Chapter 213: Yūmi Island (Part 19)
Chapter 213: Yūmi Island (Part 19)
– The flames generated by the Corpse Poison Curse;
– The Life Magnetic Field born from the Fate Grade “Life Magnetism”;
– And the “Rage Blood Aura” of the Fate Beast;
These three forces came from different origins fundamentally, but Fang Jing caught their fluctuations in that instant and merged these three fluctuations together.
This made his body feel even hotter, as if all the moisture in his body was continuously evaporating and boiling.
It was almost as if his own flesh was burning along with it. In the seemingly frozen time, he slowly raised one of his arms.
The gray skin on his arm had turned as red as a boiled shrimp, and wisps of steam visible to the naked eye kept rising from it.
After the third Inner Ghost Gate was opened,
the three Esoteric Energy Pores inside his body acted like violently erupting volcanoes, wildly spewing powerful Essence Qi that spread throughout his entire body.
It seemed as if the surrounding air was completely forced away by a domineering force, with only a crimson glow radiating from his body.
His Three Core Attributes surged to an astonishing level in that split second.
Opening three Inner Ghost Gates meant a threefold boost.
Covered by the Essence Qi gushing from the Esoteric Energy Pores, every muscle, every fiber, and every cell in his body grew, divided, and multiplied wildly under the stimulation of the Essence Qi.
He had already grown to over four meters tall under this stimulation. His gray skin had turned a bright red hue, and he felt as if all the blood in his body was burning, boiling hot—almost as though molten lava flowed beneath his skin.
Crack, crack, crack!
Something drilled out from the base of his tailbone. It was a series of black bone spikes, twisting abruptly like a terrifying black snake. It was a pitch-black, ugly tailbone resembling an earthworm.
Roar!
Fang Jing let out a deafening roar.
He grabbed one of Hayasaka Taeko’s legs with all his strength and, with a single thought, dragged her down from midair, slamming her toward the ground below the cliff.
Boom!
Hayasaka Taeko could not react in time. After all, she did not possess Fang Jing’s level of reflexes, nor could she perceive the surroundings in slow motion like he did.
Though her transformed state gave her a physical prowess close to that of an Elder Class Corpse Hound, it was still far inferior to Fang Jing, who had entered the third stage of the Inner Ghost Gate.
She only blinked, and the entire world turned upside down. A tremendous force yanked her downward, and like a meteor crashing into the earth, she plummeted straight toward the sandy shore below the cliff.
With a thunderous boom, the gravel- and rock-covered sand seemed struck by a missile, blasted into a deep crater. Countless black rocks and stones shattered violently, sent flying in all directions like a rain of petals by the forceful air currents.
Following a loud explosion, sand and dust rose into the sky, forming what looked like a veil of smoke.
After seizing Hayasaka Taeko and hurling her to the ground, Fang Jing also descended. He suddenly entered the scene, leaping through the cloud of sand and dust.
From his fall to this moment, only about ten seconds had passed.
“Damn it! I let my guard down!”
Hayasaka Taeko activated her invisibility mode the instant she hit the ground. Though she had been thrown down from a cliff twenty to thirty meters high, she did not sustain major injuries.
However, on her right leg, where Fang Jing had grabbed her, five burning finger marks remained. These marks contained an abnormal energy that corroded bone and flesh, causing a piercing, heart-wrenching pain.
(I must create distance from this guy. His power seems to be an extreme physical enhancement, so close combat is pointless for me…)
Enduring the intense pain, she used the translucent tentacles on her back in place of her legs, rapidly clinging to the ground to move forward.
Whoosh!
A fierce, terrifying screech echoed sharply through the air. The screen of rising sand and dust was torn apart by a black shadow. The figure abruptly dashed forward, shooting like a rocket toward Hayasaka Taeko’s location.
All the power in his body concentrated into his fist. The next moment, catching up to her, he threw a punch nearing subsonic speed.
Boom!!
A crimson light erupted. The three fluctuations fused together, driven by the source of Essence Qi surging from the “Inner Ghost Gate.” This time, the crimson glow burning on Fang Jing’s fist transformed into a towering pillar of light.
Bang!
The intense impact struck Hayasaka Taeko. She let out a scream, was sent flying backward, and her invisibility faded. Mid-air, half of her body was mangled, a gruesome sight.
“Die!”
She swung her hand.
Fang Jing, charging from afar, felt his consciousness suddenly go dark. In that instant, a chilling dread crept over him, and his hairs stood on end. Some abnormal force had crossed over from another dimension, descending upon him.
