Chapter 163

The overwhelming might of the Vermilion Bird’s divine fire caused the bone dragon in the firmament to gradually plunge toward collapse. No matter how formidable a lethal strike might be, it was utterly insignificant before the divine fire that inherently suppressed all evil entities.

Though the bone dragon was already immensely powerful, it was firmly suppressed by the divine fire that held dominion over it. Without a doubt, beneath the formidable demon-breaking efficacy of the divine fire, its defeat and demise were merely a matter of time.

Li Ren stood atop the Purple-Gold Winged Deity, shrouded and firmly protected by the power of creation. At this moment, however, his body was utterly devoid of any strength whatsoever.

Just after he had channeled all his strength into the Purple-Gold Winged Deity, clashing head-on with the Skeleton King, he had unexpectedly found himself at a disadvantage.

The Skeleton King had actually concealed a portion of his strength during their previous battle; that was precisely why he had not rejected Li Ren's decisive duel at the very end.

Under the suppression of that formidable power, even Li Ren, wielding the power of creation, was pinned down tightly by the boundless aura of darkness. Had it not been for the nature of the power of creation, which far transcended the dark aura, he would likely have been crushed directly into powder by that extreme surge of darkness the very instant he was swallowed by the bone dragon.

Despite the protection of the power of creation, Li Ren could see the layer of creation energy enveloping him slowly growing faint and dissipating under the suppression of the dark aura. After all, with Li Ren no longer able to supply it with strength, no matter how powerful the power of creation was, it could hardly display any substantial might.

Just as Li Ren plunged into absolute peril, a scorching hot aura of extreme tyranny abruptly emerged from within his body.

The sudden appearance of this fiery aura startled him greatly. In a mere fraction of a second, a flame, half-purple and half-gold, burst forth from his body. When Li Ren finally perceived what that flame truly was, an immensely vast expanse of the Vermilion Bird’s divine fire was already burning across the infinite darkness.

The mighty flames rapidly dispersed the darkness, as if the entire heaven and earth were about to melt within the fire.

When that cluster of flames appeared, Li Ren finally set his mind at ease. Regarding these things that he had confusingly encountered within the Boundary Pagoda, he held an indescribably complex feeling in his heart. For instance, the Vermilion Bird—a divine martial beast that had long vanished from the heavens and earth—had actually appeared here, alongside the mysteriously unknown Purple-Gold Clan. That this realm could contain so many miraculous and extraordinary existences was something Li Ren had pondered many times in the past, yet he had always ended up with nothing.

Even so, he was well aware of the capabilities of this little Vermilion Bird that had managed to reside within the Boundary Pagoda and accompany him out.

Its once fiery-red body now sported patches of purple. In other words, during this period, the little Vermilion Bird had been undergoing continuous evolution, making it undoubtedly much stronger than it once was.

Furthermore, Li Ren and the Skeleton King had both fallen into an extreme state of weakness from their direct clash. The appearance of the little Vermilion Bird was enough to completely reverse the tide of the battle.

The bone dragon finally writhed its massive body in lingering resentment, gradually dissolving into the starry sky, accompanied by the disappearance of the all-encompassing flames.

The sky cleared once more. Against a backdrop of sapphire-blue, a single speck of gold was dazzlingly eye-catching.

The Skeleton King also reappeared in the sky, a pair of wings composed of dark energy sprouting from his back, though they looked somewhat tattered and illusory, as if they could vanish at any moment. At this moment, he looked even weaker than Li Ren by a few margins.

No wonder; with all the power in his body incinerated into nothingness by the Vermilion Bird's divine fire, anyone would be hard-pressed to fare better than the Skeleton King right now.

"I never expected you to have such a trump card. I truly underestimated you," the Skeleton King panted, his blue spiritual fire flickering violently. His originally resilient and crystalline bones had turned somewhat ashen, showing just how ruined his internal state truly was.

Li Ren did not speak. Facing such an opponent, he had not a single word to say. Had it not been for the lingering thread of creation power barely sustaining him within his body, he would likely have rushed forward to completely slay the Skeleton King between heaven and earth before the Skeleton King could even utter a word.

The Skeleton King glanced at the little Vermilion Bird circling around Li Ren, knowing deep down that he could not escape death today, and thus abandoned any thoughts of flight.

"Didn't you want to absorb this half of my spiritual fire? Hahahaha, keep dreaming, boy! What I cannot have, you shall never possess either!" the Skeleton King laughed audaciously. The wings behind him grew increasingly faint, yet as the Skeleton King pulled a grayish-white orb from within his body, those wings slowly grew clear once more.

"The Natal Spiritual Lattice!" The very instant Li Ren set his eyes on that orb, he recognized what it was, even though he had never before seen any documentation regarding it.

The reason he instinctively knew what it was the moment he laid eyes on it was because that Natal Spiritual Lattice also contained a wisp of Li Ren's own soul!

