"...What?"

Li Feng muttered, eyes wide, feeling as if he'd misheard.

But with his sharpened senses , he knew that wasn't possible....he had clearly heard Little Ming's voice.

Just as he was about to go check, the crying serpent suddenly disintegrated, turning into nothing but dust.

Staring at the scene before him, he stood frozen in confusion.

"The hell is going on..." he muttered, clutching his chest.

As a strange , tightening discomfort spread through him , making him frown.

Somehow, he could tell it was connected to the village.

Without another thought, he turned and hurried back , with Goldie following closely behind.

_

_

Soon after rushing back, he saw the village in the distance which... seem to have changed.

"…a tree ?" Li Feng murmured as he stared at the huge tree that suddenly appeared out of nowhere , towering the entire village.

It had a strange , almost sacred look yet at the same time carried a faint demonic feeling.

Its dark red leaves swayed lightly, and from its thick branches hung several cocoon-like objects.

Li Feng's pupils shrank as he approached closer.

The closer he got, the heavier that oppressive feeling in his chest became, like invisible vines wrapping around his heart and squeezing tighter with every step.

The air grew thick, carrying a faint metallic scent mixed with decay.

When he arrived at the village entrance , he noticed all the houses nearby were gone, replaced by thick tree vines that crawled out from the ground, twisting around everything in sight.

The whole place looked like a swallowed ruin , half village and half forest , as if the land itself had come alive and devoured everything.

He didn't see any villager in sight.

And most importantly, he couldn't see or sense his senior sister either.

"What happened here? Where's Senior Sister…"

Li Feng looked around in a daze , as the change was too sudden, too unreal.

Then he continued walking deeper until he arrived at the base of that huge tree that covered the entire village.

Li Feng noticed there actually a man in a dark red robe standing at the base of the tree with his back toward him, seemingly pondering something with his hand under his chin.

"…Who are you ? Did you do something to this village? " Li Feng asked in a deep voice.

For some reason , he could already feel a sense of discomfort and dislike toward this man.

Mo Shuyan , who seemed lost in thought, heard the voice from behind.

He slowly turned toward Li Feng and gave a polite smile.

Seeing Li Feng's dark expression, he continued and bowed politely with his hands together, starting his usual introduction that he had done countless times.

"Ah… nice to meet you. My name is Mo Shuyan , currently the 12th Emissary of Divine Blood, Or you can also call me by my title , the Mad Alchemist."

After his polite introduction , Mo Shuyan paused, letting the silence hang in the air.

But after noticing that Li Feng didn't say anything, he soon looked up in surprise , his eyes lighting up as if he had discovered a rare specimen.

Seeing that strange expression, Li Feng frowned, "…What?" His voice carried clear irritation for some reason.

"Y–You actually didn't attack ?" Mo Shuyan shouted in disbelief , then smiled brightly in relief and patted his chest.

"Ahh, finally ! I thought I'd never be able to finish my introduction properly. All the righteous sect disciples I've met so far either attack me right after I say my title or interrupt me halfway… so rude."

Mo Shuyan shook his head dramatically as he remembered those incidents , then looked toward Li Feng with a grin.

"You truly are better than all of them. At least you have proper manners—"

"…Did you do all of this ? Where are the villagers ?" Li Feng cut him off , his tone sharp as he slowly looked around.

Mo Shuyan didn't seem to mind the interruption, instead, he nodded appreciatively at Li Feng.

"Ah, a man of discipline, I see. Straight to the point."

Then he spread his arms wide, smiling proudly.

"Yes ! It is indeed my proud and amazing work!"

After finishing his words, Mo Shuyan waited again , expecting Li Feng to explode in righteous fury.

He even smiled faintly in anticipation of it —

But instead , he heard a low, suppressed voice.

"...What did you do?" Li Feng asked slowly , his head lowered slightly so Mo Shuyan couldn't see his eyes.

But Goldie, who was behind Li Feng , could see the faint veins already popping on its master's temple and his clenched fist.

"..."

And through their bond, it could also feel the slowly rising... anger.

Then Mo Shuyan, unaware of this, suddenly squirmed like he was hit by a rush of excitement.

He looked at Li Feng with truly joyous, wide eyes.

"Ahhh !! I'm so glad you asked ! I've been wanting to share this amazing , wondrous experiment of mine with someone for so long!! "

Mo Shuyan then turned around and patted the tree trunk enthusiastically, like a kid proudly showing off his pet.

