Upon seeing the skeleton and the plant, Aotian immediately understood why the mission levels varied in such a strange way.
The Silent Cadaver Orchid was not a simple herb, but rather a terrible and dangerous one. If herbs were divided between righteous and demonic, it would certainly be firmly placed in the latter.
Fortunately, if the cultivator was cautious enough and did not interact with or approach it, there would be no risk at all. That was why the mission for the 10 avatars was only very dangerous, and not fatal. Despite the high risk posed by the plant's presence, if they maneuvered without interacting with it—as they would, since Aotian knew the plant—the cave could be explored safely.
But if the 10 were to attempt to pick the orchid, their fate would only be one: death.
As for Bao Wuji, it was different. The mission likely predicted that he would 100% interact with the herb during the exploration, and therefore it was classified as slightly dangerous.
Knowing this, Aotian wasted no time.
Bao Wuji's body flashed throughout the cave and, a few minutes later, all the herbs atop the skeletons of the hornless dragons had disappeared. Even some of the best and strongest skeletons had vanished directly.
'Strong bones produce good artifacts,' Aotian pondered with a smile, which did not last long. '... although it's kind of strange to steal bones, even if they are beasts. After all, those animals were likely sapient when alive.'
His heart grew a bit uncomfortable at the thought, but he swallowed it bitterly.
'Well… to be fair, if I die, I give my permission for others to take my bones and make artifacts from them,' he promised, quickly shrugging off the strange thought and refocusing on the task at hand.
After finishing collecting everything, the only thing left behind was the orchid atop the monstrous skull of the flood dragon, along with the water of the lake, which he had not yet touched, since it would likely disturb the orchid.
He then paused for a few moments, floating above the crimson and golden lake, a hundred meters from the skeleton, staring at it while waiting for the avatars to gather with Lei Yun and Mu Luyin within the protection of the formation on the floating rock, since what came next could be a bit violent.
Looking at the dragon skeleton so massive that Bao Wuji could casually enter the nostril hole for a stroll without even needing to duck, Aotian's heart filled with excitement.
He couldn't help but find it beautiful and majestic.
'As a boy, who doesn't like dinosaur skeletons? And this is a dragon skeleton, far more awe-inspiring.' His eyes gleamed with admiration.
While thinking, he also reviewed the herbs they had collected. Though expected, he couldn't help but feel disappointed at not finding any herb that improved roots within the cave.
At that moment, the avatars gathered with the couple, and Aotian forced himself to set aside his disappointment, controlling Bao Wuji to move.
Flying down and landing upon the Dew of the Dragon's Lament, Ancestor Bao felt nothing more than a small tingling on his foot.
His storage space ability was activated and, with his realm now at the 1st level of Void Refinement, the space reached a terrifying 100,000 cubic meters.
The liquid began to be absorbed at high speed, rising like a vortex to Bao Wuji's feet before vanishing into nothingness.
Even with the constant absorption, the water level didn't seem to drop, and soon 80% of the storage space was filled, yet it remained unchanged.
'Even 80 million liters of liquid didn't reduce the lake by a single centimeter. But it makes sense… even on Earth, most slightly larger lakes wouldn't be affected much by such a withdrawal. How much more in this dragon's den… still, this is blood mixed with something, not ordinary water… how many dragons really died here? Millions? Billions? What a massacre…'
He reflected with a serious look, and an inevitable dread arose in his heart. It was as if he could hear the echoes of deaths and the desperate roars of millions of creatures submerged beneath the blood.
As he felt a chill in his heart, Bao Wuji halted the flow of liquid, after all, he did not want his storage space to be completely filled. With his stop, in just a few instants the void of dew that had been drawn beneath his feet was refilled as if nothing had happened.
Lifting his head and pulling his gaze away from the blood lake, his attention turned back to the flood dragon. But to his terror, the dragon's head seemed to have shifted slightly to look directly at him.
Aotian knew it wasn't an illusion, and he grew serious, for he was probably already a target.
Suddenly, Bao Wuji turned into a ray of light and shot at full speed toward the dragon.
His hand extended, aiming for the orchid on top.
The skeletal dragon, motionless until then, suddenly opened its jaws at high speed and tried to bite the approaching Bao Wuji.
CHOMP!
The loud snap of teeth closing echoed throughout the cave.
But Ancestor Bao had already braked and swerved to the side, immediately flying upward toward the herb that emanated strong Void-Tier fluctuations.
That was when, from the lake, something surged even faster and collided with Bao Wuji, forcing him to create a shield.
The thing, which revealed itself to be a bony tail, struck his shield and flung him away.
Bao Wuji quickly adjusted himself midair and faced the adversary.
The bone beast, cold and silent, began raising its body from the blood lake, lifting several gallons of crimson liquid that slid down its bones.
Its head shot upward, and from the lake a serpentine body emerged without end, coiling in the air behind the skull.
Soon, with the tip of its tail revealed, a colossal oriental skeletal dragon, thousands of meters long, loomed menacingly before the tiny Bao Wuji, dripping blood, veined with purple streaks.
