The claw marks were insufficient to slay the Flame Demon. Where its body had been split, the wounds writhed furiously, like millions of burrowing worms, seemingly intent on fusing back together.

"Merge?" Qian Jin’s battle saber flared with renewed brilliance. He spun it in his hands, moving with a speed so absolute it was like lightning, yet controlled with the precision of a master woodcarver wielding a delicate chisel, despite the immense size of his weapon.

Crack… crack… crack…

The Flame Demon’s body was instantly dismembered. Chunks of limbs and torso crashed to the ground, finally revealing the core encased in magma before Qian Jin’s eyes.

This was the true face of the Flame Demon! Qian Jin retracted his saber, his great hand sweeping through the air to grasp downwards!

Screech! The Flame Demon’s core emitted a sharp, grating sound. The magma surrounding it began to churn violently, sprouting small arms, small legs, a small head…

A new body for the Flame Demon materialized rapidly from the lava, though it was tiny at first. But its rate of growth was astonishing.

Abandoning the body it had already formed to forge a new one! Although it would expend tremendous energy, it was preferable to certain death!

The Flame Demon planned well. While generating its new form, it attempted to charge toward the volcano’s rim; a single leap into the magma would secure its safety.

"Trying to run?" Qian Jin’s large hand clamped down on the half-foot-tall demon. He squeezed his fingers with sudden force, compressing the magma covering the demonic core!

This magma was the seat of the Flame Demon’s consciousness! Destroy this rolling magma, and the core would simply become a magical nucleus brimming with the power of a high-grade demonic beast, no longer a Flame Demon.

Sss… sss…

The Flame Demon shrieked repeatedly, its cries laced with terror and incomprehension. This is pure lava; even iron gauntlets would melt! Does this person feel no pain…?

"So hot! Heart of the Earth Fire, stir! Devour it!" Qian Jin roared. Utilizing the Blacksmith’s Breathing Technique, he roused the Heart of the Earth Fire. The core, which supplied his Dou Qi rotation speed, throbbed violently, greedily sucking in the intense heat radiating from the Flame Demon.

Rumble…

Qian Jin felt his Heart of the Earth Fire trembling, as if rocked by an earthquake. Amidst the Flame Demon’s screams, new layers of terror were added. This is too terrifying! I am being absorbed!

Most of the heat was brutally crushed by Qian Jin’s grip, while some of the energy flowed into the Heart of the Earth Fire. A scorching, red demonic core appeared in Qian Jin’s palm.

Dead… a high-grade demonic beast…

The high-grade demonic beast he once looked up to had fallen to Qian Jin through superior skill and combat technique.

"A Flame Demon…" Qian Jin stared at the core in his palm, hardly believing he had managed to kill one and claim its nucleus.

"Kun Dou Technique! Right! I can learn the Kun Dou Technique now!" Qian Jin retracted the Super Void Soul Dou Technique, feeling a wave of dizziness. This technique consumed far more Dou Qi than any other he knew. Even this brief engagement left him feeling lightheaded and unsteady.

"Three Dou Hearts are powerful… but they also bring numerous issues…" Qian Jin pocketed the core and reviewed himself critically. "I possess superior explosive power, but my deficiency in Dou Qi endurance is a fatal weakness in prolonged combat."

"Indeed, you now possess the strength to eliminate a Flame Demon."

Enlak glanced at the hot Flame Demon core in Qian Jin’s hand and nodded gently. There was no surprise in his expression; he looked as though he had always expected Qian Jin to succeed.

"Here is that Kun Dou Technique you wanted."

Enlak tossed a thick notebook casually. It contained not only the Kun Dou Technique but also detailed annotations for every step. He had even pinpointed several flaws in the Kun Dou Technique that hardly counted as true weaknesses, but could, if one was careless during combat, cause the user to stumble into a disadvantage.

Next to these minor flaws, Enlak had added new notes on how to circumvent them during execution, and even how to set up a visible trap to lure an opponent into a false sense of opportunity.

A grand gesture! Looking at the thick volume, the word 'grand gesture' was the only description that came to Qian Jin’s mind. To completely annotate the Kun Dou Technique and analyze its pros and cons in such a short time—what other word described such a terrifying feat?

"What? Not leaving yet?" Enlak asked with a smirk. "You don't think beating the Flame Demon means you can beat the Rat King, do you? Planning to challenge the Rat King now?"

Qian Jin shook his head vehemently. Impossible! Was the Rat King the same as a Flame Demon? That creature mastered four elements and possessed breathtaking speed, enhanced by wind magic. In his current state, even Wan Ying might not catch it, leaving him only subject to a beating.

