My Whole Class Isekai'd to a Xianxia? Good Thing I Can Do Mind-reading

"Senior Feng, I'll take a look outside. Don't worry, attacks like these are pretty common. Most end up being nothing," Xue Feng said almost casually, then dashed out of the chamber with a calm expression, as if an enemy assault was just another Tuesday.

'Shouldn't he be more worried, considering the attacks on Red?'

Feng Fan glanced at the two Array Masters still in the room. Unlike Xue Feng, their tense postures and grim expressions told a different story.

'He's way too used to these attacks.'

Rather than assisting them, Feng Fan refrained from interfacing with the formation. He hadn't had the time to modify it yet, and trying to seize partial control now would only interfere with the work of the specialists already assigned to it. It was better to let them handle it.

Ignoring Xue Feng's instructions to stay put, Feng Fan quietly exited the chamber and made his way toward the outer wall of the fortress. What met his eyes was chaos; an army of cultivators assaulting the fortress gates. But it wasn't a unified force. The mass was clearly divided into four distinct factions.

'Well, that's expected.'

Their alliance was little more than a temporary truce. Evil cultivators, especially those following different Demon Venerables, would rarely share anything beyond mutual hatred for other factions. Even within the same cult, betrayal was common, let alone between different cults.

Feng Fan's gaze sharpened when he noticed one of the attacking factions radiating a thick, oppressive bloodlust. The air around them was steeped in the spiritual residue of countless innocent lives.

'That group… they're just like the Bloodsucking Demon Sect I faced back on Red Pole.'

Another faction was also familiar to Feng Fan. Grotesque creatures overflowing with vitality, their bodies warped and malformed beyond what a normal human should be. They cultivated by absorbing the vitality and souls of other cultivators.

The excess life force wreaked havoc on their bodies, causing uncontrolled mutations, like a cancer spreading without restraint. Each one looked like a living abomination, twisted by their own cultivation method.

The other two factions were unfamiliar to Feng Fan. As far as he knew, they had never appeared on Red Pole. One appeared to specialize in poison. He watched as an allied cultivator collapsed moments after being splashed with the blood of a slain enemy, a slow and agonizing death.

Another ally died moments later, his expression frozen in horror as he drove his own sword through his chest. It was as if he were trapped in a nightmare.

'Evil cultivators have such fascinating methods…'

Despite the chaos, Feng Fan remained composed. He continued to observe from atop one of the fortress's walls, unwilling to act prematurely. Something felt off. The attackers weren't pushing with full force. After a few probing assaults against the fortress's barrier, they had shifted focus to skirmishes with defenders outside the protective array.

'What exactly is their objective?'

Feng Fan activated his spiritual qi vision and soared as high as he could without leaving the protective array surrounding the fortress. From above, he could see the entire battlefield, but contrary to his expectations, nothing seemed out of place.

After a few minutes of skirmishing and a handful of casualties on both sides, the evil cultivators began to retreat.

"Run like dogs with your tails between your legs, you bastards!" one of the defenders shouted. He wasn't alone; more angry cries echoed throughout the fortress. The hatred for cultists among the defenders was visible.

Feng Fan looked down and spotted Xue Feng. He hadn't noticed anything unusual before, likely because he hadn't been using his spiritual qi vision. But now, with his enhanced perception, pieces of the puzzle began falling into place.

'His spiritual qi is tainted.'

That same dark spiritual qi he had encountered in Starlight City was faintly present in Xue Feng's body. It was far more subtle than what he had seen in the zombies, whose bodies were completely enveloped in it. In Xue Feng's case, only a small portion of the energy lingered within him.

Even worse, he wasn't the only one. Several figures inside the fortress carried the same corruption within them.

'Are they traitors? No… I don't think Xue Feng is one. Maybe it's some kind of poison?'

The zombies were also experts who, after dying, unwillingly attacked the people from the Intergalactic Council.

Unfortunately, Feng Fan's knowledge of medicine, alchemy, and poisons was limited. He had no idea how the dark spiritual qi might be affecting Xue Feng's body. He sighed, thinking of Tan Wei, the protagonist with God-tier alchemist abilities.

'It would be useful to have him here now.'

Just then, Xue Feng turned and looked up. The sclera of his eyes was no longer purely white; they were tinged with black and red.

With a smile on his face, Xue Feng flew closer to Feng Fan. "Feng Fan, I apologize for the delay. Those cultist bastards wasted our time with such pointless attacks."

Feng Fan nodded, offering no more words than necessary. "Xue Feng, I just remembered something important I left behind in Red Pole. I need to return there quickly, retrieve it, and come back."

His words made Xue Feng's eyes turn bloodshot, and for a brief moment, the dark spiritual qi within him flared.

"No! Feng Fan, you must finish working on all of our arrays first! Only after that can you return," he blurted out, his voice louder than usual.

Feng Fan frowned. 'His behavior changed too suddenly.'

Realizing how strange his reaction was, Xue Feng quickly tried to recover his composure.

"I'm sorry, Senior Feng," he said, cupping his hands in apology. "Could you at least finish setting up the tier 9 arrays here in Green before heading back to Red Pole?"

Instead of responding immediately, Feng Fan silently connected his mind to Xue Feng's own. He could sense something was wrong, and he needed to understand the source. Despite his mastery of tier 9 Array Dao, he didn't consider himself invincible. Walking blindly into a trap, especially one laid by enemies aware of his abilities, was the last thing he wanted.

"What's the rush, Xue Feng?" Feng Fan asked, masking his suspicion with a calm smile.