Chapter 71: Chapter Sixty-Nine: Black Bone Sect

Skin split and flesh tore, intense pain surged.

Wu Tie did not turn back, but instead fully exerted himself to unleash the Invisible Force Field.

The golden light cluster at his brow rapidly expanded and contracted, like a heart beating violently.

His blood vessels inexplicably boiled, and the Righteous Vital Energy struck like heavenly thunder, repeatedly tempering his soul and flesh. Wu Tie's every pore emitted a thread of supremely strong, overwhelming aura.

A low growl came, followed by a piercing sound of tearing air rapidly approaching.

The Invisible Force Field instantly caught a swiftly approaching figure—a similarly mutated wolf-tribe warrior, likewise covered in black bone plates, with green light flickering in his eyes, ferocious like a ghost.

Wu Tie lowered his head; on the ground, the mutated giant seized a mutated wolf-tribe warrior, his huge arm whirling like a windmill, and hurled the warrior at Wu Tie.

With a 'ding', Wu Tie's back heart mirror shuddered violently.

A mutated wolf-tribe warrior had already reached behind him, his long arms swinging, leaving dozens of afterimages, and fiercely grabbed the heart mirror on Wu Tie's back.

The white heart mirror was instantly scored with deep grooves; even the flesh on Wu Tie's back felt a hint of the claw's sharpness. If this guy weren't single-mindedly attacking Wu Tie's vital spot, his claws would have already gouged several large holes in his back.

"Get lost!" Wu Tie roared, turned, and kicked the wolf-tribe warrior in the chest.

He kicked with all his might, pouring his Primordial Force into his leg without reserve; muscles bulged, veins stood out, Wu Tie's right leg suddenly swelled to more than double its size, and even the tip of his foot emitted a visible white gang qi shooting out over three feet.

With a 'crack', a large piece of bone plate on the wolf-tribe warrior's chest shattered; Wu Tie's python-skin boot on his foot exploded, the flesh of his five toes torn to shreds.

His five toes glowed with a faint, dim light, like five small daggers, and they viciously pierced the wolf-tribe warrior's chest, shattering his likewise mutated ribs and sinking deep into his chest cavity.

A continuous series of cracking sounds rang in his ears; the wolf-tribe warrior let out a low howl and plummeted to the ground at several times his incoming speed, blasting a pit seven or eight meters wide at the bottom of the mine shaft.

This blow shattered the wolf-tribe warrior's bones throughout his body; he lay spread-eagled on the ground, unable to rise again.

The sound of tearing air rapidly approached, and another wolf-tribe warrior hurled by the mutated giant also rushed in swiftly.

Wu Tie's body lightly turned in midair with a punch, dodging the wolf-man's charge trajectory; he clenched his fists, combining the Diamond Subduing Demon Fist with Righteous Vital Energy, and fiercely pounded dozens of circles behind the wolf-tribe warrior.

Where the heavy fist passed, faint golden light and white vapor mingled as one.

Bone plates shattered, body burst apart; this wolf-man warrior was pulverized by Wu Tie in midair.

On the ground, the mutated giant and several mutated dwarves stared blankly at Wu Tie. The mutated dwarves swiftly tossed stones of various sizes between their hands, the stones flying back and forth, leaving afterimages and emitting piercing sounds of tearing air.

The stone that had just wounded Wu Tie was thrown by these few dwarves.

Throwing stones to scare away poisonous spiders, lizards, and snakes is one of the few self-defense means of the dwarf miners.

Who would have thought that after the dwarves mutated, the stones they threw would possess such tremendous power?

Even compared to the triangular spikes Wu Tie encountered in the secret realm, their lethal force was over ten times greater.

Wu Tie hovered in midair, looking down at these mutated monsters.

At the mine entrance, another two giants, over ten dwarves, and dozens of wolf-tribe and ox-tribe warriors staggered to their feet.

Their bodies were covered in thick mutated bone plates, their movements agile like phantoms, their eyes emitting a bluish-green glow, each baring teeth and constantly howling as they stared at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie looked at these big fellows, then lifted his gaze to the lofty dome at least thirty-odd li above the mine pit's bottom.

He took a deep breath and lunged downward.

Several mutated dwarves' stones shot out immediately, emitting a muffled blast of tearing air as they flew toward Wu Tie.

Wu Tie's body swiftly shifted position, dodging the bombardment of dozens of stones; still tens of meters above the ground, he abruptly halted his momentum, waved his hands, and several mutated dwarves flailed about, lifted into the air by the Invisible Force Field.

