The skeleton frame showed the two, Ye Xiu and Old Liu, the way up. Suddenly, it bent over, and the bones in its chest fell to the ground, followed by its entire skeleton melting into the mountainside.

Old Liu kept his head down, staring at the spot, and nodded with a laugh, "This little skeleton is quite conscientious; not only did it show us the way, but it even healed us. Most importantly, it didn't hurt us."

"The thing that wants to eliminate us two intruders is up there," Ye Xiu pointed toward the peak. The mist on the mountain had completely dissipated, revealing a majestic and ancient castle atop the summit. The castle was clearly constructed from piled bones. Its structure was remarkably simple: tall outer walls encircling irregularly aligned buildings, with only the highest spire adorned with strings of skulls.

Old Liu led the way to the summit. There was no surrounding gate, allowing them free entry and exit. "What did that little skeleton say about a 'Withered Bone Horse'? What do you think that thing is?"

Ye Xiu walked to the wall and touched it; some powder flaked off. Clearly, this structure was also made of bone. "To reach the next profound secret, we must pass through some kind of gate. Find that gate, and I estimate the Withered Bone Horse will appear. By then, you won't be looking for it; it will be looking for you."

Old Liu nodded and entered the castle courtyard. Looking around, he saw tombstones randomly erected on the flat ground within the walls. Some mounds of earth were exposed, and several skeletons lay sprawled atop the grave slopes, shivering slightly in the chilling wind. "Scary... Who said this was a castle? This is nothing but a mass grave for building materials."

"It might just be where the Bone Gatherers collect bones," Ye Xiu said, walking slowly into the burial area, aware of some things about the Bone Gatherers. Suddenly, a sharp blade flew past, and he swung his Tian Miao Sword to block it. "Watch out, company's coming."

Old Liu also heard the direction the blade came from. He and Ye Xiu stood back-to-back, looking around. Fresh earth was pushing up from the surrounding graves, indicating some things were stirring. "It probably isn't the Withered Bone Horse, is it?"

"It's always connected to bones," Ye Xiu had already seen a bony hand reaching out of the ground. He summoned his Black Flame and blasted the bone into pieces. "Hurry up and figure out how to control these bones. I don't want to be worked to death by these guys."

"Ah!" Old Liu's Thin Face Blade shot out, shattering the bones along its path. A skull also burst from the earth beneath his feet, and from the way its jaw nervously rattled, it resembled the guardian from before. "What method do I have? You saw the Giant Bone Fish before—it fears neither fire nor ice. We can only kill!"

"Kill? Can we kill them all?" As the words left his mouth, Ye Xiu's Tian Miao Sword glowed crimson again, sending several streaks of sword light weaving through the crawling skeletons, sending them scrambling head over heels. "Aren't Taoists the natural enemies of these things? Do you have any talismans or anything in that pouch? Immobilize them."

"What nonsense, I don't know any spells." Old Liu weaved through the swarm of skeletons. The white bones had now encircled the interior of the castle, and the creatures charged fearlessly at Ye Xiu and Old Liu. They knew nothing of pain or fatigue; they had only one objective: kill the intruders.

Ye Xiu fought with growing ferocity. His movements with Tian Miao were fluid, but as a Death God, he possessed only brute force, no true swordsmanship. In truth, whether using the Death Scythe or the Tian Miao Sword, he only had one action: charge forward and hack wildly. If it weren't for the inherent killing intent radiating from the Tian Miao Sword's red light, he might not even handle it well. "What do we do? We'll be worked to death like this."

"Fine, fine, fine, rest for a moment!" Old Liu stood still, retracted his Demon-Breaking Sword, and pulled out all the five-pointed ice crystals from his pouch. He scattered them all at once, instantly freezing the entire area into ice.

Some skeletons refused to give up, struggling fiercely upward, but they were tightly locked beneath the ice layer. The harder they struggled, the more their skeletal parts fell to the ground.

Witnessing the power of Old Liu's ice crystals, Ye Xiu bent down to rest. "How long will this last? Maybe we should go find that Withered Bone Horse first?"

Old Liu was still uneasy, observing the thickness of the ice. He raised his Demon-Breaking Sword, and an ice dragon rode the wind upward. When it leaped down and struck the ground, the ice layer, which had only covered the surface, now reached ankle-deep. He sighed and smiled, "This should hold them off for a while now. But these skeletons won't stop moving. Even if they can't break through the ice now, once the sun comes out and it melts, we're finished. Hurry up."

Ye Xiu paid no mind to Old Liu's chatter. He was already standing before a stone door. He kicked the door open but was stunned by the world inside. It wasn't a traditional building; within the structure was a massive, circular Colosseum, its scale no smaller than the Roman Colosseum. Most magnificent were the audience stands, packed with cheering, white skeletons! "Old... Old Liu..."

"We couldn't have found the Withered Bone Horse this easily, could we?" Old Liu followed behind. A sudden wave of cheers washed over them, startling Old Liu so much he leaned against the doorframe, dizzy. "What is this? A Colosseum! And... and an audience..."

