Such a sight is simply eerie!
Liu Ping clenched the broken blade tightly, swiftly severing the hands that gripped him.
Good thing he kept the blade with him!
Before he could get up, another hand emerged and seized him tightly.
"Won't bugg off, huh?"
Liu Ping deftly wielded the Broken Blade, swiftly severing all attacking arms.
But more hands surged forth, converging into a cluster, surrounding Liu Ping and halting him in his tracks.
But as the waves of arms surged like the vast ocean, the sword's light danced up and down, carving out an endless rain of blood.
The severed arms, along with blood, were flung away, sinking quickly into the ground. Yet, they revived, reappeared, and seized Liu Ping once more!
"Hold on!"
Suddenly, a cold sword light flashed from a distance.
The hands grasping Liu Ping were blasted away.
Two figures descended.
—The two grave keepers!
"Take him and go, I'll hold them off," the Golden Core monk commanded, gripping the longsword tightly.
The Qi Refiner hurriedly rushed forward, pulling Liu Ping along as they fled from the cemetery.
"Wait, why are we running?" Liu Ping questioned.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he lowered his guard.
The Qi Refinement cultivator led him onward without looking behind.
"That's not an opponent we can beat easily. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."
Liu Ping felt unease creeping up his spine 'Something is coming.'
From the depths of the earth, there echoed a sharp, piercing cry:
"You're not getting away!"
The world trembled.
Infinite black mist emerged from the ground, enveloping Liu Ping's body, and gradually dissipated after a few breaths.
Burning characters swiftly materialized before Liu Ping's eyes:
[You are marked!]
[Warning, you are locked on by an unknown entity!]
[For the next three hours, you will continue emitting peculiar fluctuations, allowing the entity to detect your location!]
The Golden Core sword cultivator shouted sternly "Foul creature—"
A powerful gust emanated from his body, causing the tombs to quake amidst the rainwater.
A striking sword aura pierced through the cold and gloomy atmosphere, swiftly disappearing into the darkness before piercing the ground in an instant.
From below came a furious roar that shook Heaven and Earth:
"Don't even think about running from me"
The earth writhed as if something immensely large was surfacing from below.
In that moment, Liu Ping sensed something being thrust into his hand by the Qi Refinement Stage practitioner.
Liu Ping glanced down to find a black talisman.
Having encountered countless types of talismans in his lifetime, he could be considered the individual with the most profound understanding of talismans within the entire realm of cultivation.
Even his masters can't compare to him.
However, he couldn't recognize this black talisman.
"They will hunt down your soul and body until they completely enslave you!" warned the Qi Refining monk urgently. "Remember, you have never been to the tomb in the future."
The qi refining cultivator chanted over the talisman, and in a brief moment, a gentle blue light enveloped Liu Ping entirely.
"What's this for?" Liu Ping asked quickly.
"The person who senses this charm will come to help you and take you out of the world of death—now go!" the monk urged, pushing Liu Ping forcefully.
With a hum, the talisman was fully activated. Liu Ping staggered, feeling as though he were being pulled by something. Suddenly, he transformed into a swift afterimage and rushed out into the void.
The roar of monsters, the wailing of the dead, the Shouting of cultivators—
Left behind, fading away in an instant, abruptly silenced.
Everything became blurred, fading on the horizon.
There was only the whistling wind in Liuping's ears, and he was being pulled in one direction by a strong irresistible force.
It felt like a long time also but a moment had passed—
Until he reached the darkness.
Darkness.
More darkness.
Endless darkness.
Endless silence and an abyss-like darkness enveloped everything.
No sound except for Liuping's breathing and heartbeat.
It all felt like a nightmare.
Liuping took a moment to gather himself, feeling a glimmer of hope. He reached out and gently pushed against the darkness—
And it gave way.
A faint, dim light fell upon his face.
Standing up and looking around, realizing that he was standing inside a coffin.
"Where is this place?" he muttered to himself.
Taking advantage of the dim light, he surveyed his surroundings.
It was an expansive underground cave, with coffins buried in the soil or embedded in the rock walls. They were densely arranged, stretching towards the far distance until they disappeared into the fog, making it impossible to see the end.
The faint wind echoed all around, producing eerie whispers that sent shivers down one's spine.
cautiously scanning his surroundings, without anyone in site.
The air was heavy with decay, as though death had been the only thing that had existed here for ages in this place.
Liu Ping tried to maintain his composure as he gazed into the void.
There, he saw lines of small characters appearing
[You obtained the Space-time concealment Spirit Talisman faith token]
[After examination, its attribute is determined to be similar to a Space and Time Coordinate Anchor.]
[Under specific conditions, you can utilize this item to instantly enter hidden space-time coordinates.]
[No other functions detected.]
"A token?"
