Chapter 2373 — Chapter 2373 An Unfathomable Curse
5 min read ·
Even as Yuan slowly approached her, Supreme Ruler Dena remained completely motionless, as though she hadn't noticed him at all.
Yuan, however, didn't let his guard down. Despite her stillness, he approached cautiously. Even in silence, her body radiated an invisible but overwhelming aura of tyranny, not to mention the immense amount of natural killing intent that oozed from her very existence, likely a result of her killing and devouring countless demons since she was exiled to the Deprived Crimson Valley.
Yuan stopped a few meters in front of Supreme Ruler Dena and called out in a soft, gentle voice, as if he was beckoning a child, "Dena, can you hear me?"
"..."
Silence.
He waited for a few more moments before taking another step.
"Dena."
Once again, he was met with silence.
Yuan continued approaching her one step at a time until he stood right in front of her, remaining cautious the entire time and ready to attack or defend at a moment's notice.
However, when he was standing only inches away from her, Supreme Ruler Dena remained motionless, her head buried in her knees.
After a moment of silence, Yuan suddenly sat down directly in front of her.
"Dena," he called out to her again in a gentle voice. "It's me, Tian Chenyu."
"..."
Although Supreme Ruler Dena remained silent, Yuan sensed a subtle change within her aura—a faint fluctuation, almost as if she reacted to his name.
"I don't know why you're doing all of this, but it's time to wake up," Yuan continued speaking to her.
"Remember our promise? Although I'm a bit late, I have returned to fulfill it."
The fluctuation became even stronger, but for some reason, Supreme Ruler Dena remained motionless.
Yuan suddenly narrowed his eyes, staring at her—or more specifically, into her.
He then reached out and gently touched her soft hand with a finger.
However, the very next moment, Yuan quickly pulled his hand back, which was now throbbing with pain.
He stared at his hand with raised eyebrows.
"This is… a curse?" he muttered.
Yuan could instinctively tell that a powerful curse was binding Supreme Ruler Dena, likely the reason she remained unresponsive. However, it was clearly no ordinary curse.
Strangely, despite not understanding it, the aura of the curse felt oddly familiar to him.
Yuan took out the Sacred Chalice of Purification and tried to remove the curse with it. However, getting her blood proved far more difficult than he expected.
Even though she remained completely still, Yuan had to exert all his strength just to make a small cut on her hand.
"Her blood is… black…" Yuan swallowed nervously when he saw it, the color completely different from what he remembered.
However, an even greater shock came when Supreme Ruler Dena's blood was absorbed by the Sacred Chalice of Purification.
The treasure suddenly trembled violently, and cracks began to appear across its surface.
"Ah?!"
Yuan cried out in disbelief. He never expected the curse binding Supreme Ruler Dena to be so powerful that it would damage the Sacred Chalice of Purification.
Although the outcome was disastrous and unexpected, it wasn't entirely futile since he could feel that the curse binding her had weakened significantly afterward.
"Looks like I won't be able to use this thing until I get it fixed…" Yuan sighed. After putting away the damaged Sacred Chalice of Purification, Yuan returned his focus to Supreme Ruler Dena.
A moment later, Yuan reached out and touched her hand again. The pain immediately surged back, and he could feel the curse devouring his longevity as if trying to replenish the power it had lost.
Seeing this, Yuan quickly realized that the curse was a living one—requiring energy to sustain itself, as well as growing stronger over time.
"Is the calamity outside caused by this damn curse trying to grow itself?" Yuan muttered after realizing this possibility.
"This curse might not even be a curse at all… but an organism—a parasite!"
Realizing this, Yuan immediately infused his spiritual energy into Supreme Ruler Dena's body and began examining every inch of it.
Despite her petite appearance, the inside of her body was incredibly vast, much like the space within the cocoon, almost as if it were its own world.
Yuan spent days searching through her body before finally discovering the source of the problem.
Hidden deep within her dantian, he found a grotesque mass of flesh tethered to her core, constantly siphoning Supreme Ruler Dena's energy and converting it into its own strength.
It was unlike anything Yuan had ever seen. However, he remembered hearing a theory in the past that powerful curses could eventually evolve into living entities—much like how Soul Weapons could awaken their own consciousness and give birth to a spirit.
"So it's actually possible for a curse to evolve… What an unsettling existence…" Yuan narrowed his eyes at the parasite-like curse, which looked like a caterpillar sealed inside a cocoon, waiting for the day it would transform and emerge.
Just as Yuan prepared to attack the curse before it could fully evolve, the curse sensed him, and a massive eye suddenly opened up on the lump of flesh. Moments later, numerous smaller eyes opened across the fleshy mass. At the same time, a large mouth split open beneath them, drooling with dark, viscous blood.
"Who… are… you?" The curse spoke in a chilling voice with an eerie tone.
"My identity doesn't matter," Yuan replied calmly. "But I can tell you why I'm here."
"Oh…?"
"I'm here to get rid of you, you disgusting parasite."
"Get rid… of me…? Why…?"
"Not only do you not belong here, but you're feeding off my friend while wreaking havoc outside. Just how many beings have you devoured to strengthen yourself?"
"Do you mean… the host…? This was… something… she… brought upon… herself…"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Yuan asked with a frown.
"If she hadn't… devoured me… If she had just allowed me… to be born properly…!" the curse snarled with hatred in its voice, leaving Yuan stunned into silence.