What the hell was this thing?
Even with Zhou You's experience, he could not help feeling a chill of alarm.
It was not that the thing was particularly terrifying... although the fruit had grown a human face and started talking, that alone could not frighten him. What felt wrong was something else.
Perception.
Even as this thing said, "Why won't you eat me?" right before his eyes, his perception, his thoughts, and even the senses of the Jingshen Bait Chant told him it was an ordinary piece of fruit. It was covered in saliva and dirt, but he could wash it and eat it again. There was nothing unusual about it.
What his eyes saw and what his mind perceived had become two utterly contradictory impressions, and the dissonance made him want to vomit.
...No, perhaps I've already thrown up, and my perception simply hasn't noticed?
He raised his head and looked around again.
The forest was still the same forest, entirely unchanged. Yet beneath the falling sunlight, it seemed like countless malformed limbs were peering at the only human there.
A cool breeze brushed through countless branches and leaves, and thousands upon thousands of eyes emerged among them. Startled birds flew into the sky, their slender beaks spilling endless curses.
The fruit had come alive, the trees had come alive, the grass had come alive, the soil had come alive. Every single thing had developed intelligence, and the consequence was utter madness.
Only now did Zhou You finally understand what Li Zhengfa had meant by corruption.
This madness had nothing to do with willpower. The contrast created by perception alone drove people involuntarily insane.
...This was no longer something any fiend or sinister object could achieve. This entire world was made of chaos and madness themselves.
*What the hell