159: Chapter 159 Martial Demon

On the bone-white surface of the platform, patterns lit up layer by layer.

Starting from the lowest level, following the ninety-nine bone steps all the way up, all the previously dormant bone patterns seemed to come alive at this moment. The pale light flowed upward like a tide, finally converging at the very top into an enormous Formation Eye.

Lin Mo stood in the center of the Formation Eye, his robes whipped up by the fierce wind, snapping loudly.

He didn't move immediately.

Instead, he raised his head slightly and looked forward.

It was a realm of pure white.

So white that there was no up or down, no left or right, and no spatial boundaries. It was as if the core world of the entire Bone Platform was opening up to him at this moment.

Below, everyone looked up.

Ji Wuchen stood at the eighteenth level. The initial dismissiveness on his face had long since vanished, replaced only by a stiffness born from being repeatedly crushed.

Gu Yunting stood on a higher bone step. The long sword in his hand hung down, its tip trembling slightly—it was unclear whether it was from suppression or the slight vibration in his heart that he was unwilling to admit.

Lu Chenzhou's chest heaved, his gaze fixed and blank.

The Momentum he excelled at most had been ground down to nothing before this Bone Platform. At this point, even a single word of resentment felt hollow.

Ye Huangyi stood in the shadows of the bone steps. For the first time, the usual composure was gone from her cold and elegant face.

Several elders stood by the entrance, all remaining silent as well.

They had previously judged Lin Mo's cultivation to be at the seventh level of the fourth rank, thinking reaching the fiftieth level would be decent. Recalling those words now, they felt as if they had slapped their own faces.

Shen Guhong did not speak.

He simply stared at the figure standing at the very top, his gaze rarely grave.

Daoist Master Yun Yao was the first to notice something was wrong, and she whispered:

"Is it about to end?"

Wei Qianshan's pupils constricted slightly.

"The Bone Platform inheritance... its true core is about to appear."

Boom—

Just as the words fell, the entire ninety-ninth level suddenly sank inward.

It wasn't a collapse.

Instead, it was as if an invisible hand was slowly pressing the entire space inward.

In the center of the bone-white Formation Eye, a pitch-black crack soundlessly opened.

Inside the crack, there was no light.

There was no wind.

Only an extremely dense, ancient, and dangerous aura seeped out through the gap.

In the next instant, a hand reached out from the crack.

That hand was large.

The finger bones were long and well-defined, but the surface was wrapped in nearly ink-black remnant patterns.

It pressed against the edge of the crack and slowly pushed outward.

"Crack—"

The crack widened.

A figure slowly walked out from within.

The figure was tall and thin, yet carried a sense of oppression distorted to the extreme, as if pieced together from countless shattered remnants of Martial Dao.

It had no facial features.

Its face was a blank bone mask.

But the moment it fully appeared, the same word surfaced in everyone's minds simultaneously.

Martial Demon.

A phantom condensed from battle intent, killing intent, obsession, shattered Martial Dao, and countless ancient echoes.

"Roar—"

The Martial Demon phantom let out a roar so low it didn't seem like a living being's, the sound waves crashing onto the entire Bone Platform like a heavy hammer.

Many Trial-takers still on the bone steps turned pale on the spot, nearly kneeling directly.

Ji Wuchen abruptly took half a step back, his expression horrified.

"What is this thing?!"

Gu Yunting's face changed drastically, and he gripped his sword almost instinctively.

Lu Chenzhou's face turned even paler with fright.

He wasn't that he hadn't seen powerful experts before.

But the thing before him didn't look like an expert.

It was like an existence "resented" into being by Martial Intent.

Standing in the center of the ninety-ninth level, Lin Mo finally moved.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze falling upon the Martial Demon phantom.

At that moment, everyone outside the Bone Platform could clearly see that there was no fear, no surprise, and not even much gravity in his eyes.

There was only a nearly pure battle intent.

"So, the final trial is you."

He said in a low voice.

The Martial Demon phantom did not respond.

In the next moment, it took a step forward.

The entire ninety-ninth level shook with it.

It used no tricks, no probes, and no redundant movements; it simply raised its hand and threw a punch.

That punch was extremely simple, yet so simple it made one's scalp tingle.

