Deep Pool

Shining with a faint dark light, it looked like a perpetually still, deep black pool. Wisps of coldness continuously drifted from the pool, chilling one to the bone. A trace of agile black energy also swirled around the pool, unwilling to dissipate.

Ji Tian glanced at it with his cold eyes and sneered, "So that's how it is."

Ji Tian extended a bone arm, seemingly real yet illusory. Its black color possessed a strange radiance, a light that devoured the mind and spirit.

It was precisely this bone arm that allowed Ji Tian to move as if no one were present, with no Skeleton able to withstand a single blow.

This was the legendary Demon Bone.

The Skeleton Race could only tremble beneath this bone arm. Even those who could resist could not withstand its might. This was a bone arm capable of contending with the heavens, of challenging the Heavenly Dao. Though damaged, it was still beyond the resistance of the Skeleton Race, who had cultivated for millennia.

The deep pool was not empty or desolate; several pure white fish swam within.

They brought a trace of life and a sense of peace to the deep pool.

All of this was merely superficial. Surface appearances were often deceptive.

Ji Tian lightly waved his bone arm, unleashing a probing force. Black Spiritual Power condensed into a Demonic Blade, cleaving towards the deep pool.

At that moment, a white light flashed across the bodies of the white fish. They flowed like mercury, forming a continuous screen of light that blocked the Demonic Blade. They ceaselessly devoured the black Spiritual Power, and the Demonic Blade rapidly vanished.

Simultaneously, the Restriction emitted streams of white threads, like the growing tendrils of a plant, wrapping around Ji Tian and forming a giant net.

A power of confinement. Ji Tian deeply felt that if he were ensnared by this power, it would be difficult to break free. He could only use the power of the Black Bone Arm, but he could only use it three consecutive times before it would fall dormant.

The Restriction withstood his attack and then transformed back into white fish, leisurely swallowing and spitting water.

"A Restriction that has gained sentience, a rare sight. I wonder if I can subdue it." Ji Tian's Primordial Spirit stirred, sensing something flying towards him.

At this moment, a pitch-black Bone Dragon slithered forth, surrounded by rolling Demonic Clouds and mist, dyeing the sky a deep black, as if the end of the world had arrived.

"Could there be another unique existence? This Demonic Dragon doesn't seem simple."

This Demonic Dragon was already a unique existence within the Skeleton Race. Its Soul Flame had broken through its fiery state, and it had cultivated to the Primordial Spirit Stage, the same stage as Ji Tian's cultivation technique, Qi Refinement into Spirit. The Soul Flame had completely transformed into a Primordial Spirit, which could reside anywhere in the body. The body itself became its world, and the Primordial Spirit was the deity within that world. It could wield its own divine abilities through its Primordial Spirit.

With a Primordial Spirit, its intelligence awakened. Its cultivation was no longer aimless; it possessed the consciousness to pursue the Dao. They were the masters of this new world; they were cultivators.

Those Skeleton Kings and Skeleton Emperors were merely confused wanderers who had just embarked on the path of cultivation.

Ji Tian slowly sized up this peculiar fellow. It had actually broken through the realm of Soul Flame; it was a creature of fortune.

Although the approaching entity was powerful, Ji Tian was different now. He hadn't expected that the Black Remnant Bone's so-called "raising a level" would transform him from the Core Elixir Stage to the Primordial Spirit Stage. When he communicated with the Black Remnant Bone, he felt a soul of the same origin continuously merging.

The Core Elixir was the foundation of Ji Tian's peculiar Ghost Body. It had no form, only a Core Elixir formed by soul power, within which its soul resided.

That soul power caused his Core Elixir to rapidly evolve. Inside the Core Elixir was a world of the sea, a black sea with rippling waves.

At the bottom of the sea, a peculiar power was growing. In the boundless ocean, a volcano formed, erupting continuously, drawing up soul power and transforming it into life energy.

The soul condensed into a spirit within the Core Elixir, forming a Primordial Spirit. This Primordial Spirit was the deity gestated in the boundless sea. Upon its birth, it immediately absorbed the boundless seawater into its body and refined this sea within itself, forming a peculiar existence capable of switching between solid and void, known as the Sea of Consciousness. When in its void state, the Primordial Spirit resided within it, serving as the origin of its soul power.

Ji Tian discovered that he could refine the Black Remnant Bone floating above his Core Elixir. After refining it, it was like donning a piece of bone armor, transforming into his arm.

The Demonic Dragon roared and charged at him. Ji Tian coldly smiled and said, "You're not strong enough yet. Take this punch!"

A phantom fist materialized before Ji Tian, carrying destructive power as it lunged towards the Demonic Dragon.

"Crack!" The Bone Dragon's entire skeletal structure shattered.

Ji Tian was somewhat incredulous. So powerful. If I could collect all of my broken right arm, who could withstand a single punch from me?

The Demonic Dragon's Primordial Spirit, having narrowly escaped, fled in terror towards the deep pool.

A faint dark light flashed. The seemingly corporeal Demonic Dragon roared and burst out again, appearing furious.

