Rampaging Demonization, the Might of One Hundred Eighty Tripods!

Lu Changsheng wore a solemn expression. Step by step, he strode forward. It was not that he did not want to charge swiftly before Old Man Wang, but that he could not. An endless sea of bizarre black bugs choked the area in astonishing numbers, swarming from every direction across the street, leaving no room to evade. During this past period, Lu Changsheng had studied these bizarre black bugs. They consumed only fresh blood or flesh, touching nothing else. Their black carapaces were exceptionally hard and even dissipated the force of strikes landed on them. Furthermore, their mouthparts were rigid and razor-sharp. No matter how tough a human's skin and flesh might be, these strange bugs could easily bite through and burrow inside. Thus, even for a martial artist of the Divine Strength Realm, getting entangled with them was a nightmare. One or two did not matter, but a massive swarm posed tremendous trouble. But Lu Changsheng was different. As the dark tide of bugs swept toward him in a blotting swarm, a rumbling resonated within him. Simultaneously, the cloud of qi and blood above his head condensed until it seemed nearly tangible. *Boom.* The cloud of qi and blood instantly formed a solid wall, shielding Lu Changsheng tightly from all sides. The bizarre black bugs swarmed over it in a flash. From afar, layer upon layer of them enveloped him completely, like an undulating hornet's nest. At the sight, Old Man Wang grinned. He knew all too well the terrors of the Bloodthirsty Bugs. Once entangled, even a Divine Strength Realm expert was marked for certain death. As for the onlookers, who had hoped "Hero Zhuang" would unleash divine might to rescue them, their faces blanched one by one. "How could this be? Hero Zhuang is an expert of the Divine Strength Realm! Could he also..." They hardly dared finish the thought. If even Hero Zhuang fell, what hope remained for them? Time ticked by. One breath, two breaths, three breaths... In just three breaths' time, the grin on Old Man Wang's face froze. Over three full breaths, the Bloodthirsty Bugs should have drained the man dry, leaving him dead from blood loss. Yet what was happening now? Though Zhuang Thirteen made no movement, he remained standing firm, not falling—an undeniable fact. Standing meant he was not dead. "How is that possible?" "Covered by thousands of Bloodthirsty Bugs, how could he withstand them?" Old Man Wang's eyes went wide. *Chi, chi, chi.* Soon, a flurry of strange sounds reached everyone's ears. Layer upon layer of bizarre black bugs began raining down like hail, their dead bodies blanketing the ground. Threads of the Silken Thread Sword pierced straight through the insects, unveiling Lu Changsheng's figure. Lu Changsheng was completely unharmed. A sheen of qi and blood enveloped the surface of his body. Yes—qi and blood. The Bloodthirsty Bugs were indeed formidable, able to devour any blood and flesh, rendering ordinary defenses useless. However, qi and blood was neither fresh blood nor physical flesh. In fact, it was not even a purely tangible substance, but something suspended between the ethereal and the real. Against Lu Changsheng cloaked in qi and blood, the bugs could do nothing at all. If that had been the extent of it, the external release of qi and blood would normally have depleted his energy rapidly. Yet within three zhang, Lu Changsheng could reabsorb his qi and blood back into his body. Even when deploying the Silken Thread Sword to kill the bugs, it was right at his fingertips, never straying far, so the expenditure was negligible. Add to that the monstrous reserves of qi and blood Lu Changsheng possessed after six marrow transformations and blood exchanges, and what had he to fear from such trivial consumption? "It seems your little bugs are useless," Lu Changsheng said, his voice cold. Never had he wanted to kill someone as much as he wanted to kill Old Man Wang right now. No matter how wicked an ordinary villain was, they could not compare to demon martial artists, who treated the entire population of Nanyang City as "food" to advance their cultivation. On the surface, a demon martial artist might still look human. In truth, their minds and thoughts had long ceased to be human. *Bang.* Lu Changsheng stomped against the ground, instantly blasting a crater into the earth. *Whoosh.* In the next instant, he shot forward like an arrow. In the blink of an eye, he was before Old Man Wang, driving a fist toward him. A full sixty tripods of force erupted in an instant. *Thud.* The punch struck Old Man Wang's arm as he blocked it. The old man's arm had completely transformed into a massive limb, matted with coarse fur like that of a beast. "What tremendous power! Truly worthy of the Divine Strength Realm!" "Hehehe, pity you're a step too late. After absorbing so much exquisite blood, I have already taken the final step! Hahaha..." Amid Old Man Wang's raucous laughter, his withered, slight frame ballooned rapidly like an inflated bladder. Blue veins bulged across his body as gruesome black blood vessels spiderwebbed over his skin. Fleshy tumors sprouted one after another on his skull, and his height surged until he was nearly three meters tall. Lu Changsheng's heart chilled slightly. Word by word, he spoke in a heavy voice, "Demonization!" Evidently, Old Man Wang had undergone demonization. The greatest watershed for demon martial artists was whether they could achieve demonization. Without it, their strength had strict limits, no matter how formidable they seemed. Once demonized, however, the change was akin to advancing from Body Tempering to the Divine Strength Realm—a qualitative leap. *Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.