6: The demon awakens, testing the tower's power for the first time.

Deep within Bones Burial Slope, the Evil Qi was almost as thick as ink, and the air was filled with a nauseating mixture of decay and blood. Massive skeletons were piled up like mountains, their forms growing increasingly bizarre; some even flickered with an ominous, eerie light, clearly having been formidable beings in life.

Lin Fan led Lin Xuan and the other two, walking through the area with apparent ease, yet his Delusion-Breaking Divine Pupils remained active at a minimum level. Like a precision radar, they scanned everything in the vicinity. That hidden malice lurking in the shadows was like a maggot on a bone; though it no longer peered at them directly, it lingered nearby, guiding them toward a specific direction.

"Divine Son, the Evil Qi here is too thick. My spiritual power is being consumed rapidly." One of the disciples turned pale, his breathing somewhat hurried, as his protective spiritual light flickered under the erosion of the Evil Qi.

Lin Xuan's condition was slightly better, but his brow was also furrowed. "This place is strange. There are fewer Baleful Soul Beasts, but I constantly feel like something more dangerous is watching us."

Lin Fan's gaze swept across a relatively open basin ahead. In the center of the basin stood the most massive skeleton, shaped like a giant ape, but its bones possessed a dark metallic luster. Even after being dead for untold ages, it still radiated a heart-palpitating pressure. Within the vision of the Delusion-Breaking Divine Pupils, a group of cold energy, massive to the extreme, was condensed inside that skeleton like a dormant volcano.

"It's just ahead." Lin Fan sneered inwardly; the opponent had certainly chosen a good spot. That giant ape skeleton was clearly a place of extreme peril; once disturbed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He stopped in his tracks and proceeded no further.

"Divine Son?" Lin Xuan looked at him in confusion.

"We're being watched." Lin Fan's tone was flat, but it made the hair on the necks of Lin Xuan and the other two stand on end as they nervously scanned their surroundings.

"No need to look; they're just cowards hiding their heads and showing their tails." Lin Fan's voice rose, clearly carrying throughout the area. "Lin Sha, since you've gone to such lengths to lure me here, why bother continuing with these rat-like antics?"

His voice echoed in the empty basin, but aside from the wailing of the baleful wind through the gaps in the bones, there was no response.

However, Lin Fan's Delusion-Breaking Divine Pupils keenly captured a momentary disturbance in the aura behind a pile of bones several hundred meters away.

"Not coming out?" A hint of mockery curled at the corner of Lin Fan's mouth. "Then I shall invite you out."

With a thought, he did not summon the star pagoda. Instead, he held his fingers like a sword, and the pale-gold power of his blood and Qi surged within his body, condensing at his fingertips. It transformed into an incredibly concentrated, extremely yang and fierce golden finger-wind, which shot toward that bone pile like a bolt of lightning tearing through the gloom!

"Boom!" The golden finger-wind accurately struck the bone pile, instantly blasting it to pieces as stones and bone shards flew everywhere. Two disheveled figures lunged out from within; they were the two who had been following Lin Sha. Their faces were filled with horror, clearly not expecting Lin Fan's perception to be so keen and his attack so sharp.

"Useless trash!" a cold, angry shout rang out.

On the other side of the bone pile, Lin Sha's figure slowly emerged, his face as dark as water. The blood-colored bone talisman in his hand was radiating an eerie light. "Lin Fan, I didn't expect you to have some skill to actually discover us. However, this is as far as you go!"

A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes as he suddenly crushed the blood-colored bone talisman in his hand!

*Crack!* The moment the bone talisman shattered, a strange blood-colored ripple carrying a strong sense of provocation spread rapidly like a wave, plunging straight into the giant ape skeleton in the center of the basin!

"Roar!!!" A roar that seemed to come from the primordial era suddenly erupted from the eye sockets of the giant ape skeleton's skull! The entire basin shook violently as countless strands of black Evil Qi surged out from the surface of the massive dark-metallic skeleton like living things, quickly condensing and filling it out!

Within the eye sockets of the skeleton, two house-sized clusters of eerie blue soul fire suddenly ignited, filled with a will of violence and destruction. Its massive bone palm slammed onto the ground!

"Rumble!" The earth split open, revealing a bottomless crack, and a shockwave of violent Evil Qi swept in all directions like a tsunami!

"Not good! It has awakened! It's an Ancient Baleful Fiend! It's at least in the Divine Power Realm!" Lin Xuan let out a desperate roar, the terrifying pressure making him almost suffocate. The other two were even worse off, their legs turning weak and their faces ashen.

