Chapter 497: Unexpected Harvest

"What did he say?"

"Bailan Jun wants to take us to a place called Fugu Ling, which is a gathering spot with many powerful bone creatures."

"That's all he said." Wei Tianchen felt that Zhao Xing and Bailan Jun had discussed many things. "Both of you glanced at me and Zhujian just now."

"Oh, I told them you two are my seniors. With your protection, we have nothing to fear from any strong enemies. We can absolutely rest assured in acquiring soul crystals."

Zhujian grabbed Bailan Jun, and Wei Tianchen grabbed Zhao Xing. The four skeletons leaped into the fire pit, then journeyed through the green flames.

Zhao Xing curiously asked, "Xiao Bai, can your flame formation break the rule of 'thousands of miles in an instant'?"

"The Divine Fire Sect's formation does not violate the speed limit of 'thousands of miles in an instant'," Bailan Jun replied. "We still cannot exceed this limit while traveling through the fire pit, but it significantly shortens the distance from one fire pit to another."

"Similar to a 'Shrinking Ground to a Foot' divine ability?"

"Yes."

"Xiao Bai, you also use fire. Do you know about the Lihuo Divine Sect?" Zhao Xing asked. "That sect also excels at controlling fire, and they have built fire pits all over the world, using the Lihuo Divine Altars for teleportation."

"Oh?" Bailan Jun looked up, the fire in his eye sockets flickering with clear confusion. "I haven't heard of that. Does such a sect truly exist?"

"Among all the sects on the Xuanhuang Continent, I wouldn't claim to know all of them, but there are only a few that specialize in fire. I myself am an elder of the Lihuo Peak of the Divine Fire Sect."

"Never heard of them?" Zhao Xing mused. "Xiao Bai, then do you know how many Divine Venerables there are on the Xuanhuang Continent?"

Bailan Jun tilted his head. "I can't recall. I only know there are many, but besides our sect's Blazing Fire Divine Venerable and the Dragon God, I don't remember the names of the other Divine Venerables. Senior, which Divine Venerable do you worship?"

"I believe in the Dragon God," Zhao Xing casually replied.

"The Dragon God? Is the Dragon God still alive?" Bailan Jun seemed a bit bewildered. "Legend says the Dragon God has fallen, and the Dragon Court has remained closed—"

Zhao Xing waved his hand, not intending to explain further.

Through his conversation with Bailan Jun, he confirmed that the location of the Xuanhuang Realm hadn't changed, but the time point definitely didn't match.

It was highly possible that the Xuanhuang Realm had initiated a temporal instance, similar to the World-Traversing Tower.

"Yuan San Si Er, if this is a spatiotemporal coordinate, it makes sense."

"I, Wei Tianchen, and Zhujian don't know when we entered, which also feels somewhat like entering the World-Traversing Tower."

"Could we be in a cycle of time and space?"

Zhao Xing decided not to share his speculation with Wei Tianchen and Zhujian, as it still needed verification.

"Whoosh~"

The green flames rapidly diminished, and the black earth returned to their sight.

Zhao Xing, Bailan Jun, Wei Tianchen, and Zhujian emerged from another fire pit.

There were no other bone creatures nearby. Above them was a mountain wall, and the fire pit was set inside a mountain cave.

"Senior, this is another fire pit set up by our Divine Fire Sect. It's only ten million li away from 'Fugu King City' in Fugu Ling."

"Fugu King City is the largest city in Fugu Ling. It is ruled by a king named 'Zhuo Ying' and contains seven Soul Wells."

"Bone Kings are at least Ninth-Tier Fire Seeds (True Spirits), categorized as demigods according to the Xuanling Starfield's classification."

"Their bone power also reaches the Ninth-Tier, and they possess powerful bone bodies."

"For example, someone like me is a Bone General, a Sixth-Tier Fire Seed (True Spirit). However, I acquired a set of Bone Spirit Fire Body, which allows me to escape even Eighth-Tier beings when controlling fire."

Zhao Xing was curious, "Then, do you think my two subordinates can defeat that King of Zhuoying City?"

Bailan Jun replied, "Without a doubt, your two subordinates' True Spirits have surpassed the threshold of a king. However, their bone bodies are still in their original state and haven't evolved through bone body cultivation methods."

"In combat, they could easily suffer losses."

"Are there cultivation methods here?"

"Of course. Both bone bodies and fire seeds have cultivation methods. Since the appearance of the Bone Yin Realm, secret arts have occasionally descended."

"I heard there's a Bone God Temple in the center of the Southern Continent where one can obtain a god's legacy and methods for flesh-and-blood regeneration."

Zhao Xing nodded, then relayed some of Bailan Jun's words to Wei Tianchen and Zhujian.

"He said this Lord Zhuoying is a demigod, and there's a temple in the core area of the Bone Yin Realm where one can receive a god's legacy and methods for flesh-and-blood regeneration."

