The King of Curses

Chapter 352 Passing Three Tests

"Trial..."

Cen Dongsheng, Yi Qingyan, and the other spellcasters heard that condescending voice.

Yi Qingyan tilted her head, looking as if she understood but not quite, probably because of the semi-classical Chinese language.

Cen Dongsheng thought to himself that the future King of Equality might need more cultural education.

In his previous life, when he worked in the ruling bureau, he occasionally had the opportunity to deal with ancient ruins, so he received courses in this area and translated that passage.

"Oh~"

The younger sister nodded in sudden realization.

"Simply put, it's a trial for curse masters who enter this place. Only those who pass the trial can enter the so-called 'Southern Heavenly Gate'?"

"Yes. I think the South Heavenly Gate refers to the gate leading to the innermost palace."

All the curse masters who had entered the ancient ruins were teleported to the same area by an external force, where they warily sized each other up.

Beneath their feet lay a small hill, the starting point of the trial. Looking down, they saw a vast valley, the main site of the trial.

An invisible wall surrounded the valley, similar to the barrier that seals off a town in the real world; behind the wall were blurry shadows, making it impossible to tell where people were.

"The spatial structure of this place is very similar to that of a haunted house."

As the holder of the highest-level spatial interference curse, the girl's judgment accuracy is beyond doubt.

"The principle is indeed the same."

Haunted houses or ominous places are alternate dimensions created by the gathering of intense yin energy; and ancient ruins discovered by later generations often exhibit a trend of "alienation".

What these ruins looked like when people were still there remains unknown.

Cen Dongsheng's gaze swept across the valley.

The first part of the valley is covered with tall trees, which are unusual in appearance. They are all carved from jade and come in different colors, including white jade, green jade and yellow jade, which are priceless.
The second part after the Jade Forest is a lake, its surface deep and bottomless.
The third part is a long passageway with bronze statues over 100 meters tall standing on both sides. They are all fully armed warriors with their weapons arranged in an "X" shape.

Continuing to look out, at the end of the passageway, there is a heavy and enormous iron gate.

“The finish line is right there,” Yi Qingyan said. “Can’t we just fly there?”

“The curse masters who jumped directly to the palace instead of going through the gate on the mountain were all killed. I guess this place hates people who don’t follow the rules.”

But not all spellcasters are aware of this.

Several spellcasters used external objects to command the ghosts or forbidden items under their control to fly directly into the distance. One even had wings covered with white feathers sprout from his back and flew directly down the hillside.

Just as they were about to pass through the Qionglin Jade Tree area, they crashed into an invisible wall and had to stop flying.

The once tranquil lake suddenly began to bubble like a boiling pot, as a huge tentacle, hundreds of meters long and covered with black scales, emerged from beneath the surface and lashed out violently.

The tentacles left afterimages in the air, accompanied by supersonic shockwaves and deafening roars. Anything that tried to fly over this area was swept away like an insect with a single slap.

The spellcaster with wings on his back was the strongest. At the critical moment, he suddenly increased his speed and barely dodged the attack of the tentacles. However, half of his wing was torn off. He flew back unsteadily and crashed headfirst onto the hillside.

Everyone understood.

"That's the monster we'll face in the second trial."

A total of thirty-four spellcasters gathered on the hillside. After assessing their own strength, they decided to obediently proceed along the valley to pass the three trials mentioned by the voice from beyond the heavens.

Even the Time Wheel Society, led by two top-tier curse masters, was no exception. They might have a way to break through the sky's blockade, but until the situation became clear, they intended to abide by the rules here.

……

Of course, the brother and sister, hiding their identities, could do whatever they wanted, but...

"Come quick, brother, don't lose them."

Yi Qingyan held his hand, full of enthusiasm, like a student going on a spring outing.

"She seems to have turned this place into an amusement park."

Cen Dongsheng let his sister lead the way, wondering in his heart about the secret hidden behind the voice from beyond the heavens.

"In ancient times, the Heavenly Court selected immortals through trials... Could this really be true? It just seems like a cruel place."

*
The first trial, the Jade Forest.

Every tree and every shrub is made of jade, with lifelike details. It doesn't look like the trees were carved from jade, but rather like the trees were transformed into jade.

It is a wonder that cannot be seen on earth, truly deserving of the name of the Heavenly Palace.

