Chapter 22: Fifth Layer: Qi Transformation

“I came here to break through my cultivation. If I only fought demon beasts weaker than myself, how could I grow stronger? Four-Armed Demon Bear, you are the first formidable enemy in my life, Ye Yun.”

Taking a deep breath, Ye Yun’s skin began turning blood-red.

The Indomitable Blood Body started to activate. Blood Essence Qi and fresh blood began energizing his body. His bones, meridians, muscles, and cells began to swell one by one.

Whoosh!

His figure flashed like lightning.

Thump! Thump! It was the Overlord Fist technique, also known as the Shockwave Fist. Ye Yun punched the Four-Armed Demon Bear one blow after another. Waves of formidable aura made the forest layer rustle incessantly.

What Ye Yun didn’t expect was that the Four-Armed Demon Bear, though seemingly bulky, lacked the clumsiness of typical bears. Not only did it move quickly, but its four arms were especially fast, almost matching his own speed. It madly swiped at him, its primal beast nature fiercely violent, foul drool dripping from its mouth.

If Ye Yun hadn’t activated his Indomitable Blood Body earlier, greatly boosting his strength, he likely would have been beaten until he vomited blood by the Four-Armed Demon Bear’s tremendous force.

Roar! Roar!

The dense forest shook like a tsunami. The Four-Armed Demon Bear seemed to go berserk, its four arms continuously pounding the huge rocks around it, as if it couldn’t unleash its power without venting its rage.

Meanwhile, Ye Yun stood firm among the fallen leaves, his arms stretched straight. With each breath, his skin reddened further, and bloody veins began to emerge on his arms.

“This Four-Armed Demon Bear is far stronger than ordinary demon beasts at its growth stage. It’s almost comparable to the Adult Stage. Partial Activation of the Indomitable Blood Body is no longer enough. I must achieve Ultimate Activation to truly hurt it!”

Ye Yun slowly clenched his fists, his whole person resembling a giant mountain.

Crash! Crash!

The surrounding giant trees were nearly snapped by the powerful Demonic Energy radiating from the Four-Armed Demon Bear. Leaves almost all fell, leaving bare trunks. The view over the grassland suddenly opened up.

The Four-Armed Demon Bear’s body had also grown considerably larger. Especially the hair on its head stood straight up like needles. It looked extremely furious, as if it hadn’t expected this tiny human before it to provoke its anger.

Swoosh!

A strong wind swept up fallen leaves. Ye Yun flashed from his spot, appearing instantly before the demon bear ten meters away. His body unfurled like a giant bow, his fists shooting forth like arrows.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Disregarding life and death, Ye Yun fought the Four-Armed Demon Bear head-on.

Each time the Four-Armed Demon Bear blocked one of Ye Yun’s punches, its body retreated a step. It was extremely cunning, landing heavy slaps on Ye Yun’s body that shook him until he coughed up blood several times.

“Seventh Level of Flesh Immortal, that’s all it is. I will use my strongest move to kill you!”

Ye Yun ignored the blood at the corner of his mouth. His body felt no pain at all, but he only sensed a heavy pressure continuously increasing in his mind.

Hiss! Hiss!

A strange change occurred on Ye Yun’s body. Blood vessels began to appear on his skin, starting on his arms and chest, then his neck, and finally his face. Only his eyeballs remained free of the red streaks.

Ye Yun would not reach this final step unless absolutely necessary. The Ultimate Activation state of the Indomitable Blood Body meant even the pupils and eyeballs would be covered in blood vessels. That was the final step, burning Will and Life Force, the greatest challenge to oneself, the limit of life.

Swoosh!

The Four-Armed Demon Bear raised its four arms high. A pressure that seemed to oppress heaven and earth emanated from its body. Within its blood-red pupils, a red light actually appeared.

That bloody light, as the Four-Armed Demon Bear brought its four arms down, shot towards Ye Yun like a blood arrow, carrying a sinister, resentful aura, sweeping forth at a speed that seemed to tear the air.

“It actually possesses a Divine Ability to release Void power!”

Ye Yun was shocked. He could no longer dodge this Void demonic power attack. He could only press out all the power from his Dantian and, at the cost of activating his entire body, blast his Inner Essence forward.

Boom! Boom! An explosive force akin to destruction expanded before Ye Yun. His clothes instantly ripped to shreds and turned to ashes. His whole person was also swallowed. Then, with a flash of red light, Ye Yun shot to the ground like a log, rolling several zhang before barely stopping, covered in blood.

Woo… woo!

The Four-Armed Demon Bear looked up at the sky and let out a suppressed, mournful cry. Its huge body suddenly shrank somewhat, as if its power was nearly exhausted. It strode directly towards Ye Yun, killing intent erupting in its blood-red pupils.

Lying in the Ruins, Ye Yun suddenly sprang up like a carp leaping. His eyeballs were filled with blood vessels. The vessels connected with those in his pupils, face, and neck, resembling an ancient blood-patterned totem. The crimson patterns linked tightly together, inseparable.

The Ultimate Activation state of the Indomitable Blood Body had reached the peak of Life Force power.

Swoosh!

Ye Yun flashed from his spot like a streak of bloody meteor, shooting straight towards the Four-Armed Demon Bear’s chest. The light was dazzlingly bright.

