Tomb-Guarding Puppets, Nascent Souls as the Formation!

A tomb-guarding puppet?

Yuan Shan gripped the towering pillar tightly, the veins on the back of his hands bulging.

The starry sky was deathly silent, with eerie green soul flames leaping in the eye sockets of hundreds of skeletons; waves of Decay Nascent Soul pressure swept over them.

Shi Jian, carrying the Thunder Firmament Dragon-Slaying Spear, strode into the depths of the altar.

"What's the panic?" His voice was cold and hard as he scanned the surroundings. "Since it's a tomb, it must have a core hub; destroy that hub, and this world will naturally break free from its current state."

White Crane shook his folding fan, his expression solemn.

These hundreds of Nascent Soul skeletons were all top experts on the Profound Spirit Continent in life.

Although it has now become a puppet and its flesh Decay, its bones have been nurtured by the secret realm's formation for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, and their hardness is probably no less than that of a top-grade Law Treasure.

"Click... click..."

The sound of bones grinding together rang out in rapid succession, and hundreds of skeletons began to move.

Instead of attacking like wild beasts, the skeletons slowly dispersed according to some mysterious orientation, faintly forming an ancient formation.

"They even know how to form formations?"

The Eight-Tentacled Demon King transformed into human form, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"That old thing from ten thousand years ago, it still can't stay still even after it's dead." Shi Jian sneered, stomping his foot hard.

Boom!

The purple-gold lightning exploded, Shi Jian transformed into a streak of light, actively charging into the bone formation; the Thunder Firmament Dragon-Slaying Spear, carrying the roar of eighteen dragon souls, went straight for the Fang Yi skeleton dressed in a Tai Chi Daoist robe.

The soul fire in the eye sockets of that withered skeleton suddenly contracted, and it raised its hand in a clenched fist.

A magic sword formed from pure death energy appeared out of thin air and slashed down at the lightning spear.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the starry sky. Purple-gold lightning flowed along the spear and into the skeleton's body. The skeleton was knocked back dozens of steps, and two of its ribs were broken, but it did not fall apart.

Instead, they used the recoil to quickly blend into the rear of the army formation.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of skeletons on both sides simultaneously formed Hand Seals.

The deathly aura filled the sky, transforming into countless flashes of swords and blades, slashing down upon Shi Jian.

"Retreat!"

Shi Jian swept his spear horizontally, deflecting the attacks in front of him, and retreated back to the front of the demons.

"Such hard bones."

Shi Jian shook his numb wrist and Dao of Darkness to himself.

These puppets, individually, are no stronger than those in the Nascent Soul Early Stage, but once they form a battle formation, their energy is interconnected, and they advance and retreat with precision, making them far more troublesome than imagined.

"I'll do it!"

With a flap of his wings, White Crane soared into the air. He swung his folding fan out sharply, and his Immortal Foundation [Lord Amid the Clouds] began to operate with a roar.

"Cloud Lock!"

Clouds surged from the void, transforming into hundreds of thick chains of cloud energy that darted into the bone array like serpents, attempting to forcibly bind the withered bones.

The swirling clouds instantly entangled the limbs of more than a dozen skeletons.

"That's all..." The White Crane was about to exert its strength to crush them.

Clang!

A dozen or so entangled skeletons, their eye sockets blazing with soul fire.

They were all sword cultivators in their previous lives, and now they all pointed their fingers together to form a sword, unleashing streaks of incomparably sharp gray Sword Qi.

The Sword Qi surged, instantly shattering the cloud chains.

"Pfft!" White Crane's face turned pale, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Under the pull of the array's energy, he suffered a backlash, his body staggering in mid-air and nearly falling.

"Fellow Daoist Crane!" Yuan Shan shouted.

The White Crane forcibly steadied itself, landing back on the ground, wiping the blood from the corner of its beak; its gaze was fixed intently on the eerie military formation.

"Damn it, this formation is weird! The power of these inanimate objects has been amplified by the formation, significantly increasing its strength!"

"Since skillful tactics won't work, let's break through with brute force!"

Yuan Shan roared, and his true form Sea Ape grew taller once more, his muscles bulging like rocks. He gripped the towering pillar tightly with both hands and slammed it down on the bone array on the left with a sonic boom that tore through the air.

Immortal Foundation [Heaven-Shaking Strength] Unleashed!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three skeletons of Human Race, unable to dodge in time, were smashed into bone dust by this blow, their soul flames extinguished on the spot.