But since it was a trial, it couldn't all be good. The moment they stepped into the forest, the curse masters felt the killing intent emanating from all directions.

The entire forest came alive in an instant.

The jade branches grow rapidly, intertwining into a net, with sharp points as sharp as knives, making it both a beautiful work of art and a cruel weapon.

The spellcasters used various methods to dodge or defend themselves.

A curse master's reaction speed is proportional to their rank, with top-tier curse masters often using a combat speed of "one ten-thousandth" to "one hundred-thousandth".

From this perspective, this trial in the forest is more like a rigorous selection process. The speed at which these branches are shot at is not particularly demanding, and Cen Dongsheng estimates that even his past self could easily dodge them.

However, besides this, jade itself has a certain effect of disrupting the flow of true qi. Some curse masters made the wrong strategic choices and tried to block it with their abilities, but their defenses were pierced by a single blow.

Once inside the human body, the jade immediately exhibits eerie vampire characteristics: through the wound, it rapidly absorbs the blood from the body, enough to turn a healthy living person into a dried-up corpse in a fraction of a second.

After absorbing fresh blood, the surface of the jade turns a bright and eerie red, with streaks of blood visible flowing within it; the trees receive nutrients and grow at a speed visible to the naked eye.

From this, one can glimpse how this magnificent forest of jade trees came into being; beneath the breathtaking beauty lie hundreds of millions of victims.

The corpses of those who died here, impaled by branches and hanging high, are like withered leaves, blending into the entire forest...

Cen Dongsheng felt a sense of unease once again.

Is such cruelty because, after peeling back the layers of mythology, the Heavenly Court that actually existed in history was high above and regarded life as worthless?

Two people died, three were seriously injured and unable to continue, and the remaining twenty-nine people continued on their way.

*
The second trial was at the lake.

A giant monster lurks beneath the surface of the lake, which the curse masters witnessed not long ago.

After leaving the Yushu area, they did not continue forward, fearing that they would anger the lake demon.

At this moment, the two leaders of the Time Wheel Society demonstrated their responsibility: Ban Han and Qiao Wan decided to try to kill the monster directly through the lake water without approaching the surface, using a high-powered spell. Their suggestion was supported by most of the members.

Under the coordination of the Kalachakra Society, all the spellcasters who were skilled in formations and rituals among the group of spellcasters who came to search for treasure joined the preparations.

With the combined efforts of the spellcasters, a massive magic array, or rather, a "dojo," quickly took shape by the lake.

Since the problem was to deal with the monsters in the lake, the first thing the spellcasters thought of was lightning magic.

Coincidentally, "Thunder Magic" is the most widely circulated earth immortal-style incantation in the Chinese region. Its characteristic is that even people who do not possess the relevant abilities of a Taoist school can still have a chance to summon thunder as long as they set up a ritual according to the ritual and process. Its essence is a kind of "borrowed" external force.

Its preparation process is cumbersome and unsuitable for combat; however, for spellcasters who are skilled in formations, their unique spells can exert a more powerful effect.

But now, with everyone pooling their wisdom and efforts, and the true qi of dozens of spellcasters surging into this formation, the effect is different.

"The Lord governs the order of the heavens, the four seasons, the birth of all things, and protects against calamities... He subdues plagues, captures all incurable evil spirits, saves lives and children, and heals great ailments..."

Within the array, seven selected sorcerers, chosen to preside over the ceremony, swayed their heads and chanted incantations. The so-called "array" was a tool used to communicate with natural energy.

Cen Dongsheng watched with great interest from the sidelines.

A top-tier curse master can unleash destructive power a hundredfold or even a thousandfold more with a casual strike. Moving mountains and overturning seas is as simple as a thought. They do not need to rely on nature; they possess power comparable to nature itself.

Therefore, in his lifetime, he rarely had the opportunity to witness the scenes of curse masters working together.

"Lighting lamps and performing rituals, using talismans to ward off evil spirits, chasing and capturing ghosts and gods, I shall summon billions of Thunder Gods to descend upon the sacred site, vanquish demons and monsters, and slay insects, poisons, and plagues..."

True Qi from different directions converged into the center of the formation, and then communicated with natural energy through the formation. The dark clouds above the lake gradually gathered, rumbling thunder rolled, and flashes of lightning, like long snakes, disappeared in the dark clouds.

