Chapter 86

"Please, please, don't, don't do this!"

The room echoed with the anguished pleas, but this time they came from his mother.

"Mom!~"

Zhang Tao rushed in with a heart full of grief and anger, only to see the son of the mayor stomping viciously on his mother's head. Her eyes widened, and her emaciated body convulsed in a final struggle before she died. Her eyes, filled with sorrow, remained wide open, unblinking even in death.

"Mom!~"

Zhang Tao spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling the world spin around him.

Inside the room, the mayor's son, naked and surrounded by a group of low-life thugs, was violently thrusting on his sister's pale body. Blood flowed profusely from her legs, and her young, ten-year-old face, contorted in pain, could no longer make a sound, only showing despair and agony.

"Animals, I'll kill you all!"

Zhang Tao went completely mad, charging forward like a mad bull, head first!

"Kill? Ha ha, I was a bit afraid of you before. Now that you have no arms, how can you kill me? Beat him to death, beat this waste of flesh to death!" The mayor's son shouted without restraint, but his body continued to thrust on his sister, seemingly more excited and quickening his movements.

Zhang Tao felt a sudden, intense pain on the top of his head and fell to the ground. Punches and kicks rained down on him like a storm, breaking every bone in his body. His consciousness began to blur, his pupils dilated, and he gradually lost all awareness.

With a dazed and powerless gaze, he watched helplessly as his sister's body continued to bleed. He could not do anything; his body was in pain, but he could no longer feel it. His heart felt as if it were being torn apart.

"Ahh, ahh, ahh!~"

The mayor's son thrashed in ecstasy, reaching his climax. After a violent tremor, he collapsed, lying on his sister's small body. Her pale body began to stiffen and turn cold, taking on a bluish hue.

After enduring such humiliation, she finally died.

Zhang Tao's heart shattered instantly, and his scattered pupils gradually focused. He lay on the ground, and suddenly a surge of strength emerged from within him. He felt a newfound power, and with his hands clenched, a sense of unprecedented strength filled his heart.

Fists? He was taken aback for a moment, realizing he now had fists. Not only did he have hands, but he also held a sword in his right hand—a sharp, gleaming blade!

"Kill, kill, kill!"

His mind was blank, and the word "kill" appeared in his eyes. He raised the sword, and with a flash of cold light, all the thugs who had beaten him were cut in half, left to die without a trace!

"Good sword!" He twisted his face in a grotesque grin, taking a step toward the mayor's son.

"Kill, kill, I will kill everyone, everyone must die!"

Zhang Tao, wielding the sharp sword, walked out of the house and headed toward the mayor's home. Everywhere he went, bodies lay scattered.

"Run, run, Zhang Tao is killing people!"

"No, no, I'm your neighbor, don't kill me!"

"Quick, find the mayor, quick, find people to subdue this killer!"

"Oh no, the mayor's family is all dead, what can we do? Who will save us?"

"Run, run!"

The entire town was in chaos. Zhang Tao, with his long sword, had lost count of how many people he had killed, from day to night. Everywhere he looked, there were no more living souls. The town became desolate.

The moon was unusually round and large that night. His mind was empty, and his eyes showed no emotion as he looked up at the full moon in the sky.

What kind of full moon was this?

It was clearly a huge, red human eye!

Zhang Tao stared at the giant eye in the sky, feeling a sense of unreality. The entire town was dead, silent, and devoid of any life. He suddenly felt a sense of dizziness, as if the surroundings were becoming distorted.

The bodies were gone, and the town was gone. What remained was a vast wilderness, a dark night, thousands of Jialan Academy students, and a bright, full moon in the sky.

"What?" Zhang Tao looked around, bewildered.

Equally bewildered were the over two thousand students, each of them standing in a daze, their eyes filled with confusion.

"Ah!~"

Suddenly, a female student burst into tears, like a stone thrown into a still lake, causing ripples. The entire wilderness erupted, and everyone began to cry, their voices filled with sorrow and despair.

Many students knelt on the ground, pounding the earth with their fists, their eyes red with rage and grief.

