Chapter 86: Yigao Cemetery — Owl Wood

(PS: It's not well written. If there's a chance, I'll revise it. That's that.)

Whoosh!

The current flowed along the wooden board toward the rear. Fang Shi stood upon it, gripping a single wooden paddle, occasionally giving a stroke toward the back.

For an ordinary person, without proper tools, crafting a wooden board and paddle inside a primeval forest would be an extremely difficult task.

But for Fang Shi, it was the simplest thing in the world.

His sword was far sharper than a chainsaw.

Aided by metal spiritual power, he unleashed a burst of over a ton of force.

He easily felled the thick trees.

Crossing the river on a reed was still beyond Fang Shi.

Crossing on a single wooden board, however, was a breeze.

This speed was far faster than swimming in the water, and far safer as well.

During the crossing, not a single river-dwelling dragon beast was spotted.

They had been scared out of their wits and had long since fled to god-knows-which river domain.

In no time at all, Fang Shi reached the opposite bank of the reservoir.

In the distance, the mountains rose in overlapping ridges; Yigao Cemetery was hidden among them.

This was also Fang Shi's destination.

A century ago, Yigao Cemetery had originally been the ancestral graveyard of the local prominent Yang clan.

But during that century, the Yang clan fled overseas, and the ancestral graveyard naturally fell into ruin.

Gradually, some local residents began burying their deceased kin there, and others followed suit.

Most people thought to themselves that the Yang family had prospered for a reason.

Presumably the ancestral graveyard's feng shui was excellent, and by burying their own ancestors there, they too could catch some of that good fortune.

This was later proven to be utter nonsense, because with the outbreak of war, the local residents were slaughtered to the last by invaders.

By the eighties, the population had grown enormously.

With the supply and demand for burial grounds rising, the authorities took over the site and rebuilt it into a cemetery, naming it Yigao.

From then on, Yigao Cemetery officially became a public graveyard.

Logically speaking, a graveyard is just a graveyard—nothing remarkable about it.

Even after the apocalypse, when spiritual energy began appearing on Blue Star,

most places where the dead were buried did indeed experience corpse mutation.

But with insufficient time and insufficient spiritual energy, no powerful zombies could be nurtured.

Most of the time, producing even an Iron Corpse was already quite something.

They were then immediately and easily wiped out by humans.

Who would have thought that in the late period of the Fourth Impact,

a Gold Corpse actually appeared at Yigao Cemetery. When it emerged, black clouds rolled across the sky, blotting out the sun, and its baleful aura shot straight into the heavens.

That was a monster on par with a Legendary.

Moreover, the Gold Corpse was bloodthirsty and brutal, harboring hatred for the living, and the moment it emerged, it went on a killing spree.

When it struck, the earth shook and mountains quivered; the entire hilly area around the cemetery was plowed over.

This naturally alarmed the Legendary-tier powerhouses from Ancheng.

They did not hesitate, immediately mustering their forces to encircle and suppress it.

The outcome goes without saying—a lone Gold Corpse was no match for so many Legendary powerhouses.

It wasn't some monster like a Rakshasa.

The day it emerged was the day of its death anniversary.

After destroying the Gold Corpse, the Legendaries grew curious..

Yigao Cemetery was small and had a shallow history—by what virtue or ability had it nurtured a Gold Corpse?

The result of that investigation was extraordinary.

The Legendaries discovered that the Yang family's ancestral graveyard had actually been built atop an ancient tomb complex.

The tomb complex was very deep, nearly a hundred meters underground, yet there was a passage connecting it to the Yang family's ancestral graveyard.

Everyone suddenly understood—no wonder the Yang family had managed to rise to prominence back then.

It turned out they had looted the treasures from the ancient tombs and made their first fortune that way.

The ancient tombs contained vast amounts of gold and jewels; even excluding the antiques, it was an enormous fortune.

Of course, the Legendaries had no interest in these things.

After the apocalypse, unless something was a magical material, its value was not high.

Even gold might need to be soaked in the blood of powerful living beings,

saturated with spiritual power, and transformed into Blood-Pattern Gold.

Or refined with the addition of aether, converted into Red Gold.

Only such gold could be considered precious.

What interested the Legendaries far more was the reason this Gold Corpse had been born.

Unfortunately, they found nothing.

There was no Nine Yin Earth Vein, no peerless wonder.

The entire ancient tomb complex was utterly ordinary—except for being built a bit deeper and on a larger scale.

There was not the slightest trace of any supernatural power.

Even with a Grand Mage intervening and using the Prophecy Art, no useful information was obtained.

The Legends, having gained nothing, departed.

