Chapter 2701: Madness

The howl was extremely ear-piercing in the quiet surroundings, as everyone had been using communication techniques to talk. It rivaled a clap of thunder.

“What? What is happening…”

“Have we been flanked by Life-devouring Beasts from behind…”

…

At that moment, the hearts of the several dozen prodigies in the cave tightened. First, the numerous Life-devouring Beasts had vanished from here for some reason. This unexplainable, strange sight made them uneasy, and now that there was a sudden howl, they became even more on edge. They were extremely nervous.

Most of the latter half of the group fell into disorder following the howl. Pulses of energy appeared as the sounds of battle followed.

Jin Hong’s face changed. As a blur, he immediately vanished, flying towards the back as quickly as he could. The other prodigies followed behind him after a moment of hesitation.

Jin Hong arrived at the location of the disorder in the group. He just happened to see dark, green light appear in the eyes of several sacrificial soldiers as they gave off a chaotic and brutal presence. They attacked the people around them madly.

“Jia Yunlong, have you lost your mind? Why have you suddenly attacked me…”

“Liu Chengshui, what are you doing? We’re good brothers who have been through thick and thin. Why have you suddenly turned against me…”

“Old Zhou, what has happened to you? Why don’t you stop? Haven’t you forgotten what your status is? You’ll be sentenced to death by the young master if you continue like this…”

……

…

Over twenty cultivators who also happened to be sacrificial soldiers were caught off-guard and were heavily injured by the sudden attacks. They all stared at their companions in disbelief as they bellowed out furiously and in confusion.

The sacrificial soldiers with s.h.i.+ning green eyes did not seem to hear them. They produced beast-like roars as they attacked the surrounding cultivators with all their might.

On a nearby tree, Jin Hong frowned as he saw this. The light in his eyes flickered as he seemed to be in thought.

The other leaders of the organisations all arrived as well. They either stood on trees or hovered in the air, staring at the disorderly sacrificial soldiers in surprise.

“One of them is from my Chu family. W- what has happened to him?” Chu Yun hovered in the air and looked at the sacrificial soldier from his clan who currently attacked everyone with no regard. Chu Yun’s face became rather ugly.

“Hmph, capture these people making trouble,” Baizhan Xiong of the Hundred Battle clan called out coldly, immediately issuing a command.

Immediately, all the sacrificial soldiers of the Hundred Battle clan took action. Together, they suppressed the insane sacrificial soldiers very quickly.

However, even though the sacrificial soldiers had been immobilised, they showed no intention of settling down. The inky green light in their eyes grew deeper in color as they struggled desperately. As the light shone brighter, they put up an even greater and greater struggle; it was to a level where it was greater than the strength that they were supposed to possess.

“We’re struggling to keep these people down. Quick, send a few more people.”

One of the sacrificial soldiers holding the people down called out, and a few sacrificial soldiers joined in immediately.

In the end, it took eight sacrificial soldiers to hold down a single person.

This was shocking, as these sacrificial soldiers had all been nurtured using Hundred Tribulations G.o.dking Pills. Their strength would all be roughly the same. Normally, just two or three people would be enough to hold a single person down.

However, they required a total of eight now!

This meant that the sacrificial soldiers who had lost their minds were two or three times more powerful than before.

“H- how is this possible? W- why have they become like this?” Chu Jie was at a loss. He was completely confused.

No one answered his question. In reality, many people were confused as to just what had happened here.

Jin Hong stared at the s.h.i.+ning, green eyes of the sacrificial soldiers, and he gradually became stern. Afterward, he seemed to decide on something, and his expression changed abruptly. He immediately called out, “Quick, everyone cloak yourselves with energy and avoid the mist!”

“What? All of this was caused by the mist here? B- but how is that possible…”

“How is that possible? Isn’t this just ordinary mist? How can it have such a strange power?”

Jin Hong’s call shocked all of the prodigies present. They all stared at the mist in disbelief. They were in doubt and suspicion.

Even though some of them were still doubtful, all of them immediately cloaked themselves with energy, forcing the mist away from their bodies.

The sacrificial soldiers obeyed as well. Immediately, colorful energy erupted from their bodies. The s.h.i.+ning energy dyed the surrounding landscape with a variety of colors.

However, it was all too late, as around half of the group had believed that Jian Chen was just trying to frighten them with his warnings. They had ignored his recommendation, so they had absorbed a large quant.i.ty of mist in the past few days.

Now, the issue with the mist had finally erupted completely.

Just five seconds after Jin Hong’s command, more cultivators began to lose their minds among the sacrificial soldiers. They seemed to descend into madness. Dark green light shone in their eyes as they attacked their nearby companions wildly.

Like a chain reaction, more and more sacrificial soldiers descended into madness. In that short moment, the total amount increased from a few to several dozen, and then several hundred, followed by several thousand before increasing to over ten thousand.

In the end, everyone among the sacrificial soldiers who had not cloaked themselves with energy descended into madness. None of them were able to avoid this fate.

Immediately, a great battle erupted in the mountains. The insane sacrificial soldiers were no longer able to tell friend from foe, attacking the normal sacrificial soldiers, forcing them to fend for their lives. The group that stretched into the tens of thousands fell into disorder in that moment. They were collapsing from within.

“Why? Why…” Many of the prodigies were stunned by this scene. They were in complete shock and disbelief.

“Wake up! Awoooo!” Jin Hong was pale. He immediately transformed into a golden wolf that was three metres long, and the blurry figure of the ancient Skywolf appeared behind him. He then let out a deafening wolf’s howl that spread far and wide. He attacked to wake up all the sacrificial soldiers that had lost their minds.

But it was useless!

He Qianqian was pale as well. Even though all the sacrificial soldiers of the Heavenly Crane clan had followed Jian Chen’s recommendation, so none of them had lost their minds, this young lady of a peak clan was still rather frightened by what was happening.

She saw the sacrificial soldiers of the Heavenly Crane clan fend off the attacks of the insane cultivators and immediately ordered, “People of the Heavenly Crane clan, use the Divine Formation of the Crane’s Feather immediately!”