Chapter 556 - 503: Array-Breaking Technique (Part 2)

Chapter 556: Chapter 503: Array-Breaking Technique (Part 2)

The Twelve Blood Evil Array operated on a two-pronged approach, using both the Spirit Vein’s Spiritual Qi and the Blood Qi from the entire city. The Spiritual Qi sustained the Grand Array’s operation, while the array itself blood-refined the city’s inhabitants, converting their life force into Blood Qi to empower the twelve Soldier Puppets. This created a deathtrap capable of suppressing even a Nascent Soul.

Chu Mu pondered for a moment before lightly tapping his finger. The Spiritual Qi from several Spirit Stones instantly surged toward the simple Five Elements Array Prohibition. The Array Prohibition was crude and fragile. Within just a few breaths, it began to tremble under the influx of Spiritual Qi, which far exceeded its capacity, looking as if it would shatter at any moment.

At that moment, Chu Mu suddenly split his focus, simulating two people fighting for control of the Array Prohibition. Under this change, the once-seamless Five Elements Array Prohibition began to ripple erratically. The connections in its crisscrossing network of inscriptions became visibly unstable, even showing signs of fracturing.

And all the while, Spiritual Qi continued to pour into the Five Elements Array Prohibition. Under this dual strain, the simple Array Prohibition shattered in an instant!

Only then did Chu Mu turn his gaze back to the twelve Tier Four Soldier Puppets in the center of the city.

The most common Array-Breaking Technique lies in breaking its prohibitions.

Every Array is composed of a number of Array Prohibition Inscriptions, much like a precision instrument is made of various parts. If you break a key node, the instrument will be damaged.

However, such an Array-Breaking Technique is often difficult to execute.

After all, unless it’s an unmanned ancient remnant Array, no one managing a Grand Array would simply stand by and watch as someone, whether inside or out, slowly picked apart its prohibitions.

This Twelve Blood Fiend Corpse Transformation Array was, of course, no exception.

The Grand Array stood right here, presided over by six Nascent Souls. Even a Nascent Soul Realm Array Master would have no chance of breaking it if they were trapped inside.

Even with the current anomaly affecting the Soldier Puppets, breaking this array through normal means was still virtually impossible.

After all, due to the modification he’d made—which had now hoist him by his own petard—the Chen Family’s Nascent Souls would surely react in time once the Soldier Puppets’ backdoor was activated.

The chances of seizing control of the Soldier Puppets before the six Chen Family Nascent Soul Great Powers could react were undoubtedly minuscule.

The only way to break this deadlock was to shatter the array during the current stalemate!

Otherwise, the stalemate would sooner or later devolve back into suppression, until the city was once again completely subdued!

Chu Mu looked at the shattered Five Elements Array Prohibition before him, his gaze flickering. ’Normal array-breaking methods aren’t feasible right now, but... my own idea seems to have some merit.’

The two preconditions from his experiment that caused the Five Elements Array Prohibition to collapse on its own were already present in the situation with the Blood Evil Array.

With the Soldier Puppets acting abnormally, even though the Chen Family’s Nascent Souls still held the dominant position, they could no longer completely control the Grand Array.

A portion of the array’s control had inevitably been seized by the various Nascent Souls trapped inside, thanks to the Soldier Puppets’ anomaly.

Trying to use this partial control to escape or break the array, with the Chen Family’s Nascent Souls watching like hawks, was obviously next to impossible.

But if he were to take advantage of the situation...

By triggering the array’s blood-refining effect...

A torrential surge of Blood Qi pouring into the array would, under normal circumstances, be converted into power for the Soldier Puppets, further suppressing the Nascent Souls trapped within.

But in the current stalemate, if a sudden move was made to activate the blood sacrifice effect, it would trigger an irreversible surge of Blood Qi, which would then devolve into... the same situation as his experiment with the Five Elements Array Prohibition.

However...

Chu Mu walked to the window, the various scenes of life and death throughout the city filling his vision.

The hundreds of thousands of Cultivators from All Over the World... from the moment they arrived in Bazhou City, their fates seemed to have been sealed.

They would either become Blood Qi consumables for the Chen Family’s campaign to pacify the chaos of the Vast Sea, or... it seemed their fate was to be Blood Qi consumables anyway.

Chu Mu stood stunned for a long while before looking down at the Sound Transmission Order in his hand. The transmission Seal from Xu Changqing was flashing nonstop, and one urgent message after another sounded in his ear.

