Shi Mu had been drawing magic charms over the past three months for the sake of his training. But, he hadn’t just focused on the practice of the Book of Flaming Red Ape after this period had ended. He had also paid attention to his other practices.

　　There was a small hilltop near the house that Shi Mu had recently bought. That hilltop was usually desolate and uninhabited.

　　Therefore, Shi Mu would go to the hilltop every day early in the morning in order to practice the Sun-Swallowing Art. In addition, he would go to the hilltop at night for the Moon-Swallowing Art so long as the moon appeared in the sky.

　　Shi Mu didn’t have to draw magic charms during the daytime nowadays. So, he’d return to the underground cavern. Then, he’d activate the Fire-Filled Array, and would start the practice of the ninth stage of the Book of Flaming Red Ape.

　　Time flew, and half-a-year of time passed in an instant.

　　At night… on the peak of the small hill…

　　Shi Mu sat down with his legs crossed, and exhibited the posture of the Moon-Swallowing Art. A virtual shadow of a full moon vaguely appeared behind his head.

　　Then, the moonlight started to sprinkle down. It then integrated into the virtual shadow of the full moon.

　　It couldn’t be said how much time had passed in this way when Shi Mu’s body suddenly revealed a little movement. And, the shadow of the full moon behind his head dissipated. He opened his eyes, and a glint of gladness peeped through them.

　　The moonlight crystal grain condensed in his mind had already become much larger than before. In fact, it was almost the size of a baby’s fist now.

　　Shi Mu took a deep breath, and closed his eyes again. Then, a wisp of his magic power rushed into his mind, and touched the moonlight crystal grain.

　　“Bang” the crystal grain ruptured into pieces with a loud rumbling sound. Then, it took the shape of a full moon, and started to infuse the purest form of magic power into his body.

　　After that, a cloud of stars emerged on the top of Shi Mu’s head. Three star-like patterns were twinkling in the cloud, while the fourth star looked as gloomy as before.

　　The cloud of stars suddenly tumbled, and the fourth star’s light gradually started to grow brighter due to the constant infusion of magic power.

　　Then, a droning sound echoed.

　　The cloud of stars revealed a burst of surging movement. And, the fourth star finally ceased to brighten after it reached a semi-bright state.

　　Shi Mu opened his eyes, and his face exposed both delighted and anxious expressions at the same time.

　　He noticed that his Art of Accumulating Spirit Power had marked a considerable progress during the time when his crystal grain had changed into the shape of a full moon. However, he still needed to spend at least one-or-two years of time to ascend to the rank of a four-star magician.

　　Suddenly, a dense cloud of fog floated behind him.

　　The fog gradually settled, and Yan Luo’s silhouette came into appearance. Its entire body was covered with silver armor. It stepped out, and walked over to Shi Mu.

　　“Yan Luo!” A glimmer of joy shone in Shi Mu’s eyes as he saw Yan Luo before him.

　　Yan Luo’s armor was apparently different than its previous one. There were circles of strange patterns on the surface of its armor this time. Also, a few sharp bone-splinters could be seen on both shoulders of the armor. Moreover, an electric light was flickering on the top of those bone splinters.

　　Yan Luo’s strength seemed to have made a substantial progress since its last appearance. Also, the soul flames in its eyes looked almost deep-purple in color this time.

　　“Well, you seem to be getting there,” Yan Luo took a look at Shi Mu from top to bottom. Then, a sweet voice resounded in Shi Mu’s mind.

　　Shi Mu’s facial expression stagnated when he heard these words. His practicing speed had been incredibly fast in the eyes of ordinary people. But, it didn’t have any value in Yan Luo’s eyes.

　　He let out a soft sigh and asked, “Have you come to borrow something again?”

　　“Yes, lend me your stick again,” the soul flame in its eyes flickered, and it said with a nod.

　　Shi Mu didn’t say anything. He took down the black stick from his back, and handed it over to Yan Luo.

　　Yan Luo waved the short stick once. Then, it turned its head to look at Shi Mu, and asked, “Is there no supplement for spirit energy?

　　“I’m trapped in this city these days. And, I can only draw magic charms to earn spirit stones. I’m barely able to support my own practice. So, having surplus spirit stones to replenish the spirit energy of this stick is out of question at this point of time,” Shi Mu secretly rolled his eyes as he said.

　　“Don’t be wordy. Give me five-thousand spirit stones,” Yan Luo paid no attention to Shi Mu’s words. Instead, it extended its arm in front of Shi Mu.

　　“You’d better come with something that you can exchange for the spirit stones,” Shi Mu folded his arms across his chest and replied.

　　“What do you want?” Yan Luo asked.

