The Quest for Immortality Chapter 2248: Collapse!

Mo Hua softly murmured the command, "Explode."

In that fleeting moment, the entire valley, densely packed with intricate formations, seemed to shudder in response to its master's call, erupting with a piercing and vibrant brilliance.

Every single one of these formations was a ticking bomb.

Mo Hua had been meticulously painting them from the start of the sword discussion, piling them up layer upon layer until this very second.

A faint glimmer of reversed light flickered to life.

It emanated from the half-step Reversed Spirit Formation that Mo Hua had carefully buried beforehand.

This half-step Reversed Spirit Formation acted like a spark, setting off the chain reaction among all the volatile formations prepared throughout the valley.

A thin thread of spiritual power began to invert, swiftly decomposing the Five Elements Spiritual Power into the dark, corrosive energy of collapse.

This creeping instability acted like a virulent plague, racing along the spiritual conduits Mo Hua had charted with the speed of a violent gale, blooming across the valley like sinister, black poppy flowers unfolding in succession.

As one bloom led to another, patch after patch of formation work disintegrated, consuming the entire hillside in a display of raw, terrifying power that triggered a widespread, catastrophic collapse.

Above the Fang Tianhua Shadow, the air became saturated with reversed spiritual energy, manifesting into a monstrous, pitch-black floral display of annihilation.

The entirety of the Mount of Tao trembled violently.

Dreadful darkness swallowed the world.

Yet, an eerie silence persisted, as if the collapse had consumed the very capacity for sound itself.

Every cultivator present was stunned into absolute silence.

Terror was etched plainly upon the faces of the gathered crowd.

Even the Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators could not mask their intense horror.

It was a spectacle beyond the experience of most, a scene of large-scale spiritual reversal where the destruction of all existence seemed imminent.

The heads of the various prestigious Sects were momentarily paralyzed by the shock.

High above in the Sword Observation Tower, nobles who had been leisurely sipping tea stood up impulsively, staring through the windows with eyes full of disbelief.

And within the halls of the Dongxu...

The usually unshakable Heaven Void Ancestors, who had been deep in meditative stillness, were forced to open their eyes to witness the abyssal, black collapse occurring upon the Fang Tianhua Shadow.

A profound sense of impact rippled through the calm hearts of these ancient figures.

Eventually, every gaze from the Heaven Voids shifted in unison toward Elder Master Xun of the Taixu Gate.

Those looks were heavy with suspicion, shock, inquiry, and biting coldness.

Elder Master Xun felt the weight of that scrutiny, a shiver running down his spine as he felt his nerves fray.

His palm, tucked away inside his sleeve, trembled imperceptibly.

The scene before him had left him just as unnerved as the rest.

In this instant, he truly believed the legends—the terrifying tales of Mo Hua setting up massive formation traps, triggering collapses, and single-handedly destroying mighty demons back home—were likely true.

However, under the silent, judging eyes of so many Heaven Void Ancestors, he could not afford to display any weakness.

He chose to project a facade of total indifference, calmly taking a sip of his tea.

He acted as though the chaotic display was merely a minor amusement, as if they had yet to witness his true masterpiece, making their current concern feel trivial.

...

As the Fang Tianhua Shadow was engulfed in the black haze of the formation collapse, a long, heavy silence gripped the heavens and earth.

Only after a considerable time did the crushing weight in the hearts of the witnesses begin to fade.

The cultivators, still in a daze, slowly began to regain their composure.

The crowd, having been so shocked they had forgotten how to breathe, finally exhaled, murmuring to one another:

"What on earth... was that?"

"A formation explosion?"

"Is this really Mo Hua’s doing?"

"Does this mean... that Mo Hua trapped and triggered such a devastating explosion, wiping out the entire Qianxue Four Talents, along with the top fifty prodigies from the Four Great Sects and Seven Great Gates, all in one stroke?!"

"He actually blew them all to smithereens?!"

"Is such a thing even possible for a mortal?"

"It defies all logic... it is utterly terrifying."

Sharp intakes of breath echoed throughout the venue.

Someone frowned, their voice trembling with confusion: "What formation did he use? How could its power reach such a level?"

The inquiry was beyond the understanding of the average cultivator.

Most just exchanged baffled glances.

Within the Ten Thousand Formations Sect, even the disciples and senior figures wore expressions of profound bewilderment.

Only a select few veteran elders, possessing vast knowledge, whispered in tone of utter disbelief:

"This is the reversal of spiritual power... it is surely a Reversed Spirit Formation."

"A Reversed Spirit Formation?"

"It is a Second Grade Twenty Patterns... an Ultimate Formation."

The entire hall fell into a silence of pure astonishment upon hearing those words, the faces of the elders contorting in shock as they stammered:

"Twenty Patterns?!"

"Has Mo Hua already formed his divine sense core?"

"What are you saying?" A white-haired elder shook his head firmly, "He is a Foundation Building Cultivator, how could his divine thought produce a core?"

"Then what is it?"

"It is not a full-fledged Reversed Spirit Formation," the white-haired elder noted, furrowing his brow, "you may have forgotten that the winning theme of the previous Formation Competition was actually a half-step Reversed Spirit Formation based on nineteen patterns, incorporating the principle of spiritual power reversal..."

"If my assessment is correct, Mo Hua must have studied and etched that very formation back then, internalizing it completely..."

"So, he took the knowledge from the Formation Competition and unleashed it here at the Sword Discussion Conference. In a sense, it is a perfect cycle of cause and effect."

The surrounding elders nodded in solemn agreement.

Having finished his explanation, the old man could only heave a heavy sigh.

Whether it was mastering a half-step Reversed Spirit Formation of over nineteen patterns, or using that very technique to trigger a collapse that annihilated fifty of Qianxue’s elite, these were feats of historical proportions.

He had spent his life teaching the way of formations, watching countless prodigies rise and fall, and witnessing countless conferences, yet he had rarely seen such a display of raw talent.