Inside the grand hall, bones were piled high, human skin formed mounds, and fresh blood flowed like rivers.
As many as seventy to eighty individuals, all dressed in sinister robes with strange appearances—clearly evil formation masters—were busy at work.
Some were drawing formation diagrams, others were controlling formation hubs. Some were repairing formation patterns, others were rushing to fill out portions of the array. There were even some formation masters specifically tasked with mixing blood ink and refining bone-and-flesh formation mediums… and more.
These evil formation masters were like worker ants in a beehive, operating with practiced coordination, supporting the operation of the massive array while continually advancing the progress of this demonic formation.
Mo Hua watched, inwardly alarmed.
The fact that this demonic grand array required so many formation masters to build and maintain spoke volumes about its sheer scale.
Formation masters were notoriously difficult to train.
The ones before him were all clearly experienced and highly skilled—undeniable experts in the Dao of Arrays.
To secretly recruit and nurture this many elite evil formation masters couldn't have been achieved overnight.
It must have taken an incredible amount of time, effort, and sacrifice.
Moreover, the training of evil formation masters required vast amounts of killing.
Only through committing mass slaughter could they obtain the human blood, flesh, bones, skin, and hair needed as materials to practice their sinister formations.
Not to mention the mountains and seas of corpses and bone-blood currently stored here just to construct this grand formation.
This "Mister Tu" had grand ambitions, ruthless means, and an enormous trail of slaughter behind him.
Mo Hua's gaze turned cold, but he didn't act rashly. Instead, another thought crossed his mind:
"These evil formation masters are all second-grade. Where are the third-grade ones?"
Such a massive demonic array couldn't possibly lack third-grade formation masters.
Of course, fourth-grade ones were unlikely.
After all, this was the territory of a third-grade state, Yanluo Mountain Prefecture. The formation grade here wouldn't exceed third grade at most.
Having one fourth-grade formation master—this "Mister Tu"—was probably already pushing the limits.
Even third-grade formation masters were likely rare.
Constructing a third-grade grand array in a third-grade state was just too costly.
Let alone an evil formation—building a pure third-grade demonic grand array near Qianxue and under the noses of all the major sects and clans would require the slaughter of many Golden Core cultivators. That was simply impossible.
Golden Core breakthroughs were difficult; Golden Core cultivators were few, powerful, and hard to kill.
By contrast, Foundation Establishment cultivators were more common, and Qi Refining cultivators were as numerous as cattle.
Thus, based on Mo Hua's deduction, this grand evil formation probably only had a portion of its core made from third-grade components.
Outside of that, the majority of the array structure was likely filled in with second- and even first-grade patterns and formation hubs.
This aligned with what Elder Zheng had once said—the principle of "graded pattern compatibility."
Though righteous and evil arrays differ, many of their fundamental principles are the same.
By using "graded pattern compatibility," one could reduce costs and improve efficiency, lowering the threshold and difficulty of building the grand formation, thereby accelerating its completion.
This was the process of turning a theoretical formation diagram into a practical formation—through implementation.
Even evil formations were not exempt from this.
Clearly, this Mister Tu was also a highly accomplished main formation master of the evil path.
Mo Hua felt a sense of apprehension.
"Mister Tu… and the third-grade evil formation masters…"
Mo Hua's mind turned. He became even more cautious and began inspecting the formation hub hall, silently traversing one corridor after another along the stone walls.
Around him drifted crimson-colored malevolent spirits.
The corridors were lined with evil formation hubs surging with dark energy, and every three steps there was an alert formation, every five steps a killing formation—a deadly defense system.
To others, this would be a forbidden zone they couldn't even step into.
But to Mo Hua, it was as if he was a fish in water.
Like a ghost, he wandered unseen through the demonic formation hub hall, studying the environment and layout of the entire formation structure.
The hall was vast and intricately constructed.
After wandering for quite some time, Mo Hua found no trace of "Mister Tu."
However, he did discover another, far more secretive formation chamber.
Inside this chamber, a third-grade demonic array was drawn. Four third-grade evil formation masters, their aura even more sinister, were seated wearing white bone masks. They were using their divine sense to communicate with the formation hub and control the evil energy flows within the grand array.
In front of them sat several bone goblets.
Inside the cups, blood was steeped.
Within the blood floated a deformed, still-living eyeball—black and red—continuously rotating.
The four formation masters were fully focused on manipulating the formation hub.
But this process was extremely difficult and consumed vast amounts of divine sense. Before long, their faces turned pale, their eyes sunken, as though all vitality had been drained from them.
