196: Climb into the Demon Cult alone, destroying a city with one person!

Less than forty minutes after leaving Yuxu Academy, Mo Fan arrived at the Canglang Mountain Range.

"Xiao Hei, wake up quickly! Sense the exact location of the Origin Stones." Mo Fan turned to look at Xiao Hei, who was curled up in a ball, sleeping soundly.

"We're here, meow? You're so fast!" Xiao Hei woke up groggily, shaking his head vigorously.

"Hurry, hurry!" Mo Fan urged.

As if seeing a hundred thousand Origin Stones waving at him, Mo Fan grew a little impatient.

"Just a moment, meow--" Xiao Hei's expression became serious, and he immediately began to sense with concentration.

A moment later, he pointed with a paw and quickly said, "It's right over there, meow."

"Alright, let's go!" Mo Fan took a deep breath, and the Quieting Breath Technique instantly operated at its maximum, turning him into an afterimage as he swiftly moved in the direction Xiao Hei indicated.

"Xiao Hei, will the warehouse in this small dimension have a perverse magic array like the one in Pojun City?" Mo Fan asked as he ran.

The defensive magic array of Pojun City's warehouse was truly formidable; trying to forcefully take things would likely result in death. Even the current Mo Fan couldn't handle it.

"Impossible, meow. There are no more than three factions capable of setting up such a fierce array. This area, this cat remembers, is not within the scope of any major power, so you can rest assured, meow--" Xiao Hei said.

Hearing this, Mo Fan felt relieved.

As long as there wasn't a fierce array of that level, there was nothing to fear. With his stealth techniques, he could completely take the Origin Stones without anyone noticing.

The Quieting Breath Technique was a peerless secret-level concealment art, and Mo Fan had cultivated it to the final layer, so its power was self-evident.

Even Xu Wudi hadn't been able to detect Mo Fan's whereabouts before.

Only a creature with innate talent like Xiao Hei could capture Mo Fan's aura.

Therefore, Mo Fan wasn't too worried about this operation.

The ideal situation was to secretly take the Origin Stones and leave, avoiding conflict with the creatures inside the small dimension.

If he was accidentally discovered, Mo Fan would simply have to persuade them with reason.

Yes, physical reason.

Of course, he didn't intend to take all the Origin Stones; he would at least leave some for them to ensure the normal operation of the small dimension.

It's always better to leave a way out when doing things.

A moment later, one person and one cat arrived in front of a steep mountain peak shrouded in mist.

"Is this the entrance?" Mo Fan looked at Xiao Hei.

"Judging from my senses, it is, meow, but this concealment array seems a bit troublesome, hard to decipher, meow--" Xiao Hei began to worry.

Although the array in front of them didn't have much offensive power, it was extremely complex, not much worse than the city gate array of Pojun City.

To break it and reveal the teleportation array inside was clearly not a simple matter.

"Minor issue, watch me." Mo Fan smiled confidently.

Since his secret journey last time, his array mastery had improved rapidly, naturally incomparable to before.

After he came out, Mo Fan also didn't give up on his research into arrays and domains.

After some time, his array and domain mastery had improved significantly once again.

The array in front of him couldn't stump him.

He casually scanned it a few times.

He circled the mountain peak a few times.

Mo Fan quickly discovered the trick.

"So it's an array constructed by relying on the terrain of the entire Canglang Mountain Range, with this nameless mountain peak as an auxiliary."

"It really has something to it. To completely break it would probably take four or five hours. Forcibly breaking it would probably require a supreme expert to do so—"

Four or five hours?

The day would be long over by then.

Who knew what changes might occur during that time?

"Four or five hours is already very fast, you're a pervert!

"Are you omnipotent, meow? Have your skills in alchemy, arrays, and domains all reached the king level?" Xiao Hei looked at Mo Fan in disbelief.

This guy was too terrifying.

No matter what field, he possessed terrifying talent.

