SWOOSH!
Gu Zheng shot into the air, leaped over the Demon Fiend's head, and then plummeted back down.
His right fist, wreathed in bronze light and surging with Divine Wondrous power, tore through the air and slammed into the Demon Fiend's back.
THWUMP—
The ferocious force of the punch erupted, compressing the air with a muffled boom.
The Demon Fiend's massive, bloated body was instantly flattened into a fleshy pancake. However, it didn't shatter or explode.
It was like a huge piece of Jell-O or Rubber, incredibly elastic, and it dispersed the force of the blow with silky smoothness.
Gu Zheng could obliterate other Demon Fiends with a single punch, but this fat, bloated one actually withstood it. It redirected all the force outward, slamming it into the ground. Powerful Qi shot out, sending rubble flying and dust billowing. Amidst the chaos, its flattened body rapidly scuttled away.
TAP.
Gu Zheng landed, watched the fleeing Demon Fiend for half a second, then shot into the air again in pursuit.
While still in mid-air, he once again dropped ferociously toward the fat Demon Fiend on the ground.
This time, the power swelling in his bronze right arm doubled. It surged with Divine Wondrous energy as he struck his target.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He landed ten punches in an instant, each one concentrated on a single point.
With extreme speed, ferocious power, and terrifying force, he didn't pause for a breath, giving the fat, ugly Demon Fiend no chance to disperse the impacts.
BOOM—!
With a muffled explosion, the fat Demon Fiend finally burst apart into pieces of shredded flesh.
Scarlet Blood Pearls were mixed in with the remains, scattering across the ground.
Gu Zheng performed Spirit Capturing from a distance.
[Demon Points +7]
In his equipment slot, the Bloodshed meter showed it was incomplete and needed to be replenished.
'One still isn't enough?'
Gu Zheng raised an eyebrow, retracted the bronze light from his arm, and headed deeper into Great Dragon Mountain.
He immediately allocated all the Demon Points he had just gained to his Spirit stat.
Instantly, he could clearly sense any disturbance within a radius of several dozen meters.
There were no Demon Fiends in sight for the moment.
He strode forward a hundred meters and set foot on a steep slope when a faint, strange sound reached his ears.
It sounded like an egg cracking or a fruit breaking out of its husk.
Gu Zheng immediately stopped. Following the sound, he saw that a few dozen yards to his right, under a dead, leafless black tree entwined with blood-red vines, a palm-sized fruit was suspended four feet in the air, perfectly still. It was crystal clear, with a pale purple outer layer and a silver light glinting within.
"...A Source Fruit?"
Slightly surprised, Gu Zheng walked over and used Spirit Capturing from a distance.
WHOOSH—
The purple fruit immediately flew toward Gu Zheng and landed in his palm.
"This must be a Source Fruit, right?"
Gu Zheng looked down, examining the fruit in his hand, which had no fruity fragrance whatsoever.
Suddenly, the fruit vanished and appeared in one of his equipment slots.
[Source Fruit: Satiation]
'It really is a Source Fruit!'
The effect of this one, after being eaten, was to completely fill a person's stomach, eliminating the need to eat for three days.
"Interesting."
Gu Zheng smiled. These Source Fruits were born from the evolution of the Power of Rules. Normally, you wouldn't know their effects until you ate them.
However, the automatic storage and identification function of his equipment slot allowed Gu Zheng to know the effect of each Source Fruit in advance.
He wouldn't be like others who, upon finding a Source Fruit, were essentially opening a mystery box when they ate it.
'A Source Fruit has appeared so soon.'
Gu Zheng scanned his surroundings, trying to see if there were any more Source Fruits.
Through his Dark Vision, he could see a scarlet aura flowing through the air.
The plants on Great Dragon Mountain all seemed to have mutated, becoming sinister and terrifying.
Gu Zheng slowed his pace, searching for Source Fruits as he walked.
There was no pattern to where these Source Fruits appeared; they could show up anywhere, from the outskirts of Great Dragon Mountain to its inner regions and its very core.
He extended his Spirit and focused on listening.
Suddenly, a Fire Snake shot out from a corner like a bolt of lightning, heading straight for Gu Zheng.
