Chapter 113: Great Terror

Boom!

Two bursts of flame erupted from the Black Demon Race warrior. Staggering backward from the Spirit Energy explosion, it retreated a few more steps, blood gushing from its mangled arm.

"Hmm, its Demonic Body is remarkably strong. No wonder this Foreign Race specializes in cultivating such physiques. Cultivators simply don't stand a chance against that kind of physical power."

Roar!

Enraged by its injury, the Black Demon roared furiously, its pitch-black eyes blazing with rage. Throwing caution to the wind, it charged heedlessly at Han Yi, a putrid stench of blood and malice filling the air.

Han Yi dared not lower his guard. Though his Grand Void Body allowed him to instantly revive within the Grand Void Illusionary Realm, he sensed that escaping death wouldn't be so simple. Staying alive was always the best option.

With a flicker of movement, Han Yi vanished from his spot. The Black Demon's fist slammed into the empty space where he had stood, grasping only a lingering afterimage.

In the next instant, ten Spirit Void Fingers descended from behind the Black Demon like a volley of arrows, each piercing the spot where the last had struck, burrowing into its chest.

If its defenses are so strong, I'll shatter them with concentrated force.

The first Spirit Void Finger ruptured the skin. The second tore through flesh and muscle. The third blasted apart tendons. The fourth ignited its internal organs...

After a series of explosions, only the corpse of a Black Demon Race warrior remained, its chest torn open by the Spirit Void Fingers.

Han Yi turned his gaze to the surrounding carnage, his expression growing increasingly grave.

"According to Demon Race records, the taller and larger their Demonic Bodies, the more exponentially their strength increases. If a three-meter-tall demon possesses such formidable defenses, how powerful must that four-meter-tall giant slain by the Sword Immortal have been? Even a Peak Qi Refinement cultivator might struggle to defeat it."

Han Yi pondered this possibility, but such speculation was futile in the present situation. He swiftly followed the energy signatures of the other cultivators, charging forward.

Moments later, they arrived at a towering Stone Palace, roughly thirty meters tall. The structure lacked any refinement, appearing almost haphazardly constructed from countless massive boulders. Its dark brown exterior was adorned with bizarre crimson talismans, vaguely suggesting a ritualistic tribute to some Demon God.

A luminous pillar, as thick as a water bucket, shot skyward from the palace's peak, stretching endlessly into the heavens.

At the apex of the Stone Palace, a shimmering, illusory token hovered within the radiant column, its colors shifting unpredictably as it bobbed uncertainly, as if on the verge of shattering at any moment.

"That must be the so-called Grand Void Token," Han Yi murmured.

Han Yi withdrew his gaze from the ethereal token and surveyed his surroundings. Four cultivators stood guard around the Giant Stone Palace, positioned at the cardinal directions.

Two of them, hovering in the air, immediately drew his attention. Han Yi peered at them, his heart skipping a beat.

One was the Sword Immortal he had encountered earlier, wielding two azure Spirit Swords. The other was a young man meditating in the void, before whom stood nine foot-tall battle flags, each bearing a different color.

On the ground stood two more cultivators: one wielding a halberd, the other a crimson longsword.

When Han Yi recognized the halberd-wielding cultivator, his heart skipped again. The aura emanating from the halberd closely resembled that of a Magic Artifact he had once acquired. According to He Fangwei of the Nine Dragons Merchant Guild, the halberd carried the national fortune aura of the Great Qian Immortal Kingdom.

The auras of all four cultivators were as deep as the abyss and as vast as the sea.

Han Yi's eyes shimmered with a faint golden light as he scrutinized them. Then, he shifted his gaze to the other cultivators who had gathered on the periphery, like himself.

"So powerful... they're all so powerful."

Judging by their auras, the four leading cultivators far surpassed the Qi Refining Stage, yet had not reached the Foundation Establishment Stage. Comparable to the top two cultivators on the Profound Pill Sect's Earth Ranking, they were undoubtedly Legendary Qi Refining Cultivators.

The weakest cultivators who had managed to reach this place were either seasoned Ninth Layer Qi Refining experts or those at the peak of Qi Refining. Over seventy percent were Peak Qi Refining cultivators.

