She Dominates the Immortal Realm with Her HP Bar-Chapter 79

With a small silver knife, Yin Wangyou meticulously dissected the Thousand-Faced Demon’s corpse, separating every tendon, muscle, and patch of skin before neatly pinning them in place like a meticulous taxidermist, ensuring the specimen was displayed in its best possible state.

That had been a huge help to Yan Luoyue.

But now, Yan Luoyue had to rely on her own skills to study these sticky, spherical creatures that turned into puddles of slime after death.

Over the past month, during her spare time, Yan Luoyue had repeatedly pondered and experimented, refining her techniques through trial and error.

Finally, she figured out which type of Round Demon worked best and successfully crafted the first version of her rebound armor.

This prototype was made purely from Round Demon corpses, supplemented with a few auxiliary materials.

Since the shell she had shed was precious and held sentimental value, Yan Luoyue planned to wait until her technique was more refined before incorporating it into the design.

The moment she pulled the rebound armor out of the furnace, Yan Luoyue found herself staring at its appearance in deep contemplation.

And when she put it on and looked at herself in the mirror, the sight triggered an endless stream of associations in her mind.

"Emmmmm……"

Due to the material’s limitations and the still-evolving design, Yan Luoyue had focused solely on maximizing the armor’s rebound capabilities—completely neglecting its aesthetics.

The result? When she put it on and looked in the mirror, she felt like a bubble wearing a spacesuit.

And because Round Demons had a translucent, candy-colored hue, Yan Luoyue even looked like a macaron-colored bubble!

"...Wow, this is truly something else."

Yan Luoyue blinked, took off the helmet of her first-gen rebound armor, and patted its fishbowl-like dome.

Just then, Wu Manshuang happened to walk by, and Yan Luoyue immediately called out to him, putting the helmet back on.

"Manshuang, what do you think of my new look?"

Might as well test the cultivation world’s acceptance of spacesuits.

Wu Manshuang examined the armor from head to toe and nodded without the slightest hesitation. "It’s great!"

Given how utterly unfazed he looked, Yan Luoyue suspected that even if Jiang Tingbai wove her a grass outfit to wear in public, Wu Manshuang would still nod and say it was fine.

Yan Luoyue prompted him, "Don’t you think… this makes me look like a bubble?"

At the very least, the outfit had an immediate effect on her—the moment she put on this "spacesuit," she instinctively started floating around like she was walking on the moon!

"Bubbles are nice too. I like bubbles."

Wu Manshuang answered earnestly.

As he spoke, he tentatively reached out and poked the round helmet.

Through the crystal-clear visor, it almost felt like his finger was pressing into the dimple on her cheek.

Yan Luoyue burst out laughing and gave him a teasing look.

"Oh right, I almost forgot—you really love round, fluffy things, don’t you?"

Wu Manshuang knew exactly what she was referring to.

His cheeks flushed slightly, but he stood his ground. "Bubbles are good—fluffy balls are good too. So I like them both."

Yan Luoyue clapped her hands together. "In that case, let’s name this armor ‘Snake’s Happy Bubble’!"

Wu Manshuang: "……"

Taking the helmet off again, Yan Luoyue spun it around her arm a few times before suddenly getting an idea.

"Hey, Manshuang, since you like bubbles so much, have you ever played with a bubble gun before?"

"...What’s that?" Wu Manshuang tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"It’s…" Yan Luoyue’s eyes sparkled mischievously as she grabbed his wrist and giggled.

"Come on, I’ll whip up a few bubble guns on the spot—let’s get Senior Brother Kang to join us!"

Yan Luoyue immediately got to work, summoning her flames and setting up the furnace.

Simple, non-grade-specific toys like these were far easier to make than rebound armor.

After extracting juice from soapgrass—a plant unique to the cultivation world—to make bubble solution, she quickly crafted a few adorably chubby koi-shaped bubble guns.

Loading the bubble solution into the chamber, Yan Luoyue let out a devious chuckle.

