Chapter 648: Assassination

The entire structure of the Devil's Den was more complex than it appeared from outside.

Inside the Devil Hall, there were three sections:

the Outer Hall, the Middle Hall, and the Inner Hall.

This was determined by Mo Hua based on the flow of the array's core.

The core chamber lay in the Middle Hall, connecting the Outer and Inner Halls, serving as the central hub of the entire Meta-Magnetic Array, controlled by the master core to govern all Meta-Magnetic arrays.

Between the Outer Hall and the Middle Hall, patrols of devil cultivators and devil hounds were numerous, but they rarely approached the core chamber.

Clearly, the core chamber was also a forbidden zone for devil cultivators.

With a devil array master skilled in Meta-Magnetic arrays stationed at the hub, there was generally little to fear.

But now, a "unusual" young cultivator, accompanied by three "bodyguards," had come to "cut down" this devil array master.

In the Middle Hall, patrols of devil cultivators and devil hounds crisscrossed; though the defense was tight, gaps inevitably appeared during shifts.

It's not the thief you fear—it's the thief who keeps watching.

Mo Hua concealed his form, hid to the side, and observed for a long time, finally deducing the patrol rotation pattern.

Then, during the shift change between patrols and hounds, he led Gu Changhuai and the other three through the Outer Hall to the Middle Hall.

Following the Middle Hall, they turned right for a short while and arrived before the core chamber.

From the outside, the chamber looked like an ordinary stone room.

Yet the entire stone room radiated a more solemn and grim aura.

Mo Hua could see, from outside the chamber, layers upon layers of lock arrays carved into the walls.

He could also sense the powerful, orderly flow of Meta-Magnetic energy within the chamber.

"This is it…"

With no one around, Mo Hua lowered his voice.

Gu Changhuai glanced at the chamber and said grimly: "How do we get in?"

The chamber was tightly shut, seemingly locked.

And not just any lock—it was an array lock with concealed array patterns.

"I'll handle the lock…" Mo Hua whispered.

He crouched low and crept silently to the chamber door.

Gu Quan stood guard at the corridor entrance.

Gu Changhuai drew his short knife and stood to Mo Hua's right; Gu An gripped the Thousand-Jin Club and stood to Mo Hua's left.

Both watched the chamber door—if Mo Hua made too much noise and alerted the devil array master inside,

they would rush in immediately and kill him first.

A second-rank high-level devil array master was a great menace—potentially even more dangerous than a Jin Dan early-stage devil cultivator.

A Jin Dan devil cultivator only brought slaughter.

But a devil array master wrought harm through arrays, spreading poison far and wide.

Therefore, regardless of success or failure, this second-rank high-level devil array master must die.

Mo Hua worked quietly, unraveling the array patterns.

This lock array used a second-rank, sixteen-pattern metal lock array, right at the edge of Mo Hua's spiritual sense limit.

Perhaps the devil array master, though strong in spiritual sense, could not craft lock arrays beyond sixteen patterns.

Or perhaps he believed a second-rank mid-level lock array was sufficient.

After all, with him inside the chamber, no one dared intrude.

This very fact gave Mo Hua his opening…

Mo Hua dared not unravel the entire pattern at once, fearing that moving too fast would create strong spiritual fluctuations and alert the devil array master.

He drew one line lightly, paused briefly, listened for any reaction, then continued.

Gu Changhuai and Gu An waited patiently.

Finally, after who-knew-how-long, the array patterns on the lock emitted a soft "hum," then dimmed slightly.

Mo Hua stopped, held his breath.

Gu Changhuai and Gu An also held their breath.

After a while, no reaction came—it seemed the devil array master inside had not noticed.

Mo Hua pushed the door open a crack and peered inside.

There, the devil array master lay slumped in a chair, "raving," tearing at his own arms and cheeks, leaving bloody gashes.

Blood seeped into his fingernails.

