Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

The quantity of that thing is increasing.

The white pupils that shone through the gray-white fog were densely packed, like luminous pebbles embedded in the fog.

They did not launch an attack, but instead formed a huge ring and slowly approached as the gray-white mist flowed. With each step they took, fine bone dust fell from their feet.

Dongfang Weiwo gripped the dark gold longsword tightly. In this environment, his bone domain perception became a burden—the projection of countless skeletal structures superimposed on his mind. Those scattered entities were like living things, yet they had no complete skeletons. Inside them was a structure that was constantly collapsing and reorganizing, like a human figure made of sand.

"They are being tested."

Chuan Ying said in a low voice, the sword intent on his thick-backed sword condensing into a line, the tip of the blade slightly raised, "Wait and see if we can make the first move."

"Then there's no need to wait."

Dongfang Weiwo moved.

Instead of drawing his sword, he reversed his Bone Domain Perception and released it outwards, spreading the aura of his divine and demonic skeleton outwards.

The oppressive aura originating from ancient gods and demons rippled outwards, pushing aside the gray-white mist. The nearest scattered entities let out shrieks as their lower bodies shattered into powder.

But more surged up.

Chuan Ying drew his sword. He didn't slash at the scattered entities, but rather at the massive skeleton beneath their feet.

The blade's intent was like an extremely fine thread, cutting three inches below the bone surface, and then suddenly flicking it open. A crack appeared in the entire bone surface, which was over a hundred feet long, and grayish-white bone powder gushed out from the crack, engulfing the dozen or so stray particles that were rushing towards the front.

"Young master, let's go!"

Chuan Ying shouted, but he himself knelt on one knee, his hand holding the knife trembling. That stab had already aggravated a hidden injury deep within his meridians.

Dongfang Weiwei did not leave.

He saw a figure moving in the fog—twice as tall as the gray-white humanoids, with three rows of bone spikes on its back, dragging something in its hand. He knew the outline of that thing all too well; its blue hair ribbon was faintly visible in the gray-white fog.

"Lin Xiaoman!"

He rushed out.

The dark gold longsword drew an arc in front of him, and all nine hundred and ninety-nine ancient array patterns on the sword surface lit up at the same time.

A dozen or so scattered beings ahead were torn to shreds like paper figures by the sword light, leaving only bone dust and no flesh. But the three-zhang-tall monster retreated extremely quickly, the bone beneath its feet actively bearing its weight, each step covering a distance of more than ten zhang.

Dongfang Weiwo suddenly realized that the ancient god and demon remains in this myriad star domain were not dead.

These dissipating entities and the tall humanoid figure are all manifestations of the remaining consciousness within the remains. They are preventing him from getting closer.

"Lin Xiaoman!"

He called out again, this time with a hint of anxiety in his voice.

The divine and demonic skeleton trembled violently, as if something deep within its chest had been awakened. As he approached, the scattered fragments began to fall in droves, not by being cut down, but by being crushed by some deeper force.

Chuan Ying caught up from behind and saw Dongfang Weiwo rushing into the mist. In that instant, the young master's back looked just like a martyr depicted in some ancient mural.

"That thing went northwest," Yan Fei's voice suddenly rang out.

Chuan Ying suddenly turned around. Yan Fei emerged from the gray-white mist, his old sword hanging askew at his side, the tip dripping gray-white liquid, as if he had just slashed something. He looked much better than Chuan Ying, but there was a very thin crack between his brows, as if it had been shattered by some force.

"Swallows fly!"

"Don't ask too many questions. I landed four miles northwest of you and killed seven of them before I found this place."

Yan Fei quickly walked to Chuan Ying's side and pulled him up from the ground. "There's something clearing the area ahead. Those gray-white humanoid figures are making way for it. Lin Xiaoman was dragged towards a huge crevice."

How did you know?

"I heard her silvery voice," Yan Fei said steadily. "Things like that can't wait."

The three men headed northwest.

Dongfang Weiwo led the way, his dark gold longsword clearing the path, and wherever the sword light passed, the gray-white human figures crumbled. His fusion rate was rapidly increasing in the Myriad Star Domain. Every moment, new divine and demonic auras were absorbed by his skeleton from all directions. The fusion rate of 56% had risen to 58% in half an hour, and it was still increasing.

A huge rift appeared in the fog ahead.

It was a vast depression, stretching hundreds of feet into the distance, its bottom invisible. The edges of the crevice were jagged, revealing layers upon layers of bone structure. Lin Xiaoman was suspended from a horizontal bone beam above the crevice, her hands bound by grayish-white bone locks. The blood patterns on her left arm were still glowing, and blood dripped from the wound in her palm into the depths of the crevice.

