Chapter 3: Bone Tower

The Lich Castle had a thousand things waiting to be done. To improve his strength as soon as possible, Hu Feng quickly took action. That very night, he personally led the remaining ten Zombie Warriors and ninety Skeleton Warriors straight to a natural logging site over a dozen li away.

The area of the Sunset Wasteland was astonishingly large. Compared to the entire wasteland, the Cursed Valley where the Lich Castle was located was just an insignificant small dot. However, the valley itself was not small; rather than calling it a grand canyon, it was better to call it a narrow plain stretching for thousands of miles. On both sides of the canyon were endless cliffs, steep mountains, never-ending flowing water, and quite a few scattered mines. These small mines were not worth mentioning to the Lich King Ovisis and had no value for his attention; but for Hu Feng, who was in urgent need of various resources, not a single resource could be let go.

It was said that deep in the Cursed Valley there were many large mines, but they were occupied by countless powerful monsters, and even ghosts formed from the fallen Ancient Demon Gods. Even Ovisis, an old monster who had lived for over nine thousand years, dared not go deep, so naturally, Hu Feng would not be reckless.

Rustle…

Borrowing the hazy moonlight, Hu Feng led his many guards to avoid the wild monsters wandering on the wasteland and quietly sneaked to the vicinity of the logging site.

This was a flat small basin, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with towering trees growing on the slopes. As long as the big trees were cut down, they could easily slide down the slope to the foot of the mountain. Considering logging and transportation, it was indeed a natural logging site. Unfortunately, inside and outside the basin, the figures of Skeleton Guardians could be seen wandering back and forth from time to time. It seemed that the place was occupied by a large group of wild Skeletons.

After devouring enough energy, a first-order Skeleton Guardian could evolve into a second-order Skeleton Warrior. Compared to Skeleton Guardians, the bones of Skeleton Warriors were tougher, and their speed, strength, and wisdom were completely on a different level. A Skeleton Warrior without any armor protection could easily handle the siege of at least five Skeleton Guardians.

“Arnold, you lead a few Zombie Warriors to attack. Do not linger in battle; lure the Skeletons inside and outside the logging site over in batches!” After observing for a while, Hu Feng gave the order in a low voice and set up a hidden Magic Array on the hillside.

The logging site looked ordinary, with only a group of first-order Skeleton Guardians, but for some reason, he always had a bad premonition in his heart. At the same time, whether it was an illusion or something else, he felt waves of vaguely familiar energy fluctuations coming from the depths of the logging site from time to time, as if something was summoning him, accompanied by a trace of extremely dangerous aura.

“Yes!”

Arnold bowed to accept the order and led two tall Zombie Warriors to rush out, heading straight for a few wild Skeletons not far away. Under the hazy moonlight, the black light on his Asura War Armor rippled, and the sharp spikes looked particularly ferocious. Before walking far, he attracted the attention of a few Skeletons on guard outside. After a few dull heavy blows, he swung the heavy and sharp axes in his hands to hack them down to the ground, and continued to move forward. Soon, a patrol team of Skeletons was alerted, and more and more Skeletons gathered around.

“Charge out!”

After successfully attracting the attention of a team of Skeleton Guardians, Arnold kept Hu Feng’s command in mind and quickly retreated, luring the many Skeletons toward the trap Hu Feng had set. As a third-order Zombie Warrior, although his speed was a bit slower than that of the Skeleton Guardians, he had the advantage of powerful attacks. After tearing open the encirclement of many Skeletons, he fought while retreating, getting closer and closer to Hu Feng and the others.

Woo…

After losing more than a dozen guardians, and watching helplessly as Arnold and the other two accelerated to break out of the encirclement, a Skeleton Guardian who looked like a small leader was furious. He opened his mouth and let out an ear-piercing whimper, leading many Skeleton Guardians to chase after them viciously. Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to Arnold and the others, he could not help but speed up again. Unexpectedly, the slope under his feet suddenly turned into a patch of unfathomable fine sand. His feet softened, and he sank in all at once. The more he struggled, the deeper he sank, and the Soul Fire in his mind was devoured by Hu Feng one by one.

Quicksand Spell!

Unlike the Phantom Quicksand Magic Array with its astonishing power inside the Lich Castle, this was just the simplest earth magic, but its effect was even better than expected. The soil on the hillside was originally loose, so the Quicksand Spell cast by Hu Feng was very effective, instantly putting the careless Skeleton Guardians into a predicament. Soon, this team of Skeletons was completely wiped out.

Shrouded in the night, the small hillside became the burial ground for many wild Skeletons. In less than an hour, Hu Feng and his party lured and killed more than five hundred Skeleton Guardians. Slowly, there were fewer and fewer Skeleton Guardians wandering near the logging site, but the danger shrouding Hu Feng’s heart only increased.

