“Chhh! Chhh!”
A violent hissing sound rang out. The flying sword condensed from the ashes of the previous wave finally vanished into that devouring vortex.
Moments later, the vortex itself faded away, having consumed most of its energy and dissipated into the air.
In that instant, Lin Xiao had already flown dozens, if not hundreds, of li away. Cold sweat broke out on his back.
Ashes condensing into a flying sword to attack? That was just too bizarre.
There was simply no way to explain it. What on earth was going on?
Even power could seep through. Fortunately, it could not penetrate his spiritual energy. Otherwise, he really would have struggled to block it.
If it were anyone else, they might well have been in danger.
After all, no one could have expected that the ashes could carry permeating power, reform after being struck, and continue the assault.
In Lin Xiao’s own estimation, even if he activated his impregnable Haoran defence martial skill, he probably could not have stopped it.
The only option would be weapons like the Yaoguang Broken Sword.
But what if those ash flying swords got close, were smashed back into ashes, and then instantly reformed around him to attack again?
Wouldn’t he be in grave danger?
This kind of attack truly was too strange. Although not especially powerful, it was extremely perilous. Luckily, he possessed spiritual energy that could burn the ashes away.
“Swish! Swish! Swish!”
Yet right at that moment, from his flank, ashes transformed into flying arrows, spears, greatswords, and flying swords, all hurtling towards him.
Lin Xiao’s brows knitted once more. He urged forth a mass of spiritual energy, forming a clawed, humanoid energy figure that charged to one side.
He immediately released another mass of spiritual energy towards the opposite direction. The arrows and blades were all incinerated by the spiritual flames.
The attacks from both sides were eliminated.
However, the arrows, swords, and spears that had not been aimed precisely at his body did not continue flying off to the sides.
Instead, they wheeled around and shot towards Lin Xiao again.
“As expected!”
Lin Xiao’s brows furrowed deeply. These attacks could indeed lock onto their target automatically. Missing once did not render them useless.
“Chhh!”
With no other choice, Lin Xiao once again activated the Heaven-Devouring Art. He did not unleash it at full strength, but it was still impressive. A huge energy vortex appeared above his head, sucking in all the incoming swords, spears, and arrows, swallowing and incinerating them completely.
“Chhh!”
“Chhh!”
“Chhh!”
At that very moment, thick clouds of ash rapidly gathered from the valleys on both sides of the path Lin Xiao had just sped through. Some condensed into a flying boat with a spear-wielding humanoid figure standing aboard it.
Others formed a gigantic beast with enormous wings.
Still others took the shape of war chariots, all charging towards Lin Xiao.
From behind him, rolling clouds of ash billowed up. They had not yet taken any definite form, yet they already blotted out half the sky as they surged to envelop him.
“What the hell is this!”
Lin Xiao’s expression filled with horror. He hurriedly poured a pile of blue spirit stones into the Void Heaven Phoenix Wings.
Controlling the wings, he shot forward through a gap before the frontal assaults could close in.
Fortunately, the Void Heaven Phoenix Wings were fast enough. The attacks had not yet reached him, allowing Lin Xiao to break through.
He glanced back. Countless ash-formed shapes filled the sky, pursuing him relentlessly. The sight made his heart pound and his flesh crawl.
This place was simply too eerie, too terrifying.
If he did not have the Void Heaven Phoenix Wings, he might well have been worn down and killed there.
Before long, the commotion behind him finally vanished from Lin Xiao’s sight.
Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. He dispersed the energy in the Void Heaven Phoenix Wings to avoid flying too quickly and blundering into some forbidden area ahead.
This region was similar to the one he had just left: low, rounded mountain peaks and countless valleys everywhere.
Only, these valleys no longer held heaps of skeleton bones.
Still, Lin Xiao remained extremely cautious, slowly urging the Void Heaven Phoenix Wings forward.
After travelling another few dozen to a hundred li, several skeleton frames suddenly leapt from a mountain peak ahead and charged straight at him.
Lin Xiao started in shock, his face full of disbelief.
Why were these skeleton frames attacking on their own initiative?
By the look of them, they surely had not been imprinted with combat bone runes or anything similar.
Moreover, some were missing leg bones or arm bones. Even with his current strength, he could not imprint crippled combat skeletons.
Of course, Lin Xiao felt little fear towards skeletons that could fight. After all, he was quite skilled with them himself.
At once, he sent his spiritual force surging forth. It attached to one of the charging skeletons. With a fierce twist, the skull was wrenched off, and the entire frame tumbled downwards.
Immediately after, his spiritual force moved again. Before the remaining skeletons could reach him, he twisted their necks one by one, sending them crashing down.
Finally, he controlled one skeleton, bringing it right up to him. His spiritual force bound it tightly so that even if it tried to strike, it could not move.
Lin Xiao activated the Undying Skeleton Technique and poured it into the bones, but found no imprint whatsoever inside.
Lin Xiao thought it strange. No imprint, no spiritual intelligence, no consciousness at all. How was this skeleton moving?
Finding nothing special after investigation, he eventually snapped its neck and let it fall.
The combat strength of these skeleton frames was not particularly great, and the bone quality was ordinary. If he tried to imprint a combat skeleton, he would not be able to infuse it with much power. The resulting fighter would not be very strong.
Even refining them would be a waste of effort.
Thus, he did not bother collecting this skeleton. Besides, it moved on its own, which made it unusable anyway.
Lin Xiao then urged the Void Heaven Phoenix Wings onward.
After passing more than a dozen mountain peaks, he encountered no further skeletons.
However, from behind one peak ahead, a beast-shaped skeleton dozens of zhang tall slowly rose into the air. On either side of its body stretched wing bones three to four zhang long.
Its entire form appeared enormous. From the skeleton alone, it was impossible to tell what kind of spirit beast it had once been.
Seeing this beast skeleton, Lin Xiao’s heart jolted. For him, imprinting a spirit beast skeleton would be far more difficult.
Spirit beast bones differed from human skeletons in structure and attack methods. The attack pattern runes that needed to be imprinted were completely different.
He had never even attempted to imprint a spirit beast skeleton before.
And this one before him, just like the previous human skeletons, probably bore no imprint and possessed no consciousness at all.
One had to admit, this place was extraordinarily strange. These utterly lifeless objects could actually fight.
He had no idea what special power was guiding these skeletons into battle.
Nor did he know how strong this spirit beast skeleton might be.
With a shift of spiritual force, Lin Xiao hurled out the Black Xuan Iron Staff, controlling it to whirl and smash towards the beast skeleton.
The beast skeleton flapped its bony wings. Though it had no feathers, it still whipped up a ferocious gust of wind. Its massive frame rose and sped forward.
The entire skeleton radiated the ferocious aura of a savage beast.
