Chapter 119: The Skeleton Monster

Chapter One Hundred Nineteen: The Skeleton Monster
Chapter Thirteen: Cold Waves Stir the Sea of Passion, While a Strange Cave in the Immortal Abyss Yields an Ancient Treasure (Four)

The two white mountain spirits raised their arms together and shot out four beams of white light, hoping to stop the descending sword of lightning. Little did they know that Ye Hua’s slash now contained the power of the divine thunder of the Nine Heavens. Its force was tremendous. The four beams of white light merely slowed the Scarlet Crow Dagger for an instant before countless bolts of electricity pierced through them and struck the two spirits with astonishing speed.

Sizzling sounds rang out, followed by a charred stench. The two white spirits shrieked and squealed.

Ye Hua laughed aloud. “Heehee! Two mountain spirits that have taken form! Surrender at once!”

Before he could finish speaking, the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end, and he shuddered. Realizing that something was wrong, he hurriedly turned around—and could not help being startled.

Only a few feet away stood a strange man shaped like a skeleton. His skull was enormous, his face devoid of flesh, his nose flattened and nostrils flared. His eye sockets were deeply sunken, and within them a pair of monstrous eyes flashed alternately red and green, shifting restlessly. His body was thin as a withered tree, with scarcely any flesh upon it. A cluster of purple flames hung before his chest, while black smoke enveloped him from head to toe. He seemed to glide upon clouds as he walked; his feet did not move, yet he slowly drifted forward.

At that moment, he was stretching out two great hands, every bone starkly visible, and reaching for Ye Hua’s head.

Black vapor coiled around those claws. As they swept toward him from only a few feet away, Ye Hua felt his head grow dizzy and his heart grow troubled. His scalp prickled, and violent chills ran through him. Unable to endure it, he hastily raised his hand. Yellow light flashed, revealing a small bronze mirror.

With a whirl, the mirror appeared above the strange spirit’s head. A curtain of azure light descended, and two identical spirits emerged. Then white light flashed. A single-edged saber appeared in Ye Hua’s right hand. He spun around and struck, sending forth an invisible blade aura.

Just as the blade was about to cleave the skeleton monster’s head, the creature suddenly let out a sinister laugh. A gray-white flame flew up from its skull to meet the blade aura.

Its enormous skull, perched atop a slender neck, bobbed and swayed like a rattle drum wound with copper wire. The gray-white fire twisted like a dragon and serpent, tangling with Ye Hua’s blade light.

In but a moment, the single-edged saber gave a mournful cry and transformed into several streaks of light. The gray-white flames had actually destroyed it outright.

Ye Hua was horrified. He pinched his fingers and summoned the Scarlet Crow Dagger, which had been attacking the spirits in midair. It shot back at tremendous speed. Lightning blazed from it, and more than a hundred silver arcs lashed toward the skeleton monster.

The skeleton creature laughed repeatedly. With a sweep of its right claw, black radiance surged forth and formed a shield of bone. The hundreds of electric bolts struck it and vanished without a sound. Then the monster opened its mouth and spat out a plume of black smoke, which shot straight toward Ye Hua.

Before the black vapor reached him, an utterly sinister chill had already begun to seep into his body. Seeing how easily the skeleton monster had destroyed his saber, Ye Hua was already terrified. He knew that he could never withstand it by force.

His form flickered as he attempted to flee the deep cavern. The skeleton monster leapt upward as well, seeking to block his path. In his desperation, Ye Hua’s hand flashed with rosy light, and a small drum appeared. He gave it a slight shake.

Several deep thuds sounded. His body abruptly veered aside, then shot upward with even greater speed.

Behind him, however, a sudden change took place.

With a sharp hiss, the skeleton monster shrieked. A mass of purplish-red flame suddenly erupted from the back of its neck, scorching the green hair on its body until it reeked of burning flesh. The stench was nauseating. Its mouth, filled with jagged fangs, clattered loudly. It seemed deathly afraid of the purplish-red fire. In a frenzy, it seized the iron chain with both hands, biting and howling, yet it could not break it.

Ye Hua had already taken the opportunity to leap out of the cavern. When he turned back, he saw the skeleton monster struggling and roaring within, purplish-red flames rising all over its body. It was unable to pursue him.

Only then did his wildly pounding heart gradually calm. He felt a wet, sticky sensation across his back and realized that he had broken into a cold sweat, soaking his clothes.

This skeleton monster was far more powerful than any cultivator of the Threefold True Realm he had ever encountered. In an instant, it had destroyed his spirit saber.

