Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

Dozens of minutes later.

Several figures once again descended from the sky.

Xu Xingke.

The Swordswoman.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

And the "Dragon King" Cang Nanyan from the Human Martial Arts Group.

"Haha, these 'Catastrophes' dared to play a 'decapitation' strategy, yet they didn't expect us to have Xu Xingke." Cang Nanyan floated in mid-air, standing on two balls of raging flames, laughing loudly.

"It wasn't me, it was Shen Ye—Shen Ye said that the one who fled was doomed to die." Xu Xingke said.

The Swordswoman seemed to know more and asked with a smile:

"How's the disciple I found for you?"

Xu Xingke didn't answer but countered:

"Why did you make him my student?"

"You, you're too serious and rigid in your ways—Shen Ye, on the other hand, sings as he kills. I thought your two characters might stimulate each other's growth," said the Swordswoman, covering her mouth with a laugh.

"I wonder what's going on inside the Great Tomb right now." Xu Xingke changed the subject.

"Besides the one that escaped, you and the Swordswoman severely injured another. Now, only the matters within this Great Tomb remain," said Cang Nanyan.

"It's a pity for the Azure Academy." The Swordswoman sighed.

"No matter," said Xu Xingke with a light smile, "they killed so many of us and turned quite a few against us; this debt must be settled."

He was about to fly downwards when he heard a scream coming from the pit.

Following that.

A creature engulfed in green flames was thrown up, landing in front of the three of them, groaning continuously.

"This should be a Drought Demon, right?" said Cang Nanyan uncertainly.

"It's a Drought Demon, but not Dry Daddy," the Swordswoman corrected.

Cang Nanyan was speechless.

Everyone here is a supreme expert, can't we be more mature?

"This species is called the Nine Nether Drought Demon—only after slaughtering more than ten thousand lives does it reach this level," Xu Xingke said with killing intent in his voice.

Another figure flew up.

It was Song Yinchen.

She was startled and quickly paid her respects:

"Teacher, hello."

"Hello, what are you doing?" Xu Xingke asked.

"They say it knows the secrets of this tomb, so I beat it up first to make it compliant and then interrogate it thoroughly," said Song Yinchen.

That makes sense.

The three of them nodded together and looked again at the Nine Nether Drought Demon.

The Nine Nether Drought Demon spat out a mouthful of blood, twitched twice, and stopped moving.

It was dead.

"..." the three of them.

"...You're kidding, so weak to hits?" Song Yinchen said in surprise.

Faced with their gazes, Song Yinchen became somewhat flustered.

What to do?

Shen Ye's teacher was right here.

"Please wait a moment, teacher; I'll catch another monster to bring up—I've heard that a creature called the Wilderness Priest also knows many secrets."

Having said this, Song Yinchen jumped down the pit as if escaping and headed deeper into the Great Tomb.

The three stood at the mouth of the pit for a while.

"It seems... not waiting for her to catch a Wilderness Priest to bring up isn't very polite either," Xu Xingke muttered.

"That's right, after all, this is the owner of the Chaos Spirit Light," Cang Nanyan said.

"The Wilderness High Priest is also a famous monster in the Great Tomb, having killed countless people and even showing up in other cities as a 'Catastrophe', consuming many humans," said the Swordswoman.

"Why didn't you kill it?" Xu Xingke asked.

"It reacts incredibly fast, is adept at techniques of escape, and even uses its Dharma Aspect for fleeing, making it very troublesome," Cang Nanyan said.

"How do you assess Song Yinchen's strength?" Xu Xingke inquired thoughtfully.

"I estimate her to be at least at the sixth or seventh level of the Dharma Realm; beyond that, I do not know," Cang Nanyan said.

The three fell silent together.

"There are always a few freaks in this world—no, I mean talented individuals," the Swordswoman sighed.

Xu Xingke asked:

"How long has it been—was Song Qingyun also like this?"

The Swordswoman's expression became serious, and she spoke in a low and rapid voice:

"I performed an autopsy on Song Qingyun, and her brain had degenerated to the level of an average human at eighty years of age, which means she had sacrificed too many times. Not only was her soul in chaos, but her thinking was also about to become unsustainable."

"What are you trying to say?" asked Cang Nanyan.

"Although she could alter the memories of those around her and had the aid of the Nine Evil Gods, she exhausted all methods and even sacrificed her own soul, but she only just managed to suppress Song Yinchen—and back then, Song Yinchen hadn't even begun serious cultivation," said the Swordswoman.

"What about now?"

"According to Kunlun's evaluation, every hour, Song Yinchen's strength will improve once—her rate of power growth is simply insane!" said the Swordswoman.

The three suddenly stopped their casual conversation.

A figure flew up from underground.

Song Yinchen.

"Teacher," she called out respectfully.

"Hmm? What's the matter?" Xu Xingke asked.

Song Yinchen gestured towards the large hole:

"Come!"

A monster immediately flew up, landing beside Song Yinchen.

Judging by the evil aura emanating from it, it must be that Wilderness High Priest.

"Go on," said Song Yinchen.

"Yes," said the monster respectfully, "Good morning to everyone. The weather's nice today, and I am very honored to be invited by this beautiful and kind-hearted girl to report to you all."

"I'd like to start by giving a round of applause to this girl, who has saved me from my misguided path and taught me of my past wrongdoings. I must—and—"

"Stop!" Song Yinchen shouted in dissatisfaction.

The monster was so frightened that its body shivered, and its legs quivered, and it immediately knelt on the ground.

The three were silent for a moment.

