The Necrotic Secret Realm was the place where the Holy Son and Holy Maiden were sacrificed. Because of the special barrier here, the necrotic energy generated after the sacrifice of the Holy Son and Holy Maiden could accumulate here, serving the people of Shanyin Village.
Due to the long-term retention of necrotic energy in this place, a special kind of necrotic flower had grown at the center of the secret realm.
However, the necrotic flower had never been used in sacrifices before, and the altar of the Holy Son and Holy Maiden was located at the outer edge of the secret realm, not extending into the central area. Therefore, apart from the sacrifice ceremony held once every ten years, few people came to the Necrotic Secret Realm, and no one had ever been to its center.
The entrance to the Necrotic Secret Realm was a vermilion gate. To enter, one had to drip the blood of the Holy Son or Holy Maiden onto the door; otherwise, it could not be pushed open.
He Zhu summoned his puppet threads and lightly grazed them across Lan Jie’er’s wrist. A tiny wound slowly seeped out a bead of blood, which she wiped with her hand and smeared onto the door.
Then, with a gentle push, the door swung open.
Large clusters of butterflies flew out from within, pitch-black all over, exuding an aura of death.
“These are necrotic butterflies, found only in the Necrotic Secret Realm. They emit light, somewhat similar to the function of fireflies,” Lan Jie’er said, gently fanning her hand. “They have extremely strong attack power on their own, but if we don’t actively attack them, they won’t draw aggro.”
The moment they stepped through the gate, the vermilion door slowly closed behind them. The light abruptly dimmed until it became completely dark, leaving only the red glow emitted by the necrotic butterflies within the entire secret realm.
Suddenly, a black mass of gas shot out from ahead.
Guan Si reacted swiftly, quickly opening his Skeleton Bone Umbrella to block the dark mass.
In their line of sight, a black undead spirit floated in midair. It took a deep breath and spat out another cloud of black gas.
Qi Dengzui leaned back, relying on instinct to predict its movement, and nimbly rolled aside to dodge the black gas.
The black gas struck the stone wall, corroding it with a rumbling crash that exploded right by Qi Dengzui’s ear.
He Zhu said, “Captain Qi, be careful, this undead is a ranged-type monster.”
Qi Dengzui was the NO.1 of the Paranormal Academy, the strongest main attacker. In one-on-one close combat, no one could match him, but against ranged-type monsters, he was at a relative disadvantage. Especially the monsters in the final exam each one was not to be underestimated and was troublesome to deal with.
A red light flashed, and a Blood Jade Fan materialized in Qi Dengzui’s hand. In the next second, the fan shifted in shape and color, suddenly transforming into a longsword with a white hilt and silver blade light in weight, gleaming and sharp.
Legend had it that the owner of this Blood Jade Fan, Ghost King Yan Duan, had been an extraordinarily skilled swordsman in life, and after death, he fell from human to ghost, making his weapon extraordinarily powerful.
Qi Dengzui leaped into the air, half his body suspended as he kicked off the stone wall beside him. Then, borrowing the momentum, he vaulted forward, his sword thrusting toward the undead as his body twisted midair.
The silver sword was unstoppable, instantly shattering the undead servant.
However, before Qi Dengzui could land, the undead, scattered into black specks, converged again into a new undead servant.
The black gas flew rapidly through the air, and the undead servant bypassed Qi Dengzui’s body, charging toward Guan Si.
Qi Dengzui whipped his head around, sliding in a single smooth motion to behind Guan Si. He tossed his sword upward, and the moment it returned to his hand, it transformed back into the Blood Jade Fan.
His expression was casual, but his movements were clean and sharp he stabbed backward without even looking.
The undead servant dissolved into countless black specks once more, then reassembled.
Qi Dengzui unfurled the Blood Jade Fan in his hand, shielding Guan Si in front of him, his gaze cold and piercing. “What, you like picking on people?”
Guan Si frowned as he watched the undead shatter and reform repeatedly. “Brother Qi, this undead doesn’t seem to be killable with ordinary weapons. Even if we kill them, they just resurrect.”
Qi Dengzui nodded, raising his fan to block another strike.
In the darkness, He Zhu spoke: “Captain Qi, let me handle it.”
Qi Dengzui received the signal, grabbed Guan Si, and in a few steps slipped away from the undead servant, clearing enough space for He Zhu to work.
One by one, necrotic butterflies flew out from He Zhu’s hands. Countless puppet threads were wrapped around his fingers, with the other ends buried deep inside the bodies of the necrotic butterflies.
He had somehow already taken control of a massive swarm of necrotic butterflies!
The undead servant spat out another cloud of foul gas, surging toward Qi Dengzui’s direction.
He Zhu’s fingertips moved, and the necrotic butterflies danced gracefully, emitting a dark red glow in the darkness as they wove a massive butterfly net that completely enveloped everyone within it.
The necrotic energy struck the butterfly net, and the necrotic butterflies it touched instantly dissolved into black smoke. But immediately after, another swarm of necrotic butterflies flew out from He Zhu’s hands, filling the gap that had just been opened.
This was NO.3, the main defense position of Weixue, He Zhu.
The undead creature launched attack after attack, yet each one was neutralized by the impenetrable net of butterflies. He Zhu’s expression remained unchanged as his hands continuously shifted positions, his fingertips dancing through the dim light.
Those who ranked within the top 50 of the academy all possessed a title that matched their destined profession.
