Chapter 784: The Great Calamity

How could it possibly leak?

How could it possibly be lost?

The "Mr. Tu," clad in a sect elder's robe and bearing a clean, scholarly appearance beneath human skin, stared in disbelief.

His slender fingers formed a seal, meticulously calculating; countless hidden secrets flowed one by one through his mind.

"The great array, the demonic hall, the altar, the blood oath list, the divine embryo, the divine servants, the hidden claws, the Four Symbols array…"

Suddenly, his pupils shrank sharply.

The Divine Dao array!

"The Divine Dao array has been lost?!"

Mr. Tu's expression changed instantly.

Impossible, utterly impossible!

Without divine favor, without a god's blessing, without being a born divine embryo, how could an ordinary person possibly learn the Divine Dao array?

How, then, did this person learn it?

And where did he learn it from?

Could he be a… divine favored one?

Mr. Tu's unease grew stronger.

After a brief pause, he rose slowly, left the elder's residence, and walked along the exquisite Bai Yu staircase toward the sect's outer gate.

The dawn had just broken.

Bright morning sunlight spilled down; within the sect, pavilions of jade and towers of crystal rose in splendid array, their golden fragments scattered across white marble like a fairyland on earth.

Inside the sect, discipline was strict.

Though still early, many disciples had already risen to cultivate or train their bodies.

Along the way, when disciples encountered Mr. Tu, they bowed respectfully and said:

"Elder, good day."

The scholarly-looking "Mr. Tu" smiled warmly, his tone gentle, nodding in acknowledgment, "Good."

After walking a while, he suddenly met another elder at a corner.

This elder had deep nasolabial folds, and his robe bore four golden patterns—clearly a figure of high rank and power.

Seeing "Mr. Tu," he looked surprised, "Elder Shen?"

Mr. Tu also bowed his hands, "Elder Shen."

The elder in the robe with four golden patterns, exuding authority, asked, "Elder Shen, where are you headed so early?"

Mr. Tu paused briefly, then sighed,

"An old friend, long unseen, has come from afar, bringing fragments of array diagrams, wishing to share tea and discuss arrays with me—I've taken time to meet him."

Elder Shen's face showed no emotion, "Elder Shen, you truly are obsessed with arrays…"

Mr. Tu smiled, "Forgive me for indulging, Elder Shen—I'll return soon; I won't neglect the disciples' lessons."

Elder Shen finally gave a slight nod.

As an elder, he had only the authority to urge, not to strictly control, so he merely asked.

Normally, he wouldn't have bothered.

But now, with the sect's reform imminent, the next Dao Discussion Assembly is critical.

From top to bottom, the sect must be held to the strictest standards, with no slack whatsoever.

The success or failure of this matter concerns the sect's fate, the entire Qiandao Sect's future—no room for the slightest negligence.

Elder Shen turned to leave, yet still uneasy, he glanced at Elder Shen again and asked softly,

"Regarding the reform… is your side… alright?"

Mr. Tu replied solemnly, "Elder Shen, rest assured—everything is under control."

"Good…" Elder Shen nodded.

"If this goes smoothly…" the gentle, respectful "Mr. Tu" flickered his eyes with profound implication, "Elder Shen, you may well advance further…"

Elder Shen's eyebrows lifted slightly, and he said seriously,

"We serve the sect—personal advancement or disgrace means nothing."

Mr. Tu bowed, "Elder Shen, your noble character inspires me."

Elder Shen slightly raised his chin, his nasolabial folds deepening further, yet his mood seemed brighter, his tone more relaxed.

"Elder Shen, return soon."

With that, he glanced at Mr. Tu, his expression carrying a condescending air of benevolence, "If this succeeds, a seat among the sect's True Transmission Elders will surely be yours."

