Chapter 1058: Shangguan Wang

Mo Painting stepped into the demon's mouth and entered a passage.

The stone walls on both sides were made of blood and flesh, trembling slightly. Blood threads were weaving and roaming on them, accompanied by a fishy odor and the karma of killing. It was unknown how many lives had been taken and their blood and flesh used to forge this place.

Mo Painting sighed softly in his heart.

This blood-and-flesh passage connected to the earth veins and communicated with various areas of the Great Desolate Blood Sacrifice Formation. It seemed that only Mr. Tu, as the chief array master of the evil path, mastered the secret method of free entry and exit.

Mr. Tu just led Mo Painting, walking in the boundless bloody color, towards the depths of the Blood Sacrifice Formation.

After an unknown period of walking, a faint light appeared ahead.

Mo Painting raised his head to look and saw the stone wall of another formation hub. The stone wall was engraved with sheep-horn-shaped bloody evil patterns, both sacred and ferocious.

These sheep-horn evil patterns seemed even more profound.

Mr. Tu bowed towards the sheep-horn evil patterns with folded hands, showing respect. Then, he repeated the old trick, his fingertips turning into blood threads that seeped into the stone wall and merged with the evil patterns.

The stone wall gradually transformed into a large mouth of blood and flesh, reopening to reveal another passage.

Mr. Tu turned and looked at Mo Painting, his gaze cold and gloomy:

"Remember, listen to my words, I won't kill you. If you act recklessly, no one will save you."

Mo Painting nodded: "It's good that you won't kill me."

After Mr. Tu finished speaking, his face was deathly pale, his thin, long body like a demon's. He lowered his head slightly and stepped through the demon's exit.

Mo Painting also followed him, walking out of the blood-and-flesh passage.

In that instant, cold air rushed at his face, the wind howled, and piercing clamoring sounds rose. Mo Painting looked up and was suddenly startled, completely stunned.

In front of him was an extremely grand evil path building under construction.

Huge evil spirit machines were digging into the mountain, constantly expanding outwards.

Solemn and gloomy palaces, pavilions, towers, and residences were scaled side by side.

Countless evil cultivators and demon cultivators, like ants, were shuttling within.

And the main body of the building was the great hall at the highest point. Demon bones served as beams, sheep horns as flying eaves, and countless strange-shaped demon statues knelt in worship towards the center, prostrating before an extremely huge evil god statue.

The Great Desolate Evil God statue.

This was clearly an infinitely grand evil god great temple, bearing countless mad faiths and respectfully welcoming the true body of the evil god to descend.

And the more grand the "divine traces," the easier it was to make people feel faith.

Even Mo Painting, looking at this huge evil god statue, although it was unfinished and the evil god had not truly descended into the statue, he still inevitably felt a trace of the impulse to "prostrate and worship" in his heart.

Fortunately, this thought only appeared for an instant before being extinguished.

He lived in this world, worshipped heaven, earth, and parents. A mere Great Desolate Evil God was still not worthy of his worship.

Mr. Tu was always walking ahead of Mo Painting, but his peripheral vision and divine sense were always paying attention to Mo Painting. He could perceive that when Mo Painting saw the statue, his heart felt a tremor.

This was a mortal's instinct.

But this tremor was only for an instant, then like a stone falling into an endless deep pool, it no longer had a trace of a ripple.

Mo Painting's gaze was clear. When he looked at the statue, it was like looking at a "dead object."

Mr. Tu's pupils shrank slightly, and his face gradually darkened.

The two continued to walk forward, entering the evil god temple. Along the way, they saw all kinds of gloomy and strange evil things, until they reached a great hall and met someone face to face.

This person had deep cultivation, a majestic face, and deep dharma lines. Although he was clearly in the evil god temple, he wore a Daoist robe, which looked quite out of place.

And Mo Painting also recognized this person.

Shangguan Wang...

An elder of the Fifth Grade cultivation family, the Shangguan family, in the Feather Transformation Realm. He had great authority in the family and once even almost became the Shangguan family's head.

And he was the one who abducted Yu Er.

Mo Painting's gaze narrowed. He thought to himself, indeed, since this old fellow could appear in the evil god temple deep within this Great Desolate Blood Sacrifice Formation, he had obviously already become a minion of the Great Desolate Evil God and was colluding with this Mr. Tu.

