Chapter 292: Lost Civilization

This was not a physical object.

Su Xing knew this the moment he saw the pale, rotting arm. He felt no rush of wind, and it was clear the arm was not a physical entity.

Yet the threat was real. His intuition screamed danger the moment it appeared, and as it drew closer, that sense of dread intensified.

It must not be touched!

Su Xing immediately threw the notebook aside and retreated rapidly, but the pale arm followed him like a shadow. Its speed matched his, perhaps even slightly faster, inching closer to his face.

This was not speed.

It was a concept existing only within his mind and sight!

No matter how fast he retreated, the attack would continue to close the distance!

Su Xing stopped abruptly when he was two meters from the wall behind him. Simultaneously, his Qi and blood surged. The two Sleeping Spiritual Lights in his upper dantian flickered, his Iron-Refining Furnace in his middle dantian roared, and his skin took on a faint golden hue.

National Art Gang Jin!

Human Immortal Martial Dao blood-Qi boiling!

The Copper Skin and Iron Bone of the Iron-Refining Record!

In an instant, a burst of energy exploded. Wang Wang and Xia Luote were blown away before they could react. He protected them with a gentle force as they landed, then they felt a scorching heat wave. Su Xing seemed to have transformed into a giant human furnace, his masculine, sharp aura filling the entire room.

At that moment, the skin of the pale arm began to scorch and evaporate, turning into charcoal. But from behind that arm, an endless stream of pale limbs erupted—one, two, three... infinite pale arms filled everything in Su Xing's vision.

This was merely a tiny fraction of that pale, rotting entity. On a macro scale, a sphere ten times larger than a planet floated in an endless, dark void. At that moment, a speck of light appeared on the edge of the void. Compared to the massive rotting sphere, it was smaller than a grain of sand in the ocean. Instinctively, the sphere began to move toward that speck of light.

Simultaneously, sounds emerged from the sphere—initially faint, but they resonated and vibrated millions, billions of times over, forming an unimaginable, indescribable terror that seemed to awaken some unspeakable existence. The sphere, the infinite limbs, and the terrifying fluctuations all surged toward that speck of light.

Facing the endless surge of pale limbs, Su Xing made only one move.

Channeling his strength, drawing his blade, and slashing.

What is the reaction of a martial artist facing a sudden desperate situation?

Nothing more than raising a fist, leveling a spear, or swinging a blade... Even if I die in the next second, I will strike back in this one!

The Spirit-Shattering Blade struck the infinite arms. The blade felt no resistance, as if it were cutting through air, but Su Xing's arms bulged with muscle, veins popping. His skin began to crack, capillaries across his body ruptured, and his muscles suffered multiple tears.

Yet, at the same time, all the limbs extending from the rotting sphere shattered into ash. A feedback force—not of material origin—traveled through the Spirit-Shattering Blade into the dark void. It surged toward the massive sphere, a force so immense it suppressed even the infinite sound waves emanating from it...

"Title: Kratos."

"When fighting any entity ten times your size, you are guaranteed one successful power struggle every thirty seconds (this is a limit-breaking attribute, supreme priority). This struggle will result in a crushing effect—tearing, dismembering, ripping, execution, etc., depending on the strength disparity."

Strength... it didn't specify material strength or otherwise...

After that strike, a realization dawned on Su Xing. Then, his vision went black. He staggered forward, barely using the Spirit-Shattering Blade to steady himself, nearly passing out.

At that moment, Su Xing felt a tremor in his sea of consciousness. A surge of negativity washed over him like a tsunami, only to be blocked by a giant tiger. Every time the tsunami crashed against it, parts of the tiger dissolved. The immense pain caused the tiger to roar, but it remained pinned between his consciousness and the negativity, unable to move.

Only when the two Sleeping Spiritual Lights returned to his sea of consciousness did the violent tremors subside, leaving behind thin cracks. Relying on the light of the Sleeping Spiritual Lights, they began to heal slowly—though it would take ten days or half a month to fully recover.

