Start from a baby to become a Taoist

Chapter 520 Return to the Void Demonic Pattern
Chapter 528

When the first wisp of "Demonic Essence" refined and purified by the furnace returned to his body, Xu Ran's entire skeletal body trembled.

It was a power completely different from the "original skeletal structure," yet equally pure and powerful. It did not represent "life" nor "death," but rather a pure combination of "destruction" and "power."

This power surged into Xu Ran's bones, but instead of directly increasing their strength, it acted like the sharpest carving knife, inscribing intricate Dao patterns filled with destructive energy on every inch of his bones!
The Taichu Daogu Jing operates on its own, slowly absorbing and transforming this power.

"Warning: Alternative high-level energy detected, analyzing... Analysis complete."

“Named: Return to the Void Demon Pattern”.

"Return to the Void Demonic Rune: Using the power of the Void as a guide, it melts and refines myriad demonic energies, engraving them on the Dao Bone. Each additional demonic rune increases resistance to 'demonic' attribute power and refining efficiency, and can slightly amplify the power of the 'Return to the Void' Dao."

"Current number of magic runes: 1."

Xu Ran's eyes blazed with a surge of spiritual light.

Become!

He made the right bet! This Bone Demon Abyss was indeed not a dead end for him, but an inexhaustible treasure trove!

"Come again!"

He suppressed his excitement and activated the Great Dao Furnace with all his might. Like a greedy beast, he began to devour and refine the filthy demonic energy seeping from that land.

Time slowly passed in this tedious and dangerous refining process.

……

half year later.

The Dragon Elephant Domain has completely changed.

The land, once desolate and barren, filled only with bones and ashes, is now teeming with life—a kind of "life" belonging to the skeletal creatures.

Centered on the colossal dragon-elephant leg bone, which resembled a pillar reaching to the heavens, the land within a hundred miles was no longer a despairing dark red, but instead displayed a faint jade-white hue. The air was no longer filled with decay and ominousness, but instead teeming with a pure primordial spiritual energy so potent that even the bones themselves were captivated by it.

This area is reverently referred to as the "Holy Domain" by the beings of the Dragon Elephant Domain.

The source of all this was the figure who had been sitting cross-legged beneath the giant bone, motionless for the past six months.

Xu Ran's right hand remained firmly pressed against the ground. But at this moment, the earth beneath his palm had transformed into a bottomless black vortex with a diameter exceeding a thousand feet. It was an "energy interface" forcibly created by the "Great Dao Furnace," continuously drawing power from the Bone Demon Abyss.

After half a year of refinement, Xu Ran's "Primordial Dao Bone Scripture" had already broken through.

"The Great Completion of the Bone Forging Realm (32%)" of the Taichu Daogu Jing.

"Skeletal origin: 29740 units."

"Return to the Void Demonic Runes: 99."

His bones had transformed from their initial black stone color into a deep, dark jade color, as if containing the starry sky. Ninety-nine demonic runes, filled with an aura of destruction, flowed slowly across the surface of his bones like living things, making his entire aura increasingly unfathomable.

He was only at the Great Perfection of the Bone Forging Realm, but he was confident that if he were to face the Skeleton King again, he wouldn't even need to use the "Opening Heaven" fist intent. He could grind him to death with just his black jade Dao bones and the Returning Void Demonic Pattern!

Behind him, the entire Dragon Elephant Domain was undergoing earth-shattering changes.

Zhenshan did not disappoint him. This forcefully cultivated expert of the Burning Fire Realm displayed astonishing leadership and execution capabilities. Under his iron fist, massive mines were opened up, and vast quantities of "Netherworld Cold Iron" and "Star Magic Stones" were continuously transported to the vicinity of the Holy Domain.

Guided by the array diagrams provided by Xu Ran, the craftsman-type skeletons crafted these materials into massive and complex array bases, which were then inlaid into the earth according to specific orientations.

From the air, centered on the dragon-elephant leg bone, massive array patterns rippled outwards, covering an area of ​​nearly ten thousand miles. The prototype of the super array known as the "Return to the Void Reincarnation Millstone" had already appeared!
The entire Dragon Elephant Domain was like a sophisticated war machine, with all its gears spinning at high speed towards a common, mad goal. Within the soul fire of every skeletal being burned an unprecedented hope and fervor.

Because they could clearly sense that as the grand formation gradually improved, the primordial spiritual energy emanating from the sacred domain became increasingly concentrated. Many skeletons that had been stuck at their bottlenecks for years had broken through under the nourishment of this spiritual energy.