He had been reborn atop the Skeleton Mountain, and as the ultimate ruler of the mountain, the Skeleton King naturally held dominion over all skeletons. Likewise, the genesis of every single skeleton left a trace imprinted within the Natal Spiritual Lattice in his possession.

This was precisely why, when Li Ren had previously looked at the surrounding skeletons and found them all in a non-attackable state, the Skeleton King had been able to wave his hand and transform the Skeleton Guard Legion into blood essence to hand over to Li Ren.

As Li Ren looked at the Natal Spiritual Lattice, a sinister smile crept across the Skeleton King's face. A wisp of black demonic energy abruptly materialized on his fingertips, and beneath its touch, the Natal Spiritual Lattice grew fragile in an instant.

With a crisp crack, the Natal Spiritual Lattice shattered instantly into two halves. All the skeletons across the Skeleton Mountain gazed blankly toward the sky, toward the direction of the Skeleton King.

The moment the Natal Spiritual Lattice was destroyed, nearly a majority of the skeletons simultaneously extinguished the spiritual fire within their eyes, crumbling into piles of shattered bones across the ground. The remaining minority were all listless and withered, as if they had instantly endured countless years of weathering, with dense cracks even appearing across their bones.

Li Ren fared no better.

The instant the Natal Spiritual Lattice shattered, it felt as though something of vital importance had been wrenched from his heart. That crisp shattering sound echoed, breaking not merely the Natal Spiritual Lattice, but simultaneously fracturing his very own soul!

The Purple-Gold Winged Deity suddenly surged violently, that thread of creation power shaking drastically and dimming bit by bit. Li Ren's already weakened body became infinitely more frail in a single instant, to the point where he was gradually losing even the strength to rely on the creation power to keep the Purple-Gold Winged Deity suspended in mid-air.

The little Vermilion Bird seemed to sense Li Ren's abrupt weakness. A ring of purple flames erupted over the Purple-Gold Winged Deity, replacing the original creation power to steadily support the deity as it slowly descended toward the ground.

Yet, while Li Ren grew increasingly feeble, the Skeleton King—having shattered the Natal Spiritual Lattice—suffered no injury whatsoever. Instead, his momentum surged violently in an instant, an escalating oppressive aura that caused Li Ren's heart to slowly grow cold.

Indeed, having shattered his Natal Spiritual Lattice and plunged into madness, the Skeleton King charged frantically toward him, the bone blade in his hand flashing with a cold, pitch-black glare. If that blade were to truly hack down, Li Ren would undoubtedly have no room left for resistance; even in his current state, dodging was already beyond him.

However, right along the path of the Skeleton King's rapid charge, a dense cluster of purple flames abruptly materialized in the previously empty sky.

The cluster of purple flames violently ruptured, blooming into a resplendent purple lotus. The lotus was so massive that it completely engulfed the Skeleton King's body within its embrace.

Even though Li Ren was some distance away from the purple fire, he could still perceive the formidable destructive power contained within it. Given his current condition, the slightest contact might cause him to be directly incinerated into ashes.

"What I cannot obtain, you shall never have either!" came the Skeleton King's frantic roar from within the lotus, laced with boundless resentment.

"Skeleton spiritual fire, detonate for me!"

With a resounding boom, the purple fire lotus lost its original form, transforming into clusters of tiny flames that scattered in all directions.

Before they could drift far, the little Vermilion Bird, guarding by Li Ren's side, opened its mouth and swallowed every single one of them into its belly.

Its tiny physique was somehow capable of accommodating such a massive volume of flames; this disproportionate scale looked somewhat astonishing while also carrying a hint of comical absurdity.

Li Ren landed securely on the ground. The Skeleton King was truly ruthless; for his own selfish desires, he had actually not hesitated to detonate the portion of the Underworld King's memories he had absorbed.

He gazed at the lingering, hazy aura remaining in the sky. While the Underworld King's imprint could not possibly be destroyed by a mere Skeleton King, judging by the current situation, attempting to restore it would undoubtedly prove far too difficult.

Fortunately, this spiritual fire fundamentally belonged to Li Ren, and the Skeleton King had not possessed enough time to properly acclimate to it after stealing it—first being alarmed by the shadows, and then having Li Ren and Mount Fanyun arrive in succession.

Although acquiring the spiritual fire had indeed yielded immense benefits for the Skeleton King, instantly propelling him to the rank of blue spiritual fire, he still lacked the time to fully consolidate it.

Li Ren did his best to sense the scattered, familiar aura of his own lingering in the sky. With a wave of his hand, boundless currents of air surged from the surroundings, all streaming directly into his wide-open mouth.

Only when the vicinity was entirely devoid of any familiar sensation did he finally stop.

Regardless of the circumstances, the spiritual fire that originally belonged to him must never be lost. After all, to members of the skeleton clan, this spiritual fire was equivalent to the soul of an ordinary mortal.

Lying missing a fragment might seem negligible on the surface, but the actual impact it wrought was severe indeed.