Cursed Bone Spikes

The Black Mountain Forest was silent in the night, like a slumbering behemoth. Li Yuan leaned in the shadow of an old pine, his chest rising and falling slightly. Each breath pulled at the burning wounds beneath his ribs and on his back. The fight with the Li Family's death warriors had been brief but brutal. Although he had annihilated them, he was not unscathed. Crimson Sun Qi and Blood could quickly heal skin and flesh wounds, but the exhaustion after a full-power eruption, and the internal injuries from resisting the blade's impact, required time to calm down.

He needed to return to the martial arts school as soon as possible.

After adjusting his breathing for a moment and feeling his surging Qi and Blood slightly calm down, he stood up, preparing to return along the path he came. But after only a few steps, a chilly sensation, like being targeted by a venomous snake, shot up his spine without warning!

It wasn't the naked killing intent of the Li Family's death warriors, but a more viscous, more bizarre... sense of being watched.

Li Yuan stopped abruptly, his muscles tensing instantly. His gaze, sharp as a falcon's, swept across the dark surrounding trees.

"Who?"

His response was a low, eerie chant, as if from the depths of the earth, carrying an ancient rhythm that drilled directly into his mind. The surrounding air suddenly turned chilly and viscous, and the light seemed to dim.

The bushes to his left parted silently, and a figure slowly walked out.

He also wore a dark green cloak, but the material was clearly more refined, with twisted silver patterns embroidered on the edges. Beneath the hood was a face so pale it was devoid of any blood, his eye sockets sunken, and his pupils a gray-green like a stagnant pool. In his hand, he held a bone staff about the length of a forearm, topped with a skull that continuously emitted gray-black mist.

This was the owner of the powerful, chilly aura Li Yuan had sensed earlier!

"To find this place, and kill a few of my useless subordinates..." the Netherworld Cult Deacon spoke, his voice hoarse and dry, like two rough bones grinding together. "'Black Mountain Fiend Star', you are indeed interesting."

His gray-green pupils fell on Li Yuan, carrying a cold, greedy scrutiny like that of someone examining an experimental subject. "You have a scent on you that makes me very uncomfortable... but also... very tempting."

Li Yuan's heart grew solemn. The pressure this person exerted on him far surpassed any previous opponent, even stronger than the Li Family guards. The Crimson Sun Qi and Blood within him, which had just calmed down, began to circulate uncontrollably faster, emitting a scorching aura to contend against the pervasive, chilly pressure.

"Netherworld Cult scum, hiding your head and tail," Li Yuan's voice was icy. He secretly adjusted his breathing, gathering strength.

"Sharp-tongued." The Netherworld Cult Deacon was not angered at all. Instead, he raised the bone staff in his hand, and the gray-black mist in the skull's eye sockets churned violently. "Perfect, I'll use your flesh and blood, and that strange Qi and Blood, to make up for my lost sacrifices!"

Before his voice even fell, he thrust his bone staff forward!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Three semi-transparent black bone spurs, condensed from pure, chilly curse power, materialized out of thin air. They shot towards Li Yuan in a triangular formation with a piercing sound, their speed comparable to a powerful bow and arrow!

Li Yuan's pupils contracted. The attack was too fast and too cunning! He let out a low roar. With no time to fully dodge, he could only cross his arms to protect his front. Crimson Sun Qi and Blood surged madly into his arms, his muscles bulging instantly, and a dark red glow intensified beneath his skin!

"Thud! Thud!"

Two bone spurs struck his arms, which were as solid as iron, with dull thuds. They failed to penetrate completely, only exploding into two clouds of cold black energy that frantically eroded his Qi and Blood and skin and flesh, bringing a bone-chilling cold and sharp pain.

But the third bone spur, at an extremely bizarre angle, bypassed his defense and fiercely stabbed towards his left shoulder!

Li Yuan twisted his body with all his might. The bone spur grazed his shoulder blade, drawing a splash of blood!

This was not purely physical damage! A sinister, icy curse power instantly burrowed into the wound, like a living thing, encroaching towards his heart! Wherever it passed, Qi and Blood froze, and muscles stiffened!

Li Yuan grunted, his face turning pale. He felt his entire left side go numb, his movements instantly slowing.

"Huh? It actually blocked?" A flicker of surprise flashed in the Netherworld Cult Deacon's eyes, which then turned into deeper interest. "Your body is more valuable than I imagined!"

He waved his bone staff again, and more gray-black mist surged out, condensing in the air into several twisted tentacles, like venomous snakes, coiling around the restricted Li Yuan from all directions!

Fierce light shot from Li Yuan's eyes! He knew he couldn't just passively take hits anymore!

"Roar!"

