Inside the stone palace…
"Surpasses Spirit Force? Could it be…"
Wu San Niang's face became grave to the extreme, a dangerous feeling spreading throughout her heart.
Although she was a Body Cultivator, her path of Body Cultivation was one she had explored alone without any famous master's guidance. Her techniques and Body Arts were very limited. Her combat power was strongest only when combining Body and Spirit. Now that Spirit Force had become useless, her fighting strength was greatly reduced — no different from a tiger fallen on flat ground.
"I don't want to harm you. Obediently follow me!" The brocade-robed youth clasped his hands behind his back, calm and composed as he trod on the void. A faint smile hung on his lips, as if everything was already firmly in his grasp.
"Hmph, little brat!" Wu San Niang coldly snorted. The Eight Gates Escape Armour activated in response. Open Gate, Life Gate, Rest Gate, and Speed Gate opened simultaneously.
"Oh? Not bad Body Art!" The brocade-robed youth's eyes slightly lifted, clearly noticing the extraordinary transformation on Wu San Niang's body at this moment.
"Heaven Shaking Fist!" Wu San Niang charged forward like a ferocious female leopard, concentrating all the power of her body into one punch, hooking upward toward the brocade-robed youth's chin.
Heaven Shaking Fist was a Low True-Rank Body Technique. Although its power couldn't compare to Savage Beast Fist, it was extremely strong in pure one-on-one combat. It was thanks to this technique that Wu San Niang had defeated countless opponents.
Unfortunately, her current enemy was the brocade-robed youth with a mysterious background — True-Rank martial skills were completely beneath his notice.
"With my current state, using an Extreme-Rank technique is more than enough to capture her!" The brocade-robed youth curled his lips in a faint smile. Fire-attribute power condensed on his arm. This kind of force was countless times purer and more condensed than ordinary Spirit Force — the two were not on the same level at all.
"Extreme Low-Rank Martial Skill – Crimson Flame Palm!"
This move was dominated by fierce and heroic might. As soon as the palm struck out, it carried overwhelming heavenly flames, condensed to the extreme. Space shattered, colliding head-on with Wu San Niang's Heaven Shaking Fist.
BOOM…
Wu San Niang's arm exploded with a loud sound. At this moment, her Body Cultivation power had no place to display itself. When the gap in level between martial skills and force was too great, one of her arms was already exposed with white bone showing. Her resolute face turned deathly pale.
If not for Life Gate enhancing her body's defensive power, under that terrifying palm strike she would either be dead or left with only half a life.
"Indeed Immortal Force… Fire Immortal Force…" The Manhuang Saintess took a deep breath and muttered. She never imagined there would come a day when an expert from the Immortal Realm would come to the Manhuang Tomb Grounds.
The Manhuang Sacred Ground had once saved the life of the Honghuang Immortal King, so they knew a little basic knowledge about the Immortal Realm. Thus she immediately recognized the power the brocade-robed youth was using.
Only Immortal Force could remain unaffected by the Seventh-Turn Spirit Sealing Formation arranged throughout the stone palace.
The one who set up this formation was an elder of the Manhuang Sacred Ground who had reached Perfect Eighth-Rank Battle Formation Master — still not qualified to seal a terrifying level of power like Immortal Force.
"Immortal Force?" Wu San Niang's heart sank. She suddenly turned and fled with all her might.
She was also a knowledgeable person and knew that Immortal Force was something she absolutely could not resist. If she didn't run… she would only be captured or die.
"Why act like this? If you follow this Young Master, you'll enjoy endless glory and riches for the rest of your life!" The brocade-robed youth sighed and shook his head. He found Wu San Niang's reaction quite interesting.
His status was extremely noble, and beautiful women had passed through his hands in no small number. Yet none possessed the unique temperament and mentality of the woman before him — truly arousing a man's desire for conquest to the extreme.
"Control Fire Cloud!"
The brocade-robed youth kept his hands behind his back. Countless strands of Fire Immortal Force converged into a blazing fiery cloud beneath his feet, carrying him forward in a flash.
"Do you have any good ideas? Otherwise neither of us will escape!" Wu San Niang said gravely. She felt like he was toying with her like a cat with a mouse, chasing her relentlessly. She was extremely furious but still maintained her usual calm.
"Very difficult…" The Manhuang Saintess smiled bitterly inside. She had originally wanted to seize this body to be reborn and once again walk the path of the strong. Who would have thought that the seizure would fail, and now she was being hunted by someone from the Immortal Realm.
With the intelligence of both women, they naturally understood that in the brocade-robed youth's eyes, they were nothing more than a plaything. Both were extremely proud women — they would rather die standing than live kneeling. Of course they could not submit.
"Damn it! If Little Nam were here, we wouldn't be in such a sorry state!" Wu San Niang bit her alluring red lips. In battles at the same level, she had always believed Lan Nam was invincible.
