Chapter 1051: The Heavenly Character Escape

Heavenly prodigies fell into corruption, killing each other until their Dao hearts shattered completely, becoming vessels for demonic forces.

The situation was far more dire than Mo Hua had imagined.

"Find the others as soon as possible," Mo Hua said grimly.

Others might not matter, but his fellow junior disciples who trained and fought beside him daily—he couldn't abandon them.

If they didn't find them quickly, once the demonic array continued to operate and the blood mist spread further, none of them would escape—they would inevitably have demonic thoughts invade their minds, plunging them into bloody slaughter, either killing others or being killed; in the worst case, their brains would be devoured by malevolent entities, turning them into puppets of demonic will, soulless flesh, walking corpses—the consequences were unthinkable.

Sister Situ and the others, aware of the gravity, nodded solemnly.

Without hesitation, Mo Hua released his spiritual sense, sensing his surroundings, pinching a copper coin between his fingers, silently calculating karmic threads to locate the other disciples of the Grand Void Gate.

After a moment, Mo Hua's eyes darkened slightly and he said, "Follow me."

He then activated his body technique, leaving a trail of watery light as he shot straight into a treacherous, withered forest.

The others, seeing this, also activated their body techniques and followed.

Inside the withered forest, the blood mist grew thicker, the miasma deeper; thorns coated in blood writhed like bloodthirsty snakes and insects.

And within the trees, more blood-colored maggots drifted.

Mo Hua's gaze sharpened; he turned and warned, "Follow right behind me—don't take a single step wrong."

"Yes!"

The others nodded; they couldn't see the blood-colored malevolent entities before them, but seeing their junior brother's solemn expression, they knew something strange lay ahead.

Their junior brother's instructions carried deep meaning.

At a time like this, they must follow his orders precisely, without the slightest deviation.

This was the experience and summary they had accumulated over years as disciples of the Grand Void Gate.

Mo Hua nodded, then continued leading the way, guiding them to avoid these blood-colored malevolent entities as they pressed forward.

Mo Hua had now learned the method of severing the spirit and exiting the body.

He could have slain all these blood-colored malevolent entities with a single sword strike.

But the withered forest was filled with drifting malevolence everywhere—killing them was pointless, a waste of mental energy.

Moreover, they were inside a demonic array; who knew what other horrors awaited them later? They must conserve their strength in advance.

In the withered forest, blood-colored maggots floated in the air, wriggling their sharp mouthparts; whenever a cultivator drew near, they would silently cling to the cultivator's forehead, burrow into their spiritual sea, and feast.

But with Mo Hua leading, the Grand Void Gate disciples successfully avoided these malevolent entities.

After walking further, passing through another stretch of withered forest, Mo Hua suddenly said, "Watch out."

No sooner had he spoken than a shadow lunged from among the rustling trees.

Cheng Mo, who had been on edge the entire way, startled violently and immediately unleashed his full power, swinging his Mountain-Cleaving Axe upward—when he heard Mo Hua say:

"Don't kill."

Cheng Mo sharply retracted his force, veering the axe's edge away from vital points, striking only the man's back and knocking him to the ground.

Then Sister Situ and the others pinned him down; when they looked closely, their faces changed instantly:

"Ouyang Xuan!"

Ouyang Xuan, pinned to the ground by Cheng Mo, was half-man, half-ghost, continuously screaming and struggling.

His Grand Void Gate robe was stained with mud and blood, filthy—none of them had recognized him at first.

Seeing him like this, the Grand Void Gate disciples' hearts turned cold; they all turned to look at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua's expression was grave; he studied Ouyang Xuan for a moment, then sighed slowly:

"His brain hasn't been eaten yet—thankfully—"

The others all exhaled in relief.

But Ouyang Xuan continued struggling uncontrollably—neither killing nor sparing him was acceptable.

"Hold his head still, make him look at me," Mo Hua said.

Cheng Mo and Sister Situ seized Ouyang Xuan's head and turned it toward Mo Hua.

