A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 571 Divine Demon Heavenly Sound
The group walked along the main road. Freed from the harassment of evil spirits, they felt much more at ease and began collecting medicinal herbs along the way.

The next morning, after traveling all night and having just extinguished their torches, the group saw a pool of water not far away in the morning light.

The sparkling water shimmered with a soft glow in the distant morning light.

They were already parched and rushed over immediately. Once there, they urged Xu Hui to test the water source.

Xu Hui took out his silver needles and slowly began testing various spots around the pool, much to the frustration of the others who cursed him. Xu Hui had already tested three spots, but when Lu Chu and Du Wan asked him questions, he kept his head down and didn't speak, instead running to the next testing point.

Du Wan couldn't help but curse, "That stubborn fool!"

After checking five places, Xu Hui finally looked up and said, "Alright, no problem. Drink up."

Then everyone scooped up some water, drank it all in one gulp, and then scooped up a second cup. They sat on the rocks by the pool and took out dried meat from their backpacks. They drank water and ate the dried meat at the same time.

As they ate, they started chatting.

While looking at the map, Lu Chu said, "We've come this far, about halfway there. Although the journey so far has been arduous, we've already encountered two evil spirits, so the rest of the journey will be a bit easier."

"I hope so," Du Wan muttered as she swallowed the chewed dried meat.

Upon hearing this, Lu Chu glanced at him and said, "What? You don't seem very confident!"

Du Wan smiled and said, "Don't forget..."

Before Du Wan could finish speaking, a loud, resounding Buddhist chant suddenly echoed across the pale yellow sky.

Everyone's expression changed!
"Divine and Demonic Heavenly Sound!?"

The sound of divine and demonic music is a sign that the realm of gods and demons is about to open!

What Du Wan was trying to say was about the Divine Demon Illusion. Although they had already encountered two evil spirits, they shouldn't encounter any more evil spirits before reaching the central altar. However, the Divine Demon Illusion hadn't been opened yet!
The two main focuses of the ten-day intensive training were evil spirits and the illusionary realm of gods and demons. This illusionary realm of gods and demons was also the most dangerous existence within the ruins.

Because, in the realm of gods and demons, the deaths they encounter are real deaths!
If they die within the Divine Demon Illusionary Realm, their true lives within this ruin will also be erased!

During the training camp, Lin Youjian and Liu Su had already told them that the Divine Demon Heavenly Sound could penetrate the soul and cause a shock to the soul.

Although they already knew, when the resounding chants echoed across the sky, a strange sense of holiness still pierced their minds and bodies.

Almost everyone's gaze instantly became clear and devout. They all stared blankly at the pale yellow sky, and at that moment, a transparent face suddenly appeared in the pale yellow sky.

Although the face was transparent, it was as solid as glass; it was more like a mask than a face.

More importantly, this face almost filled the entire sky. In other words, at this moment, the entire sky that enveloped this world transformed into a face.

Everyone gasped in shock.

The face had features no different from a human's, except that its eyes were tightly closed. The face remained there motionless for several breaths before slowly opening its eyes, its glassy eyes looking down at Duan Rong and the others.

The moment those eyes opened, everyone felt as if they had been pierced through, and they couldn't help but tremble.

That was the will of gods and demons penetrating their bodies, and they instantly turned to stone, their souls no longer able to control their bodies!

Because of that tremor, the silver cup that Du Wan was holding slipped from her hand and fell to the ground!

Just then, a giant hand, as large as a mountain, suddenly appeared in the void. The transparent hand pointed in the air, and ripples in the space spread out around them like ripples in water.

At the very center of those ripples was Jiang Hanyan. At this moment, Jiang Hanyan's eyes, like glass, shone with an eerie light.

The Divine and Demonic Illusion doesn't appear out of thin air. Rather, it's created by the will of gods and demons, allowing their souls to enter a deeply hidden memory or nightmare of one of the eight people. And within this hidden memory or nightmare lies that person's obsession.

They must break free from this obsession within the illusion of gods and demons in order to escape the illusion!
It seems that the will of gods and demons has chosen Jiang Hanyan!

During the training camp, Lin Youjian and Liu Su told them that in the first Divine Demon Illusion, the will of the gods and demons would choose the person with the deepest obsession!
The second time is highly random and usually depends on how each person performed in the first magical illusion.

The number of times the Divine Demon Illusion appears is uncertain, but it is between one and three times. In the past, the sect's members who entered the Divine Demon Ruins have encountered the Divine Demon Illusion at most three times and at least once. More than half of the teams recorded have encountered it twice!

As the spatial ripples spread outwards from Jiang Hanyan's center, they rippled outwards...

A look of astonishment flashed across everyone's eyes, because once the spatial ripples passed by, the scenery in front of them blurred and changed.