Then, aiming at Wu Manshuang, who had curiously leaned in for a closer look, she mercilessly pulled the trigger!

In an instant, Wu Manshuang was engulfed from head to toe in a flurry of bubbles.

The sheer visual impact was no less stunning than if someone had blown hundreds of dandelion seeds straight into his face.

"!!!"

Behind his white veil, Wu Manshuang’s eyes widened in shock.

Even without seeing his expression, it was clear the little snake was utterly dumbfounded.

Yan Luoyue laughed wickedly.

She tossed another bubble gun to Wu Manshuang, then—with speed unbecoming of a tortoise—darted out of firing range before he could retaliate.

Wu Manshuang picked up the bubble gun somewhat clumsily.

Hesitantly, he pointed it skyward and pulled the trigger.

The next moment, countless bubbles rose into the air, catching the light of the setting sun.

The iridescent reflections danced atop the floating bubbles, settling on Wu Manshuang’s shoulders and hair like scattered gems.

At that moment, with his head tilted upward and his gaze fixed on the sunlight filtering through the bubbles, Wu Manshuang looked almost ethereal—his delicate features, reverent expression, and fragile beauty reminiscent of the Little Mermaid just before she dissolved into sea foam.

But a little tortoise like Yan Luoyue couldn’t bear to see such a tragic scene!

So, without hesitation, she leaped out, pulled the trigger again, and unleashed another wave of bubbles—this time smothering Wu Manshuang’s face like a swarm of seaweed!

However, just as Yan Luoyue fired, Wu Manshuang swiftly pulled his hood over his head and retaliated with a perfectly aimed bubble barrage of his own!

"...Ack!"

Oh no, Yan Luoyue had fallen for the enemy’s "lure the snake out of its hole" tactic!

—Wait, hold on, which of them was the snake here?

Senior Brother Kang soon arrived upon hearing the news and claimed his bubble gun.

Though Kang Bashui argued logically that since he had eight arms, he should have eight bubble guns,

Yan Luoyue stubbornly refused, insisting on a strict one-gun-per-person policy.

Well-versed in the Thirty-Six Stratagems himself, Kang Bashui immediately pulled a "steal the beams and replace the pillars" move.

Yan Luoyue soon noticed that the bubbles from Kang’s gun seemed a shade darker than theirs.

Then, spotting the ink stains on her clothes, she exclaimed, “Hey, Senior Brother Kang, that’s cheating!”

Wu Manshuang was equally shocked: “You can mix ink into bubble solution?!”

If that was allowed, could he add a bit of hair-removing poison to his own bubble gun?

…It was a rare, carefree evening.

No talisman lessons, no sealing duties—just the three of them blowing bubbles with cheerful “biubiu” sounds.

Eventually, Kang Bashui’s bubble gun ran out of solution first.

After squeezing the trigger a few times to no avail, he spat a mouthful of his own ink into the chamber.

And just like that, the bubble gun became an ink-spraying gun.

Meanwhile, Yan Luoyue and Wu Manshuang sat shoulder-to-shoulder on the grass nearby, united as comrades-in-arms.

Yan Luoyue let out a playful “Biu!” as she launched another string of bubbles.

The delicate orbs floated upward, brushing past her chin and eyebrows.

Wu Manshuang suddenly remarked, “There’s a reflection.”

On the spherical surfaces of the bubbles, they could see the grass, the trees, the thatched huts behind them—and their own tiny figures, their heads leaning close together.

Yan Luoyue smiled. “Yeah, it’s us.”

Bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, the bubbles shimmered like a natural vintage filter.

Taking turns, Yan Luoyue and Wu Manshuang fired the last of their bubble solution into the sky.

For a moment, colorful bubbles danced wildly across the horizon, carried by the wind over the fields and into the heavens…

The memories, like the scattered bubbles, became their golden album.

…

The next day, the trio returned to their task at the second-layer seal, proving that sharpening the axe doesn’t delay the woodcutting.

The deeper they ventured, the more densely the Round Demons appeared—and the stronger they grew.

