Demonic Treasure!

An illusion of the Spiritual Ascension Realm? A Demonic Treasure? Nearly 18 hours had gone by, and even some vital blood essence had been absorbed.

Zhang Baichi didn't know what to make of all of these pieces of information; There were to many things that he had never heard about, too many twists and turns.

However, Zhang Baichi knew that he did not have the time to carefully sort through all of the information.

The system's last notification was displayed in bright red, warning him to immediately leave this place. And even without the warning, Zhang Baichi could feel an invisible force pull at his heart.

It felt like something was forcefully pulling his soul out of his body. It was an utterly disgusting feeling, but Zhang Baichi had no idea how to resist this invisible force.

He looked around the vicinity, but everywhere he looked, there were only ever skeletal remains and dried blood as far as the eye could see.

'System, how do I get out of here?', he asked with urgency. Even now, he could feel how he was ever so slowly growing weaker.

[Ding! There is no conventional exit. Host has been transported to this place through a teleportation formation. It is possible to trace the special coordinates back to their origin and create a teleportation formation to escape.]

Zhang Baichi stared at the answer, dumbfounded. How was he supposed to trace any special coordinates? When had this world turned into a futuristic world?

Moreover, how was he supposed to construct the formation, even if he did have the coordinates? Zhang Baichi knew nothing about formations, feng shui, or anything of the likes, nor any materials!

'Am I supposed to become some voodoo shaman? Do you see anything but bones and blood? How am I supposed to construct a formation in the first place!', Zhang Baichi complained and cursed at the system.

[Ding! It is impossible for Host to create a teleportation formation.]

"No sh*t, you piece of junk! What can I do, then?!", he spoke out loud in anger, no longer able to hold his frustration back.

[Ding! The second stage of the Black Heaven Scripture's cultivation method is able to protect Host from the influence of Demonic Treasure. Alternatively, Host can destroy either the surrounding area to flee, or subdue or destroy the Demonic Treasure.]

Three new options were displayed to Zhang Baichi, but he immediately dismissed the second and third.

He had no idea how big the surrounding area is, nor how long it would take him to destroy everything, and he did also not dare to attack the Demonic Treasure.

It was a Demonic Treasure at the Spiritual Ascension Realm. He had never heard of that realm before, but that only meant that it must be even higher than the Nascent Soul Realm.

Someone at the Golden Core Realm like Jian Wubai was already impossible for him to defeat, much less someone at the Nascent Soul Realm.

While the Demonic Treasure was only an object and not a living, breathing cultivator, just the fact that it was supposedly stronger than a Nascent Soul Realm expert was enough to make Zhang Baichi immediately dismiss the idea.

That left only the second stage of the Black Heaven Scripture as an option.

He had long since reached the first stage, the Void Forge, but he still didn't know about the second stage, since that was meant for Qi Gathering Realm cultivators to utilize, not for him, who was still stuck at the Body Forging Realm.

That meant that even the Black Heaven Scripture, Zhang Baichi only option, was likely impossible to use.

His mind was occupied with the three options, and he was doing his hardest to think about a way to solve this problem, but he had no idea how to approach this situation.

A minute later, he grit his teeth and looked around again, searching for anything helpful. 'D*mn it. System, what's the easiest solution here? What should I do?'

[Ding! The easiest solution is for Host to subdue the Demonic Treasure. There is a 98 percent chance that the Artifact Spirit of the Demonic Treasure is either inactive or has been destroyed since the Demonic Treasure only enacts its natural abilities and does not target Host directly.]

'Are you serious…? I'm supposed to subdue it?', Zhang Baichi stared at the message in shock. The disgusting feeling of something sucking his soul was still in effect, even so far away from the Demonic Treasure.

How much worse would he face once he approached it? Or when he touched it in order to subdue it? Was it actually possible to survive this?

He once again asked the system, only to get an answer that caused his heart to sink.

[Ding! Given Host's natural abilities, willpower, and the strength of the Black Heaven Scripture, there is a 38.5 percent chance for Host to survive, and a 14.2 percent chance of complete success.]

Zhang Baichi did not like these odds.

He did not like these odds at all!

'It's not even 50:50 if I survive, but worse?! You're telling me this is the best method?!', he once again complained to the system, much more desperate than before.

[Ding! Subduing the Demonic Treasure has the highest chance for Host to survive and the highest chance for Host to succeed. The second best alternative is to reach the Qi Gathering Realm and comprehend the second stage of the Black Heaven Scripture.]

'…What's my odds of succeeding with that?', Zhang Baichi asked reluctantly.

[Ding! There is an 80 percent chance of success in reaching the Qi gathering Realm and comprehending the second stage of the Black Heaven Scripture. However, due to the special environment called 'Beastwilds Mystic Realm' and the various restrictions in place, there is only a 4.4 percent chance of survival.]

[Ding! The system strongly advices against the second method.]

"Less than 5 percent chance to survive? That's lunacy…", Zhang Baichi muttered as a chill ran down his spine. 'Was all of this planned from the beginning? Is this why no one above the Body Forging Realm can enter the Mystic Realm?'

He hesitated a few seconds, then looked up at the altar atop the mountain of skeletons. From his position, it looked exactly the same as the altar he had seen in the underground chamber before.

The soothing, gold-tinged crimson glow of the Demonic Treasure flowed down from just above that altar.

'F*ck. I'll just have to try.', Zhang Baichi cursed in his heart, but still stood up and started climbing up along the skeletal remains.

Bones creaked and cracked under his feet, testament to how old and withered they truly are, and how thoroughly the Demonic Treasure was sucking the blood out of them.

Zhang Baichi circulated the Black Heaven Scripture at maximum capacity to resist the invisible force pulling at him to little help.

Thankfully, he had broken out of the illusion before and was thus able to keep a clear mind, making his ascent much easier compared to the poor souls that had come before him.

In just a few minutes, he was already close to the peak, with the altar nearly within arm's reach.

The invisible force was pulling at him with unprecedented strength, and Zhang Baichi could feel himself losing strength fast. The Black Heaven Scripture amounted to little resistance with Zhang Baichi's lacking cultivation, but he would rather circulate his strength in vain than not resist at all.

With a close up view like this, he was able to finally see what the Demonic Treasure looked like.

Zhang Baichi did not know what he expected, but his was disappointed, none the less: In front of him was an ashen grey bracelet, that looked similar to Buddhist monks' prayer beads.

Only, there were not pearl-like beads, but instead small skulls of various animals, Demonbeasts, and even humans.

Zhang Baichi recognized a few of the skulls as those of harmless animals with his little knowledge of biology from his previous life, but there were many, many more that he had never seen before.

However, he did not care about these animal's skulls; He was much more concerned about the human skulls that he was seeing.

From their tiny size alone, Zhang Baichi could tell that they must be from small children, or even infants. Even that might not be accurate, but Zhang Baichi did not even want to imagine someone stringing up the heads of unborn fetuses into a bracelet…

"Disgusting bastards… How could someone do this!", he cursed, gnashing his teeth. 'System, how do I subdue this thing?"

[Ding! Host can approach the Demonic Treasure in the same way you would a piece of Spiritual Jade.]

"Of course, it's bullsh*t like that again.", he cursed again and again, then grabbed the bracelet with his hand. 'This better not hurt as bad as the Spiritual Jades…'

[Ding! It will be much worse since the Demonic Treasure will be actively resisting Host.]

[Ding! The Demonic Treasure is resisting Host. Please be prepared to subdue the Demonic Treasure. The System is encouraging Host to survive.]