Evidence

Death? A fleeting thought in a single instant. Xia Wuyuan had already made his decision. For a Grandmaster facing a Martial Saint-level demon, being beaten to death was entirely normal! If death was unavoidable, then let it be a worthy death! He could die. He still had a teammate behind him. A teammate who was also a Grandmaster. Therefore, even in death, he would strike back at this demon, severely wounding it before his final breath to give Yaoguang the best possible chance to finish it off! "Kill!" A cold glint flared in Xia Wuyuan's eyes. Facing this thunderous punch, he no longer evaded in the slightest, allowing it to blast straight toward his head. Even if this fist would blow his head to pieces, his resolve remained utterly unshaken. In the most decisive and fierce manner, he thrust the triangular spike in his hand, its tip... ...aimed straight at its throat! An inch longer, an inch stronger! Although the demon's body had swollen, transforming into a three-meter titan, its incoming fist held no advantage over the triangular spike Xia Wuyuan thrust forward. The moment its fist struck Xia Wuyuan, its throat would inevitably be pierced by the spike. Risking his life! Trading life for life! The demon instantly realized Xia Wuyuan's intention. However... Even though it was now in a frenzy, its malevolent aura surging to an unprecedented peak, it still chose not to meet Xia Wuyuan's unevading throat-thrust head-on. Or rather... Xia Wuyuan's desperate bid to trade life for life had already fallen within the scope of its contingency moves. As the demon drove that fist forward, its left hand was already swinging in right behind it. Its fist, clad in thick scales, shifted from a fist into a palm that deflected the oncoming triangular spike, while its sweeping left hand swung like a massive millstone, hurtling toward Xia Wuyuan's head with incredible speed. If this slap connected... ...the damage would be no different from taking a direct punch. Both meant a shattered skull and death. Yet, just as both of its hands struck out and it had no leeway left to attend to anything else, it seemed to sense something. The next instant, a sword light—so faint it was nearly imperceptible without close scrutiny—bloomed before its eyes like a startled swan, rapidly expanding. Driven by an explosive burst of dan jin, the sword light moved with a speed far exceeding the reaction limits of ordinary martial artists. Had the demon's primary attention been focused on this sword, it naturally would have seen it clearly and mounted a defense. Yet it had clearly planned to crush Xia Wuyuan with overwhelming force first before turning to beat the other human Grandmaster—whom it looked down upon just as much—to death. It had never anticipated that this Grandmaster's sudden eruption could be so terrifyingly powerful. Roaring, the demon swept its left hand around, twisting directly toward the edge of the Chengying sword. Relying on the scales covering its palm and its monstrous physique, it forcefully seized the blade of Chengying in its grasp. Blood sprayed. Yet the moment it gripped the blade, its expression drastically changed. The sword edge, already swift to the absolute limit, surged with another burst of speed. With Yaoguang resembling a roaring furnace as his vitality boiled, this thunderous strike burst forth like a flood dragon surging from the sea. It tore free from the demon's crushing grip on the blade and plunged into the demon's chest with undiminished momentum! No! It wasn't a thrust! It was a blast! The force contained within the blade erupted unrestrainedly, leaving a wound that looked as if a bloody cavity had been blasted through the demon's chest! Every vital point centered around the heart was utterly shattered. On the other side! Risking his life in the struggle, Xia Wuyuan reacted with extraordinary swiftness under the surge of adrenaline. Having had his triangular spike slapped aside, he rode the momentum of the blow, twisting one hundred and eighty degrees into the air and driving a brutal back-kick into the demon's chest. Rabbit Kicks the Eagle! While this kick could not inflict any serious injury on the demon, it forced the frenzied beast to stumble backward. With that backward stumble, not only was the demon unable to mount a desperate counterattack against Yaoguang, but the Chengying sword piercing its vital heart was also drawn free, ready once more. Yet at that moment, Yaoguang had no time to gather force for another thrust. Striding forward like a meteor, his figure lunged violently ahead, his left hand thrusting forward as he charged... Thrusting! Not erupting with a furious punch! Having just concentrated his entire body's force into a burst of dan jin and stimulated every bit of his potential with the Star Ignition secret technique, he could no longer rely on a burst of fist force to inflict fatal damage on an "inhuman" demon that had revealed its true form. Therefore, what he thrust forward... ...or rather, aimed forward, was the large-caliber handgun gripped in his left hand! Sword in his right hand, gun in his left. As the demon lost its balance from Xia Wuyuan's kick, the muzzle of the large-caliber handgun was pushed steadily forward, aimed half a meter from the center of its brows! The next instant... Reflected in the demon's fierce, suddenly widening pupils... ...blinding, lethal muzzle flashes erupted from the barrel of the large-caliber handgun. "Roar!" In an instant, the roar of indignation and fury was drowned out by the thunder of exploding