Their time was precious; they needed to cultivate quickly to prepare for the Fifth Impact.

Confirming no gain, they hurried back.

In fact, since the Great Change on Blue Star, such strange and bizarre places have been countless.

Situations where gains could be made were also a minority.

The authorities of Ancheng didn't even want to expend manpower to seal it off.

The authorities gave up, but the common people would not.

At that time, rumors spread everywhere: someone went to a certain place, obtained a certain opportunity, advanced their level dramatically, and achieved Legend status.

The circulation of these stories ignited humanity's desire for exploration.

Some bold individuals loved to drill wherever the unknown and mysterious lay.

Hoping that one day Lady Luck would favor them.

Fang Shi was one of them, and his luck was extremely good.

Others who came to the mausoleum gained nothing, yet he alone obtained great benefits.

This benefit extended even after his rebirth; the current Fang Shi still reaps its rewards.

A dilapidated imitation-ancient building emitted a golden glow in the sunset.

Fang Shi stepped inside and, as expected, saw the corpse of a zombie.

The mausoleum had staff living there, so naturally it was also affected by the apocalypse.

The presence of some zombie corpses was nothing surprising.

However, Fang Shi estimated that even if survivors existed at the start, there would be none left now.

The reason was simple: the moment he entered the building, he felt a terrifying, chilling aura.

It contained deep power of death.

"Is there a Tier Two creature inside?"

Fang Shi pondered; his perception told him that the creatures within the mausoleum were far from ordinary.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A gust of wind rose, rushing through the hall and emitting a mournful wail.

Like a melancholy flute player, or a sorrowful singer.

The wind's sound was mournful and desolate, revealing a taste of despair.

The more Fang Shi listened, the more uncomfortable he felt.

He swung his sword, sending forth a sharp sword qi that shot toward the roof.

Crack!

The roof beam was directly split in two.

The sword qi, its momentum unabated, pierced straight through the roof, letting in streaks of yellow light.

This made the dim interior slightly brighter.

Yet even after damaging the house structure, the wind rushing through did not weaken.

Instead, it grew louder, as if circling around his ears.

Fang Shi grew increasingly irritable; the resonance caused by the sound waves kept stimulating him.

He involuntarily recalled the scene from before his rebirth where he was swallowed and devoured by the Ambush-Walking Night Shadow.

A feeling of despair began to breed in his heart.

Fang Shi had a sensation that his own fate in the future would definitely not be good.

No!

A divine light flashed in Fang Shi's eyes, and invisible magic power vibrated through his entire body.

"Heh!"

The sound of Lei Ting erupted from his mouth, cutting off the ceaseless howling wind.

"You heard the Voice of Despair."

"You were affected by the Voice of Despair."

"Willpower firming..."

"Your willpower resisted the Voice of Despair."

"The influence of the Voice of Despair on you has failed."

Fang Shi realized he had unknowingly fallen into the enemy's trap.

Clearly, the moment he stepped into the mausoleum,

the Tier Two creature living inside sensed his arrival.

It immediately unleashed the power of a spell to exert influence upon him.

Fang Shi sneered; what boldness.

Before he had even gone to seek it out, it dared to strike at him first.

Truly ignorant of life and death.

Although his rank was only Tier One, his strength long ago could no longer be judged by rank.

Fang Shi sped through the building and quickly arrived at the location of the graves.

In the center of the densely packed graves stood a large tree that made people uneasy.

It was pitch black from head to toe, with almost no leaves, and its entire body radiated an atmosphere of gloom, despair, and nightmares.

It was a second-tier creature living in the cemetery, and also the source of the sound of despair.

Clang!

The long sword left its sheath, and Fang Shi struck directly at the black tree within the graveyard.

He had already recognized the origin of this second-tier creature.

It was named Owlwood, a monster that fed on fear.

Owlwood's shriek could directly affect a creature's mind, capable of awakening the most terrifying and despairing emotions within a creature.

Those who failed their Will save would actively seek out the Owlwood.

Then be killed by it, turning into nutrients to nourish it.

Even if the victim was physically restrained and unable to move toward it.

Every night thereafter, they would lose 1D10 hit points until the victim died.

Furthermore, this ability could not be dispelled by Dispel Magic or Remove Evil.

It could only be removed by Limited Wish or a more powerful spell.

But Limited Wish was a seventh-level spell, and each use required the expenditure of experience points.

Equivalent to a permanent loss of part of one's level.

Therefore, basically no wizard would pay such a price for a stranger.

Of course, there was an even simpler method: kill the Owlwood casting the spell.

Just as Fang Shi was doing now.

