I transmigrated to a chaotic world and became the sole player.

The two streaks of light moved with incredible speed, one after the other, like two gray phantoms, piercing the silent night sky. In just a few breaths, they arrived above the mountain stream where Lu Zhao and the others were hiding.

The light faded, revealing two figures hovering in mid-air, their cold gazes sweeping across the area below.

The leader, dressed in a dark red robe embroidered with skull patterns, had a sinister face, deep-set eyes, and an unnatural dark purple lip. He was surrounded by a thick aura of blood and malevolence, and his cultivation was clearly at the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage, just half a step away from entering the Pseudo-Core Formation realm. In his hand, he toyed with a magic artifact made of nine small skulls, the skulls' eyes flickering with eerie green flames.

The person half a step behind was dressed in a black robe, with a hunched figure and a pale mask without any facial features, revealing only two eyes that shimmered with a deathly gray-white aura. He was at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and his body was permeated with a nauseating, putrid corpse aura, as if he had just crawled out of a grave.

"Senior Brother Yin Ku, the spiritual energy here is thin and the place is very desolate. Could it be that some fish have escaped here?" The black-robed masked man's voice was hoarse and dry, like two pieces of withered wood rubbing against each other.

The red-robed cultivator known as "Yin Kui" snorted coldly, his skull-shaped prayer beads spinning, flickering with eerie green flames: "The Blood Soul Disc indicates that there is a faint but pure life force gathering here, along with residual spiritual energy fluctuations; it's definitely not a wild beast. Master's 'Nine Nether Blood Transformation Array' is nearing completion. We cannot allow anyone who knows anything to escape and ruin our Netherworld Sect's grand plan! Search thoroughly, leave no one alive!"

"The Netherworld Cult!" Lu Zhao, hidden in the shadows, felt a sudden chill run down his spine upon hearing these three words. So they really were under the command of the Blood Bone Demon! And judging from their tone, the "Nine Netherworld Summoning Array" seemed to be called the "Nine Netherworld Blood Transformation Array" by them, a grand plan of the Netherworld Cult? This Blood Bone Demon was actually a member of the Netherworld Cult? That terrifying being deep within the desolate hills…

Before he could think further, the Yin Skeleton cultivator had already unleashed a beam of bloody light. The bloody light fell into the ravine below, but instead of attacking directly, it spread out like ripples on water, revealing itself to be a wide-range detection technique.

The warning barrier set up by Lu flickered slightly when the blood-red light swept across it, then shattered without making a significant commotion. However, this subtle fluctuation of spiritual energy had already caught the attention of Yin Skull.

"Hmm? There really are remnants of a restriction here!" A blood-red light flashed in Yin Ku's eyes as he suddenly looked towards the cave where Lu Zhao was hiding. "There! Come out, little mouse, hiding is useless."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly threw out the skull prayer beads in his hand. The nine skulls swelled in the wind, turning into the size of a wheel. Ghost fire burned fiercely in their eyes, and they emitted a shrill shriek. With billowing black smoke and blood light, they crashed down towards the cave! Before they even reached the body, the eerie ghostly shriek made people dizzy and their blood churned.

The masked man in black robes also made his move at the same time. With a flick of his sleeve, three grayish-white shadows flew out. They were three shriveled corpses with black fingernails, emitting a foul stench, baring their fangs and claws as they pounced on the cave.

"Late-stage Foundation Establishment Peak, mid-stage Foundation Establishment, and corpse refining..." Lu Zhao's mind raced, instantly assessing the situation. A direct confrontation would be risky; although he had broken through to the peak of Foundation Establishment, the enemy outnumbered him, the Yin Skeleton's aura was eerie, its magic weapons were poisonous, and he would also have to protect the others in the cave. His chances of winning were slim, and there was a risk of exposing his trump cards.

But they've already been discovered, and there's no way to retreat!

"court death!"

Just as the skull and the refining corpse were about to pounce on the cave entrance, a cold shout rang out. Lu Zhao's figure flashed out from behind the rocks like a ghost. He did not directly confront the powerful skull magic weapon. Instead, he swayed and used the "Dragon Step" movement technique obtained from the "Nirvana Heavenly Art". A flash of gray-gold dragon energy appeared under his feet, and his speed suddenly increased. He narrowly avoided the skull's head-on attack. At the same time, he pointed his fingers like a sword and pointed at the fastest-attacking refining corpse in mid-air.

"Nirvana Finger!"

A condensed, gray-gold finger strike, silent yet carrying a terrifying aura of annihilation and severing life, struck the brow of the corpse with pinpoint accuracy.

"puff!"

With a soft sound, the corpse, equivalent to the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, abruptly halted its forward momentum. A thumb-sized hole appeared between its brows; no blood flowed, but a wisp of deathly gray energy escaped from it. Immediately afterward, the grayish-white light in the corpse's eyes quickly dimmed, and its entire body, as if stripped of all support, slumped limply to the ground, lifeless.

One finger, and a corpse is destroyed!

"Huh? Peak Foundation Establishment?" The Yin Skeleton cultivator's pupils constricted, clearly not expecting that this desolate place would harbor a cultivator whose cultivation was not much weaker than his own, and whose methods were so ruthless and unpredictable, capable of annihilating his meticulously crafted armored corpse with a single finger. "Such pure Annihilation Intent... You are not from the Earth Origin Sect! Who are you? Why are you here?"

