Daoist Master, I'm really not an evil cultivator.

Chapter 22 suggests that the next chapter's setup will require a lot more substance.

Jade Fairy was suppressed in the center of the formation by Xu Changqing and even endured a round of explosions. At this moment, she sometimes transformed into the true form of the Photinia Demon Tree and sometimes into human form.

In the pit, the silhouette of an old tree, about ten feet tall, loomed, its trunk twisted like a spasming intestine. Its grayish-brown bark was covered with sticky nodules and cracks, slowly oozing dark green sap. On its sparse branches, small pinkish-white flowers trembled, emitting a strong, nauseatingly sweet and pungent odor.

Countless tiny midges buzzed out from the flower stamens and tree burls, forming a hazy cloud of insects that danced wildly around the tree trunk before burrowing into the cracks to suck sap, in an endless cycle.

Her ethereal beauty has vanished, leaving only primal ugliness and filth.

But suddenly, a semi-transparent phantom appeared on the tree trunk. It was still the same as the Jade Fairy before, with long hair and a pale face. However, her eyes were fixed on Xu Changqing, and the voice that came out when her lips moved was sharp and hoarse, as if squeezed out from under the bark, with hatred seeping into her bones.

"Xu Changqing...you destroyed my Dao body and ruined my foundation. I will make you drain your essence and destroy your spirit and body."

Before the words were finished, the phantom vanished like smoke, shrinking back into the ugly old tree, its branches trembling even more violently.

Blood Sword Liu Canyang knelt on one knee on a relatively intact rock ridge several dozen feet away. His black robe was tattered, and his longsword was covered in cracks, with something resembling bone spurs writhing deep within them. His breath aggravated his injuries, and thick black blood kept dripping from the corner of his mouth, but his dark eyes were colder and more venomous than ever before, fixed intently on Xu Changqing.

The Blood Monk sat cross-legged among a pile of rubble, his tattered robe almost reduced to strips. His emaciated body was covered with deep, bone-revealing wounds, yet little blood flowed from them; the inside of the wounds was a dark, seemingly solidified black.

The evil energy seeped into his wound, which he struggled to resist with his Buddhist light. He lowered his head, muttering incantations in a hoarse, barely audible voice, yet carrying a chilling, curse-like quality.

In contrast, Yuan Hong and Jia Jue, though in a terrible state, were in much better condition.

The two men had tattered robes, disheveled hair, and multiple abrasions and scorch marks on their faces and bodies.

Blood trickled from the corner of Yuan Hong's mouth. He clutched a jade pendant of a water ape, broken into several pieces, tightly in his hand, his face as pale as paper.

Jia Jue was in an even worse state; his left arm hung limply as if it were broken, and he clutched a handful of tattered, dimly lit book fragments in his right hand.

Their entourage and guards had already been reduced to ashes in the devastating explosion.

Yuan Hong suddenly raised his hand and vigorously wiped his face. This action aggravated his internal injuries, and coarse, bluish-gray hairs could be seen emerging from under the skin of his exposed neck and the back of his hands, spreading rapidly.

His cheekbones also made a slight "clicking" sound, his cheekbones became higher, his mouth and nose protruded slightly forward, and his eye sockets became deep-set. In an instant, his originally handsome face had taken on a ferocious and wild look like that of an ape.

An ancient, violent, and savage aura, carrying the stench of water, then spread out.

The Yuan family of Julang is rumored to have the bloodline of the ancient spirit ape Wuzhiqi, and it seems that this is true.

"The Thousand Transformations of the Nether Lotus Array detonated all the Nether Lotuses accumulated in the pool, yet it only killed the Painted Skin Lady." Xu Changqing glanced at the huge sphere that was still slowly rotating and devouring flesh and blood, then looked at the evil dragon in the sky that was constantly absorbing the remaining life force of the ruins, and shook his head inwardly. "Centipede and Old Man Huang are half-crippled, and Black Wind was killed, but most of these tough guys actually survived. It seems that next time I need to add more ingredients to the array."

"Fortunately, Black Wind was killed beforehand, otherwise things would have been really difficult to handle."

His gaze swept over the hideous black scales covering Jia Jue's mangled body, and he sighed silently.

The Yuan family of Julang has no Zhiqi bloodline. The Jia family of Heiyang is no saint either. Indeed, in this world, those who climb to the top are hardly human anymore. They are all inhuman, and every household devours its own family. It's truly a utterly bizarre world.

"In that case, I, Daoist Master, have no more burdens. I'll abandon all pretense of humanity."

