156: Skeletons form the array, the demon hunt begins.

The Spirit Sealing Array was located on a small, rising hill on the east side of the White Bone Wasteland.

When Lin Fan and his team arrived, this ancient, ruined Formation was hidden within the gray fog; if not for the precise markings on the map, almost no one would have been able to discover its existence.

The base of the Formation consisted of nine black stone steles, each three zhang tall, arranged in a circle. The bodies of the steles were covered in cracks, and the engravings were long since blurred. A translucent membrane of light connected the steles, but it was as tattered as a sieve, riddled with holes of various sizes.

"Can such a ruined Formation really trap a Mid-Stage World Lord Bone Demon?" Lin Pojun asked, his face showing doubt.

"If it were a complete Spirit Sealing Array, it would be more than enough to trap and kill a Peak World Lord." Lin Fan walked around the steles, his fingers lightly brushing against the surface, sensing the residual Formation patterns. "Although it is damaged now, with a little repair, trapping the Bone Demon for half an incense stick of time will not be a problem."

"Half an incense stick of time?" Xia Qingyue pondered. "Is that enough?"

"It is."

Lin Fan said no more. He took thirty-six Top-Grade Spirit Stones from his robe and began to repair the Formation patterns.

He was not a Formation Master, but his Eternal Annihilation Body granted him a keen perception of "existence" and "nothingness." A Formation was, in essence, a form of "existence"—carving the laws of heaven and earth into patterns to make them endure. He did not need to understand the meaning of these patterns; he only needed to sense which parts had become "nothingness" and which still "existed," then convert the spiritual energy within the Spirit Stones into the energy required by the Formation to fill in the gaps.

To outsiders, this process looked extremely bizarre.

Lin Fan brought his fingers together, drawing out wisps of gray Qi that wove across the stone steles like embroidery. Wherever they passed, the dried-up engravings would light up with a faint, eerie glow, and the cracked lines would slowly heal.

After an incense stick of time, the nine stone steles trembled simultaneously. A complete membrane of light rose from the tops of the steles and closed at the central dome, forming a translucent shield.

Although the membrane remained dim and cracks still persisted, the Formation was barely formed.

"It is done." Lin Fan withdrew his fingers, a light sheen of sweat appearing on his forehead. "Lin Pojun, take the Eighteen Guards and lie in ambush outside the Formation. Once the Bone Demon enters, use the battle Formation to seal off its retreat."

"Understood!"

"Princess Xia Qingyue, lead your people to guard the east side of the Formation. If the Bone Demon breaks free, intercept it immediately."

"Understood." Xia Qingyue gripped her sword, her silver armor gleaming coldly in the gray fog.

Lin Fan stood in the center of the Formation, closed his eyes, and converged his aura until it was almost non-existent.

He became the bait.

The gray fog of the White Bone Wasteland would never dissipate.

Within the fog, a massive skeleton was wandering aimlessly.

In life, it must have been a powerful expert who practiced Body Refining. After death, its skeleton retained a complete combat form—three zhang tall, its entire body as white and lustrous as jade. Its shoulder blades, elbows, and knees were all equipped with barbed bone blades, and its five fingers had transformed into five sharp bone swords. Two balls of scarlet ghost fire burned within its hollow eye sockets; with every breath it took, the surrounding bones would tremble slightly.

This was the overlord of the eastern region of the White Bone Wasteland. It had been born only three hundred years ago, yet it had already devoured countless vengeful spirits and weak Bone Demons, establishing a firm foothold in this land of death.

It possessed no intelligence, only instinct.

Instinct told it that heading west meant approaching the scent of its own kind, which it needed to avoid.

Instinct told it that heading south meant approaching a stronger existence, which it could not provoke.

Instinct told it that heading east meant approaching a ruined Formation—it was dangerous, but occasionally prey would wander in by mistake.

And at this moment, its instinct told it something else: inside the ruined Formation, there was the scent of a living creature.

It was very faint, like a fresh corpse that had just died.

The Bone Demon stopped, its scarlet ghost fire flickering slightly.

It did not hesitate for long. In its three hundred years of memories surviving solely on instinct, prey that wandered into ruined Formations had never managed to escape its pursuit.

One step, two steps.

