The Demon Race powerhouses felt the madness radiating from Duan Fengbuer, sending icy chills racing down their spines, making their scalps tingle. They couldn't believe Duan Fengbuer could achieve Ultimate Awakening, yet they could undeniably sense the potential within him—a potential that could truly make him one of the greatest threats to the Demon Race.

"You're aiming for Ultimate Awakening?" Li Dongfeng sneered, glancing sideways at Duan Fengbuer. "How convenient. I feel like I'm on the brink of Ultimate Awakening myself. Who do you think will make it first?"

"My War God bloodline, naturally!" Jiuyang Fenghua straightened his slightly curved spine, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth as he looked at Li Dongfeng, who bore a wound nearly five inches long across his chest beside him. "I will awaken before you!"

"Is that so?" Pan Mengshen smiled, turning to the other Demon powerhouses. "Then let me use these Demon subjects to see which of us opens the gate to Ultimate Awakening first!"

The Demon Race powerhouses looked at this group of young strongmen, who seemed ready to collapse at any moment, yet spoke and laughed with such ease. A vague sense of foreboding began to creep into their hearts, spreading rapidly. Could these youngsters really be on the verge of Ultimate Awakening right here, right now?

Bloodlines were always mysterious and unfathomable. Except perhaps for the legendary Gods, no one truly knew when or under what conditions a bloodline warrior might awaken.

People could only draw conclusions from accumulated experience: facing the shadow of death, experiencing extreme emotional surges—any of these could potentially trigger a new awakening in a bloodline warrior.

And now, this exact scenario! These young warriors already had one foot teetering on the edge of death, surrounded by the hostile pressure of the entire Demon Empire. Moreover, the desire to save their comrades was boiling the hot blood within them, driving their emotions to a terrifying peak.

Any one of these conditions might be enough to ignite the Ultimate Awakening of these True Saint experts! Now that a confluence of all conditions was laid bare, would they truly achieve it? If even one more person managed an Ultimate Awakening...

The Demon powerhouses shuddered involuntarily. Such a thing absolutely could not be allowed to happen! Kill them! Kill them all immediately, or if another Ultimate Awakening expert emerged, there would be no telling who would be doing the killing!

Without hesitation or discussion, the twenty True Saint experts of the Demon Race abandoned all pretense and lunged toward the few young warriors.

"My sword, I entrust to your hand. Use it to cleave through everything."

Chekefulit's voice resonated through the sky like a divine oracle. A casual sword-finger strike transformed into a thousand shimmering sword rains descending from above. The air was instantly sliced into countless fine threads; the sky itself seemed ripped apart by this downpour of blades. Time and space offered no resistance to the sword’s relentless slicing.

"You dare belittle me! Destruction Demon Eye!"

Lucifer Star let out a roaring snarl in the heavens. Both sides were engaged in Ultimate Awakening combat, and although he was currently at a disadvantage, his goal was not to let the opponent fully gather power for a decisive finishing move, but to distract Chekefulit long enough for the battle below to progress!

And indeed, Chekefulit was distracted! But even amidst fierce combat, he was splitting his focus to aid his comrades? This was a blatant insult!

When the Destruction Demon Eye manifested, the air within several miles seemed to instantly ignite and evacuate! The intensely hot energy pierced the heavens, like a ray shot forth from the primordial age.

"Sword!"

Chekefulit, whose Ultimate Awakening lacked the destructive power of the Demon Eye, calmly pointed a single finger. The sword energies crisscrossing heaven and earth converged onto that single point. The innate flames of the Destruction Demon Eye were brutally torn apart, and Lucifer Star managed to pivot his head just enough to evade a blade.

"Damn it!" Lucifer Star mentally cursed. This newly acquired body still couldn't be fully mastered; otherwise, his combat power should be far greater than it currently was. He had absorbed two-tenths of the essence of Lucifer’s Heart, far more than Chekefulit! He should be superior to him with just a finger strike!

The True Saint experts continuously parried the sword rain from Chekefulit, causing their offensive momentum to falter slightly. Though Duan Fengbuer and the others had no chance to breathe, the pressure eased fractionally. Their bodies sustained further injuries, but they were not yet beaten to the ground.