Ye Xiu moved cautiously, stepping forward. He touched the stone railing and looked down. The Colosseum was somewhat ruined. The skeletons in the stands constantly waved their arms and clacked their jaws, as if enjoying some competition. In the center of the circular arena, two iron doors stood solid. "These guys aren't welcoming us down for a duel, are they?"

Old Liu cautiously focused on the nearest skeleton. The creature turned and nodded at him, sending a chill that unsettled his mind. "We're dead, we're dead. They really want us to go down..."

"Clatter-clatter-clatter!" At that moment, the cheering stopped, and all the white skeletons stood up. From their wide-open mouths, it was clear they were somewhat angry.

Ye Xiu found the situation increasingly absurd, but he wanted no further entanglement with skeletons. He grabbed Old Liu, and together they leaped down into the center of the field. "Forget all that; there are two doors over there. Maybe one leads to the next profound secret."

"Clack-clack-kaka!" Seeing the two move, the skeletons relaxed and settled back into their seats. They clapped with their bones, creating a deafening sound, their enthusiasm no less than spectators watching a Gladiator match in ancient Rome.

Ye Xiu and Old Liu stood in the center of the arena, feeling the deafening shouts from all around. At this moment, they were heroes, yet also puppets. The dignified Death God and the successor of the Ancient Dao had been reduced to toys for a crowd of skeletons. "Are they expecting us to fight each other?"

Old Liu shook his head, disagreeing. "It can't be that cruel. Didn't that little skeleton tell us we were looking for the Withered Bone Horse?"

"Clack-dong!" At that moment, one of the large doors in the center of the arena slowly opened, and a pure white carriage emerged. The horse was a mere skeleton, toweringly tall—when it raised its front hoof, it reached as high as three Ye Xius. Behind it trailed a monochrome carriage, seemingly also made of bone. However, the bone-supported carriage lacked doors. Looking closely, a human silhouette could be discerned through the window—was there someone inside?

"Kaka-kaka-shua-shua..." The moment the carriage appeared, the entire arena erupted. Some skeletons in the stands stood up, waving banners and shouting, while others wildly swung their arms until they flew into the center of the field.

Ye Xiu slid forward, positioning himself directly in front of the Withered Bone Horse. The horse was entirely snow-white; deep sockets where its eyes should be burned with purple flames. It had no fur, and its mouth was tightly shut. "This thing comes out to fight us, and it brought along a burden."

"So that little skeleton lied to us," Old Liu's attention was fixed on the carriage behind the Withered Bone Horse. The figure-like thing inside stood motionless. "In my opinion, the master of this Withered Bone Horse is our real opponent."

"Hiss... hiss..." The Withered Bone Horse clearly disliked being gawked at. It shook its head agitatedly, spitting out clouds of dust. Suddenly, it accelerated and began running around the perimeter of the Colosseum.

Ye Xiu's eyes never left the Withered Bone Horse. He adjusted his stance as the horse circled, but the creature ran faster and faster, so quickly that Ye Xiu had to spin his body just to keep up. "This Withered Bone Horse is pulling a carriage and running this fast. We need to be careful."

"Dong-dong-dong..." At that moment, a sound like cannon fire erupted from the carriage. Several flying spikes shot out from the vehicle. They radiated outward along the path the Withered Bone Horse was running, targeting the two figures in the center of the field.

From a distance, Old Liu thought the spikes were moderately sized, but when one forcibly embedded itself in the ground, it made the earth tremble and heave. He was caught off guard and knocked over. That wasn't the worst of it, as another spike was already descending toward his head. "Damn it!"

"Ah..." Ye Xiu rolled and stumbled past the spike aimed at him. He brought his sword across, striking the descending spike flatly with the blade. With a great roar, he put all his strength into it. The spike was struck back like a baseball into the stands, crushing a row of skeletons. "Phew... That's a real test of strength."

"Swish-swish-swish!" Three more heavy impacts followed. The Withered Bone Horse continued its relentless run around the center of the arena. This time, it wasn't just spikes shooting skyward; several long thorns also thrust out from the flat ground—these originating from bone-like protrusions on the horse's body, similar to those on a jade bridge.

"You handle the ones below." Ye Xiu looked up, focusing on the spike rocketing into the air. He summoned his Black Flame and struck it, but the spike was too large; the Black Flame only managed to alter its trajectory without making much difference. In his fury, he leaped into the air, using his brute strength to control the Tian Miao Sword and knock the spike down into the stands.

Meanwhile, Old Liu was being severely harassed by the long thorns shooting up from the platform. Although the thorns targeted the two in the center, when he leaped to dodge, they shot toward the opposite stands. Unlike the spikes, these thorns didn't smash the skeletons; instead, they seemed elastic. Upon hitting the opposite stands, they zipped back at an even faster speed.

As soon as Ye Xiu landed, he saw a long thorn graze past his cheek. He sucked in a sharp breath and cursed, "What did you do? I told you to watch the lower part!"

"How about we switch? You try handling these thorns," Old Liu retorted indignantly. Preparing for the Withered Bone Horse's next attack, he had already ascended into the air, sword in hand, waiting. Who knew that at this moment, the Withered Bone Horse and its carriage vanished from the Colosseum.