At this moment, Yun Fan rapidly entered a berserk state.
Once in the berserk state, he was almost a Golden Core level expert. Even though the two opponents were powerful, they were no match for him.
Upon seeing Yun Fan's surging strength, the two were almost scared to death. They, born into noble families, found themselves pushed to such a desperate state by Yun Fan.
However, they still did not choose to flee. In their opinion, although Yun Fan was strong in his berserk state, they had the backing of their families' legacies.
As long as they could weather Yun Fan's peak period, he would be the one to die.
Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, the evil thought within Yun Fan's body resurfaced, gradually taking control of him.
This forced Yun Fan, who had intended to attack, to suppress the evil thought within him.
"Devour their power, and you can break through rapidly!"
That voice echoed in his mind.
"Who are you?"
Yun Fan asked coldly, "Who exactly are you?"
Without a doubt, even Yun Fan was filled with immense dread at this moment, as if another consciousness had entered his body.
This consciousness was beyond his control.
"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that I am helping you, helping you become stronger, helping you quickly obtain what you desire!"
The voice said seductively.
Upon hearing this, Yun Fan roared, "I don't need your help! I only want to rely on myself!"
"You have no say in this!"
With that, the evil thought actively seized his consciousness. Yun Fan resisted with all his might.
But the outcome was cruel; he was being suppressed by this consciousness.
At this moment, the two opponents looked confused, as if they were looking at an idiot.
"Now's our chance!"
Tai Sui couldn't wait any longer and attacked.
On the other side, Jiang Tianming also moved. Both wanted to kill Yun Fan first and present his head to Yaochi to curry favor.
However, just as Tai Sui reached Yun Fan, Yun Fan grabbed him by the neck.
The speed was unimaginably fast.
Tai Sui looked at Yun Fan and saw his eyes were bloodshot, looking at him with a playful expression. Underneath that gaze, he felt like an ant.
He was terrified by this sight. He never expected a young man from the wilderness to undergo such a drastic transformation.
"Save me quickly!"
Feeling the threat to his life, Tai Sui dared not be careless and called out to Jiang Tianming with all his might.
"Useless!"
Although Jiang Tianming scoffed at him, he quickly moved to help.
But in that instant, Yun Fan moved, flinging Tai Sui away with one move, and then smashed his fist into Jiang Tianming's body.
"Pfft!"
Jiang Tianming spat out a mouthful of blood. At this moment, he felt as if his own body was out of his control. The power of this punch was at least two to three times stronger than that of the normal Yun Fan.
With a single blow, he had crippled Jiang Tianming after he had used a forbidden technique. Such a feat was unbelievable to them.
At this moment, Yun Fan seemed like another person to them, like a peerless divine demon. Even his aura made one tremble.
"You... Who exactly are you?"
The two asked in disbelief. At this moment, they simply couldn't believe that the Yun Fan before them was the same Yun Fan as before.
Yun Fan revealed a playful smile. "Of course I am me. Two ants, are you ready to die?"
"Never!"
Tai Sui and Jiang Tianming's expressions shifted. They immediately unleashed the life-saving techniques passed down by their families. In an instant, the two, who had been extremely weak, returned to their peak strength.
This was the legacy of ancient noble families. Even after reaching their peak, they had ways to return to their peak state a second time.
Compared to ordinary martial artists, their advantage was obvious; it was equivalent to having an extra chance.
Therefore, the two were full of confidence at this moment. So what if an unexpected event occurred? Yun Fan would still die by their hands in the end.
However, the potential Yun Fan displayed was enough to make them tremble. A two-on-one fight had almost cost them their lives.
At this time, Yun Fan showed no fear but instead a playful smile. Perhaps he was waiting for this very moment.
The next moment, just as the two were about to attack, they found that Yun Fan had, at some unknown time, appeared behind them.
"Not good!"
Yun Fan woke up from the severe pain and realized that day had turned into night.
He tried to recall the changes that had occurred during the day. His mind only had vague impressions. He vaguely remembered that when he pushed his strength to its peak,
an evil thought seemed to have controlled his body. However, he thought it might have been a hallucination.
How could such a bizarre thing happen?
He didn't know what happened afterwards. Judging from his current state, he should not be dead. Just as he was about to survey his surroundings,
he discovered two shriveled corpses.
The appearance of the corpses was unclear, but their clothes were very distinctive. Yun Fan was stunned for a moment, because based on their clothes, the owners of these two corpses were Tai Sui and Jiang Tianming.
