Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

The map in the jade slip was completely deciphered at dusk on the third day.

Dongfang Weiwo sat cross-legged on the muddy ground in the backyard of the bamboo house.

The dark gold at his fingertips seeped from deep within his bones, slowly tracing the draft patterns on the surface of the jade slip—the patterns, sensing the dark gold, began to reorganize themselves, gradually condensing from chaotic scratches into clear lines.

Lin Xiaoman squatted three steps away, her hands supporting her chin, the silver bells swaying gently with her breathing.

"Bone-Shattering Ridge."

Dongfang Weiwo looked at the final pattern on the jade slip's surface. The pattern was a place name, written in the ancient seal script of the Tianwu Continent, the strokes bold and rough like broken bones: "Southeast direction, about seven hundred li from Qingzhu Town. The jade slip says there is a skeleton there."

"Skeleton? Whose?"

"There's no signature. But there's a trace of aura attached to the jade slip—" He paused, feeling the lingering sensation of that aura on his fingertips, "It's from the Demon God Lü."

He said that what was buried there was half of his broken bones that he had brought up from the lower realm, which he had been trying to refine in the upper realm for a hundred years but had not been able to completely melt away.

Before he escaped back to Tianxuan after his left arm was broken, he sealed the broken bone fragment beneath Shattered Bone Ridge.

Lin Xiaoman tilted her head: "He asked you to get it?"

He said, "If anyone opens the jade slip with its dark gold patterns, they should go to Shattered Bone Ridge to retrieve that fragment of bone. Only after refining it will the skeleton be complete."

Dongfang Weiwo put away the jade slip and stood up. "He stayed on the Tianwu Continent for forty years. During those forty years, he not only recuperated from his injuries but also buried things."

Lin Xiaoman also stood up, patted the dirt off her knees, and suddenly asked seriously:

"What will you do after you get that piece of bone? Will you go back? Back to Tianxuan?"

Dongfang Weiwo looked at her. The bronze-colored sunlight fell on the silver bell at the tip of her hair, its surface reflecting a small patch of warm light. He was silent for a moment, then said, "Go back. But first, you need to know how to go back."

Lin Xiaoman's lips twitched, as if she wanted to say something, when a muffled thud suddenly came from outside the bamboo forest—like dozens of heavily armored warhorses stomping their feet at the same time. The tremor traveled along the ground from the direction of the town entrance, and the bamboo leaves all shook.

Lin Tieshan stormed out of the kitchen, carrying a shoulder pole, his face ashen: "Commander of Eagle Fortress. Three hundred cavalry. Surround the town entrance."

Three hundred riders.

When Dongfang Weiwo walked out of the bamboo forest, he saw that dark mass of iron armor.

The banner of Eagle Fortress was black with a golden eagle, its talons embroidered in gold thread clutching a bleeding heart, unfurling in the wind under the last rays of the three suns. Seated on the lead horse was a middle-aged man clad in heavy armor, two fist-sized fire crystals embedded in his shoulder blades, his entire body crimson, radiating scorching heat.

That person is at the Creation Realm.

No. Dongfang Weiwo looked at his aura and quickly compared the cultivation standards of the Tianwu Continent in his mind: the Creation Realm of the Tianxuan Continent could only be considered the "threshold of the early Yin-Yang Realm" in this world.

This middle-aged man was at least two levels stronger than the Great Yin Master he had fought in the Broken Valley. The Heavenly Martial Qi around him was as turbulent as boiling water, and the air within a radius of ten feet was distorted and deformed due to the high temperature.

Grand Commander of Eagle Fortress. Peak of the mid-stage Yin-Yang Realm.

"A man sent from heaven."

The Grand Commander's voice was not loud, but the silence of the three hundred riders in formation made every word clearly heard throughout the town entrance: "The Lin family of Qingzhu Town is harboring people who have crossed the lower realms without authorization. According to the ironclad laws of the Tianwu Continent, anyone who crosses the lower realms without being guided will be detained and investigated at Eagle Fortress."

