Chapter 791: The Valley of Departure
Chapter 791: The Valley of Departure
"There's another door?"
Xun Ziyou was taken aback.
"Mmhmm," Mo Hua nodded.
He stared at the Refining Demon Painting before him once more.
Within the nightmare constructed by the painting, most of the divine array formations had been disabled by him, and the majority of the evil spirits had ended up in his stomach.
Now, the real Refining Demon Painting seemed less eerie and lacked some of the essence of the formations; it resembled the remnants of an array medium.
And the nightmare was a reflection of reality.
The "nightmare" within the Refining Demon Painting was built based on the Myriad Demon Valley in the present world, so while there would be differences, the layouts were similar.
In the nightmare, the Refining Demon Painting was a blank mural.
And behind that mural lay a different world.
So, in the present world, there should also be something special behind the Refining Demon Painting...
Mo Hua said to Xun Ziyou, "Elder Xun, break through this mural."
"Break through it?"
"Yes!" Mo Hua nodded, "There's something behind it."
Xun Ziyou frowned slightly and, after a moment of thought, nodded. He took out his natal spiritual sword and, with the spiritual power of the Golden Core realm, unleashed a sword qi that slashed at the mural.
The mural split open with a loud crack, but it was thick and bottomless.
Xun Ziyou slashed several more times, and over a dozen sword qis penetrated the stone wall before finally piercing through the mural completely.
Stone chips fell in a rustling shower, and smoke and dust rose.
When the smoke and dust cleared, a narrow passage was revealed behind the mural, along with a door adorned with a demonic head sculpture with ram horns.
"Ram-horned Evil Eagle..."
Xun Zixian's face paled, and he exchanged a glance with Xun Ziyou.
Mo Hua pretended to be unsure and asked in a low voice, "Elder Xun, do you know what these ram horns signify?"
Xun Zixian frowned and slowly shook his head, saying in a low voice, "Ram horns symbolize evil desires. The world's grievances, hatred, jealousy, and other evil desires nourish evil spirits, devour divine consciousness, and corrupt human hearts."
"And evil spirits with ram horns are usually ancient and not to be trifled with."
"But I've never seen this ram-horned evil eagle before, nor do I know specifically which evil spirit it symbolizes. I'm afraid we'll have to ask the ancestors when we return..."
"Oh..." Mo Hua nodded.
After Xun Zixian finished speaking, he instructed Mo Hua, "From now on, you must be more careful. If you encounter statues or murals with 'ram horns,' be extra vigilant. Avoid them if you can, and don't get involved if you don't have to."
"Elder, rest assured, I will definitely stay away," Mo Hua promised.
Xun Zixian breathed a slight sigh of relief.
However, Xun Ziyou's expression turned solemn, "Shall we go in?"
Xun Zixian thought for a moment and slowly said, "Let's take a look inside first."
Mo Hua knew that there should be no more dangers behind this door.
The most dangerous things were in the "nightmare" within the Refining Demon Painting.
Those dangerous things had either been eaten by him, killed by him, or "scared" away.
But since they had come this far, he still put on an act of being "on guard."
After all, what happened inside the Refining Demon Painting was something only he knew, and the Xun elders were unaware of it.
Shangguan Xuan stayed outside, guarding Ling Hu Xiao and the other two.
The secrets behind the door were not that important to him.
Xun Ziyou then used his sword to slash open the ram-horned door.
There was a divine array formation painted on the door, but this formation only defended against divine consciousness and sealed evil spirits, so it couldn't stop the sword qi of the Golden Core realm.
After the door was broken, the inside was illuminated with a dull greenish light.
Xun Ziyou entered and immediately saw a grand hall.
In the hall, there were flickering bone lamps emitting a murky green flame.
The surroundings were decorated solemnly yet sinisterly, and the walls were painted with murals in the same style as the one outside, obviously from the same lineage.
In the center of the hall, over a dozen people sat side by side.
In front of each person was a lamp.
However, all these lamps were extinguished.
