Desperate Breakthrough

Chen Yuan crawled out of the frigid underground river and collapsed onto the rough riverbank, gasping for breath.

Soaked to the skin and chilled to the bone, with his qi and blood nearly exhausted, his muscles trembled nonstop from excessive tension and the cold.

He forced himself to sit up and immediately checked the Scarab Fish Secret Pouch.

The Golden Scale Fruit lay safely inside. Its dark-golden radiance remained contained, while its three shield-shaped leaves curled slightly inward, as though guarding the fruit at the center, where golden sap seemed to flow.

Even through the secret pouch, a trace of its strange, sweet fragrance seemed to seep out, giving his spirits a slight boost.

It was worth it!

He had gotten it. He had truly snatched food from the tiger's jaws, stealing this opportunity right before that terrifying Demon Serpent's eyes!

After the wild joy came a deep sense of lingering fear.

The Demon Serpent's strength was terrifying. The pressure it radiated had nearly suffocated him.

If not for the wondrous use of the Mist Manipulation divine ability, along with a bit of luck, he would already have become food in the Demon Serpent's belly.

"We can't stay here long!"

Chen Yuan suppressed his roiling emotions and struggled to stand. He had to leave the Black Wind Ravine as quickly as possible.

However, the moment he moved, his expression changed dramatically.

An extremely terrifying and violent demonic aura, filled with boundless hatred and greed, surged out from the underground river's exit behind him like an invisible tide.

"Hiss, hiss!"

A hair-raising hiss came from the depths of the cavern, drawing nearer and nearer, accompanied by the shrill scraping of scales against rock.

The Demon Serpent had actually followed him through the underground river. It was clearly obsessed with the Golden Scale Fruit's aura beyond all reason!

Chen Yuan's scalp went numb. He immediately used the Mist Manipulation divine ability to gather mist, then turned and sprinted toward the light at the other end of the riverbank. That seemed to be another exit.

But he had expended too much earlier, and his speed was far inferior to before. He had run less than thirty feet when the sound of rushing water exploded behind him.

Splash!

The Demon Serpent, dark as iron and as thick as a barrel, suddenly shot out of the underground river, its enormous body sending water spraying across the sky.

Its vertical pupils instantly locked onto the fleeing Chen Yuan. Boundless fury drove it completely mad. It moved like black lightning, opening its bloody maw and lunging in to bite him amid a foul, howling wind!

The aura of death descended once more, closer than before.

Chen Yuan's pupils contracted. He desperately drove his remaining qi and blood and threw himself to the side.

The Demon Serpent's massive head slammed into the spot where he had just been. Shattered stones flew in every direction, and the ground was smashed into a shallow pit.

Chen Yuan rolled across the ground in a sorry state, feeling a searing pain across his back.

But before he could even rise, the Demon Serpent's thick tail swept across like an iron whip!

At this critical moment, Chen Yuan suddenly stabbed the Cold Ripple Blade into the ground before him while curling his body as tightly as he could.

The serpent's tail struck the Cold Ripple Blade with a thunderous clash of metal.

The tremendous force traveled through the blade. Chen Yuan's web between thumb and forefinger split open, blood streaming freely. His entire body was sent flying uncontrollably as if struck by a heavy hammer, crashing hard into the solid rock wall behind him. His throat tasted sweet, and he spat out a mouthful of blood!

Yet, borrowing that force, he happened to tumble into a narrow crack in the rocks. The entrance was only wide enough for one person to pass sideways, while the inside seemed somewhat broader—but it could not accommodate the Demon Serpent's enormous body.

"Hisssroar!!"

The Demon Serpent grew even more furious. Its massive head began smashing madly against the crack's entrance, breaking the rocks and shaking the earth. Fragments fell like raindrops, and the inside of the crack shook violently, as though it might collapse at any moment!

Coughing blood, Chen Yuan laboriously retreated deeper into the crack, and his heart sank to the bottom.

Although he had temporarily avoided being swallowed alive, he had also been completely trapped in this dead end.

The Demon Serpent guarded the exit with its life. It could not get inside, but he could not get out, and the depths of the crack were a dead end with no other exit.

