57: True Demon

However, how could that mass of black mist escape Ye Ming's full-power strike? The five-colored great hand, carrying an invincible aura, slammed down onto the demonic Cultivator and the black mist.

Accompanied by a roar and a massive tremor, the entire village was shattered by the powerful blow, leaving remnants of wooden houses everywhere. The demonic Cultivator vanished without a trace, leaving only some ashes, and the black mist was also gone.

From the moment Ye Ming saw the demonic Cultivator until he killed him, only a short ten seconds had passed.

Ye Ming reappeared where the demonic Cultivator had died. He looked at the ashes on the ground, lost in thought, pondering what the black mist earlier had been. He had never seen such a repulsive thing.

“Challenger, congratulations! With the astonishing time of ten instants, you have reached the first rank. You are rewarded with a bottle of True Essence Medicinal Pill, plus an extra five elements immortal fruit!”

As soon as the voice finished, a mass of white light and a mass of golden light appeared before Ye Ming. Ye Ming snapped out of his contemplation and reached out to take the two light masses in his hand.

The light dissipated, revealing a small jade bottle and a fist-sized, five-colored round fruit.

The True Essence Medicinal Pill is a Tier 3 Medicinal Pill that can increase Golden Core cultivation. Its medicinal efficacy is double that of the Essence Augmentation Pill.

As for that five elements immortal fruit, he didn't recognize it.

“The five elements immortal fruit is a fruit condensed from Five Elements Power. Consuming it can increase the cultivation of a Cultivator specializing in Five Elements Power, and there is a chance of Awakening the Five Elements Immortal Physique!”

As if knowing Ye Ming didn't recognize the item, the voice reappeared to explain it to him. Perhaps it was because Ye Ming's clearance time was too fast that the voice treated him this way.

Consuming this five elements immortal fruit might even lead to the Awakening of an Immortal Physique?

After hearing the explanation, Ye Ming's eyes immediately lit up. If he could Awaken the Five Elements Immortal Physique, his Five Elements Power would become even stronger, and his Cultivation speed would increase.

Five Elements Power is everywhere in this world, but no one can use it—unless they possess a special Physique and a special Cultivation Technique.

Ye Ming then ate the five elements immortal fruit in a few bites, feeling like he had just won the lottery. It tasted good, somewhat unique—light yet warm, juicy, and crunchy when bitten.

After finishing it, Ye Ming raised an eyebrow. Where was the Immortal Physique? He only felt his cultivation increase slightly, similar to eating two Blood Python Snakes. It seemed the chance of Awakening this Immortal Physique was very low!

“Challenger, do you wish to enter the Second Stage?”

The voice echoed in Ye Ming's ear, but Ye Ming did not rush to answer. Instead, he asked in return, “What was that black mist just now?”

Ye Ming was very concerned about this. If he hadn't used Five Elements Power, he might not have been able to instantly kill that demonic Cultivator.

When Ye Ming asked, the voice seemed to freeze up, only answering him after a moment.

“It is True Demonic Qi, originating from the Demon Realm. It devours the consciousness of immortal Cultivators, thereby giving birth to a new True Demon, which retains all the memories of its former self!”

As the voice fell silent, Ye Ming's expression became solemn. So it was called True Demonic Qi, and now even the Demon Realm had appeared.

After understanding the answer he wanted, Ye Ming chose to enter the Second Stage. He wanted to learn more about the True Demon.

Just as he entered the Second Stage, the outside world erupted in excitement.

The Ranking Board for the First Stage showed a change in the first-place position.

First Place: Taixuan Realm, Human Race Golden Core Late Stage Cultivator, Ye Ming. Clearance Time: Ten Instants!

When the crowd outside saw this, they felt inexplicably happy and excited, because most of them had already been to and cleared the First Stage.

But their times were all around the duration of an incense stick or a cup of tea. Not a single person had a time under four minutes. Looking at the other Immortal Cultivation Realms, their times were either two minutes or one minute.

The disparity was embarrassing for them; thousands of people couldn't even secure a good rank. It was too poor.

But at this moment, their Taixuan Realm suddenly produced a powerhouse with a time of Ten Instants! Who wouldn't be excited? This was someone from their own realm—First Place!

“Good! This is great! Our Taixuan Realm has finally stood up!”

“That's right! This Ye Ming is too strong, several times faster than everyone else!”

“How come I've never heard of such a powerhouse before?”

“You wouldn't know this, but I know him, and we're very close. He's my Big Brother!”

“Oh, come on, it's you again, the spineless one who calls everyone Big Brother!”

...Not long after, the Ranking Board changed again!

“Hey, hey, look quickly! Third place has changed too!”

“It looks like one of ours?”

“It's not ‘looks like,’ this person is definitely from our Taixuan Realm!”

“This person is named Xuan De, and their clearance time is one minute, two finger-snaps, and four instants!”

“I know Xuan De. He is the next Abbot of the Spiritual Buddha Temple in the Western Regions!”

“So it was him...”

Everyone suddenly realized. Compared to Ye Ming, most people had heard of Xuan De. His Buddhist Dharma was said to be so powerful that no one in the Western Regions could defeat him in a Golden Core Stage duel.

On the other side.

In a gloomy hall with broken walls, Ye Ming slowly opened his eyes. Seeing the surrounding situation, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Corpses! This place was actually full of corpses!

Ye Ming observed one of the corpses and found that it still had warmth, as if it had just died.

“Challenger, please find the True Demon hidden within this great hall and kill it. Note that there is more than one True Demon here. Killing one counts as clearing the stage!”

After the voice gave the prompt, Five-Colored Light immediately appeared in Ye Ming's eyes. Nothing could hide from where he looked.

Two beams of light scanned the great hall recklessly. Suddenly, a Sharp Claw filled with black mist extended from behind Ye Ming. Ye Ming was completely unaware of this claw.

Just as Ye Ming noticed something, a chill came from behind him, making his scalp tingle. He immediately flashed away, vanishing from the spot and reappearing thirty zhang away in the blink of an eye.

Ye Ming's eyes flashed, and two five-colored beams of light shot out from them, moving like lightning. Before the Sharp Claw could retreat, it was solidly struck by the beams.

“Ah...”

Following a startled scream, a Pitch-Black Monster missing half its body fell out of the darkness. The monster's green eyes were rapidly dimming.

At this moment, a Black Shadow suddenly appeared next to the monster's corpse, seemingly trying to rescue its companion. But Ye Ming gathered an invisible force between two fingers and flicked it toward the corner of the great hall.

“Hoo...”

With a strange cry, another monster with disproportionate limbs fell out of the corner. A pair of green eyes stared maliciously at Ye Ming, but its swaying body seemed to have been hit by Ye Ming's previous attack.

After the monster appeared, the Black Shadow vanished. This was a decoy; if Ye Ming had fallen for it, he likely would have been ambushed from behind by a True Demon again.

Ye Ming had just discovered this True Demon hiding in the corner. Now that he had forced it out, he had to deal with it quickly, or even keeping a distance from it would make him feel uncomfortable all over.

Immediately, Ye Ming stopped hesitating. Taking advantage of the True Demon being struck by his Soul Attack Technique, he directly condensed a great hand and slapped it toward the True Demon.