If he had been born a few hundred years earlier.

Perhaps he could truly challenge realms beyond the Void-Breaking stage.

Unfortunately—

Facing the Great Tribulation of Annihilation, Xiao Hei always remained relatively pessimistic.

There was no other way; only creatures who had experienced the Great Tribulation of Annihilation could understand how small they were when that power descended.

Even the City Lord only resisted for a few minutes before his spirit shattered and he perished.

Just as Xiao Hei was pessimistically reminiscing about the past, Mo Fan had already begun to act.

Completely breaking the concealment array would indeed take a relatively long time.

However, if one only wanted to enter inside, it wouldn't be so troublesome.

As long as the weak points of the array were found.

Things would become much simpler.

And with Mo Fan's current array mastery, finding weak points was obviously simple.

Of course, more importantly, the array itself had suffered the ravages of time, and some structural problems had appeared.

It was precisely because of the existence of these problems that the originally perfect array showed obvious weak points.

A moment later, Mo Fan locked onto the weak points.

He analyzed the array source bit by bit.

Then he decomposed it bit by bit, making it ineffective.

Streaks of faint blue light quickly extinguished.

The concealment array rapidly disintegrated.

Holes the size of pinpricks quickly formed.

"You—" Xiao Hei noticed something amiss and was a little dumbfounded.

Didn't he say it would take four or five hours?

How much time had passed?

Small holes had already appeared in the array!

"This is called catching them off guard!" Mo Fan grinned and continued to diligently decipher the array.

After more than ten minutes, countless pinholes connected together, and a blue protective shield instantly appeared, shimmering with a cold, faint light.

Then, a gap, one meter wide and two meters high, slowly emerged on the blue array.

"Done, let's go!" Mo Fan smiled, rubbed Xiao Hei's head, and stepped into the array.

As soon as one person and one cat entered the array, the blue light quickly dimmed.

At the same time, the gap that had just formed instantly disappeared, as if it had never appeared, and the array instantly returned to its original state... Headquarters of the Demonic Cult.

Demon God Hall.

A figure shrouded in faint mist sat silently on the golden throne.

Below the throne, a huge blood pool spanning several thousand square meters was laid out.

Inside the blood pool, countless fresh, beating red hearts lay, mixed with viscous blood, filling the entire blood pool.

Beside the blood pool.

Piles of snow-white skulls were stacked.

These skulls looked very small, only slightly larger than an adult's fist.

The walls of the blood pool and the skulls were carved with complex runes, reflecting each other and emitting faint green light.

The blood-colored figure on the throne had its eyes slightly closed, palms facing upwards, and with each breath, wisps of blood-colored energy emanated from the blood pool and were drawn into its nose and mouth.

A moment later, he slowly opened his eyes and frowned slightly.

"The blood pool's effect is getting worse and worse. I need to replenish it with fresh blood and hearts.

"Damn the Shadow, like a mad dog, relentlessly pursuing my Demonic Cult. Now, finding children with martial arts foundations is too difficult.

"If we make a big fuss, we'll easily be targeted by the Shadow.

"If those mad dogs track us to the headquarters—"

Thousands of thoughts flashed by in an instant.

Finally, the blood-colored figure shook his head and sighed, saying.

"For now, let's avoid their sharp edge. Have the priests send people to casually find some children to make do with.

"Wait two more months, three months at most, and the demon and monster races will be almost ready.

"By then, we'll act from both inside and outside, helping the demon and monster allied forces conquer humanity.

"Hmph, the entire human race will be in my grasp!"

Seemingly envisioning a beautiful future, the blood-colored figure took a deep breath, preparing to continue cultivating.

However, he seemed to sense something, and his heart suddenly pounded violently.

A somewhat frantic thought appeared in his mind: "Something happened to the array?"

"Impossible, without the Demonic Cult's secret token, no one can enter the array.

"Even with the Demonic Cult's secret token, it still requires the soul to match for it to be effective.