Ouyang Xuan's eyes were blood-red; within his pupils, blood-colored foreign substances drifted, glaring hatefully at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua's eyes grew deep; a flash of Jin Guang appeared, and a thread of spiritual intent transformed into a faint blade of light, piercing into Ouyang Xuan's eyes.

Ouyang Xuan, who had been thrashing and screaming like a demon, shuddered violently, then slowly closed his eyes and fainted.

Mo Hua sighed softly.

This method might have been crude, but there was no time for delicacy now.

"Take him with us—we'll find the others," Mo Hua ordered.

Ouyang Xuan wasn't weak; if he was in this state, the others' conditions were surely no better.

Time was critical—they had to race against every second.

Thereafter, Mo Hua once again released his spiritual sense, using the karmic calculation method to seek out qi signatures and locate the other Grand Void Gate disciples.

Along the way, demonic scenes emerged endlessly.

There were fleshly demons hanging upside down from trees, waiting to devour people.

Thorns by the roadside, saturated with human blood, were shedding their skins.

Disciples afflicted by malevolent entities, having lost their sanity, fought desperately.

Scattered, terrified, even despairing sect disciples hid in every corner.

And there was a larger one—a grotesque, monstrous entity stitched together from human and demonic limbs, floating in the sky, its enormous, ugly vertical pupil staring at everything within the withered forest, as if hunting.

This great malevolent entity radiated powerful demonic intent, blocking Mo Hua's path.

Its huge, deformed eyes spotted Mo Hua.

Mo Hua also looked up, silently gazing at it.

Time seemed to freeze.

Moments later, the Great Evil silently averted its gaze, pretending not to see Mo Hua, its body trembling as it slowly drifted toward another direction.

Its movements were light, slow, and polite, daring not to block Mo Hua's path.

Seeing it was sensible, Mo Hua ignored it entirely, continuing along the karmic trail, through the monstrous array, the withered forest of blood tickets, and the bloody battles, pulling out his nearly twenty junior brothers one by one.

Some among them were unharmed, merely trapped in small valleys, too afraid to venture out.

Others had been mildly infected by Evil.

Some had encountered disciples from other sects, fought them, awakened their killing lust, and suffered damage to their Dao hearts, giving rise to a faint murderous thought.

Others, like Ouyang Xuan, were heavily infected, their sanity teetering on the edge of collapse.

Subduing these individuals took considerable effort.

Among them, the most troublesome were the Five Brothers of Tai'ashan: Ouyang Fu, Lu, Shou, Xi, and Cai.

When Mo Hua found them, the five brothers were "killing each other."

Ouyang Fu and Ouyang Lu, infected by Evil, had bloodshot eyes and could not suppress their killing urges, turning their blades against their own brothers.

The other three brothers, to restrain their two elder brothers, had no choice but to fight back.

As the battle raged, all five brothers were infected by the blood mist of the great array, their killing nature deepening until they left no mercy whatsoever, ultimately descending into true fratricide—five massive swords slashing into a bloody, cruel tangle.

When Mo Hua found them, this was the scene before him.

"Stop!"

Mo Hua's gaze hardened; his sharp, ear-splitting shout pierced their eardrums, jolting all five into momentary clarity.

Ouyang Shou, Ouyang Xi, and Ouyang Cai immediately snapped back to their senses and ceased fighting.

Ouyang Fu and Ouyang Lu, deeply possessed, still could not stop their killing intent and kept slashing.

Cheng Mo and the others rushed forward to block them, but could not stop them.

Amid the chaotic struggle, Mo Hua's eyes glowed golden; a commanding gaze swept over them, piercing into their pupils.

The two giants shuddered violently, their minds clouding, then collapsed heavily to the ground.

With just one glance, he subdued the two strongest of the Tai'ashan Five Brothers.

Cheng Mo and the other disciples, though unaware of what Mo Hua had done, all stared in awe, regarding their junior brother as nothing short of a divine being.