"Qian Jin! Thank you for that punch; it made me realize so much."

From within the ruins, the Great Demon King’s voice suddenly rang out. His majestic physique rose from the rubble, blood seeping from multiple points on his body, yet he had sustained no truly fatal trauma.

He had lain in the debris, constantly thinking, constantly recalling!

Qian Jin’s previous battle had provided inspiration. The unparalleled genius, the Great Demon King, had grasped the True Demon state without achieving Ultimate Awakening, merging his dual souls through sheer intent to reach a realm unseen by True Saints.

Through this confrontation, the Great Demon King had not died; lying quietly, he gained endless enlightenment. He saw... he saw chains within his own body, chains woven into his very blood!

These chains, which he had never noticed before, were now visible! Beneath these chains lay two peerless, ferocious beasts—the source of his bloodline power!

Curse! An aura of endless curse rolled within these chains.

The Battle Soul once again burst forth from the Demon King’s body, now entwined with countless chains. These curse chains were far more numerous than those binding Pan Hongji and the others!

That was right!

The Great Demon King had merged his dual souls and his bloodlines! This unification caused his strength to skyrocket, but it simultaneously intensified the pressure on his bloodline's path toward Ultimate Awakening.

"From the moment I was born, I bit the wet nurse's flesh; at three, I killed; at five, I slew beasts; at nine, I stood on the battlefields of the Human-Demon War..."

The Great Demon King’s eyes blazed with a kingly aura that scorned all else. His powerful voice sounded as if it could command the sun to rise or the stars to fall.

"I have never been defeated! Nothing—be it human, brute, demon, or the Gods enthroned upon the stars—can stop what I intend to do! A mere few chains think they can confine me?"

The Great Demon King strode like a dragon toward Qian Jin. His Battle Soul roared defiantly amidst the chains, and links began to snap—one after another, they broke apart!

With every chain severed, the Great Demon King’s strength increased by a fraction. He showed no signs of stopping until he violently broke through to Ultimate Awakening.

"You youths standing before Qian Jin! Get out of my way!"

The Great Demon King, even as he broke through his bonds, launched a punch across a thousand meters. It was the King’s Fist of the True Demon, piercing the plaza, embodying the glory of the Demon King’s invincibility.

"I'll do it!" Duan Fengbuer instantly teleported onto the path of the incoming punch, his Holy Spear flashing like a dragon! The Nine Shadows appeared, all abilities—Devour, Virulent Poison, and others—fully activated. All his Battle Seals shattered in an instant. "Power! Give me power! Enough power to block this strike!"

The force of the punch collided head-on with Duan Fengbuer's spear. The Sacred Artifact! The Sacred Artifact! After intense battles with Demon powerhouses, the Sacred Artifact let out a groan under the pressure of this single punch, instantly cracking and shattering. The invincible punch force struck Duan Fengbuer’s fists. Black scales exploded and scattered from his forearms. His feet dug deep into the ground, yet he could not remain rooted like a nail. He slid back, carving trenches a meter deep for a hundred meters across the ground!

Duan Fengbuer retreated a hundred meters, standing like a javelin less than a meter in front of Qian Jin. He turned back, drenched in blood, and smiled proudly at Qian Jin, who was still in deep contemplation. "Comrade, I told you! No one touches you! Keep comprehending, fuse your three souls! Until that happens, I, and all of us, will not fall!"

Not down? The Demon powerhouses were stunned. These youngsters were truly mad. That punch the Great Demon King had just unleashed, born from deeper comprehension—even if it was only a kinetic force projection and not the physical strike—it was a blow that even Qian Jin would not dare underestimate.

"Youthful warriors of the True Policy Dynasty, your willpower truly shocks me. If only my Demon Race had such outstanding warriors among its younger generation," the Great Demon King praised without reservation. "If you had lived in my era, you would have been my strongest opponent."

Duan Fengbuer struggled to move his body. He snatched the potions Qian Jin had given him from his Battle Realm, ignoring their specific effects, and downed them all. His chest heaved. "You haven't knocked me down yet! Until Qian Jin awakens, no one comes closer! Doesn't matter if you are human, brute, demon, or God! You shall not pass!"

