Past Meng Po's Pavilion, a massive, peculiar stone stood by the banks of the River of Forgetfulness.

  The stone's surface was smooth as a mirror, glowing faintly with an eerie red light, and carved with three bloody characters—Three-Life Stone (San Sheng Shi).

  Legend has it that standing before this stone allows one to see their past life, current life, and future life. It is a crucial educational facility in the Underworld used to help ghosts "understand karma and let go of obsessions."

  But now, it had been occupied by a group of cunning demons called "Nightmare Demons."

  These demons had no physical form and specialized in mental attacks. They entrenched themselves on the Three-Life Stone, utilizing its spiritual power to convert it into a "Super-Large Mental Pollution Broadcast Tower."

  Any living creature approaching this area would be forcibly dragged into their most painful memories, then have their souls sucked dry amidst despair.

  As soon as Daoist Singularity got close, he felt a buzz in his brain.

  "Not good! It's a mental attack!"

  Singularity hurriedly performed a "Clear Heart Mantra," but his eyes still began to lose focus. He seemed to see himself three hundred years ago as a programmer in the mortal realm, working overtime for seven days and seven nights straight, finally dying miserably over his keyboard; then he saw a desperate future where he fixed bugs in the Underworld for three hundred years, only to have his hair fall out more and more.

  "No... I won't change it... I want a vacation... I want weekends off..." Singularity clutched his head, kneeling on the ground and groaning in pain.

  Meanwhile, Slayer had already walked up to the Three-Life Stone.

  Several Nightmare Demons surrounded him with sinister smiles. They didn't launch physical attacks but instead unleashed a maximum-power "Three-Life Illusion" directly at Slayer.

  Vrrrrm—!

  Before Slayer's eyes, the scenery of the Underworld vanished.

  Replacing it was the softest, yet most painful scene deep in his memory.

  Green grass.

  Warm sunshine.

  And a white cage.

  Inside the cage, a fluffy rabbit with long ears—Daisy, was looking at him with innocent big eyes, chewing on a carrot.

  This was Slayer's only pet, his only family, back when he was just an ordinary human.

  It was also the fuse that led to him going completely mad and swearing to kill every demon in the universe after demons brutally murdered her.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Look..." The Nightmare Demon's cold voice echoed in Slayer's mind. "Look at everything you lost... how cute... how fragile... you failed to protect it... this is your sin..."

  In the illusion, the rabbit suddenly became a bloody mess, surrounded by countless demonic claws.

  "Sink... into regret..."

  The Nightmare Demons thought they had won. They saw Slayer standing motionless, his shotgun even lowering to his side.

  Singularity, kneeling on the ground, managed to open his eyes. Seeing this, his heart went cold: "It's over... even the War God has inner demons. We're going to get wiped out..."

  However.

  In the next second.

  Slayer moved.

  He didn't cry, didn't roar, didn't even show a single trace of "regret."

  He slowly raised his right hand, encased in heavy armor.

  Then, he clenched his fist.

  Crack, crack, crack.

  The metal gauntlet emitted a tooth-aching sound of compression from the excessive force.

  Slayer's helmet slowly turned, looking at the massive Three-Life Stone in front of him—the carrier of this illusion.

  Although he didn't speak, the killing intent that erupted in that instant caused the surrounding air temperature to plummet to absolute zero.

  For Slayer, remembering Daisy the rabbit didn't make him feel weak.

  It only reminded him of one thing: Why demons must become extinct.

  This was his fuel. This was his motivation.

  BOOM!!!

  Without any warning.

  Slayer delivered a unpretentious straight punch, slamming hard onto the Three-Life Stone that had stood for ten thousand years, reputed to be indestructible.

  Crack—

  A fissure spread rapidly from the point of impact.

  The sinister smiles on the Nightmare Demons' faces froze instantly: "This... how is this possible? This is the Stone of Karma! This is a product of rules! Physical attacks shouldn't work!"

  Slayer threw a second heavy punch.

  BANG!

  The cracks expanded into a spiderweb. The illusion began to flicker violently; the grass, the sunlight, the dead rabbit, all collapsed amidst this violent tremor.

  Third punch.

  KA-BOOM!!!

  With an earth-shattering loud noise, the Three-Life Stone, which recorded the past, present, and future of countless people, thoroughly exploded under Slayer's iron fist.

  Countless stone fragments flew. The Nightmare Demons attached to it let out shrill screams as their medium was destroyed, their souls dissipating directly.

  The illusion vanished.

  Reality returned.

  Slayer stood amidst the debris, slowly retracting his fist.

  He didn't even bother to glance at the residue on the ground.

  "I only kill the present."

  Over there, as the illusion lifted, Daoist Singularity took a huge gasp of air, waking up from his "Overtime Hell."

  He looked around blankly, then his gaze landed on the pile of crushed rocks.

  "..."

  Singularity tremblingly crawled up from the ground, picking up a stone fragment carved with half the character for "Life" .

  "The Three-Life Stone... shattered?"

  Singularity took out his Heavenly Dao Tablet and opened the Underworld Asset Damage List, his hands shaking like he had Parkinson's.

  Item: Three-Life Stone

  Status: Comminuted Fracture

  Reason: Slayer found the memories too noisy and smashed the TV.

  Repair Plan: Can't fix this anymore! This is too hardcore!

  Slayer ignored Singularity's breakdown. He stepped over the rubble and continued forward.

  Behind him, Singularity swallowed his tears and silently took out his gunny sack, beginning to pick up the drops from the Nightmare Demons (this time they were purple Mental Power Crystals).

  "Fine... if it's broken, it's broken." Singularity comforted himself. "That stone kept playing ads anyway; it was time for a replacement. Out with the old, in with the new..."

  "Physical Illusion-Breaking, Absolute Will."

  Singularity looked at that back and wrote these eight words in his notebook.

  "This guy's heart is harder than the Three-Life Stone."