The Demon with Holy Radiance

A dense mass of silver tentacles burst from Hai Yun’s body, worming out of his seven orifices. They even emerged from his pitch-black eyes, forcibly squeezing out his eyeballs.

Even more tentacles gushed madly from Hai Yun’s mouth, rendering him unable to speak.

Yang An retreated rapidly. The Unidentified Arrow had already unleashed the might of a Forbidden Artifact. Everything now depended on whether this move could kill Hai Yun.

Before this, he had laid so much groundwork, even using an un-Purified and un-fused Forbidden Artifact Fragment at great personal cost. He had exhausted every trick up his sleeve, acting as if he were fighting for his life with reckless abandon.

It was all to make Hai Yun lower his guard, to make him confident enough to toy with him, all for the sake of this one surprise attack.

He knew because he still had one life-saving measure left—his only one. His only choice was to gamble, betting that Zhuan Yu hadn’t lied to him.

The price for unleashing the Forbidden Artifact’s power wouldn’t affect him, as he had already died once. The Power of Rules Zhuan Yu had given him would even absorb that backlash.

Fortunately, his gamble paid off. The scheme was a success, and he had driven the Unidentified Arrow into Hai Yun’s body.

’This is the perfect time to escape. I can’t attack Hai Yun again.’

He didn’t know if the Unidentified Arrow could kill Hai Yun, but he knew that if he delivered the final blow himself, it would only give Hai Yun a chance to resurrect.

Without a second thought, Yang An immediately activated the Light and Shadow Escape Technique. He didn’t care whether Hai Yun would be Sealed by the Unidentified Arrow; he was ready to abandon the weapon.

’They’re just worldly possessions. What could be more important than my own life?’

In an instant, he appeared a thousand meters away. Yang An was about to flee, seizing the chance to pass through the Broken Armor and make a desperate escape.

But just then, the same thing happened again: his body abruptly froze solid and instantly disintegrated.

’Not again?!’

In the blink of an eye, Yang An was back where he started, unable to move.

’This bastard! Even in his current state, he still won’t let me go. Damn it!’

Hai Yun was frantically trying to rip out the mass of silver tentacles erupting from his body, but he couldn’t get them all. The tentacles only grew more numerous, squeezing his flesh until it was grotesquely swollen, looking as if it might burst at any moment.

His body kept decomposing into countless black threads, reappearing along his previous trajectory, but the tentacles remained, clinging to him like maggots on a corpse. They didn’t change in the slightest; he was utterly unable to shake them off.

He started charging toward Yang An. He must have thought of something in his desperation. He thrust out a hand, trying to grab Yang An even as countless tentacles bound him tightly.

But his speed grew slower and slower, until he couldn’t even fly and was reduced to walking.

The silver tentacles on him had swelled into what looked like a great mountain on his back. Every step he took caused the ground to sink, burying his feet deep in the soil.

Even so, he was getting closer and closer to Yang An.

One hundred meters... eighty meters... fifty meters... thirty meters...

Yang An was held fast, unable to move. He instantly entered his Light Transformation state. He could feel Hai Yun’s aura drawing nearer and nearer. He didn’t know what the man was planning, but there was no doubt that the consequences would be dire if he got close.

But the force holding him felt like an impossibly heavy shackle, pinning him to the spot.

’Break!!!’

An immense torrent of light erupted from Yang An’s body as he desperately tried to melt the invisible shackles. But by now, Hai Yun, dragging the great silver mountain of tentacles, had arrived behind him.

His limbs and torso were completely ensnared by the countless silver tentacles, rendering him immobile.

But from within that great silver mountain, through a gap in the interwoven tentacles, a black, worm-like thread wriggled out and shot toward Yang An.

Even as it pushed against the light erupting from Yang An’s body, the black thread was continuously eroded, yet it still drew closer and closer.

Just when only a final, tiny segment of the black thread remained, poised to strike the back of Yang An’s neck...

At this perilous moment, a figure suddenly descended from the sky.

It was a figure shrouded in a white robe; neither its build nor its face was visible.

It wore a white mask covered in countless drawn lines that completely obscured its features, leaving not a single gap.

The figure landed right between Yang An and Hai Yun, then reached out and flicked a finger.

SNAP—

The final segment of the black thread, just about to pierce Yang An’s body, instantly shattered and disintegrated.

Then, the figure turned and struck out with its palm.

The silver tentacles that had already ensnared Hai Yun and were weighing him down suddenly accelerated as if infused with new life, growing even more turbulent and frenzied.

Swell! Swell! And swell again!

Once the swelling reached its absolute limit, the process reversed, and it began to rapidly contract!

Contract! Contract! And contract again!

An ear-piercing shriek erupted from within the contracting tentacles, echoing across the land before being abruptly cut short.

Everything happened too fast. Hai Yun had likely never expected this move from Yang An, much less that someone would intervene at the final moment to save him, only to end up being Sealed himself.

A few moments later, a thumb-sized silver bead fell from the sky and flew into the white-robed figure’s hand.

At the same time, the force binding Yang An vanished.

He collapsed to the ground, the light surrounding him fading rapidly. Looking at the figure behind him, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

"I knew you might come, Workshop Master, but I didn’t expect you to arrive so ’conveniently.’ As expected of the Workshop Master. There’s no business without a little bit of cunning, is there?"

"But still... thank you, Workshop Master!"