In fact, at this time, only Ye Tianfan dared to temper his state of mind.
If others were to awaken and come over, they would immediately shield their thoughts or avoid looking at the small sphere to prevent being tempted by it again.
Only Ye Tianfan considered using this sphere to temper his own mind, looking at it once more yet remaining fully vigilant, fearing to fall into its trap again by accident.
However, Ye Tianfan was clearly overthinking, as when he looked at the small sphere again, the wariness in his eyes had vanished, replaced by a faint greed!
In other words, Ye Tianfan had not withstood the temptation of this small sphere.
If Ye Tianfan could resolve this temptation in one go, then there would indeed be a problem.
After all, the small sphere could so quickly draw Ye Tianfan in, proving that its temptation power surpassed Ye Tianfan's spiritual power greatly, indicating that refining his spiritual power wouldn't be an easy task for him.
Currently, Ye Tianfan was staring at the small sphere, his entire consciousness gradually slipping into a greedy state.
A Daoist, Tai Chu, glanced lightly at Ye Tianfan and smiled softly, surprised Ye Tianfan would treat this small sphere as a tool to temper his spiritual power; usually, awakening to such a situation would call for immediate avoidance.
Yet Ye Tianfan did not follow the ordinary path, choosing not only to avoid it but to treat the sphere as a tempering point for himself, demonstrating his great effort and diligence.
Moreover, Tai Chu knew Ye Tianfan was not in any real danger, hence his decision to leave Ye Tianfan alone.
If Tai Chu intervened, it might disrupt Ye Tianfan, for a swift awakening from a state of greed could further refine his spiritual power.
Regardless of whether he awakens, they have means to ensure Ye Tianfan's recovery, though waking him would stop his tempering process.
Nonetheless, they could wake Ye Tianfan to prevent mental harm from the sphere, so Tai Chu felt that even if Ye Tianfan was in a greedy state now, there was no danger.
Thus, Tai Chu merely glanced at Ye Tianfan, not preventing his spiritual tempering with the sphere.
If successful, Ye Tianfan could restore and enhance some spiritual power, and if unsuccessful, there would be no adverse consequence. Therefore, Tai Chu allowed Ye Tianfan this harmless tempering.
Previously, Ye Tianfan wanted to use the Heaven-Swallowing Python as his tempering creature, but Tai Chu rejected it due to its risk, even though victory would bring great rewards; the odds and costs of failure were too high.
Hence, Tai Chu agreed to this tempering approach instead.
At this moment, Ye Tianfan had entered a mystical state, in which his consciousness was clear and he distinctly felt his growing greed, unable to resist the urge to seize the small sphere.
Yet Ye Tianfan found himself helpless; he was like an observer watching his body and current mental state, unable to interfere.
Not entirely unable to interfere, but possessing minimal ability to; he found his interference capability very small but still strove to meddle with his thoughts, knowing success would enhance his spiritual power and resistance to the sphere.
Nonetheless, as Ye Tianfan entered this mystical realm, the Heaven-Swallowing Python was scorched away, leaving only a small sphere behind.
And as for the tempted immortals, there was someone heading toward the small sphere, face full of desire, muttering, "It's mine, it's mine; no one can take it."
However, just as the person got halfway, the Sect Leader trapped them using an array.
The same applied to others—all approaching were trapped in place by their Sect Leader's array.
The situation resembled a competition, watching to see which sect had fewer people rushing ahead.
A sect having fewer people pulled by temptation hinted at better teachings.
Mainly elite immortals were present, so the later disciples rushed forward, the more they resisted, indicating superior sect teaching.
Though focus should be on the sphere, sects secretly engaged in struggles coinciding with a competition point.
Despite winning or losing not impacting sects, nor producing prizes or ridicule, even if a sect's disciples rushed first and fell to temptation, Sect Leaders ignored it, never mentioning it, buried within hearts for comparison.
Even if silent comparisons occurred internally, everyone knew the whole story, and each sect had an internal judgment scale, unaffected by competition outcomes, yet indirectly touching upon sect reputation.
All knew and understood everything, clear in their hearts despite the lack of explicit mentions; imminent questions about which sect lost loomed.
Even if no sect mocked others, losing would inevitably lead to feeling inferiority, given others resisted temptation, unlike the losing sect's disciples.