The demon core of the Rotten Bone Fresh Skeleton Demon spun rapidly in mid-air, emitting a sinister, ghostly light, desperately absorbing the dense surrounding corpse qi, attempting to break through the peak of the ninth layer of the Golden Core realm and advance toward the Nascent Soul great threshold.

Its own skeletal structure was also undergoing a bizarre metamorphosis, transforming into a new shape, accompanied by a rapid, crisp sound of bone fracturing, constantly shrinking, seemingly squeezing out every drop of corpse fluid within the frame.

However, as the Rotten Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon began its transformation, it simultaneously felt the terrifying might of the Heavenly Tribulation.

At this moment, it diverted its focus, squeezing out all the inky black corpse fluid from every single bone in its body, coalescing it into a massive shield of corpse fluid, dozens of feet thick, protecting the area above its demon core and body, preparing to endure the Great Heavenly Tribulation head-on.

It then opened its maw and spewed out bursts of Spirit-Consuming Yin Fire, igniting the Corpse Fluid Great Shield, forming a colossal fireball shield.

Upon the entire island, as dark as night, only this Corpse Fluid Great Shield shone the brightest.

With its power at the peak of the ninth layer of the Golden Core, this Corpse Fluid Great Shield possessed formidable defensive capabilities. Even if several ninth-layer Golden Core cultivators simultaneously directed over a dozen Spirit Soul Flying Swords to assault this shield, the shield would likely be rapidly corroded and destroyed without sustaining any superficial damage to the demon itself.

Yet, Lightning Spiritual Qi was the ultimate Yang spiritual energy in the cosmos, the nemesis of all ghostly entities.

This was a Nascent Soul Great Heavenly Tribulation, lightning imbued with the minor divine ability's awesome power.

"Kacha—!"

Finally, a thick silver serpent of lightning ripped through the clouds, instantaneously tearing open hundreds of feet of the sky, crashing down furiously toward the Rotten Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon at the center of the island, which was undergoing its transformation.

The destructive power of this dark lightning bolt was immense, enough to pulverize a thousand-foot-tall mountain peak into dust.

This dark lightning bolt struck the Corpse Fluid Great Shield impartially. Sizzle!

The tens-of-feet-thick Corpse Fluid Great Shield was pierced by this fiercely powerful dark lightning, creating a massive hole in its center. The crackling silver arcs leaped and struck the demon core below, as well as the skeleton demon’s entire frame, bombarding its body of bones.

However, in penetrating the Corpse Fluid Great Shield, this bolt of lightning had already expended most of its formidable power.

The remaining force of the thunderbolt merely caused the Rotten Bone Crocodile to tremble violently, nearly paralyzing most of its bones and accelerating the rate of their drastic mutation.

The corpse qi surging from the demon core quickly cleared the lingering influence of the lightning.

The Rotten Bone Fresh quickly recovered, hastily spewing out more corpse fluid to mend the breached shield.

This was merely the first wave of heavenly lightning, and it was already proving difficult to withstand the subsequent eight waves; the trials ahead were unimaginable.

"Sect Master!"

Ye Qin watched the scene from afar, his expression filled with awe.

The sheer might of the heavenly lightning was so overwhelming that, with his current strength, even controlling the Grand Five Elements Sword Formation, he doubted he could withstand this Great Heavenly Tribulation. It seemed he had gravely underestimated it; when his own tribulation arrived, he would need to prepare vastly superior defensive artifacts.

"No need to rush. This is only the first wave of heavenly lightning, a trial it must endure. It's actually a good opportunity to cleanse its marrow and refine its bones, which will assist in its quicker transformation! For the remaining eight bolts of lightning, I, the Sect Master, will intervene to dissipate the tribulation and weaken the Great Heavenly Tribulation's might."

Sect Master Yu remained unhurried, reaching into his storage pouch and producing a thick stack of high-tier talismans glowing with brilliant red light, holding them in his hand. These grand talismans were about five inches long, made from some kind of premium fire-element material, far superior to ordinary high-tier talisman paper. Each piece was inscribed with incredibly intricate magical incantations and patterns, depicting armored warriors wielding bows and arrows, sabers and shields, long spears, and other weaponry.

"Fellow Daoist Ye Qin, allow me to demonstrate my 'Summoning the Host of Soldiers Technique'! This technique is famous throughout the Cultivation World of the Eastern Sea. My ability to hold the position of Sect Master relies heavily on this summoning art!"

Sect Master Yu chuckled, waving his hand and casting out the stack of high-tier talismans.

"Flame Soldiers!"

Whoosh, whoosh...!

Dozens of red lights transformed into slender streams of fire, shooting toward the area surrounding the Rotten Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon.

These high-tier talismans burst open in the air, spraying forth large masses of flames that quickly coalesced upon landing, transforming into imposing figures of soldiers burning with roaring flames.

These Flame Soldiers stood over five feet tall, each possessing a unique form.

Saber-and-Shield Flame Soldiers wielded long Raging Flame Sabers and enormous fiery shields, their flames possessing a malevolent, violent aura.

Bow-and-Arrow Flame Soldiers held immense fire runes, their fiery gazes sharp and focused.

Spear Flame Soldiers grasped giant lances, appearing ferociously aggressive.

Sect Master Yu waved his hand, issuing control incantations.

These Flame Soldiers moved with extraordinary swiftness; in what seemed like the blink of an eye, they had completely surrounded the Rotten Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon, forming a mobile military formation.

Most terrifyingly, their auras merged into one, inextricably linked, much like a rigidly disciplined army formation. This was a legion composed of fifty Flame Soldiers, and the spiritual pressure emanating from them simultaneously was even stronger than that of an early Nascent Soul cultivator.

