Redemption of a Born Demon

Chapter 136: Demon Flame Protection, Immovable as a Mountain Against the Wind (Part 2)

At the sight of this, Li Taiyu’s pupils instantly shrank to pinpricks.

He had never imagined that his Extreme Thought would have absolutely no effect on his opponent!

If it had had even the slightest effect, his opponent’s Sixth Sense would have wavered, making it impossible for him to use his full strength. He certainly wouldn’t have been able to so easily block that heavy kick, which had been backed by the Great Trend.

In truth, Li Taiyu’s judgment wasn’t wrong. If Yi Beidou hadn’t fully stepped into the Harmonized True Qi realm, comprehended the "Heaven-Devouring Demon Flame," and become capable of using Demon Flame Protection to resist the magnetic field’s influence, he truly would not have been able to block Li Taiyu’s assault so easily.

However, the situation gave Li Taiyu no room to think.

Yi Beidou’s hand shot out, about to seize his ankle.

If his ankle were caught, the opening would be far too great.

However, he was a Saint Expert, after all. With his immense experience, how could he be neutralized in a single move like Jin Fenghua?

The moment his leg came down, he sensed something was wrong. With a tap of his foot, he abruptly launched himself into the air and kicked his other foot toward Yi Beidou’s chest.

At such close range and with such immense force, the kick could have pierced through a wall in an instant.

An attack from a Saint Expert at the Harmonious True Qi Level—and a Leg Technique assault at its most powerful, no less—was something not even Yi Beidou could take head-on with his body.

Yi Beidou’s other palm flickered, already positioned across his chest to firmly block Li Taiyu’s mid-air kick.

BOOM!!

A dull explosion rang out as the ground shook violently. Yi Beidou bent his knees slightly, rooting himself to the spot in a thousand-pound drop stance. He remained completely motionless, but the ground beneath him had already burst open, sending shattered stones flying.

However, though Yi Beidou had blocked the attack, Li Taiyu used the terrifying recoil from the kick to successfully pull back his other leg, which Yi Beidou had not yet fully locked down.

TAP! TAP!

The moment he landed, Li Taiyu’s figure blurred. Without a moment’s pause, he launched a second round of attacks at Yi Beidou.

’I’d like to see just how many of my techniques this young man can take head-on!’

’He’s resisting my Extreme Thought, but I refuse to believe he can use that True Qi Secret Technique without being affected at all!’

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!!

With a continuous chain of Leg Techniques, every step Li Taiyu took left spiderweb cracks in the pavement. Shattered stones flew dozens of meters, striking the onlookers like pellets from a slingshot and causing them to cry out in alarm as they scrambled to get away.

In a duel between experts of this caliber, even thirty meters wasn’t a safe distance.

Li Taiyu’s Leg Technique was magnificent, like a raging tempest, and its power was terrifying. Each kick was like a grenade detonating, sending out constant shockwaves and an unending series of thunderous booms.

The onlookers hiding in various spots turned pale, trembling all over.

They had originally thought the clashes between the powerful Martial Artists at the Martial Hero Conference were already absurd enough. Shattering steles, splitting rocks, and cracking the ground—that already seemed to be the limit of human potential.

But now, that perception was once again being shattered.

But as terrifying as Li Taiyu’s attacks were, Yi Beidou’s performance was even more astonishing.

The man was cloaked in blue Demon Flame, as immovable as a mountain. Li Taiyu’s tempestuous attacks striking his body were like a fierce wind blowing against Tai Mountain.

A fierce wind might be powerful, but how could it ever topple a great mountain?

And the shock in Li Taiyu’s heart was no less than that of the spectators.

He realized that from start to finish, none of his attacks had managed to move Yi Beidou by even half a step. All of Yi Beidou’s responses were executed within a small two-meter radius.

With every attack, he had used his Sky-Splitting Extreme Thought, yet it had never once managed to affect Yi Beidou’s Life Magnetic Field. The continuous bursts of power had even begun to mentally exhaust him.

Even a Saint Expert has limits.

As the fight deepened, he gradually began to understand the secret behind Yi Beidou’s power.

The visible blue-and-white flame enveloping his opponent’s body was the key to why he was completely unaffected by the Extreme Thought attacks!

That flame seemed to be roasting the surrounding magnetic field of heaven and earth. All external influences were being refined by it, rendered harmless—or even beneficial to the man himself.

Seizing from heaven and earth to nourish a person.

Heaven and earth are so vast, and humanity so insignificant. Even a Saint Expert must proceed with extreme caution, as if walking on thin ice, before the magnetic field of heaven and earth.

Harmonized True Qi is about adjusting one’s relationship with heaven and earth, integrating with them to temper oneself.

But this man didn’t integrate with heaven and earth. Instead, he sought to refine them and make them integrate with him.

This is what is meant by "Heaven-Devouring"!

’What an impossibly domineering and incomprehensible True Intent!’

’Has this man really only achieved Ascension less than half a year ago?’

At this very moment, doubt had begun to creep into Li Taiyu’s heart.

He was the strongest of Goryeo’s new generation. Since childhood, he had fought all across Goryeo without a single rival, achieving Ascension with an air of invincibility that fostered absolute confidence and presence. Even when he had lost, it was only to experts of the older generation; one could even say it was a glorious defeat.

But Yi Beidou was twenty years younger than him and had only achieved Ascension less than half a year ago.

More importantly, his opponent probably hadn’t even used his full strength yet.

’Faced with such a figure, how could one’s will not be shaken?’

’Have I just been a frog in a well all this time?’