The Four-Armed Demon Bear’s body speed was a whole level slower than Ye Yun’s. When Ye Yun abruptly appeared before it, the Four-Armed Demon Bear couldn’t react at all, exposing a huge weak point: its chest.

Thud!

The fist stabbed into the Four-Armed Demon Bear’s chest like a spear. Blood pillars spurted. The demon bear’s tough muscles couldn’t block Ye Yun’s domineering fist. Then, it pierced straight towards the heart.

Thud!

The Four-Armed Demon Bear’s heart was instantly shattered by the fist, fragile as an egg. A crisp cracking sound, like an eggshell breaking, echoed as it exploded within the chest cavity.

At this moment, streams of vast Inner Essence surged from Ye Yun’s body, coiling around him like dragons. A murderous aura emanated from Ye Yun’s cold face. With the aid of True Qi, his arm shook, and his fist forcefully broke through the chest cavity, piercing through the entire chest of the Four-Armed Demon Bear.

Woo~~

A few weak cries of agony, and the Four-Armed Demon Bear slowly closed its eyes. Its massive body heavily struck the ground, creating a huge crater, and instantly lost all breath.

“I actually broke through to the Flesh Immortal Fifth Layer, the Qi Transformation realm, while at the peak of Indomitable Blood Body activation!”

Feeling the vigorous Inner Essence in his Dantian roaring like a wild beast inside him, Ye Yun was thrilled. “Fifth Layer Qi Transformation, another threshold. Possessing a Cultivator’s true power: True Qi.”

The Flesh Immortal Fifth Layer, the Qi Transformation realm, was completely different from the first four layers of Flesh Immortal. The body, strength, speed, and more were improved several times over the fourth layer. Especially the Inner Essence in the Dantian would transform into True Qi.

Possessing True Qi meant one could be considered a Cultivator.

Possessing True Qi meant one could begin cultivating some low-level Divine Ability Qi techniques.

Possessing True Qi meant one could glimpse the mysterious powers within heaven and earth.

Possessing True Qi meant one had the qualification to pursue immortality.

Simultaneously, the Flesh Immortal Fifth Layer was a major dividing line for Flesh Immortals. From then on, breaking through each realm became increasingly difficult, and the difference in strength between each layer grew larger. Previously, Ye Yun, at Flesh Immortal Third Layer, could kill experts at the fifth or even sixth layer. But if at Flesh Immortal Fifth Layer, under normal circumstances, one could only kill an expert one level higher, at the sixth layer.

But Ye Yun was different from ordinary people. He cultivated an Ancient Times marvelous technique. His ability to kill across levels couldn’t be compared to regular folk.

“Four-Armed Demon Bear, seeing that you helped me advance to the fifth layer, I’ll leave you a whole corpse.” With a wave of his hand, Ye Yun tore open the Four-Armed Demon Bear’s lower abdomen. Compared to before, a single punch couldn’t even hurt the demon bear’s fur. But after breaking through to Fifth Layer Qi Transformation, just the strength of his physical body tore open the demon beast’s tough flesh.

Now, Ye Yun’s physical body was already comparable to a formidable existence like the Four-Armed Demon Bear.

“A low-level growth stage Demon Crystal Core is a full twice the size of one from the infant stage!” Wiping the blood off the demon core, Ye Yun was immediately captivated by its dazzling, bewitching glow. It was like a gem from beyond the heavens, shimmering with a magical light.

Ye Yun stored the demon core properly, then turned and vanished deep into the forest.

Not long after, a strong gust of wind swept in.

Swish, swish—six Cultivators dressed in various styles landed beside the Four-Armed Demon Bear.

“It’s actually a Four-Armed Demon Bear, equivalent to a Seventh or even Eighth Level Flesh Immortal existence. It was killed by having its heart brutally smashed. The physical strength of the expert who killed it is unbelievable!” The leader was a man around thirty, with black hair reaching his shoulders, wearing a white cloak, handsome and extraordinary. He exuded an aura of royal authority. His gaze fell on the Four-Armed Demon Bear’s corpse, his eyes full of astonishment. He said to the person beside him, “This Four-Armed Demon Bear corpse is very rare, a treasure. Many collectors seek such corpses.”

“Clan Leader, what should we do?” Everyone looked at him.

The middle-aged man said, “We have already hunted quite a few Demon Crystal Cores these past months. Adding this Four-Armed Demon Bear corpse, we can consider our return full. Let’s return to the clan. Carry it away.”

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Thud!

While the six were discussing, five finger-shaped Sword Qi suddenly emerged from the Void behind them. The Sword Qi slashed through the six bodies, and they collapsed instantly.

“Only one is at the Eighth Level of Flesh Immortal. That should be enough to lure out the ‘Azure-Mane Lion King’!” A blue-robed figure flashed through the Void, landing before the six corpses. He glanced at them, then his gaze fell on the Four-Armed Demon Bear corpse. “A Four-Armed Demon Bear actually wandered to the outer area. Judging by its fur and Demonic Energy, it should have been close to advancing to the Adult Stage. Pity it was killed in one strike by some expert. What a strong method, killing an almost Eighth Level Flesh Immortal demon bear in one blow. Strength comparable to mine…!” On this person’s finger was a star-shaped blue ring. A flash of blue light, and he stored both the Four-Armed Demon Bear and the six corpses inside it. Another blue shadow flashed, and the blue-robed man disappeared.