Chapter 359: Subjugation and Slaughter (Bonus Chapter for Patron

Zhang Lan also felt a chill run down his scalp.

He knew the great array was powerful, but he hadn't expected its killing force to be this terrifying.

It was merely a Rank-One array, yet it made this Foundation Establishment cultivator feel an inescapable sense of despair.

"The great array… is it really this strong…?"

Zhang Lan and Yang Jiyong simultaneously murmured these words in awe.

After speaking, both froze for a moment, then recoiled as if they'd swallowed a fly, eyeing each other with disgust.

Zhang Lan sneered, "Your Yang family has a great array too—why are you so shocked, like you've never seen the world?"

Yang Jiyong retorted, "Doesn't your Zhang family have one? Are you any better?"

Zhang Lan said, "Our Zhang family has deep roots—we never need to activate the great array."

Yang Jiyong also said, "Our Yang family wages war across the land, our fame resounds—no petty villains dare trespass, so we naturally never need to activate the great array."

Zhang Lan scoffed, "All talk, yet you've never seen a great array activated either."

"Of course you haven't either—don't pretend you have."

…

They argued for a long time, each equally foolish, neither able to mock the other.

Afterwards, both turned again to the central Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array and sighed faintly.

Activating the great array truly was a rare sight…

Though both the Zhang and Yang families had built great arrays, they never activated them in daily life.

Activating a great array consumed vast quantities of Spirit Stones—even if they truly possessed Spirit Veins, they couldn't afford such waste.

Only when a formidable enemy attacked or their clan faced annihilation would they activate the great array for defense.

The Zhang and Yang families had deep roots and immense power; no one dared trespass, so their great arrays had not been officially activated in centuries.

Thus, neither Zhang Lan nor Yang Jiyong had ever truly witnessed a great array activated.

The Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array drawn by Mo Hua was the first fully activated great array they had ever seen.

Though they had known the great array was powerful, they had never grasped just how powerful—until today, standing before it, they finally felt its true terror.

Moreover, the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array differed from their family's sect-protecting arrays—it was not merely defensive, nor primarily defensive with secondary offense.

It was a purely offensive array, designed solely for slaughter.

Its power was even greater than they had imagined.

This time, neither spoke. After a long silence, Yang Jiyong murmured:

"Array Masters are truly terrifying…"

Zhang Lan did not refute him this time, but softly agreed: "Yes…"

Yang Jiyong stared at the surging spiritual energy and overwhelming killing aura of the array, his heart trembling with awe:

"On the battlefield, if such an array could be erected, it would crush all directions, annihilate every formidable enemy—even cultivators one realm higher might not survive!"

He looked up toward a distant mountain peak.

At the peak lay the array's core, where the young Mo Hua sat, controlling the entire Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array.

Yang Jiyong had never before felt Mo Hua's depth so profoundly.

A thirteen-year-old master arrayist—and one who had constructed a purely offensive array.

"This boy will one day become the world's greatest weapon of slaughter."

"He can build arrays to save countless lives—and he can just as easily build arrays to kill countless lives…"

Yang Jiyong's heart chilled with dread, his gaze growing more solemn.

Meanwhile, Mo Hua remained utterly focused, controlling the array, directing the Five Elements formations, aiming to trap and kill Feng Xi.

At the same time, Feng Xi had escaped the sand trap and Golden Light formation from the Earth-based sub-array, climbed the rock wall, and fled into the Water-based sub-array.

Mo Hua communicated with the core, severing the spiritual energy supply to the Earth-based sub-array, then channeled the refined spiritual energy from the array's focal point through the core into the Water-based sub-array.

As spiritual energy flooded in, the Overflowing Water Array and the Wood Poison Array activated—the ground instantly flooded with water.

Feng Xi waded through the water, each step agonizingly slow.

Around him, waves of emerald-green wood poison seeped through the air, gradually corroding Feng Xi's skin, numbing it, and devouring its blood qi.

Some wood poison seeped into the water, leveraging the principle of Water nurturing Wood, making the toxicity even fiercer.

