Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Wang Chen had tested long ago that the Heaven-Ensnaring Punisher Net had no special effect on Monster Beasts, at best it could only be used as an indestructible large net.

He even used the Demon-Slaying Net to capture bandits, with the same effect.

But once it was used against evil entities, whether they were Evil Wraiths, Evil Monsters, or Evil Cultivators, this dark golden net would explode with terrifying power.

In less than half a moment, the Evil Monster's size had shrunk by nearly one-third.

Some parts of its body had bones protruding out!

It seemed as if the Evil Monster's flesh was being forcibly extracted along with the evil power within its body by the Demon-Slaying Net.

Transformed into the purest Spiritual Power!

"Roar～"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

This ruthless and overbearingly voracious absorption caused the Evil Monster within the net to suffer to the extreme.

Its resistance, far from weakening as its size diminished, became even more fierce and violent.

This time, the pressure was on Wang Chen.

Wang Chen could now confirm that this Evil Monster was of the Black Resentment level, equivalent to the later stages of Purple Mansion.

However, the Evil Monster's spiritual intelligence was very low, and in reality, the combat power it could exert was only at the mid-tier level of Purple Mansion.

Yet, with his cultivation at the primary tier of Purple Mansion, he forcefully suppressed it, even with the help of the Heaven-Ensnaring Punisher Net, a treasure specialized in conquering evil entities, he still felt an immense strain.

There were several times when the Heaven-Ensnaring Punisher Net almost slipped from his grip!

But at this point, Wang Chen couldn't possibly give up, he mustered all his strength to persevere.

Time was on his side!

He assumed a horse stance, his body leaning back, his right arm wrapped around the control rope of the Demon-Slaying Net, palm tightly gripping the end, and his entire body was like a drawn bow.

The Demon-Slaying Net was the arrow loaded on the bowstring!

At this moment, Wang Chen not only infused ten percent of his mana into this treasure but also ignited the formidable Soul Strength cultivated from the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Method.

He engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the Evil Monster!

The muscles on Wang Chen's body bulged, his skin turned red, the bones inside his body emitted a dense buzzing sound, hot steam rose from his head, and sweat poured out like paste.

His feet had sunk deep into the soil!

"Roar～"

The Evil Monster fought desperately but could not break free from the suffocating embrace of the Demon-Slaying Net; instead, it became increasingly tighter around it. It violently shook its head, letting out an earth-shattering roar.

Sinister and phantom shadows began to appear around Wang Chen in an instant!

Driven by the Evil Monster, they clawed and lunged desperately at Wang Chen.

Innumerable in number, they swarmed him!

It has to be said that the Evil Monster's death throes precisely hit Wang Chen's weak point.

Since all his strength was focused on controlling the Demon-Slaying Net, he could not afford to deal with these evil spirits.

But in this critical moment, Wang Chen showed no signs of panic.

He took a deep breath, his body suddenly swelled, and a faint golden light emanated from his body.

Vajra Body Protection!

This was the fifth tier of the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Method, a Dharma Technique that augments oneself with the power of the Heavenly Dragon Vajra, impervious to swords and flames, and with a mighty constraining effect against evil power.

A few Evil Wraiths struck Wang Chen and were immediately incinerated by his protective golden light!

These Evil Wraiths were like moths flying into the flame; although numerous and relentless in their attacks, not one could break through Wang Chen's Vajra Body Protection.

But Wang Chen's strength was continuously being depleted, and he could only hold on for so long.

However, the first to give in was precisely the evil monster trapped in the Demon-Slaying Net.

This massive monster had already shrunk to half its size, the incredibly tough ropes of the net continuously flashing with light, strangling it into a bizarre shape and snapping who knows how many of its bones.

Correspondingly, the monster's evil power had been drained to the brink of exhaustion.

Its resistance grew weaker and weaker, its struggles increasingly feeble, until it could only lie prostrate on the ground, emitting desperate howls.

Yet Wang Chen did not relax his guard. Bracing against the evil wraiths attacking from all directions, he kept tightening the Demon-Slaying Net.

Although delivering one more sword strike at this time might very likely yield a substantial amount of Human Virtue points.

Wang Chen dared not be the slightest bit careless; he would rather miss out on this profit than give the opponent any chance to counterattack.

Because this evil monster was too strong!

As it turned out, Wang Chen's caution was correct. Just when the monster was about to be strangled into pieces, it suddenly let out a roar, and a crimson light burst from its dim eyes as its body began to rapidly swell.

An overwhelming force tugged at Wang Chen, nearly causing him to lose control of the Demon-Slaying Net.

The net rope chafed fiercely against his palm, actually abrading his skin and drawing blood.

It should be noted that Wang Chen's Heavenly Dragon Vajra Method had been cultivated to the fifth layer—Vajra Indestructibility—where even primary-tier magic artifacts could not break through his defense with a direct hit.

This showed how strong the evil monster's resistance was!

However, this was also the monster's final struggle. As its body swelled to a certain point, there was a loud "bang," and it exploded into a mist of blood.

Self-destruction!

This evil monster could be considered valiant, able to gather enough strength to blow itself up at the last moment.

This move could have been used to perish together with its opponent, but under the envelopment of the Demon-Slaying Net, it had no effect on Wang Chen whatsoever.

In the blink of an eye, the blood mist was completely absorbed by the Demon-Slaying Net!

Under Wang Chen's control, the Heaven-Ensnaring Punisher Net rolled back, transforming once again into a bracer twined around his arm.

A stream of extremely pure spiritual power continuously poured into Wang Chen, rapidly converting into Innate Five Elements Mana and replenishing his nearly depleted Qi Sea Dantian.

"Swift!"

The next moment, Wang Chen formed a sword seal with his hands, uttering a command, and the Red Nether Sword instantly unsheathed, swirling around him with the powers of wind, thunder, flame, and fire, sweeping away all in its path.

The dozens of evil wraiths assaulting Wang Chen were bisected at the waist, turning into ash and dissipating together.

Under his control, the sword's momentum unfolded gradually, placing more evil wraiths within the range of his strikes.

[Human Virtue +15], [Human Virtue +19], [Human Virtue +12]...

The refresh rate of Human Virtue points could simply be described as insane!

Although these low-level evil wraiths yielded very few points to Wang Chen per kill, the numbers added up to a considerable amount.

Not a single evil wraith could withstand the edge of the Red Nether Sword. It was like a merciless scythe, harvesting the evil wraiths in droves, clearing the space around Wang Chen within a ten-zhang radius in the blink of an eye.

Without their leader, the remaining evil wraiths lost their formation. Some continued to charge towards Wang Chen in a daze, only to be reaped by the flying sword, while others fled into the far-off darkness, escaping for their lives.

The final clean-up of the battle did not last long, and soon there were no more evil wraiths in Wang Chen's vicinity.

He did not pursue the scattered low-level evil wraiths. Seeing that the area had been cleared, he recalled the Red Nether Sword.

After recovering some mana, Wang Chen took out a bead the size of a longan fruit from his chest.

The originally pure and flawless jade bead had now turned a deep gray.

Upon closer inspection, one could even see black strands moving within it, twisting as if they were worms.

---------

The first update delivered.