Pale blue light surged from her body, condensing on her skin into a form-fitting runic armor. The shoulder armor was designed with two ice phoenixes intertwined, and the skirt cascaded in layers like frozen waves. Most exquisite were her ice boots, which always stirred up a ring of ice patterns upon landing, preventing the shattered bones beneath her feet from getting close. Suddenly, a pair of ice crystal wings unfolded from her back, each feather clearly visible, and the chill generated by their flapping caused the surrounding mountain of bones to be covered with a layer of frost.
"That's... what kind of armor?" The Black-Robed Ghost King's voice suddenly changed, and the heart at the tip of his staff beat even faster. "Who are you?"
Tian Muyan ignored him, reached out with her right hand and grabbed at the air, and the longbow automatically condensed in her palm. The bowstring of the ice bow was made of countless tiny ice threads twisted together, and the bow was engraved with intricate runes. As she poured Chakra into it, the runes began to light up one by one, emitting a faint blue light.
"Who I am is unimportant." She nocked an arrow and drew her bow, the Senjutsu Chakra at her fingertips giving the ice arrow a faint glow. "What matters is that you're blocking my way."
The ice arrows transformed into three streaks of light the moment they left the bowstring, each aimed at one of the three ghost kings' faces. The Many-Faced Ghost King was the most violent, and he lashed out with his snake tail. However, the ice arrows struck his scales and exploded, scattering fine ice shards all over his face. He screamed in pain from all seven mouths at the same time.
The Black-Robed Ghost King reacted the fastest, drawing a gray light shield in front of him with his staff. The ice arrow struck the shield with a muffled thud, actually being blocked. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the light shield suddenly cracked from the inside. It turned out that the Senjutsu Chakra hidden in the ice arrow was frantically eroding along the patterns of the light shield—this was an arrow technique improved by Tian Muyan, specifically designed to deal with this kind of energy shield.
"You're courting death!" the Black-Robed Ghost King roared, slamming his staff into the ground. The surrounding bone mountains suddenly trembled violently, and countless white bones emerged from the ground, forming a bone giant ten feet tall behind him. The giant strode towards Tian Muyan, each step causing the ground to sink half a foot.
Tian Muyan flapped her wings, easily dodging the bone giant's fist. She flipped in the air, taking the opportunity to count the weak points at the giant's joints. "I'm already tired of puppets of this caliber."
She suddenly swooped down, her ice boots slamming into the bone giant's knee. With a sharp crack, the knee, composed of countless white bones, froze into a block of ice. The giant lost its balance and crashed to the ground with a thud, shattering into pieces.
Before Tian Muyan could even steady herself, countless black tentacles suddenly emerged from the ground, wrapping around her ankles like vines. It was the work of the ghost king covered in black liquid; he had somehow burrowed underground, leaving only his two glowing red eyes visible.
"That persistent fellow." Tian Muyan touched the ground with her toes, and ice spread along the ground. The tentacles were frozen as soon as they touched the ice, cracking into pieces. She took the opportunity to create distance, and when she turned around, she was met with the Many-Faced Ghost King's surprise attack - this guy had somehow gotten behind her, and his seven mouths simultaneously spewed out gray death energy.
"Is that all you've got?" Tian Muyan suddenly raised her hand and pressed it against her right eye. The patterns on her Tenseigan became even deeper. " Tenseigan: Insight!"
The tiny bone needles hidden in the deathly aura were instantly exposed. As she dodged to the side, three arrows were already nocked on her ice bow. This time, the arrows were spiral-shaped, shooting out with a piercing Space Break sound, and accurately piercing the brows of the seven faces of the Many-Faced Ghost King.
"Ah--!" The Many-Faced Ghost King let out a deafening scream, black blood flowing from all seven faces simultaneously. The blood fell to the ground, causing wisps of white smoke to rise from the bluish-black earth.
Taking advantage of Tian Muyan's distraction while dealing with her companions, the Black-Robed Ghost King suddenly pulled out a black bell from his robes. As soon as the bell rang, Tian Muyan felt a wave of dizziness wash over her, as if her soul was being pulled away by something.
" Soul-Pacifying Bell?" Tian Muyan bit her tongue, the sharp pain instantly bringing her back to her senses. "An evil artifact made from the souls of the dead? You Oni Clan really have no bottom line."
She suddenly raised the ice bow above her head, Senjutsu Chakra flowing through it, causing the entire longbow to glow with golden light. " Ice Divine Bow - Evil-Slaying!"
An ice arrow, three times thicker than before, materialized, its shaft wreathed in golden patterns. The moment Tian Muyan released the bowstring, the surrounding temperature plummeted, and even the air condensed into tiny ice crystals. The ice arrow pierced through the sound waves emitted by the Soul-Pacifying Bell, shattering it into pieces, and its remaining force embedded itself in the shoulder of the Black-Robed Ghost King.
"Pfft—" The Black-Robed Ghost King spat out a mouthful of black blood and staggered back a few steps. Thick ice had formed on the wound on his shoulder, which he could not melt no matter how much power he used.
"Now you know how powerful it is?" Tian Muyan clapped her hands, her ice crystal wings flapping behind her, the wind causing the surrounding bone mountains to rustle. "I'll say it again, get out of the way."
The three ghost kings exchanged a glance. Although all were injured, the ferocity in their eyes intensified. The Many-Faced Ghost King suddenly let out a grotesque laugh, "Little girl, you think you can leave just because you've injured us? The rule of the Ten Thousand Bones Hell is that once you're in, you can't leave!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire Ten Thousand Bones Hell suddenly trembled violently. The distant bone mountains began to move, closing in on each other like living things, forming a huge encirclement. Tian Muyan looked up and found that black clouds had gathered above the encirclement at some point, with purple lightning flashing from time to time within the clouds.
