Hengsheng and Yunsu stood on the rim of the divine tree's aura, about to leave, when a group of demon beasts roared as if they were trying to stop him—whether to prevent him from committing suicide or simply to avoid unnecessary trouble, he wasn't sure. But it didn't matter, because he had already decided to face the monster.
He stepped forward, and the moment his leg touched the ground outside the divine tree's aura, it was as if the monster had instantly prepared for him. One of the small monsters, barely a meter in size, had been hiding within the cracks of the earth nearby, and the moment he moved, it suddenly leaped at him. Hengsheng, already prepared, released a small amount of Dao Heart's power from his Sea of Thought, and as a result, his Spiritual Qi resonated with heaven and earth!
Seeing the small monster rushing toward him, he attacked first, striking before it could reach him.
World Shatter Palm!
A powerful Qi Palm shot out from his hand, flying at a speed beyond anything he could do before, slamming into the monster and shattering its body. Hengsheng kept his focus on the broken pieces, watching closely to see if they could still recover. But what he saw was its body turning black, its remains slowly dissipating into the air.
Hengsheng smirked—his Dao Heart's power could really kill it!
Wasting no more time, he turned his gaze toward the distance, where other monsters had begun to emerge slowly from the gaps in the earth, and among them, the biggest one was finally coming. Without hesitation, Hengsheng tucked Yunsu inside his robe and leaped straight into the monster horde. He attacked them one by one. He also tried his new power, his eyes shining with the golden light at the monsters, but nothing happened, no burning, no destruction.
"Scam!"
He resumes his usual style spamming his Qi palm.
"Pak! Pak!"
Without the ability to regenerate, the smaller creatures would not be able to withstand his attacks. Soon after, all the smaller monsters died, even before the big monster fully emerged from the ground.
The big one, watching him with its hundred eerie eyes, became furious. Letting out a high-pitched roar, it sent out a shockwave strong enough to make Hengsheng's ears ache, and at the same moment, it launched its massive body at him with terrifying speed!
Hengsheng reacted instantly, gathering his Qi and firing a Qi Cannon!
"Boom!"
The massive explosion engulfed the monster mid-air, sending chunks of its grotesque form flying in all directions. It let out a deep, guttural roar, the pain evident in its voice, but instead of dying, it slowly regenerated, its torn flesh knitting back together at an agonizingly slow pace.
Hengsheng frowned—his Dao Heart's power wasn't enough to finish it off, but as he watched, he noticed something important.
It was regenerating slower than before.
Not willing to wait for it to fully recover, Hengsheng sent a barrage of Qi Cannons straight at the monster!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The explosions rocked the battlefield, the sheer force of his continuous attacks keeping the monster from moving. Yet as he continued hammering it down, he noticed something else—it was getting weaker.
At the same time, the demon beasts within the divine tree's aura seemed to have realized what he was doing, for they began to roar in unison, their cries echoing like a battle chant as if cheering him on.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Hengsheng didn't stop. He continued firing Qi Cannons non-stop, his attacks raining down mercilessly. The monster's body kept exploding, kept reforming, but with each cycle, its regeneration became slower and slower.
He was now sure of it—if he kept this up, the monster would eventually reach its limit and be unable to regenerate anymore.
Let's see what runs out first—your regeneration power, or my Qi.
Hengsheng smirked, full of confidence, knowing that with his massive Qi reserves, he could keep this up all day.
Half an hour passed.
The monster still refused to die.
Hours passed.
Its regeneration had slowed to a crawl, but it was still alive.
Two hours passed.
The creature's movements became sluggish, but it endured.
A full day passed.
Hengsheng's eyes had turned bloodshot, his body drained from the continuous attacks, and yet, the monster still refused to fall. He could hardly believe that it had survived an entire day of relentless assault, but he wasn't without progress—he could see it now.
The monster had almost completely lost its regeneration ability.
Just a little more.
Another hour passed, and still, the monster clung to life.
Hengsheng had no choice. If he stayed any longer, he risked running out of Qi completely, and if that happened, he would be forced to retreat back into the divine tree's aura.
But before falling back, he had one last attack left.
He gathered every last drop of Spiritual Qi within him, forcing all of his remaining strength into one final attack. The air around him shuddered, his connection to heaven and earth deepened, and he felt as though his very being had reached a new height.
Then, without hesitation—
BOOOOMMMM!
The final Qi Cannon, powered by the full strength of his Dao Heart, tore through the battlefield, colliding with the monster in an explosion so fierce that the entire ground shook violently beneath him.
As the dust settled, Hengsheng was already about to retreat, prepared to escape the moment he saw the creature begin to move again.
But then—
The monster stopped.
Its massive body froze.
Its flesh darkened.
And then, ever so slowly—
It began to dissipate.
Hengsheng stared, his exhausted mind barely processing what he was seeing, but as the last remnants of the monster faded into nothingness, a weak smile tugged at his lips.
He had won.
But his body was done.
His Qi was completely drained. His vision blurred. His head ached. The entire world spun violently around him.
With the last ounce of his strength, he called out weakly—
"Yunsu… take me somewhere safe…"
"Meow!"
His loyal companion barely had time to react before he collapsed.
The last thing he heard was Yunsu's desperate cry, and then—
Darkness.
In a dark, hidden corner within the Pillar Foundation land, over a hundred people—clad in black robes with their faces concealed—gathered in near-total gloom. Among them stood a tall, imposing figure wielding an axe whose deep, resonant voice cut through the silence as he addressed the assembly:
"Do you have the Fire Seal Core formation?"
From a nearby cluster of sword-wielders, a measured voice replied, "Yes, but the Immortal tier talisman I got from the cult is all used up; I cannot launch another attack."
The axeman nodded gravely at this response and then turned his attention to another faction—a group whose members, unlike the first with their cold, water-Qi aura, carried swords at their waists and exuded an unstable yet intensely charged aura of static electricity. If Hengsheng were here he would remember the aura of a few people in this group who had once beaten up Baixing and his friend.
With deliberate cadence, the leader inquired, "How about you—how many of the God Spawn cages have you broken?"
At that moment, one man stepped forward with a self-assured smirk that betrayed his dissatisfaction with the axeman's temporary authority. Arrogantly, he declared, "I have broken countless of them and lost many of my sect members in the process, so I consider my mission complete, and I will not be getting involved further," as if the entire ordeal were nothing more than a trivial inconvenience.
The axeman's expression darkened into a stern frown as he admonished, "Do not be too arrogant, Wei Bujia—this is an important mission for our cult, and there can be no mistakes. Even if you do not wish to take any risks, this time there is no alternative; your only choice is to follow my command."
Wei Bujia gritted his teeth in silent indignation. Although irritated by the Axeman's tone, he knew that failure would mean death for them all—whether at the hands of the overlord or the cult—so he forced himself to remain calm and replied, "I will continue to awaken more God Spawn and remain hidden; we will not join the attack until the very end."
With that, the axeman rose, fixed his steely gaze upon Wei Bujia with a nod, and addressed the entire assembly "I will lead the attack on Earth Seal, but I wonder if they are still there. Maybe they have already brought the Earth Seal Core formation to Metal Seal and gathered all their forces. If that is the case, a direct confrontation is impossible, and we have no choice but to use the last resort plan leading the God Spawn to attack them all at once."
The cult members nodded in agreement, then continued to discuss other details and plans. Finally, they disbanded to carry out their respective duties.