Chapter 241 - 25: Jingzhe Saber, White Bone Transformation

Chapter 241: Chapter 25: Jingzhe Saber, White Bone Transformation

The entirety of Qingzhou Prefecture City was enveloped in a great net woven by both the authorities and the Sects, orderly and heavily guarded.

Yet, in the shadows of this great net, a figure was silently weaving through at extreme speed.

Chen Ye, long saber in hand, moved swiftly in Stealth through the shadows of the alleys, flitting across the staggered rooftops with a lightness that seemed to defy gravity.

Chen Ye was in a peculiar state.

He couldn’t feel the existence of his own body, relying purely on Visualizing Sun and Moon to preserve a spark of Spiritual Energy in his Sea of Consciousness.

At the same time, however, his Heart Spirit was clear and lucid, free of distracting thoughts. He kept his Asura’s Eye active, using it to scout ahead and preemptively avoid the patrols from Celestial Sword Manor and Qingzhou Prefecture City.

And so, he headed west.

He passed through the bustling commercial district and crossed the quiet residential area. The surrounding buildings grew progressively sparser and more dilapidated.

A stench of poverty and decay began to fill the air.

This had to be the outskirts of Qingzhou Prefecture City, a place where commoners and some struggling, low-level Loose Cultivators gathered.

And the gray threads of Magic finally converged into a single bundle, disappearing into a lone courtyard not far ahead.

The courtyard looked long abandoned. Its grounds were overgrown with weeds, steeped in a dead silence.

Without hesitation, Chen Ye vaulted over the wall and entered.

Meanwhile, in a secret chamber, Li Gu sat cross-legged, his brow gradually furrowing.

Something was wrong.

’Something is very wrong.’

Too much time had passed.

Based on his experience, once the Bone Transformation Curse was activated, it would take at most the time of one incense stick to reduce a Cultivator below the Sea Condensation Realm to withered bones, obliterating even their Divine Spirit.

But now, almost half an hour had gone by.

He could still feel the connection to his Magic, which meant the Magic was still active—and the target was not yet dead.

’But how is that possible?’

A sliver of unease sprouted in Li Gu’s heart.

’He’s just a nameless nobody from a backwater place like Yu Huo County. So what if he had some fortuitous encounter that made his Power of the Divine Soul a bit stronger than average? He survived last night’s Name-Calling Soul Summoning, sure, but how could he possibly withstand this Bone Transformation Curse?’

Li Gu couldn’t make sense of it.

And this feeling of losing control made him extremely uncomfortable.

’No, I can’t stay here any longer.’

Though Li Gu was proficient in all sorts of bizarre, remote-killing Magic, this specialty had come at a great cost.

His physical body, corroded by years of exposure to malevolent energy, had become exceptionally frail—hardly any stronger than a common person’s.

Therefore, what he feared most was close-quarters combat.

Li Gu’s favorite tactic was to hide in a dark corner and deliver a silent, fatal blow. He never showed his face unless it was absolutely necessary.

The moment he sensed something was amiss, he would abandon everything without hesitation and flee.

At this thought, Li Gu made a snap decision. He sprang up from the ground, not even bothering to collect the priceless Casting materials on the Array, and turned to flee this place that now filled him with dread.

He already had a plan: first, escape Qingzhou Prefecture City, then find a place to hide.

As for that brat named Chen Ye... there would be plenty of opportunities to deal with him later.

However, just as he turned and his hand touched the heavy stone door of the secret chamber...

BOOM!!!

A deafening roar, like a thunderclap on a clear day.

The stone door shattered into pieces, and Chen Ye charged in.

Upon seeing Chen Ye, Li Gu’s pupils contracted sharply. He clearly had no idea how he had been found.

At the same moment, Chen Ye took in the scene inside the secret chamber and knew he was in the right place. He couldn’t be bothered to waste words on Li Gu. With a forceful stomp, he crossed several meters in an instant, his Jingzhe Saber carving a cold arc straight for his enemy’s neck!

The strike was fast, precise, and ruthless!

Before the blade even arrived, the razor-sharp Sword Intent, honed to its absolute limit, was already making Li Gu’s skin sting with pain.

At the brink of life and death, Li Gu could no longer think of escaping. He pulled a small, palm-sized shield made of countless wailing skulls from his robes, threw it forward, and it instantly transformed into a Bone Shield in front of him.

At the same time, he rapidly chanted a Spell, attempting to cast another Magic to defend himself.

But Chen Ye’s speed was simply too great!

In close-quarters combat, an Alchemist who needed to chant spells facing off against a top-tier Swordsman could only have one fate.

CLANG!

A sharp crack rang out.

The Bone Shield, which had seemed incredibly sturdy, was like paper-mache before the edge of the Jingzhe Saber. It was effortlessly cleaved down the middle and split in two.

"PTUI!"

His Magic broken, Li Gu staggered as if struck by a heavy blow. He spat out a mouthful of black blood, his face turning as pale as gold leaf.

But Chen Ye didn’t pause for a second, raising his saber to strike again.

Terrified out of his wits, Li Gu forgot all about his dignity as an Elder and opened his mouth to beg for mercy.

But Chen Ye gave him no such chance. With a flick of his wrist, he brought the Jingzhe Saber down in a fluid chop, unleashing an even more brilliant flash of light.

The terrified expression on Li Gu’s face froze solid.

A thin line of blood appeared, starting from the center of his brow. It rapidly extended downward, across the bridge of his nose, his lips, his chin, his neck... all the way to his lower abdomen.

The next instant, with a wet THUD, Li Gu’s body, as if cleaved by an invisible Giant Axe, split neatly into two halves and toppled to either side.

With Li Gu’s death, the gray threads wrapped around Chen Ye’s body seemed to lose their source. They instantly disintegrated, turning into specks of black ash that scattered into the air.

Then, the illusion of White Bones before Chen Ye’s eyes melted away like ice and snow under the sun.

Flesh regrew, his heartbeat returned, and warm blood began to course through his veins.

In the space of just one or two breaths, Chen Ye felt himself transform from a body of White Bones back into a being of flesh and blood.