As the door gap widened, low, stifled, hysterical mutterings drifted out…

"I can't see…"

"Why can't I see…"

"My spiritual sense…"

Mo Hua froze—he couldn't tell if the man said "spiritual sense" or "spiritual sight."

"... I cannot see the True God's form, cannot see the truth of the world, cannot see the eternal Dao…"

"Why…"

"I've already…"

"Drank the eye fluid, soaked in its blood…"

"Why, still, my eyes cannot become His eyes?"

"Why, still, what I see is only this world's filth and ugliness?"

"Why can't I see…?"

"The True God is everywhere—it is right here, I should be able to see it…"

……

The evil array master sank into delirious muttering.

Mo Hua frowned upon hearing this.

What is this evil array master raving about?

Did drinking the blood wine steeped in that strange eyeball pollute his spiritual sense and make him half-mad?

Mo Hua turned his head and glanced at Gu Changhuai.

Gu Changhuai also frowned, unsure what had happened.

He was Gu Diansi of the Dao Ting Si, having seen many cultivators whose spiritual sense went mad and lost their reason.

But this kind of strange, "deranged" array master—he had truly never seen anything like it.

After his delirious muttering, the evil array master convulsed violently, blood gushing in all directions, then gradually stopped moving, like a corpse.

Moments later, he slowly came back to his senses.

The torn flesh on his body gradually healed, his skin grew even paler, and the blood vessels in his eyes multiplied.

"Why… still can't see…"

"Is my faith not devout enough, or is my Dao heart not fallen enough…"

……

Mo Hua silently scoffed inside.

On the brink of death, still talking about falling…

Fall into the Yellow Springs.

Mo Hua gave Gu Changhuai a signal.

Gu Changhuai's gaze sharpened gradually; Gu An also went on full alert.

The evil array master, just recovering from his "deranged" state after drinking the blood wine, his spiritual sense half-clear and half-clouded, was about to look toward the Magnetic Core.

Suddenly, a chill spread through his chest.

He looked down and saw a small tip of a blade protruding from his chest.

At the same time, a wind-type spiritual force transformed into tiny blades, exploding within his chest, shredding the flesh and meridians around his heart.

Ice-cold dread pierced the evil array master's heart.

Assassination!!

He found it hard to believe.

In this Bishan Outer Cave Realm, in this lonely peak's demon cave, within this secret sacrificial demon hall, inside the ultra-secret Magnetic Chamber…

Could someone really assassinate him?!

How could this be?!

But the blade tip in his chest, the agonizing pain, and the profound aura of the cultivator behind him—all told him this was an ironclad fact.

And the one who assassinated him was a powerful Jin Dan cultivator!

"I'm going to die!"

The evil array master's heart filled with terror.

He wanted to shout out.

A long, pale Bai Xi hand tightly gripped his throat.

The hand bore powerful spiritual force, crushing his throat and silencing him.

The evil array master's eyes widened abruptly.

In a flash, he bit his tongue, using blood to stimulate his spiritual sense and keep his thoughts clear.

At the same time, his gaze turned crimson, his eyes grotesquely distorted, resembling the eyeball steeped in the wine flask.

A strange crimson spiritual sense slowly spread outward…

Spiritual demonic art!

But before the crimson spiritual sense could fully spread, a heavy iron rod struck his forehead with a loud "Kuang!"

Gu An remembered Mo Hua's instruction: whenever the evil array master's spiritual sense showed abnormality, strike his head hard with a rod.

The iron rod made the evil array master's scalp go numb.

Gu An cultivated the body; his strength was immense.

But the evil array master was not a body cultivator.

His flesh could not withstand this blow.

Blood trickled from his scalp, waves of searing pain surged through him.

The evil array master's spiritual sense faltered.

The bloody demonic spiritual art had just been activated—and was interrupted.

But moments later, the residual blood-tinged spiritual force borrowed from the crimson eyeball began reviving his spiritual sense again.

