A snake of pallid white, condensed from Corpse Force, coiled around the Enchantress Mei Ji like a rope as thick as a man's arm.

Mei Ji was suspended mid-air above Skull Island, struggling against the bonds. Wisps of necrotic energy permeated her flesh and blood, accompanied by the strange hissing of the serpent.

The Devourer Clan boasted eight great branches, each cultivating one of eight great evil powers. Nazario and Bastos belonged to the Corpse Force lineage—a division that mirrored the eight streams of the Bloodlust lineage. Devourers who cultivated Corpse Force excelled at refining Corpse Slaves, some of whom could even surpass their masters in strength.

The methods the Devourer Clan used to refine corpses were manifold; gradually infusing a person with Corpse Force, causing the body to shroud in necrotic miasma, formed the basis of corpse refinement.

The python Bastos had conjured with Corpse Force was, in fact, an exotic treasure he used to refine slaves. This artifact could slowly infuse the poison of death into a being, altering the life force within any living creature’s flesh and blood, saturating it with corpse energy, thereby facilitating his refining process.

Once the physical body was eroded and gradually enveloped by the shroud of Corpse Force, the being's divine body and soul would become stiff and paralyzed, making it terrifyingly easy for him to seize control of their mind and turn them into an unwitting corpse thrall.

Feeling the seep of the death poison, illusions began to breed in Mei Ji’s mind, and her thoughts grew sluggish.

The light in her bright eyes gradually faded, leaving them vacant and spiritless. Even her originally crystal-clear, snow-white skin took on an unhealthy, ashen pallor.

She knew the python, birthed by the artifact, was eroding her inch by inch with the poison. Gathering the last remnants of her reason, she suddenly bit the corner of her lip, drawing two streaks of blood that extended toward her neck—a gruesome sight, like scarlet earthworms twisting across her skin.

"Peng!"

A cool surge of turbulence erupted from her full, abundant chest, sending a jolt through her heart.

A crystal-clear snow lotus bloomed forth from her sternum, its petals laced with streaks of blood, completely enveloping her graceful figure.

A sliver of clarity returned to Mei Ji’s eyes. She glanced toward the two Devourer Clan members and extended a finger toward the serpent's head—the head was currently aimed directly at the snow lotus on her chest!

An icy, sharp blade materialized!

The serpent’s head exploded with a bang, and plumes of corpse energy instantly shattered into fragments. But in a mere instant, the energy reformed, coalescing into smaller plumes of smoke that once again enveloped Mei Ji.

Not far away, Bastos sneered, his gaze cold. "With your realm and cultivation, you shouldn't have been bound so easily by me. A pity you are too grievously wounded. With your divine power nearly depleted, how can you resist the gradual corrosion of my Corpse Poison?"

Indeed, as his words fell, the python that Mei Ji had decapitated reformed itself once more, recapturing Mei Ji and the snow lotus within its coils.

Mei Ji had manifested the snow lotus at the cost of severely damaging her divine body. This failure meant it would be extremely difficult for her to mount another effective attack. Before she lost the ability to speak, her bright eyes fixed upon the little Skeleton, and with a weak, delicate cry, she managed, "I can only try to distract him. I hope you can slay these two. I hope you can hold on!"

She knew well that in her current state, she could barely contend with either Bastos or Nazario. Her only hope lay with the little Skeleton, praying he could endure.

All she could do was refuse to yield, trading her remaining strength for Bastos’s divided attention.

She spared no further glance for Shi Yan. At this juncture, her own survival was the paramount concern. The notion of refining Shi Yan to help her break through to the Domain Ancestor realm had long become a distant fantasy, and with her spirit depleted, she had no desire to waste power on a useless junior.

In this battle, Shi Yan was destined to be an insignificant piece.

The little Skeleton thought the same. He turned his head to look at Shi Yan, shaking his crystalline, snow-white arm, signaling the Bone Dragon to carry Shi Yan further away, lest the two Devourers dispose of him casually.

"Hoo!"

The Bone Dragon unfurled its wings and soared away with Shi Yan, indeed putting distance between him and the fight.

The Bone Dragon set Shi Yan down and flew back into the sky, hovering near the little Skeleton.

"Shashasha!"

A strange sound emanated from the foamy green cuffs of Bastos’s sleeves. Suddenly, hundreds of pale, glowing insects surged out.

These creatures resembled centipedes with numerous legs; each leg, viewed closely, was as sharp as a blade. The insects were only the size of a thumb but numbered in the hundreds, perhaps thousands. After landing, they writhed and moved with alarming speed, crawling toward the little Skeleton.

Far away, Shi Yan narrowed his eyes and his expression shifted slightly.

Xuan Yin Corpse Worms!

As the new Sovereign of the Bloodlust lineage, Shi Yan might not have mastered all eight great evil powers, but he was certainly familiar with many of the profound secrets of the eight Corpse Powers.

These Xuan Yin Corpse Worms were an exotic substance refined by the Corpse Force cultivators of Phillet’s branch. They were ordinary corpse grubs transformed over at least a century by gnawing upon the corpses of powerful beings through secret arts.

These worms were frigid throughout, their claws like knives, capable of easily slicing through a martial artist’s divine body to burrow inside and devour the flesh, consuming everything from the stomach and intestines outward.

