The King of Curses

Chapter 362 The Great Evil Escapes from Prison
Upon realizing that the Heavenly Emperor's true intention was to break the seal, Yi Qingyan's figure vanished from the spot in an instant.

Regardless of the true intentions behind this mad act, the first thing needed to break the seal is to remove the killing blade, and that will not change.

Besides...

The name her brother used for the knife reached her ears, and the throbbing she had felt since seeing the ring knife transformed into a certainty at that moment.

That's mine!

For the first time, Yi Qingyan, who had never cared about worldly desires, had this thought.

Neither curses nor forbidden objects hold any meaning for a girl born with the talent to stand above millions.

However, that knife was different—

That wasn't greed, but a sense of entitlement, treating it as something that belonged to oneself, as if the knife itself were an extension of one's limbs.

Her speed was already at its limit; no one on this planet could surpass her in short-distance movement. But when Yi Qingyan's fingertips touched the hilt of the knife, it was like a dream, allowing the girl's fingers to pass right through it.

"I got it...wait, what?!"

A pure, surprised echo escaped from between his lips.

Yi Qingyan had absolute confidence in her speed, so she was able to conclude immediately that it hadn't moved immediately, but rather that it had never been there in the first place.

But if the Killing Blade isn't here, then what exactly is the seal it placed...?

"Ah."

A mocking chuckle came from behind.

Half of her face is that of an unparalleled beauty, and the other half is a skeleton, truly embodying the Buddhist concept of "a beautiful woman with a skull."

He lowered his eyes, raised his hands and placed them on his flat chest, making ever-changing gestures, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, his fingers gathering into graceful shapes, his moving fingers drawing phantoms in the air, just like flowers that bloom in full glory when their season arrives, and then wither and fall due to wind and rain, leaving only withered remains.

"All forms are illusory."

A deafening rumble of thunder reached Cen Dongsheng's ears. Unable to distinguish between illusion and reality, he saw cracks expanding in the air, bursting forth with light.

As the fog dissipated, the shadow of the Killing Blade vanished without a trace.

The enormous fleshy mass, once shrouded in mist, throbbed like a human heart, rapidly expanding with a deafening roar. Its dark red tissue swelled and multiplied uncontrollably, like a runaway horse, almost completely engulfing the underground space in the blink of an eye.

Cen Dongsheng immediately retreated and left through the dark passageway he had come from.

Within a third of a breath after he moved, the familiar cool fragrance lingered around his nose, and he realized that his sister had returned to his side. In the darkness, only her clear eyes shone with a bright light, staring ahead.

The fleshy ball multiplied to an incalculable size in a very short time, but it did not immediately make any predatory or attacking moves.

For a moment, the abyss was silent, save for the heavy breathing emanating from the fleshy ball.

A fleeting moment of... confrontation and calm.

Cen Dongsheng calmed himself down and said loudly:
"What on earth is this?"

“We call it the Great Evil, which is the gathering of all the filth in the world. Even celestial beings with great supernatural powers will fall into a curse of depravity when facing it, and will find it difficult to extricate themselves. I am afraid that mortals on earth are no match for it.”

The Heavenly Emperor's voice drifted from afar, and He readily answered the enemy's confusion. "It is somewhat similar to your power."

"...So, you actually released the monster on your own initiative. Are you crazy?"

"The balance of Yin and Yang is predetermined in the dark. Now that I have awakened, the time for the Great Evil to break the seal is just around the corner."

The Heavenly Emperor spoke with unwavering conviction, and the emotion contained within could be summed up in one word: calm madness.

"So there was still a little time to prepare. Even a little extra time would have been better, but why release it to us ahead of schedule?"

"You want that knife, but it's not here. Now, in this world, only I know its whereabouts. Once I take control of killing, I will be able to seal this great monster again and drive away you rude outsiders."

"...You don't hide it from me."

“Mortal, I am willing to believe what you just said this time.”

"what?"

"If I lose, I will tell you two where the sword is. If you want to protect the world, you must find a way to destroy the great evil or seal it here again, otherwise there will be widespread suffering and death. This is no exaggeration."

As they spoke, the great demon, who had just broken free of its millennia-old cage, seemed unable to suppress its instincts any longer and began to move. Dozens of dark red tentacles, each a hundred meters long, tore through the air and shot straight toward the figure suspended in mid-air.

With a flick of his sleeve, the Heavenly Emperor effortlessly deflected the tentacles with a surge of milky-white immortal energy. Only when billowing black smoke, emanating an extremely ominous aura, rose from the tentacles did He move aside, continuing to speak:
"In the end, who survives depends on their own abilities."

The Heavenly Emperor took the initiative to change the situation from a two-way confrontation to a three-way battle involving Him, Da Chong, Cen Dongsheng, and Yi Qingyan.

It was precisely because He foresaw this scene that He deliberately detonated the seal, which was already on the verge of breaking.

The reason… Cen Dongsheng could roughly guess. The battle just now was enough to convince the opponent that, in its current state, it couldn't defeat the combined might of the brother and sister, so it simply released the variable of the "Great Evil Spirit" earlier than planned—

In the blink of an eye, the scarlet fleshy ball, while capturing the Heavenly Emperor, still unsatisfied, extended its tentacles towards other life forms, and a murky, dark aura surged forth like a tide.
Cen Dongsheng's eye twitched, and he quickly dodged away.

As expected, the Heavenly Emperor understood the true nature of the Great Demon very well. He knew that once it broke free of its seal, it would not hesitate to see everyone else as its prey.

This fleshy ball, it's unknown whether it possesses its own will and reason... In any case, it exhibits an unusually greedy nature.

In this chaotic battle, the Heavenly Emperor had the advantage of having previously fought a long and successful war against the Great Evil; however, for the brother and sister, this was their first encounter with such an opponent.

If the great evil spirit is inherently without intelligence, it will be easier to lure it; on the other hand, even if the Heavenly Emperor loses in the end, Cen Dongsheng and the others will inevitably have to deal with its aftermath, and no one will let this demon go.

Even if it was a plan, the act of voluntarily unsealing a mortal enemy without hesitation is still shocking.

In pursuit of ultimate victory, he had no bottom line. From the Heavenly Emperor's actions, Cen Dongsheng sensed a kind of cunning that belonged only to warriors.

The Heavenly Emperor leaped into the air, soaring upwards, and white smoke rushed towards the sky above the abyss.

"He escaped! No... he's trying to kill someone! Keep up!"

As the brother and sister chased after the Heavenly Emperor, a colossal creature was also pursuing them from behind. The abyss, which was originally quite wide, was constantly being crushed by the expanding fleshy tissue, like a bright red tongue moving through a narrow throat.

The billowing black smoke emanating from that scarlet surface was rising upstream.

(End of this chapter)