Chapter 282: Poaches

There were two black mountains ranges under the dark and gloomy sky. They stretched over hundreds of miles, and were thousands of feet in height. They looked curved like the horns of a cow. They stood aloft opposite each other like two recumbent giants. Moreover, they had created a large and leveled valley in the middle.

A plume of black smoke emerged in the void outside this valley. Then, Yan Luo's silhouette walked out of the smoke while holding the blood-red order token in its hand; the token was faintly emitting blood-red radiance.

Yan Luo gazed at the token. Then, it turned its head and looked in the direction of the valley's entrance. The soul flame in its eyes flashed, and a large mass of black smoke enveloped its whole body.

Then, a gust of cold wind blew, and Yan Luo's silhouette disappeared from the place.

A huge sacrificial altar stood upright in the middle of the canyon. It was made of white bones of the dead.

A grey smoke curled in the air around this altar. Then, waves of grey light started to wind around the surface of the eight thick white bones on the peak of this altar. A few magic characters fluttered over the altar. They constituted a grand gray magic formula.

After that, corpses began to emerge out of thin air inside this magic array. The corpses varied in sizes, shapes, and forms. Some of these corpses were of humans, while some were of demon beasts.

These corpses were curled-up in the grey smoke. The surface of their skin suddenly started to become dry and shriveled at a fast speed. And, they eventually turned into zombies. There were many corpses among them whose flesh had disappeared completely in this process, and they had ended up becoming skeletons.

Feeble and pale-green soul flames were flickering in the eyes of these new-born Dead Spirit creatures. They staggered to their feet, and went into the depths of the valley.

Their goal was to reach the extensive deep water lake that was located in the depths of the canyon.

Intermittent waves of faint-red fog were curling on the faint-red surface of the lake.

The fog had been gradually drifting in the wind. Therefore, it had shrouded hundreds of feet in area by the lakeside over time. Naturally, the density of this fog increased with proximity to the lake.

The indistinct shadows of numerous human skeletons, zombies, and other Dead Spirit creatures had gathered in the mist. Several Dead Spirit demon beasts were also among them. Their mouths opened and closed... as if they were swallowing the faint-red mist.

These Dead Spirit creatures had soul flames in their eyes that varied in color. Most of them had green and bluish-green soul flames. But, a small number of them also possessed blue soul flames. Their soul flames seemed to be getting darker than the others since they were relatively closer to the lake water.

Only three lonesome silhouettes could be seen within the radius of hundred or more feet from the lake water. And, each one of them was at a considerable distance from each other.

The silhouette that was nearest to the lake water was a crystal-like human skeleton. The bones of its whole body were transparent like a crystal. It was sitting cross-legged, and pale-purple soul flames were gleaming in its eyes.

There was a green bone-wolf on the left side of the lake. It was approximately ten-feet in height. A purple-colored soul flame was flickering in its eyes. However, the aura around its body was much stronger than that of the crystal human skeleton.

And, the third one was a gigantic zombie alligator. It lay prone on the right side of the lake. It was almost fifty or sixty feet long, and its whole body was covered with fist-sized thin black scales.

Suddenly, a shadow flashed behind the crystal skeleton, and a silhouette came into view. Its whole body was covered with a suit of white armor.

It was Yan Luo.

The white bone-spear in Yan Luo's hand turned fuzzy as soon as Yan Luo came into appearance. It seemed that the spear changed into a stream of white light as it got thrust toward the back of that crystal-like skeleton's head.

The crystal-like skeleton turned around abruptly, and a cluster of green flames ignited in each of its hands. Then, it brought them together in front of its body.

The two clusters of green flames merged into a massive and green human skeleton's head with a burst of strong magic power waves. Then, the skeleton's head opened and closed its mouth... as if it was trying to bite the tip of the bone spear. A vast-stretched mass of green flames also gushed out of its mouth as this happened. And, it enveloped the bone-spear the next moment.

The bone spear started to burn under the scorching heat of the green flame. Moreover, a layer of green ice crystals started to form on its surface.

The soul flame in Yan Luo's eyes throbbed as it saw this scene.

Then, a layer of unusual white radiance started to flow on the surface of the bone-spear in an uncertain manner. At the same time, some white magic characters appeared in the surrounding, and quickly changed into bursts of white flames.

The green ice crystals shattered into small pieces with a crackling sound the next moment.

The green flames that had enveloped the bone-spear also melted away as soon as they came in contact with the white flames. The green human skeleton's head issued a wailing sound. Then, it burst and dispersed with a loud bang under the effect of the rolling white flames.

