Chapter 776: Killing Trap

This is outrageous.

As a sword smith, how could he draw formations?

If it were drawing sword formations, that would be one thing, but how could it be Divine Dao formation patterns that are nearly lost?

How did he learn them?

Are Divine Dao formations so worthless?

Mo Hua was full of doubts for a moment.

He narrowed his eyes again, staring at the sneaky old demon cultivator, especially at the formation patterns he drew, his expression turning slightly solemn.

This old thing, over and over again, was tracing the same pattern.

In other words, he might only know this one formation pattern.

But this formation pattern was incredible.

It was different from the gate-type Divine Dao formations he had obtained at the wellhead in the small fishing village and inside the River God Temple.

It was also different from the fog-like Divine Dao formations he had derived in the Ten Thousand Demon Forest.

It was a brand-new Divine Dao formation pattern.

He had never seen it before.

"Could this be one of the complete Divine Dao formation systems within the Ten Thousand Demon Valley that Elder Xun Xun Zixian mentioned?"

Mo Hua frowned.

But what exactly is the use of this formation pattern?

Why did he draw this Divine Dao formation pattern on the life-bound sword bone?

Mo Hua's gaze sank slightly.

"This old liar has quite a few secrets..."

The sword forging continued.

Taking advantage of Sect Ouyang Mu's inattention, the old demon cultivator drew the Divine Dao formation pattern on the sword bone, then covered it with blood, and afterward, as if nothing had happened, continued to refine the sword bone with very complex procedures.

Sect Ouyang Mu had also finished quenching the refined iron and turned back to continue learning sword forging from the old demon cultivator.

The old demon cultivator was as usual.

Sect Ouyang Mu was completely unaware of what the old demon cultivator had done behind his back.

After another series of complex sword-forging processes, after about several hours, the old demon cultivator said:

"That's enough for today. Come back tomorrow."

"Okay, old senior."

Sect Ouyang Mu had been helping out and refining for several hours, and he was a bit tired. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded.

"Then this junior will take his leave."

After Sect Ouyang Mu left.

The old demon cultivator took out the life-bound sword bone and gently stroked the Divine Dao formation pattern on it with his scarlet, tumor-covered palm, whispering in a voice so hoarse it was barely audible:

"My life... depends entirely on you..."

Afterward, he seemed to lack energy, so he hugged the sword bone and fell into a deep sleep.

Mo Hua examined the sword bone and found that its length was almost exactly the same as the old demon cultivator's spine, a perfect match, and his gaze turned cold.

He pondered for a moment and then left quietly.

Arriving at the prison, Mo Hua told Sect Ouyang Mu and Linghu Xiao about the old demon cultivator.

Sect Ouyang Mu was shocked. "Formation patterns?"

Mo Hua nodded.

"Are they sword patterns?"

"No, they are a very special type of Divine Dao formation pattern. I haven't seen them before and don't know what they are for."

Sect Ouyang Mu and Linghu Xiao both frowned.

Linghu Xiao thought for a moment and said, "In that case, the old demon cultivator's plot must be related to this sword bone."

"Could he be... forging a life-bound sword embryo for himself?"

Mo Hua nodded. "It's possible..."

He had guessed the same before, but without evidence, it was hard to be certain.

"However," Mo Hua frowned, "using one's own spine to forge a life-bound sword bone, what kind of sword-forging method is this?"

Linghu Xiao shook his head.

Then, both of them looked at Sect Ouyang Mu.

Among them, only Sect Ouyang Mu had the most exquisite sword-forging skills and extensive knowledge of artifact refining.

Sect Ouyang Mu said with a solemn expression:

"I don't know the specifics, but there are similar records in some miscellaneous books on Dao cultivation and artifact refining in my family. This is a sword-forging method of feeding the sword with one's body, achieving the unity of person and artifact."

"However, this sword-forging method has many branches when broken down, and there are even differences in the degree of righteousness and evil. Some are just bloody methods that hurt oneself but not others, while others are extremely evil and require creating great slaughter..."