For example, “Demon Hunter,” “Desolate Zither,” and so on.
And He Zhu held a renowned title within the academy, the Puppet Sacrificial Master.
His puppetry was nothing short of miraculous. Among those ranked below him, few could put up any resistance. Even Pei Su, ranked NO.4, would fall victim if he let his guard down even slightly.
He Zhu focused his mind, drawing a surge of death spirit butterflies from those weaving the net, converging them into one massive death spirit butterfly that lunged at the undead servant.
Ordinary weapons couldn’t harm the undead servant so what about death spirit butterflies?
He Zhu called out, “Pei Su, strike!”
Pei Su raised his right hand, and his long whip shot toward the undead servant with tremendous force, piercing straight through its entire body and shattering it into countless black specks.
Before the scattered remnants could even reform into a new undead, the black specks were already devoured whole by the death spirit butterflies that surged forward right behind.
The village chief’s legs gave out from sheer terror, and he could barely stand, relying entirely on Sister Lan to support him.
No one had told him it would be this dangerous here! If Qi Dengzui and the others hadn’t dealt with the undead servant, he and Sister Lan would have been buried right here.
Seeing this, he swallowed hard, his scalp crawling with fear, and turned to bolt out the door.
He actually intended to abandon them all here!
Qi Dengzui caught sight of the village chief’s movement from the corner of his eye. Without even turning around, he flicked the blood jade fan in his hand backward. The fan transformed into a longsword, carving a perfect arc of sword-light through the air as it grazed past the village chief’s face and embedded itself into the stone wall before him.
“Did I say you could leave?”
The longsword had absorbed death spirit power during the battle with the undead servant, and its surface now emanated thick black smoke, as if merely getting close would corrode a person down to their bones.
One glance was enough to send cold sweat pouring down the village chief’s back, and he felt an urge to urinate rising within him.
“Sir, l-let’s talk this over.”
Qi Dengzui walked step by step toward them.
The village chief’s legs trembled like a sieve.
“S-sir.”
Qi Dengzui patted his back with a faint, ambiguous smile. “Village chief, we’ve only just arrived. Why are you already leaving? Didn’t you ask us to come to the Death Spirit Secret Realm?”
The village chief forced out a strained smile. “Y-yes, yes, we need to destroy the death spirit flower. I-I’m going now.”
Qi Dengzui nodded. “Good, the village chief understands.”
The village chief wanted to cry but had no tears. If that sword had been even an inch off, it would have blown his head clean off. How could he dare say another word of refusal?
Qi Dengzui stepped aside to make way, his tone outwardly respectful but laced with hidden threat. “Village chief, after you. None of us are familiar with the road ahead, so we’ll trouble you to lead the way.”
The word “you” was spoken with heavy emphasis. The village chief shuddered and quickly replied, “Fine, fine, fine, I’ll lead the way.”
He cursed inwardly, the elder had said these were reinforcements, but they were more like harbingers of death. This was everyone’s first time in the Death Spirit Secret Realm; if they didn’t know the way, did he?
Sister Lan said worriedly, “Sir, how about I scout ahead? I’m the Saintess, and my bloodline is special. Perhaps the undead won’t harm me.”
“No!”
Unexpectedly, the first to object was the village chief himself. He grabbed Sister Lan’s hand. “Sister Lan, among your generation those who’ve turned eighteen but haven’t reached thirty you’re the only one. If you die, what will happen to this year’s sacrifice?”
“But I,”
The village chief gritted his teeth. “Just follow me. Our village hasn’t reached the point where the Saintess needs to scout ahead.”
Sister Lan was moved. “Alright, Uncle Village Chief, please be careful.”
The village chief nodded and walked forward.
He was afraid of death, true, but there was no other choice at the moment. Qi Dengzui and the others had to survive to stop the calamity of the undead ritual, and Sister Lan was the only Saintess of this generation in Shanyin Village, a girl he’d watched grow up.
For both public and personal reasons, he had to be the one to scout ahead.
When weighed against the lives of the entire village, he could still tell which was more important.
After surviving the undead servant’s attack just now, they encountered no major dangers along the rest of the journey.
Before long, they reached the center of the Death Spirit Secret Realm.
There stood a vermilion gate identical to the one at the entrance of the secret realm.
Pushing open the gate, the scenery beyond was completely different from what they’d just seen.
Outside the gate lay a rose garden, the roses blooming in breathtaking brilliance, while the surrounding vines were covered in thorns.
At the center of the garden ran a small path that stretched onward, leading to a
Castle.
Beyond this massive vermilion gate was a garden of blooming roses and a magnificent, peerless castle!
This was the heart of the Death Spirit Secret Realm.
To reach this place, one had to pass through that cave and defeat the undead servant.
“But… where’s the death spirit flower?” Sister Lan asked, looking around.
That was exactly the question Qi Dengzui and the others wanted answered.
Where could the death spirit flower possibly grow?
Guan Si looked at the ancient castle before them and said, “Brother Qi, there’s someone outside.”
Outside the castle stood a figure formed from gathered spirits of the dead.
It was less a person and more a human husk propped up by a dead spirit no eyes, no nose, no mouth… its face bore no human features at all, nothing but a stretch of flesh. Yet despite such a horrifying visage, Qi Dengzui could still sense that it harbored no real malice.
Even across an immense distance, they could clearly hear the dead spirit’s voice.
“Hello, welcome to the Castle of the Dead!”