Once the words were spoken.
The gigantic skull had already arrived right in front.
Evan Lin stood his ground, flames erupting all over his body.
In the blink of an eye, he was completely enveloped in fire. Orange-red flames clung to Evan Lin’s skin, rising up like a blazing cloak.
The skull formed from Bone‑Melt Miasma reached him, opened its massive jaws, and swallowed Evan Lin—flames and all—whole.
The mist spread, rippling visibly through the air, accompanied by crackling sounds.
“Bone‑Melt Miasma is my master’s immortal technique!”
“Your little flames—what good are they?”
Master Walter Wan’s face was icy as he rose, staring at Evan Lin—now completely engulfed by the Bone‑Melt Miasma—with murderous intent surging like a tide.
“Now, let me show you the most terrifying side of Bone‑Melt Miasma: it will dissolve you completely from the outside in. Not just your bones, but your flesh, your everything—it’ll all melt away under the miasma!”
“Dissolve him!”
Walter Wan barked out the order.
Beside him, Leo Li shrieked, “Kill him!”
At that moment, one of Leo Li’s legs was completely engulfed in flames. The fire seemed almost alive, burning only his leg while leaving the rest of him untouched.
Even so, the pain was so intense that Leo Li’s whole body went numb, his mind on the verge of exploding.
The agony was so sharp it sent jolts through his nerves.
The Bone‑Melt Miasma began to close in, the mist thickening around Evan Lin. From the outside, the white smoke seemed to have completely smothered his flames.
Any second now, it looked like the miasma would snuff out the fire.
“Die! Die!”
Leo Li howled, his voice twisted by pain, anticipation, and madness.
In the corner, Gavin Zhao cowered in terror, completely stunned by what he was seeing and desperately hoping he wouldn’t get caught up in it.
Walter Wan held the Skull Censer in one hand and slammed his other palm hard onto its lid.
With a sharp bang, his palm struck the censer.
At that sound, the Bone‑Melt Miasma shifted from white to yellow.
In an instant, everywhere the miasma touched—including the floor—began to visibly rot. Paint peeled from the walls as its power surged dramatically.
Meanwhile, the orange-red flames burning around Evan Lin were being pushed back by the suddenly strengthened miasma, looking like they could go out at any moment.
“It’s over! Haha—he’s finished!”
Leo Li’s face was deathly pale. The agony had nearly made him faint, but now, seeing Evan Lin wrapped in layer upon layer of yellow miasma, he broke into a wild, excited grin.
“My leg for your pathetic life—fair trade!”
“You can die without regrets now, punk!”
Leo Li kept shouting, then turned to roar at Walter Wan, “Hurry up! Put more power into it!”
“Finish him off right now—dissolve him completely!”
As soon as Leo Li finished speaking,
Walter Wan held the Skull Censer in one hand, his other hand behind his back. He looked utterly certain, his voice icy: “Don’t worry.”
“He can’t move at all now. Instead of letting him die quickly, it’s better to take it slow—let the Bone‑Melt Miasma digest him bit by bit, swallow him whole!”
“Make him suffer, make him learn his lesson, regret it, beg for mercy!”
Walter Wan’s smile was chilling as he stared at Evan Lin, his eyes glinting with pure cruelty.
“Yes, yes! Make him beg—I want him kneeling before me, bawling his eyes out!”
Leo Li nodded eagerly at Walter’s words, blurting out, “Start by dissolving one of his legs!”
“Then slowly dissolve the rest!”
“I want him to suffer! He needs to learn what it costs to mess with me!”
The more Leo Li spoke, the more excited he got, clenching his fists and trembling with exhilaration.
“Hey.”
Mid-sentence, Leo Li and Walter Wan suddenly heard a voice.
It sounded lazy, but mostly full of disdain.
“How is he still talking?!”
Leo Li whipped his head around, staring at the miasma.
The yellow miasma was so thick you couldn’t see anyone inside, and from here, the flames looked completely extinguished.
But that voice still reached his ears, crystal clear.
“This can’t be happening!”
Walter Wan, who had looked so confident, suddenly changed expression. He stared at the Bone‑Melt Miasma and kept slapping the Skull Censer.
Bang!
Another sharp sound rang out.
With that slap, the censer’s flames blazed higher, the Bone‑Melt Miasma grew even thicker, and the floor itself started dissolving.
A strange smell spread through the air.
Gavin Zhao caught a whiff of it in the corner, trembling all over, face pale as he rolled around clutching his nose.
Leo Li seemed prepared. Despite missing a leg, he scrambled up with his hands and crawled rapidly toward Walter Wan.
Around the Skull Censer, there was a ring that the Bone‑Melt Miasma couldn’t penetrate.
“Let’s see how you die now!”
Leo Li didn’t forget to look back, shouting at Evan Lin.
“Is this really your limit?”
Standing at the center of the Bone‑Melt Miasma, Evan Lin looked at the yellow smoke around him, utterly unimpressed. “What kind of bullshit immortal arts are these?”
“This thing is nothing but a lousy, broken spell.”
Evan Lin reached out and tapped lightly in the air.
The thick yellow miasma that had surrounded him suddenly turned and surged toward Walter Wan.
“Go! Go! Go!”
Seeing this, Walter Wan panicked, frantically slapping the Skull Censer in his hands, trying to control the Bone‑Melt Miasma.
But no matter how he tried, the miasma wouldn’t obey him at all.
Bang!
A dull, heavy sound echoed.