It was as if a massive bomb had detonated within the once-quiet and tense hall. In an instant, the interior boiled over like a cauldron of oil.
Chi! Chi!
The light clusters vanished, and ten multicolored rays burst forth. Through their dazzling glow, one could faintly glimpse the scrolls hidden within, each exuding an ancient aura. The oppressive breath of antiquity caused the eyes of many experts to flush crimson, their breathing turning heavy with greed.
"A Tian Class Dou Technique is among those scrolls!"
Following that cry, the hall fell into silence for the briefest heartbeat—before erupting like thunder. A deafening rumble filled the space as waves of dense Dou Qi surged outward. Countless figures shot forth like locusts, transforming into streaks of light as they madly charged toward the scrolls, heedless of their lives.
Yet, confronted by so many grasping hands, those ten rays of light displayed a strange intelligence of their own. Mid-flight, they twisted and swerved, evading capture with uncanny agility, slipping past the frenzied experts as if mocking their efforts.
Soon enough, figures clashed from all directions in midair. The echoes of blows reverberated above, accompanied by cries and muffled groans. In the blink of an eye, numerous cultivators were struck down, spitting blood as their bodies crashed heavily onto the floor of the grand hall. The dull thuds made the hearts of many tremble—every strike unleashed was meant to kill.
Yet, Yan Xiaoyu's group and Xiao Yan's group remained motionless, unmoved by the frenzy around them. They were well aware that the Tian-Class Dou Technique would not be hidden within those scattered scrolls, but rather within the Dou Sheng's skeleton.
Xiao Yan placed his trust in Yan Xiaoyu and the others. Though he could not completely rule out the chance of misjudgment, he chose to believe their words. This conviction only deepened as he himself sensed that the aura of those ten scrolls lacked the weight of a Tian-Class Dou Technique.
That certainty solidified when his gaze fell upon the Dou Sheng's skeleton. From its ancient remains emanated an almost imperceptible sensation, like that of a slumbering beast—one that would awaken in fury the moment it was provoked.
"Ah!"
Just as Xiao Yan's thought formed, a shrill and miserable scream tore through the hall. Countless heads snapped toward the sound—only for their faces to drain of color. The stone statue puppets surrounding the stone chair had fully awakened, their eyes glowing with a cold, lifeless light as waves of killing intent surged outward like a flood.
The moment they stirred, the slaughter began. Each puppet possessed the strength of a Dou Zun, and when they moved in unison, their combined aura was overwhelming. Within mere breaths, the area within a hundred meters of the stone chair was drenched in fresh blood. A heavy, metallic stench filled the air, chilling hearts and shaking minds.
"The puppets have awakened."
Qing Lin's brows furrowed deeply at the sight. She knew the hall would descend into greater chaos now that Dou Zun-class puppets had joined the fray. They were like ferocious tigers unleashed into a herd of helpless goats.
Other than the major factions, few could withstand even a handful of their strikes. Most experts barely exchanged two or three blows before being torn apart on the spot, their blood feeding the slaughter.
Zhu Ling's eyes narrowed, a flicker of realization flashing within them as she sensed something unusual about these puppets. Only then did she recall a certain memory, her voice turning grave as she spoke.
"These are ancient human puppets. A cruel method is used to extract the soul of an expert and seal it within a puppet's body. Such constructs do not merely possess faint consciousness—they can even wield Dou Skills. Compared to ordinary puppets, they are far more troublesome and dangerous to confront."
Xiao Yan unconsciously drew in a sharp breath at her words. This Dou Sheng had truly employed vicious methods. By such logic, would it not mean that dozens of elite Dou Zuns had been slain to forge these abominations?
The already chaotic hall plunged into deeper turmoil once the human puppets began their wild slaughter.
Those experts who had originally hoped to profit from the struggles of others could no longer stand idly by. These merciless puppets, knowing nothing but killing, had already marked them as prey within their indiscriminate range of attack.
However, Qing Lin swiftly produced a crimson banner and waved it gently. At once, a thin veil of light spread outward, concealing their presence and figures from the raging puppets. As a result, the puppets merely swept past them, continuing their pursuit of other experts without noticing anyone nearby.
This crimson banner was an artifact Qing Lin had obtained during her travels with Yan Xiaoyu. Once activated, it projected a veil spanning ten meters—just enough to conceal their group. Yet the veil was immovable once placed, rendering the banner useful only for hiding, not for escape.
