Chapter 1303

When Heaven reveals its killing intent, stars shift their positions.When Earth reveals its killing intent, dragons and snakes rise from the ground.When humanity reveals its killing intent, heaven and earth overturn.

What is called human killing intent is profoundly enigmatic.

The cultivators of Sin Abyss realized that human killing intent should be sought among mortals. For this purpose, both the righteous and demonic factions, contrary to their usual behavior, sent their low-level disciples into the mortal world, controlled mortal nations, stirred up trouble, and incited conflicts.

Since then, warfare has been incessant within Sin Abyss, with corpses littering the fields and blood flowing so heavily it could float pestles. Nine out of ten households were empty in the mortal realm, and countless people were separated from their families and lost their homes.

Mortals, enduring immense suffering, were still praying to the immortal masters, begging for divine protection.

These mortals never knew the truth until their dying breath: the immortal masters they revered were actually the masterminds, manipulating everything. The immortal masters, from their lofty perch, coldly observed mortals slaughtering each other, as if watching a herd of pigs being fattened for slaughter.

Their sole purpose was merely to collect human killing intent to refine elixirs.

Such conduct was almost demonic.

Yet, even those who claimed to be righteous masters, including Old Man Tianzheng and True Master Canghong, turned a blind eye to this. Demonic cultivators, needless to say, delighted in collecting souls, enough to refine several kinds of evil arts.

They successfully collected the human killing intent.

However, they then discovered that collecting human killing intent this way was too slow, and for some unknown reason, the killing intent was too impure. Wars between mortals had limited scale; even if a nation was annihilated, not much could be gathered, certainly not enough to satisfy the needs of all the Nascent Soul cultivators.

When they had hunted down the demon, most of Sin Abyss's Nascent Soul cultivators were present and had contributed. Naturally, they all expected a share. The Desiccating Yuan Pill had to be distributed to everyone; otherwise, Sin Abyss could immediately fall apart.

The first batch of Desiccating Yuan Pills refined were tested on late-stage Golden Core cultivators who had failed to form a Nascent Soul, whose lifespans were nearing their end, and who had no hope of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage on their own.

What was shocking was that after taking the Desiccating Yuan Pill, some indeed succeeded in forming a Nascent Soul. Furthermore, everything appeared normal after the breakthrough, with no apparent hidden dangers.

After confirming the miraculous efficacy of the Desiccating Yuan Pill, they were even less likely to give it up.

Next, they set their sights on cultivators themselves.

Human killing intent, perhaps, could be found within themselves.

Cultivators were merely individuals who wielded powerful strength!

They deliberately provoked the Heavenwalker Alliance in the grasslands, ultimately confirming that this plan was feasible.

Cultivators' strength far surpassed that of mortals, and the intensity of their wars was incomparable to mortal conflicts. The human killing intent collected was also purer.

Sin Abyss reached an internal consensus. Experts from both righteous and demonic paths gathered at the Starry Constellation Sect, forming an alliance, and decided to actively launch a war to invade the Heavenwalker Alliance!

Of course, officially, it wasn't for refining elixirs.

The low-level cultivators of Sin Abyss transformed from chess players into mere pawns.

"Perhaps there were ambitious individuals with aspirations of domination. But the majority initiated this war not for supremacy. The previous stalemate in the war was, in fact, intentional on their part."

Hearing Qu Huan's words, everyone understood the full story and couldn't help but be enraged.

Only now did they realize the true purpose of Sin Abyss's high-ranking figures. They had all been manipulated by Sin Abyss! If Sin Abyss's resources had been depleted and they were fighting for survival, they wouldn't have been so furious.

"Using human killing intent to refine elixirs, and the formula was obtained from a soul-searching demon — they actually dared to consume it!"

Ghostly Demon Lord snorted coldly.

The origin and refining method of the Desiccating Yuan Pill were clearly not benign.

"The fragmented memories obtained through soul-searching, along with the secrets of the Blood Lake and the passage between the two palaces, were all corroborated, subtly increasing the credibility of the Desiccating Yuan Pill. Even so, they were cautious and did not blindly consume it. Over the past hundred years, various sects selected Golden Core disciples to take the Desiccating Yuan Pill, which significantly increased the number of Nascent Soul cultivators in Sin Abyss, allowing them to effortlessly contend with the two realms on their own. The newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivators were unaware of the Desiccating Yuan Pill's origin; they were essentially test subjects, and those old cultivators had been continuously observing the changes after they took the pill..."

