Invincibility starts when I see the BOSS health bar.

Chapter 945 Reunion with the Beauty
It truly is a tonic for the very essence of demons!

It can directly affect the foundation of demon bloodline abilities, significantly enhancing the activity and intensity of their demonic power, and it also seems to have a strange resonance and enhancement with the withered wood characteristics in my body that originated from the Azure Demon bloodline!

Fang Yu couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

nice one!
It's definitely a great product!

Not to mention the incredibly useful new ability that comes with it.

Taking a deep breath, Fang Yu decided to try to fully unleash this newly acquired power.

When you get something new, you should always test its strength first, right?

He focused his mind, immersing himself completely in controlling the demonic transformation.

Completely transformed into a demon!

Crunch... crunch... snap!
The sickening sound of bones grinding and reforming echoed one after another!

Fang Yu's body instantly swelled and deformed under Ding Hui's slightly surprised gaze!
His skin transformed inch by inch into the solid, withered texture of wood, and gnarled knots extended from his joints. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a tree-man figure, full of wild and desolate beauty!
A withered aura mingled with the vibrant, newly born demonic power, spreading outwards.

Ding Hui subconsciously took a small step back, not out of fear of being attacked, but because she had absolute trust in Fang Yu.

Instead, they keenly sensed that Fang Yu seemed to be brewing some powerful and unknown change, and that they needed to make room for him to unleash it.

The next instant, Fang Yu's demonic power surged and circulated within him!

He could clearly sense that within the medicinal power of the Abomination Tree that had just been subdued and absorbed by the Azure Demon, a thick, refined, and life-giving sap was being extracted.

This is the core of triggering new abilities!
Like compressing a giant spring, Fang Yu suddenly concentrated his mind and used his demonic power to squeeze and ignite the "sap of hatred"!
hum! !

The tree sap, like a lit fuse, instantly transformed into a stream of scorching energy, rushing through every meridian in the body and covering every inch of the woody skin!

Bang! ! ! !

A sudden, loud bang, like the explosion of hard wood, suddenly erupted in the courtyard!

The last trace of emotion on the face of Fang Yu, the withered tree-man standing there, froze instantly!

All movement completely stopped!
Amidst the explosion and the flying debris, the entire body exhibited an eerily stiff appearance.

Like a sculpture that has instantly lost all its vitality!

A few steps behind the "sculpture," on the ground, countless dark brown, twisted and tangled dead tree branches burst through the soil, sprouted, and intertwined with lightning speed from the gaps between the hard paving stones!
In a very short time, another "Fang Yu" made entirely of dead wood was quickly recreated, its shape and appearance being exactly the same as the original sculpture stand-in!
While Ding Hui was stunned...

"Exquisitely lifelike!" A voice filled with laughter came from the newly formed withered wooden body.

Fang Yu's main body stepped out from the ground entangled with dead wood, and walked to the dead wood substitute "sculpture" he had just left behind, looking at it carefully with a sense of novelty and satisfaction.

Ding Hui stood to the side, her expression filled with curiosity and a hint of strangeness.

After all, seeing an empty shell that looked exactly like Fang Yu standing in front of you was quite eerie.

"take it easy."

As Fang Yu tapped the hard, cold tree trunk of the substitute with his finger, he explained to Ding Hui, "This thing looks realistic, but it's actually just a hollow 'cicada shell.' At the moment of that explosion, my real body had already retreated deep underground along the rapidly spreading tree roots beneath my feet. And..."

He closed his eyes and carefully felt his body's state during the displacement.

"I discovered that while I was shrinking underground, the residual energy in my body would spontaneously drive my body to break through the ground from the pre-set location. This greatly reduced the consumption and time of drilling, but it also meant that the displacement distance and destination were somewhat limited. I couldn't drill too far away at will."

"This...this is the new ability you gained after taking that pill?"

Ding Hui's eyes lit up, and her desire to research burned brightly within her.

For human martial artists, being able to immediately acquire a complete and usable combat or support ability simply by consuming one thing is something that can only be achieved by legendary divine fruits and herbs!
Even for demons, elixirs that can so clearly and directly grant an ability are extremely rare!

Given the depth of her research on demon pharmacology, there are very few readily available cases for reference, so how could she not be full of interest?

"Well, that's right..."

