He opened the wooden box, revealing a skull the size of a fist. Its entire body looked as if it were carved from Blood Jade, with what appeared to be countless blood vessels sprawling within.

The throbbing in his heart suddenly intensified.

A smirk touched his lips as Qi Yun grabbed the Blood Jade skull and instantly refined it.

[Magic Technique update complete. This is a minor version update. The content of the Magic Technique has been adjusted as follows:]

[Skull Curse 7.0: New Devouring Essence effect. Killing a target allows you to absorb a portion of their Blood Essence and convert it into Cultivation.]

Huh?!

His pupils trembled. Scarcely believing his eyes, Qi Yun scanned the words on the Magic Technique Panel several more times. He took a deep breath, forcing down the excitement in his heart.

’Kill a target, absorb their Blood Essence... and convert it into Cultivation!’

Quickly gathering his thoughts, a flicker of resolve appeared in Qi Yun’s eyes. In a flash, he transformed into Clear Wind and shot straight toward the battlefield where the Holy Sect and the Zombie Alliance clashed.

...

In the form of Clear Wind, Qi Yun plunged into the most intense region of the chaotic battle between the Holy Sect Disciples and the Zombie Alliance Cultivators after just a few leaps.

Battle cries, the explosions of Magic, and the roars of zombies filled the air.

The air was thick with the stench of blood and rotting corpses.

It was so thick it felt cloying in his nostrils.

His eyes swept the area, quickly locking onto a Zombie Alliance Cultivator in the distance who was commanding several zombies to surround a Holy Sect Disciple.

The Cultivator wore a black robe and had a sinister face. He frantically shook the Corpse-Control Bell in his hand, a cruel, crazed smile on his lips.

’Having such a good time laughing? You’ll be the one, then!’ With a raised eyebrow, Qi Yun formed a sword sign with his right hand. A dozen or so Spells blossomed at his fingertips as immense Magical Power erupted from his body.

With a loud HUM, the pitch-black Hundred-refined Steel Sand around him instantly began to boil, gathering and shaping itself at an astonishing speed!

In the blink of an eye, a colossal Sand Iron hand appeared out of thin air, complete with five distinct fingers and textures of muscle and sinew so realistic they seemed tangible.

The moment the giant hand formed, it let out a sharp shriek that tore through the air, hurtling down toward the Zombie Alliance Cultivator with the force of a collapsing mountain.

Its speed and treacherous angle completely exceeded the Zombie Alliance Cultivator’s ability to react.

The savage smile on the Zombie Alliance Cultivator’s face instantly froze, replaced by sheer terror.

He let out a strange shriek and instinctively tried to recall the nearby zombies for defense as he attempted a hasty retreat.

But it was obviously too late.

The Sand Iron hand was far faster than he had imagined; its five fingers snapped shut like a cage!

CRACK! 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The sickening sound of cracking bones rang out clearly.

With absolute precision, the giant hand snatched up the Zombie Alliance Cultivator and a zombie he had hastily summoned to block, clutching them both tightly in its palm.

The next second, the five fingers clenched with terrifying force, and the Cultivator’s Body Protection Technique shattered as easily as if it were made of paper.

His entire body was crushed by the immense force, his face twisting in agony and his eyes bulging. He spat out blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs, making a choked, gurgling sound.

As for the unlucky zombie, its bones were snapped and its sinews torn, sending black blood splashing in all directions.

However, this was only the beginning.

Qi Yun’s eyes narrowed. His left hand had already formed another bizarre Spell, and he began to softly chant an obscure Spell.

KAKAKAKAKA—!

A hair-raising cackle suddenly erupted, sounding like the cry of a night owl mixed with the sneer of a malevolent ghost.

A White Bone Skull that had been hanging at his waist suddenly flew up on its own. Two ghastly green Soul Fires ignited in its eye sockets. Its jaw clacked open and shut, emitting that bizarre cackle as it transformed into a streak of white light and shot toward the Zombie Alliance Cultivator clutched in the giant Sand Iron hand.

