The King of Curses

Chapter 355 Hanged Immortal

With a thunderous roar, the bronze statues lined up on both sides began to move, their huge arms swinging, and the massive swords, which were originally neatly clasped together, slowly separated and were held at their waists.

"Boom!"

The ground is shaking.

The bronze statues took steps, and the giants really looked like soldiers fully equipped and about to go into battle, moving forward.

The sheer amount of energy generated by the movement of that astonishing weight was enough to cause the earth to shake and the entire passageway to resemble a vast, undulating river.

The giant legion ceased its guard duty and instead headed towards the outer edge of the passageway. This earth-shattering anomaly naturally attracted the attention of the curse master team.

Anyone with eyes could see that something was wrong. Some were panicked, some were paranoid, and some had already used spells or forbidden objects to float into the sky, ready to escape at any moment.

Ban Han took off his sunglasses and threw them on the ground. His cloudy white eyes were fixed on the billowing dust and the footsteps of the bronze giants that were rapidly approaching them. He knew that in this critical moment, it was no longer a time to hold back.

His all-out use of Qi Observation Technique allowed him to instantly grasp the situation.

The giant legion was lifeless, merely a group of puppets, which was consistent with previous observations; however, this time, he clearly saw the crisscrossing veins behind the bronze statues, which were huge pipes, lazily spreading like pythons, their coiled bodies twisted and intertwined.

Each pipe surges with boundless energy, like a raging river. This is natural; the bronze statue alone could easily crush a town. The energy required to power it is extraordinary, something no ordinary spellcaster could accomplish. This one alone would be enough to drain the lifeblood of more than a dozen ordinary members of the Time Wheel Society in one go.

As for him... barely passable.

However, these intersecting pipes number a hundred, simultaneously controlling a hundred giants, but their source is only one: the young man floating in the air.

"Zhao Chengxu..."

Banhan's teeth rubbed together, making a crunching sound.

I don't know where they got the ability or what their motive was to do such a thing. There's no need to think too much about it; the other party was targeting them, and their purpose was purely to kill them to silence them.

This suddenly appearing folk sorcerer promised to help people cross over, but in reality, he used some unknown method to manipulate the giants.

Mercenaries are like that. This isn't his prejudice. They have no beliefs, prioritize profit, and often turn their backs on others. But what he just can't understand is: what he can't understand is where the other party got their abilities. This Heavenly Palace Trial seems to have become the property of this person alone.
Secondly, if the intention from the beginning was to kill everyone, why did they intervene during the second trial? Wouldn't it have been better to let them suffer losses on the lake demon's side? In any case, no one noticed Zhao Chengxu's presence before he personally appeared.

After pondering for a while, still unable to figure it out, Ban Han stopped trying to think about it. All he needed to know for now was that Zhao Chengxu had become an enemy he couldn't ignore.

Qiao Wan, who was following beside him, placed her hand on the hilt of the sword that had appeared from the Thousand Machine Box and gently rubbed it with her palm.

A light sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead, a testament to her tense emotions, yet her gaze remained piercing, and her sword-wielding movements were fluid and natural, placing her in peak combat condition.

"What should we do now? Maybe... I should go and kill that person right now."

"We can't stop the giant; this is the only way we can stop him."

Ban Han nodded in agreement; the decision was quite decisive. Qiao Wan nodded, and the sharp sword in her hand emitted a shriek as it eagerly soared into the sky.

The giant, realizing what was happening, raised his bell-like hand and slapped it down at the insignificant figure.

The bronze giants are powerful enough and have a tough body. Even a top-tier curse master like Qiao Wan, who is incompatible with them, has to consider that she can only kill two or three at a time before running out of energy. Therefore, she abandoned the idea of ​​facing the enemy head-on from the very beginning.

That being said, they were, after all, inanimate objects and could never truly be compared to high-level spellcasters. Qiao Wan dodged them with a slight movement, floating lightly like a dandelion, nimbly weaving between her palm and the blade, closing the distance between herself and Zhao Chengxu in one breath.

As you get closer, you can see that the young man has his eyes closed, sits cross-legged, and floats in the air, like an immortal who has cultivated in the mountains for a hundred years and attained enlightenment.

His appearance remained the same, but... his temperament was completely different. If the Zhao Chengxu of the past exuded a mercenary and cunning air, the person in front of him was "ethereal and otherworldly," with a sense of alienation from the world.