"Hand over the people, and you're exempt from governing the town." He paused, a barely warm smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "If you don't hand them over, Qingzhu Town will be razed to the ground."

Lin Xiaoman gripped Dongfang Weiwo's sleeve tightly. Her fingertips were cold, but her grip was firm.

Dongfang Weiwo glanced down at her.

The girl tilted her head back, her lips pressed into a thin line, and there was no fear in her bright black eyes—only an almost stubborn defiance, as if she were saying, "I haven't let go, and you're not allowed to let go either."

He pulled out his sleeve and took a step forward.

As he took that step, a sudden, intense pain erupted from his divine and demonic skeleton—after being continuously "rejected" by the Heavenly Martial Yuan Qi for three days, the dark gold membrane on the surface of his bones was being "squeezed" inward by the pressure from an external, mid-stage Yin-Yang Realm expert.

Between the gaps, the Heavenly Martial Qi took the opportunity to seep deep into the bone marrow.

Right now.

Dongfang Wei did not resist that infiltration.

He guided it, like directing a runaway river into a canal—the eighth arm bone was the first to receive this vital energy, the dark gold patterns on the bone surface lit up for a moment, and then flowed along the meridians of the right arm to the torso, to the spine, and to the legs.

After rejecting it for three days, the divine and demonic skeleton "accepted" a wisp of Heavenly Martial Primordial Energy for the first time.

The moment that wisp of vital energy sank deep into the bones, the entire skeleton emitted an extremely muffled groan—like the "hiss" sound of iron being quenched from bright red to dark red.

The consequences followed.

He heard it. A hair-thin crack appeared on the surface of the third rib on his left side.

The sound of the bone cracking was so faint that only he could hear it.

But he clearly felt that the crack snaked along the surface of his ribs for half an inch before stopping.

The Heavenly Martial Qi was too heavy. Although the Divine Demon Skeleton "accepted" it, the way it accepted it was by bearing it head-on—like a steel blade catching a heavy hammer. It caught it, but the steel blade was left with a mark.

But he didn't stop.

As he took his second step, he raised his right arm.

There was no dark gold short sword in his palm—the key mark remained still as an inanimate object—but at the same time, a line of light lit up the dark gold patterns deep within his bones. That line of light climbed up his spine, flowed down his shoulder blade, and merged into his right arm, condensing into a ball of dark gold light the size of an infant's fist in his palm.

There was no sword shape within the ball of light. But its rotating trajectory, each arc, was a microcosm of the nine hundred and ninety-nine ancient array patterns of the key seal.

The Eagle Fortress Commander's eyelid twitched.

His mount—a strange beast covered in fire crystal scales—suddenly pawed at the ground with its front hooves, spitting out white smoke from its nostrils.

The commander pressed one hand down on the beast's neck to hold it down, and with his other hand he pulled a long spear from the side of the saddle.

The spear shaft was made entirely of black iron, with a ball of crimson-gold fire at the tip. The temperature at the core of the fireball burned the air, creating distorted ripples.

"Mid-stage Yin-Yang Realm?"

The Grand Commander pointed his spear at Dongfang Weiwo, his voice now tinged with surprise and scrutiny. "Something's not right. You've only just broken through to the mid-stage; your foundation isn't solid yet, and there are cracks in your aura." He sneered, "People from the lower realms break through using brute force; their bones can't support it. You can't even stand properly—"

Only I, from the East, strike with my palm.

The palm strike was aimed directly at the tip of the commander-in-chief's spear.

The dark golden light and the crimson fireball met three feet apart between the two—there was no loud noise, no blinding flash.

The moment they met, the ball of light seeped into the fireball like water seeping into sand. The fireball's reddish-gold color rapidly turned into dark gold from the center. In the blink of an eye, the entire fireball was "assimilated" into a dark gold inanimate object, and then shattered silently.

The Grand Commander's spear began to crumble from the tip. The black iron fell like shortbread, the disintegration spreading along the shaft to the hilt.

