Although Sun Liao had suspected what his master would do from the beginning, he had still harbored hope that he could find a better way. In fact, he had even believed that his brother could also find a better way. But in the end, there were no alternatives. His master's Soul Embryo would replace the missing spirit of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. Only through this sacrifice could he resolve the issue.
Inside, the unstable realm had completely collapsed and all the third-years were now out and safe, albeit disoriented and weak.
Facing the Palace of Supreme Wisdom whose array formations were all in the process of shutting down right now, Sun Liao kowtowed. He wasn't even sure whether his master could see or hear him. As his Soul Embryo had become the new spirit of the array formation, he would be sealed in it and trapped for as long as his soul could endure. In fact, because no one had been able to make a Spirit or even a God array formation since the beginning of the Forsaken Dao Era, he had no way of knowing what it was like. Maybe his master's Soul Embryo had already been crushed. Maybe its lifespan would be reduced, or enhanced.
There was one thing he was sure though. His master had been a great cultivator. And he would make sure that everyone knew of his sacrifice. But that wasn't all. He would search the deepest truths of array formations in order to find a way to help him. Sun Liao had already vowed to become a 5-star Heaven array formation master. But to save Chief Elder Suxian, he would do everything to surpass everyone and reclaim the forgotten knowledge of mankind.
"Master, this unfilial disciple has been unable to do anything on his own. And you've been forced to sacrifice yourself to make up for my incompetence. No matter what happens, I swear that I will discover all the secrets of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. Even if I can't get you out of this, I will help the Wubei Sect uphold its name. And I swear that every single demonic cultivator who was associated with this treachery dies."
Sun Liao's goal had always been to spend five years in the Wubei Sect before going back to his family and to become an array formation master. He had planned to take the familial business. He had siblings and cousins who could take over, but he was clearly the most talented. However, Chief Elder Suxian's death had caused a huge blow to his ambitions. Even if his Soul Embryo had endured for now, it was a fact that he had died. Even if he could get his soul out of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom, he would still live with a death sentence. In a couple of centuries, Chief Elder Suxian would be thoroughly dead. It changed Sun Liao's outlook on his own future.
Unlike Luoming Tian, Sun Liao had not become scared of his own mortality. Instead, he had been disgusted by his abilities. Until now, he had always prided himself with his outstanding talent. But they were nothing. Even if he could become a 5-star Heaven array formation master, he would not reach the apex. And becoming just a businessman selling his mediocre array formations to make a living had just lost all of its charm. It would be a huge blow for his father, but Sun Liao had changed his trajectory in life drastically.
"Master, I will join the Wubei Sect and I will dedicate my life to the pursuit of the highest array formations possible. I solemnly vow to you in this day that I will reach the Spirit rank of old and even soar all the way to the God rank of array formation master. I will become the next array formation god of mankind. Even Saint Duan Huang will be forgotten behind my name. And you will have become the first historical master of the array formation god."
Around Sun Liao, all the third-years were confused. But they quickly saw him kneeling in front of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. They couldn't know everything that had transpired yet. But they could still piece things together. Sun Liao had somehow helped them and he was now crying. Seeing such an arrogant man cry meant that something terrible had happened. When they looked toward the rest of the Wubei Sect, they also saw the fires, the giant red arm, the World Black Tortoise as well as golden and bloody chains colliding against each other.
-
On the main plaza of the Wubei Sect, the chief elders and Sect Leader Xuan were reaching the last of their reserves. They had used absolutely every card in their possession. To speak the truth, Sect Leader Xuan and Xiao Xuefeng still had a few techniques they had not shown but they would be useless in this context. Maybe they could use them to save a few disciples. But if Mo Tian were to really fuse with Da Mo's body, he would ultimately overtake the entire Piaolu planet and no one would be safe anyway. As such, they had completely discarded these possibilities in order to pour all their strength in the battle.
