One more catty, one more attribute point

Chapter 44: Chapter 42: Demon Screen

Changqing County, Pure Yang Martial Arts Hall.

Ning Zhibai looked up at the roiling dark clouds in the sky, and the steady drizzle of gray raindrops, slowly setting down the book in his hands.

He,

or to be more precise,

the demon residing inside Ning Zhibai, the one controlling his body, did not like such weather. But even the despised rainy day seemed so free and beautiful compared to the dark decades spent imprisoned in the Demon Suppression Tower, it even brought a slight pleasure to the demon's heart.

It always considered itself an outlier.

Unlike its kindred who only knew slaughter and massacre.

The Yin Body Taishui was very clever.

It was born with tremendous wisdom.

It understood patience and knew that the world was perilous, not as simple as it seemed on the surface. Among human societies, there were beings capable of threatening demons.

It had to develop bit by bit through its own talents—parasitize, control, weave fog, manipulate puppets.

Unfortunately,

the plan was beautiful, but reality was cruel.

A Fierce-level Demon's rampant killing drew the attention of the big shots from the Demon Suppression Bureau.

Consequently, having just been born not long ago, the Yin Body Taishui was also implicated, swept up and imprisoned in the Demon Suppression Tower.

Whirr!

A gust of cold wind blew from afar, flipping the book pages.

Looking at the words, "Heaven tasks those who are to be tasked with great responsibilities, first suffering their will, straining their muscles and bones, and leaving their body starving and their body destitute," the Yin Body Taishui actually felt a sense of empathy.

Thirty years.

The thirty years being imprisoned in the Demon Suppression Tower were indescribably harsh.

Suppressed, dismembered, used as material for cultivation, even as an experiment, it nearly lost its life several times.

Luckily, it persevered in the end.

An unexpected riot caused the indestructible Demon Suppression Tower to crack.

The Yin Body Taishui took the chance to slip out, skulking in the deep mountains to grow in strength. Although it was extremely cautious, there were still some mishaps along the way.

Luckily,

this time its luck wasn't too bad.

It completed its transformation and stepped into a new phase of life.

From now on, it was a true great demon, no longer needing to cower and live in fear every day.

"Without realizing it, I've grown this much," a sigh of sentiment.

Ning Zhibai slowly stood up from the reclining chair.

One hand still held a book while the other spread open in front of his eyes, feeling the surging powerful force within his body.

Strength, talent, wisdom... it lacked none of these.

Now, it could finally attempt some things it had always wanted to do.

For instance, revenge, making those who had suppressed and tormented it pay the price. Or destroying the Demon Suppression Tower and establishing a demon kingdom on this land.

However, before that,

it had another task to do.

This body was too frail, despite its best efforts to modify it, it still could not utilize its full strength.

It needed a new body.

Fortunately, the suitable target had appeared before it.

All of this was just as anticipated, everything was under its control.

"Hee hee hee..."

Watching a dark figure emerge in the rain, "Ning Zhibai" let out a series of eerie laughter, "My good disciple, you've finally arrived."

"Ning Zhibai?"

Su Heng raised an eyebrow, a look of surprise on his face.

He seemed completely unprepared for the fog demon to meet him in such a way.

"Although I paid him with silver, Ning Zhibai still showed me kindness by passing on his teachings. Since he met his death at your hands, it is only right that I avenge him," Su Heng said, shaking his shoulders and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt, revealing his bronze-colored skin.

Ning Zhibai stood on the steps of the courtyard, the smile on his face fading away as his gaze grew colder.

"Why…" he suddenly spoke.

"Why what?" Su Heng always felt that this guy was strange, even somewhat compassionate towards the world.

"I've grown to such an extent, yet you still lack respect for me. Forget it…" Ning Zhibai said leisurely, "There's a chasm between us now; you have no idea what a Fierce-level Demon truly means."

"Do you think I was avoiding you out of fear? No, it was simply because I don't like to act without absolute certainty."

