Furnace Bone Tempering

Deep within the mountains, inside a hidden ravine crevice.

Fang Gang sat cross-legged, the blood and vitality around him boiling like molten lava, forming a thin golden-red halo over his skin.

On his left shoulder, the ghastly white Withered Bone mark flickered violently. Each flash erupted with bone-piercingly cold, decaying energy that tried to erode his flesh, only to be burned with sizzling sounds by the Nine Yang True Fire rising from his body.

Yet Fang Gang's will was focused deep within the newly opened "Power Aperture" in his right arm.

Within the Power Aperture, the blurry phantom of the Dragon Elephant Furnace spun madly at an unprecedented speed!

A powerful suction force arose from the furnace's mouth. Like a starving glutton, it greedily devoured the decaying Withered Bone energy pouring from the mark on his left shoulder!

Hiss, hiss, hiss—!

Pure yet icy decaying energy, like a black stream, was forcibly drawn into the furnace.

Inside, the golden-red, supremely yang Nine Yang True Fire had long been blazing fiercely, like the most tyrannical refining flame!

"Refine!"

Fang Gang shouted inwardly, concentrating his mental power as he guided the true fire within the furnace.

The instant the absorbed Withered Bone energy touched the Nine Yang True Fire, it was like boiling oil poured over snow, erupting into a violent clash!

Icy decay and blazing supreme yang collided fiercely, annihilating each other!

Each annihilation brought excruciating pain that sank into his bones, as though countless ice picks and branding irons were ravaging Fang Gang's body at once!

Sweat instantly covered his smooth scalp, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

Yet amid that extreme agony, strands of dark golden energy—hundreds of times purer than ordinary blood and vitality, containing fragments of strange laws of decay and deterioration, though their impurities had been forcibly refined away—were extracted and purified by the furnace!

This dark golden energy was no longer cold. Instead, it carried a heavy, condensed quality, as though it could crush mountains.

Like the gentlest stream, it flowed from the furnace's base, following the pathways of the Power Aperture and slowly soaking into the bones in Fang Gang's arms, which had only recently healed and were still not tough enough.

Buzz—!

Where the dark golden energy passed, the bones in his arms emitted a deep hum!

The fractured areas that had still ached faintly were struck by an intense numb, itching sensation.

The surface of his bones seemed to be plated with a thin layer of dark golden jade. Its luster was contained within, while its toughness rose at a visible rate!

Furnace Bone Tempering in progress! Refining efficiency increased! Current: 2%!

Withered Bone energy continuously converting... Dark Golden Jade Bones undergoing tempering...

Constitution significantly improved! Bone strength greatly increased! Resistance to the law of decay increased!

Dragon Elephant Furnace phantom solidity increased!

The system prompts brought excitement amid the agonizing pain.

"Old bones make pretty good firewood... they burn quite fiercely, don't they?"

Fang Gang bared his teeth, tugging at muscles tightened by the pain and making his expression look somewhat savage.

He could clearly feel that with every strand of Withered Bone energy he refined, his bones grew tougher, the furnace became more solid, and the power it fed back became more tyrannical!

This pain was worth it!

Just then!

The light outside the ravine crevice abruptly dimmed without warning.

It was not nightfall, but a pure "shadow" spreading outward, swallowing the light and bringing utter silence.

A flickering figure, as if outlined in thick ink, appeared soundlessly within the shadows at the crevice entrance.

His entire body was shrouded in a wide black cloak. His face could not be seen; only two dim green lights flickered deep beneath his hood.

He held no physical weapon, but ten Shadow Spikes—Void Shadow Blades—extended from the tips of his fingers. They seemed condensed from the purest darkness, endlessly twisting and writhing as they radiated an edge sharp enough to cut space apart.

The Shadow Nightmare Priest! The most elusive and troublesome of the Nightmare Holy Cult's Twelve Priests, SS-Class, skilled in assassination and the laws of shadow!

"Guided by Elder Withered Bone's mark... so it truly is here."

A drifting, icy voice seemed to sound directly from within Fang Gang's shadow, carrying the cruel amusement of a cat toying with a mouse. "To survive the elder's mark... and even... seem to be using it? Interesting. Unfortunately, this ends here."

Before his words had faded, the Shadow Nightmare Priest's figure vanished from where he stood like ink dissolving into water!

The next instant!

The shadow beneath Fang Gang abruptly came "alive"! Ten soundless Shadow Spikes, each capable of tearing through refined steel, shot out from his shadow on the ground like venomous snakes leaving their holes, carrying extreme sharpness and spatial cutting force as they stabbed at his vital points—his throat, heart, back of the head, and spine!

The attack came without the slightest warning, strange to the extreme! This was an assassination strike born of the laws of shadow, one that ignored conventional defenses!

"I've been waiting for you!" Fang Gang's tightly shut eyes snapped open! Golden-red light flashed from them like tangible lightning cutting through the gloom!

At the instant the Shadow Spikes were about to strike him, he suddenly raised his right arm, which had just undergone its initial tempering!

The Dragon Elephant Furnace phantom within the Power Aperture spun madly!

A heavy, condensed dark golden blood-and-vitality force carrying the will to shatter the void instantly covered his entire right arm!

Fine dark golden keratin patterns, like dragon scales, even emerged across the skin of his arm!

