A muffled impact rang out, heavy beyond measure.
The punch sent Xue Wuhen flying dozens of yards backward. Two of his four demonic wings shattered in midair, spraying black fragments everywhere.
His body struck a Coiling Dragon Pillar at the edge of the arena. The laws within the pillar shuddered violently and gave a piercing hum, bouncing him back.
Xue Wuhen crashed onto the arena's stone tiles and rolled several times before he managed to stop.
He lay facedown, a trickle of black blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
The punch's lingering force had burned a charred hole through his black robe, exposing a deep depression in his abdomen.
At least three ribs were broken, and his Saintly Breath had briefly stalled.
He raised his head with difficulty.
Yuan Sha stood ten yards ahead of him, looking down at him through dark-gold eyes.
"Get up."
Yuan Sha spoke.
"Didn't you say you were going to refine me?"
"Get up and keep going."
Xue Wuhen braced himself on his arms and slowly climbed to his feet.
Only two of his four demonic wings remained, and cracks covered them both.
Most of the black Demonic Dao runes around him had dimmed, and the surging black demonic energy had thinned considerably.
But he stood up all the same.
He wiped the black blood from his mouth and looked at Yuan Sha's face, covered in dark-gold crystal armor. At last, a faint smile touched his lips.
There was no coldness or calculation in that smile, only the calm of someone who had reached a dead end and had nothing left to fear.
"Devil Ancestor... you truly live up to your name."
He drew a deep breath and gathered every last remnant of soul power within him into his right palm.
A fist-sized