The old man slowly lowered his hands, gazing at Qin Yu, whose expression had drastically changed. His smile grew increasingly sinister, a composure born of complete control. He clapped his hands lightly, his voice slow and hoarse, laced with deep mockery. "What? Don't you recognize me?"
He raised his hand, pointing at Yuan Weizhi standing in front of the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Didn't you enter this realm together? You traveled together, discussing the Dao along the way, and now you don't even dare to recognize your own companion?"
At this point, he suddenly burst into laughter, the sound echoing throughout the entire Blazing Erosion Divine City, even causing the ten Soul-Suppressing Flag to flutter in the wind. "Hahahaha... Since you are like-minded friends, then let him personally send you on your way! Attack!" The moment his words fell, a dark red light suddenly shone in Yuan Weizhi's empty, lifeless eyes. He slowly raised the divine weapon in his hand, and without the slightest hesitation, he shattered the void with a single step, rushing towards Qin Yu and the other two.
On the other side, the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet let out a deafening roar, its Anger and Aversion Origin churning wildly from the cracks in its chest. Its massive body dragged the shattered earth as it charged forward. Although only a small section of the broken demonic halberd remained, it still radiated a world-destroying ferocity. The human and the demon, one in front and one behind, attacked simultaneously, instantly plunging the entire world into two completely different yet equally terrifying pressures.
Qin Yu's gaze was fixed on Yuan Weizhi, who was rushing towards him. In just one glance, his heart sank to the bottom. The fluctuations of Yuan Weizhi's Fate Soul had completely changed. Countless black and red soul threads, as thin as hair, were wrapped around his sea of consciousness. One end of those soul threads was connected to his divine soul, and the other end extended all the way to the ten Soul-Suppressing Flag in the distance.
He finally understood that Yuan Weizhi was not simply being controlled, but that her soul essence had been forcibly taken over by the Soul Flag. Although Yuan Weizhi's physical body was still there, the one who truly controlled all these actions was the Fate Soul will manipulated by the old man through the Soul Flag.
While Qin Yu swung the Silent Origin Stainless Sword to block the half-demon halberd smashed by the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet, he also constantly dodged Yuan Weizhi's merciless divine abilities. Every time the swords clashed, he forcibly withdrew a portion of his sword force at the last moment, for fear of injuring Yuan Weizhi form.
The Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet gave him no respite, unleashing a relentless barrage of attacks that forced Qin Yu to retreat. He was now caught in a dilemma: he had to fight off the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet with all his might, yet he couldn't truly attack Yuan Weizhi. The situation instantly plunged him into an unprecedented predicament.
Each sword strike required a split-second decision; the slightest misstep could result in either Yuan Weizhi's death or the three of them being completely devoured by the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet.
Qian Wenwan also continuously wielded the Compassionate Joy Divine Sword, forcibly deflecting the divine attacks aimed at Qin Yu. However, when she looked into Yuan Weizhi's lifeless eyes, a chill ran down her spine, and she couldn't help but exclaim urgently, "What should we do? Young Master Qin! Fellow Daoist Yuan's soul has been completely controlled; he doesn't recognize us at all!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Yuan Weizhi slashed at her again, the sword light devoid of emotion, as cold as a puppet. Qin Yu gritted his teeth, deflected the sword's momentum with a single strike, and then retreated quickly, reuniting with Qian Wenwan and Xiao Yue, his gaze never leaving the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet and Yuan Weizhi.
He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Let's deal with that Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet first! Fellow Daoist Yuan cannot be harmed. We can only avoid his supernatural abilities and do our best to find an opportunity to break the Soul Flag's control over him!"
Xiao Yue nodded solemnly. The Blue Ring had already begun to rotate slowly. She gazed at the ten Soul-Suppressing Flag in the distance and said in a low voice, "As long as the Soul Flags remain, he will never regain consciousness. Little Qinzi, we must destroy those Soul Flags as soon as possible, otherwise the longer we delay, the more dangerous it will become."
The three slowly formed a triangular formation, while on the opposite side, the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet once again raised its broken demonic halberd. Yuan Weizhi also walked step by step to its side, and the human and the demon locked onto Qin Yu and the other two at the same time.
Yuan Weizhi and the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet pressed in from the left and right simultaneously, their sword light and halberd shadows intertwining into a destructive torrent. Qin Yu's figure constantly weaved between the two, and every time the Silent Origin Stainless Sword slashed at the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet, he had to spare a sliver of his mind to avoid Yuan Weizhi's sharp edge; while Yuan Weizhi was like a puppet without any emotion, each move of his divine weapon aimed straight for vital points without the slightest mercy.