Naturally, these advanced Round Demons were rounder, larger, and murkier in color.

Yan Luoyue donned her macaron-colored anti-armor (which resembled a spacesuit) and slung a small hand cannon over her shoulder.

It was a modified version of her bubble gun, now a spirit-stone-powered artifact.

A ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‍single stone fueled one shot, and she’d aptly named it “Screw You 2.0.”

With the cannon in her right hand and a disposable sword array (freshly drawn by Wu Manshuang) in her left,

Yan Luoyue charged into the horde of Round Demons like a reincarnated Zhao Zilong, cutting a dazzling figure as she carved through the flying demon bits seven times over!

Kang Bashui: “…”

Watching from a distance, Kang Bashui couldn’t help but cover his face.

Though he’d grown accustomed to Yan Luoyue’s… unique combat style (a far cry from the typical turtle clan’s approach), this scene was still…

A single shot from her cannon erupted in a blinding white light,

striking a large Round Demon, bouncing back to hit Yan Luoyue’s shoulder,

then ricocheting again at a 120-degree angle—thanks to her anti-armor—before soaring off to slam into another demon.

The attack kept rebounding, with Yan Luoyue as the central pivot, over and over, endlessly.

Just one “Screw You” shot turned into a relentless pinball of destruction!

And she wasn’t stopping at one.

In mere moments, Yan Luoyue had fired off seven or eight shots,

filling the battlefield with a chaotic web of ricocheting white beams.

The weaker Round Demons shattered after two or three hits.

The stronger ones fared no better—bigger targets meant more hits.

One or two shots would’ve been manageable,

but Yan Luoyue kept pulling the trigger without pause!

In the short time Kang Bashui had been watching, she’d already unleashed over 200 shots!

With each rebound, the attacks multiplied into an unimaginable storm of devastation.

The Round Demons scattered in panic, while Yan Luoyue gleefully wreaked havoc.

She’d mastered their signature move—her anti-armor out-bounced theirs, and her defense utterly crushed them.

Yan Luoyue wasn’t just walking their path; she was leaving them no path at all.

If the Round Demons had mouths, they’d scream in despair: “Have some mercy!”

Kang Bashui: “…”

At one point, he even witnessed the surreal sight of 200 beams bouncing off Yan Luoyue simultaneously.

For a split second, she was engulfed in a radiant, dazzling light—

so much so that Kang Bashui nearly blurted out: Ah, Junior Sister Yan has become the light!

Like a star orbited by satellites, Yan Luoyue marched forward,

her 200+ projectiles carving a path of destruction until late afternoon.

Thanks to her, their progress that day far outpaced their usual pace.

To avoid friendly fire, Kang Bashui and Wu Manshuang kept their distance.

Yan Luoyue turned and called out, “Senior Brother Kang, how much longer to the third-layer seal?”

Kang Bashui estimated, “At this rate, three or four days.”

Originally, he’d thought they’d need a week to clear this layer.

But with Yan Luoyue’s… enthusiastic new weapon, they’d halved that time.

Even knowing the blinding light around her probably hid her expression, Yan Luoyue smiled in Kang Bashui’s direction.

Then, in an instant, her smile froze.

Her head snapped toward a sound—then tilted up, up, and further up…

"Senior Brother Kang," Yan Luoyue hesitated, "I'm not familiar with sealing charms, but should a Round Demon of this strength appear in the second layer?"

Before their eyes loomed a Round Demon as tall as a five-story building.

It didn’t even need to do anything—just rolling forward made the earth tremble faintly beneath it.

An ordinary Round Demon, encountering a large boulder in its path, might manage to roll over it but would inevitably bounce and stagger from the impact.

But this colossal Round Demon crushed every obstacle like a bulldozer, grinding stones into dust with a thunderous roar.

"..."

Instinctively, Kang Bashui took half a step back, his eight arms shifting into tentacle form as he raised them defensively.

"This isn’t right!" The shock in Kang Bashui’s voice far surpassed Yan Luoyue’s.

