A living person had turned into a skeleton in the blink of an eye, and the Heavenly Demon Sect elder had seen it happen with his own eyes. His gaze was filled with terror.
He was still gripping the hand that had been reduced to bone.
And at that moment, a strange black pattern appeared on the bones, as though it were alive.
Having watched a living person turn into a skeleton, he was shaken to the core by this new development.
He could not help but think rapidly about what the black pattern before him was.
Before he could figure out what it was, the strange black pattern suddenly moved, swimming through the bones.
It moved incredibly fast, like the black shadow of a vicious ghost darting about.
"Damn it, what is this?"
The Heavenly Demon Sect elder's expression changed drastically. He immediately took action, for the black pattern seemed to have turned into a shadow of death looming over him. He hurriedly unleashed the power of the yin lightning he had cultivated, intending to wipe out the strange black pattern.
Evil forces feared lightning above all else, so he thought it should work.
But his companion in the distance heard him and, suppressing his terror, hurriedly looked over.
He saw the elder trying to erase the strange black pattern with yin lightning, and his soul nearly fled his body in fright. He immediately clapped a hand over his own mouth, for he knew it was too late. Shouting a warning would only expose their identities and location. If members of the Heavenly Demon Sect were discovered within the dynasty's territory, they would be killed without mercy.
"Hm?"
The Heavenly Demon Sect elder had been tense at first, but not panicked. Only when his yin lightning touched the strange black pattern did his expression change wildly.
The moment the yin lightning touched the strange black pattern, not only was it not erased, but it also seemed to have been nourished and provoked, instantly becoming violent.
It followed the power of his yin lightning and spread to his palm in an instant, as if by Teleportation.
Before he could react, the black pattern entered his flesh.
A black pattern instantly appeared on his palm.
The black pattern seemed to have found nourishment, rapidly devouring the vitality within him while spreading over his entire arm at a terrifying speed.
When he tried to sever his arm, he found that it had already spread over half his body.
"Damn it, what is this?"
The Heavenly Demon Sect elder's expression changed wildly. He now knew that this was undoubtedly something extremely terrifying, and a possibility occurred to him.
He hurriedly looked to his companion for help.
"Grand Elder, save me! Save me!"
Feeling how fast it was spreading, he truly panicked and looked at the Heavenly Demon Sect's grand elder in utter despair.
He hoped the other man had some way to save his life.
"Second Elder, I can't save you. This is the power of the curse in the Myriad Text Academy. You shouldn't have touched it. The power of the curse is too terrifying. Even an Invincible would die. I'm only at Peak Sunmoon. There's nothing I can do."
The Heavenly Demon Sect's grand elder slowly lowered the hand covering his mouth, his eyes filled with despair. The Heavenly Demon Sect had suffered heavy losses this time.
He now realized that going to the Myriad Text Academy this time had been a colossal mistake.
The Heavenly Demon Sect had few powerful experts to begin with, and tonight it had lost two elders at the Sun and Moon Realm Stage in succession. Although they had been forcibly raised to that level with resources and secret techniques, the Heavenly Demon Sect had only a few such figures.
The resources spent on them had been staggering, and now it had all come to nothing.
"What?"
"Is this the power of the curse?"
"It really is the power of the curse! The power of the curse is terrifying! This is the King of Hell's summons. Once it touches you, the King of Hell comes to claim your life."
Hearing the Heavenly Demon Sect grand elder's words, his eyes filled with despair and unwillingness.
His cultivation had reached the Sunmoon realm, yet he had not even had time to enjoy it.
"No...!"
Now that he knew it was the power of the curse, he fell into utter despair. According to the rumors, no one could survive the power of the curse, not even an Invincible.
He no longer cared about hiding his identity or avoiding detection by the Heaven Patrol Pavilion, and roared aloud in despair and unwillingness.
His voice exploded through the courtyard.
"Second Elder, rest in peace. The Heavenly Demon Sect will remember you!"
Seeing that nothing could be done, and knowing that the second elder's roar must have drawn attention, the Heavenly Demon Sect's grand elder threw something that pierced the second elder's body.
Thud.
A weapon pierced the Heavenly Demon Sect's second elder, killing him outright.
His voice cut off abruptly, and he fell to the ground. The power of the curse erupted, and he was soon reduced to a skeleton.
Only then did the power of the curse slowly dissipate, though traces of it could still be felt in the courtyard.
After killing his companion, the Heavenly Demon Sect's grand elder melted into the darkness and vanished without a trace.
"Two dead and one alive. Just right!"
"That way, once word gets out, the Myriad Text Academy will be even safer. No one will dare sneak inside to investigate, or even spread their willpower into it."
Inside the Myriad Text Academy, Su Xiuyi, who had used the Pupil of Void Breaking to watch the entire sequence of events and held everything under his control, had a hint of a smile in his eyes.
This was exactly the outcome he had wanted.
As time passed and he remained alive, Su Xiuyi knew that some people had long since been unable to contain themselves. He had not expected the Heavenly Demon Sect's people to be the first to act; Li Yixi had initially guessed it would be the Heaven Patrol Pavilion.
"The Heavenly Demon Sect's casualties this time should serve as a reminder to everyone that this is a place of certain death," Su Xiuyi muttered.
If people kept sneaking into the Myriad Text Academy, even if they were only throwing their lives away and posed no threat to him, it would still be extremely troublesome.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Just after the Heavenly Demon Sect's grand elder disappeared, several figures landed in the courtyard in an instant. They were people from the Heaven Patrol Pavilion, each with a formidable presence.
Looking at the two skeletons before them and sensing what lingered in the courtyard, they all frowned.
"It's the power of the curse!"
"The Heavenly Demon Sect's remnants have, after all, come back from the dead again and slipped into the Myriad Text Academy without a sound. They were probably trying to retrieve the Heavenly Demon Sect's supreme cultivation art, the Heavenly Demon Fragmentary Scripture. They were courting death!"
"Ji Zhan, you must be on your guard. The Myriad Text Academy is known as a land of death, a place of certain death, but now someone has dared to sneak inside. I'm afraid the fact that Su Xiuyi is still alive has been leaked," the old man said coldly.
"Yes, Elder Zhou!"
Ji Zhan responded at once.
"What a terrifying power of the curse!"
Looking at the two skeletons before him, Ji Zhan trembled.
These past few days, he too had entertained a crazy idea: to sneak into the Myriad Text Academy and investigate Su Xiuyi's situation.
But now, even if he were given a hundred times his courage, he would not dare.
After clearing away the bodies, the group vanished without a trace.
When some people in the Heaven Patrol Pavilion who had designs on the Myriad Text Academy learned what had happened, they completely abandoned their ideas.
As for the Myriad Text Academy, they stayed as far away from it as they could.
(End of chapter)