　　“I want the same green flower from last time. In fact, it would be better if we make an agreement for our future dealings – one green flower in-exchange for five-thousand spirit stones. How about this?” Shi Mu replied without any hesitation.

　　Yan Luo remained silent for a moment; it seemed as if it was considering this.

　　“Ten-thousand spirit stones for one flower,” Yan Luo haggled over the price.

　　“That’s settled then!” Shi Mu agreed without any hesitation. But, a crafty look flashed across his eyes at the same time.

　　The value of that kind of green flower was definitely more than ten-thousand spirit stones. So, the deal that he had just cracked was undoubtedly a favorable one.

　　Yan Luo nodded, and a plume of black smoke bubbled-up on its body. This indicated that it was about to return to its own world.

　　But then, its actions suddenly stopped, and it shot a dubious look at Shi Mu.

　　“What’s wrong?” Shi Mu asked.

　　Yan Luo walked over, and moved around Shi Mu once. Then, it extended its head, and sniffed at Shi Mu’s body.

　　“What happened?” Shi Mu frowned as he asked.

　　“There seems to be a special deathly aura around your body? Have you come across anything weird of late?” Yan Luo asked.

　　Shi Mu was left dumbfounded for a moment. But then, a ray of miraculous light flashed across his mind.

　　“Oh, that’s right… it would’ve slipped my mind if you hadn’t mentioned it. I think it should be this thing.” He waved his hand, and a white skeleton appeared in front of him. Then, it heavily crashed to the ground with a “Thud” sound.

　　It was the same skeleton that Shi Mu had collected from the underground cave.

　　The soul flame in Yan Luo’s eyes slightly brightened as its eyes fell on the skeleton. It raised its hand, and a beam of grey light flew out of its hand. Then, that light beam lifted the white skeleton, and held it in front of Yan Luo.

　　Yan Luo examined the skeleton in a careful manner, and the soul flame in its eyes grew even brighter… as if it was somewhat delighted.

　　“I had incidentally obtained this thing. This skeleton is somewhat special. It might turn out to be useful to you. I’ll give it to you if you like it,” Shi Mu said.

　　Yan Luo didn’t give him any reply. It instead opened its mouth, and spouted a wisp of purple flame. The flame flew straight into the skeleton’s head.

　　A light flashed in the hollow eye sockets of the skeleton the next moment. Then, a cluster of soul flames emerged in its eye sockets; they were sky-blue in color.

　　The skeleton’s body quivered as soon as the soul flame ignited in its eye sockets.

　　Then, the skeleton swept its vision around in a dull manner after a while. After that, its joints made a “Ka Ka” sound as it tried to move its stiff hands and feet.

　　The distinctive aura of a Dead Spirit creature also emerged on the white skeleton’s body. And, this unique aura began to grow in an unceasing manner. It eventually stabilized after some time… somewhere between the middle and the advanced stage of the Xian Tian realm; it didn’t undergo any change afterwards.

　　Shi Mu was stunned to see the things that had happened before his eyes.

　　A few gestures of Yan Luo had turned a skeleton into a Dead Spirit creature. On top of that, that skeleton’s strength had ascended to the rank of a Xian Tian warrior in a matter of seconds. This entire scene was indeed very appalling to behold.

　　“Yan Luo is perhaps somehow related to this human skeleton?” Such a thought popped into Shi Mu’s mind.

　　The human skeleton took a look at the surrounding area. And, its eyes fell on Yan Luo after a moment. The blue soul flames in its eyes flickered, and the expression in its eyes got replaced by a cordial look.

　　The skeleton then half-knelt on the ground, and bowed to Yan Luo. Then, it uttered a droning sound, “Master…!”

　　“Get up! You’ll be with me from now on. Well, I need to find a name for you,” Yan Luo said. Then, the soul flames in its eyes leapt as if it had sunk into a deep consideration.

　　Yan Luo thought about it for a while, but it apparently couldn’t come up with any good name. Therefore, it turned its head, and looked at Shi Mu who stood nearby.

　　“You’d better choose a name for it yourself since I have turned it over to you,” Shi Mu beckoned with his hand as he said.

　　“Master, I… have a name, I’m… called… Wu Ye.” the white human skeleton said in a slurred and indistinct voice. But, it was still able to express its meaning.

　　“Fine, you’ll be called Wu Ye then.” Yan Luo nodded. Then, a mass of black smoke welled up from its body, and caused a little fluctuation in the void. It then took a step, and went in like a wave.

　　The white human skeleton also followed it, and walked in.

　　“I’ll try to get you the green flower in a few days. Meanwhile, you try to prepare the required number of spirit stones,” Yan Luo’s voice resounded in Shi Mu’s mind before the disappearance of the fluctuation in the void.