Feng Xi's four legs sank in the water, its flesh and blood corroding with every step—soon only white bones remained, and even the congealed blood qi was further devoured…

Feng Xi remained trapped in the Overflowing Water Array for several hours; when it finally emerged, its blood qi was clearly weakened.

Ahead lay further arrays: the Golden Lock Array and Water Sword Array, the Wood Prison Array and Fire Rain Array, the Crimson Fire Array and Earth Crack Array—layer upon layer.

As long as it could not escape the great array, it would remain forever ensnared in the Five Elements trap, slowly ground to dust by thousands upon thousands of array techniques.

All cultivators who witnessed this scene were stunned—and a flicker of hope stirred in their hearts:

Perhaps they truly could kill the great demon using this array!

Everyone's spirits lifted.

What followed was a long, drawn-out process of subjugation and slaughter.

The array's destructive power was terrifying—and it proved highly effective against Feng Xi.

But Feng Xi's blood qi was too thick; to utterly subjugate and kill it, the array must never cease operating, relentlessly driving, trapping, and draining its blood qi until it perished.

This was not a task of moments or days.

This subjugation might last days—or even weeks.

All cultivators must remain vigilant, never slackening—for if Feng Xi escaped, they might never lure it back into the array, nor ever kill it again.

Mo Hua remained before the core, controlling the entire array.

When Feng Xi charged the walls, Mo Hua directed spiritual energy to reinforce the stone barriers.

The Fengxi is trapped wherever it is, triggering the array there while activating nearby killing arrays.

Additionally, unnecessary arrays are cut off from spiritual energy to conserve some Spirit Stones.

Mo Hua's spiritual sense has been continuously depleted.

If the Fengxi is trapped and temporarily cannot escape, he sits in meditation to recover some spiritual sense.

If the Fengxi breaks free, Mo Hua consumes spiritual sense to control the array pivot, activating nearby arrays to restrain the Fengxi.

The Fengxi has been constantly controlled within Mo Hua's Five Elements Trapping and Killing Array, restrained by the trapping array while being attacked by the killing array.

The Fengxi never stops; Mo Hua never sleeps or rests.

Luo Dashi, watching beside him, felt profound awe.

How deep must one's spiritual sense foundation be, and how swift must one's spiritual sense recovery be…

That Mo Hua could independently control the great array did not surprise Luo Dashi.

But to independently control the great array, treat it as an extension of his own limbs, remain awake and tireless, never exhausted, and maintain abundant spiritual sense—could a Qi Condensation cultivator possibly achieve this…

At the very least, if he were to control the great array, he would be mentally and physically drained within a few hours.

Luo Dashi sighed.

He had originally thought that if Mo Hua grew tired, he could take over for a while.

But now that Mo Hua was not tired, he himself, watching beside him, felt utterly exhausted.

Though the array pivot looked complex, actually operating it was even more complex—it required complete mastery of every array within the great array to open, close, turn, and coordinate properly.

Luo Dashi realized he had overestimated himself.

This task was beyond his ability; only the main array master—the one who was Mo Hua—could do it.

Luo Dashi looked at Mo Hua and felt a deep sense of awe:

"Truly, there are always greater minds beyond the heavens…"

Mo Hua still controlled the great array with unwavering focus.

The great array was vast; even with Mo Hua's precise control, errors inevitably occurred during prolonged operation.

Sometimes spiritual energy flowed incorrectly, sometimes individual arrays were incompatible, sometimes the array media could not bear the load, or the array patterns cracked or wore down.

The great array would momentarily lack spiritual energy supply, rendering the arrays ineffective.

At such moments, the Foundation Establishment cultivators within the array and the Dao Soldiers stationed there had to act, briefly restraining the Fengxi so it would not escape.

The Fengxi, suffering from trapping and killing, was enraged beyond measure.

Acting at such moments was extremely dangerous.

Thus Zhang Lan, Yang Jiyong, Elder Yu, and others all focused with utmost vigilance, daring not to slack for a moment; everyone struck only once, then retreated immediately, allowing another to take their turn.

