Chapter Eighty-Five: Truly Worthy of an S-Rank Talent! The Sinister Demon of the Eerie Temple!-The Age of Global Simulation(White as a celestial crane)

“Don’t look at the petrified Striders! They’ve turned into demonic statues. Staring at them is the same as staring at those demonic effigies—you’ll end up as a statue too.”

Chen Fan’s heart pounded furiously, his body trembling slightly—he was clearly shaken.

“Thank you, Night, that was careless of me…”

Lin Qiye’s voice was calm. “No need for thanks. Let’s keep moving.”

“All right.”

“Night, have a lot of Striders died?”

“Yes. Judging by the cries, about three thousand are dead.”

“Three thousand?” Chen Fan inhaled sharply. “We’ve only just entered the Black Mist Marsh and already lost three thousand! That’s terrifying! Night, will we even make it to Star City?”

Lin Qiye’s features were cold and resolute. “We will.”

Hearing Lin Qiye’s assured reply, Chen Fan felt an inexplicable calm wash over him. “As long as you say so, Night, I’m at ease! We’ll definitely make it to Star City safely!” His tone brimmed with excitement.

Lin Qiye smiled faintly, lowering his gaze as his mind brushed over the map. ‘Once we cross this Black Mist Marsh, it’s another two hundred miles to the entrance of the ruined temple. Once inside, the danger drops by about half. I’ll need to find a reason to break away from the group and slip into the temple. In any case, I must secure that wisp of celestial energy! I have to seize this opportunity in one fell swoop. If I miss it, I’ll have to face the danger again on my own. Now that a diamond-grade demon lair has descended, soon demons will swarm the area around the temple. If I return later, the risk multiplies tenfold. I’d need to reach diamond Strider strength to survive it. So… I can’t waste this once-in-a-lifetime chance!’

He clenched his knuckles, thinking silently. The wisp of celestial energy was only four hundred miles away. Once through the marsh, it would be within reach. He could not give up. After all, the lure of such power was overwhelming at this moment for Lin Qiye.

With fierce anticipation burning inside him, he and Chen Fan pressed forward at a brisk pace.

Ten minutes passed.

Chen Fan beamed. “Night, those demon statues aren’t so scary after all… As long as you don’t look at them, your life isn’t in danger!” His tone was light and confident.

Lin Qiye replied, “…Be cautious. This is only the beginning. The dangers in the Black Mist Marsh are not limited to petrifying demon statues…”

Sure enough, as soon as he spoke, a girl’s ethereal voice began humming in the distance. The sound was piercing, burrowing directly into their minds—a sweet, familiar tune that made one want to join in and hum along.

Lin Qiye’s heart tightened. “Fan, don’t hum along. If you get caught up in the melody, you’ll lose your senses and be lost in the Black Mist Marsh!”

He suddenly struck Chen Fan on the back of the head, snapping him out of it. Chen Fan, terrified, fought to restrain the urge bubbling in his heart.

Just then, the warning of a gold Strider echoed in the minds of the silver Striders. “Don’t be drawn in by the song! Whatever you do, don’t hum along!”

But the warning came a few seconds too late. A large group of silver Striders were already lost to the melody—their eyes blank, movements stiff, walking straight into the statues, vanishing without a trace.

Lin Qiye didn’t dare look around, but he estimated that at least a thousand Striders had perished this time as well. In other words, of the more than six thousand silver Striders, only a little over a thousand remained. The casualties were staggering.

“It’s no wonder—the demons of the main world are merciless. They’ve already culled over four thousand of us with a single stroke… What carnage.” Lin Qiye clicked his tongue, his vigilance intensifying as he and Chen Fan raced onward.

After another ten minutes’ frantic rush, cries rang out ahead.

“Not good! There’s a mutated demon statue among the statues that can move at high speed!”

“A gold Strider’s already fallen. Everyone, you’re on your own!”

“Remember, when it appears, you’ll hear its eerie laughter. At that moment, you must keep your eyes open and lock onto it! Only by staring at it will you keep it from dashing behind you and snapping your neck!”

The gold Strider’s voice trembled. Clearly, even he was terrified. Fear spread like wildfire; most of the silver Striders broke down, wailing in despair.

“What kind of fiend is this? Can’t we just go back? I don’t want to go to Star City—I’d rather stay in Li City and await my fate!”

“Let’s go back, please! Let’s go back!”