But Mo Painting was also very puzzled.

An elder of a Fifth Grade scholarly family, a true power in the Feather Transformation realm, holding great power – what kind of honor was this?

What benefits did Mr. Tu, or rather, the Great Desolate Evil God, give this old Shangguan fellow that actually made him willing to abandon all of this, to turn from the light to the dark?

While Mo Painting was looking at Shangguan Wang, Shangguan Wang also saw Mo Painting. His originally cold, stern, and indifferent face instantly showed a trace of emotion.

"It's you?"

Mo Painting nodded: "It's me."

Shangguan Wang looked at Mr. Tu and said coldly: "What does this mean? Why did you bring this boy?"

Mr. Tu said piously: "This is a gift from the God Master."

Shangguan Wang frowned, thought for a moment, then said coldly: "Kill this boy."

Mo Painting stood behind Mr. Tu.

Mr. Tu shook his head: "This child cannot be killed."

Shangguan Wang said slowly: "Mr. Tu, don't blame me for not reminding you, this boy is very evil. If you leave him alive, be careful of capsizing your boat in the gutter."

Mo Painting's face was very unhappy. He thought to himself, you group of evil demons and outsiders, dare to call me an upright and righteous path cultivator "evil"?

Mr. Tu still said with an indifferent face: "Cannot be killed."

Shangguan Wang looked at Mo Painting with malicious eyes and said no more. Even though he was in the Feather Transformation realm and held a high position, he obviously couldn't truly go against Mr. Tu's meaning.

Mr. Tu turned around and said to Mo Painting: "You will stay in this place bestowed by the God Master for a while. I will find a residence for you. Follow me."

"Oh." Mo Painting nodded.

Mr. Tu stepped forward and walked towards the great hall on the right.

Mo Painting followed closely behind Mr. Tu, not even looking at Shangguan Wang once during the entire process.

But Shangguan Wang stared intently at Mo Painting, the dharma lines on his face gathered together, and his expression appeared extremely stern.

Mo Painting followed Mr. Tu into the great hall and continued walking forward, past a section of Great Desolate hell relief demon murals, then stepped onto a long staircase.

But this staircase did not go upward, on the contrary, it went underground. The further they walked, the deeper, darker, narrower, more humid, and gloomier it became. They kept walking until the end, finally arriving at the residence Mr. Tu had prepared for Mo Painting:

A dungeon.

This dungeon was very deep and sealed, dark without light, with sheer walls on all sides. Just looking at it made people feel despair in their hearts.

Mo Painting looked silently for a moment, then reminded Mr. Tu:

"I am a genius of the Scholarly Sword Discourse Gathering, the chief of the array path. People usually also call me 'Crown Prince of the Tai Xu Sect'..."

The implied meaning was, do you just let the "Crown Prince" live in a place like this?

As the "great steward" of the Great Desolate Evil God, is your way of treating guests not a little too impolite?

Mr. Tu said faintly: "This is already the most grand courtesy. Imprisoning you here makes you at ease, and I am also at ease."

"Please." Mr. Tu said a polite word, but his tone was hoarse and unpleasant, like a demon's.

Under the eaves, one has to bow one's head.

Mo Painting had no choice but to obediently walk into the prison.

After Mr. Tu sealed the prison door, he left without saying a word to Mo Painting. Only when he reached the front of the prison door did he instruct several Golden Core demon cultivators guarding the prison in a grim tone:

"Guard him well, there can be no trace of the slightest negligence, no flaw..."

Mr. Tu didn't say the rest of the words, but the several demon cultivators all felt a chill in their hearts.

If there was a flaw, what the consequences would be, they, the guards, were naturally clearer than anyone else.

These several demon cultivators bowed their bodies, not even daring to breathe.

After saying this sentence, Mr. Tu left.

Only when Mr. Tu had walked far away and that chilling breath that made people's scalps tingle dissipated did the several demon cultivators slowly straighten up and dare to breathe deeply. At the same time, they were uneasy and didn't understand.