Fortunately, his willpower was extremely strong, and he possessed feats such as Iron Will II and Force Resistance.

Otherwise, without the help of companions, even as powerful as Fang Shi was, he would face death.

Awooo!

As Fang Shi approached, the Owlwood's shriek became even more piercing.

Fear! Phantom Killer!

Two more spells were cast that required a strong Will save.

Pity, Fang Shi could even save against the Sound of Despair.

Why fear these weaker illusions?

Boom!

Countless branches waved, and a series of explosive roars sounded.

The tip of each one broke the sound barrier by three times.

The Owlwood finally gave up trying to kill Fang Shi with spells.

Instead, it resorted directly to the most primitive, and most violent, means.

Fang Shi felt no fear at all; his superhuman reaction speed began to take effect.

He moved freely between the branches.

If even a single branch struck his body, the result would be instant death.

Yet Fang Shi remained calm and composed.

Because no matter how fierce the Owlwood's attacks were, if they couldn't hit a person, they were as good as nothing.

Twenty meters!

The aura on the Owlwood's body grew even colder, and magical auras flashed once more.

Entangle!

Countless vines extended from the ground, reaching out to grab Fang Shi.

These vines covering the ground completely blocked Fang Shi's path forward.

Plus the branches dancing all around, the Owlwood truly did not believe Fang Shi could dodge infinitely.

Moreover, as Fang Shi drew closer, the space he had to dodge was being compressed.

This was even more favorable for the Owlwood's offense.

Ten meters!

But why should Fang Shi dodge?

Bai He Sword Art!

Fang Shi transformed into a wild wind and surged directly to the Owlwood's side.

A frenzied attack unfolded, and sword marks began to appear on the Owlwood's massive body.

For every wound, red branches splattered.

Viscous and slippery, just like the blood of a living creature.

Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!

The shrieks grew even higher, and a violent storm surged out from the Owlwood.

Bang!

In an instant, it blew Fang Shi flying.

Pity this move was completely useless; Fang Shi pounced again in an instant.

Countless sword marks were produced once more.

"Slashing attack initiated."

"You have dealt 6 points of damage to the target."

"Slash attack initiated."

"You dealt 4 points of damage to the target."

"Slash attack initiated."

"You dealt 7 points of damage to the target."

"Target dead."

"Extracting target's soul energy. Gained 2028 experience points, 202.8 survival points."

"You are the first player to kill a level 11 creature."

"You have obtained a Silver Chest."

The black branches fell limply to the ground; the Owl Tree was completely dead.

But this was not the end. An invisible black light shot from the Owl Tree's corpse toward Fang Shi.

"You have been afflicted by the Death Curse."

"Willpower steadfast..."

"Your willpower has resisted the effects of the Death Curse."

The one who kills the Owl Tree must bear the Owl Tree's Death Curse.

The power of this curse is as strong as the Voice of Despair.

The loser will suffer 1D10 damage in subsequent dreams, as if affected by the Nightmare Spell.

At the same time, the cursed one will feel extremely fatigued for the next 24 hours; during this period, they cannot prepare spells.

The curse remains in effect until the effect is removed or the victim dies.

Even if removed, the victim will still feel fatigued for the next 24 hours.

Only a Limited Wish Spell or a more powerful spell can remove this Owl Tree Death Curse.

If a victim dies because of this, then one month later a new Owl Tree will grow from the victim's corpse.

The sapling looks like an ordinary plant during its growth, only revealing the form of the Owl Tree once it matures.

This is the terror of the Owl Tree, but Fang Shi is even more formidable.

The longer Fang Shi uses the Bai He Sword Art, the more he feels the power of this sword technique.

Body merged with the wind; basically, except for extreme physical environments, only supernatural forces can cause harm.

Even though every swing of the Owl Tree carries a hundred tons of force.

But if it doesn't hit, it's the same as not hitting at all.

This is the power of spells and the limitation of physical classes.

No matter how strong your power is, a single punch cannot shatter an atomic nucleus to trigger a nuclear explosion.

You would basically be unable to harm Fang Shi, who has transformed into the wind.

The Owl Tree is not weak; the group Voice of Despair ensures that group combat is ineffective.

If one cannot resist the Voice of Despair, it is a collective act of feeding heads.

Not to mention its terrifying physical attacks and spell power.

Even a typical level 2 creature coming here could only die in vain.

Fang Shi before his rebirth could not even survive a single move under its hand.

But he in this life is long different from the past; only the Owl Tree fears him.

Fang Shi even hopes more such creatures come to give him experience.

Next, it is time for treasure hunting.

He could not wait to see if that treasure was still there.