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The ground shook and burst open, dust billowing everywhere.

He stepped forward, his overwhelming Dragon Power mixed with rolling heat waves pressing towards Tuo Long the Great.

"You\'re injured too, not at your peak," Tuo Long the Great said, his face grim, "I might still have a chance."

Whoosh!

He flashed forward.

His fist smashed towards Su Heng\'s face.

At the same time, Su Heng accelerated, sweeping past Tuo Long the Great with a gust of wind.

Amidst the fine dust and debris, the two passed by each other. Su Heng, after taking a few steps, gradually stopped and took a deep breath.

And behind him,

Tuo Long the Great\'s head exploded, and he staggered and fell into a pool of blood.

"Dealing with you was not a problem," Su Heng sneered, turning around to lift Tuo Long the Great\'s corpse.

After his death,

Tuo Long the Great reverted to his true form, a crocodile over ten meters long.

Among demons, his size wasn\'t actually considered too big, but the visual impact was still very strong.

His wide back sported thick, overlapping dark armor, terrifying as a mountain. Below his body were four elephant-like huge feet for support.

Even though his head had been smashed by Su Heng, as he collapsed in his own blood,

the sight still exuded a terrifying oppressive aura.

"Tuo Long the Great\'s true form weighs at least twenty tons, enough to last me quite a while," Su Heng held his breath, excitement faintly visible in his crimson eyes.

But...

His chest heaved, and he covered his mouth with his hand.

After several breaths, his furrowed brows finally began to relax.

He looked down.

A patch of crimson blood on his palm was slowly evaporating.

"Tsk, internal injuries are quite serious." Most of the wounds on his body weren\'t from the King of Demon Country,

but from himself.

The Domineering Dragon Thirteen Forms secret method was an extremely profound martial art.

He had walked too far on this path, perhaps even surpassing the original creator of this Cultivation Technique.

This resulted in...

Su Heng\'s muscles and bones being too strong, while the organs meant to support these were somewhat lacking.

When Su Heng exerted his full strength, his organs couldn\'t sustain the nutrients long enough, and the overpowering energy coursing through his body would also damage his relatively weak internal organs.

These two factors combined meant that after a battle,

although he appeared unscathed, internally he was significantly injured.

Luckily, Su Heng\'s body had merged with the Tai Sui Fungus Strain and White Snake Demon Scale, which were now continuously repairing his injuries.

"It seems I\'ll have to put aside cultivating the Domineering Dragon Thirteen Forms for now. I should prioritize advancing my level with the next attribute points."

Su Heng gradually formed a plan in his mind.

Rip!

He tore off a large chunk of flesh from Tuo Long the Great,

along with the scale armor on the outside, and stuffed it into his mouth, crunching down and feeding his nearly depleted organs.

A cool sensation spread in his belly.

His body temperature was still very high, but it felt slightly more comfortable.

"It\'s time to leave this place," Su Heng looked up, the giant iron trees stretching as far as the eye could see.

It was hard to imagine how such creatures or structures could have come to exist in this world.

The loose gravel under Su Heng\'s feet exploded.

No longer contemplating, he grabbed the corpse of Tuo Long the Great and flashed out of the desert.

*

*

*

A tremendous roar like ocean waves swept across the Breath Swamp.

Inside a hidden cave,

Wanderers dressed in ragged animal-skin garments were also hiding behind large protruding rocks, their eyes wide with exaggerated excitement as they watched the scene unfold.

"Sister!" a brawny teenager about fourteen or fifteen shouted, "That man fought against Demon Country, and he actually left alive."

Zhao Yingning nodded with a complex expression, "I wonder who he is."

"If we could get his help, maybe our tribe would have hope," the muscular teenager jumped excitedly.

They were wanderers,

who had escaped from Demon Country, but couldn\'t leave the dangerous Breath Swamp.

They could only find a relatively safe spot in the desert to hide and reproduce, gradually forming a tribe.

Zhao Yingning was the leader of these wanderers.

Despite being young, her status within the tribe was quite high.

Unlike the other excited tribespeople, Zhao Yingning\'s expression was very cold.

"Let\'s head back," she gestured with her hands, "Demon Country won\'t let this go. We need to hide well; being discovered would mean all our efforts were in vain."

The others nodded and swiftly jumped down the hillside, heading back into the cave.

Zhao Yingning walked alongside her brother, Zhao Aman.

Zhao Aman was still shouting excitedly, his left fist clenched, throwing punches in the air, leaving trails in the bright sunlight.

A vein popped on Zhao Yingning\'s forehead, finally getting irritated by her brother\'s foolish behavior.

"You\'re not that young anymore, can you stop being so foolish every day." Zhao Yingning said coldly, "No one is going to help us; we can only rely on ourselves."

"Why?" Zhao Aman puzzled, "Aren\'t we all humans; isn\'t helping each other expected?"

"These are the rules of Breath Swamp. Only by helping each other can we survive in such a perilous environment, but those people are not like us."