"How is this possible?"
Yun Fan couldn't believe his eyes. The two were so powerful. Even if they were not his match, they absolutely would not have ended up like this.
From their appearance, it seemed as if their strength had been drained.
"Could it be..."
Yun Fan quickly checked his body and found that there seemed to be two mysterious powers within him. These powers were supporting him. Although he hadn't broken through to the Golden Core stage, he was not far from it.
It seemed that with a fortunate encounter, he could break through.
However, he felt no joy. On the contrary, his eyes were filled with endless fear.
"No, it's absolutely impossible!"
Yun Fan said with dread. He couldn't believe that he had stripped these two of their power, because his memory of the entire event was very vague.
He only knew that he had fought with the two, but he couldn't remember what happened afterward.
At this moment, a sense of dread surged within Yun Fan, because his current state was very similar to what his master had described as qi deviation.
He had been told that when a martial artist reached a certain level of power and couldn't break through, they might resort to unorthodox paths.
While such paths could allow for rapid breakthroughs in a short period, they came with terrible drawbacks,
namely qi deviation. Once possessed by demonic energy, one might not even know what atrocities they had committed.
Such martial artists were extremely terrifying, but they were already terrifying in the first place. With the slightest carelessness, they could even harm their loved ones and friends.
These martial artists shared a common trait: they had no memory of their actions after waking from their demonic possession.
At this moment, Yun Fan was extremely worried. If he had indeed fallen into qi deviation, then his cultivation path would come to an end.
Not to mention that his master would not allow it, even he himself would not allow a martial artist who had fallen into qi deviation to be the sect leader of the Ghost Valley Sect.
Furthermore, if it happened again, what would happen if his loved ones were nearby? Who could stop him when he was in a demonic state?
Thinking of this, Yun Fan became even more unsettled. Although this method of stealing power was a quick shortcut, he dared not try it.
He had originally planned to go to the Wanchu Holy Land, but now he dared not. Before he clarified the situation, Yun Fan did not dare to risk stepping foot there.
After all, his parents were there. If he fell into a demonic state again, wouldn't his parents be in danger?
Even though it would only take another day or two of travel to reach the Wanchu Holy Land, at this moment, Yun Fan dared not take a single step.
"I will not fall into demonic possession, absolutely not!"
Yun Fan said firmly.
Unfortunately, there were no surveillance cameras here, otherwise, he could have used them to see exactly what happened after he lost consciousness.
At this moment, Yun Fan left in a daze, unable to accept this reality.
Little did he know that shortly after he left, two Golden Core stage elders from the Jiang and Ji families arrived at the scene.
The reason they could pinpoint the location was that Ji Tai Sui and Jiang Tian Ming had both used their families' legacy techniques before they died.
Once these legacy techniques were activated, it meant they had encountered a life-or-death crisis, and their families dispatched two Golden Core stage elders to rescue them.
But they were still a step too late, as the battle had already concluded.
The Ji family elder said, "The Ghost Valley cultivation technique, it seems to be the work of that boy!"
"Has that boy become that strong?"
The Jiang family elder was somewhat puzzled. After all, Ji Tai Sui and Jiang Tian Ming were the strongest among the younger generation of their respective families.
Their strength had reached the peak of the half-step Golden Core stage. When combined with their families' legacy techniques, their combat power could rival that of Golden Core experts.
It was impossible for two pseudo-Golden Core experts to be defeated by a boy who had lived in the mortal world.
They assumed Yun Fan had a helper, but upon carefully examining the scene, they found that there were indeed traces of only three people fighting.
Upon seeing the two distant corpses, both elders revealed sorrowful expressions. The death of these two prodigies meant a断层 (break in the lineage) for the next generation of their families.
It would take at least twenty years to cultivate two more powerful prodigies.
At this moment, they harbored intense hatred for Yun Fan. Unfortunately, Yun Fan's trace was nowhere to be found. Otherwise, they would have torn Yun Fan to pieces.
Who would have thought that a boy from the mortal world could display such heaven-defying strength? It had to be said, the Old Heavenly Master had played a good move.
At this time, the Jiang family elder said, "The situation has come to this. Let's take the bodies back first to report. As for that boy, he cannot escape. Whether he is in the mortal world or the small world, he must die!"
"Mmm!"
The Ji family elder nodded. After taking the corpses back, they would launch a full-scale search for Yun Fan. This time, they not only wanted to kill Yun Fan but also flatten the entire Ghost Valley, otherwise, their hatred would not be appeased.
