149: Chapter 149 Skeleton Warrior

Shen Zhihan also quickly provided her own answer.

"In order to see myself clearly, and to see this world clearly as well."

"In order to have sufficient power when the time comes to act, and to decide which side I should stand on."

Her answer was not sharp, but it was extremely steady.

After the stone platform acknowledged it, her steps became even lighter.

Almost everyone who achieved enlightenment first would quickly catch up to those in front after passing the Wenwu Bone Platform.

Consequently, the rogue cultivators who had set out first began to be overtaken one by one.

Some gritted their teeth and continued to charge upward.

Some stopped on the platforms, struggling to digest the power they had just recovered.

Others remained trapped in the question of "Why cultivate," unable to answer for a long time.

And once someone failed to answer, they would be directly blocked by the stone platform, losing the qualification to continue forward.

Lin Mo had not moved at all.

He stood beneath the foremost Bone Platform, his gaze fixed on the stone platforms where people were constantly answering and moving forward, his expression extremely calm.

He was not in a hurry.

Nor was he eager to give an answer like the others.

Because he knew that his power was not as simple as that of a passerby, not as sharp as Azerbaijani own, and certainly not as pure as Zhou Jingyue.

Instant Shadow, Awakening of Insects, Starlight Moon Condensation, Aurora Flowing Cloud Slash, Hidden Dragon Emerging from the Abyss, Dragonborn Form, and Void-Treading Cloud-Scaling Steps—each of these traits and cultivation techniques possessed astonishing power, and there were so many of them, all intertwined together.

After being sealed, others might only need to find a single point to quickly recover a portion of their power.

But he was different.

What he needed to find was not some single line.

It was the entire outline of his own martial path.

Therefore, he was slower than everyone else.

One after another, people completed the martial inquiry and began to climb the bone steps.

One after another, they began to achieve self-enlightenment under pressure, recovering a portion of their power.

Even some passersby, because their power was too singular, actually completed the first round of breakthroughs earlier than the supporting characters.

Yet Lin Mo remained standing there, not moving for a long time.

Until finally, after Zhou Jingyue, Azerbaijani own, and Shen Zhihan had all successively stepped onto the bone steps, Lin Mo finally lifted his head.

He stepped onto the Wenwu Bone Platform.

The stone platform trembled slightly.

An ancient voice sounded once again, repeating the same words.

"Why do you cultivate?"

Lin Mo did not answer immediately.

He closed his eyes, as if recalling everything he had experienced along the way.

cultivation is not just for survival.

Nor is it simply to win.

He had reached this point today not only because he wanted to become stronger, but also because he had been forced to move forward, forced to endure, and forced to break his limits along the way.

What he had to protect was his own life.

And his own path.

And he had to protect the things that he could not retreat from.

A moment later, Lin Mo finally opened his eyes.

"I cultivate so that I, myself, will always have the qualification to move forward."

"In order to protect the things I want to protect at any time."

"In order not to be pushed along by fate."

"And to hold the initiative back in my own hands."

As his voice fell, the grey-white martial intent on the stone platform did not immediately dissipate.

It simply paused quietly for a long time.

Long enough for Lin Mo to clearly feel that the ancient will was examining him bit by bit.

Then, the stone platform slowly parted.

"Feasible."

The path beneath Lin Mo's feet finally opened.

But at that very moment, Lin Mo suddenly felt that the powers within him, which had originally been dormant, did not seem to be recovered immediately like those of others.

Others' enlightenment was the return of simple power.

But his enlightenment felt like he had just found a starting point.

Because he was too complex.

So complex that even though he already knew why he cultivated, he still needed time to sort, integrate, and truly let those powers merge into himself.

Lin Mo exhaled slightly.

He did not immediately rush up the bone steps.

Instead, he stood in place first, quietly feeling that bit of enlightenment that had just emerged.

Then, he took his first step and officially stepped onto the bone steps.

Above the bone-white steps, a cold wind blew, and killing intent suddenly arose.

A Skeleton Warrior, holding a bone blade in its hand, slowly stood up from the end of the steps.

Its aura was not considered strong.

It was only about Third Stage Late Phase.

With Lin Mo's base attributes, he could easily deal with an opponent of this level even without using any traits or cultivation techniques!

But for others who had just stepped onto the steps, this was already a genuine obstacle.

Although everyone present had at least Third Stage Late Phase cultivation, without the augmentation of cultivation techniques and traits, relying solely on physical fitness to deal with a Third Stage Late Phase Skeleton Warrior was still not easy!

"Every level of steps really does have a guardian."

Lin Mo looked at the Skeleton Warrior, his expression calm.

At the same time, more people had begun to encounter the skeleton guardians in front of them.

On the first level of steps, there was only one Skeleton Warrior.

The second level, two.

The third level, three.

As they climbed higher, the number of Skeleton Warriors increased, and their strength grew stronger.

The higher they went, the fiercer the obstruction.

At the higher levels, there would even be nine Skeleton Warriors on a single step.

They stood in staggered positions, sealing off the path ahead like nine bone thresholds, forcing people to tear open a path head-on in order to continue upward.

The first Skeleton Warrior in front of Lin Mo attacked first.

Its bone blade slashed horizontally, the movement crisp and vicious.

Lin Mo dodged sideways, his footsteps sliding along the bone steps, and he brushed past the blade edge.

He had no traits to use.

All cultivation techniques and skills were also sealed.

He had only relied on physical instinct to avoid this strike.

The next instant, he raised his hand to counter-grab, directly seizing the hand bone of the Skeleton Warrior holding the blade, and twisted it with the momentum.

Snap.

The bone arm shattered.

The Skeleton Warrior's form swayed, and Lin Mo kicked it directly in the chest, kicking it right off the steps.

First level, passed.

But just as he steadied himself, the two Skeleton Warriors on the second level of steps lunged at him simultaneously.

One on the left, one on the right.

Bone blades crossed, sealing his retreat.

Lin Mo moved his feet again, flashing along the edge of the steps, his figure sinking slightly under the pressure, but he borrowed the momentum to lunge forward half a step.

He finally began to truly feel a hint of pressure!

In the Martial God Secret Realm, everyone's cultivation was suppressed to a roughly equivalent level; without the augmentation of traits and cultivation techniques, he was only marginally stronger than an ordinary Third Stage Late Phase Awakener!

Lin Mo's gaze focused; he raised his elbow, drove his knee, and swept horizontally with a backhand.

Bang!

One Skeleton Warrior had half its bone frame shattered by his direct impact.

The other was pressed down hard and flipped away by him using the height of the steps.

Two, passed.

Lin Mo continued upward.

At the same time, people behind him constantly stepped onto new steps, and people were constantly forced back by the Skeleton Warriors; some even died on the bone steps because they were too slow to jump down.

But the true screening had only just begun.

...