The moment they crushed the bone talisman, Lin Sha and his two subordinates had already activated the Escape Talismans they had prepared. Their bodies turned into streaks of light as they fled frantically toward the outskirts of the basin, their faces wearing sinister smiles as if their scheme had succeeded.

"Lin Fan, enjoy the feast I've prepared for you! Before this Baleful Fiend, which is comparable to the Divine Power Realm, let's see if your broken pagoda can still protect you! Hahahaha!"

Amidst the wild laughter, their figures quickly receded into the distance.

By this time, the giant ape skeleton had been completely enveloped by solid Evil Qi, transforming into a terrifying Baleful Fiend a hundred zhang tall with bulging muscles, a single horn on its head, and blue fire in its eyes! It roared to the heavens, the sound waves causing the surrounding bone mountains to collapse. Its massive bone palm, carrying the fearsome power to tear through space, slammed down ruthlessly toward the seemingly minuscule Lin Fan standing on the ground!

Before the wind from the palm even arrived, the terrifying pressure had already caused the ground beneath Lin Fan's feet to crack inch by inch!

"Divine Son! Run!" Lin Xuan's eyes were nearly bursting as he tried to rush forward, but he was pinned down by the terrifying pressure, unable to move a muscle.

Facing this strike that could crush an ordinary Spiritual Sea Realm Cultivator into meat paste, there was no panic in Lin Fan's eyes. Instead, a flash of fiery Battle Intent surged within them.

"Comparable to the Divine Power Realm? Just right for testing the pagoda!"

He stood his ground, neither dodging nor evading. Within his Sea of Consciousness, the star pagoda shone with brilliant light!

*Buzz!* The dark-gold star pagoda fully manifested its physical form for the first time. Although it was only a bit taller than a person, its majestic aura of suppressing the heavens and stabilizing the rivers of stars instantly dispersed part of the pressure brought by the Baleful Fiend. Upon the body of the pagoda, stellar patterns flowed, triggering a faint resonance with the few broken stars above the Ancient Domain, which showered down paths of clear light.

"star pagoda, grow!" Lin Fan shouted low, and the spiritual power within his body surged into the pagoda like a floodgate being opened.

The star pagoda grew with the wind, instantly transforming into a giant pagoda dozens of zhang tall. Chaos Qi swirled around the base of the pagoda as it boldly rose to meet the massive descending bone palm!

*Clang—!!!!* It sounded as if a great bronze bell had been struck, or like two meteors violently colliding!

A visible circular shockwave erupted from the point of impact, instantly turning countless skeletons at the edge of the basin into powder! Even though Lin Xuan and the other two were far enough away, they were still blown back by the air current, their blood and Qi churning.

At the center of the collision, energy raged wildly. The Baleful Fiend's bone palm, capable of crushing mountains, struck the body of the star pagoda squarely. However, the expected scene of the pagoda being sent flying did not occur. The star pagoda only trembled slightly; clear light flowed over its surface, and it completely endured, dispersed, and neutralized that terrifying power! Not even a single mark was left upon the dark-gold body of the pagoda!

In contrast, at the part of the Baleful Fiend's bone palm that made contact with the star pagoda, the solidified Evil Qi actually melted away like snow, revealing the dark bones beneath. Fine cracks even appeared upon those bones!

"Roar?!" Within the Baleful Fiend's violent soul fire, a human-like shock and a hint of fear appeared for the first time. This tiny thing was actually this hard?

"Suppress!" Lin Fan pressed his advantage, his Divine Soul power controlling the star pagoda. The giant pagoda spun rapidly, and an irresistible force of devouring and suppression was generated at its base, firmly locking onto the Baleful Fiend's bone palm and spreading along its arm toward its massive body!

"Roar! Roar! Roar!" The Baleful Fiend let out angry and terrified roars. Its other bone palm frantically struck the star pagoda, and its thick legs trampled the earth as it tried to break free from this suppressive force. However, the star pagoda remained as immovable as a mountain. That suppressive force was like a maggot on a bone, growing stronger and stronger. The Baleful Fiend's massive body actually began to sink slightly, and its movements became increasingly sluggish.

The star pagoda's first core ability—Suppression Seal—showed its Divine Might for the first time! "This... this..." In the distance, Lin Xuan and the other two, who had just scrambled up from the ground, were completely petrified. What were they seeing? The Divine Son had actually used a pagoda to head-on withstand the attack of a Baleful Fiend comparable to the Divine Power Realm, and was even suppressing it in return?! This had completely exceeded the scope of their understanding!

