Transformation

The air outside the great hall shimmered with heat.

Just as the flames were about to surge into the hall, eighteen golden skeletons suddenly emitted a dim golden light. The entire hall was enveloped in a faint golden aura. The flames, upon touching the golden light, were extinguished, and the temperature within several dozen feet of the hall remained unchanged.

A low sigh seemed to drift from the air.

Of the eighteen golden skeletons, seventeen seemed to have expended their last ounce of strength. Their bones disintegrated, exploding into countless tiny golden specks that drifted to the ground. These fine golden specks, however, were heavy, landing on the ground with a continuous 'ding ding' sound.

Hundreds of pellet-like objects, the size of thumbs, in gold, silver, and jade colors, fell from the disintegrating skeletons. They bounced on the ground with a 'ding-dong-dang' sound for a while. These pellets, which emitted a faint glow, ranging from thumb-sized to bean-sized, also began to disintegrate.

Wisps of potent light were slowly released from the disintegrating pellets, quietly merging into the surrounding hall.

The hall, which had originally appeared somewhat dilapidated, changed in color and looked much brighter. Some of the cracks on the walls also quietly healed.

With a 'kaka' sound, the last golden skeleton cracked into countless fissures. The golden light it emitted gradually dimmed and then disappeared completely.

Wu Tie gazed with reverence at the sole remaining golden skeleton, an inexplicable emotion welling up in his heart. He solemnly bowed to the skeleton.

These skeletons clearly possessed extremely firm convictions. Even though their flesh and bones had turned to dust, even though they had completely dissipated, the power they left behind in the world was still protecting this hall.

"I don't know who you are... Well, Old Tie will tell me sooner or later," Wu Tie straightened up, turned around, and looked upwards.

The almost shattered golden lotus in the center of the hall absorbed a few wisps of light that emerged from the pellets. Three to five cracks on the lotus's surface healed. Wisps of golden light rose from a few petals, as if ropes were hooking onto the shattered bones.

The shattered bones floated in the air, vibrating slightly, like birds tied with strings, eager to break free from the golden light's restraint.

Light flowed across the surface of the golden lotus. The extremely fine, faint golden light contracted, pulling the shattered bones down bit by bit, gradually drawing them to a height of a little over a foot above the golden lotus.

"Stay put, I'll deal with you later," Wu Tie glared angrily at the shattered bones.

Having absorbed so much of his blood, Wu Tie was now feeling dizzy, his vision blackening intermittently, his body weak and cold, constantly breaking out in a cold sweat. This was all the fault of the shattered bones. In Old Tie's words, this guy wanted to run after eating and drinking his fill... Truly a complete scoundrel.

Turning around, spear in hand, Wu Tie walked step by step to the entrance of the hall and looked outside.

How tragic.

Truly, utterly tragic.

The six Mist Blade experts brought by the Nine Palm Commander had already been burned into black smoke and scattered. The Nine Palm Commander himself was burned to a charred, unrecognizable mess.

However, even before being burned, the Nine Palm Commander was already unrecognizable. Whether it was his previous six-armed form or his later massive insectoid form with extremely long blade-arms, the Nine Palm Commander had not looked human then.

But the Nine Palm Commander before him was even more pathetic.

His two legs were reduced to two charred bone sticks. His upper body was in better condition, with a thick layer of black carapace growing from his flesh, covering his arms and entire upper torso, so his upper body was largely intact.

Only one of his eyes had melted, and black blood continuously flowed from the dark eye socket.

His other eye seemed to have been severely injured by the smoke; he kept blinking, and blood and tears flowed from the corners of his eyes.

Grandma Hong's condition was clearly much better.

She lay on the ground naked, somewhat askew. Her pale flesh was crisscrossed with at least a hundred knife wounds that went deep to the bone. Especially around her waist and abdomen, she had received several heavy blows. The blade energy had almost severed her body, and now only a few sinews held her together.

Shockingly, not a drop of blood flowed from her wounds.

A vast, inhuman vitality surged within her. Even Wu Tie, several hundred meters away, could clearly sense the presence of this immense life force. Grandma Hong's every pore exuded a rich blood-red light, and her wounds were wriggling as countless extremely fine flesh threads continuously grew.

These flesh threads connected and pulled on each other. The torn flesh wriggled and rejoined, and Grandma Hong's injuries were rapidly healing.

Wu Tie could even hear the sound of bones colliding within Grandma Hong.

He didn't know how many bones the Nine Palm Commander had broken, but under the stimulation of her immense vitality, these bones were rapidly regrowing.