Fang Yu responded, but was still somewhat distracted.

He circled the lifelike wooden replica, unable to resist touching its surface again, marveling at it: "It's so lifelike! It's really so lifelike! Even the subtle palm lines and the angle of the eyebrows are almost identical! If it could move, or even simulate my attacks, that would be perfect... Unfortunately, it seems to be just a dead shell, a consumable item used to block one attack."

As he spoke, he tried to concentrate on controlling the Stand, but felt that there was almost no connection between him and it.

This double is a purely one-time target.

More importantly, he discovered that he had almost exhausted all the "Abomination Tree Sap" accumulated in his body in order to activate the [Tree Body Substitute] ability!
The regeneration of this sap appears to be extremely slow, stemming from its own conversion of the Abomination Tree's medicinal power, making it impossible to store in large quantities or replenish quickly.

"It's estimated that it will be used at most once in a fierce battle... It's a real trump card for survival."

Fang Yu assessed the situation in his mind.

Just then, his gaze swept over the shattered fragments of dry wood left by the exploding stunt doubles that Ding Hui had casually placed on the ground, and then swept over Ding Hui's clear eyes, which were full of research spirit...

A thought struck him like lightning!

"Ding Hui!" Fang Yu suddenly turned his head, staring intently at her. "You just mentioned that you only used half of the Abomination Tree to refine this [Abomination-Free Pill]? Then... where did the other half go?"

Ding Hui was taken aback by his eager question, then blinked and smiled: "Isn't it because I'm waiting for my husband to take the pill first and see the effect, so I can give you some directions for improvement and feedback? Since you proposed the new 'tree sap' ability, maybe I can work on the second pill to enhance this aspect?"

Fang Yu suddenly realized, and chuckled to himself.

Indeed, this aligns with Ding Hui's meticulous and perfectionist pharmacist personality.

He suppressed the urge to immediately take another pill and patiently told Ding Hui about his detailed feelings and changes after taking the pill and activating the [Tree Body Substitute], as well as the consumption of tree sap in his body and the subtle increase in the transformation of the withered wood. This would be a valuable reference for improving the next pill.

Ding Hui listened intently, occasionally murmuring down notes on a few key points.

After Fang Yu finished speaking, she frowned slightly and pondered for a few breaths, then her eyebrows relaxed and she revealed a bright and confident smile: "I understand. I roughly know from which nodes to enhance the medicinal power and guide the medicinal effect to act more concentratedly on the accumulation of 'tree sap' and the enhancement of bloodline characteristics that you need."

Having received a positive reply, Fang Yu finally felt relieved. Although he knew that taking a second of the same elixir consecutively would inevitably reduce the increase in attribute points, both in terms of drug resistance and the drug's efficacy—this was common sense.

However, if this can significantly increase the upper limit of the "tree sap" reserve in the body, even to the point that it can support the release of [Tree Body Substitute] twice... then its significance in actual combat will be completely different!

Flexibility and survival security will be greatly improved!
The mere thought of it made his heart flutter.

Of course, he also understood that this matter could not be rushed and could not be forced.

He was already quite pleased to have unexpectedly gained a new ability. He then glanced at the still-standing, withered wooden substitute, feeling rather satisfied.

At this moment, the withered wooden substitute finally began to change.

Tiny cracks quietly appeared and spread from its surface, emitting a soft "crackling" sound. Then, the entire "sculpture" began to disintegrate and shatter in silent tremors, eventually turning into broken pieces of dry wood scattered all over the ground. Its existence was indeed quite limited.

Seeing Ding Hui bend down to collect the broken wooden fragments of the substitute, seemingly intending to take them back to the lab to study their wood properties, Fang Yu quickly called out to stop her:

"Ding Hui, wait!"

Ding Hui paused, straightened up in confusion, and looked back.

Fang Yu immediately composed himself, without uttering a single word, and reached into his robes to retrieve a few small items he had taken from the corpse of the Thousand Hall Master of the Foolish Underworld.

That strange cage that once trapped him in the smoke, and that seemingly ordinary but dangerous wooden fish!

"Here, these are all yours."

Fang Yu solemnly placed the item in Ding Hui's hands.

"Especially this wooden fish! This thing is incredibly sinister! I was tricked by it when I was fighting to the death with that Master Qian!"

