Chapter 1082: Life-Bound Array
Chapter 1082: Life-Bound Array
Every Gu Dao Practitioner is not him, yet every Gu Dao Practitioner is also him.
As long as a single thread of his malevolent consciousness remains, he can never truly die.
Mo Hua felt a chill run down his spine at the thought.
He hadn’t forgotten the deep karmic ties and grudges between him and Senior Uncle.
While he could be magnanimous and overlook Senior Uncle’s provocations, Senior Uncle was likely a petty person who wouldn’t let go of any opportunity to get back at him. If Senior Uncle ever discovered or sensed his existence, Mo Hua would be in grave danger.
Previously, he had deliberately avoided Senior Uncle. However, as his cultivation and realm advanced, he became increasingly entangled in various events, and his karmic ties grew more pronounced. Mo Hua felt that, without realizing it, the distance between him and Senior Uncle was closing.
There was even a possibility...
"Could it be that I’ve already encountered Senior Uncle at some point, without realizing it?"
The thought made Mo Hua shudder involuntarily.
It wasn’t impossible, and the likelihood wasn’t small.
Mo Hua felt a sense of dread.
He then shook his head repeatedly, trying to banish these thoughts from his mind.
"No, I can’t keep thinking about this..."
Senior Uncle wasn’t someone he could deal with. Overthinking it would only cause trouble and might even backfire, summoning Senior Uncle inadvertently.
Mo Hua dismissed these stray thoughts and turned his attention back to the Evil God True Embryo bound by the Divine Path Array.
Since it was a “true embryo,” it was, in a sense, different from other evil embryos.
If the others were “princes,” this true embryo was clearly the “crown prince,” the one closest to the essence of the Evil God and the most qualified to ascend to the position of the Great Desolate Evil God.
With his current strength, he couldn’t kill this “crown prince.”
He had been able to defeat it, bully it, and beat it up only because it had just been born and was inherently weak, with no time to grow or awaken its divine powers and memories.
If he waited any longer, the situation would drastically change.
Even with the Divine Thought Sword Manifestation and the Divine Path Array, he wouldn’t be a match for it.
What about using the Calamity Lightning to obliterate it?
Mo Hua frowned, his eyes glinting with a dangerous light, but then he shook his head slightly.
In theory, the Calamity Lightning could obliterate everything.
The Evil God True Embryo should be no exception.
But what would happen after it was killed?
The vast divine marrow, the overwhelming will, and the boundless evil intent of a true divine embryo were far beyond his capacity to handle...
Moreover, obliterating the core will of a true deity might trigger some terrifying consequences. Mo Hua was uncertain about the risks.
He hadn’t forgotten that he was still in the heart of the Evil God’s stronghold, the core of the Great Desolate Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation, where the environment was fraught with danger and offered no room for taking risks.
Furthermore...
"Yu'er might still be carrying the karmic retribution of the Evil God..."
Mo Hua’s pupils constricted as he pondered for a moment, then made up his mind. He picked up the Evil God True Embryo and skillfully broke through a sealed path, following the intricate divine locks until he reached a temple.
Inside the temple was his new “good friend,” a divine beast known as a Pixiu.
The large-headed Pixiu was dozing on the ground, occasionally flicking its tail in boredom. When Mo Hua entered the temple, it was startled awake, its eyes glowing with golden light as it instantly noticed the dark, evil entity in Mo Hua’s hand. It looked thoughtful.
This entity radiated an extremely powerful and dense evil aura, suggesting it was not just any ordinary evil being, but rather a newly born...
Evil God?!
Pixiu was momentarily stunned, its large head motionless as it stared at Mo Hua in disbelief.
After a moment, its golden fur bristled, and it excitedly jumped up, circling Mo Hua several times and affectionately licking him with its large tongue.
The large-headed Pixiu had never imagined that in such a short time, while it was merely napping, Mo Hua would fulfill their agreement—and even exceed it.
Mo Hua had brought it a young Evil God!
Pixiu was overjoyed, acting like a “big lick dog.”
Mo Hua couldn’t withstand its enthusiasm and quickly threw the Evil God True Embryo to it, diverting its attention. Pixiu then settled down.
It placed the Evil God True Embryo on its chest, using its purifying golden light to form chains that bound the embryo’s life soul.
The Evil God True Embryo roared in terror and struggled to break free.
Pixiu extended a large paw and pinned it down firmly.
The Evil God, suppressed by Pixiu, couldn’t move or speak, only looking at Mo Hua with a mixture of helplessness and anger.
