Chapter 55: Correct Usage

Ang’s current appearance is indeed highly deceptive—a gray-white skeleton; who could tell he’s a Golden Skeleton?

Possessing a Soul Heart makes one a Golden Skeleton, but skeletal metalization requires a process, and Ang’s case is unusual—his current skeleton was found in the Palace of Rest, not evolved normally.

Moreover, his process of condensing the Soul Heart was peculiar—he condensed it directly while still in the Gray Bone stage, skipping the Silver Skeleton phase entirely, so to become a Golden Skeleton, he must first enter the Silver phase, then transform into Gold.

Of course, “Silver” and “Gold” are merely colloquial terms, named after bone color; the proper academic names are Lord Rank and King Rank—Silver Lord, Golden Skeleton King.

Ang’s bones are now gray-white, showing signs of transitioning toward Silver, but the process is excruciatingly slow—months have passed, and there’s still barely a trace of “silver.”

This is likely related to the cold, yin energy within the Wind of Rest.

Ang hid in the pit for months, daily reaching out to guide that cold energy, causing all the pits and dents on his bones to be repaired, meaning his bone density has increased dramatically.

The difference in bone density between an ordinary person and a swordsman is enormous—an adult swordsman’s density can reach 1.5 grams, a Sword Saint even 2 grams, while most magicians have only 0.x grams, absolutely osteoporotic.

Ang’s method of directly channeling the cold energy to repair his bones may have raised his bone density higher than that of Lu Se, a Sword Saint; such density makes metalization vastly more difficult than for osteoporotic bones.

So don’t be fooled by Ang’s current gray bones—his hardness may not be inferior to that of osteoporotic Golden Skeletons.

Leonarde immediately felt it—Ang swung his great scythe, moving gracefully, cutting down heavily armored swordsmen like harvesting vegetables, clattering toward Leonarde and slashing down at him.

Leonarde smiled faintly, letting the scythe hook onto his body—but before it struck, he shouted: “Resolve!”

A holy light blazed across Leonarde’s body; the scythe struck with a clang and was blocked.

“The Reaper’s Scythe cannot pull a knight whose will is steadfast,” Leonarde said, swinging his longsword horizontally.

His unicorn, Lightning, moved in perfect sync, twisting its body—its turning speed added to Leonarde’s sword swing, aiming to cleave Ang in two.

Clang! The sword struck Ang’s ribs and sent him flying.

Both were stunned—Leonarde shocked he hadn’t severed Ang, Ang shocked by the hissing, sparking scar on his ribs.

Leonarde’s strike carved a one-finger-deep gash, laced with holy light that burned his bones with a sizzling sound.

“Tough skeleton, but heretic you still are—Holy Flame will cling to your shell and burn you to ash…?” Leonarde’s words cut off as he saw Ang slap his ribs—the Holy Flame vanished instantly.

“N…not possible! How did you do that?” Leonarde blinked in disbelief.

If Holy Flame were ineffective, Leonarde could accept it—but it had worked, only to be slapped out with a few blows? That was unbearable; the difficulty levels were incomparable.

Ang tilted his head, unsure how to answer. How? Just slap twice—that’s all.

“Ask your god,” Lu Se replied, shoving several beetroot into his mouth.

Leonarde didn’t grasp the significance—he only wondered: Eating beetroot now? Hungry? Even shriveled beetroot? Poor Shenyuan barbarian.

Meanwhile, the warriors of Ice City and Phyllin’s undead skeletons had fully surrounded the camp, tearing down the fence and flooding in.

Though Ice City’s troops were poorly equipped, and the undead even worse, their numbers were vast—four to five thousand—while the Church of Light had fewer than eighty left.

Originally, Leonarde’s heavily armored swordsmen had swept everything aside, and everyone felt secure—but now, all the armored warriors were down, the tide had turned, panic spread, and someone dared ask: “Lord Leonarde, the situation is dire—is there backup? Please summon immediate reinforcement!”

Leonarde didn’t turn, rebuking: “Is the Blade of God so cowardly? Even without backup, you must fight to the death—let the enemy witness the courage of the Holy Blade!”

“????” Every head filled with giant question marks—no reinforcements? They were to die here?

Leonarde had a unicorn as his mount—he could escape anytime. So were they all abandoned?

Yes, Leonarde never intended to take them with him. First, the heavily armored swordsmen he brought didn’t exist—if all went smoothly, they’d turn on the people in the camp.

Second, if a minor Shenyuan operation resulted in the death of a Level Seven Holy Knight Captain and his deputy, the report would seem absurd. To make it plausible, the people in the camp had to be sacrificed.

