Chapter 276: then translation of chapter title

"Die!"

A moment later.

Under the treant's control, the curse power completely vanished from all other areas within a twenty-kilometer radius, and was entirely concentrated in the region where those sixteen void rifts were located.

Under such a high concentration of curse power, even a Third Tier Supernatural Grade abomination felt somewhat uneasy.

Before they could do anything, they were afflicted with the Withering Curse and the Weakness Curse.

Immediately after.

All Third Tier Supernatural Grade abominations felt completely weak, finding it extremely difficult to stand, needing to exert force to support their legs just to maintain a standing posture.

Gradually.

They also felt the energy in their flesh and the vitality within their bodies flowing down through their feet toward the ground.

It seemed as if some unknown entity lurked underground, drawing out their fleshly energy and vitality.

Even the Third Tier Supernatural Grade abominations were like this; as for the First Rank Supernatural Grade skeleton monsters and other undead creatures, the situation was even worse.

At the moment they were afflicted with the Withering Curse and the Weakness Curse, the First Rank skeleton monster undead creatures went completely limp and collapsed to the ground.

Although they had no flesh, only a skeleton, the Withering Curse could not draw any energy from their flesh, and even their bodies possessed no vitality.

But this does not mean they are immune to the Withering Curse; their soul fire also contains vitality.

The Withering Curse targets not only fleshly energy but also the vitality within living beings.

In other words, the main effect of the Withering Curse is not to absorb the flesh of living beings, but to seize their vitality.

The reason living beings die after being infected by the Withering Curse is that their vitality is drained, leaving them with no energy to sustain life.

Even mighty bloody octopuses and scarlet nests, once their vitality is exhausted, have only death awaiting them—at least their physical bodies are doomed.

The same principle applies to fleshless skeletons: once the vitality of their soul fire is completely drained, the soul fire itself will also extinguish.

As the primary and only vital point of undead beings, the extinguishing of the soul fire means death.

In a moment, thousands of First Rank skeleton monster undead creatures in the area of those sixteen void rifts collapsed forever to the ground as their soul fires extinguished.

Moreover, many undead creatures, after death, had their corpses affected by an unknown supernatural power, gradually turning into withered straw men standing on the ground.

These straw men stood still, their bodies woven from dry straw, slender and twisted, with grotesque features, emanating a cold, evil aura.

They swayed gently in the wind, as if whispering curses, sending chills down one's spine.

Their deep, dark "eyes" seemed able to swallow all light, silently observing every living thing around them, inspiring fear.

The existence of these straw men is not merely to frighten people.

Wherever straw men exist, the Withering Curse and Weakness Curse of the Withered Ancient Tree are further strengthened.

Originally, the Second Tier undead creatures in these sixteen areas could barely withstand the power of the Withering Curse and Weakness Curse.

But as the number of straw men on the ground increased, they clearly felt the curses on them growing stronger.

Not long after, they too collapsed to the ground, the vitality in their soul fire draining rapidly; eventually their eyes dimmed, their soul fire extinguished completely, and they became corpses lying on the ground.

What's worse, after these Second Tier Supernatural Grade undead creatures died, some of their corpses, under that special power's influence, gradually sprouted withered straw.

Eventually, the corpses of these undead creatures transformed into larger straw men standing on the ground, further strengthening the curse power in these areas.

Moreover, the straw men formed from the corpses of Second Tier undead creatures have an even stronger amplifying effect on the Withering Curse and Weakness Curse.

Furthermore, as the First Rank and Second Tier undead creatures died, more curse power fell upon the Third Tier Supernatural Grade abominations.

Although, due to the Supernatural Grade limit of the Withered Ancient Tree, no matter how concentrated the curse power becomes in this area or how many straw men increase, the Withering Curse and Weakness Curse still have an upper limit.

But even so, once these two curses reach their limit, even a Third Tier Supernatural Grade abomination has no possibility of resistance.

In a short while, all the abominations on the field were unable to stand and collapsed to the ground.