“What a pity… if I could devour the blood energy of five hundred Twelfth Step Dark Knights, what level would I break through to?”

After devouring the Magic Power and Soul energy of more than five hundred Skeleton Guardians, the energy in Hu Feng’s body became even more surging. The fluctuation of his Magic Power faintly echoed with the energy tides between heaven and earth, and his cultivation improved again. Unfortunately, he was still unable to break through the bottleneck of the peak of the third order of the Magic Apprentice, and many high-level magics could not be cast at all. After pondering for a moment, he led the many Undead straight to the logging site shrouded in night, going straight to the heart of the enemy to avoid further trouble.

Danger was everywhere on the Sunset Wasteland, and it was even more dangerous inside the Cursed Valley. If one was not careful and encountered a high-level Undead Creature wandering out, perhaps none of the accompanying Zombie Warriors and Skeleton Warriors would be able to return to the Lich Castle alive. Although the logging site was unpredictable and dangerous, after careful consideration, Hu Feng still decided to fight quickly.

Unexpectedly, the group did not encounter strong interception from wild Skeletons along the way, and the party quickly killed their way into the depths of the logging site. After turning past a tall poplar forest, a high tower made of white bones suddenly appeared in front of everyone. It exuded evil energy reaching the sky, and gloomy bones were engraved with mysterious Runes. Surrounding it were dense groups of prostrate Skeleton Guardians, in huge numbers, at least a thousand. Their foreheads were on the ground, as if they were respectfully worshipping a totem, or as if they were joining forces to cast a super-large-scale magic.

Right in front of the tower, a particularly eye-catching Skeleton was prostrate. Short in stature, draped in a set of dark red female armor, she looked like a female warrior in her previous life; holding a green long bow, the fluctuations of Magic Power and Soul energy in her body could be sensed clearly even from a long distance, more than ten times stronger than an ordinary Skeleton Warrior. The finger bones holding the long bow were slender and powerful, pitch-black and shiny, like a pair of poisonous Demon claws, making one’s hair stand on end just by looking at them.

A Sixth Step Skeleton King!

Hu Feng stared closely at the Skeleton King holding the long bow and made a gesture to signal everyone to stop immediately. According to Ovisis’s memory, every time an Undead Creature evolved, its strength would at least double. Especially for Undead like Skeleton Mages and Skeleton Archers who had innate racial talents, every time they evolved, the magnitude of their strength increase was even more terrifying!

Finger bones as black as ink were a clear sign that a Skeleton had advanced to the Sixth Step. The combat power of a Sixth Step Skeleton Archer King was unimaginable to ordinary people!

With over a thousand Skeleton Guardians and a terrifying Sixth Step Skeleton Archer King, the enemy’s strength far exceeded expectations. Hu Feng did not hesitate and immediately ordered a retreat, but unfortunately, before he could turn around, he alerted the Skeleton King prostrate in front of the high tower. The latter turned around, her cold eyes staring at everyone like two balls of green ghost fire, and then suddenly opened her mouth, letting out an angry roar from the depths of her Soul. Suddenly, the thousand or so Skeleton Guardians prostrate around the high tower stood up in unison, holding sharp Bone Blades, and pounced viciously at everyone.

“Stupid fellows, you actually interrupted our holy sacrifice. Every single one of you deserves to die! I will take apart your bones and suppress them under the tower forever!” The Skeleton King was full of Killing Intent. Before her voice fell, she shot out a sharp crossbow arrow, which appeared in front of Hu Feng with a ‘whoosh’.

Pitch-black, cold, carrying an ear-piercing sonic boom, it was unbelievably fast!

This arrow from the Skeleton King seemed to penetrate the Void and appear suddenly; there was no time or distance at all. No one saw how she struck, and no one could see the trajectory of the crossbow arrow. In an instant, Hu Feng felt his mind go blank, the sound of the Skeletons’ fighting suddenly disappeared, and the whole world was left with only that streak of black light getting closer and closer!

Ding…

At the critical moment, the Dark Magic Pen in Hu Feng’s hand subconsciously moved across, just in time to rebound the Skeleton arrow that almost shot through his head. His tiger’s mouth went numb, and the Qi and blood in his body surged. He was almost shocked to the point of spitting out a mouthful of blood by the reaction force of the Skeleton arrow. The Skeleton King’s archery was not only superb, but her power had also reached an astonishing level!

“Fight to the death!”

