Immortality Through Array Formations (The Quest for Immortality)

Chapter 970: Slaying Evil

"Leave?"

Mo Hua paused for a moment, then asked, "Can I take others with me?"

He still wanted to save Elder Xun and the others.

Huangshan-jun replied coolly, "I only share karma with you. I can save only you."

He was a god—by nature, gods are indifferent. Whether others lived or died was none of his concern.

Not to mention, in his current state, he no longer had the strength to save anyone else.

Mo Hua shook his head. "Then forget it."

Elder Xun and the rest had to be saved.

They had come to save him. He couldn't possibly abandon them and escape on his own, letting them die in his place.

Besides, once this nightmare realm was exited, there was a good chance it could never be entered again.

If the Evil Fetus remained buried deep within Lone Mountain, it would become a massive hidden threat. One day, if it reawakened, it could turn the entire city into a living hell.

Most importantly, Mo Hua wasn't willing to give up.

He had fought hard to get here, gone through countless troubles, sacrificed a huge amount of divine essence—and he still hadn't gotten his Azure Dragon Formation Diagram, nor even recovered enough essence to break through to Twenty Runes. Going back like this would be a complete loss.

If he truly couldn't win, that was one thing. But now that Huangshan-jun still retained some will, Mo Hua was beginning to form a new plan—and he had no intention of walking away without payback.

"That Evil Fetus beat me up for so long. If I don't settle this score, I'm no gentleman. As long as there's even a sliver of a chance, I won't let it go. I'm getting a piece of its flesh if it's the last thing I do!"

Huangshan-jun looked at him and sighed. "If you won't leave, so be it. But if you die here—don't blame me."

Mo Hua nodded, then after thinking for a moment, said suddenly, "Mountain Lord… I might have a way to save you."

"You? Save me?" Huangshan-jun's eyes narrowed.

"Mhm." Mo Hua nodded. "But we'll have to wait until the Evil Fetus is weaker—or you're stronger. If I can save you, and we fight together, we might just be able to kill that thing."

But Huangshan-jun shook his head. "You can't save me…"

"You don't know that until I try."

"You—"

Before Huangshan-jun could finish, red light surged once again across his face, black blood squirming like tendrils as it crawled toward his features. Evil thoughts surged violently.

"The Evil Fetus is awakening again… You're on your own."

His expression twisted with ferocity, and with a flash of vicious light in his eyes, his right hand manifested a long halberd and he charged straight at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua gritted his teeth, conjured the Flamefire Sword, and met the attack head-on once more.

Another round of brutal combat followed. The Evil Fetus's strength diminished again, and Huangshan-jun's will slowly surfaced.

Seeing this, Mo Hua shouted, "Mountain Lord! I'll attack from outside while you weaken it from within! Once it's weak enough—I can save you!"

Huangshan-jun's gaze trembled slightly.

Mo Hua didn't hesitate. He immediately manifested his Divine Thought Sword and charged again.

But this time, he didn't strike directly at the Evil Fetus. He struck the opposite side—using his sword of divine thought to slowly shred the black blood and rotting flesh that had parasitized Huangshan-jun.

"Transform divine thought into blades..."

Huangshan-jun's expression turned stunned.

His divine sense hadn't fully awakened earlier, so he hadn't seen clearly. Now he finally realized: this boy… was a disciple of the Great Void Sect!

And at such a young age, he had already begun learning the Sword of Divine Thought?

It reminded him of that great expert from the Great Void Sect who had once—slain him. Huangshan-jun's feelings were a bit complicated.

"Mountain Lord!" Mo Hua shouted again, "Start draining it from within!"

Snapping out of it, Huangshan-jun pushed away his memories, grudges, and karmic debts, and began to activate his divine sense—fighting to regain control of the Evil Fetus from the inside.

As expected, the Evil Fetus weakened again.

Its Demonic Armor was still sturdy, its killing intent still terrifying—but its movements slowed. At times it even contradicted itself, hands and feet acting out of sync.

It became like a puppet of flesh and blood—driven by instinct on one side, disrupted by Huangshan-jun on the other. Flaws and gaps began to appear everywhere.

Mo Hua's pressure eased instantly, his eyes lit up—and he switched from defense to offense. He unleashed every sword move Venerable Dugu had taught him back in the Forbidden Grounds of the back mountain.

