Chapter 1063: Obscuring Heaven
Chapter 1062: Obscuring Heaven
Qianxue State Boundary, Dao-Discourse Mountain, Sword-Observing Pavilion.
The many patriarchs of noble families and sects were still gathered in the great hall. From the highest Sword-Observing Pavilion on Dao-Discourse Mountain, they oversaw the situation, grasping the overall picture while continuously issuing commands, ordering the various powers of Qianxue to suppress the Arhatian Blood-Sacrifice Grand Formation.
But now, the situation had changed once more.
The blood-sacrifice grand formation, which had originally been suppressed by the combined forces and strangled by the Dao Court, its spread contained, suddenly flared again. Its glow began to circulate once more, carrying blood light and baleful qi as it continued to spread toward the surroundings of Qianxue.
Many patriarchs frowned slightly.
“Most of the evil formation masters have already perished. This blood-sacrifice formation was nothing but a facade of strength—why has it revived from the ashes?”
“Is someone secretly aiding these fiends?”
“Who could it be?”
Venerable Elder Xun pondered briefly, and then his heart sank.
He concealed his hand within his sleeve, forming calculation seals, divining cause and effect. Though his face remained calm as still water, his heart gradually grew heavy.
“Could it be… that Mo Hua child lent his aid?”
His eyelids twitched.
If that were truly the case, then the matter was gravely serious.
No matter the reason or motive, to assist demonic cultivators in constructing a blood-sacrifice grand formation was a capital crime of the highest order.
Even as an old ancestor, he would never be able to protect him.
That child!
His expression grew solemn, his heart suspended.
Most of the Hollow Void patriarchs present could not calculate such matters; for the moment they had not guessed it.
But among them were a few who either knew a bit of Heavenly Secrets, or, though unfamiliar with such arts, were meticulous in thought. They had sensed something.
Their faces remained impassive, saying nothing, but their eyes—subtle, mocking—shifted toward Venerable Elder Xun, carrying hints of schadenfreude.
This Mo Hua’s brilliance had grown far too dazzling.
Not only was his talent in formations monstrous, but he also grasped a forbidden Dao art akin to the Great Void Sect’s divine secret art of Manifesting Sword from Divine Sense. If allowed to continue developing unchecked, who knew what terrifying monster he might one day become?
Yet they were Hollow Void patriarchs, figures of prestige. On the surface at least, they had to act according to the laws of the Dao Court; they could not act wantonly, much less bare their fangs openly and strike down a Foundation Establishment junior.
Moreover, not long ago, Mo Hua had rescued the legitimate heirs of many clans and sects from the blood-sacrifice formation. That was no small “favor.”
To now repay kindness with enmity and break this karmic bond could lead to unpredictable consequences.
But judging from the current situation, perhaps they need not trouble themselves.
A dazzling prodigy of the righteous path, now fallen into a demonic abyss, consorting with fiends—no need to think further, he would inevitably be beset by endless temptations: cultivation, fame, power, women…
No ordinary “man” could withstand them.
Even if he resisted, a single misstep could not be ruled out.
And now it seemed Mo Hua had gone even further than expected—he dared to assist these fiends in drawing a demonic grand formation.
Truly reckless and audacious beyond measure.
Yet, to the Hollow Void patriarchs, this was a welcomed development.
If Mo Hua turned demonic, then they could righteously, under the banner of eradicating evil and defending the Dao, order his execution.
Righteous and demonic cannot coexist—none would object.
Even if Mo Hua remained pure-hearted and unwilling to consort with demons, his “crime” stood plain: the vast, heaven-obscuring blood-sacrifice formation. There was no way to argue it away. His death was inevitable.
At the very least, his cultivation would be abolished and he would be expelled from his sect.
And this need not be their own doing—they only needed to borrow the hand of the Dao Court to “eradicate demons,” or force the Great Void Sect to “cleanse its own door.”
Thus, the hidden danger of Mo Hua would be eliminated.
Their hands would remain clean.
Gradually, more and more Hollow Void patriarchs realized this.
Naturally, more and more gloating gazes turned toward Venerable Elder Xun of the Great Void Sect.
Of course, not all were so gleeful.
A genius born, a genius seized, a genius turned demonic, a genius fallen…
For the Great Void Sect to endure such dramatic upheavals in so short a time was truly lamentable.
Venerable Elder Xun’s expression grew ever heavier.
These thoughts circled the hearts of all the patriarchs present.
Naturally, regardless of Mo Hua’s situation, they could not ignore the blood-sacrifice formation.
“Send more men to slay the formation masters inside the array.”
