A bonfire, piled high with the skeletal remains of various demonic beasts, slowly ignited with a ghastly white Yin Fire.

Ye Qin sat cross-legged before the bone-pile blaze, eyes shut in concentration, his spiritual sense plunging into a black jade slip held in his palm as he perused the secret arts of the Yin Xuan Sect.

Yin Fire, typically, could only be summoned by ghost cultivators whose physical bodies had perished but whose nascent souls remained, relying on Yin Xuan magical power. Ye Qin was very much alive, a common cultivator, and naturally incapable of generating Yin Fire through his own means.

Fortunately, the Bone Refining Art within the Yin Xuan Grand Method described how to conjure natural Yin Fire using the skeletons of demonic beasts. Generally, the stronger the beast's cultivation in life, the more potent and fierce the Yin Fire generated by its bones. Thus, ordinary cultivators could also employ this Yin Fire to temper bones and forge Skeleton Artifacts. Bone-material artifacts were almost invariably crafted using this precise method.

Ye Qin reviewed the Bone Refining Art several times before withdrawing his spiritual sense from the jade slip after a long period of contemplation.

With a gesture, a wisp of faint Yin Fire floating above the bone pile was drawn toward his palm, hovering a few inches away, allowing him to gauge its power.

Immediately, Ye Qin felt a chilling coldness that sent a shiver down his spine, slightly unsettling his mind. He stabilized himself, then swiftly directed this wisp of pale white Yin Fire onto the skeleton of a nearby Putrefied Crocodile, focusing its burn on one of the major bones in its tail. Under the scorching of the pale Yin Fire, that bone exuded thick, black mist with a sizzling sound. Only when the Yin Fire dissipated did the leaked corpse poison seep back into the bone.

Ye Qin labored for dozens of hours, depleting nearly thirty percent of his magic power and hundreds of wisps of Yin Fire, before finally finishing the tempering of a major caudal vertebra of the Putrefied Crocodile. The tempered main tail bone was noticeably thinner but appeared significantly more solid and durable, radiating a faint, subtle brilliance.

The Putrefied Crocodile skeleton lumbered its way into a damp stone cave deep within the ravine. Its crawling motion appeared rather clumsy.

Guarding the cave entrance was a third-tier Black Lined Demonic Centipede, fully three feet long. Compared to the skeleton of the Putrefied Crocodile, which spanned several zhang, this third-tier centipede appeared overly slender and tiny.

The Putrefied Crocodile’s hollow gaze swept over the demon centipede, ignoring it, and continued to crawl forward, seemingly intending to drag itself into the cave. The demon centipede exhibited palpable apprehension toward the Putrefied Crocodile, whose entire form radiated the aura of death.

Even a trace of corpse Qi was troublesome and difficult to purge completely. Its simple mind did not grasp these nuances; it only felt an instinctual dread toward the Putrefied Crocodile skeleton.

But it would not retreat. The cave behind it was the centipede’s lair, filled with other demon centipedes. It was guarding the entrance to prevent predators from entering; how could it easily fall back?

The demon centipede shrieked a few sharp cries. As the Putrefied Crocodile skeleton pressed closer, it finally lost its restraint. It scuttled forward on all its legs, launching itself out, opening its maw wide, and spitting venom at the crocodile’s leg bone.

Crack!

The demon centipede recoiled in sudden pain. Its incredibly hard mandibles, biting down on bone, shattered halfway. It shrieked in agony. The Putrefied Crocodile skeleton merely bore a faint bite mark on its foreleg bone. Furthermore, the venom spat by the centipede had absolutely no effect on it.

The Putrefied Crocodile stood impassively while the centipede gnawed at its foreleg bone, but its tail swept back with lightning speed. Smack! The centipede's black carapace on its back was smashed and torn, its entire spine pierced through by the tailbone, spraying out vibrant, thick, dark fluid.

The demon centipede immediately let out squeals and twitched spasmodically. Soon, a thick, dark cloud of corpse Qi enveloped it, and it ceased moving altogether. The immense gap of three tiers in strength rendered this uneven battle entirely without suspense. The Putrefied Crocodile dragged the centipede’s corpse to Ye Qin.

