Chapter 1041: War Begins

The Gui Water Gate struck first against Lingxiao Gate; as the two sides neared each other, they launched a surprise attack with their treacherous Gui Water Sword Art.

They took several "lives" from Lingxiao Gate.

Such despicable conduct enraged Lingxiao Gate.

The two sides clashed in battle.

Seeing the tide turning against them, the Gui Water Gate withdrew.

Afterwards, the Duanjin Gate and the Gui Water Gate also struck covert blows against the other eight gates in succession.

Many sects suffered considerable losses.

The fragile balance was shattered; this minor dispute became a spark that ignited the flames of the Shura War.

People could not help but curse:

"Fuck, Duanjin Gate, you've no honor."

"Gui Water Gate, you're treacherous!"

But under the pressure of circumstances, they too were forced to begin striking covert blows against neighboring sects.

If others kill and you don't, you'll fall behind.

This is the Discussion Sword Assembly; fall behind, and your sect falls behind.

A sect falling behind affects the future and development of tens of thousands of fellow cultivators.

The situation grew chaotic.

Constant ambushes occurred; people kept dying.

Cultivators with foresight grew anxious.

If they didn't kill Mo Hua, let him keep "hiding," or let him buy time to prepare, the consequences would be truly unimaginable.

But once the warfire started, it spread rapidly.

Everyone was busy scheming and killing, seeking even a sliver of advantage for their own sect.

No one cared about the so-called "greater picture."

These disciples with "true insight," seeing this scene, could only lament bitterly and curse:

"These brats are unworthy of counsel!"

"Short-sighted and greedy—they've fallen for Mo Hua's trick!"

Even so, the chaos continued unabated.

Thus, without Mo Hua ever showing his face, the Shura War completed its second purge.

The vast majority of the Shierliu Sects were eliminated.

On the surface, the Shierliu Sects held equal status to the Eight Gates.

But the Shierliu were "specialized" Daoist sects, meaning their overall combat power was weak.

Thus, on the battlefield of the Discussion Sword Assembly—where real swords and spears clashed—the Shierliu held no advantage.

Their true battlefield was, in fact, the post-assembly debates in alchemy, artifacts, talismans, and arrays.

The Eight Gates' alliance was further streamlined.

Those lacking strength perished in mutual ambushes and crossfire.

Even the Si Sects saw a few of their disciples killed and eliminated.

Those still remaining now were either deeply cultivated, sharply alert, or exceptionally skilled—all relatively "core" disciples of their respective sects.

None of these people could kill each other without considerable effort.

Moreover, after some "traitors" stoked covert attacks, the Si Sects and Eight Gates now distrusted each other, living in constant fear.

Everyone grew hesitant to act lightly.

The situation simmered with hidden currents, yet overt conflicts eased.

As time passed, the mist within the Shura Arena gradually thinned; mountains and rivers emerged, terrain becoming clear.

A firework suddenly streaked across the sky.

It was the prearranged signal.

Every heart trembled.

"Found him!"

"That traitor Mo Hua!"

Disciples of the Si Sects and Eight Gates exchanged glances; though moments before they had been fighting to the death, now they acted as if nothing had happened, shouting together:

"Mo Hua must die!"

The oath of the Tumo Alliance spread by word of mouth among them:

"Exterminate Mo Hua to uphold the Dao—Mo Hua must die!"

Hatred toward Mo Hua "united" the sect prodigies, who had previously held divergent intentions.

Disciples of the Si Sects and Eight Gates halted their infighting, burying their grievances deep within, then activated their cultivation techniques, sending forth streams of spiritual energy light toward the firework's location.

Within the Shura Arena, teleportation lights grew dense, converging on a single point.

It bore the grand, imposing air of the Si Sects and Eight Gates gathering all their heroes to crush the ultimate evil, Mo Hua.

When they arrived at the firework's location, they saw a sheer cliff face, rising a thousand ren, flanked by dense forests, empty and silent.

Two squads of Wanzhen Gate disciples were nearby.

One Wanzhen Gate disciple pointed at the cliff and said:

"There are traces of a formation here."

"The outer layer is an illusion formation; the inner layer is a concealment formation—both are extremely rare second-rank high-grade formations."

Wanzhen Gate is a Shierliu sect founded on formations.

Its array heritage is unique in its own right.

Its disciples all possess considerable proficiency in arrays.

These array traces were detected only after the mist thinned, relying on partial array perception and a bit of luck.

These arrays are highly sophisticated.

Throughout this entire Sword Discussion Assembly, only Mo Hua possesses such mastery and methods.

"Good, you've worked hard."

Qin Cangliu nodded, then raised his sword and slew the Wan Zhen Men disciple who had spoken.

The other eight sect disciples, seeing this, also moved to kill all remaining Wan Zhen Men disciples.

Wan Zhen Men is a Shierliu Sect.