These dozen or so people were cold to the touch and devoid of any vital signs.
Xun Ziyou and Xun Zixian exchanged a glance, their expressions slightly startled.
Were they all dead?
The hall was sealed, and no one had broken in. How did they die?
Moreover, there were no wounds on these people, and they seemed to have just lost their souls?
The two turned involuntarily and looked at Mo Hua.
Xun Ziyou asked, "Mo Hua, do you know what happened here?"
Mo Hua shook his head and "guessed," "Maybe they did too many bad things and suffered retribution, or perhaps they colluded with evil spirits and were backlashed, their divine consciousness devoured."
He wasn't lying.
These people did indeed suffer retribution.
And their divine consciousness had indeed been devoured by the "evil spirit" Jian Goutou.
Seeing Mo Hua's innocent expression, Xun Ziyou and Xun Zixian were momentarily at a loss for words and could only sigh.
Xun Zixian said, "Then that's it. These people colluded with evil spirits, and their divine consciousness was devoured."
This statement was equivalent to a "verdict."
These people had died by their own doing, and no one else was involved.
Xun Zixian glanced silently at Mo Hua.
It had nothing to do with Mo Hua, either...
Xun Ziyou understood his meaning and nodded.
Mo Hua's gaze shifted to the dozen or so demon cultivators, and he noticed that Jin Gui, Jin Yicai, and Jin Yixuan, the three Broken Golden Gate disciples, were among them. He nodded slightly.
"This time, the Broken Golden Gate can't escape..."
"Even if they don't die, they'll still suffer greatly."
However, he didn't say this aloud and instead feigned indifference.
After all, the elders could easily investigate these people's identities.
Mo Hua's gaze left the dead demon cultivators and turned towards the upper area of the hall.
There was an elaborate screen and jade bead curtains.
Behind the screen and curtains was a vague outline of an extravagant demon-leather seat.
Xun Ziyou and Xun Zixian also noticed this, and their expressions turned grave.
The presence of such a seat implied that there was a highly esteemed figure behind the scenes at Myriad Demon Valley.
The two flashed into action, breaking through the screen and pulling aside the bead curtains to enter the upper area of the hall.
The area was empty, with no one in sight.
There were also no traces left behind.
Mo Hua moved his divine consciousness and quietly used a bit of Heavenly Machine Derivation to see the residual causal clues nearby.
These causal remnants were faint and had not completely dissipated yet.
This indicated that someone had been here recently.
Soon, Xun Zixian's gaze focused on a seemingly ordinary screen painted with a landscape of brocade and mountains in the corner. He slapped his palm, and his spiritual power penetrated the screen.
The screen trembled, and the array patterns on it flashed for a moment before shattering completely, revealing an entrance.
"Quick! Go and take a look!"
Xun Zixian said in a low voice.
However, after just a few steps, they reached the end, and everyone looked up, their expressions filled with surprise.
Before them was a secret chamber, over two zhang in length and width.
The atmosphere within starkly contrasted the grand hall outside.
While the hall was gloomy and oppressive, this chamber was luxurious and elegant, filled with the soothing aroma of sandalwood. It felt more like a "study" belonging to a young master rather than a secret room within the Demon Valley.
However, there wasn't a single book or jade slip in sight.
It seemed that in order to avoid leaving any traces, all the furnishings had been destroyed, leaving the room completely bare.
The only thing that remained was a faint trace of sandalwood fragrance.
"He got away?"
Xun Zixian frowned.
Xun Ziyou coldly hmphed, "He sure got away fast."
Mo Hua, however, didn't seem surprised.
He guessed that this young master had probably fled long ago.
Within the Myriad Demon Valley, the only chance he had to capture this mysterious young master was in the nightmare, where he could capture his soul and seal it with the Spirit Locking Array, turning him into his plaything.
Once the young master escaped from the nightmare, he would surely be impossible to catch.
Unless this "young master" was a fool.
But that was definitely not the case.
