Chapter 1440: The Skeleton General

As Lu Ye and the two others focused their gaze, the skeletal general, who had been sitting motionless as if dead for countless years, suddenly moved.

His lowered head slowly rose. As expected, there was no flesh on his face, only stark white bone. His two eye sockets were dark and deep, like two black holes that could swallow all light.

What caught Lu Ye's attention was that in the skeletal general's left eye socket, a short dagger was plunged in, hilt-deep!

Lu Ye finally understood why Ghost was willing to hire help to kill this formidable opponent. Ghost clearly had her eyes on this short dagger!

If it were just an ordinary treasure, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but this short dagger was clearly suitable for ghost cultivators, and its quality was undoubtedly high!

Once this dagger was retrieved, it would be a good option whether for personal use or to sell. Lu Ye guessed Ghost would likely sell it, because she didn't seem to have a habit of using spiritual treasures. In the chaotic battlefield, she always killed with a single move: the "Black Tiger Steals the Heart." He wondered how she had trained her claws; ordinary Star Constellation cultivators couldn't withstand her sneak attacks.

Lu Ye felt a slight puzzlement. Since the skeletal general still had the ability to move, why didn't he remove the short dagger from his eye socket? Why did it remain there?

There must be some unknown secret behind this.

As the skeletal general's head lifted, a wisp of ghostly fire suddenly ignited in his right eye socket. Unlike the ghostly fires in the eye sockets of the outer skeletons, the ghostly fire in the skeletal general's eye socket glowed with a brilliant golden light, like a small sun burning within.

*Creak, creak...*

He slowly rose from his throne. His mouth opened and closed, and a deep, resonant voice echoed through the hall: "I have slept for ten thousand years, and yet someone dares to disturb the slumber of the dead. You will pay for this!"

The hall was vast, and the voice reverberated. The skeletal general strode down step by step from the elevated platform where his throne stood. His footsteps were exceptionally heavy. With every step, the hall trembled. Coupled with his low voice, even Lu Ye and the two others felt their ears buzz and their blood surge for a moment.

All three of them had solemn expressions.

Lu Ye finally understood why Ghost had said earlier that this creature somewhat countered her. It wasn't just "somewhat"; it was a complete natural counter. Ghost favored the "Black Tiger Steals the Heart" technique, but this skeletal general had no heart to steal. Furthermore, her ghost cultivation techniques would likely be ineffective against such a being.

Although they could sense the enemy was extremely powerful, perhaps the strongest they had encountered so far apart from Qin Yuandai, things had come to this point, and retreat was no longer an option. Lu Ye slowly drew his Red Dragon Saber and quietly said, "Let's go!"

As soon as he spoke, he led the trio's formation forward in a sudden attack. As they moved, several saber glows were already unleashed. A few of these struck different parts of the skeletal general's body, but only one specifically targeted his right eye socket.

Of course, they didn't expect these few saber glows to achieve anything decisive, but preliminary probing was necessary when engaging the enemy.

Facing the onslaught of these saber glows, the skeletal general didn't even attempt to dodge. He simply raised a hand to block in front of his right eye, effortlessly deflecting the incoming saber glow.

As for the other saber glows, they all struck the skeletal general's armor, producing grating sounds and sparks, but caused no damage whatsoever.

This guy... is incredibly tough!

Although the saber glows were casually unleashed by Lu Ye, with his current strength, even ordinary late-stage Star Constellation cultivators would struggle to withstand them head-on. Yet, the skeletal general remained completely unconcerned.

The armor he wore, which appeared old and tattered, provided far more protection than anticipated.

Fortunately, his action of protecting his right eye made Lu Ye realize that the ghostly fire flickering in his eye socket was still his weakness. Just like with the previous skeletons, destroying his ghostly fire should be enough to defeat him!

A hundred *zhang* distance was covered in the blink of an eye. Lu Ye didn't attempt to directly stab the skeletal general's right eye, as such a straightforward attack would surely be ineffective. He needed to create an opening during the fight to succeed.

A brilliant light flashed on the Red Dragon Saber. With the "Heavy Pressure" spirit runes enchantment, he brought down a powerful slash!

He didn't activate Divine Edge, as Lu Ye felt it wouldn't be useful. Although the "Heavy Pressure" spirit runes hadn't been fully optimized, the assistance they provided was still considerable. Moreover, Lu Ye was currently aligned with Puck and Ghost in a Three Talents formation. This wasn't like forming a formation with Xiao Dai and Xiao Wai. Both Puck and Ghost were far stronger individually than Xiao Dai and Xiao Wai. Even with fewer people, the assistance they provided Lu Ye was greater. The power of this saber strike could be said to be the strongest Lu Ye had ever unleashed!

As Lu Ye's saber strike descended, the skeletal general also reacted. He held a massive sword, thick and broad, clearly designed for charging into battle in large-scale conflicts.

Normally, such a huge sword wouldn't be very agile to wield. In fact, the skeletal general himself appeared somewhat cumbersome. Lu Ye had initially thought he wouldn't be able to defend against this saber strike at all.

But the moment the long saber descended, Lu Ye was astonished to find that the massive sword in the skeletal general's hand had actually blocked the Red Dragon Saber's blade!

In the skeletal general's grip, this massive sword exhibited a marvelous sense of profound skill made simple, handling heavy objects with effortless ease.

In that instant of spiritual power collision, Lu Ye's eyes suddenly narrowed. He felt his spiritual power instantly get overwhelmed and directly shattered in the clash. Immediately after, immense force surged from the Red Dragon Saber.

He instinctively drifted backward, attempting to neutralize the incoming force.

However, at the same time, the massive sword in the skeletal general's hand also swept down, its speed like lightning.

For the first time in his life, Lu Ye felt his soul escaping his body in terror. In haste, he erected a Holy Guard in front of him. However, as soon as a layer of Holy Guard appeared, it was instantly shattered, one layer after another. Although the massive sword's power was diminished, it still cleaved towards his chest.

Fortunately, at this critical moment, a fishing line suddenly coiled around the skeletal general's sword-wielding hand. It was Puck who had intervened at the crucial moment. The fishing line tautened abruptly, pulling the sword to the side. After a momentary deadlock, the fishing line snapped, but this also dissipated some of the skeletal general's power.