The Quest for Immortality Chapter 2275: Massacre

Within the vast hall, white bones and discarded human skins piled into mountainous heaps across the floor, while rivers of blood surged forth.

Around seventy or eighty figures clad in ominous robes with grotesque features— these Evil Formation Masters— remained ceaselessly engaged in their labors.

Some sketched Formation Diagrams, others manipulated Formation Pivots, a few mended Formation Patterns and hastened to complete the Formations, while specialists blended Blood Ink and refined bone-and-flesh formation media... and more besides.

Resembling "worker ants" within a bustling hive, these Evil Formation Masters adeptly split their duties and collaborated seamlessly, sustaining the Large Formation's function while steadily propelling the Evil Path Great Formation's advancement...

Mo Hua observed the scene, inwardly gripped by alarm.

Such a throng of Evil Formation Masters was essential for building and sustaining this Evil Path Great Formation, hinting at its enormous scale.

Furthermore, nurturing Formation Masters posed a profound challenge by its very nature.

The Evil Formation Masters in his view possessed refined skills and vast experience, marking them unmistakably as Dao of Formations experts.

Assembling and cultivating so many elite Evil Formation Masters in secrecy demanded far more than a mere night's work.

One could scarcely fathom the span of time required, the sheer toil invested, the depths of devotion poured forth.

Additionally, fostering Evil Formation Masters demanded the unleashing of immense "carnage."

Only through vast carnage could sufficient human blood, flesh, bones, skins, and hair be harvested as materials for honing Evil Formations.

Not to speak of the towering corpse-mountains and bone-seas amassed to erect the grand Large Formation arrayed before him.

This Mr. Tu nursed colossal ambitions, harbored grand designs, and wrought staggering slaughter.

Mo Hua’s eyes chilled, though he refrained from hasty action, instead pondering another concern:

"These Evil Formation Masters I see are all Second Grade— so where might the Third Grade Evil Formation Masters hide?"

A Dark Formation of this immensity surely couldn’t proceed without Third Grade Formation Masters.

Naturally, Fourth Grade ones were improbable.

After all, within the Third-Grade Yanluo Mountain State, the pinnacle grade for any Evil Path Great Formation wouldn’t surpass Third Grade.

A lone Fourth Grade Evil Formation Master such as Mr. Tu ought to suffice.

In truth, Third Grade Evil Formation Masters were probably scarce as well.

In a Third-Grade State Boundary, erecting a Third Grade Grand Array exacted tremendous expense.

Much less an Evil Formation— forging a "pure Third Grade" Evil Path Great Formation right near Qianxue, beneath the watchful eyes of sects and aristocratic families, would necessitate butchering hordes of Golden Core cultivators, an utter impossibility.

Golden Core advancements prove arduous, Golden Core cultivators remain sparse, and most wield formidable might, resisting easy slaying.

By contrast, Foundation Building cultivators abound, and Qi Refining ones swarm like ox hairs.

Thus, Mo Hua surmised that this Evil Path Great Formation likely incorporated only portions of Third Grade core structure.

The bulk of its framework got patched with Second Grade and even First Grade Formation Patterns and Formation Pivots.

This embodied the "pattern downgrading compatibility" principle Elder Zheng had once expounded.

Despite divergences between righteous and evil Formations, core tenets often aligned.

Employing "pattern downgrading compatibility" to "cut costs and boost efficiency," easing the Large Formation's entry barrier, simplifying its construction, and hastening its completion.

Such was the pragmatic path from ethereal Formation Diagram to solid reality.

Not even an Evil Path Large Formation escaped this logic.

Truly, Mr. Tu emerged as a profoundly versed chief Evil Path Formation Master.

A trace of wariness stirred in Mo Hua’s heart.

"Mr. Tu, alongside those Third Grade Evil Formation Masters..."

Mo Hua’s mind sharpened with caution, prompting him to probe the Formation Core Hall along the stone walls via each formation passage with utmost care.

Blood-hued Evil Spirits patrolled everywhere.

The passages brimmed with malevolent energy pulsing from the Evil Path Formation Pivot, laced with alert defenses every three paces and lethal Killing Formations every five.

To outsiders, it screamed "forbidden ground."

Yet for Mo Hua, it felt like "home in the depths."

He glided like a "ghostly shade," traceless and soundless, surveying the surroundings and the overarching formation pivot arrangement inside the Evil Path Formation Pivot’s grand hall.

The Formation Core Hall sprawled immensely, its layout labyrinthine.

Mo Hua roamed extensively yet detected no hint of "Mr. Tu."

Still, he uncovered a more secluded Formation Pivot Chamber.

Inside lay a Third Grade Evil Formation, overseen by four Evil Formation Masters radiating thicker evil qi, donning white bone masks, their Divine Senses linking to the formation pivots to direct the evil power currents across the Evil Path Great Formation.

Before them sat several white bone cups.

Blood water filled the cups.

A malformed, apparently living black-red eyeball bobbed and spun within the blood water.

The four Evil Formation Masters concentrated utterly on commanding the formation pivots.

Yet this command taxed them severely, draining vast Divine Sense, so soon their visages paled, eyes hollowed, as though sapped dry.

At that moment, one drained Third Grade Evil Formation Master shed his white bone mask, unveiling a ghastly, uncanny countenance.

He approached the table, seized the cup with the eyeball, and quaffed the blood wine in a single draught.

Blood light danced across his face, his pallor swiftly brightening, Divine Sense surging back anew.

Nevertheless, the frenzy in his gaze intensified, laced with wild thrill and zeal.

Thereafter, the Evil Formation Master resumed his white bone mask and recommitted wholly to formation pivot communion, upholding the Large Formation’s ceaseless churn...

Mo Hua beheld this in hushed astonishment.

Evil Formation Masters indeed trod deviant paths, every act steeped in sinister aura.

He couldn’t help wondering what sort of eyeball it was, and how that blood wine tasted...

Mo Hua studied the four briefly, gauged their threat, and resolved to avoid tangling with them just yet.

But the Second Grade Evil Formation Masters populating the great hall...

Mo Hua’s eyes flickered, a scheme crystallizing in his thoughts.

Then, with utter stealth, he slipped back through the formation core passage, withdrawing to the cave.