Since he was revered as a "young master," his background must be extraordinary, and his talent, intellect, and means were surely out of the ordinary.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been chosen by the Great Desolation's Evil God and feared by so many demon cultivators, nor would he have been able to win the hearts of so many sect disciples who had fallen into demon ways.
Even Tu Xian'er was willing to self-destruct his remaining soul to ensure the young master's escape.
This young master's true background was definitely not ordinary.
Of course, if he wanted to truly capture the "young master" within the nightmare, there was one prerequisite: that the young master's soul in the nightmare was not protected by a natal longevity talisman.
Otherwise, Mo Hua wouldn't have a way to deal with him.
But on this matter, Mo Hua wasn't entirely sure.
After all, he was a rogue cultivator, not a direct descendant of a great family, and he didn't have a Cavernous Realm elder to rely on. Nor did he have any elder willing to plant a natal longevity talisman for him.
His understanding of longevity talismans was indeed very limited.
"I'll have to ask Elder Xun about longevity talismans the next time I have the chance."
"Just in case I encounter a similar situation in the future, where I meet someone with an extraordinary background and strong backing, who has a natal longevity talisman planted by the heavens..."
Mo Hua focused his thoughts.
On the other hand, Xun Ziyou and Xun Zixian searched the study once more but still found nothing.
"He cut off his ties completely, leaving no traces behind..."
Xun Ziyou shook his head and coldly smiled, "Let's head back for now. Later, we'll call for more people from the sect to dig up this valley and search every inch of it. I refuse to believe that we won't be able to find any other clues..."
"Mmhmm."
Xun Zixian slightly nodded.
But Mo Hua suddenly spoke up, "That's not right."
Xun Ziyou was taken aback, "What's not right?"
Mo Hua frowned, "There should be a 'secret passage' or something like that..."
From the time he scared away the young master in the nightmare, to when he left the nightmare and returned the souls of Ling Huxiao and the other two, to when he broke through the mural and entered the grand hall, finding the study...
All of this had only taken about half an hour.
Within this half-hour, if the young master wanted to escape, he must have left a secret passage for himself.
This secret passage would allow him to leave the Myriad Demon Valley and avoid the group of Golden Core elders from the sect who had already entered the valley...
But Mo Hua hadn't found this secret passage earlier.
"Secret passage..."
Xun Zixian's eyes narrowed, and he released his divine sense again, sweeping the area. Suddenly, his expression changed slightly as he walked to the right side of the study, where there was an empty wall. He channeled his spiritual power, and a faint white crystalline light flashed in his palm as he struck the wall.
However, the wall remained unmoved.
Xun Zixian's expression changed, and he immediately said, "Call for more people! Get the other late-stage Golden Core elders to come here as well!"
Xun Ziyou didn't hesitate and immediately sent a message.
In less than an hour, several more elders from the Grand Void Sect arrived.
Mo Hua recognized most of them.
There were also a few whom he didn't recognize as well, probably newly promoted elders.
On the contrary, none of these elders were unfamiliar with Mo Hua.
After all, in the past few hundred years, there had been disciples whom Elder Xun favored, but none had received such blatant favoritism as Mo Hua.
The group of elders entered and first glanced at Mo Hua before discussing with Xun Zixian and Xun Ziyou.
Xun Zixian said, "There's a high-grade array formation behind this wall."
Everyone's expressions turned solemn upon hearing this.
Even Mo Hua was taken aback.
For a three-grade array master like Elder Xun to call it a "high-grade array formation"...
One of the elders asked, "What grade is it?"
Xun Zixian shook his head, "It's hard to say at the moment."
"What do we do now? Do we try to unravel the array?"
"We can't."
"Then... do we break it?"
"We can't break it..." Xun Zixian's expression was grave, "This array formation is very powerful, and the disturbance it would cause is too great. If we forcibly break it, the consequences could be unpredictable."
"...What do we do then?"
Xun Zixian said in a low voice, "We'll have to dismantle it."
"Dismantle it?"
"Yes," Xun Zixian nodded, reaching out to indicate a rough area, "This array formation is strong, but its range is not large. We can dismantle it from the side, avoiding the array formation itself..."