The three-zhang-tall humanoid figure stood beside the crevice, its three rows of bone spikes on its back rising and falling slowly, as if it were breathing.

Dongfang Weiwo stopped.

He noticed that there were people on the other side of the crack.

The gray-white fog was stirred by something, and the outline of the opposite bank gradually became clear. It was a camp built with huge bones. Several people wearing gray cloaks stood in front of the camp, each with bone tools of different lengths hanging on their bodies.

The leader was not wearing a cloak, revealing his pale skin and unusually tall frame. His eyes were deep-set and his pupils were pale gold.

"They've arrived." The person spoke, their voice not loud, yet clearly penetrating the entire rift. "The inheritor of the divine and demonic skeleton. The one we've been waiting for."

Dongfang Wei did not reply. He held his dark gold longsword horizontally, and the aura of the divine and demonic skeleton solidified, forming a faint dark gold phantom behind him.

"We are the Bone Collectors of the Myriad Star Domain."

The man said, "The guardians of the ancient gods' and demons' corpses are also their cleaners. Your friend's life is not what we want; we want you."

The man pointed to Lin Xiaoman, who was hanging above the crack.

"Put her down," Dongfang Weiwo said in a deep voice.

"Come here, and she'll come down."

Chuan Ying and Yan Fei stepped forward almost simultaneously, but Dongfang Weiwo raised his hand to stop them.

"You are not dissipative entities," he said.

"We are people who were affected by the coordinate wave from the three realms of Tianwu, Xuanhuang, and Wuji by the Demon God Lü."

The bone collector with pale golden eyes said, "Thirty years ago, the Demon God Lü you mentioned tried to open the boundary with this Return Token. He failed, but he left something behind. Something that can lead our branch of the surviving race out of the Myriad Star Domain."

He opened his palm, revealing a black bone fragment, identical to the fragment of the left arm of the god and demon that Dongfang Weiwo had collected.

The eighth fragment.

Dongfang Weiwo's gaze fell on the bone fragment. The divine and demonic skeleton resonated violently within his body, and the fusion rate jumped from 58% to 61%. He forcibly suppressed the suction force, but his body had already taken half a step forward.

"All you have to do is trade your skeleton," the Bone Collector said, his pale golden pupils brightening. "Your skeleton is new, while our ancient god-demon corpse is old. The old needs the new to fill the gap. Give us your skeleton, and we'll release her, give you the eighth fragment, and a secret you can't refuse."

Dongfang Weiwo smiled.

"I refuse."

The bone collector's expression remained unchanged; he simply put the bone fragment away.

"Then your woman will fall," he said, waving his hand, causing the bone lock on Lin Xiaoman's hand to loosen.

At the same instant, the long-dormant system within Dongfang Weiwo reacted for the first time in the new world.

There was no notification sound.

Only a surge of powerful energy flowed into his meridians, like a long-dormant pool being stirred by a wooden stick.

He subconsciously raised his hand, and all the ancient array patterns on the dark gold longsword lit up. A summoning array pattern emerged from the depths of his dantian. It was a new, never-before-unsealed summoning slot stored in the system.

"In my name."

"Dongfang Weiwo said in a low voice. He didn't know why he said those four words."

The array patterns shattered.

A figure stepped out from the array patterns, landing at the edge of the rift, behind Dongfang Weiwo.

He was a tall, middle-aged man with short, graying hair, a square face, and a burly build that made him look more like a martial artist than a cultivator. He carried neither a sword nor a knife; he simply stood there, his fists hanging naturally at his sides.

But the gray-white mist in the entire crack stopped.

It was as if even the air currents in the world dared not move.

"Young Master." His voice was not loud, like a beast that had been chained for many years finally seeing something to tear apart, "Wu Wudi, we've arrived."

The bone collector's pale golden pupils showed a change for the first time.

"The Undying Realm... the pinnacle of humanity?" he murmured uncertainly.

Wu Wudi raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the few people on the opposite bank, finally landing on the three-zhang-tall leader of the scattered body.

"I'm not very good at dealing with this kind of thing," he said.

Then his aura changed.

Without any warning, he transformed into a sword, not the one wielding it, but the sword itself.

A vast and almost violent sword intent erupted from his body. It was not the sword intent of a cultivator, but pure martial will, forcibly suppressing the laws of heaven and earth with a human body.

"The Heavenless Sword Technique"

Wu Wudi took a step forward.

