Holding Fast to a Steadfast Heart, Thoughts Like Spears

These whispers, like a gentle breeze, drift over and seep into the heart, planting a seed within—soft, warm, and giving a feeling of languid comfort.

In an instant, Qiu Yan felt a sense of contentment and acceptance, as if his mind had been elevated!

"Interesting! The voice that seeps into the soul creates an atmosphere somewhat similar to that of a demon within the soul—no, not similar, but in its nascent form. If it continues to develop, it will soon spontaneously grow into a demon within the soul, or attract a demon from beyond the heavens!"

Faced with the change in his State of Mind, Qiu Yan remained as if he were an outsider, commenting and sensing without the slightest panic. Then, the Literary Heart surged from his soul, separating and combining Knowledge and Action. He smoothly enveloped this foreign artistic conception, refining and extracting its essence, and transmitted it into the Soul Aperture, where it was devoured and integrated by his Heart Demon Body!

Then, his Divine Soul raced, and he rushed towards the center of the sandstorm!

In the center of the sandstorm, a huge black shadow roared and howled, its roars echoing in layers, as if millions of people were shouting at the same time, giving people an indescribable eeriness.

Qiu Yan focused his gaze and noticed that although the shape of the dark figure kept changing, it remained largely still. It was about four or five stories tall and occupied most of the space on the mountainside.

"Who is this person? How did they manage to escape from that Ordeal Realm so quickly?"

Beside the shadowy figure, two figures moved erratically, a man and a woman. The man was quite old, with gray hair and a face full of wrinkles. The woman was dressed as a man in disguise, with a fair complexion, wearing a long robe and scholar's attire, revealing her white neck. Unfortunately, the headscarf she used to wrap her head was long gone, and her hair was loose and flowing over her shoulders, revealing her true gender. She was asking a question.

The two men's senses covered the area, noticing the arrival of Qiu Yan, Zhou Meng, and Huang Xun, and witnessing their Three Souls being enveloped by the aura emanating from the black shadow.

This state of mind, called "Ordeal Realm," is derived from the voices and thoughts of countless people. It is more peaceful than Heart Demon, but its influence is even greater. Heart Demon distort people's thinking, while Ordeal Realm triggers people's instincts, subtly making them lose their resistance.

However, this applies to ordinary people. For those who have condensed their Daoheart Fist Intent, they can only be disturbed by the Ordeal Realm for a while. To completely get rid of it, they only need to spend some time. But right now, Qiu Yan was shrouded in that black mist, and he broke through it in less than a breath.

In contrast, Zhou Meng and Huang Xun, entangled in the black mist and with their souls fluctuating, had not yet fully settled down, creating a stark contrast.

"This man is named Qiu Yan. He recently entered the forest and Literary Path Creation. I happened to run into him when I came down the mountain, so I invited him over." At this moment, Bei Xuan had already flown up to him and gave a brief introduction.

The woman chuckled softly, "Literary Path Creation? Qiu Yan? I've never heard of that name. Between you and my cousin, whose literary talent is superior?"

As they were speaking, a cloud of black mist suddenly swept over, obscuring the three figures. Hundreds or even thousands of figures moved within the mist.

"Now is not the time to discuss writing style..."

Bei Xuan's Bei Xuan was like a sword, driving the gale to break through the black mist. The three of them filed out, then dispersed, each unleashing their will to charge towards the black mist! Various different scenes manifested in their will, and upon contact with the black mist, they erupted with completely different artistic conceptions!

At the same time, Qiu Yan also arrived in front of the dark figure. At such a close distance, the sand had little effect on his perception and vision, and Qiu Yan could clearly see the true appearance of the dark figure.

On its surface, black mist surged and undulated, occasionally condensing into human figures. These figures would bar their teeth and claws, or struggle and howl, revealing emotions such as frenzy, confusion, and bewilderment.

"This is the 'difficulty'? It's indeed different from the guardian I imagined. It doesn't seem like a living being, but rather like a collection of the thoughts of all living beings..." As he thought about it, Qiu Yan noticed that below the dark figure, the mountainside was full of rubble, and a cave could be vaguely seen, but it was covered by swirling black mist.

"Could it be Book Mine shaft?"

Call!

As he was thinking, a column of black smoke, twisted into a ball, rushed towards him with tremendous force.

Its pillar gleamed, as if cast from refined iron. This was not an illusion, but rather the result of so many thoughts condensed within it, so thick and dense, that when compressed, it appeared almost tangible!

Instantly, countless voices filled my ears, and all sorts of illusions surfaced in my mind—

Cries of despair and voices of giving up seeped into my soul, and in a daze, it seemed as if a towering peak stood before me, slowly collapsing.

The feeling of being unable to ascend to heaven was incredibly intense. It was originally an illusory sensation, but it generated immense power. As the column of energy surged forward, that force, once it hit Qiu Yan, would probably shatter his soul into pieces!

Just then, Bei Xuan's voice drifted from afar and reached Qiu Yan's ears—

"The 'Trial Beast' injures people with its thoughts. It seems invisible, yet it secretly aligns with the forces of nature. If there is even the slightest thought of dodging or retreating, it will seize the opportunity to enter and strike the soul. This Scholar Forest is a world formed by thoughts. Here, our souls are equivalent to our bodies. Once struck, it is no less painful than physical injury..."

Before he could finish speaking, Qiu Yan raised his hand and struck the pillar of energy with a "clang," shattering a large patch of black mist!

