In the dense forest.
Gongsun Yuanzhou roared towards the sky, his bizarre cries sounding like a mix of human and demon, causing everyone's hearts to tremble.
His entire head was covered in black patterns, and black single eyes erupted from his skin, blinking rapidly.
A terrifying and evil aura emanated, instilling an inexplicable chill in everyone present. The golden-yellow flames that had enveloped their bodies quickly dimmed, extinguishing completely in the space of a breath.
Looking at the bizarre changes before him, Lin Sheng's hair stood on end, especially when the gazes from those constantly blinking eyes fell upon him. He felt his scalp tingle, and an extremely dense sense of threat almost hit him in the face.
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Sheng's palm suddenly swelled. He raised his hand and slammed a fist fiercely onto the twisted face that was close at hand.
Terrifying power erupted from his palm without reservation.
Bang!
Amidst the muffled sound, Gongsun Yuanzhou's body stood rooted to the spot, only his head showing a deep indentation where he was struck.
Lin Sheng didn't linger. After throwing the punch, his body had already retreated.
He had no intention of fighting, as the dense sense of threat was almost palpable.
"Quick, go!"
With a roar, he was the first to turn and move away from Gongsun Yuanzhou.
Due to being severely injured, the giant web of tentacles that had enveloped the surroundings had disappeared, sinking into the ground.
Although the others hadn't approached as closely as Lin Sheng, they could also see that Gongsun Yuanzhou's condition was extremely wrong. This terrifying scene, in particular, made their hearts feel cold. Immediately, they all retreated, no longer having any intention of engaging in battle.
However, at this moment, Gongsun Yuanzhou's indented head bizarrely twitched and shook to one side. His skin constantly pulsed, and then densely packed eyes surged out from within, instantly covering his entire head.
Puff, puff, puff...
At the same time, his body kept shaking, and a large number of viscous tentacles grew wildly, instantly reaching over ten zhang in length and sweeping madly, crushing the surrounding dense forest and rocks into powder.
Heavenly Desolate Old Man, who was a beat slower in reacting among the group, heard the explosive sound behind him and subconsciously turned his head to look.
Seeing this terrifying scene, especially the moment his gaze met the constantly blinking black eyes, his mind trembled, and he felt as if his consciousness was being dragged into a bottomless abyss.
However, in just a moment, he quickly recovered and hurriedly retreated.
But it was already too late. A black, viscous tentacle had wrapped around one of his ankles at some point, pulling him back frantically.
He was greatly alarmed in his heart and immediately mobilized the strength within his body, striking the tentacle on his leg.
The fierce force landed, and the tentacle broke in response. However, before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard the dense sound of squirming behind him. He turned his head somewhat stiffly, and what met his eyes was a sea-like expanse of black tentacles.
"No..."
He only managed to utter a single word before being submerged by countless tentacles.
A large number of tentacles retracted, enveloping Gongsun Yuanzhou at the center.
After a while, the tentacles disappeared, rapidly retracting back into his body.
A shriveled corpse fell to the ground. From the loose robe he wore, it was Heavenly Desolate Old Man.
Suddenly, a large foot extended out, landing on the corpse and instantly crushing it into powder.
At this moment, Gongsun Yuanzhou's body was still constantly shaking, but the amplitude was significantly smaller than before.
On his head, covered in pitch-black eyes, a pair of bloodshot, pained eyes suddenly appeared.
He raised his hand and reached towards his waist, but this simple action, which was usually effortless, now seemed incredibly difficult.
His outstretched hand was extremely slow and kept shaking. Fine tentacles emerged on his arm, seemingly trying to prevent his movement.
"Ah..."
Gongsun Yuanzhou's bloodshot eyes showed pain and madness. Finally, with a roar, he managed to grasp the jade stone hanging at his waist.
A look of joy appeared in his eyes, and soon the jade stone in his hand emitted a translucent white glow.
With the appearance of the translucent white glow, the fine tentacles binding his arm seemed stimulated and instantly retracted into his body.
As he continued to activate it, the translucent white glow emitted by the jade stone in his hand became increasingly intense, beginning to wrap around his entire body from bottom to top.
The viscous black liquid covering his body also retracted into his body as if startled.
"You want to escape my control... I am your master..."
Gongsun Yuanzhou roared maniacally. At this moment, the translucent white glow was surging towards his head.
The densely packed black eyes on his face blinked faster and faster, beginning to slowly retract backward.
"It's useless, get back!"
Gongsun Yuanzhou roared madly, and the white light became increasingly intense and surged upward rapidly.
It forced a large number of black eyes to the top of his head.
He recovered to normal, and a smile appeared on his cheek.
And at this moment, the densely packed eyes on top of his head suddenly stopped blinking and began to explode one after another, turning into wisps of black mist.
The black mist adhered to the top of his head and actually began to resist the translucent white light.