Zhao Yingning didn\'t know how to explain, she simply said, "He comes from the outside world."

"Is that so?" Zhao Aman nodded with an understanding yet not quite grasping it, but quickly fantasized excitedly, "If I had that kind of strength, I would storm into Demon Country and rescue all our clansmen."

Zhao Yingning shook her head and said no more.

She lowered her head and entered the cave.

Just then, a streak of light flashed across her mind.

A thousand years ago, Breath Swamp was not a desert, but a fertile and abundant land.

On this land lived a nation called "Yuanxi" that worshipped the sun. Such worship was not a natural evolution of mythology but was based on a mythical creature called Jīnwū that once lived on this land.

Jīnwū might have fallen or perhaps flown away.

But its nest was still there.

If they could find Jīnwū\'s nest, perhaps they would have the means to strike a deal with that person.

She did not expect that person to rescue the captured and suppressed people of Demon Country.

That was simply unrealistic.

However, bringing these wanderers in Breath Swamp to the outside civilized world should not be difficult for that person.

...

...

...

Two days later, Demon Suppression Tower.

Noon.

Bright and warm light filtered through the window, casting rays into Su Heng\'s well-lit study.

Su Heng held a larger, thicker brush in his hand, furrowing his brows as he painted and wrote on the giant sheet of paper in front of him, sketching out intricate patterns.

By his side

Li Hongxiu sat on a branched double-step ladder.

The young girl held a sealed letter, her long black hair flowing down.

She emotionlessly read the contents of the letter to Su Heng.

The contents were rather unremarkable.

Most of it consisted of records about demons, the pursuit of remnants of noble families, and the progress of disaster relief at the docks, among other things.

But as Su Heng listened, somewhat vexed, the next piece of news caught his attention.

"Building a temple!?"

Su Heng\'s movements paused, he raised his head and asked in surprise, "Who is this temple being built for?"

"For you." Li Hongxiu replied, "The events that happened a few days ago have become more mysterious as they spread through the city."

"Many people regard you as the reincarnation of the Dragon King."

"This..." Su Heng shook his head, somewhat speechless.

He was still alive and well, and the idea of building a temple for himself felt somewhat nauseating.

"If you don\'t like it, you can send someone to stop it," Li Hongxiu said, "It\'s still in the planning stage, but the voice among the people is quite strong."

"Let\'s just leave it," Su Heng shook his head.

"I remember many demons within the Sky Demon Alliance also secretly preach. Does this benefit them?"

"It should..."

Li Hongxiu tilted her head and thought for a moment, "Those demons wouldn\'t engage in activities that didn\'t benefit them."

"The demons\' wholesale slaughter is fundamentally about extracting emotions from humans to further sense the presence of Eternal Heaven."

Under the sunlight, Li Hongxiu\'s voice drifted slowly, "And belief is also a form of emotion."

"I see," Su Heng nodded.

He no longer spoke, continuing to concentrate his attention on the painting before him.

Initially, he learned to paint in order to depict the fundamental diagrams of the Domineering Dragon Secret Method completely. After all, it only took a dozen attribute points to elevate his painting skills to a considerably impressive level.

But after painting repetitively several times, Su Heng gradually grew fond of the feeling of expressing the images and emotions of his inner self on external objects.

Each time he finished a painting, Su Heng felt an exceptionally calm mood.

Perhaps this was also a special method of cultivation.

Li Hongxiu was very quiet.

Sometimes she could even sit on a stool, motionless all day long, like a wooden statue.

At this moment, having reported her tasks, she sat on the high double-step ladder.

And resumed her usually calm and peaceful state.

Demons had long lifespans.

Therefore, they could afford to waste time on trivial things.

Thudding, thudding, thudding!

A series of urgent knocking sounds broke the tranquility of the room.

It was at this moment that Su Heng had just completed his painting, placing the massive brush that looked almost like a weapon back in the brush rack.

He looked up and met Li Hongxiu\'s gaze.

Li Hongxiu\'s distinct black and white eyes bore a hint of exploration.

Su Heng nodded slightly.

Li Hongxiu vanished in a flash from the double-step ladder, appearing at the door.

She opened the heavy door with some difficulty.

Three figures walked in from the outside.

"Deputy General Zhao," Su Heng nodded in greeting.

The three who came in were Zhao Meiying and her two disciples, Ai Qing and Chen Yang.

These two had met Su Heng before at Guanjiang Dock, but they had been far away at the time. Moreover, the skies were dark and the storm obscured their view. They could only glimpse vague figures from afar, not the intense visual impact of this close encounter.

The rather lively Chen Yang even widened his eyes, unable to resist a small exclamation of surprise.

"Be serious, don\'t embarrass me!" Zhao Meiying turned and glared at him, causing Chen Yang to immediately cover his mouth.

"I came this time to bid you farewell," Zhao Meiying bowed slightly to Su Heng, speaking earnestly.

"You seem very anxious," Su Heng gestured for them to sit, "Have you encountered some urgent situation?"