Chapter 361: Sowing Demonic Seeds
Chapter 361: Sowing Demonic Seeds
Old Gui sighed, "Unbelievable. His demonic cultivation of the heart has reached this level..."
Mr. Zhuang remained silent.
Old Gui said, "You're in deep trouble now."
Mr. Zhuang replied, "When debts pile up, they become insignificant. It doesn't matter anymore."
Old Gui coldly hmphed and then frowned, his curiosity getting the better of him. "What exactly did he do?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
"He's your senior brother. How can you not know?"
"I've never practiced the demonic cultivation of the heart..." Mr. Zhuang admitted.
Old Gui thought for a moment before speaking, "Explain to me the principles behind the demonic cultivation of the heart, and I'll grant you one request."
Mr. Zhuang was taken aback. "Really?"
Old Gui looked at him and said flatly, "Didn't you just say you didn't know?"
"I can know," Mr. Zhuang replied.
"I always keep my word," Old Gui assured.
Mr. Zhuang pondered briefly, his gaze turning slightly somber as he began to explain, "The so-called demonic cultivation of the heart is a demonic technique that manipulates divine consciousness."
"This technique allows one to fracture their own divine thoughts, cultivating them into demonic seeds that can be planted in another person's sea of consciousness. It destroys the heart's nature, driving people into the demonic path or causing their hearts to crumble, turning them into mindless puppets to be manipulated..."
Old Gui frowned, "That doesn't sound too difficult."
"Anything related to divine consciousness always sounds easier than it is," Mr. Zhuang said. "Otherwise, demonic cultivation of the heart wouldn't be listed as one of the top ten forbidden techniques of the demonic path."
"Then what about Feng Yi? What did the Trickster do?" Old Gui inquired.
Mr. Zhuang replied nonchalantly, "That's simple. He first planted a demonic thought in someone and sent them to their death at Black Mountain Stockade. Their body was fed to the pigs, allowing the demonic thought to enter the demonic pig's body."
"Normally, a human's demonic thoughts wouldn't survive long within a demon beast. But with a constant supply of human flesh, this demonic thought survived by devouring human consciousness. So, while it appeared to be a single face, there were actually many faces, and though you heard only one voice, there were many people speaking."
"When the time was right, it took control and dominated the entire demon," Mr. Zhuang continued.
"Within the state, that powerful demon was unmatched. With his demonic thoughts controlling it, he could do as he pleased. Even if the Court of Dao and the major aristocratic families intervened, they couldn't do anything to stop him..."
Old Gui marveled, "Your senior brother is far more clever than you."
Mr. Zhuang paused before adding, "Yes, he is smarter, but it's a shame he fell into the hands of my disciple... or, in other words, my hands."
Mr. Zhuang nodded to himself, pleased with his foresight in accepting Mo Hua as his named disciple and teaching him about grand formations.
And Mo Hua had not only learned but also successfully constructed the grand formation, using the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Grand Formation to deplete the demon's vital energy and forcing the Trickster to reveal his demonic thoughts.
So, this time, he had won.
Old Gui couldn't help but chide, "You should have some shame."
Mr. Zhuang ignored the comment.
Old Gui frowned again, "The grand formation killed the demon, but now it's alive again, shrouded in death energy, half-dead and half-undead. The cultivators of Tongxian City won't be able to handle it, will they?"
Mr. Zhuang sighed, "We can only stall for time."
"Are we waiting for the Court of Dao to take action?" Old Gui asked, his gaze sharpening.
Mr. Zhuang nodded, "That half-dead Feng Yi has the Trickster's demonic thoughts within him. The Court of Dao will definitely want to find a way to extract and study those thoughts. However..."
However, it was uncertain if Tongxian City could hold out long enough...
Once the half-dead, half-undead Feng Yi entered the city, the cultivators of Tongxian City would likely face a dire crisis.
Mr. Zhuang didn't explicitly state this, but both men understood the gravity of the situation.
Old Gui's gaze turned somber as well.
"So..." Mr. Zhuang raised his eyebrows, "About that request I mentioned earlier."
Old Gui stiffened, a sense of foreboding washing over him.
"If Feng Yi enters the city, die once and lend me a hand," Mr. Zhuang said bluntly.
All this roundabout talking had been leading to a scheme targeting him.
Old Gui's expression grew complex, "You formation masters, your hearts are truly dark."
Mr. Zhuang humbly replied, "Where there is clear water, there are no fish. A little bit of dirt is unavoidable."
"Tongxian City has nothing to do with you, yet you're so kindhearted?" Old Gui questioned.
"I'm still a teacher, after all," Mr. Zhuang said. "Before I leave, I should do something for my disciple."
The cultivators in the city were either Mo Hua's relatives or acquaintances.
It was one thing for him to carry regrets for a lifetime, but he didn't want Mo Hua to experience that same bitterness.
Mr. Zhuang's gaze lowered, a hint of melancholy in his eyes.
Old Gui nodded, "Alright."
"Thank you!" Mr. Zhuang said softly.
"Don't mention it," Old Gui replied. "I agreed because of Mo Hua."
Mr. Zhuang's expression turned slightly stiff, "What if I didn't have Mo Hua to vouch for me?"
"I wouldn't have agreed," Old Gui admitted.
"But you just said..." Mr. Zhuang began.
"A single sentence from you in exchange for my life. Do you think that's reasonable?" Old Gui interrupted.
Mr. Zhuang asked suspiciously, "Didn't you already plan to go back on your word?"
"Those who approach ink will be stained. Learning from you, going back on my word is simple," Old Gui said woodenly.
Mr. Zhuang sighed, "Your heart isn't clean either."
Old Gui didn't respond.
