Chapter 79

‘What is this?’

Before Yushinyun could grasp the situation,

Pabat!

The Skeleton Commander, who had risen to his feet, kicked the ground without a moment's hesitation.

He rushed at Yushinyun like a bolt of lightning.

The Skeleton Commander was one of the new classes Yushinyun had obtained after the Skeleton Mastery level increased, specializing in close combat.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A bizarre staff, seemingly made of dozens of bones twisted together, was spinning in one of the Skeleton Commander's hands, emitting a chilling sound.

‘Is this a sealed weapon?’

Reading the naked hostility from the empty pupils that were now burning with flames, Yushinyun immediately drew his sword and prepared for defense.

Tat!

Without taking a single step, the Skeleton Commander was already right in front of him.

‘This fast!’

It was an astonishing technique.

Among all the martial artists he had seen, this one seemed to possess the most supreme light body technique.

Kwagaga! Sssss!

In the next moment, the wind screamed as if being torn apart.

The staff wielded by the Skeleton Commander, like a torrential rain, created dozens of shadows and began to mercilessly stab at Yushinyun.

But Yushinyun did not fall easily.

Clang! Clang!

He blocked all the attacks with his sword, which was imbued with lightning.

Moreover, he used the power enhancement of the Righteous Art to draw out all his potential. Simultaneously, he unleashed both the dark mana and the natural force.

‘I don’t know what’s going on, but I can’t just stand here and take it.’

Unlike the time when he had to hide his strength in Dounanjiang, there was no need to do so now.

As his energy began to burn within him, a more massive aura than that of the opponent, who was at the Fire Realm, overflowed from his body.

In a split second, they exchanged dozens of blows.

‘Which sect is this?’

Yushinyun was rapidly thinking, trying to figure out who the opponent was and what martial arts he used.

His panic had long since subsided, turning cold and calm.

He methodically gathered clues, narrowing down the possibilities.

First, the internal energy flowing through his sword from the opponent was very pure, indicating that he was from the righteous sect, not the demonic sect.

Among the high-level experts who participated in the righteous-demonic war 200 years ago, most of those who reached the Fire Realm were from the Nine Sects and One Sect.

The Skeleton Commander was likely a member of the Nine Sects and One Sect.

The biggest clue was that the opponent's weapon was a staff, not a sword or spear.

The staff techniques displayed by the Skeleton Commander were so refined that they could be considered the best in the martial world.

This indicated a martial art that had been honed over a long period.

There weren't many sects that specialized in staff techniques.

‘Is it that place?’

A location came to Yushinyun's mind.

To confirm his guess, Yushinyun began to pour lightning energy into his sword.

Pazzz! Pazzz!

Electricity was released, and his sword emitted a brilliant light.

Upon seeing this, the Skeleton Commander immediately increased the distance between them and began to spin his staff even more fiercely.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Huaaa!

Wind began to swirl along the long staff, as if a storm was raging around it.

Just then,

- ... Demon sect lackey! I will kill you.

‘...!’

Yushinyun was taken aback by the voice that suddenly entered his mind.

A skeleton expressing its will!

This was something he had never experienced in his previous life.

‘It’s not perfect, but it clearly conveyed its will. Is it possible for a soul at the Fire Realm to do this?’

Yushinyun's eyes sparkled.

His original plan was to completely destroy the skeleton that dared to show its claws, leaving no bone fragments behind, but it seemed he needed to make some adjustments.

‘Alright, I’ll just break the bones in its limbs to render it combat ineffective.’

Yushinyun thought this and curled the corner of his mouth into a smile.

Seeing the smile on his face, the Skeleton Commander, or rather, Zhong Lipiao, the youngest leader of the Beggar Sect in 200 years, burned with even more rage.

Hoooo! Whoosh!

From his bony hands, the essence of the Beggar Sect's ultimate technique, the Eighteen Strikes of Restraint (打拘十八招), was revealed in a new form, the Six Knots of Wind and Waves (风波打拘六结), which was only passed down to the sect leader.