This is just the beginning! All living beings are waiting, eagerly anticipating the true arrival of the "feast" spoken of by our Lord!

At the same time, the mission of the Bone Raven also achieved amazing results.

"In the Seventy-Third Bone Domain, the new king, 'Lord of the Dragon and Elephant,' seeks to emulate the ancient gods and demons, refine the Abyss of Bone Demons, turn disaster into opportunity, and invite all the desperate fugitives of the world to join him in an immortal feast!"

This news, as if it had grown wings, spread throughout more than a dozen nearby skeleton realms via the countless flying skeletons under the command of the Bone Raven.

At first, the creatures that heard this news all scoffed at it.

Refining the Abyss of Bone Demons? What an absurd joke! Every lord of the Bone Domain avoids that forbidden existence like the plague. This newly emerged "Lord of the Dragon and Elephant" is either a madman or a fraud.

But soon, some spies who came to investigate with skepticism brought back shocking intelligence.

That dragon-elephant leg bone that pierces the heavens and the earth! That ever-expanding jade-white "sacred domain"! That terrifying figure sitting cross-legged on the ground, fighting against the abyss single-handedly! And the magnificent scene of bustling activity and the construction of a super array within the Dragon-Elephant Domain!

All of this proves that the news was not unfounded!
The entire Geng-character area was shaken.

The Wasteland is a place of exile, a place of despair. The creatures here are either exiled for committing heinous crimes, or are the losers of wars in the outside world, or are pitiful natives struggling in a cycle of devouring and being devoured.

For them, the future is bleak. The periodic eruptions of the Bone Demon Abyss are a Damocles' sword hanging over the heads of all living beings.

And now, suddenly someone tells them that there is a way that not only allows them to survive, but also to ascend to the heavens in one step!
What a deadly temptation this would be for a group of outlaws who had struggled in the shadows for countless years!
Thus, starting in the third month after the news spread, teams of all sizes appeared in all directions leading to the Dragon Elephant Domain.

Rumble…

A tremendous earthquake shook the earth as a legion of three thousand "skeleton knights" stepped into the border of the Dragon Elephant Domain. They rode nightmare warhorses pieced together from the bones of various ferocious beasts, and the knights themselves were covered in heavy bone armor, carrying three-zhang-long bone spears, their murderous aura soaring to the sky.

The leading knight was exceptionally tall, and the soul fire in his skull was an eerie purple. His aura was clearly that of a Burning Fire Realm expert!

"The Purple Lightning Legion, by order of the 'Thunder Spear King,' has come to pay homage to the Dragon Elephant Lord!" His thoughts were cold and arrogant.

Meanwhile, in another part of the sky, a massive shadow fell. It was a colossal "Rotting Corpse Dragon" over a thousand feet long. It was not a skeleton, but a zombie-like creature with large chunks of rotting flesh, its body dripping with green corpse fluid that corroded the earth with a hissing sound.

On the back of the corpse dragon stood a figure draped in a tattered black robe, wielding a white bone staff. His soulfire was eerily green, emanating a dense aura of curse and plague. "'The Hand of Decay,' has come to witness this feast," he uttered, his voice hoarse as sandpaper.

Even more astonishingly, a streak of crimson light, like lightning, ripped through the sky and descended upon a mountain peak in the Dragon Elephant Domain. As the light faded, it revealed a strange creature entirely composed of crimson crystals. It had no fixed form, resembling a flowing mass of blood, radiating a terrifying aura of a Great Perfection of the Burning Fire Realm—no weaker than the Mountain-Suppressing Demon!

"I am the 'Blood Demon,' and having heard of a great opportunity here, I have come to seize it!" Its thoughts were filled with naked greed and violence.

Purple Lightning Legion, Rotten Hand, Blood Demon...

One by one, powerful figures and forces with notorious reputations in the nearby Skeleton Domain gathered like sharks smelling blood. Some were desperate, some were ambitious, and some were simply curious, but without exception, they all carried scrutiny, suspicion, and... ill intentions.

Zhenshan had already followed Xu Ran's instructions and led the elite troops of the Dragon Elephant Domain to set up a huge temporary encampment outside the Holy Domain, coldly watching these uninvited guests.

In just one month, the number of outsiders who have gathered in the Dragon Elephant Domain has exceeded 100,000! Among them, there are no fewer than 100 experts at the Great Perfection of the Bone Forging Realm! There are also a full five experts at the Burning Fire Realm!
This power is enough to easily overthrow any ordinary skeletal king!

