The stone platform wasn't very large. The Dominating Demon Ape had enough power to shatter it completely.
Below the stone platform was scorching magma. If the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit were to fall in, all his efforts would be for naught.
A cold glint flashed in Hong Yu's eyes. He tapped his feet lightly on the ground, his body swooping forward like a wandering dragon. With a sharp hook of his toe, he flicked a rock into the air and kicked it out in a beautiful mid-air volley. CRACK! It struck the rock thrown by the Little Dominating Demon Ape, and both stones tumbled into the magma below.
Hong Yu seized the opportunity, closing the distance to the Dominating Demon Ape. His fingers clenched into a fist as he unleashed his Rising Dragon Fist, aiming for the ape's massive body.
This ti, he even incorporated the Dark Force principle of the Rolling Stone Fist, causing its power to multiply!
PFFT!
The Dominating Demon Ape coughed up a mouthful of blood and its body shuddered violently. A look of confusion and despair filled its eyes.
Feeling its heartbeat grow weaker and weaker, it still couldn't believe it. Its physical defenses were incredibly tough. It could even withstand a direct blow from an Earth Soul Realm expert. 'So why... why did a single punch from this tiny human rupture my heart?'
But sadly, it would never have the chance to figure it out.
The Rising Dragon Fist was a technique focused on raw, destructive power, but the principle of Dark Force worked internally. No matter how tough the Dominating Demon Ape's body was, its internal organs were still vulnerable. The mont Hong Yu's Dark Force penetrated its body, it instantly pulverized its heart.
And so, it died.
THUD!
The Dominating Demon Ape's corpse collapsed to the ground, motionless.
Hong Yu let out a long sigh of relief, a look of excitent slowly spreading across his face. "Finally, it's dealt with. Now to pick the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit!"
The Dominating Demon Ape's body was huge and its weight was imnse; the small stone platform could not have supported it, making the harvest sowhat tricky. However, this was no obstacle for Hong Yu. With a light touch of the ground, he soared across the ten-ter gap, landing weightlessly on the platform. He carefully picked the three Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruits and placed them in a jade box.
"Got 'em!"
With the Vermilion Fruits in hand, Hong Yu finally relaxed. He pushed off the stone platform and leaped back to the other side.
'I wonder if Feng Xue Xin has dealt with that adult Dominating Demon Ape,' Hong Yu mused as he walked out of the cave.
Just as he reached the mouth of the cave, Hong Yu stopped dead in his tracks. His gaze was drawn forward, his face a mask of utter shock.
The Dominating Demon Ape was pounding its thick arms against its chest, letting out furious roars. Each step it took made the ground tremble and crack. It was so powerful that a single one of its punches could instantly kill an Early-stage Earth Soul Realm expert. And yet, Feng Xue Xin stood opposite it, completely unafraid. He stood tall and proud, his single-handed grip on his long spear unwavering in the wind.
Hong Yu's eyes were glued to Feng Xue Xin, not daring to blink as he watched his every move.
Feng Xue Xin employed an enigmatic Body Technique, his movents like a dragon roaming the deep sea or an ape frolicking in the forest—so unpredictable that it was impossible to pinpoint his location. Suddenly, Feng Xue Xin stopped. The golden long spear in his hand shot forward.
Compared to the flashy moves Feng Xue Xin had used before, this thrust seed utterly ordinary. But it was this very simplicity that captivated Hong Yu.
The thrust was as swift as a teor streaking through the void, yet it also seed as slow and deliberate as an old man's walking stick. Looking closer, he could see the spear's afterimage split into ten sharp points of light. It appeared both fast and slow at the sa ti, and the surrounding air rippled with a series of sonic booms. CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
The thrust was so bizarre that even Hong Yu could only make out the general idea of the movent.
PFFT!
In the ti it took for the spear to pass, the golden figure had already reappeared behind the Dominating Demon Ape.
The massive ape's forward charge ca to an abrupt halt. A fountain of blood erupted from its neck, shooting seven ters into the air before falling back down as a bloody rain. And just like that, the Dominating Demon Ape—a low-level Tier Two Desolate Beast capable of instantly killing an Earth Soul Realm expert—crashed heavily to the ground, its life force extinguished.
