Chapter 782 – The Great Calamity
"How could it possibly have leaked?"
"How could it be lost?!"
Wearing the skin of a human and the elder's robe of a sect, the refined and scholarly-looking "Mister Tu" showed a rare look of disbelief.
His long fingers formed signs as he began a deep deduction. One hidden secret after another flashed through his heart.
"The great formation, the demonic temple, the altar, the blood oath list, the divine embryo, divine servants, hidden claws in the dark, the Four Symbols Formation…"
Suddenly, his pupils shrank violently.
Divine Dao Formations!
"The Divine Dao Formation… has been leaked?!"
Mister Tu's expression changed drastically.
Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
Without divine favor, without a god's blessing, without being born with a divine embryo—how could an ordinary mortal possibly comprehend a Divine Dao Formation?
How did this person learn it?
And where did they learn it from?
Could it be… a chosen one blessed by the gods?
The unease in Mister Tu's heart grew stronger.
After thinking for a moment, he slowly rose from the Elder's residence and walked down the long stairs of white jade, heading toward the sect gate.
Dawn was just breaking.
Golden sunlight bathed the heavenly palace-like sect in radiance. Gilded rays scattered across white jade—like a paradise on earth.
Within the sect, rules were strict.
Despite the early hour, many disciples were already up, cultivating or tempering their bodies.
As he passed, some disciples greeted him respectfully:
"Greetings, Elder."
The refined and gentle-looking "Mister Tu" responded with a warm expression, nodding amiably, "Good."
He continued on for a while until—around a corner—he suddenly encountered another elder.
This elder had deep lines of age and wore a robe marked with four golden patterns, clearly a high-ranking authority.
Seeing him, the elder looked surprised. "Elder Shen?"
Mister Tu cupped his hands. "Elder Shen."
"So early in the morning—Elder Shen, where might you be headed?"
This stern elder in the four-gold-patterned robe asked calmly, face bearing the dignity of command.
Mister Tu paused, then sighed lightly:
"An old Dao friend I haven't seen in years has come from afar. He brought remnants of some array diagrams, hoping to sit and discuss formations over tea. I thought I'd take the time to meet him."
Elder Shen's expression remained flat. "Elder Shen is as devoted to formations as ever, I see."
Mister Tu chuckled. "You flatter me. I'll be back soon. I won't delay the disciples' lectures."
Only then did Elder Shen give a faint nod.
While he had supervisory authority over elders' actions, he didn't have absolute control. Normally, he wouldn't even ask.
But the sect's reformation was imminent, and the upcoming Dao Discussion Assembly was of critical importance.
The entire sect—from top to bottom—had to be held to the highest standard. No slack could be tolerated.
The success or failure of this matter would determine the sect's future fortune, and even the destiny of the entire Heavenly Dao Sect.
As Elder Shen turned to leave, he paused, clearly still uneasy. Glancing back at Elder Shen, he asked in a low voice:
"Regarding the reformation—on your side… everything's in order?"
Mister Tu replied solemnly, "Rest assured, Elder Shen. Everything is under control."
"Good…" Elder Shen nodded slowly.
"If this goes well…" The always gentle and courteous "Mister Tu" let his eyes flicker with subtle meaning. "Perhaps Elder Shen may rise even further…"
Elder Shen raised an eyebrow and replied sternly:
"We all serve the sect. Personal gain or status means little."
Mister Tu bowed. "Elder Shen's noble character commands deep respect from Shen."
Elder Shen raised his chin slightly, his face full of age lines seeming even more solemn—but his mood had clearly improved. His tone softened.
"Elder Shen, be quick on your errand and swift to return."
Then he cast a glance back at Mister Tu, voice tinged with condescension and a trace of benevolence:
"If this is successful, the position of True Inheritor Elder within the sect shall surely be yours."
"In the entire Qianxue Province, among the four great sects—such a position is one that countless Ascendant cultivators strive for all their lives in vain…"
Mister Tu beamed with joy and quickly bowed deeply:
"If I am so fortunate as to earn the sect's favor and become a True Inheritor Elder, it would be the greatest blessing of my life. I would bring glory to my ancestors and die without regret! Elder Shen's great kindness—I shall never forget it!"
Elder Shen seemed quite pleased with the flattery.
He gave a satisfied nod, then stepped past Mister Tu, walking up the high white jade steps into the jade towers, his figure fading into the distance.
Once Elder Shen was gone, the warmth and civility on "Mister Tu's" face slowly faded—replaced by an icy indifference.
He glanced back toward Elder Shen, gaze cold and devoid of emotion—like someone looking at a "puppet" driven by greed and ambition.