One hand hidden in his sleeve, he stealthily reached for his message-communicating token.

He believed his movement was utterly concealed.

Just then, a crisp voice rang out:

"Hand!"

Before the evil array master could react, his arm exploded in pain.

Gu An smashed his arm with a rod, and his message-communicating token flew to the ground.

The evil array master, unwilling to accept this, reached for his storage bag with his other hand.

That damned voice sounded again.

"There's another one!"

Before the words were out, Gu An swung another staff, shattering the evil array master's other arm.

The evil array master was stunned and furious.

He felt every move he made was anticipated by someone else.

Fuck!

Rage surged in the evil array master's heart.

He tried to move, but found his body paralyzed, immobile.

Fine venom had long seeped from Gu Changhuai's blade tip into the evil array master's blood, spreading gradually through his entire body with his bloodstream.

Poison?!

They even used poison?!

A Jin Dan assassin killing a Foundation Establishment cultivator—and still using poison?!

How could such a despicable, shameless person exist in this world?!

"Too late…"

The evil array master hardened his heart, bit through his own tongue, and swallowed the crimson blood into his belly.

His blood was like an eerie wine.

As the blood-wine entered his belly, his eyes bulged out completely, twisted and deformed, resembling the eyes of a demonic entity.

At the same time, his spiritual sense surged abruptly.

The evil array master, with those demonic eyes, gazed at the magnetic core of the central array.

He intended to amplify his spiritual sense through the demonic eyes, instantly connect with the core, reactivate the magnetic array, and summon every demonic cultivator in the entire demon hall to surround and annihilate the assassin!

"Staff!"

A crisp voice rang out.

Gu An's expression turned serious; he swung another staff down immediately.

But this blow shattered the evil array master's skull with blood, yet failed to halt his amplified demonic intent.

His demonic intent still reached for the core.

His eyes, grotesque and twisted, filled with blood vessels, glared fiercely at the central array plate.

Just as he was about to succeed, a flicker of fire flashed at the corner of his vision.

Two fireballs, cast instantly, struck his face—one left, one right—burning his bulging eyes.

His eyes burned with excruciating pain.

His demonic intent weakened slightly.

Yet even with both eyes scarred and blind, his spiritual sense could still extend outward.

The evil array master pushed his demonic spiritual sense to its limit, reaching again for the central magnetic array core…

Mo Hua saw this, flashed forward, and stood directly before the array plate, facing the evil array master, unfolding a diagram he had long prepared.

The diagram contained a source pattern as deep as an abyss.

The Five Elements Array Flow Diagram!

The instant the diagram unfurled, the source pattern seemed to come alive.

The source pattern, long starved, long suppressed, long terrified, long obedient, and long neglected by Mo Hua due to its low deciphering probability, finally saw daylight again.

Within the Array Flow Diagram, the source pattern began to writhe, like the origin of a plague.

The evil array master's spiritual sense, just as it reached for the core, plunged headfirst into the source pattern diagram.

In that instant, his spiritual sense felt overwhelming oppression.

As if he were submerged in a tide of "plague."

The evil array master's heart turned cold; his spiritual sense sensed it briefly, then plunged into an icy tomb.

He seemed to "see" a five-colored, mottled eye slowly opening, its deep pupil watching him with cold indifference.

"What is this?!"

The evil array master was terrified.

Before he could think further, he realized countless array patterns, like viruses, had seeped into his spiritual sense.

In the blink of an eye, his extended spiritual sense was parasitized, infected, divided, then completely consumed.

No turning back!

The evil array master's heart turned to ash.

This was a meticulously planned assassination!

He had been completely outmaneuvered.

Every countermeasure had been crushed in the cradle, not a single chance left.

Even his spiritual sense techniques had been blocked down to the last detail.

"There's a despicable, treacherous, venomous old array master scheming against me!!"

The evil array master's eyes bulged with rage.

"Who is it?!"

