Challenging

In his memories, Ji Tian had no concept of artifact refining. Fortunately, his Core Elixir could produce a flame, and by passing the flame through it, he could change the shape of objects. That should be how it worked.

Ji Tian threw a demonic ox rib into his Core Elixir, controlled it to produce a flame, and used the flame's high temperature to scorch the bone.

"Crack!" The ox bone broke into bone powder.

Next, it would be great if something could protect this ox bone. He drew a stream of Spiritual Power from his Core Elixir and wrapped it around a piece of ox bone.

"Crack!" Progress! This time, the Spiritual Power distribution was uneven.

While refining, he also had to infuse Spiritual Power into the bone to prevent its properties from changing, removing impurities and leaving behind the essence.

This is it, haha, I can't believe it, this is actually my masterpiece.

Ji Tian looked at the white bone-colored Bone Needle floating inside him, marveling.

Ji Tian refined a Bone Arrow, which was made from the spine of a Demonic Ox, and ten Bone Needles. The two Flying Daggers were not yet formed and were dragged into his Ghost Body, floating above his Core Elixir with the black residual bones. Ji Tian wasn't idle either, constantly refining them with his Purple Flame.

Ji Tian returned to the place where the Two-headed Demonic Wolf had attacked. Nothing was left. Those scattered green Soul Flames on the ground had long been cleaned up by someone. Not even a speck of dust remained.

Was this Flying Demonic Tiger trying to absorb soul power, or was it eliminating rivals? It destroyed the Skeletons that could contend with it before they could grow, ensuring it would forever reign supreme in this area. Although this area was insignificant compared to the Withered Bone Mountain Range, it was still a large region.

Ji Tian dealt with a Blue Flame Stage expert using a trap, but he wasn't entirely clear about his actual combat power. He wasn't sure if he could defeat a Blue Flame Skeleton. A Purple Flame Skeleton of a higher level seemed too ambitious.

He still needed to continuously strengthen his offensive methods.

Ji Tian began to wander around the stone forest again, naturally still looking for opportunities. He didn't dare to get too close to the Demonic Tiger's lair; if he were caught, escape would be impossible, and that would be terrible.

A group of low-level Skeletons patrolling, not interested.

After waiting for several days, a squad of Skeletons appeared, led by a five-meter-long Lizard. Its bone structure had six legs, and its claws were black and sharp, emitting a cold glint.

Sometimes, one could tell the level of a Skeleton from its physical characteristics. Skeletons like this, with only parts of their bones shining, were definitely in the Blue Flame Stage.

Ji Tian felt this was a good opportunity to train himself, but he couldn't make a move yet. This was right at their doorstep; making a move now would be like asking for a group fight.

He followed, this time not wanting to play sneak attack.

A mountain forest, with strangely shaped stones everywhere, and rock crevices for him to hide in. A good place; if he couldn't win, he could escape.

Ji Tian suddenly appeared in front of the Lizard and let out an unpleasant ghostly cry, "I challenge you!"

The Lizard hissed, "Haha, you little brat, you don't even have Soul Flames." The Lizard seemed startled by its own words and fell into thought. How could it be like this without Soul Flames?

Ji Tian circulated his Core Elixir and launched three of his Bone Needles, two aimed directly at the two empty eye sockets. Ji Tian felt this was a loophole.

He wasn't sure if the Bone Needles he refined could penetrate the opponent's skull, but attacking the soul through the eye sockets should be possible.

The Lizard's skull flicked, completely unconcerned about what the opponent was launching.

"Ping!" One Bone Needle was deflected by the Lizard's sturdy skull. One missed its target, but the other finally lived up to expectations, piercing the eye socket but being blocked by a strange force.

Ji Tian shook his head and sighed, "Indeed, it's not that simple."

His strength was still insufficient; it couldn't even affect the opponent's bones.

The small Bone Needles were still too light. The force he imparted to them wasn't enough to give them significant lethality.

How could he increase its attack power? Right, Soul Power! (Spiritual Power, the main source of the Ghost Body's Spiritual Power is Soul Power.) He wrapped a layer of Spiritual Power around its surface.

Ji Tian wrapped a Bone Needle with a layer of Spiritual Power and rapidly attacked the Lizard.

"Is this all you've got? Let me eat you..."

"Ah!" The Lizard Skeleton writhed on the ground in pain. Its powerful bones immediately swept away the two unlucky fellows nearby.

The Lizard had underestimated Ji Tian's Bone Needle this time, allowing it to pass through the eye socket and directly attack its Soul Flame.

This pain came from the soul.

Ji Tian was quite frustrated. He thought attacking the opponent's Soul Flame would be enough, but it only incapacitated the opponent. If only he could detonate the Bone Needle, it would surely scatter the opponent's Soul Flame.

