Chapter 61 Yu Lingzi still didn't know what to write.
The moment the skeleton raised its skull, the temperature inside the fortress plummeted. The ancient runes on the stone walls suddenly glowed with a blood-red light, writhing and twisting like awakened venomous snakes.
"Be on guard!" Chu Yu pulled Duan Xuan behind him, holding his long flute horizontally in front of his chest.
Yin Lisheng's Broken Abyss Sword was already drawn, its tip pointing directly at the strange skeleton.
"Crack, crack..."
The skeleton slowly rose, the rusted ancient sword still embedded in its sternum. Each movement produced a sickening, tooth-grinding grinding sound. When it was fully upright, a ghostly light shone brightly in its empty eye sockets, and a hoarse, gritty sound, like the grinding of gravel, escaped from between its teeth:
"die……"
As the last word fell, the skeleton suddenly sprang up, its speed unbelievable, its withered claws aimed straight for Yin Lisheng's throat.
"Clang—"
The Broken Abyss Sword clashed with the bone claws, sparks flying. Yin Lisheng was so shocked that his hands went numb, and he staggered back several steps. The power of this skeleton far exceeded his expectations.
"Be careful, he was at least a Tribulation Transcending cultivator in his previous life," Fu Yunshu warned, enduring the pain of the black energy corroding him. "Don't take his attacks head-on."
Duan Xuan's jade flute had already begun to play, and the sound waves transformed into tangible chains that wrapped around the skeleton's legs. Chu Yu, on the other hand, attacked from the side, his long flute aimed at the skeleton's spine, a vital point.
"Bang--"
The skeleton trembled slightly, and the sonic chains shattered inch by inch. With a backhand swing, Chu Yu crashed into the stone wall like a kite with a broken string, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
"Senior Sister!" Duan Xuan exclaimed.
The skeleton turned towards the source of the sound, its jawline splitting into an eerie arc. Suddenly, the ancient sword at its chest flew out automatically, carrying a chilling black aura as it shot towards Duan Xuan!
At the critical moment, a golden light flashed—Fu Yunshu's sword precisely intercepted the ancient sword, and the shockwave from the clash of the two weapons caused the surrounding rocks to fall in a flurry.
"His weakness is his skull!" Fu Yunshu suddenly exclaimed. He made a hand seal with his left hand, and three ice spikes materialized out of thin air, shooting straight at the skeleton's eye sockets.
The skeleton seemed particularly wary of Fu Yunshu's attack, and for the first time chose to dodge. He tilted his head, and the ice spike grazed his forehead, leaving a frost mark.
Yin Lisheng seized the opportunity, his sword flashing as he aimed straight for the skeleton's cervical vertebrae: "Break!"
The skeleton seemed to have eyes in the back of its head, its withered claws gripping the blade at an unbelievable angle. Yin Lisheng felt a chilling aura rise up the sword, and his entire right arm instantly went numb.
"Let go, Li Sheng!" Fu Yunshu shouted sharply.
Yin Lisheng instinctively let go, and the Broken Abyss Sword clattered to the ground. Taking advantage of the moment, the skeleton lunged at his heart with a claw, about to pierce through his chest—
"boom!"
A blinding bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking the skull of the skeleton precisely. The skeleton froze, its entire body groaning under the strain.
Fu Yunshu had stood up at some point, his left hand still bearing the lightning seal. His face was ashen, and the black energy on his right arm had spread to his shoulder, clearly indicating that his forced attack had come at a price.
"Master!" Yin Lisheng's voice trembled with heartache.
The skeleton shook its head and quickly regained its mobility. It seemed to be enraged, and strange black and red patterns appeared on its bones. The ancient sword flew back to its hand automatically, and the rust on the sword peeled off piece by piece, revealing the blood-red blade underneath.
"Master, step back!" Yin Lisheng's eyes were bloodshot, and he made a hand seal with his left hand, about to activate the spiritual power in his body, stubbornly blocking Fu Yunshu's way.
