Chapter 607

Under Brother Qian Chen's gaze, the panel of Twelve Yuan Chen Daoist slowly shattered, and for once, Brother Qian Chen's expression betrayed a flicker of tension—unlike previous tests, this time he had truly unleashed the primordial demonic nature within the Dao Dust Pearl.

Outside the Immortal Mansion, the entire Emei sect's True Persons, including Old Qi, stared at Tun Tan with shock and fury.

For just moments ago, when Tun Tan struck down Twelve Yuan Chen Daoist, the escape technique he used bore unmistakable demonic traces, and the light that shattered Brother Qian Chen's Twelve Yuan Chen Daoist body was terrifyingly potent.

It was the solar starlight of a Dao Lord shattering an entire world, combined with demonic methods to channel the explosive solar divine light and burn countless living beings to ash, gathering their boundless souls to forge this light of annihilation!

It was, in essence, the ultimate-condensed Solar God-Slaying, Absolute Yang Divine Light!

Seeing this strike, even though Brother Qian Chen had laid a trap and deliberately lured Tun Tan into it, he still felt a chill run down his spine!

Had he not been the Dao Dust Pearl itself, with his Yang Spirit hidden within it, this Solar God-Slaying, Absolute Yang Divine Light would have followed the link of his avatar and utterly extinguished his Primordial Spirit!

Behind Tun Tan, the Tai Sui Alliance must have a Dao Lord-level adept in command to possess such a forbidden artifact and scheme against a mere Yang Spirit like him.

"They know full well I am Brother Qian the Xie Xie Zushi who revived Supreme Louguan Dao—they're utterly confident that even if I am Brother Qian the Xie Xie Zushi, a surprise attack with this forbidden artifact would leave me with zero chance of survival!"

Brother Qian Chen wiped the sweat from his brow, his voice still trembling: "Good thing I hid deeper than you thought. You believed I was Brother Qian Chen, the one who recovered the Dao Dust Pearl and revived the Dao lineage? Hah! I am the Dao Dust Pearl itself!"

Old Qi led a group of righteous high cultivators, subtly advancing and demanding: "Comrade Jun Nuo! What is your meaning?"

"This comrade does not appear to be a true Heavenly Demon, yet the Dao techniques you wield bear faint demonic traces. And just now, you struck suddenly and slew that comrade before we could intervene—the light you used was utterly evil, entwined with the grievous qi of countless living beings!"

Tun Tan grasped the chaotic spirit pearl, awaiting the Wheel Master's mission completion prompt, and smiled: "What do you mean, Elder Qi? I've tangled with that Heavenly Demon for countless years—knowing a few demonic methods is natural! Besides, the true body of a Heavenly Demon is ever-shifting and illusory. Seeing me kill that man and reclaim the celestial spirit pearl proves he was no stranger to the Outer Realm Heavenly Demons!"

"Then please hand over the celestial spirit pearl!" Master Master Tianmeng emitted boundless Buddhist light, blocking Tun Tan's path.

Jun Nuo glanced at his mission status, already marked complete, then looked at the righteous high cultivators with indifference: "And if I refuse?"

"Then don't blame this old monk…"

Tun Tan paid them no mind. Had he not feared the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon, he might have played along with these righteous cultivators, reaped all the benefits before leaving—but now that he held the Dao Dust Pearl, he had no need to stir further trouble. Taking the spirit pearl to the Tai Sui Alliance was a feat of boundless merit.

He had a future as a Dao Lord!

Yet the Wheel Master remained silent for a long time, offering no return option—finally, beneath the mission, a tiny line appeared: Mission target not fully dead. Only after slaying his Primordial Spirit may you return!

Shi Sui, riding his blue ox, watched helplessly as Jun Nuo, the True Immortal, effortlessly slew Twelve Yuan Chen Daoist, leaving behind a floating chaotic-colored spirit pearl.

He blinked, then sighed: "Of course—the celestial spirit pearl was in Twelve Yuan Chen Daoist's hands! That day, when the pearl fell from the heavens, he was the one who claimed it—hence the Heavenly Demon's lingering remnant sought him out! Jun Nuo, the True Immortal, is no good man either. His claim of predicting the Heavenly Demon's location? He was predicting the pearl's location—he sought to seize it!"

"A celestial spirit pearl fell from heaven, and the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon emerged! Does the pearl truly imprison the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon?"

"That part is not wrong."

Shi Sui suddenly heard a voice behind him—he spun around and saw a figure standing there: the former incarnation of the Heavenly Demon—Brother Qian Chen. But his attire now made Shi Sui's scalp crawl: Brother Qian Chen wore no long robe or Daoist garb, his hair not bound, but cut short in a sharp style, dressed in a black-and-white trench coat, black knee-high boots on his feet.

His hands were tucked in his pockets; the muscular lines beneath his white shirt accentuated his tall, lean frame perfectly.

He looked utterly modern, utterly fashionable!

"Who are you?" Shi Sui asked, startled.

"The spirit pearl does indeed imprison an inconceivable demonic nature—the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon."

Brother Qian Chen turned his head slightly, his tone calm as he terrified him: "Hello. I am the Outer Realm Heavenly Demon, also Twelve Yuan Chen Daoist, online handle 'Taishang Brother Qian Zhuzhu,' real name Brother Qian Chen. Believe me—in reality, the marks on your body are just from your bamboo mat. It's the Great Asura Heavenly Demon Secret Talisman I branded you with, giving you psychological trauma. You should seek treatment from me in reality!"

Shi Sui, riding his blue ox, froze completely.

His scalp prickled—he instinctively tried to exit Western Kunlun—but for some reason, the normally seamless exit now felt agonizingly sluggish, as if he were a paper doll stuck in frame-by-frame motion, sliding down a narrow opening, yet blocked halfway.

Brother Qian Chen patted his shoulder: "My data packet might be large—just wait a moment!"

At that moment, he strode toward the Immortal Mansion's entrance, watching Tun Tan, who had slowly turned, his eyes filled with disbelief. Within Tun Tan's chaotic spirit pearl, a thin black line had appeared—unseen until now. Infinite demonic energy surged through the entire Western Kunlun world; in an instant, countless demonic-transformed beings melted into demonic energy, spreading corruption in all directions. As Brother Qian Chen "died," looking down from billions of zhang above Western Kunlun…

In the real world, within the Nine Ning Cauldron of Fantasy International HQ, the miniature Western Kunlun landscape, swirling with primordial chaotic energy and boundless mythical beasts, floated like a glowing orb—now covered in countless needle-like black dots, rapidly spreading.

By now, nearly half of the Western Kunlun world had been blackened!

Amid the surging demonic energy, every demon-aligned player simultaneously received a notification—Taishang Heavenly Demon Descends! Hehua Hehua Zizai gameplay activated!

At that moment, all demon-aligned players dissolved into demonic energy…

"Why is the sky dark?"

"What the hell?"

At the instant the demonic nature of the Dao Dust Pearl overflowed, every sentient being's mind suddenly gained a few new thoughts—Heavenly Demon Descends! All is Mind-Created!

They clearly perceived themselves freed from bodily boundaries, sensing their ceaseless stream of thoughts and ideas—these sparks of thought, each a single Nian, formed their "self."

A demon-aligned player tentatively stirred his thoughts—he found that fleeting thoughts, once gone in an instant, now became strange, formless, and ethereal entities within the demonic energy.

These entities were born of his scattered thoughts and demonic energy; inexplicably, he grasped what they were—Yin Demons.

Every thought, every chain of connected ideas, could merge with demonic energy and become a Yin Demon.

The more complete the thought, the stronger the Yin Demon.

"Hehua Game!"

The Heavenly Demon's thought entered every living being's consciousness, crystallizing into a Yin Demon that began shaping the game's rules: After the Heavenly Demon's descent, every sentient being's basic unit of consciousness—the thought—could command demonic energy. All beings could anchor each thought within demonic energy, transforming it into a Yin Demon.

Once formed, Yin Demons, anchored in sentient beings' thoughts, would be controlled by them.

Beings could weave their anchored thoughts into streams of consciousness, allowing Yin Demons to merge into demonic heads, engaging in all manner of activities.

One could create realms from thought alone, sever and discard scattered thoughts by transforming them into demonic heads, gather needed thoughts to form coherent consciousness, and use countless scattered demonic heads to polish and question oneself, illuminating one's true heart.

Consciousness is the self; demonic heads are the other-self.

In the Hehua Game, thoughts are everything—they can create all things, and also steal others' thoughts, or implant one's own thoughts as demonic heads into others' consciousness, transforming them into other-selves!

This is the Hehua Game!

Heavenly Demon Descends! All is Mind-Created!

Hehua Game! All beings freely become demons!

This thought appeared in the consciousness of all sentient beings, then instantly crystallized into a demonic head, invading their minds and stealing scattered thoughts. At this moment, every player, righteous True Person, ordinary NPC, even conscious spirits and monsters—all felt the Hehua Game concept flooding their minds!

Those with attachment sensed their own myriad thoughts, now endlessly arising.

