Infernal Artist

In front of the bar.

The clown put the wine glass down gently, put his hand on his chest, and pumped it gently.

A card was pulled out from his body, and all his clothes and makeup disappeared completely, returning to Liu Ping's original appearance.

He looked down at the cards in his hand.

——This is a colorful card with a laughing clown painted on it.

"……interesting."

Liu Ping murmured.

Suddenly, there was a burst of applause from the corner of the bar.

Liu Ping suddenly looked back and saw a dark figure sitting on a booth in the corner.

It was a man wearing a dark gray cloak.

His body and face were hidden under the large cloak, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

"Thank you, clown actor."

"In such a long time, I have witnessed many horrific battles, but battles as entertaining as yours are extremely rare."

He said in a hoarse and low voice, with a hint of praise in his tone.

"Who are you?" Liu Ping asked.

"You can call me Hell Spirit, I've been waiting here for a long time." said the being under the cloak.

Liu Ping was about to speak when he saw two lines of small words appearing above the man's head:

"The spirit of the endless prison pillar."

"The card master's guide, it will help you complete the last step."

——It turned out to be such a being.

Liu Ping smiled and said, "If it really brings you some joy, it will be my honor."

"Very good, very good. You are not the kind of idiot who only knows how to use violence but knows nothing about the beauty of violence."

The prison spirit said, walking step by step to Liu Ping.

It reached out and patted the bar.

In an instant, the cards were neatly placed on the bar.

They maintain an inverted appearance, making it difficult to tell the difference.

The Joker card in Liu Ping's hand also flew out and landed on the bar, maintaining a neat queue with other cards.

"Let's first take a look at the cards you used in battle-"

The hell spirit made a gesture.

The cards were turned over one by one and presented in front of Liu Ping.

Cards: Whiteboard.

Card: Hen.

Card: Three of Hearts.

Card: Joker.

Card: Flowers.

Card: Crutches.

as well as--

Three completely blank cards.

"The cards that the card master can draw are determined by the strength of the soul power. You are on the cultivation side and are currently in the Golden Core realm, so the cards you can draw are -"

"Six."

"——If you exceed this number, you can only draw blank cards."

Hell Spirit pointed at the three blank cards.

The Hell Spirit picked out "Card: Cane" and placed it with the other three blank cards.

There are four cards in total.

It was the four cards that the clown drew out in the bar.

"These are the ones." Hell Spirit said in an appreciative tone.

"Mr. Clown, when you walked to the bar and talked with the bartender, you only activated 'please' once, which means you realized your limits."

Hell Spirit continued: "The really dangerous part of this trial is that you only have the last card left to use, and the cards you draw after that are blank cards."

"So you didn't fight the bartender immediately, but put each card on the table-"

"You start talking to the bartender, tempting him to give up the fight; and as you continue to draw cards and place them on the table, the pressure on him will continue to increase."

Hell Spirit smiled and said: "Actually, among the four cards you drew, three are empty, and only one is available."

"After you entered the bar, you never activated 'please' again. As a result, none of the three cards can be turned into the clown's weapon immediately."

"But the bartender didn't notice this. He was always distracted by your words——"

"He originally had a great chance of defeating you, but he was persuaded by you and ended up joining you."

The Hell Spirit clicked on the card with a cane on it.

"The last card won the bet."

"——A quite exciting battle."

The hell spirit clapped.

Liu Ping said: "It's an honor to be appreciated by you, but I guess you are here not just to tell me this."

"certainly."

The hell spirit recited an obscure spell.

On the bar, all the cards are turned over again, with their backs facing up.

Immediately afterwards, a realization emerged in Liu Ping's heart, letting him immediately know what to do at the moment.

——Completing the trial is equivalent to passing the rules set by the gods.

He can choose one of the cards used in the battle just now and use it for his own use.

Is this still a choice?

Liu Ping stretched out his hand and picked up the clown card.

call--

In an instant, all other cards disappeared.

Only the clown card in his hand remained.