"Little Nam?" The Manhuang Saintess was puzzled, but unfortunately Wu San Niang had no time to explain to her.
"Extreme Fire Hand!" The brocade-robed youth finally caught up. His palm transformed into a massive hand of sky-covering flames, grabbing toward Wu San Niang.
"Divide Heaven and Earth!" Wu San Niang turned around and fiercely stomped down with one foot.
A force powerful enough to cleave space in two shot straight outward.
BOOM BOOM BOOM…
The Extreme Fire Hand trembled violently. Unfortunately, it was an Extreme-Rank martial skill condensed from Immortal Force. It continued to grab toward Wu San Niang.
Speed Gate and Open Gate pushed to their limits. Wu San Niang agilely rolled once to dodge the Extreme Fire Hand. Her endlessly long legs moved at high speed, leaping outward.
"Haha, interesting!" The brocade-robed youth's lips curved into a smile. He found toying with her like this truly enjoyable.
"You are the Manhuang Sacred Ground Saintess, why are you so useless?" Wu San Niang gritted her teeth and asked.
"Hmph, I don't have control over the body. Many powerful Body Techniques cannot be used. Otherwise, how could we be in such a sorry state?" The Manhuang Saintess said unwillingly.
Wu San Niang's expression changed. Suddenly her eyes flashed with a mad light. She relaxed half of her soul, allowing the Saintess's soul to invade.
"You…?" The Manhuang Saintess exclaimed in shock, clearly not expecting Wu San Niang to do this suddenly.
Relaxing her soul meant handing over half the authority to control the body.
"Don't talk nonsense. This old lady and you now share the same fate!" Wu San Niang shouted loudly.
In the face of this life-and-death crisis, she was forced to live together with the enemy.
"This Saintess will not disappoint you. At the very least, I can stall him for some time!" The Manhuang Saintess said with full confidence.
With her soul accepted, she began to fuse with Wu San Niang's soul.
It wasn't one devouring the other or swallowing the other… but both fusing together, reaching a state of allied cooperation.
In that instant, the memories of both women slowly blended. A great deal of new knowledge appeared in their minds.
However, their personalities remained distinctly separate.
"This old lady hands the body over to you!" Wu San Niang shouted once, then completely withdrew inside.
In that moment, the woman's entire temperament suddenly changed. From a free and resolute strong woman, she transformed into a cold-faced, lofty figure — as if she wanted to trample everything beneath her feet.
The Saintess takes the stage…
"Haha, I'm becoming more and more interested in her!" Discovering the woman's temperament had dramatically changed into a completely different flavor, the brocade-robed youth's eyes lit up.
Another Crimson Flame Palm fiercely struck out.
"Honghuang Bone Scripture, First Layer – Stone Bone!"
The Manhuang Saintess's eyes were cold. She recited the incantation. The bones inside Wu San Niang's body underwent an earth-shaking transformation. From ordinary pale white bones, they suddenly changed, gradually turning into a pitch-black set of stone bones filled with hardness…
Facing the ferocious palm from the brocade-robed youth, the Manhuang Saintess's hand cracked. Stone bones inside spread outward, forming a sturdy shield blocking in front.
BOOM…
The Crimson Flame Palm struck the Stone Bone Shield, shattering it. Taking advantage of the moment, the Manhuang Saintess leaped a thousand li.
"Interesting… interesting… hahaha, truly interesting!" The brocade-robed youth stared in shock at the scene, then threw his head back and laughed loudly.
If he guessed correctly, the woman's bones had just suddenly transformed into something hard as stone — clearly the most basic layer of the Honghuang Bone Scripture – Stone Bone.
Thinking that he was about to obtain both the beauty and the Honghuang Bone Scripture, his heart surged with extreme excitement. He madly chased after her.
"Eight Gates Escape Armour? Isn't this the Body Art of the Giant Race? Where did you get it?" The Manhuang Saintess organized the memories just fused with Wu San Niang, recognized the familiar technique, and immediately became interested.
Wu San Niang ignored her. Right now she was shaken by the information from the Honghuang Bone Scripture.
The two women had fused half their souls, so their memories of cultivation methods also blended. Wu San Niang saw how terrifying the Honghuang Bone Scripture was — far surpassing any technique she had ever known.
The Honghuang Bone Scripture was a cultivation method primarily focused on bones, divided into many layers.
Layer 1 – Stone Bone: transform bones into sturdy as rock.
Layer 2 – Jade Bone: transform bones into dazzling and lustrous like jade, unbreakable.
Layer 3 – Golden Bone: transform bones into golden sharpness, containing inviolable majesty.
And there were even more domineering higher layers…
According to the memories, the Manhuang Saintess had cultivated to the second layer of the Honghuang Bone Scripture. That was why her bones were like lustrous noble jade.
