From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 66 The Battle of Inheritance

A blinding white light engulfed everything, and a deafening roar filled my ears, as if the entire world was collapsing. When I regained consciousness, I found myself bound by a powerful force, unable to move.

"Yao'er!"

I struggled to open my eyes, and through my blurry vision, Wen Chen's figure gradually became clear. He was trapped in another ball of white light, anxiously calling my name.

"Don't be afraid, I'm coming to save you right away!"

Wen Chen's voice was full of power, and the long sword in his hand shone brightly, with sharp sword energy slashing at the white light that bound him.

Only then did I realize that the white light was emanating from the guardian spirit. Although it had been severely injured by Wen Chen's Nine Heavens Profound Lightning, it seemed to still have a sliver of its consciousness controlling everything.

"You lowly humans, daring to covet the inheritance of the gods, all of you, die!"

The guardian spirit's voice was weak yet filled with resentment; it desperately tried to drag Wen Chen and me into the abyss of death.

"dream!"

Wen Chen roared, and the light of the longsword in his hand suddenly surged, a huge golden sword beam soaring into the sky, illuminating the entire secret chamber as if it were daytime.

"break!"

With a roar, the golden sword light slashed down, and the guardian spirit let out a shrill scream. The white light that had been binding me also dissipated.

Once I regained my freedom, I immediately flew to Wen Chen's side and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

Wen Chen shook his head, but his gaze fell on the spot where the guardian spirit had originally been. There, a ball of light radiating a soft glow floated quietly in mid-air, the very legacy that the guardian spirit had protected for thousands of years.

"Yao'er, we succeeded!" Wen Chen's eyes sparkled with joy.

I nodded, but a vague unease lingered in my heart. This secret chamber was about to collapse; we had to leave as soon as possible.

However, at that moment, a chilling laugh suddenly rang out in the secret room.

"Hahaha, it's like finding a needle in a haystack! You two have worked so hard for so long, so we'll gladly accept this inheritance!"

Accompanied by this chilling sound, several dark figures filed in from the entrance of the secret chamber. Leading them were none other than the masked man and Pavilion Master Sima, whom they had encountered in the maze earlier!

"What do you want?" My heart sank, and an ominous premonition welled up inside me.

The masked man sneered, his eyes greedily fixed on the ball of light of inheritance, and slowly said, "Hand over the inheritance, and I might consider leaving you with a whole corpse!"

I clenched my fist, and Wen Chen's expression also darkened. He drew his longsword, its cold light gleaming.

"If you want to inherit the legacy, then let's see if you have the ability!" Wen Chen's voice was as cold as ice, carrying a chilling killing intent.

Before he finished speaking, he had already transformed into a blur, his longsword thrusting straight at the masked man's face. The sword flashed like lightning, accompanied by the sound of air being torn apart, forcing the masked man to retreat repeatedly.

"Hmph, you won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences!" the masked man roared, and a jet-black curved blade suddenly appeared in his hand, its blade gleaming with a faint green light, clearly coated with deadly poison.

I dared not be careless, and quickly formed hand seals, unleashing a fire dragon technique towards Pavilion Master Sima. Pavilion Master Sima clearly hadn't expected that a "good-for-nothing" like me would possess such strength, and in his haste, he summoned a shield to defend himself.

In an instant, the secret chamber was filled with the glint of swords and the surge of spiritual energy, causing rubble to fly everywhere and dust to fill the air.

I was locked in a fierce battle with Pavilion Master Sima, effortlessly unleashing fireballs, ice spikes, vines, and all sorts of spells, catching him completely off guard. Meanwhile, Wen Chen's advance was unstoppable; amidst the crisscrossing sword energy, the masked man was clearly at a disadvantage, sustaining multiple injuries.

"This is impossible! How could you be so strong!" Pavilion Master Sima stared wide-eyed in horror, clearly unable to believe what he was seeing.

I sneered, changed the hand seals, and a bolt of lightning as thick as a bucket descended from the sky, striking directly at Pavilion Master Sima's head.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, Master Sima was scorched to a crisp and lay on the ground convulsing.

On Wen Chen's side, the masked man was also at his limit. He looked at Wen Chen and me in horror, his eyes filled with disbelief: "You...you actually obtained the inheritance of the gods?!"

Wen Chen did not answer, but the sword in his hand became even sharper. Seeing this, the masked man knew that he could not escape death today. A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly took out a black bead from his pocket and raised it high.

"Since I can't have you, then you won't have it easy either! You'll all be buried with me!"

"Oh no! He's going to self-destruct!" I was shocked and tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Just at this critical moment, an old voice suddenly came from the entrance of the secret chamber.

"stop!"

Immediately afterwards, two figures flew in, and a powerful pressure instantly enveloped the entire secret chamber.

"Elder Yue! Miss Ye!" My heart leaped with joy; I saw a glimmer of hope...

"Elder Yue! Miss Ye!" I exclaimed in surprise, as if I had grasped a lifeline.

Elder Yue's hair and beard bristled, his imposing aura overwhelming. With a flick of his sleeve, an invisible force sent the black bead flying from the masked man's hand. The bead tumbled through the air a few times before finally falling limply to the ground without exploding.

