The instant Gu Zheng sensed it, the Demon Fiend suddenly opened its mouth and inhaled sharply, pulling at him.
"Ngh!"
Gu Zheng's face suddenly flushed crimson, his eyes bulging and bloodshot.
As his body went rigid, it felt as if his very soul was about to be torn from its vessel.
A Demon Technique!
The Demon Fiend was unleashing a terrifying technique!
Gu Zheng resisted with all his might, slowly turning to face the Demon Fiend.
In the next moment, he threw his mouth open and let loose a long roar in the direction where the Demon Fiend stood.
"ROAR—!"
The sound waves billowed out, twisting the air and creating ripples visible to the naked eye.
In an instant, the shockwave erupted, tearing through the air and striking the Demon Fiend with swift precision as it used its Demon Technique.
With a hoarse, low cry, the Demon Fiend's technique was interrupted. Its invisible form flickered into view as it tumbled uncontrollably from the force of the shockwave, landing more than a hundred feet away.
It really was a dinosaur-like Demon Fiend, similar to a velociraptor.
However, its skin wasn't dull like a dinosaur's. Instead, it was a pale blue, slick and smooth as if it had been coated in layer after layer of oil.
THUD!
His foot slammed into the ground, leaving a deep print surrounded by cracks.
The very instant the Demon Fiend appeared, Gu Zheng took control of his body and charged forward with explosive force.
Unleashing the power of his Bronze Body, he didn't bother with any fancy moves. He directly mobilized the Divine Wondrous power within him and smashed his fist into the head of the two-meter-tall Demon Fiend.
"SPLAT—!"
Like a shattering watermelon, the snarling Demon Fiend's head completely exploded, splattering a shower of silver-blue blood.
Its body, which had been about to rise, fell back to the ground. It twitched twice, then went still.
"Hoo!"
Gu Zheng deactivated his Bronze Elephant Body and let out a long breath, which formed an arrow of vapor that lingered in the air.
He looked down at the Demon Fiend's corpse, calming his roiling blood and enduring the dull ache in his muscles. The only thing he couldn't do anything about was the incessant growling in his stomach.
'I'm starving.' He had been transformed for less than a minute, but an intense wave of hunger washed over him the moment he deactivated it.
At this moment, Gu Zheng felt like he could eat an entire cow.
'Unfortunately, I don't dare try the Demon Flesh. Who knows if it's poisonous.'
'But the Bloodshed inside the Demon Fiend can't be wasted.'
Gu Zheng immediately drew his blade and began to dissect the velociraptor-like Demon Fiend.
Whether it was because it was already dead, he wasn't sure, but the Demon Fiend's corpse was not difficult to cut open.
Gu Zheng quickly found seven scarlet Blood Pearls.
[Demon Points +7]
A notification flashed in his mind. As it appeared before his eyes, a new ability was added to the Demon Techniques section of his panel.
Spirit Capturing!
The Absorption of a living being's Spirit Essence, Spiritual nature, and soul!
It wasn't quite soul-devouring—feeding on souls for sustenance—but this Spirit Capturing was tyrannical enough.
Whether it was an animal, a person, or even a Demon Fiend, as long as it possessed Spirit Essence, a Spiritual nature, or a soul, this technique could absorb it and tear it from the physical body.
Of course, if the target's Spirit was powerful and their will incredibly tenacious, Absorption wouldn't be so simple.
'When that Demon Fiend used its technique just now, it was trying to perform an Absorption on my soul. But because equipping the Demon Elephant Fang strengthened my Spirit several times over, it couldn't succeed immediately.'
'Instead, I seized the opportunity to rush in and kill it.'
Gu Zheng clenched his fist.
He committed this to memory.
It was like how Super-speed Self-healing wasn't the same as Rebirth; if your head was chopped off, you would still die.
When using Spirit Capturing, if the target's Spirit was too powerful, the user's own consciousness would be affected. It wasn't a true backlash, but the momentary sluggishness from the rebound was unavoidable.
However, in a battle between masters, a moment of sluggishness was a death sentence!
...
'Absorbing a soul directly requires immense Spiritual Power as a foundation. I wonder if absorbing the Bloodshed from a Demon Fiend's body would be easier?'
Having calmed down, Gu Zheng had a sudden thought.
'Bloodshed, this special kind of Blood Pearl, should also be a form of Spirit Essence.'
'If I could perform Absorption on the Bloodshed right through the body, I wouldn't have to dissect them after every kill.'
'Dissecting Demon Fiends to get the Bloodshed has to be done away from prying eyes.'
'Once or twice is fine, but over time, it'll not only be a hassle, but it'll also easily arouse suspicion.'
'I'll try it next time!'
Having made his decision, Gu Zheng set off again.
