Chapter 90

When the woman spoke, the majority of the disciples immediately dispersed, some following the woman surnamed Lin to the tall buildings, while others directly soared away from the stone village, flying off in unknown directions.

Only Liu Ming and about seven or eight others, who were clearly first-timers, exchanged glances and then walked towards the stone stele in the center of the village.

After a moment, Liu Ming finished reading the text on the stele and took a brief look around the stone village.

He discovered that apart from a small teleportation array that could only be used under special circumstances, there was also a general store and a refining shop. The former specialized in providing spirit pills, spirit liquids, and other simple supplies, while the latter could repair damaged talismans and sell some simple talismanic weapons.

The other small stone houses were provided free of charge for all disciples participating in the suppression mission to rest.

Liu Ming had already prepared all the necessary supplies before coming, so he only spent several dozen spirit stones to buy a map of the Ten Thousand Bone Cave from the general store, then flew out of the stone village with the others.

In the air, he spread out the map and carefully examined it, then squinted and looked around the basin.

He saw that at the edge of the basin, on the tops of the hills, there were some black stone pillars of varying heights. In the basin, there were green stone platforms at regular intervals, each inscribed with ancient spirit patterns.

After looking at the stone pillars and platforms and then at the map in his hand, Liu Ming suddenly changed his expression, made a hand seal, and the gray cloud carried him upward.

Three hundred feet, four hundred feet, six hundred feet, one thousand feet...

After flying over a thousand feet, Liu Ming focused and looked down carefully, only to draw a sharp breath.

He saw that the entire small basin was actually a super-sized array spanning ten thousand acres, and the seemingly ordinary stone village was at the center of the entire array.

It seemed that the Ten Thousand Bone Cave was indeed as terrifying as rumored; otherwise, the various sects would not have jointly set up such an astonishing sealing array.

According to the information he had gathered, the Ten Thousand Bone Cave was said to have appeared after a burst of earth qi about five to six thousand years ago.

It was said that inside were countless skeletons of humans and beasts buried underground for tens of thousands of years. After being polluted by the earth qi for a long time, they came to life and transformed into ghostly creatures similar to bone zombies. However, because these skeletons had existed for so long, only a few could develop intelligence, so they were collectively called bone ghosts.

The strength of these bone ghosts varied greatly depending on how long they had been exposed to the earth qi, ranging from low-level bone ghosts equivalent to qi cultivators to high-level ghostly creatures that could rival spirit masters.

Some even said that at the bottom of the Ten Thousand Bone Cave, there was a true king of bone ghosts with the power of a ghost king, capable of rivaling even the crystal transformation stage elders.

Of course, few people believed this last claim. If there were truly such a bone ghost king, the crystal transformation stage elders of the various sects would have taken action long ago, and such a fierce ghost would not have been allowed to remain at the bottom of the Ten Thousand Bone Cave.

Moreover, for some unknown reason, these bone ghosts could not be intimidated or subdued by spirit techniques. After being killed, only the occasional spirit bone and a foul qi crystal bead had any value.

However, to prevent the ghosts in the cave from overwhelming the sealing array set up by the various sects, the sects had to repeatedly send disciples to kill large numbers of bone ghosts.

Unfortunately, the earth qi here seemed endless, and no one knew how many skeletons were buried below. Even though a large number of ghosts were killed each year, many new bone ghosts were also born.

As a result, the various sects had to station a certain number of disciples here year-round and offer substantial rewards to attract other disciples to come for training.

However, a few hundred years ago, the Savage Ghost Sect reached some agreement with the other sects and took on the task of stationing disciples here year-round. Of course, if the other sects sent scattered disciples, they would also be allowed to enter without hindrance.

Although the Ten Thousand Bone Cave had existed for so long without any major incidents, the dangers inside were very real.

It was said that the Ten Thousand Bone Cave had nine levels, but only the first five had been explored.

On the first three levels, the bone ghosts were generally low-level, while on the fourth and fifth levels, they were mainly fierce-level bone ghosts, with occasional high-level ghostly creatures. It was said that below the fifth level was the domain of high-level bone ghosts, which even spirit masters dared not enter.

Therefore, the spirit disciples who came here generally only swept the first three levels. Those who dared to enter the fourth and fifth levels were either truly confident in their abilities or accompanied by spirit masters.

After looking around in the air for a while, Liu Ming quickly considered the relevant information and then urged the gray cloud to descend. A moment later, he arrived at a hill at the edge of the basin.

