Chapter 705 - 213: Defying the Heavens
After detailed decomposition of the Nano Mechanical Army’s concept, Qi Sheng’s gaze shifted to the Underground Cave World Scene.
There were new discoveries here.
...
Cave World, Scene 257.
A team of 23 players cautiously walked along the street.
The place they were in appeared to be a very unrealistic scene, with the sky looking like an overturned palette, blending various dazzling colors.
The hanging sun was a huge polyhedral crystal, refracting a seven-colored halo, enveloping the entire city in a bewildering light and shadow.
Beside the streets stood colorful buildings seemingly out of a fairy tale, with all sorts of gems inlaid on the walls of each building.
Chains formed by streams of light connected the buildings, adorned with wind chimes that swayed in the wind, emitting crisp sounds.
The ground was paved with semi-transparent glazed tiles, beneath which flowed a liquid made of crystalline particles, like a sealed galaxy beneath the earth.
Click!
At that moment, a clear shattering sound echoed.
The teammates all turned their heads toward the direction of the sound.
They saw a player in the team with an expression of helplessness, spreading his hands:
"It’s not my fault, blame the eagle for not giving a warning, I triggered a trap."
After speaking, his hair quickly turned white, wrinkles appeared on his skin, his bones began to bend, and his joints creaked under the strain.
"Damn, this curse is vicious."
The voice of the player who stepped on the curse trap became hoarse, quickly aging before the shocked faces of the player team.
Initiating decomposition sweep, the curse information appeared in the minds of the player team:
[Aging Curse (Curse System Ability)]:
Ability introduction: The Netherworld Crossing Clan crafted Scene 257 "Curse Source" for their new generation to hone the judgment and observation abilities of clan members, testing whether they are qualified to inherit Jiuyin divine grace.
...
As described in the decomposition, this is a scene filled with curse sources.
A single misstep could land you in a curse trap.
According to the guidance introduction, this is one of the core trial scenes before the Netherworld Crossing Clan accepts Jiuyin divine grace.
"Captain, I can’t make it."
The afflicted player trembled all over, directing his gaze towards the silhouette at the front of the team, as his health bar neared the brink of death.
The team leader walking at the front of the team appeared to be a woman around 20 years old, with short, neat hair. She wore a black combat suit, leather wrist guards adorned her wrists, and a Scattering Bow, formed from the condensed flames of Qi-Blood, hung on her back.
"Don’t panic, there is an antidote within seven steps."
Meng You said, raising her head to look at the wind chimes hanging on nearby buildings.
Although the curse scene was fraught with dangers, the core purpose of creating this scene by the Netherworld Crossing Clan was to test their new generation members, not to kill them.
Every kind of curse can be lifted in a specific way, and completing the curse removal test yields a reward.
The only problem is that the method to lift curses is not suitable for players.
This was designed as a trial for the new generation of the Netherworld Crossing Clan, without considering the life forms of other races coming to experience it.
Battle Skills practiced by the Netherworld Crossing Clan carry some purification traits, which can neutralize different curse effects through operating method.
For instance, the Aging Curse needed a specific operational method from the Netherworld Crossing Clan’s Cultivation Battle Skills, circulating through 203 nodes in the body, releasing energy to cancel the Aging Curse.
Other curses are similar, with each curse being unraveled by different cultivation methods.
For the new generation of the Netherworld Crossing Clan, this scene is like an exam course, all of which they have studied.
But the players are different, having neither the Cultivation Battle Skills of the Netherworld Crossing Clan nor a clear path to solve them.
The only way to lift the curse is by finding a nearby antidote.
According to the guidance introduction, to be safe, the Netherworld Crossing Clan left backup antidote information near each curse trap in the Curse Origin Scene.
They are hanging inside the wind chimes above the buildings.
When facing a curse that can’t be resolved, new generation clan members need to use the information in the wind chime to reach a designated location in the city to lift the curse before the curse kills them.
But opening the bell also requires a special solution method.
The players feel that this curse scene is like a life-or-death exam room.
As Earth people, they all have experienced exams.
But failing a test at most earns a scolding from parents, and that is the harshest punishment.
But it’s different for the Netherworld Crossing Clan.
For all students, not learning well means death.
Entering a scene first tests your judgment, identifying hidden curse sources, avoiding them to prevent curse invasions.
If you haven’t properly learned beforehand, or if you fall into a curse trap due to negligence, the next tests your ability to remove the curse.
It’s like memorizing math formulas; if you can’t solve them, it proves you haven’t studied well.
Luckily, not passing this stage doesn’t necessarily mean death.
The elders of the Netherworld Crossing Clan thoughtfully prepared a resurrection test to return life.
New generation clan members need to drag a body infected with the curse to solve the bell riddle, which tells them where the antidote is.
If even this fails, their parents outside directly invite relatives and friends for a feast.
...
Captain Meng You glanced at the wind chimes hanging on the building, but did not step forward to check what the exam question was; in fact, it was pointless to look.
As players, they needed to have their solution approach:
"Brother Guide, what’s recorded inside the wind chime?"
Guide opened his eyes helplessly, then marked on the map: