Chapter Forty-Two: Xuanluo—The Thousand Shadows of the Netherworld Thrust

"Xuanyao! My daughter!" Hulei burst through the blood mist, his eyes falling upon the unmoving girl lying on the ground. With a grief-stricken howl, he threw himself at her side. Muyou also darted forward. As the two brushed past each other, Muyou whispered, "Your daughter isn't dead." Without waiting to see if Hulei believed him, he plunged into the thinning blood mist, coming face to face with Zunye.

At this moment, Zunye's eyes had rolled back, his body motionless, his face twisted in an expression of perverse pleasure. In truth, dangerous death-row prisoners had some resistance to each other's blood, but Zunye had clearly lowered every defense, letting the effects of "Night’s Desire: Ecstasy of Life" seize him completely.

Muyou had no interest in the details. He drove his fist directly into Zunye's gaping mouth. Zunye's front teeth flew in all directions—some even forced down his throat into his stomach. Screaming in pain, Zunye tried to retreat, but Muyou pressed the attack, driving him to the ground, his fist pinning Zunye’s throat into the earth.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Muyou gave Zunye no chance to recover. While Zunye was still reeling, Muyou hammered punches at the same spot with the force of a storm, each blow following hard upon the last. Zunye’s jaw caved and crumbled with visible speed.

"I… I… I—damn it!" Zunye stammered the beginnings of a curse again and again, each time cut off by Muyou’s relentless blows. In a fit of rage and pain, he drove his knee at Muyou, who used the momentum to leap high, hands clasped together, bringing them crashing down from above.

But Zunye seized that instant to escape, leaving behind a trail of blood smeared across the ground.

Boom!

Muyou’s strike landed on empty ground, the shockwave making the earth tremble beneath the onlookers’ feet. Raising his hand, he saw a crater the size of a human head where his fist had fallen.

Zunye’s mouth was shattered, his jaw slack and useless. As he glared venomously at Muyou, his flabby flesh began to contract, his body shrinking. Where a rounded belly had been, six defined abs now emerged, and in the blink of an eye, a muscular brute stood in full view of the crowd.

It was the first time the other death-row inmates had seen their boss like this. None of them had imagined that their already formidable leader had been holding back.

Zunye said nothing—indeed, could say nothing. As his murderous intent surged, his skin darkened until he seemed to merge with the stone behind him. He had pushed his ability to the very threshold that "Final Judgment" could detect.

This brat had wounded him so badly—if he didn’t kill him now, there would be no place left in this world for Zunye.

On Zunye’s side, his killing intent exploded. Muyou met his gaze across the distance, and together they charged at each other headlong.

"Ah!"

"Ah!"

Two furious roars, brimming with a will to fight to the death, resounded across the land!

Muyou lunged low, aiming for Zunye’s kidney. Zunye leapt high, both feet crashing down with the force of a mountain, intent on grinding Muyou into pulp.

They opened with deadly force.

Muyou rolled aside just in time, but the gale from Zunye’s attack still flayed his skin raw. In mid-air, Muyou twisted, his toes pointing down, and aimed a vicious kick at the back of Zunye’s head—a blow that would have shattered his skull if it landed.

Zunye, a veteran of countless battles, didn’t even turn his head. He simply blocked behind him, absorbing Muyou’s flying kick with an unyielding arm, not giving an inch.

In that instant, the difference in their strength became clear. Before, Muyou hadn't engaged Zunye directly and hadn't sensed anything amiss. But with this kick, he realized just how hard and strong Zunye's body really was.

It didn’t feel like striking human flesh at all—it was like kicking a stone mountain.

Zunye grinned coldly, and seeing Muyou briefly freeze, he seemed to guess what Muyou was thinking. But he gave Muyou no time to react; he seized Muyou's ankle and slammed him brutally into the ground.

Boom!

"Shit!" Muyou cursed, half-buried in the earth, pain wracking his body.

But it wasn’t over. Zunye had no intention of stopping. His smile grew more savage as he hurled Muyou into the air again and smashed him down even harder.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

Muyou was tossed about until his senses blurred. He could do nothing but instinctively shield his head, his bones threatening to come apart, every part of his body screaming in agony. The dizzying loss of balance left him no chance to fight back.

If this continued, it would truly be over. If only he had one opportunity—just one chance to break free—Muyou swore he’d make Zunye pay dearly.

The world spun past in a blur. Out of the corner of his eye, Muyou caught sight of Xuanyao. To his surprise, she was looking at him, her gaze anxious. Then she abruptly interrupted Hulei, who was still babbling with joy, extending her delicate hand and biting her lip. She clenched her fist fiercely toward the fading red blood mist around them.

Her strength spent, Xuanyao collapsed once more into Hulei’s embrace.

Seeing this, Muyou’s eyes lit up with wild joy. This girl—she had guts!

He didn’t know what exactly Xuanyao had done, but the next time Zunye slammed him into the ground, Muyou dug all ten fingers into the earth, steadying himself. He bit open the wound on his tongue again, sucked in a mouthful of blood, and spat it directly into Zunye’s eyes.

First, rob him of his sight!

Zunye suddenly felt a tremendous new weight pressing down. The moment he glanced down, his eyes were drenched with blood. As he reached to wipe it away, the surrounding blood mist abruptly halted, then reversed course as if time itself had rewound. Centered on Zunye, it all converged and poured into his body.

At once, Zunye’s muscles flushed crimson. Countless capillaries on his skin swelled to several times their normal size, blood surging madly through them. Sweat gushed down his body in streams, unstoppable.

His once-dark face now turned a livid, liverish red, nostrils flaring as he panted like a maddened bull.

So this was the full effect of "Night’s Desire: Ecstasy of Life"! Muyou silently rejoiced in the power of the Soul-Destroying Meridian Worm within him, and sprang up, launching a ferocious uppercut at Zunye’s groin.

At once, a shrill, iron-rooster screech of agony echoed out. Even in his delirium, Zunye tried to retaliate, but Muyou, seeing his chance, wasn’t about to let it slip.

As Zunye doubled over to protect himself, Muyou’s foot shot out, landing a crushing blow on Zunye’s temple.

With this kick, Muyou could feel that even the petrified temple had caved in visibly.

Zunye’s body convulsed violently. His bloodshot eyes stared in disbelief at Xuanyao, his former subordinate, who now looked back at him with a sneer of disgust. As Muyou delivered the killing blow, Xuanyao’s weary face curved into a faint smile.

The look in her eyes seemed to say: you deserve this.

"You… you dare betray me in secret."

Zunye had kept Xuanyao, a dangerous death-row prisoner, at his side only because he had absolute confidence in his own abilities. Xuanyao’s seemingly useless power was supposed to be a mere amusement for him.

Who could have foreseen it would end like this?

Gradually, blood filled Zunye’s left eye and crept toward the right. Within his skull, injuries propagated relentlessly. Death was now only a matter of time.

"You’ve all joined forces to betray me! If I die, I’ll drag you all to hell with me!"

As his life ebbed away, Zunye descended into utter madness. With all restraint gone, his skin erupted open, revealing raw muscle beneath. Countless blood-red spikes, each an inch long, sprang from the muscle fibers, their tips gleaming white and razor-sharp.

"My ability ranks among the top three of death-row prisoners! With my final trump card revealed, let’s see how you stop me. If you don’t use your powers, you can’t block me. If you do, you’ll die with me. Let’s be buried together! 'Xuanluo: Thousandfold Nether Spikes!'"