Half-Demon Transformation

Clang—

The Heaven Secrets Pavilion Master heavily struck the bronze ranking board with the iron abacus in his hand. The six gilded characters, "Earth Ranking First—Li Chen Zhou," gleamed brilliantly beneath the sunlight. The Ministry of Rites official stroked his beard with a smile, only to see the Blood Demon Blade suddenly let out a dragonlike tremor.

Ding—Congratulations to the host for claiming first place on the Earth Ranking. Reward: Indestructible Divine Skill!

A smile had just appeared at the corner of Li Chen Zhou's mouth when his nostrils suddenly twitched. The Blood Demon Blade tore through the air and pointed straight at the tavern in the northwest corner. "Jade Faced Fox, I can smell your fox stench from three streets away!" As saber qi surged, the tavern's curtain split apart.

The crowd saw only a handsome young man drinking alone. Moonlight fell upon his porcelain-white face, yet it gave off an eerie blue gleam. When he raised his eyes, his pupils had already become vertical slits, and blue demonic flames more than ten feet high suddenly erupted around him!

"Half-step fourth rank?!" The charred Five Thunder Command Banner in Zhang Xuanling's hand snapped with a crack. Every expert present above the third rank felt their hearts quake, as though invisible hands had seized their throats—this was the bloodline suppression of the ancient Celestial Fox!

Jade Faced Fox elegantly wiped the wine from his lips. When he rose, a phantom fox tail appeared behind him. "Lord Li has such a keen nose." His voice shifted between male and female, carrying a rhythm that bewitched the heart. "I wonder... can you smell whether I am male or female at this moment?"

Crack! Li Chen Zhou crushed the blood jade he had been toying with. "If Yan San's blade had been even three inches farther off, you'd be entertaining clients at the Courtesans' Bureau by now!"

Boom!

The blue bricks beneath Jade Faced Fox's feet exploded into powder, while the fingers of both hands lengthened into three-foot bone blades. Veins bulged across his handsome face as an inhuman shriek squeezed from his throat. "I'll dig out your heart and liver to drink with my wine!"

A translucent light screen suddenly appeared in midair:

Name: Jade Faced Fox (Half-Demon Form)

Strength: Fifth Rank → Fourth Rank (Celestial Fox Core activating)

Danger Level: ★★★☆

"So there's still ninety percent of the core left..." Greed flashed through Li Chen Zhou's eyes, and the Taotie pattern on the Blood Demon Blade suddenly opened its third eye.

"Die!"

Jade Faced Fox turned into a streak of blue lightning and lunged forward. Behind him, two solid fox tails swept out like enormous pythons. Li Chen Zhou used the Wind God Kick to shatter the ground and evade, while the spot where he had stood was smashed into a deep pit by the fox tails!

"Three Abyssal Slashes—Sever Reincarnation!"

The blood-colored saber qi struck the fox tail and actually rang out with the clash of metal. The prayer beads in Shaolin's Xuan Ye's hand suddenly snapped—this slash had once shattered an Earth-tier Divine Weapon, yet now it left only a white mark upon the fox tail!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two fox tails bombarded him in alternation, and the Black Tortoise Arena collapsed layer by layer like a clay sculpture. Just as Li Chen Zhou was forced into a corner, the second fox tail suddenly cleaved down like a battle-axe!

Clang—!!!

Amid the deafening boom, dazzling golden light suddenly shone through the smoke and dust. When the dust settled, a small bronze figure gleaming entirely gold was seen kneeling on one knee, its arms crossed as it forcibly received the fox tail. Sanskrit characters flowed across its golden body, holding the fox tail rigidly in midair!

"Indestructible Divine Skill?!" The Mad Daoist spat out his wine. "Just how many trump cards has this brat been hiding?!"

Jade Faced Fox recoiled in horror, only to see the golden figure suddenly grin. The Taotie pattern on the Blood Demon Blade opened its massive maw and, across empty space, bit into the blue glow at his dantian—the location of the Celestial Fox Core!

"Now..." Li Chen Zhou's voice came from the golden figure's throat. "It's my turn."

"Get up for me!"

The muscles in Li Chen Zhou's arms coiled like dragons, and his Indestructible body burst forth with blinding golden radiance. He actually grabbed that solid fox tail and swung Jade Faced Fox's entire body around! The spectators saw a blue figure trace an afterimage through the air, and then—

Boom!

The Black Tortoise Arena was smashed open with spiderweb cracks.

Before the smoke had even dispersed, the golden figure exerted force again. Jade Faced Fox was slammed from side to side like a rag doll, every impact making the entire martial arena tremble!

