The Bone-Dissolving Serpent Skeleton Demon held the Spirit Root Bone tightly in its maw, heedless of the Rotted Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon tearing at it. Its entire body swelled up as it forced the Spirit Root Bone down its throat.

Its body was covered in a layer of hard, pitch-black scales, and its corpse-flesh and serpentine bones remained entirely intact. Once the Spirit Root Bone was swallowed, it would remain inside its body, freeing its venomous fangs and mouth for attack.

The Rotted Bone Crocodile was different; only a skeletal frame remained. If it swallowed the Spirit Root Bone, it would simply drop out, so it could only clamp the bone within its jaws. While biting down on the Spirit Root Bone, it was incapable of attacking with its mouth.

Upon seizing the Spirit Root Bone, the Bone-Dissolving Serpent Skeleton Demon instinctively knew this bone was paramount to advancing its strength. It ignored the Rotted Bone Crocodile’s attacks, determined to swallow the Wu Li Bone.

It straightened its neck, craned its head forward, and swallowed. A bulge rose in its serpentine throat, gurgled once, and finally, it managed to ingest the long Spirit Root Bone. The Bone-Dissolving Serpent had secured the Spirit Root Bone, and hearing the distant, sharp shout of the Green Robe Ancestor summoning it back, it felt it had gained a huge advantage and was unwilling to continue fighting the Rotted Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon. It immediately sought to flee back to the Green Robe Ancestor’s side. "Hiss—!"

Seeing the Bone-Dissolving Serpent swallow the Spirit Root Bone, the Rotted Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon was utterly enraged, its form radiating dark light, refusing to let the serpent escape.

It lunged with all four claws, seizing the serpent's body. Its massive crocodilian jaws opened wide and it bit down savagely onto the serpent’s abdomen, twisting its head with brute force. "Rip!" A large patch of scales and flesh was torn away. "Hiss—!"

The Bone-Dissolving Serpent shrieked mournfully. A huge chunk of scales and skeletal remains on its belly had been violently ripped open by the Rotted Bone Crocodile, exposing the serpent’s bare skeleton. Moreover, a golden light shone from within its ruptured abdomen. The Rotted Bone Crocodile roared with delight and snapped its jaws toward the golden light.

The Bone-Dissolving Serpent had only just managed to swallow the Spirit Root Bone and was intending to flee toward the Green Robe Ancestor. It never anticipated the Rotted Bone Crocodile’s frenzy would tear open its belly, gutting it and snatching the Spirit Root Bone back out.

Though its serpentine skeletal armor was incredibly tough—difficult to damage even with ordinary magic artifacts—it could not withstand the Rotted Bone Crocodile's sharp jaws, which tore it completely open.

The Bone-Dissolving Serpent struggled desperately, roaring repeatedly, trying to drag the swallowed Spirit Root Bone toward the Green Robe Ancestor’s location.

The Green Robe Ancestor, initially pleased when the Bone-Dissolving Serpent swallowed the root, had urgently recalled it. Yet, in the blink of an eye, the Rotted Bone Crocodile had ripped open the serpent’s belly and snatched the Spirit Root Bone back. "Vermin, you seek death!"

The Green Robe Ancestor's expression shifted. He finally cast aside his esteemed identity as a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator and the esteemed status of the Savage Isle Ancestor, rushing at top speed toward the location where the two skeleton demons were locked in battle.

With a fierce roar, the body of the minor divine artifact, the Green Fiend Sword, shimmered, transforming into a green streak of rainbow light bursting with baleful energy, shooting toward the Rotted Bone Crocodile, that small Golden Core skeleton demon. Ye Qin, seeing the Rotted Bone Crocodile snatch the Spirit Root Bone back, was overjoyed.

Immediately following, his expression drastically changed, almost spitting out an oath: "Truly shameless! A dignified Nascent Soul Ancestor fighting with a mere Golden Core skeleton demon over a bone!"

