490 Pressured

"Demon!"

"Run quickly!"

In an instant, the crowd around the carriage dispersed quickly with occasional shrieks coming from the martial artists, as though they were trying to avoid a plague.

No! The effects of the Demon Spirit were scarier than a plague!

"Ah!"

A tentacle struck towards Extreme Darkness and a whisker started to grow out from the egg on the tip of the tentacle. With that, the screams of a girl were heard.

"Pa!"

Fang Yuan frowned. With a fist, he broke the tentacle in mid-air.

The tentacles and the egg exploded, tainting the ground black. Within moments, the black fluid started to corrode into the ground, leaving many small holes. A thick white smoke started to billow from these holes.

"Bloop! Bloop!"

The mutated martial artist started to transform. His head slowly turned into that of a large octopus. As his tentacles continue to grow, he was looking for a way to escape.

"Heavenly Eagle Claw!"

With a casual flick, the elemental energy in the air gathered, forming a huge palm which pressed down on the martial artist.

"Pa!"

Like swatting a fly, this mutated martial artist was flattened into a pile of flesh.

However, in mid-air, a grey and illusionary shadow started to appear. It had the shape of an octopus. With two bloodshot eyes gazing about, it seemed like it was merely a projected imagery.

"Is this the Demon Spirit? Does it lie between being illusionary and real?"

Fang Yuan closed his eyes. He could sense anger, fear, cruelty and other absurd emotions, but there was no much wisdom in this entity.

"According to Shang Hou, this thing is only the most basic life form in the Demonic Heart Realm!"

Playfully, Fang Yuan toyed around with the elemental force around the octopus, giving it no chance of escaping.

"I'm afraid that normal knives will not be able to harm it! Even the elemental force from a Wu Zong might only be able to affect such a Demon Spirit by a little... This is indeed a higher dimensional life form!"

After a round of experimenting, this octopus did not seem to fear Fang Yuan as it started to stretch its tentacles towards him.

"Courting death!"

With a frown, he struck his fist out.

"Bang!"

A huge hole appeared on the body of the octopus and there was a terrifying scream coming from its spiritual will.

However, Fang Yuan did not appear satisfied with it. "Only the spiritual will of a True Divine will be able to injure or even kill it. Normal Meridian Opening Wu Zongs will only be able to defend themselves, let alone kill it!"

Only powerful beings were able to deal with these demons. If normal martial artists were to encounter them, they would only be killed.

"Could this be due to the fact that they have a source of energy with a higher quality than ours? They have the purest form of dream elemental force..."

Fang Yuan sighed as he picked up a silver knife and stroked it.

"Buzz! Buzz!"

Immediately, a silvery glow started to appear on the knife.

"Extreme Darkness, go ahead and chop it up!"

He passed the knife to Extreme Darkness and instructed her firmly.

"Yes!"

Extreme Darkness gritted her teeth and walked up. With a single slice, she managed to chop off one of its tentacles.

"Screech!"

After its death, the entire Demon Spirit started to melt. The severed tentacle quickly disappeared, turning into dense dream elemental force which dissipated into the air.

"Indeed..."

Fang Yuan nodded his head and understood everything.

These Demon Spirits were able to feed on the negative emotions of humans and were able to quickly split themselves. Furthermore, while possessing someone, their true Demon Spirit body would able to remain immune to attacks. Only a powerful being or someone with control over dream elemental force would be able to control these spirits.

After all, the dream elemental force projected into Da Qian from the Demonic Heart Realm was of a higher quality than what Da Qian originally had!

"It's a pity that dream masters are now useless and are all in hiding. Not only are the dream masters much weaker now, they are not likely to be effective against dealing with these Demon Spirits..."

"However, these Demon Spirits will not be able to turn illusionary after possessing a body. Therefore, normal humans will be able to deal with them. Even if an army of 100,000 of them were to enter Da Qian, only a few hundred of them would have the ability to turn illusionary."

If not for Fang Yuan, these refugees would all be possessed taken over by the octopus Demon Spirit to become an army of demons.

At this point in time, it was hard to say if any one of them would mutate into an octopus in the future.

If such disaster were to continue on, Da Qian would be too chaotic and ultimately, the entire realm would be taken over! Everywhere would be living hell!

Fang Yuan shook his head. He quickly returned to his carriage and ordered Extreme Darkness to continue the journey.

"Master, where are we going now?"

Extreme Darkness rode her horse as she asked with curiosity.

"Divine Lotus Heavenly Pond! The headquarters of Divine Lotus!"

...

Divine Lotus Mountain.

This mountain was part of a huge mountainous ridge. It stretched into the skies and the peak of the mountain was covered in snow all year round.

On the peak, there was a huge and clear lake. Gold and white lotus flowers bloom within the lake and it was a dreamy paradise.

This was the Divine Lotus Heavenly Pond, where the headquarters of the Divine Lotus Cult was.

In the legends, the Divine Lotus Heavenly Pond would continuously shift its position. If not for it, the headquarters would have been destroyed by the Hidden Dragon Guards during the ultimate war.

