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### **Chapter 65: Heavy Casualties**
Outside the underground palace, the scattered Gu Poison Peak disciples were assaulted by large swarms of Rot-Poison Wasps. Without late-stage Qi Refining leaders, their combat effectiveness dropped by more than a level.
Their initial intention to explore the palace and seek opportunities was utterly crushed by wave after wave of poison needles.
Suffering heavy casualties, they could only retreat towards the passage.
Then, a despairing scene unfolded: the path was blocked.
Screams and wails were incessant!
Meanwhile.
Near the abandoned camp between the three Profound Bone Mountains, the Five Yin Peak disciples, having just been robbed by a certain individual, had no choice but to collect themselves and continue their original plan.
Their goal was purely the opportunities within the underground palace.
They deliberately chose a thin rock layer. A new underground passage was being rapidly excavated through the combined efforts from both sides.
Soon, the ground suddenly gave way, and a head popped out—it was Fang Zhuo, the movement technique expert sent down earlier.
His face was full of terror as he shouted,
"Disaster! Disaster!
"Pull me up, quick!"
Everyone reached out to help, wanting to ask questions, but then the ground began to shake. With a rumble, the area of collapse expanded.
A Direbone Lion, nearly ten meters long, leaped out.
It held Fang Zhuo in its mouth.
Teeth rivaling stone pillars bit him in two in the blink of an eye. It swallowed half whole and let out a low, growling roar.
Countless bones erupted from the ground, forming a bone prison that trapped the crowd. The Five Yin Peak disciples' faces turned grim.
"A second-grade Direbone Lion…"
This was an almost unbearable weight for them! The reason Liu Jinxian and the other two could contend with these second-grade demons was their plethora of methods.
For them, it was different.
The second-grade Direbone Lion began its slaughter, finding no worthy opponents. Wang Yu, observing from the shadows, also felt a chill run down his spine.
The troubles at Profound Bone Mountain were just too many.
Foundation Establishment level problems were everywhere. If second-grade wraiths were also hidden among the symbiotic spirits in the Bonewood forests, the situation would become even more chaotic.
After much consideration, he still didn't intervene.
The more people died, the better. This way, the identities of Liu Jinxian and the others would be effectively void. Only with insufficient personnel could Wang Yu briefly stand at the top.
Besides, he truly didn't want to deal with a second-grade Direbone Lion.
He watched as it hunted down the Five Yin Peak disciples. In a short time, nearly a hundred people were reduced to just over a dozen before they finally broke through the bone prison and fled Profound Bone Mountain as if insane, not looking back.
This act was equivalent to defecting from the sect.
The Direbone Lion chased for a short distance before returning. It didn't pursue further, instead stationing itself in front of the new passage, mouth agape, waiting for the next 'fated individual'.
With things developing to this point, the three Profound Bone Mountains were... empty!
Seeing this, Wang Yu, utilizing the mystical properties of the Night Concealment Charm, secretly infiltrated the mountains and looted all the resources from the storerooms.
He then returned to the area near the abandoned camp to collect the storage pouches of the disciples killed by the Direbone Lion, instantly promoting himself to "Elder of a Hundred Pouches," gleefully picking them up.
"Great opportunity, great fortune~ It's only right that I, Wang, prosper!"
...
...
Underground Palace.
With fully controlled subordinates, Liu Jinxian forced Gu Zhengshun and Si Tu Hong to concede.
Using two sixth-level Qi Refining cultivators as bait, they finally activated the formation eye in the Yang polarity area. The third gate of the Condensing Moon Palace opened, and everyone rushed in.
But in less than ten breaths, Liu Jinxian and the other two retreated狼狈 (in a disheveled state), not a single subordinate remaining by their side.
"Damn it, this cursed place is not right."
At this moment.
Liu Jinxian held the prematurely emerged wasp gu. Its condition had stabilized considerably, and its aura had grown much stronger.
