Chapter 1025: Everything Exploded

The Fang Tian Painting Projection shone so brightly that it blinded everyone.

The entire audience was stunned.

The sect masters of the three mountains of the Taixu Sect, holding their teacups, were also frozen in place.

The three sect masters, who had been weighed down with worries, now stared blankly at the screen full of explosions, their minds going blank.

On the Sword-Watching Pavilion, some high-ranking cultivators, who had been deep in conversation, were also startled and turned their gazes downward.

In front of the Fang Tian Painting Projection, the countless cultivators watching the battle on the mountains were completely dumbfounded:

"What just happened?"

"Did the Dao Discussion Mountain explode?"

A moment later, they gradually came to their senses:

"Was it… an array?"

"Did that brat Mo Hua do this again?"

"What kind of array has such terrifying power?"

"What happened to the sword duel…?"

Everyone sat up straight, squinting through the blinding light, staring fixedly at the Fang Tian Painting Projection.

No one knew how long it took, but eventually, the explosions stopped.

The dazzling glow on the projection faded, the smoke and dust dispersed, revealing the scene of the sword duel grounds after the blast—

A vast, empty wasteland.

Nothing else remained.

The disciples of the Qiandao Sect—gone.

The city gates—gone.

The city walls—gone.

The city lord's statue—gone.

Even Mo Hua and his fellow disciples from the Taixu Sect—nowhere to be seen.

A dead silence filled the battlefield, followed by the sound of sharp gasps rising one after another:

"Holy shit! Everything's gone?!"

"That brat Mo Hua used an array to blow up the entire city, including all the Qiandao Sect disciples?!"

"He even blew up his own sectmates… and himself?!"

"Damn… this kid is ruthless."

"He's so ruthless that he doesn't even spare himself…"

Then, someone asked in astonishment, "What kind of array was that? How could it be so powerful?"

"A high-grade Second-Rank Nineteen-Pattern Killing Formation…"

"A high-grade killing formation can be this strong?"

"That… I have no idea…"

"If it blew up like this, who actually won?"

The crowd fell silent for a moment before someone muttered, "It should be the Taixu Sect…"

Another person gritted their teeth. "All the Taixu Sect disciples died too! Why do they still win?"

"This was a siege battle. As long as the city gates were breached and the city statue destroyed within the time limit, it counts as a victory."

"Since time hasn't run out and the city statue was obliterated, even if all the Taixu Sect disciples are 'dead,' they still win."

"Damn it, that brat Mo Hua won again…"

"This kid is seriously twisted."

Someone sighed. "This is the first time I've seen someone attack a city and completely blow it off the map…"

"Luckily, this was just a sword duel. If it were an actual war with Dao Soldiers, he'd be a natural-born city-destroying, sect-annihilating warlord."

"Hard to say. With his terrifying array skills, his lack of conscience, and his sinister mind, he might become a 'Little Devil' in the future, committing untold massacres…"

"I say the Taixu Sect should take precautions—abolish his cultivation and expel him from the sect before it's too late…"

A chorus of agreement followed. "Exactly! That's right…"

But someone sneered, "A bunch of idiots. Do you think before you speak?"

"Abolish his cultivation and expel him? Do you think the Taixu Sect would be willing to do that?"

Of course, the Taixu Sect wouldn't be willing.

At that moment, inside the Sword-Watching Pavilion—

The three sect masters slowly regained their composure from their earlier shock.

The Chongxu Sect Master shook his head and murmured, "That child's array skills are truly… terrifying…"

Even as the master of Chongxu Mountain, he couldn't find any other words to describe what he had just witnessed.

The Ta'e Mountain Sect Master remained in a daze for a long time before glancing at the Taixu Sect Master. Unable to hold back, he said with a hint of admiration:

"It's honestly a miracle that this kid stayed in your Taixu Mountain for nine years without blowing up your entire sect…"

The Taixu Sect Master could only give a wry smile.

He never expected Mo Hua to cause such a massive scene either.

Yet, at the same time, all three sect masters felt a deep sense of unease.

At the Dao Discussion Conference, with just a high-grade Second-Rank Array, this kid had turned the entire battlefield into a wasteland…

No matter what kind of array he used or how he structured it, the fact that he achieved this level of destruction was nothing short of remarkable.

Or rather—terrifying.

And given the current state of the cultivation world, these sect masters couldn't ignore the looming possibilities.

