Chapter 71

Liu Ming, upon seeing the vague black glow from the bone spines on the surface of the bone ball, felt a chill in his heart. He made a hand seal, and green light appeared between his fingers. His other hand flicked, and the Tiger Bite Ring hummed loudly, a yellow tiger head emerging.

But before he could launch his attack, a foot-long red glow shot out from behind him, striking the bone ball first.

A loud boom echoed.

After the red glow exploded, it turned into red flames that engulfed the bone ball.

The rolling of the bone ball abruptly stopped, and it let out a low, agonized roar. As the surrounding flames flickered, it vaguely returned to human form.

The bone corpse was covered in wounds, clearly suffering greatly from the previous attack.

At this moment, the ghost creature's eyes glowed with green blood flames, glaring fiercely at Liu Ming. However, it seemed to have some reservations and did not immediately pounce from such close range.

Liu Ming's gaze flickered, and he quickly turned his head to look.

Jialan was holding a light green longbow, with a red arrow nocked and ready to fire. The blood hole on her shoulder had completely healed, leaving only a faint red line.

"Junior Brother Bai, don't get distracted. This bone corpse is highly intelligent and very cunning, unlike ordinary fierce ghosts. But if we work together, we can still hold our own against it," the graceful girl said, frowning as she saw Liu Ming turn to look at her.

"Hold our own! Such a powerful ghost creature, does Senior Sister not plan to subdue it?" Liu Ming, though he refocused on the bone corpse, asked with a hint of surprise.

"Although these human-shaped ghosts with innate intelligence are extremely powerful and different from other ghosts born from yin energy, they cannot be subdued by the震慑 of Spirit Communication alone. Unless your strength far exceeds theirs, even if you temporarily subdue them, they may later turn against you. Many of our senior uncles in the sect have fallen this way, so we shouldn't even think about it," Jialan replied coolly.

"I see. Then we can only completely destroy it," Liu Ming sighed, feeling a great sense of regret.

"Destroy it?" Even Jialan, who usually remained calm, was taken aback by this.

The bone corpse seemed to understand Liu Ming's words. Upon hearing them, its eyes flared with blood flames, and it angrily pulled two black bone spines from its body, which then transformed into two bone spears. It then charged forward.

The graceful girl's pupils contracted, and she released the red glow from her longbow.

A loud boom!

In the rolling flames, the bone corpse, which had already rushed close, was forcefully pushed back several feet.

But the ghost creature seemed to have been fully roused to its ferocity. Despite the numerous new wounds on its body, it threw the two bone spears without a word and pounced again, roaring and baring its fangs.

With two "whoosh" sounds, Liu Ming raised his hand, and two green wind blades shot out, slightly deflecting the bone spears as they flew past him.

Behind him, Jialan's face darkened, and after a blur of her hands, another red glow shot from her longbow.

Another loud boom, but this time, the bone corpse's body only trembled slightly before it charged out of the flames, resisting the explosive force.

Liu Ming's gaze sharpened, and he saw that the bone corpse had a large, unknown bone plate in front of it, using it like a shield as it charged over in just a few steps, a foul smell enveloping him.

"Junior Brother, quickly retreat," Jialan said, her face darkening. She shook her sleeve, and her longbow disappeared, replaced by a pale silver talisman, ready to activate.

But to her surprise, Liu Ming ignored her words, standing still without dodging. Instead, he raised his arm, and the tiger head on the Tiger Bite Ring opened its mouth, releasing a white sound wave that swept toward the bone corpse's head.

The bone corpse simply tilted its head to avoid the sound wave. The blood flames in its eyes flickered, and it lunged at Liu Ming with both hands.

Given the bone corpse's fierce appearance with its bone spines, even a Spirit Master would likely be killed if caught in its embrace.

The graceful girl's face changed drastically, and she had no time to take any remedial measures.

With two "pu" sounds, two black giant claws suddenly shot out from the sand beneath the bone corpse, blurring and clamping onto its bony ankles. Though they didn't sever them, the bone corpse's charge was abruptly halted, and it nearly stumbled and fell.

Startled, the bone corpse quickly pulled a black bone spine from its chest and stabbed at one of the black giant claws.