His consciousness was linked to another Spiritual Domain—an endless ancient city, with countless buildings interconnected in a maze-like layout.
Dull gray clouds filled the sky, and the surrounding light began to dim. All sorts of ghostly shadows emerged.
Whispers of curses echoed from afar, where the air was filled with wailing and screams. Countless deceased souls lamented.
The dead danced, and hell sang.
This was a land of destruction, a city of hell.
Infinite fear and evil filled the space before him. With a single glance, he saw countless twisted souls and the cruel deaths they had suffered.
(Not good! This again… I have a feeling that staying here any longer could be dangerous.)
With a focused thought, he grew alert and tried to break free from this mental realm. He had a sharp intuition that remaining there even a second longer might cause his soul to be trapped forever.
Around him drifted shadowy spirits of hell, each draped in black cloaks like underworld guards, lingering around Fang Jing as if trying to drag him down to hell.
One after another, skeletal arms reached out, attempting to seize him.
“Break, now!”
Releasing his spirit and will, Fang Jing roared fiercely.
Simultaneously, an even more piercing beastly howl erupted from within his body.
A beast emerged from his chest—a ferocious, grinning creature.
It appeared like a mask, embedded over Fang Jing’s heart—a ghastly, pale mask that surfaced horrifyingly.
A crimson radiance, burning like flames, surged in waves from Fang Jing’s body. This was an extraordinary power gained through resonance between his bloodline and the Essence Qi source.
Deep within this abnormal fluctuation lay an emotion both cold, cruel, savage, and utterly enraged.
Like a flame burning at absolute zero.
In his skill interface, a blurred line of text appeared, with one character clearly visible: “Annihilate.”
A violent red light swept outward, and an icy, ferocious killing intent soared into the sky.
Fang Jing tore through the eerie Spiritual Domain once more. His eyes turned completely crimson, and with an endless rage filling his heart, the power within him grew stronger and stronger.
“Don’t… you… dare… run!”
The moment he broke free from the alternate dimension woven by the Spiritual Domain, he saw Hayasaka Taeko moving toward the grassy slope on the other side of the shore. At the end stood a long-abandoned lighthouse built of stone.
At that moment, his fury erupted. He glared furiously at Hayasaka Taeko, who was attempting to escape, then pushed off the ground, transforming into a black streak as he shot toward her.
The next second, his fist, blazing with red light, advanced alongside him, aiming to strike where his enemy stood.
The spot where he had been standing moments before sank into a depression, as if a sinkhole had inexplicably formed. Sand burst upward as if struck by a giant hammer—a result of his powerful kick.
Fang Jing, now a black streak tearing through the air, arrived with explosive speed. Visible red light coiled around his body, and the crimson flames transformed from his rage wrapped around his fist like a fiery whirlwind.
In that split second, all Hayasaka Taeko’s terrified eyes could see was a crimson meteor, descending with an unstoppable force.
After that, she could feel nothing more.
With a thunderous crash, the spot where she stood was instantly engulfed by the soaring red light. A massive shockwave expanded in all directions, felt across more than half of Yūmi Island.
It was an incredibly fearsome punch. If anyone had been lucky enough to view it from above, they would have seen a crimson streak piercing through the air, stirring up terrifying air currents.
The ground cracked, grasses and plants shattered into countless fragments, and soil churned, flying into the air.
The crimson light cleared a path. Hayasaka Taeko’s mangled body was struck by the fist and propelled over eight hundred meters in one breath. The impact force from the punch slammed her into the lighthouse.
Amid a rough, dull, earth-shattering noise, Hayasaka Taeko was pierced through by the punch, and a fist imprint was left at the base of the lighthouse.
Centered on that terrifying fist mark, cracks spread in all directions like twisted earthworms, crawling out from the sunken imprint.
The long-abandoned lighthouse, weeds covering its top, could no longer withstand the pressure. Large-scale collapse began at last. The enormous stone blocks above made a creaking, brittle sound, then collapsed with loud crashes before Fang Jing’s eyes.
The tall stone tower toppled, massive rocks crashing down and striking the ground, sending fragments and dust flying everywhere.
“Finally… it’s over.”
Fang Jing let out a breath. From his body, wispy strands of white steam rose like heat.
In that moment, he had become a crimson giant, emanating an invincible presence—as if a divine Apostle had descended to earth, transforming into an unstoppable titan.