Only the Corpse Demon remained chasing them.
The fate of the Poison Wasp Queen was不言而喻 (self-evident).
"What a load of crap, an ancient sect ruin? More like a trap specifically set up to harm later generations."
The three charged out of the Condensing Moon Palace and sprinted towards the passage.
The Corpse Demon at the rear pretended to chase a few steps but didn't pursue further. The two flames in its eye sockets had, at some point, transformed into a pair of lively eyeballs.
Its aura also underwent a great change. Standing at the highest point of the staircase, it looked down upon the entire underground palace and sighed.
"All failed..."
"The cage is hard to break. I am not resigned!!!"
After a few steps, the Corpse Demon's body stiffened. A wisp of remnant soul drifted from its head, turning to ashes silently.
A ripple passed through the air, as if a cold snort flashed by and vanished.
The Corpse Demon, returned to normal, scratched its bald head, let out a roar towards the sky, and continued chasing following the scent of humans.
Three days later.
Liu Jinxian and the other two, covered in dust and looking disheveled, emerged from the location of Gu Zhengshun's [Earth Yin Corpse Puppet Formation] on the right Profound Bone Mountain, their faces full of annoyance.
Si Tu Hong said with a grave expression,
"I couldn't have seen wrong. A remnant soul definitely escaped from that treasure. If I didn't have a Yin ghost protecting me, I would have fallen for it."
Gu Zhengshun also frowned.
"Since there's a remnant soul, this underground palace is definitely not some ancient sect ruin, but a place specially arranged by a cultivator for possession. I wonder what happened to that Corpse Demon."
Taking a Core Formation cultivator's eight-hundred-year lifespan as an example, if they died at five hundred, their soul would still have three hundred years of Yin lifespan. Even if they possessed a new body and were reborn, their lifespan wouldn't change.
Breaking through to a higher realm again wouldn't increase their lifespan at all, unless they surpassed their original limit and reached the Nascent Soul stage.
Therefore, Gu Zhengshun's judgment was logical.
The underground palace ruins weren't genuine; they were man-made, more like a trap.
Having developed to this point, only Liu Jinxian gained the most benefits. The other two only had minor gains from the grave-digging phase. No one expected it to turn out like this.
"Sigh, no use saying more. Let's each return to our own homes."
"Indeed. With the Profound Essence Flowers, these five years won't be wasted."
Liu Jinxian remained silent. She had gained much but also lost greatly. It was hard for her mood to improve.
Then.
The moment the three stepped out from the protection of the formation, they froze.
In the distance, a giant Direbone Lion crouched on the ground, its Foundation Establishment level aura clearly displayed. The three Profound Bone Mountains showed no sign of human presence, quiet as a dead land.
"This—"
"Impossible…"
"What happened here?"
In just one year, over five hundred people... gone? The three felt their scalps tingle and a sense of dread.
Wang Yu chose this moment to appear, standing in the shadow of a large rock and sighing lightly. "The three of you have finally returned."
The three: "???"
After moving far from Profound Bone Mountain, the four sat around a stone table, quietly listening to Wang Yu recount the events of this period.
There was no need to conceal anything; it was just conflict between the Five Yin Peak and Gu Poison Peak, exploited by these demons.
Of course, the parts where he profited were automatically omitted.
After finishing, Wang Yu sighed with feeling.
"The three of you came too late. The remaining Five Yin Peak people were scattered by that bone beast. I, Wang, only survived by relying on a concealment technique."
Liu Jinxian stared coldly at Wang Yu. "Then why didn't you help?"
Wang Yu looked surprised and puzzled. "Senior Sister Liu overestimates me. I am merely at the fifth level of Qi Refining. How could I stop a Foundation Establishment bone beast?"
Si Tu Hong quickly tried to smooth things over. "Junior Brother Wang is right. Senior Sister Liu, aren't you making things difficult for him? Being able to preserve himself is already good enough."
**(End of Chapter)**