The Bone Demon walked toward the Spirit Sealing Array. With every step it took, the bones on the ground shattered into powder.

Three miles, one mile, three hundred zhang.

Through the gray fog, it saw the ruined Formation and the gray figure standing quietly in its center.

Its ghost fire suddenly flared brightly.

The Bone Demon let out a hoarse shriek, dropped to all fours, and charged like a wild beast. "It's coming."

Lin Fan opened his eyes; in his perception, a mass of Death Qi, intense enough to chill the bones, was rapidly approaching.

Thirty zhang, twenty zhang, ten zhang—the Bone Demon charged into the range of the Spirit Sealing Array.

The moment it stepped into the Formation, the nine stone steles erupted with a blinding, eerie light simultaneously. A translucent membrane of light rose from all sides, and the dome shield closed in an instant!

The Bone Demon's charging form slammed violently into the light membrane, and it was actually forced back!

It let out an angry roar and slashed its five fingers down hard against the light membrane.

Boom!

The bone swords collided with the light membrane, erupting with a loud clang like metal striking metal. The light membrane trembled violently, and cracks spread outward from the point of impact.

But that was all.

The Spirit Sealing Array had trapped it.

"Now!"

Lin Pojun gave a low shout, and the Eighteen Guards rushed out from outside the Formation simultaneously, each forming the same hand seal. Eighteen streams of gray Qi shot out like chains, interweaving into a giant net that tightly covered the outer layer of the light membrane.

This was the "Trapping-Kill Net," a combined attack technique recorded in the foundational section of the Eternal Annihilation Body. The eighteen people cultivated the same source, their spiritual energy complementing and reinforcing each other, causing the sealing power to increase exponentially.

The Bone Demon sensed danger.

It stopped attacking the light membrane and turned toward Lin Fan. For the first time, an emotion similar to "vigilance" appeared within its scarlet ghost fire.

The living creature before it clearly had a very weak aura, even weaker than the prey it had hunted before. Yet, for some reason, it felt a vague sense of fear.

Its instinct told it: this prey is very dangerous.

But it was too late.

Lin Fan moved.

He did not draw his sword, nor did he activate any Cultivation Technique; he simply walked toward the Bone Demon.

With the first step he took, the gray fog around the Bone Demon suddenly solidified.

With the second step, the Bone Demon's movements became sluggish, as if it had fallen into a quagmire.

With the third step, the scarlet ghost fire in the Bone Demon's eyes flickered violently, and it actually shrank back half a step.

It was afraid.

An overlord of the wasteland that had lived for three hundred years and devoured countless vengeful spirits and its own kind was actually afraid when facing a human whose aura was only at the Late-stage World Lord level!

Lin Fan did not give it a chance to escape.

By the fourth step, he was already standing in front of the Bone Demon, his right hand raised, his palm aimed at the bones on its chest.

There, a thumb-sized, pitch-black crystal core lay.

A Bone Crystal.

The source of all the Bone Demon's power and consciousness.

"You were originally an expert of the Human Race, but after death, you were infected by Death Qi and reduced to a slave of slaughter," Lin Fan said in a calm voice. "For ten thousand years you have found no release; today, I will send you on your way."

Within his palm, gray Qi condensed like a whirlpool.

The Bone Demon let out its final, most shrill roar, and the five bone swords stabbed toward Lin Fan simultaneously, but the tips of the blades stopped abruptly three feet from his body. It was not because Lin Fan had used any defensive Cultivation Technique. It was that the bone swords themselves had stopped.

Those five bone blades, which had slaughtered countless living beings, were now trembling violently, as if putting up a final struggle. The scarlet ghost fire in its hollow eye sockets gradually became tinged with a faint trace of gold.

Lin Fan was slightly stunned.

From that mass of consciousness that was about to dissipate, he perceived a certain emotion—not fear, and not anger.

It was gratitude.

"So you still had a trace of lingering obsession," he said softly. "Ten thousand years, and it has still not been worn away."

The bone swords slowly lowered.

The Bone Demon's massive skeletal body knelt before Lin Fan, its head bowed.

This was not an attack stance. It was the grand bow a Disciple gives to a master in a certain ancient Legacy.

Xia Qingyue exclaimed, "Does it know you?"

