Xu Taiping frowned.
He could feel that the weight of just one of these bracelets exceeded the total weight of the iron weights he usually carried on his body.
And the golden-haired demonic cultivator had identical bracelets on all four of his arms and both of his ankles.
In other words, this golden-haired demonic cultivator was training his body under six times the weight Xu Taiping was enduring.
“Bang!”
“Boom!”
When the golden-haired demonic cultivator threw the last iron bracelet to the ground, his already tall and robust body suddenly swelled to twice its original size.
A wave of pure blood and energy rippled out like waves on water, sweeping across the desolate land.
From a distance, the golden-haired demonic cultivator looked like the legendary giants of ancient times.
“Who would have thought that I, the great one, would remove these mountain-suppressing irons here? But compared to fighting those wooden-like Corpse Ghosts, battling you human cultivators is much more interesting.”
The golden-haired demonic cultivator grinned at Xu Taiping, his eyes filled with fervor.
He no longer cared about any orders from above; all he could think about now was how to use his fists to pound the young man before him into a pulp.
“This demon must be the Martial Demon mentioned in Elder Duan’s blade manual.”
Xu Taiping thought to himself as he wrapped his hands and the Spring Tiger saber together with a strip of blood spider silk.
In Elder Duan’s Demonic Severing Blade manual, demonic cultivators like the golden-haired one, who were obsessed with martial arts, were called Martial Demons. These individuals were often martial arts fanatics before they turned demonic, spending their lives pursuing the peak of martial arts. When they could no longer progress, they succumbed to demonic temptation.
According to Duan Tianya, these demonic cultivators were the hardest to deal with because they needed no motive to be your enemy; they simply wanted to defeat and kill you.
“Boom!” After a brief stare-down, the golden-haired Martial Demon left a shadow in his original spot and reappeared in front of Xu Taiping, throwing a punch at him.
“Clang!” Xu Taiping reacted swiftly, slashing out with his saber the moment the Martial Demon appeared.
“Bang!” In the ensuing clash, both the golden-haired Martial Demon and Xu Taiping were forced back a few steps.
Although uninjured, Xu Taiping felt a chill in his heart. He realized that the golden-haired Martial Demon had broken his saber stance using only the power of his blood and energy.
Even though Xu Taiping could only leverage the terrain around him, it was still the force of nature, showing just how powerful that punch from the golden-haired Martial Demon had been.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
Without giving him any time to think, the golden-haired Martial Demon’s fists began to rain down on Xu Taiping like a storm.
Under the immense force of those punches, the ruins on the desolate land were pulverized, and the ground was left with deep indentations.
“Bang!”
Finally, after enduring dozens of punches, Xu Taiping’s Spring Tiger saber was knocked out of his hands.
His arms, which had been holding the saber, were already torn and bleeding.
“Is that all you’ve got? I’m not satisfied yet!”
Seeing this, the golden-haired Martial Demon laughed wildly, increasing the force of his punches as he aimed at the now unarmed Xu Taiping.
Even when their opponent was at their wit’s end, Martial Demons would still go all out; this was their way.
Not far away, Lin Buyu and the others, who were fending off the demonic flood dragon, saw this and began shouting for Xu Taiping to return to the formation.
In their eyes, even if no one held back the golden-haired Martial Demon, the Golden Scales Formation could at least buy them some time.
But Xu Taiping had no intention of retreating.
He was waiting for this punch from the Martial Demon.
The Martial Demon’s punch showed no signs of holding back, still full force.
But this punch also left him no room for retreat; once thrown, it would not be retracted until it hit its target.
“Boom!”
Finally, under the horrified gazes of Xu Ziyan and the others, the golden-haired Martial Demon’s punch landed heavily on Xu Taiping.
Just as everyone was about to abandon their defense against the demonic flood dragon to rescue Xu Taiping, they suddenly saw his body explode into a cloud of mist.
At the same time, a figure identical to Xu Taiping appeared beside the golden-haired Martial Demon, throwing a punch at his head.
“Bang!”
With a loud noise, the golden-haired Martial Demon’s head snapped back, and he staggered.
But that was all. Xu Taiping’s punch alone couldn’t bring down the Martial Demon’s demonic body.
“Is that all you’ve got…”
“Boom, boom!”
The Martial Demon straightened up suddenly, clenching his fists again. But before he could finish his sentence, two more clouds of mist exploded around Xu Taiping, and another punch landed heavily on the Martial Demon’s head.
“Bang!”
With a muffled sound, the Martial Demon’s body was sent flying.
Xu Taiping had fully released the turbid energy from two more acupoints.
The turbid energy, which had been suppressed for months, burst out, creating waves of energy no less powerful than the Martial Demon’s.
At the same time, Xu Taiping heard a “crack” from his soul, as if something deep within had shattered.
Having a thorough understanding of the Human Emperor’s Body Refining Technique, he was not afraid but rather overjoyed upon hearing this sound.
The sound indicated that a shackle on his soul, which limited his physical strength, had been broken.
According to the Human Emperor’s Body Refining Technique, the soul limits the strength a warrior can exert to protect the body from harm.
For example, a weight of ten thousand pounds is considered the extreme limit for a warrior. No matter how strong the body is, a punch can only exert ten thousand pounds of force, not a bit more.
The acupoint suppression chapter of the Human Emperor’s Body Refining Technique was designed to break these soul shackles.
“That’s all you’ve got, that’s all you’ve got!”
The Martial Demon seemed to go berserk, roaring loudly as he stood up.
“Bang!” But just as he raised his fist, Xu Taiping landed another punch on his head.
This time, Xu Taiping’s punch exceeded ten thousand pounds of force, causing the Martial Demon to fall headfirst into the ground, creating a large crater.
Even so, the demonic body remained intact.
Xu Taiping wasn’t surprised. He quickly popped a handful of Recovery Pills into his mouth and executed the Charging Bull Formation.
According to Fairy Lingyue’s warning when he practiced the Human Emperor’s Body Refining Technique, although his soul shackles were broken, his body hadn’t been tempered enough. Using strength beyond the extreme limit for too long would cause his body to collapse.
So he had to end this quickly.