205: Harvesting

Listening to Xu Yan's choice and request, Kui Fang curled his lips, let out a clear "Tsk," and then said, "You kid, I don't even know if I should envy that guy Mo Yi first, or mock the blind Coaching Team of the Third Academy."

As he spoke, a beam of purple light shot out from the bone throne behind Kui Fang, heading directly towards the direction of the Secret Realm. Although it didn't touch any physical object, when the purple light entered the Secret Realm, Xu Yan felt as if he heard a sound of lamentation.

Following this faint sound of lamentation, Xu Yan could clearly feel the endless malice emanating from the Secret Realm before him instantly vanish, and he gradually relaxed from the state of subconscious vigilance he had maintained earlier.

At the same time, the creatures in the Secret Realm inexplicably felt a lightness come over them, as if a certain unseen shackle that had bound and manipulated them was suddenly broken, and an unprecedented sense of freedom filled their entire bodies.

Just as they were trying to find the reason for the change in themselves, the figure of the spider on the “Moon” abruptly appeared in their minds, only to instantly vanish again.

Regarding this, some creatures in the Secret Realm began transitioning toward becoming believers, thinking it was a Divine Spirit favor; others hated it more or became unsettled, believing it was the seduction of an Evil God; and still others thought it was merely a hallucination or paid little attention to it. In short, their opinions varied widely.

The creatures caught within the situation did not notice, but Xu Yan, who was outside the Secret Realm, could clearly see a faint purple aura rapidly spreading throughout the Secret Realm.

Then, the Secret Realm creatures, whose hearts were filled with this inexplicable sense of freedom, acted as if their instincts and nature had been completely unleashed. They began to resist all forms of restraint and rules, wanting only to do whatever they wished.

Chaos began right there.

Driven by inner desires for wealth, beauty, and power, the creatures in the Secret Realm began plotting against each other, fighting, and slaughtering. Friends, spouses, parents, and children—all previously close and intimate relationships instantly shattered, turning them into mutual enemies.

Those beings who usually maintained and obeyed the rules became even more reckless at this time, employing endless overt and covert methods, solely to achieve their heart's desires.

In the beginning, there were still some beings with sharp senses and firm will who realized that something seemed wrong and tried to prevent the situation from escalating.

However, facing methods executed by beings from “outside the world”—especially those whose strength vastly surpassed that of the entire world—these creatures had no effective means of counteraction whatsoever.

Soon, these individuals either died or were swept up by the momentum and joined the chaos. Some who tried to isolate themselves had their wills eroded over time, eventually being assimilated and losing their sanity.

Kui Fang's methods gradually etched the concept of so-called “freedom,” as defined by him, into the very bones and blood of the Secret Realm's populace. As time passed, “freedom” became the most fundamental pursuit of all beings in the Secret Realm.

This resulted in the creatures of the Secret Realm, even if they rationally knew that uniting under the leadership of a capable powerhouse could gather more strength, being unable to submit to any other entity due to their craving for “freedom,” even if that entity's power and wisdom far surpassed their own.

This led to the rapid collapse of various forces, large and small, within the Secret Realm—including the churches Zhu Yan had originally established. All creatures in the Secret Realm fought individually, trusting no one but themselves, refusing to cooperate with any other being, let alone forming new organizations.

Under Kui Fang's manipulation, the entire Secret Realm turned into one “Battle Royale”-style battlefield after another, where all creatures were mutually hostile and fought each other until only one creature remained in that area.

While the creatures in the Secret Realm were slaughtering each other, Zhu Yan, who was on the “Moon,” felt an extremely massive amount of Faith Power converging towards the two faith puppet bodies.

What caused all this was the spider figure that flashed through the minds of the Secret Realm creatures after they gained “freedom.”

Through Kui Fang's methods, the original beliefs in the hearts of the Secret Realm creatures pursuing “freedom” began to shatter. Instead of believing in powerhouses, gods, or celestial phenomena, they shifted to believing in themselves.

This figure, which abruptly flashed in the minds of the Secret Realm creatures, immediately became a beacon, twisting the fragmented Faith Power and the scattered thoughts of “believing in oneself” directly into faith in Zhu Yan.

Although this forcibly twisted faith was not pure, carrying various desires and distracting thoughts and requiring a series of filtering and purification methods before use, its massive quantity was entirely sufficient to offset this problem.

With the infusion of this massive amount of Faith Power, the gestation speed of the two faith puppet bodies increased significantly. According to Zhu Yan's estimate, at the current rate, the gestation of the two faith puppet bodies could be completed in no more than a month.

As time progressed, the number of creatures in the Secret Realm rapidly decreased, and the Faith Power “produced” by the remaining creatures became purer and more steadfast in the process.

Precisely because of the existence of this higher-purity, more easily converted and absorbed Faith Power, the gestation speed of the two faith puppet bodies not only failed to slow down due to the decrease in the number of creatures but actually accelerated considerably.

By the time the two puppet bodies finally absorbed enough Faith Power and were about to complete their gestation, the Secret Realm below had become dilapidated and broken.

Areas that were once extremely prosperous became ruined and desolate, with vegetation withered, mountains toppled, and rivers dried up. In each region, only three or two Secret Realm creatures, bearing various injuries, remained locked in a standoff, while some areas were completely devoid of life, with all creatures extinguished.

Hearing Xu Yan announce that the two puppet bodies were about to complete their gestation, Kui Fang said, “That's about enough. Next, let the 'winners' from each region begin the final battle.”

As he spoke, pillars of purple light shot up into the sky from the surviving creatures in the Secret Realm below.

The next moment, all surviving Secret Realm creatures had their injuries fully restored to their peak state and were teleported into a large “Arena” that was perfectly flat and offered an unobstructed view.

Whether out of malicious amusement or some other intention, after the surviving creatures were teleported into the “Arena,” the purple aura integrated into their souls began to dissipate. These creatures were no longer affected by “freedom,” and their rationality returned.