"Aside from that, the array only separates living beings into another dimension, making their existence completely undetectable.

"In this world, no one can break an array of this magnitude."

The location of the Demonic Cult's headquarters inherited a small dimension left over from the previous epoch.

This small dimension was somewhat special.

Aside from the array preventing outsiders from entering and the teleportation array, it was completely desolate inside.

There were no resurrected domain arrays or anything similar.

It was precisely because of this that the Demonic Cult got a bargain.

Because it was a product of the previous epoch.

It remained stable after countless years.

The strength of the array was naturally self-evident.

Numerous thoughts flashed through his mind, and the Demonic Cult Master gradually calmed down.

The recent successive dismantling of branches by the Shadow had made him overly cautious.

"No harm, continue cultivating—"

Thinking this, the Demonic Cult Master closed his eyes again and began to cultivate diligently.

However, a few seconds later, he felt uneasy, took a deep breath, and then got up and walked towards the array room next to the main hall.

A moment later, he returned to the throne with a pleasant expression.

"The array is indeed fine; I was just overthinking it—"

Having obtained the desired result, the Demonic Cult Master completely relaxed and continued cultivating the Nine Demonic Transformations.

At the same time.

Mo Fan, with Xiao Hei, passed through the array, found the teleportation array, and entered a unique small dimension.

Of course, whether passing through the array or activating the teleportation array, Mo Fan remained cautious, restoring them to their original state after passing through.

Unless someone's array mastery was a notch higher than his.

Otherwise, it would be impossible to detect that he had been there.

Upon entering the small dimension, Mo Fan immediately saw a desolate scene.

Ancient buildings stood in rows, all in shades of gray and white.

Villages were scattered in an orderly fashion, with dense houses, yet there was no sign of life.

Farmland was barren.

Streams were dry.

As far as the eye could see, there was only desolation.

Looking at the scene before him, Mo Fan frowned slightly.

"It's indeed a small dimension, and the scenery is somewhat similar to the Pojun City's small dimension—"

However, as soon as this thought arose, Mo Fan's expression froze.

"It's different; what's emanating from here is spiritual energy, not elemental energy—"

At the same time, Xiao Hei's voice rang out in Mo Fan's mind:

"This place is a bit strange; it seems to have been modified. We need to be cautious."

Mo Fan nodded, thought for a moment, and asked, "Is it possible for a small dimension to only contain spiritual energy, not elemental energy?"

"Impossible, meow." Xiao Hei said decisively, "After at most two thousand years of recovery, spiritual energy will evolve into a higher quality elemental energy. This is an evolution, irreversible."

He paused, then Xiao Hei continued, "Only after elemental energy is born will cultivating martial arts become easier, cultivation progress faster, and the upper limit of cultivation will be raised, with prodigies emerging like bamboo shoots after rain.

"And only after elemental energy appears can array and domain mastery develop to a certain height, creating spaces isolated from the world, to a certain extent avoiding the detection of the Heavenly Dao and surviving the Great Tribulation of Annihilation."

Speaking of this, a strange light flashed in Xiao Hei's eyes, and he continued:

"Even so, less than one-tenth of the small dimensions managed to be preserved.

"The number of living beings that survived is even more pitiful.

"Of the hundreds of thousands of elites in Pojun City, only I and Commander Xu luckily survived.

"When I revived, I found that all the creatures in the entire city were dead, and even the City Lord was gone. At that moment, I—" At the end, Xiao Hei couldn't continue.

Hearing these words, Mo Fan fell silent, unsure how to comfort Xiao Hei for a moment.

Fortunately, Xiao Hei was naturally optimistic and quickly adjusted his emotions, concluding:

"This cat has said so much just to tell you that this place is strange; it's no longer the original small dimension. It must have been modified by someone. We must be careful not to fall into a trap, meow!"

As he spoke, Xiao Hei pointed to the distant mountains shrouded in thick white mist.