A demon cultivator with a cold and gloomy face frowned:

"This is the deepest layer of the Great Desolate Prison, where cultivators are imprisoned, at least in the late stage of Golden Core, even Feather Transformation realm are imprisoned. Now, it actually only imprisons a small Foundation Building cultivator?"

"Even Sir Tu is acting with extreme caution, not daring to be careless in the slightest... What exactly is this boy?"

The other several demon cultivators were just about to speak when they were rebuked:

"Shut up, all of you!"

"Stop minding idle matters, stop asking nonsense. When on duty here, the more you talk, the faster you die."

The crowd became silent upon hearing the words.

A tall and ferocious demon cultivator sneered:

"Sir Tu is so profound and unfathomable, he acts according to his own reasons. Characters who can make Sir Tu cautious, even if they are only in the Foundation Building realm, are not for you to talk about."

"Be careful of staining your karma and dying in his hands."

As soon as these words came out, the crowd of demon cultivators immediately fell silent like cicadas in winter.

The Great Desolate Prison never imprisoned idle people.

What's more, they were imprisoning people in the deep layers of this Great Desolate Prison.

Some people, perhaps with a low realm, but with terrible karma. If their fate was not strong, staining it would undoubtedly lead to death.

These demon cultivators managing the Great Desolate Prison, although they didn't understand karma and fate, but because their fate wasn't strong and they saw many demon path colleagues who died due to karma, they still understood some taboos a little.

From this, these demon cultivators no longer dared to spy on Mo Painting, nor did any of them, who weren't blind, dare to approach Mo Painting within three Zhang.

In the dungeon.

Mo Painting raised his head and looked at the ceiling, only feeling that the ceiling was very high, narrow like an abyss.

He then reached out and patted the four walls. The stone walls were extremely firm, uneven, and felt like human bones to the touch.

Under divine sense perception, inside the stone walls, a Third Grade high-grade evil array was still engraved.

The Third Grade high-grade evil array sealed and banned everything inside the prison. Mo Painting's blood energy and spiritual power operated slowly, and even his divine sense felt a bit dizzy.

"Cannot escape..."

This prison, in the Third Grade realm, was truly an "absolute land."

Mr. Tu had indeed given him face by imprisoning him here, completely isolating him and not giving him any opportunity to act.

Mo Painting sighed slightly, "Alright, since I've come, I'll settle down."

There were still many things to do. The current situation was unclear, and it wasn't too good to act rashly.

Even suffering the suppression of the prison's evil array, his divine sense was easily tired.

Since that was the case, it was better to first replenish energy and sleep a little.

In the prison, the four walls were gloomy and oppressive, bloodstains were everywhere, and there was an old blood energy and rotten odor at his nose.

He didn't know where, but there was still Yin Qi seeping out, cold and whistling.

Mo Painting touched his waist and took out his storage bag.

To Mo Painting's surprise, Mr. Tu actually didn't confiscate his storage bag.

Of course, inside this storage bag, there were fundamentally no good things, only some cheap spirit stones, array mediums, pills, and Second Grade array diagrams...

The truly good things were all hidden by Mo Painting in the nail ring.

Even if Mr. Tu confiscated it, he would only be confiscating "rags."

Mo Painting took out array mediums and brush and ink from his storage bag, drew a clear wind array to dispel the strange smells inside the prison, then drew a warm wind array to warm himself, then took out a small blanket, covered it over his body, and lay down on the ground just like that, preparing to sleep soundly first.

But just as he lay down, Mo Painting looked up and saw a huge bloody eyeball staring at him.

No one can sleep while being stared at.

Not to mention being glared at by such a large bloody eyeball.

Mo Painting said calmly: "You're bothering me to sleep."

He was now in the "great base camp" of the evil god and didn't want to cause too much trouble.

Moreover, he had just "eaten" a meal before and had no appetite now.

The bloody eyeball suddenly trembled, then immediately closed tightly.

Mo Painting was satisfied with this and slowly closed his eyes. Before long, he was breathing evenly.

In the dark depths, gloomy despair, and evil spirits coveting the Great Desolate Prison, Mo Painting just covered himself with a small blanket and slept peacefully...

In a secret room of the Evil God Temple.

Mr. Tu was secretly talking with Shangguan Wang.

