The skeletal body of the White Bone Clan child, engulfed by the Profound Yin Corpse Worms, was being gnawed at. The worms struggled immensely, unable to even leave a scratch on the small, crystalline white bones.

That frame, forged through a thousand trials and tempered with the painstaking efforts of his parents, possessed a degree of hardness that bordered on the perverse—impenetrable even to the Profound Yin Corpse Worms.

"Once his soul disperses, the sustained defense bolstering the bones will cease, and then they will naturally shatter!"

Nazario clenched the milky white eyeball in his grip. As he waved his hands, the orb unleashed a bizarre white light. Under its illumination, the little skeleton's frame grew impossibly heavy, as if being crushed beneath a mountain.

Bastros finally arrived.

He hovered once more in the sky, ignoring Shi Yan and Meiji for the moment. The massive palm print swirling out from his palm was now being manipulated by him again.

The Profound Yin Corpse Worms suddenly went into a frenzy!

Piercing screeches echoed across Skeleton Island. Every creature that heard them suffered a violent shock to their souls, as if stabbed by bayonets.

The little skeleton's small frame shuddered abruptly. The flames and cold flames erupting from its eye sockets weakened significantly, and an expression of agony flickered across its hollow gaze.

At that very moment, Shi Yan and Meiji reached an accord.

Shi Yan’s figure vanished once more, circulating dark energy around himself as he concealed himself near Meiji.

Bastros and Nazario, focused solely on the little skeleton, paid no attention to Shi Yan’s movement, nor did they pay any particular heed to Meiji.

Just as Nazario prepared to exert his power to tear the little skeleton’s frame apart, a chill swept over him, and he suddenly felt the temperature plummet.

He looked up overhead in confusion.

Crystalline snowflakes suddenly began to drift down from the heavens. In an instant, Skeleton Island was shrouded in a swirling, snowy white blanket.

An intense, bone-chilling cold washed over him and Bastros. Once these snowflakes landed on them, they dissolved immediately inside their bodies, causing their movements to stiffen and a profound cold to creep into their hearts.

"Vile woman! Are you intent on courting death?"

Bastros roared in fury. He saw Meiji, still a thousand paces away, radiating icy power from her entire being. The delicate, crystalline snow lotus bloomed continuously, subtly manipulating the winds and clouds overhead.

Inside every single snowflake lay Meiji’s chilling power, gently descending and permeating, capable of freezing flesh unnoticed.

"Truly troublesome!" Nazario grew agitated as well. "How did you restrain her just now? How did she break free?"

"How should I know?" Bastros was clearly in a foul mood, his face grim. "This wench was prepared to self-detonate at any moment. I didn't want to be dragged down with her, so I let her go for the time being. I never expected her to be so oblivious to death and dare to come cause trouble again!"

"You had better deal with her immediately!" Nazario snarled.

Bastros’s face was cold as he contemplated for a few seconds, a look of deep reluctance crossing his features. "Forget it. I’ll make a small sacrifice, hmm, I’ll kill her. Her body can still be refined into a Corpse Slave; that's acceptable..."

Saying this, Bastros’s figure shifted toward Meiji. A cold, sinister evil emerged in his eyes.

His Nascent Realm erupted on his forehead, manifesting as a mountain peak piled high with countless corpses, which slowly descended from the sky, looming over Meiji’s head.

This Corpse Mountain was the crystallization of Bastros’s profound meaning, capable of obliterating Meiji. However, if Meiji chose to self-detonate her soul as a final resort, she could shatter the mountain too. For Bastros, that would still constitute a significant loss, which was why he hadn't deployed it earlier.

The Corpse Mountain towered several hundred zhang high, composed of pale, decaying bodies, and a mere glance was enough to make one’s spirit tremble.

As the Corpse Mountain bore down, Meiji's alluring face was etched with bitterness. She gritted her teeth secretly and whispered, "I hope your trick works, don't let me down..."

"Relax. If I said we could fight Bastros together, then we can fight him," a voice echoed invisibly, filled with confidence.

Meiji tilted her head up to watch the Corpse Mountain slowly descend.

"Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!"

A narrow spatial rift suddenly solidified directly above Meiji’s head. Strange, multicolored light flashed from the rift, hinting at an unknown destination.

Even Shi Yan didn't know where it led!

Previously on Skeleton Island, the space had been warped by some unseen force, preventing him from establishing spatial nodes to escape—he had been lost. This was why Meiji had been able to target him, preventing his instantaneous departure from the island.

However, now that he activated his Spatial Profound Meaning, he realized everything was unaffected.

Even the previously vanished spatial nodes had reappeared. To put it plainly, if he chose to leave now, he could do so with ease.

From the shadows, he glanced toward the little skeleton and saw its eyes momentarily brighten.

He suddenly understood.

The reason he couldn't utilize his Spatial Profound Meaning to flee during his earlier fight with Meiji must have been due to the little skeleton’s action; the child wanted to keep him around, hoping he could resurrect its parents.

There must be a nexus point for the barrier force within Skeleton Island, and that nexus was connected to the little skeleton’s heart. Now that the child was in grave danger, it seemed unwilling to drag him down with it, and so it released the barrier restraining space.

This finally allowed Shi Yan’s Spatial Profound Meaning to operate unimpeded.

Meiji’s bright eyes lit up.

The Corpse Mountain was descending slowly, but if its trajectory remained unchanged, it would plunge directly into the depths of the spatial rift, vanishing instantly.

Bastros was terrified. His expression turned exceedingly ugly. He frantically manipulated his profound meaning again, generating ropes condensed from Corpse Power to try and pull the mountain back, terrified that it would disappear into the rift, causing a severe injury to his soul.