After ramming the entrance furiously for a while and realizing it could not break through, the Demon Serpent changed tactics. It coiled its body tightly around the crack, its sinister head blocking the entrance as its scarlet tongue flicked in and out.

Its vertical pupils stared fixedly at Chen Yuan in the depths of the crack, filled with patience and cruelty. Clearly, it intended to trap him here until he died.

It's over!

With his back against the cold rock wall, Chen Yuan felt the emptiness within his qi and blood and the unceasing pain coursing through him. Despair rose in his heart.

Trapped here, badly injured, with a Demon Serpent waiting outside... this was nearly a certain death sentence.

Could he really die here? He had finally obtained the Golden Scale Fruit, only to be unable to enjoy its benefits?

No! Absolutely not!

His intense will to survive blazed in his eyes like a flame.

He abruptly clenched his teeth, and his gaze fell on the Scarab Fish Secret Pouch.

The Golden Scale Fruit!

This object contained immense energy and was the perfect treasure for breaking through. If he could use it to break through...

Although his current condition was terrible and this was far from the best time for a breakthrough, he was already in a desperate situation. Only by placing himself in a deathtrap could he find a way to survive.

A hint of resolve flashed through Chen Yuan's eyes. Without hesitation, he took the Golden Scale Fruit from the Scarab Fish Secret Pouch.

The moment the fruit left the pouch, its strange, sweet fragrance filled the narrow crack, even drifting outside. The Demon Serpent grew even more agitated and began ramming the entrance again, with even greater force.

Chen Yuan had no time to worry about anything else. He opened his mouth and swallowed the entire Golden Scale Fruit.

The fruit melted the instant it entered his mouth, as though he had swallowed a tiny sun!

Vast, boundless, and incomparably pure energy exploded in an instant, surging madly toward his four limbs and hundreds of bones like a breached flood.

The energy was so immense and violent that it far exceeded his imagination, almost as if it would burst him apart!

"Ugh—ah!" Chen Yuan let out a pained groan. His skin instantly flushed red, his veins bulged, and his body swelled like an inflated balloon. Intense agony swept across every inch of his nerves!

He dared not slacken in the slightest. He desperately held on to the final sliver of clarity in his Spirit Terrace and circulated the Mysterious Vortex Skin Grinding Method with all his strength.

Rumble, rumble!

His qi and blood circulated at an unprecedented speed. The Spiral Force spontaneously became incomparably violent, frantically guiding, compressing, and refining the vast medicinal power.

The Golden Scale Fruit's energy rapidly transformed into the purest qi and blood, merging into his skin, connective tissues, and even his bones.

His skin and flesh were strengthened and tempered at an unprecedented rate!

Crack... crack...

Faint sounds, like a moth breaking free from its cocoon, came from within his body.

The surface of his skin deepened at a visible speed, taking on a rough yet tough gray-black sheen, resembling both stone and black iron. The qi and blood within his flesh surged and condensed with unprecedented force.

Under the impact of the vast medicinal power, the bottleneck of his realm was pierced through as easily as thin paper.

Skin Grinding Realm—Great Accomplishment!

And the medicinal power was still continuing. The strength of his skin and flesh kept increasing, steadily advancing deeper into the Great Accomplishment realm.

Fifty-one... fifty-three... fifty-five...

When the final trace of the Golden Scale Fruit's medicinal power had been completely absorbed and refined, Chen Yuan's cultivation finally settled at Skin Grinding Realm—Great Accomplishment (63/100)!

A sense of strength several times greater than during the Minor Accomplishment stage filled his entire body. His skin and flesh were incomparably tough, ordinary blades and swords unable to injure them. When he tensed with force, they could even produce a muffled sound like stone grinding against stone.

This was the Stone Skin Realm reached after cultivating the Skin Grinding Realm to Great Accomplishment!

His total qi and blood and recovery speed also rose dramatically. His previous injuries had already healed, and his condition was even far beyond his peak.

Outside the crack, the Demon Serpent seemed to sense the sudden surge in Chen Yuan's aura. It grew somewhat suspicious and uncertain, and the force of its ramming gradually weakened.