Is this supposedly the infamously ferocious "Catastrophe"?

Are you kidding me!

"Stick to the main point, the Seal of Fate," said Song Yinchen.

"Yes—actually, if anyone asked me, I would have said it was a hoax."

"But since the beautiful young lady herself has inquired, I must speak the truth, for in the entire Great Tomb, only I know the Seal of Fate is real."

A flash of fear crossed the Wilderness High Priest's eyes, but after gritting its teeth, it still continued:

"The seal truly exists."

"Thousands of years ago, a king species Cosmic Giant Insect came specifically to explore the Great Tomb."

"It took four thousand years to study that seal."

"Recently, it managed to replicate the seal, and most successfully at that."

"I guess it has already started breaking through the Seal of Fate—"

"Before long, it will find the true owner of this Great Tomb!"

...

Underground.

Deep within.

"What are you looking at? Go fight," Shen Ye said.

The monsters all around had already pounced.

Lilias had no time to say anything else, nor to do anything else, and had to follow Shen Ye's command, immediately throwing herself into the battle.

She was a Divine Spirit, with strength of at least the fifth level of the Law Realm, maybe even the sixth.

With her strength, dealing with these sickly and inherently deficient monster larvae was still no problem.

It was just that there were a bit too many of them...

Lilias killed without pause.

Shen Ye, on the other hand, hid on one side, with no intention of taking action. He suddenly unfolded his frost wings behind him and surged into the sky.

These larvae probably don't have the strength of the fourth or fifth level of the Law Realm,

They can't fly yet!

Shen Ye flew into the air and looked down.

The next instant.

A three-meter-tall black woman appeared again, landing beside Shen Ye.

"Divine Spirit..."

She looked down together with Shen Ye.

"This is my summoned creature. What, can't I use summoning techniques?" Shen Ye asked.

The black woman shook her head, "The only rule is to survive, all powers may be used."

"Then good," Shen Ye said.

"But there is something wrong with this Divine Spirit contract, and her soul also has some issues—"

The black woman prattled on:

"Sure enough, your mutation has certain flaws, you almost perished because of it, so the Divine Spirits you summon are also filled with various defects."

"If you can secure a place to survive in this battle..."

Her voice stopped.

In the arena. Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire

Lilias was attacked by numerous monsters, but with her formidable strength, she continued to turn danger into safety.

As soon as the black woman appeared, she immediately became cautious.

—Not using any techniques, nor unfolding her Dharma Aspect.

She fought solely with her strong Basic Attributes.

Fists, feet, body slams.

The monsters were beaten to death on the spot.

After killing more than twenty monsters in a row, the remaining monsters gradually stopped coming.

Instead, they turned to attack their own kind.

After a while.

Only about half of the monsters were still alive.

"This selection is over."

The three-meter-tall black woman spoke softly:

"Using the supreme power of the rules, I have seen the issues with this Divine Spirit."

"As a reward for this round—I will resolve the problems with your summoning contract and summoned spirit. Do you agree?"

"By the way, a reminder: you might only survive by leaving her."

Shen Ye glanced at Lilias.

Lilias had a vigilant expression, her hands forming into seals, as if she were ready to do something at any moment.

Wait.

Her hands.

—Three fingers were missing, as if they had been sliced off in one go by something sharp.

Who had she been fighting just now?

"Resolve it, I agree," Shen Ye said gravely.

"Good, your perception is normal and wise. There is hope for you to escape an untimely demise," the black woman said.

The next instant.

The three-meter-tall black woman disappeared from the spot and appeared right behind Lilias.

Just like how she had once held Shen Ye, she suddenly embraced Lilias in her arms.

—Lilias didn't even have a chance to react.

In the midst of Lilias's Six Senses, only one thing happened.

Everything around her disappeared.

She suddenly found herself plunging into endless darkness.

This darkness was as profound and boundless as the universe, infinite and limitless, with no past and no future in sight.

Darkness.

Darkness.

In the depths of the darkness—

Innumerable stars coalesced into form.

They constructed the phantom image of a Cosmic Giant Insect, gazing at Lilias.

The will of this Cosmic Giant Insect was as vast as a nebula, wielding boundless might that enveloped Lilias's body, slowly and gently seeping inside her.

Lilias wanted to resist, to scream, to flee, she even wanted to die—but

it was futile.

Every move was frozen by that formidable power.

And then—

That power seemed to be devouring something from her body.

What was it eating?

—Apparently, it was something very important to her.

Perhaps a part of her body?

No...

It was devouring her soul.

Lilias let out a shrill scream.

A phantom shape burst forth from her body, immediately attempting to escape into the void.

But it couldn't escape.

The vast will enveloped that soul, slowly consuming her.

No matter how much she struggled.

There was no power to resist at all.

"No... too ridiculous, I am..."

The soul let out a sharp wail, but it was entirely useless.

It was eaten down to just a small fragment.

—This small fragment of the soul held past memories, knowledge, and power.

That was all.

Yet, just this last small fragment, suddenly erupted with powerful fluctuations of technique, trying to escape from the darkness.

At long last...

That immense and formidable will lightly wrapped around it, enveloping it once again.

"No... how could I possibly..."

In the final fragment of the soul, Lilias still couldn't believe and finally realized her end.

Absolutely not.

I already knew the dangers of this world.

With my endless power of revival, nothing can kill me.

I can't hide anymore!

The brightly shining fragment of the soul, within which two broken hands intertwined, formed Spell Seals.

Dharma Aspect unfolding—

Weeping Spirit King!