The Profound Bone Saint Revealed

Chapter 435: Stirring the Seas Abroad – Xiao Chan

Suddenly, the boy’s ghostly claw flipped, and a streak of green light shot forth, meeting the oncoming green rainbow head-on.

A thunderous roar erupted!

Black and gold arcs of electricity burst outward, colliding and intertwining to form a massive ball of lightning. The two forces clashed with a continuous crackling that shook the hall, creating a scene of astonishing power.

Han Li’s pupils contracted sharply!

“Divine Thunder Bamboo…” The opponent possessed a magical treasure refined from Divine Thunder Bamboo as well. This realization shook him.

Could it be…?

As if grasping at a thought, Han Li focused his gaze on the green light the boy had fired.

Within the dazzling arcs of electricity, a foot-long emerald arrow stood its ground fiercely against the giant sword formed by the seven Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. The electrical arcs leaping from it were vastly different from those of the giant sword. The golden color was nearly absent, replaced by a thick, pitch-black taint, as if it had been tempered by some demonic art.

Despite this, the power of the black lightning arcs was immense, and in the clash with the golden lightning, they gained a clear upper hand.

Seeing this, Han Li couldn’t help but let out a quiet sigh of relief.

So his earlier suspicion had been correct.

The moment he had seen the arrow embedded in the skull, he had sensed a familiar aura, one very similar to his own fully matured Gold Lightning Bamboo. But its somewhat blackened color and the occasional leakage of demonic Qi had made him hesitate.

After all, as far as he knew, Gold Lightning Bamboo had only appeared once in the Chaos Star Sea before vanishing for countless years. For him to encounter it so coincidentally was hard to believe.

But now it was clear: not only was the arrow that had ambushed the old ghost made of Gold Lightning Bamboo, but the old ghost had actually refined it into his own magical treasure. What a bitter irony!

Han Li’s lips curled slightly into a faint, sarcastic smile.

Then another thought struck him: if the old ghost had suddenly used this arrow to attack him while he was observing the skeleton, from such close range, he would have been dead for sure.

This thought made him increasingly fearful. He felt a chill run down his spine, a lingering sense of dread.

As for his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords being outmatched by this arrow, there was nothing strange about it. These flying swords had been tempered for too short a time; they were relying purely on the innate power of the Gold Lightning Bamboo to fight, making them far inferior to the opponent’s thoroughly refined treasure.

If the seven swords had been tempered for just a little longer, this single Gold Lightning Bamboo treasure of the opponent’s would never have been able to contend with them.

But now that he had confirmed the opponent truly had a way to counter the “Righteous Demon-Suppressing Lightning” of the Gold Lightning Bamboo, Han Li had no desire to fight to the death with him.

From the initial green shadow to this manifested boy, he had never been able to gauge the opponent’s true level of cultivation.

Furthermore, this person was cunning and treacherous, his demonic techniques sinister and unpredictable, making them hard to defend against.

If he were to go all out, even with his trump card of over a hundred thousand Gold Devouring Beetles, he wasn’t certain of victory.

He suspected that the opponent’s sudden proposal to cease hostilities stemmed from a similar wariness of his own sharp treasures and strange techniques.

With this thought, Han Li silently waved a hand toward the giant sword.

With a loud rumble, the giant sword disintegrated back into seven smaller swords that flew back to Han Li.

Seeing this, a cold glint flickered in the boy’s eyes, but after a moment’s hesitation, he chose not to pursue with the arrow and recalled his own treasure instead.

“If you truly are the master of Patriarch Extreme Yin, then your age must be nearly a thousand years old!” Han Li asked coolly after putting away his Flying Swords, a note of disbelief in his voice.

“Before I cultivated the ‘Profound Soul Refining Great Art,’ I had already lived for over six hundred years. After transforming into a Profound Soul Body, I cannot say exactly how long has passed, but it has been four or five hundred years. I owe this to having dispersed my Nascent Soul and cultivating this Profound Soul Body instead. Otherwise, even if my physical body had survived, I would have long since passed away.” The boy lowered his head to look at his hands, which had returned to normal, and spoke with an air of indifference.

Hearing this, Han Li was speechless!

If the other party was telling the truth, this person was truly a “thousand-year-old ghost”!

At the same time, Han Li couldn’t help but feel a flicker of interest in the Profound Soul Refining Great Art. Any technique that could allow a cultivator to break through the lifespan limit was naturally tempting.

So, Han Li’s tone softened slightly.

“In that case, I suppose I really should address you as ‘Senior’!”

The boy glanced at Han Li, perhaps seeing through his insincere words, and let out a cold laugh.