"Good!"

The Eight-Tentacled Demon King was overjoyed. However, before Yuan Shan could retract his staff, a massive, mountain-like Demon Race skeleton suddenly burst forth from the depths of the army formation.

It was the skeleton of a strange beast of unknown origin, with a single horn on its head and limbs as thick as pillars.

It lowered its head, its single horn shrouded in deathly aura, and slammed into Yuan Shan's chest.

Boom!

Yuan Shan was struck as if by lightning; his massive body, hundreds of feet tall, was sent flying and crashed heavily onto the edge of the altar.

"Ugh!" Yuan Shan opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood. Several of his ribs were broken, and his breath immediately weakened.

"Old Ape!" The Mountain-Moving Demon King is dead, and the Abyss Fish has been left to die on the first floor. Now, only the three of them remain in the Sea Beast and Heavenly Ape domains. When the Eight-Tentacled Demon King saw that Yuan Shan was injured, he was terrified.

"Don't panic, defend together!" Shi Jian shouted sternly.

The army began to retreat.

Hundreds of skeletons moved with strange steps, like a giant millstone slowly turning; the surrounding space was sealed off by deathly energy, and the starry sky dimmed.

The immense pressure weighed heavily on the five demons, making every move they made difficult.

Shi Jian did not act rashly again.

He held the thunder spear, his eyes fixed on the trajectory of the moving skeleton.

"Left three, right seven, forwards and defenders switch positions... Formations change, but there must be a key point."

Shi Jian quickly deduced in his mind. He had seen many Human Race formations in the past ten years. They were all based on the same principle: every formation has a flaw.

The energy of the formation flowed like mercury spilling onto the ground, penetrating every crevice.

"Kill!"

From within the ranks of withered bones, an ancient Daoist voice, its origin unknown, resounded.

In an instant, the military formation split into three, transforming into three sharp blades that pierced fiercely into the defensive circle of the five demons.

"Block it!" White Crane waved his folding fan repeatedly, and the clouds transformed into layers of shield walls.

Shi Jian's Thunder Spear moved like a dragon, piercing away two approaching skeletons.

But the formation's cutting speed was too fast.

The five demons were not of one mind and their cooperation was awkward; in just one encounter, the five demons were completely scattered.

Shi Jian and White Crane stood back to back, surrounded by more than fifty skeletons.

Yuan Shan, leaning on the giant pillar, struggled to fend off the onslaught of more than thirty skeletons on the left.

The most tragic were the Vast Sea Demon King and the Eight-Tentacled Demon King.

The Vast Sea Demon King suffered a great loss of strength, with his combat power less than 70% of his peak. The Eight-Tentacled Demon King also lost three tentacles, which are difficult to recover, resulting in a significant reduction in his strength.

The two demons were deliberately forced to retreat step by step by the army formation.

They were eventually forced into the altar, into the very edge, a dead end.

"Get out! Get out!"

The Eight-Tentacled Demon King kept waving its tentacles, lashing at the approaching skeletons, but could only leave a few shallow white marks.

A dozen or so skeletons, each holding Law Artifact, approached expressionlessly.

"Fellow Daoist Shi! Help!" The Vast Sea Demon King looked on in despair, his eyes filled with death intent as he stared at the descending sword of death energy.

Shi Jian turned a deaf ear.

His eyes flashed wildly with purple-gold lightning, and his Divine Sense, like thousands of fine needles, pierced into the flowing death energy array.

"Found it."

Shi Jian's gaze was fixed on the area directly above the altar, deep within the void of starry sky.

There, a Lightless star flickers slightly as the army formation below shifts, as if controlled by it.

"Brother Crane, hold on for ten more breaths!"

Shi Jian shoved White Crane aside, his knees slightly bent, and the black stone altar beneath his feet shattered inch by inch.

He looked up at the dim star, gripped the Thunder Firmament Dragon-Slaying Spear tightly with both hands, and let out a deafening roar from the Nascent Soul bear within his body.

"Ten breaths? You overestimate me!"

The White Crane smiled bitterly, yet burned its Essence Blood without hesitation; the clouds in the sky transformed into a gigantic Heaven and Earth Furnace, forcibly enveloping the surrounding withered bones within it.

Shi Jian ignored White Crane's complaints.

His eyes were filled with murderous intent, and his figure shot into the sky like an arrow released from a bow.

"Crush this!"