Immortality Cultivation

Chapter 288: Subduing [4]

Beneath Broken Blade Cliff, there was dead silence.

Only the thick Evil Qi churned silently, along with that floating soldier fiend spirit fire, emitting a faint, flickering light of intertwined dark red and platinum, illuminating the bizarre and shocking scene in the area.

Fang Hao’s palm, shimmering with a faint platinum and dark red luster, gripped the blade of the Soldier Soul’s broken axe like an iron vice—the weapon, while filled with monstrous Evil Qi, appeared illusory and dim.

The sharp Evil Qi remaining on the axe blade struck his palm, but only stirred a faint, water-like rippling light on the surface of his skin before quietly dissipating, failing to even create a single ripple.

Within the Soldier Soul’s hollow eye sockets, those two points of dark red flame danced frantically, conveying disbelief, fury, and a trace of... instinctive fear.

It could not understand why this tiny, heavily injured, and dying human insect before it had, in such a short moment, had its aura become so solid and heavy, even carrying a sharpness and heat that made even it feel suppressed.

It was even more unable to understand why its own strike, which had gathered its remaining strength and was capable of splitting mountains and breaking rocks, could be received so nonchalantly by the other party, to the point of not being able to shake him in the slightest!

Fang Hao slowly turned around, his movements steady yet carrying an indescribable sense of power.

With his back to the soldier fiend spirit fire, which had temporarily lost its target and appeared somewhat "bewildered," his gaze was calm, yet as cold as ten-thousand-year glacial ice, locked onto the Soldier Soul before him.

With the fourth level of the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Art, "Golden Qi Marrow Cleansing," reaching Perfection, and even having fused with a trace of the Origin characteristics of the Earth Core Flame Fire and the soldier fiend spirit fire, his Physical Body had undergone a transformative change.

At this moment, relying solely on his Physical Body, he no longer feared the attacks of ordinary Early Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and could even clash head-on with a Middle Stage Body Cultivator!

That seemingly casual grip just now was actually a manifestation of his newly born Physical Body’s strength; it was the ultimate display of his bones becoming like gold and jade, his Qi and blood like mercury, and his power becoming integrated after the "Golden Qi Marrow Cleansing" reached Perfection.

Although the Soldier Soul was strong, it had first been exhausted by Crimson Phoenix, then suffered backlash from the destruction of the fiend soul crystal, and finally, its angry strike had been greatly reduced in power by Fang Hao, who used finesse to break its strength and disrupt the spirit fire nodes. Now, it was at the end of its rope, with less than one-tenth of its power remaining; how could it possibly break through Fang Hao’s monstrous Physical Body defense?

"Roar... ant... die!"

After a brief moment of astonishment, the Soldier Soul’s violent instinct overcame its fear once again.

It let out a muffled roar, attempting to pull back the broken axe held by Fang Hao, while its other giant hand, formed from Evil Qi, brought with it a shrill whistling sound as its five fingers, like hooks, viciously clawed toward Fang Hao’s head!

The claw wind was fierce and the Evil Qi was overbearing; even an Early Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator would not dare to take it head-on.

However, Fang Hao’s movements were faster!

At the very instant the Soldier Soul’s giant claw reached him, Fang Hao’s right hand, which was gripping the axe blade, suddenly twisted and yanked!

Crack!

A crisp sound, like a dead branch snapping, rang out.

That phantom of the broken axe, condensed from pure Evil Qi and the killing intent of weapons, was, under the palm of Fang Hao which contained terrifying immense power, actually crushed and torn apart as if it were fragile glass!

The broken axe turned into gray-black fragments of Evil Qi that filled the sky, scattering in all directions!

The Soldier Soul’s massive body shuddered violently, and the arm connected to the broken axe instantly became illusory and unstable.

Its giant claw, which was reaching for Fang Hao’s head, also slightly faltered because of this.

It was in this moment of hesitation that Fang Hao moved!

His figure charged forward like a ghost; he did not retreat, but instead actively closed in on the Soldier Soul’s illusory chest!

His right fist, which had just completed the "Golden Qi Marrow Cleansing" and undergone a transformation, had no frills, only the most pure and primitive explosion of power!

Upon the fist, platinum light and dark red flame patterns intertwined, faintly accompanied by the sound of wind and thunder, and even more so, an overbearing will that was indestructible and could burn everything to ashes!

The power of the Hundred Refinements Golden Body at Perfection! The might of fusing a trace of strange fire characteristics!

"Break!"

A low shout, like a thunderclap exploding!

Fang Hao’s fist slammed viciously into the center of the Soldier Soul’s chest, which was condensed from Evil Qi!

Boom!!!

There was no earth-shattering roar, only a sound that was muffled to the extreme, like a heavy hammer striking rotten leather.

The Soldier Soul’s massive body, as if struck head-on by a speeding mountain, arched backward violently. At its chest, where Fang Hao’s fist had struck, a clear, huge fist mark that pierced through from front to back appeared!

Countless dense, gray-black Evil Qi surged and dissipated madly from the fist mark like a fountain!

"Roar... howl..."

The Soldier Soul let out a wail that was incomparably shrill, full of pain and unwillingness.

It attempted to condense Evil Qi to repair the hole in its chest, but the platinum sharpness and the trace of scorching heat remaining in the fist mark were like maggots on a bone, constantly eroding and destroying its Evil Qi core, making it difficult to condense.

Its figure became transparent and dim at a speed visible to the naked eye, and its aura was like a candle in the wind, declining rapidly.

Fang Hao did not let up while he had the advantage; he knew that for an existence condensed from obsession and Evil Qi, unless its core was completely destroyed, it would be extremely difficult to kill.

He took a step forward, his left hand reaching out like lightning, his five fingers forming a claw, platinum light spitting from his fingertips, viciously clawing toward the Soldier Soul’s head (if that could be considered a head) where the two points of dark red flame were dancing!

He wanted to crush its core and completely end this collection of resentment remaining from the ancient battlefield!

"Un... willing... My Lord... Dao fire..."

The Soldier Soul seemed to feel a true death threat; those two points of dark red flame danced violently, conveying chaos, unwillingness, and a trace of deep attachment and protective obsession toward that soldier fiend spirit fire.

It struggled, wanting to self-destruct, wanting to perish together with Fang Hao, but the fist mark on its chest, which was constantly leaking Evil Qi and eroding its core, made it difficult for it to even self-destruct.

Just as Fang Hao’s claw was about to touch the Soldier Soul’s illusory head—

Suddenly, a change occurred!

The soldier fiend spirit fire that had been floating beneath the cavity of Broken Blade Cliff, appearing somewhat "bewildered," seemed to sense the Soldier Soul’s dying despair and its attachment to it, and suddenly began to dance violently!

The flame, intertwined with dark red and platinum, suddenly expanded and contracted, and a fluctuation that was more violent, more chaotic, yet also more purely scorching than before, erupted from within it!

Immediately following this, in Fang Hao’s astonished gaze, that soldier fiend spirit fire actually transformed into a streak of fire intertwined with dark red and platinum. It no longer attacked Fang Hao, nor did it try to escape, but instead, like a swallow returning to its nest, it actively and extremely swiftly shot toward Fang Hao’s right fist—the one that, due to the "Golden Qi Marrow Cleansing" reaching Perfection, was emitting a faint platinum and dark red luster, and had just struck the Soldier Soul!

No, more accurately, it shot toward the wound on his right fist, the one that had been stained by a trace of the Soldier Soul’s dissipating Evil Qi from the recent strike, and which also retained a trace of the aura from the confrontation between the Earth Core Flame Fire and the soldier fiend spirit fire!