Their flesh was withering at a visible speed, the vitality in their soul fire rapidly dissipating, and their eyes grew ever dimmer.

"Roar——!"

They roared angrily, gazing at the coiled-dragon bamboo warriors at the edge of the territory, their eyes filled with reluctance.

In the end, they couldn't even say they had entered Su Hao's territory, let alone figure out who had killed them.

Originally, after receiving the summons of the evil god, they all thought this was a good assignment.

The evil god did not need them to effectively kill enemies; as long as they could further ascertain the combat strength within Su Hao's territory, they could retreat.

But they had just emerged from the void rifts when they were hit by a powerful barrage, to the point that they couldn't even approach the territory.

By now, they hadn't even seen what the enemy looked like before being struck by this mysterious curse, collapsing in front of the void rifts.

They couldn't even enter the enemy's territory, let alone further determine the enemy's combat strength.

They glanced resentfully at Su Hao's territory, then turned and crawled back toward the void rifts.

Since their strength could not probe the depths of Su Hao's territory, staying here would only get them killed soon.

Even a low-intelligence fallen creature, when faced with life-or-death, will prioritize preserving its life.

Moreover, Third Tier Supernatural Grade abominations are not like the undead creatures summoned by Su Hao, which can only obey basic commands.

They possess intelligence not inferior to that of ordinary people, so it is natural that they would not simply wait here to die.

Their only hope now is to pass through the void rifts, return to the world of death, and rely on the evil god's power to dispel the curses within them.

However, Su Hao's purpose this time is to test where the limit of the Withering Curse lies after the Withered Ancient Tree and the treant achieve symbiosis.

Could it possibly kill Third Tier Supernatural Grade beings on a large scale, and what special qualities might the straw men formed from their deaths have? How could he possibly let them leave? As the abominations had just begun crawling toward the void rifts, preparing to withdraw, the sound of Su Hao's voice came from the series of iron towers at the territory's edge.

These iron towers were all designed and built by Ling'er according to Su Hao's orders, their sole function being to relay commands issued from the living quarters in real time to every part of the territory.

Ling'er could even design vehicles, robots, and energy weapons of Third Tier Supernatural Grade.

Designing a communications tower that could maintain normal communication within a radius of over ten kilometers was practically effortless.

"Pale Skeleton Mages, use bone spikes to seal the rifts—don't let a single one escape!" As Su Hao's command spread through the communications towers across the territory, the Pale Skeleton Mages stationed in the rear immediately sprang into action.

Their soul fires burned fiercely within their skulls, as if responding to Su Hao's summons.

The tops of these Pale Skeleton Mages' staffs opened, gathering brilliant green light, and a miniature magic circle appeared beneath their feet.

After a brief spell preparation, a series of green magic circles appeared in front of the void rift.

Immediately after.

Hundreds of pallid bone spikes, like bamboo shoots after rain, broke through the soil and rapidly grew from the magic circle.

These bone spikes interwove with each other, densely arranged and combined, quickly forming an impregnable barrier—

A wall made of pallid bone spikes stood before the void rift, completely cutting off the abominations' retreat back to the void rift.

Those abominations originally affected by the Withering Curse and Weakness Curse now felt even more despair upon facing this sudden bone wall.

They were once unsurpassable Third Tier supernatural beings, occupying a tract of land in the undead world.

But now they have almost lost the strength to stand, can only lie helplessly on the ground, emitting angry roars.

Their eyes filled with reluctance and despair, regretting having answered the evil god's summons to take part in this.

However, no matter how they struggled and roared, they could not change their predicament.

As time passed, the curse power within them grew stronger, their bodies gradually withered and deformed, until their soul fire extinguished, turning them into lifeless desiccated corpses.

At that moment, some of the desiccated corpses suddenly sprouted withered yellow straw.

These straws spread rapidly as if alive, soon covering the entire desiccated corpse.

Not long after, the straw-covered desiccated corpses rose to their feet, transforming from hundred-meter-tall abomination corpses into straw figures over three meters tall.

