Chapter 1089: Retribution
Outside Yanluo Mountain, on the road leading to the Qianxue Province border.
Mo Hua stood still, looking back.
He watched the three layers of reverse transformations he had painstakingly calculated and deployed—burst apart one by one.
The massive Blood Sacrifice Array of the Wasteland, spanning nine provincial borders, completely collapsed.
A pitch-black power of annihilation blanketed the world. Countless demonic cultivators and monstrous beings, like ants by the thousands, were wiped out into nothingness, turned to black dust and dispersed. The sky was filled with vengeful spirits, and the slaughter was as deep as the sea.
Even Mo Hua himself was shaken.
This method of collapse—using the entangled boundary between spiritual power and demonic energy—stemmed from his unique talent in combining divination and deception, and his deep understanding of the transition between righteous and demonic forces, grasped through a single flash of insight.
He wasn't entirely sure what the full destructive power would be after the array's collapse.
After all, this was his first time collapsing a Wasteland Blood Sacrifice Array.
It was also his first "real-world application."
The results even left him somewhat stunned.
The interweaving of righteous and demonic forces—merging, opposing, infiltrating, transforming, stripping away—these intricate and profound changes that unfolded before his eyes left Mo Hua momentarily dazed.
A sudden comprehension of two fundamental laws of the world—the Dao of righteousness and the Dao of evil—began to sprout in Mo Hua's heart.
His pupils were bright and multi-colored, revealing a look of obsession toward the Dao.
Just then, a terrifying and familiar aura surged from the heavens.
A streak of blood-red lightning fell from the sky, piercing through the remains of the great formation, annihilating four figures, erasing four strands of life force.
Mo Hua's expression changed drastically.
Heavenly Tribulation Lightning!
"They… Mr. Tu and the others… were all killed by the tribulation lightning?!"
"Did I… by collapsing the formation, force them into death?"
"I… forced four Ascension Realm cultivators to their deaths?"
Mo Hua gasped.
Even he found it hard to believe.
His formidable Martial Uncle, back at Withered Wood Cliff, had only forced three Ascension Realm cultivators to death using the Dao Heart Demon Seed technique.
Now, with just one move, he'd forced four to their end. Compared to his elder, he was even more impressive—definitely not something to be ashamed of.
But soon, Mo Hua's brows began to knit. His expression grew solemn.
"Something's off…"
In his original calculations, this triple-layered collapse was at most going to destroy the formation and erase all traces.
The goal was to erase any evidence of his involvement in the demonic array, collapse the formation itself, and kill any demonic cultivators who knew of his presence—burn the bodies, leave no witnesses.
But all of these methods were only effective below the Ascension Realm.
He himself was merely at Foundation Establishment. The difference in cultivation was too vast—Ascension Realm cultivators weren't something he could "murder" with scheming.
From the very start, he never hoped to kill Mr. Tu and the others.
As long as the Blood Sacrifice Formation was destroyed, and all demonic cultivators at or below the Golden Core stage were dead, thereby removing the threat to Qianxue Province and sparing countless innocent cultivators, Mo Hua would've been satisfied.
Yet now, even Mr. Tu and the others died in the collapse of the formation.
This was entirely unexpected.
Mo Hua didn't understand.
This level of destructive power, though strong, was still too low in rank. It shouldn't have been able to kill those at the Ascension Realm.
Had they turned on each other in desperation, triggering tribulation lightning due to the overuse of power beyond the third-tier level?
Or had the collapse's force worn them down so badly that, in desperation, they instinctively tried to escape using their Ascension flight abilities, thereby violating the natural laws and triggering tribulation lightning?
Mo Hua thought these were possible.
But also felt they were far-fetched—none fully explained it.
Then—
Mo Hua's pupils constricted.
"Was someone else secretly intervening, forcing Mr. Tu and the others into a situation where they had no choice but to self-destruct?"
"Or… was someone controlling them?"
As this thought surfaced, a chill gripped Mo Hua's heart.