At this critical moment, the Broken Abyss Sword, which had fallen to the ground, suddenly emitted a dazzling golden light. The sword trembled violently and, to everyone's astonishment, transformed into a fluffy white light—the sword spirit, a white ball of light, revealed its true form. Its round body floated in mid-air, its two beady eyes fixed on the blood-red longsword in the skeleton's hand.
"Wait!" The little white dumpling's voice, though still childish, carried an unprecedented seriousness. "That sword... is Yu Lingzi's 'Blood Soul'!"
Yin Lisheng asked blankly, "What did you say?"
The white ball floated to the skeleton, showing no fear of the terrifying pressure: "You are Yu Lingzi, right? I am Duan Yuan! When that old guy Chi Du forged me, you even tied a sword tassel to me!"
The skeleton suddenly stopped moving, its blood-red longsword hovering in mid-air. A ghostly light flickered in its empty eye sockets, as if it were trying to remember something.
Taking advantage of the moment, Yin Lisheng steadied the swaying Fu Yunshu: "Master, Yu Lingzi is..."
“The junior brother of Master Chi Du, the founder of the Qingyuan Sect,” Fu Yunshu said in a low voice, the black aura on his right arm still spreading. “He went missing during the great battle with the demons ten thousand years ago… I never expected him to perish here.”
The white ball of fur circled around the skeleton, its voice trembling with tears: "Yu Lingzi, wake up! I am Duan Yuan! Remember when you secretly fed me spirit fruits and got scolded by Chi Du after he found out?"
The Blood Soul Sword in the skeleton's hand suddenly rang out softly, and the crimson color on the blade faded slightly. He slowly lowered his head, looking at the small white ball before him, his jaw opening and closing a few times:
"Broken...Abyss...?"
The voice, though still hoarse, had clearly gained a more human quality. The little white dumpling jumped up and down excitedly, "Yes, yes, it's me! How did you become like this? Who did this to you?"
The skeleton—or rather, Yu Lingzi's remnant soul—seemed to be in chaos. He crouched down, clutching his head, the bones emitting a teeth-grinding grinding sound, and the black energy on the blood-red longsword began to fluctuate erratically, sometimes expanding and sometimes contracting.
Fu Yunshu keenly noticed this change: "His mind has been corrupted by demonic energy, and Duan Yuan is trying to awaken his remaining memories."
Just then, a muffled impact suddenly came from deep within the fortress, causing the entire ground to tremble. Several more runes on the walls went out, and the crimson light grew weaker and weaker.
"Oh no!" Chu Yu helped Duan Xuan closer. "The Demon-Sealing Seal is collapsing!"
Yu Lingzi's skeleton suddenly raised its head, its eyes gleaming with an eerie light. It abruptly grabbed the white ball floating in the air, its voice urgent: "Go...hurry...he's about to wake up..."
The little white ball struggled: "Who wants to wake up? Yu Lingzi, explain yourself!"
"Chi Du...liar...traitor!" Yu Lingzi's skeleton suddenly erupted, black energy surging around him. He flung the white ball aside, his blood-red longsword pointing directly at Fu Yunshu, "Qingyuan Sect...all deserve to die!"
The white dumpling was thrown against the wall with a "thud": "Ouch! Yu Lingzi, are you crazy!"
Fu Yunshu endured the black energy encroaching on his right arm, holding the Cold Cry Sword horizontally in front of his chest: "Senior, calm down!"
"Calm down?" Yu Lingzi's voice suddenly rose, a roar filled with millennia of pent-up resentment. "Sealed for ten thousand years by my dearest senior brother, you want me to calm down?!"
A blood-red longsword slashed down, its wind carrying a monstrous black aura. Fu Yunshu raised his sword to meet it, the shockwave from the clash creating spiderweb-like cracks in the surrounding stone walls. He groaned, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth—forcibly channeling his inner energy had allowed the Soul-Destroying Curse to spread even further.
"Master!" Yin Lisheng's eyes were bloodshot. He didn't even bother to pick up the Broken Abyss Sword that had fallen to the ground. He was about to rush forward with his bare hands.
"Don't come any closer!" Fu Yunshu shouted sharply, "He's delirious, he'll hurt you!"
