"Ah!"

He felt as if his entire body were being sliced by knives. The sensation of his blood coagulating was excruciating. In the end, his blood clotted completely, leaving him on the brink of death.

Black Fog approached, originally intending to kill him. However, seeing as Ye Langfeng no longer posed a threat, and considering his relationship with the Ye Family, Black Fog ultimately stayed his hand. To Black Fog, Ye Langfeng was a dying man who likely wouldn’t survive more than three days. There was no need to act personally; he couldn’t be bothered with a man on his deathbed.

With that, he charged toward the cluster of buildings. Ye Qingshan was still fighting there, and Black Fog had to join the battle to ensure victory.

「」

Elsewhere, Ye Fan had been fighting the half-human, half-mechanical Demon Emperor for a long time, but neither could gain the upper hand.

"Formless Tribulation Hand!" Ye Fan shouted, executing the technique evolved from the Ancient Martial Body Refining Technique and military combat arts. The Formless Tribulation Hand was incomparably powerful, designed to use a seemingly weak force to overcome an opponent’s greatest strength.

BANG!

They clashed for another round. When Ye Fan’s fist struck the Demon Emperor, it felt like hitting a wall of bronze and iron. There was no way to injure him.

"It’s useless. You can’t kill me," the Demon Emperor said disdainfully. "Much of my body is constructed from a special alloy. No matter what you try, you won’t be able to breach my defense!"

This alloy was an incredibly hard metal, impervious even to cannon fire. It seemed impossible for human strength to penetrate such an unnatural defense.

"Is that so?" Ye Fan said coldly. He rushed forward again, executing a Flying Dragon Tail Sweep to trip the Demon Emperor. Then he leaped into the air and brought his foot down in a powerful kick.

PFFT!

The Demon Emperor spat out a mouthful of blood. The kick was charged with boundless Inner Strength. While it couldn’t breach his alloy plating, he still suffered a violent internal assault. Inner Strength was a force that not even alloy could block. It passed right through the armor to injure his internal organs.

Ye Fan’s own leg went numb from the impact. His kick had carried the force of several tons, yet it hadn’t seriously harmed the Demon Emperor. His enemy’s power was beyond his imagination.

The Demon Emperor stood up, wiped the blood from his mouth, and sneered, "That was nothing, just a perfect warm-up. King of Heaven, you are destined to die by my hand."

He slipped on the Iron Claw, his entire being seeming to surge with limitless power. This was the same weapon that had decimated the Sword Coming Team. Seeing it again, Ye Fan’s expression grew grim.

The Iron Claw was not only sharp but also coated in a deadly toxin. A single scratch meant instant death. This wasn’t some ordinary venom that Ye Fan could ignore; it was a terrifying chemical poison. The Demon Emperor had armed himself with advanced technology from the Divine Dragon, including this poison, and Ye Fan felt a palpable sense of pressure.

"Your time of despair has come," the Demon Emperor taunted as he lunged at Ye Fan.

Ye Fan dodged quickly. They exchanged dozens of blows, but Ye Fan was forced onto the defensive, wary of the Iron Claw. It was this caution that allowed the Demon Emperor to wound him. The Demon Emperor, however, had no such concerns and struck with abandon. Ye Fan realized he had truly miscalculated; in his current state, he dared not risk entering his demonic form.

"Kill!" the Demon Emperor roared.

Ye Fan blocked the Iron Claw but was sent flying backward by a powerful kick. The blow was packed with destructive force. He crashed through a pane of tempered glass behind him.

This was the Demon Emperor’s laboratory. Ye Fan hadn’t expected to stumble in here. Facing the relentless onslaught, he had no choice but to retreat. As they moved, the Demon Emperor destroyed countless experiments, yet he remained utterly unfazed. His only desire was to kill Ye Fan.

BANG! 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Ye Fan was running across a glass floor when the Demon Emperor slammed his Iron Claw down. Instantly, the glass, which was as tough as iron, shattered. Ye Fan plummeted through the broken floor.

He was stunned. With that Iron Claw, the Demon Emperor was nigh-invincible. More importantly, the poison on it forced even him, the King of Heaven, to flee. They landed in an even larger laboratory below. In the center of the room, Ye Fan saw a floating orb of light. Inside, a sleeping woman turned slowly with its rotation.

He knew who she was: Yu’er, the woman who was always by the Demon Emperor’s side. An idea instantly formed in his mind.

"Demon Emperor," he said coldly, "you once caused my brothers to die an unjust death. This time, I’ll let you taste what it feels like to watch someone you love die!"

"Are you planning to threaten me with her?" the Demon Emperor asked.

"You guessed it," Ye Fan replied mockingly.

The Demon Emperor’s voice turned to ice. "You’ve miscalculated. I fear no one’s threats, and she is no exception. You think you have me by the throat? You’re wrong."

The Demon Emperor lunged first, forcing Ye Fan to back away. As he charged straight through the sphere of light, a part of its power source collapsed. The orb dimmed, and the half-dead Yu’er began to gasp for air, though she lacked the strength even to open her eyes.

Seeing this, Ye Fan inwardly sighed at the Demon Emperor’s cruelty. It was a level of heartlessness that even he couldn’t match. Just moments before, he couldn’t bring himself to harm a half-dead person, yet the Demon Emperor had no qualms about harming the woman who loved him.

"You’re truly heartless!" Ye Fan said coldly.

"At our level, any sentiment is a sign of weakness," the Demon Emperor taunted. "You are too weak, King of Heaven. It was precisely that weakness that led to your downfall back then. To survive, one must be ruthless and devoid of feeling. Clearly, that is a lesson you have yet to learn!"

He swung his Iron Claw and charged, but the weapon sank deep into the wall. Unable to free it, the Demon Emperor was forced to abandon it.

Seeing this, Ye Fan knew his chance had finally come.

He surged forward, unleashing his full power and landing a heavy punch on the Demon Emperor’s head. The Demon Emperor was sent flying, crashing to the ground completely disoriented. Ye Fan gave him no chance to recover. He rushed in again, using his Dragon Claw Hand to seize and twist the Demon Emperor’s arm.

CRACK!

The Demon Emperor’s arm dislocated instantly. Grimacing in agony, he lashed out with a kick that sent Ye Fan flying backward.

Both were now fighting with the desperation of cornered animals. The true battle between the King of Heaven and the Demon Emperor had begun.

Ye Fan punched the Demon Emperor on the jaw, nearly dislocating it. Even though the Demon Emperor’s vital points were protected by alloy, Ye Fan always found a weak spot.

The Demon Emperor roared, got to his feet, and hurled Ye Fan against a wall. Ye Fan’s insides churned from the impact. As the Demon Emperor lunged forward to press his advantage, Ye Fan scrambled back to his feet to defend himself. The vast laboratory had become the stage for their final confrontation, a clash between two kings at the peak of their power.