"However, one must become a powerful city lord to be eligible for an audience." The latter sentence was Zhao Xing's own addition. He would seize any opportunity to trick Wei Tianchen.

"Zhujian, we can eliminate Zhuoying and take over this territory." Wei Tianchen felt this was an excellent opportunity to seize and develop a territory, both to seek opportunities in the Bone God Domain and to begin resolving the seal left by Fan Qianrou.

"We can cooperate." Revered Zhujian nodded. Zhao Xing feigned persuasion, "We shouldn't directly confront Zhuoying. We need to strengthen our bone bodies first."

"Bone bodies are very important here; they are the foundation for unleashing our strength."

"We are only Third-Tier bone bodies—"

"No need for such trouble," Wei Tianchen interrupted. "Zhujian and I both possess divine artifacts. We can directly kill Zhuoying, obtain his wealth, and our bone body tiers will naturally elevate."

Wei Tianchen, full of bravado, was ready to take on the local power.

He and Revered Zhujian flew together towards Fugu City.

Before leaving, Wei Tianchen chanted a spell and conjured a dazzling purple-gold gourd from his ring. From the gourd poured out a pool of divine water, forming a shimmering golden-blue barrier. The barrier enveloped both him and Bailan Jun.

"The Azure Water Golden Divine Realm can protect you. Stay here and don't move. We'll be back soon."

"Wait, what about the Enlightenment Golden Fillet?" Zhao Xing asked. Wei Tianchen shouldn't leave him too far behind, should he?

"The power of the Azure Water Golden Divine Realm overrides the Enlightenment Golden Fillet; it won't be effective during this time."

Revered Zhujian, on the other hand, left Zhao Xing a bone sword, carved from his own rib. The sword qi within it contained fifty percent of Revered Zhujian's power.

After the two left, only Zhao Xing and Bailan Jun remained in the cave.

"Senior, what is this?" Bailan Jun curiously looked at the barrier.

"Oh, this is for my protection."

"What are your subordinates doing now?"

"I sent them to kill Zhuoying."

"Hiss~"

Bailan Jun increasingly felt that Zhao Xing's origin was extraordinary and unfathomable.

Recalling Zhao Xing's previous questions, Bailan Jun held even greater reverence for him.

"This senior's previous questions were basically related to the divine level."

"He also asked me about the Great Zhou Divine Dynasty, who was in charge of destiny, and mentioned another sect, the Lihuo Divine Sect, which seemed to be under the management of this Divine Dynasty. Yet, he seemed to have no respect for that 'Human Emperor'."

"Could he be the incarnation of a divine realm being?"

Bailan Jun immediately buried his head in the dust.

He dared not attempt to escape, only hoping that this powerful figure would spare him after achieving his goal.

Zhao Xing had no idea Bailan Jun was overthinking so much.

At this moment, he was mobilizing bone power, attempting to open his inner world.

"Wei Tianchen said the power of divine artifacts overrides the Enlightenment Golden Fillet."

"Can I use a divine artifact to dispel the restraint on the Enlightenment Golden Fillet?"

Zhao Xing possessed divine artifacts, two of them: the Primordial Dao Pagoda and the Heavenly Transformation Divine Needle.

The Enlightenment Golden Fillet was a good item, but its restraints had to be removed.

However, for now, he had to open his inner world first.

"The realm core is hidden within the bone body; it's not sealed by the bone body's power, but self-sealed." Zhao Xing tried, finding the realm core completely still. It seemed to be a self-preservation mechanism created by the combined efforts of the Primordial Dao Pagoda and the native species.

"Xiao Bai, do you have any divine artifacts?"

Bailan Jun was speechless. Do I look like I have a divine artifact?

"Senior, I do not."

Zhao Xing attempted to open his inner world but failed, so he had no choice but to sit down and cultivate.

"Now I can only wait. If Wei Tianchen dies at Zhuoying's hands, the restraint will be broken."

"If the divine artifact I summoned arrives, there will also be hope of escaping control."

However, what Zhao Xing couldn't understand was, assuming this was no longer the original time and space, then the divine artifact he had left behind shouldn't be sensed.

So what was this "summoning sensation" about?

It wasn't long before the green fire pit suddenly began to flicker.

"Hmm?" Zhao Xing immediately became alert. He lifted Bailan Jun's skull and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Senior, someone opened the fire pit. It must be my fellow disciples," Bailan Jun said. "But I didn't notify them."

As he spoke, two skeletons appeared in the fire pit.

One was entirely dark red, with golden stars shimmering like diamonds on its forehead and joints.

The other was entirely green, its bones as lustrous as diamonds, also inlaid with many secret patterns and crystal diamonds on its bone body.