As for the Rat King’s flaws? Yes! Its physical attack power was somewhat weaker compared to other high-grade demonic beasts. But the issue was, why would the Rat King engage in melee? It could instantly transform a quiet area into a raging battlefield with instantaneous, four-elemental spells.

"I’m leaving now." Qian Jin paused at the exit. "I will defeat the Rat King soon enough."

Enlak chuckled. "I look forward to it."

Leaving Enlak’s Dou Qi chamber, Qian Jin circled back to Uncle Black’s forge.

The old blacksmith, seeing Qian Jin appear, tapped his pipe on the ground and pointed toward the forge. "Toss the Flame Demon’s core into the furnace, and continue your forging with the Blacksmith’s Breathing Technique."

After this near-command, the old blacksmith returned to his silent pipe smoking.

Qian Jin faithfully followed the taciturn man’s instructions. When the Flame Demon’s core hit the furnace, the flames erupted instantly, leaping over two meters high and nearly scorching off Qian Jin's eyebrows.

"By the stars," Qian Jin muttered, picking up his axe. He dropped an iron ingot into the furnace, and within seconds, it glowed a searing red, looking ready to liquefy. He quickly retrieved it and began the Eighteen Peaks Hammer strikes.

Hot currents saturated the courtyard. The Blacksmith’s Breathing Technique acted like a gluttonous snake, madly devouring the intense heat, continuously expanding… expanding…

Would a second Golden Dou Heart form? Qian Jin forged excitedly until the very edges of the Infinite World, yet the Heart of the Earth Fire showed no fundamental change, only continuously gulping down the flame’s power.

"Alas, Heart of the Earth Fire, how do I refine you into a Golden Dou Heart?"

Qian Jin sat on his bed, looking helplessly at his hands. The Flame Demon’s core contained a vast amount of fire energy. The Heart of the Earth Fire had swallowed so much power, yet showed no sign of refinement. Did he need to consume the entire core?

No one could answer Qian Jin’s question. Blacksmith Black wasn't around; even if he were, Qian Jin suspected the old man would only offer one reply: Forge.

"Forget it, this is already a significant gain!" Qian Jin rose from the bed and pushed open the door, muttering to himself, "Staying here longer won't bring much more progress. The Kun Dou Technique looks easier to practice than the Eighteen Peaks Hammer and Wan Ying, but it will certainly be harder than Super Void Soul. Pushing this further is pointless."

"Hey, Handsome, I’ll beat you next time."

Duan Feng Bu’er’s defiant shout carried easily through the walls of the house.

Qian Jin pushed open the door and smiled at the group, who were already sparring out of boredom. "Are you all ready?"

"What do you think?" Duan Feng Bu’er grinned at Qian Jin. "We haven't been slacking these past few days."

The special magic gravity devices had shown amazing results in their experiments. For days, everyone had even slept in the center of the devices. Chek had reached a stage of accumulating power; his next awakening would unleash far greater force, perhaps even more than a first-level Dou Soul.

"Qian Jin." Ba Huang Wu Sheng approached, followed by a burly man. "Your saber is too famous. Change your weapon."

Two dark shapes flashed across the sky. Qian Jin raised both hands, catching them: two massive war hammers appeared in his grasp. Each hammerhead was the size of a small war drum, and judging by weight, each must be at least two thousand jin.

Four thousand jin of hammer! Qian Jin swung them lightly, clicking his tongue. "These look like weapons for a Behemoth. Surprisingly, they’re Dou Soldiers, but only Grade Three."

Ba Huang Wu Sheng smiled. "Make do with them. At least they’re big enough that even if you face a Grade Ten Dou Soldier, they won’t be cleaved in two with one swing."

Qian Jin rotated the hammers in his hands and nodded. "That's true; size always has its advantages."

"Then what about my spear…"

"You aren't famous enough," Chek, usually quite amiable, turned venomous the moment he addressed Duan Feng Bu’er. "No one pays attention to supporting characters."

"Supporting character?!" Duan Feng Bu’er’s tone immediately spiked. "Are you calling me a supporting character?"

Chek looked calmly at Duan Feng Bu’er. "If you can’t beat me, you’re a supporting character."

"Pah!" Duan Feng Bu’er spat out miserably. "Wait until my next awakening, and I’ll beat you so badly even Qian Jin won’t recognize you! I’ll turn you from the number one handsome man to the number one ugly man, and then you’ll know my power!"

Chek rested his chin in his hand and studied Duan Feng Bu’er seriously. "Can you even awaken again?"

Qian Jin shook his head. This Chek was usually so quiet, yet his words were devastating! Even the garrulous Duan Feng Bu’er had been shut down.