"I can't tell what path this old senior... old thing is taking or what method he is using to forge a sword with his own 'spine'."

Sect Ouyang Mu shook his head.

Linghu Xiao frowned and pondered for a moment. "There is one problem..."

He turned his head to look at Mo Hua and the other, saying slowly:

"Using one's own spine to forge a life-bound sword bone must be for refining a life-bound evil sword. Is this old demon cultivator trying to take this opportunity to form a Jin Dan in this Ten Thousand Demon Prison?"

Sect Ouyang Mu was startled and nodded repeatedly. "This old thing said that once a demon cultivator in the Ten Thousand Demon Prison forms a Jin Dan, they can leave the valley and work for the 'Young Master' outside. From then on, the sky is high and the sea is wide, much more free than in this valley..."

"And, after forming a Jin Dan, his lifespan will increase, and he can live for many more years, which is equivalent to defying heaven and changing his fate..."

Mo Hua nodded slowly, but then his gaze narrowed. "However, can he live until that time?"

Sect Ouyang Mu and Linghu Xiao looked thoughtful.

Mo Hua continued: "That old demon cultivator pulled out his own spine, his figure is hunched, he coughs up blood incessantly, and occasionally sits alone in the evil artifact room, stuffing handfuls of elixirs into his mouth."

"And I can clearly feel that the death energy on him is getting heavier and heavier..."

Mo Hua looked at Sect Ouyang Mu. "Forging a life-bound sword bone and refining a life-bound evil sword both take a lot of time. I'm afraid he will die before the sword is forged."

Sect Ouyang Mu nodded. "That's true..."

This old demon cultivator's plan is good, but his life is short. Why is he still struggling so much?

Sect Ouyang Mu frowned and thought about it. He didn't know what he thought of, but he was suddenly shocked:

"Senior Brother Mo, there is another possibility."

Mo Hua was startled. "What possibility?"

"That is..." Sect Ouyang Mu's face turned slightly pale. "This sword bone of his is actually already forged! He said he was teaching me to forge swords, but he was just putting on a show..."

Sect Ouyang Mu recalled it again and nodded.

"Yes, these days, he taught me to forge swords, ostensibly for my own good, not letting me touch the bloody and evil sword-forging methods, but in reality, it's because he didn't need me to do anything at all. His spine is already a forged sword bone!"

Mo Hua's gaze shifted. "Then the reason he forged the sword bone but didn't further refine it into a life-bound evil sword is because... he is missing some condition?"

Missing some condition...

After Mo Hua finished speaking, he looked at Sect Ouyang Mu.

Linghu Xiao thought for a moment and also looked at Sect Ouyang Mu.

Sect Ouyang Mu was stunned for a moment and pointed at himself. "Me?"

"Mm." Mo Hua nodded. "Before you came, that old thing was refining swords honestly. Only after you came did he take out the sword bone and plan to forge a life-bound evil sword..."

"Clearly, you are the key, and also the condition for him to forge a life-bound sword and form a Jin Dan."

Linghu Xiao looked worried. "Then isn't Junior Brother Wood in great danger?"

"Since the life-bound sword bone has already been refined, it might not be long before that old demon cultivator wants to forge a life-bound magic treasure and use it to form a Jin Dan."

"Yes," Mo Hua sighed and frowned slightly.

"The current problem is that we don't know what his true sword-forging method is and what tricks are inside."

"And what effect the formation patterns he drew on the sword bone have..."

Everyone was a bit worried.

But just sitting here thinking wouldn't help, and there was no better way.

"Let's act according to the circumstances..."

Mo Hua patted Sect Ouyang Mu on the shoulder. "Be careful."

"Mm." Sect Ouyang Mu said with a solemn expression.

Mo Hua looked at Sect Ouyang Mu, feeling somewhat uneasy, and said:

"Wait a moment."

