Chapter 543: The Killing Formation
Chapter 545: The Killing Formation
“Master!”
Mo Hua and the other two were startled.
Aunt Xue’s expression also changed, and she quickly said, “Mister Zhuang…”
Mister Zhuang shook his head. “I have taught you everything I should. This is a place of right and wrong—you cannot stay here any longer.”
“But…”
His expression was cold, his gaze resolute.
It was the look of a man who had made up his mind.
Everyone knew that Mister Zhuang was unfathomably deep and always acted according to his own judgment; they could not interfere.
Aunt Xue sighed helplessly. “Master, when should I take them away?”
Mister Zhuang had anticipated this. “Tomorrow.”
Aunt Xue cupped her hands in acknowledgment.
Mo Hua’s eyes were full of reluctance. He wanted to say something, but saw Mister Zhuang shake his head and speak gently:
“I’m a bit tired and want to rest. You and your senior brother and sister should tidy up. Leave tomorrow.”
Mo Hua felt a pang in his heart but nodded obediently. “Yes, Master.”
The three returned to their room, each with heavy hearts.
Bai Zisheng asked, confused, “Master, why did he suddenly tell us to leave?”
“It’s not sudden…” Mo Hua’s expression fell, and he shook his head. “Master must have planned this a long time ago.”
The Five Elements Sect was the final stop of this journey.
Bai Zixi also lowered her gaze, her stunning eyes reflecting a trace of sadness. Then she looked at Aunt Xue and asked: “Aunt Xue, did Mother send you?”
Aunt Xue was momentarily taken aback.
Bai Zisheng said, “Zixi, Aunt Xue was originally sent by Mother to protect us.”
Bai Zixi shook her head. “Not exactly. I mean… Mother, is she coming too? You’re following Master because you were sent by Mother, guiding the way for her, right?”
Aunt Xue looked into Bai Zixi’s clear eyes, a sudden realization dawning on her.
Miss Zixi… really does resemble Madam…
Equally stunning, equally brilliant, and equally sharp-minded, with a decisive gaze—perhaps even more so.
Aunt Xue didn’t wish to hide the truth. She nodded. “Yes, Madam will come.”
Bai Zixi’s face paled slightly.
Bai Zisheng still didn’t understand. “So what if Mother comes? She wouldn’t harm Master, would she?”
Bai Zixi pressed her lips tightly, her gaze heavy. “Master and Mother are from the same sect and grew up like siblings, but all these years, Master has refused to see her.”
“Why?” Bai Zisheng asked, puzzled.
“Because…” Bai Zixi paused, then said solemnly, “Mother… is scheming against Master.”
“Scheming?”
Bai Zisheng was startled.
As siblings, some things Bai Zisheng hadn’t noticed due to his open nature, but the perceptive Bai Zixi was fully aware.
“Before, Mother couldn’t calculate Master’s moves, so she didn’t dare meet him. But now that she’s here, it means Master cannot leave…”
Bai Zisheng said, “Even if Mother comes, what’s the big deal? She wouldn’t actually harm Master, would she?”
“Master has many enemies…” Bai Zixi said, lowering her eyes. “Mother can foresee things. If Master can’t leave, naturally he’ll have to face many enemies…”
Mo Hua frowned. “Master really has many enemies?”
“Yes,” Bai Zixi nodded, looking at him. “Many. Some hold grudges, others simply harbor ill intentions…”
Mo Hua was stunned. “Master has treasures that make people covet him?”
Bai Zixi furrowed her brow and looked at Aunt Xue.
Aunt Xue hesitated, then sighed. “Mister Zhuang has great secrets. Madam knows, the senior cultivators of the Dao Court know, and even the ancestors of the Demonic Sect know…”
She gave a wry smile. “But it’s not for me to know.”
These cultivators were far beyond Mo Hua, and their forces enormous.
Mo Hua was just a Qi-refining rogue cultivator, unaware of such conflicts; all he worried about was his Master.
He asked, “Aunt Xue, can Master escape?”
Aunt Xue looked into Mo Hua’s eyes, reluctant but forced to speak:
“If it weren’t for being cornered, Mister Zhuang probably wouldn’t have allowed me to take you away…”
The three hung their heads in disappointment.