The president's expression changed, and he let go of the gun—it broke apart at the end of the handle and stopped, hovering three inches in mid-air.

The three hundred riders were completely silent.

Dongfang Weiwo stood still. The dark golden light in his palm dissipated completely after he pushed out that palm. His right arm went numb from his fingertips to his shoulder blade, and the feeling of cracks deep in his bones spread to the junction of his right ulna and radius.

He clearly "heard" two micro-cracks extending half an inch along the inside of his arm. The cost was greater than he had imagined.

But he was still standing.

The Grand Commander stared at him for five breaths.

Five breaths later, the Grand Commander slowly retrieved the half-broken spear—only half the shaft and the remaining part of the barrel—and placed it across the front of the saddle. The cold smile on his face vanished, replaced by an extremely calm expression. Calm as the eye of a storm.

"Mid-stage Yin-Yang Realm. Your bones are cracked." He said, enunciating each word clearly, "Can you deliver another blow?"

"It seems that won't work." The Grand Commander spurred his horse forward a step. "Then—"

"stop."

An aged voice came from the doorway of the Lin family's kitchen.

Grandmother came out, leaning on her green bamboo cane. She walked slowly, each step unsteady, but her eyes shone as if tempered by fire.

She walked to Dongfang Weiwo's side and stopped, taking out an iron plaque from her bosom—about the size of a palm, dark and heavy, with a clasped bone hand engraved on its surface.

The moment the commander-in-chief saw the iron plaque, the tip of his halberd stopped.

He stared at the iron plaque for three breaths, then slowly put the short halberd back into the saddle.

"The Lin family," he said, "the descendants of the guardians of Broken Bone Ridge. You've been hiding in this wretched town for thirty years."

Grandmother did not answer.

She tucked the iron plaque into her bosom, tapped her bamboo cane on the ground, and then looked at the Grand Commander, saying:

"Eagle Fortress doesn't recognize this sign? According to the rules of Shattered Bone Ridge, if a person who falls from the sky has a blood pact with the signkeeper, Eagle Fortress cannot forcibly detain them."

This kid drank the porridge my Xiaoman cooked herself, and the bamboo leaves from my backyard warmed his meridians—within three days, he will cross the boundary to receive Heavenly Martial Qi. Before life and death are decided, this contract stands.

The Grand Commander's face was ashen, like it was covered in frost. He remained silent for a long time, while three hundred riders waited at the town entrance, their armor standing motionless in the wind.

Finally, he turned his horse around and said, "Three days. The Bone-Sacrificing Ceremony at Shattered Bone Ridge will take place in three days. If he dares to come, we'll settle this on the ridge. If he doesn't, the contract between the guardian and the gatekeeper will be void, and Eagle Fortress will raze Green Bamboo Town to the ground."

Three hundred riders turned and rode away. The sound of hooves faded into the distance, and one of the last three suns sank below the horizon, darkening the sky once more.

Dongfang Weiwo staggered a step after the sound of horses' hooves disappeared.

Lin Xiaoman rushed forward to support his right arm. The moment her fingertips touched his arm, the two small cracks between the bones in his right arm throbbed with pain. He didn't frown, but Lin Xiaoman glanced down at her own hand—her fingertips were covered in a fine, dark gold powder. It was bone fragments. Bone fragments seeping from the cracks.

She looked up at him, her lips moved, and her eyes were a little red.

"You're fractured," she said, her voice low. "That slap just now—you cracked your own bones."

"It can grow back."

Dongfang Wei said. He could indeed feel new dark gold material slowly accumulating in those three cracks—after he broke through to the mid-stage of the Yin-Yang Realm, the "rejection" of the divine and demonic skeleton further decreased.

Although his bones shattered during his first hard-fought battle after the Heavenly Martial Qi sank into his bone marrow, the shattered areas were being rebuilt using the "qi of this world." The self-healing speed of his bones was three times faster than he had expected.

He looked down at his left hand. The dark gold color at his fingertips was a shade deeper than before, like newly quenched steel.

"Three days."

