The sudden voice made everyone's hearts jolt.
Involuntarily, they turned their gazes toward the source. But upon seeing who was speaking, their eyes filled with astonishment and disbelief.
"Who is that?"
"Could it be… Chu Feng?"
Looking at the figure who had spoken, the crowd exchanged murmurs of speculation.
The Chu Feng standing before them now looked nothing like himself. His entire body was engulfed in a blood-red aura, and from a single glance, he resembled a man wreathed in crimson flame.
If not for the Evil God Sword still clutched in his hand, no one would have thought to associate this figure with Chu Feng.
But even with the Evil God Sword in his grasp, the crowd still couldn't quite be certain that this was truly Chu Feng.
Aside from the terrifying aura emanating from him that unsettled every soul present, his gaze was equally horrifying — two beams of blood-red light, deeper and more radiant than the crimson flames surrounding him, piercing and terrifying.
They were like the eyes of a savage beast lurking in the night — brilliantly luminous, yet these eyes were beyond anything a mere beast could possess.
No matter how one looked at it, these were not the eyes of a human. They belonged to something far more bloodthirsty and predatory.
If one had to put it into words, this was likely… something that did not belong to the mortal world. An existence that hailed from the depths of hell.
"What sort of thing are you, to dare challenge me?" The Evil Ginseng King swept a glance over Chu Feng, its voice dripping with displeasure.
Though the current Chu Feng filled every person present with unease and bone-deep fear, the Evil Ginseng King paid him no mind whatsoever.
In its eyes, Chu Feng was nothing more than a lowly creature — unworthy of comparison.
In this entire Hundred Refinements Mortal Realm, not a single person, not a single living being, was worthy of standing beside it.
"I had originally intended to grant you a quick death. I didn't expect you to dare speak to this Evil God with such insolence," Chu Feng said. "In that case, it is only fitting that I make you taste what it feels like to wish for death."
"You dare speak to me like that? You are the one courting death."
A cold gleam flashed through the Evil Ginseng King's eyes. In the next instant, a single tendril shot straight toward Chu Feng with blinding speed.
Everything happened far too quickly. Under normal circumstances, at such a speed, Chu Feng shouldn't have been able to track the movement at all. The attack was simply too fast for anyone to react to — had it been the Chu Feng of ordinary times, he likely wouldn't even have known how he died.
But now, with the Evil God Sword in control of his body, Chu Feng could clearly perceive that the Evil Ginseng King had launched a single tendril at him.
Crack.
The Evil God Sword in Chu Feng's hand swept through the air, releasing a crescent blade of blood-red light that cut cleanly through the void — severing the tendril in an instant.
To be precise, this was no longer Chu Feng in control. The one commanding his flesh now was the Evil God Sword itself. Even those words spoken moments ago had come from the Evil God Sword.
Though… the voice had still been Chu Feng's. But without question, the will behind it was the Evil God Sword's.
The current Chu Feng was much like the little guy residing within him — though he could share in the sword's senses of sight and hearing, he had completely lost all control over his own body.
"Hm?"
Watching its attack dismissed so effortlessly, all six of the Evil Ginseng King's colossal eyes flickered with surprise.
It had not anticipated that anyone could neutralize its strike — let alone sever its tendril.
And it wasn't just the Evil Ginseng King who was shocked. Even Chu Banruo, trapped within the creature's grasp, felt his expression shift dramatically.
He knew how formidable the Evil God Sword was. But the sword's power was currently being suppressed by the Demon Subduing Talisman. If it was being suppressed, then it shouldn't have been able to unleash such force.
At that moment, Chu Banruo's gaze involuntarily drifted toward the Demon Subduing Talisman.
His first thought was that something had gone wrong with it. But upon looking, he saw that the talisman still hovered high in the sky above Chu Feng, its golden radiance washing over him like the light of the sun.