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

The bone material in the mine is of the same origin as the remains of gods and demons, and has been suppressed by some ancient seal. For three hundred years, only a small amount of residual material has been able to seep out naturally from the cracks in the seal.

Lin Xiaoman dripped the blood of the guardian into the bone plate at the entrance of the mine tunnel. The iron badge on the bone plate lit up, and a long rumble came from the depths of the mine tunnel.

The "Guardian Bone Fragrance" formula and the "Guardian Bone Vine" medicinal guide that she possessed were actually the key to activating this mineral vein.

The family's secret recipe for bone-protecting ointment was originally the key to unlocking the ancient bone mine of Huan Gu Zhuang.

With the help of the gray-robed elder, she successfully activated the first section of the seal in the mine tunnel—the first section alone allowed the Bone Alliance to obtain more high-quality bone materials than the total amount obtained in the past three years.

The name of the Bone Alliance spread like wildfire.

Within seven days, independent cultivators, small sects, and merchant guilds from the southeastern region of the Tianwu Continent flocked to join them.

A new force, built without the backing of a Supreme Realm expert and supported by a young man in the early stages of the Life and Death Realm and several Reincarnation Realm experts, has gained a foothold in the southeastern border region.

With the help of the Bone Alliance's resources, Dongfang Weiwo made rapid progress in refining the Heavenly Martial Qi, increasing the fusion rate from 56% to 62%. Although his cultivation level was still at the early stage of the Life and Death Realm, his combat power had already surpassed that of ordinary late-stage Life and Death Realm cultivators.

Yin Jiuyou's Bone Hunter Alliance attempted to launch three attacks on the Bone Alliance's territory, but each time they were repelled by Yan Fei and Chuan Ying working together.

The first time was on the ancient road west of Huan Gu Zhuang. Yan Fei used 70% of his combat power to confront Yin Jiu You's second evil spirit head-on, while Chuan Ying cut off Wan Ren Yue's retreat route from the side with a single slash.

The second time was at the edge of the Bone Wasteland, where Granny Blood Infant set up a bone array trap. Dongfang Weiwo, with his cultivation at the Life and Death Realm and his divine and demonic skeleton, forcibly broke the array and severely injured Granny Blood Infant.

The third time was in the wilderness outside Iron Feather City, where Yin Jiuyou personally took action and fought a head-on battle with Dongfang Weiwo.

The battle lasted all night. Yan Fei and Chuan Ying were held back by two other Reincarnation Realm members of the Bone Hunter Alliance, while Dongfang Weiwo faced Yin Jiuyou alone.

His left rib was fractured and his right arm was broken, but the self-healing ability of the Divine Demon Skeleton was several times stronger than before, and Lin Xiaoman's bone-protecting ointment saved his left leg at the critical moment.

In the end, despite suffering a deep fracture in his left rib, he managed to annihilate Yin Jiuyou's second evil spirit once again, forcing Yin Jiuyou to retreat once more.

After this battle, no one in the southeastern region of Tianwu Continent dared to underestimate this young man who leaned on a bamboo cane.

At the early stage of the Life and Death Realm, he single-handedly fought against a peak Life and Death Realm cultivator and annihilated the evil spirit. The news spread, and all the rogue cultivators in the Southeast knew one thing—Dongfang Weiwo was not someone anyone could mess with.

After these three battles, the Bone Alliance's actual influence in the southeast region is now unshakeable.

Although Blood Infant Granny and Wan Renyue were not dead, they dared not launch another attack.

Yin Jiuyou's Bone Hunting Alliance is now defunct in name only, and the Yin Sha Sect has retreated to its old stronghold north of the Blackwater Swamp.

The Lord of the Undying Palace, ranked ninth in the Supreme Realm, sent a message after Dongfang Weiwo's three consecutive victories, which still consisted of only a few words:

"You are now qualified to collect your belongings."

The meaning is clear—the location of the Return Order no longer needs to be concealed.

Thirty years ago, the Demon God Lu hid it on the seventh bone pillar under the Bridge of Oblivion, outside the Hall of Immortality.

A powerful expert at the ninth level of the Supreme Realm voluntarily opened the passage to the core area of ​​the Undying Hall, waiting for him to come and retrieve it.

