Chapter 1049: Sudden Transformation

Human hearts harbor great desires.

The filth of great evil hatches from human desires, sprouting in the deepest depths of the mind-sea, merging utterly with the spirit, like poppies in bloom,

spreading endlessly, and under the divine protection of the Divine Lord, it slips unseen—even concealing itself from Void-Exploration cultivators.

Everything would have gone perfectly, had it not been for that little demon Mo Hua of the Grand Void Gate, who turned his divine intent into a sword and cleaved open the mind-sea—without him, these poisons of evil desire could never have leaked out and fallen into the eyes of these Ancestors.

"That damned brat deserves to be flayed alive!"

Elder Shen immediately gritted his teeth, "The secret's out—we can't wait any longer—"

His right hand, hidden in his sleeve, turned deathly pale, morphing into a demonic claw that snapped his own left arm, tearing tendons and skin, then pulling free a shard of white bone from the gushing flesh.

Elder Shen silently chanted a dark incantation.

A faint red glow flickered across the bone, as if activating ancient array patterns.

But in the next instant, a blade of light suddenly slashed through—severing Elder Shen's right arm, spraying blood, and halting his incantation mid-chant.

Elder Shen was violently backlashed, spitting blood as he turned to see Elder Shen of the Qiandao Sect, an Immortalization cultivator, pointing a sword at him.

Around them, Qiandao Sect's Array Elders had already set up an array, sealing off all directions.

Several other Immortalization Sword Elders of the Shen Clan also leveled their swords at Elder Shen, surrounding him completely.

Elder Shen said coldly, "I've thoroughly investigated the matter of Gushan—and found traces of you, 'Elder Shen,' hidden within."

"I've been ordered by the Ancestor to watch you. Don't make a single move—I may still spare your life for the Ancestor's interrogation."

"Make one wrong motion, and you'll be torn apart by ten thousand swords. Choose wisely."

Elder Shen grinned, blood in his mouth, his tongue writhing.

"You seek death!"

Elder Shen's gaze turned sharp—he thrust his sword forward. A flash of cold light pierced Elder Shen's tongue, emerging from the back of his skull; dark, sinister blood dripped from the blade's tip, corroding the stone beneath like poison.

Yet even then, Elder Shen's tongue continued to writhe, uttering obscure, ancient syllables.

Elder Shen's pupils shrank—he cried out:

"Join forces! Kill him utterly!"

The surrounding Qiandao Sect Elders no longer held back—blades, swords, and martial arts erupted, aiming to obliterate "Elder Shen" on the spot.

Blood-soaked, his tongue impaled by a longsword, Elder Shen smirked darkly, his tongue writhing as he spoke two words.

The words were indistinct, yet echoed eerily within every heart:

"Too late—"

The white bone from Elder Shen's left arm suddenly cracked open, blinding red light flaring—then the array patterns on it dissolved into the void, like a "key," connecting to the grand array.

A flash of blue light—and Elder Shen vanished.

All the killing techniques of the Qiandao Sect Elders struck empty air, failing to eliminate Elder Shen.

Elder Shen raged, but could do nothing.

Yet just as Elder Shen, using the Grade-Five array, was about to teleport away—

On the Sword-Observation Tower, the Shen Clan Ancestor's face turned icy. He tore the air with his bare hand—a sword qi merged into the void, reappearing above the Discourse Mountain, slicing through space itself and severing Elder Shen in half before he could fully vanish.

Elder Shen's teleportation was forcibly interrupted.

His body was split in two, then twisted, crushed, and mangled by the rupturing void—flesh and bone deformed into grotesque, unrecognizable lumps.

Yet even so, Elder Shen did not seem dead.

Both halves of his flesh still pulsed with life, writhing to rejoin and flee again.

In the Void-Exploration Hall, the one-eyed Ancestor immediately roared:

"Demon!"

He clenched his fist—the void trembled, and a massive bronze hand materialized around Elder Shen.