“Evacuate all cultivators around and along the formation’s spread, gather them within Qianxue State, do not allow the fiends to kill again and fuel the array’s baleful qi.”
“Seal the array’s chokepoints. If any demon emerges, strike them down immediately…”
“Set up formations along the path to curb its expansion…”
Yet though effective, these measures were only “palliatives.”
The blood-sacrifice formation was troublesome, but the greatest threat lay deeper within—the terrifying presence being nurtured.
All present Hollow Voids had sensed as much.
“The Wen clan’s girl is under protection… and also—” one Hollow Void patriarch, his face lean and immortal-like, spoke. “Have we sent for Old Realman Situ of Mystic Secrets Valley?”
Another Hollow Void nodded. “Yes.”
“When will he arrive?”
“Within days.”
The lean-faced patriarch nodded slightly.
They were Hollow Voids, high in realm and power, but that did not mean they were proficient in every branch of cultivation.
Advancing one’s cultivation already consumed nearly all time and energy, not to mention the exhausting affairs of sects and clans.
To then devote effort to refining one or two Daoist skills—alchemy, formations, talismans, or artifacts—was rare indeed.
Each art required its specialist.
Most obscure or arcane Daoist studies, they knew only a smattering, far from mastery.
Especially when it came to divine sense arts.
The Dao of Divine Sense—formless, intangible, illusory, ever-changing, branching into myriad paths: Heavenly Secrets, cause and effect, blessings, disaster-warding, fortune-seeking, evil-avoiding, divination, exorcism, demon-slaying, spirit-worship… countless, abstruse as stars in the sky.
Such inheritances were extremely difficult, requiring lifelong dedication from youth. Even then, few gained renown, and such arts were often slandered by the ignorant as ghostly superstitions.
In today’s cultivation world, where the heart is neglected, people valued only spiritual roots, bones, lineage, prestige, and power.
Thus the divine path waned. Many divine sense arts were on the brink of extinction.
Only a handful of forces still held complete inheritances.
One of them was Mystic Secrets Valley.
Old Realman Situ of Mystic Secrets Valley—though only at the Nascent Soul Realm—had devoted his life to divine sense arts of Heavenly Secrets and cause and effect. His skill was deep. When he traveled, he was treated with great respect by noble families and sects, even regarded as an honored guest by Hollow Void patriarchs.
At present, deep within the grand array, cause and effect shuddered, birthing vast evil intent. Only Mystic Secrets Valley’s grand elder, Old Realman Situ, could break this stalemate.
At the very least, he could pierce through the evil mist, uncover truth, and find a path to resolution.
Of course, there were also Hollow Void patriarchs within Qianxue who had studied Heavenly Secrets and cause and effect.
But such study might predict fortune and misfortune—it did not mean they could exorcise or slay evil.
Within the Dao of Divine Sense, “calculating” and “slaying” were worlds apart.
Even killing men, ghosts, demons, and spirits all belonged to different categories.
The Dao of Divine Sense was troublesome, fraught with hidden dangers.
Thus these Hollow Void patriarchs acted cautiously, not daring to move rashly.
Still, that did not mean they would do nothing—they simply needed a “specialist” to point the way, to avoid violating taboos.
After a while, the lean-faced patriarch recalled something and asked, “By the way, where is Patriarch Xiao? Why is he absent?”
At such a time, when all Hollow Voids skilled in Heavenly Secrets had gathered here in the Sword-Observing Pavilion awaiting Old Realman Situ, Patriarch Xiao alone was missing.
He too had studied Heavenly Secrets.
The more minds, the better.
“Patriarch Xiao seems still in seclusion. His cultivation… encountered some mishap,” another patriarch who knew the inside story replied.
“A mishap in cultivation…”
The lean-faced patriarch frowned slightly.
Not far away, Venerable Elder Xun’s pupils shrank, sensing something amiss…
…
Within the Arhatian Blood-Sacrifice Grand Formation.
Inside the city of flesh and blood.
Mr. Tu was still leading Mo Hua deeper into the city, until they arrived before a grand and sinister hall built entirely of white bone.
Mr. Tu knelt in reverence.
Mo Hua considered. Logically, he should “play along” and kneel as well, to display his “piety” toward the Great Wilderness Lord.
But his bones were stiff; even if he forced himself, he could not kneel. So he simply stood.
Thus, Mr. Tu knelt while Mo Hua stood.
Mr. Tu, being a man of greater concerns, did not mind these minor courtesies.
Kneeling devoutly, after a moment he seemed to receive some silent permission. Rising, he pushed open the white bone hall’s doors.
A heavy rumble echoed.
