One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Nie Lingfeng stood at the edge of the deep pit, looking down at his right hand, which was a bloody mess with bones visible. The excruciating pain in his palm was crystal clear, but what shook him even more was the scorching hot Qilin tattoo on his chest, as if branded with a hot iron, and the violent power surging and roaring in his veins, almost bursting out of his body, originating from the depths of his blood.

He slowly raised his head, and under the scarlet moonlight, the scene outside the pit came into view.

Yuan Tao clutched his sunken chest, his face ashen, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Of the "Nine Dragon Sons" in his hand, only "Pulao" and "Suanni" remained, spinning erratically in his palm, their luster dimmed. Han Dan'er slumped to the ground, blankly clutching the octagonal bronze hammer, cleaved in two by the Snow Drinking Blade, its broken edges covered in frost, blood continuously oozing from the corner of his mouth.

A short distance away, the remaining four members of the "Four Madmen" were in different states. Xia He's long pink hair was slightly disheveled, her chest heaving, and for the first time, her glamorous face lost its composure; Shen Chong's gold-rimmed glasses were shattered, and he pushed up the remaining lens with his fingertip, his eyes gloomy; Gao Ning clasped his hands together, but the fine beads of sweat on his forehead and his slightly trembling fingers betrayed his exhaustion and unease; Dou Mei lowered her head, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably, and her perpetually weary face became even paler.

The gazes they cast at Nie Lingfeng were no longer filled with the initial contempt and mockery, but instead with an overwhelming sense of astonishment, apprehension, and... a hint of barely concealed fear.

"That kid..." Shen Chong spat out a mouthful of bloody foam mixed with bits of internal organs, his voice hoarse and dry, like sandpaper rubbing together, "That palm strike just now... what the hell was that? That aura... it was definitely more than just the Cloud-Dispelling Palm or the Heavenly Frost Fist!"

"Who cares where he came from!" Yuan Tao gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with pain and resentment, staring intently at her two remaining beads. "Didn't you see? His hands are shaking! His breathing is as erratic as a broken bellows! That last burst was definitely exhaustion! He's at his last gasp! Let's attack together, strike while he's down, and finish him off!"

Gao Ning took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his surging blood and qi, closed his eyes again, and slowly formed a more complex and profound hand seal in front of his chest. He began to chant a more obscure and strange scripture in a low voice.

"The Twelve Labors Formation... rises again!"

"Buzz—!"

A strange fluctuation, far more condensed and intangible than before, yet seemingly capable of directly affecting the very essence of the soul, spread silently like mercury spilling onto the ground! This time, the core target of the formation was no longer the unconscious Lu Jin, but rather the swaying figure at the edge of the pit, radiating a dangerous aura—

Nie Lingfeng!

"Ugh—!!!"

Nie Lingfeng felt as if a million steel needles were piercing his mind at the same time! It was as if twelve different emotional volcanoes were erupting deep within his consciousness! Ecstasy, rage, extreme sorrow, deep love, hatred, fear, greed, obsession... all sorts of extreme and opposing emotions, like ferocious beasts breaking free of their shackles, frantically attacked and tore apart his rational defenses!

If he were in his prime, he could operate the Ice Heart Technique with ease, and his mind would be as clear as ice. There were very few formations in the world that could shake his mind. Even if the "Twelve Labors of Emotion Formation" was mysterious, he could hold firm to his spiritual platform and slowly break through it.

But now...

He was seriously injured, his internal energy was almost exhausted, and what was even more fatal was the ferocious power in his body that originated from the bloodline of the Qilin, which was already violent and restless, and had just been squeezed to the limit and then backfired, like a powder keg that had been lit!

The eerie power of the "Twelve Labors of Emotion" that stirred emotions and tormented the mind did not break him down. Instead, it was like a ladle of boiling oil poured onto a barrel of gunpowder!

"Roar! Ro ...

Nie Lingfeng suddenly roared to the sky! The roar was no longer a human's howl, but more like the roar of a primordial beast that had been imprisoned for countless ages and finally broken its chains, filled with pain, violence and a desire for destruction! The sound waves rolled, causing the surrounding ruins and rubble to fall in a rustling sound!

A visible change suddenly occurred in him!

His pupils, originally as black as ink, were like water infused with blood, rapidly becoming completely stained and occupied by a scarlet color! It wasn't just bloodshot; the boundary between the whites of his eyes and the pupils blurred, transforming into two blazing, scarlet flames that seemed about to drip blood!

His once jet-black hair, starting from the roots, seemed to have all its pigment instantly drained away by an invisible force, rapidly fading from its deep black to a glaring and eerie pale white! The white hair danced wildly in the night wind, forming a stark contrast with his blood-stained black outfit, adding to his eerie and ominous appearance.

