57: The Shadow of the Bone Corridor, the First Appearance of Soul Sacrifice

Heavy footsteps echoed through the Beast Bone Corridor, each step seeming to land directly on the hearts of the four people. The grating sound of metal scraping was intensely jarring. A cold, violent, and intensely deathly aura of pressure pressed down like a physical weight, far surpassing any Demonic Creature they had encountered before.

"Fall back and set up the Formation!" Lin Xuan roared softly, stepping forward. The pale golden Qi and blood around him burst forth, like a cluster of golden flames ignited in the dim corridor, slightly pushing back the suffocating pressure.

Su Wanqing held her Ice Sword horizontally before her. Lunar Essence circulated, its cold, clear radiance complementing Lin Xuan's golden glow, setting up layers of ice crystal barriers in front of her. The illusory blood lotus shadow behind Qu Feiyan fully bloomed; her Charm Essence Power was no longer used for bewitchment, but condensed into countless pink filaments, moving around like living things, ready to entangle and cut at any moment. Gongsun Yu pushed the thunder light silver ring to its limit. The silver ring hovered above her head, showering bolts of thunderous light that protected her, while fine Electric Snakes jumped around her body, crackling loudly.

The footsteps grew closer. The darkness deep within the corridor was dispelled by an even deeper phantom shadow. A massive figure slowly materialized.

It was not a living being, but a giant, ten meters tall, pieced together from metal and white bones! Its main torso was cast from some dark, lusterless metal, covered in mottled corrosion marks, huge claw prints, and sword gashes. Its limbs and joints, however, were connected by countless ghastly white biological bones of varying sizes. Some bones even had remnants of dried flesh and blood fragments, emitting a sickening stench of decay. Its head was a twisted metal skull embedded with several scarlet gems, and two clusters of eerie green Soul Fire burned in its eye sockets.

In the hands of this white bone and metal giant, a massive, rusted broken sword was dragged, which was the source of the metallic scraping sound earlier. Every step it took caused the entire Beast Bone Corridor to tremble slightly.

"It's a Skeleton Demon Statue! Judging by its material and pressure, it's at least Mid-stage Golden Core, maybe even Late Stage!" Qu Feiyan's beautiful face changed slightly, her tone grave. "This thing has no Sentience, only a pure Will of Destruction. It's a guardian Puppet commonly used in Antiquity, but having been corrupted by the filth of this place, it's likely even more violent and difficult to deal with!"

As if to confirm her words, the Soul Fire in the Skeleton Demon Statue's eye sockets flared violently, letting out a silent roar (a powerful mental shockwave swept over them). It immediately swung the massive broken sword in its hand, which screamed as it tore through the air, hacking down directly at Lin Xuan, who was standing at the front!

Before the sword even arrived, the savage force and icy killing intent had already descended upon him!

"Good timing!"

Lin Xuan did not retreat but advanced. He circulated the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Art to its maximum, crossing his arms. The pale golden Qi and blood condensed into solid arm guards, which he used to fiercely block upwards!

"Boom!!!"

The broken sword and the golden arm guards collided violently, producing a deafening clang of metal! A savage wave of air exploded from the point of impact, shaking the Beast Bone walls on both sides, causing Bone Dust to fall constantly!

Lin Xuan felt an irresistible colossal force transmitted through his arms. The ground beneath his feet instantly cracked, and his legs sank half a foot into the floor. His Qi and blood churned violently. But in the end, he managed to forcefully endure this sword strike capable of splitting mountains and breaking peaks!

"Freeze!" Su Wanqing seized the momentary stiffness after the Statue's attack. She pointed her Ice Sword, and the extremely cold Lunar Essence spread like ice-blue lightning, instantly covering the Statue's sword-wielding metal arm, attempting to freeze it.

However, a faint light flashed on the Statue's arm, and the layer of ice rapidly cracked and dispersed. The corrupt energy easily neutralized the freezing power of the Lunar Essence.

"Its core is in its head! Those red gems are Energy Nodes, and the Soul Fire is the control core!" Qu Feiyan cried out, her figure turning into a red blur as she circled around to the side and rear of the Statue. Countless pink filaments shot out like venomous snakes toward the eye sockets and the scarlet gems on the Statue's head.

The Statue violently shook its head, its Soul Fire flickering. An invisible Mental Storm spread out, scattering most of the pink filaments! At the same time, its other bone hand opened its five fingers and, with a sharp whistling sound, clawed toward Qu Feiyan!

"Thunder Chain Restraint!" Gongsun Yu shouted. The thunder light silver ring shone brightly, and several chains condensed from pure lightning shot out, accurately wrapping around the wrist of the bone hand reaching for Qu Feiyan! The Power of supreme Yang Thunder erupted, causing black smoke to stream from the bone hand, and its movement suddenly stalled.

Qu Feiyan took the opportunity to escape. With murderous intent in her enchanting eyes, she formed a hand seal. A crimson blood lotus, condensed to its absolute limit, bloomed on her fingertips and shot fiercely toward one of the scarlet gems on the Statue's head!