“Staying in Li City, there’s at least a sliver of hope. But crossing the Black Mist Marsh means facing pure terror and despair! We silver Striders can’t take it, we just can’t!”

Collapse came in an instant. Faced with the despair and horror wrought by the demon, the silver Striders were reduced to tears.

Chen Fan gritted his teeth. “Night, what do we do? Even gold Striders are dying—should we join the gold Striders?”

He was clearly on edge.

Lin Qiye lowered his gaze, thinking deeply. “You can’t look directly at the statue cluster, or you’ll turn to stone. But you must stare at the high-speed demon statue or it’ll kill you. One slip and you’ll see a statue—this is hell-level difficulty! How do we get out of this?”

He racked his brain.

“Quick, lock onto it!”

“I can’t, there’s a statue in the way—run!”

“We’re finished, three gold Striders are down… What now?”

Shouts echoed from ahead; clearly, even the gold Striders couldn’t handle the neck-snapping demon.

Lin Qiye’s brow furrowed.

Suddenly, from the rear of the silver Strider group came a high-pitched, chilling giggle.

“Heeheehee!”

The grating laughter of the neck-snapping demon swept in from behind—another one had appeared at the rear.

Crack!

The sound of necks being twisted by immense force, mingled with screams, rang out non-stop. In the span of a few breaths, over a hundred silver Striders lay on the ground, heads twisted at unnatural angles, eyes wide with terror as they bade a silent farewell to the world.

The demonic laughter drew ever closer to Lin Qiye, making his scalp tingle. Chen Fan’s heart hammered in his chest, almost leaping from his throat.

“Night, what do we do? It’s coming!”

Lin Qiye was equally tense. Suddenly, inspiration struck.

‘If a statue stares at it, will it stop moving?’

With that thought, Lin Qiye’s voice came quick and urgent. “Fan, stand back-to-back with me! You cover my back—I’ll deal with the neck-snapping demon.”

“Okay!”

Chen Fan nodded vigorously. He never doubted Lin Qiye—whatever Lin Qiye said, he did, no hesitation.

Lin Qiye smiled. “Good. With you covering me, I can focus all my effort on the demon.”

He was free of distractions. Lin Qiye let out a cold laugh. Though his hands covered his eyes, he could still sense the demon’s location.

At that moment, the neck-snapping demon fixed on him and leapt. Lin Qiye parted his fingers just enough to peek and locked eyes with the fiend.

In an instant, the demon froze in place, unmoving.

It was a mannequin-like humanoid, its skin pale and wrinkled, two withered arms trailing to the ground, legs bent like a locust’s, grotesque in form. Its face lacked a nose, mouth, and ears; where the mouth should be was a slit stretching to the back of the head, crudely sewn shut like a botched doll. The chilling laughter rasped from that stitched “mouth.”

Most striking of all were its tiny, bean-like eyes, burning with a crimson, evil light that shone like lasers on its prey. It stared at Lin Qiye, its featureless countenance twisted into a sickly grin, as if it were certain of killing both him and Chen Fan.

Lin Qiye despised that smile.

He focused on the nearby statues. ‘The original statues are rooted in the marsh, but the newly formed ones can still move…’

He’d found a solution.

Harnessing his lightning power, he shaped it into a dragon and slowly moved a freshly petrified silver Strider. The statue’s gaze fixed on the demon.

“Will this work?” Lin Qiye wondered, closing his eyes quickly.

After a while, he opened them again. The demon was now utterly sluggish, inching forward as if mired in the depths of the marsh.

Lin Qiye grinned. He’d cracked the puzzle!

“Did it work, Night?”

“It did, but I can only restrain it for fifteen minutes. Let’s go!”

“Night, can’t you kill that thing?”

“It would take a diamond Strider at least to kill it!” Lin Qiye shook his head. “Fifteen minutes of restraint is the best I can do. Don’t overthink it, Fan—let’s move!”

“To the silver Striders behind us—catch up! The demon’s been pinned down!” Lin Qiye called.

The silver Striders cheered.

“Who helped us?”

“That was amazing!”

“It looked like Lin Qiye with the S-rank talent! Incredible! No wonder he’s a super-genius with S-rank powers—his insight and composure are almost invincible!”

“Thank you… thank you so much!”

“With someone like him, he’s destined to be a great power in his own right.”

