Chapter 53

A complete darkness.

Wu Xiaode opened his eyes and found himself standing in a desolate wasteland strewn with boulders.

Mist swirled around him.

Something was peering at him from the darkness, far away.

The Book of the Dead immediately opened, displaying lines of icy crystal text:

"Your soul power has reached 10 points."

"This is a turning point in strength. You need to serve the Realm of Death and achieve victory to gain further advancement."

Serve the Realm of Death...

Damn, I'm a living person.

Just as Wu Xiaode thought this, he saw a misty fog emerge from the void, gently enveloping him like a veil.

Silent Mist!

It had already activated automatically!

Wu Xiaode sensed it and found that this time it had not materialized anything, but instead used the inherent death aura of the mist to shroud him.

—Why? Did it sense something?

The next second.

A voice came from afar:

"You scared me, I thought you were a living person."

Wu Xiaode turned around.

In the wilderness, a skeleton clad in metal armor slowly walked toward him.

A skeleton... can talk...

It seems I really have been mistaken for one of the dead.

Perhaps in the long and endless time, no one ever thought that someone entering the Death Pit could survive.

"Who are you?" Wu Xiaode asked.

The skeleton snorted and said, "I am a genius among the skeletons. Who are you?"

"Human, dead." Wu Xiaode replied.

"Rubbish! I can see that! What's your name?" the skeleton shouted.

"Qian Mingkui." Wu Xiaode said.

"That's better. What's your strength?" the skeleton asked.

"I have 10 points of soul power." Wu Xiaode said.

The skeleton held its forehead and said helplessly, "We both have 10 points of soul power, that's why we were summoned to this battlefield, idiot."

It continued, "Listen up, new guy, we need to defend our position and prevent any entities from other camps from entering the Realm of Death. As long as we hold out for an hour, we will complete this trial."

"Just the two of us?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Yes, this mound is our position." the skeleton said.

Wu Xiaode looked around and saw more mounds in the distance, each with different undead creatures standing beside them.

The nearest mound had two skeletons and a tall man holding a staff.

The tall man's face was not good, appearing green and black.

"That's a lich. What bad luck, why couldn't I be paired with a lich?" the skeleton said, half envious, half jealous.

"If our position is destroyed, we fail, right?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Not only that, we will fall into eternal sleep! So you need to take this seriously and not drag me down." the skeleton said.

"Who will try to break through our position?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Anyone—why wouldn't someone want to explore the Realm of Death? Some even want to steal souls from it." the skeleton said.

The skeleton looked to the other side.

Wu Xiaode followed its gaze and saw several three-headed dogs squatting on another mound, their bodies burning with fierce flames.

"If only I had a three-headed dog as a partner... why do I have to be stuck with a dead kid?" the skeleton muttered.

"Hey, something's coming." Wu Xiaode said.

The skeleton immediately came to its senses and looked toward the front of the position.

In the deep darkness, a humanoid figure made entirely of flames appeared. It had long wings and horns on its head, flying in the air and shouting loudly:

"Charge, my children, attack the defenses of the Realm of Death and show those skeletons and dead dogs that they should never provoke us!"

In the distant wilderness.

A dense army of cavalry appeared.

They all had horns on their heads, wore full armor, and rode fire-breathing warhorses, charging toward the position.

The Book of the Dead trembled and immediately displayed lines of icy crystal text:

"The trial has begun."

"In one hour, you need to defend your position and prevent it from being destroyed."

"Success will grant you the power of death, allowing you to continue increasing your soul power limit."

"If you fail, you will fall into the abyss of the Realm of Death and enter eternal sleep, unless someone summons you again."

Before Wu Xiaode could finish reading, he heard the skeleton's painful groan:

"Damn, it's a Demon Lord? He's the most popular expert in the demon camp, we're done for..."

Wu Xiaode remained silent, his gaze sweeping around.

Near the other mounds, the undead creatures responsible for defense were all dejected.

Is that guy really that strong?

Just looking at the dense cavalry on the wilderness, it was clear this would be a tough battle.

"What's the strength of those cavalry?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Each has at least 10 points of soul power." the skeleton said.

"It seems this battle will be decided by numbers. One or two people can't change the outcome." Wu Xiaode concluded.

"Indeed, we can only fight to the death." the skeleton's eye sockets glowed with a reluctant light.

The dark army pressed forward.

The warhorses galloped, causing the earth to tremble.

Wu Xiaode's mind raced, suddenly thinking of a plan.

At the same time, the mist enveloping him seemed to read his mind and spread out.

Silently, the mist enveloped the position.

"Kid, is your ability this mist?" the skeleton watched coldly.

"What's your ability?" Wu Xiaode countered.

"Hmph, I can grab an enemy and burn them to death with the flames of death!" the skeleton said proudly.

