Survival for All: I can deconstruct projections and synthesize everything.

The seventh-tier skeleton stood up.

Its movements were not fast, even possessing the stiffness and sluggishness characteristic of the undead, but the movement of each bone followed some ancient and deadly rhythm.

The dark red bones glowed with an ominous blood-red light under the glowing eerie green soul fire. The rusted giant axe was lifted from the ground, its blade dragging across the earth, carving a deep trench in the black rock.

Lin Xiao did not back down.

He held a halberd in one hand, the blade pointing diagonally at the ground, with a seven-colored halo flowing around him.

The Shattering Star Halberd trembled slightly in his hand, not from resistance, but from excitement.

This seventh-tier weapon, which had been dormant for countless millennia, finally felt the thirst for battle once more.

The Tier 6 Shield Warriors and Tier 6 Archers have completed their deployment of the alert formation.

The shield warrior took a step to the side, raising his bone shield diagonally to block the seventh-tier skeleton's flank.

Its bones are much thicker and heavier than those of a normal sixth-tier skeleton, and the surface of its bone shield is covered with a regular, earthy-yellow halo.

Those were the defensive rules he excelled at in life, and they remained etched deep within his bones even after death.

The sixth-tier archer retreated ten feet to create distance, and drew his bone bow to its full draw.

What rested on the bowstring was not a physical arrow, but a death rule condensed to the point of near solidity, the arrowhead aimed at Lin Xiao's brow.

Three against one.

Seventh-tier flanking, sixth-tier support.

A textbook-perfect undead tactical formation.

Lin Xiao activated all the rules of omniscience, analyzing every wisp of energy flow and every inch of bone displacement of the three skeletons.

The weakness of a seventh-tier skeleton lies in the third vertebra of its spine; that permanent crack will cause a 0.3-second lag when it exerts force.

Although the sixth-tier shield warrior's bone shield defense is thick and heavy, there is a fine crack in the lower right corner, which is the fatigue damage accumulated after many parries.

The sixth-tier archer's archery skills were precise and deadly, but it had injured its left eye before death, and even after death, it still retained a blind spot that was about three times the normal size.

Three weaknesses.

enough.

Lin Xiao did not wait.

He moved.

With the first step taken, the rule of the convergence of all things condensed beneath his feet into a spatial warp rune.

His figure vanished abruptly as the sixth-tier archer locked onto his arrow, only to reappear three zhang to the side of the seventh-tier skeleton.

This is not teleportation, but an extreme displacement that combines spatial and speed rules. Each leap leaves a tiny crack in the spatial plane, but Lin Xiao can no longer care about the damage at this moment.

Kill the marksman first.

The seventh-tier skeleton's reaction speed was astonishing.

Almost at the same moment Lin Xiao appeared, its giant axe swept across.

The axe blade carried the dual rules of decay and cutting, tearing five fine black marks in the space it passed through.

This axe strike was devoid of any fancy moves; it was pure power and the crushing force of the rules, a killing technique etched into the instincts of a seventh-tier powerhouse through countless battles.

Lin Xiao did not take the hit head-on.

The halberd slashed diagonally, its blade brushing against the axe blade at an extremely tricky angle.

Amidst the piercing shriek of clashing metal, Lin Xiao used the recoil to rotate to the side, while simultaneously spreading his five fingers wide on his left hand.

Manifestation of the anti-seismic force field.

A seven-colored barrier appeared out of thin air in the trajectory of the seventh-tier skeleton's axe blade, not to block, but to borrow its force.

The axe blade struck the barrier, shattering it instantly, but in that instant, seventy percent of the force of the axe strike was redirected to the ground.

boom--

The ground within a three-zhang radius beneath Lin Xiao's feet suddenly collapsed, and spiderweb-like cracks spread in all directions.

He himself had used this momentum to break through to the level of a sixth-tier archer.

The soul fire in the sixth-tier archer's eye sockets throbbed violently.

It didn't have time to fire the deadly arrow already nocked on the bowstring; it could only instinctively turn to the side, trying to use its combat experience from its previous life to evade the attack.

But it forgot.

It no longer has flesh and blood, only bones.

However, it takes time for the skeleton to turn.

0.1 seconds.

enough.

The blade of the Shattered Star Halberd traced a perfect arc, precisely embedding itself into the gap between the skull and cervical vertebrae of a sixth-tier archer.