He paused, then Qu Huan said sullenly, "Of course, some couldn't resist the temptation of the Desiccating Yuan Pill and secretly took it to force a breakthrough. There were quite a few such individuals, Old Monster Feng being one of them, and he paid a heavy price for it."

The war between the three realms lasted for over a hundred years.

For such a long time, those who had taken the Desiccating Yuan Pill seemed normal, with no apparent ill effects. Even the most patient Nascent Soul cultivators in Sin Abyss began to lose their composure.

Qu Huan felt a chill of fear. He had almost succumbed to the temptation.

"What was the price?"

Qin Sang recalled his senior sister's earlier words, "So many died at the hands of Old Demon Ye; was it because of the Desiccating Yuan Pill?"

"Indeed!"

Qu Huan nodded slightly. "This morning, all Nascent Soul cultivators of Sin Abyss gathered in Yucheng to discuss important matters. Old Demon Ye suddenly launched an attack. For everyone who had taken the Desiccating Yuan Pill, the hidden dangers erupted simultaneously. In the blink of an eye, Old Monster Feng and others experienced a loss of their physical vital energy, a drop in cultivation, and the wilting of their primordial spirits—a complete decline of essence, qi, and spirit!"

"Hiss!"

Qin Sang and the others gasped, taking in a sharp breath.

Essence, qi, and spirit are the foundation of a cultivator. Any issue with one is extremely problematic; with all three declining simultaneously, there is no cure!

"The worst off were the newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivators. Only a handful had formed their Nascent Souls through their own ability; the rest relied on the power of the Desiccating Yuan Pill. Their Nascent Souls were on the verge of collapsing instantly, leaving them utterly defenseless before Old Demon Ye. The older cultivators were in a slightly better state, but those who had taken too many Desiccating Yuan Pills also had little power to resist. Their Nascent Souls were captured alive by Old Demon Ye on the spot..."

Recalling the scene, Qu Huan's expression still showed a hint of terror.

Old Demon Ye bared his fangs. Under everyone's gaze, he harvested half of the Nascent Souls in an instant, as easily as cutting vegetables. Everyone was still in shock; by the time they reacted, Old Demon Ye had already succeeded, and it was too late to stop him.

"Looking back now, there were already signs. Old Demon Ye being ambushed and injured half a year ago must have been intentional on his part. From then on, Sin Abyss continuously suffered defeats, forced to retreat and defend Yucheng, which gave all the Nascent Soul cultivators the opportunity to gather there.

"In my opinion, ancient cultivators likely used the Desiccating Yuan Pill in battle formations, to instantly boost their strength and catch the enemy by surprise, utterly defeating them. However, the long-term consequences were endless.

"Old Demon Ye must have used some secret art to delay the eruption of the hidden dangers. He waited until today for the dagger to be revealed from the map!

"It's probably not unrelated to the Ethereal Crystal Pagoda. When he escaped, Old Demon Ye not only destroyed the Ethereal Crystal Pagoda, but also seized all the crystals from its pinnacle.

"Hundreds of years ago, when the demon appeared, it was all part of Old Demon Ye's scheme from beginning to end!"

Qu Huan's words completely unveiled the cruel truth of the cultivation world.

Low-level cultivators entered the mortal world, stirred up mortal greed, and drove mortals to slaughter each other.

Soon after, they were thrown into the cultivators' battlefield by the Nascent Soul patriarchs, becoming test subjects for the Desiccating Yuan Pill.

But even those Nascent Soul patriarchs were merely pawns in Old Demon Ye's hands, ultimately harvested by him.

They thought they were the chess players, but in reality, they were all part of the game. How many could claim innocence?

After this dramatic turn of events, not only were half of the Nascent Soul cultivators lost, but the Nascent Soul patriarchs who had taken the Desiccating Yuan Pill were also trapped by hidden dangers, their strength greatly diminished. They could now only barely suppress these effects, and their ultimate fate remained unknown.

It was precisely because Qu Huan saw that Sin Abyss's fate was sealed that he completely sided with the Two Realms Alliance.