nownovels Chapter 40 Suppressing the Evil Spirit, Unbelievable
Chapter 40 Suppressing the Evil Spirit, Unbelievable
"Damn it, did I mishear or am I hallucinating? Twenty years of cultivation? Fifteen years of cultivation? What kind of ridiculous joke are these weaklings from Kyushu telling us? Do they think we'd believe that?"
"Damn it! Those Kyushu people are really wicked. They must have been spying on our group chat just now, knowing we're watching them right now, so they said that on purpose. That must be it."
"Exactly. Twenty years of cultivation, indeed. These treacherous and cunning fellows love to resort to these underhanded schemes. They're saying this to make us anxious, to make us think they're really killing demons, and then trick us into rushing out to our deaths."
"I know what this wicked scheme is called in their Kyushu dialect... right, the 'Beauty Trap' from the Thirty-Six Stratagems? Or something like that?"
"Damn it, this isn't a honey trap! Where would a beauty come from? This is clearly...all's fair in war! Yes, all's fair in war!"
"Damn it! All's fair in war. This is... never mind. I'm a great Korean nation, where would I have the time to study the inferior culture of those weaklings in Kyushu?"
"Hmph, everyone, don't fall for it. Let's just stay safely inside this barrier and wait for this interrogation to end. Let's see what other tricks they can pull."
For a time, these Koreans frantically imagined and discussed things in their own ghostly underworld. Because the two sides could only see text and not the actual battle scenes, they could only catch these scattered pieces of information from the No. 13 Soul Town Village of the Road of Helplessness.
But the information was too exaggerated and too "real"—these Kyushu guys were actually doing a really serious job of slaughtering those ferocious beasts that they thought were impossible to defeat in the command group.
However, the ridiculously exaggerated figures of cultivation they mentioned completely "exposed" their lies. At this moment, the "extremely intelligent" Koreans were all convinced that this was definitely a conspiracy by the Thirteenth Soul Town Village of the Road of Helplessness, trying to trick their own people into going out to their deaths.
However, what these frogs in a well had no idea was that the Soul-Suppressing Village No. 13 on the Road of Helplessness had long since been given a full-map cheat code because of Fang Han, this heaven-defying and ferocious god.
Now, the village has more than just contracted cultivators with twenty years of cultivation; there are even many true masters who keep a low profile but have over thirty years of cultivation. In this distorted Naihe Road No. 13 Soul-Suppressing Village, a mere ten years of cultivation is considered "weakling" and someone who needs protection.
Furthermore, the total number of contracted warriors who have perished in the Thirteenth Soul Town of the Naihe Road is less than two hundred. Moreover, due to the announcement of the impending invasion by the Calamity of the Dead, everyone except Fang Han, whose whereabouts are unknown, has already spontaneously taken up positions in the Soul Town, ready for battle. It can be said that the defensive strength of the entire Thirteenth Soul Town of the Naihe Road is currently unprecedentedly strong, and morale is high. Under the reasonable and efficient command of the selected commanders, these nearly ten thousand well-trained and well-coordinated contracted warriors are indeed methodically taking turns killing the few ferocious beasts used as targets outside the barrier. Their division of labor is clear, and their cooperation is seamless.
Although Fang Han, their strongest fighter, has not yet arrived, they have managed to firmly control the pace of this seemingly doomed battle by relying on their rich hunting experience accumulated over time, coupled with their average cultivation level far exceeding that of other villages.
Time flowed slowly through this desolate underworld filled with the sounds of battle, and soon it was afternoon of the next day. Only two hours remained until the second confrontation. At this stage, the difference in the battle records of the two Soul-Suppressing Villages was like night and day.
In the Soul-Suppressing Village No. 322 of the Underworld War Zone in South Korea, people were terrified and cowered inside, clinging desperately to the still-present barrier to survive. The number of evil spirits suppressed so far remains a starkly low zero.
Meanwhile, the battle record at the Thirteenth Town Soul Village on the Naihe Road in Kyushu was nothing short of terrifying. With the perfect coordination and rotation of nearly ten thousand people, they managed to kill more than twenty ferocious beasts, whose strength was comparable to the leaders of the third batch of Town Realms, after more than twenty hours.
Of course, these evil spirits are all projections created by the order of the Netherworld's will for this confrontation; they are not actual evil entities existing in this Netherworld.
So even if they managed to suppress it with great effort, they didn't lose any skills or artifacts as rewards, which made everyone feel a little regretful and disappointed.
However, on the newly added list of merit points, almost everyone among the top ten "big shots" in terms of reputation—except for Fang Han, who doesn't need any merit points at all and is at the top of the list—has an enviable number of kill records.
And this information about the glorious victory was, naturally, "accidentally" leaked to the Koreans who were still anxiously waiting for a "draw" through the shared ghostly language.