He let out a low growl that was not human, and ignoring the corrosive curse power on his left shoulder, he forcefully activated the "Crimson Sun" deep within his Sea of Qi! This time, it wasn't a simple circulation of qi and blood, but a direct invocation of the origin power of that Crimson Sun!

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"Boom!"

A wave of scorching heat erupted from him! His body visibly expanded, muscles bulging as if inflated, completely tearing apart the clothes on his upper body! His skin completely transformed into a dark red, with faint crimson-gold patterns, like flowing lava, emerging on its surface! In his eyes, crimson-gold light replaced the whites, exuding a terrifying aura like a primordial fierce beast!

[Crimson Sun Battle Body], showing its initial might!

Those gray-black tentacles that coiled towards him, the moment they touched his body, let out a "hissing" melting sound as if they had met their nemesis, rapidly dissipating!

Li Yuan stomped his right foot fiercely on the ground, causing the ground to slightly indent. He shot forward like a cannonball, with an unstoppable momentum, charging towards the Netherworld Cult Deacon! His speed was more than double what it was before!

The Netherworld Cult Deacon's expression finally changed. He hadn't expected Li Yuan to have such a terrifying trump card! That scorching, yang energy made the curse power within his body difficult to operate!

He hurriedly waved his bone staff, setting up layers of gray-black curse power barriers in front of him.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Li Yuan didn't dodge or evade, directly using his expanded, muscular body to smash through the layers of barriers like a wild bull! He instantly reached the opponent! A giant palm, covered in dark red skin with veins wriggling like small snakes, carrying a fierce wind that tore through the air, fiercely grabbed towards the Netherworld Cult Deacon's head!

The deacon was horrified and raised his bone staff horizontally above his head to block!

"Crack!"

That seemingly hard bone staff, under Li Yuan's immense strength, snapped with a sound! The skull at the top exploded into fragments!

Li Yuan's palm continued its momentum, about to crush the opponent's head!

At this critical moment, a trace of ferocity and despair flashed in the deacon's eyes. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of vital blood from his heart, scattering it on the broken bone staff, and let out a shrill scream:

"Curse Binding! Bone Prison!"

The broken bone staff suddenly exploded, turning into countless bone needles, as fine as cow's hair and as black as ink. Like a torrential rain, they instantly and completely enveloped Li Yuan, who was only a stone's throw away!

At such close range and with such dense attacks, it was impossible to completely avoid them!

Li Yuan only had time to protect his head and face with his arms, fully activating the Crimson Sun Battle Body!

"Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft--!"

A dense, scalp-numbing sound of flesh being pierced rang out!

The vast majority of the bone needles were repelled or shattered by his skin and flesh, which were tougher than fine steel, but dozens still penetrated the relatively weaker areas of his waist, abdomen, and thighs, piercing deep inside!

These bone needles dissolved upon entering the body, not causing severe physical trauma, but instantly releasing an extremely sinister and tenacious curse-binding power. Like countless icy chains, they wrapped around his bones and meridians, even attempting to seal his Sea of Qi!

Li Yuan's charging momentum came to an abrupt halt. His expanded battle form rapidly receded like a deflating balloon, returning to its original state. He stumbled a few steps, falling to one knee. His face instantly turned as pale as paper, and his whole body felt as if bound by countless cold iron wires. The operation of his Crimson Sun Qi and Blood became extremely difficult and sluggish. Every attempt to surge forward brought drilling, heart-piercing sharp pain.

The Netherworld Cult Deacon, who had unleashed this mutual destruction-like secret technique, also suffered a backlash. Blood flowed from his seven orifices, and his breath weakened to the extreme. He cast an alarmed glance at Li Yuan, who was kneeling on the ground, trembling all over yet still staring at him with fierce eyes. Daring not to linger any longer, he mustered a breath and his figure turned into a dim black shadow, staggering away into the depths of the dense forest.

Li Yuan knelt on the cold ground, trying to struggle to his feet, but felt his body as heavy as if it were filled with lead. That sinister curse-binding power was like a bone-deep ulcer, stubbornly locking the source of his strength.

He lowered his head, looking at the small wounds on his body that were rapidly turning black. He felt the Crimson Sun within him, entwined by gray-black mist and its light dimmed. For the first time, he clearly realized the strangeness and difficulty of dealing with the Netherworld Cult.

This Cursed Bone Spikes was like an icy shackle.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the sweetish taste in his throat. There was not the slightest hint of surrender in his eyes, only an even more fervent flame burning.

"It can bind me for a moment... but not for a lifetime!"

He gritted his teeth, using his remaining strength to support his almost numb body, and painstakingly shuffled step by step towards the direction of the martial arts school.

Every step felt like breaking free from invisible restraints.