Just then, one of the drained formation masters removed his white bone mask, revealing a sinister, wicked face.
He walked to the table, picked up the blood wine steeped with the eyeball, and downed it in one gulp.
A flash of blood-red light passed across his face—his complexion improved immediately, and his divine sense seemed replenished in an instant.
Yet the madness in his eyes deepened, filled with fervent excitement and mania.
After that, the evil formation master donned his mask once again and returned to his focused communion with the formation hub, maintaining the operation of the grand array…
Mo Hua watched in stunned silence.
Evil formation masters truly lived up to their twisted reputation—everything they did carried a terrifying aura of corruption.
He couldn't even guess what kind of eye that was… or what that blood wine might taste like…
Mo Hua stared at the four for a while, assessing the situation, and decided they were not to be provoked for now.
But those second-grade formation masters in the hall…
Mo Hua's eyes flickered slightly, and a plan began to form in his mind.
Without a sound, he retraced his steps and returned through the formation corridors to the cave.
Inside the cave, the atmosphere was tense.
All the disciples from the Tai Xu Sect were anxiously waiting,
Afraid that something might have happened to Mo Hua.
Even the disciples from the other sects were now starting to worry about his safety.
Of course, they weren't concerned for Mo Hua personally—they were just afraid that without him, they wouldn't make it out of the formation alive.
Just as the atmosphere reached peak tension, a figure flashed in the void.
Mo Hua appeared.
Everyone breathed a silent sigh of relief.
Situ Jian immediately asked, "Senior Brother, how did it go?"
Situ Jian asked, "Senior Brother, how is it?"
Mo Hua nodded. "I've more or less figured out the situation…"
He took out a sheet of paper and drew a simple map, marking a route. "Inside here is the Formation Hub Passage. At the end of the passage is a great hall. Inside the hall, there are seventy to eighty evil formation masters, currently drawing evil formations…"
"I'll lead you in later," Mo Hua's eyes gleamed with a sharp edge, "All of you will strike together—slaughter all seventy or eighty of those evil formation masters!"
Everyone was stunned. "Slaughter all of them?"
Mo Hua nodded. "Kill them all—leave none alive!"
Mo Hua still remembered the teachings of "Mister Pi," who had already died in the Gushan Tomb:
"No matter what you're doing, in any group, it's best to have only one formation master."
"And that formation master should ideally be yourself."
Among the disciples of the Four Sects, Eight Schools, and Twelve Paths, there were indeed formation masters.
But those were ordinary disciples. They didn't understand true grand formations and posed no threat to him.
However, the evil formation masters under Master Tu were different—they could certainly become a hidden danger.
If those evil formation masters hadn't encountered him, that would've been the end of it.
But now that they had… well, their luck must have run out across eight lifetimes.
It would be best to kill them all. And if not all, then as many as possible.
The fewer evil formation masters there were, the smaller the threat to him.
Good and evil cannot coexist. Those of the same craft are rivals.
With those two karmic factors in place, these evil formation masters had only one road left—death.
"Strike silently. Be fast. Be ruthless. Kill with one blow," Mo Hua said coldly. "These evil formation masters are steeped in sin and help tyrants do evil. They must die."
"Whether we can kill them directly affects whether we can stop the evil grand formation—and whether we survive this at all."
Mo Hua's expression was grave.
Most of the prodigies, understanding the severity of the matter, nodded.
Only a few, long used to their pride, didn't think much of it.
Mo Hua also knew that people had different personalities—some needed to be stroked gently, while others needed to be rubbed the wrong way.
He said coldly:
"You are all top prodigies of major sects. Seventy or eighty evil formation masters—surely you can kill them all?"
"Don't make me look down on you."
That did it. All the prodigies focused their eyes, expressions turning serious.
No one wanted to lose face—and even more, no one could bear being looked down upon by Mo Hua.
They were already his "defeated opponents." If he looked down on them too, the humiliation would be unbearable.
"Good."
Mo Hua nodded, then took out the map and began planning, assigning positions.
Once preparations were complete, he entered the cave first and "cleansed" the evil spirits within again to ensure everything was secure.
Then, in the Formation Hub Passage, Mo Hua broke formation patterns, dissolved stone walls, and opened several hidden paths. He also set up sound-muffling and concealment formations nearby to cover their tracks.
Stealthy infiltration, probing reality, and then luring the "wolves" in—
Mo Hua was all too familiar with this kind of work. He'd done it countless times since childhood—he could do it with his eyes closed.