Wu Tie brought them straight upward; the golden light cluster at his brow rapidly expanded and contracted, his soul power dwindling bit by bit.

Soon Wu Tie brought these mutated dwarves beneath the dome; he lowered his head, locked onto the restless mutated warriors below, and with a push of both hands, accelerated the dwarves' downward fall.

Accelerate, accelerate, accelerate with all his might.

The ground rushed up rapidly; the faces of the mutated warriors were clearly visible, ferocious.

Wu Tie suddenly began to decelerate himself, but his Invisible Force Field continued to frenziedly push the several mutated dwarves.

A tremendous impact sound rang out; several mutated dwarves collided with a heap of mutated dwarves, their bodies simultaneously exploding into fragments that sprayed hundreds of meters away in the roar.

Wu Tie waved his hand, and another dozen or so frenziedly howling mutated wolf-tribe warriors were seized by him.

He brought these wolf-tribe warriors up into the high air, reaching beneath the dome, then similarly frenziedly accelerated, driving them full force downward.

After falling only a dozen or so meters, these wolf-tribe warriors' descent speed broke the sound barrier; just before reaching the ground, they had already attained twice the speed of sound.

Wu Tie locked onto two mutated giants on the ground; a dozen or so wolf-tribe warriors slammed fiercely into the two giants.

In the tremendous roar, the giant warriors were smashed apart directly, their skulls blown to bits.

Then followed another takeoff and another frenzied plunge; a herd of ox-tribe warriors was smashed to bits.

After five cycles of rising and falling, the mutated warriors near the mine entrance had been mostly crushed; the remaining few, bereft of sense, merely gathered nearby, howling incessantly at the sky.

Wu Tie's brow golden light had shrunk by half; before his eyes came waves of darkness, and he felt his body slightly floating.

He hurriedly flew back to the top of the mine pit, found a secluded corner, closed his eyes to nurture his spirit. He silently assumed the Foundation Establishment posture; after resting for half a day, his expended mental strength fully recovered, he darted back to the bottom of the mine pit, continuing to seize these mutated warriors with the Invisible Force Field and then bombard them frenziedly.

After much tossing about, the mutated warriors at the mine entrance, absurdly powerful, were utterly crushed by him using this method.

Standing at the now-quiet bottom of the mine pit, Wu Tie looked at the chaotic fragments of mutated warriors all around, and involuntarily spread his hands: 'Old Tie, perhaps wisdom truly is the greatest strength… If I had to fight them head-on, I would surely die.'

He shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and Wu Tie gave a few 'hehe' laughs: 'However, things seem not so bad now.'

He surveyed his surroundings; having repeatedly charged upward and then dove down to the ground, he had in fact examined the entire mine pit's situation clearly.

He could be certain that, aside from himself, there were no other living people in the entire mine pit.

The Shi Family had left no scouts or anyone else here.

That's fine.

Wu Tie approached a shattered upper-half fragment of a mutated giant; with a wave of his right hand, the White Tiger Split rang with a 'clang' and shot out a sharp spearhead.

With a wave of his right hand, the mutated giant's torso fragments were sliced soundlessly; he felt no resistance, and the cut surface was smooth as a mirror, even faintly reflective.

Excellent, the White Tiger Split's edge is boundless; these mutated behemoths cannot withstand its lethal power.

Wu Tie felt assured; if there were still Shi Family members lurking near this mine pit, he would never reveal the White Tiger Split under any circumstances.

Now it's good; he can boldly draw upon the power of the White Tiger Split.

He lowered his gaze to the split skin on the five toes of his right foot; as the Foundation Establishment practice gradually progressed, his bodily functions continually strengthened, and after a day or more, those minor flesh wounds had largely healed.

When walking, the flesh still felt a slight sting, but it was no serious hindrance.

Wu Tie flexed his toes……the toe bones grew ever stronger, but the strength of his flesh lagged behind; with each heavy blow against an enemy, he himself would first sustain a bit of injury.

There really was no good countermeasure; he could only slowly think of a solution in the future.

One boot was shattered, so Wu Tie simply took off the other boot as well; otherwise, having one foot high and the other low would make walking awkward.

Inside the mine shaft opening on the pit wall ahead, cold wind kept blowing through, and moreover, a grayish-white mist kept spraying out from within.

Wu Tie walked warily toward the mine shaft entrance, muttering under his breath as he went.

"It doesn't seem all that difficult, these mutated warriors……If the Shi Family had a Chonglou Realm Elder come scout this place, how could they not be able to deal with them?"

"And yet a Shi Family Elder has fallen here……Is this place really that dangerous?"

