Chapter 1057: Relying on Resentment to Give Birth to Evil

This foul smell was intangible. It was even harder to deal with than the visible black insects.

At least ten days passed, and the Myriad Immortals Alliance still couldn't come up with a suitable solution.

Some beings, unable to bear the putrid stench, exploded in agonizing screams, further contributing to the extreme environmental conditions. This vicious cycle meant that for many days, the stench in the Xuanhuang Realm showed no signs of abating.

All cultivators hid within cities that had activated their protective formations, fearing to venture outside. They looked at the eerie, discolored air outside with worried expressions.

Meanwhile, Li Fan received an inquiry from Dharma Transmitter Zhou.

“Fellow Daoist, what are you doing?” Zhou asked. “Didn't we agree to pretend to destroy the world? Why have you made the Xuanhuang Realm such a chaotic mess?”

Zhou seemed to be in a very bad mood.

Li Fan calmly replied, “Don't worry. This is just a delaying tactic. In three months at most, these anomalous spiritual energies will gradually dissipate and return to normal with the natural flow of spiritual energy in heaven and earth.”

“I know, but this smell is too disgusting. I feel it will cause an indelible psychological trauma to our Xuanhuang Realm cultivators.”

“It’s fine, they’ll soon stop caring about such trivial matters,” Li Fan chuckled.

“Oh? Has the second phase of the plan begun?” Zhou was also drawn by the serious topic.

“Just wait and see.”

Their conversation gradually quieted down.

As Li Fan had anticipated, the putrid smell would naturally disappear within three months, even if nothing was done. Rather than expending effort researching methods to eliminate the stench, which might not even yield results, it was better to wait patiently.

This was the decision made by the Immortal Alliance after comprehensive consideration.

Of course, to completely resolve this inexplicable disaster, the Immortal Alliance did not relax its inspections across various regions. Spirit Transformation cultivators were dispatched day and night to collect data on environmental changes.

Seeing that everything was gradually improving, and even the recovery speed of spiritual energy concentration far exceeded expectations, the Immortal Alliance slowly began to feel at ease.

However, in a corner currently unknown to anyone, a large number of new Dao-One insects were rapidly proliferating, utilizing the corpses of the previously deceased black insects.

These Dao-One insects did not consume spiritual energy; instead, they exhaled it. The rapid spiritual energy recovery in the Xuanhuang Realm was naturally their doing. Under Li Fan's deliberate manipulation, they hid within various underground spiritual veins, merging the spiritual energy they released with the spiritual energy naturally generated by the world's cycles, making it impossible for anyone to distinguish the two.

The changes thus unfolded slowly.

Three months later, all strange odors had disappeared. Cultivators, who had been confined for so long, flocked outdoors, freely breathing in the fresh, wonderful spiritual energy.

“I never imagined before that the natural spiritual energy of heaven and earth could be so wonderful.”

“Haha, not broken, not destroyed. Observing this disaster, I have gained insight, and I'm not far from a breakthrough!”

“On such a fine day, we should journey together with friends!”

The Immortal Alliance did not prevent the cultivators from relaxing.

On the surface, this insect plague had completely passed. Thus, the Immortal Alliance's main efforts shifted to investigating its origin.

In Shilin State, the epicenter of the incident, nearly half of the cultivators were stripped of their positions due to improper handling that led to the plague's spread. Several scapegoats even had their cultivation base crippled and were thrown into the Nether Prison. The severity of these punitive measures was highly unusual.

Meanwhile, Golden Sword Immortal Venerable, who had mysteriously disappeared during the plague, became the primary suspect. It was clear that the insect plague could not threaten the lives of Dao Integration cultivators. Therefore, the Golden Sword Immortal Venerable, whose whereabouts were unknown alive or dead, appeared particularly suspicious.

As the first Dao Integration cultivator to encounter the plague, if he had reported the situation to the Immortal Alliance promptly, it would never have escalated to such an unmanageable degree. The Immortal Alliance suffered heavy losses from this insect plague, and someone had to step forward and take responsibility. The vanished Golden Sword Immortal Venerable thus became the unanimous target of blame.

“Only by executing him can public outrage be quelled!”

Some cultivators' words were unusually harsh.

However, as a Dao Integration Immortal Venerable, each one was a great asset to the Immortal Alliance and could not be easily executed. Therefore, the Immortal Alliance ultimately issued a warrant, ordering Golden Sword Immortal Venerable to surrender himself soon to receive a lighter sentence. No execution order was issued.

Upon the release of this news, the Immortal Alliance was shaken.

Golden Sword Immortal Venerable instantly seemed to become the instigator of the insect plague, the target of universal condemnation. Everyone wished they could devour his flesh alive.

“Kill! Kill! Kill!”

A strange malevolence arose in the cultivators' hearts. At the time, however, cultivators attributed this entirely to their hatred for those who caused the insect plague.

It wasn't until another half month later that a horrifying case occurred.

In Tianchen State, a tragedy befell the You family. In a single night, over a hundred members of the family perished, all slaughtered.

After an investigation, people were astonished to discover that the perpetrator of such a bloody crime was You Chisong, the You family's eldest son! It was unknown what fortuitous encounter he had, as records only indicated him to be at the Nascent Soul realm. Yet, he was able to silently kill Spirit Transformation cultivators within his family and even obscure the Heavenly Dao's perception.

It wasn't until three days later, when the concealment failed, that the phenomena of cultivators' deaths simultaneously erupted, and people learned of the tragedy. Such a terrifying and bloody attack occurring in the peaceful Immortal Alliance, and by a family member at that, was shocking.

The Immortal Alliance took it very seriously and immediately launched an investigation. Meanwhile, various rumors about the You family spread rapidly and wildly among the populace.

As the eldest son, he had made outstanding contributions to the family's development and prosperity. However, due to insufficient aptitude, he was forced to yield the imminent heaven-and-earth transformation he discovered to others. In a fit of rage, he slaughtered everyone in the family!

The You family massacre became the most heated topic of discussion among cultivators.

Although slaughtering one's kin was certainly an inhuman act and should have naturally drawn overwhelming condemnation, for some unknown reason, discordant voices began to emerge among the populace.

“In my opinion, it was a good kill!”

“Indeed. Ruining someone’s path is like murdering their parents! What kin? On the day they seized the imminent heaven-and-earth transformation, they ceased to be family!”

“If it were me, I would choose to do the same!”

“Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!”

Initially, these voices were few. But somehow, as the discussion around the incident grew, more and more people began to express support for these views.

The two sides' viewpoints were almost entirely opposed and fundamentally incompatible. Under such sharp opposition, conflicts were inevitable.

However, such disputes were common, and the Immortal Alliance initially paid little attention. But no one had anticipated that after the first bloody conflict occurred, it would set off a chain reaction, with large-scale bloody clashes beginning to erupt consecutively across all regions of the Immortal Alliance.