Fire-Grease Extraction

Hearing Hals's words, the obese middle-aged boss with a face full of brutality grinned hideously. "I'm standing right here today. I'd like to see just how the hell you plan to kill me!"

Despite his words, the middle-aged man remained cautious, tensing his mind and surging his soul power, ready at any moment to counter an attack from Hals.

His years in Nork Town had taught him one truth: here, the arrogant die. The careless die. Die!!!!!!

But if the middle-aged boss could do it all over again, he would stay far, far away from the person behind him—no, from everyone.

Pfft

The sound of a blade piercing flesh. A piercing pain shot through from the middle-aged man's lower back.

"Aaaaahhh!"

The boss, who had been so arrogant moments ago, now had his fat face tightly scrunched up, his whole body trembling. He could feel his life slipping away. But he was, after all, a seven-ring Spirit Saint. After a brief moment of shock, he gritted his teeth, soul power surged, and a pair of half-meter-long golden claws appeared on his hands. He spun around furiously and swung a claw viciously at the attendant standing behind him.

Blood splattered. Three massive gashes tore across the attendant's chest and abdomen. Intestines and several internal organs were visibly severed, and his heart was neatly cut in two.

Struck heavily, the attendant flew backward, crashing hard onto the ground. The bloodstained knife in his hand fell to the side. He was already lifeless.

Turning back, the boss's eyes were bloodshot, the fury within them seeming to materialize as it surged toward Hals. The soul power in his left hand quietly faded, and the massive claw vanished without a trace.

With effort, he reached his fat, joint-like arm behind his back, covered it with soul power to forcibly stop the bleeding, and assessed that the wound wasn't severe. Still, the fat boss nearly ground his white teeth to dust.

He swung his right arm downward, and the already half-meter-long claws suddenly extended further, now over a meter in length. The tips silently and effortlessly pierced the ground without any resistance, showcasing their sharpness.

Whoosh

An overwhelming aura erupted skyward. Seven soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black—appeared behind the fat boss, pulsing slowly and heavily up and down.

The fat boss's face twisted. His small eyes, squeezed by the fat, were now like two mung beans. He panted heavily, "Good, very good." He bared his wide mouth, big enough to swallow an ordinary rabbit, and twisted into a grin, drool dripping to the ground.

"Very good. I don't know when you hooked up with that little bastard, and it looks like you've been planning this for a while. But..."

He paused. The six soul rings behind him lit up one after another, and the fat boss's aura grew stronger. He suddenly looked up, and though he was half a head shorter than Hals, a fierce gale burst from around him, forcing many of the weaker cultivators present to shut their eyes.

It was hard to imagine that the boss, fat as a pig, could suddenly explode with such astonishing speed. In an instant, he appeared at Hals's side. Both claws tore through the air with a whistling sound, slashing down toward Hals's head.

A vicious grin spread across his face, and his voice turned slightly shrill.

"Die, die, die!"

Just as the claws were only five fingers away from Hals's head, Hals still kept his head slightly lowered, as if he hadn't reacted.

Dead.

That was the only thought in everyone's mind.

But then...

Bang. Boom, boom, boom.

Just as the claws were about to touch Hals, Hals shifted from solid to illusory, swaying slightly to dodge the fat boss's claws. Then, a pair of large hands appeared before the fat boss's head with even greater speed, and gripped tightly.

Hals, who seemed somewhat lean, now resembled a raging beast. He grabbed the boss's head and slammed it viciously into the ground. The moment the boss's head hit the floor, unseen by others, Hals's legs and shoulders beneath his black-green robe had turned into translucent, glowing green bones. Then, he pushed again!

Pressing the boss's head to the ground, Hals crouched low, leaning forward, and sprinted ahead. Along the way, countless objects and walls in his path were shattered to pieces.

A deep, bloodstained trench trailed behind Hals. Finally, he stopped in front of the dead attendant's body. He paused, took a deep breath, and then...

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...

A rapid series of dense, muffled impacts rang out. Hals's left arm moved like a pile driver, swinging up and down at a frenzied, high frequency, repeatedly smashing the fat boss's back of the head into the ground. A crater with radiating cracks was steadily expanding.

The impacts continued. In the vast tavern hall filled with many people, only these dense thuds could be heard. Everyone dared not even breathe loudly, terrified that this violent "monster" might turn its attention to them.

Watching the figure relentlessly "pounding" and the seven-ring Spirit Saint utterly helpless beneath it, everyone felt a chill crawl up their spines. Cold sweat broke out involuntarily. Even the self-proclaimed thugs of Nork Town couldn't help but fear Hals's brutality.

Perhaps tired, Hals stopped his smashing. He slowly rose, then grabbed the fat boss's head and lifted him up.

If there was one benefit to all that fat, it was that even after such heavy pounding, the fat boss still had a faint trace of consciousness.

Hals slowly tightened his left hand. A teeth-grinding creak came from the fat boss's skull. As if jolted by the intense pain, the boss, who had been dazed, suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream. The wretched cry was enough to make anyone's hair stand on end.

A muffled, slurred voice came from under Hals's hand:

"P-please... sp-spare... me..."

Hearing the boss's plea, Hals lifted his head slightly. The face hidden beneath the hood was finally revealed to everyone.

He was smiling!!!

A wave of revulsion rose in everyone's hearts.

He was enjoying it.

Everyone silently reached the same conclusion.

Beneath the hood, the Soul Flame in Hals's eyes burned more fiercely than ever before. The desire in his heart grew stronger—a joy and excitement for cruelty.

A cruel grin curled at the corner of his mouth. A tiny green flame suddenly appeared on Hals's left arm. So faint was that flame that a gentle breath might snuff it out. But...

Whoosh

That tiny flame seemed to find fuel. It blazed up abruptly, turning into a fire serpent coiling around Hals's left arm, then slowly spreading toward the fat boss. In an instant, the fat boss became a man of fire—a glowing green man of fire.

"Aaaaahhh!"

The boss screamed miserably in the flames, like a pig being slaughtered.

"You're too fat. Let me help you slim down." The hoarse voice, unable to conceal its excitement, came from Hals's mouth.

The moment the words fell, something bizarre happened.

Though it was clearly burning, the flesh on the Fat Boss's body began to rapidly necrotize and fall off, as if frostbitten...

"Hah... hah..."

The Fat Boss's vocal cords seemed already scorched. He could no longer form words, only struggling to let out low, labored breaths.

In just a few moments, the Fat Boss, who had appeared to weigh two or three hundred jin, had turned into an emaciated, inhumanly thin middle-aged man of barely a hundred jin.

The crowd watched in silent horror as the "Fat" Boss's body was now nearly stripped of flesh, blackened all over...

Casually discarding the unresisting boss on the ground, Hals tucked his left hand back beneath the long robe that hid countless secrets.

A hoarse, regretful voice rang out, dissatisfaction flickering in Hals's eyes:

"Pity. Too fragile. How can a toy like this satisfy me..."

His gaze swept vaguely over the crowd, the tip of his tongue lightly licking his lips, as if he were itching for action.

Wherever his gaze passed, everyone braced themselves as if facing a great enemy, yet at the same time, they lowered their heads in fear and reverence, not daring to meet Hals's eyes.

"Tch."