"This punch will put you down," the Great Demon King said softly, raising his right hand slightly... The sky above the City of Fallen Angels suddenly vibrated, and infinite magical elements began to revive!

A Magic Tower! The City of Fallen Angels boasted hundreds of them, and one of the Demon towers was beginning to reactivate!

That’s right! To counter the potential undead threat, none of the combatants had bothered to kill the Demon mages; they had merely knocked them out and bound them. Now, one tower was actually coming online!

The City of Fallen Angels, built up and imbued with power over countless years, even with just one tower reactivating, was enough to become a nightmare for the young warriors.

The Great Demon King turned his head to glance at the magical elements gathering in the sky and smiled faintly. "It seems I won't need to intervene..."

"You should intervene."

Eight Desolations Sword Hero! A Battle Martial Artist of the Undying Monarch bloodline! He was ranked third on the Demon Race's Saint Ascension List! Eight Desolations Wusheng’s most favored descendant among the younger generation of the Eight Desolations Clan, suddenly spoke.

The only Demon who had not joined the battle had finally spoken!

As he spoke, he moved, his blade flashing out to send a True Saint Demon powerhouse, who hadn't reacted in time, flying. He strode toward Qian Jin without any killing intent or hostility, a delighted smile on his face. "Old Man Wusheng was right. You truly can surprise me. I should thank you. If it weren't for His Majesty the Great Demon King's True Demon realm, if you hadn't shattered that True Demon state with your punch, I might still just be a True Saint now."

Still a True Saint? What did that mean? All the Demons froze in surprise. The sacred surge of the Undying Monarch bloodline emanating from Eight Desolations Sword Hero announced to all present that another powerhouse had achieved ultimate entry into Sainthood!

True Demon! This fact stimulated the Demon Race far more than it did the human warriors!

True Demon! That was the existence they sought to trace their origins back to—the legendary Sacred Demon, capable of granting true wisdom to the demons!

"Your Majesty, with me here, you will not harm Qian Jin," Eight Desolations Sword Hero stood calmly before Qian Jin. "I prefer not to use force against Your Majesty, so please do not compel me. As for the other demons, Old Man Wusheng said if they dare touch Qian Jin, just kill them."

His words were mild, his smile placid, as if discussing an inconsequential matter, yet his tone carried an irrefutable weight.

Eight Desolations Sword Hero always acted in ways that defied everyone's expectations.

"Your Majesty, I need to prove to my most revered Wusheng King that the heir he chose was mistaken. I, Eight Desolations Sword Hero, am the most suitable Demon for him! Since childhood, I wanted to be the Bandit King, so I must wait for Qian Jin to wake up and defeat him through action to show Old Man Wusheng that I am the new Bandit King."

Bandit King? A title the True Saint powerhouses despised, yet one that Eight Desolations Sword Hero treated with utmost importance.

The Great Demon King understood that what Eight Desolations Sword Hero valued was not the title itself, but the longing for recognition! For a single word of affirmation from that Eight Desolations Wusheng—even just, 'You are quite good.'

Even though Eight Desolations Wusheng had not returned to the Demon Race for many years, his influence on the younger generation of the Eight Desolations Clan remained absolute. Nearly every young member of the clan had ventured beyond the borders to serve under Eight Desolations Wusheng as bandits.

If Eight Desolations Wusheng hadn't commanded them to return to their families, the young generation of the clan might have been completely emptied out!

"No one has ever stopped me from killing whom I choose, not even someone who has achieved Ultimate Awakening," the Great Demon King walked forward, pointing to the sky as he trod upon the earth. His kingly presence overshadowed the entire City of Fallen Angels. Having broken one curse chain, his strength approached the power of Ultimate Awakening infinitely closely.

True Demon! The only True Demon alive, even before shattering all the curse chains, he possessed power bordering on Ultimate Awakening.

"I will soon fully comprehend the realm beyond True Demon! At that time, I will stand above the Gods!" The Great Demon King advanced with an aura suggesting he was ushering in a new era. "Stand down!"

The Great Demon King spread his five fingers, gathering the magical elements of the tower in a sky-grasping motion. The intent of the True Demon Fist mixed with an endless magical storm compressed into high concentration within the fist: "Retreat!"

