Behind Aksai, Zinnia watched silently.
She had known him long enough to know when sothing was wrong. Aksai’s sudden joyous mood, his laughter, his strange expressions, the odd energy in his tone — none of it felt normal.
She clenched her fists, then stepped forward quickly. Without hesitation, she reached out and grabbed his hand with both of hers. Her palms were trembling slightly.
"My lord..." she said softly, her voice laced in worry. "Are you alright? You... you’re acting weird."
Her touch and words cut through the fog in Aksai’s mind like a blade. His smile faded, and his body froze for a second.
’Sothinng... sothing is indeed wrong. Is it because of the Devil’s Den?’
He blinked and then closed his eyes slowly, taking a deep breath.
Inside his mind, his voice turned sharp and clear. He ordered the Neural Link Fabric silently. ’Scan for any abnormal changes after my druid transformation. Compare my current state with the data before transformation. List all differences.’
As he spoke inwardly, Aksai began to circulate his Spirit essence throughout his body, trying to calm his nerves and regulate his breathing.
The Neural Link Fabric responded almost instantly. Its neutral voice echoed in his thoughts:
[Irregular blood flow and Spirit essence flow directed at the amygdala detected. Elevated levels of fear, anxiety, and aggression observed.]
[Aether reserves unstable. Amygdala triggering random fight-or-flight responses.]
The data kept coming.
[Abnormal activity detected in prefrontal cortex, hypothalamus, and cingulate cortex.]
[Elevated heart rate due to erratic silvery Qi circulation. Qi flow agitated beyond normal tolerance.]
Aksai frowned slightly, processing the information. The display of ntal paraters and energy flow maps filled his vision for a few seconds.
After scanning through all the readings and cross-referencing them with older data, the Neural Link Fabric produced a diagnosis.
[Master, you are experiencing side effects of intent-based Spirit cultivation perford during the prolonged operation of the Devil’s Den.]
[The Devil’s Den is interacting negatively with your druid bloodline. Excessive use may lead to your bloodline evolving toward that of a corrupted druid.]
Aksai’s eyes opened, a flicker of shock flashing across them. Even after all the safety asures he had taken, even after the layers of protection he had built into his cultivation, the Devil’s Den had still managed to leave its mark.
He sighed softly. For a few seconds, he didn’t move. Then, in a calm voice, he spoke inwardly again.
’First, manually regulate the blood flow, Spirit essence circulation, Qi rotations, and Aether movents. Use the internal organs and Martial Gates to bring everything back to balance. Secondly... suggest ways to counter the side effects of using the Devil’s Den right now.’
The Neural Link Fabric began its work at once, and Aksai could feel his heartbeat slowing, the chaotic rush of emotions settling little by little. The air around him felt lighter. Zinnia, still holding his hand, looked up at him with worry written all over her face.
"I’m fine," he said quietly, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Just needed a mont to think."
But inside, Aksai knew this was only the beginning of a much deeper problem. Inside his mind, the voice of the Neural Link Fabric echoed again, calm and chanical as always.
[Cause: The negative emotions of people trapped inside the Devil’s Den have been extracted and gathered around the host. A corrupted druid with a suitable bloodline would have cultivated these emotions to increase their strength rapidly.]
[However, since the master has purified his druid bloodline origins, he cannot cultivate these negative emotions directly. The excess buildup of these emotions is the cause of the current side effects being experienced by the master.]
Aksai listened silently, his gaze fixed on the faintly glowing vines around him. The air carried a strange heaviness, a pressure that wasn’t physical but emotional — full of leftover hatred, fear, and sorrow. He could almost feel the emotions swirling around like dark smoke.
The Neural Link Fabric continued.
[Solution 01: Disperse the negative emotions by destroying the remaining Devil Tree vines and roots currently alive and active in the surroundings.]
[Solution 02: Neutralize the existing targets and remain in isolation for several days to allow the negative emotions to disperse naturally.]
[Solution 03: Accumulate the negative emotions into an object or item using the concepts of the Heretic Dao.]
Aksai’s eyes slowly opened. His pupils glead faintly with light as a small smile appeared on his face. The third solution caught his attention right away.
"Accumulate them, huh?" he whispered, his voice low but amused.
He let go of Zinnia’s hand gently and took a step forward. Several vines burst out of the ground around him, twisting and coiling in the air like restless serpents. They obeyed his will completely, circling him in a slow, hypnotic rhythm.
He picked one vine and held it carefully. Its surface was rough and pulsed faintly with a dark green glow. He took out a Heretic Dao talisman from his ring and placed it near the tip of the vine.
"Let’s see if this works," he said softly.
The Qi-eating flowers that Aksai had created using the silver and golden Qis of the Argent and Aurous Artists was also based on the concepts of the Heretic Dao. It was just that Aksai had integrated the Qi-eating concept into the Devil’s Den directly at the ti of its creation whereas the cultivation of negative emotion was sothing he had to do because of the side-effects.
The mont the talisman touched the vine, a deep hum filled the air. The vine trembled and then began to change. A small bud ford near the talisman, growing larger with every heartbeat. The veins along the bud shimred faintly, and soon, it blood into a strange, eerie flower.
It was the Flower of Fear.
Each petal was pale and translucent, with a faint shimr like fog trapped inside glass. When the petals moved, shadows rippled across them, forming faces twisted in terror.
These flower petals featured the illusions of the final monts of those who had died in the Devil’s Den.
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