154: I accept this cause and effect.

The black seawater did not fall due to gravity; instead, it defied logic and surged skyward.

A hundred-mile sea area instantly transformed into a giant cage.

Zhao Laosan felt the 'a mound made of enemy heads' beneath his feet violently shake, and the countless pale white skulls seemed to come alive, spewing crimson Evil Qi from their hollow eye sockets.

"Run! Run!"

He roared, instinctively wanting to summon his dilapidated Spirit Boat.

However, as soon as the spiritual power within him circulated, it vanished without a trace, like a clay ox entering the sea.

Not just spiritual power.

But also vital blood.

Zhao Laosan lowered his head in horror.

He saw his hands shriveling at a visible speed, his skin clinging to his bones like wrinkled old tree bark.

The blood in his veins no longer flowed; instead, it transformed into wisps of red mist, forcibly extracted through his pores.

"Save... save me..."

He reached out his branch-like hand, grabbing at his companion with the yellow teeth beside him.

But that companion had long since fallen silent.

The entire person remained in a running posture, yet had turned into a lightweight dried corpse, which, when blown by the sea breeze, fell with a thud onto the White Bone a mound made of enemy heads, breaking into several pieces of withered wood.

"No—!"

Zhao Laosan let out one last desperate wail.

The moment before his consciousness dissipated, the warm 'longevity stone' in his embrace slipped out and rolled among the accumulated white bones.

This stone was not stained with any blood; instead, it flickered with a faint, eerie glow, like a cold eye, silently watching this one-sided slaughter... above the Altar.

Withered Bone Daoist took a deep breath, a look of intoxication appearing on his skinless face.

The rich scent of blood in the air was, to him, the most mellow wine in the world.

"Qi Refinement Stage ants, as expected, have little chewiness."

He waved his sleeve dismissively.

The hundreds of Qi Refining Loose Cultivators below had now all turned into dried corpses.

Their essence blood converged into thick blood rivers, flowing upstream, frantically pouring into the 'Blood Fiend Banner' that fluttered in the wind.

The ghost face on the banner became increasingly ferocious, emitting a soul-stirring shriek.

"Next, it's time for the main course."

Withered Bone Daoist's dark eyes swiveled, looking at the dozen or so Spirit Boats still struggling at the edge of the Thunder Pond.

Those were more than twenty Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

At this moment, they had long lost their previous greed and madness, replaced by extreme terror.

"Old Demon Withered Bone! How dare you ambush us?!"

A Middle Foundation Establishment Stage elder in a Crimson Daoist Robe roared furiously.

He held a dimly glowing Fire Cloud Token in his hand, and a flickering Flame Shield surrounded him, attempting to resist the pervasive erosion of the Blood Fiend Qi.

"Ambush?"

Withered Bone Daoist sneered, gently tapping the leg bone on his knee with his finger.

"In the Cultivation World, the strong prey on the weak. Since you coveted this old man's bait, you should have been prepared to become fish food. What, you're allowed to kill people and seize treasures, but this old man isn't allowed to close the door and beat the dog?"

Before his words finished.

He raised a hand and pointed.

Boom!

The purple thunderclouds in the sky suddenly pressed down.

That was not true lightning, but 'Yin Thunder' condensed from countless vengeful spirits and fierce ghosts.

A bolt of Yin Thunder, as thick as a water bucket, struck directly at the crimson-robed elder's shield.

Crack.

The shield shattered in response.

"This old man will fight you to the death!"

Seeing his path to survival cut off, a resolute ruthlessness flashed in the crimson-robed elder's eyes.

He abruptly reversed his Meridians, and a dazzling red light lit up in his Dantian, his entire body rapidly expanding like an inflated ball.

Self-detonation!

The dying counterattack of a Middle Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator was enough to blast a gap in the Formation nodes within a radius of several miles.

The other Foundation Establishment Cultivators around, seeing this, had a glimmer of hope ignite in their eyes.

As long as the Formation broke... "Naive."

Withered Bone Daoist's lips curled into a mocking arc.

He sat at the top of the Altar, not even moving his butt, merely extending a withered index finger from afar and lightly pointing at the elder who was about to explode.

"Fix."

A single word uttered, and his will became law.

The crimson-robed elder's expanding body suddenly stiffened; the violent spiritual power within him was forcibly suppressed by a higher-level power at that instant.

Like a fly frozen in amber.

"Want to die? Did you ask this old man first?"

Withered Bone Daoist made a grasping motion with his five fingers.

Pfft.

A bloody hole unexpectedly burst open in the crimson-robed elder's glabella.

A faint golden humanoid phantom was forcibly dragged out from his Sea of Consciousness—that was his Divine Soul.

"Ah—! Withered Bone! May you die a horrible death! Even as a ghost, I won't let you go!"

The Divine Soul let out a mournful curse, but could not resist the terrifying suction.

Withered Bone Daoist opened his mouth and inhaled.

The Divine Soul was swallowed into his belly like a noodle.

"Burp."