The Five Elements Sword Formation spun rapidly, and the Divine Thought Sword danced in a seamless web of attacks.

Countless sword lights slashed across the Evil Fetus's body.

"Hack you to death, hack you to death...!"

An eye for an eye. Mo Hua vented all the frustration of being beaten earlier—directly onto the Evil Fetus.

Its injuries began to accumulate.

Even though each individual sword intent didn't do massive damage—drop by drop, they wore it down. The Evil Fetus's aura gradually weakened, its demonic armor began to dim.

At the same time, Huangshan-jun continued to unravel its core from within, suppressing its will.

The Evil Fetus, under attack from both inside and out, saw its evil aura wane and golden light begin to resurge. At last, the battle between divine and evil wills reached a tipping point.

The Evil Fetus's body was now split—half red and black, half golden.

Mo Hua seized the opportunity.

He raised both hands high, preparing to charge his sword strike.

Vast sword intent began to surge.

Huangshan-jun was startled.

The Evil Fetus, sensing danger, suddenly went berserk—roaring in frenzy.

Its howl was like the shriek of the dead—twisted, high-pitched, increasingly shrill, and tinged with a call from the Evil God itself.

Dark clouds gathered over the divine temple.

In the void above, a phantom altar appeared.

A Throne of the Evil God, forged from white bone, hovered overhead.

The Divine Authority Tree slowly bloomed. On its branches, karmic chains spread. Countless demons, monsters, and ghosts crawled down those chains, emerging from the void—bowing toward the Evil Fetus and baring fangs at its enemies.

They offered themselves to the Evil Fetus, protecting it.

A torrent of evil will surged back into the Evil Fetus's body.

Its aura began to rise again—bit by bit.

Countless demonic beings crawled down from the Divine Authority Tree and dropped into the divine hall, eyes locked hungrily on Mo Hua.

Seeing this, Huangshan-jun's expression turned bitter, and he muttered:

"The Divine Authority Tree… karmic transmission… The Evil God is fed by endless monsters. It… cannot be slain…"

But Mo Hua's eyes lit up.

"Mountain Lord—buy me some time!"

Huangshan-jun was stunned, unsure what Mo Hua intended.

Then he watched as Mo Hua leapt into the tidal wave of monsters—charging straight for the Divine Authority Tree.

Ordinary demons were no match for him.

The Evil Fetus had its hands full with Huangshan-jun.

Mo Hua's sword swept through the monsters, carving a path forward.

Any stray monsters that lunged at him were punched or kicked to death on the spot.

Like that, Mo Hua dove into the sea of monsters—one man, one sword—climbing ever higher.

He climbed all the way to the top of the Divine Authority Tree, and then—right in front of Huangshan-jun and the horde of demons—

he plopped his butt down onto the Evil God's Throne.

The divine hall fell silent for a moment.

Then— A tidal wave of shrieks erupted. Evil thoughts boiled like a tsunami.

Huangshan-jun stared, eyes wide with disbelief.

"This brat… actually sat on the Evil God's throne… Truly, what monstrous guts!"

The Evil Fetus was absolutely furious.

Mo Hua had seized its throne right in front of it—this was nothing short of a humiliating blasphemy!

The Evil Fetus let out a howl and literally split open in rage. Black blood sprayed everywhere, its flesh swelled and twisted, transforming into a grotesque demonic beast. It tried to charge forward and tear Mo Hua limb from limb.

Sensing danger, Huangshan-jun desperately seized control of one of the Evil Fetus's arms and manifested a golden halberd. With a ruthless thrust, he stabbed it straight into his own right leg—pinning the Evil Fetus to the ground.

The forward lunge came to a sudden halt, its divine body wrenched apart, and it kept screaming in furious madness at Mo Hua.

But Mo Hua didn't even flinch at the roars.

He sat solemnly on the Evil God's throne, trying to commune with the Divine Authority Tree, aiming to seize the Evil God's dominion.

But before he could complete the connection and grasp that authority, a flood of vengeful spirits and wraiths came surging toward him.

These wraiths—most of them were miners who had died horrible deaths in Lone Mountain.

They were under the control of the Evil Fetus—not free to act on their own will.