He ran back to the formation hub secret room, selected some formation disks and spiritual artifacts, and temporarily drew some formations before returning to the prison and giving them all to Sect Ouyang Mu.

"Hide these secretly..."

"This heart-protecting mirror has a Gold-Stone Formation on it, which can protect your heart pulse."

"These formation disks can be deployed at any time if the situation is urgent to delay the enemy."

"Keep this black cloth well. If you feel dizzy, cover your forehead with it immediately..."

"There are also some elixirs for repelling demons and recovering blood. Keep them too. If demon energy enters your body or your blood energy is severely depleted, take them immediately..."

Mo Hua instructed one by one.

Sect Ouyang Mu was moved, keeping Mo Hua's instructions firmly in his heart, and said gratefully, "Thank you, Senior Brother Mo!"

"Mm." Mo Hua nodded.

With these means, Little Wood at least had a certain ability to protect himself.

It's just that he didn't know when that old demon cultivator would make his move...

The next day, Mo Hua went to the old demon cultivator's evil artifact room in advance.

He wanted to see if he could find other clues.

But when he arrived at the evil artifact room, he found that there was already someone inside.

Jin Gui, with his tall and sturdy figure and a completely changed aura, was talking to the old demon cultivator.

He seemed to be accusing him of something.

"Too slow..."

"Are you really teaching him to refine evil artifacts?"

"That brat from the Sect Ouyang family has been learning for several days, so why hasn't there been much demonic evil energy on him?"

"Old thing, what exactly are you doing?"

Jin Gui had become a demon, and his temper had become much more irritable.

A trace of coldness flashed in the old demon cultivator's eyes, but then they became turbid again.

He lowered his head and said in an aged voice:

"Artifact refining requires a gradual process. Whether it's the righteous path or the evil path, it cannot be achieved overnight. There must be a procedure, step by step..."

After finishing, he coughed a few times, unable to help himself, and coughed up fresh blood again.

Jin Gui looked at him with slight disgust and cursed in a low voice, "Old immortal..."

Then he snorted coldly and said indifferently:

"Starting today, I will send someone to watch over you to see if you are really teaching that brat properly and if you have made that brat tainted with blood and fallen into the demonic path..."

The old demon cultivator's expression changed slightly, and he refused:

"That won't do. Sword forging is a secret; it is my lifelong effort and must not be seen by outsiders!"

Jin Gui sneered, "What time is it now, and you're still talking about secrets? No matter how good your sword forging is, you are only a second-grade sword smith and cannot escape the scope of the second grade. What does your artifact-refining heat count for?"

"Furthermore, this is the Young Master's order. In this Ten Thousand Demon Valley, what is more important than the Young Master's affairs?"

"Do you want to disobey the Young Master's orders?"

The old demon cultivator suppressed the coldness in his eyes and lowered his head. "I dare not..."

Jin Gui nodded slightly and said indifferently:

"That's right. Time is running out. Hurry up and don't delay the Young Master's grand plan, otherwise, you will surely have your soul scattered and die without a burial place!"

The old demon cultivator didn't say anything else, just lowered his head. "Yes."

Jin Gui looked at the old demon cultivator coldly and then turned and left.

After Jin Gui left, the evil artifact room, with its eerie green bone fire and foul-smelling blood pool, was left with only the old demon cultivator.

The old demon cultivator still hung his head.

His spine was gone, and his figure was hunched. Once he lowered his head, it was hard for him to stand straight again.

But because he was lowering his head, Mo Hua couldn't see his expression, only hearing him mutter: "Yes, time... is running out..."

Mo Hua's gaze was startled.

After that, the old demon cultivator had no other special actions, but lay on the chair, flipping through a piece of demon skin paper.

About half an hour later, Sect Ouyang Mu was brought in.

But this time it was different.

There were two demon cultivators who brought him in. According to Mo Hua's experience, one of them was a dog-headed demon cultivator.

