Pure Strength (3K)

Bai Cangshu stretched lazily, as though he had just awakened from the most restful sleep. His muscles and bones continuously crackled with all manner of strange sounds.

The noise was like a string of firecrackers exploding, and tiny ripples even kept appearing in the air.

Jin Yue’an clutched her chest and staggered two steps to the side. A hemostatic spray quickly appeared in her hand, and she haphazardly sprayed it twice over her chest.

Yet a delighted smile appeared on her face.

"My lord, you really have returned…"

Bai Cangshu did not answer. He merely turned to look at the enormous ice pillar dozens of meters tall, which had frozen the entire hotel along with that Reincarnator.

Sky Frost Fist (Sky Frost Force, Bone-Piercing Ice Poison) Level 9—Frost's silent extinction invades the Nine Hells; one fist seals all life from creation

Even without an energy like internal force, Bai Cangshu could now rely solely on his force and his own qi to freeze an entire large hotel with a casual punch.

Qi was an extraordinarily convenient form of energy. Having reached Bai Cangshu’s current realm, he could appreciate that more and more deeply.

Mahakala stared at the finally revealed Mercenary Tao with uncertain eyes. The other man exuded an indescribable bearing.

As though he drifted through the world untouched by a speck of dust.

The grandmaster realm of Mind Like Still Water? No, perhaps even beyond that!

What level had Mercenary Tao’s martial arts specialization reached—Level 9 or Level 10?!

Bai Cangshu raised his chin slightly, his gaze looking down imperiously at the "child" trapped within the ice, black flames still flowing behind him.

Then he raised three fingers and tapped them lightly. The next moment, he bent his knees slightly, and the surrounding air seemed to blur and distort in an instant.

The force that should only have flowed within the human body manifested externally as though tangible, seemingly transforming into some sort of force field. Dust and shattered ice in the air abruptly changed direction and fell toward the ground.

Pfft!

The air let out a tearing sound. Only in the next instant did rolling shockwaves howl in like a gale. The terrifying sonic waves made Jin Yue’an cover her ears, her face turning pale.

Whoosh~

Black flames ignited before her. Jin Yue’an immediately grew vigilant, and sure enough, Mahakala emerged from the flames in the next moment. That punch which had frozen the hotel had not dealt him much damage.

But Mahakala did not continue attacking Jin Yue’an. He had clearly read Mercenary Tao’s thoughts just now.

"Three minutes. Give me three minutes to deal with those people, then I’ll come play with you~"

Arrogant, conceited, yet astonishingly powerful.

Mercenary Tao’s fist technique had advanced to a terrifying level. When that punch came down, countless currents of icy force had filled the hotel lobby almost instantly, freezing him solid before he could make any move.

The reason he had emerged unscathed was not because his defenses were formidable, but because Mercenary Tao had never intended to attack him in the first place.

Of course, Mahakala did not believe Mercenary Tao had become stronger than him. He had his own pride as well.

But without question, he had already regarded Mercenary Tao as an opponent on his own level, completely unlike Great Demon and the others over there.

Mahakala waved a hand, signaling for Jin Yue’an to withdraw.

"Leave. The battle ahead is no longer something a newcomer of your level can watch."

Whoosh!

Like a high-speed fighter jet skimming past the city, the terrifying sonic boom shattered the glass on countless buildings all at once.

The horrifying sound waves, accompanied by several explosion-like shrieks, resounded throughout Paradise.

The people pursuing that slippery Reincarnator also stopped and looked up at the sky.

Under the low, gloomy sky, a man in a pink robe stood above the city, his feet planted in empty air.

He was hunched over, his long black hair whipping wildly in the wind. The corners of his mouth curled upward in a mocking, cruel smile.

Wei Yixiao’s pupils contracted. He would never forget that smile.

Back then, Mercenary Tao had floated in the air, wearing that very smile as he killed Youjiu and Basha, the two companions who had cared for him greatly, one after the other, ultimately causing the Fifth Element to collapse.

Crack, crack, crack…

Fine tremors came from Wei Yixiao’s body. Jiasu, standing beside him, looked worriedly at the young Shōnen. He could not tell whether Wei Yixiao’s expression was laughter or tears.

Likewise, he could not tell whether the trembling wracking the other’s body came from fear or excitement.

But in the next moment, he understood.

"Merc… Mercenary Tao… Mercenary Tao, Mercenary Tao, ah!"

At first, it was only a soft murmur, but the Shōnen rapidly repeated that nightmare-like name. His voice grew louder and louder until he finally roared it aloud!

Azure Flames erupted from Wei Yixiao’s body in an instant. In only a moment, all the flesh, skin, and hair on his body had completely vanished.

"Hah!"

In a single instant, Wei Yixiao had fully entered a berserk state. The helplessness of losing his friends, and the rage of having the "peaceful" adventure life he should have shared with Boss Kai and the others—working together to overcome one mission world after another—utterly destroyed.

At this moment, it all erupted without reservation.

Boom!

The ice-blue flames instantly expanded into a terrifying fireball over a kilometer in diameter, swallowing all the surrounding buildings before exploding thunderously.

The flames became flaming meteors, carrying along the wreckage of those buildings. The cars on the streets also exploded completely in an instant.

The sight caused the expressions of the others to change slightly.

They had all more or less underestimated these remnants of the Fifth Element, but they had not expected this fellow who had inherited the team’s legacy to have grown to such a level.

Boom!

