Abundant Martial Arts Virtue
Chapter 67 - 53: The War of the Death Realm

Chapter 67: Chapter 53: The War of the Death Realm

Darkness enveloped him.

Wu Xiaode opened his eyes to find himself standing in a desolate, rocky wilderness.

Mist swirled around him.

Something was peering at him from the shadows in the distance.

The Book of the Dead opened instantly, displaying a line of ice crystal letters:

"Your Soul Power limit has reached 10 points."

"This is a turning point in strength; you need to serve the Death Realm. Only after achieving victory can you be promoted further."

Serve the Death Realm...

Damn it, I’m still alive.

Just as Wu Xiaode thought this, he saw a mist emanating from the Void, draping over him gently like a veil.

Silent Demon Mist!

It had activated automatically!

With a slight sense, Wu Xiaode found that this time it hadn’t taken any physical form but instead used the inherent deathly aura of the Demon Mist to cloak him.

—Why? Did it sense something?

The next second.

A voice came from far away:

"You startled me; I thought you were alive."

Wu Xiaode turned around.

There in the wilderness, a skeleton clad in metal armor slowly walked towards him.

A talking skeleton...

It seemed he really was regarded as one of the dead.

Perhaps in the long, endless stretches of time, no one ever thought that a person entering the Death Demon Cave could survive.

"Who are you?" Wu Xiaode asked.

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

"Human, dead," Wu Xiaode said.

"Nonsense! I can see that! I’m asking for your name!" the skeleton shouted.

"Qian Junde," Wu Xiaode said.

"That’s more like it. What’s your strength?" the skeleton asked.

"I have 10 points of Soul Power," Wu Xiaode said.

The skeleton held its forehead, exasperatedly said, "We all have 10 points of Soul Power; that’s why we’ve been summoned to this battlefield, idiot."

Seemingly having made a judgment about Wu Xiaode, it called out loudly:

"Listen up, newbie. We need to defend this position and prevent any entities from other camps from entering the Death Realm. Just hold for an hour, and the trial will be deemed complete."

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

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

Wu Xiaode looked around and saw in the distance, several mounds each guarded by various undead monsters.

At the nearest mound, there stood two skeletons and a tall man holding a magic wand.

That tall man looked pale, his face tinged with blue and black.

"That’s a Witch Demon; why didn’t I get to be paired with a Witch Demon?" the skeleton said, half in envy and half in jealousy.

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

"Not just that, we’ll also fall into an eternal sleep of death! So, kid, take this seriously and don’t drag me down to failure," the skeleton said.

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

"Anyone might— who wouldn’t want to see what the Death Realm is like? Some even want to steal some souls from the Death Realm," the skeleton said.

The skeleton said, and then looked towards another direction.

Following its gaze, Wu Xiaode saw several Three-headed Dogs squatting in the battlefield on the other side, their bodies engulfed in fierce flames.

"If only I had a Three-headed Dog as my partner... Why do I only have one dead kid here." The skeleton muttered again.

"Hey, it seems something is coming," Wu Xiaode said.

The skeleton immediately came to its senses and looked towards the front of the battlefield.

In the deep darkness, a humanoid figure entirely composed of fire appeared, with long wings and horns atop its head, flying in mid-air and loudly exclaimed,

"Charge, my children, attack the defenses of the Death Realm and let those skeletons and dead dogs know to never provoke us!"

On the distant desolate plains,

a dense cavalry appeared.

They all had horns on their heads, wore full armor, and rode flame-spewing warhorses, beginning to charge towards this side’s battlefield.

The Book of the Dead shook, and suddenly displayed a row of ice crystal letters:

"The Trial has begun."

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

"Success will grant you Death Source Power, enabling you to continue increasing your Soul Power limit."

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

Before Wu Xiaode could finish reading, he already heard the skeleton’s agonized groans:

"Damn it, why is it the Demon Lord? He is one of the most popular experts in the Demon Camp; we’re done for now..."

Wu Xiaode said nothing, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

Near other earthen mounds, those in charge of defense from the death system appeared somewhat disheartened.

This guy is strong?

Just looking at the dense cavalry on the desolate plains, it was clear that this was a tough battle.

"What’s the power of those cavalry?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Each has at least 10 points of Soul Power," the skeleton said.

"It seems this battle is just stacking numbers; one or two people can’t determine the outcome," Wu Xiaode concluded.

"Indeed, we can only fight it out," the skeleton’s eye sockets flickered with a reluctant, faint glow.

The massive army pressed forward menacingly.

The warhorses galloped, and the ground shook relentlessly.

An idea suddenly flashed through Wu Xiaode’s mind.

At the same time, the mist that draped over him seemed to understand his thoughts, drifting outwards.

Silently, the mist enveloped the battlefield.

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

"What is your ability?" Wu Xiaode countered.

"Hmph, I can embrace the enemy and perish together with it using the Death Flame!" the skeleton proudly said.

Wu Xiaode was taken aback.

—Who still chooses to perish together in a fight these days?

"Scared, huh? I’m telling you, don’t mess with me!" the skeleton growled menacingly.

"Really... that’s impressive. I will definitely not provoke you," Wu Xiaode said, looking at it as one would at a monster.

The long sound of a horn resounded.

The cavalry army gradually began to pick up speed.

