Bone Shears

"Enemy attack! Prepare for battle!" A sharp whistle rang out, throwing the stronghold into chaos. All the bandits leaped to their feet.

Shi Lin was fearless. He strode straight in and fought the bandits bare-handed, barely exerting himself as he broke the bones and snapped the tendons of more than twenty men, leaving them unable to fight.

"Remarkable. He's just a child!" A leader appeared, his eyes shining with astonishment as he stared at Shi Lin without end.

Shi Lin strode forward as though no one stood in his way, continuing to attack. Seeing this, the man charged at him at Extreme Speed. Treasure light shone from his entire body, and layer after layer of armor appeared, covering him.

"Hmm, crocodile armor? No, it's armor made from pangolin scales." The man looked like a huge crocodile. His scales gleamed brightly, and he lunged forward, fierce and savage.

"Boom!"

Shi Lin slapped at him. Everyone else was sent flying, their bones broken. Only this man, though hurled backward by the tremendous force, managed to roll over and scramble back to his feet.

"Good! Come on!" the man roared, raising his palm to meet the attack. Treasure Runes glimmered, and his hand shone like a beast's claw.

"A puny treasure artifact? Heh!"

"Bang!"

Shi Lin stood firm, while the man's arm spasmed and twisted out of shape. His armor was decent, but still couldn't protect him completely; his arm bone had snapped.

"You..." He could hardly believe what was happening. His opponent was so young, yet so powerful—far beyond anything he could have imagined. How could an ordinary child possibly reach this level at such an age?

"Again!" Shi Lin stepped forward and attacked once more. He wanted to test whether the other man's scales were a treasure artifact and whether they could protect him.

"Boom!"

This time, the bandit leader was sent flying outright. His other arm broke, his breastbone caved in, and large patches of scales fell away. They couldn't withstand Shi Lin's tremendous strength.

"What a useless treasure artifact. Why even bring it out?" Shi Lin shook his head.

The bandits were dumbfounded. This was one of their leaders, an exceptionally powerful man, yet he had lasted only a few moves against this child. He lay sprawled there like a pool of mud, unable to get up.

"Useless trash! Can't the lot of you stop even one child?" Just then, a middle-aged man's voice rang out, deep and resonant, like a great bronze bell humming.

Shi Lin stopped. He knew he had met a true expert. A tremendously powerful surge of runic energy came from ahead, like a ferocious beast awakening from slumber.

The man had thick black hair, mostly whites in his eyes, and a single pale-gold pupil. His aura was incredibly powerful. With every step he took, the mountainside trembled, as if some enormous creature were approaching.

He was the true chief of the bandits, commanding more than a hundred powerful men. He was a master of many methods and had a powerful Sacrificial Spirit at his side. He was no ordinary man.

"Fsh!"

A flame sprang to life, then spread across the sky in an instant, turning into a sea of fire that engulfed the area around Shi Lin.

The middle-aged man attacked without warning, sparing no words. It was the same Firelight Art, but its power was on an entirely different level.

With a sizzling hiss, a nearby stream was dried up. The surrounding rocks turned to lava in an instant. The place was like an active volcano, bubbling and seething, its heat unbearable.

Shi Lin was startled. This was a true expert, beyond anything he had expected. He had thought the Sacrificial Spirit alone would be terrifying, but he hadn't expected the chief to be so extraordinary as well.

"Hum!"

He brought his hands together. A Golden Moon rose and spun rapidly, drawing in the flames. Then it expanded, its golden disk covering the area. This was the Purple Emperor Immortal Eagle Art.

The middle-aged man was startled when Wang Quan neutralized his Firelight Art.

At that moment, the middle-aged man glowed all over and let out a roar. "Sacrificial Spirit, grant me your power!"

With a rumble, his body seemed to ignite, transforming into a humanoid pangolin. Light blazed around him as he stood upright, swaying his head and tail, launching his most powerful attack.

"Whoosh!"

He swung with all his might. A colossal claw made of light streaked through the air toward Shi Lin, while Daoist sounds rumbled and divine patterns filled the sky.

Shi Lin looked solemn and dignified. With a soft shout, he unleashed his treasure art. A huge Golden Moon appeared behind him, nearly a zhang across, illuminating the area in dazzling brilliance. It was like a resplendent divine halo, shielding him at its center.

Golden radiance surged from the moon disk, crashing into the giant claw with a series of violent impacts before exploding in the sky and scattering into a brilliant rain of light.

The sight was both shocking and beautiful. Behind Shi Lin hung a golden divine moon, and a hazy, holy radiance enveloped him. He seemed like a tiny Heavenly God.

The middle-aged man cried out as he faced him in his humanoid pangolin form. "It was you last time!"

"That's right! I just broke through and wanted to find someone to test my skills on." Shi Lin made no attempt to deny it. Five volcano-like Heavenly Caves appeared in the air, seething with "lava"—the essence of divinity, pouring into his body.

"What?" The powerful middle-aged man was stunned. A child had just broken through and already opened five Heavenly Caves? It was unheard of, like something out of a wild fantasy. It was terrifying enough to frighten anyone.

"Who could have imagined that such an unparalleled genius would appear in this barbaric land!" the middle-aged man roared. In his humanoid pangolin form, light blazed all over him, making him look terrifying. "I should have wiped out that village sooner."

Shi Lin's eyes shone brightly. The golden treasure moon behind him radiated light, spilling waves of holy brilliance over him and making him look even more like a deity.

The Golden Moon behind Shi Lin suddenly trembled. A bird's cry rang out, and an enormous ancient immortal bird appeared, bursting forth and rapidly growing until it blotted out the sky and covered the mountainside.

"Pfft!"

The ancient immortal bird streaked through the sky and brought one claw down, shattering the middle-aged man's countless runes. It tore off one of his arms along with his shoulder, nearly cleaving him in two. Blood sprayed across the mountainside.

"Ah..."

The middle-aged man returned to human form. The light vanished from his body, and he collapsed into a pool of blood, filled with resentment. His eyes dimmed, the ferocity in them fading. He muttered, "I cultivated for half my life. I was thirty before I broke into the Cave Heaven Realm, and now, in my fifties, I still haven't reached a higher level. And you're only a child, yet you've already reached the same heights as me."

He was furious, his expression complicated. He was utterly shocked and bitterly resentful at the sight of such an unbelievable child as Shi Lin.

The bandits were stunned. Their chief, whom they revered like a Heavenly God, had actually been defeated. A child of barely a dozen years had forcefully torn off one of his arms. It was shocking and sent a chill through them.

"Boom!" "Boom!"...

The mountainside shook. A gigantic pale-gold creature appeared in the night, like a brilliant golden mountain, turning the entire mountainside gold.

The Sacrificial Spirit had appeared. Its eyes were utterly cold, like two golden lanterns, shining with a terrifying radiance as it stared at Wang Quan, its killing intent astonishing.

Shi Lin remained calm, showing no fear. He murmured, "A Sacrificial Spirit—mysterious and powerful, with so many secrets. I've never killed one before."

It was a pangolin, pale gold from head to tail and astonishingly huge, dozens of meters long. It crouched there, its golden eyes ice-cold and brimming with murderous intent. Just looking at a Sacrificial Spirit of this size was enough to make one's hair stand on end and send chills down the spine. What kind of power lay within that golden body, the size of a small mountain?

Shi Lin looked composed, neither happy nor worried, and watched it in silence.

The pangolin seemed to have slaughtered millions of living beings. A savage, bloody stench surged toward them, and in an instant, a scene like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood appeared before them—strange and terrifying.

"Come on!"

Shi Lin focused his mind, bracing himself against the mental assault.

The scenes were so vivid: one tribe after another destroyed, every person slaughtered, corpses strewn everywhere, pools of blood covering the land. The earth was red from end to end.

It was like hell itself. An ordinary person would have crumpled to the ground on the spot.

Shi Lin's expression turned grave. This Sacrificial Spirit was no simple creature—or perhaps there was something extraordinary about it that recorded these scenes. It seemed to have an astonishing origin. The aura it gave off made one's heart tremble.

The enormous pangolin moved, making the entire mountainside shake. Blinding light flowed over its several-dozen-meter-long body, and its golden radiance tinged the rocks, trees, and fallen leaves a pale gold.

The mountainside was hazy, filled with a powerful killing intent.

"Rumble!"

Suddenly, the pangolin moved. It surged forward like a vast golden sea, sending a great wave crashing ahead. In an instant, ancient trees snapped beneath the golden torrent and were hurled away. Rocks flew through the air as well.

The sight was astonishing, like crashing waves striking the shore. Rocks and giant trees snapped and shot skyward, shattering beneath the golden astral energy.

In the distance, a group of bandits trembled. Faced with a sight like the wrath of Heaven, all their ferocity vanished. They shook like leaves.

A golden claw reached out, several zhang long, and struck toward Shi Lin. Rocks shattered, trees crumbled into dust, and its radiance blazed with terrifying might.

"Bang!"

Runes covered both of his hands as he collided with the enormous golden claw. In an instant, a flood of dazzling light erupted and swept in every direction.

Trees snapped and rocks shot through the air. The bandits in the distance flew like withered grass, swallowed by a vast golden wave of energy. It was terrifying.

When everything finally fell quiet, Shi Lin was still standing where he had been. His divine power was astounding. He had fought head-on with a golden pangolin of such enormous size without yielding an inch.

And he hadn't even used the Indestructible Scripture.

