Chapter 153 Threat

"Brat! Even if I die today, I will certainly not let you off easily!!!" The Skeleton King finally abandoned the memory fragments inherited from the blue soul fire. The aloof composure and the complex feelings toward Li Ren were never truly his to begin with. Caught between life and death, these deeply hidden personal emotions completely erupted. The aura of ruthless hatred somehow made everyone else feel a collective sense of relief.

"Then let's see if you have what it takes." Li Ren swung the Purple Gold Winged God sword down blow after blow. Innumerable energy ripples collided between the bone blade and the Purple Gold Winged God, completely dissipating into the void.

"Do not think you can be fearless just because you've obtained that damned power of creation! Since I was able to forcefully grant you that power, I can take it all back just as easily!" The Skeleton King gritted his teeth tightly, growling syllable by syllable, looking entirely like an enraged beast.

"If you stop right now, I can pretend today's events never happened. You remain the Lord of Falling Cloud City, and I remain the Skeleton King. We shall mind our own business, how about it?"

"In your dreams!" Li Ren sneered coldly, looking at the Skeleton King as if he were an idiot. To think this fellow would utter such words at a time like this—he truly had no idea what was going on inside that brain of his.

"It seems you do not even wish to leave yourself a final way out! Brat! You will regret everything you have done!" The Skeleton King traded blows fiercely with Li Ren one last time, his body retreating at high speed. He stood in place with a gloomy and uncertain expression, gazing from afar at Li Ren, who held the Purple Gold Winged God.

A shallow crack had clearly appeared right down the middle of the bone blade in his hand. Such a mark on a blade that was originally smooth and sturdy looked truly shocking.

Watching Li Ren pressing forward step by step, the Skeleton King had no choice under the circumstances but to abandon that lingering thought of repairing the bone blade. No matter how it was mended, it would always split apart anyway; it was merely a matter of when he would be defeated.

Furthermore, Li Ren would not afford him such an obvious window of time to claw back even the slightest advantage.

When it came to his enemies, Li Ren never held back in the slightest—especially against such a formidable foe!

Violent clashes erupted one after another, explosive attacks echoed, and skills and magic intertwined as the advantage slowly shifted toward Li Ren's side.

The Skeleton King was even being gradually forced back by Li Ren. After every single clash, Li Ren gained a minute yet solid and visible advantage.

Dragon Fights in the Wild! This powerful single-target sword technique, obtained from Zhao Yun and augmented by the Purple Gold Winged God in Li Ren's hands, became even more ferocious and razor-sharp.

The Five Azure Dragon Slashes, already renowned for their tricky, bizarre nature and extreme lethality, were pushed to their absolute limits in Li Ren's hands!

Boom!

The Skeleton King was sent flying through the air, rocketing away like a cannonball.

Just as Li Ren should have felt a sense of joy, his heart suddenly tightened with a bad premonition. It turned out that the Skeleton King had somehow maneuvered his position so that he was facing away from Shadow and the others.

Following Li Ren's latest attack, the Skeleton King plummeted directly toward Shadow's direction, as if Li Ren himself had given him an extra push to send him there.

A malevolent aura radiated from the Skeleton King, and propelled by Li Ren's force, he accelerated his retreat backward.

Li Ren reacted quickly enough, but the reactive shockwave following a direct clash was not so easily neutralized.

Although he pushed himself forward with all his might, he still seemed a fraction of a second too late.

After all, their raw strengths were not vastly different. If one party was determined to execute a plan, the other had no truly effective way to completely stop them, let alone under the current circumstances.

"Brat! Since you want me dead, then make them all come keep me company!" The Skeleton King laughed hideously, his shrill, piercing laughter invading everyone's minds wave after wave like a curse.

Shadow, bearing the brunt of the onslaught, saw his complexion turn bizarrely flushed amidst the Skeleton King's demonic soundwaves, and a mouthful of blood sprayed directly from his lips.

Even Moran, who had remained inactive in the rear until now, changed expression drastically as he exerted all his strength to resist the sound assaulting them.

It had to be said that the disparity in strength between the Skeleton King, Li Ren, and themselves was simply too vast—so immense that it was completely beyond what they could endure.

"You deserve to die!" Li Ren glared at the Skeleton King, who had already reached Shadow's side. The anger in his heart was thoroughly ignited as he let out a frantic roar, accelerating his charge even further.

Swish.

"If you take another step closer, I cannot guarantee his safety." The Skeleton King pressed his bone blade tightly against Shadow's neck, the sharp edge cutting a wound into Shadow's skin as beads of fresh blood slowly seeped out, trickling down onto the bone blade.

The moment the Skeleton King raised the bone blade and uttered those words, Li Ren was forced to halt in his tracks.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario had not yet occurred. The instinct for survival deep within the Skeleton King's consciousness had still triumphed over his innate madness.

If the Skeleton King had truly pressed the attack, the people present would likely have had to pay with the lives of at least more than half of their number.

Total annihilation was by no means out of the question!

Even if he could completely slay the Skeleton King afterward, the price would simply be far too unworthy!

Since the king still harbored a desire to live, he would not casually slaughter Shadow and the others. As long as that remained true, Li Ren did not mind letting this fellow live a little longer.

"Speak, what do you want!" Li Ren slowly put away the Purple Gold Winged God. To avoid overly provoking the somewhat neurotic creature, he had to withdraw his offensive posture, though his voice grew increasingly icy.

"Hahahaha, what a foolish fellow! Truly befitting your fundamental nature!" The Skeleton King laughed recklessly.

"It seems several thousand years ago, something just like this happened once before, driven by this very same damned nature of yours. Hahahaha! It has brought about almost the exact same ending, hasn't it? Hahahaha! But rest assured, I am certainly not that Heavenly Evil; that is probably quite good news for you."

"If you utter another word of nonsense, even at the cost of injuring myself, I will cut you down right here!" Li Ren bellowed sternly. Fan Yunshan looked at the expressions of both Li Ren and the Skeleton King with an immensely complicated gaze.

Back then, what on earth had transpired to cause the Underlord to suddenly vanish from their side? And behind the invasion of the Heavenly Evil lay so many hidden mysteries, leaving people utterly baffled.