The Imperial Martial Pill Venerable

The Poisonous Fog was impossible to defend against. Even though the black-robed man had sealed his vital points, it was utterly useless. The moment he tried to use his Demonic Qi, the fog would follow the energy and invade his body. Now, his Demonic Qi felt as if it were bound by shackles—heavy and incredibly difficult to wield. His combat strength had plummeted to a mere thirty percent!

"Damn it! I thought that kid had exhausted all his tricks, but I never expected him to pull out something so bizarre." The black-robed man’s expression was terrifyingly grim. His eyes pierced through the Poisonous Fog to fix on Qin Ya, flashing with icy killing intent!

"Even with my power diminished, I’m still more than you can handle!"

"Then try me!"

The moment they finished speaking, the two figures slammed into each other, unleashing powerful, rippling shockwaves. Sword Qi and Palm Qi crisscrossed the air. Within a radius of hundreds of yards, the ground looked as if it had been ravaged by two giant beasts, leaving nothing but a chaotic mess of rubble and ruins.

They fought from the ground to the sky, and from the sky back down to the ground. The air constantly erupted with thunderous booms from the collision of their powerful attacks. The Lu Family estate had become their battlefield, and in the time it took to draw a dozen breaths, it was reduced to a complete ruin!

BOOM! Qin Ya was struck by the black-robed man’s palm, sent flying into the sky like a cannonball. The light from Scenic Landscapes flickered around his body, deflecting the immense force. Immediately after, the Demonic Qi clinging to him was absorbed into his body and devoured by his Bloodline Power.

Completely unharmed, Qin Ya let out a cold smile. Purple lightning flickered around him as ripples spread through the void. Then, one, two, three... over a hundred Thunder Spears materialized, each one radiating a terrifying might. They took aim at the black-robed man and shot forth in an instant!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM...

The explosions roared without end, gouging crater after crater into the ravaged earth. Amidst the billowing dust and smoke, the black-robed man’s figure shot into the sky. Arcs of lightning still danced across his body, but he ignored them completely, gathering his Demonic Qi and unleashing it with a single palm strike!

A colossal palm of Demonic Qi blotted out the sun!

Qin Ya let out a long cry as he instantly fused the energies of Thunder and Fire. He slashed out with his Ting Xiao Sword. The raging Thunder and domineering Flame crashed into the Demonic Qi. As Demonic Qi rampaged and Thunder-Fire surged, the immense shockwave shook the very air in a heaven-and-earth-shattering blast!

"Just die!"

The black-robed man enveloped himself in a protective shroud of Demonic Qi and brutally forced his way through the shockwave of the energy collision. His fists and feet, imbued with terrifying demonic power, flew forward. But seeing this, Qin Ya’s eyes brightened, and he astonishingly charged forward to meet the attack head-on!

A flurry of dancing sword-light, flying fists, and kicks erupted!

The intense close-quarters battle lasted only a few breaths, but both combatants had landed numerous hits. By the end, the black-robed man was covered in blood, riddled with no fewer than thirty sword wounds. If not for his powerful Divine Thought allowing him to evade Qin Ya’s Fast sword strikes, a split-second mistake would have sent him to the Netherworld.

’This kid... he’s so Fast! Even if I weren’t weakened by the Poisonous Fog, it would be hard to keep up with him with just my Half-Step King Cultivation. If not for the help of my Divine Thought, at least thirteen of his strikes could have ended my life!’

The longer the black-robed man fought, the more frightened he became—and not just because of his opponent’s speed!

He had also discovered something else, something utterly bizarre: every time his Demonic Qi struck Qin Ya, it had absolutely no effect!

’Judging from the feedback of my attacks, he must be wearing a Top-Level Defensive Profound Soldier, at least at the Pseudo-Spiritual Artifact grade. But even so, with the intensity of my Demonic Qi, it shouldn’t be possible that I can’t even leave a scratch on him!’

’Besides that defensive Pseudo-Spiritual Artifact, he must have some other means of resisting Demonic Qi. Damn it, how many trump cards does this guy have?!’

’The bastard... he’s still smiling!’

In the midst of battle, despite having been hit by no fewer than a hundred of the man’s punches, Qin Ya not only showed no signs of injury, but he even wore a faint smile.

A chill crept into the black-robed man’s heart.

No one could possibly understand Qin Ya’s situation. Every time he clashed with the black-robed man, Demonic Qi would linger on his body. An ordinary Martial Artist invaded by this energy would have to expend their True Essence to fight it off, but Qin Ya had no such concerns!

The reason was his bloodline’s unique Devouring Demon Power!

Once the Demonic Qi was devoured, not only did it fail to harm him in the slightest, but it actually enhanced his body’s Qi and Blood, making him physically more formidable. It even began to heal the injuries he’d sustained from the black-robed man’s attacks.

Using Demonic Qi to strengthen his body! Using Demonic Qi to heal his wounds!

Qin Ya realized his bloodline gave him an incredible advantage against the Demon Race. It was as if he had been born for the sole purpose of countering them!

BOOM!

Fist and sword collided, and both combatants were blasted backward.

Qin Ya was unscathed. In fact, his aura had actually grown stronger. The black-robed man, in contrast, was covered in a dense web of sword wounds. Blood streamed from his cuts, staining the ground red beneath him. His eyes were filled with terror!

Yes, someone as arrogant as him was truly afraid.

’It’s impossible,’ he thought. ’There’s no way Qin Ya could take so many of my hits and remain completely unscathed. There must be some secret I’m missing.’

The unknown breeds fear.

And the black-robed man was now drowning in that very fear.

’On top of everything, my combat strength has been eroded by the Poisonous Fog to less than thirty percent. Fighting Qin Ya like this is a losing battle... I should retreat!’

Yes, someone as arrogant as him was actually considering retreat!

"No! I absolutely cannot retreat!"

’I have fused with the King’s Heart! I am a Half-Step King! How could a mere Sky-Controlling Martial Artist force me to back down? I absolutely will not retreat!’

The black-robed man let out a low growl, his eyes shot with blood. He looked like a cornered Fierce Beast, resolved to fight to the death. Seeing this, Qin Ya felt a chill in his heart. He knew that even though the black-robed man was grievously wounded, he was now at his most dangerous!!

Qin Ya knew that the man he’d been fighting earlier would have fled long ago; that was his style. But this one was different. He had fused with the King’s Heart, inheriting some of the mental traits of the Demon Heart’s original owner, and that was what drove him to fight to the death rather than retreat!

The thought made Qin Ya’s scalp tingle. ’This Demon Heart is truly strange,’ he mused. ’It can actually change a person’s personality. At that point, are they even the same person anymore? The Demon Race... truly a race that will stop at nothing in their pursuit of power!’

"Qin Ya!! Die!"

With a furious roar, the black-robed man shot toward Qin Ya like a cannonball. The Demonic Qi throughout his body erupted to its absolute limit, shrouding him in a dense black aura. Seeing this, Qin Ya gave a low shout and unleashed his Thunder-Fire Power, charging forward to meet the attack!

BOOM! BOOM!

As the two figures collided, they were both sent flying hundreds of yards away!

THUD! THUD! THUD...

Qin Ya’s body carved several large craters into the ground before he slammed into the ruins of a pavilion and was buried under sand and stone. The black-robed man fared no better. His entire body was charred black, corroded by the Thunder-Fire Power. As he too crashed into the ground, gouging out several more craters, he coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood. His body smashed through a wall before finally rolling to a stop, where he lay motionless.

The wind blew, kicking up dust across the devastated landscape!

Just then, several Extraordinary Martial Artists arrived on the scene. Gazing at the utter devastation, they were left completely dumbfounded, unable to even imagine what kind of destructive power could have wrought such havoc!