Survival

What kind of place was this? The terrain rose and fell, dotted with ghosts, shattered bones, and black Malevolent Qi. This Qi gave bodiless souls a form, preventing them from dissolving into energy between heaven and earth. They became Evil Ghosts and Fierce Ghosts, while the remains of the dead formed sentient beings.

This was a place of great danger in the world. Any living creature that set foot here would be swallowed by a sea of blood, and its bones and soul would end up in this region.

They could become members of the Ghost Clan or the Undead Clan.

Before him lay a stretch of high ground, like a hill covered in a thick layer of dry bones.

"Roar!" A piercing Ghost Howl suddenly rang out, as if a demon from the deepest pits of hell were wailing. It made his scalp tingle.

Ghost Howls and demonic roars from the Undead Clan could often be heard here.

The howl came from a vast expanse of white bones near the center of the mountain range. A lone, slender figure stood there: a snow-white lion-shaped skeleton.

A sinister green light burned like a flame in the empty sockets of its skull. Its jaw opened and closed with a clacking sound, as if it were cackling.

Ji Tian was startled. Had he accidentally wandered into a powerful being's territory?

No, that wasn't right. He had to be fairly strong himself by now, far stronger than those ghostly beings that evolved on instinct alone. He wanted to defy the heavens, so why was he feeling uneasy over such a small danger?

Boom! The skeleton suddenly swung its claws, scattering a large pile of bones across the ground. It was searching for something that would make it stronger.

The Soul Flame was the substance inside the white lion's skull. It was formed from the soul or consciousness of a skeleton creature, taking the shape of a flame. It could also be called Ghost Fire.

The white lion seemed to sense Ji Tian's presence. It raised its head and stared at him through its empty eye sockets. Then it opened its enormous bony jaws in a threatening gesture—a warning it had used against its foes in life.

Suddenly, it leaped onto higher ground, exuding an air of dominion over all. The lion must have been a powerful creature in life to have bones so smooth and gleaming.

Bones clattered as it scraped them aside with its claws. It was a threat. Though it possessed the immortal Light of the Soul, it had yet to awaken its consciousness and still acted on instinct, just as he had.

Ji Tian's black ghostly form made it feel threatened.

The skeleton lion swished its bony tail, opened its enormous jaws, and used the slope to lunge at Ji Tian.

Ji Tian was dumbfounded. The lion looked powerful. How was he supposed to fight back when he was nothing but a mass of ghostly shadow?

He dodged. Seeing the skeleton lion pounce, Ji Tian—powerless to resist—floated lightly backward.

When its attack missed, the skeleton lion threw back its head and roared. Ji Tian had no idea how a skeleton could even make a sound.

Ji Tian encouraged himself. He could beat it. The other creature was afraid.

Seeing Ji Tian retreat, the skeleton lion took it as a sign of fear and grew confident. It dug in with its hind legs and pounced at him again.

Its two bony claws raked across Ji Tian, knocking him to the ground. A powerful force surged through him, making his condensed ghostly form feel as if it were about to disperse. Wisps of black smoke scattered from his body—Malevolent Qi he had refined.

But Ji Tian felt helpless. He had no idea how to fight back or escape.

If he had once seen the Black Remnant Bone on his body devour a ghost, he might have gotten some inspiration. Unfortunately, he had been in a daze at the time.

But the skeleton lion was his teacher, too.

The skeleton lion opened its jaws and swallowed Ji Tian whole. The green light in its forehead shone brighter, and a beam of green light shot from its eyes to envelop him. It meant to refine his soul power.

The green light immediately wrapped around the Core Elixir Ji Tian had just formed, which gave off a faint red glow. This was the Soul Flame produced by the soul, capable of refining another's soul and strengthening one's own soul power.

Ji Tian's soul felt pain—deep, terrible pain. He tried to break free, but some strange force held him in place.

Ji Tian circulated his Core Elixir, trying to draw on his power and repel the Soul Flame as it pressed to penetrate the inside of his Core Elixir.

"Fire. I need fire too—to burn away this invading power!" The energy around his Core Elixir seemed to obey his command, turning into a wisp of purple flame. The invading flame was instantly refined into a stream of white vapor.

As Ji Tian's Core Elixir spun, it generated a suction force that wrenched the skeleton lion's green Soul Flame away.

