Seeing the young Prince stretch his body and becoming more and more aware by the second that he was taking this as seriously as possible, a sigh escaped Herman's lips.

"Why does this bastard need to try so goddamn hard!? I already agreed to join his faction, so what's the purpose behind bashing the sh*t out of me? F*ck! Does he think I'm so easy to bully!?"

The more he saw the smirking Veltar, the angrier he got. Thinking that the demon was doing this only with humiliation in mind, veins kept popping on his forehead. At the same time, Veltar himself was amazed at the fighting spirit the human was showing. He didn't underestimate the bug in front of his eyes, but even with the many restrictions placed on his body, he could still pulverize him with one move at most.

Thinking that the human might want to challenge his limits, Veltar decided against going easy on him and instead give him a good trashing. That way, Herman could see exactly how high he needs to climb and how generous his bloodline gift was.

With each of the two misunderstandings the other's intentions, they both got pumped and decided to try their best for no apparent reason. There was no doubt that even with restricted cultivation, the demon's attributes were largely higher than Herman's.

If there was one thing the weak human was planning to leverage, it was the pride of the demonkind. They were the type that wouldn't stoop to someone's level unless fully provoked.

"Undoubtedly, I can't compete with him in attributes. Spells and skills are even more so a no-go since their race is born with an innate affinity to such things. I guess I should have a bit of an advantage when it comes to fighting experience. Given how bloodthirsty is the Hell realm, however, it's not enough to give me a fair fighting chance. He's also not the dumbly proud type that would underestimate me either..."

The more he pondered about it, the more depressed he got. There was nothing he could do to avoid the ass-whooping that was about to ensue. If that was indeed the case...

"No! I must at least try my best and forbid this demon to look down on me. He might be an unparalleled genius in the Hell realm, but I am not beneath him either. Hehehe! Let's see if he knows this little trick."

[Judging by the smile on your face, this Prince assumes that you are ready to battle.](Veltar)

"Indeed! I am ready when you are!"

[Great! I was initially disappointed and dissatisfied with your lack of respect towards this Prince, but I forgot the most simple truth.](Veltar)

"Hoh!? And which truth might that be?"

[Respect is earned! Especially on a battlefield!](Veltar)

"Hahaha! That's true! Let's get cracking then, shall we!?"

[After you...]

"Then, don't mind if I do!"

To Veltar surprise, a constant amount of Qi vapor was exiting from the opponent's muscles. He looked confounded at the strange sight and adopted a better defensive position. He decided to test the limits of this bug since he more or less forced him into joining his 'faction' that has little recognition in the Hell realm. After all, only elites will be able to stand by his side.

[Judging by the amounts of Qi he's drawing from the surroundings, he's planning to use a body skill of sorts. With my higher attributes and higher body cultivation though, the chances of anything surprising happening are... null!? Eh!? Where did he go!?](Veltar)

Without even taking his eyes off the bug, he simply vanished as if he wasn't there, to begin with. Turning around, Veltar raised his right arm and blocked an incoming axe kick, surprisingly being forced to one knee. Before he could retaliate by grabbing the leg that smashed into him earlier, Herman already vanished once more.

Overloading his senses by activating a portion of his demonic bloodline, Veltar caught a glimpse of Herman calmly walking past him. Yeah, that's right! Walking!

It looked as if he was strolling through a park leisurely, instead of being in combat with a much more powerful opponent. The even stranger thing was that it wasn't any of his five senses that caught that glimpse of Herman, but the sixth sense, his battle-hardened intuition. Honed through thousands of fights to the death, this sixth sense of his allowed Veltar to create a domain five meters around his body, therefore the strange sight he was currently watching in a perplexed manner.

Furthermore, even if his sixth sense could 'see' Herman, his other five couldn't keep up at all. He had to force his brain to react by sending orders to the body in quick succession. That's how he was able to stop another punch aimed at his lower back by rotating his waist just in time. Herman didn't look surprised at all and instead kept throwing continuous strikes at the cocky fellow. He thought that by giving Veltar less time to think, he would eventually succumb to the pressure. Unfortunately, it was quite the opposite with the enemy becoming used to his pace.

