The Dragon Scale Armor scraped against the Cyan Scales, sending a shower of sparks into the air. Meanwhile, the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength transformed into thousands of soft threads, climbing up Qi Huan’s spine along his Thirty-Six Major Acupoints.

The Elephant Demon, which had been heavily injured by a hammer blow, finally found a moment to catch its breath while Xu Yunfan was dealing with Qi Huan. It let out a howl, its trunk whipping through the air like a lash, striking at that very moment.

The piercing whistle of the trunk tearing through the air was right by his ear.

Xu Yunfan showed no sign of panic. In fact, his expression held a hint of casual ease.

Ever since entering the Blood Exchange Realm, he had continued to train diligently. Although his Skill Level had not yet reached a point of qualitative change, the accumulation of practice had made his qi and blood far thicker and more powerful than that of other Martial Artists in the same Realm.

Xu Yunfan’s right shoulder blade suddenly rose three inches. The muscles of his shoulder and neck bulged, and the fascia of his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body vibrated like a bowstring. As the Dragon Scale Armor Leaves on his body pulsed, the exertion of his muscles became clearly visible.

He grabbed Qi Huan and actually used his demonized body as a shield, swinging it toward the Elephant Demon.

The shockwave from the collision of the two well-honed bodies pulverized all rubble within a fifty-foot radius into fine dust.

Using the recoil, he spun and caught the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer as it flew back toward him.

"BELLOW!"

The Elephant Demon roared. Its trunk, reeking of a foul stench, shattered three ancient cypress trees before bizarrely bending the instant it touched the hammer’s edge, changing its trajectory to smash down on Xu Yunfan. The very air seemed to boil from the force.

The Dragon Vein Hidden Force that Xu Yunfan had released from the arches of his feet had long since woven a spiderweb of conductive pathways beneath the ground.

The Heavy Hammer, weighing nearly a hundred pounds, felt as light as a feather in his hands. The moment the Thunder Patterns on its head lit up, seven layered streams of Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength erupted like a volcano.

"CRACK!"

The scales on the elephant’s trunk shattered, inch by inch.

The web of Xu Yunfan’s thumb trembled slightly, but in the next instant, the force was guided into the ground by the unique Dissipation method of his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body. A series of twelve metallic clangs rang out from his shoulder and elbow joints as he redirected the Strength nine times within a minuscule space.

The shadow of the hammer in his hands became a crimson-gold wheel, rolling up against the grain of the elephant’s trunk. Everywhere it passed, muscle and bone were turned to paste.

The Elephant Demon’s single eye was bloodshot. It suddenly spat a cloud of dark green, poisonous mist from between its tusks.

Seeing this, Xu Yunfan retracted his hammer without hesitation. The one thousand, seven hundred and twenty Red Flood Dragon Scales of his Dragon Scale Armor all flipped outward at once, and a gushing wave of scorching heat burned the toxic mist into blue smoke.

Already airborne, he lifted his left leg high without any warning. The scales on his heel bristled menacingly as it came down like a Heavy Hammer on the Elephant Demon’s Celestial Spirit. The move looked ferocious, but it actually concealed thirty-six streams of soft strength that, upon landing, would detonate within the flesh and blood.

The crack of a skull shattering and the sound of the ground splitting erupted at the same time.

The Elephant Demon collapsed with a crash, its body twitching uncontrollably on the ground.

Xu Yunfan used the recoil to launch himself thirty feet into the air again. He swung the Thunderfire Qilin Hammer over his head in a half-moon arc, its face slamming heavily into Qi Huan’s lunging claws.

’Interesting,’ Xu Yunfan thought.

’How does a person turn into a Demon Fiend?’

The momentum of his hammer suddenly shifted from hard to soft.

As Qi Huan’s arm exploded, Xu Yunfan’s spine rippled like a great dragon, and his Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength turned into thousands of overlapping waves that penetrated Qi Huan’s body.

A three-inch depression suddenly caved into Qi Huan’s Cyan Scale-covered chest.

Xu Yunfan’s right hand formed a blade, his fingers held together like a halberd, and precisely struck the Tiantu Acupoint where Qi Huan’s collarbones met.

The finger strike seemed light, but it actually contained seven overlapping layers of Bone-penetrating Soft Strength. Even Zhan Yan, a master of the Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body, would have his qi and blood sealed for three Hours and be knocked completely unconscious by such a blow.

