In hand
Zi Yan looked at Lin Ming and smiled slightly.
Her smile held a hint of joy and eagerness, and her purplish-gold eyes curved into two beautiful crescent moons. Then, with light, graceful steps, she prepared to walk towards the White Bone Throne.
However, Lin Ming grabbed Zi Yan's arm the moment she started to move.
"Huh?" Zi Yan was taken aback. She turned her head to look at Lin Ming, a hint of doubt flashing in her purple-gold eyes.
However, as someone who knew Lin Ming well, she naturally knew that Lin Ming wouldn't have stopped her without a reason. And since that was the case, he must have made some discoveries.
So Zi Yan asked, "Is there a problem?"
Upon seeing this and hearing this, both the North King and Xia Jia's expressions turned serious.
Lin Ming stared at the White Bone Throne, glanced at the Ruins, nodded slightly, and said, "These Ruins are a bit strange."
Lin Ming's gaze swept from the throne to the ground beneath his feet, and then from the ground to the broken stone pillars and shattered rubble all around him.
Under his perception, those seemingly ordinary fragments of Ruins concealed extremely subtle Spiritual Energy patterns.
As he spoke, a spark of inspiration appeared at his fingertips, and he gently tapped down.
This was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake; visible waves of Spiritual Energy suddenly spread outwards.
The wave rippled outwards from Lin Ming's fingertips, compressing the air in its path and causing it to emit a low hum.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Explosions echoed from the Ruins.
The broken stone pillars shattered under the impact of the Spiritual Energy waves, the broken tiles were sent flying into the air, and countless giant rocks were shattered by the earthquake.
In that instant, the entire Ruins seemed to be overturned by an invisible giant hand, with rubble, dust, and wood chips shooting out in all directions like shrapnel.
Then the earth seemed to begin to collapse. The ground beneath our feet trembled violently, and the loose soil and rubble covering the Ruins fell downwards as if their support had been removed, revealing the truth hidden beneath for millennia.
As the earth collapsed, they immediately saw beams of Spiritual Energy emerging from the ground.
The light was an extremely eerie dark gray, emanating a cold and deathly aura, like countless tentacles reaching out from the depths of the Netherworld.
They were based on the White Bone Throne, extending outwards in all directions from the throne and connecting with each other to form a huge Spirit Formation.
The Spirit Formation covered the entire area of Ruins, like an invisible giant net that firmly sealed off the entire region.
Moreover, what made their pupils shrink the most was that they actually saw a giant white Giant Dragon coiled at the bottom of the collapsed earth.
The Giant Dragon coiled in the abyss beneath the Ruins. Its body was tens of meters thick, covered entirely in silvery-white scales that still gleamed with a cold, eerie luster even after ten thousand years.
However, this Giant Dragon was shrouded in a Death Qi. The Death Qi was thick and cold, like a layer of grayish-white mist covering its entire body, turning its silvery-white scales gray.
Its dragon eyes were lifeless, with sunken eye sockets and dim pupils, like a shell whose soul had been removed.
It lay silently beneath the earth, like an inanimate object, yet the Dragon Might's might slowly emanating from its body still made the surrounding air heavy and stagnant.
"It's actually a Corpse Puppet Dragon..." Zi Yan said in surprise, looking at the Bai Long surrounded by Death Qi.
She herself is Dragon Clan, and if Dragon Clan were alive, she would definitely be able to sense Dragon Clan presence. The bloodline connection between the Dragon Clan is extremely sensitive; even if they are thousands of miles apart, they can sense each other's existence.
However, this is an inanimate Corpse Puppet Dragon, so unless one deliberately knows it, one wouldn't be able to detect it immediately.
Its aura had been completely concealed by Death Qi, like a corpse buried in a grave, blending into the surrounding soil.
However, she wasn't particularly afraid of the Corpse Puppet Dragon; it was the Spirit Formation that made her sense a dangerous aura.
"What kind of Spirit Formation is this?" Zi Yan asked. She had a premonition that if she stepped into this Spirit Formation unprepared, she would probably suffer a great loss.
"It's a Corpse Spirit Formation. If you step into it, your Spiritual Energy will be suppressed. Judging from the Death Qi condensed within, even Tier 9 Peak expert would probably be suppressed to around the Tier 7," Lin Ming said.
Upon hearing this, both the North King and Xia Jia were shocked. If they were suppressed to around the Tier 7 Supreme, they would definitely be swallowed whole by that Corpse Puppet Dragon.
I never imagined that such a deadly threat would be hidden in these Ruins.
"Wait a moment, I'll break it, then we can go retrieve the Dragon Spirit Pearl," Lin Ming said to Zi Yan.
Zi Yan nodded immediately.
This Corpse Spirit Formation is also extraordinary. In its complete form, it would be a grandmaster-level Spirit Formation.
That level of formation would be troublesome even for Earth Sovereign being. However, this Spirit Formation had been eroded by tens of thousands of years and was already on the verge of collapse.
Many of the Spiritual Energy rays had become illusory and uncertain, and the Death Qi had thinned considerably. The entire formation was like a dam riddled with holes, ready to collapse completely at any moment.
But that's precisely what makes it so dangerous. After all, if the formation collapses due to carelessness, it could potentially affect the Dragon Spirit Pearl.
The Corpse Spirit Formation was based on the White Bone Throne, with the Dragon Spirit Pearl suspended atop it. Once the array completely collapsed, the White Bone Throne and the Dragon Spirit Dragon Spirit Pearl atop it would be the first to be affected.
If the Dragon Spirit Pearl is damaged, then it will be a greater loss than gain.