Before death, he wanted to see who had killed him.

With great effort, the evil array master turned his head; he remembered a crisp, eerie voice had sounded beside him.

But his eyes were burned, his vision blurred.

He couldn't see clearly at all!

Gu Changhuai finally channeled his spiritual power, crushed the man's throat, and used saber Qi to completely shred his heart meridian.

This evil array master was dead.

Even in death, he never saw what Mo Hua looked like.

He never even knew exactly who had schemed him to death…

All these changes came in rapid succession, one after another, back and forth, in no more than a dozen breaths' time.

The evil array master had already been assassinated.

The array hub chamber fell quiet once more.

Mo Hua went to the door, called Gu Quan—who had been standing guard outside against the wind—inside, then quietly closed the chamber door again.

This way, the demonic cultivators wouldn't know that the second-grade high-rank evil array master holding down the Yuanci Array hub chamber was already a dead man.

Gu Changhuai released his grip on the evil array master's crushed neck and drew out the short blade that had shredded the man's heart meridian.

The evil array master collapsed to the ground slowly, like a heap of mud.

Mo Hua also put away the array flow diagram.

Gu Changhuai saw this, his brow furrowing slightly. "This diagram of yours is…"

Mo Hua answered without blinking: "It's specially used to trap array masters. Uncle Gu, you can't look at it."

Gu Changhuai was taken aback, half-believing, half-doubting.

The evil array master lay on the ground; on the table there was still a wine cup, and soaking inside it was a grotesque eyeball.

The evil array master's strange transformation from moments ago surfaced again in Mo Hua's mind.

Mo Hua wanted to secretly pocket this eyeball, but before his hand had even reached halfway, Gu Changhuai had already snatched the wine cup away ahead of him.

"There's something wrong with this wine. You can't touch it."

Mo Hua could only watch helplessly as Gu Changhuai sealed the wine cup—together with the eyeball inside—properly and put it into a storage bag.

Mo Hua had no choice but to remind him softly:

"Uncle Gu, keep that thing safe, alright…"

"Don't worry."

Mo Hua sighed.

Afterward, everything was in order, but just to be safe, Mo Hua still suggested:

"Uncle Gu, how about… you stab him a few more times?"

"His sea of consciousness, qi sea, and heart meridian—waste them all again…"

"This evil array master is too bizarre; he has to die thoroughly. Only then is it absolutely foolproof."

Gu Changhuai choked, and the look he gave Mo Hua grew even more peculiar.

Gu An and Gu Quan, however, wore faces full of admiration:

"Truly worthy of Young Master Mo—his methods are really steady and sure."

Even their own usually cold and ruthless Young Master had never been this ruthless in his actions…

Gu Changhuai sighed, but did as suggested, stabbing once each at the evil array master's forehead, qi sea, and heart meridian.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator—now, no matter what, was thoroughly dead.

Only then did Mo Hua feel at ease.

He stared at the evil array master's miserable corpse for a moment, sighing inwardly.

This evil array master had a very powerful spiritual sense, sinister and treacherous thoughts, and terrifying methods.

Lucky for them he died first.

Mo Hua nodded.

An opponent who can't strike back is a good opponent.

As a demon hunter, the key principle is "winning without fighting."

This was the earnest teaching his father, Seeing Mo Shan—an experienced demon hunter—had imparted to him.

He must remember it firmly and put it into practice!

Afterward, the few of them briefly tidied up the battlefield, and Mo Hua began examining the array disk before him.

On the array disk, magnetic patterns were densely packed, paths crossing and interlocking—profound yet orderly—engraved with the core array hub of an entire Yuanci compound array.

Mo Hua looked it over a few times and realized he couldn't understand it…

He had never studied Yuanci compound arrays, let alone one above seventeen patterns.

Mo Hua scratched his head, thought for a moment, then asked:

"Uncle Gu, what about the evil array master's storage bag? Search through it and see if there are any array diagrams…"

Gu Changhuai hesitated.

