Chapter 126: Trapped in Desperation

At this moment, not only was Ye Feng standing frozen in his tracks, but even the Killing Demon—the one responsible for this turn of events—looked down at the pile of shattered bones at his feet with an expression of utter astonishment and disbelief.

"Killing Demon, watch out..."

While the Killing Demon was distracted, three or four skeletons dragged their rusted, jagged blades toward him.

"Get lost!"

The Killing Demon roared, swinging his massive hammer in wide, sweeping arcs. In the blink of an eye, he had smashed the skeletons to pieces. Yet, this time, only one of them collapsed into a pile of lifeless bone.

"Strike their spines! That is the central point connecting their entire frame!" Ye Feng shouted.

Simultaneously, Ye Feng utilized his Dragon-Glide footwork, quickly snatching a heavily rusted giant axe from the sand and charging forward.

"Killing Demon, over here! Everyone with heavy weapons, follow me and clear a path! We must get out of here!"

As he spoke, Ye Feng swung the axe with both hands, slamming it into the spine of a skeleton ahead.

*CRACK!*

Sure enough, as the rusted blade struck the spine, the entire skeleton seemed to have its tendons severed; its bones clattered to the ground in a disjointed heap.

Seeing this, everyone felt a surge of hope. Kongkong, wielding a battle axe, joined in, clearing the way alongside Ye Feng. With the skeletons' weakness exposed, the group’s pace quickened considerably. Along the way, others who found hammers or similar heavy weapons joined the vanguard.

"Return my life..."

About two kilometers into their trek, the sinister wind in the void suddenly intensified. Amidst shrill, mournful wails, ghastly figures with disheveled hair emerged, waving their claws.

When Ye Feng caught a clear glimpse of the specters, his scalp went numb. They were all draped in filthy white robes, their skeletal arms covered in rotting flesh that made many of the group gag, nearly vomiting their last meal. Most terrifying of all, behind their wild, matted hair, their faces were nothing more than a smooth, seamless stretch of human skin—bereft of any features.

"Return my life..."

The specters wailed, extending their half-meter-long fingernails and drifting slowly toward the group.

*Whoosh!*

Sensing the danger, a female spirit-master flicked her fingers, guiding her sword through the void to slice a specter to pieces.

"Return my life..."
"Return my life..."

The next moment, countless more specters slowly manifested from the gloomy void, rushing toward the group with clawed hands.

"Killing Demon, come back! Don't be reckless!" Ye Feng roared, his spiritual energy surging as he unleashed a palm strike into the void.

*BOOM!*

These specters seemed exceptionally weak; Ye Feng’s "Dragon-Capturing Hand" obliterated nearly a hundred of them in a chorus of wails. But immediately after, the vacuum he created was filled by even more specters, drifting toward them with slow, relentless persistence.

"Retreat!"

A chill ran down everyone’s spines. The void was teeming with thousands upon thousands of these ghosts; they would likely be exhausted to death long before they could kill them all. While they knew the ghosts were fragile, no one knew the lethality of their attacks, and seeing those half-meter-long claws, nobody dared to test them.

Staying close to the invisible boundary walls, everyone was taut with tension, focused entirely on clearing the immediate skeletons and ghosts while moving forward as quickly as possible.

Despair settled into their hearts. Before arriving, they had anticipated danger, but none had imagined that the ruins would be this hellish coastline.

"There seems to be a path ahead, leading toward the hills behind," He Tao suddenly called out, pointing into the distance.

Looking up, they saw a crooked trail a short distance away, winding its way toward the distant hills.

"This... with so many skeletons, how are we supposed to get across?" Xiao Chong asked as Ye Feng narrowed his eyes to survey the terrain.

Turning his gaze, Ye Feng saw that thousands of skeletons had appeared at the entrance of the path.

"Those skeletons seem to be guarding it intentionally; look, they only wander within a limited range and won't come out! That must be the way to survival!" someone shouted in excitement.

"Full speed ahead! Do not conserve your spiritual energy! We break through—if we don't succeed, we become ghosts ourselves!"

Many had already lost their will to fight. Without a glimmer of hope, even the most resolute mind would eventually succumb to despair—let alone these people, who had lived lives of luxury before joining the Heavenly King Alliance and had never witnessed such horrors. Ye Feng’s words acted like a stimulant, igniting the final embers of their resolve.

"Damn it! A scar the size of a bowl is all you get if you lose your head—let's fight!"

"Break through! I can't stand this torture anymore. If there’s no way out, I’d rather end it myself than let these half-man, half-ghost things defile me!"

Amidst shouts of rage, everyone drew their weapons, pouring their remaining spiritual energy into the charge.

It turned out that when a group of humans is pushed to the brink of collapse, even the most terrifying ghosts cannot halt their advance. In just a few moments, the ground was littered with shattered bone. Everywhere they looked, the skeletons in their path were being crushed underfoot.

"Brothers, smash through this wall of bones! The path to survival is right ahead!" Before long, they reached the entrance of the trail.

Ye Feng glanced around and saw that many were at their limit, sustained only by sheer willpower.

"Kill!" they roared, surging forward once more.

As they clashed with the thousands of skeletons, the dark clouds in the sky thickened, and the gales in the void grew increasingly violent.

*Hiss...*

A faint sound of shifting sand reached their ears. Though subtle, it was piercingly clear to everyone.

From beneath the blood-red sand, a bone-white hand, smooth as jade, slowly emerged.

*Whoosh!*

As the hand appeared, the gale turned into a tempest, sending sand and rocks flying, while an overwhelming pressure seeped through the grey clouds.

Ye Feng noticed the anomaly immediately, his face turning pale. He realized that the moment the jade-white arm appeared, the previously sluggish skeletons suddenly had lights flickering in their eyes.

*Wooooo...*

In the distance, every skeleton began to emit a mournful wail that made everyone’s skin crawl.

"Charge! Pick up the pace!" Ye Feng shouted, his spiritual energy erupting as he smashed into the skeletons ahead, no longer bothering to target their spines.

Ever since that jade-white arm appeared, every hair on Ye Feng’s body had stood on end; a profound sense of impending doom washed over him.

"Just clear the way! Get onto the path, now!"