That's why Lin Ming didn't destroy it directly like other formations. He needed to dismantle the internal structure of this Spirit Formation in an extremely precise way, so that it would dissipate on its own without triggering a chain reaction of collapse.
At this moment, spiritual light surged between Lin Ming's hands again, and then Spirit Seal condensed from his hands.
They shot out from Lin Ming's palm like a swarm of glowing butterflies, flying towards the Corpse Spirit Formation before swiftly disappearing into the void ahead and merging into it.
The integration of each Spirit Seal is like a key being inserted into a lock, precisely finding a key node in the Spirit Formation.
Those nodes are precisely the weak points in the entire Spirit Formation structure, like the most vulnerable links in a chain.
As the Spirit Seal continued to merge into the Spirit Formation, the latter began to gradually become turbulent.
The Spiritual Energy rays seemed to be disturbed, gradually becoming illusory. Dark gray lights flickered wildly within the formation, like a startled beast struggling.
However, that struggle was extremely futile because Lin Ming's chosen entry point was extremely precise. Each Spirit Seal was precisely embedded in a weak point, disintegrating the structure there.
Lin Ming did not completely break the Spirit Formation, but chose the safest method.
He damaged some of the central points of the Spirit Formation, causing internal chaos and leading to its collapse due to loss of balance.
A faint humming sound emanated from the Spirit Formation.
The vibrations were initially very weak, like the fluttering of bees' wings, but they quickly grew more and more intense, causing the entire formation to tremble slightly.
Waves of chaotic Spiritual Energy burst forth from the Spirit Formation, and the dark gray light leaped wildly within it, like a group of disturbed venomous snakes darting about.
Finally, the riddled Spirit Formation could no longer withstand the pressure and shattered with a deafening roar.
As the Spirit Formation shattered, the Death Qi that permeated it surged out in a mighty torrent.
The Death Qi surged out from the collapsed formation like a thick, grayish-white fog, instantly chilling the heavens and earth.
A decaying and chilling aura permeated the air, as if an ancient Ancient Tomb had been suddenly opened, releasing the accumulated Corpse Qi of millennia in an instant.
However, with a wave of his hand, Lin Ming's powerful Spiritual Energy solidified the Corpse Qi, preventing it from spreading.
The Death Qi hissed under the burning of the Emperor Flame, melting away as quickly as ice and snow meeting fire. In less than a few breaths, it was completely burned away, leaving only wisps of green smoke dissipating into the air.
At this moment, Zi Yan could no longer contain herself and rushed out. Her figure went straight for the Dragon Spirit Pearl on the throne.
Seeing this, Xia Jia said with some worry, "Lady Zi Yan, be careful of this Corpse Puppet Dragon."
She pointed to the Bai Long beneath the earth, its body radiating Death Qi. This thing was also a troublesome case. Its Death Qi was extremely domineering; if it were to invade the body, it would inevitably cause great damage.
"A mere Corpse Puppet Dragon poses no obstacle to me," Zi Yan smiled slightly, with a light and composed air.
In the blink of an eye, she appeared above the Bai Long.
Roar! Although the Bai Long had perished, it still retained its instincts. Sensing someone approaching the Dragon Spirit Pearl, it immediately let out a deep dragon roar.
The roar emanated from the enormous dragon's mouth, the sound waves spreading in all directions as if they were tangible, causing the surrounding rocks to fall in a rustling sound.
Then, as the dragon opened its mouth, a stream of gray, Death Qi burst forth.
The Death Qi was as thick as ink, carrying with it millennia of accumulated resentment and chilling cold. Wherever the Death Qi passed, even the space darkened, and a bone-chilling cold emanated from the air.
However, faced with the immense Death Qi of the Bai Long, Zi Yan casually waved her hand, and a wisp of green appeared in her palm.
That shade of green was extremely pure and bright, like a newly sprouted leaf magnified countless times, exuding a warm and vigorous vitality.
Upon contact, the two reacted like water and fire meeting, producing a hissing sound as they instantly neutralized the approaching Death Qi.
The grayish-white Death Qi melted away the moment it came into contact with the green hue, like snow being doused with boiling water; the grayish-white color faded rapidly, turning into nothingness.
At this moment, the Bai Long's body also attacked Zi Yan. The huge dragon body suddenly burst out of the abyss, like a silver-white mountain rising from the ground, and its dragon claws grabbed at Zi Yan like hooks from the sky, carrying immense force.
However, Zi Yan clenched her fist without the slightest panic. Her movements were swift and decisive; the air in her palm burst open with a crisp "snap" as her fingers closed.
With a surge of purple-gold light emanating from it, a punch was thrown out in an instant.
With this punch, Bai Long was sent flying a great distance.
The enormous dragon's body was struck head-on by a giant hammer of a God. Under the immense force, the entire dragon's body bent into an arc and flew backward from the top of the abyss, crashing heavily onto the Ruins hundreds of feet away.
The entire Ruins collapsed under the impact of the dragon's body, and rubble, dust, and wood chips surged in all directions like a tsunami, burying the Bai Long within.
At this moment, with no further obstacles, Zi Yan immediately arrived before the White Bone Throne.
Her figure landed lightly before the throne, her Purple-Gold Dress fluttering gently in the dust and wind of the Ruins.
Zi Yan looked up at the Dragon Spirit Pearl atop the throne, which emitted a soft light. Her purple-gold eyes reflected the milky-white light, and a satisfied smile curved her lips.
Then, with a flick of her jade hand, the Dragon Spirit Pearl slowly floated up, detached from the top of the throne, drew a gentle arc in the air, and landed in her hand.