Legacy: Secret Treasure: Bone Path

The legacy recorded within this white jade bone was known as the Secret Treasure: Bone Path.

This Bone Path was not the same as the one Chen Xu had casually established back in the Immortal Island world; it was a complete Eternal-tier legacy with a perfected system.

It originated from an evil sect in a highly developed immortal cultivation civilization and was one of their core scriptures.

In that civilization, due to its long history and advanced development, the various sects were highly specialized. Each sect focused almost exclusively on a single field—a single Dao principle.

Even the demonic paths were no exception. This Secret Treasure: Bone Path came from a sect called Bone Ksitigarbha, which was known as one of the Five Great Demonic Sects alongside four others.

Bone Ksitigarbha refined bones, the Blood Demon Pool researched blood, the Soul Temple toyed with souls, the Painted Skin Workshop skinned victims to create puppets, and the Hair Immortal Palace manipulated human hair in unprecedented ways.

These Five Great Demonic Sects often launched joint blood sacrifices, cleansing mortal kingdoms in blood.

The resulting corpses were processed with clinical efficiency and divided into five parts: bones were shipped to Bone Ksitigarbha, blood was sent to the Blood Demon Pool, souls were stuffed into banners for the Soul Temple, high-quality skins were taken by the Painted Skin Workshop, and the Hair Immortal Palace rejected no hair, whether from the head or elsewhere.

This was the hallmark of a highly developed immortal civilization: each took what they needed, leaving absolutely nothing to waste.

Bone Ksitigarbha possessed three supreme scriptures that led directly to the Eternal-tier: the 《Secret Treasure: Bone Path》, the 《Compassionate Bone Buddha》, and the 《Bone Baleful Qi》.

The 《Compassionate Bone Buddha》 was a body-refinement scripture. Its core intent was to forge one’s own physique into a statue of a bone buddha. By extracting the essence of bone marrow, one would gradually wash away their flesh, replacing internal organs and skin with bone.

Once the bone body was initially formed, the practitioner would enter the next stage, using merit and providence to cleanse the bones of filth and corruption, ultimately achieving the true body of a buddha.

This form was utterly bizarre. Despite being a demonic method, it radiated buddha light and displayed merit and providence, allowing it to be immune to most anti-evil measures used by righteous paths.

The 《Bone Baleful Qi》 was a qi-refinement scripture. It focused on refining the slivers of baleful energy found within bones, drawing that energy into the body and using the scripture to transform it into one’s own power.

A master of this art would exude a grim, skeletal aura with every breath, as if they were a gateway to the Underworld.

It appeared somewhat similar to the domain abilities of Eternal-tier necrotic principles. When Chen Xu first entered the Eternal-tier, he could manifest a necrotic domain, corrupting living beings within it and forcibly turning them into undead.

It was through a clash of domains on Blue Star that he and Alifa, the Angel Priest, had first met and formed their friendship.

As for the 《Secret Treasure: Bone Path》 in Chen Xu’s hand, it was the foundational scripture of Bone Ksitigarbha, restricted only to the lineage of the sect leader. It was a mystery how this white jade jade slip had ended up in the hoard of the dragons in the Golden Dragon Realm.

The 《Secret Treasure: Bone Path》 was not an ordinary cultivation technique but rather a method for artifact crafting. What it forged were not common items, but Dao artifacts—vessels capable of carrying one’s own Dao principles.

This method did not use typical metals or stones. Instead, it used bone as a substitute, smelting and refining the essence of bone to forge the base of the artifact.

Once the basic model was complete, a secret ritual of blood sacrifice would be performed. The lives of living beings were used to imbue the bone Dao artifact with secret intent and awaken its intelligence, finally resulting in a finished product.

According to the records in the jade slip, Bone Ksitigarbha had refined five Eternal-tier bone Dao artifacts over its history. These five artifacts were the very foundation of the sect’s power.

As the saying goes, the people may perish, but the artifacts remain. A single artifact could be passed down through countless generations.

It was by relying on these five artifacts that Bone Ksitigarbha had built its vast empire and become a dreaded demonic power.

However, as strong as the Dao artifacts were, Bone Ksitigarbha lacked the ability to create more. Each time a Dao artifact was refined, it required the sacrifice of billions of lives.

Moreover, billions was merely the baseline. The jade slip speculated that there was no upper limit to the number of sacrifices; the more lives offered, the higher the quality of the resulting Dao artifact.

Before Bone Ksitigarbha rose to power, they had operated in the shadows to orchestrate five mass sacrifices and forge their five artifacts.