The silver Striders were overcome with gratitude. Lin Qiye remained impassive, hurrying forward with Chen Fan.

Yet after less than five minutes, Lin Qiye and Chen Fan found that the gold Striders were suffering heavy losses: six had already had their necks broken, and another four had accidentally glimpsed statues and turned to stone. Of the original sixty-two gold Striders, ten had fallen in a flash—devastating losses.

Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow. “Good thing we handled one! If the two neck-snapping demons had joined forces, the carnage would have been even worse.”

He shook his head.

“Night, it was all your doing—I barely helped,” Chen Fan said, a little embarrassed. He really hadn’t done much.

“But Night, should you deal with that one too?”

“Yes! Fan, stay at my back and cover me. I’ll handle this demon. We need to get out of these marshes fast.”

As he spoke, Lin Qiye scanned the area. The normal statues were rooted firmly in the marsh, immovable. But the newly petrified gold Strider statues hadn’t taken root yet.

With a sweep of his lightning dragon, he picked up a gold Strider’s fresh statue and set its vivid green gaze on the demon. Instantly, the neck-snapping demon slowed as if it had been plunged into a quagmire. It let out a venomous shriek, its shadowy eyes fixed on Lin Qiye.

He remained unfazed, quickly moving to where Song Shu, Jiang Qingxue, Jiang Nian, and others waited. Seeing Lin Qiye stroll past the demon with his back to it, the crowd shuddered.

“Be careful, Lin Qiye! It’s only because we’re watching that the demon hasn’t broken your neck. If you keep being so reckless, you’ll never make it to Star City,” Song Shu frowned.

But Lin Qiye just smiled. “It’s all right. I’ve already subdued it. There’s another one behind us, also restrained. I use statues to lock it down, and its movements become sluggish. Each statue can hold it for fifteen minutes—let’s get moving!”

His words left the others stunned and skeptical, but after some thought, most were convinced. Gradually, they averted their gazes, and sure enough, the demon didn’t attack.

“So you use the statues’ gaze to restrain the demon? Fighting poison with poison—brilliant,” Song Shu exclaimed. “Well done, Lin Qiye! You’ve made a great contribution. Who would have thought we’d face two neck-snapping demons here? If they’d joined up, I shudder to imagine the outcome.”

He was pale, but there was relief in his eyes. “Lin Qiye found a way to counter the demon—so we’re safe now! Onward, onward!”

The group pressed forward with renewed calm for ten minutes. Then, the first restrained neck-snapping demon caught up.

“Heeheehee!”

The ghastly laughter echoed through the marsh. The silver Striders at the rear murmured nervously.

“It’s here, it’s here—we have to watch it!”

“Turn—”

Crack!

Before the words were out, several silver Striders’ necks were snapped. Their eyes stared, dumbstruck, wanting to look at the demon, but their broken necks could no longer turn—their last sight was of the statues nearby. As soon as they glimpsed the statues, their bodies began to petrify.

Lin Qiye frowned. He parted his fingers slightly to peer at the demon and pinned it in place, then sent his lightning dragon to sweep up a freshly made statue and set its gaze on the fiend.

The eerie laughter ceased abruptly.

Up ahead, the gold Striders were awed. “What a formidable silver Strider. Is this the power of an S-rank talent? He’s stronger than ten gold Striders and has saved at least half of us!”

They were full of admiration. “I respect a newcomer like this. With time, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with. By the time we reach Star City, we might be relying on him.”

Their regard for Lin Qiye soared.

Nearby, Jiang Nian smiled with dimples. “A true genius, to devise such a plan in a desperate moment. What a sharp mind.”

Jiang Qingxue nodded. “Indeed. Statues in the Black Mist Marsh can’t be moved, that’s the rule—but newly formed ones can. For a silver Strider to notice such a detail and use it to counter the demon, that’s impressive. Smart, bold, and quick-witted.”

It was the first time she’d praised Lin Qiye.

Jiang Nian grinned. “My sister rarely compliments anyone. For her to praise a young man—he must be extraordinary!”

Jiang Qingxue quickly returned to her icy demeanor. “Just stating the facts. But he’s still got a long way to grow.”

She shook her head. “Let’s go. Once we’re out of the marsh, things will be much safer.”