This way, they restrained the Fengxi while avoiding prolonged combat that might expose weaknesses, preventing the Fengxi from swallowing them whole—thus losing their lives and replenishing the Fengxi's blood qi.

Zhang Lan and the others faced immense pressure and struck with extreme caution.

Fortunately, Mo Hua would soon adjust the array pivot, restoring the great array's operation, trapping the Fengxi once more, and activating the arrays to rotate and slaughter…

This process was excruciatingly long…

Outside the great array, within Xiancheng, all cultivators' emotions shifted from shock and joy to anxiety and torment.

They did not know how long the great beast would fight, nor whether it could ultimately be slain; they could only endure the endless wait…

In the following ten or so days, day and night, the five-colored light within Shenshan never vanished, and powerful spiritual energy fluctuations rose and fell continuously.

The Fengxi's roars never ceased, day or night.

Its blood qi gradually faded, yet its ferocity intensified, staining the sky of Shenshan red, like a great gate of hell slowly opening above.

The Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array, meanwhile, was a five-colored shackle, tightly locking shut that gate of hell.

Finally, after more than twenty days, the Fengxi's roars grew weak and gradually fell silent.

The blood-red hue on the horizon also slowly dimmed.

Evening glow spilled down, gilding Great Heishan in Jin Se; a glimmer of hope rose in every heart.

Within the great array, after more than twenty days of relentless, sleepless battle, all cultivators were utterly drained, and the collected Spirit Stones were nearly exhausted.

All cultivators united as one, finally depleting the Fengxi's blood qi completely!

The Fengxi's blood qi vanished, its body turned ashen, and it slowly collapsed to the ground.

Elder Yu and the others had pale faces, gasped for breath, gritted their teeth, and held on for over twenty days.

Now that the Fengxi had fallen, all hearts first went numb; after a long while, they slowly regained awareness, unable to believe:

"Dead?"

"Killed?"

"The great beast is dead—it's been slain…"

…

Joy surged like a tide, and cheers erupted spontaneously.

Mo Hua also let out a long breath and collapsed onto the ground.

But before Mo Hua could rejoice, a sudden pang of dread struck his heart.

He scrambled up at once, peered downward—and his pupils shrank sharply.

The fallen Fengxi, silent and motionless, slowly rose again…

Just as the pig demon had once risen after dying once before—quietly, silently—swallowing Old Ancestor Qian whole.

The cheers died instantly; all others saw this too, and exclaimed in shock:

"This great beast isn't dead yet?"

"Impossible—its blood qi was completely depleted…"

"What do we do?"

At the same time, the Fengxi's aura changed—no longer wreathed in blood-red Qi, but shrouded in black-grey death energy.

Its pig face gradually twisted, warped, and reshaped itself into an enormous human face.

That human face resembled an eerie Daoist.

It opened its mouth—lips and teeth both absent—and spoke, its voice impossible to tell as male or female.

It sounded like one person speaking, yet also like many speaking at once—eerie and clamorous:

"Who is it? Ruining my great undertaking!"

"Ruining my great undertaking!"

"Who? How dare you?"

"Ruin… my great undertaking!"

……

A jumble of disordered voices, tangled together, sounding as if both at their ears and within their sea of consciousness.

Zhang Lan and the others all changed color:

"What is this thing?!"

"This pig… is a person?"

The instant he saw the human face, a spark of inspiration struck Mo Hua, and he understood why this pig had come back from the dead.

Because all along, another divine sense had been hidden within its body.

The divine sense of that eerie Daoist!

The Fengxi's demonic consciousness had long since perished; what drove its rebirth was that Daoist's divine sense.

That eerie Daoist whom Mr. Zhuang would not let him ask about, would not let him think about, would not even let him mention!

The Fengxi revived, the human face emerged, karmic debts coiled around it, death energy heavy and deep.

Mr. Zhuang, in his mountain dwelling, also looked solemn, murmuring to himself:

"Dao Heart Demon Seed…"

Today's update is done~