"Puff!"

The blood lotus struck the gem with a muffled sound. The gem's light dimmed, and a fine crack appeared on its surface. The Statue let out an even more furious, silent roar, and its movements seemed to slow down slightly.

Lin Xuan seized this chance, suddenly exerted force, shaking off the broken sword pressing down on his arms. His figure, like a phantom, darted close to the Statue's chest, and his fists hammered down on its metal torso like a torrential downpour!

"Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The muffled impact sounds were like drumbeats! Every punch contained Lin Xuan's full Physical Body strength and surging Qi and blood, causing the Statue's metal chest to dent and the connecting bones to shatter! But the Statue's metal torso was extremely tough and could not be directly pierced!

The Statue swung its broken sword horizontally, forcing Lin Xuan back. Simultaneously, its other bone hand broke free from the lightning chains, its five fingers spread open. A complex Rune lit up in its palm, condensing a swirling black Energy Sphere filled with resentment and Death Qi, which it violently hurled toward the center of the four people!

"Watch out! It's the Soul-Corroding Demonic Flame!" Qu Feiyan exclaimed.

Su Wanqing immediately swung her sword, setting up layers of thickened ice crystal walls in front of the four of them. Lin Xuan also turned back, his fists flashing with golden light, preparing to take the hit head-on.

However, the black Energy Sphere did not explode the moment it touched the ice wall. Instead, it spread out like water, clinging to the ice wall and rapidly corroding it, while emitting an even more intense Mental Pollution, attempting to erode the Divine Souls of the four people!

"Purify!" Gongsun Yu pushed her Lightning Spiritual Power to the limit. The thunder light silver ring rained down lightning bolts, enveloping the area like a Thunder Prison. The supreme Yang Thunder and the Soul-Corroding Demonic Flame annihilated each other, creating sizzling sounds, and filling the air with a smell that was a mixture of scorching and foulness.

The battle reached a stalemate. The Skeleton Demon Statue had astonishing defense, terrifying strength, and extremely high resistance to Spells. Furthermore, it felt no pain and was tireless. Although the four worked together seamlessly, they found it difficult to completely destroy it for the time being.

Lin Xuan observed while fighting. He noticed that the Statue's actions always seemed to revolve around protecting a certain area deeper within the corridor; whenever they tried to push forward, the Statue's attacks became exceptionally frantic.

"Its core drive, besides the Soul Fire, might be connected to something deeper inside!" Lin Xuan transmitted his voice. "Junior Sister Su, Miss Qu, you two restrain it. Xiao Yu, use Thunder Spells to bombard the Soul Fire in its head and disrupt its senses! I'll try to rush past and take a look!"

With the strategy set, Su Wanqing and Qu Feiyan immediately intensified their attacks. Ice radiance and seductive shadows interwoven, firmly pinning down the Statue. Gongsun Yu gathered all her spiritual power, and the thunder light silver ring transformed into a thick pillar of thunderous light, continuously bombarding the Statue's head, causing the Soul Fire to flicker erratically.

Lin Xuan, however, crouched low and, like a swimming fish, slipped through the gap created by the Statue's swinging sword, transforming into a golden streak and shooting straight toward the depths of the corridor!

Sensing Lin Xuan's intention, the Statue let out a furious roar and tried to turn back to block him, but it was firmly held back by Su Wanqing's freezing sword momentum and Qu Feiyan's ubiquitous Charm Essence filaments.

Lin Xuan broke through the Statue's restricted area, and after only a few dozen meters, the scene before him suddenly opened up.

The end of the corridor connected to a massive Circular Cavern. In the center of the cavern, instead of the expected passage, was an even more heart-stopping sight—an Altar piled high with countless black bones! Suspended above the Altar was a slowly rotating, complex Formation composed of dark red energy. At the center of the Formation, the faint phantom of a palm-sized fragment, neither gold nor jade, was visible, emitting an aura that was homologous to the immortal abode pivot token but far colder and more sinister.

Around the Altar, four tattered black Banners were stuck into the ground, their surfaces painted with twisted Runes that devoured Souls. At this moment, the Formation was faintly flickering, drawing wisps of gray-black airflow from the Void Realm in all directions. That airflow was filled with the Soul aura of pain, despair, and resentment!

"This is... an Evil Formation that plunders Residual Souls to nourish the fragment?!" Lin Xuan's pupils contracted sharply. He instantly understood the meaning of the Skeleton Demon Statue's existence—it was not just a guard, but the watchdog of this Evil Formation, ensuring the delivery of "nourishment" was not disturbed!

Just as he clearly saw all this, the immortal abode pivot token transmitted an extremely intense tremor, mixed with both yearning and repulsion! That fragment was indeed part of the Immortal Palace core, but it had been severely polluted by some evil force!

At the same time, the Evil Formation on the Altar seemed to sense the cardinal edict and Lin Xuan, the "uninvited guest." Its rotation speed abruptly increased, and the phantom fragment in the center shone brightly. A vaster, colder will slowly began to awaken...