"It shouldn’t be in the second layer of the seal—with power like this, it should’ve been trapped in the third!"

As he spoke, hundreds of white light projectiles shot from Yan Luoyue’s person, striking the giant Round Demon’s body.

A normal Round Demon would’ve merely reflected the attacks.

But this one merely rippled slightly, its murky body absorbing the projectiles like snacks, swallowing them whole without resistance.

—This Round Demon could feed on the energy of attacks!

Kang Bashui roared from the depths of his chest, "Junior Sister Yan, run!"

Run! If that thing caught them, they were done for.

During the Demon Subjugation War, countless comrades had been engulfed by such monstrous Round Demons, vanishing without a trace.

Some had watched helplessly as their friends’ corpses rotted inside the demon’s gelatinous body.

Others never saw their captured companions again.

Yan Luoyue didn’t need the warning—she was already sprinting for her life.

But the Round Demon’s speed defied all expectations.

Common sense dictated that size came with sluggishness.

But that logic didn’t apply to a sphere.

Especially one rolling downhill, gaining terrifying momentum with every second.

At the critical moment, Kang Bashui yanked Wu Manshuang back with one hand while summoning a manta ray artifact with another.

His remaining six arms worked in unison, swiftly drawing a Gale Talisman.

With a sharp flick, he slapped the talisman onto the manta ray, leaping aboard with Wu Manshuang and diving toward Yan Luoyue at breakneck speed.

Behind her, the giant Round Demon gave chase, flattening rocks, trees, and even smaller Round Demons in its path.

Its shadow loomed over Yan Luoyue like a storm cloud blotting out the moon.

She ran desperately toward Kang Bashui and Wu Manshuang, the manta ray closing in.

For one fleeting instant, the manta ray and the Round Demon were equidistant from her.

Then, in the next fraction of a second, the demon surged forward, closing the gap with terrifying speed.

"Junior Sister Yan!"

Kang Bashui’s tentacles shot out.

A cephalopod’s limbs could stretch infinitely in emergencies—four of them lashed forth from his arms and chest.

The manta ray alone couldn’t outpace the Round Demon.

But combined with Yan Luoyue’s sprint and the Gale Talisman’s boost, they barely snatched her from the demon’s grasp in the nick of time.

Two of Kang Bashui’s chest tentacles looped around Yan Luoyue’s shoulders, hauling her toward the manta ray.

The other two, extended from his arms, acted as a barrier, sticking to the Round Demon’s viscous surface in her stead.

The demon’s body rippled again.

This time, Kang Bashui felt an overwhelming pull—this monstrosity didn’t just trap prey; it actively sucked them in!

It was trying to drag him in, just like it had absorbed Yan Luoyue’s attacks!

With no time to spare, Kang Bashui made a brutal decision.

Fortunately, octopuses had limbs to spare.

Two tentacles flung Yan Luoyue to safety, two were stuck to the demon, two anchored him to the manta ray, and the last two seized cleavers—hacking off his own arms without hesitation.

Snap. The connection severed.

He steered the manta ray upward, putting distance between them and the demon.

For an octopus, losing limbs was second nature.

The severed vessels sealed instantly, dripping only a few specks of blue blood—a hallmark of his kind.

As the blades fell, one thought flashed through Kang Bashui’s mind—

Ah, Junior Brother Wu must be terrified.

"Junior Brother Wu, close your eyes. Don’t look."

After a quick reassurance, he gently patted Yan Luoyue’s head with his remaining chest tentacles.

"Junior Sister Yan, you have a flying artifact, right? Take Junior Brother Wu and get help from the sect!"

Without waiting for a reply, he spat a stream of ink, dipped a tentacle in it, and hastily scrawled another Gale Talisman for her.

"Hurry!"

Missing two limbs, some ink splattered onto the manta ray’s back, mingling with the blue blood from his stumps.

Yan Luoyue and Wu Manshuang exchanged a glance.

