Chapter 40: Violent Combat

The Ripple within Bai Cangshu's body began to surge, spreading out in circles from his palms, much like Fogu.

The Hand Demon watched the human it had tossed over ten meters into the air suddenly emit rings of light; it instinctively squinted its eyes, for within that light lay a power that filled it with dread.

What is this, is it a Breathing Style of the Demon Slayer Corps?

The next moment, its several massive arms had already risen into the air, lunging violently toward the opponent; as long as it caught them, even the strongest human would be crushed into a puddle of blood.

Bai Cangshu felt the impact of the giant hands tearing through the air, his heart beating even more intensely; every cell in his body seemed to be breathing, his pores opened wide due to this stimulation, and a massive amount of "Qi" was being inhaled and exhaled in rhythm with his body's operation.

【Ripple energy accumulation increased, your energy attribute +1】

Bai Cangshu paid no attention to the system prompt; he simply spread his palms, which were twisted to the extreme, and unleashed a violent explosion of Force that broke through his limits while in the 【Absolute Domain】 state.

The Ripple driven by his palms went berserk in an instant, as if a giant boulder had been smashed into a calm lake, creating a massive amount of Ripple instantly.

【Xiandao Luochazhang】! The Hand Demon's giant palms were like a wall, and with several arms grabbing at once, it was as if several giant pythons were fighting for food, completely obscuring Bai Cangshu's figure.

The Hand Demon felt a moment of relief; even those so-called Pillar-level swordsmen could not take this move!

Boom! Bai Cangshu struck the cyan-gray giant hand in front of him with one palm.

A terrifying, unparalleled Force erupted in an instant.

Pfft! Like a dry, stiff rag being wrung out in an instant, the muscles of that cyan-gray palm began to twist immediately.

A massive spiral pattern emerged from the center of the palm and instantly extended downward, twisting the ten-meter-long arm into a braid.

Even more terrifying was that a Ripple with the exact same wavelength and nature as 【Sunlight】, along with this force, instantly submerged into the twisted palm and spread outward.

Splat!

As if a rotten winter melon had been smashed from the outside, the Hand Demon's pupils constricted as its powerful giant hand shattered into nothingness.

Not even flesh and blood scattered; it burst in the air like melting mud.

"Ah!"

The pain of being scorched by the blazing sun was something the Hand Demon had only experienced once in its life, a pain it dared not touch again after that one time; the searing agony of its Soul reappeared at this moment.

It spasmed, and all its arms instinctively curled inward.

Amidst the wild dancing of its arms, they all retracted completely around its body, wrapping itself into a meatball dozens of meters wide.

"So painful, this isn't a Nichirin Sword!"

The Hand Demon had been slashed by more than one Nichirin Sword, and it was certain that this power was simply not a Nichirin Sword, and besides... it only now realized that this human was likely not from the Demon Slayer Corps at all; the opponent didn't even have a sword.

Since when could humans kill Ghosts without the help of Nichirin Swords?! Bai Cangshu's mouth curled into a grin; he was currently radiating a faint Qi, and Ripple flowed over his hands, allowing him to fall from a height of over ten meters and use that terrifying Rakshasa Palm to completely dissipate the momentum of his fall.

His landing was as light as a cat's paw.

The degree of his muscle expansion was more pronounced than ever before; looking at his physique now, he exceeded 1.9 meters, and Tao Baibai's pink robe was stretched tight by him; the strong contrast between the robust muscles and the pink clothing made the Hand Demon feel even more absurd.

"Hey, you guy, what is your origin? Could it be that you are a new Lower Rank created by that Lord?!"

The Hand Demon chattered incessantly; when it was weak, it could only harbor hatred, hunting those fox-masked youths at the final selection venue on Fujikasane Mountain for revenge, and could only vent its pent-up hatred by using words to provoke the fear of those youths.

Now that the Fujikasane Mountain venue had been destroyed and man-eating Ghosts were running rampant on a large scale, it still retained this habit.

Bai Cangshu did not answer, only making a clicking sound with his mouth and wagging his finger.

"Don't talk, Hand Demon, I am... feeling high right now."

Bai Cangshu exaggeratedly lifted his left leg high; unlike Clown Evans, who relied on agility characteristics to fight, where every move Evans made was as concealed as possible, Bai Cangshu was incredibly flamboyant. There was no other reason: he was far better at fighting than Evans and better at grasping the "momentum" in battle.

The leg he had raised high landed with a boom.

Bang! The ground shook violently, then spiderweb-like cracks appeared instantly, and a moment later, the ground collapsed with a roar.

Bai Cangshu transformed into a black shadow, shooting out from the front.

That speed, that power, was completely unlike an ordinary human.

The Hand Demon chattered on, trying to disturb the opponent's mind; this was its consistent strategy when it considered itself weaker than its opponent. It knew very well that humans were ultimately just humans; no matter how powerful, they had flaws, either in stamina or Spirit, and as long as it found...

Boom! A terrifying, massive force erupted from in front of it, and as the Hand Demon's pupils trembled, it saw that figure, seemingly elongated by the air, punch it in the chest.

Don't be afraid, it had the defense of dozens of arms; this kind of attack simply couldn't...

"Ugh... Pfft!"

A Force with terrifying penetrative power blasted through several meters of cyan-gray flesh, driving deep into the Hand Demon's body.

Its internal organs were shattered in an instant, and it spat blood from its mouth.

And that terrifying power that scorched the Soul appeared once more.

It watched as the dozens of arms wrapped around its neck began to melt and rot, and the fear of facing death struck instantly.

"Ah!"

The Hand Demon roared in fear, its voice nearly cracking.

But the momentum of those dozens of arms spinning like a hurricane and whipping toward the surroundings was incredibly terrifying.

Bang bang bang! The trees in the forest, whether they were small trees as thick as a bowl or large trees that required one person to embrace, were instantly shattered and sent flying by those cyan-gray arms.

The Hand Demon became the center of a terrifying whirlwind in an instant.

The moment the cyan-gray giant hand smashed down, Bai Cangshu's eyes trembled; the reason he could perfectly capture others' movements and Force, to the point where he could imitate their actions after seeing them almost once, was not just his near-perfect muscle control.

It was even more due to his eyes.

Bai Cangshu's dynamic vision was extremely outstanding; he could even see the trajectory of a dragonfly's wing vibrations as it flew by.

This moment was no exception; the Hand Demon's action of spiraling its giant arms outward became incredibly obvious due to its massive muscles.

Bai Cangshu noticed it immediately.

He then jumped slightly, his entire body's muscles becoming incredibly soft, his hands blocking in front of him, his entire core completely tensed.

【Two Tigers Style·Flowing Form Willow】! At this moment, Bai Cangshu did not care what would happen if he failed; he did not choose a safer way to dodge, but instead used this move to take it head-on.

Hum! The massive force struck; Bai Cangshu's hands were hard, but his arms were incredibly soft. In an instant, the huge force was twisted in front of him. Bai Cangshu rolled with the momentum, spinning twice in mid-air, and instead of being knocked away, he landed on the giant arm that was whipping out like a lash.

"Ha, haha!"

Bai Cangshu suddenly laughed heartily in the midst of this violent hurricane, his feet standing on the arm as if they were rooted there.

The next moment, he laughed wildly and charged straight at the Hand Demon along its arm.

(End of this chapter)