Lines of burning small characters appeared in the void:

"You passed the trial and are officially qualified to become a card master."

"Then comes the final step."

"You must get the guidance of the Hell Spirit, who will lower you a card specifically designed to enslave all living beings and all things."

A strange fluctuation gradually appeared in the surroundings.

The whole world is shrouded in gray, as if it has lost its color.

"Go to the wilderness, I'll wait for you there."

After the hell spirit finished speaking, he suddenly disappeared from the place.

Liu Ping felt something in his heart, put away the clown card, stood up and walked out of the bar.

He stood on the street outside, looking toward the wilderness outside the town.

"Where is it?"

I saw a majestic dark spire appearing in the vast wilderness.

The whole world was only gray and white, and only the spire revealed a heart-stopping crimson fire.

Liu Ping flew towards the spire lightly.

Soon.

He arrived under the Dark Spire.

I saw that the entire tower was made of unknown metal, and it was tightly fitted everywhere, without any windows or doors.

Outside the minaret, there are countless black shackles.

Every pair of shackles is not empty.

Various beings were bound by shackles, their bodies pressed tightly against the outer wall of the spire, unable to move at all.

Liu Ping came to a human being who was bound by shackles and observed carefully.

The man was originally lifeless and seemed to be dead.

When Liu Ping approached, the man suddenly raised his head, opened his eyes and looked over.

"A living person... no, a card master!"

He twisted his skinny body desperately and begged:

"Save me! Let me be your slave, I will do anything for you, please!"

Liu Ping looked at him and said, "Why are you trapped here?"

The man hurriedly said: "Quick, there is no time. I am a powerful existence from the past era. Please, let me be your card! I can kill any offender for you!"

Liu Ping said: "Since you are so powerful, who tied you here?"

The man opened his mouth to speak, and suddenly——

On the entire steeple, countless beings let out wailing sounds, which shook the whole place.

The man's words were drowned by the boundless sound. His face showed eagerness and pleading. He seemed to want to continue talking, but he suddenly let out an uncontrollable wail of pain.

The entire spire began to turn from dark to crimson.

The hot breath emanated from the surface of the spire, causing the surrounding land to gradually turn into molten lava.

Liu Ping couldn't help but take a few steps back.

Those beings trapped on the spire erupted in waves of painful screams.

The fur and flesh on the surface of their bodies gradually burned away, leaving only a skeleton, but they still couldn't help opening their mouths, as if they were still venting silently.

For a while.

The spire gradually returned to a dark color.

Those wailing beings all turned into charred skeletons and were shackled to the outer wall of the minaret, and no longer made any noise for the time being.

There was dead silence.

Suddenly, a voice sounded:

"That is not ordinary flames and molten lava, but the legendary hellfire, which can bring unimaginable pain and torture to the soul and body."

The tower spirit stood not far away, quietly sizing up Liu Ping.

Liu Ping asked: "What happened to those beings who were bound on the tower?"

"You don't have to pity them, because they were all the culprits who destroyed the world, so they are trapped here, enjoying the eternal torture of purgatory." Ta Ling said.

"Destroy the world? I always thought...it was the gods who brought our world into eternal night." Liu Ping said frankly.

"The gods you know are not responsible for the destruction of the world."

"Those should be the beings on the tower?"

"Yes, only these ignorant and arrogant sentient beings are guilty - they destroy the world, kill their own kind, and slaughter living creatures - their unscrupulousness even makes the gods smack their lips," Ta Ling said.

"What about the gods? Didn't the gods do anything?" Liu Ping asked.

"The gods only guide the world and all living beings into the eternal night after they die - as a card master, you should have seen the world's fall from the sky and the dark drama of the gods." Ta Ling said.

Liu Ping sighed and said: "So when we were alive, the gods just watched with cold eyes. It wasn't until we died that they came to harvest everything from us."

Silence for several breaths.

The deep voice of the tower spirit sounded in the dark night:

"Everything has a cause and must have its effect. Mortals, the moment you live is preceded and followed by an eternal dark night, and this eternal night is the feast of the gods."