Ye Chen snatched the Blood Crystal from the flesh-and-blood core, immediately feeling the entire cavernous meat-wall space heave like a tide, contracting and expanding, as if countless chunks of flesh were writhing.

"Boss, what’s happening?" Xiao Hei asked warily.

Ye Chen frowned, observing the walls around him that had suddenly begun to shift; there had been no such indication when he was collecting the Blood Crystal earlier.

"Never mind that, let's go."

Ye Chen swept his palm out, clutching Xiao Hei to his chest, and flew upward.

As soon as they returned to the flesh-and-blood passage, Ye Chen saw the surrounding meat walls trembling violently, twisting into grotesque masses, with some sections collapsing and tearing open, spilling out bright red blood.

"Could it be that too many Blood Crystals were taken? This outer shell body is losing its support without them and is about to collapse?" Xiao Hei murmured in alarm.

Ye Chen knitted his brow, then swept deeper into the flesh-and-blood passage, saying in a low voice, "Where is the last Blood Crystal?"

Xiao Hei was silent for a moment before whispering, "What if we take the last Blood Crystal, and the entire outer shell body collapses?"

"You won't die," Ye Chen glanced at him.

"Fine..." Xiao Hei sighed helplessly, raising a small paw covered in golden fluff to point ahead, "Go through there, then turn, and then straight..."

The white bone road.

A stream of emerald-green plasma jetted out from the carapace on the back of the Earth Blood Beast. Immediately following, a black figure shot up into the sky, freezing abruptly after soaring to a certain height, stretching out two gigantic black wings from its back.

The giant, blood-red eyes of the Earth Blood Beast were filled with sheer terror. Watching this black-winged demon, its body recoiled, then it abruptly threw its head back and let out a piercing shriek, spewing a vast sheet of thick, crimson fluid from its mouth towards the black-winged demon.

The black-winged demon's body flickered, easily evading the blast.

Just then, from the flesh-and-blood dome overhead, more than a dozen blood-red tentacles suddenly extended, appearing to condense from rolling streams of blood, lashing out to entwine the black-winged demon's body.

The black-winged demon flickered rapidly through the void, almost teleporting, amidst the tempest of these blood-red tentacles. It was like a single black leaf, though fluttering in the wind, yet it was not submerged by the massive crimson wave.

While evading, the black-winged demon continually closed the distance to the Earth Blood Beast. Once they were within a short range, its body flashed suddenly, diving toward the Earth Blood Beast, its entire form twisting with the power of spacetime.

The Earth Blood Beast roared, swinging its limbs to form layers of blade-like defenses, slicing towards the black-winged demon.

The black-winged demon's charge did not pause. Suddenly, mysterious runes appeared shimmering all over its body, as if branded there—writhing like strange insects—hooking into the mysterious powers of the void. In an instant, the aura radiating from it was more than ten times stronger than before.

Whoosh!

It raised both its black wings and palms simultaneously, crashing into the blade-screen formed by the Earth Blood Beast's flailing limbs, like a falling meteor.

Bang bang bang...

The Earth Blood Beast's limbs, hard as steel blades, shattered under the black-winged demon's fierce charge, breaking into massive holes as easily as tearing sheets of white paper, being pierced right through.

Boom!

The black-winged demon slammed into the Earth Blood Beast’s head like a massive boulder. The entire world seemed to shake violently, and even time and space appeared to slow down for that instant.

When everything returned to normal, the black-winged demon’s fist had driven the Earth Blood Beast’s skull crashing heavily toward the white bone road. The hard black carapace on its head fractured into chunks of black paste, leaking fetid brain matter that sprayed across its head like shards of an eggshell.

All strength seemed drained from the Earth Blood Beast; it lay limp on the ground, its massive mouth opening slightly, panting as if gasping for air.

The black-winged demon spread its wings wide, its body ascending toward the sky as if pulled by invisible ropes. Its gaze was crimson and cold as it looked down upon the massive Earth Blood Beast below, devoid of any emotion. After rising to a certain height, it suddenly plummeted down.

Swish!

As if delivering a fatal blow, a sharp, rocket-like momentum surged through its entire body.

A feeling of desolation and despair washed over the Earth Blood Beast.

At this precise moment of cosmic upheaval, a slender, pale hand forcefully threaded in from the side, grasping the momentum of the black-winged demon's dive, lightly pinching the demon's sharp black head as it plunged, halting its descent abruptly.

The black-winged demon was horrified. It sharply retracted its black wings and flew backward, looking up at the person who had suddenly appeared before it.

It was a young man in black robes. His handsome face featured two black eyebrows as sharp as daggers. His long, slender body was lightly draped in a pure black robe, and beneath his flowing black hair peeked an exquisite silver-white earring on his ear.