“Senior? I dominated the cultivation world for so many years. I never imagined I would end up in a state neither human nor ghost, even forfeiting the chance to re-enter the Six Paths of Reincarnation. All for the sake of taking revenge on those two rebellious disciples! If you don’t clearly explain your origins, I would rather suffer a bit more damage to my vitality than let you leave this place alive.”

His voice was flat, but the cruelty and icy intent within it were unmistakable.

Han Li smiled wryly. After thinking for a moment, he spoke:

“Senior, isn’t it a bit unfair for you to only question me? I also have some doubts I’d like Senior to clear up for me.”

Hearing Han Li’s words, the boy was momentarily stunned. But then he threw his head back and laughed heartily.

“Good, very good! I can agree to that condition. However, I fear that if you know too much, your little life may be hard to keep.”

The boy’s arrogance was fully revealed.

“Heh, you needn’t worry about that, Senior. If I am not mistaken, Senior’s current cultivation is at most comparable to a late Core Formation cultivator. I believe I can still handle that.” Han Li said this as a probe, carefully watching the other’s expression.

The boy just sneered a few times, showing no unusual signs, which made Han Li inwardly curse him as an “old fox.”

“Enough nonsense. You say your skills came from a jade slip and not from my two rebellious disciples. Bring the jade slip and let me have a look.” The boy said coldly, his tone aggressive.

Han Li frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, then reached into his storage pouch and flung his hand.

A jade slip radiating a gray-white aura flew straight toward the boy.

The boy did not reach out to catch it directly. Instead, he raised his hand, and a mass of black Qi transformed into a black serpent, which caught the jade slip in its mouth before slithering back to its master.

Without moving his hands or feet, the boy gazed at the jade slip, unmoving, while a blood-red light flickered in his eyes.

After a moment, the strange light in his eyes faded. He lightly flicked his finger, and with a whoosh, the jade slip shot back into Han Li’s hand like an arrow. Only then did he speak slowly to Han Li:

“Tell me how you came by this item. A single jade slip is not enough to prove you have no connection to my two disciples.”

Hearing this, Han Li gave a faint smile. Instead of answering the question, he posed his own:

“Since Senior possesses such great divine abilities, you must have made quite a name for yourself back in the day. Would you mind telling me your esteemed name?”

Seeing Han Li dodge his question and turn the interrogation around, the boy felt a surge of anger, and a harsh look appeared on his face.

But after a moment’s thought, he still replied coldly:

“This old man is Xiao Chan, the Profound Bone Saint. Have you ever heard of me?”

“Profound Bone Saint?”

Han Li thought about it carefully but found he had never heard the name.

He didn’t dwell on it, however, and replied calmly:

“Since Senior believes that a jade slip is insufficient to verify my identity, and that my techniques are clearly not from your lineage, Senior, with your vast experience, should be able to see that clearly. Please take another look.” As he spoke, Han Li pushed the Azure Essence Sword Art to its limit. The azure light radiating from his body became blindingly brilliant, almost too bright to look at directly.

Then, with a flick of his ten fingers, seven or eight azure sword beams shot out, striking the wall beside him and blasting holes as thick as a bowl’s mouth.

“As for the origin of this jade slip, it’s quite simple. I obtained it by chance when I eliminated a邪cultivator. If Senior still does not believe me after this, then I have nothing more to say. We’ll have to settle it in battle.” Han Li clapped his hands lightly as he spoke, his tone dismissive.

Xiao Chan stared at the azure light emanating from Han Li, his expression dark and gloomy. After a long while, his expression finally softened slightly.

“The technique you practice is indeed not from the Profound Yin Scripture, nor even a demonic technique. This Saint can naturally see that. However, you possess a Demon Core avatar and came here so coincidentally; it’s only prudent for me to be cautious. But let me ask you one more thing: aside from this jade slip, did you obtain anything else from that person’s body?”

Hearing the old fiend’s words, Han Li’s expression shifted slightly. He vaguely felt that all this intimidation had been leading to this ultimate goal.

After thinking this over, Han Li chose not to answer the question but instead asked one of his own, keeping his face expressionless.

“Senior, since you have successfully cultivated your Profound Soul Body and have been trapped here for so many years, are there many restrictions and flaws to this ‘Profound Soul Refining Great Art’? For instance, being unable to walk under the sun, being restrained by certain special Dharma artifacts…”

“Hmph! Do you think I would tell you such things?” The boy was enraged by Han Li’s words. His face changed drastically as he interrupted harshly.

“Exactly! And do you think I would tell you things you are not meant to know, Senior?” Han Li’s expression remained unchanged as he said calmly.

Xiao Chan was taken aback by this cold taunt. The anger on his face gradually dissipated.