"A weak-minded Dao heart… nothing more than a petty soul with noble airs."
"A prime sacrificial beast… offered to the Divine Lord."
He turned, once again donning his refined façade, and walked down the white jade stairs.
Leaving the sect gates of the Heavenly Dao Sect, Mister Tu entered Qianxue City, made a stop at a tavern, visited the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, and wandered the city for a while.
Only after confirming that no karmic traces or energy signatures had locked onto him—did he enter a hidden passage into a luxurious hidden cave-dwelling.
It was lavish and secluded—yet completely empty.
He passed through artificial mountains, flowing streams, pavilions and towers—until reaching the innermost, most well-hidden chamber.
The door was sealed with eighteen layers of Grade Four formations.
Mister Tu moved cautiously, undoing each formation one by one.
Light shimmered—array runes faded—then the grand door opened.
Mister Tu stepped inside.
It was a vast hall.
Array patterns filled the walls. The interior, however, was empty—no furnishings—save for one ancient array platform at the center.
The array platform was timeworn, carved with archaic patterns—not visually impressive.
Mister Tu solemnly retrieved three spirit stones.
These were not ordinary stones—they shimmered in seven radiant hues, glowing with innate energy. These were Primordial Spirit Stones—extraordinarily rare in the cultivation world.
He placed them into the array's core nodes, then stepped onto the platform.
Moments later, the formation activated.
The three spirit stones hummed, their energy draining—until they crumbled to ash.
Ancient runes flickered to life.
Dark spatial fissures lit up above the array—flashing in and out of existence.
Void shimmered. Space distorted.
This was clearly a Grade Five Void-Transference Array, capable of long-distance teleportation!
Strong spatial fluctuations surged outward—but every bit of it was absorbed by the dense formations embedded in the walls.
Nothing leaked out. No aura remained.
No one could sense the teleportation.
A flicker of void—and Mister Tu's figure vanished.
Elsewhere in Qianxue Province, in a desolate, remote, uninhabited mountain—
A flash of void tore through the air.
Mister Tu reappeared slowly from the distortion.
Standing tall, expression frosty, he released a wave of bloody, sinister divine sense, scanning the area.
Once he confirmed there were no observers, he headed deeper into the mountains.
The barren hills reflected the bleak sun in pale, deathly hues.
As he walked, his skin peeled away, and his figure twisted back into his withered, ghastly true form.
Though he had arrived in a Grade Five region of Qianxue Province—he now approached a forbidden area, cloaked in shadow and fog, directionless and obscured.
Finally, Mister Tu returned… to a dark, eerie hall.
At its center was a sealed chamber.
Inside it—an altar.
And on that altar… a grotesque, blood-soaked skull idol—humanoid with twisted ram horns, grinning with eerie white teeth.
Mister Tu knelt before it.
His face pale, flickering with a greenish glow. His voice was ancient and raspy:
"There has been a change…"
"I beg the Divine Lord—grant me great power to peer into Heaven's will, to divine fortune and misfortune."
Once he finished speaking, he kowtowed three times.
As his head touched the ground, a strange, sinister power descended—the entire chamber became bathed in blood-red light.
Mister Tu's body trembled violently. His bones quaked, teeth clenched and chattered. He was clearly enduring unimaginable agony and pressure.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the bloody light faded.
Mister Tu's pupils had become hollow, as if possessed by some alien will. With a blank expression, he stepped up to the altar and retrieved a piece of human bone.
Then, using his long fingernails, he slashed open his palm and let fresh blood drip onto the bone.
As the blood touched the white bone, an unholy flame ignited.
The flames licked the bone like a serpent's tongue, charring its surface and burning crack after crimson crack into it.
Mister Tu stared into the cracks with hollow eyes, made a quick calculation with his fingers—and his face instantly changed.
"A great calamity!"
A great calamity is coming to the Ten Thousand Demon Valley!
His empty gaze flickered with terror and confusion.
"The Ten Thousand Demon Valley has been hidden for 800 years. Surrounded by the Divine Mist Forest, even divine sense cannot detect it. Guarded by countless demon servants—no outsider can invade. How could a great calamity strike?"
"Where is this calamity coming from?!"
No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't understand.
"The Ten Thousand Demon Valley is a sanctuary of demon cultivators, the foundation of demonic bloodlines, the furnace for forging demon cores, and the final resting place for the souls of all demons…"
"It is a key link in the Divine Lord's great plan—it cannot afford to fail. It must not be exposed!"
Mister Tu's expression grew grim. After much hesitation, he gritted his teeth and once more knelt before the grotesque ram-horned skull idol.
