Chapter 2024 - 2023: The Secret of the Immortal Token, Journey to the Death Ancient City

"This idea was tried a long time ago, but it's very difficult to make it work."

The Sumeru Ancestor explained.

"Previously, people specifically captured those with the Cursed Body to study the power of the curse on them.

Later, they specifically practiced the Cursed Body.

But we found that the power of the curse grows stronger as your strength increases."

"Suppose, when an ordinary person is cursed, the power is 1, but for us strong individuals, it's 100."

"Do you understand what I mean?"

"No good end comes to those who actively entangle themselves with the power of the curse."

"Have you figured out the principle?"

Xu Zimei asked, "Why does the power of the curse change when it enters the body according to one's strength?"

"After various confirmations, we suspect it's likely because the power of the curse has consciousness," the Sumeru Ancestor said solemnly.

"That's the only explanation."

"This curse power is not just a force, but also a Consciousness Entity.

That's why it self-regulates its strength."

"Currently, we've only found one solution," the Sumeru Ancestor said.

"The whole Immortal Island is a curse, as I told you before.

Now it's in the process of converting from a Life Curse to a Death Curse.

The power of the Death Curse will definitely taint you unless you're invincible and fearless of death.

So, there's only the Life Curse."

"To condense the Cursed Body with the power of the Life Curse is the only way.

But the biggest problem lies here."

"The Death Curse is easy to find, just go to the Death Swamp.

But we simply can't find where the Life Curse is."

"This power of the curse is untouchable and unseen; many people are still searching without any clues or leads."

Hearing this, Xu Zimei finally understood.

The people of the Immortal Island seem to have a thorough understanding of the curse but cannot find the Life Curse, making the situation unsolvable.

After saying goodbye to the Sumeru Ancestor, Xu Zimei felt there was a need for complete preparation.

But he had no way forward either.

How was he supposed to find the Life Curse, which no one on the Immortal Island could locate, by himself?

Was he really supposed to go to the Death Swamp and rely on sheer strength?

After spending a day at the Hidden God Sect, during which a Disciple prepared a house for him, even the Sect Leader personally came to see him.

He hoped Xu Zimei would become a nominal elder in the Hidden God Sect, essentially an Honorary Elder position.

Xu Zimei originally wanted to refuse.

But thinking it over, since the Sumeru Ancestor had taught him so much and even directly gave him the Divine Herb.

It counts as a favor.

Xu Zimei ultimately agreed.

However, he made it clear in advance that he would not stay at the Hidden God Sect as an Honorary Elder.

The role was actually not much use.

After sending off the Sect Leader of the Hidden God Sect, Xu Zimei planned to sleep, but there was news of a disturbance on the Divine Continent.

It was Gongsun Muya looking for Xu Zimei.

Xu Zimei quickly returned to the Divine Continent.

Previously, he had given Gongsun Muya an Immortal Token and a drop of Sea Beast blood.

Gongsun Muya had finally completed his research.

"How did it go?" Xu Zimei asked.

"Two things," Gongsun Muya said directly.

"The first thing, this Sea Beast blood is very peculiar.

Through my research, I've found that the Sea Beast blood is identical to the natives' blood on the Immortal Island.

It's essentially the same bloodline, which is extremely odd.

Clearly, they are two different species; why would their blood be the same?"

This reminded Xu Zimei of what the Sea Beast had said earlier.

They, along with the natives on the Immortal Island, were spawned from the Essence Blood of the Old Tree, and to some extent, the bloodlines are identical except for their appearance.

He had his suspicions before, and it seems the Sea Beast wasn't lying.

"What's the second thing?" Xu Zimei asked.

"Regarding this Immortal Token, I discovered a mysterious power within it."

Gongsun Muya said.

"As for what this power is, I have never seen anything like it; you should take a look."

Xu Zimei nodded.

He went into Gongsun Muya's laboratory, which had sophisticated equipment.

Many of these Xu Zimei didn't understand.

In front of an experimental device, Gongsun Muya extracted the energy hidden within the Immortal Token.

Through a glass window, Xu Zimei saw a cyan force churning within.

This force was endless, intertwining, yet lacking in aggression.

For the first time, Xu Zimei was in awe upon witnessing such power.

"Is this the power of the curse?"

Immediately, countless thoughts flashed through Xu Zimei's mind like Shocking Waves.

"Could it be this coincidental!"

Indeed, Xu Zimei strongly suspected this curse power was the Life Curse mentioned by the Sumeru Ancestor.

Because he had seen the power of the Death Curse on Mu Yang, it couldn't possibly be like this.

This left only one explanation: the strange curse power before him was the Life Curse.

It turned out that people couldn't find the Life Curse because the source of its power was hidden within the Immortal Token.

And the story of the Immortal Token is just a legend, rarely taken seriously in the search.

But Xu Zimei didn't dare to claim for sure.

Primarily because he had never seen the Life Curse, and neither had anyone else.

"He could think of ways to obtain some Death Curse power from Mu Yang, and then let Gongsun Muya study it," Xu Zimei thought.

As long as they reverse-engineer it, they could nearly verify their findings.

He shared his hypothesis with Gongsun Muya, who also agreed with his reasoning.

...

The next morning, Xu Zimei set out to leave the Hidden God Sect with Mu Yang.

Mu Yang was anxious to return home to save her mother once she obtained the Divine Herb, and Xu Zimei had nothing else to do at the Hidden God Sect.

He drew some Death Curse power to bring to Gongsun Muya.

Xu Zimei retrieved the Time-Space Shuttle, which was much faster than traveling on foot.

Xu Zimei asked Mu Yang how she managed to come from the distant Death Swamp.

Mu Yang had climbed over mountains, quite lucky.

She avoided arousing the attention of the strong, and some who sought her luck were ultimately harmed by the curse power on her.

Xu Zimei decided to first travel to the Death Ancient City.

According to the Sumeru Ancestor, it was necessary to acquire the Divine Emperor's Armor.

Who knew whether going to the Death Swamp would lead to a fierce battle?

After all, Xu Zimei himself had no certainty either.

On the way to the Death Swamp, Xu Zimei began to train his present self.

If he could cultivate his present corpse at that time and wholly reach the Three Corpses Realm, Xu Zimei would be more confident.

After advancing into the Three Corpses Realm, his strength would go through a massive transformation.

More than ten days later, the Time-Space Shuttle stopped above the Death Ancient City.

Xu Zimei brought Mu Yang into the Death Ancient City.

This place was close to the Death Swamp, effectively the first line of defense against the swamp's expansion.