Although the black mist thinned at a visible speed under the onslaught of the translucent white light, as one black eye after another continuously burst, the black mist was constantly replenished, actually showing a trend of competing with the translucent white light.
"Impossible... How could you possibly grow to this extent!"
Sensing the changes on top of his head, Gongsun Yuanzhou's face showed disbelief, and in addition to that, a deep fear.
However, there was no response. As a large number of eyes continued to shatter, the black mist became increasingly dense, already completely blocking the invasion of the translucent white glow.
Gongsun Yuanzhou desperately clenched the jade stone in his hand, but after a while.
Crack... crack...
The sound of cracking under unbearable pressure came from his hand. Soon, with a bang, the jade stone completely shattered into countless fragments.
The translucent white glow that had enveloped his entire body quickly dissipated.
"No... no..."
Gongsun Yuanzhou's face showed terror, and he roared madly. He raised his two large hands and plunged them into the top of his head with a squelch, tearing desperately.
However, it had no effect whatsoever. A large number of eyes surged out from the torn scalp, spreading rapidly downward.
Soon, his movements paused, his body trembled, and he stood rooted to the spot. Then, a large number of black eyes surged to one side of his body, all looking towards a spot in the dense forest.
Hundreds of zhang away at the edge of the forest, a figure ran wildly as if startled, quickly moving away.
The black eyes stared at the direction the figure was receding, then slowly shifted their gaze. Afterwards, the eyes closed as if sensing something, and soon confirmed the direction, stiffly taking steps and disappearing from the spot.
"Damn it... I knew this arrogant bastard wouldn't come to a good end... He must have swallowed more demon blood than he should have, and he even dared to refine it deeply..."
Lu Chuan rapidly moved away from the mountain forest, using a secret technique without hesitation to push his movement technique to the limit.
As he ran wildly, he kept muttering curses under his breath, his face showing shock and anger.
In fact, he had already reached the edge of the dense forest when Gongsun Yuanzhou was severely injured. Originally, he had wanted to go up and provide support, but upon seeing the bizarre scene happening on his body, he immediately abandoned the idea of going forward.
When he saw him holding the jade stone, he thought he would be able to successfully suppress the demonic nature, but he didn't expect that he would end up failing completely.
After running a distance and confirming that the thing hadn't caught up, the stone in his heart finally relaxed a lot.
"Even the talisman stone couldn't suppress it, just how much demon blood has accumulated within that idiot's body? No, I must notify Tianhong Pavilion as soon as possible, otherwise the situation will be troublesome!"
Thinking this, he had already increased his speed again, rushing towards Fu City.
... ...
On the other side.
After leaving the dense forest, Lin Sheng and the others moved like lightning, fleeing at extreme speed.
In just a quarter of an hour, they had already traveled hundreds of miles.
Only after running at full speed for more than half an hour, completely leaving the territory of Fu City, did their steps slow down.
"What kind of monster is that Gongsun Yuanzhou? How can he be so bizarre?"
Lan Man was slightly out of breath, looking at the severely deformed black umbrella in her hand with a bit of heartache, and couldn't help but ask.
"That's right, his strength has far exceeded what the intelligence indicated. Especially the terrifying power he displayed at the very end, it's probably no weaker than a Divine Form Realm eighth or even ninth transformation existence."
Black Hawk also said in a deep voice.
"Gongsun Yuanzhou was very deeply hidden. This time we were careless, but the intelligence investigated by the Grand Capital should not be wrong. The current situation is likely something that happened after he left Tianhong Pavilion."
Qi Ning's face showed a thoughtful expression, and finally, she frowned and said.
"I suspect that Gongsun Yuanzhou's current condition is related to beast-transformed Martial Artists. In short, no matter what, this matter is no longer something we can handle. We need to report the news as soon as possible and wait for reinforcements from above."
Hearing this, both Lan Man and Black Hawk showed looks of astonishment.
It had been less than a year since Gongsun Yuanzhou left the Grand Capital, and he was able to go from Divine Form Realm fifth transformation to his current state. This speed was truly too unbelievable.
Thinking of the terrifying strength Gongsun Yuanzhou had displayed earlier, a thought flashed through their minds in unison: What terrifying thing had Tianhong Pavilion created?
Lin Sheng, who was behind the group, felt a stir in his heart upon hearing this.
The black single eyes that emerged from Gongsun Yuanzhou gave him a sense of familiarity, and this sense of familiarity came from Tie He, who had been beast-transformed in the prison cell of Luoshui County back then.
He remembered this clearly because the other party also had bizarre eyes on his body at that time.
According to the information feedback from the System panel, these black single eyes came from a terrifying Strange Beast named Thousand-Eyed Nether Lord.
And Gongsun Yuanzhou's leap in strength was clearly also due to this terrifying Strange Beast .
Pollution...