"I beseech the Divine Lord once again—through this blood sacrifice, lend me divine will. With Your eyes in place of mine, let me see the source of this danger…"
He spoke each word solemnly and clearly.
As soon as the plea left his lips, an overwhelming pressure crashed down upon his consciousness—like a monstrous evil will descending straight into his soul.
Unable to withstand it, blood poured from all seven orifices.
Especially his eyes—streams of blood gushed down, dyeing his vision crimson.
And through this blood-drenched sight… he saw it.
He saw the calamity.
He saw the true threat to the Ten Thousand Demon Valley.
At that very moment, outside the Ten Thousand Demon Valley—
Within the Divine Mist Forest—hundreds of cultivators were secretly lying in wait!
And many of them were at the Golden Core realm!
This was no ragtag band—it was an elite strike force.
More than half of them were even inner sect elders of major sects!
They surrounded the Ten Thousand Demon Valley like a pack of wolves and tigers, watching for the perfect moment to strike—to utterly destroy the Divine Lord's stronghold.
This was not a future crisis.
It was a great calamity that had already begun—silently and invisibly.
Mister Tu was both shocked and furious.
Ignoring the severe depletion to his essence from using divine will twice in a row, he hurriedly pulled out a strange piece of parchment—one that could escape karmic cause and effect.
Using blood pooled on the ground, he dipped his finger and began to write a bloodletter upon the parchment...
Outside the Ten Thousand Demon Valley.
The elders of the Great Void Sect and Chongxu Sect sat cross-legged, conserving energy with their eyes closed.
Suddenly, a faint flash of blood-colored light streaked through the air.
None of the others noticed.
But the elder of the Great Void Sect—Xun Zixian, a Grade 3 Formation Master and one who had studied divine will techniques—suddenly opened his eyes, brows furrowed.
His senior, Xun Ziyou, sensed something amiss and asked:
"Zixian, what is it?"
Xun Zixian paused for a long moment, then slowly said:
"Just now… it felt like something—something—was watching me."
Xun Ziyou's expression changed slightly. "Something? What kind of something?"
Xun Zixian shook his head. "I don't know. I couldn't tell. It might even just be… my imagination."
Xun Ziyou's gaze turned solemn as he glanced toward the blood-red valley in the distance.
"I fear… it may not have been your imagination."
Xun Zixian's expression also turned grim.
Xun Ziyou summoned an inner sect disciple and ordered:
"Pass down the command. Tell everyone to stay alert. A change may be coming."
"Yes, Elder!"
The disciple swiftly went to carry out the order.
Xun Ziyou and Xun Zixian exchanged a glance, then both looked toward the massive gates at the end of the White Bone Passage leading into the Ten Thousand Demon Valley.
Their hearts were strung taut with tension.
Meanwhile, deep within the Ten Thousand Demon Valley—
Inside an elegant, sandalwood-scented study—refined and graceful, utterly at odds with the eerie atmosphere of the valley—
A pale, noble-looking young man was holding a priceless platinum formation brush, carefully inscribing formation patterns onto paper as white as snow.
Suddenly, his expression shifted.
He pulled out an unfamiliar piece of parchment and laid it flat before him.
Mist rolled across the surface—then bloodstains slowly seeped through.
A line of blood-written characters appeared:
"A great calamity approaches. Hawks and vultures gather outside the valley. The situation is irreparable. Abandon the pawn, preserve the king…"
Then followed one final line, written in a scrawl like a knife carving flesh, dripping blood with every word—a decision full of ruthless resolve:
"Destroy the Ten Thousand Demon Valley."
The young lord froze for a moment, then his gaze turned cold as ice.
"Centuries of effort… such vast foundations… yet he can say 'destroy it' just like that. Mister Tu is indeed bold. Merciless, and with such resolve."
"If you hesitate at the moment of severance—you're the one who'll be cut down."
His handsome eyes flickered—half as clear as the moon, half filled with eerie, unpredictable light.
In a formation chamber—
Mo Hua was currently reflecting the void Dao laws from his sea of consciousness onto the divine Dao formation runes—merging the Dao with formation, comprehending through arrays, and fusing insights back into the array itself.
He had finally begun to grasp the Law of "Sealing."
And within the inheritance of the Great Wilderness Divine Dao Array, he had mastered its most core formation—the Divine Lock Formation!
Mo Hua was thrilled, his eyes glowing brightly.
He had officially become… an entry-level Divine Dao Formation Master!
Mo Hua withdrew from his sea of consciousness and turned to the nearby Sword-Skull.
Formations emphasized "learning through practice."
Now that he'd learned something new, naturally he had to test it.