But at that moment, another "pu" sound.

A black line shot out from the sand, flashing and piercing the bone corpse's arm holding the bone spear. The bone corpse trembled, and the bone spear fell to the ground, a black ink-like substance quickly spreading from the wound.

The black line was a black, sinister hook tail.

In pain, the bone corpse felt a sense of weakness spreading from its arm. Panicked, it wildly clawed at the hook tail with its remaining arm.

But the hook tail was incredibly tough, and despite the ghost creature's sharp claws, they only left faint white marks.

At this moment, Liu Ming chanted a spell, clasped his hands, and then slowly separated them, a giant wind blade over a yard long appearing.

"Go!"

Liu Ming's low command, and with a flick of his wrists, the giant wind blade flashed past the bone corpse's waist.

A loud "bang."

The bone corpse's struggling form froze, and then its upper body, after a slight wobble, split into two and fell to the ground.

Liu Ming exhaled lightly, a smile appearing on his face.

But at that moment, another "boom" sounded.

The upper half of the bone corpse's body exploded, and dozens of black bone spines shot toward Liu Ming and Jialan in a dense black glow.

At such close range, even Liu Ming had no time to defend himself, and his heart sank as he quickly raised his arms to block.

But at that moment, a dull sound, and a broad white light screen suddenly appeared in front of him.

The black glows hit the screen, making a dull sound like rain hitting a fence, and then fell to the ground powerless.

Liu Ming was slightly taken aback and turned to look.

Jialan was holding a silver talisman emitting a white glow, chanting softly.

Seeing Liu Ming look over, she stopped her incantation and said with a faint smile:

"These bone corpses are extremely fierce. Once they die, they often self-destruct to take their enemies with them. It seems Junior Brother Bai isn't fully aware of this."

"Thank you, Senior Sister, for your help. I really didn't know this," Liu Ming said with a deep breath, then laughed bitterly.

"I also learned this from my master. But Junior Brother's strength far exceeds expectations. You almost single-handedly killed this fierce ghost. By the way, is this white bone scorpion a new addition to your collection?" Jialan put away the talisman, then asked, her gaze falling on the white bone scorpion near Liu Ming, which was gnawing on the bone corpse's remains.

"My strength is nothing. If not for Senior Sister's help, I might have perished with this ghost. This white bone scorpion was indeed a lucky capture. But why did you provoke this bone corpse? Weren't you with Senior Uncle Bing?" Liu Ming asked in return.

"After my master entered here, an unexpected event occurred, and we temporarily separated. As for this bone corpse, I encountered it by chance, and it has been chasing me relentlessly. By the way, near this bone corpse, I found a sect disciple's badge. This bone corpse might be the transformed body of a senior from our sect who perished here," Jialan said, then threw a jade badge over.

Liu Ming caught it, examined it closely, and indeed recognized it as a special badge of the Mangu Sect. He sighed and threw it back to the graceful girl, saying:

"Human-shaped ghosts in the Netherworld are rare. It seems this is likely the case. If we perish here, we might end up the same way. This place is indeed extremely dangerous. I am preparing to return to the base. What are your plans, Senior Sister?"

"I have another matter to attend to and need to stay here for two more days. I won't return with Junior Brother. By the way, I owe you for saving my life. Here, take this as a token of gratitude," the graceful girl said slowly, then, after a flash of her eyes, grabbed a black leather bag from her waist and threw it over.

"This... this is a Soul Nurturing Bag!" Liu Ming caught the leather bag, immediately feeling a chill from it, and exclaimed.

"Exactly. With this, Junior Brother's white bone scorpion can stay with you long-term without worrying about insufficient yin energy, which could cause its strength to gradually decline," the graceful girl said with a smile.

"This Soul Nurturing Bag is akin to a spirit artifact, costing at least ten thousand spirit stones. It's too valuable, and I can't accept it," Liu Ming said, his face changing, but he still laughed bitterly.

"Is anything more valuable than my life? Besides, I have a better one. I don't think Junior Brother is the type to quibble, so why say such things?" Jialan said indifferently, then casually pulled out another, more exquisite leather bag and showed it to Liu Ming.

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