Chapter 184: Path of the Dead

"Praise the supremely benevolent Lord Osiris."

Desa's long tail lightly swept over his densely packed knife wounds; on the ground, strands of black sand continually gathered toward his body, his gleaming shell gradually healing as the wounds kept disappearing.

"My task from him is that whenever outsiders enter, someone must undergo the trial he set." Desa snorted coldly: "If it weren't for the great Lord Osiris's command, I would surely kill you all."

The unscathed jackal-headed warriors marched with thunderous steps, forming neat ranks behind Desa.

Lao Dao Feng and the six Life Pool Realm experts panted slightly; although they had beaten Desa badly, their mana consumption was also terrifying.

Lao Dao Feng was fine, but the six Life Pool Realm experts had nearly exhausted their mana; right now they were busy stuffing primal grass into their mouths, trying to recover a bit of strength.

Duoliya merely grunted, took out a packet of medicine powder, and with difficulty rubbed it onto his wound with the back of his hand.

The wounded spot was embarrassing, so applying the powder was clearly difficult for him, but he didn't call for help.

Only Wu Tie was unharmed; he bore the White Tiger Split and slowly walked to Lao Dao Feng's side: "Chief, we… should we accept this trial? Is what that pretty‑boy said reliable? I think we should let him be the first to undergo the trial."

Lao Dao Feng narrowed his eyes and nodded in agreement.

He looked at Desa and asked in a low voice: "What are the requirements for this trial?"

Desa's whole body flickered with fine black crystal light; his shell looked as if cast from crystal, with intricate delicate patterns covering every joint, and whenever he moved, his entire body continually sparkled with fine light.

"No requirements, just be alive." Desa proudly flicked his tail: "Lord Desa, the most loyal envoy of the great Lord Osiris… so, the great Lord Osiris, generous and trusting, has let Lord Desa preside over the trial…"

"You can enter all at once or one after another; there's no difference, since the trial is conducted individually." Desa muttered softly: "But what exactly is the trial? Well, Lord Desa admits, it was personally arranged by Lord Osiris…"

"Lord Desa himself doesn't know what trial this is." Desa laughed in a strange voice: "Anyway, I've chosen you, so you must undergo the trial… unless you want to die."

Boom!

Outside the gate at the base of the pyramid, two jackal‑headed statues a hundred meters tall sprang to life, their bodies flickering with gold and black patterns, and beneath their feet a circular spell formation over a hundred meters in diameter burst forth.

The circular formations beneath the two jackal‑headed statues differed in color.

The formation beneath the left jackal‑headed statue was black, reeking of deathly stillness, filled with a grim, deathly aura.

The formation beneath the right jackal‑headed statue was gold, blindingly bright, inexplicably conveying a sense of solid protection.

The two huge statues stepped toward us one step at a time; as they approached, the jackal‑headed warriors also emitted wisps of black vapor and golden light, making them feel ever more powerful and dangerous.

With a series of "crack" sounds, the jackal‑headed warriors, originally about three meters tall, gradually stretched to about four meters in length.

A faint black glow also coated their weapons, giving an increasingly dangerous impression.

However, many jackal‑headed warriors had their weapons and armor shattered and devoured by Wu Tie's left hand, leaving them completely bare; standing in the ranks, they looked out of place.

Desa turned and stared blankly for a while at those jackal‑headed warriors who had lost their weapons and armor; his tail angrily lashed the black‑light‑formed plaza a few times, then he began cursing again in that strange language.

After cursing fiercely a few sentences, Desa turned his head, his eyes flashing with sinister red light, and glared fiercely at Wu Tie: "Big guy, you will surely be punished by Lord Osiris… you dare to insult the tomb guards he personally crafted…"

Wu Tie remained silent, clasping the White Tiger Split with both hands, rubbing the spear shaft up and down, smiling in a simple‑hearted way.

Lao Dao Feng had one hand behind his back, his five fingers constantly shifting hand seals.

Beside him, the six Life Pool Realm experts were also quietly chanting spells.