He planned to use Sword-Skull as target practice again. This time, he wanted to see if the little sword demon could escape from the Divine Lock Formation he laid down.
The skull trembled under Mo Hua's gaze. For some reason, it suddenly felt… cold.
Its instincts screamed that whenever this little ancestor's eyes start glowing, nothing good ever follows.
Then it suddenly paused in surprise.
"Come to think of it, this little ancestor is probably just using me to test that new formation he learned…"
"If that's all, then nothing to worry about."
He couldn't have learned anything too wild in just one night anyway.
"I'll just play along and humor him a little,"
thought the Sword Skull smugly.
Just as Mo Hua was about to start drawing the formation and use the Sword Skull for testing, he suddenly paused—then put away his brush and ink, sitting back atop the ram-horn skull without moving.
He had sensed it—Jin Yixuan had returned.
Sure enough, moments later, the door opened, and Jin Yixuan, dressed in black, stepped into the hall again.
He looked exhausted, like he'd been busy all night.
As Jin Yixuan was about to sit down and resume studying the Divine Dao formation patterns, another demon cultivator entered.
Irritated by the interruption, Jin Yixuan's face darkened—he was just about to lash out when he saw who it was, and his expression instantly shifted.
The arrogance vanished. He straightened his posture and greeted the visitor with clear respect.
The demon cultivator was an elder, his voice raspy like a cracked gong.
He entered and simply said:
"The young lord summons you."
Jin Yixuan didn't dare delay. He cupped his hands and replied:
"Understood."
Without another word, the demon turned and left.
Jin Yixuan's gaze narrowed, then he silently followed the elder out of the formation stone hall.
Once again, the grand hall was empty—only Mo Hua remained.
He frowned, a faint unease creeping into his heart.
Something… didn't feel right.
Had something unexpected happened?
He couldn't quite guess what, but something in the air had changed.
Hiding inside the hall as he was, it wasn't convenient for him to leave. If he wanted to find out what had happened, he could only wait patiently.
Perhaps when Jin Yixuan returned, there would be some clues.
About half an hour later, Jin Yixuan did return.
But not alone.
He had gathered what Mo Hua assumed were the managers of all the regions of the Ten Thousand Demon Valley—he guessed as much because Jin Gui was among them.
Jin Yixuan said nothing, likely for fear of leaks.
Instead, he handed each manager a jade slip and simply instructed:
"Follow the commands within."
The managers took the slips and used divine sense to read them—just a glance, and their expressions changed dramatically.
"Manager, this…"
"…Is it really necessary to go this far?"
"Has something major happened?"
Jin Yixuan's gaze turned sharp as a blade as he swept his eyes across them.
The group fell silent, not daring to ask further.
Jin Yixuan said coldly:
"This is the Young Lord's command. We follow it to the letter."
Seeing that many of them looked uneasy and hesitant, he softened his tone slightly:
"This is also an opportunity for all of you."
"If you follow the Young Lord's orders, and everything goes smoothly—you'll be able to leave this cage, no longer trapped here in this valley. A world of freedom and pleasure awaits…"
That line struck a chord.
Even though they held power as managers, no one truly wanted to live out their days in the Ten Thousand Demon Valley's dark, oppressive existence.
Everyone yearned for the outside world.
Though most of them said nothing, a flicker of longing appeared in their eyes.
Eventually, one stepped forward and said:
"We obey the Young Lord's command!"
Once someone led the way, the rest followed in quick succession:
"The Young Lord commands—we follow!"
"We will serve the Young Lord with our lives!"
Jin Yixuan nodded in satisfaction, a chill flashing in his eyes.
"Then there's no time to waste. Begin now."
"Yes!"
With the plan settled, Jin Yixuan and the managers all swiftly departed.
Mo Hua's sense of unease grew stronger.
Leave the cage?
Freedom and pleasure?
What exactly are these demon cultivators planning?
After a moment's thought, Mo Hua sent a message to Elder Xun:
"The demon cultivators seem to be making a move. Elder, please stay on alert…"
After sending the message, he chose to remain still and watch things unfold.
But not long after, a sudden commotion erupted throughout the valley.
There were sounds of collapsing buildings, demon cultivators shouting, and low bestial growls—all mixing into chaos.
Mo Hua frowned deeply—just then, his Great Void Token began to vibrate.
He pulled it out and saw an urgent message—it was from Elder Xun.
"Mo Hua, are you alright?!"
Mo Hua quickly responded:
"I'm fine. What happened?"
There was a brief pause before Elder Xun sent another message:
"The gates… the gates to the Ten Thousand Demon Valley have been opened."
Mo Hua's heart jolted.
(End of this Chapter)