The Three Realms Thief Chapter 57
byThe centipede burrowed into the alchemy furnace, and instantly landed in the Underworld Realm, suddenly feeling a sharp pain in its abdomen.
“Who?”
It shot out like lightning, its several-meter-long body standing upright, vigilantly looking around, ready to unleash a fatal blow at any moment.
But—
In the vast desert, there was no one.
Only a bloody wound appeared on its abdomen, constantly bleeding.
“Come out!”
It let out an angry roar that shook the surroundings, even causing the sand on the ground to tremble slightly.
No response.
Silence.
Silence.
Utter silence.
The centipede looked left and right, seeing no signs of life.
Only a cold mist in the distance, lingering in the void.
That was the spatial passage to the Human Realm.
Had that human hidden in the Human Realm?
Understood!
At that very moment.
That person had flashed from “this world” to “that world.”
At this moment of world transition—
He attacked and wounded himself.
Remarkable.
A human, yet possessing such hunting skills.
This was a superior prey!
The centipede rapidly shook its body, retracting all the long barbs on its surface, then charged fiercely into the cold mist—
“Screech!”
It let out a strange cry, and the moment it emerged from the mist, all its barbs protruded outwards!
This wasn’t enough; its body spun in mid-air, instantly cutting through everything around it.
Even the mouth of the alchemy furnace clanged with impact sounds.
The centipede flew out, clinging to the wall, and looked back.
The anticipated confrontation, massacre, and devouring did not happen.
—Nothing.
No enemy.
No battle.
No blood, death, or souls.
The entire equipment storage room was as quiet as before.
That person still hadn’t appeared.
What was going on?
The centipede fell into confusion, then suddenly reacted, darting back into the alchemy furnace like lightning.
—That human must have entered the Underworld Realm again the moment it came out!
The centipede entered the Underworld, took one look, and flew back out.
Back and forth several times.
—Still couldn’t see that person!
Yet, it accumulated several new wounds.
Blood flowed down its body, forming “streams of blood” on the floor.
“Could it be…”
“He is invisible…”
The centipede mumbled in a low voice.
Inside the alchemy furnace.
Xu Yuan had made several consecutive moves just now and immediately began chewing on Body Healing Pills, seizing the time to remove the soreness and pain from his arm.
Because the centipede was originally in the “Underworld Realm.”
When it emerged from the mist, it exited the mouth of the alchemy furnace and arrived in the “Human Realm.”
And when it entered the mouth of the alchemy furnace, it directly arrived in the “Underworld Realm.”
—So it couldn’t even see Xu Yuan in the alchemy furnace!
Let alone harm him.
This was completely, utterly, and absolutely impossible!!!
And when Xu Yuan made his move, he only used—
To raise the Qiongxia Sword and stab at the mouth of the alchemy furnace.
The mouth of the alchemy furnace was in the same space as him, both belonging to the “Human Realm,” and it was relatively narrow, so he was sure to hit the centipede passing through!
In this battle.
Xu Yuan completely relied on his understanding of space and imagination to devise this highly targeted strategy!
After a few breaths.
The centipede suddenly spoke:
“You are an extraordinary fellow, but you have been locked by the Great Ghost’s curse mark, and your fate is sealed.”
“Why should I bother to eat you?”
“Just wait here to die.”
With that said.
It unhesitatingly climbed the wall, passed through the window, and fled.
…It fled.
But could things be that simple?
Xu Yuan swallowed the Body Healing Pills in his mouth, gently shook his arm, moved his fingers, and gradually relaxed his muscles from their tense state.
This was to prevent further injury.
Right now.
All he had to do was wait.
Wait for the rule of that nightmare-level event to take effect, or to cease to be effective—
“Hardcore salvation.”
“Mandatory match, carousel battle, a deathmatch from which there is no escape.”
—No escape!
Was this aimed at him, the participant, or at both combatants?
One breath.
Two breaths.
Three breaths.
Xu Yuan suddenly felt an indescribable something rising in his chest.
In the dark alchemy furnace, this thing was originally invisible, but wisps of ethereal flames rose from its surface.
—It was a human head!
The woman with seven or eight legs!
Her hair was disheveled, pallid flames burned in her eyes, and the corners of her mouth curled slightly as she spoke:
“To flee in front of a human, this is too shameful.”
Before she finished speaking, the head suddenly transformed into dense, tiny runes, forming a rectangular scroll of encrypted text in mid-air.
Several lines of faint words immediately appeared before Xu Yuan’s eyes:
“The ghost that responded to the predation mark has exceeded the predation distance limit from you.”
“It is about to suffer the backlash of the mark.”
The encrypted scroll scattered, turning into a stream of light that shot out.
Clang—
The window frame was completely shattered, and the centipede flew back in from outside the window, rolling onto the ground and emitting a series of miserable screams.
Xu Yuan remained still.
—If he were to follow common sense, striking now might achieve immediate success.
But he was hiding in the alchemy furnace, motionless.
After all, this was a position the opponent could not reach.
As long as he waited here, he would be invincible!
The next instant.
“I’ll kill you!”
The centipede jumped up, its body wrapped around the alchemy furnace, constantly stabbing the furnace wall with its mouthparts.
A series of thudding noises echoed from the alchemy furnace.
But it remained unharmed.
“Divine Might: Spirit Suppression!”
“…none can wound the body of the alchemy furnace.”
The centipede had no choice but to climb back to the mouth of the alchemy furnace, hesitating whether to burrow inside.
Suddenly.
A human mummy emerged from the mouth of the alchemy furnace, looking around curiously.
The commotion in the desert just now had attracted this “monster” — the mummy.
The centipede and the mummy locked eyes.
