"Argh!" Yue Zhengyu howled with agony as he fell to one knee. He had lost count of how many times he'd been overwhelmed by the oncoming destructive aura.

He possessed holy power, which naturally repulsed destructive aura, and as a result, he experienced the most pain out of anyone when approaching the fragment of destruction.

Stand up! I have to stand up! I can't let Xiaoyan...

Yue Zhengyu gritted his teeth tightly and struggled to his feet while panting heavily. The agony he was experiencing made him cry out once again, but his eyes were as determined as ever.

……

Tang Wulin sat onto the ground and slowly absorbed the destructive aura in the air. He had already lost count of how many days had passed. In this process of constant extreme agony, he had no spare mental capacity to notice passing days. He could only do his best to continue onward.

The rich life force energy on the demonic island was the best form of sustenance for his body, so he didn't need to eat here; he could survive solely on absorbing the life force energy here every day.

Light flickered from the fragment of destruction, and powerful destructive aura surged incessantly around Tang Wulin's body. Following these past few days of horrendous torture, he gradually discovered that all of his abilities seemed to have incorporated this destructive aura, and all of his soul skills seemed to have become more destructive.

Even his Golden Dragon King bloodline seemed to have been stained by wisps of blackish-purple. The Golden Dragon King bloodline didn't reject this destructive energy. Instead, the latter was slowly being absorbed.

Tang Wulin was powerful enough to break the ninth Golden Dragon King seal long ago, but he refrained from doing so as Old Tang had told him very early on that the second half of the 18 seals were going to be the most painful to break. After breaking this ninth seal, he'd have to face the final nine seals very soon, and he didn't know how that was going to play out.

However, during the process of absorbing this destructive energy every day, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that cracks had begun to appear on his ninth seal, and those cracks were continuing to elongate and widen. It was becoming more and more difficult for him to control the power of the seal, so he had no choice but to slow down a little in his advance.

He had to fortify the seal so that it didn't forcibly break open while he was absorbing destructive energy as that could result in potentially catastrophic consequences.

……

Absorb, absorb, absorb!

Xu Lizhi took one step after another toward the fragment of destruction. His footsteps were extremely determined, just like the look in his eyes.

His body gradually became transparent as he was broken down before being reassembled. Even in the face of this terrifying agony, he didn't utter a single sound.

He didn't know how to fight; all he knew was how to make steamed buns. In the face of powerful enemies, all he could do is hide behind his friends and yell "don't judge a bun by its folds".

Ye Xinglan always had to protect him with her sword, and he was always so content when he saw the dazzling starlight blossoming from her sword.

However, Old Demon Nightmare reminded him over and over again that he was useless trash.

Old Demon Nightmare was right! He WAS useless trash! As a man, he was constantly hiding behind the woman he loved. She was facing one powerful enemy after another, but he could only hide behind her and make steamed buns; how pitiful was that?

He also envisioned that he'd be able to stand in front of Ye Xinglan to protect her from all enemies and hardships, but he simply couldn't do it, nor had he ever been able to do this.

He was very weak, and his practical combat prowess was atrocious. He could only fight enemies at close quarters using some Tang Sect techniques.

He didn't want to continue being a burden to everyone.

Not long ago, after he'd entered the sea once again, he'd managed to use his soul power, which had been infused with destructive energy, to smash a sea soul beast into pieces. In that instant, Xu Lizhi felt as if he'd finally found an opportunity. The destructive aura was like a weapon. Absorbing it was an extremely excruciating process, but its power finally bestowed upon him the ability to fight.

This was the ability that he'd been searching for all along!

I will become stronger! I will protect Sister Xinglan! I no longer want to be a useless piece of trash; I want to be useful. No matter how much this hurts, I can't stop!

Xu Lizhi took one determined step after another while powerful destructive aura buffeted his body over and over again. His rotund body had almost turned entirely purplish-black in color at this point.

In order to better absorb the destructive aura, he didn't even use his soul power to resist it. Instead, he willingly opened his body to it and even actively absorbed it.

This would undoubtedly exacerbate the degree to which his body was being destroyed, but he didn't care about that. All he cared about was whether he could become more powerful through this process, and whether he would attain enough power to protect those that he loved.

Finally, he was unable to advance any further. His body had reached its limit, and if he were to take even a single step forward from here, his soul would be destroyed, and he would be erased from existence.

At this moment, Xu Lizhi stopped and began to chant an incantation while soul rings appeared beneath his feet.

"Don't judge a bun by its folds, I have a crystal bun!"

A translucent crystal bun appeared in his hand, and he jammed it into his mouth without any hesitation.

A suit of crystalline armor appeared over his entire body. However, through the transparent crystalline layer, it could still be seen that his body was constantly being broken down and reconstructed.

In the next instant, a burst of destructive power crashed toward him, and Xu Lizhi borrowed its power to hurtle back in retreat before sitting on the ground to meditate in a cross-legged manner.

He hadn't eaten the crystal bun to bolster his defenses. Instead, he was using the layer of crystalline armor to trap the destructive aura that had entered his body so he could better absorb it.

This was because during this process, he discovered that as soon as he left this place, the destructive aura in his body would quickly dissipate, and only a small portion of it would remain.

However, after consuming the crystal bun, everything was different; he would be able to keep the vast majority of the destructive aura that he'd absorbed in his body.

Of course, doing this would inevitably afflict him with constant agony that was countless times more intense than before. However, he was more determined than anyone as he needed this power more than everyone else.

……

"I really am very surprised!" Old Demon Nightmare mused with furrowed brows.

"Indeed!" Old Demon Scourge also wore a surprised look on his face.

"Setting aside everything else, these kids have far more mental fortitude than we'd imagined, especially that fat kid. It's extraordinary to think that a food system Soul Master could have such a strong will. It appears that I underestimated him. What's even more surprising to me is that he's the one who's gotten the closest to the fragment of destruction among all seven of them!"

Old Demon Scourge chuckled, "Isn't that even better for us? The sight of them being tormented truly brings joy to my heart."

"Why didn't you wake me up when we've got these great new toys!" A deep voice suddenly sounded.

Old Demon Nightmare and Old Demon Scourge both turned around, and they were greeted by the sight of an extremely tall and broad figure.

"Gluttony!" both of them exclaimed in unison.

The one who had spoken just now was also an old man. However, his hair was yellow instead of white, making it look as if he had a head of limp straw around his large bald spot.

His burly figure was slightly hunched over, and his face was as old as it was hideous. What was even more unsettling was his huge mouth. When he opened it to speak, his massive mouth could spread open to behind his ears.

"How could you bastards enjoy this alone?!" Old Demon Gluttony exclaimed in an indignant manner, "I don't care what you say; they're mine next! I have to show them the joy of gluttony!"

Old Demon Nightmare and Old Demon Scourge's brows furrowed in unison. "Alright, we'll let you have some fun with them next, but you have to wait until they swim to the other side first."

……

"Slap!" Tang Wulin's hand fell into the shallow seawater as he clawed his fingers into the sand down below. He literally had to drag himself onto the shore, and as he lay on the ground, he didn't want to move ever again.

Purplish-black energy was revolving around his body, and his eyes were tightly shut. His face was also as pale as a ghost, but he'd finally made it.

After absorbing destructive aura on countless occasions, he was finally able to keep the sea souls beasts from attacking him, and swam to the other side.

However, during this process, he was still attacked by an extremely powerful sea soul beast. The beast had even swallowed him into its stomach already, and it only spat him out because his destructive aura was too abhorrent to it.