Challenge

Ji Tian had no concept of forging in his memories, either. Fortunately, his Core Elixir could produce a kind of flame. He could use the flame to change an object's shape. That was how it worked, probably.

Ji Tian tossed a cow rib into his Core Elixir and controlled it to produce flames. Using their high temperature, he burned the bone.

"Crack!" The cow bone broke apart and became Bone Powder.

Again. It would be great if he had something to protect the cow bone. Ji Tian drew a stream of spiritual power from his Core Elixir and wrapped it around a piece of cow bone.

"Crack!" That was progress. This time, he hadn't controlled the spiritual power evenly.

He had to refine the bone while infusing it with spiritual power, keeping its properties unchanged, removing the impurities and preserving its essence.

That was it! Ha ha, he could hardly believe this was his own work.

Ji Tian gazed at the bone-white Bone Needle floating inside him, amazed.

Ji Tian had refined a Bone Arrow from the Demonic Ox's spine, as well as ten Bone Needles. The two throwing knives weren't finished yet, so he'd dragged them into his ghost body, where they floated above his Core Elixir alongside the Black Remnant Bone. Ji Tian didn't rest, either, and kept refining them with his Purple Flame.

Ji Tian returned to the place where the Two-headed Demonic Wolf had been attacked. There was nothing left. The scattered clumps of green Soul Flame had long since been cleared away—not even a scrap remained.

Was the Flying Demonic Tiger trying to absorb Soul Power, or eliminate potential rivals? Perhaps it wanted to wipe out every Skeleton that could challenge it before they had a chance to grow, so it could rule this territory forever. Though this area was insignificant compared with the Withered Bone Mountain Range, it was still a vast region.

Ji Tian had used a trap to take down a Blue Flame Stage expert, but he still had no clear idea of his actual combat strength. He wasn't sure he could beat a Blue Flame Skeleton, let alone a Purple Flame Skeleton of a higher rank. Was he being too ambitious?

He still needed to strengthen his offensive abilities.

Ji Tian began wandering around the stone forest again, still looking for an opportunity. He didn't dare get too close to the tiger's lair, either. If it caught him and he couldn't escape, he'd be in trouble.

A group of low-level Skeletons was on patrol. Not worth his time.

After waiting several days, he spotted a squad of Skeletons. Their leader was a five-meter-long lizard with six legs growing from its Bone Body and black, razor-sharp claws that glinted coldly.

Sometimes, a Skeleton's rank could be determined by its physical traits. A Skeleton with only some of its bones glowing like this one was definitely at the Blue Flame Stage.

Ji Tian thought this was a good chance to test himself, but he couldn't attack just yet. He was right outside their home. If he struck now, he'd only provoke the whole group.

He followed them. This time, he didn't plan to launch a sneak attack.

The mountain forest was filled with oddly shaped rocks, and there were plenty of crevices to hide in. It was a good place—if he couldn't win, he could still escape.

Ji Tian suddenly appeared in front of the lizard and let out a harsh ghostly cry. "I challenge you!"

The lizard hissed. "Ha ha! You little whelp don't even have a Soul Flame." The lizard seemed startled by its own words and fell into thought. How could someone without a Soul Flame be like this?

Ji Tian set his Core Elixir in motion and fired three of his Bone Needles. Two shot straight toward the lizard's empty eye sockets. Ji Tian thought those were a weak spot.

He didn't know whether his refined Bone Needles could pierce the lizard's skull, but he thought they could get through its eye sockets and hit its soul.

The lizard swung its skull, paying no attention to what its opponent had fired.

"Clang!" One Bone Needle bounced off the lizard's sturdy skull. Another missed its target. The last one finally lived up to expectations and pierced the eye socket, but an odd force stopped it.

Ji Tian shook his head and sighed. "Right. It's not that simple."

His power was still too weak to have any effect on the lizard's bones.

The little Bone Needles were still too light. The force he put behind them wasn't enough to make them highly lethal.

How could he increase their power? Right—Soul Power. He could coat their surfaces with spiritual power.

Ji Tian wrapped a Bone Needle in a layer of spiritual power and sent it hurtling toward the lizard.

"Is that all you've got? Let me eat you—"

"Ah!" The lizard Skeleton writhed in agony on the ground, its powerful bones sweeping two unlucky companions off their feet.

This time, the lizard had underestimated Ji Tian's Bone Needle. It had pierced the eye socket and struck its Soul Flame directly.

The pain came from its very soul.

Ji Tian was rather frustrated. He'd thought that hitting the lizard's Soul Flame would be enough, but it had only left it unable to fight. If only he could make the Bone Needle explode. That would surely scatter its Soul Flame.

