Chapter 476: A Game Where You Stake Your Life!

Following this hoarse voice, it came.

Creak...

The ear-piercing sound of the door opening shredded Chen Yan's eardrums like a chainsaw.

Whoosh...

A thick malice, like a gale, instantly surged out from within the room, scouring the entire corridor.

In the corridor, the wall plaster peeled and curled in large chunks like the shedding skin of an elderly person; everything was being devoured.

Ji Xiaomao's expression changed, and he deployed his Qi and blood to envelop himself, yet his physical body was still eroded, leaving behind streaks of decaying wounds.

"Damn it, why is it so hard to enter the path of Will!"

Ji Xiaomao glanced at Bing Yi and Chen Changyuan behind him, only to see the two standing quietly, their flesh also partially corroded by the malice.

He gave a chuckle and walked into the room.

Chen Yan followed closely behind; he had seen on the choroid belonging to Lu Fukun that the secret regarding the 【Thousand Shadow Kill of the Calamity Corpse】 originated from this place.

Chen Yan walked into the room.

A crooked, broken sofa, shattered windows, and walls cracked everywhere.

Chen Yan glanced casually at the cowhide book lying on the ground, which had already turned completely gray and black.

On the pages flipped open by the wind of malice, Chen Yan saw the traces where time and ink were intertwined.

【Divine General Wei Ming once again refuses the proposal of the Celestial Supervision Bureau, will not participate in the selection of the next State Overseer!】

Chen Yan frowned slightly; this was news from a thousand years ago.

He picked up the book and flipped through it quickly.

Xia Weimin, son of the State Overseer from a thousand years ago, was enfeoffed as Divine General Wei Ming.

This book contained the record.

The State Overseer had once intended to name Xia Weimin as the next State Overseer, but Xia Weimin refused.

He even confronted the State Overseer in the Temple of the Xia Lord in front of all the officials, causing a very unpleasant scene.

In this book, there was even a projection array disc, but under the long-term erosion of malice, this projection array disc had grown mold.

It must have been the projection array disc recorded when Xia Weimin had the big falling-out with the State Overseer.

Under the blowing of the malice, it floated like countless tiny tentacles.

It could no longer be used.

Chen Yan flipped through this book; they were all important news items from that year.

【First on the Five Clans Ranking, Chi Canglan reveals the Thousand Shadow Kill of the Calamity Corpse, condensing two shadows, shocking heaven and earth!】

【Divine General Wei Ming defeats Chen Yi, the direct descendant of the Chen Lord; the Xia Clan's number one genius is stronger than the Five Clans' number one genius!】

【The name of Chi Canglan disappears from the Five Clans Ranking, confirmed dead!】

Chen Yan scanned it at a glance; his thinking had broken its limits, and it took him no more than a few seconds to memorize the contents of an entire chronicle.

When Chen Yan walked from the living room to another room.

Chen Changyuan and Ji Xiaomao were already sitting at a round table; the round table was covered in dense, pitch-black cracks, even more miserable than if it had been scorched.

The room was dim, and there was a creature only 1.5 meters tall, exuding pitch-black malice from its entire body, standing quietly; its facial features were obscured by the malice, but it was clearly looking at Chen Yan, emitting a 'hehe' laugh.

Chen Yan chose a pitch-black chair with only two legs and sat down.

Sitting down was likely part of the rules of this house.

"The three of you must think clearly; once you participate, it is very easy to die."

The malicious creature's voice was distorted, circling within the room.

Chen Yan did not speak; Chen Changyuan and Ji Xiaomao both sat quietly.

"Greater rewards require greater sacrifices; the birth of a genius often requires unimaginable sacrifices."

Ji Xiaomao spoke:

"The Ji Province is in turmoil; if I do not strive to be strong, I will only die in a pile of endless corpses, no different from rotten wood and decaying grass."

He looked at Chen Changyuan with contempt, then looked at Bing Yi:

"I look down on Chen Changyuan; he came to my Ji Province merely to seek his own interests.

We can join forces to kill him first; the Calamity Corpse Divine Lamp does not support us attacking each other, and the Five Clans won't either, but we can utilize the rules of this place."

Chen Changyuan's expression was calm, not caring at all about Ji Xiaomao's mockery at this moment; Chen Yan spoke:

"The rules of this place?"

"There are rules here." Ji Xiaomao glanced at that malicious creature:

"Very strange rules, because those above the mid-stage of the Seventh Rank cannot enter this place, and our strength is heavily sealed by the malice.

Therefore, the rules of this place have become the kind that cannot be broken."

Chen Yan was silent.

Under this thick malice, Chen Yan discovered that his perception of emotions had also become extremely shallow.

But fortunately, even if it was extremely shallow, he could still sense a trace.

