C17 Life and Death!

Was this woman truly intent on killing him?

"Alright, bring it on!"

Who's scared now?

A cold glint flashed in Yeh Yulin's eyes.

"Die!"

With a roar, he wasted no time. As soon as the girl in white declared her desire to battle, he lunged at her, throwing a punch with all his might.

"Eh?"

The girl in white, previously expressionless, let out a surprised exclamation as Yeh Yulin's fist came at her, as though she had stumbled upon something intriguing. A flicker of emotion finally crossed her serene eyes. Then, with a hand as pale as jade, she effortlessly caught Yeh Yulin's fist.

"Gu!"

A peculiar noise echoed as they both came to a standstill.

The girl's eyes widened with astonishment.

"Such immense strength!"

"Yours is even greater, isn't it?" Yeh Yulin's shock was greater than the girl's. His strength exceeded 300 pounds, yet he found himself evenly matched with the girl in white—no, at a disadvantage, for he was the aggressor and she the defender, marking a fundamental difference between them.

"Somewhat interesting, but still too weak," the girl in white commented as she looked at Yeh Yulin, shaking her head slightly.

Gritting his teeth, Yeh Yulin exerted more force, but the girl in white remained unmoved, merely observing him with a newfound interest, as if she had found some amusing toy. A dangerous smile crept onto her pale face, a chilling grin.

"Get lost!" Yeh Yulin, feeling a surge of anger at the sight of her smile, carelessly tossed the Devil Beast Egg aside, not caring if it shattered, and furiously swung his axe at the girl in white.

"Whoosh!"

The girl in white gracefully sidestepped, vanishing from sight, leaving Yeh Yulin to stumble from the force of his own swing.

"Weak, sheer brute force!" she critiqued, shaking her head. Her words dripped with disdain, grating on Yeh Yulin's ears.

"You..." Yeh Yulin looked up, his eyes fixed on the girl in white a short distance away, his jaw set firmly.

Just as the girl in white had said, Yeh Yulin had nothing but his physical strength. Facing someone whose Spiritual Force was four levels higher than his, someone who could outpace him with speed, he was utterly helpless.

She could easily overpower him with her speed alone, because his development had been far too brief.

What was he to do?

Once again, he found himself the subject of scornful glances.

In a flash, Yeh Yulin's mind raced through his past humiliations.

Time after time, he had been shamed.

He could only flee in disgrace.

He could only swallow his pride.

What else was there to do?

What else?

What else?!

Enough was enough!

Yeh Yulin's breaths grew ragged, his thoughts clouded, and his latent potential surged forth. He was out of options.

All that remained was despair.

If things remained this way, then what was the point of all the pain he had endured, all the hardships he had faced?

"To gain something, you must lose something. To lose something, you will surely gain something," his father had said—the only advice he ever gave to Yeh Yulin, who could not cultivate.

Nonsense!

He had lost so much, but what had he gained?

He had thought that unlocking his potential would allow him to progress, but faced with someone who might be among the Ten Great Heroes, he was utterly defenseless, a mere plaything in their hands.

He knew his own situation. His expectations for himself weren't high, and he had never feared failure. But why did he feel so powerless? Why did he lack even the strength to fight back?

He had nothing!

In the end, he was left with nothing.

"Nothing!"

Finally, Yeh Yulin let out a skyward scream, his emotions reaching a breaking point. After more than a decade of toil, he still found himself looking up to others, living a life of humility. So why keep living?

He should give up on life!

But in the end, one final strike!

No matter what, he would stand, even if only for a fleeting moment.

He refused to be humble any longer; he yearned to bloom with pride!

Even in death, he would stand!

"Ahhhh!!!"

Yeh Yulin bellowed to the heavens, fixing his gaze on the girl in white. He hoisted his axe, channeling all his Spiritual Force into it, ready for the final confrontation.

At that moment, Yeh Yulin's entire Spiritual Force began to circulate within his body. In just a short span, it completed a full cycle. Two Spirit Flames furiously blazed to life, and a tiny speck emerged beside them—the embryo of a Spirit Flame.

Simultaneously, another embryo materialized, situated at the first Spiritual Force point of the Devil Body.

The two Spirit Flames were on the verge of ignition.

He was on the cusp of becoming a Level Three Holy Body Battle Soldier and a Level One Devil Body Battle Soldier!

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

Due to the excessive circulation of Spiritual Force, Yeh Yulin's body emitted groans of strain, but he disregarded the discomfort, desperately channeling his power.

At his heart, the ancient horn resonated with Yeh Yulin's frenzy, imparting a profound sensation that instinctively pulled at him, guiding his actions without his awareness.

Furthermore, it infused a breath of life into Yeh Yulin's bloodline, triggering a cataclysmic transformation within him.

An indescribable ancient aura began to permeate the air, reminiscent of a primordial dragon awakening from its eternal slumber.

"Eh?!" The expression of the girl in white finally shifted.

She sensed a ferocious beast fixing its gaze upon her.

The air was thick with the scent of blood.

It was an aura of madness, one that forsook all else in a relentless charge forward.

This aura caused a slight hitch in her breath.

"No matter how fierce the aura or how strong the power, it's pointless if it doesn't reach the enemy!" The girl in white assessed Yeh Yulin's attack, seemingly reminding herself as well.

Despite her outward indifference, only she knew that her body was instinctively bracing itself.

"Then give it a try!" Yeh Yulin's voice deepened, his eyes gleamed—one purple, one gold.

He channeled all his strength into his final ax swing, slashing ferociously at the snow girl.

"Roar!"

With that final roar, the two embryos transformed into two tiny flames.

He had ascended!

A Level Three Battle Soldier!

His attack intensified in an instant.

As Yeh Yulin's ax cut through the air, his entire form turned pitch-black, and the nearby stones began to quiver. The gravitational pull intensified, drawing the smaller stones toward Yeh Yulin's ax.

"What?" A flicker of astonishment finally passed through the eyes of the girl in white.

To command all things and harness the Spiritual Force of the cosmos was akin to...

The nascent form of a domain!

How could that be?

What level was he on?

With a swift motion, the girl in white drew her scepter and confronted Yeh Yulin.

Boom!

A dull thud echoed, followed by currents of air that began to furiously sweep around.

The impact was nearly identical to the strike unleashed during the battle between the girl in white and the tiger-like Devil Beast, further ravaging the already devastated surroundings into unrecognizable chaos.

Clouds of dust rose, obscuring the girl's slender form.

Yeh Yulin, too, was hurled away, crashing down with such force that it felt like slamming into a mountain. His arms went numb, and he suspected his bones were broken.

Unaware of the girl's condition, Yeh Yulin mustered the strength to rise. Surveying the havoc his attack had wrought, he searched for any sign of the girl in white.

"This ends now!"

Suddenly, her voice rang out from behind him. In an instant, Yeh Yulin felt an intense pain in his head, and his enfeebled body collapsed onto the earth.