Chapter 1562: Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals

Chapter 1562: Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals

Mo Hua was savoring the sensation of being subjected to 《Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals》.

He could sense a mysterious, chilling power of the Unorthodox Path descending upon him.

A decaying, cold solemnity—a level of Fāng Arts far too sophisticated to be cast by any ordinary mortal cultivator—was restraining his Divine Soul.

Wang Liangzi's true body seemed to have set up an altar somewhere far away.

Yet, using the Yāo Wraith as a medium, his Divine-Sense had invaded Mo Hua's Sea of Consciousness and seized his Divine Sense Manifested Body.

Wang Liangzi's withered, sharp white claws were currently clutching Mo Hua's forehead.

His slender nails pierced deeply into the scalp, as though iron pipa-hooks of a chain had latched onto his cranium, gripping his skull in a deathly lock.

Although a divine thought body did not possess a real skull, that was precisely how it felt to Mo Hua.

Then, bright red essence blood flowed along the nails into his head, leaving a brand upon his divine-sense skull.

This brand resembled a scarlet tattoo.

Like the criminal tattoos branded onto prisoners or slaves.

This blood-written brand was the sign that a certain [ritual] had officially begun.

The rope around his neck was being drawn tighter and tighter.

Formed from a kind of Divine Sense Thought Power, this rope was a type of Spell Formula Structure, imbued with the power to suppress yin souls.

Mo Hua felt as though he was being strangled to the point of suffocation.

Even though he wasn't truly out of breath.

Still, to genuinely experience the effects of these Fāng Arts, he played along, immersing himself in the pain.

He pretended to be subdued by the Yin Power, bound by the curse rope, and engulfed in despair.

His Divine Soul was being torn apart as well, slowly dragged from his body, on the verge of becoming another's captive.

This seemed to be the second condition.

Seeing that the spell formula was proceeding smoothly, that Mo Hua's face was contorted in agony, his Divine-Sense Thought on the brink of suffocation, and his resistance reduced to absolute insignificance, Wang Liangzi knew the time was ripe.

He officially began the most critical step of 《Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals》.

An expression of utter solemnity appeared on his withered white face.

Within that solemnity lay awe, and even a trace of humility.

Opening his mouth, he bit the tip of his tongue and, holding the fresh blood in his mouth, began to chant a Curse-Incantation Script. The chant was slurred, as dark and eerie as the netherworld, yet piercingly shrill to the ear.

Mo Hua's expression grew even more pained.

Yet these curse incantations were pervasive, burrowing relentlessly into Mo Hua's head. Stroke by stroke, they inscribed a bloody document within his mind.

This document was filled with shapes resembling demons and monsters, seemingly not written in the style of mortal men, and it carried an intimidating power that even exerted a slight pressure on Mo Hua.

To be able to make me feel pressure within the Divine Thought realm...

This was truly extraordinary...

Growing increasingly curious, Mo Hua maintained his simulated expression of agony while using his internal Divine-Sense inspection to decipher this blood-colored document.

He wanted to know what was written upon this scarlet script.

Why could it serve as the core spell formula structure for Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals?

Why did even his own Divine-Sense show slight signs of being suppressed?

Yet, after operating his Divine-Sense for quite some time, Mo Hua could not decipher anything...

Words were not formations. Facing an entirely alien script without foundational knowledge of its characters, relying solely on Divine-Sense calculations made it exceedingly difficult to uncover its meaning.

Mo Hua was consuming his computational power, yet despite exhausting a considerable amount, he failed to deduce any useful concepts.

After calculating a while longer to no avail, Mo Hua shifted his perspective. Suddenly, he paused, sensing something peculiar.

As Wang Liangzi chanted more and more curse incantations, the blood document within Mo Hua's Sea of Consciousness was transcribed ever more densely.

Mo Hua still could not recognize the specific meanings of the blood characters.

However, the structural format of this blood document seemed strikingly familiar.

Back in the Qianxue Prefecture realm, he had frequently visited Uncle Gù at the Dao Court Division. In his idle moments, he would casually flip through some of the less critical Dao Court Division dossiers.