* At point-blank range, Lu Changsheng unleashed his Silken Thread Sword. Dense clusters of blood-thread blades lanced toward the creature's heart, head, and other vitals. Yet when the Silken Thread Sword struck Old Man Wang's demonized body, it was like striking a solid stone wall, failing to leave behind even the faintest mark. That showed just how terrifying his defensive power had become. In fact, this was not mere defensive toughness, but raw physical power! Demon martial artists relied precisely on pure physical might. In this regard, they far surpassed Divine Strength Realm martial artists. While Divine Strength Realm martial artists also honed their physical power, they relied on a harmony of flesh and qi and blood. "Is that all you have? You're barely scratching an itch!" Old Man Wang grinned, baring rows of jagged, razor-sharp teeth, and casually smashed a fist down toward Lu Changsheng. *Boom.* Lu Changsheng raised both hands together to block, his entire frame shuddering violently. From that casual blow alone, Lu Changsheng felt jarred and bruised, unable to bear it cleanly. "Second Transformation of the Divine Dragon." Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Changsheng executed the Second Transformation of the Divine Dragon. The blood within him coursed violently, his muscles, bones, and even skin strengthening at a frantic pace through a miraculous cadence. This was a secret method that directly amplified the entirety of his physical might. A full doubling of his physical strength! It brought Lu Changsheng an explosive surge of raw power. *Boom.* The qi and blood over his head doubled in an instant as well. One hundred twenty tripods! Deploying the Divine Dragon Transformation doubled his physical power, launching him straight into the Hundred Tripods Realm. In this state, Lu Changsheng was equivalent to a genuine expert of the Hundred Tripods Realm. At the Hundred Tripods Realm, his qi and blood seemed to undergo subtle changes. Lu Changsheng could not perceive it clearly himself, but the onlookers saw it with absolute clarity. From a distance, the cloud of qi and blood above his head began morphing rapidly, coalescing into what resembled a blood-red colossus. The colossus had only an upper body, and even that was semi-translucent. Yet with its appearance, an even more terrifying pressure descended upon the street. The demonized Old Man Wang felt it all the more acutely. "This qi and blood..." Old Man Wang's expression hardened in disbelief. "The Hundred Tripods Realm?" His eyes bulged. At that moment, Lu Changsheng struck without hesitation, driving a punch toward Old Man Wang. High in the air, the massive phantom of the blood-red colossus moved in tandem with Lu Changsheng, throwing a matching punch at the demonized monster before them. *Bang.* In his demonized state, Old Man Wang's fists were countless times larger than Lu Changsheng's. Yet when the two wildly mismatched fists collided, a heavy, dull boom rang out. Old Man Wang's massive body shuddered violently. A dreadful force vibrated through him continuously. The strength of a hundred tripods! This was genuine hundred-tripod power! In fact, it was not merely one hundred, but one hundred twenty tripods. Lu Changsheng's body absorbed an immense shockwave as well. Old Man Wang's demonized strength was likewise near a hundred tripods. Such was the nature of demon martial artists. Within the same realm, they swept aside human martial artists with ease; having only just demonized, he could already rival an expert of the Hundred Tripods Realm. Such innate advantages were staggering. "Human martial artist, you are indeed strong to have reached the Hundred Tripods Realm. But I have demonized! You cannot kill me!" "My Bloodthirsty Bugs will continually devour blood from others and return to replenish me. My strength is boundless! But what about you? How long can you hold out?" Old Man Wang bared his serrated teeth, his grin hideous and grotesque. Lu Changsheng remained unmoved. This was Old Man Wang's limit. Or rather, the strength of a hundred tripods was roughly the full measure of his demonized power. Demon martial artists were terrifying indeed. Old Man Wang could rely on the black bugs to replenish his strength without end. Even his regenerative ability defied common sense. Lu Changsheng had clearly jolted and ruptured the monster's internal organs just now, yet in mere moments, they had healed. Even if he suffered massive wounds, so long as they were not immediately fatal, he could likely recover on the spot. Such regenerative power surpassed even that of a Divine Strength Realm martial artist. At the same level, demon martial artists overwhelmed human martial artists in virtually every aspect. *No, there is one area where demon martial artists fall short of humans: martial techniques!* *Although demon martial artists retain their sanity after demonizing, they become fanatical and bloodthirsty, entirely incapable of executing profound martial techniques.* *Technique is skill, and even more so, humanity's comprehension of the martial dao. Demon martial artists cannot comprehend the martial dao; what they chase is bloodline, flesh, and brute force!* A sharp glint flashed through Lu Changsheng's eyes. Old Man Wang had reached his peak upon demonizing, but Lu Changsheng had not reached his. In the next moment, Lu Changsheng's aura shifted. The colossus of qi and blood above his head swiftly dissolved into rolling ocean waves. *Whoosh—splash!