Ye Qin expertly drew several small, crimson Wind Blade energy strikes through the air, swiftly dismembering the demon centipede. He made an unexpected discovery—a small demonic core inside. A faint smile touched his lips; luck was on his side. He extracted the demonic core and tossed it into a specialized storage pouch reserved for such items. He then flung the remaining broken shell and flesh onto the adjacent pile of bones feeding the Yin Fire, using them as fuel. The demon centipede's hard mandibles were useful material for refining spirit artifacts.

As for the centipede’s blood, it was a potent tonic for replenishing vital essence for cultivators. However, it had been contaminated by corpse Qi, rendering it useless to Ye Qin; it too was relegated to being "firewood."

Ye Qin could already use his spiritual sense to direct the movements of the Putrefied Crocodile skeleton for simple combat maneuvers, even though the refining process was not yet complete.

The Yin Fire extracted from the skeletons of several low-tier demon snakes was barely enough to temper a single bone of the sixth-tier Putrefied Crocodile skeleton.

Although the Yin Fire generated by the bones of lower-tiered beasts was less satisfactory, it was the only option available for now.

Vast quantities of low-tier demonic beast skeletons were required to refine every single bone of the Putrefied Crocodile framework, turning each one into an evil artifact, making them incredibly durable and granting them potent corpse poison effects.

Days turned into weeks.

Ye Qin cleared out the nests of over a hundred demon centipedes within the deep ravine. He also discovered several smaller cave lairs inhabited by low-tier demonic rats and snakes. He collected their remains to generate Yin Fire for artifact refining, turning the nests into desolate caverns of bleached bone.

After ninety-nine days—eighty-one days, in total—a complete Putrefied Crocodile skeleton was finally forged. Every single bone in its body had been refined into an evil artifact. However, the work was not finished.

Although the body of the Putrefied Crocodile skeleton was complete, it still required the final step of the refining technique.

The Skeleton Art in the Yin Xuan Grand Method detailed two distinct control methods.

The first method simply refined a skeleton, requiring only a small amount of spiritual sense and a large expenditure of magical power for control—a relatively simple technique.

The second method was the Skeleton Demon: upon the foundation of the skeleton, a demonic core was affixed, refining it into a Skeleton Demon, which required a significant amount of spiritual sense for control. The power of a Skeleton Demon far surpassed that of a mere skeleton. However, if the manipulation failed, the Skeleton Demon could easily slip outside the cultivator’s control, becoming a rogue, rampaging spectral entity.

Ye Qin solemnly retrieved a palm-sized, pitch-black demonic core from his storage pouch. This core was the very one he had extracted from the Putrefied Crocodile’s skull when he broke it open using the South Bright Li Fire Sword.

If he were to merely control the Putrefied Crocodile skeleton to assist in combat, it would drain his own magical power and spiritual sense. In that scenario, the skeleton’s usefulness would be limited, amounting to just one top-tier evil artifact.

Ye Qin already possessed more than a dozen magical artifacts; he was not lacking in equipment. Once his internal magic power was depleted, having more artifacts was meaningless.

Only by reinstalling this demonic core into the Putrefied Crocodile skeleton’s skull could it possess its own demonic power, transforming it into a Skeleton Demon. Then, it would not consume his magic power; he would only need to control it with his spiritual sense, allowing it to fight using the energy from its own core. This way, his combat strength would truly multiply.

However, controlling a Skeleton Demon demanded many times more spiritual sense than controlling a simple skeleton.

To enhance his strength and ensure better survival within the Verdant Ridge, Ye Qin had no choice but to embrace this enormous risk.

Ye Qin regulated his breathing, closed his eyes for a moment of meditation, and reviewed the entire procedure in his mind. Once he was certain everything was correct, he cast several magic seals, drawing the demonic core above his palm, and then forcefully pressed it down into the skull of the Putrefied Crocodile skeleton.