The one-eyed Ancestor crushed his hand—the void shattered, and within it, the two bloody masses that were Elder Shen were pulverized, bones and flesh shattered, even the sinister filth-blood evaporated under the void's force.

The Immortalization "Elder Shen" was truly annihilated—no bone, no drop of blood remained in the world.

Yet even after killing Elder Shen, the one-eyed Ancestor's expression did not ease.

He felt no triumph—only as if he had crushed a worm of rotting flesh.

And the instant Elder Shen's flesh was obliterated—

A deafening "hum" echoed across heaven and earth.

It was the Spirit Howl.

The piercing shriek born when a massive array consumes vast Spirit Stones, transforming them into a torrent of spiritual energy like a raging ocean wave.

It meant the Grade-Five Discourse Mountain Array had begun operating again.

And this Spirit Howl, like before, was immense, shattering the soul—proof the Grade-Five Discourse Mountain Array was operating at full power.

Light flared again in the sky, blotting out heaven and earth.

Vast void energies swirled overhead, awe-inspiring and terrifying.

But this light was different from before.

The array was active—but emitted not a single trace of killing intent.

The watching cultivators stared, bewildered, unsure what had happened.

Yet the Void-Exploration Ancestors turned pale, sensing disaster.

Previously, the array had activated to counter the Void-Exploration Phantoms and protect the Discourse Disciples—mainly that little monster Mo Hua of the Grand Void Gate.

It also shielded all observers on Discourse Mountain from the terrifying spiritual tides of Void-Exploration combat.

Though protecting Mo Hua angered these Ancestors, it was the array's normal function—they could not object.

But now, it was different.

No trigger condition existed—and yet the Grade-Five array had suddenly activated at full power. "Someone tampered with the Grade-Five Array?!"

"What is the purpose?"

Many Void-Opening elders turned to look at Master Xun.

Master Xun of the Grand Void Gate was one of the few fifth-rank Array Masters in Qianxue Province.

Master Xun furrowed his brows, staring at the array's glow on the horizon, sensing the flow of array patterns, reverse-engineering in his mind the structure of the array's core during operation—thus deducing that the law structure involved in the array's restart was neither attack, nor defense, nor protection of disciples, but—

Master Xun's heart trembled:

"Teleportation?!"

He immediately realized what was happening, a chill flooding his heart, and he shouted urgently:

"Quick! Notify the Elders of Lun Dao Mountain—forcefully seal the array's core, sever its spiritual energy supply!"

He could not interfere with the fifth-rank array of Lun Dao Mountain.

The purpose of this array was to protect the Lun Jian disciples and isolate all external interference.

These interferences, foremost among them, were the Void-Opening elders of each sect and each noble family.

After all, if a Void-Opening elder truly interfered with the competition, no one could stop him.

This also meant that the first threat this Lun Dao Mountain array was designed to guard against was precisely these Void-Opening elders present.

Everything within the array, they were forbidden to interfere with, and could not interfere with.

Therefore, forcibly sealing the core and cutting off the array—Master Xun could only leave it to the Elders of Lun Dao Mountain themselves; he could not intervene.

But such a matter was no trivial thing; Lun Dao Mountain could not make such a decision lightly.

And at this very moment, it was already too late.

The death of "Senior Shen" was the key, activating the array.

The array, according to plan, began full operation; waves of blue teleportation light began to flicker.

All disciples who had participated in the Blood Arena and been defeated and removed were reverse-teleported, re-entering the arena anew.

Within a desolate Blood Arena.

One by one, figures who had once "died" began to reappear.

Linghu Xiao, Ouyang Xuan, Cheng Mo, Sister Situ, the Tai E five brothers, Hao Xuan—

These Grand Void Gate disciples, as the blue light flickered, once again gathered around Mo Hua.

And beyond the Grand Void Gate, the Sida Sect, the Eight Gates, even some prodigies from the Twelve Streams, also flickered into view—

Shen Cangfeng, Ao Zheng, Xiao Ruohan, Shi Tiangang, Ye Zhiyuan, Qin Cangliu, Feng Zichen, Song Kui—

Looking out, densely packed, were all of Mo Hua's "enemies."