For a time, undercurrents surged within the Dragon Elephant Domain.

These unruly desperados were not the easily assimilated skeletons of the Dragon Elephant Domain. Looking at the spiritually rich "sacred domain," at the dragon-elephant leg bone radiating an aura of immortality, their greed was almost tangible.

If they weren't wary of the seated figure and the already well-developed, dangerously imposing super formation, they probably would have already tried to seize it.

"Hmph, what kind of Dragon Elephant Lord? He's been hiding his true colors and playing tricks for half a year. I think he's already been corrupted by the abyssal demonic energy and is just putting on a brave face!"

The Blood Demon's piercing intent resonated in the minds of all the powerful beings. It was the most powerful, and also the most audacious.

“Indeed,” echoed the leader of the Purple Lightning Legion, the Purple Fire Knight at the Burning Fire Realm. “We came here at his invitation, but he has refused to see us, showing no hospitality whatsoever. Why don’t we join forces, break through that great formation, rush into the Holy Domain, and seize that so-called ‘opportunity’ for ourselves! Then, how we distribute it will be up to our own abilities!”

"Good!" The decaying hand smiled sinisterly.

Their incitement immediately garnered a response from countless desperados. For them, there was no order, only profit. The so-called "invitation" was nothing more than an excuse for them to come and plunder!

"presumptuous!"

Zhenshan roared, unleashing the aura of the Burning Fire Realm, his massive body blocking the way before the Holy Domain. "How dare you run wild in my Lord's Domain!"

"A mere newcomer to the Burning Fire Realm dares to obstruct us?" The Blood Demon sneered disdainfully, and a powerful crimson aura soared into the sky, transforming into a giant blood hand that slammed down fiercely towards Zhenshan!

This palm strike was incredibly powerful. Even before it landed, the bloody and violent aura caused countless low-level skeletons and soul flames to flicker wildly, almost collapsing on the spot.

Zhenshan roared, his entire skeleton radiating a leaden-gray light, ready to take the blow head-on.

However, at that moment, a calm voice, without warning, resounded throughout the heavens and earth, echoing deep within the will of every living being.

"It's been half a year, and this place is much more lively now."

As this sound rang out, the whole world seemed to be put on pause.

The enormous, blood-red hand that blotted out the sky suddenly froze less than a hundred feet from the top of Zhenshan's head, unable to advance even an inch further!

Time seems to stand still at this moment.

The soul fires of all living beings froze in horror. They discovered to their terror that they seemed to be completely imprisoned by an invisible force, making even the slightest movement of a finger or the turning of a thought incredibly difficult!
What terrifying control!

Under the gaze of countless horrified eyes, the figure who had been sitting cross-legged in the center of the Holy Domain slowly stood up.

Click, click.

As he stood up, his dark jade-like bones emitted a crisp sound, as if a slumbering ancient dragon was awakening.

Xu Ran has finally emerged from seclusion.

He didn't look at anyone, but calmly raised his head and glanced at the giant blood-red hand frozen in mid-air.

"Noisy."

He uttered two words calmly.

The next moment, he raised his right hand.

That jet-black arm, which had terrified countless skeletons just six months ago.

But at this moment, this arm became even more profound and terrifying. On the arm, ninety-nine mysterious demonic runes flowed slowly like a black galaxy, exuding an aura of "return to nothingness" that made all things tremble.

He clenched his fist in mid-air towards the bloody hand.

"melt."

Om-!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a soft hum, as if space itself were collapsing.

The blood-red giant hand, formed from the power of the Blood Demon Burning Fire Realm at its peak and powerful enough to shatter mountains, was like a punctured balloon, rapidly "melting" and "decomposing" under the incredulous gaze of all living beings. It transformed into the most primordial blood-red energy flow, which was pulled by an invisible force, crossed ten thousand feet of void, and completely disappeared into Xu Ran's dark black palm!

"belch……"

A soft, satisfying sound came from that arm.

After absorbing this energy, the ninety-nine Ruins of Return to Nothingness seemed to shine even brighter.

"Return to the Void Demonic Runes: 100."

"The number of magic runes has reached a critical value, and a transformation is underway..."

Xu Ran ignored the changes within his body. His gaze finally fell upon the mountain peak, upon the figure made of blood-red crystal that was now completely dazed.

"You want to take away my opportunity?"

(End of this chapter)