Because the Azure Water Golden Divine Realm had an invisibility function, and the mountain cave's fire pit itself was quite spacious, these two skeletons didn't discover the presence of Zhao Xing and Bailan Jun.

"Are they also from the Divine Fire Sect?"

"Yes, one is Hu Qing, my senior brother, and the other is Yan Jun, my senior sister."

Hu Qing wielded a bone saber and was a Seventh-Calamity True Spirit martial artist, with a Seventh-Tier Golden Body Fire Body.

Yan Jun was a Seventh-Tier True Spirit soul illusionist, possessing a Seventh-Tier Profound Bright Dao Bone.

"Where did Junior Brother Lan Jun go? We agreed to meet in Yanfang Territory, but he's not there, nor is he here," Hu Qing complained.

"Perhaps he went to Fugu City to trade ahead of us," Yan Jun looked around. "Judging by the heat of the fire formation, it seems he just left."

"Let's go to Fugu City too. We had a good harvest this time. Maybe we can get you an Eighth-Tier Dao Bone, Junior Sister."

Hu Qing and Yan Jun spoke as they flew out of the cave, completely unaware of the hidden barrier in the corner.

About three days later, the two returned to the vicinity of the fire pit.

Hu Qing was missing three ribs, and the diamond-like glow on his forehead had significantly diminished. Yan Jun's skeleton was also damaged.

The two skeletons returned to the cave's fire pit looking rather bedraggled, seemingly having just come from a major battle.

"...I didn't expect Zhuoying City to be in chaos. Good thing we ran fast, Junior Sister, how are you?"

"The injuries aren't too severe. I wonder who was challenging that Bone King. Zhuoying has a Tenth-Tier Fire Seed, after all."

"Let's lay low for a bit, then we'll go out and see if there are any pickings to be had."

"Mm-hmm..."

Zhao Xing overheard their entire conversation.

"It seems Wei Tianchen and Zhujian made their move. I wonder how the battle went, but if Zhuoying is only a Tenth-Tier True Spirit, he shouldn't be their match. What a shame."

After waiting a few days, Hu Qing and Yan Jun ran out again, seemingly trying to pick up remnants.

At this time, under the augmentation of the Enlightenment Golden Fillet, Zhao Xing had already unsealed his three major magic powers. Azure Flower magic power, Deepwater magic power, and Red Lotus magic power flowed through his bone body, appearing quite extraordinary.

Half a month later, the two returned to the vicinity of the cave, but they were being pursued.

Although Zhao Xing couldn't leave, he could sense the outside world.

Outside the cave, Hu Qing wielded his old companion, continuously slashing at a group of bone creatures.

Hu Qing's strength was not weak, but the sheer number of assailants surrounding them was overwhelming.

The leader, a yellow diamond bone body, had reached Eighth-Tier True Spirit Fire Seed in Zhao Xing's eyes. He had more than thirty Sixth-Calamity True Spirit Fire Seeds under his command. Their bone bodies were all extraordinary, enough to completely overwhelm the two.

"Your senior brother and sister failed to pick up scraps and ended up being targeted themselves?"

Bailan Jun was speechless; he didn't know what was happening, but the situation looked grim.

Hu Qing's bones were sent flying by a yellow diamond bone body wielding a crystal spear. In mid-air, he was shaken by a force, and his bone body directly fell apart.

However, before landing, flames erupted from Hu Qing's skull, immediately reassembling his skeleton.

Yan Jun was using True Spirit illusion techniques to distract, and it was because of her distraction that the two barely managed to hold on.

But Zhao Xing could clearly see that the bone power of the two was continuously decreasing, and even their True Spirit Fire Seeds were dimming. "At this rate, your two fellow disciples won't last much longer."

Gradually, Hu Qing's saber technique became somewhat disjointed. The yellow diamond bone body found an opportunity and suddenly struck!

"Whoosh!"

The crystal long spear soared through the air, directly piercing Hu Qing and pinning him to a giant mountain rock.

A strange power on the crystal spear was absorbing his fire seed.

"What kind of weapon is that? It can even absorb other people's True Spirits?"

"Senior, that's a Bone Spirit Spear," Bailan Jun explained. "It's a magical artifact made from Bone Spirit Stone and Soul Crystals."

"It's a magical artifact that can absorb the power of others' fire seeds."

"Being killed by a Bone Spirit Spear causes one to lose most of their True Spirit power, and can even lead to the loss of memories and secret arts," Bailan Jun stated calmly.

Zhao Xing looked at Bailan Jun curiously, "Why aren't you worried about them?"

Bailan Jun replied, "I can't even protect myself, so worrying is superfluous. Besides, they all know the 'Bone Dissolution Great Method'."

The Bone Dissolution Great Method was similar to a method of reincarnation. Wei Tianchen believed that the master of the Bone God Domain had achieved enlightenment in the world, operating in a unique way to replace the Heavenly Dao. The Bone Dissolution Great Method was the secret reincarnation art here.