The world-shaking strike from the Nascent Soul Ancestor’s minor divine artifact, no matter how hard the Rotted Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon's bones were, would be utterly futile; it would shatter instantly without resistance. "Rotted Bone Crocodile, come back!" Ye Qin urgently channeled his divine sense outward, controlling the Rotted Bone Crocodile with all his might, ordering it to flee toward the Wutu Great Formation.

If the Golden Core seventh-level Rotted Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon were to perish here, his overall strength would suffer a tremendous loss!

The Rotted Bone Crocodile, incredibly alert, plucked the golden Spirit Root Bone from the ripped-open belly of the Bone-Dissolving Serpent. As the Green Robe Ancestor moved to strike it, it instantly twisted its head, swung its tail, and swiftly fled toward the Wutu Great Formation.

The location where the two Golden Core skeleton demons fought was barely ten-odd li from the Wutu Great Formation. Conversely, it was over ten li away from the Green Robe Ancestor’s position.

The Rotted Bone Crocodile transformed into a tens-of-zhang-tall column of dense black mist, roaring as it plunged into the Wutu Great Formation. Some Savage Isle evil cultivators attempted to control their flying swords to intercept it, but the moment the swords encountered the corpse-qi black mist, they immediately hissed and smoked. The artifacts suffered corrosion, their power greatly diminished, and when they struck the Rotted Bone Crocodile, it was as harmless as an itch.

Meanwhile, the green light formed by the minor divine artifact, the Green Fiend Sword, materialized with a 'whoosh' at the site where the Bone-Dissolving Serpent and the Rotted Bone Crocodile had been fighting, slicing through empty air.

Having escaped into the Wutu Great Formation, the Rotted Bone Crocodile spat out a large mass of fragmented black serpent-flesh from the Bone-Dissolving Serpent. Only the single, golden, gleaming Spirit Root Bone remained in its mouth. The Rotted Bone Crocodile slightly opened and closed its jaws, the Spirit Root Bone clacking inside as it shook its head and tail, seemingly immensely proud. Ye Qin was left speechless and amused. The Rotted Bone Crocodile had actually disemboweled the Bone-Dissolving Serpent to forcefully reclaim the Spirit Root Bone.

Inside the Wutu Great Formation, many treasure-seeking cultivators looked upon the Rotted Bone Crocodile with suspicion and surprise. Most of them had little understanding of Ghost Cultivators and could not discern what the Rotted Bone Crocodile held in its mouth.

Only a few Golden Core cultivators, like Great Cultivator Cao, whose gaze swept over the Rotted Bone Crocodile and the Spirit Root Bone, felt a mix of envy and jealousy, yet dared not show it. This Golden Core seventh-level Rotted Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon possessed combat prowess even fiercer than many late-stage Golden Core cultivators, especially with the rolling black corpse-qi emanating from its body, a threat to almost all cultivators and spirit beasts. Ye Qin smirked coldly, tossed out the Spirit Beast Pouch, and retracted the Rotted Bone Crocodile.

The Bone-Dissolving Serpent Skeleton Demon, finding its belly ripped open and its Spirit Root Bone lost, became extremely disappointed. It hissed furiously toward the Wutu Great Formation, stirring up vast clouds of black mist and corpse-qi as it advanced on the formation. The Green Robe Ancestor was likewise deeply disappointed.

The Green Robe Ancestor had already flown above the Wutu Great Formation, manipulating the Green Fiend Sword and looking down upon Ye Qin within the formation. The face of the Azure Bird seemed so gloomy that water was about to drip from it.

"What manner of figure am I? A mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, one of the three great ancestors of the Savage Isle. Usually, I am only met with reverence and dread. I have roamed the Sea of Blood for hundreds of years, ruling supreme in my domain. Yet today, I suffer setback after setback at the hands of such an insignificant, ant-like junior cultivator. He killed my only direct disciple, and yet he still escaped my sword strike!"

"Even a Golden Core seventh-level Rotted Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon managed to best my Golden Core ninth-level Bone-Dissolving Serpent Skeleton Demon and have the Spirit Root Bone snatched back from its belly!"