"So now..."

Boom!

A ferocious roar exploded.

Ning Zhibai's arms spread out, taking in large amounts of grey mist like a flood absorbing tributaries, his body absorbing everything. Clouds churned in the sky, lightning flickered. In the courtyard, Ning Zhibai's body rapidly expanded, swelling from about 1.6 meters to nearly 2.2 or 2.3 meters in the blink of an eye.

Crack!

His white training clothes tore to shreds.

The exposed muscles were like rocky roots, well-defined, filled with an exaggerated and violent sense of power.

Boom!

The platform beneath him instantly shattered as if hammered down by an invisible sledgehammer, forming a huge crater over three meters in diameter in the blink of an eye.

The overwhelming force propelled his body to disappear from the spot instantly.

At the moment he chose to strike, Su Heng also threw a ferocious punch forward. Both men were extremely confident in their physique and chose to abandon defense, attacking with raw and exaggerated force until one of them was utterly destroyed and fell!

Bang bang!

Two dull thuds exploded simultaneously.

Su Heng's massive iron fist hit Ning Zhibai dead center in the chest but was blocked by a thin layer of pale grey film.

The film vibrated violently, dispersing about seventy to eighty percent of the force into the air around him, leaving just the remaining twenty to thirty percent to inflict damage on Ning Zhibai. However, with the terrifying physical quality and strong recovery ability of the demon's host body, these injuries were clearly insignificant.

On the other hand, Ning Zhibai's full-strength blow landed solidly on Su Heng.

His expression changed slightly as he stepped back, the floor beneath him cracking explosively. The powerful force surged through his body, half of his calf sinking into the floorboards, embedded into the soil below.

"Hahaha!" Ning Zhibai let out a wild laugh.

"See? This is a demon barrier, the insurmountable gulf between you and me!"

"As long as the demon barrier remains, the great demon cannot be vanquished!"

"You are merely a mortal, what right do you have to challenge me!!?"

Mist enveloped him; his strength and speed increased again, his figure blurring. Numerous air currents were completely blasted apart as a multitude of fist shadows descended on Su Heng from all directions.

Swish!

Ning Zhibai twisted his waist and swept his leg.

A vast amount of grey mist condensed on his calf, like the battle axe of a deity slicing through the curtain of rain and shattering the air currents, landing on Su Heng's midsection in an instant.

Boom!

Terrible power burst forth, and Su Heng's robust body was blasted away like a cannonball, tearing through the air with an astonishing trail of energy, and slammed heavily into a two-story building of the Pure Yang Martial Arts Hall.

The small building, as if struck by a cruise missile, collapsed during a loud crash. Half of the house crumbled in an instant, debris and earth skyrocketing, with the powerful impact sweeping across all directions, the ground within a ten-meter radius immediately breaking apart and sinking.

"Being able to fight to this extent, boy, you're quite impressive," Ning Zhibai stepped forward, breathing heavily, but unable to suppress the excitement and exhilaration on his face.

Such a formidable physical body, such exaggerated strength!

If he could control and possess it, his strength would reach an incredible realm.

By then—

Even the head of the Demon Suppression Bureau might not be his match.

Boom!

Another dull thud.

The recently settled ruins of the fallen building blasted apart again, the temperature soaring, dust and steam swirling into a mini-tornado, a hissing vortex of air spinning at high speeds. Ning Zhibai's entire body shivered violently, his face increasingly showing an incredible and inconceivable expression.

"Damn you, bastard!" a roar sounded.

A giant reddish hand with tremendous energy, dragging swirling smoke that twisted the air itself, descended like the massive palm of an evil demon from the legends, smacking down overhead.

"Is that all the skill you have, daring to spout arrogance before me!" Su Heng bellowed with laughter, his body swelling rapidly, a chilling chorus of cracks emanating from him, "Ghost Back, open your eyes for me!"