Pabat!

The Skeleton Commander, like a bow, stretched back and then shot forward.

This was the ultimate technique of Bow Body Shadow (弓身彈影).

Zhong Lipiao was not only a master of staff techniques in his lifetime but also possessed the most unparalleled light body technique.

‘Lightning energy won’t work. It’s not compatible with wind energy. Then...’

Having made up his mind, Yushinyun

Chuchuk.

Suddenly retracted his sword into the scabbard.

And then,

“Seize. Target: Dryad Queen. Designated skill.”

He cast a new skill.

Kwagaga! Sssss!

Just as the staff of the Skeleton Commander, which had reached his face, was about to tear it apart,

“Deadly Spine.”

Whoosh!

As if waiting for the moment, a vine staff sprouted from Yushinyun's feet.

Just like when he used the power of the Willow in his previous life, this time he borrowed the power of Mayhua, the Dryad Queen.

Originally, Deadly Spine was a skill that controlled numerous vine staffs to impale enemies like skewers.

But Yushinyun used it in a way that was best suited to dealing with the Skeleton Commander.

Woooom! Grrrr!

As Yushinyun grasped the staff, the wood energy within the vine staff began to absorb the celestial energy and natural force, causing it to go wild.

Just as the Skeleton Commander was taken aback,

The vine staff and the bone staff of the Skeleton Commander collided.

The staff imbued with wind energy and the staff imbued with wood energy clashed.

Haaaa! Bang!

Despite the materials of the two weapons being wood and bone, not steel, the immense energy they carried caused an explosion like a cannon blast.

A cloud of dust rose, and a figure was thrown out.

The one rolling on the ground was none other than the Skeleton Commander.

Although the energy of the staff and the spear were incomparable, the difference in attributes and the combined effect of Yushinyun's numerous energies overshadowed this difference.

The Skeleton Commander's arm had been torn off. Despite this, it trembled and used its staff to prop itself up, struggling to stand.

‘If I prepare well and use my head, even a Fire Realm martial artist is nothing special.’

Seeing this, Yushinyun thought to himself.

He then began to approach the Skeleton Commander with a leisurely attitude.

‘What will you do now?’

The Skeleton Commander, who had been so confident, was now nowhere to be seen.

His eyes, like a candle in the wind, began to tremble.

The fear of death that had once overwhelmed him in this place began to rise again.

Yushinyun, approaching, seemed like the harbinger of death.

In the next moment, the Skeleton Commander's choice left Yushinyun speechless.

Whoosh! Pabat!

Using the remaining strength, the Skeleton Commander used the technique of the Golden Carp Crossing a Thousand Waves (金鯉倒千波) to launch himself far away.

Like a carp leaping over waves, he used the momentum to move instantly.

Seeing the Skeleton Commander's fleeing back, Yushinyun was filled with disbelief.

‘... A skeleton is afraid and running away?’

It seemed that the Skeleton Commander, created from a soul at the Fire Realm, was a completely different entity from the other summons he had created.

Yushinyun did not chase after it immediately.

He simply let it run.

‘Tsk! A rat in a trap, this one!’

After all, no matter how much it ran, it couldn't escape the Blood Mist Heavenly Net Formation.

While pondering how to deal with this cute beggar skeleton who had rebelled against its master,

‘Hmm?’

A system message appeared before Yushinyun's eyes.

[You have successfully overwhelmed the enraged Skeleton Commander.]

[Meeting the conditions, the capture conditions for the Skeleton Commander ‘Zhong Lipiao’ are now open.]

[Capture Condition 1: Knock it down with a staff or spear.]

[Capture Condition 2: Display the ultimate light body technique.]

[Capture Condition 1 has been completed.]

As Yushinyun read the message carefully, he nodded his head.

‘Capture conditions... It seems that summoning a soul at the Fire Realm is not easy.’

It seemed that once a