Actually, hitting a Skeleton's Soul Flame wasn't that easy. When threatened, they could draw in their Soul Flames to evade attacks. The lizard had been careless. Few Skeletons could attack from a distance, and fewer still used such a tiny Bone Needle to target an opponent's eye socket. It was a downright underhanded move.

The Skeleton Race had run into a real disaster, facing such a shameless opponent.

He should try his Bone Arrow, Ji Tian thought. His spiritual power only gave him enough for one shot. If he missed, he'd have to run—and fast, while the lizard was still in pain.

The lizard struggled to its feet, swaying unsteadily. Its pain was still ongoing.

"Kid, you're dead! You made me suffer like this!" Its sharp claws gouged five deep furrows in the ground. Ji Tian also noticed that the stones touched by those claws, glinting with cold light, all crumbled apart.

Ji Tian realized he had no other option besides this arrow.

"Fine! I'll fight you fair and square." In his mind, though, he silently urged, Look up. Look up! As he spoke, he fired his fully charged arrow.

The lizard raised its triangular head and growled, "You've got guts. You—"

The Bone Arrow, wrapped in spiritual power, flew like an arrow loosed from a bow, glowing faintly as it shot toward the lizard's head.

The sharp arrowhead plunged straight into the lizard's skull. It wasn't that Ji Tian didn't want to aim for its eye socket; he just hadn't practiced enough to hit it accurately.

"Crack! Crack!" The Bone Arrow snapped in two, but the unprotected lizard's skull shattered, too.

After all, both were bones of the same rank. What's more, Ji Tian had refined the Bone Arrow and shielded it with a layer of spiritual power.

That counted as an easy victory.

The other Skeletons were easy to deal with. One Bone Needle was enough to shatter an opponent's skull.

"Whoosh, whoosh!" Suddenly, the sky rang with the sound of rushing wind. The Core Elixir, which was refining Soul Flame, began to pulse wildly. Ji Tian slowly raised his head and stared into the sky.

High above, dark mist swirled and a Demonic Cloud churned. A black speck flew quickly toward him from the distance, growing larger until it swept over Ji Tian's head like a dark cloud.

It was a gigantic Bone Dragon. Even high in the sky, it looked enormous. If it had been right in front of Ji Tian, it would have been as big as a small mountain.

The Bone Dragon was snow-white from head to tail and stretched hundreds of meters long. Each bone was like a pillar of white jade, gleaming with a ghostly light. From far away, Ji Tian could see a massive Golden Flame within its skull. What kind of being was this, to make his Core Elixir sound an alarm?

The Bone Dragon swung its white-boned body in midair. The wind roared like the wails of evil ghosts, sweeping away the dark mist and Demonic Cloud around it.

The Bone Dragon was too fast. In an instant, it became a black speck and vanished beyond his sight.

Ji Tian's Core Elixir slowly settled down, but he stood there dazed for quite some time.

I have to get stronger. The gap is far too wide. Ji Tian finally understood that this space held too many unknowns and too many dangers. Surviving here was far harder than he'd thought.

As he refined the blue Soul Flame, Ji Tian felt abundant Soul Power circling inside his Core Elixir. Then the flames produced on its surface flowed over the Soul Flame he was refining, speeding up the process.

The two circulated endlessly between them, as if forming a mutually reinforcing system.

Ji Tian sensed a change inside his Core Elixir.

The Soul Power within it was undergoing a qualitative transformation. The vast amount of gas inside was being compressed, its thin wisps condensing layer by layer. Drops of liquid began to form. There were very few, but Ji Tian knew his Soul Power was turning into a flowing liquid.

He needed more Soul Power to help his Core Elixir transform.

The power produced by liquid Soul Power was far greater than before. The difference between them was like the difference between a mountain and a plain.

Though he had only one drop for now, it was enough for him to control his Bone Arrow as he pleased.

Ha ha, that was a huge step forward—but it still wasn't enough.

He needed to keep lying in wait. You go hunting, and I'll hunt you.

Ji Tian was beginning to look down on green Soul Flame. Refining it took a great deal of effort, yet it only added a tiny amount of Soul Power. The information contained in Soul Flame was almost useless, too.

Ji Tian pondered silently. Did other ghost bodies have offensive techniques? It was too difficult to figure everything out on his own.

Every fight brought him more combat experience.

He had a top-tier cultivation method, yet he couldn't find any spiritual power to absorb. The Malevolent Qi and Killing Qi permeating the air had been almost useless after shaping his ghost body. If only this Malevolent Qi and Killing Qi could strengthen his Soul Power.

To make matters worse, the cultivation method didn't even include any offensive techniques.

So frustrating!