"Roar—!" A fox howl shook the heavens! Jade Faced Fox, smashed until the world spun around him, suddenly opened his mouth. Blue flames burst from his seven orifices, and the phantom fox tails abruptly contracted. His handsome face was now completely demonized, fangs piercing his lips as a heart-palpitating blue sphere of light condensed in his mouth.

"Celestial Fox Howls at the Moon!" The sphere transformed into a torrent of energy more than ten feet across, corroding even the air in its path—

—leaving behind scorched, foul-smelling trails.

The Heaven Secrets Pavilion Master abruptly rose to his feet. "Fall back!"

The sphere became a destructive torrent pouring down. Yet instead of retreating, Li Chen Zhou charged forward. He pressed his palms together, and the phantom image of an ancient bronze bell suddenly appeared around him. "Golden Bell Shield, Twelfth Stage—Flawless Golden Body? Rebound!"

Clang—!

The bell's chime echoed through the clouds. The instant the blue energy wave struck the bell wall, it surged back with even greater violence! Jade Faced Fox was blasted dozens of yards away by his own killing move, crashing through three coiling-dragon stone pillars before he finally stopped.

"Pfft!" He spat blood mixed with chunks of organs, but madness ignited in his eyes. To everyone's horror, the two phantom fox tails were condensing into physical form, every strand of fur standing erect like a steel needle!

"Demonization! This is true demonization!" The iron abacus in the Heaven Secrets Pavilion Master's hand snapped with a crack. His old face flushed red. "Three hundred years... Since Lady Celestial Fox fell, this old man can actually witness the awakening of the Celestial Fox bloodline once more!"

"Demonization!" The Mad Daoist sobered up by more than half. "This brat has really gone too far!"

The figure slowly rising from the dust was no longer human—Jade Faced Fox's nails had become claws, and demonic markings appeared over his cheeks. When he lifted his head again, his handsome face had turned into the savage visage of a half-human, half-fox creature.

Two fox tails, solid as reality, danced like pythons. Liquid demonic fire flowed along every strand of fur. He licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, only to see that beneath Li Chen Zhou's shocked expression, a trace of... anticipation flashed in his eyes?

"Yes, that look." The demon fox's voice overlapped in male and female tones as his claws tore open the tattered clothes across his chest. "Be afraid! Tremble! I will have you carry that fear as you are slowly refined by demonic fire into..."

His words came to an abrupt halt.

Because he saw Li Chen Zhou smiling.

That was not a shocked expression at all, but the ferocious grin of a hunter seeing his prey fall into the trap!

"I've finally waited for this moment." Li Chen Zhou wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as the Blood Demon Blade suddenly gave a hungry hum. "A fully demonized inner core... is the real great tonic!"

A fox tail crashed down like a heavenly pillar collapsing. Li Chen Zhou neither dodged nor evaded, receiving this mountain-splitting, rock-cleaving strike head-on with his golden body. Amid the crack of breaking bones, he seized the opportunity to hug that materialized fox tail tightly!

The Indestructible body and the demonized body wrestled against each other, plowing two deep furrows through the bluestone ground.

"Got you." Blood seeped from Li Chen Zhou's seven orifices, but his smile only became more ferocious. "The highest realm of the Soul Absorption Art—Taotie Devours Heaven!"

The fox tail shriveled at a visible speed. Vast demonic power flooded into Li Chen Zhou's body like rivers pouring backward into the sea. Jade Faced Fox was horrified beyond measure, and his remaining fox tail lashed out wildly, only to be pierced through by the Blood Demon Blade, which had suddenly expanded enormously!

"No—!" He watched in despair as the energy within his demon core was frantically plundered.

At the critical moment, a clear sword cry came from the heavens.

Zheng—

A pink sword light descended like an immortal from beyond the heavens. It first knocked away the Blood Demon Blade, then slashed at Li Chen Zhou! A figure in red stood upon the air, a soft sword in her hand flicking like a nimble serpent's tongue.

"The Heavenly Desire Palace Master, Yan Ruyu?!" The wine gourd in the Mad Daoist's hand exploded with a pop. "A third-rank grandmaster has personally stepped in!"

Li Chen Zhou was forced to withdraw his technique and retreat rapidly. The surging demonic power within him made blue smoke seep from every pore. With a backhand motion, he recalled the Blood Demon Blade and poured all thirty percent of the Celestial Fox's power he had plundered into it—the demonic patterns on the blade instantly writhed like living creatures, and the Taotie pattern's third eye opened completely!

Ding—Blood Demon Blade (Evolution Charge: 60%)