Chapter 39: Evil Spirit

Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, Northern Region.

A bottomless chasm, like a heavenly moat, split the earth in two; nearby land was covered in viscous, thread-like substances, and a pitch-black tower rose from the chasm, piercing the clouds.

Floating above the tower's spire was a massive dark-red eye, occasionally flashing with eerie light, monitoring every movement in the vicinity.

On the platform atop the tower stood a humanoid figure with arms crossed; it stood over two meters tall, its skin dark red as if repeatedly scorched by flames, its eyes sunken deep into their sockets like two burning coals, radiating an aura of brutality and destruction.

"It is the aura of a Reverse Black Tide Legion warrior."

Just then, a crack appeared in the Eye of Insight hovering above its head, and a hoarse voice emanated from within.

"What is the origin of the Reverse Black Tide Legion?" the humanoid evil spirit asked indifferently.

"According to intelligence shared with me by other nodes, this is a powerful legion composed of warriors who have abandoned their faith; their leader is known as Reverse Black Tide, and they are one of the greatest obstacles to our clan's occupation of this world."

"Abandoned their faith?"

In response to the inquiry, the dark-red eye immediately explained:

"You have just arrived from the Dungeon World and do not yet understand the background of this world. According to intelligence shared with me by other nodes, this world once had a powerful god named Di Zhao, the true god worshipped by all life in this world... For some unknown reason, he fell. The Reverse Black Tide Legion was established several thousand years after Di Zhao's fall; their original purpose was to oppose us. The warriors of the Reverse Black Tide Legion believe Di Zhao abandoned them, so they chose to renounce their faith and revere Reverse Black Tide instead."

"Boring faith." A trace of disdain appeared in the evil spirit warrior's eyes.

"Do not underestimate the warriors of the Reverse Black Tide Legion. Warriors of our clan stationed at other nodes have clashed with them many times without gaining much advantage. Furthermore, the life intensity of this world cannot be compared to the Dungeon World you previously assisted in occupying; cast aside your contempt," the dark-red eye warned solemnly.

The evil spirit warrior paid no heed to the Evil Eye's advice; sweeping his gaze toward the blood-colored plains of the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, black viscous fluid surged from his body surface, wrapping around him and solidifying into a ferocious suit of armor, with a sharp black spike protruding from every joint.

"I will go test them."

As soon as the words fell, the evil spirit warrior transformed into a streak of pitch-black light that tore across the sky, speeding directly toward the blood-colored plains.

Northern sector of the Blood-Colored Plains.

Duan Xing gazed at the players lurking furtively in the distance, peeking out and waiting for him to kill evil spirits; his expression was blank, and he could not even muster the urge to rush forward and slaughter.

To date, he did not know how many he had killed; they were simply endless.

Sitting dazed on the ground, he began to ponder a question.

Should he give up the trial and leave this place?

Pride and frustration collided in his mind, and Duan Xing could not help but sigh in dejection.

He wanted to persist, but did not know how to continue.

These mysterious creatures would dig three feet deep even in places he had already visited; there was simply no way to accumulate enough Evil Crystals to complete the trial.

Although the rune armor on his body had an information recording function that could prove he had slain a large number of evil spirit lives—a quantity sufficient to complete the trial mission.

However, the inspectors never used combat records as reference; they judged the completion of the assessment solely by the number of Evil Crystals collected. If one suffered the setback of losing Evil Crystals during the process, that too was considered part of the assessment content.

Just as Duan Xing was racking his brains, he suddenly felt a strong fluctuation of power, then abruptly raised his head to look at the sky in the northwest.

He saw a mass of black light carrying dense death qi rushing toward him at high speed.

"An Evil Spirit?!"

Realizing that the attacker was an intelligent evil spirit life, Duan Xing's expression became extremely grave.

Rising abruptly, he placed his hand over his left chest.

Click-clack~ click-clack~ click-clack.

The sound of gears meshing rang out; the rune armor on his body suddenly ignited, and surging energy rippled outward from him like waves.

His messy blue hair danced in the wind amidst the energy fluctuations, and two sharp blades quickly condensed and extended from the backs of his hands.

Boom!

The Evil Spirit warrior landed in front of Duan Xing, kicking up gravel and dust that spread in all directions.

When the dust settled, the Evil Spirit warrior revealed his ferocious appearance, staring straight at Duan Xing with eyes filled with a hint of madness.

Zeng!

At that same moment, Duan Xing's two energy blades finished condensing.

The two figures exchanged no useless words upon meeting; they moved simultaneously, vanishing from their spots and colliding in the center.

Their forms crossed and separated.

The Evil Spirit warrior looked down at the blade scratch on his chest, a trace of surprise appearing in his eyes; his body suddenly shifted sideways, dodging the blade's second slash by a hair's breadth, then twisted his form and delivered a side kick that sent the approaching Duan Xing flying, immediately following up with his own movement.

Boom!

The blade in Duan Xing's hand collided with the Evil Spirit warrior's arm guard, sending sparks flying in all directions.

Dense death qi swept over, and Duan Xing immediately felt difficulty breathing.

