Is That It?

The wine was indeed poisoned.

But Shen Che's physical body had long been strengthened to an unimaginable degree, his Blood Essence so potent that it far surpassed ordinary people's imaginations.

This poison, specifically designed to deal with Body Tempering Realm martial artists, was no different from drinking water to him.

Zhang Hao clutched his severed arm, which was gushing blood, and writhed on the ground in pain. His face was twisted into a ghastly visage from the agony and blood loss.

He glared venomously at Shen Che.

"Great Demonic Beast! I beg you! Don't kill him, leave him to me!"

"I want to flay him alive! I want to carve his flesh off, piece by piece!"

Among the three "guards," the leader let out a low chuckle, his voice like sandpaper rubbing together.

"Fine."

"As long as you continue to obey us and lure more, stronger Demon Queller Envoys for us in the future, this human will be your reward."

The moment his voice fell, a foul-smelling black mist exploded from the three of them.

The cracking sound of bones breaking was sickening. The three figures grew taller and swelled at a speed visible to the naked eye, tearing through their guard uniforms.

The leader grew fine crimson scales on his skin, his hands transforming into sharp claws, and his eyes burned like twin flames.

The two beside him had one's head turn into a ferocious eagle's head, while the other grew tusks and bristles like a wild boar.

A terrifying demonic aura swept out, causing the poisoned Li family brothers, who had fallen to the ground, to gasp for breath.

"True Meridian Realm... these are General-level Demonic Beasts!" Li Zimo exclaimed in horror.

The realm that he and his brother had desperately sought but failed to achieve had just appeared before them, three of them at once.

"Kid, get out of here, fast!" Li Zifeng yelled from the ground with all his might, "Don't mind us! Go back and report that Qingxi County is a trap!"

Li Zimo echoed urgently, "Junior Brother Shen, if you keep the mountains green, you'll never run out of firewood. Hurry and leave! We can't hold them off!"

Shen Che stood his ground, unmoving.

He glanced at the three demonic beasts that had fully revealed their true forms and said calmly.

"Leave?"

"Are these few weaklings worthy of making me flee?"

The Li brothers were stunned, wondering if they had misheard.

"Ha... haha... hahahaha!" Zhang Hao, lying on the ground, burst into laughter as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. He clutched his severed arm and laughed uncontrollably, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Listen! Listen! He's been poisoned silly! A Body Tempering Realm cultivator calls three General-level Demonic Beasts weaklings?"

"Arrogant!" the eagle-headed demonic beast shrieked, "Insignificant human, daring to spout such nonsense when death is upon you!"

The leader, the blood-scaled demonic beast, had eyes filled with mockery and cruelty.

"Go."

He commanded the eagle-headed and boar-headed demonic beasts beside him.

"Tear off his limbs for me. I want him to watch as his body is eaten piece by piece."

"As you command, Brother!"

The eagle-headed and boar-headed demonic beasts grinned and, like two black shadows, lunged at Shen Che from either side.

Two claws, flashing with cold light and carrying the force of tearing air, accurately gripped Shen Che's arms.

"Snap!" the boar-headed demonic beast roared, its muscles bulging as it exerted force.

However, the scene of flesh tearing that he expected did not materialize.

He felt as if he wasn't grabbing human arms, but two red-hot iron rods, no, pillars of profound iron hundreds of times harder than iron rods.

At this moment, Shen Che's Blood Essence roared within him, his muscles tightening beneath his skin, becoming as hard as iron.

He didn't even look at the two demonic beasts, simply shaking his arms outwards.

"Crack--!"

A crisp bone-cracking sound, chilling to the scalp, rang out.

Immediately followed by two inhuman screams.

"Ahhh! My hands!"

"My finger bones!"

The claws of the eagle-headed and boar-headed demonic beasts, which had gripped Shen Che's arms, were shattered by the recoil force, all their finger bones breaking and bending outwards at an odd angle.

Shen Che gave them no chance to react.

He twisted his body and, with both arms swinging, threw two simple punches.

There were no flashy moves, only pure, extreme power.

Bang! Bang!

Two muffled thuds, like battering rams hitting a flesh target, rang out.

Those two arrogant General-level Demonic Beasts, like discarded sacks, spewed blood mixed with organ fragments as they were sent flying seven or eight meters away.

Their chests had caved in entirely, forming a terrifying curve.

Their bodies twitched twice before falling silent.

[Absorption successful, gained Time Points: 100.]

[Absorption successful, gained Time Points: 100.]

The system's notification chimed in Shen Che's mind, a pleasant sound.

The entire Wang Family Village fell into dead silence once more.

Li Zifeng's fan-like large hand remained in its pushing posture, his entire body frozen in place, his mouth agape wide enough to fit an egg.

Li Zimo, leaning on the ground, tried to stand up, but the scene before him left his mind completely blank.

Body Tempering Realm... one punch each, instantly killing two General-level Demonic Beasts?

Was this a damn dream?

Zhang Hao's manic laughter, like a chicken being choked, abruptly stopped.

The expression on his face shifted instantly from extreme mockery to stunned disbelief, and finally to pure terror.

Impossible... this is absolutely impossible!

He had personally witnessed these two Demonic Beasts slaughter the elite soldiers sent from Cangyun City as if they were cutting vegetables.

But now, they were just... dead?

"Haha... Hahahahaha!"

A suppressed burst of laughter broke the eerie silence.

The only remaining Blood Scale Demonic Beast, far from being terrified, instead laughed uncontrollably, its scales trembling.

"Interesting! Truly damn interesting!"

It stopped laughing, its blood-red pupils locked onto Shen Che.

"I underestimated you, human. To be able to kill my two useless subordinates while in the Body Tempering Realm, you do have some skill."

"However..."

Its tone suddenly turned sinister.

"You don't seriously think that the two of them and I are on the same level, do you?"

Before it finished speaking, its demonic aura surged again!

Beneath its black scales, one, two, three... crimson veins lit up one after another, like red-hot irons coiling on its body, emitting a heart-pounding aura of terror.

Finally, a total of eleven crimson veins clearly appeared on its body, radiating an ominous bloody light.

Li Zimo's pupils contracted to the size of needle tips, and he exclaimed in shock, "Eleven True Meridians! He... he's close to perfecting the True Meridian Realm!"

A Demonic Beast of this caliber, let alone the three of them in the Body Tempering Realm, even a newly advanced True Meridian Realm Demon Queller Envoy would only be slaughtered.

It's over.

This time, they've truly kicked a steel plate.

"Hahahaha!"

The Blood Scale Demonic Beast felt the surging power within its body and the look of despair on Li Zimo's face, letting out a joyful, wild laugh.

"Now, do you understand the difference, human?"

"I'll give you one more chance. Kneel down and lick my feet, and perhaps I'll let you die a quicker death."