The Cursed Vessel and the Ancient Battlefield

The World of the Dead held endless secrets. In this realm, Primordial Demon Cities were by no means rare.

Countless ages ago, this world had been the center of all heavens and myriad realms, its history stretching back further than even the Celestial Realm itself. It was said that powerhouses from every world once came to pay homage here.

Back then, the vast majority of cultivators below the Stone Man and Supreme Ancestral God tiers had not participated in the war. They had gone into seclusion, and in time, they had condensed their own Demon Cities.

This was why so many Primordial Demon Cities stood within the World of the Dead.

Those cities had gathered together the might of all the worlds!

Though the World of the Dead had been shattered and had fallen into utter decline after that ancient war, that did not mean every powerhouse from that age had perished.

As for the Stone Men and Supreme Ancestral Gods of a billion years ago—after that final, earth-shattering battle, it was impossible to guess how many had survived.

The Pure Land and the ruins of the ancient battlefield were separated by only a thin dimensional barrier. The moment that barrier was torn open, rolling demonic mist surged in.

A deathly, sinister aura flooded the space, a stark contrast to the vibrant, life-filled Pure Land. The two were as different as heaven and earth.

“Is that the ancient battlefield?” Xiao Chen asked, his eyes gleaming with two faint golden beams. The most powerful beings of a bygone age had nearly all fallen there.

“Yes. That is the final ancient battlefield where the strongest of all the worlds fought their ultimate war. Countless mighty figures perished here. Though time has flowed on and eons have passed, what happened here can never be erased.”

Qingqing held Keke in her arms as she gazed through the torn dimensional barrier at the endless, pitch-dark world beyond. Within it lay the last traces of the ancient war between the gods.

“Ya-ya…” Keke was restless, struggling to squeeze into that space to see for itself, but Qingqing held it back.

“Do not enter rashly. It is extremely dangerous in there.” Ten thousand years ago, Qingqing and her companions had been blocked by this ancient battlefield and had been unable to cross it. Now, with their power, they might be able to try, but she was currently merged with the Dream Blossom and could not act freely.

What kind of world was this battlefield? What lay beyond it? Xiao Chen’s heart was filled with countless questions.

Bang!

This dimensional world shook violently. The dimensional barrier ahead was shattered, and an endless sea of white-bone creatures surged in from beyond, filling the sky.

At the forefront, several skeletal beings strode forward, swinging bone blades as they surveyed the surroundings with contempt.

“Who are they?” Xiao Chen stared at the limitless tide of bone creatures.

“They are fire-seed beings summoned by some powerful existence. They often attack this place, trying to seize the Dream Blossom.” King Qin Guang stepped forward to block their path, explaining to Xiao Chen at the same time.

“Can’t they be destroyed permanently?”

“There is no way to find the one behind them. There are countless fire seeds, and he can summon them at will. They can never be wiped out.” King of Reincarnation also walked forward, saying, “Our guess is that the one pulling the strings is a powerful malevolent spirit from the ancient battlefield. It is most likely the residual soul that was near the site where we obtained the Dream Blossom seed.”

“That old fossil is extremely cunning. Unless he is absolutely certain, he will never show himself. He just keeps sending people to harass us, interrupting our cultivation.” King Yan Luo attacked as he spoke, as if he had long grown accustomed to such incidents.

“This is not good. If they succeed, it will be too late to regret,” Xiao Chen said with a frown.

“We have the Deep Prison Abyss. We can cover this place with it.”

As he spoke, the three skeletons had already put all their strength into the fight, driving all the white-bone creatures out of this dimensional space and beginning a slaughter with utter ruthlessness.

It was then that the stone jar on Xiao Chen’s body suddenly vibrated lightly. Then, it flew out of its own accord and hovered in the dimensional space.

Keke, ever curious, wanted to grab it and play, but Xiao Chen stopped it. He knew well how strange and powerful this stone jar was, and he wanted to see what it would do.

Hum—

The stone jar trembled violently in the void. Though it was no taller than a palm, its power was like a surging tide, causing the surrounding space to collapse.

On its surface were countless ancient carvings. At this moment, they blazed with brilliant light, then, like a whale drinking from a river, began to madly absorb everything in this space.

Naked to the eye, streams of black light could be seen rising from every corner, converging toward the stone jar.

“That is… powerful soul force!”

“And also the power of curses!”

The three skeletons had just defeated the enemy and returned. Of all present, they were the most sensitive to the power of curses.

The stone jar continued to vibrate, absorbing the black radiance around it.

No—!

At that moment, a sharp cry rang out. The most powerful stream of black light shot toward the sky, trying to tear through space and flee.

Keke reacted quickly. It spread open Paradise Lost, covering that stream of black light.

Hum—

The stone jar vibrated, absorbing that black light completely.

“I understand now. His harassment of us was just a cover. Every time, he leaves behind part of his curse power and a sliver of his divine thought, hoping to one day suddenly turn the tables on us.”

When they reached this conclusion, the three skeletons were furious, and even Qingqing’s expression changed.

