Virus King - Chapter 174

Chapter 174: The Conflict Between the Time Hourglass and the Abyssal Will!

TL: YYang

Darkness, an overwhelming shroud, only darkness!

Within the Abyssal Well, there was no liquid—only the pervasive and encroaching darkness.

And then, there was the omnipresent sensation of falling and sinking.

He had no intention of using the Abyssal Well to enter other layers of the Abyss.

That raspy voice once again echoed beside his ear!

[Abyssal Trial begins!]

[All of the trialist’s states are restored to their peak condition. All items, all equipment are fully repaired. All personal skills, talent skills, and equipment-related skill cooldowns are reset to 0! This effect holds absolute priority!]

[Specific content of the Abyssal Trial: Under specified conditions, defeat the level 10 projections of the current Abyssal Demon Lords on each layer! Rest time between layers ranges from 1 minute to 1 hour!]

(If the current Abyss lacks a Demon Lord, you will fight an projection of a deceased Abyssal Lord from the Abyss’s history!)

“What the hell?!”

Chen Bai’s pupils shrank suddenly as he looked at the content of the Abyssal Trial!

What did this mean!?

It was clear that the feedback from the Abyssal Will was explicit and straightforward.

However, Chen Bai still ended up reading it over several times before he was certain.

In that instant, his complexion turned extremely pale.

On the surface, the content of this trial seemed simple, easy to understand, and straightforward.

But only Chen Bai truly understood where the real difficulty of this trial lay.

He finally realized why this trial was said, even by the gods, to be impossible to pass.

Chen Bai was confident in his own strength.

However, it depended on the circumstances!

What circumstances?

If it were purely at level 10, he wouldn’t fear anyone, not even those Demon Lords.

Forget about single combat—even if several of those Demon Lords’ level 10 projections came at him simultaneously, Chen Bai might not necessarily be afraid. In fact, he might even be brimming with fighting spirit.

But there was a key distinction between one level 10 and another.

That distinction lay in pre-profession transfer versus post-profession transfer!

The Demon Lords and Demon Overlords who could establish themselves in the Abyss possessed extraordinary talents and professions. Even if their level were reduced to 10, they were by no means comparable to ordinary level 10 beings.

And most importantly, he wouldn’t fully recover after each fight. He had to face the challenges consecutively.

How many layers were there in the Abyss?!

Even the gods did not know the answer to this question. And how many Demon Lords were there across the Abyss’s layers!?

In his past life, during a casual conversation, the Dark Mother Goddess Helrose had once mentioned one of her nemeses to him.

That nemesis was an Abyssal Lord from the 437th Layer of the Abyss.

What was their name? Chen Bai had already forgotten, and he didn’t care to dwell on such details.

Chen Bai pressed his lips together once more. However, his pale complexion quickly receded, and his gaze gradually became resolute.

At present, he had already stepped into the Abyssal Well.

The mission for the Abyssal Trial had already begun!

Moreover, it wasn’t as if he had no trump cards!

Abyssal Lords!? He truly wanted to see just how powerful these Abyssal Lords would be if they were all at level 10, even ahead of him in profession advancement.

His mindset adjusted quickly. After all, at this point, giving up or resigning himself to death was something he couldn’t do—it wasn’t in his nature.

Even though he was fully aware that the likelihood of surviving this trial was slim, and this second chance at life might very well come to an end here.

Even so, he wouldn’t just sit there waiting to die!

At that moment, a wisp of darkness slowly wrapped around Chen Bai.

Chen Bai knew that this was the Abyssal Will and the power of the Abyss enveloping him.

Under the influence of this power, all of Chen Bai’s vitality and energy were restored to their peak, and every skill’s cooldown time was instantly reset to zero!

He was brought to his absolute best state!

However, at this moment, something happened that Chen Bai had never expected.

The strange, hoarse voice reappeared.

Yet this time, compared to the eerie tone from before, Chen Bai could faintly hear a subtle emotional undertone that wasn’t present before.

Was that… surprise?

[Error detected! Trialist’s state cannot be restored to peak condition!]

[Error detected! Trialist’s state cannot be restored to peak condition!]

Chen Bai blinked, listening to the Abyssal Will’s surprised feedback. He was dumbfounded!

What the hell was this!?

How could this be?

Chen Bai could clearly see that even the three slightly dulled flying swords, which had been worn down by battle, were now gradually restored to perfection under the influence of the Abyssal Will.

All of his injuries were healed as well. If that was the case, then what else hadn’t been restored?

Could it be his skills!?

Even the Inferno Burn hellfire skill, which had just been used at great cost, was fully cooled down.

Everything seemed fine, so why…?

Wait a minute!

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Chen Bai’s mind.

Within his soul, it was as if a light flickered to life.

Something unique appeared in the depths of his consciousness.

At the same time, a faint shadow slowly manifested before his eyes.

It was a small hourglass, no larger than the palm of his hand!

Inside the hourglass, sand that sparkled like diamonds flowed swiftly.

The sound of the sand cascading was like the waters of a river of time—flowing, washing, reminding all who saw it that time was slipping away like the sand in this hourglass, utterly untouchable.

The Time Hourglass!

Chen Bai’s greatest secret—his trump card, second to none!

He had never truly understood what this item was, but his rebirth, and even the altered flow of time outside while he ventured into secret realm dungeons, were perhaps all connected to it.

In fact, if not for the Time Hourglass and its ability to reverse time, he might have died long ago during the first SSS-Rank mission he took. That was when Redo deliberately hid information about the cooling incinerator.

If not for the hourglass, he would have perished at the hands of the Bio-Mutant created in that furnace!

Because of this artifact, Chen Bai dared to harbor even the slightest confidence in attempting this Abyssal Trial.

It was his ultimate trump card!

But now, amidst the repeated prompts from the Abyssal Will, Chen Bai suddenly realized something was amiss!

He abruptly turned his gaze to the Time Hourglass, which was already bound to his soul.

He rarely paid attention to its changes, but at this moment, it seemed like the hourglass was the only explanation!

In the next moment, one of the hourglass’s abilities, which Chen Bai had previously overlooked, suddenly appeared before his eyes again!

[Return to the Past: Allows the user to return to any chosen point in the past. All gains obtained in the erased timeline will be completely nullified! (Cooldown: 72 years, 5 months, and 20 days)

(PS: The cooldown time of this effect cannot be affected by any skill or equipment to reduce cooldown! This skill possesses absolute priority!)

Absolute priority!?

But the Abyssal Will’s cooldown removal and peak state restoration also claimed to hold absolute priority!

Was this a conflict between the Time Hourglass and the Abyssal Will!?

In an instant, Chen Bai’s pupils contracted sharply.

Because in the next moment, the flowing sands within the Time Hourglass began to emit a radiant light.

And then—

It was as if the trembling Time Hourglass had reached some sort of compromise with the endlessly repeating Abyssal Will.

A sudden change occurred!

[Return to the Past: Allows the user to return to any chosen point in the past (but cannot return to a time before entering the Abyssal Well). All gains obtained in the erased timeline will be completely nullified! (Cooldown: none)