Six Demon-men with black scales, upon hearing that Shi Yan hailed from the Yang family, immediately abandoned their opponents and converged on him.

In the stone den, Shi Yan, who had been aimlessly pacing back and forth, suddenly became the primary target of the demons.

Shi Yan’s expression was grim. He quietly retreated, pressing his back against the rock wall to avoid being attacked from both front and back, remaining silently vigilant.

Seeing the demons encircling Shi Yan, He Qingman’s heart filled with regret, realizing she had inadvertently worsened the situation. With a sharp cry, she commanded, “Protect him!”

Her graceful form flickered like a willow catkin, swiftly gliding past Ba Di and the others, rushing toward Shi Yan.

The remaining six Martial Cultivators of the Tianxie Cave Heaven dared not be negligent either; all rushed headlong toward the demons, lest Shi Yan be instantly slain.

“Kill!”

Gu Ya shrieked. The two pale bone spurs in his hands transformed into twin streaks of ghastly white lightning, carrying a surge of violent killing intent, shooting out like a piercing rainbow through the sun.

As the two bone spurs whistled past, they seemed to tear the very air, the tips suddenly shimmering with flecks of green light.

These green lights, like ghostly will-o'-the-wisps, eerily green and intensely active, suddenly burst forth from the tips of the spurs, dissolving into dense clouds of fine mist that rained down upon Shi Yan.

Just as Shi Yan prepared to manipulate his Magnetic Shock Field, he felt an overwhelming tide of malevolence surge in from all directions.

“Buzz, buzz, buzz…”

The tiny, ghostly green dots suddenly magnified before his eyes—they were venomous insects covered entirely in green barbs!

These insects carried Gu Ya’s distinct aura; their minuscule bodies were saturated with malevolence, which manifested as a form of mental vibration that slammed directly into Shi Yan’s mind.

Shi Yan’s body shuddered, a trace of agony flashing across his eyes.

The mental impact, condensed from pure malevolence, made his soul tremble, affecting his concentration so profoundly that he could not immediately control the Magnetic Shock Field.

Simultaneously, the barbed insects descended like a sky full of green starlight, covering him like a steady downpour...

Petrification!

Shi Yan roared internally, his face instantly becoming fierce. A beam of icy light shot from his eyes.

In an instant, the skin of his body turned yellow-green. His Petrification Martial Soul, having entered its third phase, rendered his flesh as hard as iron stone.

“Clang, clang, clang…”

The dense swarm of green venomous insects struck, their barbs digging fiercely into Shi Yan’s body, yet they failed to penetrate his flesh.

“Hmm!”

Gu Ya exclaimed, a flicker of astonishment crossing his dark-green pupils.

The Green Nether Worms were demonic insects from the Demon Realm. Their barbs were infinitely sharp, and Gu Ya had often released them during combat to achieve unexpected and potent effects.

Green Nether Worms could burrow directly into flesh and blood, gnawing at the enemy’s internal organs from within, consuming them entirely.

Though small, these worms were exceptionally vicious. Gu Ya had meticulously fed them with his own flesh and blood; even the robust flesh of Demon Realm beings could not withstand their sudden assault, allowing the worms to breach the skin.

According to Gu Ya’s prediction, human martial artists, focused primarily on accumulating vital essence, possessed comparatively weaker physical bodies and should certainly succumb to the Green Nether Worms’ invasion.

Gu Ya had primarily cultivated the Green Nether Worms to target members of the Yang family who possessed the Undying Martial Soul.

Even Yang family warriors, despite their Undying Martial Soul, could not withstand the worms’ internal consumption once they breached the body. The physical regeneration granted by the Undying Martial Soul could not keep pace with the worms’ constant gnawing; before the flesh could recover, the internal organs would be devoured.

The Green Nether Worms surged forward, burrowing aggressively into Shi Yan’s flesh, only to meet resistance like steel or rock. This bizarre anomaly truly puzzled Gu Ya.

“Get away…”

Shi Yan let out a cold laugh. A faint, dark light suddenly erupted from his body, coalescing into a shield that completely enveloped him.

The dense swarm of Green Nether Worms covered him, relentlessly stabbing at his skin with their barbs, yet they could not breach his interior as intended.

Once the dark-light shield appeared, the hazy black glow seemed substantial, physically pushing away every worm on his body.

“Bang…”

Gu Ya’s two pale bone spurs, carrying unparalleled sharpness and might, suddenly shot forward and slammed violently against the dark-light shield.

The shield instantly shattered into a burst of dazzling black light. The bone spurs, undeterred, shot straight toward Shi Yan’s chest.

“Pfft…”

The tips of the two bone spurs sank three inches deep into Shi Yan’s chest. The spurs vibrated rapidly, and from their points, more Green Nether Worms emerged, drilling directly into Shi Yan’s flesh and rapidly surging inward.

Shi Yan’s expression drastically changed.

“Kill!”

He Qingman finally arrived, her long hair whipping wildly as gusts of wind blades howled from her body, sweeping overwhelmingly toward Gu Ya.

Gu Ya chuckled, beckoning with his hand. The two bone spurs lodged in Shi Yan’s chest flew back, returning to his grasp.

“Boy, the Green Nether Worms have entered your body. You can just wait for them to slowly gnaw away your internal organs…” Gu Ya spared Shi Yan another glance, turning instead to engage He Qingman. He bellowed, “That kid is done for; stop worrying about him! Kill these meddlesome fools…”

The remaining five demons ceased attacking Shi Yan and abruptly turned, rejoining the fray against the Tianxie Cave Heaven warriors.

Shi Yan was utterly ignored.

