The Bone Emperor raised his hand, and a spear of pale white bone formed in his grip, spiraling with threads of gold. His presence sharpened, no longer just heavy—it was predatory.
"The third trial," he said, voice echoing like steel striking stone. "Defeat me within nine breaths. Your body cultivation is the key, but your will… will decide your survival."
Without warning, his figure blurred.
Tian Jue's instincts screamed. He twisted aside just as the spear lanced through where his heart had been, the force splitting the platform beneath him into two jagged halves.
Huan Tao reacted immediately, his qi exploding into a dominating aura that pushed back the suffocating presence. "Tian Jue! Don't hold back!"
The rival sect, still on separate platforms, exchanged quick, sharp glances. They hadn't been given permission to act—but the opportunity was too tempting. One of their leaders quietly pulled out a throwing talisman, waiting for the perfect moment to strike Tian Jue from behind.
The Bone Emperor didn't relent. His projection moved with a speed that should have shattered bones, but Tian Jue's newly forged physique absorbed each glancing blow like tempered steel absorbing a hammer strike. His marrow seemed to hum with stored vitality, and every tendon pulled like a bowstring ready to release.
This… this is nothing like my past life, Tian Jue thought. Back then, I would've crumbled in the first breath.
He kicked off the moving platform, twisting in midair as the Bone Emperor's spear came for his throat. The golden runes on the projection's arms flared—and Tian Jue countered with a barehanded block, the impact ringing through his bones like a war drum.
"Good," the Bone Emperor rumbled, voice tinged with approval. "You understand that a true body cultivator does not yield."
But there was no time to savor it—the rival sect leader hurled his talisman.
The air behind Tian Jue ignited with pale lightning, streaking toward his exposed back. Huan Tao roared, shattering the edge of his restraint—his qi surged outward like a territorial beast, intercepting the strike with a wall of oppressive force.
"You dare?!" Huan Tao's voice was pure killing intent now, his childish, gullible facade burned away completely.
The Bone Emperor chuckled. "Even in trials, ambition blooms like weeds. Let's see if you can survive both me… and them."
The platforms began to collapse into the abyss, forcing all three groups closer.
Tian Jue knew what this meant—if he didn't finish the Bone Emperor's projection now, they'd all be dead. He clenched his fists, feeling the tempered density of his bones and the explosive power in his tendons.
He stepped in.
He didn't dodge.
He didn't retreat.
His strike—backed by blood-refined marrow, steel-like bone, and years of pent-up determination—collided with the Bone Emperor's chest.
The golden runes shattered like glass, and the projection dispersed into motes of light.
Nine breaths had passed—barely.
The abyss sealed, and the chamber calmed.
From the swirling golden light where the Bone Emperor once stood, a small, ancient-looking jade slip floated toward Tian Jue. The voice of the Bone Emperor echoed in the chamber.
"You have the bones of a warrior, boy. Take my art—Ninefold Tempering of the Heavenly Frame. When you complete it… your bones will defy the heavens themselves."
The jade slip hovered before Tian Jue, glowing faintly. He caught it with both hands, and the moment his fingers closed around it, a stream of intricate bone diagrams and marrow-forging chants flooded his mind. Each rune etched into his consciousness felt like a hammer strike shaping steel.
So this is the Ninefold Tempering… His heartbeat steadied. This was no ordinary body cultivation art—it was a foundation that could carry him to realms even his past life couldn't touch.
The motes of light from the Bone Emperor's dispersal drifted upward, coalescing into a towering bone gate. It pulsed once, then began to fade. A sign the inheritance ground would soon seal itself again.
"Let's move," Huan Tao said sharply. His face had already shifted back into his usual slightly goofy grin, but Tian Jue had seen the way his aura dominated the trial moments earlier. It wasn't an act—his cultivation technique amplified his willpower the deeper they ventured into the forest.
Tian Jue smirked inwardly. She's childish on the surface, but in battle, she's sharper than most season cultivator. That contrast… is kind of refreshing.
They stepped toward the exit—only for another three figures from the rival sect to block the narrowing path.
"Well, well," the leader drawled, his smile cold. "That bone emperor trial was… enlightening. Hand over the jade slip, and we'll let you leave with your lives."
Huan Tao's eyes narrowed, the childish warmth gone in an instant. "You've got guts to demand that from us after I let you live earlier."
The leader's grin didn't falter. "Earlier, you were busy. Now… we're ready." His subordinates spread out, cutting off all retreat.
Tian Jue reached into his sleeve, fingers brushing against a small porcelain bottle. Inside were two Restoration Pills, freshly prepared before entering the inheritance ground.
He tossed one restoration pill to Huan Tao without looking. "Swallow it."
Huan Tao blinked, then obeyed instantly. Their qi instantly soar and collide violently with the qi in the inheritance ground.
Tian jue stepped forward, letting his newly tempered physique radiate a faint but undeniable sense of weight. Every step pressed on the ground with a controlled density that only a trained body cultivator could manage.