The reason Wan Zhen Men's disciples have survived until now is because they needed these array masters to help locate traces of Mo Hua, the array prodigy.

Now that Mo Hua's traces have been found.

Wan Zhen Men's disciples are no longer useful.

As for breaking the array—

Though Wan Zhen Men's disciples are array masters by training, they clearly cannot be compared to Mo Hua, the prodigy.

They cannot unravel Mo Hua's arrays.

If they cannot unravel the array, they can only launch a direct assault.

Thus, these Wan Zhen Men disciples serve no purpose.

Wan Zhen Men's disciples were all array masters, heads buried in array research, their minds simple, still basking in the pride of having found Mo Hua's traces—when suddenly, blades turned against them, and each one was slaughtered.

Outside the arena, Wan Zhen Men's elders erupted in furious curses:

"The Si Sect and Ba Men are all Wang Ba!"

"Fuck you, kill the ox after it's ground the grain!"

"You treat Wan Zhen Men like a donkey—

"To treat array masters this way, to disrespect the Dao of Arrays, you will surely face retribution!"

But they could only curse—powerless to act.

Wan Zhen Men was thus eliminated.

The list of survivors in the Xiu Luo Sword Discussion was clear to everyone present.

Each sect knew which disciples were competing, who had been killed, who had withdrawn—each had their own internal tally.

After all, the Sword Discussion rankings are determined by the "list of survivors."

If you kill, kill clean.

To ensure not a single disciple is left behind.

Not the tiniest bit of negligence allowed.

After two rounds of clearing the field, plus the slaughter of Wan Zhen Men—

At this point, the only ones still standing, qualified to continue competing, were all disciples of the Sida Sect and Ba Men.

At this moment, all surviving Sword Discussion disciples from the Si Sect and Qi Men gathered before the mountain wall, separated by the array, facing off against Mo Hua and Tai Xu Men.

The Xiu Luo battlefield is too vast, and Mo Hua's array techniques are concealed, making them hard to detect.

But once detected, the array's principles are not difficult to discern.

"Outer illusion array, combined with the Xiu Luo battlefield's mist, confuses vision—"

"Inside the illusion array, concealment arrays mask their qi—"

"No wonder it's Mo Hua—he's always fond of such treacherous tricks."

Someone sneered, "While we fight to the death outside, Tai Xu Men has a brilliant plan—hiding here, waiting to reap the benefits of others' bloodshed."

"Enough talk—first destroy Tai Xu, then kill Mo Hua—"

"Destroy Tai Xu, kill Mo Hua—"

Everyone echoed their agreement, but not a single person actually made a move.

Though they mocked and belittled Mo Hua verbally, none dared truly disregard him.

Especially some who shouted loudest, yet deep inside had been scarred by Mo Hua's schemes.

Mo Hua had set up an array ahead.

Even if it were only an illusion array and a concealment array, it instilled deep wariness.

If they launched a direct assault, they feared falling into Mo Hua's trap, being ambushed.

Moreover, just moments ago they had been secretly attacking one another; though temporarily "allied" because of Mo Hua, their trust remained fragile.

They feared that while attacking Mo Hua, their "allies" would strike from behind, stab them in the back.

The atmosphere remained frozen, with no progress made.

Finally, Ao Zheng and Shen Cangfeng of the Sida Sect stepped forward.

Shen Cangfeng, in his battle with Mo Hua, drew his sword but died before it could strike.

Ao Zheng, in his battle with Mo Hua, was fooled into becoming a "fool."

Both longed to kill Mo Hua more than anything.

"Let us make three agreements."

"Before destroying Tai Xu and killing Mo Hua, none of us shall kill one another."

"If any sect violates this pact and betrays the alliance, all other sects shall unite and annihilate it first."

"Once Tai Xu is destroyed and Mo Hua is killed, this pact is automatically void."

"Then we resume the Sword Discussion to determine supremacy."

This agreement carries great weight.

But precisely because of that, it brings comfort.

"This is excellent."

"Agreed—."

"Unite as one, first kill Mo Hua!"

Among the crowd, emotions ran high.

In Song Jian's heart, however, there was a hint of regret.

Under these circumstances, with everyone united, he could no longer carry out any subtle maneuvers.

As for Mo Hua, he can only pray for his own fortune.

Song Jian drew his Broken Gold Sword, blended into the crowd, and shouted with equal fury:

"Mo Hua deserves to die—first kill Mo Hua!"

All present were Jieshige Sect prodigies, each with remarkable cultivation and strength; with a shared goal, their actions naturally grew far more ruthless.

Ao Feng punched, collapsing the stone wall.

Shen Cangfeng slashed with his sword, shattering the mountain rocks.

Besides the four prodigies—Shen Lin, Shu, Si, and the others—all other Qitage Sect elites also struck out, directly destroying half the stone wall.