If the world remained peaceful, perhaps it wouldn't be a concern.

But if chaos erupted, order collapsed, and sects waged large-scale wars to annex one another…

Then this boy, with his unfathomable mastery of arrays, would undoubtedly become a city-destroying, fearsome "weapon of mass destruction" in the future.

Even if his personal cultivation wasn't high, his mere presence would strike fear into every faction.

At this moment, the name "Mo Hua" suddenly carried an unbearable weight in the hearts of the three sect masters…

...

The sword duel grounds had been reduced to rubble, and the spectators were still in an uproar.

Before long, an elder from Dao Discussion Mountain appeared to announce that the Taixu Sect had won.

However, the subsequent sword duels would be postponed for half a day to rebuild the venue.

The elders and disciples of the Taixu Sect watching the match all let out a sigh of relief.

No matter what, the Taixu Sect had won another match.

Wen Renwan, Gu Changhuai, Zhang Lan, and the others could only offer helpless smiles as they watched Mo Hua create such a commotion, even delaying the competition.

No one had expected a siege battle to turn out like this.

But considering that it was Mo Hua who caused it, somehow… it wasn't all that surprising.

Especially Zhang Lan.

He had seen Mo Hua blow up even bigger things before.

So while this scene was quite the spectacle, that kid Mo Hua had definitely "held back" quite a bit—otherwise, things would have been even more outrageous.

Yu'er, on the other hand, was so shocked that her little mouth hung open, her admiration for Mo Gege growing even deeper.

And just like that, the sword duel came to an abrupt and explosive end, courtesy of Mo Hua.

As the crowd reacted with awe, confusion, shock, and frustration, the illusory projection of the battlefield faded, and people began to leave in twos and threes.

But while the sword duel had ended, the aftermath of the incident was far from over.

Inside Dao Discussion Mountain—

The once highly esteemed and carefree elders had now been urgently gathered.

This time, it was their turn to hold a meeting.

"A siege battle where the city was destroyed, the battlefield was ruined, and everything needs to be rebuilt..."

"That kid named 'Mo Hua' looks delicate and well-behaved, but his ability to cause trouble is truly no small matter..."

"When others attack a city, they only need to break a gate. But this guy? He attacked a city and sent the entire place flying."

"A walking disaster reincarnated."

"I've overseen so many years of sword duels, but I've never seen anyone stir up this much trouble..."

One elder frowned in confusion. "I don't quite understand—how did he use just three sets of high-level formations to blow up an entire city?"

"What kind of formation theory is this?"

"Have we investigated the scene?"

"We did, but it's useless. The entire battlefield is gone—blown to bits, wiped clean, no clues left behind."

"When he was drawing the formations, that little trickster covered it with a blanket, so no one saw what he actually drew."

"When setting up the formations, we caught glimpses of them, but only partially, and they were somewhat blurry."

"From what we saw, they were just some advanced but not overly extreme nineteen-pattern high-level formations."

"Then, when the formations exploded, everything vanished."

The elders fell silent.

An elder proficient in formations mused, "It looks like… this kid tried to use a killing array to break the gate but accidentally disrupted the internal structure of the high-level formations within the city walls, triggering a large-scale chain explosion..."

Another elder was displeased. "So you're saying this was actually our Dao Discussion Mountain's fault?"

"Our formations weren't stable enough, which led to the explosion?"

"This kid made an unintentional mistake, so he's innocent?"

"For now, that's the only explanation..."

"No," one elder's face darkened. "Setting that aside—doesn't this kid bear any responsibility at all?"

"He was simply using formations to attack the city—what responsibility could he have?"

"You—"

The previous elder was so angry he had no words.

"Is there a possibility..." Another elder furrowed his brows and pondered for a moment before speaking slowly. "That this kid actually planned it all?"

"The detonation point, the interactions of the Five Elements, the structure of the formations, the fluctuations of spiritual energy… what if he calculated everything carefully? His goal was to ignite the city walls and take down all of the Qiandao Sect disciples in one blow... After all, this kid is the top formation expert of Qianxue."

That statement was hard to believe.

The elders frowned deeply and debated—

"But if that were true… the level of divine sense calculation required would be extraordinary..."

"Not just that, he'd also need extremely advanced deduction techniques..."

"His understanding of formation principles… not just surface-level formation structures, but the fundamental theories behind them, would have to be terrifyingly high."