"Less talk, you take the left, and I’ll take the right. We will each guard one side," the skeleton said.

"That Demon Lord is already pushing up the formation, but where’s our big boss on this side?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Don’t know, he hasn’t appeared yet, not sure what’s going on," the skeleton also sounded somewhat worried.

"Damn it, we don’t even have a boss; how are we supposed to fight this," Wu Xiaode said.

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

"It’s untenable," Wu Xiaode calmly assessed. "Brother, a whole hour, do you really think we can protect these broken stones?"

"What else then?" the skeleton asked, turning around to look at him.

"I do have a plan, but it’s up to you whether or not you’ll cooperate."

"What is the plan?"

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

Even the One-eyed Giant would be deceived by the mist and thus unable to see his movements clearly.

After all, this mist was a manifestation of one’s own spirit.

It must understand itself!

Wu Xiaode thought silently.

Sure enough, the mist gradually shrouded him, lingering over his body, transforming into several gory wounds, and even materializing into a long spear—

Just like the spears held by those Demon Cavalry—

It plunged fiercely into Wu Xiaode’s chest.

But this spear was broken, to prevent any real Demon Cavalry from pulling it out.

In any case.

It looked like he was done for.

Wu Xiaode was very pleased with the effect on his body.

Now he was also somewhat familiar with the power of Level 0 Silence Demon Mist—

Whether materializing into a lead ball or pistol, transforming into mist to obscure walls, posing in an SB shape, or the current gruesome death scene—

The main characteristic of Level 0 Silence Demon Mist is "illusion."

What’s more valuable is that it deploys these "illusions" in an uncommon manner, even quite spiritual, one of a kind in the world.

—To achieve the goal of "killing in the competition," it stops at nothing!

The skeleton watched from the side, gradually filling its mind with question marks.

"Hey, hey, the battle hasn’t even started, why are you playing dead already?" it asked discontentedly.

"Our position is just a small mound. To hold the position for an hour, the best way is to have no one come to attack it. Naturally, the position is then maintained," Wu Xiaode said, eyes closed.

The skeleton was stunned.

"What if the Demon Cavalry sweeps through the position?" it asked.

"The key to this position isn’t the small mound, it’s you and me—as long as we’re alive, the defensive position exists," Wu Xiaode said.

"Exactly, if there are people, there’s a position," the skeleton nodded in agreement.

Exactly!

The mound isn’t important!

After all, the mission objective is to hold out for an hour!

To be alive in position, withstand the hour.

The mission would be accomplished!

The skeleton suddenly jumped up and said, "Buddy! My good buddy, can you help me out?"

"Lie down," Wu Xiaode uttered one word.

The skeleton threw down its shield, immediately found a spot, and began dismantling its own bones, sprawling out on the ground.

It dismantled itself into a mess, leaving only a skull emitting Ghost fire.

Now there was a problem.

"Good buddy, as long as our skeletons emit Ghostfire, it indicates that we still have battle power. Look at this!"

The mist fell, gently enveloping the skeleton’s skull.

Several long cracks appeared on the skull, and the Ghostfire in its eye sockets disappeared—

Even a tough short sword was stuck in it.

The sword was broken.

To prevent anyone from pulling it out.

The skeleton said, "Thanks, good buddy."

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

"As you command, good buddy," the skeleton replied.

There was silence over the position.

After a while.

Sounds of clashing weapons, booms of magic, neighing of war horses, and the screams of monsters emanated from all around.

The entire battlefield was in chaos.

"Kill them all!"

The voice of the Demon Lord echoed across the battlefield.

The cavalry began their frantic charge towards the undead positions!

There was no activity from Wu Xiaode’s side, no magic was cast, and there were no undead wielding weapons.

—So there were also no cavalries coming to attack.

After about fifteen minutes.

A parabola landed far away, crashing right into Wu Xiaode and the skeleton’s position.

It was a Three-headed Dog.

It struggled to get up and burst into a roar, ready to charge out again.

Seven or eight warhorses rapidly approached.

The mounted Demon Knights simultaneously swung their long spears forward—

The Three-headed Dog was immediately speared to the ground, struggling for a while before lying motionless.

It lay between Wu Xiaode and the skeleton.

The Demon Knights glanced at this meager, pitiful defensive position.

A dead human, a dead skeleton, a dead dog.

Triple death.

Done!

The Demon Knights urged their horses forward, withdrew their spears, and without another glance at the breached position, they turned to attack elsewhere.

After a few minutes.

"Hey, there’s a dog here, what do we do? Will it affect our play dead?" the skeleton whispered.

"No, don’t you think its presence makes the situation here look even more realistic?" Wu Xiaode also whispered back.

"...I guess so."

The skeleton relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief.

Throughout the battlefield, combat was continual.

Occasionally, Demon Knights turned this way and would see a dead human, a dead skeleton, and a dead dog lying there.

The blood from the dead dog continued to flow.

Once the Demon Knights saw this scene, they immediately turned their mounts and charged elsewhere.

The battle grew even more fierce.

The ground was littered with corpses.

Positions of the Death Realm were continuously breached by Demon Knights.

Sounds of exploding magic, weapons clashing, and monsters screaming before their deaths were incessant.

But at the position held by Wu Xiaode, gradually no more Demon Knights charged over.