Moments later, the puppets' slaughter grew even more frenzied, to the point that even the large factions were being forced into desperate battle against them.
"Those fellows from the Hall of Souls… they've begun to move," Qing Xiu muttered, his eyes fixed on the distant group.
Xiao Yan's heart trembled as he followed Qing Xiu's gaze. There, Zhai Xing and several Hall of Souls experts were advancing in an encircling formation, step by step closing in on the Dou Sheng's skeleton at the center of the hall.
"As expected, their target is the Dou Sheng's skeleton…" Zhu Ling's voice sank with gravity.
"Do they know that the skeleton conceals a Tian-Class Dou Technique? Should we intervene and stop them?" Xiao Yan asked, his eyes narrowing as he turned toward Yan Xiaoyu and the others.
"No, let's not act rashly." Yan Xiaoyu pondered briefly before shaking her head. "I doubt Zhai Xing knows the Tian-Class Dou Technique is hidden within the Dou Sheng's skeleton. The Hall of Souls' Chief likely withheld this secret when sending him on this mission."
"From his behavior, it's clear the Hall of Souls doesn't know we are here," Qing Xiu added calmly. "Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent only him. The Chief must be keeping the secret to himself, seeking to claim the Tian-Class Dou Technique alone."
Xiao Yan gave a slight nod, his gaze locking onto the skeleton seated upon the stone chair. Suddenly, his pupils contracted sharply. In that instant, he saw it—the faint tremble of a skeletal finger.
"Just as Miss Zhu Ling said… this Dou Sheng's skeleton is alive!"
A jolt of shock surged through Xiao Yan's heart.
Naturally, Yan Xiaoyu and the others had also noticed the subtle movement. Their expressions darkened as they shouted in unison, "Pull back, quickly!"
At once, Qing Lin and the disciples of Moonlit Chaos Mansion turned and retreated at full speed. Xiao Yan and the elders of the Falling Star Pavilion likewise withdrew without hesitation, rapidly falling back from the stone chair.
Ao—!
As expected, within the span of brewing a cup of tea, an earth-shaking roar erupted from behind them, rolling forth like thunder.
The terrifying roar condensed into substance, transforming into a storm of sonic waves that spread outward with lightning speed, the stone chair at its center.
Bang!
The first to be struck were naturally the experts of the Hall of Souls, who had been a step too slow. The soundwave engulfed them before they could even draw breath. In an instant, their bodies and souls alike burst apart, scattering into a mist of blood and motes of spiritual light.
Even Zhai Xing failed to escape its range. Though his strength allowed him to react swiftly, the sweeping wave still churned the blood in his body, forcing a muffled grunt from his throat. Clearly, even he had not escaped unscathed.
If someone of Zhai Xing's caliber could not withstand the roar of the Dou Sheng's skeleton, then for the lesser experts of the Hall of Souls—trapped in its vicinity—the soundwave was nothing less than the death scythe of a reaper.
Many experts within the grand hall still had their eyes fixed greedily upon the three remaining scrolls, paying no heed to the sudden disturbance. Thus, when the piercing sonic wave surged forth with lightning speed, they were caught unprepared. Numerous figures hovering in mid-air froze stiff in that instant.
Bang!
A dull, wet detonation resounded as bodies ruptured into fragments, blood mist exploding forth in thick clouds. In but a breath, the vast hall was shrouded in a dense crimson fog.
The abrupt carnage snapped the crowd out of their obsession with the Tian-class Dou Skill. Though horror gripped them, Dou Qi erupted from their bodies without restraint. Figures retreated in disarray, scattering like homeless dogs driven into despair, scrambling desperately to distance themselves from the hall's center.
Witnessing the slaughter wrought by that single sonic wave, countless hearts turned cold. Faces twisted in dread as they staggered beyond its reach, gazes fixed on the slowly dispersing scarlet fog that still lingered in mid-air. At least a hundred lives had been claimed in that moment—including two elite Dou Zuns!
"A single sonic wave… strong enough to reap even elite Dou Zuns…"
Those fortunate enough to escape disaster swallowed hard, Adam's apples bobbing as cold sweat drenched their faces. Regardless of cultivation level, each stood pale, their hearts weighed down by a suffocating chill.
"Old Ghost Zhai Xing, what have you done?!"
A black-robed elder from the Heaven Demon Phoenix tribe, having shaken off the shock of the sudden upheaval, snapped his gaze toward Zhai Xing. His eyes blazed with fury, and his voice was like a blade of ice laced with venom.
The moment his words rang out, countless gazes followed, all turning upon Zhai Xing with searing hostility. It was clear to everyone that this calamity had erupted because of that wretched ghost.
Facing the furious glares of so many experts, even Zhai Xing's expression twitched, the corner of his mouth spasming. His teeth clenched with bitterness, a snarl barely suppressed. He himself had never imagined matters would spiral into such chaos.
A Dou Sheng's skeleton—thought to have long since been drained of all power—had actually erupted with such terrifying might.
Yan Xiaoyu's group and Xiao Yan's group had pulled back in time, sparing themselves from heavy losses. Even so, their scalps tingled and their hearts went cold when they realized that less than half of those who had entered the hall remained alive.
"I knew a Dou Sheng was terrifying… but even a mere 1-Star Dou Sheng is this monstrous…" Qing Xiu muttered under her breath.
Only Yan Xiaoyu, Zhu Ling, and Qing Lin caught her words, yet all of them silently admitted the same dread gnawing in their hearts.
"The old me has no idea why this skeleton, dead for countless years, would suddenly erupt with such power. Even several of our Hall of Souls' experts perished just now…" Zhai Xing drew in a long, heavy breath as he spoke in a grave tone, clearly trying to wash his hands of responsibility. With so many experts present, he could not afford to make enemies of them all by shouldering the blame.
"If not for your blood spilling onto the skeleton, how could it have awakened? Are you trying to shirk responsibility now that disaster has struck?" Xiao Yan's voice was cold, his laughter filled with scorn.
He had never met Zhai Xing before, yet the Hall of Souls had slaughtered his Xiao Clan and abducted his father. The hatred carved into his bones would never fade. He naturally would not allow Zhai Xing to slip away from the enmity of the other experts so easily.
Zhai Xing's expression darkened at Xiao Yan's words. When he felt the weight of countless furious gazes pressing down on him, his heart sank. He could only force himself to cup his hands and say,
"This calamity did indeed arise due to the recklessness of the old me. But now is not the time to bicker over blame. If my guess is correct, this Dou Sheng skeleton is merely a thought left behind from when that expert still lived. It can be dealt with. As long as we join hands, we will surely suppress it."
"Merely a thought, yet it wields such monstrous might…" The black-robed elder of the Heaven Demon Phoenix tribe spoke, his voice as heavy as stone. His eyes glowed with killing intent—several of his clan's young talents had perished in that single roar. "If another sonic wave like that descends, few here will escape with their lives."
Were it not for the dire timing, he might have already struck down that Zhai Xing in a fit of rage.
"Since we already obtained the scroll, we should leave. That skeleton is too terrifying…" someone in the crowd muttered, his voice trembling, unable to conceal the horror in his heart.
"It is impossible to leave," Zhai Xing's voice was low and heavy. "That Dou Sheng skeleton will not allow anyone who intruded into these remains to escape. If we flee now, not a single one of us will leave alive."
Xiao Yan's eyes narrowed slightly. A cold glint flickered within them—Zhai Xing's obsession with this Dou Sheng skeleton was far too abnormal.
His words stirred unrest. The weaker cultivators grew even paler, fear etched into their faces, yet none dared to turn their backs to flee.
Just as the hall brimmed with chaos, a faint creaking sound suddenly rose from within the blood-drenched fog—the unmistakable sound of bones shifting. The noise instantly crushed all clamor into silence.
Countless horrified gazes locked upon the center of the hall, where the blood fog churned. The dread in their hearts surged to its peak, spreading like wildfire.
The faint rattle of bones echoed through the hall, each clatter of bone against stone drawing nearer. The sound was not loud, yet it pressed upon everyone's hearts like a heavy weight, suffocating and merciless.
Yan Xiaoyu turned slightly, her voice soft yet steady. "Be careful… do not separate."
The situation had already spiraled beyond their control. For the skeleton of a Dou Sheng to revive was something far too dreadful to even imagine.
Everyone nodded grimly. If they faltered here, none would leave alive. That earlier sonic wave had already proven—hardly anyone present could withstand such an attack a second time.
The thick blood fog within the hall began to ripple, stirred by a hidden force. Under countless tense gazes, a figure slowly emerged—a skeleton, its entire frame dyed a ghastly crimson, stepping forward with dreadful calm.
"Those who trespass into these remains… shall die."