Actually, attacking the Soul Flame of a Skeleton wasn't that simple. When they felt threatened, they would choose to contract their Soul Flames to evade the attack. This was also why the Lizard was a bit careless. Not many Skeletons possessed long-range attack capabilities, and to choose such a small Bone Needle for a long-range attack, specifically targeting the eye sockets, was indeed insidious.

Encountering such a shameless fellow, the Skeleton race was now in a tragic situation.

Let's try my Bone Arrow, Ji Tian thought. His Spiritual Power only allowed him one shot. If he missed, he would have to flee, and flee quickly, while the opponent was still in pain.

The Lizard managed to stand up, its shaky body indicating that the pain was still ongoing.

"Brat, you're dead! You made me suffer so much!" Its sharp claws scratched five deep gouges in the ground. Ji Tian also noticed that the rocks his claws touched, emitting a cold glint, crumbled.

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

"Fine, I'll fight you fair and square." In his heart, he silently chanted, "Look up quickly, look up quickly," as he unleashed his ready arrow.

The Lizard raised its triangular head and said fiercely, "You have courage, you..."

This Bone Arrow, wrapped in Spiritual Power, truly shot out like a bolt from a bow, emitting a faint glow as it attacked the Lizard's head.

The sharp arrow pierced directly into the opponent's head. It wasn't that Ji Tian didn't want to aim for the eye sockets, but his accuracy wasn't good enough yet.

"Crack, crack!" Two sounds, the Bone Arrow broke, but the unprotected Lizard's skull also shattered.

After all, both were bones of the same level. Moreover, this Bone Arrow had been refined by Ji Tian and had a layer of Spiritual Power protection.

This could be considered an easy victory.

Dealing with other Skeletons was easy; a Bone Needle would shatter their skulls.

"Whoosh, whoosh." A gust of wind suddenly roared through the sky. Ji Tian's Core Elixir, which was refining the Soul Flame, began to beat wildly. He slowly looked up and gazed at the sky.

High above, Nether Mist swirled and Demonic Clouds churned. A black dot flew rapidly from afar, slowly growing larger, until finally, it streaked across the sky above Ji Tian like a dark cloud.

It was a massive Bone Dragon. Even from high in the sky, its form appeared incredibly huge. If placed before Ji Tian, it would surely be like a small mountain.

The Bone Dragon was bone-white all over. It was hundreds of feet long, and each bone was like a pillar of white jade, shimmering with an eerie glow. From afar, one could see a ball of immense Golden Flame contained within its skull. Golden Flame... what kind of existence was this? It could cause his Core Elixir to issue a warning.

Its skeletal body swayed in the air, and a roar of wind ensued, like the wailing of evil spirits. The surrounding Nether Mist and Demonic Clouds were scattered.

The Bone Dragon was too fast. In an instant, it became a black dot and disappeared from his sight.

Ji Tian's Core Elixir slowly calmed down, and he stood there in a daze for a while.

I need to improve myself. The gap is too vast. Ji Tian suddenly understood that there were too many unknowns and too many dangers in this space. Survival was not as he had previously imagined; it seemed much more difficult.

Through refining the blue Soul Fire, Ji Tian felt a surge of Soul Power swirling within his Core Elixir. Then, through the flame generated on the surface of the Core Elixir, it flowed onto the Soul Flame being refined, allowing for faster refinement.

The Core Elixir and the Soul Flame circulated endlessly, forming a mutually beneficial system.

Ji Tian sensed the change in his Core Elixir, an internal one.

Within the Core Elixir, the Soul Power was undergoing a qualitative change. The boundless gas inside was compressing, the thin gas was solidifying layer by layer, and liquid droplets began to appear. Although there were very few, Ji Tian knew that his Soul Power was transforming into a flowable liquid state.

He needed more Soul Power to help his Core Elixir undergo this transformation.

The power generated by liquid Soul Power was far greater than before; the difference between them was like the difference between a high mountain and flat ground.

Even though there was only one drop now, it was enough to satisfy his need to control Bone Arrows at will.

Haha, significant progress, but still not enough.

I need to lie in wait. You go hunt, and I'll hunt you.

Ji Tian now looked down on the green Soul Fire. After all his effort to refine it, it only increased his Soul Power a little, and the information contained within the Soul Fire was almost useless.

Ji Tian thought blankly, wondering if other Ghost Bodies had methods of attack. Relying on his own comprehension was too difficult.

Battle after battle, accumulating combat experience time and again.

He possessed top-tier cultivation methods but couldn't find any Spiritual Power to absorb. The Malevolent Qi and Killing Qi that permeated the air were of little use after he had formed his Ghost Body. If only this Malevolent Qi and Killing Qi could increase his Soul Power.

Even more infuriating was that the cultivation method lacked any offensive techniques.

What a drag!