Chapter Twenty-One: Demon Lord!?

Panting heavily, Liezhen arrived before Xu Cheng. “Junior brother seems to have grown even stronger!”

“Of course! Who do you think his senior brother is?” Liezhen replied proudly.

But just then, the little volcano behind the trio erupted once more, its terrifying aura spreading outward. Xu Cheng’s hair stood on end.

Danger! Now, when the three tried to flee, it was already too late.

The pressure from behind crushed them mercilessly against the ground, leaving them unable to move. All they could do was watch, wide-eyed, as a portal appeared atop the volcano—two skulls with black flames burning in their sockets flanked the archway, and between them lay a black dragon, its body coiled around the gate.

What is this thing? Xu Cheng wondered silently.

Before he could think further, a figure clad in black robes stepped through the gate.

“At last, I have returned! Ha ha ha! I truly must thank you three little fellows!” The black-robed figure instantly appeared before them. “Tell me, how should I express my gratitude?”

When he drew near, the trio saw beneath the robes—not flesh, but pure bone.

A bone demon? Or a bone spirit?

His skeleton was unlike any ordinary mortal’s, gleaming with the luster of white jade.

Under his oppressive aura, the three could not speak, only glare at him with fury.

“Don’t look at me that way! Little girl, do you desire the Slaughtering Sky Sword Manual, or… this Azure Mist Immortal Sword?”

The bone demon produced two items from his robe: a jade tome and a sword wreathed in azure currents.

Let’s call him the Bone Demon.

“And you, fire child, do you want the True Samadhi Fire Technique?”

He then pulled out another jade tome and looked at Yilie.

True Samadhi Fire! It was the legendary True Samadhi Fire!

Yilie could barely breathe, for he recognized its worth. The True Samadhi Fire was an immortal art—even now, he could not cultivate it, but simply holding it would leave him sleepless with excitement for half a month.

“Your aura is mixed and impure! But I have here a Boundless Golden Body Art! Would you care for it?”

The Bone Demon finally turned to Xu Cheng.

This skeleton effortlessly conjured three immortal arts as if they cost nothing.

Any single one of these techniques would plunge the continent into bloody chaos, with countless deaths inevitable.

“Tsk tsk tsk, now I remember! You three can’t even speak—you haven’t reached the Unity Realm yet! Collect!”

The Bone Demon waved his arm, his wide sleeve billowing, and the terrifying gate shrank instantly, returning to his palm.

At that moment, the trio regained their mobility. Yilie, ever eager, lunged for the jade tome on the ground and clutched it tightly to his chest.

“Samadhi… Samadhi Fire! Wait, this isn’t the Samadhi Fire!”

But Yilie quickly realized he’d been deceived. The tome contained not the legendary Samadhi Fire, but another technique—North Sea True Fire—much like his own.

“Don’t speak nonsense, little fellow! My tome plainly contains the Samadhi Fire!” The Bone Demon’s face, devoid of flesh, betrayed no emotion. Xu Cheng could not fathom his intentions and simply stood there, unable to summon even the thought of escape.

“You lied to me!” Yilie shouted.

“How could I lie to you? Perhaps they took it?” The Bone Demon pointed at Xu Cheng and Liezhen, his eye sockets flashing with a crimson glow.

Yilie’s eyes turned bloodshot as he stared at Xu Cheng and Liezhen as if they’d murdered his kin.

Illusion arts! Xu Cheng realized. He had once heard Yilie mention that illusions could cloud the mind, driving people to slaughter one another.

“Yilie, wake up!” Liezhen called softly, hoping to snap him out of it. Whether through the Bone Demon’s design or some other cause, neither Xu Cheng nor Liezhen were caught in the illusion, likely due to their lack of contact with the tome.

“Yilie! I’m your junior brother!” Xu Cheng joined Liezhen in coaxing Yilie back to his senses.