But this anger posed no threat to Mo Hua.
Mo Hua was surprised.
He knew Pixiu’s power to suppress evil was strong, but he hadn’t expected it to be this potent. It effortlessly subdued the Evil God True Embryo, preventing any evil aura from leaking out and halting its growth.
So this was a divine beast, nearly divine, born of the heavens?
Was purifying evil its innate divine ability?
Mo Hua marveled inwardly.
At the same time, a Pixiu horn appeared on Mo Hua’s forehead.
The dragon-shaped Pixiu horn glowed with a more intense golden light, as if Mo Hua’s fulfillment of the agreement had greatly pleased Pixiu, which in turn bestowed a generous “blessing” upon him.
Mo Hua, already a near-divine being, didn’t find this blessing as useful as he had hoped.
But it was a symbol of his “friendship” with Pixiu.
The larger horn indicated Pixiu’s happiness.
Pixiu’s happiness made Mo Hua happy as well.
Moreover, Pixiu’s ability to suppress the evil embryo was a significant help.
The Evil God True Embryo was a major threat, and Mo Hua couldn’t afford to spend time and energy constantly monitoring it. With the divine beast Pixiu in charge, Mo Hua felt more at ease.
With this, the matter of the Evil God was temporarily resolved.
"There’s one last thing to do..."
Mo Hua thought to himself, then bid farewell to the large-headed Pixiu. His divine perception returned to his Consciousness Sea, and his consciousness gradually awakened...
...
In Qian Xue Prefecture, at the Sword Contemplation Pavilion.
The Xuantian Beidou Seven Stars Array was lit, but the fourteen divine will cultivators were in a dire state, their auras faint and their vitality waning. The seven-star lamps in front of them dimmed one by one, gradually fading away.
The atmosphere was overwhelmingly oppressive.
All the Void Ascendant Elders wore grave expressions.
Suddenly, Wen Ren Wan opened her eyes. Before she could speak, she felt an intense pain in her Consciousness Sea, a side effect of the Great Dream Heaven Draw, causing her excruciating agony.
Wen Ren Wan spat out a mouthful of blood, leaving a blood mark between her brows, and then collapsed unconscious.
At that moment, the Great Dream Heaven Draw revolved, and the Seven Stars Array glowed. Situ Zhenren also opened his eyes.
His condition was equally dire.
His divine will had been drained, his divine treasure shattered, and he had lost a significant portion of his divine soul to Mo Hua’s Heavenly Demon Sword. Even with his Primordial Spirit returning to his body, his vital energy was severely depleted.
Situ Zhenren’s face was deathly pale, and his divine perception was on the verge of shattering, causing him immense pain. However, he gritted his teeth, mustering the last of his strength to activate the Seven Stars Array. He used it to return the remaining divine spirits of the fellow cultivators, who had been cleansed of evil by Mo Hua, to their bodies and nurtured them with the power of the seven stars to sustain their lives.
This could not be delayed for even a moment.
Any delay could mean the death and dissolution of these fellow cultivators.
With immense willpower, Situ Zhenren endured the pain of his depleted divine perception and shattered Consciousness Sea, using the Seven Stars Array to restore the nearly extinguished divine spirits of his fellow cultivators.
Once this was done, Situ Zhenren let out a sigh of relief.
However, he still couldn’t truly relax. If he let go of his focus, it could be disastrous.
Recalling Mo Hua’s instructions, Situ Zhenren clenched his teeth, almost biting through them, and spoke to everyone with great effort:
"Everyone, withdraw from the Great Desolate Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation!"
"Situ brother..." Xun Laoshi supported Situ Zhenren, his expression grave, about to ask for more details.
Situ Zhenren suddenly grabbed Xun Laoshi’s arm, his cloudy eyes filled with resolve.
He knew he couldn’t hold on much longer. Each word he spoke felt like a knife cutting through his Consciousness Sea. He couldn’t explain much, so he spoke to the most trusted Xun Laoshi, word by word:
"Quick... withdraw!"
After uttering these two words, the already severely wounded Situ Zhenren could no longer hold on. His face turned ashen, and his consciousness faded as he slowly closed his eyes.
Xun Laoshi’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly channeled a thread of true qi to Situ Zhenren to maintain the flow of his meridians.
He also invoked the power of the Seven Stars to protect his Primordial Spirit.
He fed him some restorative pills and burned calming incense to regulate his vital energy.
The other ancient forefathers also came to his aid, using various methods to stabilize his condition.
