The fight was absolutely chaotic. Fifteen chief elders were fighting alongside Sect Leader Xuan against a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior demonic cultivator assisted by the giant red arm of Demon God Da Mo's resurrected body. In the air, there were all sorts of Qi Manifestation. Each time Chief Elder Baishen attacked, her palms seemed to be large enough to encompass the entire Wubei Sect. Besides, several chief elders were also attacking Luoming Tian's soul.
Unfortunately, no attack was able to reach him. Although the red arm was dealing with Sect Leader Xuan, the chains were still under Luoming Tian's control. And they were absolutely unbreakable. Furthermore, they were not physical but spiritual, thus even soul attacks could not go through them.
Even Luoming Tian was surprised by the strength of the arm. And he hadn't even gotten the whole body out yet. Fully opening the array formations of the Devil's Jail was easier said than done. Despite all his preparations, he had only been able to weaken them enough for one arm to appear. Most of the strength of Da Mo's body was still sealed away. If he had had all of it at his disposal, the entire Wubei Sect would be long gone.
As much as the strength of the arm astonished him, Luoming Tian was forced to admit that the chief elders were incredibly dangerous as well. They were being lead by Xiao Xuefeng whom he had always deemed the most dangerous for his plan because of her spiritual senses. Thankfully, he had been able to deceive her and even study her. In the end, it had been Chief Elder Suxian who had discovered him first. That had been such a shame to kill him. But his slow and agonizing death would keep Chief Elder Qinghe occupied. With such a physician out of the battle, those he had betrayed would be easier to kill.
Sensing that the group was getting better and better, Luoming Tian had to change his plans. Not only were they growing quickly as a team, they were also adapting to his attacks, and even to the bloody chains themselves. This was mainly due to Xiao Xuefeng and Chief Elder Baishen. The first one was able to harmonize all their thoughts without any problem while analyzing the entire situation. With Chief Elder Lümian to bring her expertise on soul and mind attacks to the mix, the two women were able to see through many flaws that even Luoming Tian was unable to notice. Right now, they were not fighting Demon God Da Mo, merely his body used as a puppet. And fortunately, a puppet was just as good as its puppeteer. Although Luoming Tian had studied many texts on Da Mo's powers and abilities, he had never witnessed him fight in real life. As such, even he was only using a fraction of his true power. Besides, he couldn't use techniques he did not understand, or did not even know existed.
On the other hand, Chief Elder Baishen had an unnatural sense of fighting. In a very short time, she had adapted her moves. That woman was probably the person in the Hongchen Kingdom who knew the most martial arts. As such, she could easily change her way of fighting as she saw fit. Most of her techniques were based around the Water element. Like water, she could adapt to anything and go with the flow to overtake her opponents. The worst part was that thanks to Xiao Xuefeng's spiritual senses, Chief Elder Baishen was able to communicate everything to all the chief elders without any distractions. She barely had to use her own spiritual senses. Xiao Xuefeng was doing all the heavy lifting for her while she kept on fighting.
Although the fight was becoming increasingly difficult, Luoming Tian had no real worry. Indeed, the forces were just way too unbalanced. Even Sect Leader Xuan could not win this fight. But Luoming Tian could not suppress a strange feeling in the back on his spine. For now, he should focus solely on getting Da Mo's body out of the Devil's Jail completely.
Finally, he gave the bloody chains the command to protect himself rather than to attack. Then, he turned toward the Devil's Jail and began to use his spiritual senses to decipher the array formations. Only then did his expression change. The array formations had been strengthened and modified. Others had even been added on top of those. But they were not array formations from the Legendary Era or even the Great Sorrow Era. All of those were from the Forsaken Dao Era. Looking up, Luoming Tian saw Sect Leader Xuan. He had been working on the sect's array formations lately. Could he have guessed his plan?
No! If he had, he would have attacked him and killed him beforehand. The mere fact that Luoming Tian was alive was proof that no one had found him out. Then...
"You finally understood?! Matriarch Huang helped us. Even Director Ge gave her support. Thanks to Chen Guo, we've searched the soul of a demonic cultivator named Can Mouye. And then, we've found out where his master was. Miss Xiao did not spend the entire duration of the stampede in the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute. Neither did I. Despite the attacks, no one saw me, didn't you think that was strange? Or did you perhaps assume the rumors about my old age getting to me were right?"
"Xiong Nixie!"
For the first time, Luoming Tian showed rage.
"Indeed! Miss Xiao cracked his soul open without any problem. After your stunt with Miss Lu, she had studied your seals with a lot of zeal. And getting to study Can Mouye's broken soul had been enough to give her the ability to stall your abominations. Combined with the strength of two 9th-grade Spirit Warriors, even you did not see through it, right?"
Thankfully, Xiong Nixie had not been very far from Baziyun City and the Wubei Sect. Both Matriarch Huang and Sect Leader Xuan were 9th-grade Spirit Warriors. Thus, it wasn't difficult for them to get to him in a matter of weeks. Using her bloodline and Sect Leader Xuan's martial art, they completely sealed the space around Xiong Nixie and let Xiao Xuefeng use her talents. Unfortunately, Xiong Nixie did not know who Mo Tian really was. But he had pieced together enough information for them to get a general idea of the plan from their enemies.
Thanks to his soul, they had found out that the plan of Mo Tian revolved around both the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, but also heavily around the Devil's Jail. With that knowledge, they were prepared.
"You worked with the Huang family and the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute?!"
"There are more pressing matters than rivalry and reputation at work here. And although it might break your pride, you're not even the most worrisome matter we have to deal with. But I must say I am truly disappointed in you. You claim to do all that to advance mankind, but the truth is that the death of your dad just made you fear death. And to avoid that fate, you're ready to go to all kinds of perversions. Worse than that, you're now using my friend as an excuse to justify your depravity. If your father were alive, he would end you with his own hands before taking his own life because of the shame.