An unusual gleam appeared in the golden Sacrificial Spirit's eyes. It was no ordinary Sacrificial Spirit; its origins were remarkable. It carried the blood of an ancient Qiu Dragon, and its body was exceptionally powerful.

"Boom!"

The pangolin attacked again, turning sharply as its golden tail swept across with unstoppable force. It struck a boulder weighing a hundred thousand jin and snapped it in two.

It was too powerful and violent!

Shi Lin met it head-on, punching the boulder to pieces.

Each punch came with a fierce gust of astral force. It was the Qilin Fist.

"I just learned this. Not bad!"

The golden tail swept through everything, smashing several more boulders weighing tens of thousands of jin before its momentum finally weakened. Just as it was about to stop, Shi Lin moved with its momentum. He reached out with both hands, grabbed the scales on its tail, and clung to it, then swung it around wildly.

"What?" In the distance, the bandits' eyes nearly popped out of their heads. That enormous Sacrificial Spirit had actually been moved. Shi Lin gripped its tail and swung it around, then slammed it against the mountainside with a crash. Boulders collapsed, burying the spot in a deafening rumble.

"Could he be a descendant of an ancient ferocious beast?"

"Yazi and Taotie could battle divine beings in ancient times. Their descendants can't be much stronger than this! How can such a terrifying child come from a tiny village in this barbaric land?" The bandit chief looked terrified.

"Bang!"

Countless boulders weighing thousands or even tens of thousands of jin flew into the air. The golden pangolin crawled out without a scratch, completely unfazed. Attacks like that could barely crack its hard scales.

It was a Sacrificial Spirit, mysterious and powerful. How could it be defeated so easily? They were nowhere near seriously wounding it.

"To fight with the fleshly strength of a Sacrificial Spirit carrying the bloodline of an ancient Qiu Dragon—this is like a myth! And he's still just a child." The bandit chief felt he was about to go mad. What he was seeing didn't seem real.

The one large and one small creatures fought fiercely for hundreds of moves, neither gaining the upper hand. The bandits were all dumbstruck. A little kid could fight a Sacrificial Spirit? Who would believe it without seeing it with their own eyes?

"I'm done playing with you. I'll send you straight home!"

Shi Lin shot upward with a whoosh, streaking rapidly through the air. He spread his ten fingers and aimed them at the Sacrificial Spirit, immediately throwing the energy of Heaven and Earth into chaos.

"Boom!" Mist spread from between his palms and fingers, and a Suanni appeared. Tribulations from the Ninth Heaven poured down, ten thousand bolts of lightning slashing at the pangolin. It had no time to dodge. A torrent of golden lightning blasted forth, blazing like rays of destruction as it struck the pangolin. Its charred body swayed, great patches of flesh torn away and even white bone exposed. The lightning was terrifyingly powerful, gravely wounding the Sacrificial Spirit!

Thunder roared, and golden astral energy swallowed the area. Its power was unstoppable. The child's small body was wrapped in golden lightning, like the Thunder God descended to Earth, battling the pangolin.

The Sacrificial Spirit's scales glowed, yet many were still blasted off, leaving it drenched in blood.

In the distance, the bandits' scalps went numb. They trembled all over with fright. Their mighty Sacrificial Spirit had actually suffered a setback; they could hardly accept it and could scarcely believe their eyes.

"Die!"

A thought rang out. The golden pangolin was enraged. Its head glowed as it opened its mouth and spat out a ball of light so dazzling that no one could keep their eyes open. It was strange and terrifying, and waves of dragon and flood-dragon roars rang out from it.

The world turned cold. Most terrifying of all, the gruesome scenes from before appeared again: tribe after tribe destroyed, corpses strewn everywhere, the land red with blood.

"What is that?!"

When it drew closer, Shi Lin finally saw what it was. It looked like the Sacrificial Spirit's upper and lower jawbones, which were also the hardest parts of its body. What else could pierce through mountains?

To his astonishment, the two golden bones were joined together. Their light was so dazzling that even the sun paled beside them. And they weren't thrusting forward—they were snipping together like scissors, intent on cutting him in half.

Shi Lin's hair stood on end. He felt the threat of death; the power they gave off was terrifying. He didn't meet them head-on, but dodged at Extreme Speed, darting sideways in an instant.

"Crack!"

The golden treasure scissors shot past, snipping straight through the stone mountain ahead, over a hundred meters tall. The upper half came crashing down with a rumble.

Their power was astonishing!

Shi Lin sucked in a sharp breath. This treasure artifact was far too powerful.

Even though he knew how powerful the Bone Shears were, he still felt a pang of fear.

Moreover, the golden bones gave off an even more terrifying feeling than the Sacrificial Spirit itself. The scenes of tribes wiped out and corpses strewn across the land had been reflected by these bones.