From afar, even more demonic creatures were rushing in to stop him.

Mo Hua released a surge of divine thought imbued with Dao insight, which stunned the spirits into hesitation. Then he looked at them and asked calmly:

"Don't you all… want to be free?"

Karma stirred in the unseen currents.

Among the ghosts were those who had devoured Shen Qingsheng's divine soul—their resentment had faded, and some clarity returned to their minds.

Half in fear, half in gratitude, they turned—and began to shield Mo Hua, blocking the other demons from reaching him.

Where there was one, a second followed.

More and more of the Lone Mountain ghosts turned their backs on the Evil Fetus and stood with Mo Hua.

They no longer wanted to be ghosts. They, too, sought release—from this endless nightmare of oppression and slavery.

The Lone Mountain ghosts formed a "wall of spirits", encircling Mo Hua at the center.

Outside, more and more monstrous demons crawled along the Divine Authority Tree toward him. These demons were all Evil-Spirits cultivated in various Evil God Temples across Qianxue Province.

Some had bull heads, some horse faces, some fish heads, others wolf bodies—many twisted together with human limbs. They were malformed, ugly, and endless like a tidal wave, crashing against the ghostly wall formed by the Lone Mountain spirits.

Most were blocked.

Those few that made it through were instantly incinerated by Mo Hua's array formations.

At last, Mo Hua had his chance.

He sat down in meditation, closing his eyes, and began a full communion with the Divine Authority Tree.

Since this wasn't his first time—and because he bore karmic ties to the Evil Fetus from the Dragon King Temple—the Divine Authority Tree didn't reject him. Instead, it accepted him as another "Evil Fetus."

The Divine Authority Tree granted him the Evil God's authority.

Mo Hua's thoughts… became the Evil God's will.

An ancient, wicked consciousness began to descend upon him. In that instant, seated on the throne of bones, with the Divine Authority Tree behind him and countless vengeful spirits kneeling before him—Mo Hua resembled a young, nascent Evil God, truly in control of dark dominion.

Thousands of spirits bowed.

Countless demons hesitated.

The Evil Fetus howled in fury.

For that moment—Mo Hua felt an overwhelming sense of domination. Before him, like storm clouds over the earth, the countless demon legions all seemed like his slaves.

If he gave just a single command—

These demons would lay siege to the lands of Qianxue Province in the name of the Evil God, slaughter all cultivators' divine thoughts, and plunge the entire province into a nightmare of massacre and madness.

The result? A blood-soaked wasteland.

And he—would be its only "True God."

The sensation was so intense that Mo Hua felt an uncontrollable urge to destroy everything, kill everything.

No human could resist that temptation.

But fortunately, Mo Hua wasn't entirely human.

His divine sense was part human, part divine, and part infused with the cold logic of the Heavenly Demon's Path of Ruthlessness.

At the critical moment, his divine and demonic natures suppressed his human craving for power, might, and slaughter.

His killing urge slowly cooled. His Dao heart cleared.

He remained seated on the throne of bones, commanding the Divine Authority Tree. Then, he ordered the demon army to retreat the way they came—and commanded the remaining demons to self-destruct.

Then, with a single thought, he cut off the connection between Lone Mountain's divine temple and the Divine Authority Tree—severing the source of power.

The karmic chains shattered.

The flood of demons was abruptly halted.

The wraiths and ghosts dispersed.

The temple's evil aura calmed.

The Evil Fetus… was cut off completely.

The phantom image of the Divine Authority Tree began to fade.

Having done all this, Mo Hua rose from the throne, looking down coldly at the Evil Fetus in the heart of the temple. His eyes glinted with killing intent.

"Now… you're dead meat."

The Evil Fetus let out a hideous shriek—but it was already too late.

Mo Hua clenched his palm—manifesting the Broken Gold Sword—and charged once more at the Evil Fetus.

Huangshan-jun fully unleashed his divine thought, controlling the Evil Fetus's own body.

To the Evil Fetus, this was now true hell: enemies outside, rebellion within.

And with the Divine Authority Tree now under Mo Hua's control, and the flow of demonic power cut off, the Evil Fetus was completely isolated.

What looked like a powerful entity was now just a hollow shell.

A brutal battle followed. Mo Hua, though covered in wounds, grew stronger with each strike. Huangshan-jun's golden light also shone brighter and brighter.

