The White Bone Holy Lord's punch came to nothing, and he stopped.
He merely looked indifferently at Zhang Linchuan outside the Nether-Lightning Prison.
Having endured countless ages, what scene had he not witnessed?
Though Zhang Linchuan had indeed surprised him, that was all.
If not for his White Bone Holy Body being incomplete, and having been severely injured by Chongxuan Chuliang, and then abandoning his blood-flesh puppet body, leaving him in an unprecedented state of weakness—even this so-called Nether-Lightning Restriction Art, however ingenious, might not have been able to do anything to him.
But... in the end, he would have to wait another cycle of slumber.
The White Bone Holy Lord sighed softly in his heart.
Then, the flesh and blood on his body rapidly flowed and receded—more accurately, all of it surged inward, towards the depths of his bones. The flesh and blood flowed back like water; in the blink of an eye, all of it vanished from his body, leaving only a skeleton of white bone.
Yet the faintly flowing crimson within the skeleton still indicated where the flesh and blood had gone.
This True Form of White Bone was not easily revealed, but it was the state in which his divine power could be exerted to the fullest.
Retaining flesh and blood was his effort to become a deity in the present world, but now revealing the True Form of White Bone meant he had abandoned all possibilities in this current era... and would fight this rebel with his full might!
Within the Nether-Lightning Prison, nether-black lightning howled ceaselessly, bombarding this skeleton continuously, but it could no longer shake him in the slightest.
The nether-black lightning bound him like chains.
Yet he stepped forward, and the lightning on his body exploded one after another.
One step, and he left the Nether-Lightning Prison, already near Zhang Linchuan!
The cold white soul fire in the skeleton's eye sockets met Zhang Linchuan's eyes, which shot with intense light.
"Die... before me!"
He roared rare, his bone hand spreading wide.
A single grasp, and it was overwhelming, leaving no path to retreat.
White bones like a forest, instantly surrounding Zhang Linchuan.
However... rumble!
It was not thunder, but the sound of something heavy crushing through heaven and earth.
From the void, a simple-looking memorial archway was dragged out.
Three bays, four pillars, seven roofs, rumbling as it rolled over.
The plaque bore the words—Ghost Gate!
Zhang Linchuan had painstakingly found this cave and calculated this ambush against the White Bone Holy Lord, so of course, he had more than just the ground-etched lightning prison formations. The Nether-Lightning Restriction Art was by no means his only reliance.
This Ghost Gate phantom had been created from the self-sacrifice of the White Bone Sect's three elders, and was controlled by Grand Elder Ouyang Lie.
After Ouyang Lie fell in battle, the entire White Bone Sect believed this Ghost Gate phantom had fallen into the hands of the State of Zhuang's Great General, Huangfu Duanming.
But in truth, Zhang Linchuan had snatched it from the tiger's jaws at that time, and had been hiding it ever since... precisely for this moment!
Zhang Linchuan crossed his thumb and little finger, held the other three fingers together, and pointed his left hand vertically before the White Bone Holy Lord.
His decree: "Yin and Yang must be separated, life and death do not intertwine. Here, the passage between Yin and Yang is forbidden!"
The moment the decree fell, the forest of white bones surrounding Zhang Linchuan dissipated into thin air.
Even the White Bone Holy Lord's True Form of White Bone seemed to be repelled by something, involuntarily stepping back.
The Ghost Gate separated Yin and Yang, being the gateway to the Netherworld.
Its presence here now sealed the space, preventing the White Bone Holy Lord from communicating with the power of the Netherworld.
This Ghost Gate phantom was refined using the White Bone Sect's secret arts, part of the earlier plan to destroy the Maple Forest City domain and refine the White Bone True Pill. The White Bone Holy Lord knew perfectly well what it could achieve.
And his attempt to seize control of this Ghost Gate phantom yielded results no different from expectation—Zhang Linchuan had made complete preparations, having long since thoroughly mastered this Ghost Gate phantom, firmly imprinting his own mark upon it.
It was not impossible to fight for control, but that required time, and in this moment of battle, there was obviously no feasibility.
"Damn it."