Meanwhile, Dongfang Weiwo unfolded the complete map in the Bone Alliance's main hall.

From Broken Bone Ridge to Iron Feather City, from Iron Feather City to Bone Changing Village, and from Bone Changing Village to the Forbidden Land of Su Luo, Lu Moshen has already completed most of his route.

The extremely thin dotted line on the map extends from the Forbidden Land of Suro, through unexplored unknown areas, and finally stops at the seventh bone pillar under the Bridge of Oblivion.

Beside the end of the dotted line, the character "通" (tong, meaning "pass") shimmered softly in the dark gold light.

"The Forgotten River Bridge outside the Hall of Immortality is not far away."

He closed the map and glanced at everyone in the hall—Yan Fei, Chuan Ying, Bai Wuchen, Ya Jiu, Mo Sanye, Lin Guyi, and Lin Xiaoman standing behind him with her back against the medicine bag.

"The Lord of the Undying Palace asked me to retrieve the Return Token, but he didn't say whether I could come back after I went."

This journey may very well be more difficult than any of the roads before it.

Because Lu Moshen died there thirty years ago.

His voice was calm and steady. His cultivation at the early stage of the Life and Death Realm was several times deeper than before. His dark golden skeleton faintly radiated a warm light beneath his body, like a sword that had been repeatedly polished on a whetstone and had finally revealed its edge.

"So I have to leave something behind."

He looked at Lin Xiaoman, took a small section of iron bamboo from his bamboo cane, carved a line of small characters with his dark gold longsword, and then handed it to her.

"If I don't come back, the Bone Alliance is yours. The key to the Bone Manor mine is in your possession, and the bloodline of the Guardian is the Bone Alliance's greatest trump card. With Yan Fei and Chuan Ying around, Yin Jiuyou can't do anything to the Bone Alliance."

Lin Xiaoman took the piece of iron bamboo, looked down at the line of words on it, her eyes reddened, and she clutched the iron bamboo without saying a word.

Chuan Ying slammed the thick-backed knife onto the table, the leather strap on the hilt vibrating with a dull thud.

I'll go with you. There's a sword under the Bridge of Oblivion, but I haven't drawn it yet.

Yan Fei did not get up, but simply took the old sword from his waist and laid it horizontally on the map.

The instant the scabbard touched the parchment, the character "通" (Tong) on ​​the map seemed to be activated by the sword energy, bursting forth with a dazzling dark golden light. The light condensed in the air into a clear path, pointing directly from the Su Luo Forbidden Land to the Wangchuan Bridge. Everyone looked at that path of light at the same time.

Lin Xiaoman finally spoke, her voice not loud, but clear enough to be heard throughout the entire hall:

"I'll go too. The last thing the guardian is guarding is the seventh bone pillar under the Bridge of Oblivion. Grandmother didn't finish the words that Lu Moshen left for the Lin family—'If anyone later wants to retrieve the Return Token, the guardian must be present.'"

Because the key to unlocking the bone pillar contains not only dark gold patterns, but also the blood of the guardian.

She untied the crooked black rope from her wrist, wrapped it around the bamboo cane, and tied a tight knot.

"This time it's my turn to go with you."

The Wangchuan Bridge is not on any trade route marked on any map.

When Dongfang Weiwo and his group left Huan Guzhuang, the gray-robed elder Lin Guyi personally saw them off at the entrance of the village and handed them a bone whistle.

The whistle is only the length of a thumb. It was made from a piece of ancient bone of unknown age and is grayish-white all over. A very fine iron badge is engraved on the whistle.

"The Lin family of Huan Gu Zhuang, this is the last thing they can do to help you."

Lin Guyi placed the bone whistle into Dongfang Weiwo's hand, his cloudy old eyes lingering on Dongfang's face for three breaths.

"After passing the Bone Wasteland, heading west leads to the outer perimeter of the Undying Palace. That place is not under the jurisdiction of any merchant guild or sect. Anyone below the Supreme Realm who goes in either leaves unscathed or never comes out at all."

He paused for a moment, then glanced at Lin Xiaoman again.