The other, with sharp eyes, was also bald, and in all likelihood, like the "bald eagle," was a demon cultivator with eagle patterns drawn on his body.

After bringing Sect Ouyang Mu, the dog-headed demon cultivator walked outside the door to stand guard.

And the bald demon cultivator with eyes like a hawk remained in the evil artifact room, staring at the old demon cultivator with sharp eyes, his tone indifferent.

"Master, the steward ordered me to watch here to prevent any accidents."

Calling it "watching" was actually "surveillance."

The old demon cultivator nodded and said indifferently:

"I understand..."

Afterward, he ignored the two demon cultivators, the bald one and the dog-headed one, and said to Sect Ouyang Mu on his own:

"I will continue to teach you sword forging."

Sect Ouyang Mu's expression was a little complex, but he still remembered Mo Hua's instructions, pretending that nothing had happened and that he knew nothing, and nodded:

"Okay, senior."

Everything was as usual afterward.

The old demon cultivator patiently taught sword forging, Sect Ouyang Mu learned sword forging absent-mindedly, the bald demon cultivator monitored with eyes like torches, and the dog-headed demon cultivator watched the door with vigilance.

After a while, the old demon cultivator seemed tired and said to Sect Ouyang Mu:

"You refine for a while, I'll rest."

Then he turned and walked to a chair on the side, sitting down slowly.

But as soon as he sat down, he couldn't stop coughing, coughing up blood continuously, and had no choice but to take out a few elixirs and stuff them into his mouth with trembling hands.

Finally, he lay on the chair, panting heavily, like an old dog about to die, the air he exhaled smelling of fishy stench.

The eagle-patterned demon cultivator frowned upon seeing this, his expression somewhat disgusted, and he turned his gaze slightly away.

The sizzling sound of the furnace fire, the knocking sound of forging iron, and the panting sound of the old demon cultivator merged together.

The room was clearly very noisy, but there was also an inexplicable sense of dead silence.

After a while, the eagle-patterned demon cultivator suddenly changed his expression, noticing something wrong.

The old demon cultivator's panting sound seemed to have disappeared.

The eagle-patterned demon cultivator suddenly widened his eyes and looked to the side, only to see that on the chair next to him, there was only a black robe left, as well as some shed demon skin.

"Not good!"

A chill surged in the eagle-patterned demon cultivator's heart. He immediately activated his eagle pattern, the demon pattern on his head flashed, his eyes shone with essence, and he searched the room for the old demon cultivator's figure.

But before he could catch a glimpse, the killing intent descended suddenly.

A long, dark red tentacle suddenly stretched out from the ground, carrying sinister demon power, and slashed fiercely at the eagle-patterned demon cultivator's waist, seemingly wanting to cut him in half.

The eagle-patterned demon cultivator's pupils shook violently, and he jumped up, dodging this sneak attack.

But although he had an eagle pattern, he only had a Foundation Establishment cultivation base and could not fly, so he was suspended in the air, with nowhere to hide.

This brief suspension became a flaw.

From the shadows, several evil swords suddenly flew out, moving extremely fast, drawing streaks of blood light, and deeply piercing into the eagle-patterned demon cultivator's body.

Inside the evil swords, there was blood-stained sword energy, and they were also attached with highly toxic demon power.

The eagle-patterned demon cultivator was immediately poisoned, his blood vessels stinging, both shocked and angry, and he roared with wide eyes:

"Old evil beast, you have such great courage?!"

He never expected that this would be his first time monitoring, and this old immortal would suddenly make a killing move.

Was he not afraid of violating the Ten Thousand Demon Valley's prohibition and being devoured by ten thousand demons to death?!

"You actually..."

He wanted to say something else, but the old demon cultivator didn't know how long he had been planning, and now that he had suddenly made a move, he clearly wouldn't give him any chance.

From the shadows, a demon creature suddenly crawled out.

This demon creature was shaped like a long worm, with blade-like joints on both sides, a human face on top, and a long tongue sticking out, its joints trembling as it crawled rapidly on the ground.

