It's finally over!

The Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre vanished like a bubble, and Jia Ren exhaled a deep breath of relief.

The battle was brief; he swiftly severed the power source of the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre, addressing the problem at its root.

The Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre was not its actual self, but only an illusory projection of a Heart Demon. Even so, it was this difficult to handle.

If I faced its actual self, I would hardly be a match...

Wait for my Golden Core? What does that mean?!

Jia Ren had used his Insect External Incarnation to survey the area within a hundred miles and found no Bizarre Demons.

The fact that the Fathead Fish Demon encountered issues only after crossing the Heart Demon Pass was the best proof.

The Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre wasn't targeting him specifically!

The Fathead Fish Demon was its original target.

It was only because the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre noticed him that it changed its target and took action against him.

Far more formidable than when it was first encountered, the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre had mastered the ability to project Heart Demons across vast distances.

Trigger a Heart Demon and I summon a Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre?

When Jia Ren forms his Golden Core, he will inevitably face the Heart Demon Tribulation and the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre!

This also explained why the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre left those words before it disappeared.

As long as he dared to form the Golden Core, no matter where he hid, as soon as he reached the Heart Demon Pass, the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre would find him.

The thought that a formidable enemy lay hidden and could strike a fatal blow during the Heart Demon Pass immediately dampened Jia Ren's spirits.

This guy holds such a grudge!

Marked by the persistent Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre, he faced endless trouble.

For the first time, Jia Ren harbored thoughts against forming his Golden Core and had no desire to face the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre again.

No, that's wrong! I almost got tricked!

The Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre was trickier than at their first encounter, yet it couldn't be omnipotent.

All Bizarre Demons have limits to their special influence; it is not endless.

The Black Blood Bizarre is the perfect example.

Jia Ren relied on the Cloud-Surpassing Flying Boat and ascended ten thousand feet into the sky before he was unaffected by the Black Blood Bizarre's strange power.

For the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre, the same principle applied.

Now, to what extent had it recovered its strength?

Golden Core? Or Nascent Soul? Could its area of influence reach a thousand miles? Ten thousand miles?

The Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre could not possibly cover the entire Cultivation World, let alone ensure that wherever he formed his core, it would come knocking.

Even those at the God Transformation Level couldn't do that!

Its influence would only be effective within a certain area; it couldn't be limitless.

Jia Ren didn't believe that forming his Golden Core outside the Barren Extreme Land would still subject him to the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre's influence.

The Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre wants to leave a Heart Demon Seed in my mind to evolve into a real Heart Demon.

Any Cultivator aspiring to the Great Dao who dared not form a Golden Core would inevitably breed a Heart Demon.

Jia Ren, valuing the Great Dao, realized that the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre had left that message deliberately.

If the Heart Demon Seed grew and turned into a Heart Demon, it would prematurely summon the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre.

This was exactly the outcome the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre sought to achieve.

Jia Ren hurriedly took out a hundred Mind-Guarding Talismans and placed them on his chest to steady himself and guard against the cunning schemes of the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre.

Stop thinking about it!

The more he thought about it, the greater the pressure, and the easier it was for a Heart Demon to be born.

Only after dealing with the threat of the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre did Jia Ren turn his attention to the Fathead Fish Demon.

With the Heart Demon Tribulation behind it, the Fathead Fish Demon successfully advanced, breaking through to the Third Order.

It was officially a great magical beast equivalent to the Golden Core level.

Affected by the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre, it was still unconscious and in a dormant state.

Jia Ren took out an Ancestral Fish Sage Pill and placed it near the mouth of the Fathead Fish Demon. As if by instinct, it sucked the Elixir into its mouth.

Still knows how to eat; it's not a big issue.

The trip had its setbacks, but the Fathead Fish Demon's successful advancement to the Third Order was still good news.

This place is not safe to linger in!

Unable to be sure whether the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre would follow, he didn't dare stay any longer.

Jia Ren took the Fathead Fish Demon into the Mountain and River Pearl, erased his presence and traces, and with the Insect External Incarnation, he left at an astonishing speed.

