However, the three of them were very cautious, and instead of landing beside the body right away, they exchanged a few wary glances before the elderly man with the Wu surname carefully flicked a ball of black light toward the corpse down below.
Much to their surprise, as soon as the ball of black light fell upon the long crimson chain, it immediately burst into flames, and within the span of just a few breaths, the chain had been incinerated into ashes.
In contrast, the corpse was completely unaffected by the black flames, retaining its smooth and pristine appearance.
The three elderly men were ecstatic to see this, and the man with the Wu surname immediately snuffed out his black flames.
He then drifted over to the part of the corpse that he had been examining earlier.
Sure enough, there was an indistinct jade-slip-like shadow at the center of that rib.
His two companions also drifted down from above with excited expressions.
"Can you identify what this thing is?" the elderly man with the Wu surname asked with slightly furrowed brows after appraising the black shadow for a short while.
"I'm afraid not. There's some type of power in Master Tian Wu's bones that can disrupt spiritual sense. As soon as my spiritual sense seeps into the bone, it's immediately dispelled, so I'm unable to identify what that object is," the elderly man with the Yu surname replied in a slightly frustrated manner.
"My spiritual sense is far inferior to yours, so there's no way I'd be able to identify the object if even you're unable to," the final elderly man sighed.
"Regardless of what it is, it was left behind by Master Tian Wu, so it most likely has something to do with his inheritance; everything will be made clear to us once we secure the object," the elderly man with the Yu surname said.
Before his companions had a chance to reply, he summoned a thin white bone sword in his hand amid a flash of white light, then slashed it viciously toward the black shadow.
The bone sword struck the rib amid a dull thump, only for the enormous power imbued within the sword to completely vanish in an instant. The sword was then repelled by a burst of tremendous force, and it hadn't even left a scratch on the rib's surface.
Not only were the Three Witch Spirit Saints not disheartened by this, they were all ecstatic to see this.
The fact that even the remains of Master Tian Wu were this powerful was sufficient testament to just how formidable the cultivation arts he had used would've been.
This made the Three Witch Spirit Saints even more eager to obtain his inheritance.
"It looks like we won't be able to break through this rib using normal treasures, but if we use anything more powerful than this Underworld Bone Sword, we run the risk of destroying the item inside the rib. As a safety precaution, I'll extract it using a secret technique," the elderly man with the Wu surname decided.
The expression of the elderly man with the Yu surname changed slightly upon hearing this. "You're going to use the penetration technique?"
"Only by using that technique can I extract the item without damaging this body," the elderly man with the Wu surname replied.
"But using that technique requires a massive amount of magic power expenditure, and you've already used up a lot of energy; will you be able to execute the technique successfully?" the final elderly man asked in a concerned manner.
"Rest assured, I wouldn't be suggesting this if I couldn't do it. Even if I were to fail, it still wouldn't be too late to resort to more violent tactics."
The other two elderly men naturally couldn't say anything further upon hearing this.
Thus, the elderly man with the Wu surname summoned a red pill before swallowing it, then sat down to meditate. After a while, a hint of color returned to his face as he stood up again, and at this point, his slightly feeble aura had recovered significantly.
He cast his gaze toward the black shadow within the rib, then began to make a rapid string of hand seals while chanting a profound incantation.
The other two elderly men looked on from the side with solemn expressions as the chanting grew louder and louder, and the world's origin Qi nearby began to tremor and pulse in a peculiar rhythmic manner.
Immediately thereafter, a series of unidentifiable white runes appeared around the elderly man with the Wu surname, and they also began to tremor rhythmically while emitting a faint buzzing sound.
He then ceased making hand seals before slowly reaching a hand out toward the black shadow. Right at this moment, the white runes nearby abruptly turned transparent, and the elderly man's outstretched hand also became completely translucent.
As soon as his transparent fingers came into contact with the bone, it passed directly through as if it had no substantial form, reaching directly for the black shadow inside.
This seemingly simple maneuver was whittling down his magic power at an incredible rate, and within mere moments, sweat was pouring down his face, which had turned completely pale.