"This is the Dragon-Jiao Bone Shears!"

The golden treasure scissors were made of two golden bones, dazzlingly bright and so deeply golden their color seemed impossible to dissolve. They far surpassed the Sacrificial Spirit's own bones, which were only pale gold.

The pangolin let out a roar. Runes filled the sky, and the golden Bone Shears spun as they snipped at him again.

Faint dragon and flood-dragon roars echoed through the air. Their power was astonishing. Whether boulders or trees, anything they touched was cut in two without the slightest doubt. The golden bones shone, dragon patterns appearing on them. Since the pangolin itself carried the blood of an ancient Qiu Dragon, the bones' original owner must have been terrifying indeed. The dragon patterns that surfaced bore astonishing imprints.

"Rumble!" Shi Lin vanished from where he stood. He naturally wouldn't try to meet such a terrifying treasure artifact head-on.

Mist suddenly appeared across the entire mountainside, spreading quickly over the ancient forest until, at last, it was impossible to see a hand in front of one's face. Everything blurred in the haze.

He had used the treasure art of Emperor Suanni. It brought not only lightning but also clouds and mist, an innate divine ability of the Suanni that could conceal its body and strike enemies with thunder.

The Sacrificial Spirit went berserk. In the dense fog, it kept activating the golden Bone Shears, slicing through the forest and cleaving apart countless rocks and giant trees. Even several low mountains suffered the same fate, their upper halves tumbling down.

The sight was horrifying. The Bone Shears were so astonishing that when unleashed, they could cut even mountain peaks in two. They truly were a mysterious treasure artifact.

Shi Lin stayed calm, hidden in the mist. He kept moving and changing position, waiting for an opportunity.

Clearly, the Bone Shears consumed an astonishing amount of energy. Even the powerful golden Sacrificial Spirit couldn't keep it up. After using them only a few times, its body began to tremble, and once it nearly toppled to the ground.

It was furious. It could clearly sense that Shi Lin was just ahead, so it unleashed the Bone Shears, aiming to kill him with one strike. But every time, they missed.

The Sacrificial Spirit stopped to sense its surroundings. The Bone Shears hovered above its head, ready to be unleashed at any moment. Strands of divine light fell from the treasure artifact, its killing intent shaking the wilderness.

A figure flashed into view behind it. The Sacrificial Spirit's eyes were icy, but it didn't turn around. The Bone Shears above its head shot straight toward the figure. With a crack, they severed a man's body, spraying blood as a scream split the forest.

The pangolin was enraged. It knew it had killed the wrong person—that was a bandit Shi Lin had thrown at it.

It hurriedly raised its defenses, but it was too late. A terrifying beam of light struck it, like a divine spear piercing through from beyond the heavens, and plunged into its chest.

"Fsssh!"

The air filled with the stench of burning. Its scales and flesh cracked open at once and fell away, exposing bone.

Now that Shi Lin had seized the advantage, he wouldn't let it slip. He raised a hand. With a rumble, another blazing beam of divine light shot out like a sword cleaving down, striking one of the Sacrificial Spirit's weak points.

Earlier, when the pangolin had attacked with a rain of light, there had been a spot on its body without scales. Shi Lin had seized the opening and used lightning to break several bones. Now that same spot had been struck hard again.

The lightning Shi Lin released was dazzling and terrifyingly powerful, like the Thunder God striking!

Those few bones snapped at once, wounding the Sacrificial Spirit's internal organs. It let out a roar that shook Heaven and Earth. It hadn't expected that the tiny human, no larger than an insect, would be so vicious. Whenever he seized an opening, he mercilessly exploited it, fighting with a bloodthirsty frenzy.

It swiftly turned the golden Bone Shears toward Shi Lin, intent on destroying him.

"I'm done playing with you!"

But before he could act, the Sacrificial Spirit itself cried out in agony. A sudden change came over it. Its whole body cracked, golden runes flashing, and then, with a bang, it split apart.

Its ambition had been great. It had continually refined and nurtured the Bone Shears, hoping to revive them and defy Heaven itself. It had naturally failed, damaging its own foundation in the process. After a great battle, the damage finally erupted all at once.

"Pfft!"

The Sacrificial Spirit split into pieces and died on the spot. A flash of golden light later, the Bone Shears fell from the sky and landed on the mountainside.

His eyes lit up and his heart burned with excitement. Ignoring his serious injuries, he rushed over. The golden Bone Shears lay among the rocks, shimmering with a hazy treasure glow, mysterious and powerful, releasing an aura that made one's heart tremble.

"What a terrifying treasure artifact!" Shi Lin was delighted. He picked up the treasure scissors and turned them over in his hands, examining them from every angle.

After shrinking, they were only the size of a palm. They were golden all over and dazzlingly bright. There was no doubt that this was a rare treasure of immeasurable value.