That was the fatal weakness revealed by the omniscient rule; it was the location of the nerve bundle that was damaged along with its left eye when it was injured in life, which transformed into the weakest node of the rule structure after death.

The eerie green soul flame flickered violently twice before going out completely.

The sixth-tier archer's skeleton shattered with a crash, turning into a pile of lifeless broken bones.

The roar of the seventh-tier skeleton echoed through the canyon.

That wasn't a sound, but a mental shock at the level of rules, the natural pressure emanating from a seventh-tier powerhouse when enraged.

The surrounding aura of death was stirred up by the roar, forming visible gray ripples that spread in all directions.

Lin Xiao parried with his halberd, causing the seven-colored shield around his body to vibrate violently, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

This is the seventh level.

Even with a spinal injury, and even though his strength is 30% weaker than normal, he is still at the seventh rank.

The mere pressure alone was enough to injure a peak sixth-tier cultivator.

But Lin Xiao did not back down.

He swallowed the metallic taste in his throat, spun the Shattered Star Halberd half a circle in his palm, and pointed the blade at the seventh-tier skeleton once more.

There are two more.

The seventh-tier skeletons no longer gave him the chance to defeat them one by one.

It strode forward, and a layer of eerie green flames suddenly ignited on the dark red skeleton.

That wasn't ordinary necromantic flame; it was a brief burst of energy achieved by releasing a portion of its soul fire, much like a powerful human burning their very essence.

It wants to win quickly.

The giant axe transformed into a dark red streak of light, cleaving down with immense force!

This axe strike had no technique whatsoever, only pure power and speed, so fast that even the omniscient rules could only catch a fleeting afterimage.

There's no escaping it.

Lin Xiao made a decision instantly.

Then let's just take it head-on.

He held the halberd with both hands, raising the Shattered Star Halberd horizontally above his head. The rule of the return of all things condensed on the surface of the halberd shaft into seventeen layers of complex defensive runes.

Each layer of runes is a fusion of different rules: the solidity of metal, the weight of earth, the flexibility of water, the separation of space, the deflection of cause and effect...

The axe blade struck the first layer of runes.

The runes shattered.

Second floor, third floor, fourth floor...

Each rune can only withstand the axe blade for less than 0.01 seconds, but that 0.01 seconds is enough.

The omniscient rules detected the seventh-order skeleton's fatal weakness in that minute detail.

The third vertebra of that spine experienced a 0.3-second period of sluggishness at the moment it exerted its full force.

It's now!

Lin Xiao did not wait for the axe blade to finish cutting through the seventeen layers of runes.

At the moment the fifth layer of runes shattered, he made an extremely risky decision.

The Shattering Star Halberd suddenly withdrew its force.

With no resistance, the giant axe continued its destructive strike, heading straight for Lin Xiao's head.

At the same instant, Lin Xiao turned to the side, slid forward, and the Shattering Star Halberd stabbed out from an unbelievable angle like a venomous snake!

The target was not the skull's head, not the chest cavity, not any conventionally fatal location.

It was the permanent fracture in the third vertebra of the spine.

The halberd blade precisely pierced the crack, traveling straight through the natural gaps inside the bones, directly penetrating the core node through which the soul fire transmits power to the limbs.

The seventh-tier skeleton's movements suddenly froze.

It looked down at the halberd blade that had pierced diagonally from its chest cavity, the soul fire in its eye sockets flickering violently, filled with confusion and resentment.

It is of the seventh order.

In life, it was a powerful being who roamed the universe; after death, it became the overlord of the outer perimeter of Fallen God Island.

How could it be defeated by a sixth-order...?

The crack in the third vertebra of the spine rapidly expanded under the rule of the Shattered Star Halberd, and the fine cracks spread to the surrounding bones like a spider web.

Four breaths later, the skeleton of the seventh-tier skeleton collapsed with a crash.

The soul fire flickered in the air one last time, much like a sigh, before going out completely.

Lin Xiao drew his Shattered Star Halberd and knelt on one knee.

He was breathing heavily, and blood was seeping from the corners of his mouth, his nose, and his ears.

In that exchange of blows, although he dodged the frontal slash of the axe blade, the axe wind still tore open his left ribs, and three deep wounds that exposed bone were bleeding profusely.

But he cannot fall down yet.

The Tier 6 Shield Warrior is still there.

Lin Xiao looked up.

He thought the shield warrior would rush up to avenge his master.

But it didn't.