But now, they had not yet had time to "seek revenge" on Mo Hua; they merely stared at each other, bewildered, unable to understand why, after having been defeated and removed, they had been teleported back.

No one answered them.

Moreover, the teleportation continued.

The blue light flickered again, and the disciples gathered in the Blood Arena vanished one after another.

When they came to their senses, hearts still pounding, and looked around, they saw towering mountains and low clouds, mist swirling, as if standing atop the ultimate peak—

One hand reaching the sky, all other peaks small beneath them, floating as if immortal.

Soon, some disciples realized:

"Xuan Tian Peak!"

"Is this Xuan Tian Peak?!"

At the highest point of Lun Dao Mountain stood one peak and one tower.

The peak was Xuan Tian Peak; the tower was Guan Jian Tower.

Guan Jian Tower was the viewing place for ancestral elders of noble families, the direct lineage of Daozhou, and high-ranking court nobles—hidden among the clouds, invisible to ordinary people.

What the crowd could see as the highest point of Lun Dao Mountain was Xuan Tian Peak, towering into the clouds like a sword pointing at heaven.

And Xuan Tian Peak was also the battleground for the "Heaven" tier of the Lun Jian Assembly's final duel.

After winning the "Earth" tier battles, the prodigies from each sect would gather atop Xuan Tian Peak to face the strongest heavenly prodigies of Qianxue in a final duel to determine supremacy.

But now, these prodigies suddenly realized—every single one of them had been teleported onto Xuan Tian Peak.

"What happened?"

"What does this mean?"

The crowd was stunned, faces filled with confusion.

Yet even at this point, the teleportation had not ceased.

Above the fifth-rank array, an extremely blinding light erupted.

A sharper spiritual wail sounded.

Vast quantities of spiritual stones were instantly consumed, converted into spiritual energy to power the array.

Powerful spiritual fluctuations surged outward like a hurricane.

An oceanic blue light shot straight into the heavens, its vast radiance completely engulfing Xuan Tian Peak.

The operation of the fifth-rank Lun Dao Mountain array neared its absolute limit.

Then, before the incredulous eyes of countless cultivators, the towering, cloud-piercing Xuan Tian Peak was severed at its roots by spatial forces—and then directly—

Vanished.

The crowd was horrified.

The Void-Opening elders also reacted with great shock.

Xuan Tian Peak—was it teleported away?!

Before their very eyes, Xuan Tian Peak, standing for over ten thousand years in Qianxue Province, had been teleported away by the fifth-rank Lun Dao Mountain array?

And atop Xuan Tian Peak were hundreds of the very top disciples from the Four Sects and Eight Gates!

This is the true heart and marrow of the Geda Sects.

"Hurry!" cried a Void-Dwelling Ancestor in shock and fury, "Find out where Xuantian Peak was transported to!"

Transportation requires fifth-grade Void-Dwelling power.

The conditions for transportation are harsh, with extreme restrictions—especially for a massive peak like Xuantian. Even if moved, it could not be transported far, at most near the borders of the fifth-grade Qianxue Province.

One after another, Void-Dwelling Ancestors unleashed their spiritual senses.

Waves of astonishing Void-Dwelling power swept unchecked across the entire land of Qianxue Province.

Some Void-Dwelling Ancestors also took out their treasured artifacts—the Kuitian Mirror—to scan the entire province.

Soon, the Void-Dwelling Ancestors made a discovery.

"Southwest!"

"At the edge of third grade Yanluoshan!"

Yanluoshan was precisely the place where Mo Hua had once eradicated the Mo Sect.

Immediately, an Ancestor activated the Kuitian Mirror, directing its gaze toward the southwest—eight hundred li of swamps, thick with poisonous mists and miasma, where Yanluoshan lay. The scene spun and shifted.