"If you think you're the only one who desperately wants to become a Sage, you're even more stupid than I thought. Matriarch Huang also wishes to break through the barrier that traps and condemns us to stay Spirit Warriors. But unlike you, she risked her own life. I myself attempted the breakthrough in seclusion several times. And I have also searched many other ways. Although I have been unable to reach the legendary Sage realm, you will soon find out that my time spent in seclusion has not been in vain!"
Luoming Tian's carefree looks had completely disappeared.
"With Miss Xiao's help, we've been able to reduce the list of suspects to four. I was certain that Chief Elder Suxian was not the traitor despite his deep understanding of array formations. But I was also certain that you were not... This was probably my love for your father that spoke. I sincerely believed that someone sharing his blood would never do such disgusting things. In order to protect his name, I will kill Mo Tian today, the man who murdered and impersonated Luoming Tian."
Suddenly, Luoming Tian started to laugh like a madman.
"And you think you can achieve such a feat?! Even with only one arm, Da Mo's body is strong enough to obliterate you all. Hell! He could annihilate the entire Hongchen Kingdom. And as long as he's there, you can't get to me! I am young and you're old, you'll tire before I do. I only wonder whether your chief elders will be exhausted before or after your death, old man!"
"Indeed, Da Mo's body is not something I can deal with. But I don't need to kill it, I just need to kill you!"
In the sky, Sect Leader Xuan performed several mudras. The thirteen scutes forming the giant turtle shell all around the sect emitted a powerful light as several strange runes appeared in them. Then, they shrank down. The great shell remained all around the Wubei Sect while a smaller shell formed just around Sect Leader Xuan, Da Mo's arm and Luoming Tian.
As soon as he saw that, Luoming Tian started to feel space around him get viscous. Then he felt it being compressed against his body. It was as though something was pressing against space itself, not just the air. Several buildings simply imploded under the pressure. But everything was focused on Luoming Tian as a focal point. Even his bloody chains could not protect him against that, because it was not an attack per se. The chains could do nothing against space itself.
"You... you've caught a glimpse of the Dao of Space?!"
The realization struck not only Luoming Tian but all the chief elders, except for Xiao Xuefeng. She had already seen his achievement against Xiong Nixie. Back then, he had distorted space so that the seals within the demonic cultivator would be completely cut off from the outside world. It was not something that could last forever, but it had been amplified with Matriarch Huang's fire who had also altered space around it. In the end, it had given her enough time to search the soul of the beast tamer without revealing his death to Mo Tian or the Demon King.
Even now, they were not certain whether Mo Tian and the Demon King were the same person. Xiong Nixie had been convinced that they were two different men, but they had no proof. And it was hard to imagine that two demonic cultivators had been able to reach 9th-grade Spirit Warrior. Indeed, there was no doubt in their minds that the Demon King had to be at least a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior. But maybe he had been the one who had helped Luoming Tian reach such a level without exposing it.
For now, the important thing was to get rid of Luoming Tian. Searching his soul would be great, but the priority was to prevent him from killing any more disciples. And to be honest, they had no guarantee that they could even search his soul. After all, he was way more powerful than they had thought. It would take several years or decades just to take down his mental defenses. Even then, he would probably be powerful enough to destroy his own soul before they could do anything to it.
"Only a Sage should be able to see through the Dao!"
Sect Leader Xuan had made his decision. He would not try to capture Luoming Tian. He was just too dangerous. Thus, he would do everything to stop him. And if ever he got the opportunity, he would try to catch a glimpse of his mind. But the priority was to help his Wubei Sect. He had never believed that such chaos would befall his sect. They had prepared as much as they could but in the end, he had failed his disciples. Many young cultivators had died and were still dying. But he couldn't help them because he had to deal with this filth, this disgrace both to the name of his friend and his sect. There was no way he would allow him to continue to draw breath!
"I told you! I've been in seclusion to try and break through to the Sage realm. Although I've failed several times, I've caught tiny glimpses of the Dao. Besides I've realized that Ancestor Wu had done the same. In his notes and in his very martial art were hints toward the Dao of Space. Like Luoming Ran, he died too soon to become a Sage. But generation after generation, all the sect leaders have tried to improve upon what he had discovered."
At that moment, Mo Tian felt it. Space had been completely sealed around him. As much as he was trying to move, space itself was being dilated. No matter how fast he tried to act, he was moving even slower than a mortal. This wasn't something that Sect Leader Xuan could maintain for a very long time. But within his own sect, with all the array formations activated, he could almost completely seal a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior for many minutes.
Unfortunately, it couldn't seal his thoughts. It was space that was being altered, not time. Yet, there was a tiny effect on Da Mo's arm. Indeed, Mo Tian's thoughts still had to travel toward the demon. Although it was extremely fast, it was still taking place in space. And Da Mo's body itself was subjected to the dilatation of space. However, it was way more powerful than Mo Tian and it had almost no impact on its movements.
Besides this dilatation, Mo Tian was also feeling his body being torn apart. It was as though every part of his body was being attracted away from the others. And finally it dawned on him. This wasn't just the Dao of Space, this was something he had heard of in the legends.
This was a Domain!
Even a Sage should not be able to create a Domain, only a Monarch could do so, the realm beyond Sage. Yet, Sect Leader Xuan was using such a Domain as a half-step Sage. Something was wrong! This couldn't be! Mo Tian could not accept such a reality! After everything he had sacrificed and all the atrocities he had committed, an orthodox cultivator had advanced way further than he had...