"Crack!" Just as Sect Master Yu deployed the Great Formation of the Soldier Host, the second wave of the Great Heavenly Tribulation crashed down.

The great formation of fifty Flame Soldiers simultaneously raised the sabers, shields, bows, and spears in their hands toward the sky, shooting out beams of red fierce flames. Fifty beams of flame combined to form a colossal fire shield that instantly obscured the sky above the skeleton demon’s head.

BOOM!

The second bolt of thunder barely managed to punch through the giant fire shield; the aftershock of the blast struck the skeleton demon.

It caused almost no significant damage.

The Flame Soldier Great Formation, however, remained completely unharmed and intact. Only the fiery glow of each soldier had dimmed slightly, clearly indicating that the power of the dark lightning had been evenly distributed and shouldered by them.

"Late Golden Core stage Flame Soldiers?!"

Ye Qin gasped, dumbfounded. He suddenly recalled that Sect Master Yu's direct descendant, Yu Weifeng, had once used a similar soldier talisman, but it could never manifest the immense power that Sect Master Yu displayed by personally controlling dozens of these soldiers.

These Golden Core stage soldiers had effortlessly withstood one wave of the Great Heavenly Tribulation's minor divine ability-level lightning strike.

Furthermore, Ye Qin refused to believe that the dignified Northern Sect Master of the Eastern Sea would possess only high-tier soldier talismans.

"Sect Master Yu's 'Summoning the Host of Soldiers Technique' shakes the entire Eastern Sea Cultivation World.

Therefore, he must possess minor divine ability-level soldier talismans, capable of manifesting at least the power of an early Nascent Soul cultivator."

"If Sect Master Yu possesses several dozen minor divine ability-level soldier talismans, forming a Nascent Soul supreme-level soldier formation, their combined offensive and defensive power might even rival that of a Deity Transformation stage cultivator. Even a Desolate Spirit Ghost Master might not necessarily be Sect Master Yu's match."

"Sect Master Yu's true strength is not inferior to that Ghost Master. His reason for not engaging the Ghost Master in battle is likely to avoid conflict with the Holy Emperor. As for what fraction of the Holy Emperor's strength he possesses—without a fight, it’s hard to say," Ye Qin felt a wave of profound shock wash over him.

Only now did he truly comprehend the unparalleled, transcendent strength of Sect Master Yu, the Northern Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, within the Eastern Sea Cultivation World; he had few true equals. Otherwise, the White Floating Palace could never have maintained its position as the Northern Sect.

Wave after wave of dark lightning hammered down from the oppressive black clouds overhead.

It was only during the seventh wave that the spiritual energy of the first Flame Soldier finally depleted, causing it to begin shattering.

By the time the eighth powerful dark lightning bolt concluded, all dozens of the late Golden Core stage Flame Guards had been shattered, dispersing into large clouds of flames on the ground.

Sect Master Yu, seeing this, merely smiled, extremely satisfied with the result, as it was exactly within his calculations. He did not intend to intervene during the final wave of the tribulation.

However, by this time, the Rotten Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon, aided by the delaying tactics of the Flame Soldiers, had rapidly completed its transformation.

A ten-zhang-tall, transformed skeleton demon stood slightly hunched in the center of the desolate island, upon soil scorched black by the lightning strikes. Its entire body was covered in white bone, sheathed in a layer of dense, scale-like bone armor, overlapping piece by piece, concealing every part of its form. This layer of armor possessed formidable defensive capabilities. Its sharp claws reflected a fierce light.

And upon its spine, an extra, crystal-clear, brilliantly white bone protruded—this was the Rotten Bone Crocodile Skeleton Demon's newly acquired Spiritual Root Bone after transformation. Every demon cultivator gains such a root bone upon transformation; the potential for cultivation can be inferred from it.

The skeleton demon was no exception.

It had finally completed its transformation, becoming a tenth-tier skeleton demon, its strength equivalent to an early Nascent Soul cultivator.

It suddenly inhaled, drawing the much larger, ghostly black demon core floating in the sky back into its skull.

Fierce black flames blazed in its eyes, projecting a menacing glare. It opened its mouth abruptly,

letting out roars that pierced upward, their fierce cries nearly penetrating the dark cloud layer and traveling thousands of miles. A Nascent Soul stage skeleton demon—its power surpassed that of the vast majority of Eastern Sea cultivators, demon cultivators, and ghost cultivators at the same level.

"Kacha!"

The ninth wave of heavenly lightning finally crashed down from the sky, striking its body and causing its bones to snap and crackle violently.

The skeleton demon was violently thrown to the ground.

However, this strike did not inflict significant damage.

It was now a Nascent Soul stage skeleton demon; its bones were countless times harder, comparable to a minor divine ability-grade ghost artifact. A minor divine ability dark lightning bolt could severely wound it, but not kill it.

It used its skeleton body to directly withstand the final minor divine ability-level dark lightning of the Great Heavenly Tribulation. After a short while, it staggered to its feet, somewhat weakened and disoriented, looking vaguely around the desolate island. The Great Heavenly Tribulation had ended; the dark clouds in the sky were dispersing, revealing brightness over the island.

Its gaze fell upon Ye Qin, and it paused, as if recalling something.

A dense, rotting forest, the air thick with foul, stinking miasma from a Death Swamp—a green-robed cultivator captured it, and after that, it remembered nothing else. That green-robed cultivator looked exactly like the person standing before it now.

"Die..." Its gaze suddenly turned ferocious, and it managed to utter a single syllable with difficulty before its form flickered, shooting violently toward Ye Qin, who was more than ten miles away.

Ye Qin was slightly

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