The System panel's introduction to this Strange Beast back then stated that it had extremely strong pollution ability. Perhaps Gongsun Yuanzhou's final transformation was what was called pollution.
He thought to himself but didn't say anything more. After all, revealing the existence of such a being from his mouth would undoubtedly be a big trouble.
And at this moment, Wanjun, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
"Thousand Faces, this time your Dark Star dragged my Ten Thousand Spirits Sect into this. In this situation, there is absolutely no place for my Ten Thousand Spirits Sect in Tiannan Prefecture. I want an explanation from you."
Wanjun, carrying his daughter on his back, spoke in a hoarse voice. He looked disheveled, and his aura was unstable. He had also been severely injured in the previous battle.
Hearing what he said, Qi Ning pondered for a while, and finally spoke slowly.
"Sect Leader Wan, you have also experienced how strong Gongsun Yuanzhou is. His actions are overbearing. Even if you hadn't acted, there would definitely be no place for your Ten Thousand Spirits Sect in Tiannan Prefecture. I can make the decision to bring the elites of your Ten Thousand Spirits Sect into Dark Star, which can ensure the continuation of your Ten Thousand Spirits Sect's Legacy. Are you satisfied with this arrangement, Sect Leader Wan?"
Hearing this, a look of hesitation appeared on Wanjun's face, but soon he gritted his teeth and nodded.
At present, this was the only way to minimize losses.
"Okay, then it will be as you say. However, even if I join your Dark Star, I must take my disciples away from Tiannan Prefecture, and I must arrange for my Ten Thousand Spirits Sect disciples first."
"Alright." Qi Ning thought for a moment and then nodded. "Since that's the case, this place is not far from the Ten Thousand Spirits Sect, so let's go there first."
After a brief exchange, the group sped towards the Ten Thousand Spirits Sect.
Lin Sheng followed behind the group. He didn't care how they were arranged. The Seven Forms Sect disciples in Tiannan Prefecture, as well as Lin Hong and others, had already been arranged at the border of the territory and could withdraw at any time.
The group sped along the way. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Lin Sheng frowned slightly, turned his head to look at the dense mountain forest behind him, and seeing nothing unusual, withdrew his gaze.
"A hallucination?"
For some reason, even though he had run so far, he still felt a faint sense of threat behind him, constantly approaching. After activating his Crisis Perception talent, this sense of threat didn't amplify much, but it still existed.
This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
However, considering that this sense of threat wasn't very strong, he didn't pay too much attention to it, quickened his pace, and caught up with the people in front.
At this time, Wan Shuang, who was lying on Wanjun's back, had a slight bulge in her black hair, and a faint glimmer of light flashed and disappeared. Her hair was extremely long, almost reaching her waist. As Wanjun sped through the forest, a strand of hair suddenly twisted, and a drop of black viscous liquid condensed at the tip of the hair and fell to the ground.
Lin Sheng, who was following behind, suddenly looked up, his gaze pausing on Wan Shuang for a moment.
Soon, the time it takes to drink a cup of tea passed. Lin Sheng frowned, looked behind him again, his eyes slightly narrowed. He turned around expressionlessly, quickened his pace, leaped past Lan Man and Black Hawk, and came to Wanjun's side.
"Sect Leader Wan, you are injured. How about I carry your daughter for you?"
"You..."
Hearing this, Wanjun was startled at first, glanced at Lin Sheng, and seemed to think of something, frowning. He said coldly.
"No need. Although I am injured, carrying one person is nothing. I won't trouble you."
After seeing Lin Sheng display strength not weaker than ordinary Divine Form Realm experts, his attitude towards him improved slightly, but only slightly.
Although he had agreed to join Dark Star, he still had some reservations in his heart.
"Is that so? Alright. By the way, Sect Leader Wan, I heard that your daughter was rescued from Fu City, is that right?"
Facing Wanjun's rejection, Lin Sheng's face showed no expression, he just asked softly.
"So what? Kid, you'd better stay away from my daughter, otherwise don't blame me for being impolite."
Wanjun's tone turned cold, and he emitted a hint of dangerous aura, speaking in a deep voice.
"I understand." Seeing this, Lin Sheng nodded slightly, said no more, and slowed down.
"Hmph." Seeing this, Wanjun finally withdrew his aura and let out a cold snort.
However, just as he relaxed, a fierce gust of wind suddenly came from behind. Dense air explosion sounds rapidly rang out and quickly approached.
"Not good!"
Wanjun was startled in his heart, thinking that the group wanted to go back on their word. He immediately activated his protective qi, hoping to block the wind before it landed.
Bang--
A muffled explosion sounded beside his ear. Wanjun felt that his protective qi hadn't moved at all.
"What's going on!?"
He turned his head, not understanding why, only to see that his daughter's head behind him had disappeared.
"You brat, you're courting death!"