This train of thought, this humiliation, felt more unbearable to him than death itself.

"Good! Very good!"

The Green Robe Ancestor’s face contorted viciously.

He calmed himself in an instant, reaching out to recall the intensely unwilling Bone-Dissolving Serpent into his spirit beast pouch. The Bone-Dissolving Serpent was heavily injured, but for a Skeleton Demon, such injuries would heal in a few months, posing no major issue. "A mere Golden Core mid-stage cultivator, managing to escape my grasp, even preventing me from gaining the slightest advantage—you are truly the first of your kind!"

The Green Robe Ancestor hovered menacingly above the Wutu Great Formation, his sinister tone causing the atmosphere within several thousand zhang to plummet in temperature. Many Golden Core cultivators involuntarily shivered.

Ye Qin, however, remained utterly calm, looking out at the Green Robe Ancestor outside the formation. Inside the protective shell of the immensely resilient Wutu Great Formation, he was temporarily safe. For the Ancestor to kill him now, he would first have to shatter the Wutu Great Formation—only then would it be possible. Killing him with a single strike was utterly impossible.

The treasure-seeking cultivators inside the Wutu Great Formation, as well as the Savage Isle cultivators surrounding it, dared not respond to the Green Robe Ancestor’s words.

The treasure seekers knew they were at the critical moment of life and death and had already tensed their nerves, awaiting the descent of the Ancestor’s overwhelming fury. The Savage Isle cultivators knew the Green Robe Ancestor was burning with rage and wouldn't dare provoke him. "However, everything ends here."

The Green Robe Ancestor’s cold, sharp gaze fell upon the calm Ye Qin, and he let out a cold snort. "I absolutely will not let you live past today! And you lot—I intended to let you live a little longer, but now it seems unnecessary!"

Saying this, the Green Robe Ancestor did not wait for the treasure seekers to react. His surging magic power erupted outward, accompanied by sharp shrieks and roars. The vast spiritual pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator exploded, churning the sea below into towering waves. "Die, all of you! Not a single one remains!"

The Green Fiend Sword grew hundreds of zhang tall in the wind, transforming into a green rainbow of shocking light, cleaving down toward the Wutu Great Formation below. The dazzling green light momentarily obscured the sky, even covering the thousands of zhang spanned by the Wutu Great Formation.

This was the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator. There was no need to deliberate on methods to break the formation. When a sword strike’s power is pushed to its absolute extreme, it is sufficient to shatter any mystic formation using pure force. "Quick! Everyone, channel your magic power into the formation at full strength! If the Wutu Great Formation is breached, all of us are doomed! Hold fast!" Sun Xing, who was controlling the Wutu Great Formation, was utterly terrified and roared loudly.

At the brink of life and death, the dozens of treasure-seeking cultivators within the Wutu Great Formation were quick to react. They gritted their teeth, sent their magic power surging, and poured it frantically into the four formation flags. The Wutu Great Formation flashed with brilliant yellow light. "Wutu Defensive Barrier!—" Sun Xing roared, frantically forming hand seals and casting defensive techniques.

The four formation flags of the Wutu Formation simultaneously shot out beams of yellow light, instantly weaving a massive earth-elemental shield spanning a thousand zhang across the top of the formation, its magic power incredibly dense.

A defensive shield condensed by dozens of mid-to-late stage Golden Core cultivators acting in unison with their full power possessed formidable defense.

The green light of the minor divine artifact streaked down from the sky. The earth-yellow light shield above the Wutu Great Formation was already trembling under the pressure of this overwhelming aura, appearing as if it might shatter at any moment. The green rainbow streak moved with lightning speed, striking directly at the center of the formation's earth shield. "Hmph, mere handfuls of Primordial Spirit artifacts, specks of dust, dare to block this Ancestor's minor divine sword? Break for this Ancestor—Break!" The venomous voice of the Green Robe Ancestor faded just as the words concluded.

"CRASH!"

A heaven-shaking, violent impact of magical artifacts resonated across hundreds of li surrounding the giant island, drowning out all other sounds.