The power of curses was the most mysterious. The three skeletons themselves had only gained a preliminary grasp of it after accidentally inheriting some knowledge within the ruins of the ancient battlefield.

Qingqing said, “It must be the resentment of a powerful figure who fell in the final battle of the World of the Dead. Legend has it that curse arts reached their ultimate peak in that era, and many mighty beings were proficient in them. But after the war a billion years ago, the inheritance of curses gradually declined.”

At that moment, through the torn dimensional barrier, a thunderous roar erupted from the ancient battlefield. Even Xiao Chen and the others, powerful as they were, felt a tremor in their hearts.

“It truly is a malevolent spirit from the ancient times!” King Yan Luo’s eye sockets shot forth divine light as he stared into that ancient battlefield. “Pity this time, he tried to steal a chicken only to lose his rice.”

The stone jar seemed to be especially sensitive to soul force. It had once used this power to repel the mighty divine thought of the True Wood Female Saint. Today, it had shown its might again, and it seemed able to suppress the power of curses.

“Ya-ya—!” Keke suddenly cried out in alarm. The little creature wobbled as it was pulled toward the stone jar.

Xiao Chen was greatly alarmed and hastily blocked it, catching it in his arms.

The stone jar vibrated violently, its devouring power growing stronger. Just then, a wisp of black qi drifted out from Keke’s body.

“That is the power of a curse!” King of Reincarnation cried out in shock.

Xiao Chen instantly understood. Keke’s family had once been cursed, nearly wiped out. The so-called Heaven-Defying Clan counted not even five members—one could imagine how terrifying that curse must be.

And Keke, in particular, bore a double curse, because its mother was a natural-born Ancestral Dragon, who had also been cursed.

Knowing all this, Xiao Chen showed a joyful expression. It seemed the stone jar could break Keke’s curse.

“Ya-ya…” But Keke let out a cry full of fear. At the same time, Xiao Chen saw that its soul was about to break free from its body.

And now, the stone jar flew toward it on its own. Seeing this, Xiao Chen was horrified and quickly blocked its path.

King of Reincarnation shouted at Keke, “Do not circulate your divine power!”

Though the little creature was panicked, it had not lost its judgment. Hearing this, it quickly calmed down.

Strangely enough, the stone jar immediately stopped vibrating. Xiao Chen hastily grabbed it and sealed it inside the ancient scroll.

Only then did everyone relax from the tense situation.

The three skeletons understood curses well. With a simple analysis, they grasped the reason.

According to them, Keke was afflicted with a curse far beyond what ordinary people could imagine—an immensely powerful curse. It seemed to be one of the most fearsome curse arts from a billion years ago, enough to annihilate any golden clan that could dominate the myriad heavens.

Even if it was not the ultimate curse of that age, it could rank among the top five, far surpassing what the three skeletons could currently wield.

This curse power was already intertwined with Keke’s soul, fluctuating with its spiritual ripples. When the stone jar absorbed it, it nearly devoured Keke’s soul along with it. Only when Keke was completely still would the curse power slumber as well, allowing it to avoid the stone jar’s absorption.

According to them, no one could remove this powerful curse at present. None could separate it from Keke’s soul.

“Perhaps only by reaching the Stone Man King realm can one break the curse on one’s own. Outsiders simply cannot help.”

When King of Reincarnation finished speaking, Keke huffed a few times in frustration and clenched its little fist tightly.

Xiao Chen placed the stone jar back in his palm and examined it carefully. He had not expected it to be so powerful and heaven-defying. It could suppress curses and pure soul bodies—truly a precious treasure.

Keke, still frightened, had become unusually well-behaved, taking a few steps back. Xiao Chen and Qingqing studied the jar for a long time before reaching a conclusion. They said to the still-wary Keke, “It’s fine. Just now, the ancient curse power from the battlefield triggered the curse within your body, causing the stone jar to devour it. Under normal circumstances, that kind of accident will not happen.”

Hearing this, the little creature immediately shed its gloom and became lively again. It snatched the stone jar and turned it over and over to examine it.

“If something unexpected happens, you can immediately open Paradise Lost. It will instantly cut off all connection with the outside world.” Qingqing rubbed the little thing’s fluffy white body as she spoke. She had mastered the Deep Prison Abyss, a treasure space equal to Paradise Lost, and after studying it for over a hundred thousand years, she understood its secrets deeply.

“Ya-ya…” Hearing this, Keke grew even more confident and began to play with the stone jar without a care.

But soon, a strange expression crossed its face. Its large, intelligent eyes were full of doubt. It stretched out a little paw and pressed it against the stone jar.

Xiao Chen and the others were also dumbfounded. On the stone jar were countless crisscrossing marks, many of them overlapping. At this moment, when the little creature pressed its paw onto the jar, it perfectly matched a barely distinguishable “plum blossom print”—identical to its own chubby little paw print.

“This…” Xiao Chen was quite astonished. He had studied the stone jar for a long time after obtaining it and had never noticed anything. Now, the little creature had accidentally discovered this hidden pattern among the chaotic, overlapping marks.

