A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

Chapter 448 Mysterious Skeletons

"Hmm?" The closest cultivator, surnamed Yan, frowned and immediately scanned the area with his divine sense. The other three also noticed the unusual phenomenon in the pool at the same time, and their gazes focused on it simultaneously.

As the blood continued to be drawn, the outline of the object became clearer and clearer. When only a thin layer of blood remained, barely covering the bottom of the pool, a complete skeleton, pale golden in color and sculpted like jade, was completely exposed before everyone's eyes!

The skeleton was strangely shaped, resembling a tortoise but not quite; its bones were thick and robust, gleaming with a faint golden sheen, and possessing an almost imperceptible...

A faint, lingering demonic aura emanated from his bones, though weak, it carried an indescribable pressure.

The cultivator surnamed Yan scanned the skeleton with his divine sense, his brows furrowing even more deeply, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes: "Strange—according to ancient records, this Myriad Spirit Blood Water was made by the Sea King Sect by collecting the essence blood of ten thousand demons and refining it with many rare and precious herbs. It mentions adding the essence blood of demonic beasts, but it never says that the complete corpses of demonic beasts would be thrown into the pool—where did this skeleton come from?"

The Ninth Elder's eyes flickered as he stared intently at the pale golden skeleton. He said in a deep voice, "Fellow Daoist Yan is right; there is no such record. However, the fact that this skeleton could appear at the bottom of the Myriad Spirits Blood Pool and remain uncorrupted after years of soaking indicates that it is no ordinary beast's remains. We can examine it more closely after the blood has been completely drained."

Luo Ming's gaze fell on the skeleton, especially its general shape, and his expression changed slightly: "This skeletal form—it seems to be a turtle-like demon beast. However—" He glanced at the skeleton's back, which was empty, "The shell on its back is gone."

He attempted to probe the interior of the skeleton with a wisp of his divine sense, hoping to detect any traces of demon cores or demon souls deep within its bones. However, as soon as his divine sense approached the surface of the skeleton, it was blocked by a gentle yet resilient invisible force, unable to penetrate even an inch.

"Huh?" Luo Ming exclaimed softly.

Almost simultaneously, Blood Fiend, Ninth Elder, and the cultivator surnamed Yan also sensed the anomaly. Their divine senses were also blocked by that invisible force.

"Divine sense can't penetrate?" A flash of bloodlust appeared in Blood Fiend's eyes, a playful and greedy look on his face. "Interesting—ordinary demonic beast remains would never have this ability. Unless—the beast's soul hasn't been extinguished, and a remnant soul or demonic spirit still resides within the bones, spontaneously protecting them!"

These words sent a chill down everyone's spine. The remains of a tortoise-like demon beast, soaked in the pool of ten thousand spirits' blood for countless years, with a golden skeleton that could block the divine sense of a Nascent Soul cultivator, and possibly still containing remnants of its demonic soul—what kind of being was it in its previous life?

"Who cares if he's really dead or not!" Blood Fiend licked his lips, a fierce glint in his eyes. "After we've divided the blood, I'll take a piece of this demonic skeleton! To survive being soaked in the blood of countless spirits without decaying, its bones themselves are top-tier materials for forging weapons!"

The cultivator surnamed Yan didn't respond, but instead increased the speed at which he activated the Blood Jade Gourd. The Ninth Elder's gaze darted between the demonic bone, the cultivator surnamed Yan, and the Blood Fiend, his expression grave. Luo Ming remained silent, his mind racing, and he became extremely wary of the suddenly appearing demonic bone.

A moment later.

"confused----"

The last drop of blood was sucked into the gourd, and the blood pool dried up completely, revealing a smooth, mirror-like bottom engraved with intricate array patterns. The complete skeleton of the pale golden tortoise-like demon beast was now fully displayed before everyone's eyes. The skeleton was about three zhang long, which was considered "miniature" among demon beasts that were often tens or hundreds of zhang long.

Its bones, though translucent like jade and gleaming with a faint golden light, revealed a formidable defensive capability in its lifetime, despite lacking a carapace. The faint demonic aura seemed to grow more pronounced after the blood was drained.

Just as the magical power emanating from the sleeves of the cultivator surnamed Yan was about to touch the four floating blood jade gourds, intending to capture them all—

"Buzz—!!!"

An overwhelming and unpredictable surge of energy erupted without warning from the pale golden turtle-like monster skeleton at the bottom of the pool!

The wave was invisible, yet it carried an indescribable weight and binding force, instantly sweeping across the entire cave!

The four blood jade gourds that were so close at hand were the first to be hit! The blood light on the surface of the gourds flickered violently, and they let out a mournful cry of being unable to bear the burden. Then they were firmly "nailed" in mid-air by that invisible wave. No matter how much the cultivator surnamed Yan urged his magic power, he could not move an inch!

"What happened?!" The smile on the cultivator surnamed Yan's face froze instantly, replaced by undisguised shock and panic. This sudden turn of events was completely beyond his expectations! He abruptly turned his head to look at the skeleton at the bottom of the pool, his eyes filled with disbelief.

At the same time, the Ninth Elder and the others were startled by the sudden and strange fluctuations. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at the pale golden skeleton at the source of the fluctuations with suspicion.