"What an iron will!"

Behind Qiu Yan, Zhou Meng and Huang Xun, who had broken free from the black mist, exclaimed in admiration. They knew that although this move seemed to have used brute force, there was no flesh and bone in the Scholar Forest, so how could there be any brute force?

Here, everyone is a spirit, and the punches and kicks are fought not by strength but by will. The stronger the will, the harder the punch.

The black mist column emitted by the "Trial Beast," mixed with endless Human Thoughts, appeared scattered but was extremely dense. When it condensed and impacted, it was like a cannonball just fired. It was already difficult to withstand it, let alone shatter it in a single blow when confronted head-on.

"If it were just the two of us, we could only silently recite scriptures, guard our minds, and dodge and find an opening to counterattack in a state of no thought. But this person neither dodges nor evades, and strikes successfully in one blow. With just this one move, he surpasses both of us. It seems that what the Zhan Household brothers said was not an exaggeration." Zhou Meng sighed.

Zhou and Huang, who had a close relationship with Sun Yong, learned about Qiu Yan and others from the Zhan Household brothers and paid attention to Qiu Yan. Now, seeing this scene, they immediately believed Literary Path Creation's story to be about 80%.

No amount of explanation can compare to the directness of facts.

Huang Xun then compared Qiu Yan and Bei Xuan: "This attack mainly demonstrated personal will, and did not involve much in terms of knowledge. However, the stronger a person's will, the more determined their desire to learn will be, and naturally they will achieve extraordinary things."

The two communicated with each other through their minds, soaring through the air to avoid the encroaching black mist. Soon, they each took their own positions and activated their mental energy, pressing towards the black mist!

On the other side, the woman was also surprised by Qiu Yan's performance, but she quickly composed herself and sent out her thoughts. "Everyone, please use your willpower to attack the Trial Beast and prevent the black mist from dissipating, so that I can make my move and subdue it!"

"Oh? I didn't expect that the main attacker this time wouldn't be Bei Xuan. What's the background of this woman?"

With a change of heart, Qiu Yan did not stop. He imagined his consciousness condensing into a long spear and thrusting it outwards!

Swish!

The sand and dust swirling around his soul were forced back, and then a cold light pierced through his body!

At this moment, Qiu Yan's thoughts became a long spear, with his unwavering resolve as the shaft, his steadfast will as the head, and his sharp intention as the tip!

A cold glint flashed across the sky! It pierced through the smoke of the Trial Beast, penetrating deep within!

The next moment, countless thoughts were transmitted, and Qiu Yan's sharp thought seemed to fall into a quagmire, making it increasingly difficult to move forward. However, he did not have the slightest thought of retreating and continued to move forward, constantly capturing and analyzing the artistic conception along the way.

"So that's how it is. No wonder Bei Xuan said this thing could replace the body's Qi and Blood, allowing the Soul Dao to advance. It turns out there's more to it than meets the eye..." As he thought about it, his mind shifted again, and the Way of Knowledge and Action emanated from it, dispelling a large Ordeal Realm and shaking a patch of dust!

In an instant, Bei Xuan, Qiu Yan, Zhou Meng, Huang Xun, the old man, and the woman all focused their thoughts, sending out attacks from six directions to pierce the Trial Beast's body and suppress the smoke.

Roar!!!

The overlapping roars of millions of people rose again, smoke billowed, stirring up sand and stones below, making the dust thicker, and countless thoughts exploded, the difficult situation surging and expanding like a mountain torrent and tsunami, trying to force back the imposed thoughts, and to make the six people have the idea of fear and retreat.

Those who can unite their Literary Heart will not be deterred by temporary difficulties.

Soon, the black mist and the artistic conception were suppressed.

Outside the sandstorm, those traveling by boat were filled with fear. Some of them had intended to use the imposing aura of the Trial Beast to Soul Refinement and hone their State of Mind in order to achieve spiritual elevation. However, upon hearing the deafening roar, they felt terrified and almost wanted to flee!

Unfortunately, the boat was in the sky, and the people were inside. Even though their souls could fly, once they left the boat's range, they would be pulled by the raging sandstorm. Not to mention returning, even landing was a luxury. They could only be pulled into it, getting closer and closer to the black mist Trial Beast!

Everyone knew this perfectly well, so despite their shock, they could only force themselves to endure it.

"These people shouldn't be thinking about making any other moves for the time being."

Compared to the grim faces on the two boats, Chen Jing remained calm. He glanced at Tao Ying beside him and smiled slightly, "Brother Tao, please sit here. This ship is incredibly sturdy, originating from the thoughts of a person from the Literary Path Creation. As long as his soul remains intact, there's nothing to worry about, no matter how great the storm."

"Chen Jing, you..." Tao Ying, who had been rolling on the ground, had recovered by now.

He had just been overwhelmed by the Ordeal Realm and was unable to control himself, but the ship had the Bei Xuan Thought blocking his way, which helped to alleviate the Ordeal Realm. Tao Ying quickly recovered and then closed his eyes to rest and endured the pain. Now, when he heard Chen Jing's words, he opened his eyes and saw the other party walk to the side of the ship and jump out!

"You!"

Amidst cries of alarm, Chen Jing's men were swept away by the raging wind, disappearing in an instant into the sandstorm!

"What is he going to do?" Tao Ying was startled and looked intently, but she couldn't catch a glimpse of Chen Jing. Instead, she saw countless red threads flying all over the yellow sand!