"Take them with you. Follow me," Mo Hua said.

"Yes, Junior Brother Mo."

Ouyang Shou and Ouyang Xi lifted their two elder brothers and, along with the other disciples, followed behind Mo Hua.

Mo Hua swept his spiritual sense across the terrain, finally locating a cave within the withered forest.

The group entered the cave.

Mo Hua pointed with two fingers; the spiritual ink spontaneously slithered across the ground, forming an array that sealed the cave entrance.

"Those untouched by possession, stand behind me."

"Those mildly possessed or with stirring killing intent, stand to my left."

"Those heavily infected and unconscious, lie on the ground to my right."

Mo Hua sorted them by degree of possession, then took out an incense burner, lit a sandalwood incense stick, and told the mildly possessed Yang Qianjun, Ouyang Shou, Ouyang Xi, and Ouyang Cai:

"Sit in place, meditate, guard your heart, discard distractions, visualize a clear mirror without dust, your mind like still water."

"If your Dao heart falters or evil thoughts arise, tell me immediately—"

"Yes, Junior Brother Mo."

Yang Qianjun and the three Ouyang brothers nodded, then, with the others, began meditating as Mo Hua instructed, restraining themselves and guarding their hearts.

Then Mo Hua turned to the three most severely possessed: Ouyang Xuan, Ouyang Fu, and Ouyang Lu.

Their condition was more difficult.

He could not enter their spirit seas.

The Sword of Severing Souls was too powerful.

If he used his spiritual essence to form a blade and forcibly cut out the Evil, he would erase their own spiritual essence along with it.

After consideration, Mo Hua decided to use poison to counter poison, to devour demon with demon.

He took out a broken white-bone sword and whispered:

"Bone Blade, go into their spirit seas and eat the Evil."

"Only eat the Evil—not a single bite of anything else, or I'll feed you to the dogs."

After giving his orders, Mo Hua placed the white-bone sword upon Ouyang Xuan's forehead, at the Tianmen point connected to his spirit sea.

A faintly sinister red glow emerged.

Then Bone Blade plunged into Ouyang Xuan's spirit sea and, following the orders of this "Little Ancestor," devoured the crimson Evil completely.

The Evil was not tasty.

Bone Blade longed to devour another mouthful of the cultivator's spiritual essence—that was its true nature as an Evil.

But it dared not.

If it dared take even one more bite, the Little Ancestor outside had a million ways to kill this tiny Sword Demon.

It knew better than anyone how cruel and terrifying that Little Ancestor was.

His words were absolute law; Bone Blade dared not defy even a single syllable.

"Fine. They're Ouyang family disciples. Though I can no longer be human, I might as well do one good deed—"

At the thought of "Ouyang," Bone Blade's gaze dimmed slightly; after devouring the Evil, it checked again, confirmed no residue remained, then withdrew from Ouyang Xuan's spirit sea.

Mo Hua repeated the method, ordering Bone Blade to devour the Evil tickets from Ouyang Fu and Ouyang Lu's spirit seas as well.

After it finished, Mo Hua personally inspected them, confirming Bone Blade had truly followed his instructions and worked obediently,

then nodded.

The problem with Ouyang Xuan and the other two was resolved.

Mo Hua checked on Yang Qianjun and the others, and found their inner malevolent thoughts had also diminished considerably.

The rest of them were also unharmed.

"Everyone is here, and all are alive—"

Only then did Mo Hua finally exhale in relief, and at the same time felt a surge of gratitude.

Fortunately, he knew a bit of Heavenly Mechanism and Cause-and-Effect arts, able to track familiar qi signatures; otherwise, in the Evil Dao formation, amid swirling blood mist and rampant evil qi, he could never have found Ouyang Xuan and the others in such a short time.

If there had been even a little more delay, what shape his junior brothers would have ended up in was truly uncertain.

Mo Hua silently murmured:

"Heavenly Mechanism and Cause-and-Effect—truly a wonderful thing. If I get the chance later, I must seek out some Cause-and-Effect Dao teachings and study them thoroughly."

