Spirit-Absorbing Meridians! Strength Worth a Thousand Jun!

Yang Xiao tightened his grip on the Spring Embroidery Saber and secretly assessed the situation.

The previous collision made him realize a problem: the Spring Embroidery Saber was three chi long from hilt to tip, barely reaching the middle of a person's thigh.

On the other hand, the Bull Demon had thick hide and flesh, its massive body spreading more than two zhang—a full seven meters!

The blade of the Spring Embroidery Saber was just over an inch wide. Even if he hacked the entire thing into this brute's body, it would only constitute superficial flesh wounds.

Therefore, he had to target its weak spots!

Thinking of this, Yang Xiao darted out like a ghost, instantly closing the distance to the Bull Demon.

The blade carried white misty saber qi, thrusting straight at the Bull Demon's relatively weakly defended armpit at a tricky angle!

A trace of surprise flashed in the Bull Demon's eyes, and its massive body tried to retreat, but Yang Xiao was even faster!

The blade cut into the hide, and blood flew!

So fast.

The Bull Demon's low voice rang out. It abruptly whirled around, a hooves-down strike smashing down like a mountain!

Yang Xiao advanced instead of retreating, his left palm carrying the Mountain-Opening Force as he met the blow head-on!

Palm and hoof intersected, and a surge of air churned!

Yang Xiao felt a terrifying force transmit from the bull's hoof, and the bones in his left arm emitted a cracking sound that groaned under the unbearable burden!

Roar--!

Yang Xiao flew backward, his feet plowing two deep trenches in the ground before he managed to steady his stance.

His left arm trembled slightly, the web of his thumb already split open and seeping blood.

Resisting with pure strength, he was slightly at a disadvantage.

The Bull Demon slowly paced forward, its massive body resembling a moving fortress.

Yang Xiao took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the intense pain in his left arm.

Comparing sheer strength alone, he indeed fell short of the Bull Demon, but he had other methods!

The Bull Demon charged again, its two front hooves acting like a pair of giant hammers smashing down in alternating strikes!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Yang Xiao's figure fluttered erratically, pushing the Astonishing Swan Steps to their limit as he shuttled and dodged amidst the bull's hoof attacks.

Every time a hoof landed, it blasted a deep pit into the ground, sending shattered stones flying.

His hands brushed like flowing water across the Bull Demon's front legs, a clever force welling up and smoothly deflecting the blow!

"Roar!"

The Bull Demon roared, slamming its head straight at Yang Xiao!

Yang Xiao sidestepped, letting the horns pass while simultaneously slashing his saber against the side of the Bull Demon's neck!

Blood flew, creating yet another wound!

The Bull Demon's attacks were neutralized one by one by the Floating Cloud Shattering Hands, while every single one of Yang Xiao's cuts left a mark on its body!

Though light, the Spring Embroidery Saber acted like an exceptionally sharp razor in Yang Xiao's hands, shaving away the Bull Demon's flesh bit by bit!

"Damn it!" roared the Bull Demon, launching a frenzied assault.

Yet Yang Xiao constantly hovered at the edge of its attacks, occasionally resisting head-on with the Monument Splitting Palm, occasionally discharging force with the Floating Cloud Shattering Hands, and occasionally dodging with the Astonishing Swan Steps.

Although they were all foundational martial arts, every single method was pushed to its absolute limit!

Strong though the Bull Demon's power was, its attacks were too direct and fierce, lacking versatility.

Meanwhile, Yang Xiao's assaults poured down like molten silver, penetrating every opening!

After a short while, the Bull Demon's entire body was covered in blade cuts, and its stamina began to plummet along with the loss of blood.

Its movements also gradually slowed by a fraction.

And this was precisely the moment Yang Xiao had been waiting for. He burst forward, no longer dodging!

"Courting death!"

Joy flashed in the Bull Demon's eyes as a hoof smashed down heavily!

Yet Yang Xiao did not duck!

He used the Floating Cloud Shattering Hands to discharge the majority of the bull hoof's force, simultaneously lunging forward to slip past the hoof and swinging the Spring Embroidery Saber in his hand.

The blade pierced the Bull Demon's throat like lightning, and blood gushed out like a fountain!

"Roar--!"

The Bull Demon let out a shrill howl, its massive body struggling wildly.

But Yang Xiao did not let go!

He gripped the hilt with both hands, driving the Spring Embroidery Saber deeper until the tip pierced clean through the Bull Demon's cervical vertebrae!

The Bull Demon's massive body crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

It twitched a few times, the bright light in its eyes gradually extinguishing, until a moment later its chest rose and fell no more, and no breath issued from its nostrils.

Yang Xiao released the hilt, staggered back a few steps, and sat heavily on the ground.

He breathed in great, ragged gasps.

This battle had left his entire body bruised in multiple places; had he not possessed several defensive reinforcement traits, he surely would have suffered even heavier injuries...

Yang Xiao closed his eyes, beginning to summarize the gains and losses of this battle.

