Chapter 1040: The Devious Array Master
Chapter 1040: The Devious Array Master
The Five Tai A Brothers quickly moved to defend, forming a barrier in front of Mo Hua, like five small mountains, not allowing anyone to get close.
Cheng Mo, Yang Qianjun, Situ Jian, and others also began to form a protective circle around Mo Hua, tightening their formation.
Feng Zichen, relying on his superior agility, charged forward, leading the charge toward Mo Hua.
Using the Wandering Wind Steps to close the distance, and the Bagua Wind Steps to weave through the Void Gate disciples, he transformed into a white blur. After a dozen exchanges, he broke through the Void Gate's defenses and approached within sixty feet of Mo Hua.
This was the closest any of the disciples from the four sects and seven schools had come to Mo Hua.
Feng Zichen then unleashed a rapid series of sword strikes, aiming directly at Mo Hua's vital points.
However, as he closed within thirty feet, the ground suddenly rose, forming a cage that blocked his path.
A moment later, the Five Tai A Brothers surrounded him, their massive swords raining down on Feng Zichen with overwhelming force.
The swords were heavy and powerful, their strikes terrifying.
Feng Zichen, who specialized in swift sword techniques, dared not face them head-on and had to retreat to avoid the onslaught.
But as he took only a few steps back, a stream of spirit ink seeped into the ground, turning it into quicksand.
Feng Zichen, wary of the Five Tai A Brothers' massive swords, accidentally stepped into the quicksand with his right foot. Although he managed to free himself quickly, a chill ran through his heart.
In the midst of the chaos, being ensnared by an array for even two breaths could be fatal.
Sure enough, Situ Jian, who had been waiting for an opportunity, took advantage of the moment to condense a Flame Departure Sword Qi and sent it hurtling through the air, striking Feng Zichen's back.
Feng Zichen stumbled and turned to see a pair of large axes approaching.
Cheng Mo and Situ Jian were the closest friends and the most coordinated of the group, and seeing Feng Zichen get hit by the Flame Departure Sword, Cheng Mo seized the opportunity and swung his axes.
Feng Zichen was struck solidly by Cheng Mo's axe.
Just as he was about to meet his end, Shi Tiangang intervened with a powerful punch, blocking Cheng Mo's attack.
Feng Zichen finally managed to catch his breath.
Then, Song Kui of the Severed Body Sect, Qin Cangliu of the Gui Water Sect, and numerous other prodigies from the Purple Mist Sect and Soaring Sky Sect joined the assault, converging on Mo Hua.
However, none of them could match Feng Zichen's agility and were unable to bypass the Void Gate disciples.
If they attempted a frontal assault, they couldn't break through the Five Tai A Brothers' defenses and couldn't withstand Linghu Xiao's terrifying Sword Qi.
From start to finish, they couldn't get close to Mo Hua.
Mo Hua, slender and lean, sat calmly on a large rock in the distance.
Black and crimson spirit ink, as fine as threads, danced around him, controlled by his mental commands.
Occasionally, the spirit ink would slither like snakes, winding through the ground.
Forming arrays, they worked in tandem with the Void Gate disciples' attacks, reaping life after life.
Mo Hua's expression was calm, his gaze deep and cold.
The spirit ink flowed around his fingertips.
All the killing intent and the cycle of life and death seemed to be under his control.
This eerie and sinister scene sent chills down the spines of Shi Tiangang, Qin Cangliu, and the others.
They had never seen an array master in combat who was so powerful and incomprehensible.
His strength lay not in his personal cultivation, but in his profound mastery of arrays, his insight into the environment, his control of the situation, and his manipulation of the lives of cultivators...
He must be killed!
At any cost, this bizarrely powerful Mo Hua must be killed!
This thought instantly surfaced in everyone's mind.
They charged toward Mo Hua with reckless abandon, but after several attempts, they still couldn't break through the Void Gate's defenses.
Instead, their allies fell one by one to the arrays.