"Whether saving lives or taking them, it should prove immensely useful."

But that was a matter for later.

Right now, after rescuing all his fellow sect members, Mo Hua faced another problem:

What should he do next?

Mo Hua fell into quiet thought.

From what he had seen and heard along the way, he now understood roughly.

Everything before him had been meticulously planned by Mr. Tu, or rather, the Evil God.

Including the earlier Blood Arena.

Using the Blood Arena to force the disciples of the Si Sect, Eight Gates, and Twelve Streams to slaughter one another first, stirring up mutual hatred and murderous intent.

Then, activating the Evil Dao formation, forcing these disciples into a sealed evil array for a real massacre.

Murderous thoughts, hatred, pain, regret, despair—all would ferment within the formation.

In the end, those who survived would inevitably have bloodstained hands from killing fellow Daoists, even their own sect brothers, their hearts shattered by agony and remorse, their Dao hearts completely broken; combined with peerless spiritual roots and talent, they would make perfect "containers" for evil thoughts.

Though Mo Hua was not the Evil God and did not fully understand the specifics, by experience alone, he could instantly conceive a dozen ways to use these "corrupted" prodigies as vessels, refining them into evil Dao power for his own use.

Whether as enforcers, divine servants, sacrificial offerings, dream demons, monsters, or demonic embryos, they were all top-tier "materials."

This Demonic Great Escape was steeped in blood, with massacre as its theme.

Every rule had been set by the Evil God.

Though Mo Hua was not the Evil God, he understood the Evil God's nature well.

Even if he himself, along with his junior brothers, evaded pursuit by the disciples of the other Qitasi Sect, Eight Gates, and Twelve Streams—even if he slaughtered them all and survived to the end—he still could not be the true "winner."

Playing by the Evil God's rules, it was impossible to win.

If so—

"Then I must set my own rules, play by my own 'standards.'"

Mo Hua rested his chin in his hand, his eyes flickering.

In the Earth-level Blood Arena, he had to kill—kill everyone else, so Grand Void Gate could take first place.

But in this "Heaven-level" escape massacre, the opposite was true—he had to save.

Killing would not solve the problem; the more he killed, the heavier his karmic burden, the deeper the evil qi, the stronger the formation, and the more he played right into the Evil God's scheme—ultimately, no one would survive.

Therefore, he must act in reverse: save lives instead.

Rescue every prodigy disciple from the Si Sect, Eight Gates, Twelve Streams, and even some of the minor Qitage Sects—all he could save.

Unite every possible force, pull everyone onto the same boat.

Only then could the vast majority survive.

But saving them couldn't be done haphazardly.

The prodigies from the Geda Sect numbered several hundred; rescuing them piecemeal would be impossible.

Moreover, even if rescued, they might not obey, and with so many, their divided hearts could easily spark chaos.

"Then—capture the bandits by capturing their leader: seize the key prodigies, then use them to coordinate everything—"

Mo Hua's eyes lit up; a plan gradually formed.

"Rest for another incense, then we set out," Mo Hua ordered again.

Everyone was puzzled; Sister Situ asked, "Little Master, where are we going?"

"To save lives."

"Save lives?"

"Yes!" Mo Hua nodded, but said no more, only instructing: "I'll draw some arrays soon; you'll wear them on your foreheads to protect your spirit realms. Remember—never, never take them off."

Everyone solemnly nodded.

Afterwards, Mo Hua used leftover array materials and spirit ink from the Sword Debate Gathering to draw crude Divine Dao arrays, which everyone wore on their foreheads to shield their spirit realms from evil influences.

During this time, Ouyang Xuan and the others gradually woke up.

Their spiritual senses were damaged, their faces pale, but since the root of their spiritual affliction had been removed, they suffered no serious harm.

Mo Hua was now completely at ease.

After an incense, Mo Hua gathered everyone and set out again.

