101: Victory

"Haaah—!!!"

Lao Ma let out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar. The huge, heavy crab claw that Wang Yao had previously flung into the distance seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, suddenly flying up and sweeping horizontally towards Wang Yao's waist with the force of a thunderbolt!

Just as Wang Yao was about to dodge, the flying crab claw suddenly accelerated and changed direction mid-air, its heavy back slamming fiercely into his side.

"Bang!"

Wang Yao was sent flying like a kite with a broken string.

In that brief gap, Lao Ma's main body and the returning crab claw underwent a shocking transformation simultaneously.

A light interlaced with eerie blue and dark green erupted from within his body.

His figure swelled, twisted, and deformed rapidly, as if being inflated.

The cyan armor covering his body became thicker and more angular, with bone spurs protruding from the joints.

The returning crab claw fused perfectly with his severed arm, becoming even more massive and hideous.

In the blink of an eye, a behemoth three zhang tall appeared where he stood.

Its main body was a giant crab covered in thick, dark green armor, but attached to the crab shell was a hideous seahorse head covered in bone spurs.

Its eight crab legs were like giant pillars, deeply embedded in the ground, and as its two giant claws opened and closed, they seemed capable of shearing through mountains.

This was his final resort, the complete demonized form obtained temporarily!

"Come and fight!!!"

A strange roar, mixing the hissing of a crab and the shrill scream of a seahorse, erupted from the seahorse's mouth, making the very ground seem to tremble.

Although his size had become immense, Lao Ma's speed had instead increased explosively.

With all eight legs moving in unison, his figure turned into a dark green storm, sweeping instantly before Wang Yao.

The giant claws swung, the wind pressure they stirred up feeling tangible, plowing deep trenches into the ground.

Previously, Wang Yao could barely suppress him by trading injury for injury, but now, he couldn't even do that.

In the face of absolute strength, speed, and defense, he fell into total passivity, able only to rely on the super-strong recovery and pre-judgment brought by his Mysterious Yin Returning to Truth Physique to struggle and hold on, like a lone boat in a storm, ready to capsize at any moment.

"Clang! Clang! Bang!"

Every time the giant claw descended, the sound of bones cracking would come from Wang Yao's blocking arms, and his body was smashed away time and time again, shattering patches of the ground.

The wounds on his body multiplied, and the speed of his recovery was clearly beginning to fail to keep up with the speed of his injuries.

His Mysterious Yin Returning to Truth Physique seemed to be nearing its limit as well.

If not for him seizing every fleeting opportunity to stuff Medicinal Pills into his mouth regardless of everything, he would have long since been smashed into a pulp.

The battle continued, and Wang Yao was at the end of his rope; there was almost no intact bone left in his body, his movements were distorted, and his aura was withered.

As for Lao Ma, the speed of his strikes remained violent, but there was no method left in his Moves, only instinctive, frenzied smashing.

It was obvious that whether it was forcibly elevating to the Core Formation Late Stage or maintaining this complete demonized form, it had inflicted an unimaginable burden upon him.

His time was truly running out, and his consciousness was being devoured by bestiality.

Just as one of Lao Ma's giant claws smashed down again towards the nearly immobile Wang Yao with the force of Mount Tai.

A cold arc curled at the corner of Wang Yao's blood-stained mouth.

"Explode."

He spat out the word softly.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

The next moment, countless sharp, scarlet spears made of coagulated blood suddenly pierced out from inside the crab claw that had been invaded by Wang Yao's severed arm earlier.

These blood spears seemed to possess life, rapidly spreading upwards along the crab claw, draining Lao Ma's remaining vitality wherever they passed.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss—!!!"

Lao Ma let out a painful, shrill hiss that had completely lost any trace of humanity. His massive body stiffened due to the excruciating pain and internal destruction, and the swinging giant claw stalled in mid-air.

Looking at his opponent, who was hindered by the blood spears erupting from within, whose body was beginning to collapse, and whose consciousness was blurred, the last trace of clarity in Wang Yao's eyes was replaced by determination.

He squeezed out his last bit of strength and suddenly erupted from the pit!

His strikes and kicks, at this moment, seemed to break through some kind of shackle; they were no longer the brute force of the beginning, but instead carried a strange rhythm and technique—a technique... that was seven parts similar to the combat skill Lao Ma had previously displayed.

He used his own way to return the favor!

"It's over!"

Wang Yao let out a low roar, unleashing a punch that gathered all his remaining strength, the power of the Medicinal Pill, and that formidable Qi and blood power!

This punch slammed fiercely into the very center of the chest and abdomen of Lao Ma's demonized body, the most fragile point of his armor!

"Boom—!!!"

The massive demonized body was sent flying backward by this power condensed into a single point.

The moment it hit the ground, Lao Ma's huge body shattered inch by inch, finally disintegrating into a pile of dust, leaving only a small, pale seahorse about the size of a palm that fell from the powder.

"Made it in time!"

Almost at the same time, a distorted and unstable door was forcibly opened in the air of the Secret Realm.

A palm with the texture of fish skin reached out from inside the door with lightning speed, grabbing towards the falling small seahorse, trying to retrieve it.

Just before that palm was about to touch the seahorse's main body.

A tiny arrow interlaced with black and red colors shot out from the edge of the battlefield, from the dark red bloodstains that had long since dried and coagulated.

This was the poisonous blood that Wang Yao had spat out when he was hit by the arrow, which he had refined within his body long ago.

"Pfft!"

