232: Twisted Forest

"Fellow Daoist, how effective is this Extreme Bliss Aphrodisiac? Even a Saint Monk at the Peak Guiyi Realm would be overcome by primal desires if they touched a trace of it.

Don't resist, don't struggle, just enjoy the pleasure of indulgence. Let this humble servant release your pent-up desires for you."

The Divine Maiden's tone was full of temptation, and her every gesture provocatively stirred Shen Lian's Divine Sense.

However, even though he was afflicted by the Strange Aphrodisiac Poison, and even though his inner desires were infinitely magnified,

how could a madman willingly accept his fate?

"Heretical methods, base and shameless! To think you could make Shen Lian submit with such tactics? I can only say that your understanding of me is far too superficial!"

With a furious roar, Shen Lian's Yin and Yang Qi burst forth, rushing against his meridians and drawing back his true essence.

"You..."

The Divine Maiden did not expect this turn of events. Lost in a moment of surprise, she heard the sound of silk tearing.

The ribbons wrapped around Shen Lian were all shattered into pieces.

"Void Concealment • One Qi Splits Yin and Yang!"

As he broke free, he raised his hand and struck the Divine Maiden with a palm.

"Pfft~"

Caught off guard, the Divine Maiden took the full force of Shen Lian's true essence attack and was sent flying backward.

"You can actually suppress the power of the Extreme Bliss Aphrodisiac and break free from the Golden Silk Entanglement? Who exactly are you?"

Shen Lian stepped forward and coldly replied, "Shen Lian, a name that will make you regret for the rest of your life!"

As his voice fell, he raised his hand again, and the situation changed.

Shen Lian took a deep breath and unleashed a thunderous palm strike.

The Fusion of Yin and Yang Qi and Dao Rhyme true essence, like a meteor chasing the moon, swept past the Immortal Drink Pond where the Divine Maiden stood in an instant.

The next moment, Shen Lian's vision cleared. As he regained his senses, he found himself back in the Twisted Forest.

Before him was a dried-up lake, filled with the remains of various exploring Cultivators.

In the very center of the skeletons, a desiccated corpse stood upright. Judging by its skeleton and the silk clothes that hadn't completely rotted away, it was clearly a woman.

"Great Dao Heavenly Pupil, open."

Activating his Great Dao Heavenly Pupil, Shen Lian gazed at the dried lake once more.

This sight, even after experiencing ninety-nine lives of Heaven-Defying life and death, truly silenced him regarding what had transpired in this lake.

In the Great Dao Heavenly Pupil, the Divine Maiden standing by the lake was precisely the seductive woman who had tempted Shen Lian earlier.

At this moment, the Divine Maiden was using an extremely charming posture to entice the Cultivators who entered the Twisted Forest.

Under the allure of seduction and the confusion of the Extreme Bliss Aphrodisiac, these Prodigies and renowned figures, once preeminent in the Jianghu, one by one, like rutting Vicious Beasts, rushed towards the Divine Maiden.

Finally, these over-indulgent Cultivators, one after another, exhausted their true Yang and died from emptiness beneath the Divine Maiden, forever sleeping in this River of Extreme Bliss, turning into withered bones.

Putting away his Great Dao Heavenly Pupil, Shen Lian looked at the remains of those who had died from excessive indulgence at his feet, his eyes filled with disdain.

"Dignified Cultivators, to be so easily tempted and hopelessly addicted to women, I can only say they are even worse than trash."

"I truly don't know what they were striving for in their centuries of Cultivation. They are all just ants who can't control their lower bodies and have no willpower."

"Seeing you willingly trapped in an illusion, it is truly shameful, tragic, and pitiful."

After his mockery, Shen Lian unfolded his Folding Fan and strode deeper into the Twisted Forest, treading on countless skeletons.

The moment he left Immortal Drink Pond, another cold wind swept through.

Shen Lian instinctively raised his Folding Fan to block the strong wind blowing towards him.

When he regained his senses, he was standing on a square-shaped high platform.

He looked up at the Void, which was gloomy, with dark thunder rumbling in the sky, and a ghostly face faintly appearing.

"Another illusion?"

Just as this thought formed in Shen Lian's mind, he suddenly heard a series of mournful cries and the grinding sound of a stone mill echoing in his ears.

"Hmm?"

He focused his gaze and saw countless running figures in the distance, each one looking up and letting out inhuman screams.

Looking again, he saw a giant stone mill slowly and mercilessly grinding towards these running black dots.

"No, I don't want to die, don't want to die!"

A Cultivator, his clothes tattered, his face filled with extreme terror.

Seeing the stone mill behind him about to crush him, he directly leaped off the edge of the square platform.

"Ah~"

Accompanied by a wailing cry, the Cultivator was directly swallowed by the crimson blood outside the high platform. Before long, a pile of scattered skeletons emerged.

The millstone slowly moved, crushing the ants running below into bloody mud, one by one.

The pungent smell of blood constantly lingered in the air, making Shen Lian's eyes grow sharper.

"Such a small trick, how can it harm Shen Lian in the slightest?"

He tossed his Folding Fan, and vast Dao Rhyme instantly erupted from within Shen Lian.

"God-Demon One Thought • Purgatory True Fire!"

A Sacred Demonic Aspect slowly emerged from behind Shen Lian.

Burning with furious flames, the heavens and earth instantly became a sea of fire.

"If this is Purgatory, then I shall let this Purgatory True Fire incinerate all your Karmic Obstructions."

In an instant, an inverted fiery lotus slowly appeared in the Void. Crimson blood flames fell from the lotus heart, instantly burning the giant millstone to ashes.

The next moment, Shen Lian's vision went completely white.

Whoosh—

A gust of Sword Wind swept over. Under Shen Lian's instinctive drive, he dodged sideways, but a shallow cut was still left on his cheek.

"You rat, to dare to ambush me in an illusion, you truly infuriate me!"

Although Shen Lian couldn't see, his keen five senses still captured the direction from which the Sword Qi erupted.

As the second Sword Qi struck, he preemptively jumped into the air to avoid the killing intent.

At the same time, he flipped his hands, and Yin and Yang Qi once again emerged together.

"Void Concealment • Yin and Yang Confluence!"

As Void Concealment was unleashed, the moment Yin and Yang Qi converged, all illusions were shattered.

"Ah—"

After a scream, the white light dissipated. Standing before Shen Lian was a swordsman wearing a mask and wielding a Black Demon Sword.

"You can actually break my Illusory Sword Intent? Who exactly are you?"

"The undead should fall into Avici Hell, not cling to their past actions and poison the world. Let me, Shen Lian, send you on your final journey."

Shen Lian roared, leaping into the Void.

Before the undead could react, a myriad of Sword Rain tore it apart, scattering its form and soul.

When he landed again, Shen Lian was still in the Twisted Forest.

This time, Shen Lian was enraged.

"Enough! The probing is sufficient. Since you've provoked Shen Lian's patience again and again, then I'll simply eradicate all of you!"

The next moment, the great dao human sovereign cauldron was unleashed, floating above the Twisted Forest.

"Collect them for me!"

The majestic spiritual energy reversed, and in an instant, the entire Twisted Forest began to emit mournful wails.

The undead hidden within, one by one, lost control and were all sucked into the human emperor cauldron to undergo the purification of Great Dao True Fire.

As the human emperor cauldron emitted a dazzling seven-colored glow, the Twisted Forest instantly shattered and collapsed.

Regaining his composure, Shen Lian was now standing before a black tower that reached into the clouds.