　　Shi Mu creased into a smile as he heard these words. He knew that his magic power cultivation was only a short distance away from reaching the Four-Star magician realm if he had those green flowers for supplements. In fact, he could achieve this realm in a matter of a few days with the help of those green flowers.

　　As for the spirit stones… he still had some at his disposal.

　　Shi Mu had set the conditions with Yan Luo. So, all he needed to do now was to spend more time in refining magic charms that could meet the requirement of the opposite party.

　　The fact was that Shi Mu had been anxious about Yan Luo’s constant ignorance towards him for some time. But, Yan Luo had just come to look for him of its own accord. So, Shi Mu had been able to deal with it in a better way.

　　Such thoughts tumbled in Shi Mu’s mind for a moment. Then, he flew towards his dwelling place like a flash of light.

　　… …

　　Time rolled on, and it seemed as if three months had passed in a flash.

　　The Dead Spirit World…

　　A chill black wind whistled across a huge black mountain peak while issuing a ghost-cry like sound.

　　Two legions of Dead Spirit creatures were absorbed in a close-range combat on a leveled slope halfway up the mountain peak.

　　One side was almost dominated by a large number of human skeletons, while the other side was mainly comprised of various carrion-carcass-type creatures. However, both sides had an almost equal number of members.

　　The legion of the human skeletons was headed by a lofty and white skeleton-soldier. A pair of deep-blue soul flames was twinkling in its eye sockets at the moment. It held a large white sword in its hand; this sword was almost the same size as its body.

　　The white skeleton-soldier seemed to possess incredible strength. It would set-off a white sword-shadow every time it brandished its big sword. And, that sword-shadow was dangerous-enough to cut one or two approaching Dead Spirit creatures of the opposite party into two segments.

　　The skeleton legion gradually gained the upper hand in this battle under the leadership of the white skeleton-soldier.

　　However, the white skeleton’s focus seemed somewhat distracted from the current battle since it was often directing its vision toward the air.

　　There was a slender white-armored silhouette in midair. It held a short stick in its hand, and was in a tangle with a massive black carcass-dog at the moment.

　　This slender silhouette was none other than Yan Luo. Its body had again undergone some changes over these months.

　　A pair of broad bone-wings had sprouted on its back during this period. The bone-wings appeared to be made of a translucent membrane-like thing. Its wings flashed, and it moved in the air with great speed and agility.

　　As for the black carcass-dog… there was a pair of long and thick curved horns on the top of its head. They were conical in shape, and bore a great similarity to those of a sheep. The carcass-dog was two or three-hundred feet in size. A pair of deep-purple soul flames could be seen flickering in its eyes at the moment. In addition, there was a cloud of grey smoke underneath its body. It had supported its body, and had made it hover in the air conveniently.

　　The carcass-dog was exuding exceedingly formidable aura. It was so strong that it had far surpassed Yan Luo’s overwhelming aura.

　　The deep-purple soul flame in the black carcass-dog’s eyes radiated magnificent brilliance at this moment. Then, its massive body sprang forward, and swooped straight toward Yan Luo.

　　Yan Luo’s movement halted as it saw the scene. But, it remained standing there completely motionless… as if it didn’t want to dodge the attack.

　　The black carcass-dog was overjoyed to see this. A layer of an intense black radiance emerged on one of its big front claws, and it made a gesture in the void that made it seem as if it wanted to grab Yan Luo.

　　A “Chi Chi” sound was heard, and the expansive black radiance condensed into an enormous shadow of a black palm. Then, the palm-shadow moved to grasp Yan Luo.

　　However, a splendid black radiance burst forth on the surface of the black stick in Yan Luo’s hand. The stick then exuded a piercing sound like a fierce beast’s scream. Then, a huge mass of black light emerged, and condensed into a bulky shadow of a black stick. That black stick-shadow then pounded forward to shoot down the massive palm-shadow.

　　A loud “Bang” sound rang out in the air.

　　The big black palm-shadow collapsed and dispersed like a piece of cloth. However, the momentum of the black stick-shadow didn’t reduce a bit. Instead, it dashed forward, and pounded toward the black carcass-dog.

　　The carcass-dog’s face finally revealed a terrified look. But then, a dazzling black radiance emerged on the two black horns on its head, and the carcass-dog stuck them out to receive the black stick-shadow.

　　Ka-cha!

　　The carcass-dog’s horns were crushed to small pieces as the stick-shadow pounded on the dog’s head.

　　And, the carcass-dog’s head burst open like a rotten watermelon!

　　Then, its massive body fell down like a meteor, and crashed into the carrion-army below.