A strange and eerie shadow hovered in his mind.
Mo Hua frowned, his expression puzzled. After a moment, he sighed inwardly:
"Time to go… Everything that needed doing is done. This is no place to linger, and…"
He looked up again at the wreckage of the collapsed formation, where silent terror hung in the air and death cloaked the land. A cold chill crept into his heart.
Even he felt… he had killed too many this time.
An overwhelming sense of dread lingered above his head.
Mo Hua, with Yu'er on his back, continued walking away from the third-tier Yanluo Mountain toward the Qianxue border.
After a while, a faint whisper stirred. Mo Hua turned his head and saw Yu'er on his back slowly waking up.
"Mo… big brother?"
Yu'er's voice still carried a trace of fear.
"Mm." Mo Hua nodded, smiling gently.
Yu'er relaxed slightly and asked in a small voice, "Where are we now? What about those demons…"
"It's over," Mo Hua said softly while walking, gently comforting her. "We're safe now. The demons… are all dead."
"D-Dead…?"
Yu'er was stunned. Only then did she realize the world around her was completely silent, shrouded in gloom.
She turned her head—and saw the massive formation destroyed, the mountains shattered, a scene of utter desolation. Her mouth hung open in shock, eyes filled with disbelief.
"Mo big brother, this is…"
"They committed too much evil and met their own end. A kind-hearted brother passing by executed justice on Heaven's behalf and blew them all up."
"A… kind-hearted passing brother?"
"Mhm." Mo Hua nodded, then added, "An unknown kind-hearted brother."
Yu'er blinked at Mo Hua blankly, then also nodded.
"So…" Mo Hua looked at her, his gaze soft. "It's all over now. The nightmare is gone."
Yu'er's innocent eyes trembled slightly, damp like spring rain.
"I'll take you back to your mother," Mo Hua said gently.
Yu'er's nose tingled, and she rubbed her eyes, wiping away tears. "Mm…"
Mo Hua continued carrying Yu'er toward the Qianxue border.
Yu'er had originally wanted to walk on her own, but after leaving the formation, she found her consciousness foggy and limbs weak—she had no choice but to let Mo Hua carry her.
Mo Hua's back was slender, yet straight and gentle.
In Yu'er's eyes, it carried the majesty of supporting the heavens and the vastness of bearing the earth—worthy of admiration, and even more so, of trust.
...
Near the Qianxue Province border.
The young elites from the Four Sects, Eight Clans, and Twelve Streams had been waiting for Mo Hua.
But before they could even see him, they witnessed the collapse of the formation from afar—the mountains turning to ash, heaven and earth falling silent.
All of them were horrified, deeply shaken, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Only after a long while did they begin to recover from the shock.
Then, one of them realized something else.
"Where's Mo Hua?"
"Where's Mo Hua?"
"The grand array self-destructed, but where is Mo Hua?"
"Could he still be inside the array and didn't make it out?"
"Yanluo Mountain connects to the Qianxue Prefecture border—there's only one path. If he had escaped, we would have run into him."
"Or if he really did get out, the Dao Court Division would've notified us, and the Great Void Sect would've heard something too."
"But right now, we haven't seen Mo Hua, and there's no news of him, so he…"
Ye Zhiyuan's gaze became unfocused as he muttered, "Mo Hua couldn't have… died, right…"
"Nonsense!" a Great Void Sect disciple snapped angrily. "You're the one who's dead!"
"How could Senior Brother Mo possibly die?"
"You could die ten thousand times, and he still wouldn't die!"
Ye Zhiyuan wanted to argue back, but seeing the ferocity on the Great Void Sect disciples' faces, as if they were ready to tear him apart, he didn't dare make a sound.
Everyone else frowned, their expressions also grim.
The disciples of the Great Void Sect—Linghu Xiao, Cheng Mo, Situ Jian, Ouyang Xuan, Hao Xuan, Yang Qianjun, the Ouyang five brothers… though none of them would admit it aloud, all of their hearts felt unbearably heavy, as if they couldn't breathe.
