Waving goodbye beneath the worshipful gazes of countless Skeleton Moles, Lin lan charged across the Skeleton Wastes clad in top-tier gear, leaving destruction in his wake.
Three days later, the jagged outline of Archer Hills finally appeared on the horizon.
The hills lay in the northern reaches of the Wastes—vast, barren, and littered with broken stone. Skeleton Archers prowled the slopes in staggering numbers, their bone bows raised like a forest of death.
At the summit, thick leaden clouds churned endlessly, swallowing the peak from sight.
That was where it resided.
The Archer Chieftain.
And with it, Lin lan's only hope of returning to the living world.
Reaching the summit, however, meant carving a path through hell itself.
"Hard terrain," Shen Daolun remarked calmly. "But excellent nourishment. Skeleton Archers possess dense soul energy. If you harvest enough, your soul flame can reach deep dark white."
"My concern," Lin lan replied dryly, "is that I'll end up as their nourishment instead."
Shen Daolun chuckled. "As long as you avoid the Chieftain, you'll be fine."
"You told me the summit is basically his throne," Lin lan said. "That he rarely leaves."
"I said rarely," Shen corrected. "Not never."
"…And if I do run into him?"
"If your soul flame reaches dark white, and with your current equipment?" Shen Daolun calculated. "Fifty–fifty."
"And if I'm unlucky?"
Shen smiled. "Then next year, I'll burn incense in your honor."
"…Comforting."
Despite the risk, retreat was no longer an option.
In the Nine Netherworlds, even standing still could get you killed.
Lin lan tightened his grip on the Blood-Slaughter Bone Blade and charged uphill.
He chose his target carefully—a lone Skeleton Archer positioned away from the others.
Pick the weak. Strike fast.
The archer noticed him instantly.
Whoosh!
A bone arrow tore through the air.
Lin lan ducked just in time. The arrow grazed past his skull and slammed into the ground behind him, quivering violently.
Cold dread ran through him.
That would've cracked my head clean open.
He steadied his stance and surged forward.
Naturally agile even among skeletons, and now enhanced by the Gale Boots, Lin lan crossed a hundred meters in a heartbeat. White light flared beneath his feet as he closed the distance like a gust of wind.
The Skeleton Archer froze.
Too late.
Lin lan raised his blade. Spiritual energy surged, the crimson glow thickening—
Then—
WHIIIIIISTLE—
Arrows screamed in from every direction.
"Damn it!"
Lin lan threw himself backward, rolling repeatedly.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Dozens of bone arrows embedded themselves where he'd stood moments earlier—so dense they left no space between them.
He sprang up, scanning the battlefield.
Skeleton Archers were closing in from both flanks, forming a deadly crescent.
"A trap," Lin lan snarled. "That decoy—"
Undead with low intelligence? Lies. Every one of them was smarter than expected.
No retreat.
Only blood.
He charged.
Arrows rained down like a storm. Lin lan weaved and deflected, but there were too many angles. A moment's hesitation—
Several arrows struck his body.
Shen Daolun's expression tightened.
Skeleton Archers could shatter stone. Even he wasn't sure Lin lan could endure this—
CLANG! CLANG!
Metallic echoes rang out.
The arrows bounced off harmlessly, scattering across the ground.
Shen Daolun exhaled sharply. "Good. That Spirit Witch Armor is the real deal."
Lin lan felt it too.
Confidence surged.
He stopped dodging.
Accelerated straight through the barrage.
The Skeleton Archers faltered, panic rippling through their ranks. No one—aside from the Chieftain—was supposed to survive their arrows.
Lin lan seized the opening.
The Blood-Slaughter Bone Blade swept out.
A crimson blade aura more than a foot long exploded from its edge.
BOOM!
Six Skeleton Archers shattered instantly.
Lin lan didn't stop.
Crimson arcs carved through the air—beautiful, lethal. Dozens of Skeleton Archers fell, their dark-white soul flames drifting free.
Shen Daolun lunged forward with heroic enthusiasm, devouring soul flames greedily.
"Delicious!" he mumbled. "Skeleton Archers are excellent."
"Hey—slow down!" Lin lan snapped. "That's my share!"
"Oh—right, right," Shen laughed awkwardly. "Plenty left for you!"
Lin lan glanced around.
Liar.
He swallowed the remaining fragments, already planning to reclaim his losses later.
Then—
A howl tore through the sky.
Low at first. Then rising. Sharpening. Until it pierced the clouds and echoed across the hills.
Every Skeleton Archer froze.
Then, as one—
They knelt.
Heads bowed. Bows lowered.
Reverence. Fear.
Lin lan felt a chill crawl up his spine.
From the cloud-shrouded summit, a dark figure leapt forward, streaking downward like a falling star.
The soul pressure hit before the figure did—heavy, violent, suffocating.
As it drew closer, Lin lan finally saw it clearly.
A Skeleton Archer.
But its eye flames burned pale crimson.
Shen Daolun's voice cracked.
"The Archer Chieftain…"
Encountering him now—
This was very bad.