Then all saw: on the Kuitian Mirror, Xuantian Peak stood solitary, piercing the clouds, situated at the edge of Qianxue Province, directly bordering third grade Yanluoshan.

This terrain sent a massive shock through the hearts of the Void-Dwelling Ancestors.

"This?!"

"Could it be…"

Before they could react, Xuantian Peak indeed—right before their eyes—toppled over.

With a tremendous "Boom—," the mountains and rivers twisted, dust and smoke filled the sky.

The towering Xuantian Peak, transported by the fifth-grade Ludao Mountain Array to the edge of the fifth-grade Qianxue Province, then collapsed directly from the fifth-grade province into the third-grade territory of Yanluoshan.

Thus, the entire Xuantian Peak became a "bridge," spanning the fifth-grade and third-grade provinces.

And due to heavenly laws, in the third-grade territory, these Ancestors dared not interfere rashly.

What a grand conspiracy! What a deep-laid scheme!

All the Ancestors felt a bone-deep chill.

And almost simultaneously, the shocking transformation of Xuantian Peak drew the attention of everyone—from the Ancestors down to ordinary battle-watching cultivators.

On the Shangguan family's viewing platform.

Wenren Wan was likewise stunned by this sight, looking up at the vanished Xuantian Peak, clutching Yu'er tightly in her arms.

In the next instant, a shadow flashed—a cultivator suddenly appeared beside Wenren Wan and pressed a jade pendant shaped like a "Ludao Jade" against Yu'er's forehead.

Then a blue light flashed, and Yu'er vanished outright.

Wenren Wan felt her arms suddenly empty—Yu'er was gone. Her face turned deathly pale, her heart pierced by knives.

She turned her head—and her beautiful eyes blazed with fury, her voice hoarse with hatred:

"Shangguan Wang—"

Shangguan Wang sneered.

This shocking turn also drew the attention of other Shangguan family elders. One elder cried out in shock and rage:

"Elder Wang, what are you doing?!"

Shangguan Wang sneered: "I am giving the Shangguan family's legitimate son a chance—a chance for this child to shed his mortal shell and ascend to godhood."

After saying this, he crushed a blood jade, and vanished himself.

Time was precious—there was only this tiny window of chaos caused by Xuantian Peak's transformation. Once Yu'er was transported, he had to leave immediately,

Not a moment's delay.

If he was delayed even slightly, and a Void-Dwelling Ancestor regained awareness and noticed him, he would never escape.

The surroundings instantly emptied.

In an instant, Yu'er vanished.

Shangguan Wang vanished too.

Wenren Wan did not even know where Shangguan Wang had sent her Yu'er.

What would become of Yu'er?

The scene from her nightmare surfaced again before Wenren Wan's eyes.

Yu'er's blood had drained, her organs hollowed out, her face drenched in blood, her skin deathly pale, her eyes hollow as they stared at her, asking her, this mother, why she could not protect her child. Boundless terror spread from her heart.

Wenren Wan felt a dagger slowly carving into her chest—pain so searing it tore her soul apart—

After the shock.

In a secret chamber somewhere in Qianxue Province.

Mr. Tu reemerged from a pool of flesh and blood, then donned his sacrificial robe. His figure grew gaunt and shadowy, like a demon that had shed its human skin, revealing its true form—long fingers, face as pale as death.

"Everything is prepared: the Divine Embryo, the Blood River, the Flesh City, the Blood Eye, the Bone Pivot—and the most supreme—

Offering—from Qianxue Province."

"Though rushed, there is no choice—"

"That damned little brat—if not for him—"

Mr. Tu's face twisted in rage, teeth gritted, then he suppressed his emotion and sighed slowly:

"Enough. I can wait no longer."

"Begin—"

Mr. Tu knelt on the ground, bowing his head to the earth: "Humble mortals, welcome the birth of the Lord of the Great Wasteland—."

His eyes bulged violently, bloodthirsty yet filled with devotion and madness.

"Great Wasteland Blood Sacrifice Array!"

"Open!"