He paid no mind to the Demon Fiend corpse on the ground. Whether it was devoured by other fiends or left to rot was of no consequence.
He passed through the village littered with rocks and stone slabs and arrived at the first village, where zombies now shambled about.
Gu Zheng didn't stop, dodging one living corpse after another as he rushed out of the village.
He was just about to reach the ruins where the well was located when two Demon Fiends burst from a corner. They had the bodies of rats and the tails of snakes and were a third larger than the Demon Rats he had killed before. They shrieked as they pounced on him.
SWISH SWISH~
SWOOSH!
The two Demon Rats and Gu Zheng flashed past each other.
Gu Zheng was completely unscathed, but a grisly gash appeared on the back of each Demon Rat. However, the wounds healed almost instantly, leaving them good as new.
...
"Hm? Who's that?"
Over three hundred meters away, on a low slope, a party of two men and one woman had just crested the hill. They stopped in their tracks as they saw Gu Zheng and the Demon Rats flash past one another, with only the fiends taking any damage.
The young woman, dressed in a long green gown that accentuated her exquisite figure, crossed her arms. She watched Gu Zheng's ensuing battle with the Demon Rats with great interest. "His Martial Arts are quite good," she commented, gazing across the distance. "He can keep up with the speed of a Cyan Light Demon Fiend."
"...This old servant seems to recognize him," Jiang Mingjiu said softly from behind the young woman. He focused his gaze, carefully studying the rapidly moving Gu Zheng.
"Oh? Mr. Jiang, you know who he is?" Nangong Yaoyue asked, a little surprised.
"Yes. That should be Gu Zheng, the 'Celestial Frost Blade'."
Jiang Mingjiu nodded and replied quietly, "This is Qingshi County, and Gu Zheng is a native. This servant met him once. At the time, Gu Zheng was with Li Cunyi, who introduced us."
"Li Cunyi?"
Beside Nangong Yaoyue stood Dongfang He, dressed in a long white robe, his expression a mask of arrogance. He raised an eyebrow and sneered, "Li Cunyi? The youngest Grandmaster in the Jing Country?"
"...Yes."
Jiang Mingjiu nodded. "Before recent events, Li Cunyi was not only the youngest Grandmaster, but also one of the top three Grandmaster experts in the Jing Country. That Gu Zheng was hailed as the next Li Cunyi. If it weren't for the Celestial Change, he would have surpassed Li Cunyi to become the country's youngest Grandmaster."
"Ha!"
Upon hearing this, Dongfang He couldn't help but laugh aloud. "This 'youngest Grandmaster' title seems quite prestigious, doesn't it? Jiang Mingjiu, did you ever vie for it in your youth? Oh, that's right, I forgot. You were already fifty when you became a Grandmaster. My apologies, my apologies."
"Still, being able to follow the Nangong family now, your future prospects are surely not limited to mere Grandmaster status... even if it is as a servant."
"Dongfang He!"
Before Jiang Mingjiu could respond, Nangong Yaoyue's expression turned icy. "Dongfang He!" she snapped. "You're incredibly proud of yourself, aren't you? Always looking down on this person and that one. If it weren't for your bloodline, how much better do you think you'd be?"
"You look down on Mr. Jiang? You look down on Grandmasters? Why don't you take a closer look? What realm is that Gu Zheng in right now?"
Hm?
Dongfang He's anger hadn't even flared up yet. His expression froze. "What realm? Isn't he just..."
His words died in his throat.
Jiang Mingjiu, whose face had been calm despite his inner turmoil, also saw his expression change drastically.
In the distance, Gu Zheng's fight against the Demon Rats suddenly accelerated.
To Jiang Mingjiu's eyes, Gu Zheng's figure had become completely invisible, leaving only an afterimage that flickered in and out of existence.
The two Demon Rats were constantly spurting blood and shrieking without end. They tried to escape, but Gu Zheng had them tangled up, giving them no quarter.
"This Gu Zheng has broken his limits."
Nangong Yaoyue's eyes flashed with a brilliant light. "His power and speed have both reached the Alien Body Realm. He's already revealing his true prowess."
Dongfang He fell silent, his expression dark.
As for Jiang Mingjiu, his eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape, his face a mask of utter disbelief.
'How is this possible!'
'Just over a year ago, when I met Gu Zheng, he was merely a first-rate expert.'
'In just one year, Gu Zheng has broken through to Grandmaster, broken his limits again, and stepped into the brand-new Alien Body Realm?!'
Jiang Mingjiu cried out in his heart, unable to accept it.
And yet, as he watched, Gu Zheng used his post-limit-break speed to successfully behead both Demon Rats, completing the hunt.
The irrefutable results were right before his eyes, leaving Jiang Mingjiu no choice but to believe.
"Oh? This Gu Zheng also knows the Soul Capturing Technique?"