'That thrust... what a marvelous attack. And that Body Technique... This... this is definitely far beyond sothing like the Rising Dragon Fist. It surpasses even Top-Level Martial Skills!'
Hong Yu was reeling with shock.
'A Spear Technique and a Body Technique that surpass even Top-Level Martial Skills... just what are they?'
The Hong Family's unshakeable position as the number one family in Shishui City was entirely due to their possession of four Top-Level Martial Skills. Yet this young man was not only at the Late-stage Earth Soul Realm at such a young age, but he also commanded two Martial Skills that surpassed the Top Level. It was obvious his background was anything but simple.
'Just who is this Feng Xue Xin?'
Hong Yu watched Feng Xue Xin approach, his gaze deep and his heart secretly on guard.
'Even with the Martial Arts Oath binding us, there's no guarantee he can resist the temptation of the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit.'
Feng Xue Xin put away his golden long spear and walked up to Hong Yu, smiling. "So, did you get the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit?"
Seeing no hostility from him, Hong Yu's tense nerves relaxed. He nodded. "I did. There are three in total. How should we split them?"
"Uh..."
Feng Xue Xin paused, rubbing his nose with a nonchalant expression. "You can only benefit from eating one of these. Any more are useless. So, how about this? I'll take one, and the other two are yours."
"Huh?"
Hong Yu's eyes widened in disbelief.
The Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit was a Tier Two Spirit dicine! More importantly, it had the miraculous effect of granting the user a Fire Spirit Body. At auction, it would fetch at least a million Gold Coins. 'And he only wants one?'
Feng Xue Xin laughed. "Don't be so suspicious. I was just here to enjoy the scenery when I happened upon the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit. I only fought the Dominating Demon Ape because I wanted to see what it tasted like. The fruit is effective for helping Essence Realm experts form a Fire Spirit Body, but that constitution clashes with my own. I just want a taste, that's all!"
'Holy crap. He fought a Tier Two Desolate Beast to the death just to taste a Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit?' Hong Yu was left speechless.
Feng Xue Xin chuckled. "What can I say, I'm a foodie! Now hurry up and give that Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit. Fighting that beast really wore out!"
"..."
Hong Yu tossed one of the fruits to Feng Xue Xin, not even bothering with the jade box.
Without even a glance, Feng Xue Xin popped it into his mouth, chewed a few tis, and swallowed. He smacked his lips and muttered, "A bit sour. Dammit. If I'd known the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit tasted like this, I wouldn't have bothered."
"..."
Hong Yu was so stunned he could barely speak. After a long mont, he just gave Feng Xue Xin a thumbs-up. "You're sothing else."
"Alright, I've had my taste of the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit, so I'm heading back," Feng Xue Xin said with a smile. "By the way, are you leaving too?"
"I plan to consu the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit here and try to break through to the next stage," Hong Yu said.
Feng Xue Xin nodded. "Good idea. There's a river of magma in this cave, and consuming the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit there will enhance its effects." He paused, walked over to the Dominating Demon Ape's corpse, and rummaged around for a mont before returning. He tossed a fist-sized, pitch-black object to Hong Yu. "This is the Dominating Demon Ape's Beast Crystal. You can consu it together with the fruit. You should get a pleasant surprise!"
Feng Xue Xin yawned and waved his hand dismissively. "With the Dominating Demon Ape's corpse here, no other Desolate Beasts will dare approach. You can cultivate here in peace. I'm off. That Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit tasted awful, so I need to find sothing good to eat!"
"..."
Watching Feng Xue Xin depart with such ease, Hong Yu was truly at a loss for words.
He didn't snap out of it until a gust of wind, heavy with the scent of blood, washed over him. He rubbed his nose, feeling a bit down. 'Casually giving away a Tier Two Desolate Beast's Beast Crystal... Fighting for a Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit just for a taste... Damn, now that's a true genius! Compared to him, guys like Hong Lin and Hong Luàn are nothing!'
'But I don't need to be envious. As long as I work hard enough, I might not be weaker than him in the future!'
