A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 558 Skeletons
Guo Tian and Jiang Hanyan both looked at Duan Rong with admiration.

During their training, Lin Youjian and Liu Su did indeed repeatedly warn them that they must advance and retreat together within the ruins of gods and demons.

Moreover, several times, teams that entered the ruins of gods and demons were almost completely wiped out because of their own ulterior motives and scheming against each other, which can be described as a bloody and painful lesson.

Although Lin Youjian and Liu Su gave such a warning, the eight of them had only begun to get to know each other during the ten days of intensive training. Some of them had never even met before. It was inevitable that they would harbor some reservations and hold back when they hastily formed a team to enter the God and Demon Ruins.

Therefore, Duan Rong's sudden act of stepping forward and saving Du Wan was a testament to his abilities, instantly boosting the morale of the team.

Once everyone has confidence and is able to share life and death, it will greatly benefit the survival of everyone in the team.

Moreover, Duan Rong had just made a move, repelling the Ghost Thorn Devil's Taro with a single strike and pulling Du Wan back from the brink of death.

Everyone present was quite talented, and they could naturally see that the seemingly casual palm strike was actually perfectly timed, powerful, and angled, reaching the pinnacle of artistry!
It's clear that Duan Rong's understanding of martial arts has reached an incredible level! No wonder he was able to cultivate under the patriarch's guidance; he's truly remarkable!
Guo Tian, ​​who was usually taciturn and gloomy, actually walked over, patted Duan Rong on the shoulder with his big hand, and grinned, "Duan Rong, well done!"

The group then moved around to a safe distance and went behind the boulder by the roadside.

The vines of the Demon Arum had just extended out, covering an area of ​​about half a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters). They circled around it at a distance of about 1 zhang (approximately 3.3 meters), making it impossible for the Demon Arum to attack them.

The people were not only curious about the devil's thorn arum, but also because it was quite valuable, far exceeding the value of the forty or fifty-year-old silver-edged purple arum.

The flowers at the top of the devil's thorn vine are konjac flowers.

The stamens of the konjac flower, with their gaping, blood-red maws, contain a deadly poison. This poison is fatal to any cultivator below the Cave-Ming Realm, making it highly valuable in the outside world.

If the group of them were to join forces and be careful, they could find a way to cut off those few devil's tongue flowers, as this stuff is far more valuable than ordinary divine medicine.

When everyone went around to the back and took a look, they immediately gave up hope!

The main body of the Demon Arum was already quite robust. In addition to the four vines that had just bypassed the boulder, there were four more vines intertwined and entwined around it. And these were just the larger vines; many smaller vines hung low at the base of the main body.

Even if the eight of them joined forces, they couldn't defeat such a mature Devil's Tongue.

Du Wan suddenly said, "Look, the real body of that devil's tongue seems to grow on a corpse. No wonder it can grow so large!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked closely and saw that the root of the devil's thorn taro was indeed rooted in a grayish-white mass that rose from the ground.

The object was clearly a completely different color from the soil on the ground, and it was the same size as a human body, so it really looked like a corpse.

Could it be that the reason this devil's thorn arum is so large is because it has been absorbing the flesh and blood of the dead?
However, if it is a corpse, it is very likely a fellow disciple who entered the ruins of gods and demons before. But, twenty-nine years have passed, how could a corpse not have decomposed?

Xu Hui said, "That's not a corpse, that looks like the remains of a god or demon!"

"A remnant of a god or demon!?" Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked.

During the ten days of intensive training, Lin Youjian and Liu Su told them about the remains of gods and demons many times.

The ruins of gods and demons contain the remains of gods and demons, and these remains have not decayed for ten thousand years. Their surfaces are indeed grayish-white, and they do resemble the very thing where the Ghost Thorn Demon Flower is rooted.

However, the bodies of gods and demons are towering like mountains. Even if they are fragments, they could not be so small, almost the same size as a human body.
"It looks like the remains of a god or demon!" Du Wan had also realized it. If it were a human corpse, how could it not have decomposed? "Look, that looks like a finger. From my perspective, I can even see the broken fingernail!"