With hushed whispers, the gold Striders hurried through the marsh. An hour later, Song Shu, Jiang Qingxue, Jiang Nian, Lin Qiye, Chen Fan, and the surviving gold Striders finally left the statue cluster behind. Without the statues, the neck-snapping demon’s sinister laughter faded away.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the silver Striders especially—tears of joy streaming down their faces. “Thank heavens, we made it out alive!”

“That was a nightmare!”

Up ahead, Song Shu shook his head gravely. “Don’t celebrate too soon. We may have escaped the demonic statues, but we’ve entered the territory of another demonic entity—one even more dangerous.”

He gazed at the shadowy outline of a building amid the foul mist, his face growing ashen. He sighed deeply. “What I feared most has come to pass…”

“Everyone, unfortunately, we’ve run into the most bizarre of temple demons. If a temple demon appears in the Black Mist Marsh, it means these two marshes are beginning to merge and expand. The danger is so great that even diamond Striders can fall here.”

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, his tone heavy with frustration and resignation. “Now, we have two choices: one, turn back; or two, enter the temple. Inside, there will be demons, and what claims to be a god. Usually, the ‘god’ will demand you burn three sticks of incense and offer your faith. Whether you make it through after that depends on your luck. Some make it out missing an arm, others never leave at all…”

His voice trembled with fear. “I think I’ll head back to Li City. For the rest of my life… ah.”

With that, Song Shu and four trusted gold Striders turned back, giving up. No one wanted to gamble their lives on the demons ahead.

As Song Shu left, other gold Striders exchanged glances, and in the end, forty-two gold Striders and over nine hundred silver Striders chose to return to Li City.

In front of the faintly visible temple, only Lin Qiye, Chen Fan, Jiang Qingxue, Jiang Nian, ten gold Striders, and six silver Striders remained, standing in silence.

“Lin Qiye, you found a way to counter the neck-snapping demon—you must have a way to get past the temple demon too, right? We believe in you!” The six silver Striders had blind faith in Lin Qiye.

The remaining gold Striders looked at each other. “Lin Qiye, do you have a plan? We don’t want to go back—there’s a diamond-grade demon lair there too, and that’s certain death. We want to take our chances at Star City. Help us, we’ll follow you!”

Unconsciously, Lin Qiye had become the group’s core. Even Jiang Qingxue and Jiang Nian were watching him intently.

“Do you have a solution?” they asked.

Lin Qiye said nothing. Instead, he quietly activated the Genesis Simulation.

[This simulation will consume 100,000 walking points; you will have 2.29 million left.]

[Simulation result: Enter the temple directly, burn three sticks of incense for the demon god, and offer your faith. No one else should burn incense—let you go first. Everyone will survive.]

Lin Qiye was surprised by the result. That’s it? That’s all? He pondered the reasoning but, after a while, could not figure it out and only shook his head.

“Let’s go—follow me in.”

“Night, you have a plan? Are we really going in? Didn’t they say this temple demon can kill even diamond Striders?”

Lin Qiye’s face was calm. “I don’t know if it will work, but we have to try.”

At his words, the ten gold Striders’ faces changed dramatically. “You’re going in without being sure? Then we’d better turn back!”

Despite his impressive methods against the neck-snapping demon, they dared not bet their lives against something even deadlier—especially since Lin Qiye had no certainty.

Lin Qiye smiled lightly, surveying the dozen or so who remained. “If you want to follow me, come. If not, I won’t force you. I’m no god—why should I guarantee anything?”

With that, the ten gold Striders looked at each other, then turned and left.

“Back to Li City. Maybe we’ll get help from a diamond Strider. If we follow this guy into the temple, we’ll die for sure!”

“Yes, at least there’s hope in Li City. The temple is a death trap!”

With sneers, they departed, leaving only Lin Qiye, Chen Fan, Jiang Nian, and Jiang Qingxue. The ten gold Striders and six silver Striders all went back.

“What about you two? What will you do?”

Jiang Nian smiled, her eyes alive with mischief. “Of course we’ll follow you, little brother. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Lin Qiye shook his head. “But what if you die with me?”

“Well, that’s not your fault. It’s just the diamond-grade demon lair descended so suddenly,” Jiang Nian replied with a playful grin, seeming to have great faith in him.

Lin Qiye glanced at her, then strode to the temple entrance.

“Let’s give it a try and see if my method works!”

His aura gathered, exuding a grandeur that seemed to support heaven and earth.

…

PS: Pulled an all-nighter for this 6,000-word chapter—please vote for me, I beg you!