Finally, using his divine sense to control ink, Mo Hua quietly drew sound-isolating, spirit-blocking, even divine-sense-isolating "Spirit Mist Formations" outside the hall doors of the Formation Hub.
With that, the entire great hall was "cut off from the world."
The other four Golden Core–stage evil formation masters were also isolated outside.
For a short while, no one would know what had happened inside the hall.
With everything ready, Mo Hua gave the "order to slaughter."
Hundreds of prodigy disciples from the Four Sects, Eight Schools, and Twelve Paths followed the secret paths Mo Hua had laid and entered the Formation Hub Hall. Using concealment formations, they positioned themselves silently in all corners, sealing off the entire place.
Then, at Mo Hua's command—the slaughter began.
Around the hall, which had seemed utterly normal just a moment ago, figures of Dry Scholarly prodigies suddenly surged forth like descending divine soldiers.
What followed were top-tier elemental arts of water and fire, exquisite sword arts from the Four Sects and Eight Schools, plus all kinds of assassination spirit tools like Hundred-Flower Needles, Coin Darts, Throwing Knives, Sleeve Arrows, and Plum Blossom Spindles. There were also physical cultivators—like Vajra warriors, stone giants, fierce tigers, or azure dragons—charging with explosive force in hand-to-hand combat…
These disciples bore elite legacies.
And they were all top-tier prodigies of their sects. Each unleashed unique skills—diverse, brilliant, fearsome, and astonishingly powerful.
Protected by the Wild Heaven Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation, the evil formation masters inside the "secure and fortified" Formation Hub Hall were still busy constructing their evil formation—completely unaware that their core stronghold had been infiltrated, even though their outer defenses remained intact.
Caught completely off guard, evil formation masters were struck down one after another by magic, sword arts, or brute force—gutted by sword qi, burned by fire, punched through by iron fists—dying instantly and horribly.
Evil meets retribution.
These wicked formation masters, who had committed countless atrocities, now met their "karma."
Some formation masters, alert and quick-witted, immediately tried to self-harm—cutting fingers, biting tongues, gouging eyes, disemboweling themselves—hoping to activate life-saving evil formations by triggering blood and karma.
But none of their actions escaped Mo Hua's divine sense.
He pointed his fingers again and again, launching fireballs like a storm of fire to interrupt their movements.
Some evil formation masters, enraged, dared to look directly at Mo Hua.
But they didn't know—doing so was no different than courting death.
Mo Hua stood still. A flash of golden light crossed his eyes—and the "Seven-Soul Void Sword Prison" radiated from his gaze, shaking their souls and freezing them in terror.
In the chaos, the other sect prodigies seized the moment and slew the immobilized formation masters.
Some of the more skilled evil formation masters did manage to activate their formations through mysterious means.
Blood spread across the floor, summoning lines of white bone to form an array.
They grouped together, using the evil formation for cover, reorganizing their ranks to defend against the killing onslaught.
But in the next instant, spiritual ink of gold and fire began to spread across the floor.
In a flash, it formed a second-rank high-tier killing formation—the Gold-Light Earth-Fire Composite Formation—with greater range and power, completely enclosing the evil formation masters.
Then, the killing formation erupted.
Golden light shredded bone. Earth-fire burned blood.
The White Bone Evil Formation was destroyed.
These evil formation masters had never seen such divine-level mastery of both formation creation and destruction. They were terrified—
—and the slaughter blades of the Dry Scholarly prodigies struck once more…
…
Thus, under Mo Hua's command and control, a fierce yet secret slaughter targeting evil formation masters unfolded in the great hall.
Just like that, under Mo Hua's command and control, a brutal yet covert "slaughter" targeting the Evil Formation Masters unfolded within the grand hall.
It wasn't long before the battle came to an end.
The once blood-red Evil Formation Hall was now littered with corpses, blood flowing in streams, forming winding rivers.
However, this time, the blood that flowed was no longer that of innocent cultivators—but that of the Evil Formation Masters who had aided and abetted tyranny.
Nearly eighty Evil Formation Masters were completely slaughtered.
Mister Tu didn't know how long he had spent, how much scheming and effort he had poured into carefully cultivating such a large team of Evil Formation Masters—only for them to be so unluckily wiped out by Mo Hua, leading the Tianjiao (pride of the sect) from Dry Study Academy, in one fell swoop. Not a single one survived.
It was a clean, one-sided, crushing massacre.