Despite their best efforts, they could feel that Da Mo's body was winning the exchange. The giant Qi Manifestation of Sect Leader Xuan was slowly fading away. He was pouring more and more of his own energy in the golden chains. It had reached a point where he was almost ready to burn his very essence. Before he could do such a foolish thing though, many chief elders started to do so first.
Wasting the essence of their best fighter had to be avoided as much as possible. Besides, Sect Leader Xuan was very old. Losing essence could kill him right away. A young man who would burn his essence would greatly affect his talent and his progress. But he had slim hopes of being able to recover with time, even though it was difficult and medicines for it were as rare as 9th-grade Spirit Warriors. However, an old man would just welcome death to his doorstep. Even if he didn't die right away, he would have destroyed the rest of his lifespan and would die in a matter of years or even months.
The chief elders, helped by Spirit Master Xiao, were doing everything they could to protect their sect leader. And he could obviously tell. Hopefully, Cao Yun's plan was going to work out in the end. They had to believe in it or there was no hope at all.
-
Cao Yun had used his blood with the properties of the Drop of Wrath to activate the seal. But it was extremely slow. Cao Yun had already used a lot of his blood. If he were to go further, he would really risk his future. Even Dian Mo began to tell him to stop.
"I thought the Devil's Jail would react more strongly to your blood. Unfortunately your blood cultivation is still a little bit lacking. If you had fully taken this Drop of Wrath as yours and transformed all of your blood, it would already be activated."
"Then I just need to pour in more blood."
"Stop it! Even if you were to give all of your blood, the seal would not get activated any faster, you would just waste your life away."
"Still... every instant matters. If I can buy two or three seconds tops, that's still some time the Wubei Sect can resist. Maybe a bit more disciples will survive."
"You're insane?!"
Dian Mo felt that Cao Yun was really going to use all of his blood just to give a few more seconds for weak humans to flee. They would be ruled by Mo Tian anyway. That was ridiculous!
"What are you trying to pull?! Instead of throwing away your life, and mine, survive! Live to fight another day. With this Drop of Wrath, I'm sure you can even surpass the ranks of Exalted Demon and Sage. Think before you do something so rash. Your death won't help anyone but your survival will!"
Deep down, Cao Yun was sensing that his Qi cultivation would be halted for a while. Despite his recovery thanks to the seed of the world tree, he had pushed too far too fast. He would need several months to progress again. Maybe he would even become a Spirit Warrior older than his own father because of that. Until now he had been steady and fast without losing his stability. But he had just lost it. Although he didn't want to die and he didn't want to be some kind of savior, Cao Yun refused to run away once more. He felt that if he were to run now, he would run all of his life. His Dao Heart would never survive this. Hell, he might even create an inner demon.
In fact, maybe Dian Mo wanted that because he could feel that Cao Yun's resolve would shatter if he ran today. Then, it would be easier for him to take over his body.
Right now, Dian Mo was not thinking that at all though. He was thinking that this boy was crazy and he was going to get himself killed. After millenniums trapped inside the Demon Palace, Dian Mo had accumulated a lot of trauma. He was terrorized by death now. The Demon Palace had become his prison but also his haven. Now, this young boy's sea of consciousness had replaced it. Although he was chained down to one of the Nine Soul Peaks, he felt protected. But once again, something from the outside world had come to threaten him. The outside world was scary. Observing it was fine but living in it was terrifying.
Inadvertently, Cao Yun had reinforced Dian Mo's trauma and phobia. He yearned for freedom but was terrorized by the outside world.
Cao Yun pushed his blood cultivation to the limit. Unfortunately, he had still no idea on how to practice 'Stoking the Human Flames' to cultivate his blood essence. With it, his blood might have worked better on the seal. He was ready to sacrifice his life but he didn't want to do it if it wasn't necessary. First, he would use every card he had to try and activate the seal.
