Daoist Youna had barely finished speaking when the phantom of the ruyi plunged into the black-red mist. The mist was smashed open with a huge hole, followed by an earth-shaking boom that swept the black-red mist clean away. At its far end, beside the mountain rocks, stood an enormously burly man. He was two zhang tall, black mist pouring from all over his body. The mist wound around him, while crimson flames seeped from within his body and tangled with the black qi, forming armor much like that black-red mist. The man looked much like a human, but upon closer inspection, the edges of his body were made of faintly contracting black qi, sealing his true body away from Demon Subduing Valley's Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. His face was black as charcoal, his eyes blood-red, and his pupils brimmed with bloodlust. Every detail proclaimed that this man was not one of the "people of the Human Realm" mentioned by the Daoist.
"Ha ha ha... cough, cough..." The burly man burst into laughter, but before he could finish, he began coughing. Clutching his chest, he panted rapidly, as though he had suffered grave internal injuries. With every breath, sparks mixed with wisps of black qi burst from his mouth and nose.
Looking more closely, it was indeed so. Much of the armor on the burly man's body had already shattered, though dense black qi concealed the damage from view. At his waist was a hole the size of a head, from which threads of black blood flowed. Flecks of sparks likewise glimmered within that black blood...
"Ha ha ha, the people of the Human Realm are nothing more than this. Daoist Youna... who are you? Why do you pursue only this Venerable One?" The burly man seemed unharmed by the