Zanxing

Chapter 57 - Demonic Curse (1)

Unexpectedly, offering prayers to the Exam God actually worked.

Yanxing realized this and, before she could feel happy about it, she heard Huayue's furious voice: "Yanxing, what are you doing? Why is this demonic cultivator not attacking you, but only me?"

She turned her head and saw Huayue's face, twisted in distress, one foot already sunk in the mud and struggling desperately. Earlier, Yanxing had drawn the attention of the Tomb of the Dead, so Huayue hadn't directly confronted it and didn't know how troublesome it was. After his sword was half-absorbed by the Tomb, it refused to let go, allowing the Tomb to seize the opportunity to ensnare his leg.

Initially, it was Huayue who was watching the show; now it was Yanxing's turn to be a bystander. She simply crossed her arms and stood to the side, chuckling, "It only targets you because you're so annoying."

"You little brat!" Huayue shouted angrily, "Hurry up and pull me up! If you harm a fellow disciple, do you think the sect will let you off?"

Yanxing shrugged her shoulders. "You're on your own; I'm not going to help you. Right now, it's your fight with the demonic cultivator, and if you're weak, that's not my problem. But you can struggle a bit; who knows, you might still have a chance?"

She smirked and pulled out a handful of pills from her robe, tossing them near Huayue like pebbles.

"What are you doing?" Huayue suddenly had a bad feeling. The massive face in the earth seemed attracted by the pills Yanxing threw, its eyeballs rotating to look at her, and then its eyes gradually narrowed, revealing a sly smile.

Its lips slowly parted, emitting a nauseating stench. Huayue was alarmed and trembled, "Don't come over—"

Before he could finish, a soft, blood-colored tongue accurately coiled around him, pulling him into its mouth like a snake swallowing a worm.

He didn't even have time to crush his exit talisman before he vanished from sight in the soil.

The ground began to writhe again as if digesting its recent meal.

Yanxing suppressed her discomfort and stood her ground, neither fleeing nor attacking the Tomb. She carried incense ash on her person, which had led the Tomb to regard her as a "dead person" and refrain from attacking her.

"Why isn't she moving?" Xuanling asked nervously, gripping his cat's tail too hard, causing it to screech and leap from his arms.

Li Danshu chuckled, "Did you not see the pills she just threw?"

"I saw them," Cui Yufu said, puzzled. "Is she trying to make the Tomb stronger by giving it some pills?"

"Those aren't energy-replenishing pills," Li Danshu adjusted his almost-falling hat and looked at Yanxing with satisfaction. "Those are sleep-inducing pills."

"1, 2, 3, 4..." Inside the Xumi Jiezi Scroll, Yanxing silently counted.

When she reached 30, the Tomb of the Dead's eyes began to droop, its eyelids battling against each other like a drowsy student in class.

Yanxing thought to herself, great, the sleeping pills worked.

Recently, Tian Fangfang complained to Yanxing about the cold of Gufeng Mountain in winter, saying he couldn't sleep at night because of the pressure from the upcoming exam, which had led to hair loss. Since Yanxing was attending an alchemy class, she practiced making a few sleeping pills for him.

After taking them, Tian Fangfang indeed had a good night's sleep until dawn.

Yanxing had asked Li Danshu about the pills; they weren't toxic and didn't cause dependency. The ingredients were easy to find, so she had made a whole box of them for emergencies. She had brought some for the exam and just now, while Huayue was clashing with the Tomb, she tossed a handful of sleeping pills, which contained energy and weren't considered dead objects, so the Tomb would inevitably consume them.

One sleeping pill wouldn't be a problem, but a whole handful would elicit some response from even a demonic Tomb.

Sure enough, moments later, the Tomb of the Dead was snoring heavily, completely unconscious.

Yanxing took a deep breath, grasped her iron staff, and stepped in front of the Tomb, stepping on its face. The Tomb showed no reaction, even producing a small bubble from its nose.

It seemed to be fast asleep.

Yanxing felt relieved and channeled all her energy to the tip of the staff, gripping it with both hands and slamming it down!

Xuanling: "..."

The three characters "Yanxing" on the ranking stone suddenly soared forward as if riding a spiritual boat, jumping several lines at once. Eventually, she landed in the third row, barely making it to the thirtieth position.

The youth outside the Qingxin Mirror could no longer hold back, standing up with a frown, "This person is taking shortcuts! Is this really considered passing the exam?"

"Seventh Junior Brother," Xuanling consoled him, "Using your wits is also part of the exam. Our sect not only looks at cultivation but also intelligence."

"That's not right!" Gu Baiying felt a surge of frustration. He had thought Yanxing, as the heir to the "Qing'e Nianhua Staff," would possess some real skill. Even if he ridiculed her, he still held a glimmer of expectation. He didn't anticipate her to be so unorthodox, relying only on clever tricks, and resorting to such a sneaky way to pass the exam, making it hard for others to watch.

It was simply a disgrace to Fairy Qinghua!

"However, I see she's struggling against a high-level demonic cultivator like the Tomb. She must be relying on a bit of luck and cleverness," Yueqin said quietly. "Her final ranking will probably hover around her current position."

"You think this girl is so lucky," Zhao Mayi laughed. "Could it be she's encountering the Demonic Curse?"

"There are only two Demonic Curses in the entire Xumi Jiezi Scroll. In the past decade of exams, no disciple has ever encountered the Demonic Curse. Do you think it's that easy to meet one?" Cui Yufu scoffed.

After he said that, no one paid him any mind. Cui Yufu felt puzzled and turned around, only to see everyone's gaze fixed on the Qingxin Mirror. He glanced over and was stunned.

Yanxing had just defeated the Tomb of the Dead and had gained a large amount of energy. After being swallowed by the Tomb, her clothes were sticky and messy. She was about to use a cleaning spell when she turned around and saw a man in black standing in front of her.

Outside the mirror, Mendong's lips trembled: "Demon... Demonic Curse."

The Demonic Curse was a particularly powerful type of demonic cultivator.

To speak of it, the history of the demon race is as long as that of the human race. There are those like the Two-Headed Asura, who were originally human but fell to darkness due to various circumstances. There are also those who were once lifeless, nurtured by demonic energy, giving rise to demonic spirits, like the Tomb of the Dead.

These are typical examples of postnatal demons. However, there is another type that has existed since the beginning of time, possessing the purest demonic bloodline, untainted.

Inaccurately speaking, the demonic cultivators previously encountered in the Xumi Jiezi Scroll were all postnatal demons. The innate differences between them and the demons born of magic primarily manifest in their appearances.

Innate demons, aside from different hair and eye colors, appear just like ordinary people.

The Demonic Curse is an innate demonic cultivator.

This type of demonic cultivator possesses intelligence and thought. Aside from being a different species, they are indistinguishable from humans. A Demonic Curse is at least equivalent to a Yuanying level cultivator and is fierce, bloodthirsty, and cunning. Encountering one is a nightmare for human cultivators.

In the past, countless human cultivators died at the hands of Demonic Curses during the wars between humans and demons. Even though it is difficult to depict such a being with energy, the painter of this Xumi Jiezi Scroll was quite skilled, yet even he could only draw two Demonic Curses and nothing more.

At this moment, Yanxing looked at the figure before her and didn't need to think; she knew she had encountered a Demonic Curse.