Strands of grayish-white mist carrying a chilling Cold Qi coiled toward Wu Tie.

About ten meters from Wu Tie, the aura released by his righteous vital energy directly shattered those mists, preventing them from approaching him even half a step.

Unbeknownst to him, Wu Tie had already become immune to one of the greatest dangers in this mine pit, yet he remained oblivious.

He walked while muttering to himself.

At the same time, he silently mocked himself: "By Old Tie's standard, I'm still not a warrior……Heh heh, I have to rely on talking to myself to bolster my courage."

Releasing his invisible force field to its full extent, everything within a fifty-meter radius became clearly 'visible'; Wu Tie cautiously walked to the mine shaft entrance, then waved his hand, and dozens of large fireballs roared as they blasted inside.

The fireballs blazed fiercely within the mine shaft, illuminating its interior completely.

After a while, with nothing else happening, Wu Tie gritted his teeth, pointed the tip of the White Tiger Split Spear forward, and stepped into the mine shaft one step at a time.

Inside the mine shaft, the walls on both sides showed patches of golden and silver speckles—these were ore of extremely high purity gold and silver, and amidst those golden and silver speckles, blue crystals of various sizes could be seen everywhere.

Xuanlan crystal ore—such dense Xuanlan crystal ore lay exposed before him.

This was a rich, rare mineral vein practically oozing wealth; Wu Tie couldn't help his curiosity, he stopped, pried off a palm-sized piece of Xuanlan crystal ore from the wall, and began to play with it.

The translucent Xuanlan crystal ore was extremely dense and very heavy; a small piece of it weighed roughly three times as much as an equal volume of gold.

Moreover, the ore felt icy to the touch, yet it did not show any yin cold.

Wu Tie could sense the potent cold power stored within the ore, but this cold force was highly restrained; unlike some strange objects that would burst out freezing chill at the slightest touch, turning the surroundings into an icy wasteland, it did not exhibit such arrogant fury.

Only such a low-key, restrained cold power could be used for forging weapons and armor.

Wu Tie hefted the ore, then casually tossed it onto the ground.

Dozens of large fireballs hovered above his head as Wu Tie continued forward along this mine shaft, which was about seven to eight meters wide and five to six meters high.

The further he went, the thicker the grayish-white mist became, and the chill in the air grew more intense. Wu Tie's internal righteous vital energy seemed provoked, activating on its own; a vigorous, unyielding, supremely strong and hard aura emanated from him, shattering the mist nearby into fragments.

Occasionally, a phantom resembling a human face flickered through the mist, and Wu Tie walked past it without even noticing.

These phantoms continually lunged at Wu Tie from the thick fog, but the moment they came within about ten meters of him, his righteous vital energy shattered them to pieces, after which they quickly turned into wisps of light smoke that burned away completely.

After proceeding cautiously for about half an hour, having gone roughly seven or eight li into the mine pit, Wu Tie saw a burly old man clad in fine armor lying prone on the ground ahead.

The old man stood nearly three meters tall, comparable in stature to Shi Meng.

This should be an Elder of the Shi Family; only Shi Family members who have activated the Giant Bloodline can attain such a massive build.

Like the mutated warriors outside, this Shi Family Elder's entire body was covered in thick black bone plates, which almost fused with his metal armor, making his physique look increasingly bulky.

Wu Tie stood forty meters away, cautiously observing the Shi Family Elder lying motionless on the ground.

The Shi Family Elder's body showed no movement, nor did he erupt in violence like those mutated warriors outside.

Wu Tie took a few careful steps forward, and just seven or eight meters ahead of the Shi Family Elder, another six or seven old men in fine armor lay scattered haphazardly, each piece of their armor emitting a faint glow.

They were likely also Elders of the Shi Family or the Lu Family.

Their bodies were completely covered in thick black bone plates, and they lay lifeless in the mine shaft.

Wu Tie gradually approached, but they showed no movement at all.

Wu Tie couldn't help but feel a bit surprised; perhaps they hadn't yet completed their mutation, nor fully transformed into the monsters at the mine shaft entrance, so they still lacked the ability to move?

However, this was clearly a good opportunity for Wu Tie.

Without hesitation, he swung the White Tiger Split, severing the limbs of these Elders; thus, even if they regained mobility, they could pose no threat to Wu Tie.

After advancing cautiously another few dozen meters, breaking through the obstruction of the dense gray mist, at the far end of the mine shaft appeared a rather splendid yet peculiarly eerie black bone door.

Two skeletons about three meters tall, entirely pitch-black, stood motionless outside the bone door, the left hand gripping a small round shield, the right hand grasping a long sword.