Heavy, chilling black sand drifted down from the high sky; the surrounding void was shrouded in a dark, heavy, immense pressure, and an invisible terrifying force enveloped the whole space—Lao Dao Feng and several experts could not stir up any wind.

Wu Tie also tried, attempting to condense a fireball.

But an irresistible terrifying force dispelled all the surrounding anomalous energies; he couldn't even gather a spark of fire.

Duoliya clung to his large beast‑skin book, stammering: "Believe me, believe me, my prophecy won't fail… we will encounter some dangers, but we will surely return with great gains."

Duoliya's lips turned slightly pale, his eyes filled with fervent fire.

"Under my guidance, you will surely unify the Black Serpent Realm, you will surely accomplish this… this is not only my challenge, but also my necessary cultivation process… I will surely succeed, I will surely succeed…"

Duoliya was overly nervous, his muttering grew a bit louder.

Wu Tie, Lao Dao Feng, and the others all heard his muttering clearly.

"Challenge?"

"Cultivation?"

This guy came to the Black Serpent Realm, chose the Gold Undead as his aid target, just for the "cultivation" he keeps mentioning?

Wu Tie gave Duoliya a deep look.

Lao Dao Feng had already begun to mutter lowly: "Turns out you're not some mighty expert, just a fledgling rookie… using the Black Serpent Realm to practice… we've become your practice dummies…"

Lao Dao Feng trembled with anger: "I really should have just sliced you in half right then."

Duoliya stubbornly said: "But am I wrong? There truly is an ancient relic here… and over all these years, you really haven't found its entrance. It was I who brought you here."

Desa impatiently whipped his tail against the ground, kicking up puff after puff of black sand.

"Stop the chatter, enter the great Lord Osiris's sleeping place… his trial awaits you." Desa roared loudly: "I don't know what the trial is, I don't know what the result… but personally, I hope you die inside."

Desa happily flicked his tail, shouting loudly: "Ah, when you die, I will receive your souls, I will devour your souls—this is the privilege Lord Osiris granted me."

"All the living beings who die here, their flesh and souls are Lord Desa's rations… oh, oh, I will store them and eat them slowly!"

The jackal‑headed warriors behind Desa moved again, lining up, raising their weapons, and driving Wu Tie and the others toward the pyramid.

The two huge jackal‑headed statues also approached, giving everyone an extremely terrifying pressure.

The pressure they emitted was extreme; even Wu Tie's iron‑strong body was nearly crushed, wave after wave of crushing force slammed him, causing intense pain and forcing him to bend over helplessly.

Lao Dao Feng and a few others also strained to maintain mana shields, barely holding back the pressure emanating from the two statues.

Duoliya was even worse off; his cultivation was only slightly higher than Wu Tie's, but limited. Here, his prophecy art was of little use, so he could only rely on his own strength to withstand the statues' pressure.

The large beast‑skin book in Duoliya's hand emitted a faint white light, forming a light shield that enveloped his whole body.

As the pressure struck, the shield trembled wave after wave; Duoliya endured immense pressure, like an orange in a juicer, his waist‑and‑hip wounds split open, and blood kept seeping out in waves.

"Oh, oh, how sweet the scent of blood." Desa stepped toward Duoliya a few paces, humming dreamily: "Hmm, are you still a pure‑blooded male? The pure male essence may not attract me as much as a beautiful, innocent maiden, but it's not bad."

Desa glanced at Lao Dao Feng and the others, then shook his head: "Tasteless old corn stalks, dry and bland… but this guy… oh, although you're a bit ugly… but as long as the flavor is good, ugly food is still good food…"

Wu Tie lowered his head, looking at Desa: "Am I really that ugly?"

Desa solemnly lifted his head to look at Wu Tie: "I've said it before—as long as the taste is good, a little ugliness doesn't matter… you should know, many delicious foods aren't much to look at… for example, preserved eggs, sandworm jelly, roasted spiders… oh, oh, I love mysterious Eastern delicacies… but I've already tried them all."