Jia Rong, watching from outside, was stunned. To him, these people had merely stood there for a day and a night. How could they suddenly have such a dramatic emotional outburst? He felt a chill and remembered Li Yunxiao's words about "interesting things," shuddering as he glanced over.

At that moment, Li Yunxiao's eyes had returned to normal, but his complexion was extremely pale, with fine blood vessels clearly visible on his skin.

Jia Rong breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself: If I weren't a second-stage alchemist with extremely strong mental power, I might have been drawn into that "interesting thing" as well.

Li Yunxiao was not in good shape, the load far exceeding his expectations. After three days and nights of travel, the students' mental power was already at a very low level. Using his eye technique in conjunction with the Thousand Illusions Array, he could easily pull over two thousand people into the illusion. However, the toll was enormous, and he had to end the illusion early to let them out.

As soon as his mental power was cut off, the entire illusion disappeared. Li Yunxiao immersed his soul power into the World God Stele, and the golden Dacheng Divine Formula appeared in the air, radiating warmth like sunlight dispelling the cold, nourishing his soul.

Li Yunxiao said to Jia Rong, "Help me to the war chariot to rest. Let them enjoy the happiness of being able to cry."

Sometimes, people don't even have the right to cry.

Jia Rong was shocked to realize how weak Li Yunxiao had become. Even during his last seclusion for alchemy, he hadn't been so drained. However, the ability to put over two thousand people into an illusion at once made him shudder.

After a night of emotional turmoil, the over two thousand students finally collapsed and fell into a deep sleep. The physical and mental strain of the past three days and nights had completely drained them.

The next day, everyone had a beautiful dream. The world was filled with fragrant aromas, the sun was bright, and the sky was clear, a feeling of indescribable happiness. When they woke up, they found the air filled with a faint, pleasant fragrance.

"Brats, all awake? Get up!" Jia Rong, with dark circles under his eyes, shouted angrily, "I burned Purple Qi Dragon Incense for you all night, and you slept like babies!"

Everyone noticed the pile of ashes and the incense burner next to Jia Rong, who was fanning the incense with a palm leaf fan.

Having a second-stage alchemist serve them while they slept was something they had never imagined, and they quickly got up from the ground. However, each of them hurriedly jumped out of the array circle, not daring to stay inside.

The spirit stones placed in the array had all turned to dust, their energy exhausted and returned to the earth.

Li Yunxiao also emerged from the war chariot, looking refreshed. All the students looked at him as if he were a devil, their faces changing, and they involuntarily took a step back. Zhang Tao's face turned extremely pale, and the events of the illusion still haunted him, making him shudder.

"Ha ha," Li Yunxiao smiled, "Did everyone have fun yesterday?"

"Fun my ass! Damn your ancestors!"

The over two thousand students were all inwardly furious, but none dared to show it. Seeing Li Yunxiao's smile, they all felt a chill and moved back even further. Zhang Tao's face was deathly pale, and the memory of the illusion still terrified him.

"Ha ha," Li Yunxiao said, "I know you're all cursing me. But... I don't know what you saw in the illusion, but I can tell you that if you lack strength, what you saw in the illusion might very well become reality!"

"Zzz!"

Zhang Tao felt a chill, his mind screaming: Impossible, it can't be! It's too terrifying, I must not let the events of the dream happen! Strength, I need strength!

Li Yunxiao looked at the young faces, even those of Lin Yu and Bai Chengfeng, who were leaders among the students, seeing them as mere children. A cruel smile appeared on his lips, "The illusion may be false, but your inner obsessions are real. This world is like that—survival of the fittest! If you want to live well and protect the fragile parts of your heart, you must become stronger and advance on the path of martial arts!"

He saw a new ferocity in their eyes and smiled in satisfaction, "So, I will use the remaining five days to teach you a technique to quickly enhance your strength—the Killing Qi Technique!"

Ji Meng, standing nearby, was also moved and approached unconsciously.

Li Yunxiao glanced at him, "Your sword technique is graceful and agile, completely opposite to the