He pushed his mind cultivation to the limit as well and focused the intent from the Drop of Wrath. He was getting increasingly close to fully own it. Soon it would have become a real part of himself. After all, he just needed to get to the third layer of 'Sealing the Seven Demons in the Nine Peaks' to work on his Seven Turbid Demons. Through that, he could rebuild them inside the Drop of Wrath using his own soul. The Drop of Wrath would be fully integrated in his body, in his blood and in his soul. But right now, he could do no such thing. It would take at least a decade, if not longer.
-
Suddenly, everyone sensed a presence underground, even Cao Yun. Mo Tian's attention was attracted to it. And he was even able to finally feel Cao Yun under the Devil's Jail. He had no idea what that presence had been but he could guess what Cao Yun was doing down there. That little bastard had always caused him troubles. He was not going to let him ruin his greatest plan. After an entire century, he could finally see his triumph.
Mo Tian diverted a bit of his attention underground. Although Da Mo's body was still trapped, he could act underground. He could simply not leave the Devil's Jail. Because he split his attention, the golden chains began to gain ground against his blood chains. But Mo Tian could feel this was their last stand. However, he had no idea what Cao Yun was doing and felt he was the real threat in that situation. Although he was still weak, he had always been strange. He was the one factor Mo Tian could not predict in his plan. Even Xiao Xuefeng, he had accounted for.
When he diverted his attention, he finally understood what that presence underground had been. It was very familiar. And it was within the very array formations of the Wubei Sect. That presence was so familiar, Mo Tian felt as though he was seeing a ghost.
From inside the Demon Palace, Chief Elder Suxian's Soul Embryo had been integrated into the array formations that predated the Wubei Sect. Every seven years, the Demon Palace was accessible and was synchronized with the rest of the array formations. Just like Dian Mo, the former Palace Spirit, Chief Elder Suxian had accessed to all of them. But unlike Dian Mo, Chief Elder Suxian realized that the Palace of Supreme Wisdom was not rejecting him. Thus, he could act and not just observe.
Of course, his actions were limited. But right now, he did not need to do a lot. His disciple's brother had already done most of the heavy lifting. Chief Elder Suxian was absolutely in the dark when it came to what the Devil's Jail was. But he could clearly see that Cao Yun was trying to activate it and that Sect Leader Xuan and all the chief elders were buying him time. However, he could also see that this wouldn't be enough...
The Devil's Jail was being activated but it was too slow. Thus, Chief Elder Suxian tried to find a way to speed things up and he had just found it. He sacrificed most of his entire Soul Embryo. Now his soul would almost be bare in the Demon Palace. As such, he would only survive a few decades before fading away.
Right now, he really didn't care. If he didn't act, the Wubei Sect would fall. His disciple would die. His friends would die. All of mankind would become slaves to his former friend.
As his Soul Embryo was pouring into the Devil's Jail, he got a flash in his mind. This structure was called the Empyrean Human Emperor Seal. The Devil's Jail itself was a seal created by one of the legendary emperors of mankind before the arrival of Demon God Da Mo on the Piaolu planet. Chief Elder Suxian saw the image of an old and dignified man clad in gold and silver. With this seal, this Empyrean Human Emperor had protected his entire planet against an enemy so terrifying mankind had almost died.
After this titanic battle through the stars, most of the empire of mankind had been killed. Several humans had stayed on various planets, cut off from the ruins of the empire. And the wounded heart of the empire had been trapped on the Piaolu planet. In this state of weakness, Demon God Da Mo had invaded them. Chief Elder Suxian could not see who that terrifying enemy had been but even Demon God Da Mo had feared him. But this Empyrean Human Emperor Seal had been powerful enough to trap him until even his power dissipated. No one could escape time.
But Chief Elder Suxian had no time for this story. Right now, the most dangerous threat was Mo Tian and Da Mo's body.
Cao Yun and Dian Mo were both astonished when they saw the seal of the Devil's Jail activate itself.