No, it did not know Lin Fan.

It recognized the Eternal Annihilation Body.

Or more accurately, the master it served in life had cultivated the predecessor of the path Lin Fan was now on.

Lin Fan was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Is your master still in this battlefield?"

The Bone Demon looked up, its scarlet ghost fire having completely turned into gold.

It pointed far into the south, then collapsed with a roar.

The three-zhang-tall skeleton turned into countless fragments and scattered across the ground; only the pitch-black bone crystal remained, suspended in the air and slowly drifting toward Lin Fan.

He reached out and caught it. It was warm to the touch, and it even carried a faint, rhythmic heartbeat.

[Ding! Special item "crystal of loyal bones" detected. Absorb? Absorbing it will permanently increase the compatibility between the Eternal Annihilation Body and the ancient war Legacy.]

The System prompt sounded in his mind.

Lin Fan gripped the bone crystal tightly. He did not absorb it immediately but instead tucked it away.

He turned and looked toward the south.

There lay the deepest part of the White Bone Wasteland.

It was also one of the seven forbidden, dangerous zones marked on the map.

"Master," he repeated the word softly.

The gray fog surged, as if responding to something.

"Young Lord, are you alright?" Lin Pojun put away the Trapping-Kill Net and hurried forward.

"I am fine." Lin Fan collected his thoughts and scanned the group. "Are there any casualties?"

"None. This Bone Demon was weaker than we imagined; after the Spirit Sealing Array trapped it, it barely struggled." Lin Pojun scratched his head. "It is all thanks to the Young Lord's brilliant plan."

Lin Fan did not explain.

It was not that the Bone Demon was weak.

It was that it had given up the struggle itself.

A ten-thousand-year obsession, just to find someone who would inherit that path.

How foolish.

How respectable.

"Rest for half an hour, then continue forward," he said in a calm voice. "There are two more Bone Demons in the White Bone Wasteland; we will clear them all within three days."

"Yes!"

The group acknowledged the order and rested on the spot.

Xia Qingyue walked to Lin Fan's side and said in a low voice, "Did that Bone Demon know the source of your Legacy in its previous life?"

"Perhaps." Lin Fan looked toward the south. "Perhaps this place is far more complex than we imagined."

"Then should we continue?"

"Continue." His tone was firm. "I promised it I would send you all back alive, and I will definitely do it."

Xia Qingyue looked at his profile and did not ask again.

The secrets this man carried were increasing, but she believed that he would never be crushed by these secrets.

On the contrary, he would uncover them one by one and then ascend to higher places.

Half an hour later, the team set off again.

The Spirit Sealing Array slowly dimmed behind them, and the nine stone steles returned to silence.

Only on the ground in the center of the Formation, the pattern formed by the fragments of the Bone Demon's skeleton was still faintly discernible.

It was an ancient rune that, ten thousand years ago, had represented the final loyalty of a warrior who followed Eternity and Annihilation.

The gray fog surged, slowly swallowing it all. Dozens of miles away, Xuesha put away his secret treasure used for spying, his expression grim.

"This kid is stronger than described in the intelligence reports."

"Boss, are we still going to make a move?" the masked killer with the fox mask asked in a low voice.

"We will, but not now," Xuesha gritted his teeth. "Wait until he finishes fighting the remaining Bone Demons, and wait until those Three Hundred Battle Guards are exhausted. I don't believe that Lin Fan can go three days and three nights without sleep or rest!"

He looked toward the south, blood-red light flickering in his eyes.

"Besides, the direction the Bone Demon pointed in might hold an even greater Opportunity."

"Wealth is sought in danger; the boss is right," the masked killer with the hawk mask agreed.

The five of them hid back into the fog.

In the sky further away, the third demonic eye quietly closed.

The corner of the Three-Eyed Demon Lord's mouth curled into a playful arc.

"Interesting, very interesting."

"The loyal bones from ten thousand years ago are actually still waiting for that inheritor."

"It seems that what the Great Emperor of Annihilation left behind back then is far more than just one divine temple."

He licked his lips, the vertical line on his forehead slightly opening and closing.

"Then I cannot let you go even more, Lin Fan."

The night was heavy.

The hunt in the White Bone Wasteland had only just begun.