"Last chance," Tian Jue said evenly, his tone calm but edged with steel. "Walk away."
The leader hesitated—but greed overcame caution. He snapped his fingers, and his men lunged.
The clash was instant—bone meeting steel, fist against blade. Tian Jue's new physique turned each block into a weapon, each counter a bone-crushing strike. Huan Tao moved like a domineering beast, his footwork covering Tian Jue's blind spots with precision.
The rival sect hadn't expected their prey to hit this hard—or for their attacks to feel like they'd just struck tempered iron.
Within few minutes, the fight over and the path was theirs again.
Tian Jue didn't look back as they stepped through the fading bone gate. "We press deeper," he said simply.
Huan Tao grinned, brushing blood from his cheek. "Just the way I like it."
The air changed the moment they stepped beyond the Bone Emperor's gate.
It was denser, saturated with a feral qi that seemed to crawl under the skin. Trees grew thicker and taller, their twisted roots snaking across the ground like the bones of some buried beast.
Every breath Tian Jue took now felt heavier—but not unpleasant. His refined bones and tendons absorbed the pressure with ease, letting him move as if his body was perfectly attuned to this environment. So this is the difference… before, I would've felt my joints ache after ten steps of this pressure.
Huan Tao walked ahead, his steps light but eyes sharp. That dominating edge in his presence was back—shoulders squared, chin lifted slightly, like a predator announcing his claim to the territory.
"You notice?" Tian Jue asked, voice low.
"Yeah," Huan Tao replied without turning. "We're in the middle hunting grounds now. Foundation realm beasts here aren't strays—they're rulers of their territory."
They moved cautiously, alternating between Silent Wind Step and Huan Tao's beast-like footwork, weaving between massive roots and boulders slick with moss.
The first test came sooner than expected.
A shadow dropped from above, talons gleaming—an Ironwing Predator, early Foundation Realm, eyes burning with hunger. The impact cracked the ground where Tian Jue had been standing a heartbeat ago.
He didn't dodge far. Instead, he pivoted on his heel, the force rolling up through his newly tempered legs, into his hips, and out through his fist.
The strike landed square on the beast's breastplate-like feathers.
CRACK!
The Predator screeched, bones in its chest fracturing under the blow. Before it could recover, Huan Tao leapt in from the side, a brutal kick sending it tumbling into a tree trunk.
"You could've let me finish that," Huan Tao muttered, though there was a faint smirk on his lips.
Tian Jue only shook his head. "I needed to test how much force my bones can channel now."
They didn't linger. The fight's noise would draw more attention.
Sure enough, minutes later, the undergrowth rustled—and several pairs of eyes appeared in the gloom. Low growls rolled through the air, joined by the clicking of chitin. The forest's predators had taken notice of the two intruders who fought like apex hunters.
Huan Tao glanced at Tian Jue, that familiar childish grin spreading across his face. "Looks like we've been invited to a feast."
Tian Jue's lips curved in a faint smile, his stance settling into readiness. "Then let's not waste food."
The first beast lunged—a black-furred Nightfang with crimson streaks down its spine. Its speed rivaled a qi-refining assassin's strike, but Tian Jue's sharpened reflexes caught the movement instantly.
He met its pounce head-on, twisting his waist and driving his elbow into the side of its skull. The force didn't just knock it back—it sent it crashing into two smaller beasts lurking behind it, snapping a tree branch in the process.
So I really can channel full-body force without any delay now… Tian Jue thought, exhilaration flashing in his eyes.
But there was no time to savor it.
From the left, a pack of spike-backed lizards darted forward, their tails whipping with enough strength to dent iron. Huan Tao's aura flared like a sudden storm—his once playful grin replaced by a wild, almost feral snarl.
"You—" his clawed hand shredded through one lizard's armored hide "—take the big ones!"
Tian Jue didn't argue. He surged toward the largest beast in the pack, a horned brute whose heavy frame crushed roots beneath its step. His movements felt lighter than ever—bones unyielding, tendons snapping his body forward like a bowstring. The impact of his palm strike forced the beast back several meters, coughing blood from the sheer concussive force.
For nearly twenty minutes, the forest was alive with roars, snapping branches, and the metallic scent of blood. Every beast that lunged at Tian Jue met unyielding force—he absorbed the shock through his legs, redirected it with bone-hardened joints, and sent it back with double the intensity.
By the time the last predator slumped to the forest floor, Tian Jue's breathing was steady, his shoulders squared, not a trace of fatigue in his limbs. Huan Tao, still panting lightly, stared at him for a moment before laughing.
"Now I get it," Huan Tao said, eyes bright. "You're not just becoming stronger you're body became even robust. Peak Foundation Realm beasts will hate you."
Tian Jue exhaled slowly, his gaze scanning the shadows between the trees.
"…And yet something out there didn't join the fight."
The forest had gone too quiet. No rustle, no growl—only an oppressive silence. And in that silence, a faint vibration in the ground.
Whatever it was… it was bigger than anything they'd faced yet.