It was like finding a regular shape in a chaotic three-dimensional stereogram.

Shua—

Suddenly, the hidden little paw print among the overlapping marks on the jar’s surface blazed with dazzling light. The little creature was so startled that it flung the stone jar away.

At the same time, it opened Paradise Lost, covering everyone inside.

A beam of blinding light shot out from that paw print on the stone jar, instantly piercing through the dimensional space outside. It took a long time for the space to restore calm.

Everyone exchanged glances, their hearts trembling.

“Ya-ya… I didn't mean to…” The little thing looked as guilty as a child who had done something wrong.

“That is the power of a curse!” The three skeletons instantly realized. King Yan Luo said, “It matches the curse power on Keke’s body exactly.”

“This is a cursed vessel. Not only does it seal a powerful soul, but it also contains all kinds of mysterious curse powers. What was just unleashed seems to be one of the most fearsome curse arts. If it were applied to a person, the consequences would be unimaginable.”

This was the conclusion Xiao Chen and the others reached after careful deliberation.

If used well, this would be a mighty war treasure. But if handled carelessly, it could harm the user themselves. The method of activation was bizarre, and the little creature had only triggered one of its terrible powers by accident.

In the following days, Xiao Chen and the others tried repeatedly, but they found it very difficult to release the curse power.

That power was too great. An ordinary person would be reduced to ashes the moment it touched them. Even the Heaven-Defying Clan, like Keke’s family, had only survived because their ancestors had borne the vast majority of the curse. After tens of generations, the curse on them had become much weaker than before.

In the following days, Xiao Chen experimented repeatedly and found that he could not precisely control this power. Even after focusing intently for dozens of attempts, he would not succeed once.

Meanwhile, he tried to remove the curse on the Little Defiant Dragon, a member of the Dragon Clan, but failed. The curse on it was also fused with its soul.

Half a month later, everyone except Qingqing set out to enter the ancient battlefield.

“We will be back in no more than a month,” Xiao Chen said, bidding farewell to Qingqing. He wanted to try his luck there and see if he could find an opportunity. After returning, he planned to go into secluded cultivation.

Keke waved reluctantly, “We will be back very, very soon.”

It was a vast battlefield, its end impossible to see. Ribbons of black mist coiled around it, and a gloomy, sinister aura filled the air. There were not very many bones on the ground—in fact, they were quite rare.

After all, those who had left their remains on this primal battlefield were the elites of all the worlds from a billion years ago. They could not be as common as ordinary fire-seed creatures.

“The master of the Heavenly Emperor City once retrieved seven Stone Men from this ancient battlefield, and Qingqing even obtained a Dream Blossom seed here. Perhaps we will have great fortune too.”

That seed from a billion years ago was even rarer than a Stone Man. Xiao Chen did not hope for the sacred relics marked on the Ancestral Dragon skin map, but he thought it might be possible to find the remains of one or two Stone Men.

King of Reincarnation warned, “Do not be careless. Even Ancestral God-level experts are reluctant to enter this place, because it is far too dangerous.”

Just then, everyone noticed a faint light in the distance.

“A treasure!” Sha Polang cried out excitedly.

Keke was also eager to rush over.

But the three skeletons immediately changed color and shouted, “Run!”

The faint light grew brighter, and everyone could now see it clearly. It was a ball of ghostfire, dazzlingly bright against the desolate, ancient battlefield.

An overwhelmingly powerful and terrifying aura surged like a tidal wave. Before King Qin Guang could remind them again, Xiao Chen and the others all felt it and fled at top speed.

“What is that?”

“That is the ghostfire of a Stone Man King!” King Yan Luo explained as he fled, still shaken. “It is almost as powerful as a true Stone Man King. If it touches anyone’s body, they will instantly turn to ash, with no hope of revival.”

“If we could collect and refine it, would it be like mastering a Stone Man King’s supreme divine flame?”

“Never take such a risk! It can never be refined. No one has ever succeeded.”

Fortunately, Xiao Chen’s Eight Aspect Worlds speed technique was fast enough. Half an hour later, they had completely shaken off that ball of ghostfire. They stopped before a vast ruin, where the black mist was even thicker, pressing down on them so heavily it was hard to breathe.

“There must be some great treasure here, right?” Sha Polang said, his eyes gleaming with greed.

“If treasures were everywhere, would it be your turn to pick them up?” King Yan Luo glared at him.

“Eh…” At that moment, Xiao Chen’s expression tightened. “I sense something unusual.”

Everyone’s ears pricked up, and they all became tense.

“A Heavenly Stele… It is a Heavenly Stele!” Xiao Chen was shocked. It was actually coming from deep in the World of the Dead.

“Beneath these ruins?” the Little Defiant Dragon asked.

“Far away. Very, very far.” Xiao Chen gazed into the distance.

“That direction is the forbidden zone of the ancient battlefield. It is said that very few have ever successfully crossed it since ancient times.” King Qin Guang’s expression turned grave.