CHAPTER 265: IT’S BEGUN

Meanwhile, Liu Feng had positioned himself against a nearby wall, observing the three disciples secretly. He watched their discussion in amusement, noting how excited they seemed about the payment he had provided.

After several minutes, he saw them finally decide to leave, walking away while chattering excitedly about their newfound fortune.

When they disappeared from view, Liu Feng couldn’t contain his laughter. "Keke, country bumpkins," he thought to himself with smug satisfaction. He had fully expected them to be dissatisfied with the amount he had offered and come chasing after him demanding more payment. It seemed he had drastically overestimated their understanding of true value.

"Kekeke, they don’t even know the real worth of what they just sold," he mused as he carefully opened the book in his hands. Even though he had spent his entire fifty-year life savings on these three copies and was completely broke now, he thought it was absolutely worth it. With the knowledge contained within this book, he would conquer the cultivation world.

"Muhahahaha!" Liu Feng’s maniacal laughter echoed through the area as he reveled in his acquisition.

Suddenly, a tremendous explosion sound shook him out of his reverie. The sound was so loud and violent that even the ground shook.

"Huh? What’s happening?" Liu Feng wondered aloud, immediately leaping from his position and launching himself high into the air to get a better view of the situation.

"What’s that?" he muttered as he observed what was unfolding in the distance. Even though the source was quite far, roughly a hundred miles away, he could clearly see a massive dark mushroom cloud rising.

In the next moment, he felt the world around him begin to shake.

Then, something even more terrifying occurred. The area where the dark mushroom cloud had appeared suddenly became concentrated with a dark miasma. From within this corrupted area, an enormous dark lotus began to sprout and bloom.

The lotus was absolutely colossal, Liu Feng estimated its radius to be around ten miles initially, but it continued expanding relentlessly until it reached approximately thirty miles in radius. Only then did its growth finally begin to slow down. Even from this incredible distance, he could see the massive flower clearly, its dark petals spreading across the landscape and swallowing everything around it.

Things began sprouting from the center of the lotus, launching upward at tremendous speeds.

As Liu Feng watched in fascination, something suddenly crashed violently against the sect’s defensive formation. Whatever it was splattered against the barrier before slowly sliding down its surface.

"What’s that?" Liu Feng wondered as he jumped toward the edge of the barrier to investigate.

"Stop!" a voice called out from behind him.

Turning around, Liu Feng noticed Wang Jian approaching with a grim expression etched across his face.

"It has begun,"

...

Li Yao floated high above the sect as she surveyed the chaos unfolding below. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the massive dark lotus that had materialized just a few miles away from their sect.

From its center, thick streams of poisonous miasma billowed out in all directions, creeping across the landscape and corrupting everything it touched.

The lotus was actively spawning creatures from its dark core, small, imp-like beings that tumbled out one after another in an endless stream. They had round, chubby bodies with tiny wings that fluttered frantically, and large, sparkling eyes that did little to hide their mischievous nature.

"Are those the demons? They look so cute! Yao Yao wants to play with them!" Yao Yao spoke.

Xiang Yu looked at her with a strange expression. "Are we seeing the same thing?" he wondered.

"They don’t look that strong," Li Yao spoke thoughtfully.

"That’s right," Wang Jian spoke up from her other side.

"But their purpose isn’t to fight," he added.

"What’s their purpose then?" she asked.

"They’re spreaders," he said.

"Spreaders?"

"That’s right. See that miasma coming out of the lotus? That’s dark energy," Wang Jian explained, pointing toward the billowing black fog that continued to expand outward from the massive flower. "The purpose of these creatures is to spread it far and wide. Those who come into contact with it become corrupted, they lose all reason and become mindless killing monsters driven only by bloodlust."

Xiang Yu felt a chill run down his spine as he listened to this explanation. He wondered how exactly that corruption process worked. He had access to the dark element himself and had used it quite a bit in both his cultivation and combat, but he’d never experienced any such corruption effects.

Was the lotus releasing its own specially refined dark energy that was different from normal elemental darkness? Or maybe he wasn’t affected because of his omni-element spirit root and his Transcendent Dao Body that were naturally equipped to handle all types of energy without adverse effects.

"Then it’s easy, right? Just don’t touch it,"

Wang Jian shook his head, his expression growing even more serious. "It’s not that simple," he said. "The miasma will keep expanding continuously unless its source is destroyed. It won’t stop spreading until it covers everything."

"Then why not just destroy it?" she asked.

Wang Jian shook his head again. "You can’t," he said. "Although those small creatures aren’t designed for fighting, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t others that ARE designed for fighting."

"So there are bodyguards protecting the lotus? How many of them are there, and how strong are they?" she asked.

Wang Jian’s expression grew troubled as he considered her question. "It’s hard to say with certainty, but as the lotus continues to expand, both their numbers and their individual strength will keep increasing proportionally," he explained.

"You said touching the miasma leads to corruption, right? Then how exactly are you supposed to fight these creatures without making contact?" it was Liu Feng who asked this time.

Wang Jian turned to address his question. "The corruption doesn’t happen instantly upon contact. As long as you’re in the Golden Core realm or above, you can protect yourself by using your qi to actively expel and resist the corrupting influence," he explained. "Though extended exposure could definitely lead to serious problems over time."

Li Yao glanced down at the shimmering barrier that protected their sect, watching as another corrupted figure crashed violently against its surface. The person’s body splattered everywhere on impact, leaving dark stains that slowly slid down the barrier’s energy field. "The barrier should be able to protect us from the miasma, right?" she asked.

"For now, yes," Wang Jian said.

"What do you mean by ’for now’?" she asked.

Wang Jian let out a sigh as he looked at the growing lotus. "As the lotus continues to grow and expand, the strength and potency of the dark energy it emits will also grow exponentially. At some point, it will become powerful enough to penetrate even the protective barriers."

Elder Huang flew over to their position "Sect Master, what’s happening?" she asked with concern.

Li Yao’s expression immediately shifted into her sect master mode as she turned to address her. "Recall all disciples who are currently out on missions or training expeditions immediately. Have the entire sect go into full lockdown mode, no one enters or leaves without my direct permission," she ordered. "I’ll make an announcement to explain the situation once everyone has gathered."