Innate? One Punch!

The Demon Queller Envoy, holding a lantern, walked through the empty, damp corridor, their footsteps echoing with unusual clarity.

"Damn this cursed place, staying another second feels like bad luck," they muttered, checking the cells one by one as usual.

Everything seemed normal.

They yawned and pushed open the heavy iron door leading to the deepest part of the third level.

The next moment, they froze in place.

The lantern light illuminated the scene ahead.

The deepest cell, its door was wide open.

Several dark iron chains, as thick as an adult's arm, were twisted and broken, scattered on the cold floor.

The cell was empty.

The General-level Great Demon, personally suppressed by the Division Master... was gone.

A chill shot up the Demon Queller Envoy's spine from the soles of their feet.

Shivering, they turned to sound the alarm.

As soon as they turned, they bumped into a wall of flesh.

No, it was harder than a wall.

The lantern in their hand clattered to the ground, rolling a few times and illuminating the full appearance of the being before them.

It was a burly figure, nearly thirty feet tall, covered in dark red scales. A pair of eerie green vertical pupils looked down at them with interest.

It was the escaped Great Demon, Kui Lin.

"You... your injuries..." the Demon Queller Envoy's voice trembled uncontrollably.

They remembered clearly that this demon had been severely wounded by the Division Master and two Innate experts before being captured and suppressed. Its bones were shattered, and its demon core was almost destroyed.

"Oh? You mean this?"

Kui Lin raised a sharp claw and scratched its perfectly intact chest, where a terrifying sword wound that should have pierced its body was supposed to be.

It bared its fangs in a gaping maw.

"Just a minor injury, it healed after shedding a layer of skin."

"I should thank your Demon Suppression Division for giving me a quiet place to recover."

"As thanks, I'll make you my first appetizer after regaining my freedom."

Before the words fell, a giant claw covered the Demon Queller Envoy's entire head.

Squelch.

Kui Lin, holding a bloody head, walked out of the Demon Suppressing Prison step by step, each step leaving a deep imprint on the hard ground.

Dong—!

Dong—! Dong—!

A rapid and heavy bell sound echoed throughout Cangyun City.

This was the highest-level alarm of the Demon Suppression Division, unheard of for a century.

The bell signified that a great crisis, capable of overthrowing Cangyun City, had arrived.

Inside the Demon Suppression Division's compound.

Over a thousand Demon Queller Envoys rushed out from all directions, quickly assembling.

They held their weapons, their faces grave as they stared at the colossal figure slowly emerging from the underground entrance.

The Innate demonic aura emanating from the figure alone made over ninety percent of the Demon Queller Envoys present feel suffocated.

Many found their True Qi stagnating, their teeth chattering uncontrollably.

"Kui Lin!"

Deputy Division Master Ji Yi arrived, recognizing the notorious Great Demon at a glance.

"Where is that old dog Xiang Chongtian?" Kui Lin casually threw down the head in its hand, its voice like rolling thunder. "Tell him to come out and die!"

"Insolent!"

Ji Yi roared. He was the twenty-seventh strongest on the Earth Ranking, a peak Primordial Qi Realm cultivator. How could he tolerate a demon shouting at the entrance of the Demon Suppression Division?

"Invisible Body-Piercing Sword Qi!"

He pointed his fingers like a sword, and an invisible, sharp sword qi tore through the air, piercing directly towards Kui Lin's forehead.

Facing an attack capable of piercing metal and stone.

Kui Lin merely grunted impatiently.

"Scram!"

A sonic wave spread out, and the invisible sword qi shattered inch by inch in mid-air, dissipating into nothingness.

Next, Kui Lin raised his giant, fan-like palm and casually swatted at Ji Yi.

It was like swatting an annoying fly.

Ji Yi's face drained of color in alarm. He fully activated his protective Qi, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

A crisp popping sound.

Ji Yi became like a kite with its string cut. Blood spurted from his mouth as he was sent flying back dozens of meters, crashing through three walls before finally stopping, his chest completely caved in.

The entire place fell silent.

All the Demon Queller Envoys were stunned.