The friction of bone against bone was eerie, interspersed with shrieks, wails, cries of sorrow and fear.
The bone doors slowly opened.
What lay within was revealed before Mo Hua.
A labyrinth of flesh and blood, inscribed with vast, ancient, profound, yet sinister formation runes.
It was an ancient formation.
Mr. Tu’s expression grew fevered, his gaze filled with desire, excitement, expectation, and reverence.
“This is the core of the Arhatian Blood-Sacrifice Grand Formation—the Flesh-to-Divinity Array!”
Mo Hua froze.
As his eyes adjusted, he widened them, shock and disbelief flooding his face.
What stunned him was not the flesh labyrinth.
Nor the profundity of the formation.
But the fact that the core formation of the Arhatian Blood-Sacrifice Grand Formation… he knew it. He had studied it. He was intimately familiar with it.
It was—the Heaven-Obscuring Formation!
Stripped of its bloody disguise, the core mechanism the Great Wilderness evil god used for resurrection was actually—the Heaven-Obscuring Formation!
And the bottleneck of his Celestial Evolution Art was also the Heaven-Obscuring Formation!
Mo Hua gasped.
A surge of disbelief crashed through his heart, his pupils trembling violently, his face unable to suppress its shock.
Celestial Evolution Art. Heaven-Obscuring Formation. Evil god’s resurrection…
All of it linked together, sending Mo Hua’s thoughts spiraling into confusion, and even a faint fear.
Mo Hua forced himself to calm down.
Everything before his eyes had a cause and effect.
Tracing back, there had to be clues.
From the very beginning, inside the Demon Cavern of Bishan, the bronze labyrinth was engraved with part of the runes of the Heaven-Obscuring Grand Formation.
In the Dragon King Temple by the Yan Shui River, there had been the White-Bone Labyrinth.
Within that White-Bone Labyrinth, though there was an evil array, it had not yet taken shape. Clearly, it too had been an attempt to build the Heaven-Obscuring Formation, but had not been completed.
And now, before his eyes, stood the Flesh-and-Blood Labyrinth, the core of the Arhatian Blood-Sacrifice Grand Formation, used for the birth of the Evil God—this was naturally the fully-formed Heaven-Obscuring Grand Formation.
The Heaven-Obscuring Grand Formation was related to the “transformation” of divine sense.
The Evil God needed to rely on the Heaven-Obscuring Formation in order to revive!
In essence, this Arhatian Blood-Sacrifice Grand Formation was nothing more than… a heretical variant of the Heaven-Obscuring Formation.
“I should have realized long ago…”
Mo Hua’s heart trembled, his pupils blank with shock.
His “stunned and shaken” expression fell into Master Tu’s eyes, filling him with satisfaction.
Only a genius could recognize the inconceivable profundity of this ancient labyrinthine flesh-and-blood array.
Only a true genius could be shaken to the core, drawn in by this ancient and profound, yet cruel and perilous, Dao of formations.
Ordinary eyes could not perceive the true essence of this blood-sacrifice formation.
Yet Master Tu, servant of the Evil God though he was, himself had no idea what exactly Mo Hua was so “shocked” about.
After a long while, Mo Hua finally suppressed the storm in his chest, his expression slowly calming.
Master Tu nodded slightly and asked Mo Hua:
“What do you think of this formation?”
Mo Hua opened his mouth slightly, his voice almost breaking:
“It’s… too profound, too difficult… Such a powerful formation, I… have never seen anything like it…”
Master Tu nodded, staring directly into Mo Hua’s eyes. “Do you… wish to learn it?”
Mo Hua’s gaze trembled. “You… truly are willing to teach me?”
Master Tu said, “Though I am a demon, I keep my word. Since I promised you, I will not go back on it.”
Mo Hua’s expression wavered with inner struggle.
“Do you have some misgivings?” Master Tu asked.
Mo Hua hesitated. “This is the core of the Arhatian Blood-Sacrifice Grand Formation. Inked with blood, mediated by flesh—it is a great flesh-and-blood array. If I learn it, wouldn’t I truly… become an evil array master?”
Master Tu looked disappointed. “Have you forgotten what I told you? If you cling to the distinction between righteous and evil, blinded by appearances, how can you ever peer into the Dao of formations? Is your vision so small?”
Mo Hua’s face showed shame. His heart wrestled again and again, but he still wavered.
Master Tu sighed. “Enough, we’ll take it step by step.”
He did not press Mo Hua further, but said gently:
“Since you are so concerned with the notions of good and evil, I will not force you. I will teach you the original, ancient array-runes—untainted by evil power, without using human skin or flesh.”