At the moment the fluctuation erupted, Luo Ming's expression changed slightly! Deep within his body, the drop of "Xuanwu True Blood" that had long been refined and merged with his bloodline trembled slightly uncontrollably, transmitting an extremely weak yet incredibly clear tremor and—resistance? It was as if it had encountered some kind of existence of the same origin but full of threat!

"Not good!" Alarm bells rang in Luo Ming's mind. A terrifying thought flashed through his mind in an instant, "This fluctuation—this demonic bone—could it be that the source of that drop of Xuanwu True Blood that attacked me and tried to seize my body back in the secret realm of the Sea King Sect's branch altar—is the demonic bone remains at the bottom of this pool?"

Once this thought arose, without the slightest hesitation, Luo Ming's figure blurred, and his internal magic power surged wildly. He was about to use his escape technique to retreat rapidly towards the entrance he had come from!

This place is too eerie. The aura emanating from the demonic bone caused his true blood to fluctuate. It is definitely not a good place. I should stay away from it for now.

However, the moment he moved—

"Hehe—the essence and vital energy I've accumulated over so many years, how could you juniors possibly take it away so easily?"

A hoarse, cold voice, seemingly emanating from the deepest hell, carrying the weight of countless ages, suddenly echoed throughout the cave. Its exact source was unclear, yet it was omnipresent!

Immediately afterwards, the remaining spiritual energy of the four-colored light shield, which had been broken and dissipated by Luo Ming and the other three, seemed to be frantically drawn by some invisible force, and surged back from all directions of the cave, rushing towards the top of the cave! At the same time, a more intense and muffled rumble came from the depths of the ground than when the formation was broken, as if a colossal creature was awakening!

"Buzz—!!!"

The dazzling blue, white, red, and yellow spiritual light shone again from the array patterns on the top, walls, and ground of the cave. In an instant, a four-colored light shield, slightly more illusory than before, reformed.

The entire cave, along with Luo Ming, the Ninth Elder, Xue Sha, the cultivator surnamed Yan, Ling Yuling and Fairy Miaoyu above, and the demon bones at the bottom of the pool, were all enveloped!

The Four Symbols Gathering Spirit Array actually restored itself at this moment after it was broken!

"What?!"

"The formation has been restored?!"

The Ninth Elder and Blood Fiend cried out in alarm almost simultaneously, their faces showing utter horror. Ling Yuling and Fairy Miaoyu paled even more, hurriedly activating their magic power and summoning their protective treasures, anxiously looking down.

Just as everyone was in shock, something even more chilling happened!

The four blood jade gourds, which were fixed in mid-air by the strange fluctuations and contained the blood of all spirits, suddenly began to tremble violently without warning. The surface of the gourds flashed with bloody light, as if something inside was about to break out of the gourds!

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

With four muffled thuds, the four exceptionally tough blood jade gourds exploded at the same time, turning into a sky full of blood-red crystal powder!

The viscous, jade-like blood liquid contained in the gourd did not spill out, but instead wriggled and gathered eerily in the air, as if it were alive! In just one or two breaths, all the blood liquid condensed together, transforming into a blurry, constantly wriggling and changing humanoid blood shadow the size of an ordinary person!

This humanoid blood shadow had indistinct features and no physical form; it was entirely composed of pure, incredibly potent blood and spiritual energy. But the moment it appeared, a terrifying aura, surpassing even the late-stage Nascent Soul realm and even faintly touching the threshold of the Divine Transformation realm, swept out like a storm, pressing down on everyone present, making it almost impossible to breathe!

"This—this Blood of Ten Thousand Spirits—has it developed sentience?" The cultivator surnamed Yan, who was closest to the Blood Shadow, turned deathly pale in an instant, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror. He was only ten feet away from the Blood Shadow in order to collect the blood!

A strong sense of impending death overwhelmed him instantly! The cultivator surnamed Yan let out a strange cry, no longer caring about anything else. He frantically circulated his internal magic power, transforming his figure into a dark streak of light, and was about to retreat recklessly to get away from that eerie blood shadow!

However, the humanoid blood shadow formed from the blood of all spirits was even faster! Almost the instant the cultivator surnamed Yan moved, the blurry head of the blood shadow seemed to "look" at him.

"Whoosh—!"

Without a sound, the humanoid blood shadow, like a ghost or a streak of blood-red lightning, instantly traversed ten zhang and pounced on the cultivator surnamed Yan in his horrified gaze!

"No—!" The cultivator surnamed Yan only had time to let out a short, shrill scream before his entire body was engulfed by the viscous...

The writhing, blood-red humanoid shadow completely enveloped and engulfed it!

The blood shadows spread like mercury, frantically drilling into the mouth, nose, ears, and even the pores of the cultivator surnamed Yan's entire body!

The cultivator surnamed Yan's body convulsed and struggled violently, with terrifying fleshy bulges rising on his body surface, which then quickly subsided. It was as if countless earthworms were wriggling under his skin, making a sickening "hissing" sound.

His aura began to fluctuate and surge violently the moment the blood shadow entered his body; at the same time, his original aura rapidly weakened and dissipated.

All of this happened too fast. From the explosion of the Blood Jade Gourd to the appearance of the Blood Shadow, its pounce on the Yan-surname cultivator, and its envelopment, it was only a matter of two or three breaths! Luo Ming, the Ninth Elder, and Xue Sha only had time to assume defensive or retreating postures. They didn't have time to come to the rescue at all. Or rather, under the pressure of the Blood Shadow's terrifying aura, no one dared to step forward rashly!