He shouted, but his actions didn't stop. With a thought, the nine giant skulls circled in the air, abandoning their attack on the cave. Instead, they came from all directions, accompanied by mournful ghostly howls and billowing black smoke and blood-red light, to surround and tear at Lu Zhao! The ghostly howls disturbed his mind, the blood-red light corroded his body, and the black smoke tainted the magic treasures and spiritual power. It was truly insidious and ruthless.

At the same time, the black-robed masked man was shocked and furious to see one of the refined corpses destroyed. He let out a shrill cry and controlled the remaining two refined corpses, one on the left and one on the right, to pounce on Lu Zhao fearlessly, coordinating with the attack of the skull in the air. His black fingernails gleamed with a ghostly light, clearly carrying a deadly poison.

Lu Zhao remained calm, his eyes devoid of any emotion. Facing the combined attack of three powerful enemies (two cultivators and a corpse refiner), he moved like a dragon, weaving between the skulls and the corpse refiners. His movements appeared perilous, yet he always managed to evade the attacks with the slightest breath. He didn't directly confront the strange skull-shaped magical artifact, but instead focused his primary attention on the black-robed, masked man controlling the corpse refiner!

This person's cultivation is relatively weak, and he is clearly skilled in close combat with corpse control; his own defenses may not be very strong. If we deal with him first, the remaining Yin Skeleton cultivators will be much easier to handle individually.

Having made up his mind, Lu Zhao changed his footwork again, dodging the attack of a refining corpse. He then slapped away a streak of bloody light with his palm and suddenly accelerated, leaving a trail of afterimages. Ignoring the bites from the skull on his side, he rushed straight at the black-robed masked man!

"How dare you!" Yin Ku sneered upon seeing this, and with a change of hand seals, the three skulls suddenly accelerated, biting at Lu Zhao from the side and rear, while simultaneously spitting out three viscous blood arrows, sealing off Lu Zhao's escape route.

"Well done!" A fierce glint flashed in Lu Zhao's eyes. Without flinching or dodging, he shouted in a low voice, "Dragon Scale Armor!"

Buzz! A flash of gray-gold light appeared on his body, and countless fine, ancient, and desolate dragon scale phantoms instantly covered his entire body. This was the defensive divine power he had obtained after mastering the True Dragon Body Tempering Technique—although it was just a phantom, its defensive power was comparable to a top-grade defensive magic weapon!

*Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!* Three arrows of blood struck the illusory dragon scales, emitting a corrosive "sizzle," but failed to break through the defenses immediately. At the same time, Lu Zhao ignored the skull biting at him, joined his right index and middle fingers together, and frantically condensed the annihilating dragon energy, pointing it at the black-robed masked man who was retreating in panic, trying to create distance!

"Nirvana Finger, Double Strength!"

A finger strike, more solid than before and almost dark gold in color, tore through the air and struck the black-robed masked man's heart with lightning speed! Before the finger strike even arrived, the aura of annihilation had already locked onto the opponent, freezing his soul.

"Senior brother, save me!" The black-robed masked man screamed in terror. A pale white bone shield instantly appeared in front of him, while his black robe billowed, emitting a dense grayish-white corpse aura in an attempt to resist.

However, Lu Zhao's long-awaited finger strike was far more powerful than before!

"Crack!" The bone shield shattered after only a moment. The dark gold finger strike slowed slightly, but remained sharp, instantly piercing through the dense corpse energy protection and striking the black-robed masked man's chest.

"Uh..." The black-robed masked man's body stiffened abruptly, his eyes beneath the pale mask instantly losing their luster. The life force within him vanished rapidly, like a candle flame swept away by a gust of wind. A wisp of annihilation spread from the hole in his chest, instantly engulfing his entire body.

Bang! His body fell straight backward, and before he even hit the ground, he was already lifeless. The two refined corpses that had pounced on Lu Zhao also lost control with their master's death and stood frozen in place.

Just as Lu Zhao annihilated the black-robed masked man with a single finger, the three skulls controlled by the Yin Skull cultivator also bit down hard on the dragon scale phantom on Lu Zhao's body!

"Sizzle—!"

A sickeningly sharp, tearing sound rang out. The phantom of the dragon scales trembled violently, its light rapidly dimming before finally shattering with a deafening crash. But Lu Zhao used the impact to propel himself forward, widening the distance between himself and the skull. However, his robes were torn in several places on his back, leaving several deep, bone-revealing wounds that bled instantly.

"What a hard tortoise shell! But, having been poisoned by my 'Blood Skull Poison' and 'Yin Sha Corpse Qi,' let's see how long you can last!" The Yin Skull cultivator was both shocked and furious at the sight of his companion's death, but upon seeing Lu Zhao injured, a sinister smile flashed in his eyes. He manipulated the nine skulls to reassemble, with ghostly howls echoing and the blood-red light intensifying, clearly preparing to launch an even more ferocious attack.

Lu Zhao groaned, feeling a tingling, itchy, and excruciating pain from the wound on his back. He also felt a chilling, evil poison and corpse energy seeping into his body through the wound. He quickly circulated his Annihilation Dragon Qi, and the gray-gold energy surged towards the wound, fiercely fighting against the invading evil poison and corpse energy, making a hissing sound.

He glanced at the ghostly, ethereal Yin Skeleton cultivator hovering in mid-air, then at the direction of the cave. A swift victory was imperative! The longer it dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for him, and the greater the danger for everyone inside the cave.

With a thought, he no longer held back, his left hand quietly slipping into his sleeve and grasping the warm, dark gold dragon-patterned coin.

It's time to try out our newfound power.