It was also at this moment that the malicious creature slowly extended its hands—or more accurately, each arm had ten hands that were either missing or twisted.

Gray light orbs scattered from its sleeves, a total of seventeen light orbs.

Looking from the outside, one could not tell the difference at all.

Of course, this was due to the malice of this place; if it were in the outside world, Chen Yan would definitely be able to sense the difference.

"Here are seventeen light orbs; five contain the malice crystals of the Seventh Rank, five contain the Heart-Devouring Nether Grass capable of poisoning a Creation Realm expert to death, and five are explosive array discs capable of blasting a Body-Refining Creation Realm expert to death."

The malicious creature laughed eerily:

"Of course, there are also two fragments of the Thousand Shadow Kill of the Calamity Corpse."

"Within them are contained the profound techniques of the different parts of the Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill; every single fragment is enough for you all to manifest a shadow."

Chen Yan's heart skipped a beat.

He immediately had the urge to seize all these light orbs directly, but he quickly suppressed it.

If they could be snatched, these light orbs would have been snatched away long ago.

"Please forgive my playfulness; I have already suffered the baptism of malice for a thousand years, and now, only the last trace of memory belonging to human joy remains."

The Malicious Entity let out a painful wail and continued:

"In a moment, I will distribute three light orbs to each of you, and then display one unissued light orb to show its contents.

Then, we shall play the orbs in turn.

The next player to play an orb may challenge the content of the previous player's orb.

If the light orb played by the previous player is the same as the content of the displayed light orb, then the challenge fails.

The challenger must then swallow the light orb just played by the previous player.

If they are different, then the challenge succeeds.

The challenger may take all the light orbs in the previous player's hand, and will be forced to swallow one of them."

Chen Yan was silent.

If he wanted to obtain a fragment of the 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】, he needed to succeed in a challenge, and the player he challenged had to have a fragment of the 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】 in their hand.

If there was no 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】 among the remaining light orbs in the opponent's hand, he would also be forced to swallow one of those light orbs.

Once his challenge failed, he would have to swallow the orb just played by the player.

If that person happened to have just played a 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】 fragment.

Even if Chen Yan failed the challenge, he could still obtain the 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】.

Looking at it this way.

Both succeeding in a challenge and failing a challenge could potentially lead to obtaining the 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】.

Playing the orbs honestly, however, offered no chance at all to obtain the opportunity.

The probability of success was too small, and the probability of failure was too great.

After all, there were only two light orbs in total that contained 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】 fragments.

But there were seventeen light orbs that contained things harmful to people.

No wonder Ji Xiaomao waited a month to gather three people to participate in the game.

This game was a bit too dangerous.

But it seemed to have a natural advantage for Chen Yan.

A Seventh-Rank Malice Crystal might be fatal to Ji Xiaomao, but Chen Yan had already digested a Seventh-Rank Malice Crystal long ago.

As for the Heart-Devouring Ghost Grass, it was a poison that could kill those in the Creation Realm.

But Chen Yan had the Immortal Will, so he might be able to resist it a little.

Of course, that was only a "might."

Because Chen Yan did not know the toxic mechanism of the Heart-Devouring Ghost Grass.

No matter how powerful his Immortal Will was, it could not regenerate his own brain.

Repairing damaged internal organs would also require a massive expenditure.

Once the toxic mechanism of the Heart-Devouring Ghost Grass directly attacked the internal organs and the brain, Chen Yan would be in great danger.

The most fatal thing for Chen Yan, however, was the Explosive Array Disk.

This was truly fatal; it would directly blow a person's physical body to pieces, and Chen Yan's Immortal Will could not achieve regeneration to that degree.

"This game has six rounds in total.

After the game begins, the three of you may not transmit sound; once you transmit sound, I will erase the one who did so."

The Malicious Entity laughed, then pushed out nine gray light orbs, with three landing in front of Chen Yan, Ji Xiaomao, and Chen Changyuan respectively.

The moment Chen Yan made contact with the light orb in front of him, a piece of information was injected into his mind.

At this moment, he could clearly see exactly what kind of light orbs were in front of him.

Two Heart-Devouring Ghost Grasses and one Seventh-Rank Malice Crystal.

There was no fragment of the 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】.

Subsequently, the Malicious Entity took one out from the six light orbs in front of it.

The gray light dissipated, revealing the structure within.

It was a floating, blue-black iron shard, with dense, profound characters engraved upon it.

"The displayed item is a fragment of the Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill; please play your orbs, everyone."

The Malicious Entity pointed at Chen Changyuan.

Chen Changyuan offered up a light orb:

"Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill."

Chen Yan watched Chen Changyuan; the other party's expression was calm, and even their emotions were incomparably calm.