"Regarding the agreement, I still hope Mr. Tu, do not break your promise. After the matter succeeds, if I gain..." Shangguan Wang paused, then reluctantly said with respect, "If I gain the 'God Master's' favor, and he protects me from dying..."

Mr. Tu affirmed: "This is natural."

Shangguan Wang's face was gloomy, seemingly still unable to resolve a knot in his heart, and he confirmed again and again:

"People in the world seek the Dao, experiencing thousands of tribulations and ten thousand dangers, only to have a faint possibility of ascending to immortality."

"Immortals, longevity with heaven and earth, glory with the sun and moon, only thus can one live long."

"And I, my realm is only Feather Transformation, far from immortals. Do you believe the 'God Master' can truly grant me long life and not die?"

Mr. Tu said in a low voice: "Elder Wang, may I ask how long I have lived?"

Shangguan Wang's expression eased slightly, he nodded slightly, then thought of another problem and asked:

"Believing in the God Master, gaining long life, will I still... retain my reason?"

This was what he was most worried about. He didn't want to lose his reason and become a bloodthirsty beast after living long and not dying.

Mr. Tu didn't comfort Shangguan Wang, on the contrary, he mocked: "What's the use of keeping reason?"

Shangguan Wang's expression changed.

Mr. Tu pressed Shangguan Wang's shoulder and said faintly:

"Elder Wang, perhaps you really think that people in this world have so-called 'reason'?"

"People, to satisfy their desires, will sometimes do things crazier than beasts. Can this be called reason?"

"Greed for fame and fortune, greed for power, greed for material desires, even to the point of self-destruction, they don't hesitate... Can these also be called reason?"

Shangguan Wang's eyebrows twitched slightly.

"People, from beginning to end, rely on their own greed and ignorance to live, driven by their own greed and desires to live out their lives, not by reason." Mr. Tu said slowly, "Since that is the case, what is the meaning of reason?"

"Being driven by the desires for fame and fortune, and being driven by the God Master, what's the difference?"

"Believing in fame and fortune, after several hundred years, the great limit arrives, and eventually, it's just a mound of yellow soil."

"Believing in the God Master, even if a great calamity arrives, one can still change form and shed one's shell, living long and not dying."

"If it were you, which would you choose?"

Shangguan Wang was silent, but the ambition in his eyes became more and more manic, more and more fearless, and he clearly already had the answer in his heart.

Mr. Tu nodded slightly.

"How much longer?" Shangguan Wang asked, "When can the God Master revive?"

Mr. Tu, who had always been calm, frowned at this time, feeling annoyed in his heart.

Originally, everything was planned well.

The great array, the god fetus, the sacrifices... everything was arranged very properly.

But unexpectedly, during the Sword Discourse Gathering, various accidents occurred, forcing him to activate the great array in advance. He was also wiped out by the Shen family, a blood-and-flesh corpse that he had carefully nurtured for several hundred years, finally able to see the light of day.

And now, there were also problems with the sacrifices.

Those sect geniuses were originally all trapped and would soon be like "Gu" insects, fighting to determine the strongest several who would become close followers and servants after the God Master's revival.

As a result, at the last moment, they were all saved by that damn Dao Court Department and that Gu Changhuai.

The array masters were also largely slaughtered.

These various unfavorable factors, added together, seriously delayed the progress of the Great Desolate Blood Sacrifice Formation.

It also seriously delayed the day when the God Master would revive and descend upon the world.

Shangguan Wang, being in the middle of these matters, could more or less feel them, and then said coldly:

"I always feel that these various unfavorable factors are all because someone is obstructing us in the dark."

Mr. Tu nodded slightly, his expression indifferent:

"From the beginning, when the Shangguan family's god fetus was abducted, I also foresaw the existence of such a strange 'shadow' that was always vaguely obstructing the God Master's great plan of revival..."

But this strange shadow's performance in various events still left him puzzled.

He felt for a while that this person's realm should be very high, that only high-realm cultivators could participate in this game; but after a while, he again felt that this person's cultivation might not be strong, otherwise, many matters could be done with a wave of his hand, there would be no need to waste so many twists and turns.

He felt for a while that this person should be a behind-the-scenes manipulator, strategizing from the back; but after a while, he again felt that this person might only be an "executioner" charging forward, following orders to exterminate demons and kill enemies.