The ancient divine and demonic bone beneath their feet cracked.

It wasn't a crack, it was a collapse. Centered on the small patch of ground where he landed, the bone surface within a radius of ten feet simultaneously sank three feet, and bone dust was shaken up dozens of feet high, making the bone collectors opposite him almost unable to stand.

"You come here, she comes down." Wu Wudi repeated Dongfang Weiwo's words to the bone collector, but his tone was completely different. "Or I'll go over, and you all go down."

Above the crevice, Lin Xiaoman's silver bell suddenly rang out.

She opened her eyes.

Wu Wudi did not wait for the other party's reply.

He seemed to have no concept of waiting. The instant those words fell, he was already at the edge of the crevice, the bone beneath his feet shattering into a spiderweb of cracks, yet he made no sound, for he was too fast, faster than sound could catch up with his steps.

The leader of the bone collectors' pupils contracted.

"Stop him!"

The gray-cloaked figures in front of the stronghold moved simultaneously. Their movements were extremely strange, each motion accompanied by the cracking sound of bones dislocating, as if all their joints could rotate in any direction. The leader of the gray-cloaked figures flicked his hands, and two bone knives were drawn from their sheaths, the blades curved like ribs and barbed.

Wu Wudi didn't even look, and casually threw a punch.

The punch landed on empty air.

But a hole was punched in the air. An invisible fist force traveled dozens of feet and slammed into the chest of the gray-cloaked man. His body twisted backward and flew out, crashing into the wall of the Bone Village and embedding himself in it. His bone knife flew out of his hand and into the mist.

Before the remaining gray-cloaked figures could react, Wu Wudi had already reached them.

He did not use swordsmanship.

It's not needed.

His fists and feet are the purest form of martial arts; every strike hits the point where a person should not bear the force, and every contact makes the opponent's bones crack.

It wasn't divine or demonic power, nor was it the crushing force of laws; it was simply the ultimate display of a martial artist's physical prowess against an enemy. Whoever his fist landed on was crippled.

In less than three breaths, all seven gray-cloaked figures in front of the village collapsed to the ground.

The leader of the Bone Collectors' expression changed, but a glint of shrewdness flashed in his pale golden eyes.

He suddenly stepped back, pressing his palm against the bone wall behind him. The bone wall cracked in response, revealing an array pattern embedded in the wall.

The array pattern was based on bones and mediated by bone powder, forming a unified whole with the entire camp.

"Invincible Warrior!" he roared. "My Bone Collectors have been operating here for thirty years. Do you think you can break through this place by yourself?"

Before he could finish speaking, Wu Wudi had already raised his head, his gaze fixed on the bone wall.

He stopped throwing punches.

He pointed his fingers to form a sword.

The movement of raising his fingers was no different from drawing a real sword from its sheath. Sword intent surged from his fingertips, not from spiritual power, but from the pure, condensed will of martial arts to its extreme. The laws of heaven and earth became thinner here, but precisely because of this thinness, human power had an opportunity to exploit.

"The Heavenless Sword Technique - First Form"

Wu Wudi pointed forward.

There was no sword light.

The bone wall behind the leader of the bone collectors split neatly in two along the center line, as if cleaved in two by an invisible giant sword. The shattered bone fragments burst open to both sides, revealing a seated white bone statue inside.

The skeleton was over five zhang tall, its entire body composed of countless tiny bone fragments pieced together. Grayish-white light seeped from the dense bone seams, like a living thing that had been forcibly awakened from its slumber.

Wu Wudi's sword intent struck the bone statue, leaving a deep sword mark on its surface, but it did not shatter.

"That is a guardian puppet that my Bone Collector lineage has refined over three hundred years."

The leader of the bone collectors stepped behind the bone statue, his tone regaining its composure.

"It contains three drops of marrow fluid from ancient gods and demons, which even an immortal realm cultivator would find difficult to destroy."

Wu Wudi ignored him and pointed with his second finger.

"Heavenless Sword Technique, Second Form"

The sword intent emanating from his fingertips was even stronger than the first strike, so strong that fine cracks appeared in the air, extending outwards and slicing the gray-white mist into countless small squares. The sword intent landed on the same spot on the skeleton's chest, overlapping with the first sword mark.

The bone statue emitted a deafening roar.

The sword wound on its chest widened to a foot, and large amounts of grayish-white bone powder spilled out of the crack, flowing like blood.

But it still didn't break; instead, it began to move. The enormous bone arm slowly rose, bringing with it a hurricane-like gust of bone-crushing air, and slammed down towards Wu Wudi.