"In sparring, you cannot defeat me," Chek contemplated. "If it were a fight to the death, I would have a seventy percent chance of winning. But that was yesterday…"

Ba Huang Wu Sheng was surprised by Chek’s statement. In their recent spar, the Fallen Angel bloodline Magus had been clearly dominant; a true fight to the death should have given him a ninety percent chance or higher.

Duan Feng Bu’er thought seriously and nodded in agreement. "If our strength were equal, I might have a better chance of winning against you."

This time, even Lucifer Flow nodded from the side. Duan Feng Bu’er currently possessed a terrifying asset: poison—a special ability lacking in the Fallen Angel bloodline. Chek’s Demonic Eye of Destruction was single-lensed, required a short preparation time, and could not be used too frequently, or he risked blindness.

"Unfortunately, strength is never equal." Chek slowly extended his right hand. The pair of black wings behind him unfurled completely, and a powerful aura rapidly spread outwards. A gigantic silhouette swelled out from within his body.

Dou Soul! Black long hair, black wings, a towering frame, a perfect physique, and a battle saber radiating an eerie aura—the Dou Soul of the Lucifer Fallen Angel! It fully manifested behind Chek.

The handsome form, mirroring Chek’s own striking looks, exuded boundless majesty. The black silk-like hair seemed to dance in the wind, and his eyes, which remained perpetually closed, held an ancient and mysterious air.

A mysterious golden sigil shone with an inexplicable brilliance on the forehead of the Chek’s Dou Soul.

"This is… the Dou Soul!" Duan Feng Bu’er cried out in shock. The Fallen Angel had unleashed his Dou Soul so quickly; he had awakened again!

Lucifer Flow sighed softly. Emotions could sometimes stimulate the power of the bloodline. This half-blood, tormented by missing Yuna La, had awakened before even entering the Demon Territory.

What terrifying potential… who would have thought a half-blood possessed such potential! Lucifer Flow secretly glanced at Qian Jin. This was the Dou Soul awakened from a family possessing ultimate bloodline power, distinct from the Dou Souls of the Ten Great Bloodlines—it was stronger! So, who was stronger now? Qian Jin? Or Chek, who had just awakened his Dou Soul? Ba Huang Wu Sheng pondered this seriously.

"I will become the strongest warrior," Chek declared, looking at Qian Jin. "I will definitely bring Uncle Qian Cheng out of that damned Qian Family."

Qian Jin clicked his tongue at Chek’s sudden, immense power boost overnight. Powerful! He never imagined this was the potential of a bloodline warrior. Though weaker yesterday, they might overnight, or even instantly, catch up or surpass him… Who was stronger now, this 'Handsome Chek' or himself? He would only know once they truly clashed! Qian Jin calculated the possible outcome of an engagement silently.

Duan Feng Bu’er and the others thought the same! Qian Jin glanced again at the nine-headed serpent bloodline warrior who was scratching his head nervously. The smoker might be weaker than him today, but tomorrow was uncertain.

Cannot relax! With such a group of geniuses as companions, he could not afford a moment of complacency! Qian Jin clenched his fists tightly. Without the power of a bloodline awakening, he could only rely on his own effort to grow stronger bit by bit. He could not relax, or he risked being overtaken, even completely left behind!

Bloodline warriors! The era of bloodline warrior supremacy must end at his hands!

"Qian Jin, you can use your Celestial Deity Possession freely," Ba Huang Wu Sheng advised. "That ring has an expansion function; even if you make your finger as thick as your arm, it won't break."

Qian Jin nodded, unsurprised. As a master smith who understood inscriptions, he knew the ring possessed such properties the moment he received it; he could even forge a replica with similar functions using the right materials.

"Is everyone prepared?" Lucifer Flow walked confidently to the front of the formation. "Then follow this Princess, the future Empress of the Demon Race, and set forth!"

"The item you need to steal…" Ba Huang Wu Sheng’s voice reached Qian Jin’s ear. "Lucifer Flow will tell you when the time comes."

Qian Jin was tempted to ask: Aren't the royal families of the Demon Race constantly infighting? What if Lucifer Flow were killed by other royals…? He stopped himself. If Lucifer Flow died, as her ‘vassal,’ he probably wouldn't survive either.

In the propaganda of the Zhen Ce Dynasty, the Demon Race was portrayed as a place where demons ate demons, demons ate humans—a land of black mountains and murky waters, savages clad in animal skins, chewing bark, with perpetually yellow teeth—barbaric, backward, cruel, and tyrannical.

Only those who had actually visited the Demon Race knew that they, too, possessed their own order and civilization. They enjoyed luxurious clothing, excelled at preparing various delicacies, were keen on building comfortable and attractive dwellings, and maintained markets for trade.