He let out a satisfied burp, a flush of contentment appearing on his face.

"The taste is a bit woody, too much fire Qi, but it's barely usable."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

The remaining Foundation Establishment Cultivators, who had originally planned to fight to the death, had now completely lost the courage to resist.

They couldn't even self-detonate.

How could they fight now?

Is this the power of a great Cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfection, with half a foot in the Purple Mansion?

Despair spread through the Thunder Pond.

Withered Bone Daoist, however, lost interest in continuing his games.

"The time has come; don't make the treasure impatient."

He formed a hand seal and pressed down fiercely.

"Blood Refinement!"

Boom!

The black chains sealing the surrounding sea area suddenly tightened.

The more than twenty Foundation Establishment Cultivators didn't even let out a scream; their Physical Bodies disintegrated instantly, turning into pure blood mists.

Their Divine Souls, too, were all devoured by the Myriad Souls Blood Fiend Banner.

A thousand Cultivators, wiped out in one morning.

The entire sea area was stained a shocking dark red, so thick it couldn't be dissolved.

And in the center of that sea of blood.

The Altar piled with white bones now emitted a sacred white light.

All the blood Qi, resentment Qi, and Evil Qi, after being transformed by the Altar, turned into streams of pure Wood Attribute - Secondary vitality, injecting into the Thunder Pond at the center of the Altar.

Gurgle.

Gurgle.

The Thunder Pond boiled.

The originally violent purple Yin Thunder now became incredibly docile, retreating to both sides like subjects.

A section of wood heart, only arm-length and entirely azure-gold in color, slowly floated to the surface.

It was not stained with a single speck of blood.

On the contrary, it exuded a calming fragrance, and the patterns on its surface were like naturally formed Dao Rhythms; each flicker caused the surrounding space to tremble slightly.

taiyi green wood heart.

A Third-tier High Grade spiritual material.

Even in those great sects, this was an existence worthy of being a sect-guarding treasure.

"Good... good treasure..."

Unprecedented greedy light burst forth from Withered Bone Daoist's dark eyes.

He trembled as he reached out to touch the wood heart, but stopped midway.

"Not enough... still not enough..."

He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse and distorted from extreme excitement.

"It's only Third-tier High Grade; although it can help me Breakthrough to Purple Mansion, the chance is only thirty percent."

"This old man doesn't have much Lifespan left; I can't afford to lose."

"Since I'm doing it, I'll go all the way!"

Withered Bone Daoist suddenly looked up, a hint of madness flashing in his eyes.

He pulled out a black Formation Plate from his embrace and fiercely crushed it.

Buzz!

A dull roar came from the depths of the sea, as if an earth Dragon had turned over.

The seabed within a hundred-mile radius trembled violently.

In that instant, all the corals, seaweeds, and even the swimming fish in the seabed withered and died.

Streams of vast and mixed Earth Vein vitality were forcibly extracted by the fierce Formation, turning into gray long Dragons that converged towards the top of the Altar.

"With a hundred miles of vitality as fuel, and a thousand souls as a guide."

"Break for this old man!"

Withered Bone Daoist roared, spitting a mouthful of Lifebound Essence Blood onto the taiyi green wood heart.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

The originally azure-gold wood heart, after absorbing this terrifyingly vast energy, began to transform.

A faint purple glow spread from deep within the wood heart.

Half-step Fourth-tier!

...Meanwhile.

Thousands of miles away, Longevity Island.

Inside the underground cave, Gu Changsheng looked at the frantic scene in the Water Mirror, his teacup pausing slightly.

The Water Mirror's perspective was very low and somewhat shaky.

That was the image transmitted back through the 'longevity stone' that had fallen into the pile of white bones.

"Madman."

Gu Changsheng softly uttered two words, his tone devoid of joy or anger, only a rational, almost indifferent evaluation.

"To increase the Breakthrough chance by ten percent, he didn't hesitate to drain a hundred miles of Earth Veins, severing the vitality of this sea area for a hundred years."

"The people of Corpse Yin Sect are indeed a bunch of evil seeds, festering from the top of their heads."

He shook his head, his fingertips gently tapping on the table.

Although he was cursing, the azure glow in his eyes grew deeper.

Withered Bone Daoist's move, though brutal, was undeniably effective.

The transforming taiyi green wood heart exuded a suffocating allure, even through the Water Mirror.

"A half-step Fourth-tier wood heart..."

"If used to refine my Lifebound Treasure, its power would increase at least fivefold."

Gu Changsheng put down his teacup, his gaze returning to the corner of the Water Mirror.

There, in an inconspicuous shadow beneath the Altar.

A thumb-sized, dusty wooden Puppet, like a gecko, clung tightly to a critical node of the Formation.

That was the 'eyewitness' he had quietly sent into this sea area through the Ghost Market's channels, after it had changed hands seven or eight times.

Gu Changsheng's lips curled into a faint, meaningful smile.

"But since you've practically spoon-fed me..."

"This Karma, I accept."