After that, the bone-spear that was covered in blazing white flames pierced the head of the crystal skeleton.

The skeleton's head exploded with a loud rumbling sound, and a pale-purple light ball floated into appearance. It got swept by an invisible suction force, and went into Yan Luo's mouth as soon as it appeared.

Then, the headless crystal skeleton fell, and crashed near the shore of the deep water lake with a loud thud.

But then, an incomparably thick black beam of light was shot out at a high speed. Dozens of curved-moon-shaped green blade-shadows were also shot out from a different direction at the same time.

However, Yan Luo vanished from sight with the black smoke that was curling on its body.

The numerous densely packed curved-moon-shaped green blade-shadows and the black beam of light swept over the place where Yan Luo had stood a moment ago, and ended up hitting in the air.

Dozens of feet away on both sides... the green-colored bone-wolf and the zombie-alligator rushed in the direction of the crystal skeleton in a threatening manner.

A magic image of a beast stood behind the green bone-wolf; the beast had the body of a tiger and the head of a wolf.

In addition, a massive shadow emerged above the head of the zombie-alligator. The shape of that shadow resembled that of a gigantic crocodile.

The soul flame in the zombie alligator's eyes throbbed at this moment... as if it had felt something. So, it abruptly turned around. The magic image behind it also turned around.

Yan Luo's silhouette had appeared behind it amid a black smoke! Then, the bone-spear it its hand got thrusted toward the alligator like a bolt of lightning.

The alligator's magic image stretched-open its big mouth and a black light flashed in it. After that, the black light changed into a mass of black vortex, and a thick black light-beam was projected from the center of that vortex.

The bone-spear and the black light-beam collided, and ended up in a deadlock.

Yan Luo's soul flame flickered, and a streak of white light shot up to the sky behind it. Then, that white light transformed into the magic image of a gorgeous young girl. That girl was clad in an elegant white royal robe that fluttered behind her in a graceful manner. Then, a wonderful singing voice resounded... like melodious sounds of nature.

After that, numerous pure-white flower petals blotted out the whole sky, and began to float down in a gentle manner. The purple soul flame in the zombie-alligator's eyes stagnated, and the black light-beam that it had spouted disappeared into thin air.

The bone-spear in Yan Luo's hand somewhat loosened since it wanted to seize this opportunity, and stab the head of the zombie-alligator below.

However, something strange happened at this very moment!

The surface of the deep water lake below suddenly split open. Then, a huge hatchet-shadow which was curled-up in scorching grey flames darted out with a seemingly inexhaustible force. It hacked at the top of Yan Luo's head at an alarming speed.

Even the void that had come in contact with the hatchet-shadow along the way had started to twist and distort...

Yan Luo was startled to see this situation, and immediately withdrew the bone-spear that it had thrust toward the Zombie-alligator. After that, a mass of black smoke erupted from its body, and its silhouette became fuzzy once again.

Then, a "whoosh" sound was heard!

The shadow of the huge hatchet had penetrated Yan Luo's body, and had cleaved it into two segments from head to toe.

However, the two severed parts turned fuzzy, and dissipated into thin air in an instant. The fact was that those two severed silhouettes were only Yan Luo's after image.

However, the hatchet-shadow's momentum didn't decline. Instead, it continued to flash in the air... as if it could go directly to the horizon. It also continued to divide the billowing grey clouds in the air.

Meanwhile, the faint-red lake water below got cleaved at a fast speed. Then, a large monster emerged from the bottom of the lake; it was curled-up in grey smoke.

This fierce monster had the body of a human, and the head of an ox. Moreover, the lower half of its body seemed to be made of condensed black smoke. That monster held a gigantic white bone-hatchet in its right hand. This bone-hatchet was dozens of feet long.

Shi Mu might have been profoundly shocked if he were here. After all, this monster was the same ox-headed monster that had gone berserk and brought calamity in the Heavenly Yu City at the time of that auction. However, he had eventually been defeated by Elder Taoist Wu Chen — the leader of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult. This monster was none other than Demon King Luo Tian!

A few years had passed since that incident in the Heavenly Yu City. Demon King Luo Tian seemed to have recovered some parts of his body over these years. The aura around him didn't seem to be as formidable as it used to be before. However, the coercive force of an Earth-ranked powerhouse still existed in him.

The zombie-alligator and the green bone-wolf received the magic images that were behind them as soon as the Demon King appeared before their eyes. Moreover, the souls flames in their eyes started to tremble... as if the two were afraid of him.