’I struggled so hard to become an Immortal, only to find I’m not allowed into the Lingxiao Palace.’

Extreme Thought Splitting Sky required the elimination of all distracting thoughts. Only with indomitable courage and determination could one cleave the Void and sever another’s will.

’With my mind in turmoil, how can I still call this "Extreme Thought"?’

"Your mind is in chaos. It seems this is the end."

Just then, Yi Beidou’s voice suddenly echoed in his ear, shaking him to his core.

FWOOM!!

Li Taiyu saw his opponent’s Demon Flame flare up, spreading toward him.

A bone-chilling coldness flooded his heart. Evil Qi invaded his body, affecting his Life Magnetic Field and causing his movements to become unnaturally stiff in an instant.

This was an opening that would decide the victor.

WHOOSH!!

With a whistle of wind, a palm loomed larger in his vision, wreathed in chilling Demon Flame.

The Evil Qi surged to the heavens, and the Demon Flame rolled in like a tidal wave. It was like a world-ending calamity—unavoidable.

In a flash, he was engulfed by this Destruction Killing Tribulation.

BANG!!

Yi Beidou’s palm struck Li Taiyu’s chest.

Under the impact of the terrifying force, Li Taiyu’s body was sent flying over twenty meters, crashing heavily into the side of a sedan parked on the street.

Half the car’s body caved in, leaving a terrifying human-shaped dent.

BLECH!

Li Taiyu violently coughed up a mouthful of blood, but he knew with perfect clarity that his opponent had pulled back his strength at the last moment. Otherwise, that palm strike would have left him with far more than just light injuries.

He remembered what his opponent had said before the fight began.

Because he had held back against Meng Qianyuan, this man had also held back against him.

The man had kept his word.

But in his eyes, Meng Qianyuan was just a junior. Was he the same in Yi Beidou’s eyes?

In that moment, his face turned ashen.

Defeat itself wasn’t frightening. What was far more terrifying was the shadow it cast and the collapse of one’s conviction.

"Master! Master!"

Seeing this, Jin Fenghua and the others cried out in alarm and rushed toward Li Taiyu, pulling him out of the caved-in car body.

However, Li Taiyu’s eyes were vacant, as if he were completely oblivious to the outside world.

This battle had been a massive blow to him.

If he couldn’t recover from this blow, his Cultivation would never advance again in this lifetime. But if he could, he might discover a new horizon and undergo a complete transformation.

Yi Beidou, a Celestial Demon descended upon the world. He was the personification of a Demon Tribulation, just like his technique.

Destruction Killing Tribulation. If one is destroyed by this tribulation, then their path was an Evil Technique. But if one can survive it and emerge stronger, their path can become the Righteous Dharma of the world.

As his strength grew ever more terrifying, he was gradually earning the right to measure the world.

Seeing their master, whom they revered as a god, in such a state, Jin Fenghua and the others stood with their mouths slightly agape. They looked at Yi Beidou, who stood amidst the wreckage, feeling only awe and fear, without a trace of hatred.

How could a mortal dare to hate a True God?

Yi Beidou glanced at Li Taiyu.

’This man has some vision and spirit, but whether he can overcome this and reach a new understanding is up to him.’

He wouldn’t offer any words of guidance.

He only delivered tribulations; he did not deliver salvation.

"Can you still fight?"

Yi Beidou withdrew his gaze and looked at Meng Qianyuan, who was not far away.

"I can."

Meng Qianyuan took a deep breath and nodded.

His physique was strong, and Li Taiyu hadn’t used his full strength. Although he had coughed up blood, he would be fine after a short rest.

"Let’s go, then," Yi Beidou said.

Suddenly, he felt something, but after carefully searching for the source of the strange sensation, he couldn’t find it. He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow slightly.

’A Qi Observation Skill? Or some other Dharma Gate for spying on magnetic fields?’

’Now that I’ve entered the Harmonized True Qi realm, my Celestial Demon Sensing has grown stronger, but I still can’t lock onto the other party’s location.’

’Modu is truly full of hidden masters.’

A flicker of interest flashed in Yi Beidou’s eyes.

’Now *that’s* an opponent to look forward to.’

「Elsewhere.」

At the top of Modu’s tallest building, the Central Mansion, a blond man with a handsome face like an Ancient Greek statue stood at the edge of the roof.

Before him was a six-hundred-meter abyss. The vehicles and pedestrians on the ground below wriggled like ants at his feet.

The high-altitude winds whipped his clothes about, making them flap loudly, but his figure remained as still as a mountain.

Devi Punk. The "Sky" representative and one of the three Saint Realm pillars of the Starry Sky Country: Sea, Land, and Air.

At this moment, his eyes were tightly closed, but his consciousness was not filled with darkness. Instead, an image was forming.

That image was the scene of the battle between Yi Beidou and Li Taiyu.

However, the image was currently somewhat distorted and unstable.

This was a consequence of the turbulent magnetic field.

However, considering he was at least ten kilometers away from Yi Beidou and the others, the ability to "see" the scene at all was already incredible.

Supersensitive Intuition.

Devi Punk was also a person of extraordinary talent. Within the Starry Sky Country’s research system for special humans, he had been identified as a "Superpower User" since childhood.

"Interesting. Seizing nature for his own use... what domineering spirit. He even nearly discovered my presence. As expected of the man who broke my record."

A smile touched the corner of Devi’s lips.

He didn’t challenge any opponents. Instead, like one of the Deities, he stood at the city’s highest point, taking in everything in the mortal world below.

The noblest of beings are always the last to take the stage.