This document written in essence blood by Wang Liangzi, though shaped like demonic specters with ambiguous meanings, was neatly structured and meticulously drafted. It seemed to be petitioning for permission from some sort of supreme authority.

In terms of format, it actually bore an uncanny resemblance to the document layout used by the Dao Court Division...

Yet this belonged to the Unorthodox Path, which had always been regarded as an inferior, disreputable faction. This document certainly had nothing to do with the Dao Court Division.

If not the Dao Court Division... could it be some supreme authority within the Unorthodox Path?

A supreme authority...

Could it be...

An Underworld Bureau Secret Document?

The moment this thought surfaced, as if a profound secret had been unraveled, the blood-written document within Mo Hua's body began to tremble violently. Like boiling water, it flickered erratically.

Startled by this sudden disruption, Wang Liangzi's heart jolted. He abruptly cut off his incantation, halted the curse script, and turned to look at Mo Hua.

Looking slightly surprised, Mo Hua asked Wang Liangzi, "What's wrong?"

Wang Liangzi's eyelids twitched incessantly.

Mo Hua said, "Keep seizing me. Your 《Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals》 was just about to succeed. How can you stop now?"

Wang Liangzi's pupils quivered. Instead of continuing the chant, he began to reverse the curse, attempting to erase the [Underworld Bureau Secret Document] he had just transcribed within Mo Hua's Sea of Consciousness...

How could Mo Hua allow that?

How could one take back a gift that had already been delivered to the doorstep?

A fair, clean palm clamped down upon Wang Liangzi's claw.

"If you won't seize me..." Mo Hua looked at Wang Liangzi and said faintly, "...then I shall take control of you..."

A wave of intense dread crashed over Wang Liangzi, leaving him numb from head to toe.

Yet before he could react, a voice as crisp as jade, as clear as the breeze, and carrying a magnetic resonance echoed by his ear:

"I bestow upon you the grace to become my servant."

"Henceforth, you shall obey my command, subject to my will of life and death. Whoever I command you to kill, you shall kill..."

No material medium, no ritual, and without the slightest warning—his spoken words directly manifested power.

Wang Liangzi immediately brought his hand down like a blade, slicing off his own ears.

Cultivating the art of 《Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals》 made him an expert in soul control; he knew all too well that there were certain foul words in this world that one must never hear.

Even if it meant cutting off one's own ears, one must not listen.

Yet even after severing his ears, it seemed of little use.

Some foul things were still crawling along his ears and squirming into his mind.

Having cut off his ears—even the ears of his divine sense manifested body—Wang Liangzi could hear nothing at all.

Consequently, he had no idea what kind of words had burrowed into his ears and invaded his Sea of Consciousness.

Worse, burrowing into his Sea of Consciousness was not enough; they were boring directly toward his heart.

Wang Liangzi felt as though he had been soiled, as if he had been contaminated.

This was a terrifying thing...

Before that foul thing could burrow into his heart, he had no choice but to raise his vicious claws, crush his own head, snap his neck, tear apart the invisible rope around his throat, and obliterate the [Underworld Bureau Secret Document] written in blood, thoroughly discarding this soul-seizing body.

A wisp of gloomy white light drifted out from the abandoned Divine Sense Body.

As a gust of yin wind blew, all the Wraith Soldiers surrounding Mo Hua were tugged by threads of Divine Sense Thought Power, enveloped within. Amidst a mass of severed limbs and legs, divine thought flesh and blood fused together, reshaping another husk.

Borrowing this husk, that wisp of gloomy white qi manifested anew into another tall, thin "Wang Liangzi" with a pale, somber face.

The previous Wang Liangzi was like shed skin that had lost its primary soul, reverting back into that hideous gecko demon from before, which shattered into pieces and died right then and there.

The reborn Wang Liangzi looked at the corpse of the gecko demon, his heart wrenching in pain.

This gecko Demon Insect possessed exceptional talent and was an Evil Entity nearing the level of a Demon General, which he had refined through painstaking effort.

