Whispering fragments slipped into Bai Zhou and the others' ears, repeating over and over: "The Grandmaster is here—"
"Kneel—kneel—"
"Having seen the Titled Transcendent, why do you not bow?"
An invisible domain enveloped them. Grand chants and faint weeping filled their ears, and the grotesque scene left them dizzy and disoriented.
Fang Xiaoxia suffered the worst of it.
The invisible air and frozen raindrops seemed to suddenly come alive as lines of blazing, multicolored radiance. Brilliantly colored insects twisted and wriggled as they lunged at them.
"Buzz!"
Bai Zhou's heart stirred. The character [Soothing] engraved upon the Sea of Ignorance trembled, and invisible ripples washed over his body, instantly clearing his mind.
Bai Zhou froze for a moment, then delight surged through him.
He had previously known only that [Soothing] could reduce mysterious contamination. He had not expected it to block the effects of a Divine Intent Domain as well.
—or perhaps, in the eyes of [Soothing], the distortion and influence a Divine Intent Domain imposed upon human cognition were themselves a form of mysterious contamination.
"There are still these two—"
Turning toward Fang Xiaoxia, who was swaying and about to fall from the rooftop, Bai Zhou guided the power of [Soothing] within him and placed one hand on her shoulder.
"Smack!"
Invisible ripples shook through her body. Fang Xiaoxia jolted awake, the countless illusions before her eyes vanishing as the chaotic voices ebbed away like a receding tide.
The halted rain resumed its descent, and the world she sensed temporarily returned to normal.
A faint sound of surprise from Leonardo da Vinci seemed to come from the surrounding sky. Her ethereal female voice was lofty and tinged with confusion.
"What was that?" Having suddenly escaped that chaotic, grotesque state, Fang Xiaoxia shuddered as an intense sense of calm washed