"You old scoundrel Sima, you're really getting worse with age! You actually want to use such despicable methods!" Elder Yue roared, his sharp gaze fixed on Pavilion Master Sima.

Seeing that his conspiracy had been exposed, Master Sima's face grew even more gloomy. He glared at us fiercely and gritted his teeth, saying, "The Sima family will remember what happened today! You just wait!"

Having said that, he transformed into a wisp of black smoke, attempting to escape the secret chamber.

"Want to leave? Not so easy!" Miss Ye moved nimbly, and in a few flashes, she blocked the path of Pavilion Master Sima. Her long whip danced like a serpent, binding him firmly.

"Attack them all! Kill them!" Seeing the situation was dire, the masked man commanded his remaining men to attack us.

Another chaotic battle erupted. Elder Yue and Miss Ye were clearly far stronger than the masked man and his group. Working together, they forced their opponents into a retreat. Wen Chen and I also seized the opportunity to join forces and firmly suppress the masked man.

However, just when we thought victory was in our grasp, an unexpected change occurred.

A strange aura suddenly spread out, and I felt the flow of spiritual energy within my body suddenly become sluggish, as if it were being suppressed by something.

"Be careful! This seems to be an ancient curse!" Elder Yue's expression changed, and he said in a deep voice.

"A curse?" I was startled. I then realized that not only me, but also Wen Chen, Elder Yue, and Miss Ye had turned pale and their auras had weakened considerably.

"Hahaha, you've fallen for my trap! This is a secret my Sima family has guarded for generations. This ruin hides an ancient curse that can seal everyone's spiritual power!" The arrogant laughter of Pavilion Master Sima echoed in the secret chamber. "Now, you can just obediently wait to die!"

My heart sank. Was I really going to fail today?

"Don't be afraid, I'm here." Wen Chen's deep voice suddenly came to my ear. He gripped my hand tightly, his gaze firm. "Even without spiritual power, I will protect you."

His hand was warm and strong, as if giving me boundless strength. I took a deep breath, suppressing my fear, and whispered, "Okay, let's fight together!"

However, as the curse grew stronger, I felt waves of dizziness wash over me, and everything before my eyes began to blur... My body seemed to grow increasingly weak... My body grew heavier and heavier, as if filled with lead, and even raising my arm became incredibly difficult. Wen Chen's condition wasn't much better; the fluctuations of his spiritual energy were weakening, and his once sharp swordplay had become sluggish.

"Haha, give up! Under this curse, your power will only grow weaker and weaker, and you will eventually become ants at the mercy of others!" The triumphant voice of Pavilion Master Sima echoed in my ears, extremely grating.

I gritted my teeth, unwilling to give up like this! We've come this far with such difficulty, are we really going to fail at the last minute? My gaze swept around, and Elder Yue and Miss Ye's situation was not optimistic either. They were surrounded and attacked by the masked man and others. Although they were still struggling to hold on, it seemed that defeat was only a matter of time.

No, I can't just sit here and wait to die! There must be a way to break this damned curse! My brain raced, trying to find a solution.

"Yao'er, don't waste your energy, this curse is..." Wen Chen's voice rang in my ears, but then stopped abruptly.

"Wait, what did you just call me?" I looked up abruptly, a sudden realization dawning on me, "Yao'er, yes, that's it!"

I recall reading in ancient texts that some ancient curses are often related to the emotions and obsessions of the caster. Since this curse of the Sima family is a secret guarded for generations, could it be related to their ancestors?

"Wen Chen, could this curse be related to the Sima family's ancestors?" I asked anxiously.

Wen Chen was slightly taken aback, then understood what I meant. He pondered for a moment and said, "Yao'er, are you saying... the root of this curse might lie in the obsession of the Sima family's ancestors?"

“That’s right!” I nodded firmly. “If we can find a way to break their obsession, perhaps we can lift the curse!”

“But we know nothing about the history of the Sima family, how can we…” Wen Chen frowned.

"No, I know!" I suddenly remembered the murals I had seen at the entrance to the secret room. Those murals depicted the history of the Sima family!

Without bothering to explain, I grabbed Wen Chen and ran towards the entrance of the secret chamber. Seeing this, Pavilion Master Sima assumed we were trying to escape and burst into laughter: "What, trying to run away now? Too late! Prepare to die!"

I ignored his sarcasm and instead carefully observed the content of the murals. Soon, my gaze was drawn to one of them.

The mural depicts a woman in magnificent robes, her expression sorrowful, her eyes filled with despair and reluctance. Beside her stands a man in armor, kneeling on one knee, holding a jade pendant in his hand, seemingly making a promise…

“That’s it!” I pointed to the woman in the mural and said to Wen Chen, “If I’m not mistaken, she should be the key to this curse!”

Wen Chen followed my gaze, observed carefully for a moment, and said in a deep voice, "Yao'er, you mean..."

"We'll see when we try!" I took a deep breath, turned to look at Pavilion Master Sima, and sneered, "Pavilion Master Sima, it seems your wishful thinking is going to fall through!"

I pulled Wen Chen to the mural and placed my hand on the woman's portrait. A chill instantly spread through my body. I closed my eyes, concentrated, and tried to resonate with the woman in the painting…