Because there was no technique in this punch, only the most primitive, pure, and violent intent to "shatter everything."

Before the force of the punch even arrived, the Bone Platform beneath Lin Mo's feet had already cracked with spiderweb-like patterns.

"So strong..."

Gu Yunting blurted out.

It wasn't that he couldn't see how strong the punch was, but rather that it was so strong he found it difficult even to judge.

Lin Mo did not retreat.

At this moment, the Void-Treading Cloud-Scaling Steps wasn't actively activated but seemed to be instinctively pulled out by his body. He slid sideways, narrowly avoiding the punch's force.

The wind from the punch brushed past his shoulder, instantly tearing a large piece of his robe and leaving a faint bloody streak on his skin.

But he didn't even frown.

Instead, at the moment of evasion, the long saber in his right hand was already raised.

Aurora Flowing Cloud Slash.

The saber light cut upward from below toward the Martial Demon's arm.

Clang—!

A piercing sound of collision exploded.

That was not the sound of cutting into flesh.

It was more like slashing against some extremely hard martial crystallization.

Sparks flew in all directions.

Lin Mo's arm sank slightly, and he was actually shaken back half a step.

The hearts of the people below instantly tightened.

This was the first time Lin Mo had been forced back in a direct confrontation.

A trace of almost uncontrollable shock flashed in Ji Wuchen's eyes, which then quickly turned into a more complex emotion.

It wasn't schadenfreude.

It was horror.

Because Lin Mo being forced back meant that thing was truly absurdly strong.

And the fact that Lin Mo could take that punch without dying was even more absurd.

The Martial Demon phantom did not stop.

Its second punch followed immediately.

This punch was faster, heavier, and more ruthless than the first.

Lin Mo's pupils constricted slightly as he shifted his footwork again.

But this time, the Martial Demon seemed to have predicted his movement trajectory. Mid-punch, it twisted forcefully, sealing off the landing point of his footwork.

"It can actually predict Lin Mo's moves!"

Gu Yunting's eyes shook, and he almost blurted out.

Ye Huangyi's expression also suddenly turned cold at this moment.

She saw it.

The Martial Demon was not a simple power-type monster.

It was learning during the battle.

Every punch, palm strike, and attack adapted to the opponent's rhythm with extreme speed.

When Lin Mo retreated, the Martial Demon pressed forward.

When Lin Mo changed his momentum, the Martial Demon broke it.

When Lin Mo struck with his saber, it would even counterattack directly at the peak of the saber's momentum.

This was a nearly terrifying combat intelligence.

Lin Mo exchanged dozens of moves with it; above the Bone Platform, light exploded wildly and bone fragments flew everywhere.

The long saber in his hand slashed faster and faster, the saber light like a continuously rolling streamline, unending.

But every collision with the Martial Demon's fists, elbows, knees, and shoulders felt like a mountain crashing into him.

Bang!

There was another loud bang.

Lin Mo was forced back by a horizontal elbow strike. When he landed, his knees bent slightly, and two cracks were stepped directly into the Bone Platform beneath him.

The Martial Demon phantom stood in front, its blank face slightly lowered as if scrutinizing him.

That posture actually held a hint of invincibility.

The hearts of many below tightened as they watched.

Ji Wuchen's throat felt dry, and for the first time, he felt an extremely absurd sensation.

But what Lin Mo was facing now was already beyond a level they could comprehend.

It wasn't a matter of "just winning."

It was a duel of the Martial Dao itself.

The elders were even more terrified as they watched.

Lei Wanjun's voice was somewhat low.

"This Martial Demon... seems like a 'Dao Remnant' left behind by the Bone Platform at the end."

Shen Guhong's gaze was more grave than ever before.

"It's not a remnant."

"It's the accumulation of Martial Intent from successive generations here to the extreme, finally forming a 'summation'."

"It is not the martial path of any single person."

"It is a monster formed by the convergence of all the martial paths left behind."

After these words were spoken, the surroundings fell into a dead silence.

Because they all understood the terror of this thing.

It had no true self, yet possessed fragments of countless types of combat experience.

It belonged to no era, yet inherited all eras.

And now, Lin Mo had to face it alone.

...