At this moment, Xu Que's senses seemed to have failed him—though his ears could hear, he was unable to perceive anything around him!
"Creak…"
"Gaaah!"
The sounds drew nearer, and Xu Que swiftly swung his black sword.
As the sword flashed in a draw slash, a brief burst of light stunned him.
Darkness, often regarded as the greatest fear of the human soul, is a place where countless terrors lurk—fears that are as ancient as humanity itself, fears tied to the unknown and the unseen.
Xu Que turned swiftly, drawing his sword once more.
As successive slashes of sword-light erupted, a creeping sense of dread began to cloud his expression.
For in all directions, there was nothing but boundless darkness, devoid of life!
"Cough!"
"Gaaah!"
The sounds grew louder, almost as though something was breathing down his neck.
Xu Que's scalp tingled. His black sword shimmered with a faint greenish sword intent, ready to strike.
"Slash!"
With a loud roar, he released a Slash of the Heavens toward the upper void.
The hundred-meter-long sword beam illuminated the entire space.
But there was nothing—nothing at all. Even the central altar had vanished!
In the pitch-black void, aside from Xu Que's own breath and heartbeat, only the eerie sounds filled the silence.
Xu Que's face contorted in horror as his neck stiffly turned, his movements slowing as if a suffocating weight had taken hold of his soul.
In that moment, his very being seemed to sink deeper into the abyss of darkness.
The unbearable pain and hatred within him made his throat emit a low, guttural rattle.
"Leave!"
Xu Que roared in fury, for he could sense something—something that seemed to be tugging at the very core of his soul, trying to drag him further into the depths of despair.
When the heart becomes clouded and dark, as though shrouded by an endless storm, it slowly steps into the abyss. Once a person turns fully away from their light, they have crossed into their own darkest corner.
Xu Que, too, had unwittingly slipped into this terrifying void.
Yet, in this moment of transformation, there is always the possibility of reversal. For Xu Que, it was the anguish of his hatred that now provided the anchor.
No one could understand his hatred, nor could anyone comprehend his suffering—suffering so deep it had etched itself into his very soul, inherited from his past life.
Every person has their own dark side, of that there is no doubt. And if one is to overcome it, the price to pay in pain... is unimaginable.
Xu Que's eyes burned with anger as he screamed into the void. Just as he howled in fury, it seemed as though something cracked around him. In that fleeting moment, he finally sensed the true terror of this place.
"Whew!" Xu Que exhaled sharply.
He chose not to advance but instead sat cross-legged, meditating on the cold stone floor.
"Do not fear your dark side—it has always been there, and it will never disappear. For it is you."
Xu Que reminded himself over and over.
As he did so, his inner darkness was gradually suppressed, and when he finally opened his eyes again, the entire space had reverted to the familiar altar scene.
"Dingling!"
The altar emitted a sound akin to a wind chime.
Xu Que was certain there was no wind here—this was no mere chime!
"Dingling!"
The circular magical array beneath the altar began to spin, and in an instant, the environment around Xu Que shifted as though he had been transported into the dark cosmos itself.
With streaks of starry ribbons and a vast galaxy above, he seemed to stand at the very center of the universe.
As he carefully examined his surroundings, his eyes widened at the sight before him.
"Heavens… what is that?"
The scale was beyond imagination, for the starlight before it seemed no larger than a football.
It was a creature of darkness, its skin as hard as steel, its massive head crowned with six rows of eyes that gleamed with a malevolent, sun-like light.
Xu Que stood frozen, for the appearance of this being was eerily similar to a creature described in the ancient texts of Chen Shu!
"Slap!"
Xu Que struck himself hard across the face.
In the blink of an eye, the scene shifted back to the dim altar.
"Damn it!"
Xu Que was truly enraged now. He brandished his black sword and charged toward the altar.
With a mighty swing, his sword cleaved down onto the altar with a resounding crash.
"Boom!"
The explosion shattered the altar's coffin into countless pieces!
Just as Xu Que was about to investigate further, a black, shriveled hand slowly emerged from the remains of the coffin.
It was more akin to a bird's claw than a hand!
"Creeeak, creeeak!"
The sound of bone scraping against bone echoed from the coffin. Xu Que leaned closer and saw that the form within appeared to be a mummified corpse.
What it was, he could not tell, but it was undeniably moving.
Xu Que raised his black sword and, with swift precision, began stabbing at the writhing, decayed body.
As he stabbed furiously, a message suddenly flashed across his interface.
At that moment, six differently-colored orbs of light appeared within the coffin.
"Ordinary kill of S-class mutated demon Kartiamo x1. Honor reward x650."
Xu Que was dumbfounded, for the warning from the Eye of Detection earlier had said this place was filled with danger, and the evaluation was "super A."
But this? Was this it?
Xu Que couldn't help but feel a deep sense of irony. He had expected a fierce battle, only to be slapped in the face with this anticlimactic turn of events.
The reason he found this so easy was because he hadn't faced any real combat yet. What he didn't know was that in his past life, this area was a forbidden zone, one that had claimed the lives of many—including Shi Guang, the head of the Ten Brothers company!
After collecting the materials and equipment, Xu Que began searching the area around the altar.
When his hand brushed against a raised stone brick beneath the coffin, the stone sarcophagus suddenly began to move.
Seeing the dissipating spiritual energy below, Xu Que couldn't help but curse inwardly.
"Damn, such potent spiritual energy wasted..."
Though he had prepared himself for this, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. After all, this was an A-level dimension. If he could have absorbed this energy, his strength would have surely reached new heights.
As Xu Que prepared to leave through one of the other three passages, an idea suddenly struck him.
He pulled a black egg from his inventory and placed it carefully into the coffin.
"This is the demon's resting place, and the Bloodthirsty Demon Baryath is of an epic level, somewhere between A-level and S-minus."
After a moment of careful consideration, Xu Que decided to destroy it.
With a swift motion, he raised his black sword, and sparks of starlight began to gather along its blade.
"Clang!"
The black sword struck the black egg with a resounding impact, causing cracks to appear across its surface.
Xu Que wasn't about to wait for the creature to gather its strength; he aimed for the cracks with a precise thrust.
"Clang!"
The sword failed to pierce the seal, instead leaving a small white mark on the egg's shell.
"Damn, this thing's tough."
Just as he spoke, the energy within the egg erupted.
Xu Que immediately darted backward as a red-skinned, winged demon appeared before him.
"Ahhh!"
The Bloodthirsty Demon Baryath roared, its eyes gleaming with malevolent hunger as it sized up Xu Que.
"Oh? It's only an A-class, huh? Well, you're dead." Xu Que smiled, gripping his sword as he charged toward Baryath.
Seeing the one who had freed him seeking his own death, Baryath immediately lunged forward.
"Swish!"
"Thud!"
With a swift stroke, Xu Que's sword sliced through Baryath's head, sending a flood of black blood spraying from its neck.
The Bloodthirsty Demon Baryath never expected that after just a few seconds of freedom, it would be slain so swiftly...