Chapter 80: Master of the Board (Part Five)

Xu Yuqi stared intently at Zhou Xuanhong. As the formation source in his palm dissipated and the first layer of protective barrier was breached, he rushed forward, heading straight for Zhou Xuanhong. The tides of restriction that had re-evolved around them no longer carried any destructive power; instead, they brimmed with the profound rules of heaven and earth. They did not impede Xu Yuqi in the slightest, allowing him to reach the third layer of the protective barrier.

Above Zhou Xuanhong’s head, an ethereal green lotus slowly rotated, suppressing his sea of consciousness. Yet now, cracks spread across it—having reached its limit under the impact of Master Dayan’s Dayan technique earlier.

Zhou Xuanhong watched Xu Yuqi approaching like a storm and shook his head. “In the end, you were always within my calculations.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than countless restrictions within the tidal array began to operate, gradually forming the outline of a great formation—a fusion array designed solely to assist with refining.

Xu Yuqi’s eyelids twitched violently, as if he had guessed Zhou Xuanhong’s final stratagem. He drew a sharp breath. “You… you’re going to refine the entire minor world! This body belongs to me! I will not permit you to do this!”

Xu Yuqi went mad, disregarding the loss to his soul as he struck the weak point of the third protective barrier—the place Zhou Xuanhong had previously broken open with the tidal array, not yet fully restored.

But he was still a step too late. The formation had already begun to operate, and Zhou Xuanhong, now at its core, became the formation source, linked inexorably to the vast fusion array. There was no turning back, nor any way to stop what was unfolding.

With a roar, Xu Yuqi shattered the lotus projection. Deprived of the artifact’s suppression, Zhou Xuanhong’s sea of consciousness was invaded, and the possession began.

Once in Zhou Xuanhong’s sea of consciousness, Xu Yuqi saw a withered lotus, atop which sat a platform resembling a nest. Within it squirmed a host of soul-devouring worms, all swarming toward him.

“Hmph!” Xu Yuqi’s soul unleashed immense power, sweeping all the attacking worms aside, unable to advance even a fraction.

“Why do you do this? Knowing you will die, must you drag me down with you? Why didn’t you leave the Shaping Sect before, never to return, since you have mastered the method to break the Divine Shaping Seal? Ah, that’s right—I hold your soul blood.”

As he spoke, Xu Yuqi’s soul radiated golden light, beginning to infect Zhou Xuanhong’s sea of consciousness, preparing to devour his soul and seize the body completely.

On the platform, soul power converged, and a faint human figure appeared—Zhou Xuanhong—smiling. “I don’t believe I’m the one who will die. The moment you entered my sea of consciousness, you lost all hope of turning the tables. You want this body? Then I’ll give it to you—so what?”

With that, the soul-made figure swept up the green lotus, the platform, and all the soul-devouring worms hiding within, and left the sea of consciousness entirely.

Xu Yuqi was dumbfounded by Zhou Xuanhong’s actions. At only the seventh level of foundation building, how could he manage soul separation? How could he survive after abandoning his physical body?

Suddenly, Xu Yuqi understood: the source of the fusion array was not Zhou Xuanhong’s body, but his soul—his will. The flesh was merely bait to lure Xu Yuqi here!

Having realized this, Xu Yuqi no longer cared about devouring Zhou Xuanhong’s sea of consciousness—it was meaningless. What he coveted was the second platform Zhou Xuanhong had cultivated within his sea of consciousness, and now even that was gone. The body’s talent was merely ordinary, pale yellow at best, far inferior to Xu Yuan.

But it was too late. After leaving Zhou Xuanhong’s sea of consciousness, Xu Yuqi found that the fusion array had engulfed the outside world entirely. The minor world was shrinking rapidly, and at the center, he faced a mighty force, as if his soul would be torn into fragments.

Not only him—all the spiritual energy within the minor world surged madly into the fusion array. As the suction grew stronger, even the demon beasts could not resist its pull, followed by the beasts themselves, and finally all living things and matter began to be refined under the out-of-control force.

The fusion array grew ever larger, or rather, the minor world grew ever smaller. From outside, one could sense an earth-shattering power erupting within, intensifying by the moment.

It began to affect the outside as well—a suction force radiated from the minor world’s core, devouring all matter: spiritual energy, elements, substances, and even the thousands of cultivators present.

“Go!” The Corpse Master gave up attacking Master Dayan. As a mid-Stage Nascent Soul cultivator, he sensed the brewing peril and ordered his disciples to retreat, descending to the ground and leading his Qi Refining disciples away from the Shaping Sect.

Before leaving, he reached out and grabbed Wang Hu—a prodigy of formation. With him, the Yin Corpse Sect would be even stronger.

He glanced at Luo Tun and Xu Yuan and decided to leave them be; they were disciples of major powers, and killing them would bring immense trouble.

Finally, his gaze fell on Li Li. Raising his hand, he struck, intent on killing this genius sword cultivator in the cradle. After all, the corpse puppet cultivating the Ruthless Sword Dao was tempting even to someone as powerful as himself.