Mo Hua’s mind raced, but no matter how he thought, he realized he was powerless.
He was only Qi-refining.
Only a first-rank array master.
Even if he could perform an absolute array, it was only a first-rank absolute array.
Even if he had Divine-Sense cultivation, it was only foundation-level.
He could perform derivative calculations, but could not, like Master, see through cause and effect, divining heavenly secrets.
He could form large arrays, but could not alone construct one to reverse heaven and earth…
He could neither help nor protect Master…
Mo Hua sighed in frustration.
Just as he frowned, struggling in thought, suddenly he looked up, his expression changing sharply.
Aunt Xue noticed his change and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Mo Hua frowned without answering, and ran out into the corridor, looking up at the sky.
Aunt Xue, Bai Zisheng, and Bai Zixi exchanged glances, then followed him outside. Between the carved beams and painted pillars, they looked up.
The sky was clear, spotless, without any anomaly.
Bai Zisheng asked, “Mo Hua, what’s happening?”
Mo Hua gazed upward, expression grave. “The sky… is being ‘covered’ by something…”
Aunt Xue’s face changed. She looked up, and after a moment, her brows furrowed.
She still couldn’t see anything…
It was a bright, cloudless day.
But she knew Mo Hua, though of ordinary spiritual roots, was talented, with an exceptional Divine-Sense, extraordinary skill in arrays, and favored by Mister Zhuang—he must have truly sensed something unusual.
Mo Hua’s expression was solemn.
Since seeing the Calamity Lightning and the Immortal Runes, he often looked to the sky.
Though he could see nothing, he could faintly sense a subtle flow of heavenly energy, like the Dao essence of the earth.
Every time he looked up, he could feel the self-strengthening of the heavenly Dao, endlessly generating life.
But now, that subtle essence could no longer be sensed.
It was as if something had obscured it.
Mo Hua stared at the sky without blinking. After a moment, his pupils trembled slightly, and he murmured:
“It’s coming…”
Suddenly, Aunt Xue felt her heart race. She looked up sharply, and the previously spotless sky was now rising a tide of blood from the horizon!
A blood-red soul banner, like a flood, blotted out the sun, spreading from the horizon…
It seemed as though it would engulf the entire Five Elements Sect—no, the entire Lishan City!
Aunt Xue’s pupils contracted. She exclaimed:
“A demonic treasure… a Soul Refining Banner?!”
…
A strange phenomenon erupted; the sky turned blood-red.
The entire Five Elements Sect instantly descended into chaos.
“What’s happening?”
“Where did this sea of blood come from?”
“Such powerful demonic energy!”
“Are these… Golden Core demonic cultivators?!”
The elders were both shocked and furious:
“In broad daylight, under the bright heavens, they dare use demonic objects to attack our Five Elements Sect? The audacity!”
“The intruders are not friendly…”
“Not just unfriendly, but extremely dangerous!”
“They dare mock the Five Elements Sect?!”
“Elder…”
The elder’s expression grew grave.
At that moment, from the sea of blood appeared a gigantic demonic sword. On its blade was a massive, blood-stained vertical pupil.
Inside the pupil were countless human faces.
They wailed, suffered, struggled…
Like vengeful spirits and angry ghosts devoured by the sword, unable to find peace.
As the sword appeared, the blood energy in the sky condensed into sword qi, tangible and imbued with terrifying killing power.
“Another Golden Core demonic treasure?!”
The Soul Banner commands, the demonic sword kills!
Everyone in the Five Elements Sect was terrified.
The elder shouted, “Quick! Activate the Grand Array!”
“Activate the Grand Array!”
“Activate the Grand Array!”
The elders relayed the orders swiftly.
After a moment, the mountain shook, spiritual energy surged, and across the sect, array patterns lit up. With an overwhelming spiritual pressure, a massive array formed.
Five-colored beams shot into the sky.
The second-rank Five Elements Mountain-Protecting Array was fully activated!
After over six hundred years, this protective array of the Five Elements Sect saw daylight again.
Vast amounts of spirit stones were instantly consumed, spiritual energy flowed like rivers through the array nodes, surging violently.
Mo Hua, inside the protective array, was filled with awe.
This was… the Five Elements Mountain-Protecting Array!