Qiao Wan vaguely felt that he seemed more suited to this place, perfectly in tune with the atmosphere of this ancient ruin, or perhaps, he had belonged here from the very beginning—

In the blink of an eye, the cold light in her hand was already close to Zhao Chengxu's face.

The young man's eyes snapped open, a flash of dazzling lightning suddenly illuminating the surrounding air. He uttered a thunderous roar, yet his tone remained utterly indifferent.

“A lowly mortal.”

Zhao Chengxu's movements appeared slow but were actually swift; he raised a finger and blocked the sword blade in the blink of an eye.

"Om."

The surrounding air was first still, then surged with waves. The true energy gathered at the tip of the sword dissipated completely, like birds returning to their nests, returning to the great tide of the world.

Qiao Wan was startled; the difference in their strength was so great?
This is somewhat like facing one's own leader, Master Ku Rong. Even with the power to overturn rivers and seas, one still cannot escape the suppression of a single finger.

Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes different. The opponent is not relying on the power within their own body, but rather on this celestial palace, this ruin—

Her thoughts became increasingly scattered.

Perhaps, including those hundred pipes that control the bronze guardians, their energy output relies on a similar arrangement. It's not that the opponent's own strength has reached that level, but rather that they rely on environmental support.

This understanding was quite profound, a sudden flash of inspiration, but unfortunately it had no impact on actual actions. After regaining her senses, Qiao Wan still had to face the impassable passageway, the bronze army, and the curse master who seemed like an immortal descending to earth.

Qiao Wan retreated in time to join Ban Han. The two top-tier curse masters worked together to organize a line, but they still couldn't avoid being pushed back again and again. The giants trampled the passageway and flattened the bottom of the muddy lake. Unbeknownst to them, they had already forced the trial participants into a corner.

……

"It's our turn."

The members of the Kalachakra Society didn't bother with two ordinary people, so the brother and sister conveniently "disappeared." Now it was time to reveal their identities.
“If we don’t take action, these people are really going to die.”

"hold on."

Cen Dongsheng said.

"The members of the Kalachakra Society can hold out for a little longer by sticking to one place."

The girl's eyes gleamed with murderous intent, not for the puppets, but for the ghost now possessing Zhao Chengxu, the one that lingered in the Heavenly Palace.

His identity is unknown; and judging from his performance, he is still far from being "top-tier". However, every action he takes causes ripples in the atmosphere, as if he is connected to the entire Heavenly Palace Ruins. To kill him, one must either find the connection and destroy it, or... use overwhelming strength to crush him completely.

Yi Qingyan was suitable for both options, making her a barely acceptable target for killing. However, Cen Dongsheng felt that things weren't that simple. His probing gaze fell on Zhao Chengxu, having witnessed the series of unusual events that occurred after the man touched the door.

In chronological order, first, a semi-transparent figure, seemingly a ghost, suddenly appeared beside Zhao Chengxu; without saying a word, this ghost squeezed into Zhao Chengxu's body and took control of his physical form and intelligence.

Then, the possessing ghost automatically split in two—cracks were faintly visible in the transparent figure, as if the soul was being torn apart like paper.

Half of them remained in Zhao Chengxu's body. He manipulated the magic seals, and the Yin and Yang energies in the world rose and fell, converging into a hundred long tubes that snaked like worms. All of them were connected to the bronze guards, making them operate with a roar.

The remaining half shed its shell and tore something shimmering from Zhao Chengxu's body—the soul of the body's original owner.

The half-body ghost, carrying Zhao Chengxu's soul, transformed into a rainbow of light and flew into the sky, entering the doorway without any hindrance and disappearing.

But Cen Dongsheng could still see that from the direction of Zhao Chengxu's body, a transparent and faint line extended outwards, connecting to the unseen horizon.

The line, like a piano string, trembled slightly with the movement of the wind, proving that the commotion over there was also quite significant. However, before he could catch up, it quickly disappeared.

If Jiang Yunmei were here, she could see things more clearly now; Cen Dongsheng was not yet familiar with the process, but he wanted to follow the clues to find the way to the depths, so he decided to remain an observer.

Yi Qingyan's head was being stroked, her mouth slightly open, she seemed quite shocked.

If anyone else in this world were like Cen Dongsheng, trying to stop her when her murderous intent was running high, the outcome would probably be that they themselves would become targets and be killed to vent their anger.

But since it was him who asked, she readily nodded.

"it is good."