Now that things had spiraled out of control, no one could be allowed to return alive.

“Let me see the courage of the Holy Blade,” Lu Se said, swallowing his beetroot, feeling power surge through him—he lunged forward, swinging his sword in a fierce downward slash that unleashed a blade of energy.

“Huh? How did you improve so much? You hid your strength?” Leonarde blocked the blade, but was shaken in shock.

Lu Se said nothing, striking silently—beetroot only temporarily boosted his realm; he dared not waste time.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! The clash of blades merged into a continuous din—Lu Se’s sword flowed like liquid mercury, delivering thirty to forty strikes in mere breaths.

Leonarde parried clumsily but barely held on—then came a crack: both swords shattered under the intensity, snapping into two pieces.

Lu Se discarded his broken blade, thrusting his right fist forward—its aura flared, stabbing toward his enemy.

Leonarde summoned a holy shield and blocked.

Lu Se shifted his shoulder, twisting to deliver a left punch.

Leonarde blocked.

Lu Se alternated fists—three to forty more punches in seconds.

Only then did Lightning’s true skill show—he danced on nimble steps, carrying Leonarde backward while parrying, dodging forty percent of Lu Se’s attacks, even kicking back sideways.

This wasn’t a mount—it was a master of footwork.

But that kick backfired—Lu Se channeled his aura into his arm, blocking the hoof and shoving it back.

Taking advantage of Lightning’s slight hesitation, Lu Se leapt upward, hands clasped, forming an aura-sword and bringing it down overhead.

Leonarde gasped: “Aura Blade? High-Level Sword Saint!”

The earlier exchange had already hinted his opponent’s strength exceeded Low-Level Sword Saint—he’d even suppressed Leonarde and Lightning’s synergy. Indeed, High-Level Sword Saint was his true power.

With Lightning’s aid, Leonarde could match a Low-Level Sword Saint—but he could never defeat a High-Level one. No more hesitation—he slapped his chest and roared: “Divine Protection!”

He crushed something on his chest—a layer of transparent holy light enveloped him, and his body froze, turning into a statue of holy radiance.

Lu Se’s aura-sword struck Leonarde’s body, unleashing a violent energy shockwave that blasted Lu Se backward.

Divine Protection—a high-tier divine art—grants temporary immunity to all damage, the final desperate survival tactic.

Lu Se leapt back, slamming a fist into Leonarde—Clang! Another violent impact—Leonarde remained unharmed.

Realizing he couldn’t break this defense, Lu Se growled: “You can’t move. When the defense fades, I’ll cut you down.”

Leonarde couldn’t move his body, but his mouth worked: “Foolish barbarian, do you understand the concept of linkage?”

Before he finished speaking, a teleportation surge erupted at his location, rapidly intensifying—his “linkage” meant activating Divine Protection also triggered a teleportation scroll.

Was this annoying bastard really going to escape? Lu Se, furious, slammed two more punches into him—still unmoved. He kicked Lightning: “Aren’t you going to save your horse?”

Lightning ducked, wriggling free from under Leonarde, dodging Lu Se’s kick, muttering softly: “You’re the horse. Your whole family are horses.” But the voice was too faint for anyone else to hear.

Divine Protection didn’t cover it—daring to be bold now would be sheer stupidity.

Leonarde remained frozen in place—even as Lightning slipped away, he still appeared to be “riding” the air, looking absurd.

“Hold on, Lightning—I’ll come back for you,” Leonarde called out, his tone as fake as a cheating lover.

Just then, he felt someone tap his leg—he turned pale. Divine Protection granted immunity to all harm—how could someone touch his leg?

He tried to look down, but his whole body was locked—only his eyes could move. He barely saw a gray-white hand-bone pierce the holy light, gripping his calf.

He couldn’t see what happened, but Lu Se saw clearly—Ang extended his left hand, his elbow and below vanished, already probing into the Palace of Rest.

Then Ang’s vanished hand drew near the holy light—and when it reappeared, his wrist was inside the holy glow.

Grasping Leonarde’s foot, Ang pulled down hard—Leonarde was pulled “into” the Palace of Rest.

“Where is this?!” The scene shifted in a flash—Leonarde screamed. He looked down: a lone hand-bone held his calf, dangling him upside-down.

Before he could react, the hand-bone yanked him back to the original place—but now he was outside the Divine Protection’s glow.

Leonarde watched helplessly as the empty holy glow was swallowed by a flash of teleportation light and vanished before his eyes.

Lu Se formed an aura-sword, grinning fiercely, lunging forward and stabbing it into Leonarde’s chest.