However, when they approached the two corpses, they showed expressions of horror.
"Demon, it's a demon!"
The expressions of the two elders changed. This scene was too familiar. Although they had not seen it before, they had read about it in their records.
It was said that a thousand years ago, a demon appeared in the small world, who specialized in absorbing the power of others to enhance himself.
His actions were extremely cruel. As this demon became stronger, eventually, the major sacred lands and noble families joined forces.
Yet, they were unable to eliminate this demonic being. Instead, they suffered heavy casualties. Finally, the then Ghost Valley Heavenly Master sacrificed his life to take this demonic being down with him.
For the powerful factions of the small world, the disaster a thousand years ago became a nightmare for their lives.
Although they had not seen that demonic being, his methods were too similar to Yun Fan's.
Once their power was drained, they were reduced to shriveled corpses.
In this case, Yun Fan was a demonic being.
Thinking of this, the two elders became even more unsettled. If Yun Fan were allowed to rise, it would likely be an irreparable disaster for the small world.
At this moment, the two elders took photos of the scene and compiled the situation and their speculations into a text message, which they sent back to their families along with the photos.
However, they did not return, because the two elders made a decision: they would track Yun Fan by his aura and kill him.
While Yun Fan had not yet grown strong, once he did, they would be powerless even if they wanted to. After all, during the disaster a thousand years ago, several land immortals from the sacred lands had fallen, and they still couldn't deal with that demonic being.
Now, it was uncertain whether these sacred lands and noble families still possessed beings as powerful as land immortals. If Yun Fan were truly allowed to grow, no one might be able to stop him.
Originally, it was just an internal conflict, a conflict between the small world and the Ghost Valley Sect. But now it had escalated.
In a nameless cave, Yun Fan sat cross-legged, refining the two forces and examining his body. Only after confirming there were no abnormalities did he breathe a sigh of relief.
It seemed he had most likely been hallucinating. He had been saying, how could he fall into qi deviation? Even if he did, it wouldn't be him, a mere half-step Golden Core expert!
After all, according to records, qi deviation was most likely to occur when breaking through to the Land Immortal realm.
He was still tens of thousands of miles away from the Land Immortal realm; they were not on the same level at all.
However, what he didn't know was that in the eyes of many powers in the small world, he had become a demonic being.
Soon, he would become a common enemy of many forces in the small world.
At this moment, his body had mostly recovered, and Yun Fan intended to leave the cave and head to the Wanchu Holy Land. But as soon as he stepped out of the cave, he saw the two Golden Core stage elders from the Ji and Jiang families looking at him coldly.
The opponents possessed Golden Core stage strength, so at that moment, Yun Fan felt their immense power.
"Boy, we finally found you!"
The two looked at him angrily.
They had been tracking Yun Fan's aura for a long time before finding him. Although Yun Fan was only a half-step Golden Core expert,
because Yun Fan might have fallen into demonic possession, they dared not be careless at this moment.
The traces of battle were enough to prove that Yun Fan had the strength to kill Golden Core experts, which made them even more cautious.
Yun Fan asked, "Are you two here to avenge Tai Sui and Jiang Tian Ming?"
"That's only part of it!"
The Jiang family elder said coldly, "Boy, you have fallen into demonic possession. For the sake of righteousness, today, we will eliminate this scourge for the world!"
"Demonic possession?"
Yun Fan said, "If you want to kill me, why make so many excuses? Even if you are Golden Core experts and disregard seniority to attack me, I'm not afraid!"
Of course, at this moment, Yun Fan felt a little touched inside. He cursed himself for being careless, focusing only on his physical condition and not cleaning up the scene.
He hadn't expected the two elders to notice something amiss.
"Boy, your Ghost Valley Sect has always taken it upon itself to care for the world, yet you, a demon, have emerged from it. Your Ghost Valley Sect's thousands of years of reputation will be ruined. If I were you, I would commit suicide to salvage the Ghost Valley's honor!"
The Ji family elder berated.
Upon hearing this, Yun Fan instantly became furious, "Old man, I have not fallen into demonic possession, don't spout nonsense!"
"A demon would naturally not admit to being a demon. Boy, today, I will ensure you have no burial ground!"
Instantly, the two elders exchanged glances and simultaneously attacked Yun Fan.
Yun Fan was enraged. He was certain that he had not fallen into demonic possession, but these two old fellows were twisting the truth. He was not afraid to fight, even if they were Golden Core experts.