Chu Mu gripped the Sound Transmission Order tightly, his gaze dark. After another long moment, his wavering expression finally calmed.

From the moment he noticed the issue with the Soldier Puppets and informed Xu Changqing, who then left the True Understanding Base in a state of Man-Sword Unity, he hadn’t really had much of a choice.

Now, with his name circulating throughout the city and the wrath of Nascent Souls aimed at him, he had absolutely no path of retreat left.

If the Chen Family’s scheme was not broken, under the heavenly wrath of the Nascent Souls, he... would certainly die!

If he wanted to live, his only hope was to rely on that Sword Dao Nascent Soul to break this deadlock.

Chu Mu’s Divine Sense flowed, and a message slowly formed on the Sound Transmission Order. He didn’t explain the Array-Breaking Technique directly, only giving a few extremely cryptic hints.

It wasn’t that he’d had a sudden crisis of conscience and pitied the fate of the city’s Cultivators...

It was simply because his transmissions held no secrets from those in the Nascent Soul Realm. His Array-Breaking Technique was predicated on activating the blood sacrifice effect while the Chen Family’s Nascent Souls were caught completely off guard.

If the Chen Family’s Nascent Souls were alerted beforehand and the blood sacrifice could not be initiated, his method would be meaningless.

After sending the message, Chu Mu felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

He had done everything within his power. How the situation developed from here was no longer something he could control.

He couldn’t even control whether he himself lived or died...

Chu Mu pursed his lips, his gaze darkening slightly. He scanned the entire city. The chaos within had become increasingly apparent.

At least, before the effects of the Heavenly Deceit Pill wore off, or before the entire city was dead, the chances of the Chen Family finding him were minuscule.

But under the wrath of the Nascent Souls, the Chen Family obviously couldn’t give up the search for him. Even if it was just for show, they had to make the effort.

Just within his line of sight, he could see Cultivators from the Chen Family and the Overlord Saber Alliance moving in groups, conducting a near-systematic search of every building in the city.

All non-Chen Family Cultivators in the city belonging to other factions were being hunted down and killed. As for the Loose Cultivators, they were all conscripted by the Chen Family with a single Recruitment Order. Those who refused were slain on the spot with brutal force!

With the scene of the blood sacrifice still fresh in their minds, few Cultivators were naive enough to believe the lies spouted by the Chen Family and the Overlord Saber Alliance.

Countless Loose Cultivators formed groups to fight against the Cultivators of the Chen Family and the Overlord Saber Alliance. Meanwhile, Cultivators from other factions rallied large numbers of Loose Cultivators to resist the Chen Family’s slaughter.

However, in this monumental scheme, even with the anomaly in the Twelve Blood Evil Array, the other Tier Four Arrays in the city were completely unaffected. The Chen Family and the Overlord Saber Alliance undoubtedly still held the absolute upper hand.

Under their overwhelming pressure, the opposition was in constant retreat. The horrific sight of a Corpse Mountain Blood Sea unfolded as a storm of blood and gore was thoroughly unleashed upon the city.

’Blood Qi... is being devoured?’

After observing for a moment, Chu Mu raised an eyebrow, his expression turning a little strange.

The city was filled with carnage, yet to the naked eye, there was not a trace of blood.

All the spilled blood was instantly absorbed by the Blood Evil Array.

This change was undoubtedly normal; it was one hundred percent the Blood Evil Array’s passive effect of absorbing Blood Qi.

However...

His Array-Breaking Technique relied on using Blood Qi to assault the Grand Array, seizing the moment of its instability to shatter it.

He had originally been worried that the Chen Family’s Nascent Souls would notice this. After all, he had dealt with the Array Dao Nascent Soul among them many times before, and that person’s proficiency in the Array Dao was far superior to his own.

But now it seemed that even if the Chen Family noticed, it would be meaningless...

With the whole city being drenched in blood, the Blood Evil Array was passively absorbing Blood Qi. Even if the Chen Family’s Nascent Souls noticed, they could clearly only stop the Grand Array’s *active* blood sacrifice effect.

This passive absorption effect, with its ceaseless accumulation of Blood Qi, had no outlet during the stalemate for control over the Grand Array.

Coupled with the interference from the Nascent Souls trapped inside, it was inevitable that this quantitative change would lead to a qualitative one, ultimately resulting in the array-breaking scenario he had envisioned.

...