Chapter 236: Eden Garden

"Eden Garden?"

Jiang Yuan lowered his head, his voice like gravel forced out from deep in his throat.

The shadow under his feet was boiling, no longer the previous flowing state, but like boiling asphalt, gurgling with black bubbles.

Anger.

It was not just because of two lives, but also because of that man's arrogant aloofness before him—the kind that treats lives as numbers, law as scrap paper, and even appreciates the child who just lost his parents as a "work".

"What do you treat human life as?!"

Jiang Yuan suddenly lifted his head; in that instant, his originally clear pupils were completely occupied by pitch black.

No reservation.

Facing monsters, only by becoming a more terrifying monster than they are can one have the right to speak of justice.

The shadow originally spread on the ground instantly contracted, then shot up behind him.

It didn't turn into flashy chains or tentacles; those dark substances frenziedly compressed and stacked, ultimately condensing behind Jiang Yuan into a blurry humanoid figure three meters tall.

This entity, composed of pure negative energy, emitted an oppressive feeling that even caused slight visual distortion in the surrounding space; the mansion's ceiling above its head groaned under the weight, the drywall cracking like biscuits and falling down.

"Chen Shao!"

Jiang Yuan let out a violent shout, his whole body shooting out like an arrow released from a bow.

Synchronized with it was the huge demon god behind him; it swung a fist the size of a grindstone, carrying terrifying kinetic force capable of smashing a main battle tank into scrap iron, slamming down hard onto Chen Shao's head.

The air was compressed to the limit, emitting a sharp explosive sound.

If this punch landed, not to mention a person, even the villa's load-bearing pillars would instantly shatter.

Yet, facing this heaven-shattering strike, Chen Shao didn't move a step.

He didn't even take his hand out of his pocket.

The eyes behind those sunglasses were as calm as dead water; he merely lifted his head slightly, looking at the huge fist blocking the light, as if looking at a buzzing, clawing fly.

The red vortex in his left eye suddenly sped up.

An invisible wave, centered on him, instantly spread out.

"Kneel."

Two words.

Spoken lightly, the volume wasn't even higher than everyday chatter.

But at the instant those two words left his mouth, the previously violent physical rules were forcibly rewritten.

Thud!

The shadowy giant fist less than half a meter above Chen Shao's head was forcibly halted in midair.

There was nothing blocking it, no energy barrier.

It simply stopped.

It was as if an invisible hand of god pressed down on its head.

Next, the three-meter-tall shadow demon began to tremble; its body, made of high-density energy, emitted a grating creaking sound, as if bearing the weight of Mount Tai.

Not gravity.

It was suppression by the "rules".

In the domain within Chen Shao's left eye's sight, he was the king; the king commands subjects to kneel, and subjects have no right to stand.

Crack!

Jiang Yuan's knee emitted a sharp crack of breaking bone.

That terrifying pressure fed back through the Shadow Ghost directly onto his true body; he gritted his teeth, his legs violently trembling, the floor cracking under his feet inch by inch, yet he stubbornly held himself up, refusing to kneel.

Blood from his nose dripped down his lips.

Jiang Yuan coughed up a mouthful of blood; the blackness in his eyes not only didn't recede, it grew even denser.

He was gambling.

He was betting that Chen Shao's such "rule suppression" had a range, or an upper limit.

Since large-scale force would be suppressed, then break it into pieces!

With a thought, the shadow demon firmly pinned in midair instantly disintegrated.

It didn't vanish; instead it turned into countless black spikes as thick as fingers.

The pressure that had been concentrated in one place instantly vanished.

"Scatter!"

Jiang Yuan thrust both hands outward violently.

Countless black spikes scattered like a rain of pear blossoms, bypassing the frontal gravity-suppression zone, shooting toward Chen Shao from all directions, 360 degrees with no blind spots.

Even in the floor's seams and the ceiling's shadows, spikes protruded.

This strike was unavoidable.

Xu An in the corner widened his eyes; in his view, this was already a deadly situation; humans couldn't dodge such all-encompassing coverage.

Chen Shao, however, smiled.

It was the kind of contemptuous smile one gives at seeing clumsy magic.

"In my domain, matter is obedient."

He snapped his fingers.

Snap.

That crisp sound was like flipping a switch.

The previously still living room came alive.

It wasn't that it had gained life; rather, the form of matter underwent a fundamental reorganization.

The marble tiles on the floor, the shattered coffee table glass, even the dust floating in the air and the wall plaster, all defied physical laws in that instant and flowed like liquid.

They converged around Chen Shao at astonishing speed, instantly solidifying, hardening, and polishing.

It took only 0.1 seconds.

An absolutely smooth, perfectly streamlined mirror wall formed, completely enclosing Chen Shao.