"The position of True Transmission Elder in the Qianxue Province, among the Sida Sects—that's a status many Liu Yuhua cultivators spend their entire lives striving for and never attain…"

"Mr. Tu"'s face lit up with joy; he quickly bowed deeply,

"If the sect deems me worthy and I am fortunate enough to become a True Transmission Elder, it will be the greatest honor of my life, enough to glorify my ancestors and leave me with no regrets! Elder Shen's boundless grace—I shall never forget!"

Elder Shen seemed highly satisfied with Mr. Tu's words.

He nodded, then stepped past Mr. Tu, walking along the towering Bai Yu stairs into the midst of the jade pavilions and towers, his figure fading into the distance.

After Elder Shen departed, "Mr. Tu"'s expression lost its earlier warmth and scholarship, gradually turning cold.

He turned to look at Elder Shen, his gaze indifferent—as if viewing a "toy" driven by greed and desire.

"Those with low Dao hearts are merely lower-class people in fine attire…"

"The fattest livestock offered to the Divine Lord."

Mr. Tu turned his head, once again donning his refined facade, his back to Elder Shen, descending the Bai Yu stairs.

Leaving the Qiandao Sect's gate, he entered Qian Dao City, went to a tavern, then visited the Baibao Pavilion, wandered the city briefly, confirmed no karmic traces had locked onto him, and then passed through a hidden door into a magnificent cavern mansion.

Inside the cave dwelling, the mountains and waters were beautiful and extremely luxurious, but empty of people.

Master Tu passed through false mountains and streams, pavilions and terraces, all the way to the deepest, most hidden door of the cave dwelling.

Above the door were stacked eighteen layers of fourth-grade arrays.

Master Tu proceeded with utmost care, unraveling each array, one by one.

Then light flowed and shifted, the array patterns receded layer by layer, and the great door swung open.

Master Tu stepped forward and walked through the door.

Inside was a grand hall.

Around the hall, arrays were similarly arrayed, but the interior was empty, devoid of any furnishings—only a dais stood at the center.

The dais was ancient, carved with simple, archaic patterns, unremarkable in appearance.

Master Tu took out three spirit stones, cherishing and valuing them.

These three spirit stones shimmered in seven vibrant colors, radiating luminous brilliance, as if naturally formed—rare primordial spirit stones, exceedingly scarce in the cultivation world.

Master Tu placed the three primordial spirit stones at the dais's array core, then stepped to the center of the dais.

Moments later, the array activated.

The three primordial spirit stones hummed, their spirit essence draining away, gradually turning to ash.

The ancient, mysterious array patterns flashed in sequence.

Above the flowing light, black spatial fissures flickered and interwove.

The void flickered; spatial transmission occurred.

Carved upon the dais was, unmistakably, a Void Transmission Array reaching fifth-grade Void-Splitting level!

Strong void fluctuations emanated from the dais.

These fluctuations surged wildly, spilling outward—then all were absorbed by the dense, overlapping arrays lining the hall's walls.

The array's aura was completely concealed.

Thus, during transmission, no one could detect it.

A flash of void—and Master Tu's figure vanished.

Within the Qianxue Province, another desolate, hidden, uninhabited mountain range—a spatial fissure flashed past.

Master Tu's figure slowly materialized.

He straightened his posture, his expression cold, releasing a bloody, sinister spiritual sense to scan the surroundings; only after confirming no one had noticed did he walk toward Shenshan.

In the barren, silent mountains, sunlight reflected off the hills, casting a deathly gray hue.

As he walked, Master Tu shed his human skin; his form twisted and shifted slowly, restoring his original withered, pale appearance.

The location where he appeared lay within the fifth-grade Qianxue Province.

But the Shenshan he headed toward was a forbidden zone—a shadowed expanse, shrouded in mist, with no discernible direction.

Finally, Master Tu returned to the gloomy hall.

Within the hall was a secret chamber.

Inside the chamber stood an altar, upon which was enshrined a bloody, grotesque white skull with human features and ram's horns—Bai Sensen.

Master Tu knelt before the skull.