Mo Fan focused and quickly looked over.

In stark contrast to the village,

the distant mountains, veiled by clouds and mist, had palatial buildings faintly visible, hidden within the fog, resembling a celestial palace.

“This architectural style doesn’t quite resemble your era,” Mo Fan transmitted to Xiao Hei.

“No, it’s more like your current era. It looks newly built,” Xiao Hei replied.

“I’ve never heard of any power renovating ruins and moving in,” Mo Fan frowned.

For the people of this era,

all ruins were essentially the tombs of the previous era.

Developing ruins was already a bit much.

To directly usurp them and sleep in a graveyard was somewhat inappropriate.

Of course, more importantly, ruins were fundamentally dangerous and not suitable for habitation.

“Let’s go take a look.” Mo Fan focused his mind, no longer dwelling on it, and concealed his presence, transforming into an afterimage as he flew towards the mountains.

A moment later, Mo Fan arrived halfway up the mountain and infiltrated the magnificent complex of buildings.

There, he saw patrol teams dressed in blood-red robes, moving in perfect unison, one team after another, inspecting every corner.

“They’re living people.”

Mo Fan quickly made a judgment.

These patrol teams were not the armored soldiers in Broken Army City, guided by obsession and moving with profound magic arrays carved onto them.

These were living, breathing people, beings of this era.

Focusing his mind, Mo Fan immediately cast an Appraisal skill.

“Li Er, captain of the Heavenly Demon Sect’s enforcement team, cultivation at Transcendent Fourth Stage, skilled in spear combat, extraordinary movement technique, prejudiced, cruel and bloodthirsty, ruthless and eager to kill.”

“Heavenly Demon Sect?” Mo Fan was stunned when he saw the appraisal information pop up on the azure virtual panel.

He took a deep breath and cast the Appraisal skill on the patrol team again.

“Lu Ren, member of the Heavenly Demon Sect’s enforcement team, cultivation at Transcendent First Stage, skilled in saber techniques, has a slight masochistic tendency, prejudiced, cruel and bloodthirsty, ruthless and eager to kill.”

“Wang Hu, member of the Heavenly Demon Sect’s enforcement team, cultivation at Transcendent Second Stage, skilled in palm techniques, erratic and violent temper, cruel and bloodthirsty, ruthless and eager to kill.”

“…”

After appraising several figures in a row, Mo Fan was completely stunned.

“So this is the Heavenly Demon Sect?

“Even the patrol guards are Transcendent martial artists. This is likely the headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Sect that Shadow has been unable to find—”

Mo Fan instantly made a judgment.

He occasionally had some contact with Lin Yiyi.

Naturally, he understood some of the situation.

Ever since the Heavenly Demon Sect performed an evil sacrifice and helped the demon race infiltrate the Jade Void Academy, humanity had launched a frantic cleanup operation against the Heavenly Demon Sect.

And the ones responsible for the eradication were the Shadow branch of the Demon Suppression Division.

The Shadow members were all skilled in tracking and stealth, their overall strength was formidable, and they had the assistance of the Jade Void Academy.

After more than half a year, the Heavenly Demon Sect’s various strongholds, large and small, had been almost completely eradicated.

Only the final headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Sect remained, its蹤跡 still unfound.

Mo Fan still remembered that Lin Yiyi had complained to him last time that the Heavenly Demon Sect’s headquarters was hidden too deeply, and after such a long time, no trace had been found.

Shadow had even started an undercover plan long ago.

The smooth progress of this operation and the eradication of so many branches were naturally due to the efforts of those undercover agents.

But after so many years, Shadow still had very few clues about the Heavenly Demon Sect’s headquarters.

The undercover plan had lasted for decades, and many capable undercover agents had passed through layers of vetting and entered the Heavenly Demon Sect’s branches, but not a single one had successfully been promoted to the headquarters.

Thinking of this, Mo Fan’s expression became strange.

