The illusion shattered, the scenery shifted, and sight returned to the cave.
Ling Feng wiped the tears from his eyes.
"To create the most beautiful illusion of one's heart, the weak-minded might truly become lost within it, unable to extricate themselves."
"However, a fake is still a fake."
As soon as he entered the illusion, Ling Feng had already sensed it was an illusion.
The reason he stayed for a period was that the beautiful moments had indeed captivated him.
Of course, he stayed longer only because Tu Shan Hong Hong was in a safe situation.
After all, compared to illusions, the people in reality were more important.
Ling Feng surveyed his surroundings.
Many people stood in the dim cave, their eyes closed as if in slumber.
"Hong Hong!"
Ling Feng quickly spotted Tu Shan Hong Hong and hurried over.
Upon reaching Tu Shan Hong Hong, Ling Feng realized she too had her eyes closed, seemingly asleep.
But Ling Feng understood this was not sleep; Tu Shan Hong Hong was within her inner illusion.
Unlike others, countless purplish-black threads connected Tu Shan Hong Hong to a massive purplish-black tree root.
"How can I help Hong Hong? To help her, I must first enter the illusion, but how can I get in?"
Ling Feng was extremely troubled.
"Right, since it's an inner illusion, it should be in the spiritual realm. Then, let's try the soul (divine consciousness and soul)!"
But he needed to make preparations first.
Ling Feng took out the Qian Kun Fan and set up two formations around him.
The outer formation was the Yin Yang Five Elements Array.
The inner formation was the Heaven and Earth Three Talents Array.
A protective formation of layered sets.
With all preparations complete, Ling Feng sat cross-legged and released his divine soul.
Soon, Ling Feng felt as if his soul had left his body, and the surrounding scenery changed.
A complete root system of a tree appeared in his sight, and a dark Tu Shan Hong Hong was located at the center of the root.
"Hong Hong, wait for me, I'm coming!"
...
Tu Shan Hong Hong's Inner Illusion.
The moment Tu Shan Hong Hong entered the cave, just like Ling Feng, she entered her inner illusion.
Familiar places and familiar people.
"Sister!"
"Sister is back!"
Under the Bitter Emotion Tree, Tu Shan Ya Ya and Tu Shan Rong Rong were calling her.
And also Feng Xi, whom she hated.
"Miss Hong Hong, you've returned."
Tu Shan Hong Hong's brow furrowed.
"Feng Xi, is this illusion amusing?"
"Wait until I tear it apart!"
Crimson demonic power surged in Tu Shan Hong Hong's hand as she prepared to tear this illusion apart with absolute force.
Even without her Insulating Claws, Tu Shan Hong Hong's strength at this moment was extraordinary.
But before she could tear the illusion apart, her demonic power suddenly vanished.
Tu Shan Hong Hong: !!!
Feng Xi smiled slightly and explained.
"This isn't an illusion. The fact that you see this scene means—you are still the Miss Hong Hong you were before."
Then Tu Shan Hong Hong realized her body had also reverted to her childhood form.
"This is not your doing!"
However, even with her body shrunk and her demonic power gone, Tu Shan Hong Hong was fearless. With a heavy leap, she slapped at Feng Xi under the tree.
"This is power beyond common sense."
Feng Xi grinned at the sight and easily caught Tu Shan Hong Hong's two hands.
"Bang!"
"Ah!"
Tu Shan Hong Hong was sent flying by Feng Xi's palm, crashing heavily onto the ground.
"Sister!"
Although it was an illusion, Tu Shan Ya Ya and Tu Shan Rong Rong still rushed towards Tu Shan Hong Hong, quickly checking her injuries.
Feng Xi smiled sinisterly and tested,
"Forgive my caution, Miss Hong Hong. You are so powerful; I naturally had to test you to be sure you truly had no power left."
"The power of a fox demon originates from deep emotions. Where emotions arise, power is born. Miss Hong Hong, why not try again?"
