Still Not Enough

Shen Che stretched his neck, a series of "cracking" sounds echoing from his bones.

He beckoned to the Blood Scale Demonic Beast with a flick of his finger.

"Enough with the nonsense."

"You're asking for death!"

The Blood Scale Demonic Beast's laughter abruptly ceased, replaced by a surge of furious rage.

A bloody afterimage exploded from its original position.

In the next instant, it appeared before Shen Che, its right fist, covered in scales, wrapped in a foul wind, smashing fiercely towards Shen Che's face!

This punch was enough to shatter city walls!

Shen Che neither dodged nor blocked.

He activated both the Golden Bell Shield and the Iron Shirt to their absolute limits.

The Blood Essence within him surged and roared like a mighty river, his muscles bulging instantly. His skin took on a dark golden sheen, making him look like a demon god cast from metal.

He raised his own fist and met the attack with a seemingly ordinary punch.

BOOM!!!

A deafening roar erupted, like two high-speed meteorites colliding.

A terrifying wave of energy exploded outwards from the two of them, kicking up all the loose stones and dust from the ground.

Even the Li family brothers, who had collapsed nearby from poisoning, were pushed back several feet by the gust of wind.

Crack!

Spiderweb-like cracks spread frantically across the ground beneath their feet.

Shen Che's body swayed, and he retreated three steps.

With each step he took, he imprinted a foot-deep indentation in the hard ground.

"Hm?"

The Blood Scale Demonic Beast looked surprised.

Its punch contained the berserk power of its demonic bloodline; a Human Race martial artist of the same realm would never be able to withstand it head-on.

This Body Tempering Realm human had only been pushed back three steps?

"A bit of brute force."

The Blood Scale Demonic Beast sneered and renewed its assault.

"But strength alone isn't enough!"

Taking advantage of Shen Che's unstable footing, it formed its fingers into a claw, gathering demonic energy at its fingertips, which glowed with an ominous red light.

"Blood Grasping Claw!"

As the claw swept out, five sharp tearing sounds echoed through the air, heading straight for Shen Che's chest.

This was its renowned killing move, capable of easily tearing through ordinary steel.

However, Shen Che still didn't dodge.

He didn't even bother to raise his hands to block.

Riiip--!

A crisp sound of tearing fabric.

The black robe on Shen Che's chest was torn to shreds by the sharp claws, revealing his bronze-colored skin beneath.

Five clear white marks slowly appeared on his skin, and then, under the Blood Scale Demonic Beast's disbelieving gaze, they quickly vanished.

Not even his skin was broken.

"This... How is this possible?!"

The Blood Scale Demonic Beast was completely stunned.

Its claw attack, capable of tearing through metal, couldn't break through the defense of a Body Tempering Realm human?

What kind of monster was this?! Was he cheating?!

Shen Che glanced down at the white marks on his chest and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Good thing I maxed out the Iron Shirt too.

The Golden Bell Shield protected the inside, while the Iron Shirt protected the outside. Together, one hard and one soft, yin and yang in harmony, the defensive power formed was far greater than a simple one plus one.

With this defense, let alone someone in the eleventh meridian of the True Meridian Realm, even a martial artist at the peak of the True Meridian Realm would have a hard time injuring him.

Shen Che didn't want to waste any more time.

His right hand reached for the hilt of the Black Tiger Saber at his waist.

The moment he gripped the saber's hilt, his entire aura changed drastically.

If he had been an unyielding boulder before, he was now a peerless tiger awakening from its slumber!

An invisible sharpness permeated from him.

Blade intent!

"Tiger Fiend!"

With a low growl, the saber was drawn from its sheath!

There was no dazzling saber light, nor any fancy moves.

Only a malevolent energy, black as ink, surged from the blade, condensing in mid-air into a ferocious, roaring black demon tiger that pounced down upon the Blood Scale Demonic Beast!

This was the ultimate killing move, achievable only after cultivating the Black Tiger Saber Technique to the sixth layer's perfection and grasping the rudiments of blade intent.

"Not good!"

The moment the black demon tiger appeared, every scale on the Blood Scale Demonic Beast's body stood on end. A fear originating from the depths of its soul made its hair stand on end.

It wanted to dodge.

But that sharp blade intent had locked onto it firmly, its body frozen in place, unable to move.

It could only watch helplessly as the demon tiger, condensed from malevolent energy, passed through its body.

A soft sound.

The look of terror on the Blood Scale Demonic Beast's face froze.