A faint thought turned in his heart.
Then he saw—
Zhang Linchuan finished his hand seals, and a flood dragon woven from nether-black lightning surged from his palm, instantly roaring towards him!
Roar!
The hissing, flashing nether-black lightning dragon bit down on the White Bone Holy Lord's bone hand raised before him, the Nether-Lightning Flood Dragon's fangs and the White Bone True Form's hand bone crossing in the most inescapable manner.
Bang!
The White Bone Holy Lord punched the Nether-Lightning Flood Dragon away, scattering it.
And the next instant, Zhang Linchuan, his fist wrapped in nether-black lightning, had already closed in, striking down from above!
Boom!
The two fists collided.
Zhang Linchuan did not move an inch, only his long hair rising and falling.
And the White Bone Holy Lord, already extremely weakened and now cut off from the power of the Netherworld, was forced back into the Nether-Lightning Prison by this very punch.
Zhang Linchuan frowned slightly, flicked his sleeve as if disgusted by the dust accidentally stained upon it. Then he stepped forward, pressing both hands directly outside the Nether-Lightning Prison, his entire body wreathed in nether-black lightning, pouring it into the prison with utmost intensity.
Sizzle!
The Nether-Lightning Prison's power surged abruptly, the dark lightning multiplying, intertwining like dragons and snakes, not permitting the White Bone Holy Lord to leave even half a step.
"Since you have forced me to this extent..."
The White Bone Holy Lord perhaps had not even noticed that his emotional fluctuations were growing ever greater.
Yet this rage was so real, so profound.
"Ant, you may well be proud!"
He raised his head and howled.
The lightning was dispersing.
The Nether-Lightning Prison was shaking.
This cave was shaking.
The entire space began to tremble.
His True Form of White Bone, starting from the toes, began to disintegrate.
He was using the disintegration of his True Form of White Bone to shake the space, to counter the Ghost Gate phantom, to call upon the power of the White Bone Sovereign God deep within the Netherworld.
He would directly sacrifice himself, abandoning all efforts of this awakening, sending this body into the Netherworld.
Such an excellent body, even if it could not serve as a deity in the present world, once entered into the Netherworld, would be sufficient to become an external avatar.
Everything was trembling, including the Ghost Gate phantom in the void, and including Zhang Linchuan himself.
He clearly felt that the Nether-Lightning Prison was about to collapse, and the Ghost Gate phantom could no longer hold the division between Yin and Yang.
Even though he had planned for so long, prepared so much, yet still... it was not enough!
He had still underestimated a deity, and this operation was very likely to be nothing but drawing water with a bamboo basket, all in vain!
Having poured so much in with no gain completely went against his principle of growing stronger.
He had planned for so long, just for this very day, how could he accept failure?
Zhang Linchuan bit the tip of his tongue without hesitation, stirred his Inner Palace realm, and roared through his Celestial Palace.
He was already a powerhouse who had opened four Inner Palace realms, and although he had not yet grasped any divine abilities, it was equivalent to having four additional Celestial Palaces.
Now, with five power sources erupting at full force, he stood against the White Bone Holy Lord, who was unhesitatingly disintegrating his True Form of White Bone.
It remained to be seen whether he would falter first, or the White Bone Holy Lord would disintegrate first.
However, at this very moment—
Creak!
The Ghost Gate phantom in the void was suddenly pushed open a crack!
The White Bone Sovereign God deep within the Netherworld had finally sensed this place again, transmitting divine power.
"Ant, die." The White Bone Holy Lord spoke indifferently yet mechanically.
But as soon as these words left his mouth, he himself was startled!
Why mechanical?
At that very moment, the disintegration of the White Bone True Form suddenly halted.
The crimson within the depths of the bones overflowed.
The flesh and blood surged back!
This process was utterly clear, not at all slow.
The flesh and blood hidden deep within regrew, once again covering the skeleton's body.
The True Form of White Bone was thus sealed away, and the White Bone Holy Lord was restored to his original state of complete flesh and blood.
His two eyes—one in its indifference had grown terror, while the other had lost its indifferent emotion, turning to calm!
Wang Changji!