Beneath his skin, bluish-black blood vessels bulged and twisted like awakened earthworms, with faint, dark red light surging rapidly within them, as if molten lava was flowing through them! His clothes on his chest were already torn, and the fire qilin tattoo was now a terrifying red, as if it had come alive, its lines twisting and writhing, emitting a dazzling blood-red light that even made the surrounding skin appear crimson! A terrifying pressure, a mixture of blood, malevolence, heat, and madness, swept out from him like a tangible hurricane!

Possessed by demonic possession!

Completely and utterly possessed by demons!

"Oh no!" Xia He's alluring face turned deathly pale instantly as she exclaimed in shock, "His mind has been completely stirred by the array, unleashing the malevolent power hidden within him! This isn't a simple case of demonic possession... this is... demonic possession of the heart!"

Shen Chong's face was ashen, but a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes: "So what if he's possessed by a demon? A beast without reason is easier to deal with! He's nothing but a monster with power but no substance now! While he's in a daze, let's all attack together and finish him off!"

Before he could finish speaking, Shen Chong suppressed his injuries and once again transformed into a blurry afterimage, lunging out with a speed three times faster than before! This time, he pushed the "Loan Sharking" ability to its limit, even at the cost of overdrawing his own life force! The dark energy gathered at his fingertips was no longer in the form of a short sword, but transformed into a fine line, condensed to its extreme, as black as ink, seemingly capable of swallowing all light. Silent and stealthy, it carried a sharpness that could pierce through metal and stone and a sinister poison that could corrode the soul, aiming straight for Nie Lingfeng's ancestral aperture between his eyebrows!

He wanted to kill the opponent with a single blow, directly destroying any remaining core of their consciousness!

However, faced with this insidious and deadly attack, Nie Lingfeng, in his demonic state, didn't even turn his head to look at him.

Those scarlet eyes stared blankly ahead, seemingly out of focus, yet also seemingly piercing through the enemy before them, seeing a deeper, more essential killing and destruction.

He was simply following some kind of fighting instinct, or rather, the bloodlust driven by demonic power, and slowly raised his bloodied and mangled right hand, which was wrapped in dark red malevolent energy, and seemingly casually and lightly struck out with his palm in the direction Shen Chong was rushing towards.

It's still the same move from the Cloud-Dispelling Palm – Parting Clouds and Wearing the Moon.

But at this moment, the palm strike was completely unrecognizable!

The palm strike was no longer a fleeting cloud, but transformed into a thick, heavy, dark red aura storm mixed with the pungent smell of blood and sulfur! Within the aura, countless twisted and tormented faces of vengeful spirits flashed by, emitting silent, mournful howls! Wherever the palm strike passed, the air was corroded, making a hissing sound and leaving faint black trails; even space itself seemed to distort slightly!

This palm strike is no longer a martial art of the human world, but a demonic and evil technique!

"Bang--!!!"

The dull thud was not the sound of metal clashing, but more like a heavy object hitting mud.

The black thread that Shen Chong had condensed with his life's cultivation and sinister Qi energy melted and dissipated silently the moment it collided with the dark red palm wind, just like ice and snow meeting boiling water! Immediately afterwards, the viscous and heavy palm wind imprinted itself onto Shen Chong's hastily raised arms without any obstruction!

"Snap! Snap!"

A clear cracking sound rang out.

"puff--!"

Shen Chong spat out not blood foam, but a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs! He was sent flying backward as if struck by an invisible giant hammer, crashing through three trees as thick as bowls before collapsing limply into a pile of rubble like a broken rag doll. His arms were bent at an unnatural angle, his chest was deeply caved in, and his breath was instantly drained to its limit, his eyes filled only with boundless pain and incredulous horror.

"How...how is this possible..." he uttered broken syllables, "My Qi...has been corrupted...eroded..."

Nie Lingfeng moved.

Without any strategy, technique, or even a fixed set of moves, he was like a wild beast unleashed, driven by the most primal and violent instincts to kill, launching an attack on the remaining enemies!

Fists, palms, legs, claws, elbows, knees… every part of his body became a deadly weapon! His attacks were completely unpredictable, sometimes as dense as a storm, sometimes as cunning as a viper's hiss, sometimes as devastating as a landslide! Even more terrifying was the dark red aura swirling around him, which seemed to possess life and consciousness. It not only greatly amplified the power of his attacks but also actively eroded and corrupted his opponent's protective Qi, burrowing into their meridians like a leech, scorching their mind, and triggering all sorts of negative emotions and hallucinations!

"Bang bang bang bang!"