In fact, everyone was curious about what obsession Jiang Hanyan had that made her the one with the deepest obsession among the eight of them!
After a few breaths, the blurry scenery before my eyes stabilized.

In that instant, they all felt a dry, dusty wind blowing in gusts. Besides the smell of earth and weeds, there was also a pungent, metallic odor of blood in the air.

Their faces were filled with panic. They looked up and saw a sizable village amidst the rising dust. But now, the village was filled with the neighing of horses and the occasional screams of agony!
What was truly horrifying was that at the entrance to their village, a large tree was covered with human heads tied to its branches! And beneath the tree lay decapitated corpses, staining the yellow earth a deep crimson!

"This is... bandits massacring the village!?"

Duan Rong and the others were all panicked. They never expected to encounter such a scene upon entering the Divine Demon Illusion. What was even more speechless was that they had all turned into seven or eight-year-old children, each one thin and emaciated, dressed in tattered clothes.

There were about a dozen children surrounded by three bandits with knives. They were all about the same size and all looked emaciated.

Duan Rong and the others scanned the area and quickly recognized each other. Although they had all turned into seven or eight-year-old children, their features had not changed, and they recognized each other at a glance.

At this moment, all eight of them were among the group of children surrounded at the village entrance; apart from them, the other children were all crying and sobbing…

Not far from them were three other bandits guarding the women with knives. There were five women in total. Duan Rong glanced at them. Although they were dressed as village women, they were all quite beautiful with fair skin. However, they were all pale and had dull eyes, obviously having recently experienced something extremely terrifying.

Duan Rong's eyes flashed; it was clear that a massacre had just taken place at the entrance of the village.

A large number of villagers were driven here and slaughtered under that big tree. Only these dozen or so children and the five pretty women survived.

Meanwhile, in the village, smoke and dust rose everywhere, and screams echoed. Clearly, villagers who were hiding in the village were being discovered and tortured to death by the bandits!

At that moment, under the big tree covered with human heads, a man stood there on horseback!
The chestnut horse seemed to have seen it all before. Despite the strong smell of blood, it was not alarmed at all. It simply lowered its head and ate a clump of wild grass soaked in blood.

The man on horseback had a knife at his waist, scabbarded in black leather. He sat astride his horse, seemingly gazing towards the village. However, because a turban was wrapped around his head, obscuring his face and plunging him into shadow, his eyes were even more obscured.

This man was Meng Zongqiu, the leader of the caravan. His inner energy cultivation was at the second level. At this moment, the sounds of killing and screams within the village had ceased; only the chaotic clatter of horses' hooves continued to echo…

Duan Rong and the others had already gathered around Jiang Hanyan. They needed to figure out what Jiang Hanyan's obsession was before they could find a way to escape this magical illusion.

Their current situation is extremely bad. They have been reduced to the age of seven or eight, and all their cultivation has been lost, leaving only the memories of martial arts in their minds. To make matters worse, they have been caught in the crossfire of a village being massacred by bandits! In fact, all they can think of is how to get out of here first.

However, before that, they need to ask Jiang Hanyan.

Because they are currently in Jiang Hanyan's memory or nightmare, Jiang Hanyan understands the situation better than any of them.

Suddenly, a horse galloped out of the village, raising a cloud of dust along the way.

"Shut up!"

The man on horseback reined in his galloping horse a short distance from a large tree, where the stench of blood was overwhelming. He dismounted, bowed, clasped his hands, and knelt down, saying, "Reporting to the chief! The second and third chiefs are fighting in the village over a woman. The third chief has lost an arm and is about to die. Please, chief, go and save him!"

Meng Zongqiu sat on the chestnut horse, unresponsive, his face buried in a turban, making his expression impossible to discern.

The man with his head bowed and fists clasped felt a sudden panic when he saw that Meng Zongqiu remained silent. Sweat beaded on his forehead, but he could only stiffly keep his head bowed and fists clasped.

Meng Zongqiu suddenly said, "Aren't your shoes a little uncomfortable?!"

The man had his head down, and the muscles in his face twitched involuntarily. Although he was wearing bandit shoes, his heels were sticking out, and the shoes were clearly a bit too small.

The man's face suddenly twisted into a vicious expression. He leaped up abruptly, his hand trembling, and two javelins shot out. He then turned and leaped back onto his horse, but he was too slow. The instant he threw the javelins, Meng Zongqiu leaped from his horse like a bird, not only dodging the two javelins but also flashing over the man's head in mid-air. In the blink of an eye, there was a whooshing sound and a flash of cold light, and Meng Zongqiu had already drawn his sword and beheaded him.

The head flew off and rolled to the side of a large tree, while a spray of blood appeared from the headless corpse. Right next to that spray of blood, Meng Zongqiu gracefully landed and sheathed his sword.

He glanced at the corpse that had just collapsed, kicking up a cloud of dust, and said, "I forgot to tell you, the second brother doesn't like women at all."