He did not return the same way he came; what would have been nearly a ten-day journey was reduced to just one day with the combined efforts of his Extraordinary Saint Level Sword Control Technique and a Middle-grade Divine Wind Talisman.

Jia Ren didn't go back to his Water Curtain Cave Abode. Until the hidden dangers were completely resolved, he was unwilling to bring trouble home.

He certainly didn't want to be sitting at home when calamity struck from the heavens.

He hid near a Thousand-Year-Old Black Turtle, using the Turtle Breath Technique to conceal his aura, and stayed hidden for a month.

Should any danger actually come, the Third-Order Profound Turtle, as a neighbor, could lend a hand.

Neighbors should help each other out.

「The old grounds of the Yuding Sect.」

This place had been occupied by a group of unknown Cultivators, numbering no less than a hundred.

They were not weak; the vast majority were Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and there were also three Golden Core Cultivators among them.

In a remote place like the Barren Extreme Land, Golden Core Cultivators were few. For three to suddenly appear, their combined strength already surpassed that of the local sects in the Barren Extreme Land.

Suddenly, a piercing scream echoed from the secret chamber in the closed-off main hall.

"ARGH!"

Sharp, ear-grating sounds came from inside the Yuding Sect's inner hall, and many Bizarre Alliance Cultivators were bombarded with visions of Heart Demons.

Fear and panic marred their faces; the uncontrollable Heart Demon Bizarre Persons... no one could subdue them.

Inside the great hall, a twisting, ink-like mass of black qi kept changing shape, at times taking the form of human shadows and at others, black mist.

A cluster of red flames adhered to it, burning ceaselessly, impossible to extinguish.

The red flame was something the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre's projection had brought back with it, exceeding its own expectations.

No matter what method was used, the flame could not be put out, burning incessantly like maggots in the bone.

The power of the red flame, if encountered when it had just revived, would have been a nightmare.

Now, it wouldn't pose much of a threat.

The most disgusting part was that the Wicked Flame couldn't be extinguished, a sensation that irritated it immensely.

It was like being stuck with a piece of flypaper, impossible to get rid of no matter what.

The Burning Evil Flame continued to consume its power, which would inevitably and severely impact its recovery progress.

The best method was akin to cutting away flesh to remove a sore!

The black mist congealed into a human shape, and the arm burning with red flames detached from the body to prevent the fire from spreading to more areas.

Only by permanently losing part of its strength could it eradicate the pest-like Burning Evil Flame.

"Lord? Are you alright?!"

"Could it be a rejection reaction from fusing with the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre?"

Three Golden Core Cultivators knelt before the hall's entrance, their faces full of anxious concern.

Cultivators were far inferior to the undying Bizarre Demons, but once the transformation into a Bizarre Person was successful, they would possess the strength to combat Bizarre Demons and resolve the menace they posed.

This was the original intent of the Bizarre Alliance.

Subsequently, it had become... their pursuit of an unconventional form of immortality.

Those transformed no longer viewed humanity as their own species.

The Bizarre Alliance was constantly searching for suitable Bizarre Demons, attempting to create more Bizarre Persons.

Bizarre Persons possessed the abilities and traits of Bizarre Demons, making them nearly immortal and indestructible.

Not all Bizarre Demons were suitable for transformation into Bizarre Persons.

Any suitable Bizarre Demon would attract attention; the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre sealed by the Heavenly Feather Gate and the Mirror Bizarre sealed by the Yuding Sect were both excellent targets for transformation.

The Bizarre Alliance schemed for a hundred years, successively corrupting two Demon Suppressing Envoys from the Heavenly Feather Gate and stealing two sealed artifacts containing powerful Bizarre Demons.

One Bizarre Demon was subjected to the Alliance's experiments. The transformation into a Bizarre Person failed, and upon breaking free, the Bizarre Demon wreaked havoc, destroying the Heavenly Feather Gate several years ago.

The second was the jar that contained the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre.