He felt for a while that this person must be an old monster who had cultivated the Dao for several hundred years, or even over a thousand years.

But after a while, he again felt that this person might only be a novice who had just left home...

Whenever Mr. Tu thought of this, his mind would be very confused.

Even the God Master couldn't give him a clearer enlightenment.

Even when he ate, he wished he could eat several cultivators' brains to make his thoughts a little clearer.

Currently, the only clue was that Mo Painting.

According to his guess, this child Mo Painting must have some close connection with this seemingly non-existent but everywhere present "strange shadow."

"Mo Painting..."

"That Mo Painting..." Shangguan Wang's gaze flickered slightly, and he said in a deep tone, "According to my opinion, it's best to kill him to avoid unnecessary trouble."

Mr. Tu shook his head: "I keep him for great use."

Shangguan Wang frowned: "What use?"

Mr. Tu was originally unwilling to answer, but Shangguan Wang was a key figure and could not be allowed to feel uneasy.

Mr. Tu said: "The karma on his body is very large and very deep, it cannot be moved arbitrarily."

"When a person dies, the lamp goes out. No matter how great the karma, if they die, it also goes out." Shangguan Wang's gaze was ice cold.

"His identity is special, his status is very high, and he is very favored by the Tai Xu Patriarch..."

"You don't understand the Tai Xu Sect, you don't understand the Tai Xu Sect's Grotto-heaven Patriarch." Shangguan Wang shook his head: "The Tai Xu Sect's reputation was not obvious before, but it inherits the divine sense transformation into sword, its righteous spirit is stern, it clearly distinguishes right from wrong, and never bargains with demon cultivators."

"Even if this boy is favored again, it's impossible to make an exception."

"Even, if he turns evil, the first thing the Tai Xu Sect will do is to clean the sect with pain..."

Shangguan Wang, as an elder of the Shangguan family, had quite some connections with the Tai Xu Three Gates, and he understood the Tai Xu Sect's style of action very well.

Mr. Tu said again: "Too many array masters have died, the completion of the great array will be delayed."

Shangguan Wang frowned: "You want this boy to substitute for you to draw array laws and perfect the blood sacrifice great array?"

Mr. Tu neither affirmed nor denied.

Shangguan Wang said: "He may be only one person."

"You also saw that scene at the Sword Discourse Gathering," Mr. Tu said, "He alone, controlling ink with his divine sense, drawing the ground as an array, his formation speed is very fast, sufficient to compare to ten... no, even dozens of top Second Grade array masters."

Shangguan Wang thought for a moment, still shaking his head: "We still have array masters in our hands. It's fine if the great array is a little slow, but it's best not to bear the risks."

No matter what, Shangguan Wang had to kill Mo Painting.

Firstly, because his relationship with Mo Painting was not good, and Mo Painting was a child who demanded an eye for an eye.

Secondly, he had now abandoned the light and turned to the dark, converting to the Great Desolate God Master. If Mo Painting was also assimilated by Mr. Tu and converted to the God Master, then his status in front of the Great Desolate God Master would absolutely not be higher than that of Mo Painting, who was a monster-like divine sense and monstrous array laws.

Admittedly, he was in the Feather Transformation realm, and his status would not be low.

But Mo Painting was now already a late-stage Foundation Building cultivator, only one step away from the Golden Core. The God Master had ten thousand kinds of evil methods to make Mo Painting quickly form a core.

At that time, a Golden Core realm cultivator who entered the demon path, endured the addition of the evil array, and was a terrifying young array laws monster, under the protection of the Great Desolate God Master, could truly be said to be lawless. Even he, in the Feather Transformation realm, would have to avoid his edge.

This would make all his original plans go down the drain.

Therefore, he did not hide his killing intent towards Mo Painting.

Mr. Tu could also see this point, but he didn't necessarily have to keep Mo Painting's life. However, there was an obscure breath on Mo Painting's body that made him inexplicably fearful, making him fundamentally not dare to make a killing move.

"I suspect that on this child's body... an unknown high-level person has planted..."

Mr. Tu's tone paused, his pupils shrank slightly, and he said slowly:

"Life Destiny Longevity Talisman..."

(End of chapter)