The small poisonous blood arrow arrived first despite being fired later, piercing the palm with absolute precision, and simultaneously transfixing the defenseless little seahorse in its hand.

"Ah!" A muffled grunt of pain came from behind the door.

The fish-skin palm shuddered violently, but still stubbornly retracted into the door, taking the pierced little seahorse with it.

But in the final moment before the door closed, a voice filled with exasperation came through.

"Kid... I'll remember you!"

Sensing that the opponent was indeed devoid of life.

Wang Yao finally fell backward, his heavy eyelids slowly closing.

In the split second before his consciousness completely sank into darkness, at the edge of his blurred vision, he seemed to glimpse a somewhat familiar figure.

He instinctively muttered that name from the depths of his memory.

"Dabiao... is it you who came to pick me up..."

Looking at Wang Yao, who had collapsed and was unconscious, his aura weak yet unusually tenacious, Hun Wushang, who had just arrived, had a face as cold as ice.

"Hmph."

With a cold snort, the curtain could no longer be used to view this place.

Confirming that no one was watching, he raised his palm, and a pure, cold force struck Wang Yao fiercely.

The impact of this force made Wang Yao roll twice more on the ground, but he was not injured by it; instead, his complexion improved slightly.

"I thought your relationship wasn't very good."

Mu Qianqiu slowly approached, watching this scene with great interest.

Hun Wushang didn't turn his head, continuing to channel vitality, his voice without a ripple.

"From what point did you see that our relationship is good?"

Mu Qianqiu secretly curled his lip.

If the relationship isn't good, why not take the opportunity to kill him instead of channeling vitality to help him recover?

This seems to have been recorded in the Joyous Union Sect; I remember it being called... "tsundere"?

"Then Brother Soul, why not take this opportunity to finish him off instead of helping him recover?"

"Hmph."

Hun Wushang snorted coldly and withdrew his palm; the rise and fall of Wang Yao's chest was clearly steadier.

"I just really hate those guys who like to perform human experimentation and turn themselves into neither human nor ghost."

"If I kill him now, wouldn't that be equivalent to avenging that Half-Demon bastard from just now?"

"Just the thought of letting that kind of thing rest in peace in the afterlife makes me feel sick."

"So, I'll spare his life for now; I have plenty of time to finish him off myself later."

Hun Wushang said this as he hoisted the unconscious Wang Yao onto his shoulder and turned to walk towards the flickering light door in the center of the Secret Realm.

"Didn't you just say your relationship wasn't good?"

"What is the meaning of this now?"

Hun Wushang didn't stop his steps, his back to her, his voice still cold.

"I said it already: if he dies now, it only benefits that bastard. So he cannot die yet."

"As for his current state..."

He glanced at Wang Yao on his shoulder.

"With his disgusting Physique, plus the vitality I just channeled, he'll be able to recover in less than an hour or so."

"We didn't take anything in this stage, and neither did he."

"So what can be seen in the next stage is the same."

"When he recovers, make him do some hard labor; it'll be just right for him to repay this 'favor'."

He paused, a hint of coldness in his voice.

"That way, next time I kill him, he won't be held back, and I can kill him more thoroughly."

"Hehe, that's great." Mu Qianqiu looked at Hun Wushang's back with a fake smile, unable to help but mutter to himself.

No wonder you two could play together when you were kids.

It seems it's not just Body Cultivators who are prone to being a bit like that; Soul Cultivators are a bit sticky too.

So is it that the sexual orientation of this group is abnormal, or is it that people with abnormal sexual orientations are prone to joining this group?

Mu Qianqiu was just about to follow when he saw Hun Wushang, who was walking in front, as if he had hit an invisible wall. With a muffled "thud," he was bounced back, and Wang Yao, who he was carrying on his shoulder, almost slipped off.

The door being blocked by an unknown force was nothing, but the contrast between his own "cold" declaration just now and the act of being embarrassingly bounced back made Hun Wushang feel a bit ashamed and angry.

He could almost imagine what kind of expression was on Mu Qianqiu's face behind him right now.

And Mu Qianqiu indeed did not "disappoint" him.

No wonder he came from the Joyous Union Sect; his signature "fun-seeker" smile was already plastered on his face.

He suppressed his laughter, walked up, and patted Hun Wushang on the shoulder with feigned seriousness, signaling him to follow.

"It seems this main door cannot be passed. Let's go; bring your 'good brother' and follow me to another exit."

After saying this, Mu Qianqiu's figure leaped up quickly and flew off in another direction.

Hun Wushang's face was livid, and he really wanted to curse, but Mu Qianqiu had already flown far away, so he could only grit his teeth, hoist Wang Yao tighter, exert force under his feet, and chase after him rapidly.

Meanwhile, on the fourth layer of the Secret Realm.

"Ding! Player Zhou Yan and NPC Wang Yao formed a team to kill the BOSS [Demonized Lao Ma], EXP +12000, Dao Seeking Coins +34500."

"Please start rolling the dice to obtain loot."

"Detected that there is only one active player in the current team; all loot has been automatically distributed to that player's backpack."

"Holy crap! What's going on?!"

"Holy crap! Wang Yao is freaking invincible!!!"

Zhou Yan, who was in the center of the small village, vigilant of his surroundings, was jolted by the series of System prompts that suddenly rang out in his mind.

He couldn't help but let out a strange cry, startling Yuan Chenling, who was also on guard nearby, making him flinch and almost start his Divine Ability again.

After looking around and confirming that nothing had happened, Yuan Chenling gave Zhou Yan a huffy eye-roll.

What kind of madness is this boss of mine having again?