Villain: I transmigrated with Mind Control Powers

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: The Carnage

The competition within the hunting grounds had reached a fever pitch, with participants fighting tooth and nail to earn points and claim glory. On the leaderboard, names flashed in rapid succession as cultivators bested each other in battle. Ye Chen, despite his earlier struggles, had managed to climb to the 7th spot, a feat that surprised many.

Each beast he slew earned him precious points: Rank 1 beasts granted a single point, Rank 2 beasts awarded 10 points, Rank 3 beasts 100 points, and so on, with the scores exponentially increasing with the rank of the beasts. His total points had soared, catching the attention of the other competitors and spectators alike.

"Ye Chen… in the top 10?" murmured one onlooker in disbelief as the leaderboard updated. "Isn't he just a new disciple? How did he manage to reach the 7th spot so quickly?"

"Who cares about that? Look at who's in the first place!" another shouted, pointing at the leaderboard. Yu Haotian, an arrogant and cunning disciple known for his brutal efficiency, had taken the top spot. Behind him were Su Ling, a graceful and enigmatic figure with unparalleled swordsmanship, and Jiang Rui, a powerhouse known for his sheer brute force.

The rankings were fierce, with each name representing a formidable contender.

The competition was far from over, and tensions were high. Spectators and participants alike kept their eyes glued to the leaderboard, some cheering for their favorite candidates, others biting their nails in anticipation. As the battle raged on, many were curious to see if Yu Haotian would maintain his lead or if someone like Su Ling or even an underdog like Ye Chen could dethrone him.

Aric watched from the shadows, his eyes gleaming with dark satisfaction as the chaos unfolded. The competition, meant to be a test of strength and skill, had become the perfect cover for his nefarious plans. His followers were already in position, and with a simple gesture, he gave the signal to Ren Shi.

"Begin," Aric commanded, his voice cold and unfeeling. "Start with the weaker ones. Make sure no one leaves this place alive, except Ye Chen. We'll save him for last."

Ren Shi, a towering figure clad in dark robes, bowed deeply before melting into the shadows. His eyes burned with anticipation, the thrill of the upcoming slaughter coursing through him like a drug. His group of demonic cultivators followed, their faces twisted with bloodlust.

Within moments, the serene hunting grounds erupted into a scene of carnage. Disciples, who had moments ago been focused on their beast hunts, were suddenly ambushed by ruthless killers. The air filled with the sickening sounds of metal slicing through flesh, and the agonized screams of the dying echoed through the forest.

"Please, spare me!" one disciple cried, his voice trembling with fear as he dropped to his knees, blood pouring from a gash in his side.

Ren Shi's lips curled into a cruel smile as he approached the pleading disciple. "There is no mercy here," he sneered before driving his blade through the disciple's chest. The young man gasped, his eyes wide with terror, before his body crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap.

Another group of disciples, realizing the imminent danger, attempted to flee, but the demonic cultivators were relentless. One by one, they were hunted down like animals, their screams piercing the night as they begged for their lives. A young woman, barely out of her teens, tried to hide behind a tree, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Help me! Someone, please!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. But there was no one left to hear her pleas. A demonic cultivator found her, his eyes devoid of any compassion. He grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head back to expose her throat.

"No!" she screamed, her voice hoarse with terror. "Please, I don't want to die!"

The cultivator's blade flashed, and her scream was abruptly cut off, her body collapsing in a pool of blood.

Meanwhile, Ren Shi moved with terrifying efficiency, cutting down anyone who crossed his path. He relished the sight of their fear, the way their eyes widened in panic, the way their screams echoed through the forest. It was a symphony of death, and he was the conductor, orchestrating every gruesome note.

One disciple, a woman in her mid-twenties, managed to parry Ren Shi's first strike, her face a mask of grim determination. But she was no match for his strength. He disarmed her with a brutal kick to her chest, sending her sprawling to the ground. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with defiance. "You'll pay for this… The sect will hunt you down."

Ren Shi merely smiled, a cold, cruel twist of his lips. "Let them try," he said, his voice dripping with disdain. Then, with a swift motion, he plunged his sword into her heart. Her eyes widened in shock, then glazed over as death claimed her. He yanked his blade free, letting her body collapse into the growing pile of corpses.

All around, the forest had transformed into a nightmarish scene. Blood splattered the trees and soaked into the earth, turning the once peaceful hunting grounds into a gruesome slaughterhouse. Aric's followers moved like shadows, their blades gleaming with fresh blood as they ruthlessly eliminated anyone they came across.

