Gu Xichen did not move. He didn't even spare a glance for the Skeleton God Lord. His fire-breathing eyes were locked onto Gu Juechen. Gu Xichen struck toward the Skeleton God Lord's lower abdomen with his left hand, while his right hand directly met the God Lord's hand, which shimmered with gray lightning. With the sound of a chime, the Cloud Mist Bell erupted from Gu Xichen's right palm. Vast sheets of white mist rapidly dispersed, and hundreds of dense layers of cloud essence swept across the path of the Skeleton God Lord's right hand. The thick white fog completely enveloped the sphere of Yin Thunder.

With a faint crackle of thunder, the Yin Thunder shook a large expanse of the cloud mist, scattering it into countless wisps, but more white mist surged upward, tightly binding the exploding gray thunder-fire.

"Eh?" the Skeleton God Lord cried out in surprise. Disbelieving, he struck down again. This time, the Yin Thunder condensed in his palm was at least ten times more powerful than his previous strike.

Amidst a dull thud, Gu Xichen's left palm landed squarely on the Skeleton God Lord's lower abdomen. The Ruyi Gauntlet radiated a faint, dim glow. The Daoist robe around the God Lord's midsection disintegrated into dust, revealing large patches of ashen-white skin and bone. The heavy impact even made the Skeleton God Lord unsteady, causing him to stagger back several paces.

A distinct palm print was imprinted on the Skeleton God Lord's abdomen, sinking a full three li deep into his flesh and bone. The edges of the mark were smooth and precise, as if sliced through tofu with a sharp knife. Staggering backward, the Skeleton God Lord stared in astonishment at Gu Xichen, who was rapidly retreating while clutching his left hand. The two green ghost fires in his eyes blazed intensely.

"Heh heh, interesting! What strange power do you have in your hand that can actually injure this God Lord's physical body! Heh heh, even the Heavenly Tribulation's lightning is of little use against me. There is something peculiar about your palm!"

Gu Xichen merely staggered backward, continuously using his mental will to command the Cloud Mist Bell to emit massive amounts of white fog, enveloping himself and his subordinates. That last strike had caused the Skeleton God Lord minor injury, but nothing more. With Gu Xichen's current cultivation, he could not unleash the Ruyi Gauntlet's full power; this strike had only damaged the God Lord's skin and muscle tissue. Conversely, a dominant, incomparably sinister, and esoteric evil energy rebounded from within the Skeleton God Lord, jarring Gu Xichen's left wrist out of its socket.

Glancing fiercely at the ecstatic Gu Juechen, Gu Xichen sneered, "Senior is an otherworldly master; why bother meddling in mortal affairs?" A low ghost howl surged from the Skeleton God Lord's abdomen. While the waves of wails still echoed, the palm print on his stomach rapidly swelled, healing completely in the blink of an eye. A ghostly green flame scorched around the Skeleton God Lord's body, and the shattered Daoist robe was restored perfectly. The Skeleton God Lord chuckled sinisterly, "Jie jie, it originally was none of my concern, but who told your master, that old walking corpse, to snatch my benefits? The Void Breaking Pill! The Void Breaking Pill!" The Skeleton God Lord shrieked, "My cultivation is equal to that old bastard Corpse Emperor, my seniority is equal, and my status among the heretical sects of the Yaksha Dao Alliance is equal. Why must the very first Void Breaking Pill go to him? Hmm? Am I inferior to that old fool, the Corpse Emperor?" After letting out several strange laughs, the Skeleton God Lord roared in resentment, "It is said that the Nine Nether Dao won the prize this time, and you, little brat, made a great contribution. Heh heh, my disciples from Evil Bone Cave were all overshadowed by you. This God Lord is not convinced, and I must see what benefits you little brats actually gained!" The ghost fires in his eyes intensified, and the Skeleton God Lord grinned ferociously, "Coincidentally, my disciple is very adept at pleasing this God Lord, and he presented me with two cauldrons of the Nine Yin Vein lineage, perfectly assisting my Nine Yin Sky-Covering Divine Art to reach Great Accomplishment. Heh heh, how could I not fight for my good disciple's honor?" Two cauldrons of the Nine Yin Vein lineage? Gu Xichen looked at Gu Juechen, furious.

Gu Juechen smiled faintly. He cupped his hands toward the Skeleton God Lord, "Master, please deliver justice for your disciple. This Gu Xichen is an illegitimate son; the Gu Corporation should rightfully be inherited entirely by this disciple. What has he, Gu Xichen, got to do with it? It is only because Gu Xichen relies on his backing that he brazenly tries to seize my foundation. I would rather offer thirty percent of the Gu Corporation's shares to Master as pocket money than let him snatch it away cheaply!" Gu Juechen's eyes were bloodshot. He pointed at Gu Juechen in rage and shouted, "Gu Juechen, you're giving away the centuries-old foundation of the Gu family just like that?" The Skeleton God Lord patted Gu Juechen's shoulder with great approval, laughing loudly, "Your filial piety is known to your Master! Rest assured, the wealth belonging to the members of our sect will not be stolen by outsiders." Thirty percent of the Gu Corporation’s shares were worth trillions in Federation Currency. How many top-tier battleships could that buy? Although the Evil Bone Cave was a path of evil, most of its disciples were normal humans. As long as they were human, they had descendants, and which elder wouldn't wish their descendants to live in luxury, adorned with gold and silver? Which elder would want their descendants begging on the streets with broken bowls? Therefore, these thirty percent shares held immense allure for the Skeleton God Lord!

