Chapter 1088: Earth-Shattering Massacre
On the twisted smile was a hint of utter annihilation.
A strand of decomposing spiritual power, like the source of a virulent plague, seeped from that smiling face into the pivot of the Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array. Following its predetermined channels, in just an instant it "contaminated" the entire pivot of the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array.
The untangled mystery formation began—revealing its true nature.
One by one, bizarre formation patterns emerged, like grotesque poppies blooming in succession, then immediately disintegrating.
First came absolute silence.
Spiritual power reversed its course, and the resulting decompositional force not only dissolved the remaining spiritual energy but also devoured all sound; the world around was plunged into pitch black.
Then, an earth-shattering explosion rang out.
This was a second-rank decompositional force eroding a third-rank formation pivot structure. The imbalance it caused in the third-rank pivot triggered a tremendous explosion.
Master Tu stood at the very epicenter of that blast.
Yet he was helpless.
He could only watch as wave after wave of reverse-spirit formations bloomed like flowers, carrying their dreadful decompositional power and utterly obliterating everything before them.
In the depths of the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array, blackish decompositional energy and blood-red explosive force intertwined, ravaging the core pivot of the Grand Array.
Even the corpse of the colossal beast from the Great Wilderness began to be torn apart by this destructive power, collapsing and plummeting into the blood river running through the earth veins.
Rock shattered, dust billowed.
Black-and-red formation energy braided together.
The flesh-and-blood labyrinth began to tremble and cave in.
Under such a devastating explosion, the core of the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array was completely destroyed, reduced to dust.
With its pivot gone and the eldritch power sustaining it severed, the entire Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array ground to a halt.
The crimson evil light began to dim.
On the horizon, the roiling blood sea ceased its surging.
…
At the Observation Sword Pavilion, the gathered Void Ancestors' expressions shifted.
"The Blood Sacrifice Grand Array… has stopped?" someone breathed.
"Why?"
An ancient Formation Master frowned and said, "The array's internal power is in turmoil—intense array fluctuations abound. It seems… the core's operation malfunctioned, and the formation pivot… self-destructed?"
"Is that even possible?"
"With the pivot gone, the Grand Array is paralyzed. Without its augmenting power, those demonic cultivators lose their greatest support. Why not charge in now?"
"An opportunity not to be missed—"
Suddenly, an aged voice cut in: "No."
All the Void Ancestors turned to look at Elder Xun.
Elder Xun's brows were tightly furrowed; his voice was heavy, laced with a profound chill: "This is only… the beginning…"
As a fifth-rank Formation Master, he could see that this reverse spiritual upheaval was merely a "warm-up." The true, terrifying change—the boundless aura of destruction accumulating within the Grand Array—had not yet been unleashed…
"Only the beginning?"
The Void Ancestors' pupils trembled. Then they fell silent, fixing their gaze on the distant horizon.
…
Within the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array:
Because the pivot had exploded and the formation collapsed, that force spread outward, instantly wiping out many of the demonic cultivators and alerting the rest.
The demonic lords all looked on in fury and shock, yet they did not know what had actually occurred.
Within the rubble of the shattered pivot lay countless bloodied corpses of demonic cultivators and severed limbs strewn about.
Moments later, dust swirled and rocks crumbled.
Four mighty auras surged forth.
There stood Master Tu, Shangguan Wang, the Yin Corpse Valley Ascended who relied on a Golden Corpse for support, and the Demonic Sword Sect elder protected by a demonic sword—all of them bearing blood-stained forms.
Already ravaged by the tens of thousands of fiends in the Yanluo Mountain Abyss, they had been dealt another crushing blow in quick succession.
They had been so close that the blast from the pivot's self-destruction had struck them. But since that self-destruction was only second-rank—its explosive scale not vast, its duration brief—it merely wounded these four Ascended; it could not kill them outright.
Ascended cultivators are not so easily slain.
Yet having been repeatedly targeted and betrayed, left in such a humiliating state, the anger in each Ascended's eyes burned fiercely.
Even if they did not understand all the details, simply from the formation alone they could deduce that Mo Hua was behind this.
"If we ever catch that brat, regardless of his status, we'll gut him, sever his limbs and head, refine him into a corpse-slave, and make him suffer…" the Ascended thought bitterly.
Particularly Master Tu, whose hatred of Mo Hua soared toward the heavens.
If hatred could kill, Mo Hua would now be reduced to nothing but ashes.
Master Tu's prior calculations had been correct.
A second-rank Reverse Spirit Formation decomposes a second-rank formation, generating decompositional power comparable to a third-rank Golden Core cultivator's might.
Furthermore, because it is an absolute decomposition formation, in terms of the power of principle it even surpasses it.