Aside from differences in outward appearance, written language, and some lifestyle habits, the Demon Race and the humans of the Zhen Ce Dynasty shared many common traits.

The primary difference lay in the distinct characteristics of the Seven Great Demon Tribes. The Belial Tribe was relatively lazy, possessing the weakest combat power among the seven, but compensating with massive populations and high fertility—twins were the norm after childbirth; single births were exceedingly rare. These demons, characterized by curved horns and stout builds, were present in nearly every territory of the Lucifer Dynasty.

The Ma Tribe was greedy and possessed extremely high combat prowess…

Each of the Seven Great Tribes had its defining trait, a point of stark contrast with the Zhen Ce Dynasty, where such traits could easily be found scattered among most individuals. Here, however, they were acutely pronounced.

For example, most Belial demons, once they earned enough to eat, would choose to rest, sleep, or vacation rather than accept more money to work. If they had enough money for the next day, most Belial demons would opt to sleep at home rather than venture out to work.

The Ma Tribe was the complete opposite: extremely greedy. Half of the pickpockets, bandits, swindlers, and mountain raiders in the Lucifer Dynasty originated from the Ma Tribe.

Qian Jin sat atop his warhorse, clad in black metal armor, taking the outward appearance of a hybrid of the Lucifer and Ma Tribes. Pride radiated from his brow, looking down upon everything—every demon and every human—as if he were the strongest being in existence.

The Lucifer Tribe was the most arrogant of all demon tribes. Nearly every Lucifer-born demon held its nostrils skyward. They looked down not only on other tribes but also on members of their own tribe. They were a race so proud that if gods existed, they would likely look down upon them too.

During the great wars between humans and demons, the Demon Emperor’s greatest headache involved three tribes: Belial, Ma, and Lucifer.

The Belial Tribe’s laziness meant they arrived at designated positions exactly on time, relying solely on military law threatening execution for tardiness; otherwise, they might arrive a year after the war concluded. The Ma Tribe, though fierce in combat, were so profit-driven they would sell out even the Emperor if the price was right—if gods existed, they would sell them too.

However, the Lucifer Magus warriors were equally frustrating to all other demon forces. These arrogant warriors refused to actively cooperate with other tribes, demanding that others coordinate with them instead.

Intermarriage within the Demon Race was rare but not impossible. Half-bloods could occasionally be seen across the Demon Lands. Qian Jin’s identity was precisely that: a hybrid of the Ma Tribe and Lucifer Tribe. This status neatly explained why he couldn't awaken and was relegated to being an ordinary Magus warrior.

Dual bloodlines usually signified the inability to awaken either lineage; only the strongest Great Demon King had achieved a dual awakening. Most half-bloods simply said farewell to their bloodline powers.

"That is Du Zun City ahead," Lucifer Flow pointed casually toward the distant city from horseback. The ten-meter-high, thick city walls were etched with the scars of wind and rain. Enormous long-range crossbows, armed with razor-sharp bolts, stood perpetually ready. Even an expert at the Golden Dou Heart level or the Dou Soul level would meet certain death if struck by these weapons.

Of course, hitting warriors above the Dou Heart level with these mechanisms was exceedingly difficult unless the expert was physically entangled and their concentration broken. Otherwise, the moment the weapon locked on, any warrior above Dou Heart level would sense it immediately. Nevertheless, they served a potent deterrent. If a Golden Dou Heart expert was suddenly targeted by such a weapon during a battle with another Golden Dou Heart expert, a psychological crack would form—a brief moment sufficient for the opponent to seize the advantage or even claim their life.

A few Beliar demons, clad in light leather armor and gripping long spears, leaned against the city wall, watching the passing demons and humans. Even when merchant caravans passed by, they couldn't be bothered to step forward and question them.

Lucifer Liu Shui rubbed his temples looking at the utterly listless Beliar demons. They wouldn't even bother with the simple act of shaking down caravans for profit; he truly wondered how many bones of laziness they possessed! If the Mamo demons were stationed here guarding the city, even a plainly dressed demon attempting to enter would be extorted until they surrendered their underwear.

"Time to switch out... time to switch out..."

A small squad emerged from inside the city. Clad in gleaming black armor and wielding chilling, drawn broadswords, they pushed aside the Beliar demon warriors leaning against the ramparts with palpable excitement.

Mamo demons! Nearly all of them stood around 1.8 meters tall, their skin the vibrant blue of gemstones, and their hair, resembling raging fire or fresh blood, was the distinct hallmark of the Mamo race.

These Mamo demons were flushed with excitement, their eyes glittering with raw avarice. Their gaze quickly fixed upon Qian Jin and his companions. RA

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