Coupled with the numerous demon soldiers slain under Mo Hua's fists tonight and the various Wraith Soldiers that had perished earlier in the Changshan Army Camp, Wang Liangzi's heart was practically bleeding.

He glared at Mo Hua, his voice bone-chillingly cold. "You have quite a few tricks up your sleeve. You didn't take the martial path of 'Divine Thought Transforms into Strength' after all?"

Mo Hua's eyes flickered slightly. "Take a guess."

Wang Liangzi took a deep breath, and his tone surprisingly softened a bit:

"Fellow Daoist, I was mistaken. I truly underestimated you. I never expected your cultivation to be so profound; my eyes failed to see your true depth..."

"As fellow masters of the Unorthodox Path, it is better to resolve enmity than to foster it. How about we both stay our hands?"

Mo Hua replied, "I—"

Before he could utter his second word, a foul gale erupted instantly before him, accompanied by billowing black mist.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Liangzi closed the distance to Mo Hua. An arm bristling with venomous insect fangs pierced directly through his chest.

Blood splattered. Stunned, Mo Hua lowered his gaze to look at the arm impaling his chest, then looked up at Wang Liangzi, murmuring:

"You..."

Mo Hua's throat was choked with blood, rendering him speechless.

Wang Liangzi twisted his insect-venom-tainted demon arm within Mo Hua's chest, depositing the poison inside his body to merge with the flesh and blood of Mo Hua's divine thought.

The insect poison began corroding Mo Hua's Divine-Sense.

Wang Liangzi sneered softly, "Fool, you never learn. Did you truly believe I couldn't kill you?"

"In a battle of Divine-Sense, it is kill or be killed. Did your master on the Unorthodox Path never teach you this?"

"You ruined my cultivation, slaughtered my Wraith Soldiers, leaked my cause and effect, and learned the name of my Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals Grand Art... How could I possibly spare your life?"

"This Demon Insect's poison devours like a beast, carving agony straight to the bone. Consider it a lesson learned."

"In your next life, be more mindful. On the Unorthodox Path, never cross someone you cannot afford to offend..."

Having said that, Wang Liangzi let out a sinister laugh. Numerous insect arms sprouted from his back, and with a sickening squelch, they simultaneously punctured Mo Hua's chest and limbs.

With so many appendages unleashing their power at once, surging with Yao Power, the delicate youth before him was completely torn apart.

Mo Hua's Divine Sense Body was ripped into pieces as if drawn and quartered by five horses, perishing before he could even leave behind a final word.

After such a grueling battle, his formidable enemy was finally dismembered.

Wang Liangzi smiled in relief for a brief moment, but shortly after, the grin at the corner of his lips gradually faded.

For he suddenly realized that when he tore through the chest of this Esteemed Master Mo, although the insect limbs of the Wraith Soldiers had exerted tremendous force, there had been no tactile resistance whatsoever.

Something's wrong...

Just as the realization struck Wang Liangzi, he suddenly felt a mountain-like pressure crashing down from above. Looking up, he saw that at some point, a hand had been placed upon his forehead.

The hand was as fair as jade, crystalline and translucent, yet it exuded an ominous aura.

Not dead?! What is this?!

Wang Liangzi's pupils dilated. Numerous additional insect limbs erupted from his body, their joints dripping with venom, resembling a hundred-legged centipede.

Every single insect arm lashed out toward Mo Hua above his head.

Yet Mo Hua merely squeezed with force, bringing down a crushing pressure that instantly suppressed Wang Liangzi, stripping him of all ability to fight back.

Then, Mo Hua began his Fāng Arts experiment.

He chanted a Curse-Incantation Script, and five-colored formation patterns meandered across his palm like threads of blood.

Geng-Xin metal, Bone-Clinging wood, Frigid-Yin water, Heart-Burning Fire, and Miasmic Earth—the Five-Elements Five-Poison Formation emerged in succession like flickering lights and passing shadows.

