The Heavenly Demon's Heart-Questioning Formation! Is Li Fan about to suffer a qi deviation?!

"So, what are you going to do?"

Lin Xiyue looked on with expectation, wanting to see what kind of magical method this extraordinary sister of hers had to turn something rotten into something miraculous.

"It's simple!"

A flash of cunning laughter flickered in Liu Qingyu's seductive red eyes. She extended her slender, jade-like fingers and drew a few strokes in the air.

"I only need to apply a little Divine Ability and engrave a few of my unique Heavenly Demon Seals into the original veins of this Formation."

"This way, this rigid Heart Questioning Array will be reborn and become... the Heavenly Demon Heart-Questioning Array!"

"Heavenly Demon Heart-Questioning Array?"

Hearing this new term, Li Zhanjun, who was standing nearby, asked curiously, "Little Hongyu, does adding the words 'Heavenly Demon' make a difference?"

The name "Hongyu" was a nickname Li Zhanjun had specifically come up with to distinguish between the well-behaved Qingyu in her normal state and this current "Demon Fetus personality."

Liu Qingyu didn't reject it; instead, she thought it sounded quite nice.

"The difference?"

"The difference is massive!"

Liu Qingyu's tone carried a hint of pride.

"Ordinary Heart Questioning Arrays mostly just stir up some memories and create minor illusions. Someone with a slightly firm will can grit their teeth and get through it."

"But my Heavenly Demon Heart-Questioning Array points directly at the deepest weaknesses of the human heart!"

"It takes a person's deepest fears, desires, and the things they dare not face, and amplifies them infinitely. It makes them fall completely without realizing it, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion!"

"They can't be compared at all!"

"You'll see when the time comes!"

Hearing this explanation, although everyone still only half-understood, they all nodded, impressed despite their confusion.

"Alright then, Sister Yu, please start your performance!"

Lin Xiyue stepped aside and made a "please" gesture, indicating that Liu Qingyu could proceed as she pleased.

Seeing this, Liu Qingyu didn't hesitate.

She took light, elegant steps toward the mist-shrouded stone steps. Her previously playful expression vanished instantly.

"Using desire as ink, using thought as a brush..."

"Heavenly demons dance wildly, illusions born from the heart..."

"Congeal!"

With a soft cry, her jade-white hands began to rapidly form hand seals in the air.

Buzz!

Wisps of visible dark-red Devilish Qi flowed from her fingertips, condensing in the air into several sinister yet strangely beautiful black marks!

These marks emitted an aura that made one's mind wander; it felt as if one's soul would be sucked in just by looking at them.

"Go!"

Liu Qingyu flicked her finger.

Dozens of Heavenly Demon Seals instantly turned into streaks of light and vanished into the mist ahead.

Buzz!

The originally lifeless Formation jolted violently!

Immediately after, the pure white mist began to slowly take on a faint tint of interwoven crimson and deep black,

looking both dreamlike and carrying an indescribable sense of dread and eeriness.

Before long, as the final mark merged in, the entire Formation's aura changed completely!

"Easy peasy!"

"Done!"

Liu Qingyu turned around, her face once again wearing that harmless, sweet smile as she waved at Lin Xiyue.

"Sister Yue, do you want to go in and try it?"

"Hehe, I guarantee it'll be fun! It'll definitely give you an experience you'll never forget~"

Looking at her "ill-intentioned" smile, Lin Xiyue subconsciously took half a step back, the hair on her arms standing on end.

"Don't give me that!"

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking!"

Lin Xiyue rolled her eyes, her face full of wariness.

"You want to take the chance to play a prank on me, don't you?"

"I'm not falling for it!"

She wasn't stupid. If she really went in, who knew what kind of outrageous plot this girl would arrange in the illusion to prank her.

"Oh, I'm truly being wronged! How would I dare to prank Sister Yue!"

Liu Qingyu looked aggrieved, but the cunning in her eyes couldn't be hidden.

Seeing that she couldn't fool Lin Xiyue, she could only sigh with regret and turn her gaze toward the others.

"Fine then, who among you is willing to try?"

"But I'm warning you beforehand, this Heavenly Demon Heart-Questioning Array is very, very difficult~"

"If your mind isn't firm and you wet your pants in there, don't blame me for not warning you!"

As her gaze swept over them, Li Zhanjun and the others couldn't help but shrink their necks, feeling a chill down their spines.

Even though this girl was smiling, everyone knew that as a Demon Fetus, the "difficulty" she spoke of was definitely Hell-level!

For a moment, the scene went cold.

"..."

"Fine, let me go first!"

Just then, Li Fan, who had been silent, took a deep breath and stepped forward once again, taking the lead!

"Elder Jian taught me that as a Sword Cultivator, one should have the momentum to charge forward undeterred!"

"What is a mere illusion worth mentioning?"

