Senior Brother Kurt's forehead was drenched in cold sweat. His voice was hoarse as he said, "No wonder these treasures have always remained here, untouched. Claire, these artifacts have gained sentience—if you're not their rightful owner, they'll turn on you!"
Senior Sister Claire shuddered and nodded repeatedly, her hair standing on end.
Quinn Shepherd said coldly, "These treasures have always been here. No one dares take them, not even the strange beasts, so there must be danger. You knew it was risky and still sent your junior brother to test it—you're the real demon here!"
"The demon is trying to corrupt us again!"
Senior Brother Kurt's expression was grief-stricken as he shook his head. "How could you possibly understand the bond between us? Demon brat is just a demon brat. You judge my heart by your own, so of course you think I'm as wicked as you. I won't bother with you now. When dawn comes, I'll send you on your way."
Quinn frowned. This Senior Brother Kurt was sly and ruthless, willing to use even his own junior brother. He would never let Quinn leave alive.
But Kurt was also incredibly strong—Quinn stood no chance against him, especially with Senior Sister Claire nearby, who was just as formidable.
Just then, the ground suddenly shook, making the entire ruin tremble violently. Muffled roars of strange beasts echoed through the relic, and the creatures inside shivered, retreating, their eyes fixed nervously on the towering gate. They looked utterly terrified.
"What are these beasts afraid of?"
Quinn had just thought of this when, all at once, an overwhelming darkness surged out from the massive gate like a flood!
Quinn was shaken to the core. He saw that the gate seemed to be shielded by an invisible barrier, holding the darkness at bay—while the darkness frantically battered against it, desperate to break through!
The barrier was warped and twisted by the darkness's assault, but it never broke. The darkness itself contorted with the barrier—sometimes forming sharp claws, sometimes stretching out like smoke in the wind, sometimes bristling into countless spikes, ever-shifting and unpredictable.
Suddenly, the darkness stopped attacking, and the barrier over the gate grew quiet. After a moment, the barrier slowly bulged outward, being pressed back and stretched further and further.
The darkness molded the barrier into the shape of a face—a colossal face, its forehead touching the canyon sky, its chin resting on the ground.
Every strange beast in the ruin flattened itself against the ground, not daring to move, let alone look up at that enormous face.
The face had three pure-black eyes. The moment Quinn saw them, his whole body went cold, as if his soul was being drawn into the darkness!
Suddenly, the face spoke. Its voice was deep and buzzing, uttering words in a language no one understood.
"Qikodo, Samoye, Barabarasamo, Qikodo Barabarasamo..."
The buzzing voice seemed to contain countless overlapping tones, brimming with uncanny power. The ground within the ruin trembled, palaces shook, walls cracked, pillars collapsed, and the fissures grew wider and wider.
Even the massive gate was shuddering, shedding chips of stone—it was clear it couldn't hold out much longer.
At that moment, a bright light suddenly shone from the plaza. The leader skeleton's pearl glowed intensely, growing ever brighter.
Quinn quickly turned to look. The pearl had risen into the air, its dazzling light spreading like clouds of multicolored mist—thick and almost sticky.
The viscous glow enveloped the more than two hundred skeletons on the plaza, and one by one, they began to come alive within the radiance.
Quinn was utterly stunned. He watched as the skeletons within the glow transformed into living girls!
Rosy cheeks, red lips, and vibrant dresses—each girl was more dazzling than fire.
The girls sat cross-legged in the plaza, the leader also a young woman, holding up the slowly rising pearl in one hand.
Strange words began to flow from the girls' lips, just as obscure and mysterious as before.
"Yipo Xiupo Sanan Junhexi, Guanming Duanjing Wusi Jiangyou..."
The voice from the darkness grew louder and grander, shaking the canyon as the darkness surged from all directions into the ruin. The girls' voices also grew clearer and brighter, and waves of light from the pearl burst forth, making the darkness fade away like smoke!
The two voices—one like gods, one like demons—clashed over and over. Sometimes one overpowered the other, sometimes the reverse, and the darkness and light collided relentlessly!
This was a battle beyond imagination—a clash so strange and intense it shook Quinn to his core. Though he'd grown up in the Great Ruins, he'd never seen anything like this.
"This sound..."
Quinn was stunned. The girls' chant sounded eerily similar to the god-like voice he heard whenever he tried to break through the Spirit Embryo Wall—same rhythm, same feeling. Though the words were different, the intent seemed the same.
Whenever he tried to drive his vital qi against the Spirit Embryo Wall, he'd faintly hear a voice from beyond the heavens—sacred and solemn. Each time it rang out, his qi would recoil, unable to break through the wall.
The two voices kept clashing, surging and retreating, each gaining and losing ground, but neither could fully suppress the other.
The demonic voice from the darkness was powerful and terrifying, while the girls' chant was divine—crisp, resilient, and holy. Whenever the demonic voice seemed to overwhelm, the divine chant would rise up and shatter it.
Meanwhile, the demonic voice always managed to surge back from its lowest point, erupting like a river of stars, like a raging flood—vast and unstoppable.
Both voices had their own subtle, extraordinary qualities.
Quinn listened, utterly absorbed. Suddenly, a thought struck him and he grew excited: "If the demonic and divine chants are battling, and the divine chant matches the one blocking my breakthrough, maybe I can use the demonic chant to counter it!"
He grew more and more excited—this had to be the solution!
As long as he mastered the demonic chant, he could recite it the moment the divine voice rang out during his breakthrough—using it to resist the god-sound from beyond the heavens and let his vital qi smash through the Spirit Embryo Wall!
If he succeeded in breaking through, with his Overlord Body and Overlord Three‑Core Art, he wouldn't have to fear Senior Brother Kurt or Senior Sister Claire anymore!
At this thought, he suddenly froze, as if doused by a bucket of cold water.
The voice from beyond the heavens was a god's voice. If he used the demonic chant to break it, did that mean he was a demon sealed away by the gods?
Could Senior Brother Kurt and Senior Sister Claire have been right—was he really a little demon spawn?
"No, no!"
Quinn shook his head. If he was a demon, did that mean every Overlord Body was demonic too?
Then why call it Overlord Body? Wouldn't Demon Body be more fitting?
"Overlord Body, Demon Body—whatever! Break through first, worry later!"
He acted on his thought, memorizing and silently reciting the rhythm, tone, and nuances of the demonic chant—committing every rise, fall, pause, and inflection to memory.
Once he was sure he had it down, Quinn activated the Overlord Three‑Core Art, summoned his vital qi, and, chanting the demonic sound in his mind, drove his qi straight toward the Spirit Embryo Wall at his brow!