The Tier 6 shield warrior stood silently in place, his bone shield still held at an angle, but the soul fire in his eye sockets showed no fighting spirit.

It just looked at Lin Xiao.

Looking at the Shattered Star Halberd.

Looking at the broken seventh-tier skeleton on the ground.

Then, it did something that Lin Xiao had never expected.

It lowered its bone shield.

Kneel down on one knee.

The soul fire hangs low, which is the highest form of submission from the dead.

Lin Xiao was stunned for a moment.

The omniscient rules are at work, analyzing the intentions of this sixth-order skeleton.

The feedback left him speechless.

[Sixth-tier Skeleton Warrior of Fallen God Island: In life, it was the captain of the personal guard of a seventh-tier powerhouse. After its death in battle, it followed its master and transformed into an undead. Its master has completely perished, and it harbors no hatred for the living, only seeking a dignified end.]

Lin Xiao tightened his grip on the Shattered Star Halberd slightly.

He was silent for a moment.

Then he got up and walked up to the shield warrior.

"What's your name?"

The skeleton looked up, a hint of confusion flashing in its soul fire.

For tens of thousands of years after its death, no one ever asked it this question.

But it still remembers.

The soul fire flickered slightly, coalescing into a vague syllable at the level of consciousness.

Casal.

"Cassal".

Lin Xiao repeated softly.

"Your master is gone. You are free."

The shield warrior did not respond.

It simply lowered its head, and its soul fire gradually dimmed.

Its skeleton began to disintegrate, not in the kind of shattering that occurs during battle, but slowly and calmly, like the relief of having completed its mission.

Three breaths later, only a pile of quietly scattered bones remained on the ground.

The bone shield leaned against the pile of bones, and the cracks on its surface were more numerous than those Lin Xiao had previously scanned, marks left by guarding its master for millions of years.

Lin Xiao stood there, silent for a long time.

Then he bent down and put the bone shield into his storage space.

It was not as a trophy, but as a memento.

A loyal soldier deserves to be remembered.

He turned around and walked to the skeleton of the seventh-tier skeleton.

The third vertebra was completely shattered, a fatal injury, but the bones in other parts of the spine remained relatively intact.

The dark red skeleton remained as hard as iron even after countless millennia of being eroded by the rules of death, and the surface of the bones even bore the scars left from battles during its lifetime.

Lin Xiao did not desecrate the remains.

He simply picked up the giant axe from the pile of bones and put it into his storage space.

This is a peak sixth-tier weapon. Although it is severely rusted, it can be reforged by the blacksmiths of the Fire Soul Domain after being brought back to the Alliance. At least three sixth-tier standard weapons can be made from it.

Then he looked at the Shattered Star Halberd stuck in the ground.

The seventh-tier halberd stood there quietly, its blade glowing faintly in the deathly mist, like a heart that had finally awakened.

Lin Xiao gripped the halberd shaft.

This time, the Shattered Star Halberd did not tremble, but obediently rested in his palm, as if recognizing its master.

The omniscient rules flowed, presenting the complete information of the Shattered Star Halberd:

[Shattered Star Halberd: A seventh-tier rule weapon, crafted with the life's work of the last master blacksmith of the extinct Starfall Clan. The blade is forged from twelve sixth-tier void crystal cores, and the shaft is inscribed with one hundred and eight complex rule runes, greatly enhancing the wielder's spatial and armor-piercing rule effectiveness. Current status: Slightly contaminated by death, energy reserve 32%, requires purification to fully activate.]

Lin Xiao stored the Shattered Star Halberd in his storage space.

He took one last look at the canyon.

The bones of a sixth-tier archer were scattered in the distance, the bones of a seventh-tier skeleton were piled in the center, and the bones of the shield warrior Kassar rested quietly in the corner.

The three skeletons, once so powerful that they deterred countless invaders, are now silent.

Lin Xiao felt neither the joy of victory nor the excitement of acquiring a seventh-tier weapon.

He simply turned around calmly and walked out of the canyon.

The omniscient rules continue to operate, scanning every inch of the unknown land of death ahead.

The opportunity to advance to the seventh rank has not yet been found.

The Shattered Star Halberd was merely a gift along the way, not his final destination.

And he will continue on this path.

The deathly mist slowly closed behind him, engulfing the canyon, the skeletons, and the brief, silent battle.

The Fallen God Island remains gloomy and desolate, still harboring countless even more powerful and terrifying beings.

But Lin Xiao did not hesitate at all.