Hearing this, a surge of anger rose in Tu Shan Hong Hong's heart, and her lost power returned a little.
"Ah!"
However, the power suddenly unleashed also sent Tu Shan Ya Ya and Tu Shan Rong Rong, who were examining her injuries, flying out.
"Ah, Ya'er! Rong'er!"
"Are you alright?!"
Tu Shan Hong Hong was startled and quickly retracted her power, turning to look.
But in her sight, Tu Shan Ya Ya and Tu Shan Rong Rong, who had been sent flying, quickly dissolved into white mist and vanished into the heavens and earth.
Feng Xi's smile was like a scheme succeeding.
"Hmph, as expected, as expected!"
"Knowing they are false, yet you would waste an opportunity to attack me for them."
"You are still so naive, leader of misplaced compassion."
"As the leader of Tu Shan, you must not be confused. You must understand and be clear about the origin of your emotional power."
"That is him!"
Feng Xi waved her sleeve, and a figure appeared on the grass, lying on the ground with blood at the corner of his mouth.
"Ling Feng."
Tu Shan Hong Hong blinked.
"That's right. The origin of your emotional power comes from him. You almost killed him, your benefactor."
"However, mere love could not possibly grant your emotional power such might."
"Where is the true origin of your emotional power?!"
Tu Shan Hong Hong looked at the "Ling Feng" with a complex gaze.
"You want to know?"
"It is guilt, it is hate!"
Suddenly, Tu Shan Hong Hong was enveloped in blackness, like a little black person.
"Hahahaha, as expected, as expected!"
"Crack!"
Feng Xi had barely laughed a few times before Tu Shan Hong Hong slapped her flying.
"Can I hit you like this now?"
"This makes things easier."
Tu Shan Hong Hong looked at Feng Xi, flew on the wind, and attacked Feng Xi.
Feng Xi smiled cruelly.
"It hurts, but the pain is worth it. Finally, you're forced out, Tu Shan Hong Hong, who has absorbed the dark power of the Bitter Emotion Tree like me."
"The dark power of the Bitter Emotion Tree is far greater than its positive side. You know this clearly, you just won't admit it!"
Bang!
Tu Shan Hong Hong punched again.
But Feng Xi didn't stop talking; she spoke even more.
"You still want to struggle."
"Pretending that everything I taught you before still has meaning!"
"So you're still struggling with a cup of water, trying to dispel this dark power."
"Pretending that this struggle is meaningful."
"Hypocritical to the point of nausea!"
Just as Tu Shan Hong Hong's final punch was about to land on Feng Xi, Feng Xi smiled sinisterly and uttered a word softly.
"Pass."
Instantly, Tu Shan Hong Hong felt her power rapidly draining, and dark power flowed continuously into Feng Xi's body.
"Hahahaha, this is the origin of your emotional power! Give him to me!"
"Didn't expect this, did you? Tu Shan Hong Hong, this was all my plan, just for your Emperor-level demonic power!"
"But this is just an appetizer; the main course has just been served!"
As Feng Xi's last word fell, Tu Shan Hong Hong suddenly found the surrounding scenery changed again.
"How can this be! How could Tu Shan City become like this."
Tu Shan Hong Hong's pupils trembled, unable to believe what she was seeing.
She was high in the sky, looking down at Tu Shan City from above.
At this moment, throughout Tu Shan City, shouts of battle and cries of agony mingled, and life was devastated.
Countless Taoist priests from the Yi Qi Dao Alliance were burning, killing, and looting in the city. Fox demons were either killed or captured.
Those Taoist priests also set fire to houses, causing the entire Tu Shan City to be in chaos.
Wails, pleas for help, roars, screams, and laughter filled all of Tu Shan!
"Scram!"
Her homeland destroyed, her kin killed and captured, all of this ignited Tu Shan Hong Hong's rage, almost to the point of materialization.