He did not try to catch the bizarre trajectories of the Shadow Spikes. Instead, he held his dragon-scale-covered right arm across his body like a giant shield while slightly twisting to the side!

Clang! Clang! Clang! Riiip—!

Piercing metallic collisions and tearing sounds rang out at once!

Most of the Shadow Spikes struck hard against his right arm, covered in dark golden dragon scales, producing shrill scraping noises and scattering sparks everywhere!

The Shadow Spikes, which contained the power to cut space, left only several shallow white marks upon the dragon scales!

Yet several more cunning Shadow Spikes bypassed the arm's defense and stabbed fiercely into Fang Gang's left shoulder and ribs!

The Shadow Spikes, imbued with cutting laws, instantly tore through his protective blood and vitality and tough muscles, leaving several wounds deep enough to expose bone! Blood immediately soaked his clothes red!

Pain surged through him, but the ferocity in Fang Gang's eyes only intensified!

These injuries were far lighter than he had expected!

The strength of his bones after Furnace Bone Tempering had forcibly stopped the Shadow Spikes from penetrating deeper!

Before his breakthrough, that strike would have at least left penetrating wounds!

"Rat hiding in the shadows! Get out here!"

Fang Gang roared. The muscles of his injured right arm bulged as he ignored the pain, spread the five fingers covered in dragon scales, and clawed violently at the empty shadow on the ground before him!

World Shaking Dragon Fist—Dragon Seizing!

Five condensed dark golden claw shadows tore through the air, carrying tyrannical power that imprisoned space as they clawed fiercely into that writhing patch of shadow!

"Hmph!"

A muffled groan came from the void!

The Shadow Nightmare Priest's flickering figure was forcibly dragged out of the shadow dimension by those claw shadows containing the power to imprison space!

The dim green lights in his eyes were filled with shock. He had clearly not expected his opponent to possess not only terrifying physical defense, but also the ability to interfere with the laws of shadow!

"Die!"

Fang Gang pressed his advantage without mercy. His left palm had long been poised to strike! Golden-red light in his palm compressed to the limit, like a miniature blazing sun!

Great Sun Incinerating Demon Palm—Burning Void!

He struck with his palm!

The scorching palm wind instantly evaporated the moisture from the air. Carrying supremely yang power that incinerated all falsehood, it descended upon the Shadow Nightmare Priest, whose form had been forced into view!

The attack covered every possible route of escape!

A vicious glint flashed in the Shadow Nightmare Priest's eyes. His ten Void Shadow Blades crossed before him as dense dark energy formed a twisted shadow shield in front of him!

Boom—!!!

Supremely yang true fire and shadow energy collided violently!

A dull explosion erupted! The shadow shield shook violently and instantly filled with cracks!

The scorching blast slammed into the Shadow Nightmare Priest, igniting his black cloak and revealing a pale, twisted face beneath, covered in bizarre tattoos!

"You..." The Shadow Nightmare Priest was both shocked and enraged. The supremely yang true fire suppressed his shadow energy, leaving him in unbearable pain.

His figure blurred once more as he tried to melt back into the shadows and flee.

"Trying to run?" Golden-red light in Fang Gang's eyes locked onto him. Fang Gang stomped down with his right foot, and the ground exploded!

His figure appeared before the Shadow Nightmare Priest as if he had teleported. His right fist, covered in dark golden dragon scales, carried the will to shatter everything as it ignored the crumbling shadow shield and violently blasted toward the enemy's exposed chest!

World Shaking Dragon Fist—Shattering Star!

As the fist flew forth, space itself seemed compressed! The Shadow Nightmare Priest could see only that ever-growing fist covered in destructive dragon scales!

"No! Holy Lord..." he screamed in despair.

Boom—!!!

The dark golden fist force passed through the shattered shadow shield without resistance and slammed heavily into the Shadow Nightmare Priest's chest!

There was no violent explosion, only a dull sound, like a waterskin bursting apart.

The Shadow Nightmare Priest's body suddenly stiffened. The outline of a fist bulged from his chest and back, then his entire upper body seemed to be blown apart from within by an invisible tremendous force, instantly exploding into black viscous fluid and broken shadow fragments that sprayed everywhere!

His lower body swayed once before collapsing limply to the ground.

One punch! An SS-Class shadow assassin had been blown apart!

Fang Gang slowly withdrew his fist, and the dark golden dragon scales covering his right arm gradually faded away.

Under the powerful vitality brought by Furnace Bone Tempering, the wounds on his left shoulder and ribs writhed with flesh, stopping their bleeding and healing at a visible rate.

He did not even glance at the remains on the ground. His gaze returned to his left shoulder.

Perhaps stimulated by the Shadow Nightmare Priest's death, the Withered Bone mark flickered violently with ghastly white light, and the decaying energy it released became even more violent!

Yet in the next moment, it was madly swallowed by the even stronger suction of the Power Aperture furnace!

The furnace spun even faster!

The dark golden energy it fed back washed over the bones in his arms with even greater force, and their jade-like luster became increasingly obvious!

"The old bones' firewood... burns hotter and hotter."

Feeling his strength steadily rise amid the pain, Fang Gang pulled his lips into a cold arc.

He looked beyond the mountains toward the direction from which Elder Withered Bone's oppressive aura was coming, battle intent accumulating in his eyes like a volcano ready to erupt.