Lin Fan felt his spiritual power and Divine Soul being rapidly consumed, knowing that with his current Realm, he was still lacking the ability to completely suppress this Baleful Fiend. However, his intention was never to thoroughly Seal it at this moment.

"Star Domain, Imprison!" He activated the star pagoda once more. A hazy starry sky Domain expanded outward with the pagoda as its center. Although it could not easily kill Baleful Soul Beasts like before, it greatly restricted the Baleful Fiend's movements. Furthermore, that dense Power of the Stars constantly wore away the Evil Qi on its body's surface.

The magnitude of the Baleful Fiend's struggle grew smaller and smaller, and its roars took on a tone of shrillness and resentment.

A sharp light flashed in Lin Fan's eyes; now was the time!

His body suddenly moved, turning into a streak of golden light. Taking advantage of the moment the Baleful Fiend was temporarily imprisoned by the star pagoda, he charged directly toward the chest area of the giant ape skeleton! There, the Delusion-Breaking Divine Pupils clearly "saw" a core soul fire that was the most concentrated, pulsing like a heart!

The power of the Eternal Indestructible Body gathered in his right fist, and his pale-gold blood and Qi burned like a flame.

"Shatter!" A simple and direct punch, yet one that condensed all of Lin Fan's current Physical Body strength, slammed ruthlessly into that core soul fire!

*Puff!* It was the sound of a bubble bursting. That massive cluster of soul fire flickered violently and suddenly dimmed, as countless cracks appeared on its surface.

"Aooo!!!" The Baleful Fiend let out an unprecedentedly miserable howl. Its massive body twitched violently, and the Evil Qi constituting its body began to spiral out of control, collapsing like a bursting dam.

Having succeeded with one strike, Lin Fan did not linger in the fight. He retreated rapidly and, with a thought, recalled the star pagoda.

Without the suppression and Domain imprisonment of the star pagoda, the Baleful Fiend did not regain its freedom. Instead, because its core was damaged, its massive body began to disintegrate inch by inch, turning into incredibly pure Evil Qi energy and shattered soul fire fragments that swept through the basin like a black storm.

Lin Fan stood at the edge of the storm, the star pagoda hovering above his head, its descending clear light shielding him from the dissipating energy. He breathed slightly hard, his face a bit pale; continuously activating the star pagoda had taken a huge toll on him.

However, as he watched the gradually disintegrating Baleful Fiend and the Evil Qi and soul energy in the basin—which had become several times purer—a satisfied look appeared in his eyes.

["System, sign in at the core of Bones Burial Slope, the place where the Ancient Baleful Fiend fell."]

[Ding! Sign-in location detected—Core of Bones Burial Slope (the birthplace and fall of an Ancient Baleful Fiend, containing its Origin Evil Qi and Unyielding Battle Intent). Special sign-in conditions met. Sign-in successful!]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Indestructible Divine King Fist (Remnant)!]

A wave of fist technique insights containing overbearing, Unyielding, and destructive will surged into Lin Fan's mind. Although it was only a remnant, it was incredibly profound and possessed startling power, perfectly matching the Physical Body strength of his Eternal Indestructible Body!

At the same time, under the guidance of the star pagoda, the dissipating Origin energy of the Baleful Fiend began to slowly converge toward Lin Fan like a hundred rivers returning to the sea. This energy would be lethal poison to other Cultivators, but for him, who possessed the Eternal Indestructible Body, it was a great tonic for tempering his Physical Body and raising his cultivation!

In the distance, Lin Sha had not truly gone far. He was hiding at a great distance, using a concealment Magical Artifact to peer at the situation in the basin. When he saw that Lin Fan had not only not been crushed to death by the Baleful Fiend but had instead summoned a pagoda to meet it head-on, and finally even strangely dispersed the Baleful Fiend (he had not seen the core strike clearly), he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. The sinister smile on his face froze completely, turning into endless fear and icy dread.

"A monster! He's a monster!!" Lin Sha's voice trembled. He no longer dared to stay and turned to flee toward the deeper parts of the Ancient Domain like a stray dog, heading for the next trap he had prepared.

In the basin, Lin Fan sat down cross-legged and began to absorb and refine that boundless Baleful Fiend Origin. The star pagoda stood guard by his side, its clear light shimmering brightly.