Upon hearing this, Yu Lingzi let out a piercing laugh: "Deep affection between master and disciple? Chi Du was just like that back then... hypocritical!" His sword move suddenly changed, and the blood-red sword light turned into a rain of red rain, each drop carrying corrosive demonic energy.
Fu Yunshu wielded his sword in a flurry of movements, his spiritual energy condensing into a shield around him. The red rain collided with the spiritual shield, producing a hissing, corrosive sound. His face grew increasingly pale, and his right arm was completely shrouded in black energy.
"The Immortal Venerable can't hold on any longer!" Duan Xuan forced herself to play her jade flute, and the sound waves transformed into a blue barrier in front of Fu Yunshu. "Senior Sister, use the 'Pure Heart and Universal Benevolence Mantra'!"
Chu Yu wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and pressed her long flute to her lips. The clear, melodious sound of the flute flowed like a gentle spring, attempting to calm Yu Lingzi's rage. However, the moment the sound waves touched the bones, they were bounced back, causing her to spit out a mouthful of blood.
“It’s no use…” The white ball of fluff floated back, its voice trembling, “He has the ‘Heaven-Hating Curse’ on him; the deeper the obsession, the greater the power…”
Taking advantage of his distraction, Fu Yunshu suddenly bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the Cold Cry Sword. The sword shone with a brilliant blue light, and the moisture in the air condensed into countless ice crystals.
Sword light poured down like a silver river, temporarily freezing Yu Lingzi in frost. Fu Yunshu knelt on one knee, his breathing erratic: "Run... I can't hold on much longer..."
Yin Lisheng rushed to the skeleton and, amidst the gasps of the crowd, grabbed the ancient sword from the skeleton's sternum: "Senior Yu Lingzi, True Man Chi Du has already ascended to immortality. If you truly have a grievance, why not explain it clearly!"
"Li Sheng!" Fu Yunshu's expression changed drastically.
The black aura on the ancient sword instantly spread along Yin Lisheng's arm. Yu Lingzi's eyes gleamed with a sinister light, and his bone claws gripped Yin Lisheng's neck: "Junior...you're courting death!"
Yin Lisheng's face turned purple from being choked, but he stared intently at the skeleton's eye sockets: "If you kill us... then no one will ever know the truth..."
"The truth?" Yu Lingzi's voice was distorted. "The truth is that Chi Du was jealous that I had comprehended the 'Tai Xu Sword Canon'... and used the Hatred Heaven Curse to seal me away when I was exhausted from fighting the Demon Lord!"
He suddenly released Yin Lisheng, plunged his bone claws into his own sternum, and pulled out a blackened jade slip: "Look... this is the evidence!"
The jade slip shattered upon hitting the ground, projecting a blurry image—Master Chi Du, dressed in a blue Taoist robe and cap, held a long sword, blood dripping from its tip. His cold voice echoed in the image: "...Junior Brother has fallen too deep into demonic possession...I had no choice but to seal him..."
The video abruptly stopped. Yu Lingzi laughed maniacally: "Did you hear that? This is the founding ancestor you all revere!"
“Master Chi Du would never do such a thing.” Yin Lisheng forced himself to stand up.
"Nonsense!" Yu Lingzi roared, his blood-red sword pointing straight at Yin Lisheng's heart. "He is such a despicable and shameless villain!"
At the critical moment, the white ball of fur suddenly rushed between the two: "Wait! Yu Lingzi, think carefully, is there something hidden about what happened back then?"
The skeleton paused, its longsword hovering in mid-air. The eerie light in its eye sockets flickered, as if it were lost in a jumble of memories.
Fu Yunshu seized the opportunity to continue, "Senior, if you are truly wronged, why don't you let us find out the truth?"
"The truth? The truth..." His words suddenly stopped, and his entire body trembled violently. The blood-red longsword clattered to the ground, and the black aura on its blade receded like a tide.
"Oh no!" The little white ball of fur paced anxiously. "Someone is remotely controlling the Heaven-Hating Curse!"
As if to confirm his words, Yu Lingzi suddenly clutched his head and roared, the black and red patterns on his bones spreading wildly.
He grabbed the blood-red longsword, turned it around, and slashed it towards the top of his head!
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