The Divine Urban Physician Chapter 3616 - 3606: Instinct (Fourteenth Update)

"Dammit!" Ye Chen hissed, his features hardening. It became clear that he had not been displaced; instead, the Heavenly Calamity Demon Lord had forcibly dragged his divine soul into an ethereal domain.

Apparently, this was tethered to the Resentment Condensation Curse. For this dark power to trigger, the victim must have dealt damage to the Calamity Ghost first.

One cannot deny that the Calamity Ghost possesses a formidably enigmatic power, striking with completely unforeseen methods.

High atop Refining God Peak, Ye Chen went rigid. The brilliant light vanished from his eyes, leaving him drifting in the sky like an empty shell.

Qiu Pi watched this display and was overcome with triumph.

It was a success!

The Resentment Condensation Curse had taken hold.

Maintaining his incantation, he roared at Xu Qi, "What are you dallying for? Strike him down!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Qi’s face set into a grim mask; he dared not delay. He gripped a massive iron rod inscribed with a myriad of glowing runes.

Xu Qi leered at the unresponsive Ye Chen, who seemed to have surrendered his ability to fight back. He swung the heavy rod, his muscles bulging as a surge of raw, bestial power flowed through the metal.

This Xu Qi was, without question, a terrifying body refiner.

How could one who attained the Heavenly Repairing Realm through the brutal path of body refining be anything less than monstrous?

With a blur of motion, he arrived beside Ye Chen and swung the rod viciously at his skull.

The force generated a howling gale that churned the nearby ocean, whipping up massive waves.

Jin Shuhui and Lan Ying watched, their figures trembling.

What kind of power was contained in that strike?

Even with Ye Chen’s incredible vitality, a direct hit while he remained defenseless would surely result in grievous harm.

Worse, the crux of the issue was that Ye Chen possessed no means to defend himself.

He was nothing more than a human sandbag; even if this singular strike didn't end him, Xu Qi would eventually prevail.

However, just as everyone braced for the impact, Ye Chen shifted.

His arm lashed out with savage intensity, swinging his Slaughter Sword in a horizontal arc to meet the descending iron rod.

Xu Qi’s grin vanished, replaced by sheer shock.

Had Ye Chen not been under the control of Elder Qiu’s spell, the man who had effortlessly slain Li Chang was someone Xu Qi would never have dared to confront head-on.

He scrambled to pull back his momentum and retreated in a hurry.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen was engulfed in a void, his eyes narrowed as he sought a way to shatter the Resentment Condensation Curse.

He understood that his soul had been pulled here because of the karmic tether established when he struck the Calamity Ghost.

To escape this illusion, he simply needed to sever this invisible connection.

What was the method to break such a bond within the soul?

The answer lay in a Soul Dao Divine Ability.

A flicker of insight hit him, and he bellowed, "Seven Evils Unique Skills, Soul-devouring Sky!"

Instantly, a surge of soul power emanated from him. Channeling Soul-devouring Dao Rhythm, he manifested a Divine Soul Blade and slashed at the encompassing darkness.

The void shivered slightly, but it quickly settled back into place.

Ye Chen scowled, launching another Soul-devouring Sky cut, but the outcome remained unchanged.

After dozens of failed attempts, he ceased his efforts.

His expression grew thoughtful, and after a moment of reflection, he sat cross-legged within the shadows.

He couldn't break the link because his grasp of the Soul Dao remained superficial. His understanding of the Soul-devouring Sky was incomplete.

Presently, meditation was his only path forward.

He had to achieve full mastery of the technique. Once he did, he would secure the key to shattering this illusion.

...

Back on Refining God Peak, as Ye Chen swung his blade to deter Xu Qi, he failed to follow up. As his attacker pulled back, Ye Chen allowed his hand to drop, drifting back into a comatose state.

Xu Qi and Zhan You watched him with growing suspicion.

What was this brat cooking up?

Had he not failed to regain his wits? Why was his body still reacting?

Seeing this, Qiu Pi turned red with rage. "You idiots! The boy is still trapped under my curse. Those movements were purely reflex—the basest battle instincts of his body! As a practitioner of physical refinement, are you incapable of subduing a shell that can only fight on instinct?"

Xu Qi’s face burned with humiliation.

It wasn't cowardice, but rather the sheer unnatural nature of Ye Chen. Who had ever seen a soul sealed under a curse where the body retained such lethal reflex?

Just how deep did those battle instincts run?

With this, Xu Qi cast aside his hesitation and lunged forward once more, brandishing his rod.

Qiu Pi studied Ye Chen with shock, and not because of his movement. He had clearly sensed the Resentment Condensation Curse wavering for a fraction of a second.

Could the boy have found a way to undo the curse so quickly?

Usually, a victim of this curse experienced complete cognitive collapse as their soul dissolved into chaos, let alone find a way to break it.

Yet, this youth seemed completely unaffected, his mind remaining sharp as glass.

Qiu Pi gnashed his teeth, a ruthless glimmer in his gaze. Ye Chen’s uncanny traits and horrifying potential far exceeded common reason. Since a blood debt had been forged, he could not allow such a monster to continue drawing breath.

Xu Qi’s rod whistled through the air again, accompanied by such an immense surge of spiritual energy and brute force that the very peak seemed to shudder, as if the world might be swept away by the resulting gale. The weapon descended like an apocalyptic force.

Ye Chen moved again, his Dragonslayer Sword successfully intercepting the rod.

Xu Qi laughed mockingly, "Ha! Kid, your reflexes are impressive, but without your conscious input, how can you withstand my raw power with mere muscle? Prepare to be pulverized!"

Zhan You and Qiu Pi erupted with glee—this unkillable monster was finally finished.

But Jin Shuhui looked on in total despair, her heart constricting until she could barely draw breath. This level of combat was beyond her reach; she had already exhausted her spiritual energy trying to resist Li Chang earlier, leaving her meridians in flux. She was forced to watch her companion drift toward death.

Gritting her teeth, she began desperately cycling her inner power, eventually vomiting blood; even though her meridians were tearing apart under the strain, she did not stop.

She wasn't preparing to attack—she was preparing to self-destruct.

Even if it meant annihilation, she would force Xu Qi back and shield Ye Chen.

It was a futile effort, perhaps, but better than witnessing the only man to touch her heart perish.

Suddenly, a hand came to rest on her shoulder. It was Lan Ying.

Her face somber, she shook her head slowly. "Shuhui, place your faith in him! Ye Chen isn't the type to drop so easily."

Just then, sword and rod collided.

The entirety of Refining God Peak, and the ocean surrounding it, erupted in violent tremors.

It felt as though the earth had suffered a magnitude-hundred quake. Amidst the deafening roar, Ye Chen was thrown backward. Under the sheer intensity of the blow, the muscles in his arm tore, blood sprayed, and the bones underneath showed visible fractures.