Finally, he locked his fingers around the black shadow before withdrawing his hand at a speed far slower than when it had reached into the bone.
Just as all of the transparent runes were beginning to flash erratically, he finally withdrew his hand out of the bone, and it returned to its normal state.
Almost at the exact same moment, all of the nearby runes exploded on their own amid a dull thump.
The elderly man with the Wu surname was drenched in sweat at this point, but he wore an ecstatic expression.
The other two elderly men were also ecstatic, and the one with the Yu surname hurriedly urged, "Let us have a look, Brother Wu; we have to see if this jade slip contains Master Tian Wu's cultivation art inheritance."
The elderly man with the Wu surname offered no reply, but he took a deep breath before raising his hand and slowly opening his fingers, revealing an inky-black jade badge that was riddled with spirit patterns.
The elderly man with the Yu surname faltered slightly upon seeing this, but before he had a chance to react, the elderly man with the Wu surname suddenly hurled the jade badge high up into the air as his expression changed drastically.
At the same time, he shot back in retreat just as the jade badge exploded, sending countless black runes surging through the air in all directions.
As soon as the runes came into contact with the giant corpse down below, they burrowed their way into the bones with all their might as if they had sprung to life.
The Three Witch Spirit Saints had naturally all taken evasive measures, but they were too close to the jade badge during its explosion, and some of the black runes managed to burrow into their bodies in a flash, completely disregarding their protective spiritual light.
The three elderly men were extremely alarmed by this, and they immediately unleashed their most powerful defensive treasures and abilities to protect themselves.
However, regardless of what they did, all three of them plummeted out of the sky in the next instant before landing heavily on the giant body down below.
At this point, black lines had appeared all over their bodies, covering virtually every single inch of their skin.
Their physical bodies and true essence all became extremely numb, and there were even black threads binding around the Nascent Souls within their bodies, thereby completely immobilizing them.
This was naturally an extremely alarming turn of events for the Three Witch Spirit Saints.
Right at this moment, the black runes also began to spread over the entire giant corpse nearby as countless black lines, yet just as the black lines were about to cover the entire body, two specks of green light suddenly appeared within the corpse's empty eye sockets.
The specks of green light then transformed into two balls of scorching green flames, and at the same time, a crimson light barrier appeared over the entire massive corpse, then transformed into countless crimson threads that also vanished into its body in a flash.
In the next instant, the red and black threads intertwined and began to writhe violently while devouring one another as if they were sworn enemies.
As a result, black and red light began to flash erratically over the entire corpse.
"That thing's transforming into a Baleful Blood Corpse! That jade slip isn't Master Tian Wu's inheritance; it's a restriction badge used by Daoist Tian Ding to repress this transformation!" the final elderly man exclaimed as his face completely paled upon seeing this.
The other two elderly men also began to panic as they tried to draw upon their magic power with all their might, but those black threads had already adhered tightly to all parts of their meridians, thereby preventing them from being able to unleash any abilities or secret techniques.
All of a sudden, a strange cry rang out from within the giant corpse's cavernous mouth, and the green flames within its eye sockets flashed as its body began to tremored slightly.
At the same time, the crimson threads within its body became several times thicker, destroying all of the black threads before devouring them.
The black threads within the corpse began to recede at a rapid rate discernible even to the naked eye, and the giant corpse laid a hand onto the ground before supporting itself up into a sitting position amid a burst of loud rumbling.
The Three Witch Spirit Saints were petrified upon seeing this.
Under normal circumstances, the three of them wouldn't have to fear this Baleful Blood Corpse, but in their current states, they were essentially sitting ducks waiting to be slaughtered.
Right as the Baleful Blood Corpse was about to destroy the restriction left behind by Daoist Tian Ding, the three elderly men finally sprang into action.
Two of them let loose loud roars as their heads exploded in unison, and a miniature humanoid figure flew out of each of their bodies within a cloud of mist.
As for the final elderly man, green light flashed within his eyes, and green runes appeared all over his skin, following which countless vines and branches erupted out of his body in a frenzy, instantly transforming him into a massive tree creature that was over 100 feet tall.
