"You're all in this state, yet that mother and son are still so composed. Tsk, I told you bastards are no good. Have you ever regretted taking them in?" Qin Taiming looked at the old tree of Qingyang with mockery, his words dripping with sarcasm.

"The people of Sunset Forest are all flesh and blood, unlike you humans who are so hypocritical."

"It's ridiculous that a beast can have feelings."

"Qin Taiming, a person like you will never achieve the Great Dao."

Qin Taiming was furious upon hearing this: "Do you think this is acceptable? You're about to die, so stop worrying about trivial matters. Just pray that bastard will offer you incense after you die."

He took out his natal spirit sword. Although the immortal sword was powerful, his own natal spirit sword was more suitable for a sword cultivator like him and could unleash its greatest combat power.

"Uncle Qing!" Bai Xiao glared and his teeth bared as he watched half of the old tree's branches being cut off.

"Don't worry about me, protect the little ones." The tree trunk was struck by another sword, almost damaging its roots.

By this time, the human race had already advanced deep into the Sunset Forest, and the cubs of various races scattered in panic.

Several demon kings suffered injuries of varying degrees. Seeing their cubs being captured and toyed with by humans, they all went berserk. In their berserk state, they were prone to irrational behavior, which worsened their injuries.

The cultivators cheered, now that Sunset Forest was theirs for the taking. From now on, they could freely choose their demonic pets and possess countless rare and precious materials, no longer having to fight over spirit stones as before.

"Oh dear, the demon race is about to lose! They're so useless." Qin Xiuyang raised an eyebrow as he looked at the situation. Although he said it with regret, his face was full of schadenfreude.

"This won't do. What I want is for both sides to suffer heavy losses."

He curled his thin lips into a smile: "Let's get started!"

"ah!"

"Junior brother, why?"

"Master, what's wrong? I'm your disciple!"

"Father, your son..."

The change happened in an instant. Many cultivators among the human race suddenly changed their ways, stabbing their closest relatives with their swords. Screams of agony instantly filled the entire Sunset Forest.

"What happened?"

What are you doing?

"What exactly is going on?"

"He's possessed! Master must be possessed!"

The human army panicked, and some demons suddenly attacked their own beasts, but there were as many who betrayed the human army as there were on the human side.

The situation has shifted again, and the two sides have become evenly matched.

"They've been controlled!" Xiang Hengguang, being the sect leader of Tianyuan Sect, was the first to notice the clues.

"But who can control so many people?"

Suspicion fell on the demon race. Although everyone knew it was unlikely, who else could it be but the demon race? Who was so hostile to the human race?

"Senior sister, look! Why are junior brother's eyes black? I've been feeling that junior brother is acting strangely lately, like he can't understand what we're saying. It turns out he's being controlled. Can junior brother ever return to normal?"

"No more." A highly skilled cultivator killed one of them, and when he extracted the soul, he found that only half of it remained.

"What a vicious method! When did the Qingyang Continent develop such techniques for controlling people? If it hadn't suddenly come to light today, wouldn't the entire cultivation world have fallen into chaos?"

"But the question is, why did this person expose themselves now? Wouldn't it have been better to plot slowly?"

"Either he gets what he wants today, or he has no choice but to self-destruct."

"So it's still those monsters from Sunset Forest?"

Listening to everyone's guesses, Qin Xiuyang chuckled inwardly. A bunch of foolish humans and demons, how could you possibly know my great plan?

In the future, the entire Qingyang Continent will become his training ground, and he will lead the demon army to conquer the Immortal Realm.

"Kill! Shameless demons, give me back my junior brother's life!"

"We cannot let them get away with this."

Bai Xiao and the others sneered. They were all fools. Couldn't they see that there was a third-party force? Or did they simply not want to admit it or dare not deal with it, putting all the responsibility on their demon race so that they could plunder with a clearer conscience?

They knew this was an unsolvable situation; if the humans attacked, the demons had no choice but to fight back, and in the end, both sides would suffer heavy losses.

"You, a dignified Sword Master, haven't you seen that there are already problems among your own clansmen?" The old tree of Qingyang couldn't help but question loudly, "Qin Taiming, now is not the time to fight to the death. You and I should stop and find out who is behind this first."

Qin Taiming looked at the tragic scene without showing any emotion: "Their fate has nothing to do with me. Old man, you can't escape today."

The old tree of Qingyang sighed heavily: "If it can save Sunset Forest, I will gladly die for it. Qin Taiming, if you stop now and help me get out of this predicament, I will let you do whatever you want with me afterwards."

"No need, I can deal with you right now."

Qin Taiming wouldn't listen to any kind words; he stubbornly insisted on his own ideas.

Qin Xiuyang sneered: "Master, you are truly heartless, not even caring about these millions of lives. But I should thank you for your selfishness, otherwise how could I have gotten such a good deal?"

"Who?" Qingyang Old Tree and Qin Taiming spotted him at the same time. Qin Xiuyang stopped pretending. Qingyang Old Tree was seriously injured and was not doing well. Qin Taiming had almost exhausted his spiritual energy in order to severely injure Qingyang Old Tree. Now, no one could be his opponent.

"What kind of lowly scoundrel dares to covet my presence!" Qin Taiming unleashed a sword aura, but it was easily blocked by Qin Xiuyang.

He was wearing a black hood, so his appearance was not immediately visible. Qin Taiming sensed danger and pointed his sword at him.

"Master, how come you don't even recognize your disciple?" Qin Xiuyang raised his chin, a smile playing on his lips. "It wasn't easy for your disciple to finally appear before you!"

Qin Taiming was extremely surprised: "It's you!"

He frowned, completely baffled as to why Qin Xiuyang had come back to life, and in his current state, and whose cultivation had improved so rapidly in such a short time!

“You control those who have lost their minds,” he said with certainty.

"Yes," Qin Xiuyang readily admitted. "Master, do you think your disciple is capable?"

"Your cultivation method is not the right path."

"The righteous path?" Qin Xiuyang laughed as if he had heard a joke. "Qin Taiming, you dare to say that I am not on the righteous path? You disregard life and will stop at nothing to ascend to immortality. Don't you think you are more cruel and selfish than me, a demon? At least I dare to admit what I have done. Do you dare to say that you are a Sword Master with a clear conscience?"

"Demon? Is this your current cultivation method?"

Qin Xiuyang clicked his tongue and said, "You're really good at avoiding the important issues."

Qin Taiming's anger intensified: "Qin Xiuyang, don't think that just because you are my disciple, I won't kill you."

"Want to kill me? Come on, it's not certain who will kill whom!" Qin Xiuyang's figure became ghostly, and several times Qin Taiming's sword missed its target.