Samuel was sent flying by the punch.
Just as she had personally experienced, Yamiru's strength had grown even greater.
Having grasped the Furnace of Eight Divisions' extraordinary trait (accelerating the purification of underworld demonic Ki) and the fact that absorbing demonic energy for demonic transformation could rebuild his wounded body like a Senzu Bean, Yamiru—as an outstanding martial artist who never lacked fighting spirit—immediately seized the opportunity for special training.
Each time he shed his demonic form and re-entered it, the amount of underworld demonic energy his body could withstand increased.
First, his body was continuously adapting to the extreme pressure.
Second, as Yamiru personally experienced and utilized this escalating power, he gradually began mastering methods to control higher-tier energy.
'—If I hadn't trained at Korin Tower, there's no way I could've pulled this off.' Yamiru understood this more and more clearly, along with what the Cat Hermit once said about martial arts realms: "The uselessness of usefulness".
Martial arts realms truly were useless. Because even if your martial arts realm reached the level of a cosmic deity, a momentary epiphany wouldn't suddenly elevate your physical body to transcendence, granting you invincible power… That was impossible.
But—when someone like Yamiru could exploit an unorthodox method to rapidly and violently seize energy to empower himself while still retaining his sense of self—his martial arts realm, honed by Korin's training, played an immeasurable role. It allowed him to swiftly adapt to the overwhelming power forced upon him.
"If I completely abandoned being human and kept absorbing demonic energy like this, I could probably gain 'the power to blow up Earth with a single punch' in a short time…"
Such a thought naturally flashed through Yamiru's mind.
But he quickly discarded it.
"But the cost would be becoming some half-baked demon? Once the Dragon God's mark is taken back, I'd probably be instantly drowned by the accumulated demonic energy inside me… my true nature completely distorted, just like Demon King Piccolo compared to the original Namekian Piccolo!"
That wasn't a result he was willing to accept.
If he were solely obsessed with power, why would he have refused the Dragon God's joke offer to "grant him power surpassing the gods with a snap of his fingers" back then?
Besides, all of this relied on the Dragon God's mark. Without it, Yamiru's will alone would struggle to resist the corruption of underworld demonic energy. Even a genius like the Namekian who came to earth couldn't—misled by evil thoughts, he eventually had to split himself in two. So how could Yamiru?
After all, the underworld demonic energy was, at its core, the tainted energy of the Celestial Realm, and everything in the Celestial Realm originated from that Celestial God who opposed the Dragon God. The tainted energy's nature—warping flesh and corrupting minds—was a rule set by the Celestial God when creating the realm. Who could defy that?
Only the Dragon God could make the Celestial God turn a blind eye.
…These thoughts flashed through Yamiru's mind in an instant.
Meanwhile, Samuel—sent spinning through the air by his punch—was intercepted by Annin, who appeared at the other end of the sky.
"Samuel, you won't get a second chance," Annin said coldly, now fully healed after the Namekian's treatment.
Samuel rubbed her face—no blood or anything. Though caught off guard by Yamiru's punch, his strength clearly hadn't reached the point of actually injuring her.
"Oh? Just you two?" Samuel sneered, glancing at Mr. Popo beside Annin and the black-haired, monkey-tailed girl who looked severely poisoned. Especially the latter—despite being certain the girl was deeply poisoned, Samuel couldn't help but feel wary.
"No…" Annin said.
Mr. Popo's flying carpet teleported with Yamoshi to Yamiru's side below—Yamoshi's poisoning couldn't wait any longer.
Annin remained in place, speaking calmly:
"—Just me."
"You think you can defeat me?!" Samuel laughed as if hearing a joke. "You? The same person who was on the verge of death minutes ago?"
Annin remained unfazed. "You've got it backwards, Samuel. Whether you can defeat me—you should know better than anyone. Otherwise… why did you resort to poison earlier?"
If Samuel's strength truly surpassed Annin's, she could've just crushed her head-on.
"Pfft, hilarious! Poison is part of my strength!" Samuel snarled. "If I can use it to torment you, break you, kill you… why wouldn't I?"
"You don't need to keep stalling, trying to poison me and weaken me again, Samuel." Annin clenched her fists at her waist, her body slowly erupting with a radiant white aura. "This time, I'll end it quickly!"
Samuel's eyes flashed with venomous fury. Suddenly, she roared and hurled a dazzling, poison-laden energy wave at Annin—then immediately turned and lunged toward Yamiru and the others, claws outstretched.
Annin's gaze sharpened. Holding her breath, the energy flames around her body thickened, seemingly sealing her pores shut. She clapped her hands together, blasting the incoming poisonous energy apart into shimmering, multicolored sparks.
'Is she targeting Yamiru first to eliminate the one who can cure the poison?'
Not just Annin—Yamiru, Mr. Popo, and even Yamoshi, whose battle instincts and intelligence were maxed out, instantly deduced Samuel's plan.
However, the tiny golden dragon extending from Yamiru's body slithered around Yamoshi, devouring all the toxins inside her before swiftly returning to Yamiru's wrist.
In the next instant, Yamoshi's complexion had returned to normal.
She pressed her lips together, clenched her fists, and tested her restored body. Immediately, she unleashed a surge of powerful energy, white flames flickering fiercely over her skin.
Samuel's claws tore through the poison-filled air of the dungeon.
Mr. Popo's flying carpet vanished with Yamiru, leaving the dungeon behind.
"Damn it!" Samuel snarled.
BOOM!
Yamoshi, who had stayed behind, didn't dodge. Instead, she raised her fist and collided head-on with Samuel's claws. The impact blasted the surrounding poison mist away, creating an elliptical clear zone.
'She's tough too?!' Panic flickered in Samuel's heart. Yamoshi's strength was unexpectedly troublesome.
And behind her—Annin was already closing in.
"You still dare say it's just you?!" Samuel screamed in desperation.
Facing two opponents at once? She stood no chance!
Annin pressed a palm against the back of Samuel's head and slammed her downward, crashing them both into the dungeon floor. With a forceful shove, Samuel's face smashed into the outer wall of the Furnace of Eight Divisions, bouncing off like a pinball before hitting the ground.
Yamoshi, who had been itching to fight, blinked in confusion as Samuel suddenly disappeared. Just as she was about to chase after them in frustration, a hand landed on her shoulder from behind.
Yamoshi's heart nearly leaped out of her chest. 'Someone got behind me without me noticing?!'
"Hehehe… Little girl, why not leave this one to my disciple?" A light, amused voice spoke behind her. "Let's step outside first—"
By the time the voice finished, Yamoshi realized the scenery around her had changed.
Though still shrouded in poison mist, they were unmistakably outside the castle—back where they had gathered earlier. On the nearby flying carpet, Yamiru had just finished detoxifying the Namekian, whose face had turned nearly purple. The two then worked together to cleanse and heal the remaining Earthlings…
Yamoshi turned around in shock, only to see a beautiful woman with silver-white short hair and cyan-blue skin smiling faintly as she watched the scene.
'She's… looking at Yamiru?' Yamoshi guessed.