"Senior Brother Kang, what about you?"

"Neither of you knows sealing charms. I have to stay—if it breaks through the remaining layers, we’re finished."

Kang Bashui’s tentacle tips curled involuntarily, but he grinned, baring white teeth.

"Don’t worry. You saw it—I know how to handle this thing. With eight limbs, I’ve got eight lives to spare."

Below them, the Round Demon circled, unable to reach their altitude.

After a pause, it abruptly veered toward the second seal.

Kang Bashui’s voice turned urgent.

"—Go! Now!"

Suddenly, his vision blurred as a figure stepped between him and the demon.

Blinking, he stared in disbelief at the person now shielding him—Wu Manshuang, the "most delicate junior brother who couldn’t even stand the sight of blood."

For a moment, Kang Bashui was both moved and worried. "Junior Brother, don’t..."

The kid was still young—in a situation like this, he should just run away!

Wu Manshuang’s shoulders trembled slightly.

At first, Kang Bashui thought it was out of fear, and his heart softened.

But then, hearing Wu Manshuang’s voice—so unlike his usual tone—he realized his junior brother might be absolutely furious.

Wu Manshuang pulled off his gloves and rolled up his sleeves, his lips curling into a cold sneer. "You want to devour Luoyue?"

Before the words even settled, Wu Manshuang had already drawn a blade across his palm.

The metallic tang of blood hit Kang Bashui’s senses. He leaned forward, intending to check if Wu Manshuang was hurt, only to freeze at the icy demand:

"And—someone like Senior Brother Kang, who can’t stand pain—you forced him to sever both hands?"

Kang Bashui: "???"

Wait, since when was he afraid of pain?

Wu Manshuang didn’t turn around, so he missed the utter bewilderment on Kang Bashui’s face.

His memory was sharp. He recalled how, a month ago, Kang Bashui had also been ensnared by a Glueball Fiend.

Back then, Senior Brother Kang hadn’t immediately severed his limbs. Instead, he coaxed the fiend, calling it "little darling."

Only when the Glueball Fiend proved ungrateful did Kang Bashui finally kill it, then soaked in water for hours until the fiend’s adhesive properties faded.

Kang Bashui might have a timid streak that didn’t match his burly frame—even when caught by a Glueball Fiend, his first instinct was to sweet-talk it.

But was that any reason for this fiend to bully his senior brother so casually?

A cold, iron-like smirk played on Wu Manshuang’s lips as he sliced another cut vertically across his palm.

The two wounds formed a stark cross. The moment Kang Bashui caught sight of it, he sucked in a sharp breath.

—Damn, just looking at it hurt.

As a regenerating octopus, Kang Bashui could lose limbs without batting an eye.

But the cross-shaped wound on Wu Manshuang’s palm? It looked exactly like the cuts fishermen made on octopus heads before grilling them!

Kang Bashui clicked his tongue reflexively before belatedly realizing something was off—

Wait, wasn’t Wu Manshuang supposed to be unable to stand the sight of blood?

Then who was this ruthless guy calmly carving a cross into his own palm and bleeding without flinching?

"..."

For a split second, Kang Bashui was utterly stunned.

Memories of Wu Manshuang’s behavior over the past month flashed through his mind.

In that whirl of recollections, Kang Bashui suddenly realized—his impression of his junior brother might have been… a little mistaken.

In the next instant, thick droplets of blood rained down as Wu Manshuang flung his hand, splattering the massive Glueball Fiend.

Kang Bashui watched in shock as even a single drop of Wu Manshuang’s blood caused the fiend’s murky, gelatinous flesh to wither and shrivel like a deflated balloon.

The fiend was enormous, towering like a five-story pavilion. Yet under the onslaught of Wu Manshuang’s blood, it cowered like a helpless infant.

Seeing Kang Bashui craning his neck too far, Yan Luoyue tugged him back.

"Be careful, Senior Brother Kang," Yan Luoyue murmured softly. "Don’t let Manshuang’s blood touch you."

