Demon Cultivator in Abyssal Era

The crowd spoke up one after another, expressing that they all suddenly found themselves in darkness and appeared in this place once they came to. Chu Xiu echoed along with them.

Xie Xuanzhao gently nodded and said, ”I have never heard of such a thing before. For the Abyss to capture us for a compulsory task, this trial must be extraordinary.”

”I just tried everything I have, but all my escape artifacts are ineffective. It seems that only a God King Level artifact can get us out of here.”

After these words, everyone’s expressions changed drastically as they each bowed their heads to check, and when they looked up again, their faces were extremely grim!

The tasks they were waiting for in the Ancient Hall were to intercept the Civilization Envoys challenging the Doomsday difficulty Ancient Trials, and almost everyone had prepared escape artifacts.

Even if they encountered an unparalleled monstrous creature, they wouldn’t lose their lives—like how Meng Xuanshu and Chu Xiu faced a Civilization Envoy in the Peach Blossom Spring and ultimately left safely.

And now, all their escape artifacts had failed simultaneously!

”A God King Level escape artifact... Isn’t that the Free Deep Dive Scroll? How could we possibly have such a precious thing...” Mu Tuo’s previously relaxed expression vanished and was replaced by a hidden terror beneath his skin.

Chu Xiu took in the other’s reaction, having already figured out his thoughts internally.

Having great Power doesn’t necessarily mean you can remain calm at all times. It seems Mu Tuo’s path to upgrading has been relatively smooth, without truly facing life-and-death crises, making him the most pathetic among the eight.

Although the others were much more composed, they were clearly not at peace inside.

This was normal, as it was like being suddenly kidnapped by terrorists when they only intended to do some odd jobs on a construction site. Failing to complete the objective would mean getting shot on the spot.

There were three individuals who remained relatively calm, one of whom was naturally Xie Xuanzhao. The other two included a refined young man beside Mu Tuo, and a black cat with sleek fur, which had been quietly licking its fur on the chair since the task began, like a real cat.

But Chu Xiu knew this creature wasn’t that simple. Whenever he let his guard down, the creature would transform into another entity, not as a polymorph ability, but as a way to interfere with perception! Whatever Chu Xiu subconsciously thought of, that creature would become!

Even Chu Xiu’s Divine Sense couldn’t see through its Ability! This made him secretly shocked, realizing that these seven individuals absolutely possessed Great Divine Power. The Tribulation had given him so many advantages, proving his opponents must be unexpectedly powerful!

While Chu Xiu pondered silently, Xie Xuanzhao spoke again, ”Generally, the higher the trial difficulty, the broader the matching range. I would like to ask everyone which world you come from, as this information is unlikely to be used by the Tribulation-survivor against us.”

”Let me go first. I come from the Celestial Derivation Civilization.”

Chu Xiu was startled internally; wasn’t this the civilization Meng Xuanshu belonged to? Damn it, the Abyss has brought in another powerhouse from the Tenth-level Civilization!

At this point, he realized Xie Xuanzhao and Meng Xuanshu were perhaps closely connected.

This revelation also surprised the others. Mu Tuo joyfully said, ”Tenth-level Civilization! Haha, looks like we have this trial in the bag.”

”Not necessarily,” Xie Xuanzhao shook her head, ”According to statistics, even in trials intervened by our civilization, there’s an eight-billion-to-one chance of failure, and that number rises to thirteen-thousand-to-one in Doomsday difficulty Ancient Trials.”

”You all should also share which civilization you hail from.”

Her voice brought everyone back to reality. After some thought, they each truthfully answered one by one.

”I already mentioned my name, I am from the Red Sun Civilization,” Mu Tuo began.

”Call me You Sha. I come from the Shadow Killer Civilization.”

”I am from...”

.....

”My name is Chen Ce, from the Star Earth Civilization,” Chu Xiu concluded.

He didn’t mention Blue Star but instead gave the name of his previous life’s planet.

After everyone finished speaking, Xie Xuanzhao, who had shown no emotion earlier, slightly furrowed her brows.

”Out of all the reported civilizations, I only recognize two,” she said, tapping lightly with her fingers. A faint glow appeared above the heads of four people, including Chu Xiu.

”I wonder if the five fellow practitioners all hail from Seventh-level or above civilizations? If so, why are you led by a Tenth-level Civilization?”

The young, refined man adjusted his glasses and said, ”I come from the Life Domain.”

The Civilization Envoy whose appearance was always changing stated, ”I come from the Thousand Illusions Divine Domain.”

The other two were also from these domains.

Upon hearing this, a look of shock flashed in Xie Xuanzhao’s eyes, ”To summon Civilization Envoys spanning across three Divine Domains simultaneously... Such a scale of trials is unheard of even for Doomsday difficulty Ancient Trials, which span less than one-third of a single Divine Domain!”

Xie Xuanzhao’s words left everyone silent.

In such a difficult trial, just how terrifying would the Tribulation-survivor be?

Even a Tenth-level Civilization Envoy alone might not be a match! Otherwise, they wouldn’t need the seven of them to face one person.

The room fell silent once more as Xie Xuanzhao suddenly gestured in mid-air. Several mysterious sigils formed before her, evolving continuously as if calculating something.

After a while, the sigils stabilized, and Xie Xuanzhao made a bow towards the refined young man beside her: ”I wonder what Brother Zhu thinks we should do now?”

The young man was taken aback, then frowned slightly, ”Why ask me alone? Do you suspect me?”

This young man was named Zhu Jiu. At first, even Chu Xiu had been surprised—it reminded him of the mythological legendary Candlestick Dragon, also known as Candle Nine Yin. He wondered if this was a mere coincidence or had some significance.

But the others seemed unaware of this legend, having no reaction to his name.

Hearing Zhu Jiu’s suspicion, Xie Xuanzhao immediately explained, ”Brother Zhu, you overthink. It’s just that my divination indicated that consulting you might help our next actions.”

Upon these words, the others revealed expressions of shock. Zhu Jiu remarked in surprise, ”Were you just performing a calculation?”

Xie Xuanzhao replied, ”I prefer to call it divination. The path of destiny is vast and elusive, beyond our Mortal understanding. I’m merely trying to grasp a hint of guidance.”

Hearing this, the crowd regarded Xie Xuanzhao with even more respect. Although Chu Xiu lacked information on High-level Civilizations, he could perceive Xie Xuanzhao’s Ability might belong to the top tier of Advanced Civilizations.

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Jiu said, ”The task information mentions seven Divine Artifacts. It’s probably not without reason. I think we should prioritize collecting Divine Artifacts to enhance our strength.”

”But how to prevent the Divine Artifacts from being obtained by the Tribulation-survivor among us?” Mu Tuo asked.

Zhu Jiu replied, ”Currently, there’s no method to prevent that. Random speculation could even lead to mutual suspicion.”

”I propose that we agree each person may possess at most one Divine Artifact. If one finds a second while holding one, they must inform others, withholding it would be dealt with as a Tribulation-survivor.”

”This way, the Tribulation-survivor can have at most one Divine Artifact, giving us an advantage as six against one.”

Zhu Jiu’s suggestion made everyone nod in agreement, recognizing it as a safe and feasible method.

”Then, should we set off now?” Mu Tuo suggested, revealing his impatience. Despite the gravity of the situation, he couldn’t help showing his urgency.

”Brother Mu, please hold on. The divination has one more instruction,” Xie Xuanzhao said.

Everyone turned their focused attention to her, clear that her previous divination yielded a rather insightful proposal by questioning just one person.

Even Chu Xiu was on high alert, feeling that this woman’s Ability was immensely powerful, greatly reducing his Rule advantage. He didn’t know what would come next.

Surprisingly to Chu Xiu, under everyone’s watchful eyes, Xie Xuanzhao turned to him with a slight smile on her face:

”I wonder, Brother Chu, what’s your opinion on this matter?”