On a stone wall about ten feet away from him, there was a cave entrance several feet high, surrounded by a layer of white light.

This was one of the entrances to the Ten Thousand Bone Cave, and there were said to be nearly a hundred such entrances scattered throughout the basin.

The white light at the entrance was a powerful restriction specifically designed to counteract ghostly creatures, but it did not hinder the disciples of the various sects.

Without a word, Liu Ming strode towards the cave entrance. A moment later, the white light flashed, and his figure disappeared into it.

Upon entering the light, he found himself in a passage about ten feet long. The stone walls were relatively smooth but not very even, clearly not man-made.

However, the stone walls emitted a faint white light, illuminating the passage brightly.

Curious, Liu Ming walked up to one of the stone walls and examined it closely. He then raised his arm and casually broke off a piece of crystal stone that emitted a faint glow.

These stones looked like spirit stones, but they were actually very turbid and contained no detectable essence energy.

Liu Ming shook his head, threw the crystal stone away, and patted his leather bag. A black light flashed, and the White Bone Scorpion appeared on the ground, enveloped in a cloud of green gas.

"Go."

Liu Ming pointed forward and gave a low command.

In an instant, the White Bone Scorpion darted forward and disappeared into the darkness.

Liu Ming then touched the copper ring on his wrist and slowly walked forward.

After walking for a short distance, he came to a cave about ten feet wide and long, with three different passages leading deeper underground.

Without hesitation, Liu Ming chose one and entered it.

An hour later, Liu Ming had passed through countless caves and tunnels, but he felt that he was now very deep underground.

Even the glowing crystal stones on the walls had become scarce, making the surroundings appear hazy and giving a strange feeling that made his heart race.

As Liu Ming turned a corner, something suddenly jumped out of the nearby soil and lunged at his face.

With a muffled thud.

Liu Ming's body swayed, dodging the attack. His arm moved, and a fist wrapped in yellow light struck the black shadow.

The black shadow was sent flying and crashed into the side of the tunnel, shattering.

Liu Ming then focused and saw that it was a half-foot-long animal bone ghost. Half of its body had been shattered by his punch, but the remaining part, driven by a black bead embedded in its head, was trying to stand up.

With a swoosh.

A black line flashed, instantly piercing the small bone ghost's head. It then blurred and struck the remaining body, scattering it.

Liu Ming then reached out with his hand.

The small head of the bone ghost immediately flew over and was caught in his hand.

With a slight effort, a powerful force surged out, crushing the bone ghost's head. The black bead inside rolled out and landed in his palm.

Liu Ming examined the bead, which was no larger than a bean, and estimated that it could be exchanged for one or two contribution points. Suddenly, the White Bone Scorpion emerged from the ground and stared at the bead in his hand, making a low growling sound.

"Do you want this thing?"

Liu Ming was surprised by this, but after a moment's thought, he casually threw the bead to the ghostly creature.

The White Bone Scorpion leaped up and swallowed the black bead in mid-air, then lay still on the ground.

Liu Ming examined the ghostly creature for a while but found nothing unusual, so he shook his head and continued forward.

...

Three days later.

With a loud boom, the head of a humanoid bone ghost shattered into pieces from a fireball explosion, and a black bead the size of a soybean rolled out. The headless, white skeleton swayed and then collapsed, turning into a pile of scattered bones.

With a swoosh, a green shadow flashed, and the black bead on the ground disappeared.

Liu Ming watched as the White Bone Scorpion raised its head and made a crisp "crack" sound, causing him to roll his eyes.

This was a true low-level bone ghost's foul qi bead, which could be exchanged for three or four contribution points outside. Letting the White Bone Scorpion eat it made him feel a bit pained.

This was the first low-level humanoid bone ghost he had encountered in the past few days, not the small bone rabbits or bone mice that he had previously encountered.

However, after he noticed that the White Bone Scorpion's green aura seemed to have become slightly denser after consuming seven or eight foul qi beads, he no longer opposed the White Bone Scorpion's actions.

After the White Bone Scorpion finished eating the black bead, it turned around and used its large pincers to dig out a small, exceptionally clear bone from the pile of bones.

Liu Ming's expression changed, and he immediately went forward to grab the small bone. After examining it carefully, he smiled to himself.

"Indeed, it's a spirit bone. Unfortunately, it's only about ten years old, but it can still be exchanged for over a hundred spirit stones."

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