I tamed beasts and achieved immortality in the world of cultivation.

"Second...Second brother?!"

The burly Blood Spirit Abyss cultivator cried out, his voice trembling, and just then, Chen Qing's attack arrived.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

Three sharp cracks rang out from the ice spikes, and spiritual light scattered. Three cracks appeared on the outermost protective shield, but it did not break.

Immediately afterward, Sky-Piercing's fist arrived.

"Bang!"

With a punch, the first talisman shattered, and Qingtian continued to throw punches. Cracks spread rapidly across the second talisman, causing the shield to tremble violently and its spiritual light to flicker, nearly breaking apart.

Meanwhile, Dan Yu's Crane Heart White Flame followed closely from the other side, landing on the already crumbling protective shield, instantly burning a large hole through it.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Chen Qing accurately shot three more Xuanbing thorns at his throat, heart, and dantian—three vital points!

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Three muffled thuds, followed by a flash of blood.

The burly man's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth as if to say something, but only managed two "hoarse" sounds as blood gushed from his throat.

He looked down at the bloody hole in his chest, then looked up at Chen Qing, his eyes filled with resentment and disbelief.

Clearly... clearly I still had a trump card up my sleeve...

How could this be...?

"Bang."

The burly man's body crashed to the ground, twitched twice, and then fell still; he was beyond dead.

Chen Qing stood there, looking at the corpse on the ground, his brows furrowing slightly.

That was it... done in seconds?

He thought there would be a fierce battle, but he didn't expect that this guy would reveal such a big flaw at the critical moment. The spiritual power of the shield could not be replenished, and he was taken down by the three of them in one fell swoop.

Something's not right...

Chen Qing felt something was off. He quickly scanned the area behind him, only to find it completely empty. There was no sign of the Blood Spirit Abyss cultivator.

There was only a large, dark hole on the ground, with fresh soil turned up at the edges, as if something had crawled out from underground.

Where are they?!

Chen Qing's pupils contracted, and he fully extended his spiritual sense. Within a radius of more than forty feet, apart from him, Qingtian, and Danyu, there was no trace of any other living beings.

A perfectly healthy person just vanished into thin air?

"Rumble..."

The ground beneath Chen Qing's feet trembled violently, causing pebbles and withered leaves to bounce up, and the surrounding trees to sway and creak.

"not good!"

Chen Qing's expression changed. Without taking a closer look, he quickly took the burly cultivator's storage bag and the "Blood Spirit Token" into his hands, and put away Qingtian and Danyu.

He then took out the Azure Wind Boat and threw it into the air, where it transformed into a streak of azure light and shot off in the northwest!

"boom!"

Just as Chen Qing set off, the ground behind him exploded!

Countless pale skeletons emerged from the ground, densely packed and stretching as far as the eye could see. Some were only the size of a normal person, while others were over ten feet tall. Their bodies were deathly pale, and eerie green flames flickered in their eye sockets, emitting a series of teeth-grinding "crackling" sounds.

At the very center of these skeletons, a giant skeleton, three zhang tall, slowly rose from the ground.

Its skeleton was several times thicker than that of an ordinary skeleton, and each bone gleamed with a jade-like luster. The ghostly fire in its eye sockets was not a ghostly green, but an eerie blood red, like two burning blobs of blood.

A terrifying aura, comparable to the tenth level of Qi Refining, suddenly erupted from its body!

"Holy crap."

Chen Qing rarely swore, but his hands moved swiftly. The Green Leaf Boat transformed into a streak of green light and sped off towards the northwest without looking back.

Behind them, countless skeletons roared to the sky, and eerie green ghost fires merged into one in the hazy sky, like the gates of hell opening wide.

The giant skeleton slowly raised its head, its blood-red eye sockets "looking" in the direction Chen Qing had fled. Its mouth opened and closed, emitting a low and eerie roar.

Immediately afterwards, its massive, three-zhang-tall skeleton suddenly crouched down, then sprang up, leaping dozens of zhang away before crashing to the ground, creating a large crater. It took long strides, chasing after Chen Qing in the direction he had fled, each step causing the ground to vibrate and hum.

The ordinary skeletons behind them swarmed forward like a white tide, densely packed and overwhelming.

Chen Qing glanced back and immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

The giant skeleton was no slower than Qingfengzhou, dashing left and right through the forest and gradually closing the distance.

What's more troublesome is that it chases after the boat while waving its arms, sending bone spikes flying out from its arms like arrows towards the Blue Leaf Boat in the air!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The sound of bone spurs piercing the air was sharp and shrill.

Chen Qing maneuvered the Green Leaf Boat, dodging left and right, narrowly avoiding several arrows, but one still grazed the stern of the boat, causing the protective shield to flash violently.

"This thing even has ranged attacks?!"

Chen Qing's face turned bitter as he poured his spiritual energy into the Green Leaf Boat without restraint, increasing its speed even further.

But the giant skeleton continued its relentless pursuit, its blood-red eyes fixed on him as if it were eyeing prey that had already been devoured.

……

The chase and escape had lasted for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

The Azure Wind Boat streaked across the hazy sky, followed closely by the three-zhang-tall giant skeleton, each step causing the earth to vibrate.

Chen Qing glanced back. Those blood-red eye sockets were like two burning will-o'-the-wisps, fixed on him. The distance between them was not increasing, but rather decreasing little by little.

"Running like this isn't a solution."

Chen Qing quickly calculated in his mind, his gaze sweeping over the storage bag at his waist.

Soul-Splitting Nails? Useless. Those things are only good for dealing with beings with souls, but it's hard to say whether this thing even has a soul. Even if it does, it's just a skeleton, where would you pin it down?

The life-saving item Lu Chenxing gave me? Even less likely. That's something that saves lives in critical moments; using it on this skeleton is like using a magical treasure to crack a walnut—even the most extravagant waste wouldn't be that bad.

"How about... we take a detour back?"

A thought flashed through Chen Qing's mind.

There are still ten Lingyun Sect disciples at the late stage of Qi Refining on the platform on the other side of the crack. No matter how fierce this skeleton is, what waves can it cause? As long as it runs onto the platform, the ten senior brothers will swarm it, and the skeleton will instantly turn into a pile of broken bone fragments.

But the problem is—

In that case, he wouldn't get a piece of the skeleton.

Chen Qing's eyes flickered as he looked at the bones on the giant skeleton. Those bones, gleaming like jade, shimmered with a faint halo in the hazy sunlight, clearly not ordinary.

The jade slip he bought on the black market contained a record that high-level skeletons in the secret realm could produce something called "Bone Jade," which was an excellent material for refining weapons, especially suitable for crafting defensive magic weapons.

The bone jade produced by this giant skeleton, which is three zhang tall, must be of high quality.

Chen Qing conservatively estimated that it could sell for at least six or seven hundred spirit stones.

Six or seven hundred spirit stones!

Chen Qing touched the pitifully empty storage bag at his waist, feeling a pang of heartache.

If he were to lure this skeleton onto the platform, his ten senior brothers would not be so polite to him. At that point, he might not even get a bone fragment, let alone bone jade.