The potent Xuan Yin Corpse Worms were not only impervious to blades and spears but also immune to water and fire. They possessed a strange energy that could affect the mind and Sea of Consciousness. As the worms pouring from Bastos's sleeve shrieked piercingly while rushing toward the little Skeleton, even Shi Yan's soul felt a stabbing pain, as if lashed by thorns.

He instantly knew these Xuan Yin Corpse Worms were exceptionally difficult to deal with, each requiring painstaking refinement, having consumed the remains of several hundred strong corpses over centuries.

Though a single Xuan Yin Corpse Worm was only finger-sized, Shi Yan knew their appetite was immense; even one could completely devour the flesh of a martial artist within an hour.

With so many surging forward, not only ordinary creatures but perhaps even the massive beasts of the Heavenly Demon race wouldn't last long before being gnawed down to bare bones.

However, these Xuan Yin Corpse Worms seemed to be countered by the nature of the Bone Race.

Corpse Poison, the power that consumes flesh, was utterly useless against the little Skeleton!

The little Skeleton stood before the two Bone Dragons, watching the tide of Xuan Yin Corpse Worms approach. He showed no intention of dodging, remaining indifferent to the necrotic energy they radiated and the gnawing of the worms on his skeletal structure—it truly served no purpose against him.

He tilted his head up toward Bastos, seemingly perplexed that Bastos was making a futile effort, which baffled him somewhat.

"Heh heh," Bastos sneered. White light flared in both his palms. Strange patterns on his palms detached and drifted out, enlarging into two wondrous canopies that hovered above the swarm of corpse worms.

The two bizarre formations, as if imbued with dark magic, instantly drove the Xuan Yin Corpse Worms into a frenzy. Howls of agonizing, piercing sound erupted, seemingly without regard for their own lives.

The corpse worms instantly engulfed the little Skeleton!

The sounds were enough to rupture eardrums. Shi Yan’s face turned cold, forcing him to seal the space with Spatial Profundity to ward off the sonic erosion.

The moment the screams hit, blood began to seep from Mei Ji’s nose, eyes, and ears, rendering her already enchanting face even paler.

"The worms I nurture can only agitate his soul; they cannot take his life. This little bastard’s bones are too tough for the worms to bite through. We still need to join forces to kill him," Bastos said to Nazario beside him after the little Skeleton was submerged.

"Naturally, I came here to lend you aid," Nazario replied, nodding. He coughed lightly and slowly walked toward the little Skeleton’s position.

"Huhu!"

The two Bone Dragons suddenly roared in fury and lunged forward, fiercely protecting their master.

Nazario remained composed. He extended a finger to his brow, and his Primeval Realm suddenly manifested above his head...

Countless bones piled up like mountains and seas in a vast, boundless world. At the center of that world was an ocean, its water viscous as fluid death. Floating on the surface were billions of corpses and severed limbs of various races—broken arms, fingers, burst eyeballs, and skulls drifting in the sea of death.

A strange, fist-sized white eyeball floated up from the corpse sea.

Corpse Force condensed within the sea, transforming into streaks of white energy that flowed into the eyeball. The eye was drawn out of Nazario’s Primeval Realm and into his grasp.

"Corpse Rend!"

Holding the bizarre white eyeball, Nazario aimed it at the two Bone Dragons and roared sharply in the ancient tongue of the Devourer Clan.

"Kaka-kaka-kaka!"

Numerous fine cracks suddenly appeared on the bodies of the two Bone Dragons, as if struck by invisible sharp blades.

"Pa!"

One Bone Dragon shattered into fragments, collapsing into a pile of broken bones on the ground.

Nazario frowned, stepping carefully around the fragments of the first dragon, and continued toward the little Skeleton.

Along his path, the Xuan Yin Corpse Worms seemed to sense the terrifying aura radiating from him, actively parting to clear a narrow, winding path directly to the little Skeleton.

Bastos hovered in the void, focused entirely on circulating his Profundity. The two immense hand-marks descended like giant spectral hands, amplifying the violent shrieks of the Xuan Yin Corpse Worms to exert pressure on the little Skeleton's soul, allowing Nazario to strike and, ideally, shatter the Skeleton’s bones with Corpse Rend.

Shi Yan watched silently, refraining from any rash action. He scrutinized every movement of the two Devourers, observing the manifestation of their Profound Arts.

Just as they prepared to deliver a killing blow to the little Skeleton, a subtle shift occurred in his thoughts, and a strange wave rippled out from his location.

Like smoke, he vanished abruptly. When he reappeared, he was behind the graceful body of Mei Ji.

Mei Ji was facing the direction of Bastos and Nazario; these two were entirely focused on slaying the little Skeleton and had not spared him any attention from the beginning.

His disappearance was also ignored by them. Once he reappeared, he was concealed by Mei Ji’s body. Since the two hadn't paid much heed to Mei Ji, they naturally failed to see him behind her.

Bastos and Nazario ignored him, but Mei Ji’s delicate body trembled. She sharply sensed his movement, and a sudden clutch of despair seized her heart. Her beautiful eyes filled with bitter anguish.

To be slain by this petty thief at this crucial moment—it must be retribution. Well, at least it would be better than falling into the hands of those two old monsters...

Mei Ji sighed internally.

...(To be continued)RQ