"My skeleton isn't strong enough. It's only half the quality of an Ancestral Treasure. Compared to those Ancestral Divine Weapons, it's far inferior," Cao Ya muttered, rubbing his palm. A burst of black flame rose up and then went out.

"Although I can regenerate flesh and blood, however..."

Suddenly, Cao Ya sensed an unusual aura.

He felt a chill run down his spine and quickly suppressed all his aura. His skeletal frame shattered and fell to various places with a bang, and even the black flames in his eye sockets went out with a snap. In an instant, he disguised himself as a dead skeleton, as if he had been dead for tens of thousands of years and showed no signs of revival or any vitality.

He was very familiar with this scene, as if he had done it many times before, and he showed no signs of unfamiliarity.

Cao Ya is a pro at playing dead!

Just then, a terrifying aura came from the horizon. Although it was still very far away from Cao Ya's wilderness, his heart pounded, and he felt as if a sword was pointed at his brow, and he was in imminent danger.

"Something big has arrived!"

Cao Ya was extremely stern.

"Damn, that guy is at least an Ancestral Lord!"

"Hmm, I need to be more low-key and play dead better. That way, even if the Ancestor senses my presence, he will definitely look down on me and won't bother with me because I'm so cowardly."

Cao Ya's skeletal frame looked increasingly lifeless.

The skull lay there on the desolate earth, with no black soul fire burning in its eye sockets, as if it were truly a skull that had crumbled tens of thousands of years ago.

Boom!!!

With a loud bang, a snow-white skeleton appeared in the sky.

Upon arriving at this desolate wilderness, he seemed to sense something. The brilliant soul fire in his eye sockets flickered twice, illuminating the wilderness like the blazing sun, as bright as day.

"Damn it! This big guy has found us." Cao Ya thought to himself, "This is bad."

At the same time, he also confirmed the true nature of the snow-white skull, which was definitely the real Ancestral Lord!

Moreover, he is no ordinary Ancestral Lord; he must be a powerful one among Ancestral Lords!

Cao Ya became increasingly cautious, remaining completely still like a dead man.

If it were an ordinary Ancestral Lord, with his current strength, he could put up a fight. Even if he was no match for him, he was confident he could escape.

But such a powerful ancestral ruler...

Cao Ya decided that he should just continue to play it safe.

"If Zu Jun sees how cowardly I am, he'll definitely look down on me and leave soon." Cao Ya prayed in his heart, hoping that this big guy would leave quickly.

He was afraid his heart wouldn't be able to take it if he stayed here any longer.

In the sky, the aura of the snow-white skull was as deep as an abyss, spreading throughout the six directions and eight wastelands, its power pressing down on endless regions.

He lowered his head slightly and saw the white bones in the wilderness, as well as the black leg bones, hand bones, sternum, skull, and other bones scattered among them.

Suddenly, a smile seemed to emanate from the snow-white skeleton.

Cao Ya realized this and immediately felt relieved.

It seems this big guy is mocking me; it'll be leaving soon...

Cao Ya felt no shame whatsoever. As long as he could save his life, what did it matter? For the past seventy or eighty thousand years, Cao Ya had tried every possible means to protect his own life, and had been very cautious.

Especially in the first 20,000 to 30,000 years, before Cao Ya had advanced to the Tongtian Realm Monarch, he was in the most precarious state.

Later, after becoming a king, he felt he had gained some power and would occasionally venture out to explore.

Of course, Cao Ya's power was still too weak in the face of that terrifying, snow-white skeleton.

He had a premonition that if they really started fighting, even if he went all out, he definitely wouldn't last more than three moves!

If that snow-white skeleton were to harbor murderous intent, it wouldn't be impossible for it to be instantly killed.

Given this disparity in strength, what can Cao Ya do if he doesn't back down, doesn't play dumb, and doesn't feign death?

"Stop pretending, get up."

Suddenly, a majestic and solemn voice, yet tinged with a hint of sadness and determination, rang in Cao Ya's ears.

The snow-white skeleton appeared on the earth at some unknown time, its overwhelming power concealed, only the soul fire in its eye sockets remained brilliant, occasionally flashing out divine light to illuminate the pitch-black world of death.

The snow-white skull looked at the black skull on the ground that seemed truly dead, and said casually:

"Looks like he's really dead. I'll add more fire and burn these black skeletons. Black skeletons, they don't look like good people."

As he spoke, he flicked out a wisp of divine fire from his hand, its profound Daoist aura seemingly capable of burning down all the heavens throughout the ages.

Cao Ya's heart skipped a beat—even though he was a skeleton and didn't have a heart.

"Lord Ancestor, please have mercy!" Cao Ya hurriedly summoned his scattered body, which immediately reformed, and the black soul fire rekindled within the black skull.

“Ancestor, I am a good person… no, a good skeleton!” Cao Ya said with a sincere expression.

Although he was just a skeleton, he couldn't express much emotion.

However, the flow of spiritual energy allows one to express their will.

But would Cao Ya dare to use his spiritual power in front of the White Bone Ancestor?

Of course not! If he were misunderstood, and someone slapped him or threw a divine fire at him, how could he possibly withstand that?

The White Bone Ancestor extinguished the divine fire in his hand, and his terrifying aura was not deliberately released but naturally revealed, causing people's souls to tremble.

Without a doubt, this is a super strong expert at the level of an Ancestral Monarch!

"Cao Ya, you're still as afraid of death as ever." The White Bone Ancestor stared at Cao Ya for a moment, then suddenly sighed.

“Zu Jun, do you... know me?” Cao Ya asked tentatively.

"Don't you remember who I am?" The White Bone Ancestor's voice seemed somewhat sentimental, and a special aura flowed from his body, disappearing in a flash.

However, upon sensing that peculiar aura, Cao Ya was instantly stunned.

“You are… the ancestral god of the Nine Provinces—Suirenshi?!” Cao Ya exclaimed in surprise.

The White Bone Ancestor nodded and said in a low voice:

"In the past, I perished in a battle against an ancestral god from another world. Later, I was reborn in the world of death, awakened my memories of my past life, and returned to the realm of the ancestral god."

"As for this skeleton..."

The White Bone Ancestor, Suirenshi, shook his head and said:

"Since I am a being from the realm of the dead, I'm too lazy to regenerate flesh and blood. Besides, if I appear in this form and don't unleash my ultimate move or reveal the aura of my past life, the ancestral god of the other world will definitely misunderstand and won't be too wary of me. They might even think that as the ancestral ruler of the realm of the dead, I am someone who can be won over, so..."

"All's fair in war! Besides, our Kyushu has always been at a disadvantage when facing other worlds."

Suiren, the ancestor of the White Bone Clan, sighed softly, a hint of sadness in his voice.

If he had no other choice, why would he hide in the world of the dead, and instead dare not openly return to Kyushu and his homeland after his revival?

"Ah, I remember now," Cao Ya suddenly realized.

"Have you remembered your past life?" Suirenshi asked.

"Ah, no!" Cao Ya shook his head and muttered to himself, "My memories of my past life showed signs of reviving when I broke through to the Tongtian Realm. After some consideration, I realized that I was a transmigrator and ultimately chose to give up accepting the memories of this body's past life."

So, fifty thousand years have passed, how could there possibly be any past life memories reappearing?!