If you can't find the book title, try searching for the author. Maybe the name has changed!

It lowered its head to look at its chest, where a thin bloodline had appeared.

The bloodline quickly widened.

The next second, its entire upper body smoothly separated from its lower body at the chest, the cut as smooth as a mirror.

Large amounts of internal organs and blood spilled onto the ground with a splatter.

[Absorption successful, Time Value +200.]

The system's prompt was pleasant to the ear.

Dead silence.

The entire Wang Family Village fell into a deathly silence once more.

The Li brothers were like two stone statues, one lying down, the other half-sitting, their mouths agape wide enough to swallow a fist.

Their brains had completely shut down.

What just happened?

A General-level Demonic Beast, at the eleventh meridian of the True Meridian Realm, close to perfection... was just instantly killed with one strike?

By a junior disciple in the Body Tempering Realm?

Was this world a little too insane?

Zhang Hao, who was lying on the ground howling in pain, also stopped his screams.

One strike...

That was a demonic beast capable of slaughtering even the elite soldiers of Cangyun City!

Shen Che sheathed his saber, his movements fluid and natural.

He turned around and walked towards Zhang Hao, who had collapsed on the ground.

"I recall you just said you were going to flay me alive?"

Shen Che's voice was very calm.

But to Zhang Hao, this calm voice was more terrifying than the wails of ghosts from the lowest depths of hell.

"No! It wasn't me! My lord! Spare me, my lord!"

Zhang Hao was scared out of his wits. He ignored the searing pain from his severed arm, knelt on the ground, kowtowing and crying.

"They forced me! The demonic beasts forced me! If I didn't do as they said, they would have slaughtered the entire Qingxi County! I... I had no choice!"

"The antidote."

Shen Che couldn't be bothered to listen to his nonsense.

"Huh? Wh-what antidote?"

"The antidote for the poison affecting the Li brothers."

"Yes! Yes! It's on me!"

Zhang Hao acted as if he had been granted a great pardon. He quickly took out a small porcelain bottle from his embrace and tremblingly handed it over with his unbroken hand.

Killing this man would be too easy for him.

Colluding with demonic beasts and harming his colleagues – escorting him back to the Demon Suppression Division for punishment would not only maximize the credit but also allow him to experience the torture methods of the Demon Suppression Division.

Shen Che took the antidote and walked back to the Li brothers, feeding it to each of them.

The medicinal effect was swift.

In just a moment, Li Zimo and Li Zifeng felt the cramping pain in their bellies subside and their limbs regain their strength.

The two struggled to their feet and walked before Shen Che. Without a word, they bowed ninety degrees to him.

"Junior Brother Shen, great kindness needs no thanks!"

Li Zimo's tone was filled with gratitude and guilt.

"I was blind before and nearly harmed Junior Brother. Please punish me, Junior Brother!"

Li Zifeng, a man built like a tower, also blushed deeply and said in a gruff voice, "I'm a rough man and don't know how to speak. From now on, if you ever need anything, Junior Brother, and I, Li Zifeng, so much as frown, then I'm not my mother's son!"

"It was just a small effort."

Shen Che waved his hand.

The three tied up Zhang Hao, who looked like a dead dog, and threw him onto the horse. They set off that night, returning to Cangyun City.

Two days later.

Cangyun City Demon Suppression Division.

When Director Yan saw Shen Che and the other two escorting Zhang Hao, the prefect of Qingxi County, back with his arm broken, he was stunned.

After listening to Li Zimo's detailed report of the mission, especially Shen Che's feat of killing three General-level Demonic Beasts while still in the Body Tempering Realm, Director Yan's hand, holding his teacup, remained suspended in mid-air for a long time.

He stared at Shen Che as if looking at a monster.

Promotion mission, successfully completed.

Shen Che, Li Zimo, and Li Zifeng were all promoted to official Demon Queller Envoys together.

Returning to his small courtyard.

Shen Che closed the courtyard gate and immediately opened his system panel.

[Host: Shen Che]
[Time Value: 580]
[Cultivation Techniques:]
[Black Tiger Saber Technique (Level 6) (Currently cannot be upgraded)]
[Golden Bell Shield (Level 13)+]
[Iron Shirt (Level 10) (Currently cannot be upgraded)]

Looking at the number in the Time Value column, Shen Che's mood greatly improved.

Without hesitation, he focused his will on the plus sign behind Golden Bell Shield.

"System, upgrade it for me!"

[Insufficient Time Value.]

The smile on Shen Che's face froze.