Sighing, he retreated ten meters in front of Veltar, becoming visible once more through all senses.

[Pfew! That's amazing! Is it a body skill? How does it work?](Veltar)

"Indeed. It's called 'Overload'. It works by overloading different parts of the user's body with Primordial Qi in order to gain faster speed and power while using Spiritual Qi to overload the enemy's five senses, creating a small gap in them for you to sneak in."

[Amazing! Truly amazing! Mental suppression, right?](Veltar)

"Correct."

[Hehe! Then...](Veltar)

Herman tilted his head and looked strangely at the smiling Veltar, while the latter threw quite a terrifying sentence next.

[...shall I try it as well?](Veltar)

"???"

Unsurprisingly, the demonic bastard vanished in the next instant as if he was just a dream. Herman couldn't help but click his tongue at the speed with which he picked up things.

"As expected, he's a freaking genius of an amazing magnitude. However, 'your majesty', you shouldn't fall for other's tricks this easily..."

Veltar himself was quite amazed at this Overload technique. Copying Herman's Qi flow wasn't that difficult for him, therefore he was able to put it into practice just after watching his opponent start and finish. Now he was instead amazed at how Herman's eyes were keeping track of him even after his superior mental supression was in effect. Upon testing the waters with a casual attack, he was indeed able to confirm that the bug was able to track his movements. What was beyond shocking was that he wasn't even looking directly at him, but rather had his eyes closed.

[What exactly is he doing? I can tell that he's monitoring me using Qi, but...](Veltar)

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Soon, Veltar gasped in pain once and then a second time not even a fraction of a second later. The first time, a severe pang of pain came from his body, hinting at possible destruction. The Overload technique was truly tyrannic and not even his demonically reinforced body couldn't keep up with the damage it inflicted upon using it. The second pang of pain came from a fist that found its target in the pit of his stomach, releasing a sharp amount of frost Qi and slightly damaging his innards.

In the brief instant he winced from the pain the Overload technique caused him, Herman somehow evaded his sight once again and struck quite a powerful blow against his unprepared self.

Herman quietly overlooked the demon prince and didn't bother attacking further. This sort of lapse in concentration would happen only once and that was what he was aiming for from the beginning.

"Now it's time to see his real personality. If he's the trash type, he would probably go as far as killing me for daring to lay my hands on him. If he's worthy of me allying with him though..."

[Hahaha! I see! A very well laid trap and I fell right into it, didn't I!? But I do have a curiosity though.](Veltar)

"By all means, feel free to ask!"

[If even my body couldn't withstand the technique, how was yours able to?](Veltar)

"Well, there are multiple stages and it all depends on the amount of Qi you use. If you're planning to overload your legs muscles and go over the amount they can bear, you will suffer a rebound. If you stay just at the limit though..."

[I see. Well then... are you ready for round two?](Veltar)

"Eh!? Y...Your Highness?"

[Hehe! I can't leave without seeing your full capabilities now, can I?](Veltar)

"Ugh..."

Expectedly, what followed was an utter trashing that left Herman a breath away from death. For once though, he was able to deploy various techniques and stretch his body like he hasn't done so far since his transmigration to the past. While he was thankful to Veltar for that, he was still holding a grudge for the punches and kicks he took.

Not to mention...

"F*ck! Not to be able to... *ugh* land a second strike. How utterly embarrassing..."

[Oi, oi! The hell is you talking about!? If you could hit me that easily given the attribute and cultivation realm disparity, I would've lived my life for nothing so far.](Veltar)

"F*ck off, would you!? That's even more annoying to hear from you!"

[Hahaha! How is it? Are you enjoying my massage? I've been very careful in helping you 'remodel' your body.](Veltar)

"F*ck! Shameless! Using your superior attributes to bully me like so and you still dare act magnanimously? Aren't you afraid of being hit by heavenly lightning?"

[Hahaha! Seriously though, check your body.](Veltar)

"Huh!? O...okay."

Surprised at the seriousness of the demon, Herman followed his instructions and checked his body. There weren't any changes to his cultivation, soul sea, or his bodily cultivation. However...

"What the hell!? You've dislocated all my bones!? No wonder it hurts so damn much!"