"That's not something one can achieve overnight, is it?"

"That seems unlikely..."

"This is already beyond what a sect disciple can comprehend. It's even beyond what a Foundation Establishment cultivator can handle. No matter how talented he is, this would be giving him too much credit..."

"Indeed, that kid is a monstrous talent, but not that monstrous..."

"We're probably overthinking it and making him sound like more of a genius than he is..."

The elders all nodded in agreement, deciding that it couldn't have been intentional.

Then someone asked, "So what should we do now?"

One elder responded, "The city was destroyed, Taixu Sect won, and that's the rule—what else can we do?"

"I don't mean this siege battle—I mean future ones."

"Future ones?"

"This time was an accident. But what if it happens again? What if, next time, Taixu Sect encounters another siege battle, and this Mo Hua uses another killing array to blow up another city?"

All the elders felt a chill run down their spines.

"No way... It was just a freak occurrence, right? Could it really happen twice?"

"An accident means there's a risk—it's not impossible."

"What if this kid really does have heaven-defying luck?"

"Or, let's think even more outrageously—what if he really does have precise divine sense 'computation' skills and can execute pinpoint explosions? That would mean..."

"Every time he attacks a city, he'll blow it up."

"He's a sword duel competitor—of course, he'll do whatever it takes to win. That's to be expected."

"But we can't possibly keep rebuilding cities just so he can blow them up, can we?"

At this thought, the elders' heads started to ache.

"So what do we do?"

"If there's no other way, we should reinforce the city walls with third-grade formations. That way, even if this kid has three heads and six arms, he'll only be able to break the gate—not destroy the entire city."

"Third-grade formations… That's against the rules."

"Not to mention, the cost would skyrocket several times over—it'd all come out of our budget..."

An elder sighed. "What else can we do? We've ended up with such a troublemaker—just accept it. Unless… you want the next sword duel to lose another city?"

The elders of Dao Discussion Mountain had nothing to say.

But their faces were full of resentment.

One elder couldn't help but sigh, "Why did Taixu Sect have to produce this Mo Hua? He's such a headache..."

…

But complaints were complaints. In the end, the rules were set.

Dao Discussion Mountain issued an emergency amendment to the sword duel regulations, notifying all sects:

From now on, in all siege battles of the sword duels, the internal structures of city walls would be reinforced with third-grade formations.

Moreover, they would be strictly sealed to prevent the walls from being destroyed again.

Generally, the fundamental rules of the sword duels could not be changed, especially those related to the competition system.

However, adjustments to the battle setup, based on circumstances and necessity, were not a big issue.

And so, this became the first time in the history of the sword duels that a rule had to be officially modified because of a single disciple's actions.

Everyone knew exactly who that disciple was.

And what kind of outrageous act he had committed.

After all, such a massive "firework display," set off in full view of the world, was impossible for anyone to miss.

Mo Hua had truly set a precedent.

But he was feeling quite frustrated.

He sighed.

He felt targeted once again.

He had already made his plans.

Through this sword duel, he had roughly estimated the power of a high-level formation explosion within a city wall.

That power was truly immense.

The kind of power that could drag everyone down with it.

But since this was a sword duel, where he wouldn't actually die, "mutual destruction" didn't really matter.

And as long as the city wall exploded, he would win, guaranteed.

Next time he encountered another siege battle, he could just use a killing array to ignite the walls.

Once the city walls detonated, no one could stop him.

Even if it were the top cultivators like Xiao Wuchen and Ao Zhan from the Four Great Sects—if they had bad luck and faced him in a siege battle—

With just one ignition of the killing array, the walls would explode, and they would ascend to the heavens on the spot.

Before a massive explosion, everyone was equal.

No matter how high their cultivation or how strong their Dao techniques were—it wouldn't matter.

"What a pity..."

This brilliant plan had been crushed before he even had the chance to put it into action.

The elders weren't giving him any loopholes to exploit.

"The elders of Dao Discussion Mountain sure are stingy..."

Mo Hua muttered to himself.

But at this point, his complaints were meaningless.

All he could do was suppress his "explosive" urges and refocus his mind on the upcoming sword duels.

…

Meanwhile, at Qiandao Sect.

As one of Qiandao Sect's top geniuses, Shen Cangfeng was equally frustrated and stifled.

This was the Sword Duel Assembly!

Yet he hadn't even seen Mo Hua's face.