With the stone wall destroyed, the formation's foundation vanished.

The illusionary formation shattered accordingly.

The hidden formation within also began to fail.

Before everyone's eyes, the mountain rocks flickered and shifted, then the illusions shattered, revealing the hidden entrance to a valley.

The entrance resembled a slit of sky—extremely narrow.

On both sides, towering stone walls allowed only one person to pass at a time.

Above the entrance, dense layers of second-rank high-grade formations stretched endlessly, stretching beyond sight.

All who saw it turned pale:

"This Mo Hua really knows how to pick a place—he's laid down so many formations."

"Is this a sword debate… or a formation contest—"

Shen Cangfeng said: "Each sect sends a team: body cultivators in front, sword cultivators in the center, spirit cultivators in the rear—take turns breaking the formations."

"Once we break the formations, we charge in together."

"Agreed!"

Shen Cangfeng led the charge, stepping forward, his sword charging power as he slashed at the formations above the slit of sky.

Then the Sida Sect and seven gates also struck—

Suddenly, a great boom erupted.

Outside the arena, the watching cultivators, who had been observing the entire scene through the Fangtian Huaying, all exhaled in relief.

"Finally found it."

"I thought his illusion and hidden formations might hold out a bit longer."

"Bad luck."

"Wanzhen Men isn't made of straw."

"Now this Blood Arena has turned into a siege."

"The Sida Sect plus seven of the Eight Gates attacking together—this is an enormous display."

"Mo Hua's formations won't hold much longer—Taixu Men can't hold it."

"Once the valley falls, Taixu Men will likely face a massacre—"

"So tragic—."

All within Taixu Men, including Zhang Lan and every cultivator who cared for Mo Hua or Taixu Men, felt as if a massive boulder pressed on their chests, making it hard to breathe.

In the Guanjian Tower, the abbots of Sanshan all stared unblinkingly at the Fangtian Huaying, not even sipping their tea.

And within the Sword Debate Arena.

The formations Mo Hua had laid were being broken, one after another.

The disciples of the Sida Sect and seven gates were slowly pushing deeper into the slit of sky.

Inside the slit of sky.

All Taixu Men disciples stood ready in battle formation.

Mo Hua's expression was grave, his mind calculating the situation.

The current situation still fell within his plan.

The greatest weakness of Taixu Men in this Blood Arena was their small numbers.

Therefore, they must find every possible way to eliminate some "foot soldiers" first.

In true chaos, these "foot soldiers" posed a great threat to Taixu Men's numerical disadvantage.

Thus, avoid battle when possible, sow discord when possible—use the rival sects' conflicting interests to make them purge themselves first.

Of course, such small tricks are not a lasting solution.

Taixu Men cannot hide forever.

The true final battle will inevitably come.

Taixu Men will face the full-scale encirclement of nearly all the prodigies from the Sida Sect and the Eight Gates.

No sect can survive such an encirclement.

And Taixu Men will become the first "sacrifice" among the Eight Gates in this Blood Arena.

In an atmosphere of grim solemnity and tension.

Mo Hua said nothing, but closed his eyes and entered meditation, cultivating his spirit and calming his mind.

He had already expended much of his spiritual awareness in drawing the array, so now he must seize the opportunity to recover quickly.

Spiritual awareness is the array.

And spiritual awareness is the only lifeline.

Outside, the booming sounds continued, with sword qi, magical spells, and blood qi churning violently.

After a period of time, under the combined assault of the Si Sect's seven gates' prodigies, the outer array of Yixiantian was finally breached.

Disciples from various sects gradually closed in on the entrance of Yixiantian.

The pressure on the defensive array intensified, drawing ever closer to collapse.

Finally, as a slash of sword qi flashed through, cracks appeared in the array at the entrance.

The defense of Yixiantian was utterly shattered.

The disciples of each sect, seeing this, brightened in expression.

"Charge!"

"Kill!"

A disciple of Daluo Sect was the first to break through Yixiantian and step into the valley where Grand Void Gate dwelled.

But he had barely entered the valley, his feet not yet steady.

Five colossal swords came crashing down upon him, their overwhelming force instantly draining his Dao Jade's health to zero.

A flash of blue light—and the Daluo Sect disciple was gone.

The disciples behind him froze in shock, then instantly saw five towering giants emerge at the valley mouth.

These five giants were massive and muscular, their blood qi thick and potent, clad in heavy armor, wielding colossal swords, their gazes fierce and faces stern, like five mountain gods carved from the same mold.

At this moment, their bodies, like small mountains, completely blocked the entrance.

And the colossal swords in their hands, like "knives," were cold and cruel—anyone who dared enter would be hacked to pieces.

As the swords swung, not long after, another disciple of Duanjin Sect, another of Lingxiao Sect, and another of Daluo Sect were all brutally chopped to death.

The five men holding the pass held a force no ten thousand men could break.