The blood-red glow in Qi Huan’s beastly eyes abruptly vanished. His body went limp as if his bones had turned to cartilage, and he started to collapse.

Before he could hit the ground, Xu Yunfan grabbed the back of his neck with one hand and dragged him to a hollow near a river, right next to a Spiritual Energy Node in the mountain’s ley lines. Once there, he again took on the role of a miner.

In just under half an Hour, a moderately sized cave had appeared before him.

By the time dusk stained the cliffs, Xu Yunfan had finished processing the Elephant Demon’s corpse.

With his hammer on his back, he stood beside Qi Huan, skewering several large chunks of Demon Flesh and Blood to roast while he carefully examined the changes to Qi Huan’s body.

The scales on his body were real, and so was the broken horn on his forehead.

After setting up the roast and smearing on some spices he had identified using his Hunting Skill, Xu Yunfan finally stood up, dusted off his hands, and walked over to Qi Huan.

He reached out and pried open the man’s mouth. Seeing it was full of crisscrossing fangs, Xu Yunfan couldn’t help but grimace.

’I wonder what on earth Qi Huan went through in the Secret Realm to end up in such a state, neither human nor ghost.’

A blackish-green ripple suddenly appeared on Qi Huan’s neck.

Xu Yunfan’s fingertips hadn’t even left when he felt the body beneath his hand erupt with a tremor like a flash flood breaking a dam. The Cyan Scales of Qi Huan’s demonized form bristled as if they were alive. Qi Huan’s eyes, when they snapped open, had become two blood-red moons, and deep within his pupils, a triple layer of serrated Demon Patterns spun.

Xu Yunfan raised an eyebrow and took half a step back. The fascia in the arches of his feet, empowered by his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body, tensed like the bowstring of a dragon-spine bow, and the rock beneath his feet sank six inches in response.

BANG!

With a loud thud, Qi Huan was knocked unconscious again.

A short while later, Qi Huan’s body trembled, and he once again opened his blood-red, beastly eyes. Before he could even see what was in front of him, a large hand, as flawless as jade, came down over his face.

BANG!

Qi Huan’s head lolled to the side, and he passed out again.

Xu Yunfan, who had been pushing a skewer of roasted meat into his mouth and chewing thoughtfully, retracted his hand and turned to add more seasoning to the roast.

’It’s spicy enough, but the salt is a little weak. Although I found some salt rock and ground it into a fine powder, I didn’t have time to sift it, so it has a slightly bitter taste. I’ll have to cover it up with the aromatic spices I found nearby.’

Half an Hour later, Qi Huan’s body shuddered, and he opened his eyes again.

THUD!

Qi Huan’s blood-red eyes seemed to see stars as he passed out again.

...

On the eighth time, just as a fist—the other hand still holding roasted meat—was about to descend, glowing with wisps of crimson from the surging Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength...

...Qi Huan, opening a pair of clear eyes, said frantically, "I’m awake! I’m awake! Stop hitting me! If you hit me again, something will really go wrong!"

Hearing Qi Huan speak, Xu Yunfan hesitated. Under Qi Huan’s nervous gaze, he finally, slowly, withdrew his hand, and a smile spread across his face.

"Senior Brother Qi, it’s a small world, isn’t it? I never thought I’d run into you here. Everyone else thinks you’re dead."

As he spoke, Xu Yunfan looked Qi Huan up and down, then added, "To be honest, looking at you now, you might have been better off dead."

Hearing this, Qi Huan couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. Inwardly, he was also extremely shocked. He had never imagined that even in his demonized form, he couldn’t take a single punch from Xu Yunfan.

’What did all his efforts these past days amount to? Was he just a clown?’

With his thoughts in turmoil, the image of Xu Yunfan hammering the Elephant Demon to death was still vivid in Qi Huan’s mind. That feeling of unparalleled ferocity was something he hadn’t even felt when facing a Grandmaster of the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm. Xu Yunfan was like a primeval Fierce Beast.

After a long moment, Qi Huan finally sighed and said, "Junior Brother Xu, it’s a long story, full of twists and turns."

Seeing that Qi Huan didn’t want to elaborate on the origins of his demonization, Xu Yunfan didn’t press the issue. ’He most likely came into contact with some kind of Demon Fiend power, which caused his body to mutate.’

His biggest question was why Qi Huan, who was supposed to be in the Profound Daoist Secret Realm, had appeared in the Divine Weapon Secret Realm. He wondered if his suspicions were correct.