Meanwhile, the lake below began to become unstable, with whirlpools forming and terrifying black shadows swaying within them, approaching the surface. The monster had clearly noticed the unusual activity outside.

Seeing this, Ban Han, as the commander, knew that the time had come and they could not wait any longer.

"let's start!"

With a command, Qiao Wan, who was beside him, took out another helmet from the Thousand-Mechanism Box at her feet and threw it into the air above the lake. She had used this item before in the battle against the flying zombies; it had the effect of attracting and gathering lightning.

The spellcaster in the center of the formation suddenly opened his eyes and waved his command flag.

A bolt of lightning tore through the curtain and rushed towards the lake; then came a second, a third...

Ten thousand bolts of lightning descended, while the helmet that Qiao Wan threw out flew first between the clouds and the lake.

The initial flash of lightning struck the helmet, and the current expanded rapidly after passing through it, causing a bolt of lightning as thick as a tree root to crash into the water.

"Boom boom boom!"

The lightning bolts, which kept striking, grew increasingly intense, merging into one, and the entire lake surface was almost submerged in incandescent light.

"Roar--!"

Under the bombardment of hundreds of lightning bolts, the lake surface was rapidly evaporated, no longer able to conceal the giant beast lurking below, and the electrified water flow also caused it considerable damage.

A giant monster, resembling a combination of an octopus and a sea serpent, flew out of the lake with its head held high.

It has a long neck and its body is covered with scales; five long tentacles extend from the bottom of its enormous body, making it more than 800 meters long in total, like a mountain of flesh.

At this moment, the behemoth was bathed in intense lightning, with nowhere to hide, and could only roar in fury.

But the expressions of the curse masters became serious.

Just by listening to that powerful roar, you could tell that their prepared "thunder magic" had indeed caught it off guard, but for this behemoth, it was far from being seriously injured.

Ban Han, who was skilled in observing qi, was able to see through the other party's true nature.

"The extraordinary and powerful 'Qi' is more than three times my amount..."

he whispered.

The gap is significant, but that doesn't mean the enemy is invincible.

The energy that ghosts and monsters can manipulate has always been more abundant than that of humans; and "three times" is not an unattainable number. As long as both sides are within the first-class category, they have the power to fight.

What he was truly worried about was a certain top-tier curse master with exceptional stealth skills. What if that person attacked them from behind during their battle with the lake demon…

In the blink of an eye, the lake demon had already launched a counterattack. It opened its mouth and spewed out black mist, while its tentacles clung to the shore and began to lash out.

The immense force caused the ground beneath people's feet to crack and sink, and with a deafening roar, the over 800-meter-tall body crashed onto the land.

Two spellcasters were engulfed by the black smoke, their flesh and bones turning into corpse liquid amidst screams; two more spellcasters were unable to dodge in time and were smashed to pieces by the tentacles; the last one, with a body of steel, survived the blow but was entangled by the ferocious tentacles, pulled to the lake demon's mouth, and swallowed whole.

*
"Okay, we've gone around it."

Having activated "Mist Locks the Smoke and Silk," Zhao Chengxu drifted like a wisp of smoke. No matter how mad the lake demon went or how the curse masters resisted, he remained unaffected and untouched by the aftershocks.

Also out of caution, he did not choose the method of going directly to the end of the pass, but instead quietly followed behind the crowd.

After trying, Zhao Chengxu confirmed one more thing: as long as the level is activated, the restriction leading to the next level will not be triggered.

Seeing that the lake demon was troublesome, he felt there was no need to fight to the death in place, so he simply abandoned the people who were fighting fiercely and rushed towards the final level.

……

However, his every move was being observed.

"It looks like someone is cheating. This won't do."

Yi Qingyan smiled and raised her finger in that direction.

"I need to urge them on."

……

A chill suddenly ran down Zhao Chengxu's spine, and he instinctively stopped in his tracks.

The next instant, the ground in front of him cracked silently, revealing a bottomless "wound".

If it had been even a fraction of a second slower, he would already be decapitated.

Zhao Chengxu swallowed hard, unsure whether to feel lucky or fearful.

"Is this another restriction set up by the Heavenly Palace? No, that's not right..."

He turned his head and looked at the battlefield where smoke and dust were rising.

"They came from...the direction of the curse master's team..."

(End of this chapter)