Had he stumbled upon the Heavenly Demon Sect’s headquarters by accident?

“Hiss, this is huge. When I go back, I need to find a way to inform Lin Yiyi!”

Thinking this, Mo Fan continued to conceal his aura, bypassed the patrol teams, and, guided by Xiao Hei, headed towards the location of the Origin Stones.

He didn’t want to meddle.

Dealing with the Heavenly Demon Sect was best left to the professional Shadow.

He just wanted to smoothly obtain the hundred thousand Origin Stones and didn’t want any complications.

With a whoosh, Mo Fan passed through streets and instantly disappeared into the majestic complex of buildings.

At the same time, he heard the low whispers of the patrol team members.

“Was that a cold gust of wind just now?” Li Er, the captain of the enforcement team, suddenly frowned and asked.

“No? Where’s the cold wind? This is an independent small space, even the laws of heaven and earth are incomplete, how could there be wind?” Someone shook their head.

“You’re right, it seems I was overthinking. I still need to reduce the frequency of ‘manual labor’ in the future.

“Although I’m a Transcendent martial artist, three or four times a day is indeed a bit much.

“Damn Shadow, always relentlessly pursuing us. Now that we’re strictly forbidden from going out, I can only rely on myself to act cool—”

Li Er looked down at his right hand, shook his head impatiently, and muttered softly.

His subordinates seemed to have heard his complaint and smiled lewdly, saying:

“Brother Li, don’t worry. Grand Priest said there will be an outdoor mission soon. Perhaps in a few days, we’ll be able to go out. Then we can, hehe, hehe—”

“That’s right, speaking of which, the women from that village last time were so moist, all of them fresh and dewy. It’s a pity we only enjoyed them for an hour before the Elder made us…”

“They were indeed dewy, a bit of a shame,” someone shook their head.

“Hmph, they’re just mortals, mere ants. As long as we are strong enough, as long as the Heavenly Demon Sect is strong enough, we can have as many as we want,” someone snorted coldly.

“Heh, you’re right, mere ants, just playthings. As long as we can get out, there will be plenty of opportunities. Brother Li, just bear with it for a few more days!”

“That’s right, once the demon and monster races conquer humanity, the entire human race will be within our Heavenly Demon Sect’s grasp, and then—”

“Alright, quickly think about how to quickly capture enough children when we go out. That’s our only mission outside. The sect leader seems to have a greatly increased demand recently—”

“That’s easy, isn’t it? Act in the middle of the night, without alarming anyone. Slaughter all the old and young, and keep the children and women—”

...Following the guidance, Mo Fan quickly flew north.

That was where the Origin Stones were stored.

However, after walking for about ten seconds, Mo Fan suddenly stopped, his brows furrowed tightly.

“What’s wrong with you?” Xiao Hei asked, puzzled. “Why did you suddenly stop?”

Mo Fan took a deep breath, focused, and transmitted: “Xiao Hei, now that we’re in the small space, can you sense the exact number of powerful individuals?”

“Yes, meow,” Xiao Hei nodded, focused, and began to sense carefully.

A moment later, it quickly transmitted to Mo Fan:

“The number of strong individuals isn’t particularly large. There are only three Return to Origin Peak, twelve ordinary Return to Origin, and the rest are Destiny and Transcendent. The number isn’t large, only a little over twenty thousand, meow—”

“Three Return to Origin Peak? Over twenty thousand people?”

Mo Fan frowned.

Such a force could already rival a top-tier martial arts university.

And this was after their branches had been eradicated.

The Heavenly Demon Sect at its peak was probably not much weaker than the Jade Void Academy.

Thought after thought flashed quickly through his mind.

Finally, Mo Fan’s expression became resolute, and he turned and ran towards the entrance.

Seeing this, Xiao Hei was stunned and quickly said: “What are you doing, meow? Are you going back, meow? Going back without even getting the Origin Stones, meow?