—In any other context, those words might have sounded heartless.

But here? They were just a safety warning, like instructions for handling live explosives.

As for Yan Luoyue herself, she stood fearlessly beside Wu Manshuang, completely unguarded.

She and Wu Manshuang shielded Kang Bashui between them, forming a solid barrier.

Touched but uneasy, Kang Bashui urged, "Junior Sister Yan, get behind me."

"Don’t worry, Senior Brother Kang." Yan Luoyue glanced back at him, choosing her words carefully. "In this case… our situations are a bit different."

Kang Bashui: "..."

Right. He’d almost forgotten—Junior Sister Yan’s vitality was legendary, earning her the title of "the safest person to entrust with your funeral arrangements."

After a silent pause, Kang Bashui sat cross-legged on the spot.

He directed the manta ray beneath them to chase the fleeing Glueball Fiend.

Meanwhile, Wu Manshuang dipped his fingers into his own blood.

He sketched intricate patterns midair, then infused them with spiritual energy before slamming the formations onto the fiend below.

Not long ago, he’d envied Kang Bashui’s self-sufficient ink-spitting method for drawing talismans—so economical!

Who knew he’d end up following suit, using his own blood to craft formations?

Yan Luoyue’s brow furrowed, her gaze locked on Wu Manshuang’s bleeding palm. The blood gushed freely from the cross-shaped wound, and her fists clenched silently.

Recognizing the formation Wu Manshuang was constructing, she said,

"That’s… an Earthbinding Formation? With seven layers of offensive enhancements?"

"Mn."

Pulling out a pair of silver gloves identical to Wu Manshuang’s from her storage pouch, Yan Luoyue declared firmly, "I’ll help."

Her mastery of formations wasn’t on par with Wu Manshuang’s, but assisting him was well within her capabilities.

Earlier, she’d attacked the Glueball Fiend with various magical tools.

But the fiend was unnaturally resilient—it absorbed every strike as energy, regurgitating nothing.

Any tool that got too close was swallowed and assimilated into its gelatinous mass.

In the end, only Wu Manshuang’s blood—inflicting devastating damage on mere contact—proved to be its bane.

The Glueball Fiend likely didn’t understand formations.

So it probably had no idea what the blood-drawn patterns, searing with agony, truly signified.

But under Wu Manshuang’s relentless assault, the fiend clearly sensed death approaching.

Backed into a corner, it fought back with everything it had.

At one point, while tracing the edges of the formation, Yan Luoyue suddenly noticed the fiend’s bulbous body slightly caving inward.

It looked like a beer belly sucking in a breath—an unmistakable sign it was charging up for something big.

In that split second, Yan Luoyue shoved Wu Manshuang behind her without hesitation, shielding him with her own body.

The next moment, even Yan Luoyue couldn’t help but blurt out:

"What the hell?!"

For that instant, her vision was flooded with crimson.

It wasn’t that the Glueball Fiend had suddenly grown llama fangs and spat bloody saliva at the manta ray.

Rather, the purest concentration of energy took the form of light itself.

In that second, Yan Luoyue finally understood where all those hundreds of attacks—her own included—had gone after being swallowed by the fiend.

The Glueball Fiend didn’t consume those attacks.

It was more like a rolling storage unit, hoarding every ounce of energy.

And now, faced with a deadly threat—like today—it unleashed everything in one devastating blast.

This Glueball Fiend, standing five stories tall, had stockpiled far more than just the hundred-odd attacks Yan Luoyue had unleashed earlier.

In fact, all her strikes combined were but a drop in the ocean of energy the fiend had accumulated over the years.

In the blink of an eye, Yan Luoyue was swallowed whole by the terrifying crimson radiance.

"Junior Sister Yan!!!"

The freshly crafted Thornmail 1.0 had no chance to prove its worth at this moment.

Before it could even rebound the attack of the Rotund Demon, the round, plump shell was effortlessly shattered by the assault, like a cardboard box soaked in water.

