If it were merely regenerating severed limbs, it would not be surprising in a world overrun by demons and monsters.
However, having a severed head fly back into place, or even restoring an entire head to normal after it had been crushed—a terrifying power of recovery like that was truly mind-boggling.
A rare look of gravity flickered across Chen Ning's brow.
“Now you finally realize how foolishly you overextended yourself. It's time for you to taste true despair.”
The fish demon's body swelled once more.
Eight chi, one zhang, two zhang!
In the end, his massive body actually surpassed the Buddha statue inside the temple, his head pressing right against the ceiling.
The scales coating his exterior evolved three times over, growing several times thicker and tougher than before, gleaming with an eerie, dark blue light.
The fish demon charged at Chen Ning once again, his body weighing over a thousand jin causing the entire temple to tremble beneath him.
A fist as huge as a boulder smashed down with a roaring boom.
Chen Ning stepped aside to dodge. The fist, covered in heavy armored scales, slammed directly into the ground, leaving a terrifying crater.
“If the head doesn't work, what about the body?”
Seizing the opportunity, Chen Ning abruptly hurled the Noble Scholar's Sword from his hand.
Swoosh!
The Noble Scholar's Sword flashed like a meteor, leaving behind an afterimage as it instantly pierced straight into the fish demon's chest.
The Noble Righteous Qi flowing across the blade instantly shattered the heart it struck into pieces.
The fish demon's body faltered.
Yet in the next instant, he swung a fist violently toward Chen Ning with a hideous grin:
“Hahaha, fooled you! Did you really think my heart was my fatal weakness? Too bad for you, I possess a full hundred mermaid hearts!”
As his words echoed, the flesh and blood on the fish demon's chest rapidly knit together, tightly trapping the Noble Scholar's Sword inside his body.
“This sword truly is extraordinary, but now that you've lost it, let me see how you plan to fight me!”
Bang!
Chen Ning met the attack with his own fist.
Between the two, shockwaves of air burst outward in all directions.
As the dust gradually settled, a look of shock flickered across the fish demon's ugly face.
“How is this possible? You actually withstood my punch with your raw physical body?”
Chen Ning sneered mockingly, “Did you really think I only knew how to use a sword? For someone so massive, your strength is only equal to mine. What's wrong, haven't you eaten?”
“Bastard! How dare you mock me!”
Enraged to the point of shame, the fish demon's blood-red eyes filled with intense killing intent.
“I will feast on your flesh and blood tonight!”
His massive fists were completely covered in armor-like scales. Reckless and furious, the fish demon sought to crush Chen Ning to death with sheer brute force.
“Die! Die!”
He slammed his fists down one after another, each punch faster than the last.
Yet on the ground, Chen Ning met him head-on without the slightest fear, driving his fists skyward in response.
With the two of them as the epicenter, countless roof tiles shattered and flew about as a violent gust raged like a whirlwind.
“Withstanding a demon in pure hand-to-hand combat using a mortal body? This Sword Immortal is far too powerful...”
Even though the bamboo-hatted Water Ghost wanted to seize this opportunity to save his wife, he couldn't penetrate this terrifying tempest at all.
This clash went on for a full five minutes.
Gradually, the fish demon actually began to fall into a disadvantage.
He could indeed rely on his terrifying regenerative powers to constantly recover, but as Mountain-Collapsing Punch stacked up to Great Perfection, Chen Ning's strength and speed had reached their absolute peak.
Surging with fighting intent, Chen Ning's blood and qi burned fiercely.
“Break!”
Chen Ning's fist glistened with golden merit light as explosive power struck directly against the fish demon's fist.
Boom!
The force of this single punch smashed all five of the fish demon's finger bones into pieces.
Taking advantage of the moment before the broken bones could heal, Chen Ning leapt straight into the air.
An uppercut landed square on the fish demon's jaw.
Under the immense impact, the fish demon's massive body actually stumbled backward.
“You said earlier, ‘Because I have a hundred hearts, my heart is not a weakness.’ What will happen if I crush all one hundred of those hearts?”
Chen Ning smiled coldly and unleashed a flurry of punches.
Bursting sounds echoed from the fish demon's chest, and in an instant, three hearts exploded at once.
At this moment, fear finally surfaced on the fish demon's previously arrogant face.
Not only was this human's strength terrifying, but he had actually seen through his secret!
“Bastard! I'll kill you!”
“Incompetent rage.”
Chen Ning had already figured out the fish demon's battle pattern.
After transforming into a demon, his reason had been almost entirely swallowed by bloodlust and rage, rendering his attack style extremely predictable and simple.
Easily dodging an attack, Chen Ning grabbed one of the fish demon's arms and tore it down with brutal force.
“Ah!”
Accompanied by a bloodcurdling scream, the fish demon's arm was unable to regenerate for at least three seconds.
Chen Ning threw another punch.
This time, the shockwave shattered two more hearts directly.
Chen Ning had guessed correctly.
The mermaid hearts were indeed the fish demon's vital weakness.
It was precisely by relying on these hundred-plus hearts that he maintained an immortal state.
With these hearts, the fish demon could regenerate broken bones, and even recreate a destroyed head.
Even if he were torn to shreds, he could easily recover.
However, once he lost all his hearts, it would be equivalent to being stripped of his ability to regenerate.
I can't let this continue any longer!
“You forced my hand!”
The fish demon's eyes suddenly widened as blood trickled from his Seven Orifices simultaneously.
Bang, bang, bang...
Explosive pops echoed endlessly inside his body.
Rather than being driven into a corner, he decisively chose a fight to the death, detonating over fifty of the hearts inside his body all at once!
The blood bursting from these mermaid hearts soaked every inch of the fish demon's body.
In a short span of time, his strength surged exponentially!
Countless barbs pushed through the gaps between his scales. Moments later, his entire body resembled a hedgehog clad in armor.
“So what if you're powerful? Without a weapon, let me see what you can possibly do to me!”
The fish demon flashed a triumphant, hideous grin once again.
Even having lost half his hearts, his body could still recover indefinitely.
Yet this human could no longer harm him in the slightest.
Next, all I need to do is slowly grind him down to death...
“Who said I don't have a weapon?”
The sharp barbs covering the fish demon's body were indeed troublesome.
However, the Noble Scholar's Sword wasn't just a single blade.
It was difficult to destroy over a hundred hearts in one go; Chen Ning had originally intended to use the Noble Scholar's Sword after whittling down half of the fish demon's hearts anyway.
The fish demon's self-detonation happened to align perfectly with his plan.
Chen Ning reached out and clenched his hand; black qi gathered in his palm, quickly condensing into the Noble Scholar's Sword.
At the same time, the white Noble Scholar's Sword trapped inside the fish demon began to vibrate violently.
The Sword Intents of the twin swords—one black and one white—overlapped across the air, radiating an increasingly chilling and overpowering sense of pressure.
That sharp, majestic righteousness caused even the fish demon to tremble uncontrollably, seized with sheer terror.
At the same time, the already overcast sky became completely shrouded in dense, dark clouds.
Amidst the clouds, thunder rolled and roared ceaselessly, as if it had been brewing for a long time!
Rate on N.U.