The reality was close to what was heard about the pond. There was a shifting array in the middle of the pond and everything was extremely majestic.

Unfortunately, only a Sage would be able to manipulate such an array.

With the death of Lord Yin and the weakening of the few other powerful beings, no one was able to manipulate it ever since.

This time, due to the war, Lord Yin had shifted the entire cult to a place somewhere close to the Middle Region. This was right in the centre of the demon disasters.

"Roar! Roar!"

"Keke!"

At the foot of the mountain, black silhouettes of a beast army had gathered.

There were 8-legged spiders and giant-eyed octopuses among them as they recklessly rushed towards the peak of the mountain.

Above the beast army, a group of black silhouettes shrieked. They were covered with a black ghostly fire. With a long fiery tail, they continuously patrolled in the skies as they made their way towards the Heavenly Pond.

"How dare you, beasts?"

In the middle of the Heavenly Pond, gold lotus flowers started to bloom, releasing a colourful glow which started to spread in the skies above the pond. A building within the Heavenly Pond became well-protected under the colourful layer of protection.

The building was built from bamboo and had an elegant vibe. It stood on a piece of huge lotus leaf and was a display of delicate workmanship.

A deity-like lady wearing a white veil and a handsome and gentlemanly male disciple stood on the huge lotus leaf. Their faces were filled with fear.

"What should we do? This place is surrounded by them!"

"Sage is not here and we are unable to manipulate the 9 Turns Transferrences Array. We won't last long if we were to depend on the 9 Lotus Divine Array to protect us!"

One of the disciples screamed and was at lost.

Previously, they were all Illusionary Divine dream masters and were once involved in attacking the Imperial Court. Such an attack from wild beasts used to mean nothing to them.

But now, it was a life and death situation!

"Where is Elder Green Lotus?"

This elder was the last powerful being of the cult and had the cultivation of a 7th Tier Illusionary Divine dream master. Ever since the fall of dream masters, this elder had always been in isolation.

"Elder is trying his best to restore his cultivation..."

A few of them tried to explain.

"Hmph... I'm sure all of you have heard that sound, right? If the piece of news is true and that even sages are unable to maintain their statuses, do you think an elder can do it?"

A middle-aged lady started to laugh hysterically. "Haha... we will all die here! Die here, I say!"

She appeared crazed and it was evident that she was too stressed and was pushed off her limits.

Everyone on the lotus leaf remained silent.

Suddenly, a female disciple started to sob and influenced the rest around her to do the same.

Thinking about how they used to be the most powerful people in the realm, none of them could accept reality now!

Needless to say, their servants were revolting against them as well and had already wreaked havoc in the headquarters. If not for the few arrays and magical equipment, none of them would be able to survive until today.

Now, against such a large army of beasts, it was the final straw.

"Sisters!"

Amidst all the sobbing, Liu Mengmei stood out. "Be strong and never give up. We still have hope!"

"Haha... hope?"

The crazy lady started to scream. "Even Sage is dead and our friends from the alliance have abandoned us. What is the hope you speak of?"

"Rumble!"

Her words were like an atomic bomb. As soon as she finished her sentence, everyone started to wail in despair.

"Lord Yin... Is she dead?"

"That's impossible!"

The disciples were in disbelief and were on the brink of killing each other.

"Rumble!"

The army of beasts was already attacking the protective array and the wavering array finally caught the attention of the dream masters.

"Who is manipulating the protective array now? Quickly assist her!"

Liu Mengmei seemed serious. "As long as we are surviving, we will have hope! Even though we might not be dream masters now, we are still the ones with potential in this realm. Are we really afraid of not having a future?"

"It's me! I'll add a few crystals to the array!"

A deacon nodded her head and quickly ran towards the array eye.

At this point of time, Liu Mengmei remained composed and started to delegate work. Finally, there was order and the other remaining disciples nodded their head, impressed at her composure.

Many reserved Divine Ladies had already left the competition to become the Divine Lady. Liu Mengmei was all the while the last few.

However, now that the few reserved Divine Ladies had left for the Jade Capital to fight the war, she had risen to the occasion, taking up the responsibility of being the one making the decisions!

"Rumble!"

At this point in time, a streak of spiritual light shot out from the main hall. It was a weird-looking carriage with wings that flew towards the array.

"Buzz!"

An order plate flew out and the array froze for a moment before revealing an opening.

The flying carriage continued its way, bypassing the array through the opening.

"It's Elder Green Lotus! He is controlling the Heavenly Boat to flee!"

One of the deacons pulled his moustache in anger. "Damn it, the Elder's order plate is the only thing which can pause the 9 Lotus Divine Array!"

"Jerk!"

Liu Mengmei gritted her teeth. She knew that this elder was not thinking of a plan for the cult all the while in isolation. Instead, he was cultivating as a spiritual knight in seclusion. Now that he was able to control the flying carriage, he took the opportunity to flee.

He not only fled but also paused the 9 Lotus Divine Array, exposing the entire cult to the dangers outside.

"Keke!"

Seeing the opening, many beasts started to flood into the Heavenly Pond, beginning their killing spree!