This meant that although Mo Hua was only at Foundation Establishment, by leveraging the Reverse Spirit Formation he had the capacity to destabilize a quasi-third-rank Grand Array.
And indeed, he had used the Reverse Spirit Formation to destroy the pivot at the center of the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array.
Once the pivot is destroyed, the entire Grand Array collapses.
Under the current dire circumstances, to rebuild the central pivot of the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array in the face of pressure from the entire Ganyue and other great sects would be as difficult as scaling the heavens.
At this point, the lifetime of planning and heartfelt investment had been thoroughly "ruined" by Mo Hua.
Just recalling that grotesque, childlike yet mocking smile made Master Tu's blood boil; his heart wept, and his eyes were rimmed with red.
"Master Tu," the Yin Corpse Valley Ascended wheezed, "is there any way to repair this Blood Sacrifice Grand Array?"
The Demonic Sword Sect elder also asked, "If truly nothing can be done, we should prepare early—whether to withdraw or stand our ground, or mount an attack. We need a plan."
As long as the foundation of the Grand Array remained, and as long as their demonic disciples survived, there would always be a way.
Master Tu's expression turned icy as he pondered how to reconstruct the Grand Array and reverse their present disadvantage.
But after only a few breaths, his face changed.
"Something's still not right…"
Earlier he had sensed a bone-chilling cold. Although the pivot's destruction had been disastrous, it should not have been enough to send shivers through him like that.
This meant that everything… was far from over.
Master Tu's pupils widened. That grotesque smile flashed again in his mind—beyond its innocence and strangeness, there was a trace of cruelty.
As though an otherworldly devil were grinning at him.
At that moment, another abnormality occurred.
From beneath the ruins, a strand of reverse-transforming power reignited like a "relay," initiating a second round of decomposition.
And the target of this second decomposition was…
Master Tu's heart raced: "The formation eye?!"
First the pivot collapses, and now the formation eye?
First destroy the pivot, then destroy the formation eye?
And the formation eye of the Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array was none other than the heart of that Great Wilderness Ancient Demon!
Master Tu's face instantly drained of color, then his body distorted, transforming into a mass of blood and flesh that burrowed beneath the ruins in a desperate attempt to protect the formation eye.
But a single step too slow meant every step was too late.
The reverse-spirit force had already spread.
The formation eye of the Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array began to reverse-transform. Cracks snaked across the heart of the Great Wilderness Ancient Demon.
Then the heart shattered, and the boundless, blood-red evil energy contained within it erupted like a vast wave. It surged outward along the predetermined array pathways, spreading without restraint.
Within the Grand Array, countless demonic cultivators—and even the majority of flesh-and-blood fiends—were engulfed and drowned by these tsunami-like waves of evil energy.
Evil energy is the root of a demonic cultivator's power and cultivation.
Such enormous evil energy was once unattainable. The problem was that the evil energy contained within the entire formation eye—within the heart of the Great Wilderness Ancient Demon—was so overwhelmingly vast that it far exceeded what any demonic cultivator could bear.
Many Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators began to suffer evil-energy overload, their bodies erupting and perishing instantly.
Even some flesh-and-blood fiends could not withstand it: their bodies twisted, their limbs contorting, and they self-detonated into death…
Centered on the Ancient Demon's heart as the axis, a dense surge of evil energy exploded in an instant, spreading to the horizon.
The heart's evil energy, combined with the bursting flesh and blood, condensed into a streak of brilliant crimson that smeared itself across the Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array.
From afar, it looked like a volcanic eruption.
Only this "fire" was forged from blood and flesh—both cruel and strangely beautiful.
At the Observation Sword Pavilion, the gathered Void Ancestors all fell silent, stricken by shock.
Inside the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array, Master Tu and the others, immersed in that sea of evil energy, were likewise gripped by inexplicable terror.
Before anyone could ponder further, the third round of decomposition followed.
With the formation eye destroyed, evil energy and gore erupted like a "volcano," bathing the sky in crimson.
But in the next moment, a layer of crystalline blue surged forth from the center of that crimson.
It was the color of spiritual power.
The Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array had been constructed by slaughtering countless cultivators to harvest their skin, flesh, bones, and blood as array materials.
However, the Sword Competition Grand Assembly had been thrown into chaos by Mo Hua, forcing Master Tu to activate the Blood Sacrifice Grand Array prematurely.
Because the preparations had been rushed, and then later suppressed by the various powers of Qian Prefecture, the demonic cultivators' slaughter was curtailed. The array lacked sufficient materials, and many Formation Masters died.