His face was pale, faintly glowing green, his voice ancient and hoarse:

"Things have changed…"

"I beg the Divine Master to grant me great power, to peer into the Heavenly Mechanism, to divine fortune and misfortune."

After speaking, he bowed three times.

Upon finishing, a mysterious evil force descended; the secret chamber turned crimson.

Master Tu's body trembled uncontrollably, his bones vibrated, his teeth chattered—he bore immense burden, enduring unbearable pain.

After an incense stick burned out, the crimson faded.

Master Tu's pupils were hollow, as if possessed by some entity; with a blank expression, he took from the altar a piece of human bone.

Then, with his long fingernails, he sliced his palm, letting blood drip onto the bone.

As the blood fell upon the white bone, nameless evil fire ignited.

The flames, like serpent tongues, licked the bone, scorching it with cracks.

Master Tu's hollow eyes fixed on the crimson fissures; he counted with his fingers, then suddenly paled:

"Great calamity!"

Wan Yao Valley shall suffer a great calamity!

His eyes withdrew from their hollow state, yet instantly clouded with fear and confusion.

"Wan Yao Valley has lain hidden for eight hundred years—outside, the Divine Mist Forest blocks spiritual sense; inside, countless demon servants guard it—how could a great calamity arise?"

"Where is this calamity?"

Master Tu racked his brain but found no answer.

"Wan Yao Valley is the land of demonic cultivators, the foundation of demons, the furnace of demonic cores, the place where ten thousand demons return to their souls…"

"It is an absolutely critical link in the Divine Master's grand plan—absolutely cannot falter, absolutely cannot be exposed!"

With a solemn expression, Master Tu hesitated long, then clenched his teeth and bowed three more times toward the gloomy human-faced ram-bone skull:

"I beg the Divine Master once more to bestow grace—through blood sacrifice, lend me your divine thought, let your eyes replace mine, to peer into the ominous fate…"

Master Tu spoke slowly, word by word.

Upon finishing, he suddenly felt crushing pressure in his spiritual sea—as if a powerful evil will forcibly descended upon his Tianmen.

Master Tu could not bear the burden; blood flowed from all seven orifices.

Especially his eyes—blood gushed like a torrent, drowning them in crimson.

Borrowing that blood-colored light, he finally saw.

He saw the tribulation.

He saw the true crisis of the Myriad Demon Valley!

At this very moment, outside the Myriad Demon Valley, within the Divine Mist Forest, hundreds of sect cultivators were lurking in secret!

A great many of them were, shockingly, Golden Core cultivators!

This was a contingent of elite cultivators.

More than half of them were even inner-sect elders of great sects!

At this moment, they were like a pack of tigers and wolves, prowling around the Myriad Demon Valley, intending to find an opportunity to destroy the Divine Lord's foundation.

This was a true great tribulation.

Moreover, it was not about to descend — it had already descended, in utter silence!

Mr. Tu was both shocked and furious.

He could not spare a thought for the vital-essence depletion caused by his spirit sea forcibly bearing the Divine Lord's divine sense through consecutive divinations. He took out a nameless sheet of skin paper that could evade karmic ties, dipped it in the fresh blood on the ground, and began to write a blood letter upon it…

……

Outside the Myriad Demon Valley.

A group of elders from the Grand Void Gate and the Surging Void Gate were resting with closed eyes.

A faint streak of blood-light flashed past.

None of the others noticed.

But Xun Zixian, the Grand Void Gate's array-formation elder — a third-grade array master who had also done considerable research into the Dao of divine sense — suddenly opened his eyes, his brow tightly furrowed.

Call Ziyou sensed the anomaly and asked, "Zixian, what's wrong?"

Xun Zixian deliberated for a long while, then said slowly, "Just now… it seemed as though some 'thing' glanced at me."

Call Ziyou was slightly startled. "What thing?"

Xun Zixian shook his head. "I don't know, I can't tell. It might even just be my imagination…"

Call Ziyou's gaze grew stern. He glanced at the distant, blood-colored Myriad Demon Valley and said in a low voice:

"I'm afraid it may not be your imagination."