"The Grand Void Token has fully materialized. Let's begin."

"After eliminating the Patriarch of the Cang Seven Division, each of you will compete for the Grand Void Token Fragments according to your own abilities."

The speaker was a cultivator meditating in the void, nine nine-colored battle flags planted before him.

No sooner had his words faded than a deep, guttural roar echoed from within the Stone Palace, carrying a primal aura of vastness and savagery.

The palace doors swung open, and a Black Demon Race warrior, towering over six meters tall, emerged from the Ancestral Temple. Each step he took shook the ground.

He muttered in the Ancient Demonic Language. What Han Yi had initially mistaken for a roar was merely his low murmur. Han Yi glanced over, and his pale golden eyes instantly stung, forcing him to instinctively close them.

When he reopened his eyes, he dared not use his Qi Observation Technique to investigate further.

Powerful, immensely powerful.

The Patriarch of the Cang Seven Division, a Demon Race member barely six meters tall, exuded an aura far beyond the scope of the Qi Refining Stage.

As he strode forward, the four Legendary Qi Refining cultivators surrounding the Stone Palace visibly paled.

"He's broken through! Kill him!"

The Sword Immortal, standing atop his Spirit Sword, his face contorted in shock, had already unleashed a Spirit Sword with lightning speed. Even before his words had faded, the blade streaked forward, brimming with killing intent and leaving a shimmering trail.

At that very moment...

The Patriarch of the Black Demon Race emerged from the stone hut, his lantern-sized obsidian eyes sweeping over the assembled human cultivators with a flicker of inexplicable disdain. Then, with lightning swiftness, he unleashed a devastating punch.

Time seemed to freeze. Han Yi found his mind racing, yet his body remained immobile. Through his paralyzed vision, he saw the others similarly frozen.

Boom!

The Spirit Sword launched by the Sword Immortal had barely cleared the ground when the black fist slammed into it, shattering its azure glow. A mournful cry echoed as the fist struck the Sword Immortal himself, pulverizing him into a cloud of bloody mist in mid-air.

The speed was unfathomable. If a kshana were the shortest unit of time, and a Qi Refining cultivator could launch ten attacks in a single kshana, then the Patriarch of the Cang Seven Division could unleash twenty punches in the same fleeting moment.

A primal terror seized Han Yi's mind.

Yet his body remained paralyzed.

It wasn't just Han Yi; even the four Legendary Qi Refining cultivators at the front were frozen in place, except for the Sword Immortal who had been blasted into oblivion.

The next moment, time resumed its normal flow.

No, "resumed" wasn't quite accurate. It was more like everyone finally caught up to what had happened.

Boom!!

Simultaneously, the sound of the punch reverberated. The fist had moved so fast that the sonic boom and the Sword Immortal's explosive demise rang out at the same instant, indistinguishable from each other.

Escape.

Han Yi's Heavenly Void Body instinctively turned to flee. The overwhelming terror surging through his Divine Soul hadn't dissipated; instead, it intensified relentlessly, as if endlessly shattering through successive peaks.

The Patriarch of the Cang Seven Division of the Black Demon Race, having stepped out of the Stone Palace, transformed his fist into an open palm after obliterating the Sword Immortal with a mid-air punch. With a sweeping motion, he slapped aside a crimson longsword hurtling through the air. Without slowing, he slammed his palm downward, crushing the Legendary Qi Refining cultivator who had been wielding the Blood Sword into the ground.

Splat.

Han Yi, who had barely managed to turn his head, witnessed this scene. The horror within him surged like a colossal tidal wave.

Roar!!

Having obliterated the Sword Immortal with a punch and crushed another Legendary cultivator with a palm strike, the Patriarch roared skyward.

Han Yi couldn't describe the terror of that roar. The instant it reached him, a searing pain exploded in his mind, silencing all other sounds.

Simultaneously, a terrifying shockwave swept through his body.

Shattering. He could feel his body fracturing into countless shards under the force of the shockwave. A brief but excruciating pain pierced his Divine Soul just before his consciousness dissolved.

The power of a single roar was utterly terrifying.