However, because of that preconceived notion and the foolish idea that Kyushu could be so strong, none of those Koreans believed it. Instead, they intensified their mockery in their own groups, concluding that the Kyushu people were putting on a very fake show.
Suddenly, all sorts of classic Korean swear words, like "Ashiba," flooded their group chat.
However, at the very last moment before the second interrogation was about to end, in the Soul Town Village No. 13 of Naihe Road, the cunning old man He An, who had previously boasted that he "coincidentally also had an interrogation warrant," maliciously took out his treasured interrogation warrant at the exact moment.
[Announcement from the Underworld: In the Soul-Suppressing Village No. 13, Naihe Road, of the Nine Provinces Underworld War Zone, Contract Envoy He An has triggered the interrogation order, forcibly connecting to the Soul-Suppressing Village No. 322 of the South Korean Underworld War Zone, initiating the third forced interrogation of Yin Virtue!]
[Pledge Agreement Information: The pledge rules for this pledge are proposed by the party that triggered the pledge order. The time limit is one day. All contracted members of both parties' Soul Villages can hunt down the strongest Yin creatures in the current beginner area. The party that successfully suppresses the most Yin creatures wins.]
[The winner will be forcibly stripped of all enhancement resources currently possessed by the loser, including but not limited to the Netherworld area, Yin materials, and the cultivation multiplier gained from hunting.]
[Losers: Zhenhun Village is immediately destroyed. All surviving contract holders will be stripped of their Yin Pact and become exiles. The Yin entity life level of their contract will be forcibly degraded by one level, their Yin Yuan cultivation will be forcibly reduced by 50%, and they will be trapped in a state of extreme weakness for three days.]
[From this moment forward, the two Soul-Suppressing Villages will communicate via ghostly language, but those bound by their contracts cannot participate in each other's group chats; they can only view them.]
[Important Note: Because the rewards and penalties from the previous pledge have not yet been officially paid out, a third party has already initiated this comprehensive second pledge. Therefore, all rewards and penalties from the previous two pledges will be settled and distributed uniformly after this pledge is completely concluded.]
When He An issued the call for pledge, with terms so harsh they made one's scalp tingle, and the moment it echoed in the minds of all the contract makers in the two Soul Town villages—almost all the Koreans were completely stunned, as if their souls had been ripped out.
"What the hell is going on? These weaklings from Kyushu... actually offered to place a bet against us? Wasn't that last one still going on? Summer Cicada and Soybean said: Read this book! This precious bet order can be used like this?"
"Damn it, those cunning weaklings from Kyushu. I get it! They deliberately stalled in the group chat all this time, just waiting for this moment! They absolutely did it on purpose!"
"Hehehe, I think I finally understand. They deliberately sent those fake messages about hunting down the leader in the group to make us anxious and coax us into rushing out to our deaths. Unfortunately, our great Korean people didn't fall for their trick."
On the contrary, those arrogant and weaklings from Kyushu must have rushed out from the start, suffering heavy casualties. They deliberately dragged it out until now because they were afraid of losing the bet due to too many deaths. The fact that they are now forcing the bet back on proves that they have exhausted all their resources.
"Brother, you have a very clear mind. After this round of betting is over, I, Park Il-shin, welcome you to join my core team."
"Wow, Lord Park! I actually got Lord Park's approval! That's great, I knew I was right to follow Lord Park."
"Since this confrontation is just the last trick of those weaklings in Kyushu, we must not fall for it again. If we can hold out for one more day in this barrier, victory will be ours."
"No! I've only had four years of cultivation, and the novice assessment is less than two days away. If I don't go out and kill some evil spirits soon, how am I going to pass? I don't want to be wiped out, sob sob..."
"Damn it! These weaklings from Kyushu are infuriating! They're making it clear they're determined to drag you down with them even if they die!"
"Calm down, everyone. Don't be fooled. This is war, and war always involves sacrifice. Rest assured, even if you are ultimately eliminated because you are not skilled enough to pass the test, you will still be heroes of the great Korean nation, and your souls will live on forever."
"Those damned weaklings from Kyushu!"
In an instant, almost all the Koreans were completely engulfed in hysterical grief and despair.
In their village, the only contract envoys who have reached the ten-year cultivation level are currently only about a hundred people who were initially under Park Il-shin's protection, and they are not a threat.
The vast majority of people's cultivation is pitifully stuck below five years, and these people obviously have no hope at all; they will surely die in the Soul-Suppressing Trial in two days. However, there are still a few people whose cultivation has reached seven or eight years and who are just one step away from passing. If they fight with all their might in the remaining two days, they still have a sliver of hope to reach the target.
