiend Yin Qi and emitting cold Qi that could freeze the Soul, condensed!

“Wuuu—!!”

A shrill shriek, sharp enough to tear eardrums, rang out!

The massive bone spur and pus pillar, carrying cold Corpse Fiend energy that froze space and terrifying mountain-crushing strength, tore through the viscous miasma like a Spear of Judgment from Hell, smashing down directly onto Lin Jingyu!

Wherever it passed, the air froze into fine ice crystals, and space itself let out a groan of distress!

This strike's might far surpassed Mountain Guardian! It was the perfect combination of pure destructive power and extreme Yin cold erosion! It was the enraged blow of a Tendon Changing Realm Peak Ancient Demon!

“Good timing!” Golden light burst from Lin Jingyu's eyes. Not only did he not retreat, but he let out a wild Battle Roar!

The violent power of Dragon-Elephant Suppressing Prison Strength was pushed to its limit on his fists. His muscles bulged and stretched, blue veins coiled like dragons and snakes, and his bones emitted a muffled thunder!

Facing that world-destroying strike, he chose the most direct and violent response—

Breaking strength with strength! Shaking the heavens with a fist!

“Roar!”

Lin Jingyu bellowed as he exhaled, his right fist, like a fully drawn Star Giant Bow, fiercely punched out!

“BOOM!!!!!”

The dark-gold fist collided solidly and unreservedly with the terrifying giant pillar, which was covered in bone spurs and pus and wrapped in the massive skeletal phantom, amidst the thick Corpse Fiend miasma!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The next instant—

“Crack! RUMBLE!!!”

An indescribable, terrifying energy storm erupted centered on the point of collision!

Dazzling dark-gold light and ghastly green Corpse Fiend Yin Qi wildly intertwined, annihilated, and exploded!

A visible, gold-and-green destructive shockwave violently spread in all directions like a tsunami!

Within a hundred zhang radius, all the withered wood, skeletons, and even the thick bone powder covering the ground were instantly shredded into the finest dust, as if thrown into a pulverizer!

The thick dark-green miasma was forcibly pushed away and evaporated, forming a massive vacuum zone!

“Ugh!” Lin Jingyu groaned. The hard ground beneath his feet cracked and collapsed inch by inch like tofu!

His Star Body, which was strong enough to withstand Mountain Guardian's bone hammer, felt an unimaginably heavy pressure for the first time!

A chilling, bone-piercing giant force, carrying intense corrosion and resentment impact, surged wildly into his body through his fist, attempting to freeze his Qi and blood, tear his tendons and bones, and pollute his spirit!

The layer of dark-gold Glazed Light Barrier on his body surface flickered violently and irregularly, emitting a sharp wail! On his fist, he felt a heart-piercing pain and bone-chilling cold!

[Warning! Star Body Tempering Method (Initial Insight) defense layer suffered a heavy blow! Minor cracks have appeared!]

[Warning! The host is suffering high-intensity Corpse Fiend Yin Qi erosion and spiritual Resentment impact! Indestructible Vajra characteristic is active... Star Power purification is underway...]

“So hard! So cold!” The ferocity in Lin Jingyu's eyes grew stronger. Instead of being repelled, his Monstrous Nature was provoked! He could feel the crackling sounds of bone spurs snapping and pus evaporating coming from the opponent's giant pillar!

“Break... for me!”

His left fist, like an angry Dragon emerging from the sea, followed his right, carrying even more violent Dragon-Elephant Giant Strength and Starlight, slamming fiercely into the exact same spot!

“Dong!!!”

A second, even duller and more terrifying loud sound exploded!

The giant pillar, formed by countless bone arms and tentacles, had its massive skeletal phantom at the top let out an unwilling wail before violently collapsing!

The cracked pillar body could no longer withstand this superimposed, purely destructive force. Starting from the point of impact, it shattered and disintegrated inch by inch, like glazed glass struck by a heavy hammer!

Dark-green pus, pale bone fragments, and foul black matter sprayed out in all directions like a fountain!

“ROAR—!!!”

The rotting skull atop the Corpse Hill let out a deafening roar of pain and fury! The entire hill trembled violently! The emerald-green Soul Flames pulsed frantically!

Lin Jingyu was also shaken by the superimposed rebound force, his Qi and blood churning. He ploughed two deep furrows with his feet, sliding back over ten zhang before stabilizing himself.

He looked down at his fists. A thin layer of black frost covered his dark-gold skin, and throbbing pain and numbness came from his knuckles. Several tiny cracks were even faintly visible!

“My defense... is still insufficient!” He shook his numb fists. The black frost rapidly melted in the dark-gold flames, and the cracks quickly healed under the nourishment of Star Power. But in his eyes, a more blazing flame and a desire for stronger defense ignited! “The Star Body Tempering Method at Initial Insight... can't block the full force of this Ancient Demon's attack! I need... a stronger Body-Protecting Divine Technique!”

He suddenly looked up, his golden pupils piercing through the gradually closing miasma, locking onto the Corpse Hill, which had fallen into a frenzy because its giant pillar was destroyed, and the pair of emerald-green Soul Flames atop the hill, filled with malice and Killing Intent!

“Old bastard... your life, and your Corpse Fiend Yin Vein...” Lin Jingyu licked his slightly cracked lips, revealing a cold and ferocious smile. “They are all my Evolution Resources!

The real battle has just begun!