—Well, there was no helping it. The materials for this Thornmail were, after all, sourced from the comparatively weaker Mid-sized Rotund Demons.

Then, that blood-red beam of condensed energy struck Yan Luoyue for real.

"!!!"

Kang Bashui, who had been intently controlling the artifact, abruptly straightened up.

The residual shockwaves of the attack scattered in all directions, hitting the artifact Manta Ray. Kang Bashui had no choice but to divert his focus to stabilize the artifact's descent.

As the dust settled, Yan Luoyue's figure emerged.

Wu Manshuang was the first to react, hastily draping his blood-stained arm with his cloak before rushing forward in a few frantic steps.

He reached out, wanting to grab Yan Luoyue's wrist to check on her, but then he caught sight of the blood staining his gloves.

His fingers twitched mid-air before helplessly dropping to his sides. Through the white gauze, his gaze fixed on Yan Luoyue's face with near-panicked urgency.

"Luoyue, are—are you okay?"

The pain from the wound was fresh and searing.

But the moment Yan Luoyue's figure was engulfed by the blood-red light, all he could feel was a bone-chilling cold, as if he'd been plunged into an icy abyss.

In that brief blink of an eye, the terror in Wu Manshuang's heart surpassed anything he'd ever known—more than hatching alone in the demon realm, more than being hunted countless times during his wanderings, more than being raised as livestock, more than being swallowed whole by monstrous jaws…

The overwhelming fear was like an endless black sea, and Wu Manshuang was compressed into its lightless depths.

The bubbles he'd blown the day before seemed to each reflect Yan Luoyue's smiling face, only to burst apart all at once.

Her slender figure disappearing into the blood-red light felt like a fragile bubble, vanishing in his hallucination.

Thankfully… thankfully, it was all just an illusion…

Yan Luoyue wiped her face—deliberately using the glove that wasn't stained with blood.

Then, her thin lips parted, and she uttered another "Holy shit."

She couldn't be blamed for her shock, because—

"Unbelievable, that attack took out ninety-five percent of my HP!"

Just that one strike had shaved off a staggering 950,000 HP from Yan Luoyue.

Ever since she turned six years old, she hadn't suffered such humiliation!

Glancing back, she saw the Rotund Demon, now emptied of its reserves, rolling away without a second glance.

Without hesitation, Yan Luoyue summoned her little flying saucer.

She and Wu Manshuang hopped onto the saucer's surface one after another, followed by Senior Brother Kang, who was still struggling to stabilize the Manta Ray.

Not even bothering to enter the saucer's cabin, Yan Luoyue stood right on its exterior, piloting it in a relentless pursuit of the Rotund Demon.

"Let's get it!" Yan Luoyue declared decisively. "This grudge is getting settled right now!"

—The enemy had exhausted its reserves and was at its weakest.

If they didn't strike now, when would they? Wait until it had replenished its energy and escaped the seal?

Before she even finished speaking, Wu Manshuang had already rolled up his sleeves.

At this moment, it wasn't just Yan Luoyue who was fired up.

Wu Manshuang, who had nearly believed Yan Luoyue was lost to him, had just experienced the most extreme emotional whiplash of his life.

After the depths of terror and despair, he had regained what he thought was gone. Now, his nerves were flooded with an abnormal, frenzied intensity.

His fury had climbed to its peak, so extreme that it transformed into a cold, calculated calm that coursed through his veins.

Through gritted teeth, Wu Manshuang praised, "What nerve!"

This time, he didn't even bother setting up an array. Instead, he simply formed his fingers into a blade and slashed deeply across his own forearm!

The cut was vicious, sinking deep into flesh. Blood gushed out in thick spurts, raining down like a crimson storm.

One slash wasn't enough—Wu Manshuang followed it up with another!

The brutality of the scene, the sheer bloodiness of it, even shocked Kang Bashui, who was usually unfazed by severed limbs as if they were mere meals.

Kang Bashui watched, wide-eyed, as the usually polite, even shy and introverted Wu Manshuang slowly curled his lips into a chilling smirk directed at the Rotund Demon below.