He said, "The Bone Ridge Bone Offering Ceremony. That piece of bone is at the foot of the ridge. Eagle Fortress obviously knows of its existence, and has guarded it for thirty years without retrieving it—either they can't, or they dare not. They will open the ridge in three days, and I need to get there before then."

Lin Xiaoman gripped his right arm tightly. Her head was lowered, and the silver bells tinkled softly in the evening breeze. After a long silence, she finally spoke, her voice muffled: "What about after you got that piece of bone?"

"Come back after you've taken it."

"Give it back?"

"return."

She finally raised her head. Eight of the nine suns had sunk, and the last one lay on the horizon as a very narrow golden line. Her face was not clearly visible in the dimming light, but her eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

"You've made up your mind," she said. "Don't be like that person thirty years ago, who left and never came back."

He nodded: "It's settled."

Lin Xiaoman's silver bell jingled once. She released his arm, turned and ran towards the kitchen, but stopped after three steps and looked back at him: "Three days, will your bones heal completely?"

"able."

"Then I'll start brewing twice as much medicine tomorrow. Places like Shattered Bone Ridge—"

She paused, swallowing back what she was about to say, and changed her words, "Father said that the bottom of Shattered Bone Ridge is full of ancient remains, and every bone carries the aura of death. Your bones already have cracks, and if you go there, the death aura will seep into them, making things even more troublesome. So—" She clenched her fist, "You have to take my family's bone-protecting ointment with you. I'll make it. It'll be ready by tomorrow night."

He stood alone in the bamboo forest, raising his left hand to his chest.

The crack in the third rib on his left side was being slowly filled with dark gold substance, and the two micro-cracks in his right arm were healing simultaneously. The power of the mid-stage Yin-Yang Realm was slowly accumulating deep within his bones, and for the first time, the primordial energy of this world "recognized" the divine and demonic skeleton—at the cost of bone fractures, with new bones as the contract.

"Above the mid-stage of the Yin-Yang Realm, there are Life and Death, Reincarnation, and Immortality," he murmured to himself. "Even in the Upper Realm, there are only a few dozen people at the Supreme Realm."

He looked up towards the southeast, towards the direction of Shattered Bone Ridge. The jade slip was slightly warm in his arms, like a sliver of light leaking through the crack of a door about to open.

Three days.

Three days later, the bone-sacrificing ceremony will take place.

He wanted to take that piece of bone in front of all the masters of Eagle Fortress.

-

Lin Xiaoman tended the medicine pot in the kitchen, the silver bell occasionally ringing in the night breeze. She fanned the fire with a palm-leaf fan, the firelight reflecting on her face, casting a small warm shadow on the old scar on the bridge of her nose.

Lin Tieshan poked his head in from outside the door: "Girl, you like that boy?"

Lin Xiaoman's hand, fanning the fire, didn't stop: "I don't know."

"I didn't know you were making bone-strengthening ointment? That stuff takes three pounds of medicinal herbs to boil overnight, enough for half a year's worth of our food reserves."

Lin Xiaoman paused for a moment, then continued fanning the fire. The firelight flickered in her eyes.

"He promised to come back," she said softly.

In the silvery moonlight outside the window, Dongfang Weiwo sat cross-legged deep in the bamboo forest in the backyard.

Dark gold emanated from the fractured bone, and the self-healing speed was faster than he had expected—after the divine and demonic skeleton was restored, the first influx of Heavenly Martial Qi activated a long-dormant "refining" ability within the bones. As the dark gold substance filled the cracks, it also formed a thicker new membrane on the surface of his bones.

Mid-stage Yin-Yang Realm. Things have stabilized.

He opened his eyes, his left palm outstretched. A wisp of dark golden light seeped from between his fingers, condensing into a dark golden fragment the size of a fingernail. The patterns on the fragment's surface perfectly matched the topographical map of Shattered Bone Ridge on the jade slip.

Seven hundred li to the southeast.

He clenched his fist. The fragments shattered, turning into fine powder that seeped into his meridians.

See you at Broken Bone Ridge in three days.