He hadn't even had the chance to swing his sword once.

Then, in an instant, with a loud "boom," the entire city—him included—was blown to nothing.

By the time he regained his senses, he had already lost.

He had devoted years of effort to mastering the Heaven-Cleaving Sword Technique, but he never even got the chance to showcase it.

Shen Cangfeng nearly coughed up blood and secretly vowed:

"Mo Hua, one day, I will tear you to pieces…"

…

And so, in the Order to Slay Mo Hua, another name was silently added—one labeled "Died Before Even Drawing His Sword."

He followed the others, repeatedly chanting the same phrase:

"Mo Hua must die!?"

Mo Hua himself, being at the center of it all, remained largely unaware of these things.

His focus was entirely on the sword duels, and he had no time to worry about anything else.

But Situjian, who was more observant, saw everything clearly.

Only he knew how long the list of grudges against his junior brother had grown…

Situjian sighed silently.

…

After that, two more Earth-Rank sword duels took place.

One was against the Eight Great Sects, the other against the Four Great Sects.

Both opponents were formidable.

However, in the siege battle against Qiandao Sect, Mo Hua used several killing arrays to level the entire battlefield, sending chills down the spines of every sect watching.

Even though the elders of Dao Discussion Mountain later explained that it was a "coincidence"—that the explosion was due to an imbalance in the formation within the city walls—

That it wasn't Mo Hua's fault.

And theoretically, it was indeed impossible for Mo Hua to have caused it.

Yet, the other sects still didn't dare to take him lightly.

They placed unprecedented importance on countering his formation techniques.

Thus, nearly all battle strategies revolved around one thing:

Restricting Mo Hua's formations.

With Mo Hua's formations being targeted, Linghu Xiao found himself under less pressure and was instead freed up to unleash his full potential.

After so many defeats and arduous battles against top geniuses, Linghu Xiao's swordsmanship had been tempered and was growing stronger step by step.

Mo Hua attracted most of the enemy's firepower with his formations.

Linghu Xiao, in turn, unleashed his sword qi, cutting down enemies left and right.

Additionally, Ouyang Xuan, despite his perpetually sour expression, had decent talent and solid swordsmanship, and he provided significant support.

Meanwhile, Cheng Mo and Situjian, though seemingly unremarkable, had gained valuable experience from facing so many top geniuses.

Both their mentality and their Dao techniques had been sharpened.

They still couldn't take on top experts alone, but in terms of coordination and support, they had become smooth and reliable—somewhat like seasoned veterans.

Even when facing top-tier geniuses, neither of them showed any fear.

If they could fight, they fought. If they couldn't, they looked for an opportunity.

Winning was naturally great, but if they lost, they would have at least done their best.

This practical mindset strengthened their resolve, and their performances in the sword duels became increasingly steady and composed.

Thus, through Mo Hua's meticulous planning and the relentless battles fought by Linghu Xiao and the others, the five of them secured another two victories in the Earth-Rank sword duels.

The sect leaders of the Three Mountains—especially the leaders of Tai'a Mountain and Chongxu Mountain—began to find Mo Hua increasingly pleasing to the eye.

There had once been rumors that Mo Hua was the "illegitimate son" of Tai Xu Sect's leader.

At the time, they had found it amusing.

But now, they were starting to envy that rumor.

However, despite these victories, Tai Xu Sect's overall ranking in the sword duels still wasn't looking optimistic.

Thanks to these two wins, their position had stabilized slightly.

But Da Luo Sect was closing in.

Da Luo Sect—A sect dedicated to the Way of the Sword.

Two thousand years ago, it was one of the Four Great Sects, then known as Da Luo Sword Sect.

But after it fell from the top four, it never managed to climb back up.

For the past two thousand years, Da Luo Sect had remained one of the strongest among the Eight Great Sects.

In fact, it was currently the strongest of them all.

Now, Da Luo Sect was closely trailing Tai Xu Sect in the rankings.

A moment of carelessness, and Tai Xu Sect would slip from fifth place to sixth—

Losing their position as the leading sect of the Eight Great Sects.

And with the Earth-Rank sword duels nearing their end, there weren't many battles left.

Each match was one match fewer.

If Mo Hua could win them all, it would be fine.

But if he lost even one, allowing Da Luo Sect to catch up, things would take a turn for the worse.

From this point on, every battle would be a brutal war…