Because this array master was an evil array master, his storage bag was bound to contain some demonic cultivation techniques or evil-path arrays, so Gu Changhuai had already pocketed the storage bag himself.

The things inside couldn't be shown to Mo Hua.

As Dao Ting Si Gu Diansi, Gu Changhuai knew well that the better a array master's talent, the deeper their comprehension of evil arrays, and the faster they learned.

They might only need a glance or two to walk the road of no return.

Mo Hua understood, and said:

"Just show me the Yuanci-type arrays…"

Gu Changhuai pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded.

Yuanci-type arrays should still be fine…

He opened the evil array master's storage bag, rummaged through it, and pulled out several array books, along with a large, complex array diagram.

Gu Changhuai couldn't distinguish the Yuan Ci array patterns.

But these books and diagrams clearly bore the characters "Yuan Ci"—it shouldn't be wrong.

"Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Array," "Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Double Array Diagram," "Initial Explanation of Yuan Ci Array Core Hierarchy"…

Mo Hua's eyes lit up.

All good stuff!

And far more profound than the Yuan Ci array techniques he had learned.

This evil array master's array craftsmanship, especially in Yuan Ci arrays, was indeed remarkable.

With such mastery over Yuan Ci arrays, he must have thoroughly studied other arrays, especially evil ones…

Good thing he died first!

Otherwise it would've been troublesome.

"By the way, I wonder what this evil array master's name was…"

Mo Hua pondered, then changed his mind.

Never mind, it doesn't matter—he's dead anyway.

Mo Hua flipped through these Yuan Ci array books with calm assurance, especially the "Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Double Array Diagram."

As he read, Mo Hua frowned.

Gu Changhuai asked, "Can you understand it?"

Mo Hua shook his head, "This double array is an eighteen-pattern array—harder than most eighteen-pattern arrays…"

"And the Yuan Ci array knowledge it involves is also unfamiliar."

"The Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Array is a seventeen-pattern array…"

"And the Yuan Ci Array Core Hierarchy Control? That's even more profound…"

Gu Changhuai found it all complex just listening.

"If that's the case, should we destroy this Yuan Ci double array?"

Mo Hua shook his head, "This Yuan Ci double array is bidirectional—if we destroy it, the demonic palace's Yuan Ci early-warning system will fail, and communication between demonic cultivators will be disrupted—that'll alert them instead."

"Then just leave it here and ignore it?"

"Without supervision, problems could still arise…"

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said, "I'll try to learn it—see if I can master it…"

Gu Changhuai blinked, "You… learn it now?"

"Mm…" Mo Hua looked somewhat bewildered.

If you don't know it, don't you just learn it now…

Gu Changhuai's expression grew complicated, then he added, "But your spiritual sense probably isn't strong enough…"

Mo Hua nodded, "I don't need to be able to draw it—I just need to know how to use it."

He pointed to the Yuan Ci array core before them, "Someone else already built it—I only need to learn how to control this Yuan Ci core. The spiritual sense requirement isn't that strict; my current spiritual sense is enough…"

"Oh…" Gu Changhuai didn't fully understand, but nodded, "Alright, go ahead and learn it."

Having served in Dao Ting Si for so long, he understood that professional matters must be left to professionals…

So Gu Changhuai and the others stood guard around him.

Mo Hua calmed his mind and began studying these clearly higher-tier Yuan Ci double arrays.

Time was limited—he couldn't learn too deeply.

And his spiritual sense was limited—he couldn't yet master these arrays.

He could only first try to understand their underlying principles.

He started with the Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Array.

The single Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Array was the foundation for constructing the double array.

Mo Hua studied the array patterns, the basic array core structure, and the diagrammatic explanations, and based on the fixed magnetic patterns in the Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Array, he roughly grasped its function.

It was a "spiritual force monitoring" array.