Thanks to these efforts, Situ Zhenren’s complexion, though still pale, stabilized, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. However, they immediately frowned.
"What happened with the slaying of the Evil God?"
"Did it succeed, or did it fail?"
"Is the evil deity... dead?"
"Real Master Situ didn’t get to say much..."
"He only said one thing: to evacuate the Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation. And it seemed the faster, the better?"
All the Void Ascendant Elders looked grave, their brows furrowed in confusion.
What did it mean?
If the plan succeeded, the evil deity would be strangled in its cradle, and the great calamity would be eradicated before it could take shape. This was the perfect moment to capitalize on the opportunity, to strike hard and destroy the Demon Cultivators and the Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation, thereby completely eliminating the evil deity's threat.
If the plan failed and the evil deity survived, this was the moment to attack with all their might, to destroy the Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation at any cost, to weaken the evil deity’s power and prevent it from regaining its strength.
If the evil deity continued to grow and the Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation spread, the entire Qian Xue Prefecture would be plunged into a true abyss.
Therefore, regardless of success or failure, there was no reason to evacuate.
But this was the message Real Master Situ brought back from the depths of the evil deity’s nightmare.
It was the only message he managed to convey, using his last breath to tell everyone, indicating that it was of utmost importance.
Should they evacuate or not?
The Void Ascendant Elders exchanged uncertain glances, their opinions divided.
Some agreed to evacuate, while others disagreed.
"We must root out evil completely; we cannot evacuate."
"Real Master Situ is the Grand Elder of Xuangui Valley. We must trust his words."
"How do you know that Real Master Situ is still himself? If he has been tainted by the evil deity, if his mind has been corrupted, and he is deliberately telling us to evacuate to give these demons a chance to regroup and grow stronger..."
"That... does make sense..."
"But if Real Master Situ hasn’t been tainted, and what he said is true, not evacuating could lead to our destruction."
"That..."
The Void Ascendant Elders from various sects and clans of Qian Xue Prefecture all furrowed their brows, struggling to make a decision.
Even Xun Laoshi was unsure.
He took out a compass, visualized the celestial patterns, and performed a divination, but after a moment, the celestial patterns remained obscure.
It seemed the current situation was intertwined with too many unknown karmic forces, all blending into a chaotic mess. No matter how he divined, it was like a tangled mess, and he could not discern the outcome.
Xun Laoshi’s frown deepened.
At that moment, Mo Hua’s clear and obedient face flashed through Xun Laoshi’s mind.
Xun Laoshi sighed softly, unable to shake his concern, but then he suddenly realized something.
It wasn’t because he was worried about Mo Hua that he thought of him.
It was because karmic forces had given him a hint?
Was Mo Hua involved in this?
Xun Laoshi was inwardly startled, thinking, "Could it be... that Mo Hua is the one who got Real Master Situ to bring this message back?"
"How could that be..."
"Real Master Situ went to the evil deity’s initial nightmare, a terrifying and bizarre place. How could Mo Hua possibly..."
Go there!
Xun Laoshi’s brow twitched.
Mo Hua would definitely go there!
Based on his understanding of Mo Hua, the more dangerous a place, the more likely the boy would be to meddle.
Even some dangers were caused by Mo Hua himself.
Mo Hua was a "fuse", the source of danger, always seeking out peril.
Thinking of this, Xun Laoshi made a swift decision without further hesitation.
"Evacuate!"
All the Void Ascendant Elders looked at Xun Laoshi in surprise.
Xun Laoshi’s expression was resolute. "Evacuate! We must evacuate! The faster, the better!"
Everyone frowned.
Xun Laoshi didn’t explain. "If you don’t evacuate, Tai Xu Gate will." Without waiting for a response, he summoned a flying sword and sent a message to the Tai Xu Gatekeeper:
"Quickly order all Tai Xu Gate members to evacuate the Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation. This is an ironclad order. The faster, the better, and it must not be delayed!"
The Void Ascendant Elders watched in shock and anger.
A venerable ancestor of a great sect acting so decisively and stubbornly, and even going against the majority, was unprecedented.
But the next moment, many of the more shrewd Void Ascendant Elders were startled.
Xun Laoshi, a Fifth-Rank Array Master with a deep understanding of karmic forces, would not act rashly. His decision must be based on profound considerations.
If he was so determined, it must mean that the situation involved a truly terrifying "karmic force."
"Xun Laoshi, it’s laughable that you want Tai Xu Gate to flee at the last moment", the Ancestor of Duanshen Sect sneered. "Don’t think that just because you leave, we will follow..."
