CHAPTER 305: CHAPTER 25: EMPEROR SKELETON

Watching the girl in front walk further and further away, Ya tried to make a sound, but it was as if a blunt tool was constantly grinding painfully in his brain. His throat felt as if it were blocked by a lump of lead, unable to emit any sound.

Not until Yue Jinghua completely disappeared from his sight, did he gasp for air and stuffed the bottle of Green Liquid into his chest.

Ahead was a rustling noise, as if somebody was approaching.

Could she have returned? A flicker of joy involuntarily crossed his heart, and Ya lifted his head.

Within his line of sight were a pair of withered feet, a towering humanoid skeleton draped in a crimson cloak, wielding a human bone staff, standing before Ya.

His entire body was composed of bones, but unlike those dead skeletons that crawled out of ancient tombs, this Dark Skull possessed human intelligence. His bones shone just like fine jade, radiating a bright and moonlike luster.

When he spoke, his jawbone opened and closed, and a ghastly green deathly light emanated from the hollows of his eye sockets.

"Hehe, suffering, aren’t you, boy? I see you living a life not human nor ghost, better off dead. Wouldn’t it be better to let me—Emperor Skeleton—devour your soul, surrender your flesh to me for your release?" The creature that claimed to be Emperor Skeleton extended its skinny fingers, lifting Ya’s jaw to inspect his eyes filled with rage and pain.

In the Dark Hell, countless Dark Demon Beasts lived, yet there were also beings like Yue Jinghua or Ya, Dark Practitioners who had accidentally entered the realm.

If they couldn’t find a way to leave Dark Hell, they would only be condemned to wander here forever.

The majority of these Dark Practitioners perished in Dark Hell amidst the torment of Evil Qi, yet a few, through their own talent and the Dark Power hidden deep in their hearts, turned to practice Sha Technique and transformed into Dark Demon People.

Dark Demon People, having defied the Heaven and Earth Laws and not being natives of Dark Hell, were neither righteous nor wicked, not accepted by any faction, ultimately suffering the world’s most venomous curse, the Reincarnation Longevity Curse. Their flesh would rot bit by bit in the Evil Wind, yet they could never truly die and enter the cycle of Reincarnation, forced to live eternally.

Eventually, they end up as one of the most marginal species in Dark Hell, the Dark Skulls.

Dark Skulls were adept at tracking and concealing their presence, possessing the intelligence of the Human Race, but with hearts of darkness. Prey that caught their attention had no chance of escape.

This Dark Skull, who had been tracking Yue Jinghua all this way, was even more powerful than the average from the Skull Clan.

After being cursed to become a Dark Skull, he lived unobtrusively in Dark Hell, surviving by ambushing the souls of Dark Beasts and Dark Practitioners. About five hundred years ago, he inadvertently encountered a member of the Divine Clan who came to Dark Hell to hunt demons. In battle against the divine being, the Dark Skull was slain with Divine Fire.

However, after the divine being left, the shattered Dark Skull miraculously came back to life. Its charred bones, reforged by Purifying Divine Fire, turned crystal clear and white as fine jade.

Moreover, his skeletal frame became incomparably sturdy, impervious to damage from ordinary Spiritual Artifacts.

After slaughtering nearly a thousand of his Dark Skull kin, he proclaimed himself Emperor Skeleton.

A few days ago, he accidentally scented a living being and unexpectedly discovered the Divine Fire Nirvana Fire Lotus hidden within Yue Jinghua.

He knew that the Nirvana Fire Lotus was more profound than the Divine Fire he encountered before, and it could very likely purify his skeletal body a second time. Considering this, wicked ideas sprouted in his mind. He had planned to kill Yue Jinghua and Ya in secret, steal the Divine Fire, then use it to reforge his bones, ultimately reaching a realm equal to the Ninth Layer Demon King of the Dark Hell Nine-layered Prison Mountain.

Little did he know that during the tracking, he discovered that Yue Jinghua was a Dark Demon Master.

If one were to say that among low and middle-level Demon Beasts, the impenetrable Dark Skull is almost invincible, immune to swords, guns, water, and fire, then a Dark Demon Master with the ability to sense the energy of dark stars is their natural nemesis.

A Dark Demon Master can contract and enslave Dark Skulls, and besides the solitary Dark Demon Masters, most of them have the backing of a powerful family.

Unable to determine the extent of Yue Jinghua’s abilities and after discovering a group of fierce Dark Mosquito Kings around her, Emperor Skeleton gave up his intention to devour Yue Jinghua. Instead, he targeted Ya, who possessed a robust physique.

"Bang"—a heavy punch carrying the weight of a thousand pounds struck the skeleton of Emperor Skeleton.

The body of Emperor Skeleton was sent flying vertically.

"Damn it," Ya silently cursed in his heart. This damned skeleton head had treated him as if he were a woman to be toyed with.

"Cackle..." Emperor Skeleton emitted a bizarre cry, as its dried fingers wiped its mouth, only to discover that two of its front teeth had been broken by Ya, causing it to whistle even when it spoke.

Emperor Skeleton was boiling with rage, it opened its jaw wide and spat out a stream of pitch-black chill wind from its mouth.

That chilly wind twisted in the air constantly, resembling wriggling maggots.

Perceiving the threatening nature of the chill wind, Ya executed a beautiful sparrow flip, his toes springing off the ground to dodge the wind.

That was one of Emperor Skeleton’s Dark Magic Techniques, Skull Breath, a wind carrying a devouring force powerful enough to reduce any touched person or object to white bones, shattering into five or six pieces with just a light touch.

Such a terrifying move left one with no way to guard against it.

A spark of sharpness flashed in Ya’s eyes as he "ding"-ed and threw out the Spiritual Dagger that Yue Jinghua had given him.

The dagger collided with the chilly wind, and the wind was immediately shattered into pieces.

Emperor Skeleton let out an even more furious roar, raising the staff in his hand high. Its wiry knuckles gripped the top of the staff, and with a "rip," the top of the staff separated, pulling out a long, curved blade resembling a samurai sword.

Emperor Skeleton held the curved blade high across his chest, and made a "gurgling" weird noise from its mouth.

A dense breath of death emanated from the blade, as a blinding light flashed from it.

An astonishing Crossed Skull Slash approached, and where the blade wind swept across, the ground cracked open, leaving two earthen marks more than ten inches deep.

Just as Ya was about to dodge, a severe spasm suddenly struck his brain, as if someone was stirring his brain into mush with a knife.

"Die, ignorant fool, just enjoy the excruciating Soul Devouring Ceremony," Emperor Skeleton, in its crimson cloak, tightly entwined Ya. Its gaping skeletal mouth emitted a forest green light, which penetrated into Ya’s body.