As she spoke, the younger sister obediently lowered her head, completely concealing her murderous aura. It did not dissipate, but rather remained dormant.

A short while later, the final opportunity arrived.

The bronze giants piled up one on top of the other, and the spellcasters were all wounded, their faces filled with despair.

The figure floated in the air, coldly watching, like a celestial being looking down on ordinary mortals.

Before she found herself in this predicament, Qiao Wan had already tried to attack the people in the sky several times, but she always failed.

She could only move for a very short time before she crashed headfirst into the ocean made of viscous paste, unable to move. Just getting out of there had taken all her strength.

"Ahem... Could you perhaps be an immortal from this celestial palace?"

Ban Han spoke loudly, and seeing that he had nowhere to retreat, he had no choice but to try every possible method, even if it meant gaining the upper hand with words:
“We…we juniors come from the mortal realm. We heard there are trials here to select immortals, so we came to investigate. Since the rules are like this, why are they trying to kill us? We've only passed two trials. Have we violated some heavenly law?”

The figure answered quite readily:

"What you hear and see are the echoes left by the trials of the past. However, what this palace needs now is not immortals, but a ruler. Only one person can sit in that position; the rest are all defective products that have been eliminated."

"what do you mean……"

"I have already chosen my successor; the rest of these uninvited guests will die here."

As soon as he finished speaking, a murderous intent filled the air. The temperature in the world suddenly dropped by ten degrees, and a chilling cold swept over, staining the ground with white frost.

It was at this moment that, in the spiritual perception of the two top-tier curse masters, the subtle "string" extending from Zhao Chengxu suddenly vibrated, and this time it trembled at a stable frequency and did not disappear for a period of time.

Cen Dongsheng's heart stirred.

"Brother, what about now?"

Yi Qingyan asked softly, her voice tinged with eagerness. When the young man beside her nodded slightly, a small smile appeared on her lips.

The future Queen of Equality quickly disappeared from Cen Dongsheng's side, and the next instant, she appeared in front of the Time Wheel Society. She raised her slender jade finger, and the hundred bronze giants in front of her were simultaneously cleaved in two by an invisible blade that was of unknown origin and destination, enormous and without any discernible outline.

The unstoppable spatial slash, its momentum still strong, cleaved the distant gate in two.

*
Zhao Chengxu was in a daze, unaware of the world around him; when he came to his senses, he found himself in a different place; he was about to check his entire body when he was horrified to discover that he was in a soul state without a physical body.

"……really!"

Although he was shocked and angry, it was not beyond his expectations.

During the possession by the ghost, he felt as if he had been struck hard by a savage and powerful force, and then he became lightheaded...

It seems that the soul was knocked away.

For some reason, after his body was taken over, he did not perish. Instead, he was pulled by a force, like a kite with a string attached to it, flying into the distance.

"It's that guy's trick... Is it friend or foe?"

Zhao Chengxu pondered for a moment while looking around.

He was stunned the moment he saw it.

This place resembles an extremely spacious palace, yet the light is dim. Everywhere you look, there are swaying shadows. People dressed in magnificent robes hang down from the high beams, their long hair flowing, pointing straight down to the cold ground below, like a sudden, hanging, withered forest.

The dim light outlined the stiff silhouettes of the hanged men, casting long, grotesque shadows that crisscrossed the empty ground. A somber, chilling stench, a mixture of old blood and dust, permeated the hall. The auspicious clouds and ethereal atmosphere that once filled the hall had long since dissipated, leaving only solidified death and the faded ribbons hanging silently below.

An unprecedented chill permeated Zhao Chengxu's fragile soul.

It's like having a hole opened in your skull, and then mercury slowly poured in, invading your bone marrow, flesh, and muscles—a terrifying experience with nowhere to escape.

The frights he had experienced and the grotesque and terrifying things he had seen in his life were nothing compared to the scene before him. This was because the hanged men were extraordinary. Even though they had been dead for countless years, they still exuded an aura of otherworldly grace, making them seem... extraordinary and detached from the mundane world.

However, it is precisely this aura that far surpasses that of ordinary people, coupled with the tragic state of their collective deaths, that makes it even more unacceptable.

"Where...where am I...?"

Zhao Chengxu's mind was in turmoil, his very soul seemed to be floating, when he heard that familiar voice again, speaking softly:
"Huh? Didn't I tell you already, Heavenly Palace?"

(End of this chapter)