The blood-colored skeleton halted a hundred meters away, raising its skull. Within the hollow sockets of its eyes flickered a baleful crimson glow. An ancient, hoarse, and utterly indifferent voice reverberated through the grand hall, as though pronouncing judgment from beyond the grave.
Above the Dou Sheng's skull, two scrolls drifted and turned in the air. During the earlier chaos a few had seized one of the scrolls—only these two remained unclaimed. Yet no one dared reach for them now, not with the Dou Sheng's weight pressing down like a blade.
When that hoarse, ancient voice sounded again, everyone's faces shifted. It was clear: if they could not fell this skeleton, none of them would leave in peace.
"Do not panic," Zhai Xing said in a low voice. "This Dou Sheng's frame contains only a remnant spiritual imprint left behind by the expert in life. It is not a true Dou Sheng. It can be defeated—provided we act together. If we fight it alone, it will pick us off one by one."
"Old Mister Zhai Xing speaks sense," Qing Xiu replied with a thin smile. "But since you awakened it, you should strike first."
"Yes. Many of us have already lost talented disciples and elders. If you want everyone to join in, you must lead the attack. That is part of your responsibility for this mess." Zhu Ling nodded in agreement.
A few other experts exchanged looks, then inclined their heads. They knew Zhu Ling and Qing Xiu were pressuring Zhai Xing, but Moonlit Chaos Mansion had suffered losses too—so their anger found a convenient outlet. Letting Zhai Xing take the first risk would soothe some of their fury.
Zhai Xing's withered face twitched as the agreement spread. His eyes flashed venom at Qing Xiu and Zhu Ling, who smiled with thin cruelty. Their barbed words had pushed him forward; there was no backing down now. He could only steel himself and move.
"That…is a fair demand," he forced out, voice strained but steady. "Then the old me will strike first. But hear me—if our numbers fall, the situation will only grow worse. Put aside old grudges; we are all in the same boat. If that boat sinks, none of us will have a good end."
He bowed slightly, the words righteous on the surface but carrying the sharp edge of self-preservation beneath.
"Old Mister Zhai Xing, rest assured—we will not stand by and watch you die by that skeleton's hands," Yan Xiaoyu said with an icy smile. "After all, we would rather take your life ourselves than let some fallen experts beat us to it."
Her words left Zhai Xing's face a sick, greenish pallor.
"Enough talk. Hurry up and strike—the Dou Sheng is drawing strength from the blood mist to replenish itself." The black-robed elder from the Heaven Demon Phoenix tribe spoke with a sunken face, his voice devoid of warmth.
Their eyes followed his gaze and watched the Dou Sheng's bones darken as the surrounding mist flowed into it like a tide. The red on its frame deepened, feeding the rising power within.
"Old Mister Zhai Xing, it is time to attack! Choose your method and prove that you are a good boy," Qing Xiu said coldly, pointing at the skeleton as though commanding a servant.
A twitch flickered at the corner of Zhai Xing's eye. If he acted now, he would appear like an obedient dog; if he hesitated, the crowd would force him forward regardless. Humiliation pressed inescapably from all sides.
He swallowed the murderous impulse to strike Qing Xiu, clenched his teeth, and forced out, "I know what to do. No need for further words."
Without further delay, his body blurred into a black shadow that shot toward the blood-red skeleton at the center of the hall.
A surge of vast Dou Qi erupted from Zhai Xing like a raging volcano, shaking the blood fog until it thinned under the force. The oppressive aura caused many experts' eyes to brighten, their morale steadied by the display of his strength.
The scarlet glint in the skeleton's hollow eyes locked onto the incoming figure. Its jaws opened slightly, an ancient creaking sound escaping as it raised a single hand.
The dark red bones cut through the air. The moment its hand lifted, the space before it shattered like glass. A heartbeat later, the skeletal palm had already pierced through the rift and appeared directly before Zhai Xing.
Bang!
A fist violently smashed on the palm of the skeleton. However, the seemingly weak skeleton was currently even harder than steel. This punch of old ghost Zhai Xing, which contained all of his strength, merely forced back this Dou Sheng skeleton by a step. On the other hand, he was forced back by over a dozen steps, appearing a little miserable.
"Haa… to think he failed to even leave a mark. Whose naughty, useless dog is this, unable to complete such a simple task?"
Watching the scene, Qing Xiu sighed softly and shook her head, her voice languid as though a master chastising a disobedient hound.
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