The weaker cultivators were quickly cut down, their bodies left to rot where they fell.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen was locked in a relentless battle with wave after wave of powerful beasts. His earlier momentum was fading as exhaustion began to set in. Despite his best efforts, the constant fighting was taking its toll. His sword strikes, once swift and precise, were growing sluggish, and his energy was waning.

As he struggled to fend off a particularly vicious group of Rank 4 beasts, his ranking began to slip.

"Damn it!" Ye Chen cursed under his breath, sweat pouring down his face as he cut through the thick hide of a Rank 4 Thunderhorn Bull. Despite killing beast after beast, his points were no longer enough to keep him in the top 10. His rank fell to 18th, and with each passing moment, it became harder to keep up. "I can't let them win… not like this."

But his body was betraying him. Every muscle screamed in protest, and every breath felt like it might be his last. Yet the beasts kept coming, as if driven by some unseen force to break him. Unbeknownst to Ye Chen, this was exactly what Aric had planned.

His other followers, hidden deep within the forest, were using dark techniques to lure and drug the beasts, sending them in Ye Chen's direction to exhaust him completely.

In the sect's control room, a growing tension hung heavy in the air. The competition, meant to showcase the talents of the younger disciples, was rapidly spiraling into something far darker. The elders, responsible for monitoring the progress of the participants, were growing increasingly concerned. Yet, among them were a few who harbored their own hidden agendas, secretly aligned with Aric.

These elders, skilled in the art of manipulation, began subtly steering the narrative in a direction that suited their master's plans.

One elder, his eyes narrowing as he studied the rankings, spoke up with a voice laced with suspicion. "Isn't it strange how Ye Chen's score shot up so quickly? And now, just as abruptly, it's plummeting. Could he have been using some underhanded methods?"

Another elder, one who had been quietly sowing seeds of doubt for some time, chimed in, his tone dripping with insinuation. "Indeed. It's almost as if he's been cheating. Or perhaps… there's something more sinister at play."

"It was bound to happen," another elder agreed, his tone laced with false concern. "A momentary surge, nothing more. But Yu Haotian, now there's a disciple who deserves the top spot."

Indeed, Yu Haotian had maintained a steady lead throughout the competition, his score consistently rising as he methodically took down powerful beasts. The rankings showed him firmly in first place, followed by Su Ling and Jiang Rui. Many in the sect were surprised to see Ye Chen fall so drastically, but others, influenced by the elders' subtle manipulations, began to believe the worst.

Their words were designed to plant doubt in the minds of the sect's leadership, to cast Ye Chen in a shadow of suspicion. And it worked. The other elders, those who were not privy to Aric's schemes, began to frown, their thoughts racing as they considered the possibility of foul play.

Meanwhile, the competition continued, but the atmosphere grew heavier with each passing moment. The number of missing disciples had become too great to ignore, and the more honest elders, those who still believed in the integrity of the sect, were growing increasingly alarmed.

"We cannot ignore this any longer," one of them, an elder known for his stern sense of justice, declared. "This isn't normal. We need to investigate immediately."

Reluctantly, a group of elders was dispatched to the hunting grounds to investigate the strange occurrences. What they discovered was nothing short of horrifying. The once serene forest had been transformed into a nightmarish landscape. Mangled corpses littered the ground, their bodies still warm with the heat of recent death.

But what shocked the elders the most was the gruesome message carved into the foreheads of the victims: "Ye Chen."

"This… this is impossible!" one elder gasped, his face draining of color as he sent a hurried communication back to the sect. "How could Ye Chen have done this? This massacre... it defies all reason!"

Back at the sect, chaos erupted as the news spread like wildfire. Disciples and elders alike were gripped by panic and confusion. Whispers of treachery, betrayal, and dark alliances filled the air as they tried to make sense of the carnage. How could a young disciple, someone who had only recently begun to show promise, be responsible for such a heinous act?

The situation was dire enough to warrant the attention of the sect leader, Ru Shenshen. Despite her advanced age, Ru Shenshen was a figure of awe-inspiring presence. Her beauty, unmarred by the passage of time, was rivaled only by the intensity of her gaze. Her long, raven-black hair cascaded down her back like a river of ink, and her robes shimmered with the light of a thousand stars.

Her eyes, sharp and filled with the wisdom of centuries, could pierce through the darkest of lies.

