Chapter 85: The Dark Ages
[Soul Prison Trial, Session 216]
[Generating world…]
[Loading…]
[Matching…]
Gong Lianyue’s consciousness drifted in a dark void, a sense of confusion washing over her.
She had successfully shattered the monolith in the previous session, obtaining a Void Moon Stone, and had been informed that the next trial would return to a team-based format.
But each participant cleared the trials at their own pace. What if no one else cleared the second level? Would she be stuck here indefinitely?
As Gong Lianyue looked around, she noticed a strange set of numbers in the corner of her vision.
Like a health bar in an online game, the numbers [18/20] appeared before her.
Was this the number of matched participants?
She couldn’t help but marvel. The Soul Prison Trial was becoming more and more like an online game, with loading screens, completion rewards, and automatic matchmaking.
[20/20]
Swish—
The moment the number reached twenty, a brilliant white light engulfed her vision.
The girl’s consciousness faded, and she lost consciousness.
In a hazy dream, she received a series of fragmented messages.
[Soul Prison Trial, Third Level: The Dark Ages]
[Objective: Survive in this world of blood and despair. Survive three sessions to proceed to the next level.]
[Session duration changed to one hour.]
[Those who die within three sessions will be permanently disqualified from the trial.]
[All treasures obtained in this world can be brought back to reality.]
…
…
A dark, cold, and damp dungeon, the air thick with the stench of blood.
The ancient stone walls were covered in dust and insects, the air filled with a faint, chaotic spirit energy and a nauseating stench.
Clang, clang, clang!!
As a piercing bell rang, a blue-haired girl, her hands and feet bound by chains, slowly opened her eyes.
Her cold eyes, like shimmering teardrops, and the six water droplet-shaped beauty marks on her cheeks, gave her an air of icy beauty and sorrowful compassion, evoking the image of a saintess.
But associating the word “saintess” with this dungeon setting… didn’t bode well.
“Aaaaaaaaaah, where am I?!?”
A sudden, high-pitched scream startled Gong Lianyue, and she turned her head.
Not just her, but the other dozen or so girls imprisoned in the dungeon also turned towards the source of the scream, a small girl with a terrified expression on her face.
The small girl, clearly in shock, trembled uncontrollably.
Clang, clang, clang!!
The piercing bell rang again from the corridor outside. Another girl looked around warily and said, “Quiet! We’re already on the third level. Why are you still making such a fuss?”
“I suggest we all keep our voices down. We can’t summon our spirit beasts here. We don’t want to attract anything unwanted.”
There were twenty girls in total, matching the number Gong Lianyue had seen earlier.
They all wore thin, worn-out shirts. It was a decent fit for the petite Sorrowful Saintess, covering her thighs, but for the other, more… developed girls, it was rather revealing.
Gong Lianyue calmly observed her surroundings, a growing sense of unease washing over her.
The air in this world disgusted her, a visceral revulsion emanating from deep within her bloodline.
Just then, a short-haired girl asked nervously,
“I have a bad feeling about this. Do you know what the Dark Ages refers to?”
“Isn’t it just the name of this level?”
“No, I mean the Dark Ages recorded in history.”
“Tens of thousands of years ago, the concept of Spirit Masters didn’t exist in many realms. Humans were like livestock, raised and slaughtered by low-rank spirit beasts.”
“Without Spirit Masters to guide them, these low-rank spirit beasts remained in a primitive, chaotic state and were quickly eliminated by natural selection. There are few records of this period, known as the Dark Ages.”
“…”
“…”
“So, we’re in the ancient past?” Gong Lianyue asked casually.
To her surprise, all eyes turned towards her.
They stared at her makeup, seemingly in disbelief that it was natural, like some kind of divine or ancient bloodline mark.
“Wait, are you a human-beast hybrid?” someone asked in surprise.
“Eh????”
Gong Lianyue blinked, dumbfounded. Although her face was a bit unusual, with her strange makeup, she wasn’t related to beasts! That was insulting!
However, what the short-haired girl had said about the “Dark Ages” seemed to be true. She felt an instinctive aversion and disgust towards this world.
During this period known as the Dark Ages, humans were merely livestock raised by spirit beasts, just like them, trapped in this dungeon.
Clang, clang, clang!!
Clang, clang, clang!!
Suddenly, the sound of a bell drew everyone’s attention. A strange shadow appeared outside the cell.
Thud. Massive footprints dented the ground as the shadow approached. As its grotesque form came into view, the girls’ faces twisted in horror.
A four to five-meter-tall humanoid pig, its body covered in lumps of fat, adorned with various bladed weapons, drool dripping from its massive jaws.
The pig-man’s appearance was utterly disgusting. Even more terrifying was the oversized cleaver it carried, wider than the girls’ bodies, capable of dismembering them in an instant.
A bloody stench clung to it, as if it had recently feasted.
As the girls watched in terror, the pig-man grabbed the twisted metal bars of the cell door with its fat, fleshy hands. With incredible strength, it slowly straightened the bars.
The girls covered their mouths, their small bodies trembling. Even Gong Lianyue, her usually expressionless face, couldn’t help but twitch.
What was with this horror movie scene?
This was terrifying. She would definitely have nightmares…
Chapter 86: The Sorrowful Saintess’s Trump Card
[Soul Prison Trial, Session 216]
[Soul Prison Trial, Third Level: The Dark Ages]
Clang!
The lock on the cold dungeon cell was ripped off, and the terrifying, massive pig-man entered, its bloodshot eyes scanning the girls’ figures.
Heads bowed, they remained silent, a wave of terror washing over them, the oppressive atmosphere almost unbearable.