"When did I acquire something like this?"
Liuping pondered suspiciously.
Suddenly, an arrow appeared in the void, pointing directly at his hand.
In his hand, the black talisman emitted dim light from time to time, as if attempting to detect something.
"This?"
Liu Ping sighed wearily, tucking the black talisman into his robes, and reclined back in the coffin.
In any case, he was utterly exhausted and needed to rest for a while.
. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . .
Half an hour later.
"Is anyone there?"
"Is anyone still alive?"
"Is anyone dead alive? it's ok even if you are dead."
Liuping's voice reverberated through the vast underground space, but there was no reply.
He let out a frustrated sigh and kicked the coffin beside him.
The coffin was empty.
Looking back along the path he had come, he realized that all the coffins he had passed were empty too.
All the coffins are empty.
'I woke up inside a coffin.'
'Could it be that the dead here have also woke up, just like me?'
'Could it be that master was the same?'
Liuping walked to a coffin, placed his hand inside, and traced along the scratches on the inner wall of the coffin.
"...the finger marks seem chaotic," he murmured softly.
A picture quietly emerged in his mind:
The dead suddenly waking up, and for some reason, they scratched at the coffin.
But these scratches were too random; they didn't seem to be intended to leave marks or convey information.
Liu Ping carefully examined the scratches, and as he silently envisioned the actions of the other person, two words gradually came to his mind: fear and pain.
He stood up and approached another coffin. There were fewer scratches here, but a pool of dried black blood remained.
He inspected the third coffin and noticed a deep handprint on its edge. Liuping extended his hand and gently pressed into the handprint.
"It seems like someone was clutching onto the coffin desperately, not wanting to let go..." he murmured.
With a sigh, he retrieved a pill from his storage bag, popped it into his mouth, and began to chew it slowly.
'Another dead world?.'
As he had just recently woken up, everything that was unfolding before him has far exceeded his initial expectations, leaving him unable to fathom the reality of it all.
"I need assistance," he declared.
But there was nothing but the eerie whistling of the wind around him.
No one. Nothing to respond to and no one but him.
In the void, two lines of small characters continued to flash:
"You are locked onto!"
"Remaining time: two hours and fifty-three minutes."
Liuping stared at the ominous message, a growing sense of urgency gripping his heart.
The swordsman was still stalling for time, and he needed to find a way out quickly.
"I must find a way out!"
'But as a mere Qi Refinement cultivator, escaping the relentless attacks of monsters in this unknown dead world won't be simple.'
After hesitating for several breaths, Liu Ping addressed the void,
"Hey, I was nearly killed just a moment ago!"
"I could have teleported to the Western Wilderness Camp, but in order to help you investigate the corpse, I got marked by that entity and could be killed any moment. where is the help you promised?"
For a moment, lines after lines of text emerged in the void:
[You encountered Wang Cheng (the monster).]
[This sequence has acquired information regarding the corpse.]
[Analysis completed.]
[Searching the void database for the monster type and checking for matches.]
[Result: No matching category found.]
[You've encountered a previously unknown entity.]
[—This sequence draws a preliminary conclusion]
[This monster is a unique species in the world of death]
[You need to search for more information to find the truth behind all this.]
[Since you have already engaged that monster, assisting this sequence in discovering an unknown species—]
[This sequence will offer you assistance without revealing its presence.]
[Congratulations." "You have gained the following extraordinary ability:]
[Mystery 'A Man Without a Role'.]
All the small characters flickered for a moment, then gradually vanished.
Liuping couldn't help but ask, "Hey, is this your idea of help? My blade is broken, the least you could do was give me a weapon, what is this 'A Man Without a Role' supposed to do?"
Soon after, a new line of small text appeared before him
[Do not underestimate this ability. In the endless world, the inexplicable holds great power and instills fear in others.]
Liuping immediately became interested, "Is it really that powerful? What exactly does this ability do?"
Another line of small text appeared: [Mystery 'A Man Without a Role'.]
[Activation method.]
[It can be activated once every twelve hours and lasts for fifteen minutes each time.]
[When activated, you enter a state of extreme obscurity, where many laws of the world will avoid you, and you won't draw undue attention from any entity.]
"In simpler terms," Liu Ping frowned.
The small text appeared quickly, drawing a conclusion,
[Put simply—]
[When encountered by other beings and entities, they will perceive you as insignificant and worthless.]
Liuping fell silent.
Worthless... He glanced at the few lines in the sky and said with difficulty, "Is this truly the kind of power that instills fear in others?"
A line of small characters responded:
[To be perceived as trash is actually a very powerful thing. Embrace it!]
The small text flickered and vanished completely from Liu Ping's sight, leaving only the two lines of small texts that had been there before:
"You have been locked."
"Remaining time: two hours and forty-eight minutes."