Chapter 566

As Fang Yue drew near, the Coffin Puller also rose to its feet.

The iron chains it used to block attacks were all chipped, and its own breastbone had been partially crushed by Fang Yue's strikes.

Yet the Coffin Puller tilted its head, locking onto Fang Yue, continuously emitting sounds.

"Target… locked… locked! Locked! Locked!! Not yet… mature…"

Night Rain gradually grew heavier.

It transitioned from Light Rain to Medium Rain.

Amid the roaring rain, over a hundred iron chains rose from the ground around the Coffin Puller, writhing like demonic serpents.

Though its assault was ferocious, the Coffin Puller seemed confused by Fang Yue's current state—its half-human, half-bone face twisted with deep bewilderment.

After a series of relentless assaults, the Coffin Puller's condition was already dire.

Now facing Fang Yue, whose power, even after full enhancement, ranked just below Lord Han, it was clearly struggling to hold out.

Yet the command in its mind still compelled it to respond faithfully.

Ssssh—ssssh—ssssh—

Iron chains shot toward Fang Yue like a barrage of arrows.

"Innate Qi Shield!"

A pale white glow erupted from Fang Yue's body, but as he moved swiftly, a single iron chain struck it—shattering it instantly.

Fang Yue, pained by the massive internal energy wasted on the Innate Qi Shield, began to analyze his experience.

His current state had been forcibly elevated.

His base attributes showed no obvious change, but his internal energy—unamplified—remained purely Xiantian Realm energy.

This portion of internal energy, in both quantity and quality, was a severe liability.

Yet under the surge of ultra-high attributes and the Sea's Edge Pill, as long as the internal energy could sustain basic use of Shadow Step and Dark Moon Blade Technique, it still served its purpose.

As for boosting power or granting extra strength, that was out of the question.

Thus, after realizing the internal energy issue, Fang Yue, after swallowing a pill, never again formed the Innate Qi Shield—and the same applied to his Aura; even the Aura was worse than the Innate Qi Shield.

Because the Aura was primarily meant to intimidate weaker foes and maintain an upper-tier dominance.

Among peers, it still had utility—useful for comparing internal energy quantity and quality, as part of overall strength.

But against anomalies, its effectiveness was limited.

Once he understood neither had much use, Fang Yue decisively abandoned these two Xiantian Realm signature abilities, channeling all his internal energy into Martial Techniques.

His internal energy was nearly burning away in full, for his Shadow Step could not be halted.

Over a hundred iron chains formed a continuous cycle, striking without pause.

As he evaded one wave of chains, the next wave was already upon him.

Though fewer chains struck at once, their continuity ensured an unbroken, relentless assault.

His heart sank—he knew he couldn't afford to be worn down like this.

The thunderclouds above were manageable; no matter how heavy, as long as they didn't exceed the limit of Night's Breath, they were tolerable.

The problem was Fang Yue's endurance in combat. The Sea's Edge Pill had a time limit; the growing intensity of the curse on his palm; the dwindling number of pills—all constrained his sustained combat capability.

So Fang Yue's goal was simple: kill the Coffin Puller in the shortest possible time, or his chances would keep dwindling—indeed, the moment the Sea's Edge Pill's effect faded, he would instantly fall into a fatal disadvantage.

Boom!

A flash of thunder illuminated the earth.

Light and darkness split sharply into two distinct halves.

Fang Yue's speed plummeted—the shadows coiling around his feet were startled by the light and snapped back to his soles, breaking Shadow Step on their own.

"Damn it!"

Fang Yue's heart dropped, and the Coffin Puller, sensing an opening, shifted instantly from its sustained assault to a full barrage of over a hundred chains, sealing off all escape routes.

"Dark Moon Blade Technique!"

As the chains surged in, the two-meter black blade spun 360° around Fang Yue's body.

Fang Yue didn't know how Dark Moon Blade Technique calculated its bonuses, but when thunder cracked, it gained a moonlight enhancement.

The black blade slipped soundlessly into darkness and struck the charging iron chains.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!!

A musical cascade of clashing sounds erupted.

Every incoming chain was precisely deflected by Fang Yue's Dark Moon Blade Technique, marked with "honor-worthy" dents, forcibly redirected, and embedded into the ground around him.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!

Accompanied by the noise, the ground around Fang Yue was now studded with dozens of damaged iron chains, like an infinite iron thicket.

The long, entangling chains formed a makeshift prison, surrounding Fang Yue with walls of iron—like a frog at the bottom of a well, he could only look up to see the hissing thunderclouds.

The thunder had passed; darkness returned to the earth, and Shadow Step's boost returned to Fang Yue.

"Shadow Step!"

Shadows climbed his legs; after the stiff end of his maneuver and a brief pause, he immediately stepped onto the iron chains, sprinting in a spiral upward, soon leaping into midair.

After identifying the Coffin Puller's position, Fang Yue prepared to charge directly toward it.

But as he was about to land…

Ssssh—ssssh—ssssh—ssssh!

Iron chains erupted from the ground like hidden spikes, sudden and unseen.

The attack caught even Fang Yue, whose focus was razor-sharp, off guard.

Was it an illusion? In that instant, Fang Yue felt time's flow had slowed—just slightly, imperceptibly.

The iron spikes rising from the ground seemed slower—but the sensation vanished in a flash.

Fang Yue seized the opportunity and, in that instant, identified the iron chain's attack trajectory.

As everything returned to normal, he immediately dodged the attack.

"That feeling just now was…"

Fang Yue felt puzzled; after evading the attack, he rolled on the spot, rose up, and moved toward the 【Pulling Coffin Ghoul】, all while savoring the sensation he had just experienced.

In that instant, he vaguely felt that some part of himself had been burned away.

He glanced at the system prompt.

"System Prompt: Player 【Yese Liming】 has overdrawn his potential; Comprehension has slightly decreased."

Fang Yue:??!!!

What? My Comprehension… that was my Comprehension!

Fang Yue turned pale with shock and quickly checked his Comprehension stat.

"Comprehension: 5 points."

Well, it seems it only dropped slightly.

But does this mean… my feeling just now wasn't an illusion?

That sensation, as if time itself had slowed… was it my own power?

(End of Chapter)