Versatile Mage: Get the Desert Emperor clone at the start

Chapter 139 Seeking Advantage and Avoiding Harm: Qing Ning's Strength
When the illusion shattered and the true form of the pink skull was fully revealed, the bewitched mages regained their senses.

They looked around blankly, and when they saw the terrifying skeleton in front of them, all the color drained from their faces.

"What...what is this thing?"

The skeleton slowly turned its head, its bones making a "crackling" sound.

Its entire skeleton was an eerie pinkish-white color, densely covered with blood-red runes, each line writhing like a living creature, exuding a nauseating bloody stench.

Within the empty eye sockets, two eerie green soul flames flickered violently, their terrifying pressure causing the air to freeze.

"Giggle giggle," the skeleton opened its jaw and let out a piercing, shrill laugh.

The sound was like fingernails scraping glass, sending chills down your spine.

With a flick of its bony claws, thick death energy surged forth like a tidal wave, instantly turning sand grains into black viscous liquid wherever it passed.

"Watch out!" Xiao Mo warned sharply, but it was too late.

The skeleton suddenly raised its head and let out a sharp screech, the sound waves making everyone's eardrums ache.

In an instant, the entire desert trembled violently, and countless pale arms burst forth from the sand! Those arms still had rotting flesh clinging to them, and their bone claws were like hooks, gripping the mages' ankles and dragging them to the ground.

"Ah! Help!"

"Damn it! What the hell is this thing?!"

Several mages who reacted a little slower were instantly dragged down, their sharp bone claws piercing through their protective magic, and their blood immediately stained the sand red.

Even more terrifying, the deathly aura clinging to those skeletal arms was rapidly eroding their flesh.

"A monarch-level undead!" Xiao Mo's expression changed drastically. Lightning flashed in his hand, instantly shattering several skeletal arms. But more skeletal arms were continuously emerging from the ground.

"Retreat! This is not something we can handle!" a squad leader shouted hoarsely, leading the remaining members in a hasty escape.

The skeleton did not pursue those who fled.

It slowly turned its head, its eerie green soul fire locking onto Lingling and Qingning in the distance. Clearly, it remembered who had destroyed its illusion array.

"It's got its eye on us~" Qingning's fox tail bristled slightly, but her tone remained languid.

Her fingertips flashed with a cold light; she was ready for battle.

At this point, most of the mages had scattered and fled, leaving only Xiao Mo and a few high-level mages still holding on.

Xiao Mo took a deep breath, quickly formed hand seals, and lightning surged around his body.

"Thunderous Punishment - Nine Thunderbolts Strike!"

The sky suddenly darkened, and as the dark clouds rolled in, nine bolts of purple lightning, as thick as buckets, struck down like raging dragons!
Amidst the deafening roar of thunder, the skeleton's figure was instantly swallowed up by the sea of ​​lightning.

The lightning raged for a full ten seconds before gradually dissipating.

A huge, charred crater appeared on the ground.

However, when the lightning dissipated, everyone gasped in shock—

The skeleton still stood in place! Strange silver patterns appeared on its bones, writhing like living things and resisting all the power of the lightning.

Its deathly aura had only slightly weakened, clearly indicating that this undead was not easy to deal with.

"How is this possible?" Xiao Mo's face turned pale. His super-level magic had no effect at all!

The skull's jaw opened and closed with a "click-clack" sound, as if mocking everyone's overestimation of their abilities.

Xiao Mo swiftly retreated to Qin Xiaonan's side, his body still crackling with lightning, and said in a deep voice, "This skeleton has its eyes on you. Let's fight it together."

Qin Xiaonan raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

In this dog-eat-dog world of mages, most people would choose to protect themselves when encountering a monarch-level demon.

It's rare to see someone like Xiao Mo willingly stay and fight alongside him. Seemingly sensing Qin Xiaonan's confusion, lightning crackled again in Xiao Mo's hands, and a bitter smile tugged at the corner of his mouth: "You saved me, otherwise I would have been devoured by this skeleton long ago."

His gaze was fixed firmly on the skeleton that was rebuilding its life force. "While I, Xiao Mo, am not exactly a saint, I would never do something as ungrateful as ingratitude."

These words made Qin Xiaonan think more highly of this lightning-type super-level expert.

However, to Xiao Mo's surprise, Qing Ning rushed forward alone.

A cold glint flashed in Qing Ning's eyes, and her nine snow-white fox tails bristled out like a peacock spreading its tail feathers.

With a light touch of her toes, her figure instantly transformed into a white afterimage, stirring up dust wherever she passed and leaving nine dazzling trails of flame in the void.

"You mere undead dare to be so insolent before me?" Her voice remained languid, yet carried an undeniable authority.

Before the Skeleton Monarch could react, Qing Ning had already appeared in front of it.

With a gentle stroke of her slender, jade-like fingers, five sharp claw-like rays tore through the air, slashing towards the skeleton's neck with a piercing shriek!

"Crack!"

Bone fragments flew everywhere as the skull's head was severed by the claw! However, it did not fall. Its headless body remained agile, its bone claws as sharp as knives, and it reached back to rip at Qing Ning's heart.

"Heh~" Qing Ning chuckled lightly, her figure vanishing like smoke, reappearing behind the skeleton.

She gracefully raised her right leg, revealing a section of fair, jade-like skin through the slit of her cheongsam. The seemingly light step contained immense power!

"boom!"

The skeleton's spine caved in from the kick, and its entire body flew out like a cannonball, carving a hundred-meter-long trench in the sand!
"So powerful!" Xiao Mo's eyes were filled with shock. This woman is...?
The skeleton struggled to its feet, its soul fire flaring violently, clearly enraged.

It suddenly opened its bone claws, and the ground suddenly rose up. Countless pale bone spikes burst out of the soil like thorns and strangled Qing Ning!

Qing Ning neither dodged nor avoided; with a gentle sway of her nine fox tails, a violent sandstorm instantly erupted around her.

The moment those bone spikes got close, they were shredded to pieces by the fierce winds of the sandstorm!
"Have you had enough fun?" She smiled slightly, raising her delicate hand. "It's my turn~"

As soon as she finished speaking, the entire desert suddenly erupted in chaos! Countless grains of sand rose into the air and coalesced into tens of thousands of sand blades.

Each sand blade was as thin as a cicada's wing, its edges gleaming with a chilling light.

"Sand Burial - A Thousand Blades!"

With a wave of her hand, Qing Ning unleashed a torrent of sand blades that rained down from the sky!

The skeleton frantically swung its bone claws to block, but it was all in vain. The sand blades were simply too dense, engulfing it in the blink of an eye!

"Ding ding ding——"

The dense thuds of impact were like raindrops pattering on banana leaves, and the skeleton's bones were instantly covered with fine cracks.

The most terrifying thing is that the sand blades do not dissipate after hitting their target, but continue to cut like a bone-deep leech until they completely obliterate the target!

"Aaaaah!" The skeleton let out a mournful howl, desperately urging its death energy to repair its body.

But would Qingning give it that chance?
She flashed and appeared directly in front of the skeleton, her right hand forming a claw as she fiercely dug towards the location of its soul fire!
"It's over~"

"Pfft!"

Qingning's jade-like hand pierced directly through the skull's chest, precisely grasping the flickering, eerie green soul flame. She gently squeezed—

"boom!"

The soul fire exploded, and the skeleton's body instantly stiffened before collapsing like a sand sculpture, turning into a pile of lifeless white bones.

A gentle breeze blew by, and Qing Ning gracefully flicked her hand.

(End of this chapter)