Amid the tremendous explosion, even more flaming meteors coiled wildly like Fire Dragons and crashed toward Mercenary Tao in the sky.

Bai Cangshu watched the Shōnen’s furious outburst with interest. It was almost difficult to connect him with the person who could only circle through the sky and throw spears from above that day, too afraid to come down and fight.

Sure enough, Reincarnators were a fascinating species capable of evolving in an incredibly short time. Humans, too, could undergo earth-shaking changes because of what lay in their hearts.

The weak could become strong, and the strong could become weak.

Bai Cangshu raised his right palm and pressed it gently downward.

Hum~

In an instant, countless Blazing White currents of air surged backward through the sky. They were traces revealed by air moving at extreme speed through violent friction.

The flames that charged upward like an Azure Flame dragon slammed into what seemed like a wall of qi in an instant.

Cloud Dispelling Palm (Void Cloud Force; Qi Soars Into the Heavens) Level 9—The ever-changing force devours heaven and earth; clouds churn as palms sever souls

Pfft!

Amid the mad collision of two currents, a cold steel spear burning with Azure Flames instantly tore through the palm force. A terrifying shockwave surged back toward Bai Cangshu.

Carried by boundless fury, the young man whose flesh and blood had been burned away by Hellfire gripped a spear and had already reached Bai Cangshu.

Jiasu cried out from the ground. He had not expected Wei Yixiao to launch himself directly at Mercenary Tao in a single move. This was different from the encirclement plan they had discussed.

"Mercenary Tao, die!"

A Shōnen’s fury was always impossible to suppress. In Bai Cangshu’s eyes, the spear advanced inch by inch toward him, its savage force piercing straight through the air before its tip.

Even with the spearhead still more than ten meters away, its sharpness and the coldness of its flames felt as though they had already touched his body.

"Ha~ Wei Yixiao, is it? You… are very interesting."

Boom!

The devastating force and flames burst forth in a thrust. The black clouds rolled back, and in an instant, it seemed as though a hole had been punched through the clouds overhead, faintly revealing the azure sky beyond.

But Wei Yixiao felt his heart go empty. His thrust had struck nothing.

Fire flickered in his hollow eye sockets. In an instant, he noticed someone appearing at his side.

He immediately swept his spear sideways and stabbed toward the figure, but again found only emptiness.

The next moment, a hand reached out from his other side and pressed against his face.

So fast… How could he be this fast?!

Terrifying force erupted in an instant. Wei Yixiao could barely feel the weight of his own body. The air behind him seemed to turn into an elastic liquid, compressed by his body into a massive arc.

Then, with a pfft, Wei Yixiao suddenly felt the sky before him being hurled far away.

The world before his eyes became like a skipping-frame animation. He watched Mercenary Tao maintain the posture of having thrown him with one hand, while his own limbs swung uncontrollably forward. In the next image, Mercenary Tao and the dark sky had already become incredibly distant.

Crack~ Boom!

The sound of the barrier shattering and the sound of him crashing into the ground rang out almost simultaneously.

Only then did the enormous shockwave stretching several kilometers through the air finally erupt. Before the sound had even returned, Wei Yixiao felt his back and the ground beneath him begin to shatter together.

Rumble!

Jiasu stood frozen in place, still wearing the astonished expression from when Wei Yixiao had suddenly leaped up and thrust his spear. In the next moment, terrifying force erupted beside him and sent him flying.

The horrifying shockwave swept across the ground like waves. A current of force entered his body, making his chest sink and his throat taste sweet.

Boom!

Jiasu was blasted away, and the barrier shattered in an instant.

The thin elderly man standing in the distance, his temples streaked with gray, also went blank for a moment.

That Fifth Element fellow had erupted with power beyond his imagination, yet his crushing defeat had caught him even more off guard.

"Ha… hahaha, Mercenary Tao, you really are worthy of being the one who rose to fame by stepping over us Four Demons. I should also…"

As he spoke, his body rapidly swelled, and pitch-black demonic qi erupted from behind him.

Screech!

Golden qi howled through the air and pierced straight through his chest like a laser in an instant.

Pfft, pfft, pfft! Three sounds rang out in succession.

Great Demon coughed blood from his mouth and nose as he was about to fall backward, but a figure had already appeared behind him. A hand immediately seized his neck.

Damn it, Mercenary Tao?!

Great Demon shook both arms, and his terrifying demonic qi contracted violently before erupting with grim resolve.

Explosive Demon Wave!

Devastating demonic qi erupted from within his body in an instant.

At that moment, Jiasu, who had been blasted away, felt his scalp go numb as an unprecedentedly intense premonition of death engulfed him.

On the other side, Mai, who had returned to watch after Mercenary Tao appeared, also underwent a drastic change in expression.

Purple-black radiance like an aurora erupted violently, spreading destruction in every direction.

It was another terrifying ability from the Dragon Ball World. With Great Demon’s current level of enhancement, a full release would have been enough to destroy nearly half the city.

But…

"Urgh…"

Great Demon suddenly could no longer maintain his demonic qi. The Explosive Demon Wave that was about to erupt became only a blast several meters wide, detonating with a muffled boom.

Great Demon’s pupils shrank violently. He saw a headless corpse collapse with a thud, blood spraying continuously like a fountain.

Damn it, how could he be this strong… He can’t possibly be this strong… Damn it…

His consciousness gradually darkened. His vision spun as it fell onto the ground, now covered in dirt and broken stones from the explosion. In his ears, he seemed to hear the terrified screams of those so-called "allies," followed by their panicked flight.