Chapter 002: Six-Winged Skeleton

The green flames flickered on and off. After what seemed like a considerable amount of time, the green flames on the skeleton of the six-winged angel gradually disappeared. In their place were bones as smooth and delicate as white jade.
After the Skeleton Fire took residence in the six-winged angel’s bones, those bones underwent a change as well—a milky white glow began to shimmer faintly on them.
As this milky white glow moved, the skeleton of the six-winged angel acquired a sense of mystery.
“Basha, what level does this skeleton of yours roughly reach?” Du Fan asked, looking at the skeleton.
Basha’s lips moved slightly, and the skeleton hopped around a few times.
“It feels great! I’m full of energy!” The skeleton actually spoke! Yet what it said was nonsensical, like that of a young child casually expressing their feelings!
It seemed this skeleton was similar to the Ghost King—aside from having superior strength, it also had an innocent, childlike demeanor, as if untouched by the world.
“A talking skeleton!?” Everyone was shocked.
“A skeleton that has reached the Saint level can indeed speak,” said a mage calmly.
No matter what kind of being it is, once it breaks through the Saint level, incredible changes occur. For example, humans gain the ability to fly after reaching the Saint level, while magical beasts can take human form. Skeletons, upon reaching the Saint level, gain the ability to speak, along with other abilities—though Du Fan and his group were not yet aware of them!
“Little skeleton, go ahead,” Du Fan suddenly said.
The skeleton, which had been excited moments ago, froze upon hearing this. It then turned its empty eye sockets toward Basha.
“Just go ahead,” Basha said.
Hearing Basha’s words, the six-winged skeleton finally started walking.
“I think, master, you should give me a name. Calling me ‘little skeleton’ isn’t nice,” the skeleton said as it walked.

Skulls are not born out of lingering attachments from past lives like ghosts; the fire of a skull is like a new life born between heaven and earth. Thus, this skull that had just reached the sacred rank had an intelligence level equivalent to that of a three-year-old child. Simply based on intuition, Du Fan felt that calling it “Little Skull” didn’t sound good, so it asked Bashah to give it a new name.

“It seems naming isn’t my strong suit,” Bashah said, scratching his head in confusion upon hearing the skull’s request for a new name.

As a brave dwarf, if Bashah were asked to wield an axe and fight, he wouldn’t even frown. But naming a skull—or anything else—was not something he was good at!

With a troubled look, Bashah turned his gaze to Du Fan.

“Little Skull, you’re just a skull. Why don’t you like the name ‘Skull’?” Du Fan asked with a smile.

“But I’m now a sacred-ranked skull. I’m different from other skulls. I should have a more impressive name, right?” the skull asked, tilting its head.

“That makes some sense. For someone at your sacred rank, not having a grand name really doesn’t match your status,” Du Fan said. “How about calling you ‘Xiaobai’ since your bones are snow-white?”

“Xiaobai? That name sounds a bit strange,” the skull pondered before saying, “Let’s try another one.”

“Xiaobai? I think it’s great! You know, ‘Xiaobai’ is actually a name from a legend. In the legend, this Xiaobai could overturn rivers and seas, destroy the heavens and earth—fearless!” Du Fan said seriously.

“Is that Xiaobai really that powerful?” the skull asked earnestly.

“Of course. Why would I need to lie to you on such a matter?” Du Fan replied seriously. “Besides, your snow-white bones really suit the title ‘Xiaobai’!”

“It still feels a bit strange,” the skull said, as if sensing something.

“Call it ‘Six Wings,’” Moses said.

“Six Wings… the six wings behind me… Six Wings—this name seems pretty good,” the skull nodded repeatedly.

Hearing Moses interrupt his train of thought, Du Fan felt frustrated.

“Mm, you’re much better than the last person. ‘Six Wings’ sounds much better than ‘Xiaobai,’” the skull said satisfactorily.

“Six Wings, scout ahead!” Du Fan shouted.