This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.

Even with his eyes veiled by white gauze, nothing could mask the wild, manic fury radiating from that smile.

It was a smile so distinctive… that even if someone had never met Wu Manshuang before, one look at that expression would convince them that its target wouldn't live to see another sunrise.

"…"

Gulp. Kang Bashui swallowed hard.

Right now, all he wanted was to sprint back to the sect, dash straight to the Sword Peak, and use all eight of his arms to shake Yuan Feiyu upside down.

—What the hell?! What the hell is this "timid, squeamish at the sight of blood" Junior Brother Wu you were talking about?!

—You got it all wrong! Junior Brother Wu isn't afraid of blood at all!

—Instead… instead, Junior Brother Wu is the one scaring the hell out of me!

Wu Manshuang unleashed a barrage of attacks with the ferocity of "Today, either you get minced into a thousand pieces, or you get reduced to ashes." The massive Rotund Demon was soon beaten to the brink of death.

Everywhere his blood touched, the demon's flesh withered and shriveled.

The once five-story-tall monstrosity was reduced to a pitiful lump less than a meter tall, twitching on the ground, utterly incapable of rolling away.

As Yan Luoyue brought the flying saucer down, Wu Manshuang still hadn't cooled off.

He was the first to leap off, his cloak billowing dramatically behind him.

Clutching his blood-drenched arm, he was about to press it like a branding iron onto the demon's face when he felt Yan Luoyue tug at the hem of his clothes.

"…Luoyue?"

Wu Manshuang turned, the icy rage still lingering on his face, but his aura softened almost imperceptibly.

Yan Luoyue shoved a large jar of sweet medicinal salve right under his nose.

"Stop fighting. Apply this now."

Her HP had dropped too low, so she didn’t dare touch Wu Manshuang directly. Otherwise, she would’ve scooped out a handful of the salve and smeared it thickly over his wounds.

Wu Manshuang hesitated, glancing back at the Rotund Demon. "Just wait a second, let me—"

"No. Medicine. Now!"

"Just one more—"

"Medicine! Now!"

"…Fine. I’ll apply it. Don’t worry."

With a long exhale, Wu Manshuang finally relented and took the jar.

Only after seeing him obediently tend to his wounds did Yan Luoyue lower her voice.

"This Rotund Demon is a bit unusual. Don’t touch it yet—let me see if I can extract some materials from it."

Then, in an even quieter whisper, she added, "Also… you scared Senior Brother Kang!"

It wasn’t the gore that unsettled Kang Bashui.

But the sheer contrast in Wu Manshuang’s demeanor was so stark it was like seeing two completely different people.

Combined with Kang Bashui’s preconceived notions of Wu Manshuang as "delicate," "timid," and "a little squeamish," the mental whiplash delivered a critical hit to his psyche.

Wu Manshuang paused, then turned to look at Kang Bashui.

Sure enough, Kang Bashui’s expression froze slightly, as if he had suffered a severe blow.

Wu Manshuang felt a pang of guilt.

Of course—Senior Brother Kang had always been a bit timid. Even when a Rotund Demon latched onto him, his first instinct was to call it "little sweetie."

And just now, between the severed hand and watching Wu Manshuang spill blood, it must have been too much for him.

Wu Manshuang pressed his lips together, determined to correct this mistake immediately.

After hastily tending to his wound, he smoothed his sleeves, adjusted his gloves, and returned to his usual immaculate and composed appearance—reclaiming his customary politeness.

With a courteous nod to the half-dead, barely-breathing Rotund Demon on the ground, Wu Manshuang spoke in an exceedingly polite, refined, and gentlemanly tone:

"Our earlier exchange was most enlightening. I appreciate the lesson. Now, if you could kindly drop dead at once—that would be ideal."

Kang Bashui, who had just witnessed his junior brother’s chilling transformation: "!!!"

Damn it, someone explain this to him—what the hell was going on?!

Now he was even more terrified!