With one word of retreat, the heavens changed color; with one word of retreat, the winds surged; with one word of retreat, the Eight Absolutes swept the world!

The Fallen Angel bloodline was inherently among the Battle Martial Artists most adept at manipulating magic. Now, with the merger of dual bloodline powers, unleashed by the Great Demon King at the True Demon level, this punch—a blend of magical elements and combat techniques—was leagues beyond the level displayed by Qian Wuxingchen that day. The gap was comparable to that between a forbidden spell and a first-level spell.

"Your Majesty! My apologies!" Eight Desolations Sword Hero calmly pushed out his five fingers. The Death character of the Life and Death Star Seal dissolved and destroyed the intent of the Demon King's fist. The invincible punch intent visibly weathered and decomposed in mid-air, forming a grey serpent that wound forward. The tremendous punch force finally arrived at his palm with only the potency of a Demon Suppressing Warrior's strike, causing no damage whatsoever.

"The magical elements from one tower aren't enough? Then let’s have two." The Great Demon King spoke casually, and indeed, a second magic tower began to reactivate. Eight Desolations Sword Hero frowned slightly.

"Two aren't enough? Then three? Four..."

The Great Demon King continued speaking leisurely, and four magic towers were indeed brought back online. Eight Desolations Sword Hero's initially relaxed expression shifted. The Great Demon King, infinitely close to Ultimate Awakening, increased his power moment by moment, and every additional tower increased the potency tenfold!

Suddenly having four towers fully cooperating with the Great Demon King—though all were borrowed external power—when external power reached a certain threshold, its might became terrifying.

"Ten!"

The Great Demon King suddenly raised his voice. The True Demon Fist, now amplified by the magic released by ten towers, struck out again, reaching a power level only achievable by Ultimate Awakening experts.

"Life and Death Star Seal! Starlight Enters the Body! Life and Death Intertwined!"

Eight Desolations Sword Hero brought his palms together. Innumerable streams of Battle Qi burst forth. He strode forward to meet the incoming magical punch pressure, rapidly shifting between life and death. Magic descended like snowflakes. Eight Desolations Sword Hero's clothes whipped and snapped; cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

Ten towers' worth of magic—the purest form of magical power. Although it lacked the vast intent of the Demon King’s fist, this sheer concentration of power was enough to subject Eight Desolations Sword Hero to immense strain, especially with His Majesty the Great Demon King continuously approaching Ultimate Awakening beside him.

"Eleven..."

"Your Majesty! I must offend you!"

Eight Desolations Sword Hero lost his initial composure. He began deploying the full extent of his Ultimate Awakening strength. Even historical Ultimate Awakening experts would not choose to face the most heavily equipped magical legion alone, let alone the current situation in the City of Fallen Angels—a defense system whose magical output was comparable to the Divine Capital's, capable of severely wounding or even obliterating an Ultimate Awakening expert if fully unleashed.

Even without unlocking all his chains, the power of his merged bloodlines was truly manifesting. Eight Desolations Sword Hero even wondered: if the Great Demon King completed his Ultimate Awakening, who could possibly stop him? He possessed the ultimate power awakened from dual bloodlines!

"Twelve...?" The Great Demon King suddenly found himself unable to control more magic towers. Eleven towers were temporarily the limit of his grasp.

The twelfth tower had already activated. With the Great Demon King occupying their attention, the remaining Demon powerhouses revealed their savage, fang-baring eagerness to kill Qian Jin.

The power of four magic towers converged in the sky, forming a pillar of light that shot directly toward Qian Jin's body!

Crack... Crack... Crack...

The sound of chains rang out from within Duan Fengbuer’s body. Duan Fengbuer, who had taken the Great Demon King’s blow and was standing before Qian Jin but had already lost consciousness, emitted the clatter of chains colliding—the sound of curse chains.

Duan Fengbuer, nearly beaten to death, had his internal curse chains erupting like ten thousand roaring dragons shooting toward the heavens. The elements from the four magic towers were completely blocked by the celestial curtain formed by the curse chains. The elements cascaded down like a waterfall but could not break a single link.

The power of the curse was only truly understood by those cursed; the strength of that power was absolute.

