"Kill..." After a brief pause, the long-tongued Old Liu spun around, once more swinging the Thin-Faced Blade towards Ye Xiu's hand. His movements and strength had reached an inhuman level; he was determined to destroy Ye Xiu with this single strike.

"Whoosh!" Ye Xiu threw his entire body forward, exerting every bit of power in his legs for a massive stride. He had thought he could evade this aggressive attack, but the initiative remained firmly with the lower-ranking Reaper, Ye Xiu. As the long-tongued Old Liu's sweeping slash missed its mark, he instantly pressed the attack, intending to drive the Thin-Faced Blade directly into Ye Xiu's eye.

Damn, that ruthless! Ye Xiu crossed his arms in front of his head to block, but the other's power was too immense. Although he managed to barely parry the blow, he was knocked back several paces.

"Kill, hah... hah..." The long-tongued Old Liu's eyes were bloodshot. Besides brute force assaults, his proudest asset was the long tongue that flickered in the air. This had become a close-quarters brawl; his tongue had undeniably made contact with Ye Xiu's skin.

Ye Xiu felt a numbing sensation spread through him after being licked on the arm. All his strength seemed to drain away. Just as he was about to be overwhelmed by the crushing force, a flash of blade light sliced through.

"It seems you've encountered the same thing," Old Liu's voice—the real one—was a lifeline to Ye Xiu. With a distorted grin, he plunged the Thin-Faced Blade in his hand into the long-tongued Old Liu's temple. In that instant, the mimic collapsed heavily, his flesh instantly dissolving into a pile of gray skeletal remains.

"Phew, why did you take so long? This guy's power was too intense," Ye Xiu hunched over, gasping for breath, his hands still trembling uncontrollably in the air.

"Oh, Mr. Death God. It seems my shadow is far more formidable than yours," Old Liu said smugly, spinning the Thin-Faced Blade before sheathing it back into his sleeve. He looked at Ye Xiu's disheveled state, his tone dripping with mockery. "Your shadow also appeared and went one-on-one with me, but unfortunately for you, I vaporized it instantly."

To save face, Ye Xiu forced himself upright and managed a grin. "I’m just severely allergic to that wretched long tongue of his. Besides, I hadn't even unleashed the Violet Flame yet. If you hadn't shown up, I could have taken him down myself. But what's the deal with these shadows?"

Once his smugness faded, Old Liu stared blankly at the bones on the ground. "I don't know much about the Bone Gatherer's methods, but I heard that any bone gathered by a Bone Gatherer becomes imbued with some of their mysterious power. I touched that bone jar earlier, which is why he could mimic my strength to fight you. Similarly, the jar you tapped earlier mimicked your power. These jars here are terrifying; it’s best not to touch any more of them."

Ye Xiu nodded, then looked back at the endless bone jars filling the grand hall. Besides their inherent strangeness, he was somewhat wary of Old Liu's true strength. "Honestly, that version of you just now—both in terms of strength and speed—was absolutely top-tier. Is that your true form?"

"The Ancient Odd Way is far beyond your imagination," Old Liu replied without much change in expression. In fact, he seemed genuinely puzzled as he asked Ye Xiu, "And I'm not trying to flatter you, but the 'you' I encountered just now wasn't defeated by me; it self-destructed. Not even a speck of bone ash was left."

"Self-destructed? Am I that incompetent? I need to resort to a suicide move just to take you down!" Ye Xiu felt a pang of annoyance, but Old Liu's steady demeanor made him question his own capabilities.

Old Liu collected himself and described, "That version of you seemed about to unleash the Death Realm Violet Flame on me. I dare say the form that flame took would shock even you. Although it was just a mimicry, that thing couldn't control such immense Violet Flame power, so it blew itself up. I must say, your potential truly makes me re-evaluate things."

Ye Xiu shook his head, feeling reasonably satisfied with his shadow's performance. "Let's stop trading compliments. This hall is nearly filled exclusively with bone jars. How are we supposed to get out?"

"I suspect the arrangement of the bone jars, while appearing orderly, is actually a labyrinth." Old Liu had already probed deep into the jar formation, and he naturally possessed insight into the maze techniques of the Mystical Gate Escapism arts. "Fortunately, my Thin-Faced Blade was obtained through Ground Mole cultivation; mazes pose no obstacle to it."

"Ground Mole? You're saying your blade is a Ground Mole!" Ye Xiu couldn't help but marvel at the Ancient Odd Way Old Liu spoke of, seeing one unbelievable thing after another.

Old Liu once more retrieved the Thin-Faced Blade from his sleeve. After muttering something under his breath, the blade actually lifted itself into the air, playfully spinning a few times, much like a pet showing affection to its master. Old Liu smiled at it, then explained to Ye Xiu, "When cultivators are in the Primordial Cultivation stage, they are forbidden from taking life or carrying deadly weapons. This Thin-Faced Blade was my pet Ground Mole back then. Only when my cultivation reached a certain level could I transform it into the weapon, the Thin-Faced Blade. In the Ancient Odd Way, every Thin-Faced Blade possesses unique attributes and advantages, which are determined by the former existence of the blade."

"So you're saying your blade can find an exit for us!" Ye Xiu interrupted him. If he had a choice, he would rather be a being of the Earth Vein Nether Realm than someone of the Death Realm.

"Go on, precious." Old Liu reached out to gently stroke the Thin-Faced Blade hovering in the sky. The blade was full of spirit; a single gesture conveyed Old Liu's meaning. It floated leisurely, beginning to search for a path through the dense jungle of bone jars.

After turning left and walking countless paths, Ye Xiu's vision was completely swallowed by jars. Outside the jar formation, one could sense being in a grand hall, but inside the formation, he realized this was no hall at all—it was a forest, where the only 'trees' were exquisitely carved bone jars.

"Alright, this should be the exit leading to the next realm," Old Liu crouched down, retrieving his Thin-Faced Blade. He pointed downward with his finger, as if he had spotted something.

"This bone jar is massive," Ye Xiu followed Old Liu's gaze down. He saw that what appeared to be a flat hall actually contained a sinkhole, like a quicksand pit, with a colossal bone jar resting precisely in the center of the pit. Correspondingly, the crimson snake carvings on this jar were fiercer and more lifelike than those on the surrounding ones.

Old Liu stood up and took two steps back, having seemingly discerned much. He spoke calmly, "This jar must be a full three people tall, and its mouth wide enough for several people to enter or exit. To require a jar of bones this large, this place must be the base of some master Bone Gatherer. I just don't know if they are righteous or wicked."