"Close combat won't work, so we'll try long-range attacks", Qin Cangliu said. "Ye Ziyuan, go and use your sword!"
"I don't have the chance!"
Ye Ziyuan, who was being held back by Hao Xuan and a few other Void Gate disciples, replied angrily.
Sword techniques like this were most vulnerable to distractions.
And Hao Xuan, with his excellent agility, loved to strike from the shadows.
Ever since Ye Ziyuan tried to kill Mo Hua with his first sword strike, Hao Xuan had been targeting him.
Whenever Ye Ziyuan tried to distance himself to use his sword, Hao Xuan would strike him with a blow to the back of the head.
Ye Ziyuan was furious.
How could there be someone in the prestigious Qianxue State who didn't practice sword techniques but preferred to use a staff?
Qin Cangliu cursed Ye Ziyuan for being useless.
The former Ye Ziyuan, a prodigy of the Dalu Sect, was a genius whose arrogance and sharp tongue didn't deter anyone from respecting him.
But after Mo Hua killed him with a single sword strike, his aura was shattered.
Everyone lost their reverence for this "sword genius."
Qin Cangliu, despite his curses, stepped in to shield Ye Ziyuan from Hao Xuan and the others.
Mo Hua’s array formation was too bizarre.
The Void Gate, bolstered by the peculiar armor, was far stronger than before.
If this continued, they would be completely annihilated.
The only way to turn the tide now was through Ye Ziyuan’s “Sword Control.”
“Use your Sword Control to attack Mo Hua from a distance.”
“Even if you can’t kill him, keep interrupting him so he can’t continue drawing the array.”
Although Qin Cangliu wasn’t an array master, he had studied array formations.
Drawing an array required complete focus and highly concentrated divine perception.
Using divine perception to control spirit ink was much more difficult than ordinary array drawing, demanding an even higher level of concentration.
If Ye Ziyuan’s flying sword could get close to Mo Hua, even if it couldn’t harm him, it would definitely interrupt his array drawing.
Without Mo Hua’s array, they could hold out a bit longer.
If the reinforcements outside could break through the mountain seal array in time, with their support, they could charge together and annihilate the Void Gate.
The key was Ye Ziyuan’s Sword Control.
After all, he was once the top Sword Control prodigy of the Dalu Sect, and the Dalu Flying Sword Technique he cultivated was no ordinary skill.
Ye Ziyuan maintained his distance, standing 160 feet away, and began to focus, forming the seals to control his flying sword.
The Dalu flying sword was a specially crafted weapon, three feet and seven inches long, with an ancient and weathered appearance, engraved with cloud patterns. It could soar through the sky and pierce the earth, emitting a cold, deadly light.
Ye Ziyuan was a natural talent in Sword Control. After his devastating defeat at Mo Hua’s hands, he had redoubled his efforts, practicing diligently.
Hatred was the best “catalyst.”
Ye Ziyuan’s mastery of the Dalu Flying Sword Technique had improved significantly.
This sword was faster, more accurate, and more lethal. It transformed into a beam of sword light, merging with the clouds in the sky, and shot straight toward Mo Hua.
Although it was ultimately intercepted by the Five Tai A Brothers, the flying sword managed to get within 30 feet of Mo Hua.
The residual force of the Sword Qi explosion tore the ground and disrupted the qi, momentarily hindering Mo Hua’s divine perception and interrupting his array drawing.
Qin Cangliu’s guess was correct.
Controlling spirit ink to draw an array on the ground was extremely difficult and required intense focus.
Although this sword didn’t kill Mo Hua, it did interrupt his array drawing.
Without Mo Hua’s bizarre arrays, Shi Tiangang and the others felt a great burden lifted.
The Void Gate disciples, augmented by the Five Elements Origin Armor, were indeed formidable, but they could still be engaged in a prolonged battle.
The condition was that there were no more of Mo Hua’s insidious and unpredictable arrays.
Now, Mo Hua’s arrays were finally contained.
