Grey could not dodge.
He could not even raise his arms to block.
His body had already been pushed far beyond its limits.
Thus, the kick landed directly on his head.
A dull, sickening crack echoed through the air.
It felt as if a massive iron hammer had smashed violently into his skull. His head snapped downward under the force as fractures spread across his skull like spiderwebs.
Grey's vision turned completely black.
The overwhelming impact caused him to instantly lose consciousness.
Yet even then, the young man was still not finished.
He followed through mercilessly.
Stepping forward, he lifted his leg once more and stomped down heavily onto Grey's already collapsed chest with brutal force.
The impact caused Grey's unconscious body to convulse violently.
Blood sprayed out from his mouth even though he had already fainted.
Only after delivering that final strike did the young man finally stop.
His body swayed slightly before he collapsed onto the ground.
The poison had already spread completely throughout his body.
His skin was cracked and had turned a sickly blackish-green color. Many parts of his flesh had swollen grotesquely, while some areas had even split open entirely.
Rotten flesh was exposed beneath the torn skin, and a thick yellow liquid slowly seeped out from the wounds.
A nauseating stench of decay filled the surrounding air.
The aura of death had already settled upon him.
Grey's poison had gradually slowed his movements during the battle while also weakening his body's metabolism. Now that the fight was over, the toxin was rapidly devouring his internal organs.
Death was inevitable.
He would not survive much longer.
Before the final moments of his life arrived, the young man turned his gaze toward the unconscious Grey lying on the ground nearby.
He stared at him silently for a moment.
Then he smiled.
However, the smile on his face was no longer one of madness or insanity.
Instead, it was a smile filled with gratitude.
Deep relief could be seen within his fading eyes as he slowly opened his decaying mouth and released a long breath.
For the first time in a very long time…
He was finally free.
As his flesh and blood gradually began to collapse and rot away, the appearance he had maintained throughout the battle slowly began to change.
His true appearance was revealed.
He was not a young man at all.
He was a middle-aged cultivator.
A long ago, his cultivation had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Transformation Realm.
He had once been a powerful expert with boundless potential.
However, his fate had taken a cruel turn.
At some point in the past, he had been captured and refined by a terrifying expert of the Soul Ascendancy Realm, turning him into nothing more than a secondary clone.
From that moment onward, everything changed.
His appearance was forcibly altered.
His cultivation techniques and spells were sealed away, leaving him incapable of using any mystical arts.
His memories were erased. His will was suppressed.
His very body was taken over by the lingering will of that Soul Ascendancy Realm expert.
He had lost everything.
His identity. His memories... even control over his own life and death.
All that remained was a hollow shell forced to obey another's will.
As time passed, despair slowly grew within the deepest parts of his suppressed consciousness.
He longed only for death.
Since he could no longer use spells or cultivation techniques, he could only rely on his physical strength when facing opponents.