Wu Xiaode was taken aback.

—These days, people still choose to fight to the death?

"Afraid? I'll tell you, don't mess with me!" the skeleton said fiercely.

"Truly... amazing, I won't provoke you." Wu Xiaode looked at it as if it were a monster.

A long horn sounded.

The cavalry began to accelerate.

"Less talk, you on the left, me on the right, we each defend a side." the skeleton said.

"That Demon Lord is already leading the charge, where's our boss?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Don't know, he hasn't appeared, I'm worried." the skeleton said.

"Damn, we don't even have a boss, how are we supposed to fight?" Wu Xiaode said.

"We can only fight to the death!" the skeleton shouted.

"We can't hold out," Wu Xiaode said calmly, "Brother, an hour, do you think we can hold these rocks?"

"Then what?" the skeleton turned to him.

"I have a plan, but you have to cooperate." Wu Xiaode said.

"What plan?"

Wu Xiaode found a relatively flat spot and lay down, motionless.

Even a cyclops would be blinded by this mist, unable to see his movements.

Besides, this mist is a manifestation of his will.

It must understand him!

Wu Xiaode thought silently.

Sure enough, the mist gradually enveloped him, hovering over him and forming several bloody wounds, even materializing into a spear—

Just like the spears the demon cavalry held—

Piercing Wu Xiaode's chest.

It looked like he was done for.

Wu Xiaode was very satisfied with the effect.

In general, whether it materialized into a lead ball or a gun, transformed into a mist wall, or formed a deathly scene—

The main characteristic of the 0-level Silent Mist is "illusion."

More importantly, the way it creates illusions is not common, even unique in the world.

—To achieve the goal of "killing the competition," it will do anything!

The skeleton watched, gradually filled with questions.

"Hey, the battle hasn't even started, why are you faking death?" it asked, dissatisfied.

"Our position is just a small mound. The best way to hold it for an hour is to make sure no one attacks it, and it will naturally be held." Wu Xiaode said with his eyes closed.

The skeleton was stunned.

"What if the demon cavalry just pass by?" it asked.

"The key to this position isn't the mound, but us— as long as we're alive, the position is held." Wu Xiaode said.

"Right, as long as we're alive, the position is held." the skeleton nodded.

Exactly!

The mound doesn't matter!

The goal is to hold for an hour!

As long as I'm alive in the position and hold out for an hour,

The mission is complete!

The skeleton jumped up, "Brother! My good brother, can you help me?"

"Lie down." Wu Xiaode said.

The skeleton threw its shield and immediately found a spot to lie down, starting to disassemble its bones.

It disassembled itself into a mess, leaving only a skull with ghostly flames.

Now there was a problem.

"Good brother, as long as a skeleton has ghostly flames, it means it still has fighting power, see this—"

The mist fell, gently embracing the skull.

Cracks appeared on the skull, and the ghostly flames in its eye sockets disappeared—

Even a hard dagger was stuck in it.

"Thanks, good brother." the skeleton said.

"Shut up, the cavalry is coming." Wu Xiaode adjusted to a more comfortable position.

"Yes, good brother." the skeleton said.

The position was silent.

After a while.

The sounds of weapons clashing, spells exploding, horses neighing, and monsters screaming came from all around.

The battlefield was in chaos.

"Kill them all!"

The Demon Lord's voice echoed across the battlefield.

The cavalry began to charge the undead positions!

There was no movement on Wu Xiaode's side, no spells were cast, and no armed undead were present.

—So no cavalry came to attack.

After about ten minutes.

A parabolic object fell, landing in Wu Xiaode and the skeleton's position.

It was a three-headed dog.

It struggled to get up, roared, and was about to charge out again.

Several warhorses quickly charged over.

The demon knights on the horses simultaneously threw their spears forward—

The three-headed dog was pinned to the ground by the spears, struggled for a moment, and then stopped moving.

It lay between Wu Xiaode and the skeleton.

The demon knights looked around.

A dead person, a dead skeleton, a dead dog.

Three deaths in a row.

Done!

The demon knights spurred their horses forward, retracted their spears, and turned to attack other positions.

After a few minutes.

"Hey, there's a dog here, what do we do? Will it affect our faking death?" the skeleton whispered.

"It won't, don't you think it makes the scene more realistic?" Wu Xiaode also whispered.

"…You're right."

The skeleton relaxed and sighed.

On the battlefield, the fighting was intense.

Occasionally, a demon knight would turn and see a dead person, a dead skeleton, and a dead dog lying there.

The dog's body was still bleeding.

The demon knight would immediately turn and charge toward other positions.

The battle became more intense.

More positions were breached by the demon knights.

The sounds of spells, weapons, and dying monsters filled the air.

But on the position Wu Xiaode was defending, fewer and fewer demon knights charged over.