The prodigies from the other Qitage Sects were not familiar with Mo Hua, but after the Sword Debate battles, some karmic connection had formed, allowing Mo Hua to sense their qi signatures.

But what surprised Mo Hua was how strong this karmic qi was.

Why?

Mo Hua found it strange.

Were these prodigy disciples so deeply preoccupied with him?

Am I really that memorable to them?

But time was short, so he had no leisure to dig into the matter; instead, he followed the threads of cause and effect and continued searching.

Soon, he found his first target.

This man was, in a sense, Mo Hua's "old friend"—Song Jian, the "traitor" he had planted within the Break Gold Sect.

Song Jian was not alone; fifteen Break Gold Sect disciples accompanied him.

As a prodigy of the Break Gold Sect, he naturally had many fellow disciples following him, looking to him for leadership.

Now trapped deep within the Evil Dao array, where strangeness filled every corner and danger lurked everywhere, they were clearly "clustering for warmth," searching desperately for an escape.

But the Evil Dao array was laced with killing intent at every step, a land of utter death—how easily could one slip through?

Song Jian frowned deeply, his expression solemn, when suddenly he spotted Mo Hua.

Song Jian first froze, then his heart surged with joy, yet his face twisted in fury; he immediately drew his sword and pointed it at Mo Hua, teeth gritted:

"Mo Hua—fate has brought us together again! Today, you're dead!"

Without hesitation, he charged forward, unleashing Break Gold Sword Qi, and struck at Mo Hua first.

Cheng Mo rushed forward and swung both axes, blocking Song Jian's Break Gold Sword.

Linghu Xiao pressed two fingers together, condensing Void-Clearing Sword Qi and striking Song Jian back.

Song Jian took the opportunity to retreat back into the crowd.

Mo Hua sneered, "The Break Gold Sword Art is nothing special."

Song Jian was furious, but he seemed wary of Linghu Xiao and the Five Tai'e Brothers standing beside Mo Hua, so he did not act rashly; instead, he turned to his disciples and said:

"The Grand Void Sect is too powerful to fight head-on. Let's go."

He had just turned to walk away when Mo Hua called out: "Song Jian."

Song Jian turned back.

Mo Hua said calmly, "This is the Evil Dao array—death lurks at every step. You won't escape. Why not join forces with the Grand Void Sect and find a way out together?"

Song Jian sneered, "Foolish dream. The Break Gold Sect and the Grand Void Sect are enemies. How could I ever ally with you Grand Void Sect people?"

Mo Hua's gaze sharpened. "Don't you care for yourself? What about these fifteen disciples behind you?"

"Without me to guide you, you're trapped in this Evil array—you'll die for sure."

"You're all top-tier prodigies of this generation in the Break Gold Sect. If you die—" Mo Hua chuckled lightly, "the Break Gold Sect will suffer a heavy loss."

Song Jian's face turned ashen, his mind in turmoil.

After a moment, he spoke with a solemn expression: "Can you truly lead us out?"

Mo Hua said proudly, "Don't forget—I'm the Grand Learning Array Sect's top master."

Song Jian's gaze turned grave; after a silent inner struggle, he gritted his teeth and said:

"Fine! I accept your offer!"

After speaking, Song Jian turned to the other Break Gold Sect disciples and declared solemnly: "The Break Gold Sect and the Grand Void Sect are enemies. My alliance with Mo Hua is my personal decision—none of you are involved. If the elders later blame you, just pin it all on me."

Song Jian's expression was stern.

The Break Gold Sect disciples were shaken, their emotions stirred; they all bowed solemnly and said:

"Your actions, Young Master, bear humiliation and responsibility for our safety."

"We will stand with you, advance and retreat together, share honor and disgrace—henceforth, we will face fire and water without hesitation!"

Song Jian's expression softened with relief, then he turned to Mo Hua and said, with a trace of bitter resolve:

"Please, Young Master, show us the way!"

Mo Hua nodded, a faint smile on his lips.