Chapter 315: Collapse

The following days flowed by peacefully, like still water. With ceaseless day-and-night effort, Mo Hua’s mastery of Divine-Sense Derivation grew sharper by the day.

Until one day—he suddenly thought of a question:

“Can I try causing a formation to collapse?”

Although Mister Zhuang had told him that teaching Divine-Sense Derivation wasn’t meant for collapsing formations, Mo Hua had learned it nonetheless. Naturally, he wanted to give it a try.

He wanted to see—what exactly would a formation collapse look like?

That power of destruction which even Mister Zhuang described as “unfathomable”—just how strong could it be?

The principle behind formation collapse wasn’t complicated; the difficulty lay in mastering the Spirit-Reversal Array and Divine-Sense Derivation.

Now, Mo Hua had already learned the Spirit-Reversal Array. As for Divine-Sense Derivation, he hadn’t yet mastered it fully, but after days of practice, he was no longer a novice—enough, at least, to attempt a collapse.

Still, not entirely confident, Mo Hua sought out Mister Zhuang again, probing for advice about things to watch out for during formation collapse.

Of course, Mister Zhuang could see through his little scheme at a glance—but he didn’t mind.

Curiosity was a good thing.

If one lacked curiosity toward formations—lacked that thirst for knowledge—then on the long and monotonous road of cultivation, the mind would soon grow numb, and the heart that once sought the Dao of Formations would wither away.

Besides, formation collapse wasn’t something easily achieved.

With Mo Hua’s current Divine-Sense, being able to derive and collapse even a first-grade single formation would already be quite impressive.

And while the power of a first-grade single formation’s collapse wasn’t weak, it wasn’t terribly strong either. If he played around with it and something went wrong, it wouldn’t endanger his life.

Thus, Mister Zhuang instructed him patiently:

“Formation collapse is built upon the foundation of Divine-Sense Derivation.”

“First, derive the formation’s spiritual flow trajectory. Then, according to that trajectory, inscribe Spirit-Reversal Arrays upon the formation nodes.”

“Once the formation is activated, spiritual power will circulate along those nodes. The Spirit-Reversal Arrays will successively invert and unbind the spiritual power, triggering the collapse of the entire formation—and generating a power of annihilation that borders on the origin of the Dao itself…”

…

Mister Zhuang’s explanation was thorough.

Mo Hua memorized every word. Later, he found an opportunity to slip into the depths of Black Mountain to test formation collapse for himself.

The target was a first-grade Earthfire Array.

Although his Divine-Sense had reached Foundation Establishment, it wasn’t strong enough to derive complex formations—so he began with a simple first-grade one.

He set up the Earthfire Array, spent time deriving its spiritual flow, and according to that trajectory, drew Spirit-Reversal Arrays on its nodes.

After toiling half the day, all preparations were complete.

Everything was ready—only activation remained.

Mo Hua placed a spirit stone onto the array… and ran far, far away.

He had no idea how powerful the collapse would be, so better safe than sorry.

He cast a Fireball Technique, precisely striking the spirit stone. The released spiritual energy flowed into the Earthfire Array.

A flash of light—and then, nothing.

Mo Hua, crouching at a distance, only saw the array flare once—and then silence.

No explosion. No sound. No surge of power.

Just as if he had lit a dud firecracker…

He froze.

Did it fail?

Was the derivation wrong?

He couldn’t figure it out and didn’t dare approach rashly. After waiting a while and sensing no energy fluctuations, he cautiously walked closer.

One glance—and his brow furrowed in confusion.

The array was gone!

Nothing remained—only the rocks that had borne the array were reduced to fine powder, scattering away with the wind.

“So this means… it worked?”

The array had collapsed—completely. Nothing remained, not even the array medium.

But… was collapse supposed to look like this?

Unsure, Mo Hua decided to try again.

Once more, he drew the formation, derived its energy path, set the Spirit-Reversal Arrays, and activated it.

This time, he stayed closer—watching and extending his Divine-Sense to sense every change.

And this time, he saw it.

The instant the formation activated, spiritual power began to circulate—linking from node to node. Yet when it reached the Spirit-Reversal Array, it was disassembled.

