At this point, Shen Kangren ground his teeth, fury almost bursting from his eyes.
He knew that, in theory, he could use the blood and flesh he’d reclaimed to reform into a blade and pierce the beast’s body from within. That move had never failed him. Yet against this divine beast, every drop of blood and flesh he poured in vanished like a stone sinking into the ocean—with no response at all. That was what scared him most. If it continued, this creature might truly devour him entirely.
“You—what exactly are you?” he snarled.
“Who are you asking about? That’s Xiao Bai. Or you can call him the White Deity—he lives up to the name,” Ye Yu replied, stepping forward. Beside him stood Wu Kai, his face ashen. Wu Kai had been horrified to find nearly the entire Wuzhong Mountain clan slaughtered—only their lord, Taishi Xiaxin, remained alive, his body shriveled and gaunt. Overcome by duty, Wu Kai had rushed in, dragging Taishi Xiaxin away without a backward glance.
Shen Kangren paid no mind to their escape. His eyes stayed fixed on Yinghuo and Yu Buxia—until they too vanished from his sight.
They had not fled the battlefield, but moved to Ye Yu’s side. Though Yu Buxia led the way, she halted first, allowing Yinghuo to throw herself into Ye Yu’s arms.
“I knew it! You’re alive—you had to be alive!” Yinghuo cried, nearly incoherent with relief.
Yu Buxia remained silent, standing to the side as a backdrop to their reunion.
Ye Yu gently patted Yinghuo’s back, his eyes full of tenderness. Xiao Bai laughed and said, “Congratulations to Big Brother and Second Sister on your reunion! Second Sister, why are you still stunned? Let me use my Memory Stone to take a photo—celebrate your happiness!”
“Second Sister?” Ye Yu’s brow creased in confusion. Yu Buxia blushed, stammering, “Don’t—don’t listen to Xiao Bai’s nonsense! It—”
Before she could finish, a coarse voice cut in.
“You worthless fools! Do you even respect me? Showing off your reunion here? Believe me or not, I’ll devour you all right now!”
The Blood Flesh Evil God Shen Kangren thundered with fury. He had never been dared to be ignored since reaching the Divine Lord Realm. Were these antlike gods insane?
“I don’t believe you—if you’ve got the guts, try it. Let’s see whether I devour you first or you devour them first!”
Xiao Bai stepped forward, thumping its flat belly with supreme arrogance. Ye Yu, Yinghuo, and Yu Buxia exchanged looks of admiration—only Xiao Bai would taunt a Divine Lord.
At that moment, Ye Yu noticed Shen Kangren’s aura: he truly was at Divine Lord Realm level now, far beyond what he’d shown in the dream realm. How had he grown so much ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) stronger?
To be safe, Ye Yu sent a thought to Xiao Bai: “How are you holding up? Want to finish him off, or should I fetch you some antidote?”
“Big Brother,” Xiao Bai replied, “if I could finish him, would I be chatting here? Honestly, I’m about to collapse. I really feel like vomiting!”
Ye Yu’s heart sank. He knew well how formidable Divine Lord power could be. The only reason Shen Kangren hadn’t attacked was fear of Xiao Bai. If Xiao Bai threw up, it meant he hadn’t fully devoured Shen Kangren—and then Shen Kangren would risk everything to kill them all. So Xiao Bai must not vomit.
Before Ye Yu could dissuade him, Xiao Bai’s belly trembled—and then—
“Ugh!!!”
Like a waterfall from the sky, Xiao Bai vomited the blood and flesh it had just consumed. Shen Kangren paused in shock, then burst into mocking laughter. So the beast had been bluffing. Shen Kangren had even begun to consider retreat—until his supposed prey gave up first.
“Heh! Impressive creature, but ancient god or not, you’re nothing to me!”
Leaping into the air, Shen Kangren unleashed a torrent of blackened blood and flesh across the mountain range. Obeying his will, countless tendrils surged toward Xiao Bai, Ye Yu, Yinghuo, and Yu Buxia.
“Xiao Bai, hang in there—you can’t chicken out now!” Yinghuo and Yu Buxia cried.
But only one sound answered:
“Ugh!”
Xiao Bai was still vomiting. Ye Yu’s blood ran cold: Yinghuo and Yu Buxia had exhausted their divine strength, and now Xiao Bai was incapacitated. The only hope lay with Ye Yu himself—but a New God Realm cultivator facing a Divine Lord Realm foe seemed sheer madness.
He had to act—and fast. A daring plan flashed through his mind. Ye Yu drew a repeating crossbow and fired. Three thousand bolts shot forward, carving out a vacuum in the blackened carnage.
This was Evil God Termination, a supreme artifact from his dream realm whose power grew with the malice of its target.
Shen Kangren eyed the crossbow and sneered. “A fine weapon—but you really think that’ll kill me, ant?”
He spat the word “ant” with contempt. Clearly, he believed a New God Realm cultivator could never slay him with a mere tool. Unsheathing the crossbow, Ye Yu did not plan to rely on it alone.
He closed the distance, ignoring the writhing blood-flesh tendrils, and spoke softly, “What I’m saying, you understand better than I do. Shen Kangren, you may be strong, but you are not invincible. If killing you had not come at too great a cost, you’d be dead already. So step aside now, and I’ll pretend none of this happened. How’s that?”
Shen Kangren was silent for a long moment, then arched an eyebrow and sneered, “Boy, you’re trying to bluff me?”
“Yes, I am! If you don’t believe it, strike me and see who dies first!”
Ye Yu showed no fear, his tone brimming with challenge as he awaited Shen Kangren’s move. Such confidence made Shen Kangren pause. Could this be a ploy—playing the fool to catch a tiger?
Before Shen Kangren could dwell further, Ye Yu pressed on, “I knew you wouldn’t dare. Save your energy—go back and heal, before you succumb to your own blood-flesh fusion and disintegrate!”
At those words, Shen Kangren’s eyes snapped wide open. This boy knew too much—he must know of Tong Fang’s dying curse. Otherwise, how could he mention it?
Fear twisted Shen Kangren’s heart, and he silently retracted his blood and flesh. His body slowly retreated, yet his gaze remained fixed on Ye Yu, as if trying to see through him.
Just then, Shen Kangren’s glance flicked to the side, catching sight of Xiao Bai still vomiting.
“A pet reflects its master,” he muttered. Perhaps Ye Yu was the same—an ant playing at strength, bluffing with borrowed power. What if it was all guesswork?
His mind raced. Then, with a thought, he gathered the endless blood and flesh into a colossal axe—the Earth-Splitting God Axe. Its massive blade blotted out the sky, plunging the area into darkness. He kept feeding it, the stench of fresh blood thick in the air, the oppressive aura climbing to its peak.
With a roar, the axe swung down toward Ye Yu—a strike containing Shen Kangren’s full might. The axe rent the very space around them.
Instinctively, Ye Yu recoiled, but the corpses of the Wuzhong Mountain clan, animated by tendrils of blood and flesh, rose to seal every escape.
With no room to retreat, Ye Yu met Shen Kangren’s gaze and shouted, “Arrogant fiend!”
The axe landed upon Ye Yu, yet golden light flared around him. Not a scratch marred him. The blood-flesh axe shattered into pieces—and in that instant, Shen Kangren’s figure vanished from the ground.
