I Was Forced to Marry a “Trash” Cultivator, But She Turned Out to Be a Reborn Empress!

Shen Xian advanced along the path paved with white bones. With each step, a faint, rustling crunch echoed from beneath his boots.

The sound of countless bone fragments being ground to dust was unnervingly clear in the deathly silent world.

Gray mist hung like drapes, limiting visibility to within thirty meters. Even the frost-white light of the Traceless Sword grew hazy.

Suddenly, a glaring crimson red intruded upon his vision.

Three corpses, not yet assimilated by the sea of bones, were half-buried in the skeletal piles. Their Li Fire Sect battle robes remained vividly bright, like flames burning in this gray-white world.

The most striking was the corpse in the middle—it knelt on one knee, its right hand clenched into a tight fist. The knuckles were white from excessive force, and even death had not loosened its grip.

“Interesting…”

Shen Xian crouched down, lightly touching the corpse’s neck with his fingertip.

Fine droplets of blood had congealed on the skin, as if forced out from the pores by immense pressure. This manner of death reminded him of the Blood Refining Soul Extraction technique recorded in ancient texts.

He extended his divine sense, probing the corpse’s storage pouch.

Most of the items had been exhausted by the former owner. When life is at stake, a cultivator burns everything they have. However, a single jade slip caught Shen Xian’s attention.

The surface of the jade slip was covered in spiderweb-like cracks. Yet, the moment his divine sense touched it, it erupted with a final, dying burst of spiritual light.

Several lines of text materialized in the air like swimming fish:

[Seventh day of the seventh month, Year of Bingyin, third quarter of the Zi hour]

[Below Soul-Severing Abyss, envoys from the Shadow Pavilion arrived]

[Three Heart-Burning Fire seeds, exchanged for God Burial Valley…]

The text twisted violently, as if forcibly erased by an external power. Finally, a fragmented map appeared, vaguely showing blurry markings like “Nine Nether” and “Blood Pool.”

Shen Xian’s pupils contracted slightly.

God Burial Valley.

This was a key forbidden zone within the Godfiend Battlefield, rumored to be the grave where ancient gods and fiends perished together.

Just as he was lost in thought, the jade slip emitted a hum and crumbled into dust.

Simultaneously, the bone pile beneath his feet began to tremble. It felt as if something massive was tunneling underground.

The ground undulated like waves. Countless bone fragments clattered against each other, producing a sinister cacophony.

Shen Xian’s stance lowered. Spiritual power flowed beneath his feet, stabilizing him atop the surging sea of bones.

From deep within the gray mist, a pale skeletal hand broke through the earth. The hand splayed its five fingers, strands of black qi coiling around its joints. It grasped at the empty air, testing the world that had been silent for millennia.

Then came a second. A third.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of incomplete skeletons crawled out from the bone piles. Their movements were stiff yet resolute, each skeleton glowing with a strange bluish-gray luster.

Within their hollow eye sockets, ghostly green phosphorescent flames burned silently, trailing slender lines of light through the mist.

Most unsettling were their joints—where bones should connect, dense clusters of bone spurs had grown. With every movement, they ground against each other.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

These White Bone Yin Puppets moved in grotesque postures. Some crawled on all fours like beasts; others walked upright but maintained a bizarre tilt; some even moved upside-down, using their hands to advance while their legs swung uselessly in the air.

But regardless of posture, they all advanced toward Shen Xian.

The air grew thick with a decaying stench, mixed with an indescribable cloying sweetness. Shen Xian could sense the heavy resentment emanating from each puppet, a manifestation of the unwilling obsessions of countless lost souls.

The front row of Yin Puppets suddenly accelerated, their jagged finger bones aiming for his throat.

At that moment, the entire sea of bones seemed to scream.

Shen Xian flicked his wrist.

The Traceless Sword transformed into a streak of snowy light, sweeping out horizontally.

The blade collided with the first incoming bone claw, sparking a shower of dazzling sparks!

Clang—

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the bone sea. The seemingly fragile bone claw possessed a hardness comparable to profound iron. The blade bit three inches into the joint before halting.

The recoil sent a numbing shock through Shen Xian’s hand.

His technique shifted abruptly, changing from a slash to an upward flick. Frost-white sword energy followed the bone seam, finally severing the claw.

However, before the severed limb hit the ground, viscous black qi surged from the break, instantly forming a brand new bone claw!

Crack, crack, crack—

More Yin Puppets closed in.

Shen Xian moved like lightning, his sword weaving a dense net of light within the mist. Each strike left deep marks on the bone puppets, yet he couldn’t completely shatter them.

Most troublesome was that these marks were healing at a visible rate.

Shen Xian suddenly changed tactics, thrusting his sword toward the phosphorescent flame in a puppet’s eye socket.

Pop.

The moment the sword tip touched the ghostly flame, the entire skeleton trembled violently before collapsing into a heap. But the scattered bone fragments were immediately absorbed by the other puppets, causing their frames to swell in size.

“Troublesome…”

Shen Xian’s brow furrowed.

Not only were these Yin Puppets harder than iron, but they also contained a strange law-like power. They grew stronger the more they fought.

Over a hundred puppets had gathered now, advancing like a tide.

“If they can’t be cut, then burn them clean.”

Within Shen Xian, the Li Fire Heart Sutra ignited.

The Flawless Golden Core in his dantian erupted with dazzling light. A vast surge of Dao rhythm rushed through his meridians, merging with the Li Fire True Seal between his brows.

In that instant, the frost-white sword energy faded, replaced by a layer of blazing, sun-like crimson-gold flames. Ancient runes swirled within the fire’s core.

This time, he didn’t rely on sword technique, but on pure elemental dominance.

When a Yin Puppet’s claw shot toward him, Shen Xian didn’t retreat—he advanced.

The sword swept horizontally.

Sizzle—

The moment Li Fire met white bone, the ghostly green flames emitted a burning sound. The puppet trembled violently. The flame in its eye socket was tainted by the crimson fire, transforming into a wisp of blue smoke instantly.

This time, the scattered bone fragments did not regenerate. The Li Fire seeped through the cracks into the core, incinerating the resentment to nothingness.

“Effective.”

Shen Xian sneered, his figure flitting like a ghost into the horde.

Li Fire sword energy crisscrossed the air. Wherever it passed, white bones shattered like brittle porcelain.

The gray mist, illuminated by the firelight, briefly receded, revealing a massive, writhing shadow beneath the ground—the true source controlling these puppets.

But the counterattack was ferocious.

The remaining bone puppets raised their heads in unison. Their hollow eye sockets locked onto the Li Fire True Seal on Shen Xian’s forehead. As if enraged, they let out silent roars.

Over a dozen puppets in the front row suddenly self-destructed.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bone spurs shot out like a violent rainstorm, aiming to destroy the source of the fire.

Shen Xian retreated hastily. The Profound Heaven Golden Silk Armor activated automatically. Golden light flowed, blocking most of the spurs, but a few still grazed his flesh, leaving trails of blood.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

His left hand formed a seal. The Li Fire True Seal on his forehead erupted with piercing crimson light. A wisp of essence blood seeped from his wounds, absorbed by the seal, transforming into a ring of blood-colored fire that expanded outward.

“Burn!”

Wherever the fire ring passed, the bone spurs vaporized. The Yin Puppets stiffened as if struck by lightning.

ROAR—

A muffled roar came from underground.

The entire bone sea shook violently. Countless white bones shot into the air, coalescing into a sky-obscuring, sun-blocking giant bone palm that slammed down toward Shen Xian.