The spirits of the four sects and seven gates were all invigorated.
“Keep it up!”
Ye Ziyuan continued to attack Mo Hua from a distance with his flying sword.
Mo Hua, distracted, couldn’t continue using his divine perception to control the spirit ink and form the array.
The Five Tai A Brothers, protecting Mo Hua, were also restrained.
Hao Xuan and the others, though skilled in movement, were not powerful enough to break through the defenses of the four sects and seven gates to interfere with Ye Ziyuan.
Linghu Xiao was entangled by Shi Tiangang and several Adamantine Sect disciples.
Yang Qianjun’s charge couldn’t break through the defenses to kill Ye Ziyuan.
The situation had reversed.
The Void Gate’s formation was disrupted.
The situation suddenly worsened.
At this moment, Mo Hua, who was stationed at the rear, narrowed his eyes coldly.
“Interfering with my array drawing?”
He drew a spirit sword and used his divine perception to communicate with the sword array. With a pointed finger, he instantly unleashed a beam of golden light, piercing the air and charging toward Ye Ziyuan.
Sword Control against Sword Control.
This sword was even faster and more precise.
Ye Ziyuan felt a chill and immediately became alert.
Last time, he had been caught off guard by Mo Hua’s Sword Control, never expecting an array master to be skilled in it. He had been completely unprepared, which led to his quick defeat.
But now, he was fully prepared and would not make the same mistake again.
Without hesitation, Ye Ziyuan immediately retreated, his figure flashing back 100 feet.
This distance was far beyond the range of a Zhu cultivator’s Sword Control.
Moreover, Ye Ziyuan knew that Mo Hua’s unorthodox “Sword Control” would explode.
At this distance, he was well out of the explosion’s range.
To ensure safety, two Adamantine Sect body cultivators held up their golden shields in front of Ye Ziyuan.
Mo Hua’s spirit sword first struck the shields and then immediately exploded.
The sword array overloaded, the sword body shattered, and the Sword Qi, mixed with fragments of the broken blade, spread out, creating a large cloud of dust.
In the dust, the two Adamantine Sect disciples were enveloped by the Sword Qi, their skin and flesh cut, even with the protection of the golden shields, they suffered severe injuries.
But they had successfully shielded Ye Ziyuan from Mo Hua’s Sword Control.
Unscathed, Ye Ziyuan let out a sigh of relief from a distance of thirty to forty yards. The shadow of fear that Mo Hua had cast over him began to fade.
"Mo Hua's sword control, in the end, is nothing special."
"As long as I'm on guard, he can't kill me."
Just as this thought crossed his mind, his heart, which had been tense, began to relax.
Suddenly, through the smoke, another rudimentary Tai A sword appeared, charging at him.
It had no Sword Qi, no sword technique—just an ordinary spirit sword, but it carried a terrifying killing intent.
Ye Ziyuan's eyes widened in disbelief.
Two hundred yards!
At this distance, how did Mo Hua's spirit sword reach him?
Was Mo Hua holding back when he tried to kill him earlier?
Could his sword control actually reach two hundred yards?
Panic surged within Ye Ziyuan. He tried to retreat, but it was too late.
At a distance of one hundred and sixty yards, he had been prepared, so Mo Hua couldn't kill him.
But at two hundred yards, it exceeded Ye Ziyuan's understanding.
Moreover, Mo Hua's first spirit sword had suppressed the body cultivators of the Adamantine Sect, leaving them no time to react, and the explosion had created a cloud of smoke, obscuring his vision.
The second spirit sword was faster, farther, and more concealed.
No one could block the sword for Ye Ziyuan.
Even the chaotic explosion of Sword Qi and the dense smoke had confused his senses and blocked his view.
This was a death trap.
The Tai A sword overloaded and exploded, shattering the sword formation and scattering Sword Qi, which tore apart everything around it.
Just as before.
Ye Ziyuan died again.
He was killed by Mo Hua's sword once more.
With Ye Ziyuan's death, the situation took an immediate turn for the worse.