"As long as the spell is cast in time, my senior brother and senior sister will return to a secret soul well to be reborn. Any losses can be compensated for later."

"I see."

"Senior," Bailan Jun hesitated, "can I ask senior to save them? These two fellow disciples have a good relationship..."

Zhao Xing didn't respond, merely continued to watch. Bailan Jun said no more.

Hu Qing self-detonated half of his bone body to cover Yan Jun's retreat back to the cave and escape through the fire pit.

Others couldn't use the fire pit. As long as he could buy a little time, his Junior Sister Yan Jun could escape.

Seeing Yan Jun fly into the cave, Hu Qing intended to cast the Bone Dissolution Great Method, allowing himself to return to the soul well and be reborn, no longer continuing the fight.

Because if he continued fighting, more and more of his cultivation would be absorbed, and his strength would greatly decline after rebirth, even losing memories.

"Huh? Why am I not dead yet?" Hu Qing was once again impaled by the Bone Spirit Spear, but the blade of death was slow to fall.

Instead, the bone spear suddenly and rapidly withdrew from his body, returning to its master's hand.

Hu Qing stopped the Bone Dissolution Great Method. He saw that the yellow diamond bone general on the bone war chariot, who had been so imposing just moments ago, was now pierced by ordinary bone swords.

The other subordinates, seeing this sudden change, immediately scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing for their lives.

"I... I was saved?"

"Crack, crack, crack."

The sword qi erupting from the bone swords spread repeatedly, causing the Eighth-Calamity Bone General's body to emit a grating sound.

His fire seed was also cyclically annihilated by the sword qi. Seeing that he couldn't break free, the Eighth-Calamity Bone General had no choice but to let out a roar and voluntarily activated the Bone Dissolution Great Method.

With a "!" sound, his skeleton suddenly exploded into pieces. The True Spirit Fire Seed abruptly vanished, and the Golden Body Bone Body's imprint actively disintegrated, leaving no trace.

"The Bone Dissolution Great Method is truly marvelous."

Zhao Xing looked at the scattered bones on the ground. They hadn't shattered, merely dispersed.

"God Yuan created the Tribulation-Free Bone God Domain, allowing True Spirits to grow while avoiding calamities, and also created the Bone Dissolution Great Method, which is similar to a reincarnation secret art. Could he be an unconventional Martial God?" Zhao Xing mused silently.

Some extremists in the Qi Sect even abandoned their flesh and blood, choosing to cultivate only a golden bone body. Flesh and blood decay, but only golden bones endure.

However, Zhao Xing quickly dismissed this idea. Yuan achieved enlightenment through the heavens and earth; his bone cultivation path was very complete. To consider him merely an extremist Qi Sect martial artist would be too superficial.

"May I know which senior saved us? Hu Qing, elder of the Divine Fire Sect's Martial Fire Peak, requests senior to reveal yourself."

Hu Qing and Yan Jun found that no one answered them. They could only stare at the bone sword; it was this bone sword that had saved them earlier.

"Swish!" The bone sword suddenly shrank, picked up a bone ring that had fallen to the ground, and carried the scattered Eighth-Calamity bone body into the cave.

"Inside the cave?" Hu Qing and Yan Jun followed the trajectory of the flying sword into the cave, only to find that the sword disappeared on the other side of the fire pit.

They couldn't find where it went, as they couldn't see through the Azure Water Golden Divine Realm, let alone touch the barrier.

"Thank you for your assistance, Senior," Bailan Jun said from within the barrier.

"Since you are working for me, this is but a small matter," Zhao Xing used the means left by Revered Zhujian to put on a show. Then he picked up the bone ring left by the Eighth-Calamity Bone General to examine it.

"Hmm? There are quite a few treasures inside!" Zhao Xing was delighted. "There are four sets of bone bodies, from low to high, and also thousands of soul crystals from Fourth to Eighth-Tier combined. It seems to be a complete set."

Absorbing soul crystals can lead to True Spirit transformation, and the bone body is a prerequisite for absorption. Zhao Xing was currently a Third-Calamity True Spirit and a Third-Calamity bone body, but without a matching bone body, he couldn't absorb even extra soul crystals.

But now, this bone ring actually contained a complete set of resources.

"Could it be that this person prepared these for being reborn from the soul well?"

When reborn from the soul well, the initial state is a low-tier bone body, and the True Spirit will also be significantly reduced accordingly.

But if resources are prepared in advance, an Eighth-Calamity True Spirit can quickly re-cultivate.

"Now, all these are mine to enjoy!" Zhao Xing became excited. "This treasure is enough to cause my True Spirit to undergo continuous transformations, equivalent to passing through several True Spirit tribulations. I'll take it!"