But now, at this crucial moment, the Soul-Suppressing Village at No. 13 Naihe Road has once again been embroiled in this deadly confrontation. Although the terrifying ferocious beasts at the entrance have been devoured by the Calamity of the Dead, the shadow of that calamity is even more despairing than the beasts themselves. They simply cannot step out of the barrier. This is clearly a move to drive everyone to their doom, to perish together.
In the end, it's fair to say that of the 322nd Soul-Suppressing Village in South Korea, only the initial two or three hundred people who followed Park Il-shin were able to barely pass the test based on their previous foundation. Everyone else either died in the Calamity of the Dead Souls or was wiped out by the Soul-Suppressing Trial itself; not a single one escaped.
At the same time, in the Ghostly Path of No. 13, Naihe Road.
"Holy crap? These Koreans have such incredible imaginations. What the hell is this 'mutual destruction'? Who wants to die with you? We just want to gain more experience and accumulate some good karma."
"You can't blame them. Blind arrogance and paranoia are inherent flaws in Koreans. I'm not surprised at all that they can imagine things to this extent."
"If we still can't take down these Korean idiots this time, then everyone here has an inescapable responsibility."
"Seriously, everyone. The countdown to the natural disaster is almost over. The Holocaust invasion is coming, I'm fucking looking forward to it, I wonder what good loot will drop."
"Where's Fang Shen? Why hasn't he come back yet? We still need him to keep things in order for this final, most intense wave."
"Brothers, get ready for battle. Forget about those bones in the graves. The calamity of the dead will officially begin in one minute. We must hold off the first wave until Fang Shen returns."
The expressions of everyone in the Ghostly Path became extremely solemn and grave. As the suffocating countdown reached zero, a grand, cold, and murderous announcement from the Underworld immediately resounded throughout the two Soul-Suppressing Villages, which were currently in the eye of the storm.
[Crisis Alert for the Underworld: With the complete suppression of all the leaders of the third batch of Zhenhun Village, their powerful resentment has been removed... The forgotten and sinister power that slumbered in the deepest part of this underworld has finally awakened... The Legion of the Undead Calamity will rise from the earth and march towards the gathering place of all living beings in this realm...]
[Crisis Alert for the Underworld: Due to the ongoing annihilation-level confrontation involving the No. 13 Soul-Suppressing Village on the Naihe Road in the Kyushu Underworld War Zone, all Soul-Suppressing Villages participating in this confrontation will now face the indiscriminate invasion of this calamity of souls... The confrontation rules are temporarily overridden by natural disaster!]
[From this moment forward, due to the overwhelming resentment of the calamity of the dead, the protective barriers of Soul Village No. 13 on Naihe Road in the Kyushu Underworld War Zone and Soul Village No. 322 in the South Korean Underworld War Zone will completely lose their protective function! All contracted envoys in these areas are requested to return immediately and protect the last remaining spark of the Soul-Suppressing Flame at all costs!]
[Fourth Trial - Calamity Descends: Successfully protected Soul Town Village and repelled the Calamity Legion of Undead. Reward: All participating contracts will increase Yin Virtue by 50 points... Yin Yuan Dao Cultivation will increase by 10 years... Soul Town Village will be upgraded from a village to a town!]
[Failed to protect Zhenhun Village... Erased! All survivors will become exiles abandoned by the will of the underworld. From this day forward, any cultivation gained from hunting Yin creatures will be halved, all previously accumulated Netherworld Blessings will be reset to zero, and all survivors will be placed in a state of weakness for three days...]
The moment this announcement, like apocalyptic judgment, resounded, almost everyone in South Korea was utterly stunned. Their eyes were filled with nothing but endless fear and despair.
"What the hell? What the hell? A calamity of the dead has invaded? All the leaders of the third batch in the newbie village were already slaughtered? Which bastard did this?"
"I know... I know! It was Kyushu! It was those devils from Kyushu who did it! They did it on purpose! They had already killed all the leaders of the third batch and unlocked this most terrifying natural disaster storyline, but they didn't reveal a single word! Those leaders who were spawned at the door during the previous confrontation were definitely of the third batch level. No wonder we couldn't even fight back!"
"Damn it! Those bastards from Kyushu have been treating us like fools and misleading us from the very beginning!"
"The calamity of the dead... the confrontation has escalated... we're completely finished. Without any protection, what can we use to withstand this natural disaster? Run, run now, run as far as you can!"
"Look! The barrier... the barrier's power is disappearing at an accelerated rate!"
The ghostly underworld in South Korea was overwhelmed by boundless despair and curses, and the emotions were extremely intense.
Just as the remaining protective barrier gradually disappeared and became completely ineffective, an endless gray mist suddenly surged out of nowhere from the underworld shrouded in dense death energy, rushing towards the village like a raging tide.