When the news of the massacres reached her, Ru Shenshen's calm facade shattered. The sect leader, known for her cool composure, was now a storm of fury and indignation. Without hesitation, she ordered the immediate halt of the competition. The loud, resonant gong that echoed across the hunting grounds signaled the end of the event, but the damage had already been done.

Ru Shenshen, accompanied by a contingent of her most trusted elders, descended upon the hunting grounds like a divine storm. What they found only fueled her anger further. The bodies of her disciples, young and brimming with potential, were scattered across the blood-soaked earth, their lives snuffed out like candles in the wind.

And there, standing amidst the carnage, were the demonic cultivators, their faces twisted into cruel, mocking grins.

"You dare!" Ru Shenshen's voice thundered, laced with unrestrained fury as she confronted the demonic cultivators. "How did you infiltrate our sacred grounds? Who gave you the audacity to slaughter my disciples like cattle?"

The demonic cultivators responded with laughter, a sound that sent chills down the spines of all who heard it. "With our leader Ye Chen's knowledge, how could your pathetic defenses stop us?" one of them sneered, his voice dripping with malice. "This is all for Ye Chen! He is our true leader, and we will kill every last one of you to avenge him!"

The accusation hit like a hammer blow. Ru Shenshen's eyes widened in disbelief, and then narrowed in a dangerous, icy rage. "Lies!" she spat, her voice filled with venom. "Ye Chen is no leader of yours! You think you can deceive us with your filthy tricks?"

But the demonic cultivators only laughed harder, their voices echoing through the forest as they began to chant Ye Chen's name, each syllable laced with dark, twisted devotion. The sound of it reverberated through the air, a perverse hymn to their so-called leader.

"Enough!" Ru Shenshen roared, her voice infused with a spiritual power that shook the very ground beneath their feet. "You will pay for your crimes!"

With a battle cry that echoed across the forest, Ru Shenshen charged into the fray, her blade a blur of deadly precision. The other elders, equally incensed, followed her lead, unleashing their might upon the demonic cultivators. The air crackled with the energy of powerful techniques as steel clashed against steel, and the sky darkened with the smoke of burning trees and the screams of the dying.

In the midst of the forest's chaos, Aric watched with cold satisfaction. The first phase of his plan had succeeded beyond his expectations. With a subtle gesture, he signaled Ren Shi and his group of demonic cultivators to retreat, their mission accomplished. They melted into the shadows, their grim work completed.

Aric's other followers, however, remained hidden, prepared to set the final stage of his intricate scheme into motion.

As the elders and the remaining sect members arrived, they were met with a horrific tableau. Bloodied and battered, Ye Chen was locked in a desperate battle with a group of inner sect disicples. His movements were sluggish, his strikes lacking the precision and power they once had.

Many sect disciples , expertly feigning injury, cried out in distress. "Ye Chen! How could you betray us like this? We all are members of the sect, yet you turn against us?" Their voices were filled with a mix of anguish and anger, painting Ye Chen as the villain in a carefully crafted performance.

"You want to kill us for the fact that we saw you with those demonic cultivators. We will make sure that the sect leader is aware of this even if we die today.", said one of the disciples

The elders, initially stunned by the sight, quickly began to piece together the disturbing scene. "What is the meaning of this?" one of them demanded, turning to Ru Shenshen, the sect leader. His eyes were filled with a mix of confusion and disbelief. "Why is Ye Chen fighting the other disciple? How could this happen?"

Ru Shenshen's heart raced as she watched the unfolding chaos. The thought that Ye Chen could be allied with demonic cultivators was unthinkable. She had known Ye Chen as a promising and honorable disciple. The scene before her challenged everything she believed. She stepped forward, her voice ringing with a mixture of authority and desperation. "Ye Chen!

What's going on? Why are these accusations being thrown at you?"

Ye Chen, barely able to stand, looked up at Ru Shenshen, his face etched with confusion and exhaustion. "I… I don't understand. I'm not with them. I'm fighting them because they they attacked me. I was just trying to survive!"

But before Ye Chen could explain further, a demonic cultivator, hidden among the crowd, seized the opportunity. He lunged at Ye Chen, quickly taking away from the site.

The sect leader's eyes widened in horror. "Enough!" Ru Shenshen's voice was a thunderclap of authority. Her aura flared brightly, and she moved with lightning speed, cutting down the attacking demonic cultivator with a single, decisive strike. By this time, he had activated the teleportation talisman and Ye chen disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Ye Chen!" Ru Shenshen called out angrily.