That spirit saber had been obtained from the old man in black. It was extraordinarily formidable and had saved Ye Hua from danger several times. Its destruction filled him with frustration, and he could only lament its loss.

After the purplish-red flames on the skeleton monster’s body gradually died down, its form became visible once more. A blood-red iron chain was locked around its neck, while an iron ring bound each of its feet. Tiny purplish-red flames flickered from them at intervals. The other ends of the chains extended deep into the bottomless black chasm.

When the skeleton monster had leapt after Ye Hua just now, it had not gone far before the chains reached their limit, forcing it to fall back.

Only then did Ye Hua understand. He thought to himself, “Who could have placed such a chain restriction here, imprisoning this skeleton monster? If not for those fire-chains, I would already have become a soul beneath its claws!”

Turning his gaze away, he saw that the two spirits were still locked in fierce combat with the two spirits conjured by his Moonlit Illusory Mirror. For the moment, neither side had gained the upper hand.

Ye Hua beckoned with one hand. The Moonlit Illusory Mirror and the Scarlet Crow Dagger transformed into two streaks of light and flew back into his grasp. He was afraid that both treasures might be destroyed by the skeleton monster as well.

At that moment, the skeleton monster gradually ceased its howling and slowly rose to its feet. It fixed its gaze on Ye Hua outside the cavern and emitted a shrill cry. Then it abruptly twisted its long neck, spat out a mouthful of black vapor, and sent a streak of gray-white flame flying upward like a storm sweeping away fallen clouds.

Ye Hua’s heart jolted. He retreated swiftly. Before the gray-white flame could emerge from the cavern, he was already several dozen yards away. He turned and looked back, thinking, “No matter how strange and powerful that fire is, it cannot possibly pursue me through empty space for dozens of yards.”

As expected, the gray-white flame flew only a few yards beyond the cavern mouth. It seemed to encounter some invisible restriction and slowly dispersed.

Ye Hua secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then felt a surge of joy.

“This black chasm actually confines such a transformed corpse demon. I wonder who laid the restriction here! Since someone has been here, there must surely be a way to escape!”

The thought delighted him, but another concern soon arose.

“Even if there are traces of human presence, where is the exit? If the passage out lies within this deep cavern, then I am doomed. That skeleton monster is so powerful that even three of me together would probably be no match for it. No, this is merely wild speculation. How could there be such a coincidence?”

After pondering for a while, Ye Hua carefully searched in the opposite direction. He examined the surroundings with painstaking attention, yet found no way out. The farther he went, the heavier his heart became.

After traveling several miles, he reached the end of this side of the abyss. He searched for a long time but found not the slightest trace of a passage. With no choice but to return empty-handed, he eventually came back to the black cavern.

Ye Hua thought to himself, “It seems that my chance of escape lies within this black cavern. If I enter, I must first eliminate the skeleton monster. The two spirits possess only shallow cultivation and would be easy enough to destroy, but the skeleton monster will be extremely difficult. Fortunately, it is still restrained by those chains. I may yet have some chance of success. Otherwise, I could only flee and hide. I would never dare provoke it.”

At that moment, violent winds once again began to howl from the black cavern. Dark clouds and murky vapor blotted out the sky, creating the same dreadful scene as before. No one could approach until the gale subsided.

After a long while, the wind finally dispersed. Ye Hua flew close to the cavern mouth and looked inside. In the bottomless depths, the black mist seemed to be mixed with clusters of green fire. Amid the gloom, he could vaguely make out countless demons and evil ghosts moving to and fro. The rumbling beneath the earth sounded like ten thousand horses charging, rolling on without end. It was enough to make one’s heart tremble.

Suddenly, a flash of black light appeared, and the skeleton monster leapt out of the cavern once more. Its body looked as though it had been molded from clay. It abruptly split open its broad mouth, revealing a full set of jagged fangs, and let out a strange howl that sounded half like laughter and half like weeping.

Then it pointed with one hand.

Dozens of streams of black mist surged through the cavern. Yin winds rose everywhere, accompanied by the chirping of ghosts and the hissing breath of beasts. Within the dim green light and shadows, hundreds of ghostly figures came rushing forward, trailing thick clouds of mist and black smoke.

The gray-white flame beside the skeleton monster flickered. In an instant, it transformed into countless yellow-green sparks that swarmed upward. A demonic aura filled the air, causing dizziness and disorientation. The earth shook and the mountains seemed to tremble.

This time, however, the scene was entirely different from before.