But Aotian felt no fear, only excitement. To fight such a beast was incredible, and he was confident.
The dragon's bones, controlled by the Silent Cadaver Orchid, emanated energy fluctuations of the third level of Void Refinement. For Ancestor Bao, two levels below, it was a monstrous difference, for in such a lofty realm each level represented an abyss difficult to cross.
However, since only the skeleton remained, its power was greatly reduced. Without a dantian or spiritual roots, the plant could not launch attacks other than physical ones.
Bao Wuji would not be in danger if he was attentive, even more so with the vast combat experience of a Mahayana he had received from feedback, together with his own training in the Soul Challenge.
It would have been even easier if not for the fact that he could not use Lei Yun's techniques, since all of them were oriented toward the thunder element, something Aotian could not yet simulate. There were also some from other elements he had read but never trained, which Bao Wuji would be made to train later, but for now they were unusable.
Back to the dragon that hovered menacingly, it was revealed that it had only two forelimbs, with four claws each. This was common for a Flood Dragon.
The beast did not remain still and finally moved.
Flying, it opened its colossal mouth full of fangs as if it were accumulating something, raised its head majestically and then…
"..."
Silence.
Aotian's mouth twitched.
What should have been a majestic dragon roar produced no sound at all.
Any body possessed by the Silent Cadaver Orchid could be controlled by it, but, perhaps because it was a plant, no sound could be emitted by the controlled corpses—or maybe for some other reason Aotian did not know for sure.
Still, the plant used the techniques and abilities imprinted in the bones and flesh of the host to fight against anyone who approached, unconsciously, without full awareness of what it was doing.
That was why it tried to roar, even without the ability, since such behavior was engraved in the dragon's bones and in the way it fought in life.
After the soundless roar, it did not seem to notice anything wrong, and continued the battle. Its serpentine body swayed in the air, accelerating toward Bao Wuji with ferocity and a speed that should not exist in such a colossal creature.
Its jaw opened again as it flew, this time trying to swallow him, but Bao Wuji dodged swiftly and, alert, also evaded the tail that lashed forward at even greater speed.
The skeleton's body twisted in the air, coiling around him in an attempt to entrap, but it was easy to escape, considering they were only bones—and they could be passed through, of course, only by someone of equivalent cultivation.
While avoiding a constriction, a sharp bony claw suddenly appeared, trying to tear him apart. He dodged once more and, with his hand wrapped in silver light, unleashed a powerful metal-element punch against the beast's ribs, throwing it slightly to the side, but without damaging a single bone.
Beasts had the disadvantage of size, but their endurance and strength were beyond words.
'Common synthesized Nascent-Tier techniques don't seem to work, I guess I'll have to use that…' Aotian thought at high speed, while staying alert not to slip up in combat.
Dodging again from a tail coming from a blind spot and the colossal jaws' bite, Ancestor Bao shot upward, then backward, retreating as he gathered energy into his hands, his fingers forming the shape of claws.
The fire element emerged, transforming into a rotating ring. Soon, the water element joined in; both repelled each other, increasing the rotation as they were confined in the same space.
Next came earth, metal, and wood, further intensifying the speed of rotation, until at one point the colors fused due to the speed, turning into a brilliant white.
When this happened, the skeletal dragon was already only five meters away from Bao Wuji, but he did not seem worried.
"Don't worry, I won't ruin your bones, such a thing would be a loss of money." The old man chuckled softly and gently cast the white elemental ring, which was little more than a span in length.
As soon as it left his hand, the ring seemed to lose its confinement. The highly concentrated energy expanded, becoming a massive white circle that surged toward the dragon.
Being so close, the dragon had no time to dodge. The ring struck its snout, dissolving the purple roots as if they were nothing, leaving behind only the white, gleaming skeleton.
Bao Wuji kept his hands extended, teeth clenched as he struggled to control the wild energy, so as not to damage either the skeleton or the plant atop the skull.
Slowly, the ring passed from head to tail, removing all the purple roots, before dropping into the sea of blood and sinking, leaving a huge hole behind, which was soon refilled.
And then…
BOOOOMMMMM!
The muffled sound of an explosion echoed, making not only the cave but the entire mountain tremble.
Dew of the Dragon's Lament and several pieces of bone flew into the air as if a bomb had gone off, turning the once-calm lake into a raging sea.
Bao Wuji paid no attention to this. Like lightning, he stepped onto the skull of the skeleton, which still lunged forward by inertia, and found the orchid trying to stretch out new roots to regain control. But that was not something that could happen in just a day or two.
Ancestor Bao placed his hand on the herb, enveloped it in spiritual energy, and mercilessly tore it from the skull before storing it away in his storage. He did the same with the Flood Dragon's skeleton, storing that as well.
Everything was done so quickly that the dew cast by the explosion had not yet fallen when Bao Wuji simply departed.
Shortly after, the cave was abandoned and the lake returned to calm, silently burying its secrets beneath the blood.