Only at the very moment the orb was played was there a fluctuation, a very slight trace of a fluctuation.

Chen Yan sighed inwardly; Chen Changyuan had already understood the rules of the game.

This was a psychological game.

Even if the orb he played was not the 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】, he needed to try his best to pretend it was.

The next turn fell to Ji Xiaomao; Ji Xiaomao looked at Chen Changyuan:

"Is the orb you played the Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill?

There are only two Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill fragments in total; your chance of obtaining one is too small."

"You may challenge it," Chen Changyuan said indifferently.

Ji Xiaomao fell silent.

If he were to challenge it.

If what Chen Changyuan played was indeed the 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】, his challenge would fail, but he could consume the 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】 that Chen Changyuan played.

In that case, he would have obtained the fortuitous encounter.

If the challenge succeeded, he could obtain all the remaining light orbs from Chen Changyuan's hand, and he would be required to consume one.

This was dangerous.

Ji Xiaomao shook his head slightly and played a light orb, saying:

"Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill."

His expression was calm, as if nothing had happened.

Chen Yan played the Heart-Devouring Ghost Grass in his hand and said:

"Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill."

At this moment, Chen Changyuan looked at Chen Yan; although Bing Yi was wearing a mask, one could judge whether a person was nervous from their breathing frequency.

Unfortunately, Chen Changyuan could judge nothing.

He wanted to speak but stopped; he wanted to challenge, but he held back.

This was the charm of this game.

What Ji Xiaomao said, and the unintentional trembling of Bing Yi's body, had actually disrupted Chen Changyuan's state of mind.

Chen Changyuan took a deep breath and continued to play an orb:

"Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill."

He did not challenge.

Ji Xiaomao smiled, then immediately played an orb as well.

Rotating in this way, the few of them all played all the orbs in their hands.

None of them challenged.

Ji Xiaomao clapped his hands and then smiled.

Just now, he indeed had not obtained the 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】; the reason he spoke like that was to disrupt the state of mind of the other two.

The second round began.

Three light orbs appeared in front of Chen Yan.

Three Seventh-Rank Malice Crystals.

Chen Yan's body trembled slightly; he lowered his head and did not look up.

It was precisely this tremble that both Chen Changyuan and Ji Xiaomao noticed.

At the same time, the Malice Creature revealed the true orb.

"It is a Heart-Devouring Ghost Grass."

This round, it was Ji Xiaomao's turn to play an orb first.

"Heart-Devouring Ghost Grass," Ji Xiaomao handed over an orb.

"Heart-Devouring Ghost Grass," Chen Yan also played a Malice Crystal as a Heart-Devouring Ghost Grass.

In this game, as long as one does not challenge, there is no danger.

But without challenging, it is impossible to obtain the 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】.

Chen Yan quietly observed Chen Changyuan and Ji Xiaomao.

These two must have come prepared to trade their lives for a fortuitous encounter, so they would definitely challenge.

But at this moment, all three were clearly keeping their composure.

Soon, the second round ended.

Still, no one had challenged.

Even though Chen Yan's body had trembled just now, it hadn't deceived Ji Xiaomao or Chen Changyuan.

The third round began; this round, Chen Yan was the first to play an orb.

The entire round still saw no one challenge.

"Like this, it's no fun," Ji Xiaomao said quietly:

"If the two of you didn't come for a fortuitous encounter, what is the point of participating in this game?"

Neither Chen Changyuan nor Chen Yan spoke.

The fourth round began.

Three light orbs appeared in front of Chen Yan.

Two Explosive Array Discs and one Malice Crystal.

As for the revealed orb, it was an Explosive Array Disc.

In the fourth round, Chen Changyuan played an orb first.

"Explosive Array Disc," Chen Changyuan handed over an orb.

Ji Xiaomao was silent for a good while; he glanced at Chen Yan, wanting to speak but stopping:

"Explosive Array Disc."

"Explosive Array Disc," Chen Yan pondered; the difficulty of this game was a bit too high.

To obtain the true 【Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill】 requires superb courage and luck.

More crucially, his perception of emotions was a bit too thin.

He looked at Ji Xiaomao:

"The one you just struck out, is it the Calamity Corpse Thousand Shadow Kill?"

Ji Xiaomao smiled faintly:

"It is not."

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes slightly; he could vaguely judge that the other party was being sincere in his heart and was likely not lying.

"There is no meaning at all in continuing to play like this," Chen Yan said frankly, his voice sincere.

He was telling the truth.

Chen Yan made a selection from within the ball of light in his hand and struck out a Malice Crystal:

"Explosion Array Disk."

"Objection." A cold voice rang out; Chen Changyuan, as the next person to strike a ball, spoke up.