The Bizarre Alliance Cultivators of the Western Wasteland Domain chose the Barren Extreme Land as their testing ground.

Bizarre Demons that had been sealed for too long faced significant risks when confronted with the Soul-Stealing Bizarre Technique, potentially leading to their revival with their strength instantly at its peak.

They had no choice but to secretly use others to release the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre.

They planned to perform the possession once the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre recovered to the anticipated state.

The Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre's plan was very successful. It had just wiped out the Yuding Sect, and before it could release the dozens of sealed Bizarre Demons, the West Command Lord used the Soul-Stealing Bizarre Technique to reincarnate by possessing it.

In three years, the Bizarre Person was formed—a Heart Demon Bizarre Person with astonishing potential.

The Bizarre Alliance Cultivators were exhilarated, as if seeing the hope of immortality, fantasizing about the day they too would transform into Bizarre Persons.

They were unaware that an unexpected variable had entered the plan.

After the West Command Lord performed the Soul-Stealing Bizarre Technique, his original consciousness was annihilated by the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre.

The Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre devoured the West Command Lord's consciousness, undergoing a monumental change compared to its previous state.

In the past, it relied more on instinct; even the extraordinarily intelligent Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre was no exception.

They always acted according to their instincts, pursuing power.

After the soul-stealing, everything changed completely.

To be precise, the West Command Lord had not completely failed; at least, some of his intellect now lived on within the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre.

The reborn Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre was even more powerful, bizarre, and difficult to deal with.

With enhanced intelligence, the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre faked a successful possession, taking on the identity of the West Command Lord of the Bizarre Alliance and controlling the Cultivators in this region.

The Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre was playing a grand game.

To avoid being sealed by Cultivators again, its methods became more covert, shifting to controlling Cultivators silently and without a trace through their Heart Demons.

Each Cultivator controlled by it could form a Heart Demon Bizarre Realm, with the range of influence varying depending on their strength.

The weak could influence dozens of miles, while the strong could radiate their influence for thousands of miles.

As long as anyone within the range of a Heart Demon Bizarre Realm gave rise to a Heart Demon, the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre could instantly send down a Heart Demon projection.

In less than five years, it controlled hundreds of Cultivators and Magical Beasts using this method, affecting nearly half of the Barren Extreme Land.

Given time to develop, the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre would control the Barren Extreme Land, the Western Wasteland Domain, and many other regions.

Once its plan succeeded, all Cultivators would be lost within the Heart Devil Realm.

Any Cultivator who triggered a Heart Demon would easily fall under its control.

When the time was ripe, even if no one triggered a Heart Demon, it would find a way to make people give rise to Heart Demons.

This method was far more secretive and undetectable than before.

High-Order Cultivators who realized something was wrong and wanted to act against the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre would have nowhere to start and could not eliminate it entirely.

Simply because... it was omnipresent!

The bigger picture is what matters!

The previously instinct-driven Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre, like a vengeful wolf, would have immediately set out to hunt down Jia Ren.

The current Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre possessed higher intelligence, its thought processes approaching those of humans, and it valued the bigger picture.

Once its Heart Demon world plan succeeded, he would have nowhere to hide.

This did not mean it would spare Jia Ren.

The Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre could not afford to divide its attention, but it was not just a Bizarre Demon... it was also a Bizarre Person.

The Bizarre Alliance still had Cultivators it could deploy to handle its concerns.

"I am fine! You are to go to the vicinity of the Black Origin River and find someone for me!"

"He is at the Foundation Establishment Mid-Stage and commands a Third-order Magical Beast."

"Whatever the cost, capture him for me!"

Three illusory portraits appeared before the three Golden Core Cultivators. They were identical to Jia Ren, their eyes so vivid they seemed alive.

If they failed to capture him, Jia Ren would still not escape once the Heart Devil Realm was formed.

"Rest assured, Lord, we will attend to it immediately."

The three Golden Core Cultivators understood that the Lord was still adjusting to his state as a Bizarre Person and dared not disturb him further. They hastily took Jia Ren's portrait and went to find him.

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