Her father — the Sacred Lord of the Manhuang Sacred Ground — had cultivated to the third layer – Golden Bone.
In the entire Manhuang Sacred Ground, only the Sacred Lord had reached the Golden Bone layer, which showed just how difficult the Honghuang Bone Scripture was to practice.
"Obediently follow this Young Master!" The brocade-robed youth struck out with another Extreme Fire Hand. If he didn't want to keep her alive, Wu San Niang would already be a corpse by now.
A proud light flashed in the Manhuang Saintess's eyes. She suddenly parted her lips:
"Eight Gates Escape Armour – Bone Gate!"
Thanks to having once cultivated the Honghuang Bone Scripture, she risked activating the sixth gate within the Eight Gates Escape Armour.
In that instant, her whole body's bones became even more flexible and agile. Her snow-white hand lightly cracked, and a stone bone emerged, transforming into a Bone Sword held in her hand.
"Bone Gate… still not complete!" Wu San Niang muttered from within the body. She had only cultivated to the fourth gate of the Eight Gates Escape Armour. In this desperate situation, she could only rely on the existing foundation from the Manhuang Saintess's Honghuang Bone Scripture to forcefully activate the Bone Gate.
With the first layer of Honghuang Bone Scripture as foundation, executing Bone Gate was somewhat forced, but better than nothing.
The Manhuang Saintess gripped the Bone Sword with both hands. Seeing the Extreme Fire Hand charging toward her, she gritted her teeth and slashed fiercely.
CLANG CLANG CLANG…
The Bone Sword trembled violently. Her body was pushed back before the Fire Hand. The terrifying heat from the Fire Immortal Force made sweat pour from her like a stream. Her honey-colored skin turned red as if scorched by fire, showing signs of peeling.
Puff…
Unfortunately, Fire Immortal Force was something beyond the ordinary. The Bone Sword was completely melted. The Manhuang Saintess vomited a mouthful of blood, then fiercely shot out another sharp bone like an iron blade, ambushing the brocade-robed youth.
CLANG…
The brocade-robed youth only smiled leisurely and struck out with one palm, sending the bone flying.
"Not bad, very not bad… With only Seventh-Turn Body Cultivation realm, being able to stall me for this long — she's truly exceptional!" The brocade-robed youth's eyes were filled with admiration, his desire to possess her growing even more frantic.
In his view, if he brought this woman back, brainwashed and nurtured her, in the future he would have an extremely capable assistant with frightening talent.
The fact that this woman could last so long despite being inferior to him in every way made the brocade-robed youth even more determined to capture her.
The Manhuang Saintess ignored him. Enduring the pain throughout her body, she formed seals with both hands and coldly shouted:
"Bone Wings!"
In an instant, countless pitch-black bone branches pierced out from her smooth bare back, combining into a pair of primitive wings dozens of meters long. A beauty with bone wings — the sight was bizarre yet soul-captivating to the extreme.
With the Bone Wings assisting and Speed Gate, the two women's speed increased countless times. They continued to flee madly.
"Useless!" The brocade-robed youth shook his head. The Fire Cloud beneath his feet exploded, his speed also surging violently. Clearly from beginning to end he had not used his full power.
"I must find father — ask him to deal with this bastard!" The Manhuang Saintess gritted her teeth and set her goal. She was determined to find her father's bones that were currently wandering inside the stone palace.
Unfortunately, the brocade-robed youth gave her no chance…
"Fire Immortal Finger!" He pointed one finger.
Again an Extreme-Rank martial skill. This finger ignored the distance in space, instantly piercing through one side of the Bone Wings.
Losing one wing, Wu San Niang's body tumbled to the ground.
"Damn it! This body isn't strong enough to activate the second layer of the Honghuang Bone Scripture. Otherwise we wouldn't be in such a sorry state!" The Manhuang Saintess was unwilling.
Although she had cultivated to the second layer of the Honghuang Bone Scripture, with Wu San Niang's current new and tender body, she could only activate the first layer.
"We've reached the end of the road. Let's risk it all in one final battle with him! Even if we die, we'll accept it!" Wu San Niang took a deep breath, her voice filled with dominance.
"What do you mean?" The Manhuang Saintess's voice carried a trace of panic.
"What? Scared?" Wu San Niang sneered provocatively.
"Hmph, this Saintess has never known the meaning of fear!" The Manhuang Saintess laughed in disdain.
"Then let's do it!" Wu San Niang roared with fury and madness.
The Manhuang Saintess looked at the brocade-robed youth standing leisurely above her head, as if she were a mouse in the eyes of a cat. Her battle intent was also ignited.
From her alluring red lips, word by word, carrying the intent to die, she fiercely declared:
"Death Gate – Open!"