Chen Yuan slowly opened his eyes. Brilliant light shone within them, and not the slightest trace of weakness remained.

He clenched his fists and felt the surging power within his body and the toughness of his skin and flesh. His confidence soared.

Although the Demon Serpent outside was powerful, he was no longer the ignorant youth he had once been. He was not without the strength to fight.

Moreover...

He glanced at the sinister serpent head faintly visible outside the crack, and a bold plan instantly took shape in his mind.

Chen Yuan drew a deep breath and once more circulated the Mist Manipulation divine ability with all his strength.

With his breakthrough, his mental power and control over his strength had greatly increased, making the technique much easier to perform than before.

He did not create a large area of mist. Instead, he compressed it to the extreme, condensing a super-cold mist sphere at the crack's entrance, directly before the Demon Serpent's head. It was only the size of a fist, yet as dense as solid matter, and it contained even more of the Cold Silence blade intent!

At the same time, he deliberately released a faint trace of the Golden Scale Fruit's lingering aura, luring the Demon Serpent in.

The Demon Serpent was indeed attracted. It suspiciously moved closer to the crack's entrance, trying to sense that enticing aura...

Now!

"Explode!"

Chen Yuan shouted inwardly.

The highly compressed cold mist sphere erupted in an instant like an icy bomb, blasting all its frigid qi and annihilating intent onto the Demon Serpent's head in a single moment—especially its mouth, nose, and eyes!

"Hisssroar!!!"

The Demon Serpent let out an utterly shrill scream!

At such close range, the violent cold and conceptual impact far exceeded the interference from before.

Its entire head was instantly covered in a thick layer of frost. Its eyes seemed to be pierced by Ice Needles and went blind at once.

The icy annihilating intent surged madly through its nostrils and straight into its brain, plunging it into a brief paralysis of agonizing confusion.

An opening!

Chen Yuan moved. His qi and blood erupted throughout his body, and the power of the Stone Skin Realm burst forth completely. He shot out of the crack like a cannonball!

The Cold Ripple Blade let out an unprecedented hum as icy blade light condensed to the extreme.

"Cold River... Severing Flow!"

He poured all his strength into it and unleashed the strongest slash he could currently perform, aiming straight at the upper palate inside the Demon Serpent's huge mouth, which had opened slightly from the pain. That was its relatively vulnerable point!

Pfft!

The blade, carrying the full power of a Great Accomplishment cultivator, pierced the Demon Serpent's upper palate with pinpoint precision. Fierce blade qi and an extreme-cold intent erupted through its head in an instant!

The Demon Serpent's enormous body abruptly stiffened, then began twisting madly. It let out desperate, wheezing sounds as blood gushed from its mouth like a spring.

Having landed his strike, Chen Yuan had no intention of lingering in battle. He instantly withdrew his blade and retreated, narrowly avoiding the Demon Serpent's frenzied thrashing sweep in its death throes.

Rumble, rumble... The Demon Serpent struggled for more than ten breaths before finally crashing heavily to the ground. After twitching a few times, it fell completely silent.

Before the crack, Chen Yuan stood with his blade in hand, breathing slightly hard as he looked at the enormous Demon Serpent corpse before him. A trace of excitement flashed through his eyes.

He had succeeded. He had slain a powerful enemy in a desperate situation!

Realm: Skin Grinding Realm—Great Accomplishment (63/100)

Divine Ability: Mist Manipulation (Entering the Hall): Broke through his limits in a desperate situation and developed the "Mist Burst" technique, reaching a new level in his use of the divine ability.

Tide Fortune: 75/100 (Desperate breakthrough, slaying a powerful enemy against the odds +15)

His Tide Luck Points surged once more. He was now only 25 points away from activating the Tidal Stele again!

Looking at the Demon Serpent's enormous corpse and his gains, Chen Yuan slowly exhaled a breath of foul air.

This time, he had truly survived by a hair's breadth, but he had also gained tremendously.

He did not immediately process the Demon Serpent. Instead, he carefully searched the riverbank area first. Only after confirming that there was no other danger did he finally relax completely.