Ji Tian was startled. "There's something wrong. This deep pool isn't simple."

The moment the Demonic Dragon emerged from the water, it transformed into a black Bone Dragon.

"Sky Cover!" A phantom giant hand reached out towards the Bone Dragon, crushing it into pieces.

The Demonic Dragon charged out again, but no longer roared. It dared not. The dread in its soul was too profound.

Ji Tian felt an urge to refine this deep pool. First, he had to break through this bizarre Restriction. The sentient Restriction must also be related to the water in this pool.

The Demonic Dragon fearfully circled Ji Tian, yet dared not approach.

Ji Tian looked at the Demonic Dragon and sighed, "I can't just wait here. I should investigate!"

Perhaps by not attacking, he wouldn't be attacked by the Restriction. This Demonic Dragon, and that flying Demonic Wolf, weren't devoured. I think that's why.

The moment Ji Tian stepped into it, he sensed something was wrong. The pool water formed a black vortex, carrying a strong power of confinement.

Darkness, without a speck of light, endless darkness.

Ji Tian found he couldn't break free from this black cage at all.

"Where am I? Why can't I move?"

A complex, inexplicable emotion, as if from the depths of eternity, entered Ji Tian's heart, making him feel as if he had lived tens of thousands of years in an instant, filled with immense loss. He was startled to find himself hugging a black stone and weeping uncontrollably. If not for the cold touch, he would have been lost in that complex emotion. This was the feeling of a supreme being at the end of their life, filled with loss and helplessness...

Ji Tian calmed his mind, dispelling all distracting thoughts, and carefully sensed the unusual fluctuations within the stone.

Suddenly, the unusual fluctuation seemed to resonate with him, and a majestic power began to surge within the stone. Simultaneously, a peculiar force of confinement surged from all around, suppressing the power within the stone bit by bit.

Ji Tian was greatly alarmed. What kind of place was this? Was this stone formed from the remnant bones of a demon god, a place where sealing power gathered?

He felt that this stone was peculiar. A strange power fluctuation rippled around it, slowly seeping into the stone's interior and gradually settling down. It was absorbing the energy from this pitch-black space.

Ji Tian carefully examined the stone, continuously probing it with his Spiritual Sense.

A dark shadow lunged at Ji Tian, cackling, "Another living being! How is this possible? It feels… familiar."

The dark shadow made a motion as if to pat its head. Whatever.

"A Death Spirit!" Ji Tian exclaimed in shock. Death Spirits were the strangest beings, condensed from death qi. They had no souls but unexpectedly gained consciousness, making them a type of ghost.

"You can recognize me? Then I'll keep you company forever!" the Death Spirit cackled.

"Let me show you the taste of death. Cackle!" The Death Spirit immediately dispersed like smoke.

Death qi permeated the air, capable of corroding a being's Primordial Spirit and turning them into mindless husks.

Ji Tian felt a mix of amusement and exasperation, being looked down upon by someone who had just cultivated a Ghost Body.

"Wind Sweep!" A faint breeze blew, gently swirling the death qi. None of the death qi could approach Ji Tian, instead veering off in other directions.

"This is impossible! How can there be wind in this sealed space?"

Ji Tian snorted, "If I can enter, what's impossible? You shouldn't even exist."

"Devour!" Ji Tian's Primordial Spirit moved, and a black hole appeared in his body, swallowing the pervasive death qi and the Death Spirit struggling within it. Death qi was a component used by ghosts to refine their bodies. Although this death qi wasn't very useful, it could be stored for later.

It was certainly useful for scaring this Death Spirit, which was now struggling in fear.

"Don't devour me! Or my master won't let you go! Master… right, why do you have your master's aura?"

Ji Tian devoured all the death qi and glanced around. The Death Spirit quickly rushed towards the black stone in front of him. The stone maintained the Death Spirit's form, and streams of death qi were continuously being drawn from it into this space.

Ji Tian froze. Could this be the reason the Bone Dragon is immortal? Could the Demonic Dragon have entered this space? How did it get out?

No, it wasn't just the stone; the pool of water was involved too. The stone and the pool served the same purpose.

This stone was no simple object. Perhaps this Death Spirit knew something.

"I want to know who your master is!"

The Death Spirit had long lost its previous arrogance. It realized the other party was also a Ghost Body, but far more powerful than itself. It quickly replied, "Master… Master is still sleeping. He wakes up sometimes. Master is very powerful. I saw him send a part of his soul out of this Restriction, but for some reason, he fell back into slumber."

Ji Tian asked, feigning ignorance, "Is the Restriction very powerful?"

"I am merely a wisp of death qi in this sealed land. Master gave me consciousness. There were originally other Ghost Bodies here. They were all consumed by a white light upon touching the Restriction. But Master scattered that white light with just a single finger."

"Then where is your master?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him for a long time."

Ji Tian pondered. Could this place be sealing a finger? Where is this finger bone now? Could it be inside this black stone? Perhaps if I refine the stone, I might find some clues.