Hong Yu pushed aside his scattered thoughts and went back into the cave.
Sitting cross-legged by the river of magma, Hong Yu took out the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit and the Dominating Demon Ape's Beast Crystal and consud them both.
As he put both the Beast Crystal and the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit in his mouth, he bit down on the fruit. A sour, astringent juice flowed out. The mont this juice touched the Beast Crystal, it was as if two natural enemies had t; the hard crystal instantly lted, transforming into a searing flow of energy that surged into his body.
VMMMM!
Hong Yu's entire body began to glow a brilliant red.
He could feel the Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit and the Dominating Demon Ape's Beast Crystal remodeling his body.
The first thing to be affected was, naturally, his Primordial Vein. Hong Yu's Primordial Vein had originally been of the Water Attribute, making it sowhat gentle and yielding. But under the scouring power of the fruit and the Beast Crystal, it gradually grew tougher, slowly shifting toward the Fla Attribute. The energy then moved to his Eight Extraordinary ridians, his bones and muscles, and finally spread throughout his entire body.
The process lasted for an entire day and night. Then, at a certain mont, the red glow surrounding Hong Yu's body suddenly retracted back inside him.
He exhaled a long, turbid breath, which billowed out from him like a cloud of murky white mist.
It was the impurities from his body.
Hong Yu slowly opened his eyes. Deep within his dark pupils, two red lights flashed before vanishing. He looked down at his hands, his expression filled with excitent. "So this is the Fire Spirit Body? It's truly like being a child of the flas!" He felt his sensitivity to the surrounding Fla Elent increase by more than tenfold. The Fla Elent, which he had been unable to sense before, now felt incredibly familiar and close, as if it shared the sa origin as him.
This was the Fire Spirit Body.
However, since he had not yet broken through to the Earth Soul Realm and condensed a Primordial Spirit, the truly heaven-defying aspects of the Fire Spirit Body had yet to be revealed. But once Hong Yu did break through, the Fire Spirit Body would grant him an unparalleled advantage. That would be the ti for him to truly spread his wings and soar.
'The Fiery Fla Vermilion Fruit has been completely consud, but more than half of the energy from the Dominating Demon Ape's Beast Crystal remains. I can use this to push for a breakthrough!' A curious smile touched Hong Yu's lips.
The Dominating Demon Ape was a Tier Two Desolate Beast, and its Beast Crystal contained energy equivalent to the life essence of an Earth Soul Realm expert. Even after consuming a considerable amount of that energy to form his Fire Spirit Body, more than half of it was still left. Under Hong Yu's guidance, the power of his new constitution revealed the tip of the iceberg as it began to madly devour the remaining energy from the Beast Crystal.
Hong Yu had already been just one step away from advancing to the Mid-stage Realm. With the help of the Beast Crystal, he easily broke through that barrier.
His cultivation continued to rise.
Hong Yu's cultivation only stopped rising after he had completely absorbed all of the Beast Crystal's energy. By then, he had reached the Late Ninth Layer of the Essence Realm!
'I can't believe the Dominating Demon Ape's Beast Crystal had so much energy. It pushed all the way to the Late Ninth Layer. With my current strength, I don't need to fear any other Essence Realm expert. The only problem is Hong Hu... he's probably already in the Earth Soul Realm. My chances of winning against him are slim.'
Hong Yu frowned.
He had a keen sense of just how powerful the Earth Soul Realm was. Even if he was now unrivaled within the Essence Realm, his chances of winning against an Earth Soul Realm expert were... practically nonexistent.
Just then, the image of the Body Technique and Spear Technique Feng Xue Xin had used to kill the Dominating Demon Ape flashed through his mind. His sharp eyebrows twitched. 'If I could learn that bizarre Spear Technique and Body Technique,' Hong Yu muttered to himself, 'then I would stand a fighting chance even against an Early-stage Earth Soul Realm expert!'
Top-Level Martial Skills already allowed an ordinary Martial Artist to challenge those at a higher level. 'So how terrifying would the boost in combat power be from a Martial Skill that surpassed the Top Level?'
At this thought, Hong Yu summoned the Profound Celestial Tower...
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