Tu Shan Hong Hong descended to the ground like a shooting star.
"Boom!!!"
With a deafening roar, a large pit was smashed into the ground, its power directly blowing away a group of Taoist priests from the Alliance.
On the streets of Tu Shan City, a figure of extreme crimson was shuttling back and forth.
Wherever she passed, Taoist priests from the Alliance were sent flying with a single punch, their fates unknown.
As for magical attacks, Tu Shan Hong Hong still met them with a punch. Although her body was covered in scars, Tu Shan Hong Hong seemed oblivious.
She wreaked havoc all the way, rescuing some Tu Shan fox demons, including silver fox guards from Tu Shan City.
"Great Leader, you're finally back."
The silver fox guard knelt on one knee and said tremblingly.
"Phew... What happened to Tu Shan? Why... did it become like this?"
Tu Shan Hong Hong's rage subsided somewhat, and she became a little calmer.
"All of this is because of that human by Great Leader's side."
"Ling Feng?"
Hearing this, the silver fox guard nodded frantically and cursed.
"That's right, it's him! He's a traitor! After Great Leader left Tu Shan for some business, he led a large group of dog priests from the Yi Qi Dao Alliance into Tu Shan."
"The guards on patrol outside were eliminated silently, so we had no idea."
"The moment we opened the city gate for him, he immediately ordered the hidden scoundrels and priests to attack Tu Shan City."
"We were caught completely off guard, and suffered heavy casualties."
Tu Shan Hong Hong subconsciously shook her head, unable to believe it.
"How could that be? Ling Feng isn't that kind of person."
"Great Leader, you've been deceived by him! Those priests are burning and looting in the city. The males are being killed, and the females are being captured. Miss Ya Ya and Miss Rong Rong led the resistance but were captured by him personally, and their fate is unknown now!"
"How could... how could this be... impossible..."
Tu Shan Hong Hong certainly wouldn't believe these words, but the facts were before her, coupled with her burning rage, her mind was on the verge of collapse.
Her savior had turned into the killer of Tu Shan's destruction.
Tu Shan Hong Hong bit her lip tightly, her fists clenched.
"Do you know where he is? I want to ask him face to face!"
"After he captured the two young ladies, he seemed to have gone to the Bitter Emotion Tree."
Bang!
Tu Shan Hong Hong immediately transformed into a streak of red light and shot towards the Bitter Emotion Tree.
Before even reaching the Bitter Emotion Tree, Tu Shan Hong Hong saw that familiar back standing beneath it.
Tu Shan Ya Ya and Tu Shan Rong Rong lay in pools of blood.
"Ya'er, Rong'er!"
Tu Shan Hong Hong landed on the ground, ran a few steps to Tu Shan Ya Ya and the others, knelt in the blood, and trembled as she lifted their upper bodies.
"Ya'er, Rong'er, Sister is back, wake up."
Tu Shan Hong Hong called out softly.
But Tu Shan Ya Ya and Tu Shan Rong Rong showed no reaction.
"No need to call out. I've already killed them."
Ling Feng turned around, his gaze cold as he looked at Tu Shan Hong Hong.
"Why! Why did you do this?!"
Tu Shan Hong Hong glared at Ling Feng.
"Why? What is there to ask? Humans and demons are inherently opposed."
"To tell you the truth, saving you and Rong Rong back then was just to gain your trust. It was all for today's downfall of Tu Shan!"
"The naive you actually believed me, believed in human-demon peace, ha ha ha!"
"I'll kill you!"
Tu Shan Hong Hong was furious and threw a punch at Ling Feng.
"You're not worthy!"
Ling Feng easily blocked Tu Shan Hong Hong's punch, then landed a heavy blow on her abdomen.
Tu Shan Hong Hong was sent flying, crashing to the ground.
"Again!"
After more than ten consecutive blows, Tu Shan Hong Hong's punches were always blocked, and then she was sent flying with a single punch.