Mo Hua’s expression trembled, and he said with heartfelt gratitude: “Thank you, Master Tu.”
“No need to thank me, but let me make this clear first.” Master Tu’s gaze was deep. “The original ancient runes are twisted and obscure. Without external aid, you will not even understand them, much less learn or draw them.
“So even if I teach you, if you cannot master them or reproduce them, it is meaningless. Best you keep this in mind.”
Mo Hua nodded earnestly. “I understand. If I fail to learn, that is my own incompetence. No matter what, I will always remember your kindness.”
Master Tu grunted softly, then led Mo Hua to a corner of the Flesh-and-Blood Labyrinth. He handed him an ancient, tattered scroll, on which strange formations were drawn.
“Insight into formations goes from simple to complex. You’ll start with the basics…” Master Tu said.
“Yes.”
Mo Hua nodded, receiving the scroll. Focusing his eyes, he found that these formations indeed bore the same brushwork and patterns as the Heaven-Obscuring Formation he had encountered when breaking through the Celestial Evolution Art. His heart eased slightly.
Yet on his face, he showed a look of deep pondering, as though the formations before him were utterly unfamiliar and incomparably abstruse.
Master Tu looked at him and said sternly:
“You must comprehend these formations on your own. You cannot take them with you—you may only learn them here, inside this Flesh-and-Blood Labyrinth.
“If you master them, then I will teach you the next. How much you learn depends entirely on your own fortune.”
Mo Hua’s expression tensed, as though terrified of failing and missing this once-in-a-lifetime chance. He solemnly declared:
“I will give it my all.”
Master Tu nodded with satisfaction, but then warned gravely:
“This Flesh-and-Blood Labyrinth is the Divine-Lord’s forbidden ground, filled with danger. I will lock you here—do not wander, do not be curious. If you incur the Divine-Lord’s wrath, I cannot save you.”
Mo Hua nodded. “I will remember.”
Master Tu’s pale hand waved gently. The surrounding runes glowed, the flesh squirmed and closed in, forming a small “flesh prison” around Mo Hua, trapping him inside.
Having done this, Master Tu left, apparently with other matters to attend to.
Mo Hua, meanwhile, sat obediently within the fleshly cage, studying the scroll and contemplating the formations drawn upon it.
After a while, he took out paper and brush, spread them on the ground, and began trying to draw.
The first attempt—wrong.
Mo Hua frowned deeply and began a second attempt, then a third…
But the more he drew, the more mistakes appeared. The harder he tried, the less he seemed to find the entry point. His brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
And yet, he continued stubbornly, drawing again and again, tirelessly…
Only when the chilling sensation in his divine sense faded, and Master Tu’s consciousness completely withdrew, did Mo Hua finally let out a slow breath of relief.
Yet he did not let down his guard. He continued to feign effort, sketching six or seven more times, each attempt ending in error. After confirming that nothing abnormal surrounded him and that no sinister divine sense was watching, he finally set aside his brush and ink, utterly unburdened.
The Heaven-Obscuring Formation was carved into his sea of consciousness—just a few glances were enough. There was no need to practice so many times…
Although the Heaven-Obscuring Formation he had fused into his sea of consciousness upon breaking through to Foundation Establishment was of the first grade…
And what Master Tu had given him was of the second grade…
They shared the same root and origin, so learning it would naturally be much easier.
Mo Hua glanced around again. All he saw was nauseating flesh and horrifying blood-red formation patterns.
“Arhatian Blood-Sacrifice Grand Formation, Heaven-Obscuring Formation, Flesh-and-Blood Labyrinth…”
There were many deeper secrets hidden here that Mo Hua could not unravel.
Especially regarding the Celestial Evolution Art his master had passed down to him, and the origins of the Heaven-Obscuring Formation that was connected to the Evil God…
But time was urgent—there was no leisure to ponder these matters now.
Mo Hua cast his gaze over the grotesque, blood-soaked labyrinth.
Relying on years of experience in the Qianxue Prefecture Realm, where he had time and again dealt with Evil Gods and gained a wealth of insight, Mo Hua was almost more “professional” in such matters than anyone else.
In nearly an instant, he knew: within this Flesh-and-Blood Labyrinth there must be an altar. Near that altar would surely stand a divine idol. And upon that altar—there must be a sacrificial offering.
That offering was Yu’er.
And that idol was most likely the very same horned white-bone Evil God statue that the Second Elder had mentioned—the one worshipped by Master Tu.
In other words, the person he wished to save, and the thing he sought, were already close at hand…
Mo Hua’s expression grew thoughtful, and deep within his eyes, a sharp golden light flickered.
(End of this Chapter)