Numerous skeletons, zombies, and other Dead Spirit creatures that were around the lake were also shaken by the impact of an invisible yet formidable force. They then crouched on the ground in quick succession... as if their king had appeared before them.

The Demon King Luo Tian fired his gaze around... It seemed as if he wanted to find Yan Luo. However, he was only making a futile effort.

"You came here and acted in a reckless manner. You dared to disturb my cultivation! I won't let you off the next time!"

Demon King Luo Tian's furious roar burst out in the air over the lake like a loud thundering sound. It made a long-range raid in all directions without showing the slightest sign of fading.

The soul flames in the skeletons and zombies' eyes started to flicker endlessly. Their crouched bodies started to quiver out of fear.

In the meantime, a world-shaking roar rang out; it sounded similar to roar of a tiger. The sound had originated from a place that was full of swamps with black bubbles and mud. It couldn't be said how far it was from the black canyon...

The sky was densely covered with layers of dark clouds. And, those dark clouds started to converge to that place from all directions.

Then, a frightening aura burst out from the swamp, and shrouded the whole swampland in an instant. Simultaneously, a grey fog pervaded the air over the swamps. Then, it started to roll in a certain order under the impact of this dreadful aura. Gradually, it took the shape of a gigantic vortex in the swampland.

A huge silhouette gradually emerged in the center of the vortex.

It was a white skull that was almost the size of an attic. Its appearance made it seem that it was a kind of tiger-class ominous beast.

The soul flame that was gleaming in its eye sockets revealed a strange silver radiance.

... ...

The Gloomy Corpse Mountains...

Inside a grand and green Palace that was situated in the Main Altar of the Dark Moon Cult.

A curly-haired young man sat opposite a wide-mouth middle-aged man. He was attired in a grey robe. There was a gloomy expression across his face at this moment. He was discussing something while sipping a fragrant tea.

Suddenly, the wide-mouthed middle-aged man's complexion changed, and he stood up. The cup of tea in his hand got squeezed into powder with a 'Ping' sound.

"What happened?" the curly-haired man asked.

"My crystal skeleton met with an accident!" the wide-mouthed middle-aged man replied in a sinking voice.

"The crystal skeleton...? Hadn't you stationed it near the Cult's altar some time ago?" the curly-haired man asked.

"Yes. The altar was going through serious issues at that time," the middle-aged man said.

"Most of the Palace Lords wouldn't have recalled their spirit pets these days. They must have made their spirit pets to be on standby in the vicinity of the altar. In addition, we also have Demon King Luo Tian to stand on guard. So, the altar is unlikely to bump into any problems. Anyway, your crystal skeleton is an Earth-ranked spirit pet. So, it will be enough in case someone still dares to create any problem," the curly-haired man knitted his brows as he reassured.

"It doesn't matter what you say. The connection between my spirit sense and the crystal skeleton has already been cut off. I must rush over to the Dead Spirit World as soon as possible so that I can investigate and find out the truth. So, Palace Lord Huo takes his leave first," the middle-aged man with a wide-mouth said. Then, he strode towards the door.

... ...

In the Dead Spirit World... in the vicinity of the white bone-altar in the black canyon.

"Bang" a rumbling sound was heard!

A stream of white light plummeted down from midair at a very high speed... It seemed as if it was a bolt of lightning. It flashed and landed beside the white-bones altar. Then, a silver-grey human skeleton came into appearance.

There was a pair of pale-green soul flames in that silver-grey skeleton's eyes. But, they suddenly dissipated, and got replaced by two clusters of luminous pale-purple soul flames.

The skeleton's limbs had been shaking since it had appeared. However, they became agile all of a sudden.

The silver-grey skeleton stood for a moment in the same place. After that, it started to walk towards the depths of the canyon along with the surrounding Dead Spirit creatures.

Its pace had increased considerably in a short span of time after it had arrived before the deep water lake.

The lake was still pervaded by the faint-red mist like before. Also, the surrounding Dead Spirit creatures were still in the process of swallowing-up the mist.

The silver-grey skeleton didn't hesitate. It sprang up and crossed numerous Dead Spirit creatures in one fell swoop.

It arrived at the bank of the lake, and swept its eyes around. The soul flame in its eyes trembled as it saw the corpse of a skeleton that lay down on the ground not far from it. The whole body of that skeleton was transparent like a crystal. But, its head had been badly crushed... so much so that the scene was difficult to withstand. Only a small part of its head was still connected to its neck's bone.

There were no other traces of a battle on its entire body. These circumstances signified that the crystal skeleton must've been killed with a single strike.