SWOOSH—
As if he had already anticipated it, Gu Zheng retreated and moved to the right, swiftly dodging the attack.
In the next instant, he stomped his foot on the ground, leaving a deep, cratered footprint. His entire body shot forward, breaking the sound barrier. With a whistle, his fist, wreathed in bronze light, smashed into a boulder over two meters tall.
BOOM!
The explosive sound echoed through the wilderness.
The boulder shattered, letting out a pained and furious beast-like roar.
The shattered pieces of rock each opened a mouth. Their corporeal skin turned pitch-black, glowing with a deep red light. Before Gu Zheng's slightly surprised eyes, they rapidly reassembled, reforming into an Iron Shell Demon Fiend over two meters tall.
ROAR—
The Iron Shell Demon Fiend roared, then rolled along the ground, hurtling toward Gu Zheng.
As it rolled, it gathered streams of Fire Snakes that burned the air and attacked ferociously.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
TAP!
Gu Zheng leaped high into the air, dodging the Fire Snakes and the Iron Shell Demon Fiend's frontal assault. He flipped over onto its back and slammed a punch down.
His fist, wreathed in bronze light, unleashed a force of one hundred thousand jin.
BANG—
The Iron Shell Demon Fiend exploded, shattering into small pieces again. Its volume remained the same, but its texture began to soften and degrade.
Its pained roars were much louder than the last time.
It still reassembled rapidly. The Iron Shell Demon Fiend conjured more Fire Snakes to attack Gu Zheng, but its two-meter-tall body began rolling backward.
'It's running?'
Gu Zheng gave a short cry, quickly dodged the Fire Snakes, and leaped up to give chase.
WHOOSH—
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The ground trembled as the Iron Shell Demon Fiend rolled rapidly ahead, smashing boulders and plowing through trees, carving a path two meters wide in its wake.
Gu Zheng finally caught up, descending from the air with a furious punch.
BANG—!!
The muffled explosion sent a shockwave across the mountaintop.
The Iron Shell Demon Fiend burst apart into small pieces, its pained cries now feeble.
The shattered rocks scattered across the ground and did not reassemble.
'Is it dead?'
Gu Zheng glanced around but saw no scarlet Blood Pearls.
An idea struck him. He stomped on one of the rock fragments, gathering his strength to crush it.
ROAR!!
The pained cry suddenly intensified. The small rock fragments scattered on the ground quickly reassembled, reforming into the Iron Shell Demon Fiend, which then rolled away in a panic.
Gu Zheng pursued it.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG—
...
「Ten minutes later.」
With a faint, choked sound, the Iron Shell Demon Fiend finally died, revealing over a dozen scarlet Blood Pearls.
[Demon Points +16]
At the same time, a new ability appeared in his Demon Techniques column.
Fire Manipulation!
'Not Shatter and Reassemble? Or Camouflage Petrification?'
Understanding the meaning of Fire Manipulation, Gu Zheng blinked, the corners of his mouth turning up.
"Fire Manipulation is good too."
This Fire Manipulation allowed him to gather the Fire Element from the air and solidify it into specific shapes. He could also command flames that were already burning.
Killing the Iron Shell Demon Fiend had been a process of repeatedly blowing it apart, a battle of sheer attrition.
Fortunately, the Bloodshed from a single one was enough to generate a Demon Technique.
Glancing around, Gu Zheng found himself standing at the entrance to a valley.
'There's a valley on Great Dragon Mountain? I don't remember one.'
This nearby valley was undoubtedly part of the Demon Fiends' world—a region that had overlapped with Great Dragon Mountain.
Gu Zheng sensed for a moment. Detecting no danger, he walked forward a dozen or so meters.
A crystal-clear, pale purple fruit appeared in his line of sight.
"Another Source Fruit..."
Gu Zheng chuckled, reaching out, preparing for Absorption.
WHOOSH!
A powerful gust of wind suddenly shot toward him from his front left.
SWOOSH!
Gu Zheng retreated and moved to the right. As he stopped, a vaguely familiar voice rang out.
"I saw that Source Fruit first!"