A second-rank array!
The array patterns were more complex, the nodes more solid, five-colored beams dazzling, spiritual energy flowing like a river…
Both beautiful and grand.
Mo Hua’s heart trembled. Suddenly, he gasped:
“Master!”
The Soul Banner and demonic sword were treasures of a Golden Core demonic cultivator.
The demonic cultivators disregarded the Dao Court. Their target was not the sect but, at this very moment, the Master inside the sect!
Mo Hua turned, only to find that Mister Zhuang was already behind him.
“Master…” Mo Hua’s face was filled with worry.
Mister Zhuang ruffled his hair indulgently, smiled slightly, and then glanced at the Mountain-Protecting Array, sighing:
“This array is a fine tool… such a pity…”
Mo Hua looked up, seeing the terrifying demonic sword already releasing tens of thousands of blood-soaked sword qi, like a stormy deluge, violently attacking the array.
The demonic energy surged with the sword qi, each strike crashing onto the array’s spiritual barrier.
The entire array emitted a sharp buzzing sound.
The mountains trembled; the sect shook.
Caves collapsed, wood and stone cracked.
The spiritual energy of the array was rapidly consumed, but simultaneously, more spirit stones were refined through the array, flowing like water into the Mountain-Protecting Array, stabilizing the foundation and supplying the formation.
The sword’s assault ceased.
Though the array had suffered greatly, it held firm.
All cultivators in the sect breathed a sigh of relief.
The elder’s heart, long suspended, also relaxed.
“It held… as long as it holds, there’s hope…”
As long as it holds, there’s a chance.
Under heaven, the world belongs to the Dao.
Though these demonic fiends had suddenly dared to attack the Five Elements Sect, if the array held until the Dao Court or other righteous forces arrived, this calamity could be averted.
The elder looked once more at the Mountain-Protecting Array outside the sect gate, sighing inwardly.
“The Grand Array truly is the sect’s foundation!”
“At the brink of life and death, this is a lifesaver…”
Without it, the Golden Core sword qi from the demonic sword would have wiped out most of the sect’s cultivators.
As one of the few remaining Golden Core cultivators of the Five Elements Sect, he, aged and frail, could not have resisted.
“But how dare these demonic fiends attack the Five Elements Sect so openly?”
The Grand Elder frowned in confusion.
“Could it be that their goal is…”
He pondered for a moment, but before he could think it through, his expression changed abruptly. His eyes snapped toward the Great Formation, and his heart leapt in alarm: “No! Something’s wrong with this Mountain-Protecting Formation!”
He rose abruptly, scanning the surroundings, and called out sharply: “Where’s Liao Tiande?”
Liao Tiande was the sect leader of the Five Elements Sect.
The elders and disciples around exchanged worried glances. Only now did they realize that the sect was facing a catastrophe, yet no one had seen their leader.
Where had Sect Leader Liao gone?
A chill ran through the Grand Elder’s heart. He lifted his gaze to the Great Formation, eyes wide with terror.
The Five-Element Mountain-Guarding Formation, which had once pulsed with five-colored spiritual energy, was gradually turning a blood-red hue!
This red was the color of blood and carnage.
From the Formation surged the aura of evil spirits.
This was no longer the Five Elements Sect’s Mountain-Guarding Formation!
It was a demonic Formation!
But why?
When had someone tampered with it?
The Grand Elder’s expression shifted as his mind raced, gradually piecing it together.
Construction!
During the construction of the sect’s cave dwellings, the layout of the sect had to be altered, including modifications to the Five-Element Mountain-Guarding Formation. Amid this, someone had secretly tampered with the formation’s core, surreptitiously altering it.
They had turned the Five Elements Sect’s protective Formation into a demonic Formation!
Only someone in the sect’s upper echelon could have done this.
The prime suspect was Liao Tiande, the Sect Leader!
Within the sect, his authority ranked just below the Grand Elder.
While the Grand Elder had been in seclusion, Liao had overseen all sect affairs, and he benefited most from the construction.
Now, at the moment of crisis, he had fled!
“Liao! Tiande!”
The Grand Elder’s eyes nearly bulged, teeth gritted in fury.
This ungrateful wretch had long abandoned the sect!
Anger mingled with disbelief.