No one could threaten Mo Hua from a distance, and no one could interfere with his array drawing.
In the valley, the black and red spirit ink began to twist like venomous snakes, and the arrays started to manifest, like deadly totems.
Shi Tiangang and Qin Cangliu's hearts turned to ice.
But they were powerless to change the outcome.
The Five Elements Origin Armor began to glow.
Mo Hua infused divine perception, pushing the enhancements of the armor to their limits. A divine blessing, a surge of powerful energy, descended upon the Void Gate disciples.
They knew that their senior brother was urging them to finish the battle quickly.
Kill!
The Five Tai A Brothers roared in unison, their battle spirit soaring, their spiritual energy boiling. Like five demigods, they wielded their massive swords in the final slaughter.
Linghu Xiao, clad in a water element origin robe and empowered by the Water Moon force, began to gather his sword, further increasing the power of the Chongxu Dispersing Sword technique.
The other Void Gate disciples, with their spirits high, began to encircle and strike.
With Mo Hua's divine perception guiding the spirit ink and the arrays working in perfect harmony, the disciples of the Four Sects and Seven Gates began to fall one by one.
Song Kui of the Severed Body Sect was impaled by Yang Qianjun's spear;
Qin Cangliu of the Gui Water Sect was killed by Linghu Xiao's Sword Qi;
Feng Zichen of the Wandering Wind Sect, exhausted from prolonged battle, was sealed by Situ Jian and Cheng Mo, and finally killed by Ouyang Xuan's sword;
Shi Tiangang of the Adamantine Sect died under the chaotic swords of the Five Tai A Brothers.
...
With the top Tianjiao of the Eight Great Gates dead, the remaining disciples were powerless to resist and were slaughtered like chaff.
Thus, all the disciples of the Four Sects and Seven Gates in the valley were annihilated.
The valley was completely cleared.
This was the first public display of Mo Hua's Five Elements Origin Armor.
And in this first display, the first battle, it helped the Void Gate turn the tide, slaughtering over a hundred Tianjiao from the Qianxue State, including some of the top Tianjiao from the Eight Great Gates.
Outside the Sword Discussion Arena, there was an eerie silence.
All the spectators were trembling with shock.
"Finished..."
"Thirty Void Gate disciples killed over a hundred Tianjiao from the Four Sects and Seven Gates, including some of the top Tianjiao from the Eight Great Gates?"
This is the Void Gate?
This is Zhen Dao Kui Shou, Mo Hua?!
What a ruthless bastard...
Intermittently, the sound of sharp intakes of breath echoed through the arena.
They finally understood that they had been wrong from the beginning.
This was not a "siege" by the Four Sects and Seven Gates against the Void Gate.
It was a "counter-siege" by the Void Gate against the Four Sects and Seven Gates!
The Void Gate's goal was not to defend, but to kill!
And the Void Gate had shown this strength.
In this battle, the Void Gate, under the enhancement of the Five Elements Origin Armor and the support of the arrays, united in heart and spirit, unleashing a terrifying killing power that rivaled the Four Great Sects.
All the spectators were deeply shaken.
Even those who had previously looked down on the Void Gate now felt a sense of respect.
Those cultivators who had previously looked down on Mo Hua and mocked him now felt a burning pain in their faces.
At Tai Xu Gate, whether it was the elders or the disciples, everyone was elated and filled with excitement as they watched Mo Hua and his companions decimate their enemies.
Even the leaders of the Three Mountains felt a surge of emotion.
This battle had not only boosted their prestige and demonstrated their prowess but had also brought great honor to their leadership.
In contrast, the leaders of the other seven major sects looked as grim as if they were facing a black cauldron.
Even some of the ancestral elders of these sects began to frown, their expressions clearly displeased...
...
The Sword Discussion Tournament was still ongoing.
Tai Xu Gate, with the aid of the Five Elements Origin Armor and Mo Hua’s array formations, had turned the tide against the four sects and seven gates, overwhelming over a hundred Tianjiao.