Xun Zixian also looked solemn.

Call Ziyou summoned an inner-sect disciple and instructed, "Pass the order down. Tell everyone to stay alert. There may be an incident…"

"Yes, Elder."

That disciple departed to relay the order.

Call Ziyou and Xun Zixian exchanged a glance, then both looked toward the great gate of the Myriad Demon Valley at the end of the White Bone Passage. The strings in their hearts were pulled taut.

……

And at this moment, inside the Myriad Demon Valley.

In the deepest part, within a study that burned sandalwood incense — luxurious yet plain, utterly out of place amid the Myriad Demon Valley's eerie, demonic atmosphere.

A young Young Master, his Bai Xi palm holding an expensive platinum array brush, was tracing array lines stroke by stroke upon paper white as snow.

Suddenly, his heart stirred. He took out a nameless sheet of skin paper and spread it before him.

Bloodstains seeped across the skin paper.

A line of blood-characters emerged:

"The great tribulation is at hand. Hawks and falcons gather outside the valley. The matter cannot be done. Abandon the chariot to save the commander…"

And finally, a line of hastily scrawled text — its strokes sharp as blades, each character dripping blood, a decision that gouged the heart and split the gall:

"Destroy the Myriad Demon Valley!"

The young Young Master was stunned for a moment, his gaze gradually turning icy.

"Hundreds of years of painstaking effort, such a vast foundation — and it can be destroyed just like that? Mr. Tu certainly is a man of ruthless resolve and tremendous boldness."

"Failure to cut one's losses brings disaster in its wake, I suppose…"

In the young Young Master's dashing eyes, one half was clear and bright as the moon, while the other half revealed an eerie, unfathomable divine light.

……

Inside the array-formation stone chamber.

Mo Hua cross-referenced and merged the虚无 Heavenly Dao laws within his spirit sea with the array lines of the Divine Dao array formations. Borrowing the array to comprehend the Dao, using the Dao to fuse with the array, he finally gained an initial grasp of the "Seal" law, and mastered the Divine Lock Array — the most core inheritance of the Great Wasteland Divine Dao array formations.

Mo Hua's heart rejoiced greatly; a pair of bright, sparkling eyes shone.

Now, he could also count as an entry-level "Divine Dao Array Master"!

Mo Hua withdrew from his spirit sea and looked at the Sword Bone beside him.

Array formations emphasize putting learning into practice.

Since he had learned it, he naturally had to use it.

He wanted to use "Sword Bone" to practice again, to see whether this little sword demon could still break free from the Divine Lock Array he laid down.

Sword Bone, being watched by Mo Hua, felt a chill creep over its heart for no reason.

Its intuition told it that whenever this Xiaozu Sect looked at it with shining eyes, nothing good would come of it.

Then it paused slightly.

"Thinking it over, this Xiaozu Sect is nothing more than wanting to use me to test his newly learned array formation…"

"If that's the case, then there's nothing to fear."

Less than one night had passed; surely this Xiaozu Sect couldn't have learned anything fancy.

It would just play along with him and go through the motions.

Sword Bone thought to itself.

Mo Hua had just been about to move his brush, using the sword bone to test the array, when he suddenly paused, then put his brush and ink away, and continued sitting cross-legged atop the ram-horned skull, motionless.

He sensed that Jin Yixuan had returned.

Sure enough, after only a moment, the great doors opened, and Jin Yixuan, dressed all in black, returned once more to the great hall.

His expression was weary, as though he had been busy all night.

Jin Yixuan had just been about to sit down and continue studying the divine Dao array patterns, when another yao cultivator walked in.

Jin Yixuan was irritated at being disturbed, and had just been about to harshly rebuke the intruder, but when he raised his head and clearly saw the newcomer's appearance, his expression immediately turned solemn; he restrained his arrogant bearing and became quite respectful.