Gritting his teeth, cold light blazing in his eyes, Shi Yan continuously channeled the vital essence within his body, trying to force the Green Nether Worms out.

Inside his body, strands of vital essence flashed like lightning, flying rapidly to violently strike the worms.

However, under the bombardment of vital essence, the worms remained unharmed, still writhing within him, rapidly tunneling toward Shi Yan’s heart and abdomen.

Shi Yan felt a prickle of alarm creeping up his scalp and dared not hesitate; he prepared to unleash the negative power residing within his body.

Just then, a scorching thermal energy quietly flowed out from the Blood Pattern Ring, immediately drilling into Shi Yan’s flesh upon emergence.

In an instant, Shi Yan felt as if he were being burned in a furnace. His entire body glowed crimson, and wisps of flame spewed from his eyes, nostrils, and ears.

The power of the Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Core Fire!

This surge of flame rapidly permeated Shi Yan’s flesh, instantly making his body intensely hot.

The temperature in the entire stone den climbed steadily in response.

The Green Nether Worms inside his body, before they could reach vital areas, were incinerated into ash by this intense heat.

“Enough…”

Shi Yan’s consciousness sank into the Blood Pattern Ring, sending an urgent mental communication.

The fiery power within the Blood Pattern Ring quietly receded, but Shi Yan’s body remained engulfed in raging heat, emitting rolling waves of warmth—the agony of being burned was extreme.

At the critical moment, the Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Core Fire had sensed his peril and proactively come to his aid.

However, its fiery power was simply too formidable. Even though it had exercised extreme caution and restraint, this slight burst of flame nearly scorched Shi Yan to ashes.

Had Shi Yan not been tempering his flesh using the Extreme Refinement technique in the magma pool, his body would not have acclimated to such scorching heat; in this sudden influx, he feared he would have died even sooner than the Green Nether Worms.

Taking a deep breath, Shi Yan channeled his physical power, wrapping his vital essence around the tiny, charred corpses of the worms, rapidly forcing them out toward the two bloody wounds on his chest.

Gritting his teeth, Shi Yan’s face was grim as he used his fingernails to scrape out the scorched black residue from the wounds on his chest.

Watching the flesh around the wounds slowly writhe, actively beginning to repair itself, Shi Yan breathed a secret sigh of relief. Looking toward Gu Ya again, his eyes were filled with profound hatred.

Gu Ya, who had reached the Status Realm, possessed bone spurs so sharp they could actually crack his Petrification Martial Soul and leave a three-inch deep wound on his chest.

Shi Yan felt lingering fear, realizing the Petrification Martial Soul was not omnipotent; while it could withstand much damage, it was not truly invulnerable to blades or spears.

“Mmm…”

Gu Ya had implanted a thread of his spiritual power into every Green Nether Worm. Their demise instantly alerted Gu Ya to Shi Yan’s anomaly.

“You actually destroyed the Green Nether Worms inside your body?” Gu Ya spared Shi Yan a glance, shouting in slight surprise, “Green Nether Worms are immune to vital essence shock; only sharp implements can shatter them. What power did you use? Eh! Fire energy! Such intense Fire Energy…”

“My turn…”

Shi Yan grinned coldly, his mind gradually settling into calm, devoid of sorrow or joy.

A torrent of violent, bloodthirsty, and crazed aura suddenly erupted from his body. The once powerfully built Shi Yan instantly slimmed down by a noticeable degree.

The power within him instantly doubled! Rampage: First Heaven!

“Bind!”

Pointing a finger at Gu Ya, Shi Yan roared.

A Magnetic Shock Field, which had been secretly lying in wait beside Gu Ya, suddenly shifted, dragging the bewildered Gu Ya directly into its confinement.

Gu Ya, who had been fiercely battling He Qingman with his pale bone spurs, suddenly staggered as if drunk, stumbling uncontrollably, unable even to stand steady.

“What the hell is this thing!”

Gu Ya roared, frantically looking around in horror, trying to identify what was restraining him.

“Bind! Bind! Bind…”

Shi Yan’s expression remained unchanged. He extended his hand and pointed sequentially at the remaining demons, uttering a single word with each gesture.

The remaining five demons had clearly held the upper hand in their engagements with the Tianxie Cave Heaven warriors. Relying on the near-impenetrable black scales covering their bodies, these demons charged fiercely toward Ba Di and the others. In the relatively confined space of the stone den, Ba Di and his group had limited room to maneuver, easily allowing the demons to close the distance.

Once these demons engaged in close-quarters combat, Ba Di and his allies had no advantage whatsoever; they were being overwhelmed by the demons, forced into continuous evasion.

However, as Shi Yan uttered those words—one for each demon—the situation in the stone den violently reversed.

All five demons, just like Gu Ya, began swaying in mid-air within the den, restricted to only a minuscule area, unable to launch any effective attacks against Ba Di and the others.

He Qingman’s beautiful eyes glittered with wonder as she stared at Shi Yan, seemingly unable to believe what she was seeing.

Ba Di, Zhou Nan, and the other Tianxie Cave Heaven warriors were all stunned, watching their opponents spin aimlessly in the void, completely unaware of what power was binding them.

What surprised them most was that even after releasing their spiritual senses to probe, they detected absolutely nothing.

“What are you still waiting for? Kill them!” Shi Yan said impatiently.

“Oh, oh…” He Qingman snapped back to reality, her pretty face flushing slightly. She immediately shouted, “Hurry up and finish off these repulsive creatures!”

The Tianxie Cave Heaven warriors suddenly awoke, scrambling to attack.

P: Second update for today, one more chapter later, building up good karma~A