"It seems troublesome, but this is the only feasible method for now."
Everyone thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
Xun Zixian then looked at Mo Hua and said, "Mo Hua, you should wait outside. There are too many Golden Core cultivators here, and when we start, spiritual energy will overflow. It would be dangerous for you."
"Okay, okay."
Mo Hua obediently nodded.
He was well aware of the limitations of his physical strength.
After Mo Hua left the study, he waited in the grand hall for a while.
The group of Golden Core elders from the Grand Void Sect began to dismantle the wall, using their physical bodies, sword energy, or various spiritual tools, carefully working around the array formation as indicated by Xun Zixian.
Although Mo Hua was waiting outside, he was curious and kept an eye on their progress.
After about an incense stick's worth of time, the noise from inside stopped.
Mo Hua blinked and quietly slipped back into the study.
The entire study had been torn apart, and only one wall was left standing, while the other two walls had been completely hollowed out.
As expected, there was a passage behind the wall.
Xun Zixian said, "Let's go take a look..."
He turned to Mo Hua, intending to say something, but Mo Hua had already scurried behind Xun Ziyou, looking obedient.
Xun Zixian couldn't do anything about him and simply let it be.
The group of Golden Core elders proceeded with caution, entering the passage.
As they walked, they found themselves in a small and simple cave.
Fifth-grade?!
A formation of the Dongxuan Realm!
Everyone's expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.
Xun Ziyou broke out in a cold sweat and immediately wanted to crush the Void Sword Token to summon their ancestor. However, Xun Zixian grabbed his hand to stop him.
Xun Zixian shook his head. "The formation has already been destroyed..."
Only then did Xun Ziyou breathe a sigh of relief.
If this fifth-grade formation had been intact and contained killing intent infused with the power of the void, their group of Golden Core cultivators would have undoubtedly perished upon touching it.
If it had been a transportation formation, it could have brought in powerful enemies, killed them, and then allowed the culprits to leave using the formation. In that case, they wouldn't have had any means of fighting back, and their deaths would have been in vain.
The difference between life and death lay in a single thought.
That was why Xun Ziyou's first instinct had been to crush the Void Sword Token and summon their ancestor.
But since the fifth-grade formation had already been destroyed, there was no need to involve their ancestor for the time being, to avoid making a mountain out of a molehill.
Xun Ziyou frowned. "When was this formation destroyed?"
Xun Zixian's eyes turned slightly gloomy. "Not long ago..."
"Without any noise?"
"The formation master must have set up a method beforehand. Once the formation self-destructed, the array patterns would automatically erase themselves, minimizing noise and leaving few traces, especially for the core formation..."
Xun Ziyou's brows furrowed deeply, and he sighed softly:
"The situation here is more intricate and dangerous than I imagined..."
"The exposure of this formation indicates that behind these cultivators, there is at least one fifth-grade formation master of the Dongxuan Realm."
"A fifth-grade formation master... Even in the entire Qianxue State, they are few and far between..."
"And for this fifth-grade formation master to set up a fifth-grade formation here in Lianyao Mountain, evading the eyes and ears of the numerous powerful cultivators in the Qianxue State, they must be..."
Before he could finish, Xun Zixian gave him a subtle glance.
Xun Ziyou turned his head and saw Mo Hua standing beside them, listening intently with a serious expression. He couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
Xun Zixian said, "Let's head back first."
When he said this, he was looking at Mo Hua.
His implication was clear: let's take Mo Hua and leave immediately.
Xun Ziyou understood his meaning and nodded.
Matters concerning the Dongxuan Realm were too dangerous. Even if they, as Golden Core cultivators, got involved, a single mistake could lead to their deaths.
Not to mention Mo Hua, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me..." Mo Hua said.
A Dongxuan Realm formation master, a fifth-grade formation, a void transportation formation...
He wanted to know more about the secrets behind all of this.
However, just as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his spiritual sense, as if countless yaomo were howling and roaring in his ear.