"This whistle was made from the first piece of bone from the deepest part of the Huan Gu Zhuang mine."

When you reach the seventh bone pillar, if you encounter something you can't stop, blow on it, and the mineral veins in the village will resonate. The response will be felt a hundred miles away, and a thousand miles away.

Dongfang Weiwo put the bone whistle into his pocket, nodded, and didn't ask any further questions.

As Lin Xiaoman followed him out of the manor gate, she glanced back at Lin Guyi.

The old man in gray stood under the bone lantern at the entrance of the village. His hunched figure resembled a withered old bone, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

He waved to Lin Xiaoman, his lips moved a few times, and finally he only said two words: "Alive."

Nine suns hung in the sky to the west of the Ember Sea, their grayish-white light shining from behind, casting long shadows of the four people onto the wasteland in front of them.

Yan Fei led the way, his old sword held in his left hand, tip pointing downwards, his sword intent restrained to the extreme. Chuan Ying brought up the rear, his thick-backed saber held horizontally at his waist, his hands resting lightly on the hilt, each step firm and steady. Dongfang Weiwo and Lin Xiaoman walked side by side in the middle, the tips of their bamboo canes and short bamboo staffs tapping the ground alternately, leaving two trails of marks, one deep and one shallow, on the dry, cracked earth.

The Bone Wasteland revealed its truest form at sunset.

The bones scattered on the ground gleamed with a dark red luster in the twilight, like blood that had been soaked by the setting sun for millions of years.

The wind blew from the depths of the wasteland, stirring up fine bone dust that formed grayish-white vortexes in the air.

As the vortex passed, the giant beast skulls on the ground trembled slightly, and low moans emanated from their empty eye sockets.

"Thirty years ago, Lu the Demon God escaped along this road."

Dongfang Weiwo broke the silence. He unfolded the map, his finger slowly tracing the dotted line between the Forbidden Land of Su Luo and the Bridge of Oblivion.

"He's not running away," Yan Fei said without turning his head.

"Um?"

"He drew this route so clearly."

If he was trying to escape, he wouldn't have left so many precise marks along the way.

He deliberately went in this direction; each stop had a purpose.

"He retrieved the ulna from Shattered Bone Ridge, left fragments at the Yin Bone Tomb, laid out a bone array on the ancient battlefield, and hid the largest fragment in the Forbidden Land of Su Luo. He wasn't fleeing; he was setting up a scheme."

Yan Fei turned the old sword in his hand, pointing the tip at a black mountain range that was already visible ahead.

"Every step you take now is on the path he laid out thirty years ago. Go to that bridge."

Black mountains stretched across the horizon, forming a stark contrast to the gray-white of the bone wasteland.

The closer you get to the foot of the mountain, the colder the air becomes. The wind stops here, and there's less bone meal on the ground.

Instead, there is a very fine layer of black ash that makes no sound when you step on it, as if it absorbs all the noise of the world.

The Wangchuan Bridge is located on the southeastern foot of the mountain range.

The four stood on the ridge, the outline of the bridge fully visible in the twilight. It was a bridge made of connected vertebrae, spanning only a hundred feet, but beneath it was not a river valley, but a bottomless crevice.

The crack was over ten zhang wide, cutting into the interior of the mountain, as if something had used tremendous force to tear a hole from the ground.

There was wind deep within the crack—a wind blowing up from inside the mountain, icy cold, carrying an ancient, deathly aura, smelling as if the whole world had been buried for billions of years and then unearthed.

At the entrance to the bridge stood two enormous bone pillars, their surfaces covered in runes identical to those on the scabbard of the Samsara Palace sword. Between the pillars were no doors, no guards, and not even the presence of a single living creature.

The bridge swayed in the air, with seven skeletal pillars arranged in a row from the middle, evenly spaced, each pillar larger than the one before it. At the end of the bridge, the outline of a palace was embedded in the black mountainside, half suspended in mid-air, the other half blending into the rock. The palace doors were tightly closed, without plaques or lights.

But everyone knew that this was only the outer perimeter of the Temple of Immortality. The true core of the Temple of Immortality lay deeper within the mountain; this side hall embedded in the mountainside was merely one of its entrances near the Bridge of Oblivion.