That was the Deputy Division Master! A top expert at the peak of the Primordial Qi Realm, and he was just... swatted away like that?

Was this the difference between the Primordial Qi Realm and the Innate Realm?

It was like the difference between heaven and earth.

"Pathetic." Kui Lin dismissively retracted his palm.

He scanned his surroundings, his demonic aura surging and condensing into a rolling black cloud above the Demon Suppression Division, completely obscuring the moonlight.

"Xiang Chongtian! If you don't get out here now, I'll slaughter your entire Demon Suppression Division today and turn everyone into blood food!"

Beneath the demonic cloud, some of the weaker Demon Queller Envoys' legs buckled, and they collapsed to the ground.

Despair spread through everyone's hearts.

Their Division Master was still out and hadn't returned. Who in the entire Cangyun City Demon Suppression Division could resist this Innate-level Great Demon?

Just then.

A figure walked out from the direction of the closed-door cultivation chamber, unhurriedly.

"It's Shen Che!"

"The Shen Che who killed Yan Hong and the Corpse Daoist!"

Someone recognized the approaching figure.

Yan Xiu and Ji Yi, who was struggling to get up, both changed their expressions upon seeing Shen Che.

"Shen Che, don't go over there!" Yan Xiu hurriedly shouted. "That's an Innate Great Demon, you can't handle it!"

"Hurry and retreat!" Ji Yi coughed up blood, his voice hoarse as he pleaded, "Don't go to your death for nothing! You are the hope of our Demon Suppression Division, you can't die here!"

Shen Che didn't stop.

He walked straight through the crowd to the very front, facing the colossal Demonic Beast from a distance.

"I just want to see how strong an Innate Demonic Beast truly is."

His voice was calm, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.

Everyone thought he had gone mad.

Kui Lin also heard him. He lowered his head, his pair of ghastly green vertical pupils locking onto Shen Che.

"Oh? Another one who isn't afraid of death?"

"First level of the Primordial Qi Realm? Interesting."

He sneered and flicked his finger.

A wisp of demonic power, condensed to the point of being tangible, transformed into a black line and shot towards Shen Che.

This strike was enough to easily kill any martial artist in the middle stage of the Primordial Qi Realm.

Shen Che simply raised his sleeve and gently brushed it aside.

The black line exploded into a cloud of black mist.

The smile on Kui Lin's face faltered slightly.

"Got some skill, no wonder you dared to step forward."

"But, that's as far as you go!"

He roared, the ground beneath his feet cracking. His massive body turned into a dark red afterimage, instantly crossing over a dozen meters. A claw, entwined with dense demonic energy, lunged straight for Shen Che's face.

The full-power strike of an Innate Great Demon seemed to freeze space itself.

Facing this world-destroying claw.

Shen Che slowly raised his right fist.

Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, tenth level!

Activating the divine strength of 1.6 million jin per arm!

Vajra Zen Fist - Zen Spear!

This punch lacked earth-shattering momentum.

It struck after the claw but arrived first, like an invisible spear piercing the firmament, carrying a resolute will to penetrate all things, fiercely meeting the claw.

The moment the fist and claw met.

There was no earth-shattering roar as imagined.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

Immediately after.

Crack--!

A bone-cracking sound that made one's teeth ache rang out.

Kui Lin's imposing, mountain-like body suddenly shuddered.

The scales on his chest, along with the breastbone beneath, were directly pulverized and caved in by an indescribably terrifying force, forming a hideous fist imprint.

Boom!!!

His burly body, like a sandbag hit head-on by a siege cannon, was sent flying backward at an even faster speed than when he arrived.

He flew dozens of meters before crashing down, demolishing a row of houses behind the Demon Suppression Division, sending smoke and dust billowing into the sky.

The entire Demon Suppression Division fell silent.

Everyone stared with their mouths agape at the black-clothed figure retracting his fist.

The blood in Ji Yi's mouth forgot to flow down.

Yan Xiu dropped the saber in his hand to the ground, completely oblivious.

Primordial Qi Realm first layer... defeated an Innate Great Demon with a single punch?