Filthy Cultivation: I Pierced the Heavens with the Merit System

However, after checking dozens of people, they found nothing unusual. These cultivators were in normal physical condition, but they were in a deep coma and could not wake up.

"This is really strange. Their bodies are perfectly normal, so why can't the Heart-Cleansing Mantra wake them up?"

An elder, puzzled, frowned and asked.

"Perhaps this is not a normal coma, but rather their souls are trapped in the Bewitching Illusion."

The leading elder pondered for a moment, then sighed with a solemn expression.

"The soul is trapped? How is that possible?"

Another elder scoffed upon hearing this and retorted:

"The Bewitching Illusionary Realm is merely a test of a cultivator's temperament and willpower. If anything goes wrong, their consciousness will be kicked out in time. Since the founding of our sect, it has never made a mistake in tens of thousands of years. How could it possibly trap their souls?"

"But given the current situation, what better reason can we think of besides this one?"

The leading elder frowned, glanced at him sideways, then turned to look at the gleaming Heartless Stone in the center of the platform, stroked his beard, and said in a deep voice:

"Moreover, if someone had tampered with the Mind Stone, it wouldn't be impossible for such a treasure to trap their souls. But these children are not yet grown up and have not yet joined my sect. What use would trapping their souls be?"

Upon hearing this, the elders all fell into deep thought.

But to their surprise, just as they were halfway through the check, a boy in the unchecked crowd suddenly roared and opened his eyes!

"There's demonic energy! He's possessed by a demon!"

The elder who was closest acted swiftly, pinning down the boy who was trying to bite someone. He then stared in shock at the protruding fangs in the boy's mouth and the sudden appearance of pustules on his neck, exclaiming in surprise:

"Filth! There is still filth!"

"This child's consciousness has been corrupted, and there are already signs that he is about to transform into a vile beast. Quickly, bring him a Cleansing Pill and a Purifying Talisman!"

This crazed and mutated boy seemed to be the trigger. Starting with him, the other cultivators, who were in pain, also began to convulse and growl, their bloodshot eyes wide as they lunged at the cultivators around them. The entire Divine Martial Plaza was thrown into chaos!

Li Fuyao was completely unaware of the chaos outside; she simply pulled her toes out of the stinking, blood-red mud with a look of disgust.

The spindle-shaped narrow rift still hung in the sky behind them, from which filthy power in the form of black mist emanated, just as disgusting and terrifying as when they first met.

Looking at the familiar mountain village surrounded by blood, Li Fuyao weighed the Tetanus Hammer that had appeared in his hand at some unknown time. He realized that his cultivation was still intact, and he felt relieved.

Instead of running away as she had before, she stood there, her eyes wide, staring intently upwards. Only after witnessing the filthy beast crawl out of the crevice, howling and screaming as it charged towards her, did she chuckle, her eyes gleaming with fighting spirit, and swing her hammer to meet it.

"Hey! You monster! Take this!"

After so much hard work and study, Li Fuyao's strength is now completely different from what it used to be.

The rusty hammerhead, enveloped in a burst of fiery spiritual power, slammed down. With the boost from its level 4 basic attack skill, the hammer blow burned a large hole in the leading filthy beast, much like lava being poured into a sponge.

The filthy beast was in so much pain that its eyeballs withered and fell off one by one. Its tentacles waved wildly in the dissipating black mist as it howled, which made the other filthy beasts behind it even more frenzied.

The difference in strength was immediately apparent with that one blow, but Li Fuyao felt no joy at all.

Because the whispers that only appear when one is affected by filth reappeared in her mind and ears, she felt a sudden tightness in her heart and her momentum suddenly stopped.

Something's not right. This illusion is way too real.

This level of difficulty is so high that even I, with a soul power attribute far exceeding that of cultivators at the same stage, can't withstand it. Can it really be used to test the level of these newbies?

Li Fuyao barely suppressed the surging urge to kill within her, and very cautiously ran away while muttering complaints, quickly getting away from the dissipating filthy black mist and the filthy beasts roaring and confronting her.

She dodged a wisp of foul black mist spewed by a dragon's breath, raised her hand, and used her water spiritual power to conjure a water mirror to look down.

As expected, I saw my own bloodshot eyes.

She cursed inwardly, then put away the water mirror and looked back at the soles of her shoes.

Having carelessly come into contact with the black mist, the soles of the cloud brocade shoes, worth hundreds of spirit stones and inlaid with spirit jade, were now corroded into a black, sticky mess. The shoes were in terrible condition, leaving dirty trails on the ground as they ran, looking like cheap plastic sandals that had melted on a hot asphalt road in the middle of summer.

"Dude! Is this murder or a disciple recruitment?"

Even in the illusion, Li Fuyao winced with heartache and cursed:

"Damn the Yanjian Sect! They've gone to such lengths to be so terrifying. Do you really not care about children's mental health at all?!"

She was cursing and pulling out her Luminous Fan, intending to kite the filthy beasts to death with a ranged attack, when suddenly, the long-lost system announcement rang in her ears:

[Ding! Intrusion detected into the host's consciousness space. The system firewall has been activated and an emergency self-rescue mission has been issued!]