This yao cultivator was an old man, his voice hoarse as a cracked gong.

Upon entering, he spoke only one sentence:

"The Young Master requests your presence."

Jin Yixuan did not dare show the slightest negligence, and bowed with cupped fists:

"Yes."

After the yao cultivator finished speaking, he turned and left.

Jin Yixuan's gaze hardened, and he followed behind this yao cultivator, leaving the array Shi Dian.

Inside Shi Dian, it was empty and desolate once more, with only Mo Hua remaining.

Mo Hua furrowed his brow, a vague sense of unease stirring in his heart.

He suddenly felt that something unexpected seemed to have happened.

But what exactly had happened?

Mo Hua could not, for the moment, puzzle it out.

He was now hiding inside the great hall, and it was not convenient to go out; if he wanted to know what had happened, he could only wait patiently.

When Jin Yixuan returned, there might be some clues.

After half a shichen, Jin Yixuan indeed returned.

And it was not just Jin Yixuan alone—he had also summoned the stewards from every district of the Ten Thousand Yao Valley—Mo Hua guessed they were stewards, because Jin Gui was mixed in among them.

Jin Yixuan said nothing, seemingly afraid the matter would leak, and merely gave each steward a jade slip, instructing:

"Act according to the instructions on the jade slip."

The stewards took the jade slips, sank their divine sense into them, and after only a single glance, their expressions all changed dramatically:

"Steward, this…"

"…how could it have come to this?"

"Could it be that something major has happened?"

Jin Yixuan's gaze was like a sword as it swept across them once.

None of the stewards dared speak.

Jin Yixuan then said in a low voice: "These are the Young Master's instructions. Whatever the Young Master instructs, that is what we shall carry out."

Seeing that the crowd's expressions were all different, clearly each harboring different thoughts, he softened his tone slightly and added, "For all of you, this is also an opportunity."

"Follow the Young Master's instructions. Once it goes smoothly, you may escape this cage, no longer forced to hold out in the valley. From then on, the seas are vast and the skies boundless, and you shall have a life of carefree freedom…"

That one sentence struck right at the hearts of several stewards.

Even as stewards, wielding authority, no one wanted to spend these dark, sunless, inhuman days within the Ten Thousand Yao Valley.

The mortal world in all its splendor—who wouldn't long for it?

Although the stewards kept their expressions unreadable, a flicker stirred in their eyes, and finally someone took the lead and said:

"We shall obediently follow the Young Master's instructions!"

With someone taking the lead, the others chimed in one after another:

"We look solely to the Young Master for our course."

"We shall surely lay down our lives for the Young Master…"

Jin Yixuan nodded in satisfaction, then a cold glint flashed in his eyes: "There's no time to lose. We move now."

"Yes!"

After the discussion, Jin Yixuan and the stewards all departed one after another.

The unease in Mo Hua's heart grew heavier and heavier…

Escape the cage?

Carefree freedom?

What exactly did this group of yao cultivators intend to do?

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then sent a message to Elder Xun:

"The yao cultivators seem to be making a move. Elder, please be careful…"

After sending it, Mo Hua continued to wait, intending to watch quietly as the situation unfolded.

But before long, a sudden violent commotion rang out from within the valley.

There was the sound of buildings collapsing, the shouts of yao cultivators, and the low snarls of yao beasts, all mingled together.

Mo Hua's brow furrowed, and at that very moment, the Taixu Token trembled.

Mo Hua took it out and looked, and saw an urgent message coming through the Taixu Token, sent by Elder Xun:

"Mo Hua, are you all right?!"

Mo Hua: "I'm fine. What's wrong?"

Elder Xun paused for a moment, then sent a message: "The gates of the Ten Thousand Yao Valley have been opened…"

Mo Hua's heart jolted at the words.

——

(PS: If nothing unexpected happens, I'll add one more chapter tomorrow, and another one the day after, aiming to wrap up this plotline~.)

(End of chapter)

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