It looked brutal, but in truth, the killing was effortless.
The group of Tianjiao from the Four Sects, Seven Clans, and Twelve Streams stood before the corpses of the exterminated evil array masters, dazed and stunned.
They understood clearly that these Evil Formation Masters—despite being cut down like vegetables—were by no means "weak."
On the contrary, as Evil Formation Masters, most were insidious and ruthless, each possessing strange and deadly techniques. If they had truly been allowed to act, the consequences would have been disastrous.
If Mo Hua hadn't scouted their strengths and weaknesses in advance, planned thoroughly, shielded them with formations, and coordinated with spells, even if they won the battle, many lives would have been lost—and the process would have been far messier...
But Mo Hua had calculated everything, prepared the formations, accounted for all variables. All they had to do was show up at the right time and place—and start killing.
Everything else required no attention.
If there was danger, Mo Hua would warn them.
If there was a sneak attack, Mo Hua would block it.
If there was a formation, Mo Hua would break it.
Even when they faced particularly tough enemies, Mo Hua only needed to look at them, and they could be slain.
It was truly as easy as eating or drinking.
The Tianjiao disciples were inwardly shocked:
So this is what it feels like to have Mo Hua as a teammate?
Compared to being his enemy, it was like night and day.
As for what happens when you're against Mo Hua...
They looked again at the scene before them—the corpses of Evil Formation Masters strewn across the floor, blood pouring out like rivers—and couldn't help but shiver inside.
This... might be what it looks like to oppose Mo Hua.
They died without even knowing how they died...
The Tianjiao of Dry Study Academy fell silent, a chill creeping through their limbs.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side, Mo Hua didn't register their thoughts—he was already skillfully coordinating the "cleanup":
"Don't let your guard down. After a chaotic fight, always remember to finish them off."
"Any corpses on the ground—don't leave a single one unchecked. Finish them with a spell or sword qi, make sure they're truly dead."
"Then collect all their storage bags."
"Don't let any formation diagrams or formation books slip by either."
"Some demonic cultivators use bones or teeth as storage devices. You need to check those too. If anything seems off, smash their teeth, break their bones…"
"You can even crack open their hearts—some people forge artifacts inside the heart…"
…
Mo Hua calmly explained, sharing his entire life's worth of "experience" without reservation.
The disciples from the various sects were stunned.
They silently stared at the delicate, fair-faced, picturesque Mo Hua, only feeling an even deeper chill rise within them.
Mo Hua frowned. "What are you staring for? Hurry up and get moving…"
They were inside a major evil formation. Time was tight. Who knew what unexpected events might happen next, or what terrifying cultivators they might encounter?
So why weren't they racing against the clock to loot? What were they just standing there for?
These disciples of the Four Sects, Seven Clans, and Twelve Streams—why didn't they seem even a little tense…
Mo Hua muttered inwardly.
While he spoke, the disciples from the Taixu Sect had already begun following his orders—finishing off the bodies, looting them, even prying out teeth, breaking bones, and cutting open chests to search for treasures…
After all, they were from the same sect as Mo Hua. Having spent so long under their senior brother's influence, they had picked up a thing or two.
The other sect disciples, after a brief pause, could only sigh helplessly before beginning to follow Mo Hua's orders, copying the Taixu Sect disciples and scavenging the bodies of the Evil Formation Masters.
During this process, sure enough—one of the Evil Formation Masters had been faking death.
He had likely used some kind of "turtle breath" technique, hiding among the corpses, masked by blood and qi, undetected by all.
But once the "finishing strike" was delivered, it was a different story.
This Evil Formation Master had a sword stabbed into his chest, nearly severing his heart meridian. Unable to bear the pain, he suddenly leapt up to retaliate—but was immediately trapped by one of Mo Hua's water prison spells and hacked to death by the other disciples.
From then on, the disciples from each sect were even more convinced by Mo Hua's words.
They began earnestly carrying out his "finishing strike" procedures, and systematically looting.
They even started "cross-checking."
Each Evil Formation Master corpse would receive finishing blows and a body search from at least three sects.
Under such thoroughness, it was almost impossible for anything—or anyone—to escape notice. Even formation treasures and diagrams were unlikely to be overlooked.
Before long, a large pile of "spoils of war" was laid out before Mo Hua.
There were spirit stones, demonic pills, evil tools, and corrupted formations.
There were also numerous jade slips, formation manuals, and formation diagrams—all related to evil formations.
Mo Hua nodded in satisfaction.
.
.
.
(END of this Chapter)