Evil shadows loomed, and malicious thoughts entangled his heart, slowly eroding his Dao heart.
At the same time, a "bloodthirsty" impulse rose uncontrollably within him.
It was as if he was about to turn into a "yaomo" himself.
Sensing the change in Mo Hua, both Xun Ziyou and Xun Zixian were startled.
"Mo Hua, what's wrong?"
"I, I'm..."
Mo Hua clenched his teeth and furrowed his brows, trying his best to suppress the malicious thoughts in his heart. However, in the end, he couldn't hold them back.
His eyes turned fierce, and he opened his mouth, biting down on Xun Ziyou's arm.
He was like a "little tiger" that chose its prey and became ferocious.
Xun Ziyou: "..."
Mo Hua bit down a few times but couldn't break the skin.
Xun Ziyou looked bewildered, unsure of what to do.
At that moment, Xun Zixian's expression turned solemn. He waved his sleeve in front of Mo Hua's face, and a gentle spiritual power brushed past Mo Hua's forehead, calming the acupuncture points there.
Mo Hua's eyes gradually became vacant, and he fell into a deep sleep.
Xun Ziyou glanced at the unconscious Mo Hua, his expression grave as he asked Xun Zixian, "What happened to this child? Is he possessed?"
Xun Zixian frowned. "A little..."
Xun Ziyou thought for a moment and exclaimed, "Could it be that he was affected by some evil influence within the Refining Demon Painting?"
Xun Zixian slowly nodded. "Most likely..."
"Then what do we do? Is there a way to save him?"
Xun Zixian thought for a moment and sighed. "Let's take him back first and ask the ancestor to take a look..."
He knew a few methods to deal with such evil influences, but these methods varied from person to person and from the type of "evil" influence.
Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't, and the effects were unpredictable. He also didn't want to make any guarantees.
Moreover, Mo Hua was a special child, and he didn't dare to act recklessly.
If anything happened to him, they would bear the consequences.
Putting him to sleep and bringing him back to the sect to let the ancestor examine him seemed to be the safest option.
Xun Zixian thought to himself.
"Alright!" Xun Ziyou nodded.
"By the way," Xun Zixian suddenly remembered something and added, "This child bit you..."
Xun Ziyou remained calm. "I'm fine."
Xun Zixian shook his head. "No, look and see if his teeth are alright..."
Xun Ziyou was taken aback. "He bit me..."
Xun Zixian nodded. "I know, but if you broke his teeth, the ancestor probably won't be happy with you."
Xun Ziyou's scalp tingled, and he pinched Mo Hua's cheeks to examine his teeth before finally letting out a sigh of relief. "Thankfully, they're fine."
"That's good..."
Xun Ziyou put Mo Hua on his back and said to Xun Zixian, "We mustn't delay. I'll send this child back to the sect first. As for the rest of you, be extra careful in the Myriad Beast Valley. I'll leave it to you."
"Mmhmm." Xun Zixian nodded.
After that, Xun Ziyou didn't linger and immediately left with the "possessed" Mo Hua to return to the sect.
Xun Zixian remained where he was, staring at the destroyed fifth-grade formation with a dazed expression. After a while, he let out a soft sigh and murmured, "The storm... has already arrived..."
...
Two days later.
Tai Xu Sect.
Inside a quiet pill room.
Mo Hua opened his eyes, and everything was a blur.
His head still felt groggy, and he could still hear the howls of countless yaomo in his ears, causing his head to ache.
It was as if he had eaten too much in one go and was now suffering from the after-effects of indigestion.
Mo Hua hadn't recovered yet.
Just then, a gentle yet aged voice sounded: "You're awake?"
Mo Hua lifted his head and saw the white-haired Elder Xun sitting by his bed, holding a red brush and marking some corrections on a stack of thick formation papers, seemingly grading formation homework.
Thanks to Book Friend 1409152205275721 for the 1200-point reward~
Thanks to Fellow Daoist Xiayixiu for the 1500-point reward~
(End of Chapter)
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