Such inhuman vitality reminded Wu Tie of the Longevity Cult followers who would explode into a mist of blood with just a light attack. Grandma Hong had absorbed the blood mist from these people, so her vitality must have come from there.

Terrifying, evil. Wu Tie's disgust towards Grandma Hong and Shi Lingqing grew.

"Commander!" hundreds of meters away, behind a cluster of giant crystals, Ding put down Old Wu, whom he had been carrying on his back, and staggered over.

Just now, Grandma Hong and the Nine Palm Commander had fought fiercely in the sky, pouring all their strength into their exchange. As a result, both were injured. Grandma Hong's flames raged everywhere within her body. Ding, Old Wu, and Luolin had hidden behind the crystal clusters, thus narrowly escaping the terrible flames.

"Commander." Luolin also staggered out from behind the crystal cluster.

He clutched his stomach, his facial muscles twitching violently as he walked. He stopped with every step, clearly indicating that the Nine Palm Commander's punch to his stomach had left him with no minor injuries.

The two approached the battlefield one after the other.

The Nine Palm Commander suddenly raised his head. He took a breath, exhaling a puff of black smoke with a burnt smell, and spat out a few pieces of scorched blood.

He glared with his single eye, staring intently at Ding and Luolin, and said coldly, "Stop. Do not approach... Go, kill that old demoness."

Luolin and Ding froze. They cautiously stopped more than a hundred meters away, looked at each other, then nodded simultaneously and turned towards Grandma Hong, who lay on the ground, unable to move, her body almost split in two.

Grandma Hong lay on the ground. Her injuries were healing rapidly, but she was completely immobilized.

She struggled to lift her head and cast a charming glance at Luolin and Ding. "Two young lords, why not consider carefully and join my Longevity Cult? Heh, the greatest benefit of joining the Longevity Cult is eternal life... not to mention countless beauties, immeasurable wealth, and boundless power..."

Taking a breath and spitting out blood, Grandma Hong smiled softly. "There isn't a single hero who has joined my Longevity Cult who has regretted it. Every one of them, you have no idea how much they enjoy themselves."

Shi Lingqing also jumped down from the wooden boat, a slender, delicate short sword in her right hand. She swayed gracefully as she approached Ding and Luolin. "Luolin, Ding, why are you two young lords so tense?"

"Heh, isn't fighting and killing so unromantic? How about, Lingqing accompanies the two young lords to have some fun on the side?" Shi Lingqing winked charmingly at the two. "Young Lord Luolin, if you insist on avenging your sister, how about Lingqing offers herself to you?"

With a soft hum, Shi Lingqing directly tore off her robe, revealing her undergarments. She twisted her waist and pounced towards Luolin.

"Young Lord Luolin, are you truly so stubborn and dull to this extent?"

"There is the corpse of an Ancient Sage here, there are ancient ruins here, there are remnants of Ancient Treasures here... such a great opportunity, must you resort to fighting and killing?" Shi Lingqing's face was half rotted and broken, the other half fair as jade. She turned her head, presenting her intact half-face to Luolin.

Her face was glowing, truly glowing.

In an instant, Shi Lingqing, who was already beautiful, now exuded an additional twenty to thirty percent more charm.

Luolin's body swayed. Looking at Shi Lingqing's half-illuminated, beautiful face, his eyes suddenly became unfocused, and his steps abruptly stopped.

Grandma Hong smiled brilliantly. She watched Shi Lingqing, who was rushing past her, and exclaimed, "Girl, well done."

Before the words fell, Shi Lingqing suddenly turned, pouncing on Grandma Hong like a famished wolf. Her short sword plunged mercilessly into Grandma Hong's heart. She opened her small mouth and bit fiercely at Grandma Hong's neck.

With a 'chichichi' sound, Shi Lingqing seemed to have a pump in her mouth, frantically drawing out Grandma Hong's abundant blood essence and life energy.

Grandma Hong screamed, her body struggling violently. However, the injuries inflicted by the Nine Palm Commander were too severe, rendering her unable to move. Not to mention the short sword in Shi Lingqing's hand had pierced her heart. Wisps of strange red light continuously spewed from the sword, rapidly penetrating her entire body, causing all her strength to collapse instantly.

Luolin suddenly jolted awake.

The Nine Palm Commander let out a roar of shock and anger.

Ding slammed his hands forward, and hundreds of poisoned caltrops silently flew through the air, striking Luolin, who was less than three meters in front of him.

These caltrops flew incredibly fast and with immense force, actually sending Luolin's body flying.

