Chapter 576 - 167: Vajra Subduing Demon Skill Completed, First Signs of Chaos in Qing Province

Given Chu Fan’s strength and temperament, he shouldn’t have chosen such a trivial case. Chu Fan’s expression was calm. "I’ve been practicing a martial art and have reached a critical juncture. It’s not a good time for me to travel far." "So it’s best to choose something nearby." This was his reasoning. Accepting the mission was to honor his commitment to the Demon Suppression Bureau and fulfill his duty. Choosing a nearby location was to avoid delaying his Limit-Breaking Cultivation of the Twelve True Forms Fist and the Vajra Subduing Demon Skill. After receiving the Task Token, Chu Fan didn’t act immediately. Instead, he first returned to the Seven Stars Gang. Just as he stepped through the door, a dark figure flashed out like a phantom. "Young Master!" Mo Yunzi wasn’t wearing her veil. Her bewitching face was filled with unconcealable excitement, a bloodthirsty killing intent hidden in the depths of her eyes. "Young Master, that old bastard contacted me!" Chu Fan stopped in his tracks and turned to her. "Your martial uncle?" It was this martial uncle who had sent Mo Yunzi to hunt down and kill Chu Fan in the first place. All because Chu Fan and Baili Bing had nearly destroyed one of his Demon Puppets. "That’s the old monster!" Mo Yunzi said hurriedly. "Yesterday, he used a sect Secret Technique to send me a message, telling me to meet him tomorrow at noon in a hidden cave residence in the Qilin Mountain Range." As she spoke, a cold glint flashed in her eyes. "He said he’s already cooperating with the Zhang Family and wants me to go and assist." "An old monster from the Yin Demon Sect is colluding with the Zhang Family?" Upon hearing this, Chu Fan showed no sign of the expected delight. Instead, a thoughtful smile touched his lips. "How very interesting." "Young Master, this is a heaven-sent opportunity!" Mo Yunzi said excitedly. "That old monster doesn’t know I’ve already submitted to you. I can pretend to agree and lead you to him..." "We can ask a few Demon Suppression Captains for help, and we’ll surely catch him off guard and eliminate this threat for good!" "An opportunity?" Chu Fan looked at the female Demon Cultivator, whose mind was clouded by hatred, and asked coolly, "Mo Yunzi, do you take your martial uncle for a naive child?" Mo Yunzi faltered. "Young Master, what do you mean?" "You hunted me for days, yet I’m still alive and well. Do you really think he’ll believe your story?" Chu Fan’s gaze was profound. "He’s an old Demon who has lived for a hundred years. His mind is as deep as the ocean." "And what makes you think he still trusts you implicitly?" "Besides, he’s now colluding with the Zhang Family..." "With the Zhang Family’s power in Qing Province, how could you possibly hide in the Seven Stars Gang without them noticing?" "Your martial uncle probably already knows you’ve submitted to me." Mo Yunzi’s face turned deathly pale in an instant, and a chill shot up her spine. "Young Master, are you saying... it’s a trap?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Trap or conspiracy, it doesn’t matter." Chu Fan’s expression was nonchalant, as if he were discussing something trivial. "That old monster must have received information from the Zhang Family. He might already know you betrayed him." "He just wants to use you to lure experts from the Demon Suppression Bureau to their deaths." "But none of that is important." Chu Fan walked to the window and gazed into the distance, a cold killing intent flashing in his eyes. He hadn’t forgotten the score he had to settle with that old monster from the Yin Demon Sect for sending Mo Yunzi to kill him. He had never been a magnanimous person. If someone wanted to kill him, he would kill them. It was merely a matter of his strength being insufficient and the time not yet being right. "Young Master, then we..." Mo Yunzi was at a complete loss. "Don’t be hasty." Chu Fan waved his hand dismissively. "Reply to him. Tell him you’ll go, but not tomorrow. Find an excuse to delay for a few days." "In the face of absolute power, all schemes and plots are nothing but a joke." "Wait for my cultivation to advance another level," Chu Fan said coldly. "When that time comes, he won’t need to come looking for me." "I will personally go to the Qilin Mountain Range and send this’martial uncle’ of yours on his way." Chu Fan turned to face her, his voice filled with an unprecedented level of confidence. Mo Yunzi’s heart surged. Even with her firm will, she was awed by his domineering words. That was an Elder of the Yin Demon Sect, an old monster at the fourth realm, the Bright Heart Realm! Yet in her Young Master’s words, he was like an ant that could be crushed at any moment, the only question being’when’! ’Just what realm has the Young Master’s cultivation reached?’ Mo Yunzi didn’t dare to dwell on it. She only felt that the figure before her was growing more and more unfathomable. The last vestiges of fear she held for betraying her sect vanished like smoke. ’Following a master like him, what’s a mere Yin Demon Sect Elder?’ "Right, go find Master Cao and have him arrange something for me." Chu Fan’s voice interrupted her thoughts. "Have him dig a pool next to my courtyard. It doesn’t need to be too large. A ten-foot square, three feet deep, will be enough." With that, Chu Fan waved his hand, and eighteen ore stones shimmering with a strange light fell to the ground. Nine were as black as ink, emitting a sinister, cold, and poisonous gas that made one’s heart palpitate. The other nine dazzled with a brilliant golden light, feeling heavy and stable. These were precisely the Bone-Eroding Demon Crystals and Vajra Mother Ore he had "borrowed" from the Vajra Sect. "Once the pool is dug and filled with water, embed these at the bottom according to the Nine Palaces formation." "Remember, the Demon Crystals go on the bottom and the Mother Ore on top. Don’t mix them up." "Yes! I’ll see to it at once!" Mo Yunzi quickly agreed, carefully gathering the ores before bowing and taking her leave. After sending Mo Yunzi away, Chu Fan did not rest, instead turning and walking into the spacious Martial Arts Arena. He took a deep breath, stomped his feet firmly on the ground, and assumed an ancient, unadorned fighting stance. ’Vajra Subduing Demon Skill.’ The technique’s name was mighty, sounding like a demon-quelling Divine Technique from a Buddhist Sect, but in reality, it was an extremely pure Body Refining Martial Art. There was no flashy external release of Primordial Qi, no brilliant light and shadows from Magic Techniques. Every single move, even simple actions like raising a knee or a charging fist, was designed to squeeze and temper one’s muscles, bones, and flesh to the absolute limit. "Hah!" Chu Fan let out a low shout, his body following the motion of his fists. In an instant, a whirlwind seemed to stir from thin air in the silent Martial Arts Arena. His fair skin underwent a bizarre transformation: At times, it turned crimson as blood, as if lava were surging beneath the surface; at other times, it shone with a brilliant golden light, as if a Golden Arhat from a temple had awakened. "THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!" Chu Fan’s heart beat powerfully, each pulse sounding like the pounding of a war drum. There were no fluctuations of Primordial Qi around him. The sheer force generated by his physical body vibrating the air was enough to make the surrounding space hum as if under an unbearable strain. It felt as though an Ancient Fierce Beast was awakening. During his seven days in the poison pool on Azure Dragon Mountain, he had endured the pain of ten thousand ants devouring his bones, circulating his Vajra Undying Body to resist the toxins while simultaneously cultivating the Vajra Subduing Demon Skill to absorb the medicinal power. The results of those seven days of frenzied cultivation were nothing short of terrifying! As Chu Fan practiced his fist forms, he could feel the power within him, so abundant it felt close to exploding. On his system panel, the Vajra Undying Body still showed "First Layer," with no specific progress bar. But he could clearly sense that the once-unreachable bottleneck had begun to loosen. His First Layer of the Vajra Undying Body had long since passed the early and middle stages, entering the unfathomably deep latter half. He was now just a stone’s throw away from the legendary second layer, "Golden Muscle and Jade Bone"! "HOO... HAA..." Chu Fan’s breathing was long and heavy, emerging from his nostrils in two white streams that lingered in the air. If he could cultivate this Vajra Subduing Demon Skill to the limit of the Perfection realm and then achieve a Breaking Limit, it would surely amplify his physical body tremendously. He could then use that as the catalyst to break through the barrier in one fell swoop and push his Vajra Undying Body into the second layer! Once he entered the second layer, the qualitative change would be nothing short of revolutionary! Right now, with his brute strength and the first layer of his Undying Body, he could perhaps kill a master at the Fifth Heaven of the Acupoint Realm with a single, full-power punch—provided he could land the hit. But against an expert of the fourth realm, the Bright Heart Realm, he would be locked on by their Divine Sense and crushed by Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. He could only take the hits passively, relying on "Immovable as a Mountain" and "Pillow Sea as Emperor" to endure. ’Stronger! I have to get even stronger!’ A sharp glint shot from Chu Fan’s eyes as his gaze locked onto the enormous Profound Iron Stone at the edge of the Martial Arts Arena, used for testing strength. It was a block of Black Profound Iron Ore weighing tens of thousands of pounds, so astonishingly hard that ordinary swords and sabers only left white marks on its surface. It was specifically used by high-level Martial Artists to test their techniques. ’Let’s use you to test my current mettle!’ Chu Fan didn’t circulate his Dantian Primordial Qi or use any Divine Techniques. He simply stepped forward, twisted his waist, and thrust his shoulder. His spine moved like a coiling dragon, and every muscle fiber in his body tensed in an instant before explosively releasing. A wave of monstrously pure physical strength channeled through his arm and into his fist. "BOOM—!!!" The massive boom was like a thunderclap from a clear sky, shaking the entire Seven Stars Gang. Dust and smoke filled the Martial Arts Arena. When the dust settled, the Profound Iron Giant Stone was no longer there. It hadn’t shattered into large pieces; it had completely collapsed, pulverized into dust! The giant stone, originally taller than a man, had been reduced to a pile of fine black gravel and dust. The largest remaining fragment was no bigger than a fist. "I’ve... I’ve gotten this much stronger!" Looking at the destruction caused by his own punch, even Chu Fan couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed, his face filled with delighted surprise. The gains from his seven days of arduous cultivation had far exceeded his expectations! That punch just now was pure physical strength! And he had only used forty percent of his strength, not even half of his full power! If that punch had been thrown with his full power at a person... even a Divine Power Realm Martial Artist wearing Protective Treasure Armor would likely be blasted into a bloody pulp! Chu Fan looked down at his uninjured fist, and the smile on his lips grew wider, finally erupting into a hearty laugh. "Excellent! What an incredible Vajra Subduing Demon Skill!" He settled back into his stance, a burning fighting spirit blazing in his eyes. ’Today, I’ll press on and push this Vajra Subduing Demon Skill to the Great Success realm in one go!’