“It was you! You stole my Samadhi Fire!” Yilie’s hair ignited, transforming into crimson flames.

“We really didn’t steal your Samadhi Fire!” Liezhen was nearly in tears, astonished at the power of the Bone Demon’s illusion.

“Die! Southern Departure True Fire, Fire Dragon Tornado!” Yilie shouted, and a colossal fire tornado rose beside Xu Cheng and Liezhen.

The tornado’s ferocity far exceeded Yilie’s cultivation.

To think the Bone Demon was so wicked, driving them to mutual destruction. Liezhen, gathering the traces of his sword, unleashed a slash that shattered the tornado for a moment, but it soon reformed.

“Yellow Springs Maw, open!” Xu Cheng knew this was the moment for his ultimate move. Even ants cling to life, let alone himself. With his back to Liezhen, the once overwhelming fire tornado vanished in the blink of an eye.

“Cackle cackle! Hm!”

With the disappearance of the fire tornado, the Bone Demon’s harsh laughter rang out, only to be abruptly silenced when he saw the black vortex in Xu Cheng’s palm absorb the flames.

No turning back now—death awaited either way—Xu Cheng melted and sacrificed the black pearl he’d acquired from Yellow Springs. The vortex in his palm gradually transformed into a miniature archway.

He aimed it at the Bone Demon before him. Instantly, the world changed. The mountains, stones, and grasses all flew toward the gate in Xu Cheng’s palm, vanishing into Yellow Springs. Yet the Bone Demon’s cultivation was so profound that not even his robe was disturbed.

Seizing the moment, Liezhen carried the exhausted Yilie to safety.

Xu Cheng, having spent all his strength, could not harm the Bone Demon and gave up struggling, slumping to the ground.

The Bone Demon snorted coldly, seized Xu Cheng with one hand, and flew off into the distance.

“Liewu!” Liezhen shouted, but the Bone Demon never turned, ignoring her completely. In fury, Liezhen slashed at the jade tome and the so-called immortal sword, venting her anger.

She hacked them to pieces, then kicked the unconscious Yilie a few times.

With no way out, all she could do was return to their sect and seek counsel on rescuing their junior brother.

Meanwhile, Xu Cheng’s vision spun and he was struck unconscious by the Bone Demon. When he awoke, he found himself in a cavern, the Bone Demon seated beside him.

“Awake? I wonder how the Yellow Springs Fragment chose you, little brat!” The Bone Demon sneered. “And you even mastered the Yellow Springs Maw first, yet not the Yellow Springs Bone Art. How curious!”

“You… you know about the Yellow Springs Fragment?” Even Yilie had never seen the contents of the Yellow Springs Fragment, yet this old demon knew.

“Of course, child! Once you cultivate the Yellow Springs Bone Art, you’ll become just like me! Ha ha ha ha!”

The Bone Demon laughed wildly.

If I master the Yellow Springs Bone Art, will I become a skeleton like him? Xu Cheng’s mind raced, and he quickly grasped the crux of the issue. “You mean, I’ll become a skeleton, and you… what you cultivated was also…?”

“Though your cultivation is weak, your wits are sharp! That’s right, I too cultivated the Yellow Springs Fragment! If you were stronger, you’d recognize the Yellow Springs Maw gate at once!”

The Bone Demon raised his skeletal hand, upon which the black archway reappeared. Faintly, two characters—Yellow Springs—could be seen.

“So what if you and I both cultivate the Yellow Springs Fragment?” Xu Cheng, knowing little about it, pressed on.

“All who cultivate the Yellow Springs Fragment become emissaries of Yellow Springs! There’s still time—hurry and cultivate the Yellow Springs Bone Art, or else you’ll suffer the backlash of the Yellow Springs Maw. Especially since you’ve already grasped the essence of sacrificing Yellow Springs in the Maw technique! That taste—cackle cackle!”

The Bone Demon’s laughter was grating, the sound of jawbones grinding together.