After absorbing the Soul Flame, Ji Tian's own grew considerably stronger. He suddenly realized he had gained many memories, all left behind by the unfortunate member of the Skeleton Race.

He gained a wealth of information with little effort, along with a few basic combat skills. Unfortunately, attacks using claws or enormous jaws didn't suit him. The method of devouring soul power, though, was something he could use.

This was a world where the strong preyed on the weak. Undead creatures had to keep growing stronger to survive. Hunting prey and absorbing the energy within them was a daily necessity for every undead creature!

This area was the outskirts of the Withered Bone Mountain Range. The strongest creature here was a demonic tiger with bony wings. Even the weakest creatures at its side had blue flames—skeletons or ghostly beings.

At the very bottom were skeletons with white flames, newly conscious low-level undead creatures. Devouring the Soul Flames of undead creatures was the fastest way to grow.

Ji Tian felt lost. This ran counter to what he wanted. He didn't want to kill; he only wanted to live in peace and keep cultivating. There was too little spiritual energy in this space, and the kind that could strengthen his soul existed only in the Soul Flames of these undead creatures.

To survive, he had to plunder. This was a world where the strong preyed on the weak.

Ji Tian knew that to gain a powerful soul, he would have to approach the Withered Bone Mountain Range. That was dangerous for him.

Danger often came with opportunity. There was no reward without risk.

Ji Tian began to think about what means he had to defeat an enemy. Absolutely none.

Fear? All the creatures here were dead. Who would be afraid? A ghostly wail? He'd probably only scare himself.

Ji Tian felt like cursing the heavens. He wished he had some bones, like the lion—something that could fight and move, at least enough to scare his opponents.

He seemed to have one bone, too. It was just small. No, a bone that could change shape freely had to be no ordinary thing.

Maybe it could make a good weapon. But how could he control it?

That soul had said they were one. Surely it owed him a little help. He'd test how hard it was first.

No, how was he supposed to pick up the bone on the ground? Let him think. Damn this bone spirit—why hadn't it taught him anything before going to sleep?

There had to be a reason he was carrying this Black Remnant Bone. Right, how had the flame suddenly appeared inside him?

He focused the power of his Core Elixir, imagining an arm, then a hand.

Again—failure. Again—failure. Could someone teach him how to use this Core Elixir power?

He fumbled, tried, and failed.

Ji Tian was at a loss. He had wasted a lot of this power messing around. How was he supposed to replenish it?

His Core Elixir spun rapidly in response to his command. Suddenly, a force shot from its edge and, following his intention, lifted a small stone.

Th-this... Faced with his sudden success, Ji Tian didn't know what to do.

"Haha, I finally did it!" Excited, Ji Tian eagerly tried again, but failed. Why? Why?

Trajectory and speed. Yes, those two things. Different trajectories and speeds produced different forces. The first time, his Core Elixir had created a vortex of energy that produced suction, lifting the stone.

Exactly! If he flung the stone he'd lifted, that would create a ranged attack. Haha, he really was clever.

Ji Tian spent half a day walking along the edge of the bone sea. He encountered quite a few wandering low-level skeletons.

Ji Tian used his power of attraction to lift stones the size of his palm, then rapidly reversed the flow of spiritual energy. The force spun the stones around and hurled them out, smashing the skulls of the Skeleton Soldiers. Before their Soul Flames could fall to the ground, Ji Tian quickly sucked them into his Core Elixir.

"Haha, I can attack now! I'm one of the strong ones!"

This Soul Flame was far weaker than the first one he'd absorbed. The red flames of these skeletons were indeed useless. They had only just gained consciousness and knew nothing; they possessed only a little soul power, and it was impure. Even after refining it, he couldn't absorb much spiritual energy. He looked around. Several silly, animal-shaped skeletons were still wandering nearby. Ji Tian tried the same trick again, but every stone missed its mark.

He still needed to work on his aim. But there wasn't a single Green Flame Skeleton nearby. What a shame—he hadn't gotten to show off his Flying Stone technique.

Ji Tian had practically become the king of this outer region. Many low-level skeletons with consciousness could deeply feel the pressure of his soul. After all, he had stabilized his Core Elixir realm, and the Core Elixir inside him had begun to change color. Its dull gray grew steadily darker, moving toward black. Once it turned completely glossy black, he would have achieved minor success. He had also slain some low-level skeletons. He had grown more cautious, making sure there were no threats nearby before carefully refining their Soul Flames.