Ding ding ding ding ding ding—!

The dense impact sounds merged into a continuous noise, like countless coins being tossed into a blender.

Those shadow spikes capable of penetrating steel plates, upon contacting this mirror wall, were all flung away and slid off; none could gain purchase, let alone pierce.

All the attack's kinetic energy was discharged into empty space by the wall's perfect geometric structure.

The surrounding walls and furniture suffered, the deflected spikes turning them into sieves, and the expensive leather sofa instantly burst into puffs of cotton fluff.

"Since you like playing the assassin's game," Chen Shao's voice came from behind the mirror wall, tinged with teasing, "then let you see what true control is."

The mirror wall instantly disintegrated.

Those fragments did not fall to the ground but hovered in midair, each reflecting a cold light, their tips pointing at Jiang Yuan.

The offense and defense reversed.

Jiang Yuan's pupils contracted sharply.

This guy...... is he a monster?

Not only can it suppress energy, but it can also manipulate matter at will? Is this the value of an A‑Ji "Demon Eye"?

But he had no retreat.

The window behind him had been sealed shut, and Xu An was still in that madman's hands.

Since long‑range won't work, then close combat!

Jiang Yuan stopped trying to condense a large entity, instead compressing all of the Shadow Ghost's power into his limbs and body. Black patterns crawled over his skin, and his muscle fibers, bolstered by shadow power, were tensed to the limit.

At this moment, he turned himself into a bullet.

Bang!

The floor beneath his feet shattered completely, and Jiang Yuan's figure vanished from the spot.

Fast.

So fast that even the retina could not catch an afterimage.

This was nearly the limit speed he had never used even when fighting Spider Humanoids in Chicago.

Using the chaotic shadows around him, he darted at high speed through the ruins, each refraction making his speed a bit faster.

Chen Shao stood in place, the red light in his left eye like a searchlight, trying to lock onto that high‑speed moving figure.

"Got you."

Jiang Yuan's voice suddenly sounded behind Chen Shao.

Without any fancy motion, just a straight punch.

This punch gathered all his strength, its fist surface covered with a layer of high‑frequency vibrating shadow blade, capable of cutting diamond.

Target the back of the head.

If this punch lands, even a god would have his head blown apart.

However.

Just when the fist's tip was only three centimeters from Chen Shao's hair.

It stopped.

It was not caught, nor was it blocked.

Rather, it was as if it had punched into a piece of solidified amber.

That three‑centimeter space of air, under Chen Shao's will, was compressed to a terrifying density—harder than steel and tougher than rubber.

Air wall.

Hum—!

The fist collided with the air wall, emitting a deep, muffled hum.

The tremendous recoil traveled back up his arm, making Jiang Yuan feel as if his arm bones were about to shatter.

At the same time, Chen Shao slowly turned around.

The two were now within arm's reach.

Jiang Yuan saw the pair of unwavering eyes behind the sunglasses, and saw the faint, almost imperceptible smirk at the corner of the other's mouth.

"Speed not bad."

Chen Shao commented, like a teacher grading homework, "Unfortunately, the force is a bit lacking."

Boom!

That air wall violently burst outward.

This was not merely defense, but a counterattack after storing power.

Jiang Yuan felt his chest as if struck by a high‑speed train, his whole body flying backward like a cannonball.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

He consecutively smashed through two partition walls, finally slamming heavily into the master bedroom's load‑bearing wall before stopping.

The wall showed a spider‑web‑like crack, with rubble rattling down.

Jiang Yuan struggled to crawl up from the wreckage, vomiting a large mouthful of blood. At least three of his ribs were broken, and his internal organs suffered varying degrees of shock.

But the fire in his eyes did not die out.

On the contrary, it burned even brighter.

He casually wiped the blood from his mouth corner, and fixed his gaze on the distant, immaculate figure.

"Is this all you've got?" Jiang Yuan panted heavily, grinning wide to reveal a mouthful of teeth stained red with blood, "If that's all you have... making me kneel is still a century too early!"

Chen Shao lowered his head and glanced at his suit.

There was a noticeable crack.

That was the shadow blade Jiang Yuan left behind when the air wall burst open just now.

This custom-made suit worth six figures is now ruined.

Beneath the clothing, Chen Shao's skin also oozed visible bloodstains.

Chen Shao's brow furrowed slightly.

But that was all.

He lifted his head, his gaze finally turning a bit more serious.

"Truly unexpected..."

Chen Shao slowly spread his arms, as if embracing the whole world.

"I originally wanted to play with you a bit longer, after all, punching bags as durable as you are rare... but..."

He glanced at Xu An, who was engrossed in the corner.

"I want to give my new member more time to feel welcome."

Crack crack crack...

A chilling sound rang out.

The entire apartment building began to shake violently.