The Zombie Alliance Cultivator was already in extreme pain and suffocating. When he saw the flying skull radiating a thick aura of death and malevolence, his eyes were instantly drowned in boundless terror.

He wanted to struggle, to beg for mercy.

But the power of the great Sand Iron hand was so immense he couldn’t even move a finger. All he could do was watch helplessly as the skull flew before him, its empty eye sockets "gazing" down at him.

The next second.

An invisible yet immensely powerful suction force erupted from the seven orifices of the White Bone Skull!

"ARGHHHHH—!"

The Zombie Alliance Cultivator let out the last, most desperate and wretched scream of his life.

But the scream was quickly cut short.

Streams of crystalline light, shimmering faintly, were brutally ripped from his seven orifices—his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose—by the immense suction!

The scene was utterly bizarre, as if his soul and his life’s worth of Cultivation were being meticulously drawn from his body, thread by thread.

All of it vanished into the orifices of the White Bone Skull.

The skull clacked its jaw in satisfaction, making a soft CLICK-CLACK sound. The green flames in its eye sockets seemed to burn a touch brighter.

At the same time, a tremor ran through Qi Yun’s body.

He clearly felt a sliver of incomparably pure, gentle, and mellow Cultivation essence flowing through a mysterious, unseen connection with the White Bone Skull, pouring continuously into the Qi Sea in his Dantian.

This foreign Cultivation merged perfectly with his own True Qi, blending as seamlessly as water and milk, without the slightest hint of rejection.

It felt as if he had earned it through his own arduous cultivation.

The True Qi he had just expended to manifest the great Sand Iron hand and activate the skull was instantly replenished.

He could even feel his Cultivation Realm had made a small but solid step forward!

’It really works!’

’My Cultivation has actually increased.’

’It’s a tiny amount, but it’s real.’

Qi Yun slowly exhaled a breath of Muddy Qi, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes.

As for the Zombie Alliance Cultivator, drained of his Cultivation and life force, he had already become a withered, shriveled husk within the great Sand Iron hand.

With a flicker of Qi Yun’s Heart Thought, the great Sand Iron hand released its grip. The remains fell limply to the ground, crumbling into dust.

"Sigh... you’re really making things hard for me!"

He reached out and tapped the White Bone Skull floating before him. With a look of resignation, Qi Yun sighed and shook his head.

When he raised his head again, his eyes were filled with a vicious light.

Holding back no longer, Qi Yun gave his great sleeve a mighty wave. The Hundred-refined Steel Sand around him exploded outward like an enraged swarm of black hornets.

It instantly transformed into dozens of sharp, black Sand Iron Chains and Spikes, shooting out indiscriminately toward the surrounding Zombie Alliance Cultivators!

One Zombie Alliance Cultivator, horrified, summoned a Bone Shield to block, only to be pierced from below by a Sand Iron Spike that suddenly erupted from the ground. It shot through his jaw, and his scream was cut short.

Before he could die, a White Bone Skull flew over, cackling weirdly. The vortexes in its seven orifices reappeared, beginning the forceful extraction!

The Cultivator shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye.

His entire life’s worth of painstakingly gathered Blood Essence and Cultivation transformed into a crystalline Flowing Light and vanished into the skull’s mouth.

Feeling his Cultivation grow once more, a faint red light flickered in the depths of Qi Yun’s eyes.

’This Zombie Alliance Cultivator’s Cultivation was higher than the last one’s. The amount I absorbed and converted seems to be a little more, too.’

With a flicker in his eyes, Qi Yun took a step, and his figure suddenly dissolved into countless streams of air.

He began to specifically target Zombie Alliance Cultivators with decent Cultivation.

The Sand Iron handled the physical capture and kill; the skull was responsible for plundering their essence.

The two worked in perfect concert, their efficiency horrifyingly high.