Immortality Through Array Formations Chapter 2199 Chapter 1027: Shadows_3

"Let that arrogant and despicable brat finally face his deserved retribution now!"

One person shouted out, "Duanmu Fairy's abilities are truly unparalleled across the lands..." Another sighed with admiration, "She's not just immensely powerful, but also breathtakingly beautiful."

"Her grace is like that of a heavenly being, completely detached from the mundane realm."

"When will Duanmu Fairy ever cast her gaze upon me? A single glance is all I desire..."

"Can't you show a bit of self-respect?"

"Precisely..."

Yet there were also a few aspiring young geniuses who voiced their poignant wishes:

"In this lifetime, my sole ambition is to face off against Duanmu Fairy during the Sword Discussion Conference, displaying every bit of my cultivation before her, standing in opposition to her, and even if it means perishing by her blade in the end, I would depart without a single regret..."

Their statements evoked a sense of wistful reminiscence mixed with a dash of sorrow.

A cluster of sect disciples fantasized about the opportunity to cross swords with the distant fairy, who seemed perched upon an frozen summit, free from the grime of the world.

They envisioned the moment when their Dao techniques would clash.

They pictured the tragic yet elegantly sorrowful image of falling to the fairy's strikes, and a subtle wave of jealousy and desire welled up within them uncontrollably.

However, shortly after, a voice delivered a stark reality check:

"That dream of yours... appears to have been fulfilled by Mo Hua, the little rascal."

It hit like an icy douse of water, causing every face in the crowd to sour instantly.

As the sect's esteemed genius, Mo Hua had engaged in combat with the fairy.

He had even unleashed techniques against her.

And now, he was on the verge of being slain by the fairy's hand.

The very "dream" they cherished, Mo Hua, that scamp, only needed to "perish under Duanmu Qing's strikes" to make it complete.

A number of these young prodigies felt as though they'd gulped down a fly, an odd bitterness surging in their chests.

Quite a few even mused in silence:

"Mo Hua, that rascal, could meet his end at anyone's hand, but not at Duanmu Fairy's, or it would be far too merciful for him..."

Within the Sword Discussion arena.

Mo Hua, fully immersed in the sword discussion exchanges, remained unaware of the crowd's private turmoil.

Yet he found himself utterly at a loss for words.

Wasn't she meant to be a "icy and aloof" fairy?

How come she was behaving like a "frenzied woman", chasing him down relentlessly to end his life?

He muttered under his breath, wondering if it was truly worth such effort.

Could the impact of those mere four words possibly be so profound?

Duanmu Qing ignored him completely, relentlessly unleashing massive barrages of techniques to "purge" Mo Hua's position.

Linghu Xiao desired to lend Mo Hua a hand.

But the icier and more aloof a nature, the fiercer their obstinacy in rage, proving impossible to curb despite any might.

Linghu Xiao's Sword Qi found itself completely overwhelmed by Duanmu Qing's onslaught of spells.

In truth, he had also drawn Duanmu Qing's ire, pulled into the vast Wanxiao Magic bombardment zone together with Mo Hua, pressed so fiercely that he couldn't muster a counter.

Linghu Xiao truly grasped, just how horrifying it became when a woman flew into a fury.

And Cheng Mo along with the rest fared no better, facing relentless spell assaults from other Wanxiao Sect followers, leaving them no room to intervene elsewhere.

As a result, the entire Taixu Gate group suffered utter suppression during the confrontation.

On the other hand, Mo Hua tried multiple times to test if he might employ techniques or arrays to shift the tide.

Yet whenever he acted, it immediately "enraged" Duanmu Qing, provoking even broader and more intense waves of spell fury in return.

As a pinnacle talent among the Four Sects, Duanmu Qing possessed formidable strength already.

To say nothing of this being the "enraged" manifestation of Duanmu Qing.

Mo Hua gave up, opting simply to stay down and endure.

As moments passed, Taixu Gate's disciples gradually wore out and fell one after another, expelled from the arena.

Linghu Xiao shot Mo Hua a final look filled with "resignation", before he too was "removed."

Ultimately, only Mo Hua was left standing.

Mo Hua, of course, held firm "to the bitter end", spotting no path to triumph, so he struck his brow, cracking the Dao Discussion Jade, and departed in defeat.

Duanmu Qing attempted to bind Mo Hua with her spells.

A grand display of Wanxiao Five Elements Skill radiance swallowed Mo Hua whole.

Nevertheless, her invocation proved a touch slower than Mo Hua's. Prior to that, a blue glow shimmered around him, his form blurred and vanished, already departed from the field.

Duanmu Qing fixed a frigid glare on the place where Mo Hua had vanished, her tone low and chilling:

"Next time, I will definitely end you..."

"Mo Hua..."