The pale-blue spiritual energy didn’t just disperse—it transmuted into something entirely different: a power fringed in faint black, exuding an aura of annihilation. Everything it touched disintegrated—and then vanished.

The process was utterly terrifying—yet completely silent.

No, not merely silent. Even sound itself was disintegrated!

Mo Hua’s heart trembled violently.

This was unlike any spiritual power he had ever seen.

Ordinary cultivators used spiritual power to drive their arts, manifesting the wondrous forces of the Five Elements or the Three Marvels. That was the forward process. But this collapse-force—it was the reverse.

A form of spiritual power outside the normal framework of cultivation.

Exactly what Mister Zhuang had meant: a power of dissolution close to the origin of the Dao itself.

Back then, he hadn’t truly understood those words. Now, seeing it firsthand, he felt their weight.

The only problem was… the range was too small.

A normal formation explosion spread outward.

A collapse concentrated inward.

If a formation explosion was as large as a watermelon, this collapse covered no more than a small hawthorn berry.

To use this against an enemy, he’d have to tie them right on top of the formation!

Even if he hit them, it might only take off an arm or a leg—not exactly practical.

Mo Hua sighed.

No wonder Mister Zhuang had so casually told him this “dangerous” secret—there was little danger in it at all.

With his current Divine-Sense, he could only collapse a normal first-grade formation.

And as Mister Zhuang had said, “Ordinary single formations aren’t worth collapsing—their spiritual structure is too weak.”

Weak structure meant that, while the collapse energy was unique, it was too small in scale to be truly threatening.

Only formations with strong spiritual structures—complex multi-formations—were worth collapsing.

And with his current Divine-Sense, multi-formations were beyond reach.

Mo Hua was a little disappointed.

He’d hoped that if the collapse-force were powerful enough, it could serve as a lethal trump card—something to rely on even against Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After all, the Black Mountain stronghold’s First and Third Chiefs were still at large. If left unchecked, they would surely become future threats.

If he could master formation collapse, he’d have a way to defend himself when facing them.

But now, it seemed he had been thinking too simply.

Power enough to threaten a Foundation Establishment cultivator was not easily obtained…

He sighed again.

Since that was the case, he wouldn’t dwell on it. He simply continued practicing Divine-Sense Derivation, deepening his understanding of formations.

“One shouldn’t be too greedy,” he reminded himself. “Learning derivation well is enough. Collapse can wait.”

That was his plan—

—until two nights later, at midnight.

Immersed within his Sea of Consciousness, practicing derivation before the Dao Monument, Mo Hua suddenly froze.

He frowned slightly, staring at the monument.

There were two sets of spiritual trajectories upon it.

One had just been derived. The other—he had derived earlier and forgotten to erase.

Now, both existed simultaneously.

A question naturally arose in his mind:

“Formations must be drawn in one breath—does Divine-Sense Derivation also require that?”

“One breath” meant that for a single formation, the entire pattern; for a multi-formation, the complete network of nodes—had to be inscribed continuously without break. Otherwise, the formation wouldn’t function.

Mo Hua had always assumed derivation was the same. But now, it seemed… perhaps not.

He realized—one could derive part of a formation today, another part tomorrow.

As long as the final image within the Sea of Consciousness formed a complete spiritual flow diagram—it worked.

In other words—

A complex multi-formation could be derived piece by piece, single formation by single formation, and later assembled into one complete structure.

Divine-Sense Derivation did not need to be done in a single breath.

Thinking it through, Mo Hua quickly understood why.

A formation, manifested externally, was an objective flow of spiritual power.

But the spiritual trajectory derived by Divine-Sense—was a cognitive reconstruction.

Whether you derived it or not, the formation existed regardless; derivation merely determined whether you comprehended its essence.

At that realization—Mo Hua was completely stunned.

His Dao Monument could retrace Divine-Sense!

That meant—he could use the monument to continuously, infinitely derive formations.

And more than that—not just single or small formations. Given enough time, he could derive multi-formations, even grand formations, piece by piece.

To be able to derive multi-formations or grand formations meant only one thing…

He could collapse multi-formations, even grand formations—and thus truly possess the power to slay Foundation Establishment cultivators!

(End of Chapter)