Their Senior Brother Mo Hua was smart, righteous, loyal, wise and brave, with powerful spiritual sense, mastery of formations, agile movement techniques, and adept at stealth. No matter the situation, he always had a solution…
A senior brother like that couldn't possibly die!
But soon, they were forced to confront the truth: that was only their wishful thinking.
No matter how powerful Senior Brother Mo was, in the end, he was still just one person.
Just a Foundation Establishment stage disciple of a sect.
It wasn't as if he couldn't die.
Saying he wouldn't die was just self-deception.
Especially since he was in a vast, twisted, demonic formation, crawling with devils and filled with peril.
With his cultivation, simply surviving—resisting corruption by demonic forces—would already be a miracle.
But now, what terrified them most was that the entire demonic grand array had been destroyed by some mysterious expert with a heaven-shaking method.
A terrifying aura of destruction radiated from within and without the array. All living beings were turned to ash. How could their senior brother have survived?
"Could it be… Senior Brother…"
Every disciple of the Great Void Sect felt a jolt in their hearts, their souls trembling.
Linghu Xiao pursed his lips, frowning. "Let's… wait a bit longer."
"Mm." Situ Jian and the others nodded.
Even the prodigies from other sects stayed behind to wait for Mo Hua.
But they waited a long time—until the array had completely collapsed, until all living beings had turned to black ash, until the deathly aura pierced the skies—and still, there was no sign of Mo Hua.
"Senior Brother…"
The hearts of the Great Void Sect disciples grew colder by the second. Some even had reddened eyes, secretly wiping away tears.
"Mo Hua… did he really… die?"
Ao Zhan, Xiao Ruohan, and Shen Cangfeng from the Four Major Sects all stood there, dazed.
Among the Eight Great Sects, Song Jian of the Broken Gold Sect bit his lip hard, stricken with grief.
Qin Cangliu of the Water Dao Sect, Lu Zhenlong of the Purple Mist Sect, Ye Zhiyuan of the Great Luo Sect, Feng Zichen of the Carefree Sect, Shi Tiangang of the Vajra Sect… all these prodigies who had feuded with Mo Hua, now stood with complex expressions and dimmed eyes.
They'd once held grudges against him—some even hated him.
But they had also been saved by him, owed him kindness.
Now, after saving them, Mo Hua had gone back into the demonic array to rescue others—and died within.
So young, so talented… yet gave his life for others, dying in the heart of a demonic array…
This unexpected turn left all of them in sorrowful silence, hearts aching with a strange bitterness.
The dead are like extinguished lamps.
Once someone dies, all grievances fade away.
They even started remembering the good things about Mo Hua.
Some recalled how he had outshone the Four Sects to take first in array formations, how he had kept a low profile during the Sword Conference only to burst forth in brilliance, how he had taken command in the blood ritual formation to save them all… all his extraordinary feats—leaving them sighing in admiration.
Their scorn turned into respect. Their hatred, into regret.
Some even had reddened eyes and troubled expressions.
The atmosphere was solemn. Everyone was mourning Mo Hua—grieving for this dazzling prodigy, taken too soon.
Even heaven and earth seemed cloaked in sorrow.
And then, amidst that heavy, somber air, a familiar, clear, and slightly curious voice suddenly rang out from behind them:
"What are you all… doing here?"
Everyone jumped in shock and turned around—only to see Mo Hua, the one they'd been mourning, standing silently behind them at some point, a child slung on his back and a confused look on his face.
The air froze instantly.
The atmosphere suddenly froze.
A faint, chilly wind seemed to pass through the air.
"You…" Ye Zhiyuan gasped, "You… you're not dead?"
Mo Hua glanced at him. "You're the one who's dead."
He had left Yanluo Mountain and headed straight back toward the Great Void Sect. When he passed by this area and saw a large crowd in black from a distance, he didn't recognize them at first. Thinking it best to avoid trouble, he planned to skirt around them.