How could Liao Tiande have altered the Five Elements Mountain-Guarding Formation?
A second-grade Five-Element Formation—let alone Liao, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator—nor even the Grand Elder himself at Golden Core, possessed the mastery to modify it.
A chill ran through the Grand Elder’s heart as realization struck.
A master of the demonic path!
This person must be a Formation expert.
They had secretly instructed Liao Tiande to tamper with the formation’s array, embedding demonic patterns into the sect’s formation foundation during the construction.
On the surface, the sect’s Formation still appeared as the Five-Element Mountain-Guarding Formation.
But once activated, the spiritual energy would drain rapidly, tainted by demonic qi, triggering the hidden demonic patterns, and gradually transform into a demonic second-grade Formation!
The depth of formation technique involved was immense.
The Grand Elder himself knew nothing, but he understood that such a secret modification could only be the work of a demonic master!
And likely, their cultivation was beyond Golden Core!
The Grand Elder felt as if he had fallen into an ice pit.
Now he realized—this was a trap!
The Five Elements Sect was the chessboard, Liao Tiande a pawn.
The Five-Element Mountain-Guarding Formation was a dragon.
Someone had plotted for centuries, secretly placing pieces, orchestrating this deadly trap.
The target was not the Five Elements Sect, but…
The Grand Elder turned and looked toward Mister Zhuang, walking along the carved corridors in the distance.
It was him!
The demonic sect’s scheme aimed to kill Mister Zhuang!
At the same time, the spiritual energy in the Five-Element Mountain-Guarding Formation had been completely corrupted, turning a deep crimson.
Everyone within the Formation was enveloped in the blood-red light, feeling dizzy and faint, as their own blood qi seemed to gradually drain away.
The drained blood qi slowly surged upward, merging into the Formation, gradually strengthening it.
Despair filled the Grand Elder’s heart:
“This is… the Five-Element Blood-Slaying Formation?”
It was a second-grade demonic sealing Formation!
Those trapped inside could not escape, only being slowly consumed by their own blood qi until death!
The demonic Golden Core cultivators sought to use this Formation to trap Mister Zhuang!
At that moment, from afar within the sea of blood, a deep, indifferent voice rang out:
“Demonic path, Nascent Soul stage, Xuan-Sanren.”
“Requesting audience with Mister Zhuang.”
…
“Nascent Soul stage? Xuan-Sanren?”
The Grand Elder was shaken by the words “Nascent Soul,” and after a long moment, hearing the name “Xuan-Sanren,” his courage collapsed:
“Xuan-Sanren… is the ancient Demon Ancestor?!”
It was his handiwork?
The Grand Elder’s legs went weak, his heart sank like ashes:
Today, the Five Elements Sect may face total annihilation!
Blood banners covered the sky, the sea of blood stretched endlessly.
Again, the voice of Xuan-Sanren echoed:
“Demonic path, Nascent Soul stage, Xuan-Sanren.”
“Requesting audience with Mister Zhuang…”
Inside the Five Elements Sect, Mister Zhuang snorted coldly, “I will not see you. Begone!”
His voice was soft, yet it resounded through heaven and earth.
The world fell silent.
Xuan-Sanren remained silent for a long while, his icy words tinged with anger:
“Under my Five-Element Blood-Slaying Formation, you have no choice!”
Mister Zhuang let out a cold laugh: “Presumptuous!”
Then he lightly swept his sleeve. No spiritual power or Divine-Sense stirred, yet the world changed abruptly.
Within the sea of blood, the demonic array patterns gradually shifted and dissolved.
The Formation, once soaked in blood qi, was slowly cleansed by spiritual energy.
The array evolved in reverse, the formation core reversed.
It was as if cause and effect had inverted, time itself rewinding.
Five-colored light shone once more, more brilliant than before.
The Five-Element Blood-Slaying Formation reversed, returning to the Five-Element Mountain-Guarding Formation, protecting all the sect’s cultivators within!
What kind of power was this?
The Five Elements Sect members were dumbfounded.
Outside the sect, beneath the sea of blood,
A demonic cultivator in black robes, hair white yet youthful in face, with deep, sinister eyes, narrowed his pupils.
“Celestial Reversal… the name is well-deserved…”