Finally, the pig-man’s gaze settled on the girl with the most… voluptuous figure, drool dripping from its jaws.
“We’re doomed! Bite your tongues and kill yourselves! Even if we die, we only lose our trial qualifications!!”
“Don’t panic! Think about it, which is more important, your bodies or the Soul Prison Trial? We might not die!”
“No, no, no, being ravaged by a pig… that’s definitely a loss, right?”
“Just curious, is this your first time? If not, maybe…”
“Wait, what are you four talking about!?”
“That pig… is female…” Seeing the other girls’ optimistic chatter, Gong Lianyue couldn’t help but point out the obvious.
The excited whispers instantly ceased, a heavy silence falling.
The female pig-man, unable to understand human language, grunted impatiently. It raised its cleaver high above its head and brought it down.
Chop!
“Aaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!”
Blood and gore splattered everywhere, the dungeon echoing with terrified screams.
The voluptuous girl, the pig-man’s initial target, was reduced to a pulpy mess, returning to reality, permanently disqualified from the Soul Prison Trial.
Regret and frustration aside, her elimination was so sudden, she was probably still confused.
Less than twenty minutes into the third trial, the group number had dropped to nineteen.
If they truly couldn’t use their spirit beasts in this level, then both the difficulty and danger were far greater than before. As frail humans, they were practically helpless.
After chopping the girl into mincemeat, the pig-man bent down and began to devour the remains, making sickening, disgusting sounds.
“Chomp, chomp, chomp~~”
A few moments later, the pig-man stood up, letting out a satisfied grunt.
Blood and gore were splattered everywhere, some even landing on the girls, but they didn’t react.
They desperately suppressed their fear, waiting for the pig-man to leave.
Its bloodshot eyes scanned the cell, finding nothing amiss. Just as it turned to leave, it suddenly stopped and turned back, startling the girls.
Its gaze locked with the blue-haired, teardrop-eyed girl’s sorrowful, indifferent eyes. What was with that look? Why was she staring at it?
The pig-man’s expression twisted into a frown, its previously satisfied mood turning sour.
An unhappy pig-man had an increased appetite. Its stomach suddenly rumbled.
Clang, clang, clang!!
Only now did they realize the bell sound was coming from inside the pig-man’s stomach…
The pig-man lumbered towards the blue-haired girl, its eyes fixated on her pitying expression, its grip on the cleaver tightening.
What the hell?
Seeing the pig-man approaching angrily, Gong Lianyue was completely bewildered. She had no idea what she had done to provoke it.
But pleading and begging were useless now. She had finally been summoned to the Soul Prison Trial. She didn’t want to be eliminated on the third level for no reason.
It seemed she had to reveal her ultimate, hidden trump card, her absolute, one-hundred-percent guaranteed, sure-kill technique!
Without hesitation, the tears in the blue-haired girl’s eyes shifted.
Gong Lianyue had a secret she had kept hidden for ten years: she possessed five distinct forms.
She called them—
[Normal Form]
[Show-Off Form]
[Natural Form]
[Rage Form]
[Sorrow Form]
Normal Form was her everyday appearance, cold and aloof, yet with a hint of sorrowful compassion. Just meeting her gaze was enough to make one feel insignificant, intimidated and overwhelmed.
Show-Off Form involved letting her teardrop eyes overflow, turning them into a shimmering, ocean-like blue, a calm and ethereal gaze, like a deity possessing her body, somewhat similar to He Daoqi’s Colorless eyes.
She had used Show-Off Form once during her awakening ceremony, leading to the misunderstanding about the Variant Water Emperor and cementing her reputation.
Natural Form involved manipulating her pupils to create a vacant, slightly foolish expression, perfect for playing dumb. (See cover image for reference.)
And Rage Form…
The pig-man was about to raise its cleaver when it met the blue-haired girl’s gaze and froze, its entire body trembling.
The ice-blue teardrop eyes deepened, intensifying, the six beauty marks on her cheeks accentuating her now-furious expression, like an empress whose anger could pierce one’s soul.
Dominating, wrathful.
Under the girl’s furious gaze, the pig-man felt a chilling dread, its hand trembling as it gripped the cleaver.
An invisible pressure filled the cell, an aura unimaginable for a human.
Was this not enough…?
Gong Lianyue felt a surge of anxiety. This was the effect of deepening the color of her tears, creating a double-pupil effect. It was effective against humans, but clearly not enough for a pig-man that regularly consumed human flesh.
Although she couldn’t summon her spirit beasts in this world, she could still use some ordinary spirit techniques.
Of course, ordinary spirit techniques had no effect on spirit beasts, unless—
Gong Lianyue channeled the silver Steel Moon within her soul core, releasing a heavy, oppressive aura. Even incomplete, it was a legendary spirit technique.
[Heavenly Full Cold Moon – Steel Moon Chapter]
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
A terrifying wave of spirit energy distorted the air, a deafening cracking sound echoing through the cell.
The ancient, unparalleled aura of the Lost Scroll, like an invisible wave, washed over everything.
As if struck by a hammer, the pig-man collapsed to the ground in terror, then scrambled out of the cell.
“…”
“…”
The heavy pressure of the Steel Moon, combined with the blue-haired girl’s furious expression, was incredibly intimidating.
Silence filled the cell, the other girls stunned.
A human Spirit Master’s power was indeed insignificant against a spirit beast, but what about a human-beast hybrid?
Could a mere pig-man possibly withstand the mysterious power hidden within her bloodline…?
Just what was this perpetually weeping girl?
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