Finally—the Evil Fetus's balance of divine and evil power reached a critical point again.

On one side: red-black blood light.

On the other: brilliant golden radiance.

Each side claimed half its body.

Huangshan-jun wanted to break free—but their flesh was fused together. He couldn't separate himself, nor could he fully dominate the evil body. The two were locked in a stalemate.

At that moment, Mo Hua shouted:

"Mountain Lord! Let me help you!"

He pointed his fingers—and a golden array manifested, layer upon layer, binding both Huangshan-jun and the Evil Fetus together.

Then Mo Hua raised both hands above his head. His gaze sharpened. His entire aura shifted.

A vast, boundless sword intent began to surge between his hands.

Huangshan-jun's pupils shrank in shock.

A familiar feeling—deep in his divine soul—was awakening.

This was— The Great Void God-Slaying Sword?!

The final sword style of the Great Void Sect's Divine Thought Sword Transformation Technique?!"

Wasn't this a sword art that only the old cultivators of the Great Void Sect—those who had meditated on the sword for hundreds of years could even begin to comprehend?

And yet… this youngster had already learned it?!

Huangshan-jun was briefly in disbelief.

But soon, he noticed—Mo Hua's execution of this sword technique was not quite the same as the one that had once cut him down.

That sword back then had carried the ancient, pure Great Void Sword Intent, flowing like yin and yang, as vast and distant as a starry river.

But this one?

Way too complicated.

This sword strike… was a patchwork of seemingly chaotic elements.

There was array formation, sword intent, Five Elements, Great Void sword essence, and even a trace of something emotionless and ego-less—an eerie, profound Dao that even a deity like Huangshan-jun found strange and unfathomable…

"Could it be… the Heavenly Demon?"

Huangshan-jun was struck dumb with shock.

At this moment, with the Evil Fetus internally divided between good and evil, its mind lost, its body bound by arrays, and the endless demonic tide scattered—no one in the temple could stop Mo Hua from releasing this sword.

The powers of Broken Gold, Yin Water, Mountain-Cleaving, and Blazing Fire arrayed together, forged into one.

The ancient sword intent of the Great Void surged forward.

The Demonic Dao that cuts emotion, self, and all things honed the sword's edge.

A boundless killing intent condensed between Mo Hua's hands.

Even the already dead Evil Fetus felt a wave of fear.

"Slash!"

As the Dao laws aligned and the Great Void God-Slaying Sword fully took form, its radiance blazed brilliantly. Mo Hua's eyes sharpened as he growled softly—and struck with all his might.

The Five Elements rotated. Array and sword fused as one—the Great Void God-Slaying Sword soared with light like a river of stars pouring upside down from the heavens.

With a roar, it cleaved down.

A blinding sword light fell and struck dead center upon the Evil Fetus.

Under the terrifying sword Dao of divine thought—even a peak third-grade Evil Fetus could not withstand it. Its divine flesh began to crack and splinter.

Its skin, hard as armor, was ripped and shredded by wave after wave of sword qi.

The Great Void Sword Intent rolled on in endless tides.

If one sword slash couldn't cut it—then ten, a hundred, even a thousand followed.

And not just sword qi—the powers of Broken Gold, Yin Water, Blazing Fire, and the Five Elements continuously cycled.

Once a single opening was carved into the flesh—the Heavenly Demon Dao would slip in, and erase all vitality from within.

In the end, ten thousand sword lights bloomed.

The terrifying sword intent swept outward like a tsunami, making the entire temple tremble violently.

And when the shockwave of that earth-shattering sword intent spilled outside—Master Gu and the others' faces turned pale in horror.

Most shocked of all—was Xun Ziyou.

That familiar yet foreign, overwhelmingly powerful sword intent made his expression shift dramatically. He muttered in disbelief:

"Could this be… the Great Void Divine Thought Sword Technique?!"

"The one from the Great Void Sect—the divine sword art sealed for centuries, now forbidden?"

"Impossible…"

"Wasn't this sword art… already lost to the world?"

"Who could possibly be using it?!"

"It… can't be… Mo Hua, right?"

Xun Ziyou gasped sharply.

And in that moment, his entire body shivered.

(End of this Chapter)