"What is the Hehua Game?"

"What is Fantasy International up to?"

In an instant, more and more ideas flooded his mind, each forming invisible Yin Demons—the thoughts about the Hehua Game were devoured by the demonic head born from the Heavenly Demon's single thought, gradually linking together.

"Form, sensation, perception, volition, consciousness! These are the Heavenly Demon's Five Aggregates!"

"Form is the origin of all consciousness—sensed through the five senses: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body—giving rise to sensations of form, sound, scent, taste, touch. Their root is form. Form is the external appearance, the material world. Though the origin of all consciousness, it is not part of consciousness itself. From form arises sensation—the feelings triggered by external appearances are the most basic unit of thought—sensation. Sensation can become a Yin Demon; by transforming all perception into Yin Demons, one can transmit one's sensations to others, confusing their perception."

"The mental activity triggered by sensation—the imagining of things—is perception… Thought is a further stage of consciousness, often formed by chains of thoughts."

"From perception arises volition… The behavioral tendency triggered by imagined things—the inner drive of consciousness—is volition."

"Consciousness—the inner logic of cognition, the understanding of things!"

"Understanding of things, the inner logic of thought, forms the self! The Hehua Game is a war of the self!"

"Thirst is sensation—triggered by the form of the mouth and tongue, producing a feeling. That feeling is thirst. Then arises the thought—I am thirsty! This is sensation giving rise to thought: a simple feeling, processed by consciousness into a thought containing self-awareness. From thought arises volition—I am thirsty! I must drink water!"

"Behind it lies the understanding—'water quenches thirst'—including more complex inner logic: why does water quench thirst? What is water? That is consciousness."

"Consciousness forms the self!"

Xinyoushe's mind filled with more and more thoughts, linking his memories: certain Buddhist sutras he'd read, common knowledge he knew, scientific education he'd received, even half-true psychology books on consciousness he'd once skimmed—all stirred by the Heavenly Demon's invading thoughts.

This concept of the Hehua Game gradually became certain ideas, which merged with his existing understanding, becoming part of his cognition, integrated into his consciousness.

Throughout this process, he had no resistance whatsoever. Now, he could no longer distinguish which thoughts were his own, and which were the Heavenly Demon's implanted thoughts.

The demonic thoughts had taken root in him. His consciousness now constantly surfaced thoughts of fear, dread, terror, despair—all transforming into Yin Demons under his control. His ever-emerging thoughts—longing for attachment, curses against Fantasy International, speculations about the situation—all became demonic heads.

Even the Hehua Game concept, now part of his consciousness, continuously generated new ideas, forming new understandings.

"The incantation to control Yin Demons and demonic heads!"

"How to invade others' consciousness, steal, and implant thoughts!"

"All insights into demonic Dao!"

These thoughts arose spontaneously, as if they were his own. Soon, controlling demonic heads and commanding Yin Demons became part of his understanding.

Even if Xinyoushe knew some thoughts weren't his own—he could never have conceived the method to command Yin Demons on his own—once consciousness recognized them, those recognitions became part of his mind.

Like someone saying to another: "Black sheep!"

Then insisting: "Try hard to forget the black sheep!"

The affected person naturally cannot forget the black sheep—this is an example of consciousness being influenced, thoughts being implanted.

But the Heavenly Demon's methods were infinitely more subtle—his implanted demonic thoughts contained principles of consciousness and cognition, all built from the sentient beings' own understanding, gradually reshaping their original consciousness until all beings comprehended the Heavenly Demon's thoughts.

For someone like Xinyoushe, educated and refined, he used his own knowledge to interpret the demonic thoughts, thus having them implanted, achieving demonic cognition—his thoughts twisted and strengthened the demonic understanding, his perception of consciousness increasingly aligned with the Heavenly Demon, with demonic Dao.

Even those uneducated, illiterate, would keep thinking, delving deeper—simple consciousness, centered on the Heavenly Demon's single thought, gradually comprehended the Heavenly Demon's cognition, forging demonic cognition.

In this process, all understandings arising from that single thought became demonic-tainted.

Like the most ignorant person accepting religious dogma—surrounding a repeatedly reinforced, implanted understanding, forming a worldview, constructing consciousness.

The consciousness formed by such distorted understanding was naturally more twisted…

The Heavenly Demon's single thought reshaped the worldview of all beings in this world, enabling them to perceive thoughts, discover their own consciousness, even command their thoughts, transforming them into Yin Demons and demonic heads!

The most terrifying part? Xinyoushe gradually came to understand all this—but he did not know whether these understandings were his own, or implanted by the Heavenly Demon's descent.