Not to mention those two supreme cauldrons. The Nine Yin Sky-Covering Divine Art was the Skeleton God Lord's fundamental, life-securing great power and supreme ability. Whether this spell achieved completion was the difference between a small-caliber rifle and a large-caliber mortar! Once Great Accomplishment was reached, the rest would merely be the slow grinding work of accumulating magical power over time, eventually leading to boundless might and wondrous abilities.

From this perspective, the Skeleton God Lord owed Gu Xichen a massive favor. Gu Xichen roared in anger, streaks of purple light flashing around him. Xin Jia, Zhao Yi, and others stepped forward resolutely.

The Skeleton God Lord startled upon seeing Xin Jia, then let out a strange laugh, "A World Puppet of the brat turns out to be a Yellow Turban Strongman? Oh my, you bring a World Puppet disguised as a Yellow Turban Strongman to frighten this God Lord? Heh heh, who doesn't know that since the severance between Heaven and Man millennia ago, the Yellow Turban Strongmen of the Heavenly Court haven't shown themselves in ages!" Hearing this, Xin Jia was furious. He pointed his halberd at the Skeleton God Lord and cursed angrily, "Monster, how dare you show disrespect to the Venerable One? Brothers, form the Sky-Netted Earth-Trap Array and subdue the demons!" The Skeleton God Lord laughed so hard he nearly choked. If air were not a negligible thing to him, he would have become the first Grandmaster-level expert in the Asian Dao Alliance to die laughing.

He pointed at Xin Jia and chuckled strangely, "The Sky-Netted Earth-Trap Array? Oh my, that is the Heavenly Court's premier battle array, used against this God Lord? This God Lord feels truly honored!" Xin Jia’s face turned ashen with rage. At his command, every ten subordinates formed a tiny square formation, and ten small formations combined into one large one. One hundred subordinates trod on purple clouds, ascending into the sky. Each small formation secretly arranged the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Under Zhao Yi's direction, the ten small formations occupied the positions of the Five Phases. As Zhao Yi and the others chanted incantations, the Five Element vital energy near Manhattan Island rolled in. Due to the proximity to the sea, the most dense element surging forth was Water essence. A vast, milky-white expanse of Water essence filled the high altitude, gradually gathering over the roof of the Gu Corporation building into a silver ocean spanning a dozen li wide. Great waves churned ceaselessly in the sky, and massive whirlpools spun with a howling sound overhead. Within the swirls and crests, countless golden blades and flying swords could be vaguely seen darting back and forth. Large boulders flew and collided, and immense green wooden stakes wrapped in thunder-fire danced and rotated amidst the surging waves. Furthermore, faint sparks of dim fire erupted where the waves crashed into one another.

The Skeleton God Lord's expression changed. He stared blankly up at the formation above, frowning, "Judging by the momentum and scale of this array... it is rather..." After a moment of hesitation, the Skeleton God Lord sneered, "Never mind. Since it has been made, I cannot retract it, or where would my reputation stand? Heh heh, a bunch of shameless old fools, abandoning all pretense to curry favor with these younger generations—this old Rotten Bone would never do such a thing. The Three Witches Sect's three Grand Witches are also utterly disgraced; their own Elder was slain, yet they still have to flatter the Corpse Emperor... Bah! Aren't they just a few ancient relics?" The ghost fires in his eyes burned brighter, and the Skeleton God Lord laughed maniacally, "So this is the Sky-Netted Earth-Trap Array? Nothing more. Watch this God Lord break the formation!" He pointed a finger, and a stream of ghost fire shot out with a strange screech, from which erupted a bizarre, two-meter-long white bone sword. The Skeleton God Lord seized the bone sword and casually pointed it at the void in eight surrounding directions. The surrounding space instantly collapsed, and eight monstrously strange skeletal demons, howling fiercely, burst forth from the ruptured voids. These demons were composed entirely of gleaming white bone, devoid of any flesh or muscle. Their bodies resembled lions, their limbs and five claws unmatched in sharpness, but their heads were human-shaped, save for a single horn nearly ten feet long protruding from the crown.

Ghost fire coiled around the bones of the demons, and green miasma billowed upward. The eight monstrous gods opened their mouths and roared fiercely. The surrounding innate warriors of Hardpay Corporation and the family warriors of the Gu Corporation instantly collapsed upon hearing the sound, white vapor drifting from their seven orifices—their very souls and spirits had been shaken loose by the single wild roar. All the unconscious people retained a slight warmth in their chests, but their limbs and every part of their bodies were cold as ice, virtually indistinguishable from the dead.

Gu Xichen screamed, "The magic is potent! Take everyone and leave!" He pointed at Banruo and Mo He, ordering, "Take all the brothers and leave this place!"

Banruo and Mo He exchanged a look. Banruo clasped his hands before his chest and chanted loudly:

"Namo Amitabha Buddha!" Following the sound of the Buddha's name, heavy as a great bronze bell, the two brothers did not retreat. Instead, they took three steps forward and stood beside Gu Xichen.

Banruo said calmly, "Subduing demons is the duty of my brothers!" Mo He bounced excitedly, laughing wildly, "Duty my ass! I take an immediate dislike to these piles of bones! Screw them! Running away and abandoning brothers—I won't do that kind of thing!" A Grandmaster-level expert...