The caltrops pierced Luolin's body, and with bloody water, they flew out from his front. Luolin looked back at Ding with disbelief, his body falling heavily to the ground, utterly silent.

"Third brother, don't blame me... Qiao taught me this," Ding shouted. He retreated a few steps, waved his hand, and a weighted caltrop shot out, striking Luolin's temple with great force.

His skull exploded, blood splattering. This blow completely extinguished all of Luolin's life force.

"Go!" Ding roared with laughter. He waved his hand, and from the animal skin pouch at his waist, thirty-six caltrops, shimmering with a faint black light, flew out with black smoke, lightning-fast, towards the Nine Palm Commander lying on the ground.

The Nine Palm Commander roared in fury. He slammed his hands hard on the ground, intending to leverage himself upwards.

A yellowish stone pillar suddenly flew from a distance, smashing down heavily on the Nine Palm Commander's back. The earth rumbled, and an incredibly strong suction force emanated from the ground. As the Nine Palm Commander's body rose half a meter, the pressure from the stone pillar and the suction from the ground forced him back down.

The thirty-six caltrops precisely struck the Nine Palm Commander's face, piercing his only remaining eye, and then arced into his ears, nostrils, and mouth.

The Nine Palm Commander grunted, and black blood began to flow from his seven orifices.

"That's why only the clever survive... Nine Palm Commander, you insisted that only the strong have the right to live," Qiao's voice came from behind the crystal cluster hundreds of meters away.

With his legs crushed by the Nine Palm Commander, Qiao supported himself with one hand, crawling towards them, staggering with each step.

In his other hand, he held Old Wu's severed head.

Old Wu's eyes were wide open, his facial muscles contorted, his expression one of utter disbelief.

"When I killed him, he still didn't believe I could actually do it to him," Qiao said, grinning triumphantly. "Lingqing, look at his face. He still didn't believe I would really do it to him."

Wu Tie stood rigidly at the entrance of the great hall, staring dumbfounded at the scene unfolding outside.

Everything was far beyond his imagination.

Why did it turn out like this?

How could it possibly turn out like this?

It was Shi Lingqing, Qiao, and Ding... it was the three of them.

Grandma Hong convulsed violently on the ground. Her fair, plump skin had become like orange peel, covered everywhere in unsightly wrinkles.

She shrieked, her voice hoarse, towards Shi Lingqing, whose aura was growing increasingly potent, "Lingqing... How do you know the 'Essence Stealing Secret Art'? How could an outer disciple like you learn the Essence Stealing Secret Art?"

Shi Lingqing ignored Grandma Hong. She merely remained on top of Grandma Hong, greedily gulping down the surging essence blood and aura from Grandma Hong's body.

Qiao and Ding both laughed, looking greedily and cruelly at Shi Lingqing's body as she clung to Grandma Hong.

Wu Tie trembled violently. An inexplicable rage surged from his heart, his chest feeling as if it would explode.

"Enough! You... you can't be this shameless!" Wu Tie, holding his spear, strode towards Shi Lingqing. "Are you even human? The three of you... what exactly do you want to do? Shi Lingqing, stop!"

His spear cut through the air, piercing directly towards Shi Lingqing.

Shi Lingqing chuckled, tilting her head slightly. The half-rotted, unsightly side of her face had become as fair as jade, her original stunning beauty completely restored.

"Young Master Wu Tie, would you bear to hurt me?" Shi Lingqing chuckled. "Or would you strike a defenseless woman?"

Wu Tie froze.

Looking at Shi Lingqing's flower-like smile, he abruptly stopped his spear.

"Fool," Shi Lingqing sneered. A faint, bloody flame erupted from her skin. Her body flickered, exploding into nine afterimages, rushing towards Wu Tie with a gust of wind.

Shi Lingqing's palms struck Wu Tie's chest heavily.

With a loud 'boom,' two masses of bloody flames exploded. Wu Tie let out a strange cry and was sent flying backward by the heavy blow.

Flying backward for dozens of meters, Wu Tie crashed heavily onto the ground, then bounced up again, slamming headfirst into the steps in front of the great hall. The bluestone steps cracked, forming a large sunken pit, and he lay sprawled within it.

Shi Lingqing wiped the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth and said softly, "I've reached my limit. Without over a year of arduous cultivation, I can't digest the life essence within me. This old demon's life essence cannot be wasted..."

Shi Lingqing charmingly winked at Qiao and Ding. "Brother Qiao, and Ding, absorb as much as you can... Hurry."

Looking up at Ox Hero's massive form, Shi Lingqing trembled with excitement.

"There are countless treasures waiting for us here."