The Demon-Slaying Blade Technique along with his other martial arts had consumed half of his twelve apertures, leaving only half their reserves now.

His abilities were very evenly balanced; various fist, palm, movement, and defensive martial arts had all reached perfection, but every single discipline remained a foundational martial art with no higher-tier techniques to follow.

The Demon-Slaying Blade Technique and the Spring Embroidery Saber... were starting to fall a bit short.

If he had a better, longer saber, or even stronger martial arts... Yang Xiao shook his head, pressing the thought down.

Now was not the time to dwell on such things.

He stood up and walked over to the Bull Demon's carcass.

Reaching into the Bull Demon's chest cavity, he groped about in the flesh for a moment before fishing out a fist-sized, dark-yellow demonic core.

Yang Xiao put the demonic core away, then turned and walked toward the Condensed Essence Fruit Tree by the lake.

Three fruits hung from the branches, each exuding a faint white spiritual light.

There was still some time before the noon hour the Bull Demon had mentioned, so he regulated his breathing and circulated his energy to recover the spiritual qi in his apertures while quietly waiting.

Half an hour later, the concentration of spiritual qi in the air quietly increased by half a percent.

The surfaces of the three Condensed Essence Fruit Trees—correction: the three Condensed Essence Fruits before him circulated a layer of faint, lustrous white spiritual halo, and a clear, sweet, mellow fruity fragrance could be smelled from several zhang away.

Yang Xiao walked over to observe. The fully ripened Condensed Essence Fruits weighed down their branches a fraction, spiritual serpents seeming to swim beneath the surface of their skin as they gently trembled, constantly radiating wisps of pure heaven-and-earth spiritual qi outward.

"It's time!"

Joy bloomed on Yang Xiao's face.

He reached out and plucked one, placing it in his palm; its surface was smooth as jade and emitted a gentle fragrance.

This was the fruit tree the Bull Demon had guarded for hundreds of years, relying on it to transform from a mere domestic beast into a great mountain demon.

It was also a treasured item coveted by low-realm martial artists.

[Available equipment detected: Condensed Essence Fruit (one-time consumable)]
[Effect: Replenishes the spiritual qi of one aperture.]
[Available equipment detected: Condensed Essence Fruit Tree (one-time consumable)]
[Effect: Acquire trait (Blue) Meridian Storage Spiritual Qi: meridians form a spiritual storage channel, excess spiritual qi can be converted into storage for retrieval at any time.]

Yang Xiao froze when he saw the latter.

The Condensed Essence Fruit tree... could also be equipped in the equipment slot?

Furthermore, it granted an immensely powerful blue trait, Meridian Storage Spiritual Qi, helping him accumulate a massive amount of spiritual qi and vastly improving his combat endurance.

Still, the exact effects would have to be tested to be known.

Equipping the three Condensed Essence Fruits instantly filled three apertures within his body.

Yang Xiao then equipped the Condensed Essence Fruit Tree, immediately sitting cross-legged on the ground to circulate the Origin-Guiding Qi Gathering Art while carefully sensing the changes inside his body.

Previously, driving spiritual qi required drawing it from the twelve apertures; once depleted, he had to re-absorb heaven-and-earth breath and slowly accumulate it anew.

Once the twelve apertures were completely filled, not even a single trace more could be stored.

Even with his triple spirit-swallowing efficiency, it could never match consumption in battle, resulting in expenditures outstripping supply.

Yet now, aside from the twelve apertures, spiritual qi could even be accumulated within his meridians, allowing him to freely move energy through stem and leaf much like a plant.

Yang Xiao closed his eyes in internal introspection and secretly estimated: when the meridians were fully saturated with spiritual qi, it would equate to an additional spiritual qi reserve of twelve apertures!

Endurance was directly doubled!

Thinking of this, a sharp gleam flashed in Yang Xiao's eyes, while his expression grew somewhat strained, heightening his urgency to join the Demon Suppression Division.

Right now, he urgently needed high-lethal-force martial arts techniques; high consumption didn't matter as long as he had the volume!

The martial arts collections at the County Yamen were still too low in tier and could no longer satisfy the pace of his progression.

Yang Xiao reached out once more, a dark-yellow Bull Demon demonic core appearing in his hand.

One-time equipment did not occupy an equipment slot, so he might as well use it right now along with the rest.

[Qi Gathering Demonic Core (one-time consumable)]
[Effect 1: Replenishes the spiritual qi of nine apertures.]
[Effect 2: Acquire trait (Green) Force of a Thousand Jun: grants the strength of a thousand jun, increasing single-arm strength by thirty thousand catties.]
[Fusion successful!]

As a massive torrent of spiritual qi poured into his body, Yang Xiao's twelve apertures instantly filled to the brim, and even the reserves within his meridians were half-filled.

Simultaneously, his single-arm strength increased by thirty thousand catties.

That terrifying, monstrous strength the Bull Demon had displayed earlier—he now possessed it as well.

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