“Meow meow meow? Don’t be a coward, these are just a rabble. With your current strength, you can deal with them.”

Mo Fan didn’t respond, returning to the entrance at the fastest possible speed.

Glancing at the teleportation array in front of him, Mo Fan, with a pained expression, took out five reserve Origin Stones from his system space and placed them respectively in the five most important array points.

Then, Mo Fan’s expression became resolute, his ten fingers danced, and azure light quickly flashed. One after another, array source patterns were carved by him and superimposed onto the teleportation array.

A few minutes later, Mo Fan stopped his movements.

“The teleportation array has been adjusted by me. Without me undoing it, no one can get in or out.”

After thinking for a moment, Mo Fan took another deep breath and began to sense carefully again.

A moment later, he quickly carved one array source pattern after another around the protective array of the small space.

This process lasted for a total of twenty minutes.

It consumed twenty-five Origin Stones from Mo Fan.

After carving the last array source, Mo Fan let out a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face.

“All the loopholes have been patched up. The overall structure no longer has any weak points. Although it’s only a temporary patch, it can last for ten days to half a month without any problems.”

Exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, Mo Fan continued to ponder.

“A protective array of this strength can only be forcibly broken by a supreme expert.

“Aside from me, who can use the teleportation array to get out, everyone else is a turtle in a jar.”

Thinking of this, Mo Fan was stunned, and his figure flashed, returning to the teleportation array again to observe it carefully.

A moment later, he shook his head: “It’s a pity this teleportation array is quite precise. I can’t superimpose new teleportation array patterns on it.

“Otherwise, I could carve a miniature sensing array on my token, and I could directly teleport back here if there was any problem, stepping out of the small space, foolproof—”

Watching Mo Fan’s every move, and sensing some of Mo Fan’s thoughts, Xiao Hei couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.

“Meow-ly-gosh, are you trying to trap them here and wipe them all out in one fell swoop?”

“I have that thought,” Mo Fan said.

“There are quite a few strong people here. Aren’t you afraid of capsizing in the gutter?” Xiao Hei asked in surprise.

“I am,” Mo Fan nodded.

“If you’re afraid, then why—” Xiao Hei hesitated.

“It’s fine, I have a backup plan. If I encounter danger, I’ll retreat immediately.

“Before that, let’s kill to our heart’s content,” Mo Fan said.

Xiao Hei was stunned, then thought for a moment and suggested: “Actually, you’ve already sealed them. Notifying the higher-ups to handle it would be the safest, meow. You’ve just broken through to Return to Origin. Even with a teleportation array, acting alone is prone to accidents—”

“That would indeed be safe, but right now, my thoughts are not clear!” Mo Fan looked up at the mountains shrouded in clouds and mist.

As soon as he got close, he smelled the strong scent of blood coming from the distant palaces.

Combined with the conversations of those people and the previous evil sacrifices.

“Why?” Xiao Hei was stunned.

“Right now, I only want to slay demons!” Mo Fan’s expression was somewhat cold.

He had heard since childhood that the Heavenly Demon Sect was fierce and cruel, treating life as nothing, more like demons than actual demons.

Before, he had only heard about it.

Now, he had witnessed it firsthand.

“Alright, if that’s the case, if there’s danger, I’ll lend you All Beings Are Equal,” Xiao Hei said.

“Good!” Mo Fan nodded, transforming into an afterimage, and once again headed towards the mountains shrouded in clouds and mist.

“Start the harvest! Xiao Hei, help me pinpoint their auras!”

“Starting with the weaker ones, meow?” Xiao Hei asked, puzzled.

“No, starting with the Return to Origin. I’ve reinforced the array and adjusted the teleportation array. These small fries can’t escape,” Mo Fan said.

“Not bad, meow. You have the demeanor of the city lord back then,” Xiao Hei’s expression became somewhat dazed.

Then, its expression became resolute, and it began to lock onto the auras of the Return to Origin beings.