Devour

Although the humble abode owner was trembling with anger, he ultimately dared not step forward to fight.

The Bone Emperor glared at us with his cold, sinister eyes, carrying a chilling will that seemed to solidify into reality, sending shivers down our spines and leaving us feeling disoriented and lost.

The humble scholar was shocked to realize that his consciousness was being eroded. He turned ashen-faced and his legs trembled slightly. He hurriedly retreated to the back of the crowd before his shock subsided.

The academicians were terrified and scattered like a bomb going off, none daring to approach and challenge them again. They knew that a direct confrontation was unwise, but then they felt their dignity had been damaged, and their anger had nowhere to go.

"Demon, do you know how to write the words 'shame'? Tonight you are safe and sound. Your mere appearance is enough to ward off evil spirits, and even ghosts and gods will retreat in fear."

An unknown troublemaker started the commotion, instantly igniting the crowd's anger. The academicians then launched into a fierce verbal attack, refuting the inconsistencies.

"Hey! I've seen ugly people, but I've never seen anyone as ugly as you. At first glance, you're pretty ugly, but upon closer inspection, you're shockingly ugly, a veritable embodiment of every kind of ugliness!"

"You can learn if you're uncultured, and you can fake being ugly, but someone as heartless and shameless as you is beyond saving, even if you invited a master of miraculous medicine!"

"Without skin, bones are certain to die. A shameless ghost is invincible! Your face is enough to silence a child's cry. Your very existence is a lifelong regret!"

In an instant, a barrage of sharp and sarcastic curses rose and fell, some quoting classical texts, others making veiled attacks, all aimed at the Bone Emperor, leaving no stone unturned, and no two were alike.

The commotion grew louder, and although it couldn't harm the Bone King's skin, it was impressive in terms of sheer force of will... at least in their own eyes, it salvaged some face.

On the opposite bank of the Inkstone Washing Pond, Cheng Bai witnessed the whole thing and was stunned. His lips twitched slightly as he thought to himself, "The spiritual victory method of scholars can actually bring them joy, and even elevate it to an artistic level. It's truly astonishing!"

At first, the Bone Emperor was quite annoyed, but after listening for a while, he burst into loud laughter, his voice shaking the heavens, and arrogantly said, "Can talking yourself hoarse kill a person? You pedantic scholars have only the sharpness of words, but in the end you are useless!"

His skull head turned to look at Qingyun Tower, pondering, "This tower is in a crucial location, and it seems to be able to shield divine sense and prevent outsiders from spying on it. Could it be that Xu Buwei is hiding inside? I'll drag out his Pure Yang Sword Bone!"

The bone lotus floated and swayed low in the air, slowly turning as it swept across the ground, leaving behind a desolate gray-white landscape that seemed to strip away all life.

It wasn't just simple desolation; rather, slowly writhing, skeletal phantoms were spreading, forming a deathly wasteland. As the petals constructed of sword bones swayed slightly, mournful wails seemed to seep from the underworld, sometimes present, sometimes absent.

The soil, rocks, flowers, grass, and even the vital energy in the air are all ruthlessly seized and assimilated, accompanied by subtle yet piercing rustling sounds, as if millions of insects and ants are gnawing at the foundation of the real world.

The enormous bone lotus was about to fly over the Inkstone Washing Pool and rush straight towards the Azure Cloud Tower.

Cheng Bai remained hidden, a sense of unease creeping into his heart: "The turmoil at the academy has been going on for a long time, and its scale is alarming. Why hasn't Master Li shown up yet to quell the unrest? Could he be preoccupied with an even more difficult problem?"

His Phoenix Force perception extended thousands of miles away when he suddenly sensed a powerful and violent force tearing through space and heading straight for Taotie Academy.

That fluctuation brought an ominous sense of familiarity.

"It's Wang Xiongwu!" Cheng Bai immediately recognized him, his expression a mixture of joy and worry. "It must be the disturbance of his primordial spirit's essence that attracted this fiend. With his demon saint-like abilities, he could traverse the five continents in an instant. This is going to be quite a show!"

A ferocious aura, as fierce as a beast, swept towards us with lightning speed!

The instant Cheng Bai recognized the other party, Wang Xiongwu had already appeared in human form, hovering steadily above the academy. His overwhelming aura caused the already chaotic spiritual energy of heaven and earth to boil and churn even more violently.

The Bone Emperor sensed intense hostility, raised his skull to look, and the ghostly flames leaping in his eye sockets suddenly contracted.

Their gazes met and collided silently, one cold and burning, the other disdainful and arrogant, stirring up invisible sparks.

"Tsk tsk tsk! This old ghost has lost his body, and his ugly state is even more pathetic than before." Wang Xiongwu stood high in the sky, staring at the lonely bone emperor's head on the lotus platform, and sneered disdainfully, "I was really looking forward to seeing what kind of rare treasure would appear, but it caused a dramatic change in the energy of heaven and earth. Turns out it's just a worthless bone!"