But as he got closer, he realized—they were all familiar faces.
Xiaoxiao, Cheng Mo, Situ… all his junior brothers were here.
Only then did Mo Hua come over to greet them.
However… everyone's emotions seemed a little off. Their eyes were red, and they looked… sorrowful?
Mo Hua looked puzzled. "Why are your eyes red? Did something sad happen?"
The geniuses from the Four Sects and Seven Clans instantly froze when they heard this. After an awkward pause, they became thoroughly ashamed and enraged.
This Mo Hua really was hateful!
Despicable and shameless to the core!
That innocent look on his face—he was obviously mocking them!
All that sorrow from earlier—it really was a waste!
In their humiliation and anger, not only were their eyes red, but their faces flushed as well.
The disciples of the Great Void Sect, on the other hand, were overjoyed.
Their Little Senior Brother had "returned from the dead," and their heavy hearts were instantly lifted. They broke into bright smiles, then began asking curiously:
"Little Senior Brother, where did you go just now?"
"Didn't I say already? I went to save someone…" Mo Hua patted Yu'er on the back, gesturing that he had brought the person back. "Told you not to worry about me and to return to the sect early."
"Oh…"
Only then did they remember that Little Senior Brother had said something like that.
And the child he saved—they all recognized him too. It was the one who always ate with Little Senior Brother in the dining hall, the boy named Yu'er.
"Little Senior Brother, you—"
Situ Jian was about to ask more, when he suddenly noticed that Mo Hua's forehead had darkened, his lips were pale, and his whole body was trembling slightly. His heart instantly seized.
"Little Senior Brother, what's wrong with you?!"
Mo Hua's expression changed—he too realized something was wrong.
Somewhere in the void, a ceaseless torrent of pitch-black, extremely vicious and baleful energy was descending from the horizon and surging into his heavenly gate. Countless vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts, drawn by the slaughter karma he had accumulated, were invading his fate.
Before his eyes, it was as if endless black phantoms were blotting out the sky.
In his ears, the endless dead of the Nine Hells seemed to roar and wail at him.
Vengeful souls turning to evil, ghosts claiming lives.
The cold of the Nine Hells seeped into his bones.
This was the karma of killing he had incurred—and he had to bear its consequences.
But he had killed too many. The weight of this sin was utterly overwhelming.
So heavy that even Mo Hua found it hard to breathe. His whole body turned cold, and even the breath he exhaled seemed to carry a bone-chilling wind from the underworld.
Mo Hua's expression twisted in agony.
He suddenly grabbed Situ Jian's arm, chest tight, breath shallow. Each word seemed to cost him all his strength, but he still gritted his teeth and said, word by word:
"Take me… and Yu'er… back to the Great Void Sect…"
With that, Mo Hua could no longer endure the boundless slaughter karma invading his fate. His divine sense dimmed, and he collapsed unconscious.
"Little Senior Brother!"
Situ Jian's face changed drastically, and the rest of the Great Void Sect disciples were thrown into panic.
The geniuses of the other sects looked at one another, stunned and alarmed.
Linghu Xiao quickly tried to check Mo Hua's arm, but the moment he touched it, he felt as if he had touched a block of thousand-year-old ice or dipped into the freezing waters of the Nine Hells. A violent and sinister chill poured into him, and even with that single touch, his whole body turned cold. In his ears, shrieking and wailing spirits screamed.
"This is…"
Linghu Xiao's face turned pale. When he looked back at Mo Hua, he saw that his forehead was now pitch black, his fair cheeks covered in creeping black lines, and the Yin aura so thick it seemed it could drip like water.
"Yin Qi turning to ice… Killing aura condensing into liquid…"
"What in the world… did Little Senior Brother do…"
The disciples of the Great Void Sect were all visibly shaken, their eyes filled with disbelief. Then, not daring to delay another second:
"Quick, back to the sect! We must summon Elder Xun!"
"We must save Little Senior Brother!"
...
(End of this Chapter)