This battle was a back-and-forth affair, appearing complex and intricate.
However, the entire process took less than half an hour.
During this time, the Tianjiao inside the valley were besieged by Tai Xu Gate.
The Tianjiao outside the valley continuously attacked the mountain-sealing array that Mo Hua had set up.
However, the valley’s narrow terrain, fortified by a third-grade array by the elder of Lundao Mountain due to fear of Mo Hua’s unpredictable nature, was difficult to alter.
Therefore, it was impossible for multiple people to break through the array simultaneously.
Moreover, Mo Hua’s array was a top-tier second-grade array, seamlessly integrated with the mountains and the earth.
Without the intervention of the four Tianjiao from the Qian Study, it was extremely difficult to breach.
As a result, the disciples of the four sects and seven gates outside the valley were isolated by Mo Hua’s array and could only watch helplessly as their fellow cultivators were wiped out by Tai Xu Gate.
This scene was both brutally devastating and shocking for them.
It left them chilled to the bone, and none of them dared to attempt breaking the array again.
What would happen if they broke through?
Would they also rush in only to be massacred by Mo Hua and his companions?
They had seen the slaughter inside the valley clearly.
Tai Xu Gate’s current strength was terrifying.
The massive swords of the Five Tai A Brothers had claimed countless lives, striking fear into the hearts of all who saw them.
Not to mention, there was the sword cultivation Tianjiao, Ling Hu Xiao, and Mo Hua, the Divine Dao Demon Hunter.
Even the elite cultivators of the seven gates, such as Shi Tiangang, Qin Cangliu, and Feng Zichen, had been slain one by one, let alone them.
At this moment, the only reason they were still alive was not because of their strength, but because of their good fortune.
They had been lucky enough not to step into the valley and had been isolated by Mo Hua’s array.
If they had entered the valley, they would have met the same fate.
With this thought in mind, everyone instinctively took a step back.
The entrance to the valley, which now seemed like a “gate to hell” to them, was a place where anyone who entered would surely die.
And in their eyes, Mo Hua was like the “Little King of Hell” who presided over the Nine Hells.
The situation became strangely calm once again.
The Tianjiao of the four sects and seven gates outside the valley dared not make any rash moves.
Inside the valley, Mo Hua and his companions finally had a moment to catch their breath.
But Mo Hua did not forget the most crucial task:
“Bring all the storage pouches to me.”
This was the purpose of his massacre of the over a hundred Tianjiao.
He needed to seize their storage pouches.
At the Sword Discussion Tournament, the storage pouches of Tianjiao contained spiritual equipment, array mediums, pills, spirit stones, and spirit ink.
Among these, the most crucial items for Mo Hua were the spirit stones and spirit ink.
The tournament had strict controls over the “resources” of cultivators.
Therefore, the spirit stones and spirit ink of Tai Xu Gate’s disciples were far from sufficient for Mo Hua’s needs.
He needed more spirit ink to draw more arrays.
And to activate more arrays, he needed more spirit stones.
The only way to obtain these was to slaughter a significant number of Tianjiao and seize their storage pouches.
Only with an ample supply of spirit ink and spirit stones could he continue to construct arrays according to his plan.
This was a strategy of fighting to sustain the fight.
Now, his plan was half successful: he had obtained a sufficient supply of spirit stones and spirit ink.
Mo Hua was about to proceed with the next step of his plan.
What he needed to do was simple: draw arrays, continuously draw arrays, and fill the entire valley with arrays.
Mo Hua meditated for a while to recover his divine perception, and then he resumed drawing arrays.
Various colors of spirit ink, guided by his control, flowed through the valley, forming intricate array patterns and creating a web of arrays...
Outside the valley.
Shen Linshu, who had been indifferent to everything, suddenly felt a sense of unease.
He slowly furrowed his brows, and his gaze grew increasingly cold.
He sensed a subtle, inexplicable anxiety...
(End of Chapter)
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