Holding the Compassionate Joy Divine Sword, Qian Wenwan continuously deflected Yuan Weizhi's attacks with her gentle sword light while blocking the halberd strikes that the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet kept hurling at Qin Yu. The world was filled with constant roars, and the four figures moved so fast that only afterimages could be seen constantly intersecting each other.
Just as Qin Yu once again repelled the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet with his sword, Xiao Yue hovered in mid-air, her star-blue pupils suddenly narrowing. Staring at the faint, flickering light deep between Yuan Weizhi's brows, her expression suddenly brightened, and she shouted, "Little Qinzi! That kid's soul still retains a last shred of consciousness! He hasn't completely succumbed; we can still awaken him!"
The words had barely left his mouth when a dark sword light grazed past Qin Yu's shoulder. Qin Yu sidestepped Yuan Weizhi's attack, simultaneously slashing his sword to block the half-demon halberd that the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet was swinging at him. The impact sent numbness through his right arm, but he still gritted his teeth and shouted, "Alright! Shopkeeper Qian! Find a way to awaken Fellow Daoist Yuan!"
Qian Wenwan flipped her jade-like hand, and the Compassionate Joy Divine Sword drew a soft sword curtain, temporarily forcing Yuan Weizhi back several steps. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead, but she still nodded without hesitation, replying, "I'll try! Buy me some time!"
Before she finished speaking, she had already been guiding strands of gentle sword intent imbued with the Dao of joy and love toward the source of Yuan Weizhi's Fate Soul, attempting to awaken the last remaining trace of his consciousness. Meanwhile, Qin Yu and Xiao Yue had once again confronted the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet that was charging towards them.
However, at that very moment, the massive body of the Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet suddenly stopped in place. Instead of continuing to swing the broken demonic halberd, it slowly opened its arms, and the flesh covered in cracks tore outward bit by bit, with dark bloody fissures spreading all over its body. The strange vertical pupil embedded in its palm slowly opened, and an even more sinister and eerie Daoist aura slowly spread out.
The entire world remained unchanged, yet Qin Yu keenly sensed that the earth beneath his feet seemed to have gained an imperceptible layer of veins. Countless blood-red threads, invisible to the naked eye, had silently spread throughout the world, following the causal connections between mountains and rivers, magma, the void, and even the Fate Soul.
The Wrath and Malice Blood Puppet's split lips slowly curled upwards, and a hoarse, icy voice seemed to emanate simultaneously from billions of mirrors. "World-Covering... Sinful Performance." In the next instant, the entire world suddenly became incredibly quiet; there was no killing intent, no bloodshed, no roaring in the air.
Countless familiar images flashed before Qin Yu's eyes: the Dao Source Ancient Tree was growing anew, Fu Wansheng was standing there with a smile, Xiao Yue was still sitting on his shoulders, swinging her legs happily, Qian Wenwan in the distance, looking over with a smile;
Qian Wenwan also saw the image of the Shade-Guarding Clan still Anran, the Compassionate Joy Divine Sword quietly planted under the ancient tree, and the Joy Clan and Love Clan still embracing and laughing; even Yuan Weizhi had regained his senses and stood shoulder to shoulder with the three of them, as if all regrets had been made up. But just as the three of them had a slight fluctuation in their minds, the world suddenly froze.
Snap. It was as if someone had gently snapped their fingers, and the entire scene shattered instantly.
Smiling faces began to melt, the warm earth turned into a boundless sea of blood, and those who had been watching them with gentle eyes began to grin, revealing the hideous faces of blood puppets. At the same time, countless overlapping voices resounded throughout the world.
Have you laughed enough?
In an instant, the entire world transformed into countless mirrors, each reflecting a different self, a different past, and a different regret. In each mirror, those most cherished people walked towards them step by step with gentle smiles, and then, at the moment they were closest to them, slowly raised their weapons and thrust them into their chests.
The sky, the earth, the mountains and rivers, the lava, and even every drop of rain reflected the same scene. The entire world was completely transformed into a Sin Theater that covered the heavens and the earth. Countless mirrors began to simultaneously display the distorted face of the Blood Puppet. Hundreds of millions of voices echoed in layers throughout the world, causing people's souls to tremble violently.
Qin Yu, Qian Wenwan, Xiao Yue all stopped in their tracks.