These straw figures differed markedly from the previous ones, being larger and more formidable, with unusually bizarre facial expressions.

Their features were no longer mere woven likenesses—black-hole-like eyes, nose, and mouth, as if capable of devouring all light and vital breath.

Wisps of black gas drifted from their features, swirling in the air, adding a touch of terror and mystery to these evil straw figures.

Su Hao viewed the entire battle through the three‑dimensional projection of the Heaven‑Eye Watchtower.

The straw figures formed from Third Tier abominations made him feel a surge of surprise and curiosity.

He realized these straw figures might possess unique abilities and traits, but their specifics could not be discerned from the three‑dimensional projection alone.

Thus he decided to go to the site himself to better understand these evil straw figures.

"Well done, let's go; let's go see your results together."

Su Hao smiled faintly, patted the treeman's shoulder, and led him to the nearest void rift.

As Su Hao approached, the straw figures seemed to sense something, all turning toward his direction.

From their black‑hole‑like features emanated an indescribable evil and eeriness, and the black gas drifting around them added to their uncanny aura.

"This, this is really all I killed……"

Gazing at the countless undead corpses before him and the many straw figures standing on the ground, the treeman couldn't help but rub his eyes.

Even though he had already seen the battlefield scene in the Heaven‑Eye Watchtower's three‑dimensional projection,

but upon seeing it with his own eyes, he still felt it was hard to believe, hard to believe.

Before today, he had no confidence in defeating even a random Second Tier undead creature, let alone killing it.

Even a First Rank skeleton monster, if numerous enough, could beat him senseless, and a Third Tier supernatural abomination could slap him to death with a single swipe.

But now, after completing symbiosis with the Withered Ancient Tree, he merely needed to think a little, and could easily slay those foes he once had to look up to.

Moreover, there are fifteen such battlefields around the territory, each with comparable numbers of undead creatures appearing, and the corpses left on each battlefield are roughly the same.

Merely thinking that he had slain so many powerful foes in an instant made the treeman's body tremble involuntarily, his face showing excitement.

With this ability, as long as he stays near the Withered Ancient Tree, he is completely invincible at Third Tier—anyone who comes will die!

But when he caught sight of Su Hao out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly froze, his heart filled with fear and admiration.

"Boss Su Hao merely casually struck, and I underwent an earth‑shaking change; his true strength……"

"Hiss!"

"I dare not imagine, I dare not imagine!"

The treeman sucked in a breath of cold air and instinctively shook his head.

He could only describe Su Hao as "unfathomable"; as for how strong Su Hao is, that's beyond his imagination; and as for what the treeman thought, Su Hao paid no heed, turning his gaze upon arriving at the battlefield to the large straw figures formed from the slain abominations.

One could clearly feel that these large straw figures, whose features exhaled black mist, possessed a far stronger aura than other straw figures, and not just slightly stronger.

Immediately, Su Hao, without moving a thought, employed the Item Appraisal Technique on them.

【Cursed Straw Figure】

Supernatural Grade: Third Tier

Effect 1—Curse Amplification: The straw figure harbors powerful curse energy, markedly enhancing the Withering Curse and Weakness Curse effects in the surrounding area.

Within a one‑kilometer radius, placing nine Third Tier Cursed Straw Figures can form a potent curse array, causing the Withering Curse and Weakness Curse to reach the ultimate effect of the Withered Ancient Tree.

Once within the amplification range of those nine Third Tier Cursed Straw Figures, the speed of Third Tier supernatural curse‑wielders will be greatly accelerated.

Effect 2—Curse Detonation: When needed, these Cursed Straw Figures can be deliberately detonated.

Upon detonation, the curse energy stored within the straw figure erupts instantly, forming a destructive curse shockwave.

This shockwave will inflict lethal damage on all living beings within its range, leaving enemies nowhere to flee, utterly engulfed in a sea of curse.

Ordinary Third Tier supernatural beings struggle to resist such a curse shockwave.

(End of Chapter)