Under such overwhelming difficulties, Master Tu had no choice but to use Mo Hua as his Formation Master, employing a righteous-form array system to assist in constructing the Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array.
Therefore, this Blood Sacrifice Grand Array was a fusion of both righteous and demonic array systems.
Within the Grand Array, spiritual power and evil energy coexisted.
The evil-energy portion was overseen by Master Tu.
The spiritual-power portion was entirely under Mo Hua's control.
Until now, spiritual power and evil energy had stood side by side without interfering with one another.
But Mo Hua broke that balance. First he destroyed the pivot, then the formation eye, and then he wove evil energy and spiritual power together.
In the cultivation world, all forces—righteous and demonic—both generate and restrain one another, coexisting as unity in opposition.
Both evil energy and spiritual power are forms of the world's cultivation force.
The moment blue spiritual power and red evil energy met, they intertwined. Righteous and demonic forces strangled and repelled each other, yet at the same time they transformed and infiltrated one another…
The first two decompositions were merely preludes.
This was what Mo Hua ultimately intended to "decompose."
The Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array, spanning across nine mid-sized precincts around Qian Prefecture, was vast in scale.
When the first pivot collapsed, its core sank, but it only affected a very small region.
When the second formation eye collapsed and evil energy spread, it occupied only one-fifth of the array.
Yet the third—and final—decomposition that Mo Hua had prepared, leveraging the reverse transformation of intertwined spiritual power and evil energy, spread like wildfire in a single blink, encompassing the entire Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array.
Amid the ruins, after the first two reverse transformations had already accumulated ample "decompositional" power—like a vast field of tinder—the sudden infusion of massive spiritual power and evil energy, entwined together, became akin to a colossal "explosive."
Once that tinder met the explosive, it was ignited almost instantly.
The decompositional force set ablaze the ocean of spiritual power and evil energy.
In that moment, the entire world dimmed.
Sunlight was swallowed; utter darkness enveloped heaven and earth.
The blood-red evil and crystalline blue spiritual power were both shrouded by the pitch-black hue of decomposition.
Whether crimson evil or blue spiritual power, as they tangled together, a horrifying black edge crept along their forms.
Then heavens and earth fell into dead silence.
The "Obliteration of All Things" began.
Both spiritual power and evil energy were, from their very essence, "dismantled." Everything tainted by these reverse-transformed spiritual power and evil energy began to be silently—but irresistibly—"dissolved," turning into pitch-black powder.
Rocks crumbled into black ash, layer after layer dissolving away.
Grass and trees withered in an instant, reduced to dust.
Vast swaths of mountains and rivers, like paintings, were blotted out by inky blackness, vanishing as if they had never existed.
Countless demonic cultivators died in that instant.
They trembled in fear, struggled, roared, bellowed, screamed… each visage contorted in madness and terror, yet like "ink figures" on a scroll, under that terrifying decompositional force they were ripped from the canvas of existence, annihilated into ash.
And that dreadful decompositional force continued to grow.
Death blanketed heaven and earth…
Throughout Qian Prefecture region, all cultivators were struck dumb with horror at this spectacle of sunless skies, blood-stained mountains, and universal annihilation.
Whether in the Dao Court's offices, the elders and disciples of every great family and sect, or the wandering cultivators drawn by the disturbances—every one of them looked skyward, gazing in stunned terror at the nightmarish scene of decomposition devouring heaven and earth, petrified into paralytic shock.
Even the well-traveled patriarchs and ancestors of the great families and sects stood with quivering pupils, silent to the bone.
At the very top of the Observation Sword Pavilion, a white-haired elder stared at the horizon's panorama of all things dissolving, equally dazed. The game piece in his hand hovered midair, motionless for a long moment before finally descending onto the board.
He let out a soft sigh.
Spiritual power and evil energy, merging yet repelling, seeping and transforming, then forcibly "disintegrated" by decompositional force—thus triggering an even more potent decompositional power…
This kind of decomposition, at its root, was not dissolving an array, nor dissolving spiritual power or evil energy.
It was dissolving the "principle" of righteous and demonic mutual exclusion and interpenetration.
In other words, this was the initial stage of…
"Yin-Yang Reverse Transformation."
In other words, this is only the initial stage of…
"Yin-Yang Reverse Transformation."
The elder couldn't help but sigh again.
Yin and Yang are the ancient cultivators' way of understanding heaven and earth.
All things under heaven follow the principle of Yin and Yang. Studying any formation, even any cultivation technique—whether it be Dao methods, alchemy, or talismans—can lead one to grasp the great Dao of Yin and Yang by analogy.
But this principle is at once the simplest and also the most complex.
Especially when it comes to formations.
Within them lie extremely profound methods of extended calculation.