Mo Hua's five fingers similarly took on the hues of Geng-metal, verdant green, deep blue, vivid scarlet, and bright yellow, dazzling like five-colored jade and glistening with vibrant intensity.

These five-colored, jade-like fingers pressed against Wang Liangzi's forehead. A wisp of Divine Sense Thought Power, converted into Five Elements Curse Power through the Five Elements Poison Formation, slowly trickled into Wang Liangzi's mind.

Never in his life had Wang Liangzi witnessed such a vivid, gorgeous, and yet perilous poisonous hand. His face warped in terror.

"This... from which sect or faction does this Fāng Art originate?!"

"How could there exist such an exquisite, dazzling art in this world?"

"Just who on earth... is this Esteemed Master Mo? He..."

Before Wang Liangzi could dwell on it further, the toxicity of the Five Elements Poison Curse Art abruptly took effect.

And his luck was quite good, the first to trigger was the poison of Geng-metal.

The toxicity condensed from the Geng-Xin formation slowly seeped into Wang Liangzi's divine thought body.

Like being sliced by thousands of tiny golden blades, it brought forth an indescribable, agonizing torment capable of driving one's Divine Soul to the heavens.

Wang Liangzi's mind nearly shut down entirely.

In the physical world, poison corroding the flesh brought physical pain.

Yet poison within divine thought, constructed through formations, brought about pain on the level of the Laws.

Because the pain was so overwhelming, the dense waves of agony coalesced near the threshold, nearly triggering his Divine-Sense's innate mechanism to shut down its perception of pain.

Wang Liangzi was on the verge of fainting dead away.

He could even feel his sanity about to detach from his body under the extreme agony.

Yet he also knew that such a thing must never be allowed to happen!

Once he was knocked unconscious by this unknown poison art and rendered insensible, it would be equivalent to falling entirely into the clutches of this mysterious and perilous Esteemed Master Mo.

The youth truly would be able to do whatever he pleased to his Divine Sense Body.

At that point, only the heavens knew how this uncanny Esteemed Master Mo would treat him or what horrors he would concoct.

When he finally awoke, what state would he be in? Would his Divine-Sense be completely ruined? Would he still remember who he was, and how many secrets from his memories would be pried away...

The mere thought plunged Wang Liangzi into profound terror, sending chills down his spine.

No!

At the critical juncture, he instantly severed all spell formulas tied to 《Seizing Souls and Commanding Generals》, broke the rope of Divine Sense Thought Power, and stripped away the husk of the Wraith Soldier.

Seeing that Wang Liangzi wanted to flee, Mo Hua naturally refused to permit it. While intensifying the infiltration of the Five Elements poison, he raised his right hand, condensing the Water Prison Technique to trap Wang Liangzi.

Cerulean light condensed into a Water Prison, encasing Wang Liangzi.

Wang Liangzi struggled briefly, only to find he could not break free.

With a thought, Mo Hua accelerated the circulation of the formation, condensing even more Five Elements poison to erode Wang Liangzi's Divine-Sense.

The poison continued to spread and the agony escalated. Facing imminent doom, on the verge of falling completely into this Esteemed Master Mo's poisonous clutches, Wang Liangzi could no longer care about anything else.

In utter terror, he bit the tip of his tongue again. With lips fluttering, holding fresh blood in his mouth, he chanted another Curse-Incantation Script.

This chant remained hoarse, as gloomy as a Ghostly Phantom.

Simultaneously, another blood-written document began to coalesce within Wang Liangzi's own mind.

This document retained the same bloody stylistic conventions, grim yet exuding authority, but its meaning was completely different from before.

Once the blood-written document took shape, Mo Hua actually felt his control over Wang Liangzi weakening bit by bit.

Even with his own Divine-Sense Thought Power, he could perceive a palpable resistance.

This meant that these blood-written documents Wang Liangzi had obtained from who-knows-where genuinely contained a power akin to the Authority of the Underworld Bureau.

Mo Hua's eyes narrowed slightly.