Tu Shan Hong Hong was now covered in scars.
"You're too weak! Like this, you still want to protect Tu Shan?!"
"Damn it!"
Tu Shan Hong Hong gritted her teeth, a sense of powerlessness surging within her.
Power! She needed power!
"Listen to the screams from Tu Shan City behind you. It's all because you are weak. As the leader of Tu Shan, you have failed to fulfill the responsibilities of a leader!"
"Ah!!!"
Tu Shan Hong Hong's heart had completely collapsed.
She hated!
Hated her own weakness!
Hated this accursed world!
Hated that she had actually believed that humans and demons could coexist peacefully!
At the same time, the seedling of emotion in Tu Shan Hong Hong's heart began to wither, even self-combusting!
A large amount of hatred caused Tu Shan Hong Hong's demonic power to surge.
Whether it was emotional power or dark power, Tu Shan Hong Hong now accepted all of it.
She wanted to kill the human before her!
Tu Shan Hong Hong's strength continuously increased, even causing celestial phenomena around her, with Tu Shan Hong Hong at the epicenter of the storm.
Mid-stage Great Demon Emperor, peak Great Demon Emperor, and then late-stage Great Demon Emperor (Golden Core peak) before stopping.
The dense demonic power had materialized, and Tu Shan Hong Hong herself had turned black.
Simultaneously, the innate divine ability of the Insulating Immortal Fox, 'Insulating Claws', was completely awakened!
"Die for me!"
The enraged Tu Shan Hong Hong punched the person before her.
Now, Tu Shan Hong Hong had only one thought in her mind—kill the human before her!
Before the punch landed, its force had already whipped up an eighteen-level typhoon, and space itself seemed on the verge of exploding.
A punch of pure power!
Just as Tu Shan Hong Hong's punch was about to hit Ling Feng, Ling Feng suddenly smiled sinisterly and uttered a word.
"Stop."
Tu Shan Hong Hong froze as if a pause button had been pressed, her fist stopping less than half a meter from Ling Feng.
"As expected, as expected! Come on! Great Demon Emperor's demonic power!"
Immediately, Tu Shan Hong Hong's demonic power surged into Ling Feng's body.
"Hahahaha, such potent demonic power! Hahahaha!"
Ling Feng laughed heartily.
As her power was absorbed, Tu Shan Hong Hong experienced a brief moment of clarity.
Looking at the familiar scene before her, Tu Shan Hong Hong's eyes widened.
"This, you're not Ling Feng! You're Feng Xi!"
Ling Feng grinned, his form changed, and he instantly transformed into Feng Xi's appearance.
"Hahahaha, Miss Hong Hong, it's a bit too late to realize this now. Indeed, this is your inner demon!"
"Your inner demon is the persistent belief in your heart that there is a gap between humans and demons, and that humans and demons cannot coexist."
"You foolish girl, have you forgotten the task of reincarnation and reunion for the Red Thread Immortal that you completed?"
"While there were humans who deceived demons in the reincarnation and reunion, that was only a minority."
"Yet, you have always remembered this minority, forgetting the instances of genuine human-demon love."
"With just a little deception from me, your inner defenses completely collapsed."
"Pitiful, lamentable, Tu Shan Hong Hong, you have lost!"
Tu Shan Hong Hong's mind was as if struck by a heavy blow. As Feng Xi spoke, she recalled instances of true love between humans and demons.
"So the answer was always before me, and I simply refused to see it."
"I'm sorry, Ling Feng."
Tu Shan Hong Hong's eyelids trembled, and her eyes involuntarily closed.
In the endless abyss of her mind, Tu Shan Hong Hong's white body was gradually turning black.
"Damn it, is this... the end?"
"...Did I lose just like this?"
"Ya Ya, Rong Rong."
"Ling... Feng..."
Once her mind fell, she would no longer be the same person.
"Hong Hong, you haven't lost yet!"