If one truly wishes to use decompositional force to perform a Yin-Yang reverse resolution—stripping away the laws themselves—one requires overwhelmingly powerful divine insight, immense computational might, exceptionally deep formation mastery, and supremely advanced extended-calculation techniques.
On top of that, one must possess patience, perseverance, and悟性 (insight), in order to accurately predict all the possible outcomes once the pivot collapses and the myriad changes of spiritual power, thereby planning every detail of decomposition with precision—linking beginning to end, controlling each layer, secreted with deadly intent…
There are simply too many variables here.
The level of control is too exacting.
The extended calculations involved are… perverse in their complexity…
The elder frowned and let out a long, deep sigh. It was his third sigh, and at the same time he secretly grumbled to himself:
"That brat surnamed Zhuang—what exactly did he teach him… Does he even have an ounce of foresight? He can teach anything?"
"Does he even realize what sort of… 'thing' he's creating?"
In the past, the most vexing person had been that same young Zhuang.
Well, Zhuang is gone now. It's only been ten years, and his disciple has come to take his place.
"Even with the master gone, still restless… He's never once given anyone peace of mind…"
The elder rubbed his forehead, then turned his gaze to the window.
Outside, heaven and earth remained dim. The Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array was still unraveling, and the power of Obliteration continued devouring everything.
The world was filled with Yin and chill, as though immersed in the Ninth Netherworld.
The elder fell silent, and after a moment his expression turned grave. He murmured in disbelief:
"This isn't 'taking over' at all…"
"This indescribable atrocity… How many lives will have to be wiped out this time…"
"Back in the day, that Zhuang fellow… wouldn't have dared to slaughter so mercilessly…"
Elder Xun likewise stared out the window. After his initial shock, he too grasped the gravity of the situation, and his face grew ever more solemn.
The Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array was now shrouded in utter blackness.
Within the Grand Array, life after life was being instantaneously erased—and more and more kept disappearing.
These lives did not only include cultivators of various demonic sects, but also countless flesh-and-blood fiends, as well as hordes of grotesque demonic blood-slaves, corpse-slaves, sex-slaves, spirit-slaves…
All of these beings—tainted by the terrifying decompositional force of the Yin-Yang Reverse Transformation—were being annihilated without exception.
Whether at Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, or even Golden Core, none could survive.
Even though they belonged to the demonic path, far too many were being killed.
Far, far too many.
The sheer, uncountable number sent shivers down Elder Xun's spine.
The two words "taking lives" are never so simple—they are stained by karmic consequence and will condense into vicious energy.
The more one kills, the heavier the karmic burden one bears.
The more intense the murderous energy within one's fate.
If this Grand Array's unraveling is truly Mo Hua's doing, and he has decomposed and killed so many demonic beings, then his current "karmic slaughter" will truly be unprecedented—reaching to the heavens.
How thick and vicious that murderous aura on him will become, Elder Xun dared not even imagine—it would not be an exaggeration to say it would be as deep as the abyss, as vast as the boundless sea.
This is by no means a good thing.
What's worse, Mo Hua is only in his twenties, yet he already bears this murderous karmic energy, as deep and vast as the heavens…
Elder Xun frowned tightly, his heart filled with anxiety, as though a heavy stone pressed on his chest.
But once the Grand Array has ruptured and the karmic slaughter has begun, nothing can change its course.
Mo Hua's actions this time are true "corpse-destruction and obliteration"—"destroy the array, annihilate the corpses." The decompositional power he has unleashed is so great that within the Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array, almost no living being can escape death.
Heaven and earth turn to silence and extinction; living beings are wiped away.
One by one, souls return to the Ninth Nether.
The entire world is painted in the color of grim death. Nearly everyone can feel a bone-chilling cold piercing their marrow.
And with every soul lost, a record is added to Mo Hua's "murderous karma," intensifying his vicious aura by one more degree.
After an unknown span of time, the sky suddenly darkened with gathering clouds, and thunder rumbled.
Elder Xun's face changed drastically, and the other Void cultivators likewise looked in alarm, horror etched on their faces.
A heavenly-Dao aura arose that struck fear into all cultivators, even the Void cultivators.
Scarlet, blinding lightning descended from the sky.
In an instant, it erased four forms of life.
Those four lives were Ascended!
And that crimson light was a Heavenly-Dao Lightning Tribulation!
The Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Array had been undone, and the terrifying power of Obliteration forcibly drove four Ascended to the brink of death.
This also meant that, in Mo Hua's incomparably heinous "murderous karma," four more of the darkest, most indelible marks were added:
He had decomposed the Grand Array and forced four Ascended to die!
(End of this Chapter)