He pointed at the wooden fish, his tone tinged with apprehension, "It can forcibly establish a link with the target's soul without them even realizing it. If one side fails... it will forcibly strip away all the cultivation memories of a core technique! This thing is extremely vicious! Now that it's in my hands, I can't let it sit idle. Do you see if there's any way to separate this evil soul link? Also, take a look at these accessory gadgets and see if they have any practical value?"

Sure enough, upon hearing about such a strange and bizarre device, especially one that could touch upon the profound realm of soul memory, Ding Hui's bright eyes were instantly ignited with an unprecedented passion for research!
She carefully took the items, and her gaze was fixed on the dark wooden fish drum.

"This thing... has such a unique structure?"

Ding Hui gently picked it up, her slender fingertips carefully stroking the cold, smooth shell of the wooden fish. Then she bent her knuckles and tapped the surface of the wooden fish twice, producing a clear but somewhat muffled sound.

"Just by touching it, one can vaguely sense a cold, greedy thirst lurking within... Unfortunately, an inanimate object is still an inanimate object; there is no specific catalyst..."

She muttered to herself with a hint of regret.

Fang Yu understood what she meant.

This wooden fish had just gone through a fierce battle, and its evil spirituality seemed to have exhausted its energy, falling into a deep "sleep".

According to Master Qian, if it is to be used again, it will require the owner's precious essence and blood to be used for daily nurturing for at least a year and a half.

Fang Yu didn't have the patience to wait.
"Just do your best, don't force it. If it really doesn't work out..."

Fang Yu shrugged, his meaning clear: if they really couldn't crack the core, they would have to resort to the brute force method of nourishing it with his essence and blood and then using it at a suitable opportunity.

"interesting……"

Ding Hui paid no attention to Fang Yu's comforting words, her mind completely absorbed in this unique and unprecedented artifact, her fingertips gently caressing the patterns on the wooden fish that seemed to attract souls.

"The design of this pattern, the structure of this resonant material... it's truly profound! This object must be studied thoroughly; it will surely yield great results!"

Her excitement was palpable.

Seeing how engrossed Ding Hui was, Fang Yu decided not to disturb her any further.

After briefly explaining his plan to go out and find out how the Underworld was reacting to Master Qian's disappearance, he turned and left to prepare for his departure.

Ding Hui carefully gathered up the tools, along with the pieces of dead wood on the ground.

A new round of experiments is about to begin, including research on the refining of new [Hate-Free Pill], the study of the Wooden Fish Three-Stage Technique, and the analysis of the uses of those accessories...

With several tasks piled up, her research workload suddenly became incredibly heavy.

But there was no sign of fatigue on her face; on the contrary, she looked radiant from exploring the unknown.

Just as she walked to the lab door with her materials, about to close it to shut out external distractions and immerse herself fully in this alluring ocean of knowledge...

"Boom boom boom!"

A few knocks, neither too loud nor too soft, but unusually abrupt, rang out at an inopportune moment.

Ding Hui's brows furrowed instantly, a faint displeasure at having her train of thought interrupted welling up inside her.

She turned around with a cold face, her gaze sweeping towards the courtyard gate.

Zhuge Shi stood there cautiously, a fawning smile plastered on his face.

Half a step behind her was Linghu Xiang, who had just arrived at the Ouyang residence.

"What is it?" Ding Hui's voice instantly turned icy, her words concise and devoid of any warmth.

In this small Ouyang residence, all her gentleness and care were almost exclusively reserved for Fang Yu.

When facing others, especially strangers with whom she has little connection, her inherent aloofness and indifference become completely undisguised.

When dealing with experimental subjects like Diao Xiaohui, one might still have some sense of medical responsibility and a spirit of inquiry, but when it comes to these two people...

Zhuge Shi shivered at the cold tone, bowing even lower and pleadingly saying, "Dr. Ding... I'm so sorry to bother you! It's... it's about that matter you approved last time..."

She swallowed hard, lowering her voice, "It's from the 'organization'... they sent a message... saying they can arrange... to arrange for us to pay them a visit soon..."

Upon hearing this, Ding Hui's impatience subsided slightly. Her sharp, icy gaze swept over the silent Linghu Xiang, as if she were assessing whether this deal was worth the effort.

(End of this chapter)