Xu Changqing stood at the edge of the giant pit, the mountain wind whipping his long, dark hair and tattered robe, making them flutter loudly.

His gaze swept over the mess below, finally landing on Blood Sword Liu Canyang. A faint smile curved his lips, and his voice, though not loud, carried a clear mockery that reached everyone's ears.

"I've heard that Fellow Daoist Blood Sword is a murderer of family and friends, with a very bloodthirsty nature. Why aren't you making a move now?" He even leaned forward slightly and stretched his neck, as if inviting the other party, "Could it be that the commotion just now scared you out of your wits?"

Then, he turned to the seated monk, his tone shifting to a feigned compassion.

"Blood Monk, I've heard you chant sutras to deliver countless souls from the dead, but how come you look like a hungry ghost that just crawled out of the underworld? Your Buddha light probably can't even illuminate yourself."

His gaze swept over the ugly, twisted photinia tree swarming with midges, and he chuckled, his expression one of undisguised disgust: "And our beautiful Jade Fairy, with her ethereal beauty and aloof elegance, how did she end up like this? These flowers on the tree, the smell... is truly exquisite. Come, let this humble Taoist take another good look."

On a distant peak, the disheveled old Taoist priest chuckled, took a swig of wine, and his cloudy old eyes were filled with the joy of watching the spectacle.

"My disciple has a really big heart. Even at a time like this, he's still thinking about stirring up trouble. I wonder whose 'good thing' he's ruined. This is going to get even more ridiculous."

At the bottom of the pit, Blood Sword Liu Canyang used his sword to support himself and slowly straightened up. With each movement, the bones beneath his black robe creaked under the strain, and black blood flowed even faster from the corner of his mouth.

But the cracked longsword was steadily raised, its tip pointing directly at Xu Changqing. A hoarse voice seemed to be squeezed out from a broken bellows, filled with hatred that seeped into his bones: "Xu Ming... you're courting death."

The Blood Monk stopped chanting the incoherent incantation and raised his withered, hideous face.

The wounds on his face were gaping open, but there was no blood, only a dark, gloomy blackness, as if filled with countless resentments.

His cloudy eyes were fixed on Xu Changqing, devoid of any human emotion, containing only the purest, most ravenous greed and malice towards flesh and soul: "Flesh and blood... soul... all return to the Yellow Springs..."

Yuan Hong wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes still filled with fear, followed by rage and resentment. The dark black spiritual energy in his hand grew even denser, faintly transforming into a water-like form that swirled around his fingers, emitting a chilling, fishy smell.

Just as Xu Changqing's deliberate provocation, using the "Heavenly Void Nourishing Life Method" to further agitate the crowd and provoke their rationality, things were getting even more chaotic.

Jia Jue abruptly raised his head, his face contorted in rage. The pain from his severed arm made the veins on his forehead throb, and cold sweat mixed with blood streamed down his face. Yet, he grinned and let out a strange "hoarse" laugh, his voice hoarse but filled with arrogance and resentment.

"Excellent methods... truly excellent methods! I never expected that the most hidden and ruthless person in this eight-hundred-mile-long Black Wind Mountain would be you, the white-faced abbot."

Before he finished speaking, the flesh on his exposed skin outside the tattered brocade robe, along with the edges of the wounds torn by the explosion, suddenly began to writhe and swell unnaturally, sprouting dense, tiny black buds.

These granulation tissues quickly hardened and elongated, their surfaces covered with cold, smooth keratin, transforming into dense, black scales that reflected a dark, metallic sheen in the remaining daylight.

Soon, his neck, cheeks, and even scalp began to be covered with these eerie black scales.

The sharp edges of the scales rub against each other, making a teeth-grinding "rustling" sound.

His pupils contracted, turning into two cold, vertical slits. The whites of his eyes were covered with blood vessels, which were then quickly covered by a layer of murky yellow.

Even more horrifying was the clear, creaking sound emanating from inside his body, as if his bones were being forcibly stretched and deformed.

His back was slightly hunched, and the clothes at his shoulder blades were torn, with several bulges writhing violently under his skin, as if something was eager to burst out.

The breath it exhaled carried a strong fishy smell, and its teeth could be vaguely seen to have become sharp.

In just a few breaths, Jia Jue had mostly shed his human form, transforming into a monster that was half-human and half-dragon, covered in black scales, and exuding a cold and violent aura.

"But you pale-faced abbot, how dare you ruin my years of hard work! Today I will make you skinned alive and your soul burned for a thousand years."

Jia Jue's voice became low and hoarse, like the grinding of sand and gravel, or the whisper of a demon.