"Well, I didn't expect to encounter the Bone of the Great Dao here. What luck..." A smile of defiance and cynicism played across the black-robed youth’s face, carrying a hint of jest. "And this scent... it's so familiar, I think I sensed it back in the Snow Territory."

This person was naturally Di Zangchuan.

The clear, delicate face visible on the finely scaled neck of the black-winged demon, if seen by the tavern owner of Wilman Small City, would surely be recognized: it was Zero, the boy who was once a slave.

It was just that he was no longer a slave.

And he possessed peerless power now.

His consciousness seemed to have forgotten the past. Although his gaze remained clear and bright, it was now stained red with blood, like a violent demon. He slowly raised a hand, looking at Di Zangchuan before him. Pitch-black energy welled up in his palm, circulating along some trajectory, yet appearing utterly chaotic.

Di Zangchuan raised an eyebrow slightly upon seeing the energy in his hand, his smile growing wider. "Oh my, truly remarkable. It seems you possess more than one Bone of the Great Dao in your body—at least ten, I’d wager. With just this much power... if you were to completely gather the Three Thousand Bones of the Great Dao, I wonder what level of might you would attain..."

As he spoke, the black energy in Zero’s hand swept out like a laser, blasting toward Di Zangchuan.

Boom—

The column of pitch-black energy struck a layer of dark gold shield before Di Zangchuan. After a sustained moment, it was neutralized.

The dark shield then floated back, revolving around Di Zangchuan’s body.

"As expected of the Earth Shield; it actually managed to block it. I was a little worried," Di Zangchuan chuckled, then extended his hand. Layers of fine, sharp black scales rapidly appeared on his pale, slender fingers, his fingernails resembling cruel blades.

"Let me experience it..." he said with a smile.

Bang!

In the blood-red flesh-and-blood passage, a burst of black flame flared out, striking a giant, rhinoceros-like monster, causing it to rear its head and collapse. The black flames clung to its body like a persistent disease, showing no sign of extinguishing until they had completely devoured its entire form.

Ye Chen gestured, recalling Xiao Hei, who had been hiding to watch the show. Then, black flames manifested on his body, dissolving the flesh beneath his feet, and his body slowly sank down.

"This is the last Blood Crystal."

Arriving at the Blood Crystal storage space, Ye Chen looked at the crystal-clear Blood Crystal formed on the blood-red flesh-core. With a gesture, he ripped it off, stored it in his own dimension, and then quickly departed.

"Boss, where are we going now?" Xiao Hei asked, watching the rapidly collapsing flesh-and-blood passage, gathering his courage. "Should we go outside to absorb them?"

"Mm." Ye Chen surprisingly agreed.

"Huh?" Xiao Hei was slightly bewildered.

Ye Chen’s body shot straight upward through the flesh, the black flames covering him causing the blood-red walls to collapse automatically, unable to resist.

In a short time, Ye Chen's body burst out of the Earth Blood Beast's shell like a black rocket, appearing in the open air.

Looking down, the earth below had completely become the external body of the Earth Blood Beast—everywhere were tangled black tentacles and fissures like crimson magma. Coupled with the thin clouds and the dim sky, it looked as if the world was facing the apocalypse.

The world truly was ending.

Ye Chen shook his head. Turning, he spotted the spaceship anchored in the distance. He frowned, and a bold idea suddenly struck him. He flashed, instantly arriving before the vessel.

When he was still ten kilometers from the ship, he heard the voice of the ship's defensive intelligent system in his mind: "Unknown organism, do not approach, or the defensive system will be activated."

Ye Chen knitted his brows. A tyrannical light flickered in his eyes. He suddenly grabbed out with his palm, tearing a massive black hole in the sky itself. His [Inner World] opened, emitting a violent pulling force that dragged the spaceship inward.

Although the spaceship was fixed in this void and unable to move, Ye Chen used his [Inner World] to completely envelop it, severing all contact with the outside world.

"I'll hold onto this for you temporarily." After securing the spaceship, Ye Chen glanced down at the Earth Blood Beast, a cold sneer curving his lips. He then flashed away, rocketing into the distant void. After putting a safe distance between himself and the Earth Blood Beast, he casually constructed a spatial interlayer, flew inside, and sealed the spatial rift.

This was a silver-white space. Everything visible was light flowing like mercury. If an ordinary deity were inside, they would immediately be swept into a space storm by the constant pulling force emanating from this space, torn into fragments.

Even a soul, that form of energy, would be shredded within the space storm.

Ye Chen's body sat cross-legged in the void like a massive mountain. He flipped his palm and took out one of the nine Blood Crystals from his [Inner World].

The gorgeous, blood-red glow illuminated his face and pupils like an intoxicating blush. (To be continued)