This man was clearly a martial arts expert hiding in the village. He wanted to trick Meng Zongqiu into leaving so he could escape on horseback to the main road. But he didn't know that his lie had a major flaw.

The moment Meng Zongqiu beheaded the man, Duan Rong's pupils contracted slightly. Although he had lost his cultivation, his insight and perception remained, and he immediately recognized that Meng Zongqiu was at the second level of the Inner Breath Realm.

The others naturally noticed it as well.

Suddenly, a large number of horses, their roar like thunder, emerged from the village. Amidst the billowing dust, the cavalry could be seen leaving the village.

Several oxcarts were piled high with grain, and on two of the carts, several goats were tied up, bleating softly...

These bandits have looted the village and left laden with their spoils.

The cavalry stopped when they got close, and two men rode out of the column.

One of the two men was a burly, tall man who wielded a blood-stained broadsword. He had high cheekbones and his eyes flashed with a cold, venomous light. This man was named Wu Mingfu, and he was the second-in-command of the caravan.

The other man had a gloomy, pale face and a head full of dreadlocks. His lips were bright red and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. This man was named Li Tang and was the third leader of the caravan.

At this moment, there was a person lying across Li Tang's horse. It was clearly a woman, and she was screaming as the horse bounced around.

Li Tang rode his horse past the five women guarded by bandits not far from Duan Rong and his group, then grabbed the women from the horse and threw them over as well.

Li Tang used a clever technique; the woman was thrown over, but she only stumbled slightly before regaining her balance. Her face was filled with sorrow and panic, and her eyes were streaked with tears.

But as soon as this woman stood next to the five women, she immediately stood out from the crowd, because she was really quite beautiful.

Li Tang, still on horseback, couldn't help but glance at the woman again. But as he turned away and spurred his horse to move on, he suddenly noticed that the bandit leader, Meng Zongqiu, was standing not far away. Although his face was hidden under his headscarf, Li Tang's heart skipped a beat. He knew that Meng Zongqiu was looking at the woman he had just kidnapped.

If Meng Zongqiu takes a fancy to that woman, then he's out of the picture. Because any woman who enters Meng Zongqiu's fortress will be carried out as a corpse the next day.

Wu Mingfu and Li Tang had already ridden their horses to Meng Zongqiu's vicinity.

Li Tang said, "Including sweet potatoes and corn, there are only three hundred catties of grain in total. Seven cows and fifteen sheep. That's all we have!"

Wu Mingfu said, "These villages are getting poorer and poorer."

Meng Zongqiu then turned his gaze away from the woman and said in a hoarse voice, "The harvest wasn't good! It's already pretty good! Second brother, third brother, gather your men and head back to the stronghold!"

Amidst a cloud of dust, Du Wan stood beside Jiang Hanyan. Seven or eight years old, Du Wan was as thin as a monkey, skin and bones. He looked at Jiang Hanyan and asked, "Hanyan, what is your obsession with being here?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Hanyan glanced at Li Tang's back, who was closest to them.

Guo Tian's eyes flickered, and he quietly asked, "Your obsession isn't killing the Third Master, is it?"

The leader was at the second level of the Inner Breath Realm, and even if the third leader was not the best, as the head of the caravan, he must have been at least at the first level of the Inner Breath Realm.

Such a level of cultivation would naturally be nothing more than chickens and dogs in the eyes of these direct disciples of the sect. Normally, they wouldn't even bother to kill them. But now, in this illusionary realm of gods and demons, they have lost all their cultivation and are nothing more than seven or eight-year-old children who are skin and bones from hunger. What fighting power do they have?
How can one kill a caravan leader who is highly skilled in martial arts and ruthless in killing?

Jiang Hanyan pursed her lips, her eyes hardening, and said, "Not one! Three!"

"Three?!" Duan Rong looked in surprise at the big tree where the three leaders of the caravan were talking.

"Yes." Jiang Hanyan's voice carried a natural firmness. "The second-in-command is called Wu Mingfu. He killed my father. And that Li Tang, he killed my mother! He must die!"

As Jiang Hanyan spoke, she seemed to recall a scene, her eyes turned terrifying, and her lips were bitten until blood trickled down.

Duan Rong asked, "What about the chief?!"

Jiang Hanyan said, "He's their leader, he has to die too!" As she spoke, Jiang Hanyan suddenly looked up and stared intently at a certain spot on the big tree.

The blood-soaked tree was covered with human heads, and where Jiang Hanyan was looking, perhaps she suddenly recognized her father's head...

Everyone stared blankly at Jiang Hanyan's expression!
Massacre of the village! Father murder and mother torture!
A blood feud!

Jiang Hanyan actually had this kind of experience! No wonder she was the one with the deepest obsession among the eight of them!

This hatred is too great!
(End of this chapter)