The hairpin Spiritual Artifact swiftly revolved, returning to Shen Huai’s hand.

She picked up the hairpin, tore off the already shattered and faded Talisman that was attached to it, and casually discarded it.

"Shen Huai! What are you doing!"

The scene infuriated Xu Ziqing.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, a Profound Origin Sect Disciple had actively attacked and killed a Cave Abyss Sect Disciple.

This was already enough to provoke a conflict between the two Sects.

Facing the Cave Abyss Sect Elder’s interrogation, Shen Huai lowered her gaze, ignoring him.

She had no reason or standing to defy Shen Yu’s orders.

Therefore, the instructions he conveyed naturally required no hesitation or consideration.

Song Yan was almost at the very center of Avici Hell, and the moment the Talisman was destroyed, he more directly felt how powerful its might was.

Without protection, the sky full of ghost shadows in Song Yan’s eyes had almost no gaps.

"It’s over."

The buzzing demonic sounds in his ears, the bizarre and dizzying illusions before his eyes... his physical strength was depleted, his spiritual Qi was exhausted, and even his Sword Qi was almost gone.

He barely managed to condense one last Sword Qi to cut open the surrounding ghost shadows, but dense black hands from the inky darkness clung to him like maggots.

They climbed onto his legs, crawled up his body, and pressed against his shoulders.

Shen Huai, from a distance, sneered and no longer looked at Song Yan.

"All are ants in a plate, drifting with the current. To merely survive is already a great fortune, why struggle in vain!"

Buzz—

Song Yan was almost instantly dragged into the Hell Reflection by countless black hands.

He disappeared... He was dead.

In a moment, his remains would surface, becoming part of the White Bone Mountain beneath Jin Tianya’s feet.

The feelings of those present varied.

For the demons of Corpse Bone Abyss and Yellow Springs Path, this was insignificant.

After all, this was already a person destined to die.

But for the Cultivators of the Six Sects, it was completely different.

"Old Song!!"

Li Qingfeng’s eyes were splitting with rage.

Xu Ziqing immediately questioned, "Shen Yu! Shen Huai killed an Inner Sect Disciple of my Sect, and everyone here saw it! You’d best give my Sect an explanation."

The people of Sheyang Sect also looked at Shen Yu.

"An explanation?"

Shen Yu chuckled softly.

Only when Song Yan was dragged into the Hell Reflection did he truly relax.

He didn’t know why he, a Foundation Establishment Realm Late Stage Cultivator, was so afraid of a Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator ruining his plans.

Now that the ink treasure was within reach, he had no intention of hiding anything further.

"Song Yan overestimated himself, attempting to approach the spirit within the painting and claim the evil treasure for himself."

Shen Yu sneered, "My Disciple Shen Huai merely didn’t want him to go astray. Is there a problem with that?"

Utter nonsense, baseless talk!

Fine, fine... Xu Ziqing’s face was extremely grim.

At this moment, Li Qingfeng in the arena was not yet out of danger, but Xu Ziqing was already calculating in his mind how to kill people later!

The Cultivators and Elders of the other Sects remained silent. They would avoid getting involved in the disputes between the two Sects if possible.

Cong Yuzhen looked towards the place where Song Yan disappeared, feeling a sense of regret.

He was a very interesting person, what a pity he died like this.

Jin Tianya on White Bone Mountain suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahahaha..."

"So-called Righteous Path Cultivators, for the sake of a ’treasure’, brazenly attack fellow Daoists, hahahaha!"

"How is that any different from a Demonic Cultivator!"

Shen Yu ignored the mockery, only accelerating the refinement process.

The current progress was already sixty to seventy percent.

"Heh heh, the treasures of the world belong to the capable."

"After I refine your painting spirit, I wonder if you’ll still be able to say such things."

...The moment he sank into the Hell Reflection, it was like falling from the clouds.

The viscous inky blackness carried a bone-chilling cold, seeping through his seven orifices, along his skin, Meridians, and into his Dantian.

All his spiritual Qi and Sword Qi seemed to be locked away.

Song Yan was completely reduced to a Mortal.

Looking at the scene before him, a chill ran through his heart.

The sharp blades on the mountain of knives were slowly and cruelly cutting something.

In the boiling oil pot, struggling severed limbs reached out, trying to grab his ankles.

Tongue-pulling, mirror of karma, blood pool, saw... Below Avici, the eighteen Hells were right before his eyes!

Fear gradually rose in Song Yan’s heart, and the surrounding inky blackness grew denser.

Countless human faces flickered in and out of view within it.

At a certain moment, a sky full of vengeful spirits surged like an ink cloud, rushing towards him all at once!

They shrieked and bit at his flesh and blood.

"..."

What is the most terrifying thing in this world?

The answer to this question is probably different for everyone.

Everyone has different fears.

But there is one thing that most people fear: death.

Especially when you lose all means of resistance and have to watch helplessly as your body is devoured bit by bit by vengeful spirits, ultimately falling into Avici Hell.

This is not only the pain of the flesh, but also an extremely terrifying mental and spiritual torment.

The tortures before his eyes, each one switching between reality and illusion, the intense pain washing over Song Yan’s remaining thoughts like a tide.

The inky blackness also began to erode his Dantian along his Meridians, staining his spiritual Qi with impurity.

Then it spread from the inside out.

Song Yan’s skin began to crack, revealing the writhing black Meridians beneath.

It was as if his entire being was transforming into a stroke of ink, a vengeful spirit, in the painting of Hell.

If it were any other Cultivator, they might have already lost their sanity the moment they were dragged into this Hell Reflection.

However, the Zhen Dao Sword Mansion trembled violently, and the small sword formed from his Dao Heart suddenly burst forth with a clear light.

This allowed Song Yan to grasp a sliver of clarity amidst the Chaos.

"Heh..."

Song Yan let out a bitter laugh.

"Even so, what can I do...?"

All his cultivation was lost.

He could only let the layers of ghost shadows in Hell devour him bit by bit.

Even self-preservation was already difficult.

Let alone leaving this place.

A deep despair rose in his heart, and his Dao Heart dimmed with it.

"There’s no other way."

"Now, the only hope might be to pray that the Elders outside the realm can refine this treasure map as quickly as possible."

However, that moment would likely still require at least an incense stick’s worth of time.

And the one most likely to refine Avici first was Shen Yu of Profound Origin Sect.

"I’m afraid today, I won’t escape death..."

The intense pain from every inch of his body had already begun to fade.

Because Song Yan was gradually losing sensation in his body.

He was left only with his increasingly muddled thoughts.

His eyelids were heavy, his gaze lowered.

He closed his eyes, and scenes from his life, like a revolving lantern, played back before him.

From a young medicine boy in Shiliang Town, to an Outer Sect Disciple of an Immortal Sect, and now a Late Stage Qi Refinement Cultivator.

Looking at the Cultivation World, he was merely an ant.

But for Mortals, it could be considered quite remarkable.

Until, in the midst of darkness, a mocking voice echoed in his ears.

It was the last thing he heard before being dragged into the Hell Reflection.

"Ants in a plate, to merely survive is already a great fortune, why struggle."