Once they became famous, the righteous sects kept a constant watch on them, making it impossible to arrange such large-scale sacrifices again. Consequently, no new bone Dao artifacts were ever created.

After reading the jade slip, Chen Xu was extremely excited. What he and his undead heroes lacked most was a handy Dao artifact.

In the myriad worlds, equipment played a crucial role for transcendents, but its impact was often most significant at lower tiers.

As one’s tier increased, the amount of usable equipment tended to decrease.

The reason was simple: in most transcendent civilizations, the number of god-tier artifacts was significantly lower than the number of mythic-tier powerhouses, let alone Eternal-tier Dao artifacts.

After all, not everyone could be like a protagonist—encountering an auction the moment they broke through, having the insight to identify a hidden gem, and bidding for a peerless weapon.

Or simply stumbling into the tomb of some ancient senior and inheriting an entire set of gear.

For most transcendents, the higher their realm, the fewer external objects they could rely on.

In the myriad worlds, only major powers could provide their transcendents with the equipment needed for every stage of development—such as the scepters and secret codices used by the Angel Priests.

Among Chen Xu’s undead subordinates, only Zhenyuan had a piece of equipment—the Yin Stone—that could barely qualify. The others were essentially unequipped.

Naturally, those like the skeleton heroes or Black Knights who came with their own gear were not counted in this.

While Ghost Axe’s forging abilities were decent, they were limited to mythic-tier equipment and below. Anything higher was beyond his current expertise.

The Lord of the Crafts Sect, who was an acquaintance of the Lord of Heaven and a top-tier master in the myriad worlds, could certainly forge Dao artifacts with ease.

But that master was an acquaintance of the Lord of Heaven, not of Chen Xu, the Lord of the Undead. Chen Xu couldn’t just barge in and ask for Dao artifacts without a good reason.

The 《Secret Treasure: Bone Path》 before him solved his urgent problem. Without a second thought, he reached out and snatched Ghost Axe from the Necrotic Heaven-Earth.

One moment, Ghost Axe was swinging his hammer before a furnace, tempering metals and forging gear; the next, he felt the world spin around him.

Before he could react, a white jade bone was shoved directly into his eye socket. A massive force forcibly mobilized his soul, making him browse through the legacy contained within the bone.

“Ghost Axe, drop everything you’re doing. Focus all your efforts on studying this 《Secret Treasure: Bone Path》. Master it as soon as possible so you can forge Dao artifacts for the Land of the Undead.”

Ghost Axe didn’t reply immediately. He was completely mesmerized by the exquisite and ingenious crafting methods. Many of the bold ideas within were eye-opening even for a master smith like him.

It was often said that the undead were eccentric and had strange ideas, but the ideas of these living beings weren’t exactly normal either!

After a quick read-through, Ghost Axe pulled the white jade bone from his eye socket, held it carefully in his hand, and replied.

“My Lord, this Secret Treasure: Bone Path is truly exquisite and brilliant. Although I have extensive experience in smithing, I cannot guarantee I can master it in a short time.”

“It may take some time before I can fully grasp it.”

Hearing this, Chen Xu didn’t pressure him. He nodded and said, “That’s fine. Study it for now. Once Bone Guard One finished his promotion, I will assign the Exquisite Heart to you.”

“In the meantime, you can consult with Kunpeng and Sindragosa. Ask them what kind of Dao artifacts they would like.”

“I thank you for your mercy.”

Ghost Axe was deeply grateful for Chen Xu’s magnanimity. He bowed, intending to take his leave and return to the Necrotic Heaven-Earth to study the manual in detail, when he suddenly realized Chen Xu hadn’t mentioned himself.

“My Lord, what kind of Dao artifact would you like?”

“Me? I’m in no rush. Make them for Kunpeng and Sindragosa first.”

“Understood.”

Watching Ghost Axe’s departing figure, Chen Xu shook his head with a wry smile.

Ghost Axe’s heart was in the right place, but unfortunately, Chen Xu wasn’t the type who liked to do things himself. Command of the army was left to Bone Guard One, and the fighting was left to Kunpeng and Sindragosa.

For a mastermind behind the scenes like him, rather than forging an optional Dao artifact for himself, it was better to first enhance the strength of his subordinates.

The most important daily tasks for a boss were pouring tea, reading the newspaper, and smoking cigars.

He had gone through so much trouble to hire all these employees; if he still had to do everything himself, then what was the point of hiring them?

One of the three treasures had been settled. Chen Xu turned his gaze toward the next one—the green jewel that periodically emitted a strange radiation.

“Let me see your true face.”