It could manifest the spiritual state of cultivators through magnetic field induction.

But its range was limited, and it showed "spiritual force imagery," easily disturbed by various energies in the heavens and earth, so the images were somewhat blurred.

Mo Hua understood.

Earlier in the corridor, those three demonic cultivators and the demon dog had returned precisely because the nearby Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Array had detected their spiritual traces.

But the evil array master wasn't certain.

That's why he sent the three men and the dog back to investigate.

Now that he understood the array's principle, it was manageable.

As for the specific array techniques—he couldn't master them yet, so he could leave them for now.

Mo Hua secretly slipped the array books into his storage pouch.

Next came the Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Double Array.

Having understood the single array's principle, breaking it down into the whole made it easier to grasp the key points of the Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Double Array.

This set of Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Double Array was a unified demonic stronghold defense system combining surveillance, monitoring, and communication.

The Yuan Ci defense didn't guard against cultivator attacks—it guarded against secrets being leaked.

Through this Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Double Array, all demonic cultivators in the palace could be coordinated and unified as one.

Thus making the entire demonic stronghold air-tight, "as solid as gold and bronze."

But unfortunately, it was the array that succeeded—and the array that failed.

The array was the palace's barrier, but in Mo Hua's eyes, it had become its greatest vulnerability.

Mo Hua studied the Yuan Ci Array with undivided attention…

Gu Changhuai watched silently beside him.

He saw Mo Hua bowing his head, utterly absorbed in the array—sometimes frowning, sometimes relaxing his brow, occasionally lost in thought, sometimes muttering softly, or using his hand as a brush to sketch in the dirt…

As if, in all the universe, nothing existed but the array.

Gu Changhuai sighed inwardly.

In such a perilous place, one could focus so completely, so intently, on an array in an instant.

No wonder, despite his youth, he had mastered array theory so well…

After an unknown length of time, Mo Hua's eyes suddenly brightened.

Seeing this, Gu Changhuai's gaze sharpened:

"The Array Pivot… learned it?"

"A little," Mo Hua said.

Then he stood up, swift as a flash, snatching all the Yuan Ci Array books and array diagrams before Gu Changhuai could react, shoving them into his Storage Bag.

Big fortune!

Yuan Ci Arrays with more than seventeen patterns, and the Yuan Ci Compound Array.

If I had to buy them from the sect, I'd never know how many Merit Points it would cost.

Just thinking about it hurt.

Then Mo Hua pretended not to see Gu Changhuai, acting as if nothing had happened, walking to the central control array panel of the Yuan Ci Compound Array and beginning to attempt to manipulate the entire Array Pivot.

Gu Changhuai watched helplessly as Mo Hua stealthily "embezzled" the items.

But at this moment, he could not speak out and disturb him—he could only sigh, pretending he saw nothing.

The Array Pivot of the Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Compound Array was veiled in a mist-like "magnetic flow."

Mo Hua, with his spiritual sense, repeatedly attempted to communicate with the Array Pivot.

But the Array Pivot of the Compound Array remained fiercely resistant.

The magnetic flow within was chaotic, exerting immense pressure on the spiritual sense.

After several failed attempts, Mo Hua's expression darkened, losing patience.

With his sixteenth-pattern-transformed spiritual sense, he forcibly endured the chaotic magnetic flow and shattered the "magnetic mist."

Then, using the Yuan Ci knowledge he had just learned, he took control of the Yuan Ci Spirit Vision Compound Array's Array Pivot.

In that instant, Mo Hua felt his spiritual sense suddenly clear and bright.

The entire demonic palace appeared in his mind as an abstract, orderly network of Array Pivots.

Each array was like an anchor point.

Each demonic cultivator was like a soldier.

Each Spirit Vision Array was like a celestial eye, revealing spiritual energy patterns and spying on the palace's critical corners…

In a flash of revelation, Mo Hua felt he understood everything:

"This demonic palace… is mine now!"

(End of Chapter)