Four magic towers were not enough to crush a bloodline warrior at the Ultimate Awakening level, and similarly, they were insufficient to sever those curse chains!

Ultimate Awakening! Signs of it were showing in a Nine-Headed Serpent bloodline warrior! All the Demons were shocked, and even the Great Demon King's eyebrows twitched slightly. This Nine-Headed Serpent bloodline warrior was imitating him, trying to force a breakthrough!

The Great Demon King curled his lips into a faint smile. The immense pressure had driven this Nine-Headed Serpent bloodline warrior mad. Normal Ultimate Awakening did not require forcing a breakthrough past the curse chains; once the conditions for awakening were met, all chains would automatically vanish, and they would advance instantly.

Like the two Ultimate Bloodline Battle Martial Artists fighting desperately in the sky!

Forcing a breakthrough? Not impossible, but one should ideally choose a moment when their physical condition, Battle Qi, and Battle Soul were at their absolute peak for the best chance of shattering them.

His Battle Qi was almost depleted, and even his Bloodline War Body was struggling to maintain itself. Seven-tenths of the protective serpent scales had been stripped from his body. To attempt a breakthrough in such a state of utter defeat? Even if he located the curse chains, breaking them would be impossible.

The nine black heads of the Nine-Headed Serpent roared toward the sky, radiating endless hatred and the taint of curses from its Battle Soul. The most powerful demonic beast in history, killed by humans, its blood extracted, its power stolen to forge powerful bloodline warriors—this hatred would never cease, even when all stars in the sky fell and the earth crumbled.

The curse chains blocked the destructive magic and, in the next instant, began furiously wrapping around the Nine-Headed Serpent’s Battle Soul body, binding the surging power back down little by little.

"Still no?" Duan Fengbuer opened his eyes, his face etched with a chilling coldness as he looked at the countless curse chains and the Nine-Headed Serpent Battle Soul. "Still not enough? Can you not lend me your power, just for a moment?"

The furiously winding chains paused mid-air. They actually stopped moving! This bizarre scene caused the Great Demon King's eyebrows to twitch again. What was happening? The bloodline curse chains, which held the deepest hatred for humans and demons, why had they ceased?

"Is it not allowed?" Duan Fengbuer’s eyes streamed with two lines of searing blood. "I can understand your pain, I know. Anyone can say those foolish words: 'No one can understand your pain.' Your life was stripped away by my ancestors; you lost your freedom, you lost everything..."

"I know that no one can understand your pain, your wounds, your hatred." Duan Fengbuer quietly gazed at the Nine-Headed Serpent bloodline Battle Soul, seeming to talk to himself. "But it's already happened, hasn't it? After so much historical cursing, have you ever known happiness? I truly can understand your pain. If you don't believe me, enter my body and see for yourself."

Duan Feng’er slowly raised his hand, commanding his Battle Soul. The largest head of the Hydra bowed low before him, allowing his fingers to stroke its scales gently. "We are one, one soul in one body. Your pain is my pain. That phrase is utter nonsense, yet it is undeniably true. I never attempted to break through the Cursed Chains because I understood the sorrow and hatred within them. In my peak moments, perhaps with the aid of friends, I might have had a chance to shatter them, or at the very least, my power would have surged dramatically."

"I didn't do that. I know your pain." The usual playful smirk was gone from Duan Feng’er’s face, replaced by a profound wisdom that seemed to see through the ages. "I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it..."

With those three declarations of feeling, the infinite chains in the sky poured frantically into Duan Feng’er’s body. The chains coiled around his form, wrapped around his very bones, and finally... dissolved into his very core... The Hydra Battle Soul roared out a furious bellow, causing the stars in the heavens to tremble as if ready to fall.

This... the Ultimate Awakening! A patriarch warrior of the Hydra bloodline, one who had never achieved the Ultimate Awakening, had actually done it.

Moreover... the Great Demon King could sense that it wasn't the Cursed Chains being moved by Duan Feng’er’s words—the chains were still just chains, devoid of consciousness. Rather, Duan Feng’er had come to understand everything about those chains; instead of fighting them, he had absorbed their power! He had found an utterly unconventional way to create a fissure in the Cursed Chains!