gunpowder. Bang! Bang! Bang! Yaoguang fired six consecutive shots! Emptying the magazine! At a distance of a mere half-meter, and with a Grandmaster holding the gun, not one of the six shots aimed at its head missed! Splat, splat, splat! Blood sprayed. Six bloody holes were instantly blasted through the demon's head by the specialized bullets fired from the large-caliber handgun! Under the impact of the bullets' kinetic energy, the massive three-meter-tall body fell backward. The moment he finished off all six remaining bullets in the handgun, Yaoguang discarded the weapon. His figure leaped into the air. The gleam of the Chengying sword slashed across the throat of the falling demon like a bolt of cold lightning. Like the arc of a crescent moon. Precise! Swift! Sharp! Superimposing these three elements, the sword decapitated this exceedingly fierce, remarkably resilient demon in a single stroke. As Yaoguang flipped three hundred and sixty degrees through the air above the demon's body and landed steadily several meters away, the severed head and decapitated corpse crashed heavily onto the ground one after the other, kicking up a cloud of dust. With that! This fully transformed demon garrisoning a key stronghold was thoroughly eliminated. "Phew!" A long exhale came from Xia Wuyuan behind him. As that breath was released, he quickly dropped out of that adrenaline-fueled state, and a profound exhaustion instantly washed over him. Only by panting rapidly to replenish oxygen and speed up his metabolism could he slightly disperse the weakness and fatigue he felt. Yaoguang was likewise regulating his vitality. However, having reached the realm of fifth-tier spirit intent, his control over his vitality was far beyond anything Xia Wuyuan could match. Even the aftereffects of bursting his dan jin and activating the Star Ignition secret technique were swiftly smoothed out through spirit intent's precise mastery over his vitality and internal force. Though returning immediately to peak condition was impossible, he would by no means fall into a prolonged period of weakness after unleashing his potential, unlike those third-tier Grandmasters or even fourth-tier Martial Saints who had grasped the Star Ignition secret technique. Having stabilized his condition slightly, Yaoguang soon walked over to the demon's corpse and activated the curious object in his hand, which he had named the "Soul-Capturing Orb." By this time, Xia Wuyuan had also caught his breath. Looking at the decapitated corpse, which was gradually reverting to human form, he still seemed somewhat in disbelief: "This demon... definitely had the strength of a Martial Saint! Did we... just kill a Martial Saint?!" "Yes," Yaoguang replied. His expression barely shifted. A fully formed demon manifesting its demonic body... ...was not something he was seeing for the first time. However, the demon that had manifested a demonic body earlier was clearly not as powerful as this one. After absorbing this demon's soul fragment, he looked up and asked, "Was the recording clear enough this time?" "More than enough," Xia Wuyuan said heavily. "To think that behind divine blood... lies such a thing..." "Remember to blur my appearance," Yaoguang said. Xia Wuyuan froze for a moment, then quickly understood what he meant. "You think..." "Exactly what you think," Yaoguang said calmly. Xia Wuyuan fell silent for a moment. Only after a good while did he nod solemnly. "I will keep it secret. But... if it really is as you suspect, and even that stratum has been infiltrated, then even with me shielding you out front, as long as they intend to investigate, this secret won't last long." "No matter," Yaoguang said. He only needed to wait another two months to break the human body's limits and achieve Martial Saint. When that time came... ...there wouldn't be so many concerns. A Martial Saint! As long as one did not face heavy firepower head-on or get pulverized by carpet bombing, even offending the Dayu royal family carried no mortal danger. After a moment, he said, "Let's go back up Yue Xingzhou, lest he destroy evidence that shouldn't see the light of day." Xia Wuyuan nodded. The gunfire at the Baisheng Chemical Plant had already ceased, and the battle over there was drawing to a close. At once, Xia Wuyuan hurried toward the plant, while Yaoguang... ...followed unhurriedly behind him. As he followed Xia Wuyuan back toward the chemical plant, he once again raised the Soul-Capturing Orb in his hand. Focusing his mind, instantly... ...scene after scene unfolded before him. First was the demon that hadn't had time to transform. The scenes provided by its soul fragment... ...mostly showed it dutifully delivering bottles of refined divine blood to its buyers in person. In its memories, there were quite a few buyers. Every single one was a powerful figure standing at the pinnacle of Tiannan. Su Chiming, the head of the Su family... ...had not even been able to reach this stratum. Next was the demon from just now, the one that had revealed its true form and was distinctly more powerful. In mere moments, Yaoguang obtained crucial information. "Zhao Sheng!" He murmured the name under his breath. The person in overall charge of the numerous demons across Tiannan Province was none other than Vice Governor-General Zhao Sheng. This man was the demon leader Yaoguang had been searching for, the mastermind behind the divine blood trade. Yet beyond this information, the scenes provided by this demon clearly contained the most indelible memory of its life. "These demons... were manufactured?!"