"This! This is the Ancient Divine Soul Tree that my master found in an ancient secret realm ! The moment I learned about its abilities, I immediately begged her to give it to me!"

Without stopping, he looked up at the tree in reverence, " Can you believe it ? It actually has the ability to manipulate souls themselves! It can control, morph, duplicate, and even nurture a new soul !"

Then Mo Shuyan showed a sad expression, " Too bad the souls it nurtures are too... weak and fragile, plus it take too long to nurture a soul."

Then he looked back at Li Feng with a smile, "So I thought , instead of using the souls it nurtures... why not provide it with external souls that are already mature and powerful? "

Li Feng, who had been listening silently, thought about that voice he heard from the dying serpent and murmured, "...The villagers?"

"That's right ! I have fed all of the souls of the villagers here to the Divine Soul Tree~" Mo Shuyan said cheerfully, and seeing Li Feng's frown, he grinned.

"You must be wondering, 'then who were the villagers I've been interacting with?' right?"

Without waiting for Li Feng's reply , Mo Shuyan continued excitedly, "This tree is truly not simple! When I fed it the souls, it can perfectly replicate the person as long as they remain within its domain... so I just let them continue their village life~"

After hearing all this, Li Feng let out a rough breath, staring at the excited Mo Shuyan and asked.

"Then... why did I hear a voice from that serpent monster?"

"Oh, that ?" Mo Shuyan grinned.

" It's simple actually. I noticed that under extreme emotions, the soul can change and improve drastically, so..." he made a chopping gesture with his hand, like he cutting a vegetable

"I separated their souls into two. One half for the monster, and the other remained as the normal villager~. And after the village gets wiped out by their other half....who still remembers everything. I just reset the situation again. As for how many times I've reset? Hahaha, I stopped counting after the two hundredth."

Li Feng stared in disbelief after hearing those words.

He knew better than most that the soul was a mysterious yet fragile existence, something that even the most skilled alchemists and spiritual masters treated with utmost care.

A single tear in it could cause madness… but to dissect one?

He couldn't even begin to imagine the agony a mortal soul would endure under such cruelty.

His throat tightened , his voice coming out low and hoarse, trembling with suppressed rage.

"You…"

"Amazing, right ?" Mo Shuyan laughed proudly. "I wanted to experiment and understand more about mortal souls before moving on to real cultivators on a larger scale. Just imagine it...an entire city… no, an entire sect! under the tree's control, continuing to live normally without ever realizing they're already dead!"

Mo Shuyan's eyes shone with mania as he looked up at the sky , smiling. " Then I could experiment… test everything to the extent of my desire!"

Then he looked back down at Li Feng, still grinning, " To be honest, I was already planning to continue my expansion toward Whitesilk City. But... when you showed up, I just couldn't resist wanting to share this amazing work with a fellow cultivator after working on it for two years alone."

Li Feng's mind flashed with the sound of Little Ming's voice...desperate painful cries.

Now he understood.

He could never imagine the despair of being forced to watch oneself die again and again… by one's own hand.

Li Feng gritted his teeth, forcing down the surge of anger that threatened to explode.

As he had to know one more thing from this madman.

"…One final question ," he said through clenched teeth, his voice low but sharp, "...where is my senior sister?"

Mo Shuyan, hearing the suppressed tone , tilted his head casually , as if thinking for the answer.

"Oh? Her?"

He paused, letting the suspense hang in the air before his grin widened.

"…I killed her and fed her soul to my tree. Ah~ her last pitiful cry… what was it again? Oh right , it was… Junior Brother Li—"

BOOOM!

Before he could finish his teasing , a massive shockwave erupted in front of him, tearing through the surroundings and throwing debris everywhere.

Mo Shuyan blinked, startled, as his gaze fell on a fist frozen inches from his face.

Because before the strike could land, another hand had intercepted it.

"..?"

Li Feng's eyes widened as he slowly turned to look toward the tall figure with long, black wavy hair.

The figure's eyes remained closed , but the aura of power radiated from him was suffocating.

Somehow, he had appeared out of nowhere and blocked his punch.

From behind that tall figure, Mo Shuyan's disappointed voice rang out,

"Ah, I guess you're the same as the others after all… truly so rude."

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