Desa sighed a little sadly: "I've eaten those tasty foods, but now I think I've exhausted them all… gone, completely gone…"

"Donkey roll, pea-yellow, fu ling cake…… oh, oh, all gone." Bright, sparkling moisture seeped from De Sa's deep red eye sockets.

"I miss my friends, I miss the delicious food they treated me to…… so…… damn it, I will savor your ugly food last, to commemorate the stinky tofu I can't forget……" De Sa began to spout incoherent nonsense.

Old Dao Feng and the others didn't know what De Sa was saying.

Meanwhile, Wu Tie, as De Sa muttered to himself, continuously felt various food-related information welling up from deep within his mind.

He subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

It was only a few dozen li away; under the escort of tens of thousands of wolf-headed warriors, the group quickly arrived at the base of the pyramid's gate.

De Sa stood before the pyramid's gate, loudly chanting the incantation in that strange language.

With a continual rumbling sound, nine dim, black crystal pillars slowly rose inside the pyramid's gate, mist swirling around the black pillars, and it seemed a vague human figure stood atop each pillar.

"The gate of the trial is already open; go in, enter the trial grounds personally set up by Lord Osiris." De Sa muttered softly: "What is it called? The Path of the Dead? Hmm, hmm, yes, the Path of the Dead…… every step is fraught with danger; if you cannot pass, you will surely die……"

"I hope you all die in here. Because when you die, your flesh and souls will all be mine to enjoy."

De Sa happily wagged his tail and began singing a "la-la-la" song that nobody could understand.

Old Dao Feng exchanged a glance with the six Life Pool realm experts beside him; they were all veterans who had honed themselves through bloody slaughter in the Black Serpent Domain, and in this situation there was no room for them to refuse.

The two massive wolf-headed humanoid statues emitted a hurricane-like terrifying pressure, a pressure even Old Dao Feng could not withstand.

They shouted in unison, turning into a flash of blood-red blade light that shot into the mist emanating from the nine black crystal pillars; their forms flickered and then vanished without a trace.

"I still have to go." Wu Tie vigorously rubbed the spider-shaped pendant hanging at his chest, silently murmuring, hoping Old Tie would bring him a bit of luck.

Carrying the White Tiger Split, Wu Tie strode into the black mist. A powerful suction came from all around, his body spun and was pulled toward some unknown space.

Doliya trembled, clutching the large beast-skin book with a gold-covered binding in both hands, murmuring the incantation.

He wanted to exhaust his efforts, to divine a hexagram for himself before entering the Path of the Dead.

De Sa looked at Doliya, sweat pouring down his whole body, and laughed with a "gaga": "Being afraid is useless, you delicious, beautiful food…… you might as well go in…… I think you'd better not pass the trial; I'm really looking forward to grinding out your bone marrow with my pincers."

De Sa opened and closed his huge pincers with a "click-clack," walked up to Doliya, and with one swipe sent him flying, blasting him straight into the black mist emitted by the crystal pillars.

Watching Doliya disappear into the black mist, De Sa flung himself flat onto the ground.

"Well, now it's just waiting, quietly waiting."

"However, it's fine; Lord De Sa is very patient, Lord De Sa has already waited for many years."

"Can you make it out of the Path of the Dead? I don't care."

"If you get out, that's your good luck…… if you don't, that's Lord De Sa's good luck."

"Anyway, as long as someone comes in, does it prove that Lord Osiris's resting place has been discovered? Human greed will draw more and more people, countless numbers, streaming in here endlessly."

"Praise to the supreme Lord Osiris, there will be an endless stream of food running in."

"Lord De Sa is blessed, it's truly perfect. As long as there is sufficient food, Lord De Sa will recover quickly."

"Fortunate Lord De Sa survived that terrible calamity to this day…… so, my old friends, are you still alive?"

"Being a deserter seems shameful, but as long as you survive, it's fine."

"Are you still alive? Where are you now?"