"Trying to trap me?" Tian Muyan clicked her tongue, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy. She could sense that the surrounding space was being distorted, and the spatial nodes she had sensed earlier seemed to be moving.
The Black-Robed Ghost King stood up, leaning on his staff, the ice shards on his shoulders slowly peeling away. "This is the Bone Prison Grand Formation of the Ten Thousand Bones Hell, specifically designed to trap intruders like you. Once the array's core is activated, even Ghost Emperor- level powerhouse won't be able to..."
"Don't even think about doing anything?" Tian Muyan suddenly laughed. She reached into her spatial ring and pulled out a palm-sized compass. The pointer in the center of the compass was spinning wildly. "The array eye you mentioned, is it on that highest bone mountain in the northwest?"
The three ghost kings' expressions changed simultaneously. That mountain of bones looked no different from the others, and they had even deliberately disguised it when setting up the array's core. How could this girl possibly know?
Tian Muyan shook the compass in her hand. It was a parting gift from Tsubasa, who said it could find energy nodes in any space, "You think the formations of Hell are so amazing? My man is a specialist in this."
She suddenly drew the ice bow to its full extent, but this time she didn't shoot an arrow. Instead, she poured all her Senjutsu Chakra into the bow. The ice bow hummed, the runes on its surface shone brightly, and finally transformed into a beam of ice-blue light that shot straight into the sky.
" Ice Divine Bow: Shattering Realm!"
The beam of light collided with the black clouds, instantly exploding into countless points of light. These points of light fell like a meteor shower, crashing into the surrounding bone mountains and shattering the closing bone mountains into dust. Even more miraculously, as the bone mountains collapsed, the previously distorted space began to return to normal, and the spatial nodes in the distance began to emit a faint light again.
"Impossible!" the Black-Robed Ghost King screamed, sensing the great formation crumbling. "How could you...?"
"Nothing is impossible." Tian Muyan flapped her wings and flew to the top of the three ghost kings. "I didn't want things to go through so much trouble, but you all brought this upon yourselves."
She suddenly pulled out a yellow talisman from her spatial ring, its surface adorned with intricate patterns drawn in cinnabar. This was her last trump card, intended for use when she encountered real trouble.
" Tsubasa Special Boundary- Realm-Breaking Talisman." Tian Muyan threw the talisman towards the spatial node, giving the three ghost kings a playful smile. "I originally intended to save it for King Yama, but now it's a bargain for you."
The talisman exploded in the air, and golden light formed a massive portal. The scene behind the portal was blurry, but a strong spatial fluctuation could be felt. The three ghost kings simultaneously showed expressions of fear upon seeing the portal.
"What are you going to do?" The Many-Faced Ghost King instinctively took a half step back.
"Of course, I'm going home." Tian Muyan turned and walked towards the door, but stopped abruptly at the entrance. She glanced back at the three trembling ghost kings and said, "Oh, and please give my regards to the Ghost Emperor. Tell them that the Ten Family isn't someone to be trifled with."
The moment she stepped through the doorway, the Black-Robed Ghost King finally couldn't hold back any longer and hurled his staff with all his might. The staff whistled through the air and was about to strike Tian Muyan's back.
But just then, the portal suddenly began to shrink, and the staff, which had passed through the light barrier, was instantly pulverized by the spatial turbulence. Tian Muyan's voice came from behind the door, tinged with a mischievous smirk. "Thanks, I'll give you some good stuff next time we meet."
The portal vanished completely, leaving only three enraged ghost kings. The Black-Robed Ghost King, clutching his bleeding shoulder, stared at the empty sky and suddenly let out a defiant roar. The Many-Faced Ghost King's seven faces were contorted, and his snake tail lashed the ground, leaving it cratered. The ghost king covered in black liquid was in the worst shape; he had been hit by the aftershocks of the Realm-Breaking Talisman, and half of his body was covered in ice shards.
After an unknown amount of time, the Black-Robed Ghost King suddenly spoke, his voice filled with deep weariness. "Who exactly is she...?"
No one answered him. In the Ten Thousand Bones Hell, only the crackling sound of the wind blowing through the bone mountain remained, as if mocking their defeat. In the distance, on the top of the bone mountain where Tian Muyan had sat before, a small piece of ice crystal still remained, shimmering faintly in the dim light.
At this moment, Tian Muyan had already appeared beside Tsubasa at the entrance to the Gate of Hell. She put away the Ice Set and rubbed her slightly sore eyes—the continuous use of the Tenseigan and the Ice Divine Bow had indeed consumed a lot of Senjutsu Chakra.
"Finally, we made it out." She took out a healing pill from her spatial ring and popped it into her mouth. The sweet taste melted on her tongue. "When we get back, my husband, you have to treat me to a good meal, otherwise it'll be a waste of my injuries."
Tsubasa hugged her and asked, "Are you alright? How was the harvest?"
She patted the ring, and a crisp sound of clashing Netherworld Cold Iron echoed from within. "This trip to the Ten Thousand Bones Hell was perilous, but the gains were considerable, especially that black dragon crystal core. If I can refine it into Soul Replenishing Pill, it will at least raise my Soul Power by another level."
Tsubasa laughed and said, "The main purpose is to give you some experience, which will help you break through your limitations. You should go out of Hell and rest first!"
" The Ten Thousand Bones Hell..." Tian Muyan glanced back at the gloomy, empty sky behind her, a smile playing on her lips. "I'll come back and explore the deeper parts when I have time."
After saying that, she turned and walked into the exit of Hell, her figure quickly disappearing into the portal. Only a few ice-crystal-like feathers remained in place, which, after a while, also dissipated with the eerie wind.