A single strike, and the backlash from just a fraction of that massive power had nearly shattered his sea of consciousness.

At this moment, Wang Wang and Xia Luote rushed to Su Xing's side, supporting him, but not knowing what to do. They could only watch as Su Xing stood with his eyes closed, sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Xia Luote, that!" Wang Wang suddenly shouted at Xia Luote.

Xia Luote froze, then snapped to her senses. She let go of Su Xing and stepped back. Silver light flickered on her body, and in an instant, she transformed into a soaring, elegant silver giant wolf, four meters tall and six meters long. Silver fur covered her, and a faint full moon appeared on her body. As the silver light emerged, Wang Wang and Su Xing felt a sense of peace and tranquility.

Su Xing, in particular, felt a cool sensation seeping into his sea of consciousness, turning into silver liquid that plugged the cracks. Though not fully healed, the tremors stopped.

Only then did Su Xing open his eyes. They were bloodshot. Xia Luote had returned to her human form and was panting on the ground.

"Thank you," Su Xing said to Xia Luote, then sat down on the ground. Wang Wang picked up Xia Luote and sat beside Su Xing, asking with concern, "What happened? Were you attacked by something?"

Su Xing shook his head slightly, offering no details.

The pale limbs were invisible to others; only he, having read the diary, could see them.

Alchemical Curse.

That was the name of the pale limbs.

Upon contact, information had naturally flowed into him, and the papers he had read contained descriptions of it.

"All who study alchemy will be afflicted with the 'Alchemical Curse' as their mastery deepens. Symptoms include sudden terror, as if attacked by an invisible enemy, followed by a return to calm. Simultaneously, their aptitude for alchemy increases significantly, and some even gain new alchemical formulas and knowledge out of thin air; thus, it is also called the 'Alchemical Blessing'."

"However, those who experience the curse multiple times will see their personalities gradually grow cold, developing traits of apathy, misanthropy, and extreme depression, often leading to suicide."

"The principles and treatment mechanisms of the Alchemical Curse remain unknown."

"To counter the 'Giant of the End,' the Supreme Alchemical Council has decided to conduct various experiments. The method in this laboratory is the large-scale application of the Alchemical Curse, hoping to extract more unknown alchemical formulas and knowledge from the massive sample size, in hopes of finding true alchemical formulas or ascension knowledge."

"Everything for the future!"

!

This was the information Su Xing had seen on the papers.

This laboratory represented a fragment of history from the Alchemical Civilization in the Demon Realm Dream World. In that era, alchemy was the highest extraordinary power, and the civilization faced the threat of the Giant of the End. To counter it, they had launched experiments involving the large-scale activation of the Alchemical Curse.

The truth behind the Alchemical Curse was the opening of the so-called Gate of Truth...

It was that very thing Su Xing had seen—not a product of this Dream World, but a root-level terror from a deeper layer.

When the Alchemical Curse triggered, the root-level terror would interact with the victim. The pale arm would tear apart a portion of the victim's soul, and in its place, alchemical knowledge would be injected into the shattered soul.

The torn soul fragments would become trophies for the pale arm, taken back to the sphere to become a part of it.

Neither living nor dead, never to be reincarnated...

That was the true nature of the Alchemical Curse!

Then... what connection did this truth—this root-level terror from a deeper Dream World—have with the Alchemical Civilization he had encountered in the Weekend?

"Important information discovered. Analyzing... Analysis complete."

"Rank One Citizen Su Xing, you have found the remains of the lost civilization 'Alchemical Civilization.' Do you wish to be actively observed by it to assist the Main Brain in learning the final fate of the lost civilization?"

"Confirm observation to receive the next-stage cultivation technique for Human Immortal Martial Dao."

"Refuse observation for no reward."

At this moment, the Main Brain's voice echoed in Su Xing's ear.

His eyes widened, and he fell into a deep conflict.

(End of Chapter)