"Let me test the depth of this Heavenly Demon Heart-Questioning Array and use it to temper my Sword Heart!"

Li Fan's eyes were incredibly firm, without a trace of fear.

After speaking, he leaped forward and once again stepped into the now eerie mist Formation.

"Oh wow, it has to be Little Brother Li who's brave!"

"As expected of a Sword Cultivator, that's what you call being stubborn!"

Watching Li Fan's back disappear into the mist, Gu Zhiyun couldn't help but give a thumbs up, though her eyes were also full of curiosity.

"I wonder what he'll encounter this time?"

"I hope he can walk out smoothly..."

...Buzz!

The moment he stepped into the Formation, Li Fan felt his vision blur, and the world around him changed drastically in an instant.

The long stone steps vanished.

The mist of Mount Taibai was gone.

Even the spiritual power he had gained through hard cultivation and the Sword Intent he was so proud of completely vanished without a trace at this moment!

Memories receded like a tide, or rather, they were being forcefully altered.

When he opened his eyes again, he found that he had become smaller.

He had turned into a child of only six or seven years old.

"Fan'er, don't run around, come back and eat!"

A gentle call rang in his ears.

Li Fan turned his head blankly and saw a dignified and beautiful woman in the garden of a quaint, elegant mansion, waving to him with maternal love.

And beside the woman stood a tall, majestic middle-aged man with a dignified but smiling face.

That was... his father and mother!

"Father... Mother?"

Li Fan called out subconsciously, tears instantly blurring his vision.

This... where is this?

Am I not in the Qingxuan Sect? No... am I not in Great Xia?

That's not right either... I don't know these two places at all!

I've always been at home!

Li Fan's consciousness began to blur; the boundary between reality and illusion was completely erased.

Under the influence of the Heavenly Demon Seal, he completely forgot that he was a Cultivator and forgot all of his past.

He only remembered that he was the young master of the Li Residence, with parents who doted on him and a carefree childhood.

The days that followed were as beautiful as a dream.

He grew up happily under his parents' care, studying, writing, and practicing martial arts to strengthen his body.

Everything was so warm, so full of happiness.

If only time could stay at this moment forever, how good would that be?

However.

Beautiful things are always fragile.

One day, the sky suddenly became as dark as ink.

A group of terrifying Cultivators dressed in black with hideous faces descended over the Li Residence like a dark cloud.

They seemed to be looking for something and, without a word, broke straight through the doors!

"No!! I beg of you! Spare my child!"

"Fight them!!"

Screams, cries, and the sound of weapons tearing into flesh instantly shattered the peace of the Li Residence.

Young Li Fan hid in a cabinet and, through a crack, watched with his own eyes as those men in black slaughtered everyone in the residence with the most cruel methods!

There was the butler who had watched him grow up... the maid who played with him... and finally... his mother, who had always protected and loved him, fell in a pool of blood, her eyes wide open, unable to die in peace!

And his father, as majestic as a mountain, was pierced through the heart by a sword and nailed to the wall!

Blood... there was blood everywhere!

It was so red it hurt the eyes, so red it drove one mad!

"Aaaah!!!!"

Inside the cabinet, Li Fan covered his mouth and let out a silent roar.

Endless fear, despair, and towering hatred, like a volcanic eruption, grew wildly in his young heart!

Why?!

Why kill us?!

Are we going to die?!

What have I done? Why didn't I go out and save them?!

I am a piece of trash!!

"Kill! Kill! Kill! I want to kill you all!!!"

Within the illusion, Li Fan's eyes instantly turned blood-red, and his sanity completely collapsed at this moment!

His mind shook violently, and a burst of murderous intent, violent to the extreme, began to permeate around him!

...Outside the illusion.

Two full hours had passed since Li Fan entered the Formation.

And during this time, the mist-shrouded Formation had remained deathly silent, with no movement at all.

There were no footsteps, and no figure had walked out.

"This..."

"Little Fan has been in there for over two hours."

"Could it be... that something happened?"

"That red mist looks rather eerie."

Lin Guohui, who had been staring at the entrance, was now waiting with some anxiety and couldn't help but ask.

"Don't worry, Dad."

Lin Xiyue had been using her Divine Sense to sense the situation inside the Formation. Hearing her father's question, she smiled and comforted him:

"Little Brother Li's aura is still fairly stable at the moment. Although there's some fluctuation, he should be undergoing the trial of the illusion..."

"There shouldn't be any big prob—"

However.

Before she could finish her sentence,

Lin Xiyue's expression suddenly changed drastically!

"Huh?!"

"Not good!!"

She let out a cry of alarm, her relaxed expression instantly becoming incredibly solemn.

Because in her perception, Li Fan, whose state was still relatively stable, suddenly had the aura within his body go into a wild riot without any warning!

And that posture... was clearly a sign that his mind had been lost and he was about to suffer Qi Deviation!

"It's over!"

"He's trapped!!"