"Evacuate!" the Ancestor of Jin Gang Sect said. "We will also evacuate."
The Ancestor of Duanshen Sect’s face darkened.
Soon, many of the Eight Great Sects’ Void Ascendant Elders also voiced their agreement.
"Xiao Yao Sect will evacuate."
"Better safe than sorry. Zi Xia Sect will evacuate..."
"Gui Shui Sect will evacuate..."
...
These sects, which did not deeply study karmic forces, would not normally side with Tai Xu Gate, but given the critical situation and the unpredictable outcomes, they followed Xun Laoshi’s lead after a brief deliberation.
Soon, more and more sect ancestors agreed to evacuate.
After the Eight Great Sects, the Twelve Tribes followed suit.
Even the prestigious Longding Sect decided to evacuate.
Many indecisive sects, seeing the trend, also decided to evacuate.
Even the Ancestor of Duanshen Sect, who had initially opposed the idea, could not argue further and reluctantly followed suit:
"Duanshen Sect will also evacuate..."
...
After the evacuation order was issued, it caused a stir among the cultivators of various sects and clans.
With the evil deity so close, most cultivators did not understand why such a sudden retreat was necessary.
Some were even angry and frustrated, accusing the sect and clan leadership of incompetence and lack of resolve.
But this was an order from the ancestors, and they had to comply, despite their dissatisfaction.
Thus, the once-aggressive Qian Xue Prefecture cultivators suddenly retreated.
The Demon Cultivators, driven mad by the evil deity’s influence and engaged in fierce battles with the Orthodox Path, sneered and mocked them.
They ridiculed the Orthodox Path cultivators for being incompetent, the Qian Xue Prefecture sects for being useless, and called them cowards who fled without a fight. They boasted that one day, Qian Xue Prefecture would be completely occupied by the Demon Path, and all male cultivators would become blood slaves and corpse slaves, while all women would become pleasure slaves and furnaces, to be tortured, enslaved, and exploited at will.
The Qian Xue Prefecture cultivators were seething with anger but could only remain silent.
The Demon Path cultivators were in high spirits.
...
Meanwhile, deep within the Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation.
On the altar of the Flesh Labyrinth.
Mo Hua slowly opened his eyes, a golden light flashing in them before turning deep and profound.
"Time is running out; we need to evacuate soon..."
Mo Hua first bent down to check on Yu'er. He found that although she was still unconscious, her breathing was steady, and the evil aura on her face was slowly dissipating, returning her to her innocent and kind self. The vitality in her body was also gradually recovering.
Clearly, the Divine Marrow had worked.
Mo Hua sighed in relief and then noticed Yu'er’s back.
On her back was a complete, albeit youthful version of the Azure Dragon Array Pattern, pieced together from the skin of others.
Mo Hua realized what Master Tu had been trying to achieve in the Ten Thousand Demon Valley, using Shentu Ao as the "array medium" to cultivate the Great Wasteland Dragon Chart.
However, now was not the time to dwell on these matters. First, he needed to save Yu'er, and the dragon chart could be dealt with later.
Mo Hua picked up Yu'er and then paused, realizing that the Great Wasteland Saint Relic hanging above them was cumbersome. After some thought, he disassembled the relic, removing all the bones except for the Pixiu’s tooth.
Mo Hua wasn’t skilled at crafting, but he was good at dismantling things.
Moreover, he had studied the Great Wasteland Saint Relic thoroughly and knew that the other parts were artificial "divine array media", while the core was the Pixiu’s tooth.
The Pixiu’s divine soul was sealed within that tooth.
Mo Hua disassembled the relic, kept only the Pixiu’s tooth, and tied it to a string, hanging it around his neck.
Thus, the Great Wasteland Saint Relic was replaced by a Pixiu tooth pendant.
The relic belonged to the Great Wasteland, but the pendant was his.
After all, the tooth contained his good friend "Pixiu" and a young evil deity he had just captured.
The pendant should bear his surname, "Mo."
After finishing this, Mo Hua was about to leave with Yu'er when he caught sight of something that made him stop in his tracks.
It was a statue of the evil deity in the darkness.
Human face, goat horns, bones.
Sinister, bloody, terrifying, and exuding an unassailable divine aura.
Mo Hua’s heart raced, and his breathing hitched. His eyes began to glow, as if he had discovered a treasure he had long desired.
This is...
My evil deity statue!
My Life-Bound Array!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