Earlier, the document Wang Liangzi had inscribed upon him seemed intended for 'seizing souls.'

Yet at this moment, the blood document Wang Liangzi was inscribing appeared to be for...

Absolution?

An Underworld Bureau Secret Document... imbued with the power of absolution?

Mo Hua's brows arched slightly. Such a thing actually existed in this world?

The scarlet Underworld Bureau Secret Document and the golden Divine Dao pressure continued to clash against one another.

As if struck by an idea, the corners of Mo Hua's mouth curled into a faint smile. He eased his strength, softening his Divine Dao suppression over Wang Liangzi.

The power of the Underworld Bureau Secret Document surged violently, overturning the balance and suppressing Mo Hua's Divine Sense Thought Power, gradually putting Mo Hua at a disadvantage.

Sensing that Mo Hua was being suppressed, Wang Liangzi felt immense joy in his heart. With blood in his mouth and enduring the agonizing pain, he rapidly finished chanting the curse.

As the incantation concluded, the document was signed, and the secret document of absolution took effect.

A stern order descended, forcibly absolving Wang Liangzi of his sins, and along with it, the pain, torment, and erosion of the Fāng Arts he suffered were all granted immunity.

Empowered by the Underworld Bureau Secret Document, Wang Liangzi truly broke free from Mo Hua's restraints.

Steeling his heart with ruthless resolve, he uttered a single word: "Detonate!"

Amidst a terrifying surge of Divine Sense Thought Power, his entire body blew apart into a massive cloud of Blood Mist, permeating the white void of the Sea of Consciousness.

A self-detonation of Divine Sense Thought Power of this scale was sufficient to obliterate the Divine-Sense of any Golden Core Cultivator.

Yet before long, a gust of wind blew, dispersing the Blood Mist. Mo Hua stepped out from the dissipating mist, completely unscathed.

Looking around, there was no longer any trace of Wang Liangzi; even the Wraith Soldiers had been blasted into nothingness.

A playful glint, however, surfaced in Mo Hua's eyes.

...

Meanwhile, in Qingchou City.

Inside a central command tent of the Green-Faced Multitude's military camp.

A high platform loomed.

Upon the platform, an altar of yin had been erected, burning agarwood incense, its tables draped in black cloth.

Clay jars inscribed with blood characters were laid out, bright yellow secret documents were offered, and red-hot branding irons smoldered. Furthermore, ropes woven from human hair soaked in evil-warding blood hung suspended above the altar.

Beneath the platform sat a full eleven Golden Core Cultivators. Each possessed formidable cultivation, surrounded by fluctuating blood-fiend auras, their faces painted green and glabella stained black. At a glance, it was clear they were all individuals soaked in Killing Karma, shadowed perpetually by debts of death.

These eleven Golden Core experts all had their faces smeared with green blood, appearing ferocious and terrifying; they were the strongest cohort of generals under Lord Qingchou within the Green-Faced Multitude.

At this moment, these Golden Core generals stood solemnly beneath the high platform.

Upon the platform itself, a tall, gaunt master of the Unorthodox Path—clad in a dark robe adorned with black patterns, holding an Imperial Decree, his face as pale as sheet paper—was casting a spell.

The hall of Golden Core generals dared not make a sound.

For this Unorthodox Path master was temperamental, unpredictable, sinister, and immensely powerful.

At this very moment, he had opened the altar to cast a spell, aiming to execute a remote curse-killing upon the most mysterious, most feared, and most deeply hated figure within the Changshan Army...

The Tongxian Cult's Esteemed Master Mo.

Had this fiendish figure not stirred up trouble, it would have been impossible for the Changshan Army to gain such momentum in such a short time.

Slaying this fiend would break the formidable enemy.

And the only master of the Unorthodox Path capable of bypassing the Changshan Army of eight hundred thousand to curse Esteemed Master Mo to death without expending a single soldier was, naturally, Wang Liangzi.

Yet at this moment, Wang Liangzi's brow was furrowed tightly, and a sudden sense of foreboding welled up within his heart...

(End of Chapter)