"Quickly, unleash your most devastating techniques! Its aura is growing more terrifying — it seems to be recovering its strength!" The ancient-looking elder's heart lurched at the scene before him. After sweeping his spiritual sense over the skeleton once more, he cried out in alarm.
His own figure blurred and vanished, reappearing over a hundred zhang away. Then, with one hand he slapped his own crown, and a swath of blue luminescence immediately surged forth.
Within the radiance sat a small figure wreathed in blue light, cross-legged, its features identical to the elder's.
The very instant the small figure appeared, a string of blue beads shot out from its body.
Each was no larger than a thumbnail, yet their surfaces were impossibly smooth, their color a deep, profound blue.
Under the elder's activation of his Perfected Nascent Soul secret technique, each bead flashed and transformed into a massive light sphere the size of a wagon wheel. Carrying the roar of wind and thunder, they hammered down upon the colossal skeleton.
On the other side, the black-robed woman's expression shifted several times upon hearing the elder's words. Gritting her silver teeth, she suddenly rolled toward the ground, transforming into a blood-red mist that sank directly into the phantom of the nine-headed serpent behind her.
With a thunderous boom, all nine of the serpent's heads swayed in unison. The ambient spiritual energy of the abyss surged into its body like a tidal wave, transforming its ethereal form into solid flesh in an instant.
The now-solid serpent bore scales of five brilliant hues, while its nine heads gleamed crimson as fresh blood. It opened its maw once more, and nine tendrils of purple-black impure flame — several times more refined than before — erupted forth.
Though the two had yet to see the skeleton unleash any offensive technique, the crushing, oppressive aura it radiated filled them both with a deep sense of dread. Without hesitation, they resolved to fight with everything they had.
Although the skeleton had risen to its feet, it did not seem to have fully recovered. Its movements appeared exceedingly clumsy.
Over a dozen blue light spheres flashed once, then crashed into the space around the skeleton in rapid succession with deafening booms.
Blue light blazed in all directions as explosions rang out without end!
The void around the enormous skeleton shuddered as though heaven and earth were splitting apart. Waves of energy swept outward in every direction like a cataclysmic storm surge.
These light spheres appeared unassuming, yet each carried the force of tens of millions of jin — power enough to flatten mountains and crack the earth.
The skeleton raised its two arm-like forelimbs to shield itself, but its body shuddered with each impact, forced to retreat a step with every strike.
After more than a dozen such steps, the invisible barrier before the skeleton completely collapsed. Its two forelimbs, once smooth as jade, were now riddled with damage, covered in countless hairline fractures.
Before the skeleton could take any further action, nine serpentine lines of fire swept in and coiled rapidly around it several times, transforming into chains of flame that locked the skeleton firmly in place.
These purple-black fire chains emanated an aura of unbelievable corrosive power, instantly searing deep black marks into the white-jade surface of the skeleton.
The dozen or so light spheres also continued to orbit the skeleton, smashing into it relentlessly.
Under their combined assault, the colossal skeleton seemed on the verge of being destroyed then and there.
The ancient-looking elder and the black-robed woman felt a surge of elation at the sight.
Just then, a ripple of fluctuation appeared in the air above the massive skeleton's skull, and a short, diminutive figure materialized with eerie swiftness.
The ancient-looking elder and the black-robed woman focused their gaze and blanched with shock.
The short figure was none other than the little girl conjured from the Primordial Spirit of the Moth Mother.
Hadn't she been held in check by Bao and the others? How had she appeared here?
The elder and the woman groaned inwardly. While continuing to channel their techniques to restrain the skeleton, they braced themselves with the utmost vigilance against the little girl.
The little girl's complexion had visibly paled compared to before. Upon appearing, she paid no attention to the ancient-looking elder or the woman transformed into a serpent. Instead, her gaze fixed upon the motionless skeleton below. After her eyes darted around for a moment, she suddenly began to speak in a language that was melodic and pleasing to the ear — yet utterly incomprehensible to both the elder and the woman.
The lumbering skeleton, upon hearing these words, suddenly straightened its form. A layer of white light materialized across its surface, and it withstood the bombardment of the blue light spheres with sheer brute force, ignoring the corrosive purple-black fire chains entirely. Instead, it slowly raised its head, directing its two enormous eye sockets toward the little girl in the air, and released a torrent of the same language — only its voice was impossibly deep and resonant.
The two exchanged only a few sentences. The colossal skeleton maintained its unhurried, leisurely demeanor, but the little girl's small face darkened. Her expression suddenly twisted into one of exasperation and fury, her voice becoming shrill and piercing — it seemed she had erupted into a heated argument with the skeleton.
The elder and the black-robed woman exchanged bewildered glances, utterly confounded.
Nevertheless, the two naturally seized this opportunity to drive their Magical Power into a frenzy, intensifying their assault on the skeleton.
The blue light spheres blurred, their speed surging severalfold as they circled the skeleton in a wild, meteor-like dance.
The nine purple-black fire chains trembled, and sharp spikes sprouted along their surfaces, boring deep into the skeleton's body. The rate of corrosion on its surface immediately accelerated to a speed visible to the naked eye.