[Ahahaha! Yes, but it's a needed thing.](Veltar)

"F*ck me! How the hell is this level of pain needed?"

[If you are to intake demonic blood, your body needs to have a certain bone structure and density, unless you plan on imploding. So, I helped 'massage' you properly. Huh!? Why aren't you thanking me yet? Tsk, tsk, tsk! Such an ungrateful bastard...](Veltar)

"F*ck! So damn shameless!"

Their banter continued for some minutes with back and forth cursing, yet Herman was surprised by how easy-going the prince was. This partnership of sorts might prove itself to be quite fruitful if he has such a good personality. Any other demon might've squashed him into a fine dust by now, yet this guy was laughing in a surprisingly good-natured manner. Deciding to stop testing for his limit, he finally got serious and dived into the business at hand.

"So, what's your plan?"

[As I promised, the more geniuses you draw into my camp, the better rewards you and them will get. I will set up a contract with the System so for those that want to join, they only need to take an oath and that will be all. The System will take care of rewarding them with the drop of blood.](Veltar)

"What about the 'massage'? Won't they 'implode' after taking it without proper bone structure remodeling?"

[That's only the case with the proper bloodline. They will get a watered-down version until the factions are properly implemented by the System. By then, their bodies should be strong enough to accept the 'upgraded' version.](Veltar)

"I see. You've quite thought this through. Well then, where's my reward?"

[Tsk! Fine, fine! Here.](Veltar)

A tightly sealed flacon containing a single drop of blood landed in Herman's hands. Upon holding it, a scalding heat was transferred through his fingers into the body, threatening to burn him down into ashes. Looking warily at Veltar who shrugged and prepared to leave, he was momentarily dumbfounded. Would he really be able to intake such a monstrous bloodline and temper his body with?

[Don't do anything until you've healed fully and further improve your bodily cultivation. You'll be able to tell when you are strong enough to take it. Anyway, gotta go! Don't forget to rope in more followers for my faction. I look forward to your progress, 'partner'! Hahahaha!](Veltar)

Seeing the prince dissipating into nothingness, a feeling of relief washed through his body. It wasn't just the fact that the strong demonic bastard disappeared finally, but that also signified that he lived through his wind tribulations. With that done, he had finally reached the Soul Wandering realm.

Storing the blood vial into his Inventory, he carefully opened his stats page to take a look.

Personal Information

Attributes

Ultimate

Pill

Name: Herman Roy

Cultivation time: 0 Years (336 days)

Spiritual realm: Soul Wandering I

Body realm: Mind Scattering X

Ascension number: N/A

Attributes

Life Essence: 28.015

Attack: 140.075

Strength: 27.395

Defense: 136.975

Vitality: 27.527

Health Points: 412.905

Dexterity: 27.561

Evasion: 82.683

Fortune: 343

Critical Strike: 114.3

Perception: 5.036 Points

Efficiency: 2.518 Primordial Qi points / 1 hour

Absorption: 3.870 points

Superior Qi Absorption: 1935 Spiritual Qi point / 1 hour

Character (Unlocked - please select to view)

Personality (Unlocked - please select to view)

"Eh!? The heck!?"

Looking dumbfoundedly at the stupid increase in attributes, Herman couldn't even begin to understand what happened. His main attributes increased by 5.500 each, his Fortune by 100 points (as randomly as always), and his Perception/Absorption by 500 points as well. Not to mention, his initially static bodily cultivation suddenly rose to almost the Sarira realm.

"Crap! I see... the 'massage' that bastard talked about was just the physical remodeling. He didn't infuse Qi, otherwise, I would've noticed a change immediately. My body, however, wouldn't be able to withstand his high-level Immortal Qi. That's why he left it to the 'leveling-up' procedure where the body automatically draws Qi from the surroundings. Once that happened, it was like molten metal flowing into a cast."

He was slightly taken aback and albeit, lightly scared at the capabilities of that demonic bastard. Prince or otherwise, there was no doubt that he was a genius. Shaking his head to get rid of the useless thoughts, he focused on the cultivation realm that said 'Soul Wandering I'.

Now that he reached his spot, the real grind could finally begin.

"*Sigh* It does seem that I would get busy from now on... Let's get started, shall we?"