"Kill!"

Facing the Evil Spirit warrior's frenzied assault, the fighting spirit in Duan Xing's eyes burned fiercely.

This was not his first encounter with an Evil Spirit, but the one before him was different from those he had fought before; both in combat technique and physical self-healing ability, it was several times stronger.

The wounds his blades inflicted on the Evil Spirit healed rapidly, whereas the wounds on his own body kept increasing.

The light emanating from his battle armor grew dim under successive collisions; after more than ten minutes of high-frequency clashes, Duan Xing gradually weakened.

Boom!

Just then, the Evil Spirit warrior's heavy fist pierced through the gap in the defense woven by his dancing blades, smashing heavily into his chest; Duan Xing's body was thrown backward, coughing up a mouthful of blood, and upon landing, he continued to roll due to inertia, kicking up a wave of dust before finally halting his retreat.

Just as Duan Xing gritted his teeth, preparing to fight again, the pitch-black figure pierced through the swirling dust, attacking in a kneeling knee-strike posture and slamming viciously into his chest.

Two black spikes pierced through his armor's defense and stabbed into his chest.

Boom!

Duan Xing's body sank into the soil, and his eyes, which had been radiating red light, briefly returned to pure white.

Just as Duan Xing's consciousness began to blur, his rune armor seemed to be activated by some force; the energy mainspring on his left chest automatically began to turn.

Immediately, surging energy erupted from the armor, sending the sneering Evil Spirit warrior flying; the overflowing energy continued to circulate around Duan Xing, rapidly healing his wounds.

Duan Xing rose to his feet again, his momentum climbing continuously.

Feeling this brand-new power, a trace of astonishment appeared in Duan Xing's eyes:

"Father."

The Evil Spirit warrior attacked again; Duan Xing decisively met the charge, summoning his blades once more to collide with the Evil Spirit warrior's fist.

Bang!

Amidst the successive collisions, ripples of energy spread outward in layers from the center of their clash.

With his injuries healed, Duan Xing's strength had clearly increased by a large margin, yet he still remained at a disadvantage against the Evil Spirit warrior; there was still a significant gap in both combat technique and raw power.

After an hour of fierce battle, Duan Xing had become a figure of blood, with multiple wounds on his body splitting open; his stance wavered, as if he might collapse at any moment.

Yet the look in his eyes as he gazed at the Evil Spirit warrior was still filled with endless fighting spirit.

In contrast, the situation for the Evil Spirit warrior was equally grim.

The pitch-black armor, capable of rapid repair, was now covered in cracks; his left arm was broken and hung limply from his left shoulder, no longer able to heal.

Boom!

At that moment, Duan Xing, who no longer had the strength to sustain the fight, collapsed to the ground.

Seeing this scene, a ferocious smile appeared on the corner of the Evil Spirit warrior's mouth; he waved his hand to condense a black spike and slowly walked over to stand before Duan Xing.

Just as the black spike in his hand was about to stab toward Duan Xing's Iron Face, a voice suddenly rang out:

"Taunt!"

Accompanying the shout, the Evil Spirit's memories automatically combined and wove together.

Intense hatred surged up from the bottom of his heart; the black spike stabbing toward Duan Xing lost control and turned, thrusting instead toward the direction from which the voice came.

However, the inexplicable hatred lasted less than a second before the Evil Spirit warrior's will broke free; with a look of surprise on its Iron Face, a stout figure was sliced by the black spike in its hand, dissipating into a wisp of black mist.

"The power of rules?"

Just as the Evil Spirit prepared to turn around and finish off Duan Xing first, another voice came from behind:

"Hey, look at me!"

Hatred struck again; the Evil Spirit lost control and turned around, flinging the black spike in its hand backward with infinite hatred.

The target was killed with a single strike, yet new hatred surged from the bottom of his heart, causing him to subconsciously turn his head to look at a figure not far away.

At the same time, the regional voice channel and the player forums had exploded:

"Brothers, request backup! The God of Wealth is about to kick the bucket; hurry over to save him, we can't hold on much longer!"

"Calling brothers from all regions to rush to support immediately (attached: coordinates). If the God of Wealth is gone, who will send you red envelopes in the future?"

"Damn, is the God of Wealth really about to die? I absolutely disagree; I was counting on the God of Wealth to open my third Star Vein! He must not die under any circumstances; I'm bringing my brothers over right now. Brothers nearby, hold on for us! Come on!"

"Don't! I haven't even received a red envelope from the God of Wealth yet; he absolutely cannot die. Protect him, protect him!"

The news that the God of Wealth was about to die instantly exploded within the player community.

Over the past week, the wealth the God of Wealth had brought them had allowed many players to open their second Star Vein slot.

In their eyes, the God of Wealth was a walking red-envelope-dispensing machine; encountering him meant earning a small fortune.

Although many players had not yet received the God of Wealth's welfare red envelopes, this did not mean there would be no future opportunities; if the God of Wealth died, the chance to receive red envelopes in the future would be cut off completely.

Players who learned the news rushed madly toward the coordinates.

(End of Chapter)