Seeing Bastros in such a disheveled state, Meiji felt a surge of secret satisfaction and let out a melodious, cackling laugh.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

A storm of ice shards, ice swords, and ice blades formed, swirling upward like a tornado from above Meiji's head. As the power coalesced, the shattering ice storm roared toward Bastros and Nazario.

The two old fiends of the Devouring Clan, entirely focused on the little skeleton, were almost vomiting blood from rage as the ice storm bore down on them.

Bastros was still fighting desperately to control the Corpse Mountain and was unable to defend himself. He could only rely on Nazario to act.

A gigantic, white-furred Corpse Ape, condensed from Nazario's Corpse Power, hammered its chest and roared, charging directly into the ice storm. It battered and blasted the storm, causing it to dissipate before it could reach Bastros and Nazario.

When Nazario recovered his composure and prepared to attack again, a torrent of Solar Flame rushed in like a river of fire, plunging into the heart of the ice storm.

The white-furred Corpse Ape was incinerated by the Solar Essence Fire, spewing thick smoke and screeching hideously.

Nazario also suffered a massive shock. Although the Corpse Ape wasn't his ultimate life-bound treasure, it was formed from his power and profound meaning. Its burning was equivalent to a heavy blow against his soul and power, inflicting instant injury upon him.

Furthermore, while Bastros and Nazario were distracted, the little skeleton, previously submerged by the Profound Yin Corpse Worms, suddenly broke free. Stars began to shine on its snowy white bones. These stars seemed to correspond to its acupoints and suddenly projected light screens toward the sky.

The clouds above Skeleton Island were illuminated with scattered starlight, as if activating some hidden formation.

The two Bone Dragons, shattered into pieces, miraculously reconnected their skeletal structures and stood up once more.

In every corner of Skeleton Island, wherever piles of bones lay, massive, pallid skeletons—hundreds of feet tall, their eyes vacant—began to stir. They moved with surprising swiftness, converging rapidly toward the center.

Shi Yan, hidden in the darkness, watched the giant skeletons charging forward, gripping bone sabers, causing the very ground of Skeleton Island to tremble with booming roars.

Soon, one skeleton arrived first. It stomped down, instantly exploding dozens of Profound Yin Corpse Worms, their ichor oozing out.

That giant skeleton, wielding a white bone battle saber, lunged straight for Nazario, swinging the blade down.

"Slaaash!"

The blade light flashed, seemingly tearing the void’s barrier, sending countless points of white bone light splashing out like a river toward Nazario.

More giant skeletons gathered, some positioning themselves around the little skeleton, others charging toward Bastros.

Meiji suddenly froze, watching the massive skeletons wield their bone sabers with seemingly innate divine strength, putting both Nazario and Bastros into a state of utter confusion. She felt a sudden relaxation.

She looked at the little skeleton, a strange light dawning in her eyes. She realized that Skeleton Island was profoundly unusual—perhaps the entire island was one single, divine weapon, painstakingly refined by the little skeleton’s parents and specifically left for their child to use against enemies.

The little skeleton had been temporarily suppressed earlier, unable to activate the island’s mysteries, which is why it was at a disadvantage.

With the help of her and Shi Yan, the little skeleton had finally broken free, unleashing the mysteries of Skeleton Island and instantly manifesting these giant skeletons, thereby reversing the situation in one swift move.

The gigantic skeletons, wielding their bone sabers, pursued Bastros and Nazario, forcing them to flee in disarray. Realizing the danger, the two prepared to escape Skeleton Island. However, as soon as they ascended to the sky, they found gravity had increased a thousandfold, brutally slamming them back onto the ground.

Lacking mastery over Spatial Profound Meaning, they could not instantly teleport away like Shi Yan. They were forced to fight the giant skeletons on the island itself.

Every time they painstakingly slaughtered and shattered one giant skeleton, with just a shift in the little skeleton’s thoughts, the entire island would shudder briefly, and then the pulverized bones would re-coalesce, continuing their vigorous pursuit of Nazario and Bastros, hacking and slashing.

These were essentially immortal skeletons; killing them was useless. This realization filled Nazario and Bastros with despair.

Shi Yan, who had been concealed, suddenly reappeared, standing beside Meiji, his face showing a look of surprise.

The little skeleton was now riding a Bone Dragon, circling above the heads of the giant skeletons, waving its small white hand bones and shouting orders in the ancient language of the White Bone Clan to direct the charge of the skeletal warriors.

Shi Yan watched from a distance, secretly astonished by the marvels of this little skeleton and Skeleton Island.

"Why were you able to absorb the Corpse Poison?" Suddenly, Meiji beside him looked at him intently. "As far as I know, very few profound meanings can siphon away Corpse Poison. I still can’t understand why the poison in my body disappeared through that method?!"

As she concluded, Meiji's tone grew suddenly agitated, her beautiful face turning icy cold.

Shi Yan glanced at her and said coolly, "I only know how to detoxify using that method."

The truth was known only to him. He needed to detoxify through that method to exact revenge on Meiji, to make her unforgettable in the most humiliating way possible!

If he had been willing, he could have chosen a far more appropriate method that would not have caused Meiji such embarrassment.

However, Meiji’s relentless pursuit over several days, her avarice displayed along the way, and her malicious intention to refine him to break through to the Domain Ancestor realm had already infuriated him. If Meiji’s life hadn't held some lingering utility, he would not have hesitated to eliminate her on the spot to remove a future threat!

... (To be continued) RQ