Just as the Three Realms Alliance prepared in frantic fashion, and the Zhou Tian Star Formation's drills had just gotten on track, beginning to try overcoming internal coordination problems, a silent yet more sinister attack, like a venomous snake lurking in shadows, suddenly launched!
On the Starfall Plain, the formation drill had just ended a round. The three hundred and sixty-five Nascent Soul cultivators were recovering their breath at their formation positions, exchanging insights on the just-completed drill's gains and losses. Though tired, everyone's eyes sparkled with focus and progress.
Suddenly, a Nascent Soul mid-stage cultivator from a Southern Frontier witch tribe, skilled in spiritual techniques, shuddered violently. An extremely pained expression crossed his face as he clutched his head, letting out a suppressed roar: "No... Father... Little Sister... It wasn't me... I didn't harm them..." His spiritual energy instantly went chaotic. Blood vessels in his eyes spread like threads, and wisps of black qi actually seeped from his seven orifices!
Almost at the same moment, nearby a sword cultivator from a Central Plains noble family, renowned for his stable Dao-heart, suddenly opened his eyes—now filled with crimson redness and madness. He stared fixedly at another cultivator from the Western Desert, a body cultivator beside him, hissing: "It's you! Back then at the secret realm treasure hunt, you secretly attacked my senior brother! Pay with your life!" Saying this, regardless of the setting, he ruthlessly drew his sword and slashed at that body cultivator!
"Stop him!" Nearby cultivators were shocked and hurried to intervene.
Chaos began spreading like a plague.
"Why... Why have I cultivated,cultivated painstakingly for three hundred years, still stuck at early Nascent Soul... Heaven is unjust!"
"Hahaha, it's all fake! What's the point of cultivation? In the end it's just a handful of earth! Better to enjoy life while we can!"
"Kill! Kill them all! All the resources are mine!"
"I hate... I hate those who looked down on me... I hate everything about this world..."
Various negative emotions—fear, suspicion, jealousy, greed, brutality, despair—like a bursting dam surged and amplified in many cultivators' hearts like crazy! The solemn and dignified drill site instantly became chaotic. Someone clutched their head and wept; someone laughed maniacally; someone acted like a madman attacking companions; more had struggling expressions, their spiritual energy flickering uncertainly, clearly fighting desperately against the suddenly erupting inner demons in their hearts!
"It's inner demons! Mass inner demon invasion!" Mu Xue floating in the airHer expression changed drastically. Her spiritual sense swept across, immediately sensing an intangible yet extremely cold and filthy force spreading in the air—like countless tiny tentacles, drilling into cultivators' minds at their weakest points, stirring and amplifying their hidden inner demons!
This force did not attack directly; it was like a catalyst. It didn't originate from any single person but seemed to come from the entire world itself,everywhere!
"Stabilize your minds! Operate the Heart-Clearing Chant!" Senior Brother Mu Qingfeng's voicelike a great bellresounded throughout the entire plain, trying to awaken those troubled by inner demons.
However, the effect was minimal. This inner demon invasion force was extremely strange, not ordinary external evil, but more like naturally arising from each person's innermost depths,impossible to defend against. Even some Golden Core cultivators responsible for maintaining order were affected, their faces showing struggle.
"Not just here!" Ao Qin the Crown Prince received dragon clan secret method communications, his expression grim as he looked at Xiao Qi. "Throughout the alliance, multiple important strongholds, resource production areas, even some rear sect interiors, are experiencing similar situations! Many cultivators in seclusion, artifact forging, pill refining, or on missions suddenly went berserk, causing considerable losses and chaos!"
Xiao Qi stood in the void, his expressionas steady as still water. His Spirit Transformation spiritual senselikeintangiblelike a giant net instantly covered the entire Starfall Plain and extended further. He clearly "saw" that subtle yet pervasive negative energy fluctuationpermeating the heavens and earth. This fluctuation bore a familiar scent—the demonic entity's consciousness! Though extremely faint and dispersed, as if seeping through from infinitely distant depths of the void, its essence was the same source as that terrifying consciousness he had sensed at the demon nest!
"It's the demonic entity!" Xiao Qi's voice was ice-cold. "Though its main body is in dormant recovery, its consciousness has already penetrated the void and affected the material world! It's using the world's naturally existing negative emotions, amplifying them, creating chaos, delaying or even sabotaging our preparations!"
This was not direct force confrontation, but an even more dangerous war against the Dao-heart!
"Pu!"
Below, another Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't suppress the suddenly surging inner demons. Spiritual energy rebelled through meridians, and they spat large mouthfuls of blood. Their aura instantly withered, falling into unconsciousness. If not treated promptly, their cultivation foundation could be damaged.
Chaos continued; panic spread. The morale just boosted by the formation's initial success suffered a heavy blow.
Xiao Qi knew he couldn't let this continue. This move by the demonic entity was extremely vicious. It didn't need to fully recover its strength; it only needed to constantly create chaos and delay, sufficient to make the alliance's preparation planscome to nothing!
He had to respond immediately!
"Transmit orders throughout the Three Realms!" Xiao Qi's voice carried Spirit Transformation dignity and a chill killing intent, passing through special magical artifacts instantly to all alliance high levels and important strongholds. "The demonic entity uses consciousness to stir inner demons—this is a war on hearts! All cultivators, pause non-essential seclusion and high-risk cultivation. Stabilizing the mind is the first priority!"
His gaze swept across the chaotic plain below, then toward the distance, as if facing the demonic entity hidden in the void's depths across space.
"It wants to disturb my Dao-heart, obstruct my preparations? A fool's dream!"
The demonic entity's counterattack had arrived. And the alliance's test had risen from pure force and resource preparation to a more complex and dangerous Dao-heart dimension. This silent war had just begun.