Master Dayan wished to intervene, but suddenly stopped, allowing Li Li to be struck down by the Corpse Master.

“Break!” Li Li poured all his power into the sword orb in his Mud Pill Palace, but the difference between their realms was too vast. Under the Corpse Master’s giant hand, he was instantly crushed into pulp, with no surprises.

“No wonder they call it the Ruthless Sword Dao—such sharp attacks. Even my body suffered slight injury.”

As the Corpse Master seized Li Li’s corpse, Master Dayan acted, deploying the Dayan technique to establish the Dao and halt his actions.

“Hmph!” Feeling the intensifying suction, some Qi Refining disciples could barely maintain control. The Corpse Master abandoned the body, plunged his hands into the earth, lifted an entire swath of land, bent his knees, and leapt hundreds of miles, escaping the suction’s reach.

Luo Tun and Xu Yuan, taking Xu Yuhan with them, left the Shaping Sect, leaving behind only Qi Refining disciples, Old Mountain Demon, the hidden Black Ghost Daoist outside the sect, and Master Dayan standing beyond the minor world.

“Xu Rong, save me!” A desperate will echoed from the minor world—a soul struggled to escape the mighty suction of the fusion array, but it was futile.

Master Dayan laughed coldly. “Save you? Ancestor, rest in peace!”

Xu Yuqi’s voice turned insane. “If you won’t save me, then die with me!”

He attempted to call forth the Divine Shaping Seal from Master Dayan’s sea of consciousness, only to find it had vanished, replaced by a free five-inch Nascent Soul.

Through the ever-shrinking minor world, Xu Yuqi saw two soul-devouring worms at the Golden Core stage fly from Master Dayan’s consciousness. He roared in madness, “Zhou Xuanhong! Zhou Xuanhong! Always you! How many have you ensnared, how many traps have you laid?”

Utterly hopeless, as he was sucked into the fusion array, Xu Yuqi took out Zhou Xuanhong’s soul blood and burned it with soul fire, laughing crazily. “You won’t live either—accompany me in death!”

Yet he felt the soul blood had no effect on Zhou Xuanhong’s soul, as if it were merely an ordinary drop of blood, leaving him bewildered even in his final moment.

Sensing the complete demise of Xu Yuqi’s soul, Master Dayan threw his head back and laughed, his figure rising hundreds of miles. In that instant, he felt an unprecedented release. Once hailed as the Shaping Sect’s most talented disciple a millennium ago—destined for greatness no less than Xu Yuqi—he had been branded with the Divine Shaping Seal. For over two thousand years, Xu Yuqi had kept him as livestock, siphoning his soul power to fuel his prolonged survival.

Now finally freed, Master Dayan felt immeasurable joy, his aura soaring, swiftly breaking through from Nascent Soul stage four to stage five.

He had no intention of dealing with the remaining Qi Refining disciples—there was no need. He had long since lost all hope in the Shaping Sect. In his heart, he supported Master Tian Guo, hoping he could establish a new Shaping Sect free of intrigue and scheming.

Within the minor world, space shrank further, now scarcely larger than a human head. In its place was a fusion array, imbued with terrifying power.

Zhou Xuanhong’s current state defied description; if one were to name it, “array spirit” would fit well.

Indeed, just as artifacts have spirits, so too can arrays. An array spirit can freely control the formation’s operation, making it more formidable. It is a being halfway between soul and spirit, lacking physical form, consisting only of a cluster of willful energy.

Zhou Xuanhong’s body had been refined by the fusion array—along with the entire minor world, the whole Shaping Sect, hundreds of Qi Refining disciples, and all living beings who entered with Xuan Qizi—reduced to a single sphere, decomposed into the most fundamental energy of matter.

As the array’s master, Zhou Xuanhong felt the laws of world destruction, deepening his comprehension of the annihilation finger, and gaining ever greater insight into the mysteries of heaven, earth, and all things.

With a thought, Black Ghost Daoist, hidden outside the Shaping Sect’s mountain gate, transformed into a black mist and arrived at the fusion array’s edge. With the suction gone, the world was suffused with chaotic yet clear rules, and Black Ghost Daoist—already only a step away from Nascent Soul—instantly grasped its true essence.

“Soul condenses into core, core breaks into infant. With a clear mind, traverse the void. Soul flies ten thousand miles, essence gathers to a few inches. Accumulate ghosts, gather souls, form the nascent soul!”

As his understanding deepened, Black Ghost Daoist’s thoughts grew ever clearer.

Within his dantian, the Golden Core released a suction, but the area within dozens of miles had been utterly drained by the fusion array, leaving nothing to absorb.

Black Ghost Daoist drew out spirit stones and every fierce ghost he possessed from his storage ring—his preparations these past days—letting the Golden Core absorb them all.

When the Golden Core reached saturation, countless thunderclouds gathered overhead within dozens of miles. Rain began to fall, and dazzling lightning flickered in the clouds.

The tribulation descended—core breaks, infant emerges.