* It was as though a surging tide were sweeping forward; the onlookers could all hear the roaring sound of crashing waves. *Boom.* Lu Changsheng threw another punch. This strike still carried the force of one hundred twenty tripods. Yet now it was imbued with an overbearing momentum, a martial conception that crashed against Old Man Wang like surging waves. Old Man Wang shuddered. In that instant, he felt as if he were no longer confronting a human Divine Strength Realm martial artist, but standing before an unrelenting, crashing sea. "Martial conception..." Experienced and knowledgeable, Old Man Wang immediately recognized what it was. It was unique to human martial artists—a conception drawn from comprehending heaven and earth, woven directly into their martial dao. For "Zhuang Thirteen" to unleash a technique imbued with martial conception was extraordinary. Old Man Wang could even sense that a second punch would inevitably follow, just like rolling ocean waves surging one after another. Sure enough, immediately following that first punch, Lu Changsheng's next strike surged forward in seamless succession. And this second punch was anything but ordinary. "Second Wave!" Lu Changsheng's qi and blood, muscles, and bones erupted in unison. Every shred of his power coalesced into this single blow. A fifty percent increase in power—a full strength of one hundred eighty tripods! The punch rushed toward Old Man Wang like a cataclysmic tidal wave from the depths of the ocean. Even Old Man Wang could not help throwing his head back in a furious roar, sensing mortal danger. Yet Lu Changsheng's punch crashed down regardless. Compared to the three-meter-tall monstrosity, Lu Changsheng looked like a child facing an adult. Yet when this "child" unleashed his fist, Old Man Wang felt as though Mount Tai itself were collapsing upon him. *Boom.* Lu Changsheng's fist smashed into Old Man Wang's torso. The monster's seemingly indestructible, demonized physique collapsed instantly, as fragile as a house of toy blocks. His three-meter-tall body exploded on the spot. Flesh and blood splattered everywhere as countless black bugs burst from his innards and rained onto the ground. Old Man Wang did not even have the chance to scream before his mighty frame was utterly obliterated. Silence. The entire street fell dead silent. The tens of thousands of terrifying insects that had just swarmed the streets seemed to lose their vitality the moment Old Man Wang blew apart, collapsing lifeless to the ground. Looking into the distance, vast stretches of Nanyang City were carpeted in black insect carcasses, presenting a striking sight. Lu Changsheng withdrew his qi and blood. He checked his internal condition; he was fine, practically uninjured. That terrifying power of one hundred eighty tripods was something even a demonized Old Man Wang could not withstand. Of course, it might also have been because Old Man Wang had only just completed his demonization, meaning his body had not yet tempered to its absolute peak. Regardless, Old Man Wang was dead. A demon martial artist—and one capable of demonization at that—had been smashed into pieces by Lu Changsheng's bare fist. *Martial conception...* Lu Changsheng vaguely felt that the "martial conception" of Triple Waves was the true key to dealing with demon martial artists. And this was only the Second Wave. If he ever mastered the full Triple Waves, even a demonized opponent like Old Man Wang would be slain with ease. Demon martial artists were truly bizarre. Lu Changsheng surveyed the pile of minced flesh, but nothing had survived the blast. Since there was no corpse left to loot, he could only search Old Man Wang's residence. Lu Changsheng walked straight into the Lin Family Mortuary. His nose had already memorized Old Man Wang's scent. In this vast mortuary, only a single coffin carried the old man's scent at its strongest. Lu Changsheng stepped up to the coffin and peered inside. There was only a single box within. Opening it, he found an old, yellowed manual. On its cover were inscribed three characters: *Blood Demon Scripture*. *The Blood Demon Scripture?* Lu Changsheng's heart stirred. From the title alone, it was evidently a text of demon martial arts. He had no intention of becoming a demon martial artist, but knowing one's enemy was half the battle. Now that one demon martial artist had surfaced, there certainly would not be just one. A second, a third, or even more might appear. Demon martial artists were thoroughly uncanny; gaining a deeper understanding of them could only work to his advantage. Lu Changsheng stowed the box away and walked back out. Outside, a few surviving constables and martial artists watched him emerge and bowed respectfully. "We thank Hero Zhuang for saving all of Nanyang City!" Lu Changsheng glanced at them, then nodded slightly. "You got lucky. Since you're alive, guard this place and wait for the authorities to clean up the battlefield. "Remember: gather all the fragmented remains of that demon martial artist and burn them to ashes to prevent any mishaps." Although Lu Changsheng doubted a demon martial artist could regenerate from minced meat, they were strange creatures that defied convention. Burning every scrap to ash would eradicate all future trouble! "Yes! We will certainly keep guard here." Hearing this, Lu Changsheng said no more. With a few bounding leaps, he vanished into the distance.