Its speed was extremely fast, and in an instant, it was close to the eagle-patterned demon cultivator, and then, taking advantage of his poisoning and paralysis, it wrapped around him directly.

Sharp joints pierced deeply into the flesh.

The long snake-like body kept rolling, carrying the joints, cutting the eagle-patterned demon cultivator's body.

The eagle-patterned demon cultivator roared, "You..."

But before he could finish, his head was also pierced by the joints, blood light flashed, and he was cut into a bloody mess.

The scene was both bloody and cruel.

Mo Hua gasped.

This old thing is actually a centipede demon!

And he was fast, decisive in killing, with a hideous human face, completely unlike the sickly, dying appearance he had before.

He is an old schemer!

And, he is also an impatient person; he kills when he says he will, without any hesitation.

After a few rounds, the eagle-patterned demon cultivator died immediately.

The dog-headed demon cultivator outside the door heard the movement, and when he rushed over, it was already too late.

He could only see that inside the eerie and evil artifact-refining room, there was blood everywhere, as well as a bloody corpse and a strange-looking, terrifying demon cultivator.

Sharp joints, an ugly demon body, and that strange human face on the demon body.

Just at this moment, that strange human face twisted its neck, turned its head, and smiled at him.

The dog-headed demon cultivator's hair stood on end, and he turned and ran.

He was no match for such an evil, ruthless, and sinister old demon cultivator.

But although he ran fast, the centipede-like old demon cultivator used many joints, crawling even faster, and before long, he wrapped around the dog-headed demon cultivator's body and did the same thing.

A moment later, the dog-headed demon cultivator's body was twisted like a towel.

Blood dripped down like water from a towel.

Thus, the two guarding demon cultivators were all killed.

The old demon cultivator retreated from his demonized state, becoming that aged demon cultivator again, stretched out his withered hand, and tremblingly closed the door of the artifact-refining room, sealed the formation, and isolated everything inside.

Afterward, he walked back into the room step by step.

At this time, the smell of blood permeated the air. Sect Ouyang Mu's face was slightly pale, but his gaze was firm.

The old demon cultivator was a bit surprised, nodded slowly, and praised: "Not bad, to be able to keep calm in the face of sudden changes."

Sect Ouyang Mu was a bit nervous, but he calmed down and asked:

"Old senior, what exactly are you going to do?"

The old demon cultivator grinned, revealing the fangs and long tongue in his mouth, as well as the blood stained from gnawing on the demon cultivator just now. "You'll know in a moment."

Before the words fell, a demon wind rose suddenly.

Sect Ouyang Mu only felt a sea of blood before his eyes, and the old demon cultivator had already turned into a centipede, rushing toward him with a bloody, fishy wind.

But a moment later, with a loud boom, the blood color was instantly replaced by firelight.

Around Sect Ouyang Mu, a dazzling light erupted, and a raging fire rose, protecting Sect Ouyang Mu in the middle.

The Earth Fire Killing Formation exploded.

Surging spiritual power raged.

In a short while, a long worm-like demon creature was repelled by the fire, fell to the ground, and kept rolling.

After the fire went out, the centipede demon creature curled up, retreated from its demonized state, and turned back into that hunched old demon cultivator.

He panted heavily like an injured beast, looked at Sect Ouyang Mu with sharp eyes, and said with a trembling voice:

"Formation?"

How could this brat still use formations?

The old demon cultivator pondered for a moment, and suddenly his expression changed. "No, this is not your method!"

"Who is helping you?!"

Just at this moment, a slight sound of a sword ringing sounded.

The old demon cultivator's ears widened, and he saw a sharp golden light flash in the air.

Then a golden thread broke through the air, carrying cold and cruel killing intent, arriving in an instant.

Sensing this biting killing intent, the old demon cultivator's expression changed in shock, and for a moment, he found it hard to believe:

"Sword control?!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 777 =====

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