“You, why do you act like this whenever I say something bad about you?” Six Wings, now with a new name, said unhappily.
“Hmph, if I hadn’t shown mercy back then, you wouldn’t exist at all right now. Do you really want to experience the power of my Light Combat Qi?” Du Fan suddenly unleashed a powerful surge of Light Combat Qi!
Although Six Wings had reached the Saint rank, he still had an innate fear of Light Combat Qi.
“Six Wings, from now on, be more careful. Remember, this is Du Fan, my third brother. Whatever he orders you to do is as if it were my order—you must obey!” Bashaa said.
“Alright,” Six Wings replied helplessly under his master’s command and Du Fan’s threats.
With a group of twelve people, there was finally someone to do the hard work. That was Du Fan’s first thought when he saw Six Wings.
To treat someone at the Saint rank as a laborer—such an idea, if known by others, would surely make them see Du Fan as a monster!
Bone Mountain was almost at its end.
After descending from Bone Mountain and walking a little further, there was a lush green grassland.
About 300 meters ahead of the grassland lay the river path visible from Bone Mountain.
A snow-white skeleton, along with twelve people of various races, headed toward that river.
The river wasn’t very wide—its surface, over 200 meters long, was lined with wooden stakes that stretched all the way to the other side.
When they reached the riverbank, they realized that magic was restricted in the air above both banks! In other words, magic couldn’t be used to fly across the river!
This meant that to cross the river, they had to step over those wooden stakes one by one!
Seeing this, Du Fan felt puzzled. Such a magic-restricted area, combined with those stakes, clearly hinted at something strange!
He casually picked up a stone and threw it into the river from afar. With the sound of the stone hitting the water, countless fish with sharp spines on their mouths leaped high out of the water, using those spines to pierce the stone.
With a muffled thud, the stone was pierced by several of those strange fish, which then shook their bodies vigorously. The stone shattered into pieces and fell back into the water.
“That’s a spearfish!” Moses said quickly upon seeing the strange fish.

Over the centuries Moses had witnessed much of the natural world, so when he saw the shape of that strange fish, he immediately cried out!
“A spearfish? What kind of creature is it?” Du Fan asked.
“A spearfish is a magical beast of the water. It gets its name from the long spines on its mouth that resemble arrows! Those spines can pierce gold and split stone—they’re incredibly sharp!” Moses explained.
Hearing Moses’s words, Du Fan quickly grabbed stones and threw them into the river.
Soon, waves of fish, like dark clouds, surged to the surface!
The sheer number left Du Fan and the others in awe!
To reach the other side of the river, they had to cross those wooden pilings, and to do so, they would have to endure the attacks of those countless spearfish!
Watching those spearfish pierce hard stones, everyone began to ponder how to proceed.
For Du Fan, there was no problem—despite the river being over 200 meters wide, his absolute protection liquid could hold up even under continuous attacks!
As for the Six-Winged being, that strange skeleton inhabiting the bones of a Six-Winged Angel, it should also have no issues.
But as for the other eleven people, how they would cross the river depended on their strength!
“I’ll go first and test just how strong those spearfish are,” Moses said.
As soon as he spoke, golden-green combat energy surged around him, forming a golden-green shield.
Stepping onto the pilings, Moses made his way across the river step by step. The spearfish swarmed at him, thrusting their spines at him rapidly. Yet the golden-green shield kept shining brightly, allowing Moses to reach the other side unharmed.
After reaching the other side, Moses returned.
“I think, aside from the five archers and three magicians, everyone else should be able to cross without trouble,” Moses said.
After the experiment, Moses naturally had the most authority to speak.
“Don’t we still have the Nine Blessings Dragon Scale Armor? Let’s equip it on the archers and magicians first,” Du Fan suggested after thinking for a moment.
Once dressed in the dragon scale armor, the elves among the archers and magicians only needed to protect the areas not covered by the armor.
Though the spearfish’s spines were sharp, they weren’t sharp enough to pierce the dragon scale armor.
Unscathed, the group quickly crossed the river.

Just after the group crossed the river, at the foot of the green mountain, a thunderous sound suddenly erupted! It sounded as if thousands of troops were marching at once!
This time, it was definitely not an illusion! This time, that sound, like thunder rolling through the sky, was a real sound!
“Everyone, gather together!” Du Fan immediately shouted.
He pulled Nai Xiu behind him in a quick motion, which instantly made Nai Xiu’s face turn red!
Under Du Fan’s leadership, the dozen or so people quickly found a spot backed by the mountain and waited quietly for whatever was causing that army-like momentum to appear.
Soon, a huge stream of greenish-black water rushed down from the green mountain across from them!
Thousands of greenish-black magical beasts rushed down from the mountain, charging toward Du Fan and his group of twelve!
These greenish-black beasts were covered in greenish-black scales all over their bodies. Their bodies resembled those of cows, but their legs were much thicker than cows’. Moreover, instead of hooves like cows, their feet had sharp claws! On top of their heads was a shiny silver horn!
Thousands of such beasts rushed forward together, creating a momentum as if thousands of fierce soldiers armed with gleaming knives were charging at once!