Someone had already gathered around Du Wan and, sure enough, saw a broken, blackish-yellow fingernail, about the size of a human face, through the gaps in the vines.

Previously, Du Wan had mistaken the fingernail for a human face. After Xu Hui reminded him, he looked closely and finally recognized that it was a broken fingernail.

The fingernails of the demonic remains were the size of a human face, and their black and yellow color, faintly visible through the gaps in the vines, did indeed resemble a human face.

“Looking at it from here, it really does resemble a face!” Lu Chu couldn’t help but exclaim.

Du Wan said, "Right? When I first glanced at it, I thought it was a corpse!" Everyone stared in astonishment at the black and yellow fingernails that resembled a human face!
What is astonishing is not only that it resembles a human face, but that a finger of the remains of a god or demon is the size of a human body.

Imagine how incredibly tall and imposing the bodies of gods and demons must be.

Guo Tian said, "Let's go. Since we can't get the konjac flower, let's not waste our time here."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded and continued walking along the main road.

As everyone turned to leave, Duan Rong remained standing there, staring blankly at the root of the Demon Thorn Taro.

Seeing that Duan Rong was still standing there, Du Wan turned around and called out, "Duan Rong, let's go!"

"Oh, they're here!" Duan Rong responded and turned to walk back towards the group.

He lingered because he saw several Jade Flame Grasses growing in the shadows of the roots of the Demon Thorn Arum.

The Jade Flame Grass thrives in shady conditions. Its mature form produces flowers that resemble emerald flames, hence its name.

But those few Jade Flame Grass plants had only just begun to sprout flower buds. From the moment a Jade Flame Grass sprouts a flower bud to its mature form in full bloom, it takes at least ten years to grow.

Duan Rong can only stay in this divine and demonic ruins for a total of twenty days. These few Azure Flame Grasses haven't even opened yet, so they're useless to him!

The group continued walking forward, and after walking for a while, they suddenly saw a huge, towering rock lying on the ground in the middle of the road.

Weeds grew along the edges and on the top of the boulder. Clearly, the boulder had been there for countless years!

Having learned from their earlier experience of being suddenly attacked from behind the boulder by the devil's thorn, everyone avoided the boulder altogether.

As soon as they walked around the boulder, they couldn't help but stop there!

Behind that giant rock lay a skeleton. Beside the skeleton, in the black soil, lay a Taiyi Token!
"They're from the same sect!?"

The group walked over and looked at the skeleton.

The skeleton above the waist had turned black, especially the skull, which was as black as ink. Below the waist, the blackness gradually disappeared, and by the time it reached the ankle bones, it was gleaming with a chilling white light.

Duan Rong's eyes flickered slightly; this person had clearly died from poisoning!

Moreover, that poison was quite potent. Countless years have passed, yet the ground where he sat and lay remained barren, its surface a dark black.

Lu Chu said, "These are the remains of a fellow disciple! I wonder how many years they've been lying here! Why don't we collect them and bury them?"

When Lu Chu made this suggestion, everyone remained silent, feeling a sense of unease.

Duan Rong said, “This is not right. Senior Brother Lu, have you forgotten what you said before? Something unusual must be amiss. If these are the remains of a fellow disciple, why was no one buried before, and why have they been left exposed here? This poisonous creature is obviously extremely potent; it would probably kill anyone who touches it! Look at the soil under the remains; it's pitch black and barren!”

At this moment, everyone noticed the abnormality. It was indeed as Duan Rong had said. You must know that the poisons within the ruins of gods and demons are not ordinary poisons; their toxicity is on par with divine medicines.

Duan Rong continued, "Although the ankle bone of that skeleton gleamed with a cold, white light, seemingly untouched by poison, the ground near that bone was completely barren! And I only stood there for a short while before my nose started to itch!"

Upon hearing this, everyone realized that there was something wrong with their throats and noses. Lu Chu, who was closest to them, even had a runny nose.

Lu Chu immediately jumped away, not even bothering to reminisce about his fellow disciple, and just kept wiping his nose.

They had only been standing there for a short time, inhaling some air near the skeletons, when their noses started acting up, which shows how potent the poison was!

People avoided it like the plague, so who would even mention collecting and burying the remains again?
(End of this chapter)