After just one encounter, Hu Feng understood that a fight to the death was unavoidable. Instead of retreating, he advanced, leading his many guards to charge straight at the enemy. With ten heavily armored Zombie Warriors as the vanguard, the Skeleton Warriors holding Bone Blades followed bravely, launching a fierce counter-charge on the spot, heading straight for the terrifying Skeleton King.

The opponent’s archery was simply too terrifying. If they turned and retreated, perhaps without the many Skeleton Guardians doing anything, the group would die one by one under her arrows. Relying on the relatively excellent combat power of the Zombie Warriors and Skeleton Warriors, and concentrating their strength for a desperate counterattack, perhaps there was still a glimmer of hope. Sure enough, seeing Hu Feng and the others suddenly pouncing over viciously, the Skeleton King in dark red armor was greatly surprised; her subordinate Skeleton Guardians could not react for a while, giving everyone an excellent opportunity.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

After a brief surprise, the Skeleton King reacted quickly. Every time she shot a crossbow arrow, a Zombie Warrior or Skeleton Warrior would fall. Sometimes, she even pierced the heads of several Skeleton Warriors with one arrow. In just a few dozen steps, almost half of the guards crowding around Hu Feng had fallen. Even Hu Feng himself narrowly escaped death several times, with sharp crossbow arrows grazing his scalp!

Bone Demon Longbow!

A Sixth Step Skeleton King displayed the power of the green Bone Demon Longbow in her hand to the fullest! Every time she shot and killed a Skeleton Warrior, a skull with a wide-open mouth shouting appeared on the long bow, flashing by. Upon closer observation, one could find a small green Rune added to the long bow, making the shot crossbow arrow even more powerful!

The more enemies she shot and killed, the stronger the power of the long bow in the Skeleton King’s hand became!

“Kill!”

Facing the deadly crossbow arrows of the Skeleton King and the surging horde of Skeleton Guardians, Hu Feng did not retreat or hesitate, but gave the order in a low voice. Only by closing the distance with the Skeleton King was there a possibility of a fatal blow and turning defeat into victory!

The tall and burly Arnold took the lead, leading the remaining Zombie Warriors to crush all the Skeleton Guardians blocking the way, chopping off their heads, smashing their spines, and with a hard poke from the sharp spikes on the Asura War Armor, leaving a fatal hole in the hard bones of the Skeleton Guardians. Compared to the first-order Skeleton Guardians, the Skeleton Warriors beside Hu Feng were already superior, and under the leadership of Arnold and other Zombie Warriors, they displayed great power, working together to charge forward. Along the way, they defeated the interception of the Skeleton Guardians, getting closer and closer to the Skeleton King standing in front of the high tower!

At the cost of lives, Hu Feng’s group forcibly broke through the interception of the Skeleton Guardians and rushed in front of the Skeleton King one step ahead, spreading out their formation to surround the latter. In an instant, they instead held an absolute numerical advantage in the local area!

Woo…

Seeing Hu Feng and the others coming so fiercely, the Skeleton Guardians on the periphery could not rescue them in time. The Skeleton King, who was not good at close combat, hesitated for a moment, then let out an angry shout. Suddenly, the Skeleton Guardians on the periphery rushed over desperately. A thunderous muffled sound came from the evil Bone Tower reaching the sky, accompanied by a thick Death Aura, as if it had punctured the Planar Crystal Wall in the Void in an instant. After a heart-palpitating whine, seven exceptionally powerful Skeleton Guardians walked out of the high tower. Some held long bows, some raised long swords flashing with cold light, and some even held a person-long Magic Staff, with a few green flames floating beside them!

“Skeleton Archers, Skeleton Mages, could it be that this is…” Looking at the Skeleton Mages that suddenly appeared in front of him, Hu Feng’s heart shook, and he suddenly remembered a segment of memory inherited from Ovisis.

The towering Bone Tower in front of him was not some totem or Altar, but an evil Bone Tower. After inputting Magic Power or offering sacrifices, it could summon seven powerful Skeleton Warriors from the death plane every day; the greater the energy consumed, the more powerful the summoned Skeletons would be. If one had enough Crystals and various materials to upgrade the Bone Tower to a high level, the number of Skeleton Warriors that could be summoned daily would be even greater, and their strength would be even more powerful!

“This Bone Tower is mine!”

After the shock, looking at the Bone Tower engraved with Runes in front of him, Hu Feng tried his best to stir up the Magic Crystal and Soul Crystal in his body, and the Magic Power all over his body rolled. The Lich Castle had a thousand things waiting to be done, and his subordinate Zombie Warriors and Skeleton Warriors were one less for every one that died, so he was worried about having no place to replenish his troops. Meeting such a Bone Tower was rare, so he had to seize it at any cost!