Thus, the sword discussion reached its conclusion.

Wanxiao Sect secured a complete and gratifying triumph.

The spectators had enjoyed a thrilling sword discussion spectacle.

The sole imperfection was that Mo Hua, the crafty and vile little scoundrel, hadn't perished once more.

But reflecting on it, such a trivial figure as Mo Hua didn't merit dying by Duanmu Fairy's hand, so most felt at ease again.

The Taixu Gate had been defeated.

The sect's cultivators felt a tinge of regret, yet not wholly disheartened.

Against a supreme prodigy like Duanmu Qing, their chances had been exceedingly low from the start, making defeat inevitable.

They attributed it solely to their misfortune.

They faulted the worthless Dao Discussion Heaven Instrument for dealing Taixu Gate such a poor draw.

Tallying it, they had already clashed with three of the Qianxue Four Talents. These three earth-grade sword discussions were practically "doomed to failure."

It felt like they had squandered three potential wins without cause.

Typically, fortune didn't turn so sour.

But when luck truly soured to this degree, nothing could be done; fate could be so cruel that even sipping cold water might chip a tooth.

They surely couldn't fault the Dao Discussion Heaven Instrument itself.

Nevertheless, what truly troubled Mo Hua regarding this sword discussion wasn't that.

Taixu Gate.

As night descended, within the disciples' quarters.

Mo Hua reclined on his bed, his thoughts still lingering on Duanmu Qing.

The events of the day replayed vividly in his mind.

In particular, the instant he brushed past Duanmu Qing and caught sight of her eyes.

Duanmu Qing possessed striking beauty, and her eyes mirrored that allure.

Yet beneath their pristine and frosty surface, upon closer inspection, lurked a dense patch of "darkness."

This darkness appeared somewhat hazy, as if inscribed upon the divine soul itself.

Mo Hua had been startled in that moment, prompting him to instinctively warn her...

"Your Taoist Heart is corrupted."

But Duanmu Qing's response had been excessively extreme.

Those four words seemed to shatter her barriers.

They had glimpsed some hidden truth buried in her core.

Her urge to slay him right there... it was utterly bizarre...

"What precisely is that hazy shadow in her eyes..."

In the deep stillness of the night, Mo Hua rested on his bed, meticulously reviewing the memory as his divine sense initiated deductions, with threads of heavenly mechanism and causality emerging from his inner self.

After an indeterminate period, Mo Hua's heart jolted sharply, and he bolted upright, his face grave.

He had realized something:

Yanzhi Boat!

The shadow beneath Duanmu Qing's eyes bore a striking resemblance to the atmosphere of the Yanzhi Boat, particularly the sinister embryo's presence on the altar within the Dragon King Temple.

Mo Hua's heart trembled:

"Could Duanmu Qing have boarded the Yanzhi Boat as well?"

"Does she also bear ties to the Evil God?"

Such a pristine and unworldly fairy...

Mo Hua knitted his brows, "Unthinkable...

Yet with causality at play, no matter how implausible it seemed on the surface, if the connection existed, it demanded recognition.

Furthermore, that wasn't the extent of it.

Mo Hua pondered deeply, "Duanmu Qing ranks among the four premier talents of the Four Great Sects in the Qianxue state region..."

"If she too has set foot on the Yanzhi Boat, then what of the remaining three?"

"Shen Linsu, Xiao Wuchen, Ao Zhan—might they have visited the Yanzhi Boat too?"

"In that case... who is the 'Young Master' repeatedly referenced as the Evil God's servant in the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons?"

"The Young Master entangled in those poppy-resembling karmic bonds I witnessed by Mistwater River that evening—who could he be?"

"Is he among these four?"

"Could it be... Shen Linsu?"

Mo Hua deemed Shen Linsu the prime suspect.

Especially given his ties to the Shen Family and connections with the Qian Taoist Sect.

The other three, Duanmu Qing undoubtedly shared some link with the Yanzhi Boat.

As for Xiao Wuchen and Ao Zhan, they likely harbored associations as well...

However...

Another doubt arose in Mo Hua's mind: "Why hadn't I noticed it earlier?"

During the Sword Discussion Conference, he had already encountered three of them.

And he had crossed paths with Shen Linsu before in Qingzhou City. If these four truly linked to the Yanzhi Boat, the Dragon King Temple, or the evil embryo, they would surely carry the Evil God's aura.

Given his own "origin" with the Great Wilderness Evil God, he ought to have perceived something.

Yet only by mere chance did he uncover a hint from Duanmu Qing now...

Why was that?

The Evil God... No, perhaps what concealment technique had Mr. Tu employed to mask these auras?

Masked so thoroughly that even he, having absorbed the 'evil embryo' as a Half-step God, failed to sense it?

Mo Hua's brows creased more and more tightly.