The demonic core erupted with black radiance, enveloping the Putrefied Crocodile skeleton. Immense demonic power flowed within it, flickering with black, shining light that waxed and waned. Ye Qin, standing nearby, felt an indescribable, powerful pressure. After all, the creature’s strength in life hovered between the sixth and seventh tiers—truly extraordinary.

After a short pause, its dry, white eyes gradually began to gleam with wisps of eerie, faint black cold light, staring fixedly at Ye Qin, as if recognizing him. Its gaze gradually filled with violent resentment.

Ye Qin watched it calmly, maintaining a cautious vigilance. It had died by his hand; some residual resentment was to be expected. He rapidly chanted an incantation and executed a magic seal, purging the lingering resentment and savagery within the demonic core. The fierce gaze of the Putrefied Crocodile Skeleton Demon gradually became numb and vacant, its final vestiges of malice dispersing. Under Ye Qin’s control, it circled the bamboo grove near the bonfire once, then lay back down before it, docile and utterly obedient.

Ye Qin completed the spell, secretly letting out a breath of relief, wiping the sweat from his brow.

It seemed the Skeleton Art was quite effective. With his mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation, he could barely control this sixth-tier Skeleton Demon without it going berserk.

As for how to prevent this Putrefied Crocodile Skeleton Demon from losing control, that was something he would have to discover through trial and error. A sixth-tier Putrefied Crocodile Skeleton Demon possessing its own demonic core was finally refined.

With this sixth-tier Skeleton Demon, there were many more things Ye Qin could accomplish. At the very least, he would no longer be confined to the small ravine spanning only a few li. Leaving the ravine and escaping the Verdant Ridge was an imperative.

The Verdant Ridge, being the most perilous area within the Spirit Mist Mountain Range, was teeming with demonic beasts and was no place for cultivators to linger long-term.

Ye Qin manipulated the Putrefied Crocodile Skeleton Demon to scout ahead as he walked through the jumble of rocks and forest. With flocks of wild Azure Birds inhabiting the cloud-mist on the mountain’s mid-slopes, taking to the sky was out of the question; the land route was the only way out.

Ordinary demonic beasts were extremely drawn to corpse Qi, yet simultaneously repulsed by it, preferring to avoid any contamination. Wherever this Putrefied Crocodile Skeleton Demon appeared, low- and mid-tier demonic beasts would actively steer clear.

Ye Qin followed closely behind the Putrefied Crocodile Skeleton Demon, trekking arduously through the Verdant Ridge, searching for a path out.

When encountering a few demonic beasts below the sixth tier, Ye Qin could still command the skeleton to fight.

Only on rare occasions did he accidentally stumble into territories occupied by high-tier beasts, encountering those at the sixth tier or above. If he carelessly provoked a seventh-tier Golden Core-level beast and incurred its furious assault, his only option would be frantic escape.

The Putrefied Crocodile Skeleton Demon could spew corpse Qi in wide-ranging attacks, using the resulting poison mist as cover to flee. Even seventh-tier beasts were reluctant to charge into a large area saturated with toxic miasma.

With Ye Qin’s mid-Foundation Establishment strength, plus a sixth-tier Putrefied Crocodile Skeleton Demon, as long as he proceeded cautiously in the Verdant Ridge and avoided provoking large hordes of terrifying high-tier beasts, self-preservation should be manageable.

Even so, Ye Qin remained meticulously careful in seeking a viable path.

Unconsciously, after spending several months charting a course, Ye Qin finally traveled from the depths of the Verdant Ridge to its periphery. His cultivation had also advanced to the sixth layer of the Foundation Establishment stage, nearing the realm of a high-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Ye Qin glanced back at the Verdant Ridge behind him, clutching a pale, gleaming Skeleton Magic Shuttle in his hand. In his current state, he was virtually indistinguishable from an evil cultivator. He offered a wry smile.

He retrieved the Putrefied Crocodile Skeleton into his storage pouch, then summoned the Dark Cloud Barrier artifact, transforming into a streak of dark cloud, and vanished rapidly into the vast expanse of the Spirit Mist Mountain Range.