Mr. Zhuang didn't mind and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was just glad that Old Gui was willing to help. He didn't want Mo Hua to be sad, nor did he want his senior brother to create more bloodshed.
Mr. Zhuang's mental energy was somewhat exhausted, and he lay back in the bamboo chair, looking up at the sky. Suddenly, he frowned, sensing something amiss.
Old Gui watched him, puzzled, "What's wrong?"
Mr. Zhuang's gaze sharpened as he pinched his fingers, his thoughts racing and his brow furrowing.
Mr. Zhuang faintly sensed something amiss and silently looked towards the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Grand Formation in the depths of the mountains, his brow furrowing deeper.
Within the grand formation, the cultivators had begun to evacuate.
Feng Yi had returned from the dead, but he was neither fully alive nor truly dead, shrouded in terrifying death energy.
While the grand formation could still gradually deplete his vitality and kill him.
However, they had run out of spirit stones.
All the collected spirit stones had been exhausted, and the few remaining ones were insufficient to activate the formation for long enough to finish off the resurrected Feng Yi.
The other Foundation Establishment cultivators were also exhausted and unable to continue fighting him.
For now, they could only retreat and regroup.
Everyone wore worried frowns, their expressions revealing a hint of despair.
They couldn't think of any other way to defeat Feng Yi.
Mo Hua stood atop a mountain peak, gazing at Feng Yi from afar, his mind made up and his expression resolute.
Elder Yu and the others approached, helplessly saying, "Let's retreat for now and come up with another plan."
Mo Hua nodded, "You all go first. I'll control the formation and cover your retreat."
Zhang Lan and the others frowned, quickly objecting, "How can you be the one to cover our retreat? That's out of the question."
How could they, as Foundation Establishment cultivators, allow a junior like Mo Hua to take on such a dangerous task?
Moreover, Mo Hua's status had changed drastically.
He had successfully constructed the grand formation and withstood Feng Yi, whether with help or not, he would undoubtedly become a renowned master formationist in the future.
In this situation, they couldn't let him take any risks.
Mo Hua corrected them, "It's the grand formation covering the retreat, not me."
As Zhang Lan and the others tried to argue, Mo Hua continued, "Hurry and evacuate everyone. Before you leave, place the remaining spirit stones on the spirit gathering and restoration formation at the formation's core."
"I'll control the grand formation to hold off Feng Yi. After that, you can rest assured..."
Mo Hua's demeanor was calm and his tone carried an unquestionable air of certainty. Zhang Lan and the others had no doubts and simply nodded, carrying out his instructions.
Within the grand formation, there were still cultivators manipulating it, including formationists and those in charge of spiritual weapons.
They had to maintain the formation, as well as transport spirit stones to provide spiritual power for its operation.
Most of the spirit stones had been used up in the effort to kill Feng Yi, and only a small portion remained, which Mo Hua had painstakingly saved.
These spirit stones had been intentionally left by Mo Hua.
Just as firecrackers needed a spark to ignite, the grand formation needed spiritual power to trigger its collapse.
These spirit stones were the "spark" for the grand formation's collapse.
He intended to use these spirit stones as a catalyst, triggering the collapse of the grand formation and completely annihilating the demon!
Since he had vowed to use the formation to kill the demon, he would see it through.
He didn't know what kind of creature this demon was.
But whether it was alive or dead, a corpse or a ghost, as long as it had entered his formation, it would undoubtedly perish!
It would never be able to escape the formation and harm another person.
The cultivators within the grand formation gradually evacuated.
Mo Hua, who had already foreseen this outcome, prepared to begin drawing the reverse spirit formation on the formation's core to initiate its collapse.
Before he started, Mo Hua hesitated, feeling a sense of reluctance.
This was the first grand formation he had ever built... and now he had to let it go.
Mo Hua sighed softly, then lowered his small hand and drew the first reverse spirit formation.
Almost at the same time, Mr. Zhuang in the mountain residence felt his heart skip a beat. He paused, sensing something, and muttered in a daze:
"What is that child, Mo Hua, up to...?"
...
Two hours later, the evacuation of the cultivators was complete.
Mo Hua had also finished drawing the reverse spirit formations.
Mo Hua swept the area with his spiritual sense and confirmed that besides himself, there was no one else left in the formation, and the deep mountains were also deserted and silent, devoid of any cultivator's aura. Only then did he feel relieved.
The resurrected Feng Yi was still trapped within the formation.
Due to the lack of spirit stones, Mo Hua hadn't activated the killing formation but had instead used a restraining formation to contain him, preventing his escape.
However, the restraining formation couldn't hold him for much longer.
Many of the formation's functions had also begun to dim due to the lack of spirit stone supply.
With reduced pressure from the formation, Feng Yi sensed the aura of the only remaining cultivator within it.
That aura belonged to Mo Hua.
Feng Yi, a small mountain shrouded in death energy, took slow, heavy steps towards Mo Hua.
With each step, the ground shook with a loud rumble.
His eyes were pitch-black holes of terror.
Eventually, Feng Yi stood before Mo Hua.
The tiny Mo Hua looked up at the massive Feng Yi, his gaze unwavering as he stared into those black, fearsome eyes.
Feng Yi's face shifted through different human appearances, struggling to settle on the visage of a Daoist. He opened his mouth to speak, but it sounded like multiple people speaking at once:
"Your aura..."
"Bold..."
"Formationist?"
"So familiar..."
Finally, all the voices merged into one, asking:
"Who are you?"
Mo Hua's eyes gleamed with cold light as he replied crisply,
"I am the one who will send you to your death!"
Then, Mo Hua closed his eyes slightly, using his spiritual sense to manipulate the formation's core, redirecting the spiritual power to trigger the collapse of the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Grand Formation!
(End of Chapter)
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