The Bone Emperor was deeply wary of him, but he pretended to be indifferent and ignored the sarcasm, replying, "Fellow Daoist Wang Xiongwu, we have always kept to ourselves, so why force me to do this?"

"Hahaha! Keep to your own business?" Wang Xiongwu grinned as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, laughing so hard he almost fell over. "What I lack is cultivation resources. In this vast world, there are far too few prey that can catch my eye!"

Before he finished speaking, Wang Xiongwu drew his Azure Dragon Axe and swung it sharply, the tip of the blade pointing directly at the Bone Lotus Platform. He continued, "Last time, your slippery skeleton managed to escape by luck. Now that I've caught you, it's time to dismantle all your possessions and plunder the treasures hidden within!"

Cheng Bai, who was in the distance, shook his head secretly, thinking: "The Bone Lotus is a celestial flower and spiritual root that the ancient sword saint painstakingly cultivated. Its wondrous and mysterious qualities are beyond imagination. To destroy this treasure would be nothing short of a waste. Well, as long as Venerable Wang can eliminate the Bone Emperor, it will save me the trouble."

The Bone Emperor's eyes widened, almost spitting out flames of rage. He looked at the stupid boar that had broken into a treasure vault and only knew how to smash things, and growled in a low voice, "You ungrateful brat! You've angered this god, and I'll make you wish you were dead!"

"Shut up!" Wang Xiongwu would never take his threat seriously. He immediately turned his knife into a sword and unleashed the killing move of the Breaking Army Sword Technique.

One sword strike shatters the enemy ranks, and the winds and clouds change color!

The powerful sword energy surged forth, solidifying like a mountain range pressing down, crushing space and tearing apart the pool water.

The Bone Emperor's carefully maintained indifference was completely shattered. A dark light, filled with anger, shone from his eye sockets, like two blood moons rising from the abyss, unleashing the full power of his Bone Lotus body.

One hundred and eight sword bone petals trembled violently like the clanging of swords, unleashing a million chilling sword energies interwoven with black, white, and gray, as if a massive army of sword cultivators had launched a joint attack, their killing intent surging to the heavens.

"Ten thousand swords return to the demon, the sword domain is invincible!"

The Bone Emperor let out a hoarse yet powerful roar, pushing the strange phenomena to their limit and evolving into twenty-four different bizarre sword formations.

The sword intent of attack is ever-changing, sometimes like the Grim Reaper wielding a giant scythe to reap life; sometimes like an iron torrent sweeping across the wilderness, its murderous aura rampant; sometimes like a sword wall standing tall as a city, as solid as a fortress; sometimes like a mirror reflecting yin and yang, reality and illusion, unfathomable and profound.

The center of the array shone brightly, which then condensed into a phantom of a sword demon, revealing a silent, sinister smile, ready to strike!

The Bone Emperor and the Bone Lotus merged into one, and the Demon Sword Body, which had been destroyed by Bo Xuan, was reshaped and restored to its original state. The surging pressure around him had also undergone a transformation.

Cheng Bai suddenly felt a chill: "After merging with the Bone Lotus, the Bone Emperor's understanding of the sword path is even greater than before, and the sword formation is becoming increasingly unpredictable and treacherous. This is not magic, but rather transforming magic into swords, forging a new path!"

"Rumble..."

The mountain range of sword energy descending from the sky clashed violently with the surging Ten Thousand Swords Returning to Demon Sword Formation.

The earth trembled, space distorted, light dimmed, and terrifying aftershocks spread outwards like a ring-shaped tsunami!

The massive inkstone-washing pool appeared to have been cleaved in two by a sharp blade, revealing its dark, bottomless depths. The exquisite pavilions built within the pool crumbled into dust under this devastating impact, like paper dolls or rotten wood.

The muddy bottom was fully exposed, mixed with ink residue, discarded cinnabar, and fragments of long-sunken magical artifacts, all of which had been deposited for countless years. A putrid, fishy smell permeated the air.

Cheng Bai's eyes shone brightly. The experience of countless battles had broadened his horizons by leaps and bounds. He secretly commented, "Venerable Wang uses a deformed knife to wield swordsmanship. He appears powerful, but in reality, his strength is insufficient. On the other hand, the Bone Emperor, with the help of the Bone Lotus, has achieved a sword domain that is extraordinary and has reached the level of a Spirit Immortal... Unfortunately, he is still far from being able to deal with a true Saint."

As expected, the twenty-four-layered sword formation, along with the unwilling phantom of the sword demon, collapsed layer by layer in less than two breaths, suffering a complete defeat.

The Bone Emperor's enormous bone lotus body was also pressed down from mid-air by the sword energy, crashing into the bottom of the pool and buried deep in thick silt and debris.

The pool of water was forcibly separated into two towering walls, standing on either side like giant gates to a tomb, as if to bury the Bone Emperor here.

The surrounding academicians and other onlookers who rushed to the scene witnessed the astonishing spectacle and dared not utter a word. One by one, they either relied on their magical artifacts for protection or slipped away, scrambling to hide in the various halls of the academy inscribed with protective arrays, fearing they would be caught in the annihilation.