Silence for a moment.
“I’m going to kill you and turn you into one of us.”
—Just like when facing Xu Yuan, the mummy spoke with malice.
“It was you!” the centipede hissed venomously.
Before the mummy could react, it was struck by the centipede and they rolled together into the alchemy furnace, returning to the Underworld Realm.
They fought and bit each other all the way.
The mummy grabbed the centipede’s head, and they rolled down the sand dune together.
The centipede bit the mummy’s leg, using all its barbs to flay it a thousand times.
Sand swirled.
The sky turned dark.
Who knows how long it lasted.
The mummy finally fell to the ground, no longer moving.
The centipede vented its anger by biting the mummy, tossing it around, then spitting it far away.
—Won!
Damn it, that was so difficult!
The centipede, covered in wounds, slowly crawled back to the mist-shrouded spatial portal.
—Mummies have no souls.
So this battle was meaningless; it had miscalculated.
The centipede silently lowered its head, passed through the mist, and instantly returned to the equipment storage room.
It was about to leave, but suddenly stopped.
It looked down.
For some reason, several shocking wounds suddenly appeared on its body.
The centipede froze.
After a long while, it spat out a single word:
“Damn.”
A flurry of sounds like successive cannon fire came from within its body.
Swordsmanship—
Leaffall, Whirlwind, Arc Dance, Flying Swallow Chain, Swallow’s Return, Three Questions!
A series of consecutive moves, finished!
The Qiongxia Sword broke through the centipede’s lower abdomen and flew out, connected by a thread of spiritual light, suspended in mid-air, pointing at it from afar.
“I lost… but this flying sword technique… whose is it exactly…”
The centipede asked unwillingly.
A voice from the mouth of the alchemy furnace replied:
“At first, I never thought I could still use flying sword techniques, as my hand was no longer capable.”
“Then this sword—” the centipede said.
The voice from within the alchemy furnace replied:
“It comes from human potential.”
“As the saying goes, you must push a person to unleash their talent and potential, and this battle today proved just that.”
“My spiritual energy is almost depleted, so I had to come up with a new method.”
As he spoke.
A foot appeared at the mouth of the alchemy furnace.
Its position was extremely precise, exactly a few inches behind the furnace mouth, so that it could immediately retract if anything happened.
Those few threads of spiritual light were wrapped around this foot.
Never had such a thing been seen—
Perhaps this was the first person in human civilization to control a flying sword with their toes?
To be defeated by such an eccentric…
How unwilling.
The centipede thought dazedly.
The next second.
Its world turned into complete darkness.
Xu Yuan hid in the alchemy furnace; seeing no movement outside, he remained still.
—A centipede, though dead, never topples.
Who knew if it was truly dead or just pretending?
Wait!
Anyway, its entire body was full of holes, constantly bleeding.
If it wanted to put on a show, he could certainly oblige!
A few breaths later.
Suddenly.
A line of faint words appeared abruptly before Xu Yuan’s eyes:
“You have won a nightmare-level match.”
This line of text lingered for a long time.
—As if to say, this was an extremely important matter.
After a good while.
New small characters quietly appeared:
“In the continuous history of the Human Epoch, those who faced a nightmare-level death trap and managed to survive three consecutive battles are few and far between.”
“I want to see you.”
Who?
Xu Yuan was filled with questions.
The next instant.
A person appeared inside the alchemy furnace.
No.
Rather than a person, one might say he was like a god.
—He wore golden scale armor, rode on five-colored clouds, and behind him, a divine light shone as bright as day.
“And you are?”
Xu Yuan asked.
“I am your only companion, but from now on, you will be alone,” the person said.
“Companion?” Xu Yuan repeated.
“That’s right, I once selected many powerful extraterrestrial beings and reincarnated them here, but none of them were as outstanding as you.”
“—In other words, they all died.”
As the person spoke, the divine light around him gradually faded, like the setting sun or an approaching eclipse.
“You are the only one who faced a nightmare and managed to survive.”
“Honestly, you possess extraordinary talent for combat, surpassing all combatants in the conventional sense.”
“—Therefore, I bestow my power upon you.”
His finger pressed against Xu Yuan’s chest.
A line of faint words immediately appeared before Xu Yuan’s eyes:
“Your abilities have been supplemented, transforming into a Fundamental Origin Power Seed, and you are about to give birth to a personal fundamental challenge that can take on all events.”
“Thank you, esteemed sir, but may I ask your name?” Xu Yuan hastily inquired.
—The other party had flashed here, and with a mere flick of a finger, he couldn’t even dodge and was touched.
If there had been ill intent, he would probably have been finished.
The person, however, said:
“This is the last trace of true power from the Three Realms.”
“I can no longer hold on.”
“It is my last shred of goodwill toward this world, now passed on to you, hoping you can surpass existences like us from bygone eras.”
“Furthermore—”
“The reason you can see ghosts is because you have died three times.”
“This is an extremely rare occurrence.”
“You must seize this opportunity.”
“Wait a moment—” Xu Yuan called out.
But the other party continued: “And take this too. I don’t believe you’ll need it, as you probably won’t live to that point, but what if you do?”
A shrine was gently placed at Xu Yuan’s feet.
Xu Yuan keenly sensed something.
“Where are you going, esteemed sir?”
He asked.
The person smiled, saying:
“I have lived for far too long, and now it is time for my complete rest.”
With that said.
The dazzling divine light wheel completely faded.
That person transformed into dry sand, and was utterly dispersed into nothingness by the wind that surged from the void.
Darkness.
—Darkness once again enveloped the alchemy furnace.
Only a single line of faint words quietly lit up:
“You have won a nightmare-level match, rewards are about to be distributed.”
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