Heart-Questioning Formation, Ma Yuan the One-Breath Immortal

"Excellent! From this day forth, the destiny of our Interception Sect shall be entrusted to your hands."

Tongtian Cult Master looked at Xuan Liu, whose heroic spirit soared to the heavens, and let out a long, gratified laugh.

Within those Saintly Dharma Eyes, his indulgent affection was nearly tangible as his great sleeve tilted.

"Bzzzz!!!"

That Saint's true body vanished soundlessly, returning to Jade Tour Palace.

"We respectfully see off Master. May Master's saintly lifespan know no bounds, and may the Great Dao flourish forever!!!"

"We respectfully see off Master. May Master's saintly lifespan know no bounds, and may the Great Dao flourish forever!!!"

Led by Xuan Liu, Duobao Daoist, and Golden Spirit Holy Mother, the many Interception Sect immortals bowed in unison without the slightest hesitation.

Xuan Liu held the Green Duckweed Sword inverted in his hand. His flawless body, having just broken through to the late stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, radiated a pressure no one dared meet directly.

He turned to face the myriad complicated gazes of his fellow disciples—some reverent, some panicked, some apprehensive—his expression utterly calm.

He knew perfectly well that although that thief Long-Eared Fixed-Light Immortal had been executed, the greatest hidden danger within the Interception Sect remained the motley mix beneath the gathering of ten thousand immortals—the boundless karmic force entangling countless outer disciples and registered disciples.

If he did not seize this day, wield the Green Duckweed Sacred Sword, and cut through the tangled mess with a swift blade,

then this quagmire of destiny would only grow deeper and deeper,

until it dragged the entire Interception Sect into the abyss of eternal damnation within the Investiture of the Gods calamity.

"Senior Brother, trouble yourself to fully activate Golden Ao Island's island-protecting grand formation."

Xuan Liu looked at Duobao Daoist and gave the order.

"Hm?"

Duobao Daoist froze.

A strange expression flashed across his plump face.

His movements were exceptionally crisp and decisive as his right hand suddenly formed a seal.

"Rumble rumble rumble!"

From the depths of the boundless ocean surrounding Golden Ao Island, thirty-six formation patterns revived of their own accord, transforming into a vast net of immortal light that blotted out the sky and covered the earth.

It completely sealed off all of Golden Ao Island, from top to bottom.

"Fellow disciples! Long-Eared has already been executed. That alone proves that the sect's rules cannot be defiled."

Xuan Liu stepped forward and said solemnly, "Since Master has bestowed upon this poor Daoist the great authority to mete out punishment on Heaven's behalf,

"then today, we shall cleanse all the filth from our Interception Sect in one stroke!"

"Heart-Questioning Formation, appear for this poor Daoist!!"

"Bzzzz!!!"

In an instant, great swathes of the void collapsed.

Countless streams of Supreme Purity immortal light shot into the heavens, weaving together endlessly above the skies.

In no more than the blink of an eye, they forcefully evolved into an incomparably enormous and terrifying grand formation, its entirety flowing with black and crimson hues.

Within the formation, karmic fire surged layer upon layer while undying lightning gleamed, emanating an unparalleled majesty capable of stripping away and judging countless sins.

"This formation is called the Heart-Questioning Formation."

Xuan Liu stood with his hands behind his back, looking down upon the ten thousand immortals. "All who enter this formation will be judged with absolute fairness according to the sins and karmic force you have accumulated throughout your lives, in accordance with cause and effect.

"If you have cultivated righteously throughout your life and committed little slaughter, entering the formation will inflict no more than minor or light injuries—merely a tempering of your true spirit.

"But if you have bullied the weak through strength and bear the blood debts of countless innocent living beings... the boundless karmic fire within this formation will instantly burn your fleshly body and Primordial Spirit alike into ashes scattered across the ground, leaving you dead and your Dao extinguished!"

"Today, every last Interception Sect disciple on Golden Ao Island must enter this formation in turn and accept the judgment of our Supreme Purity laws!!"

"Uproar!"

The moment those words fell,

all the Interception Sect disciples were plunged into an unprecedented storm of turmoil!

"What?! Every Interception Sect disciple has to go through the Heart-Questioning Formation?! Isn't that punishment far too severe?!"

"Heavenly Dao above! Our Interception Sect seeks to teach without distinction and seize that sliver of life. In our usual struggles for opportunities throughout the Primordial World, who has not become stained by karmic bloodshed? Fifth Senior Brother is driving us to our deaths!!"

"Hmph, what are you panicking for? If it is merely an ordinary dispute between cultivators, then under the Heavenly Dao's judgment, it amounts to nothing more than ordinary karma. Only those who deliberately follow crooked and evil paths and slaughter mortal living beings will truly ignite that boundless karmic fire."

"Exactly, exactly! Fifth Senior Brother's move is truly a brilliant scheme that brings immense satisfaction!"

Voices rose without end throughout the crowd. Countless outer disciples and registered disciples had gone deathly pale, their bodies faintly trembling and swaying from extreme terror.

Duobao Daoist and Golden Spirit Holy Mother exchanged a glance, the shock in their eyes reaching its peak.

They had thought Xuan Liu would at most establish a few rules for the Interception Sect.

Yet they had never expected their Fifth Junior Brother to possess such immense boldness.

Before Golden Ao Island, he intended to carry out a massive reshuffling among the Interception Sect immortals.

At that moment, within a shadowy corner at the very rear of the outer disciples' ranks,

a tall, vicious-looking Primordial Unity Golden Immortal wearing a somewhat tattered blood-red Daoist robe

suddenly went rigid, the expression in the depths of his savage eyes freezing completely.

This man was none other.

He was the notorious fiend of the Interception Sect's outer disciples, famed for his exceptionally brutal methods.

Ma Yuan!

Ma Yuan roared madly in his heart.

The flesh on his face, twisted by terror, twitched violently.

Damn it!

Damn it all!!!

How had Xuan Liu come up with such a sinister formation that cut off all paths to survival?!

The evil method Ma Yuan cultivated was the Skull Bone at the Back of the Head.

In ordinary times, he most enjoyed swallowing human hearts alive and forcibly imprisoning resentful spirits.

Not long before the Xuanmen Grand Tournament, in order to cultivate the Skull Bone at the Back of the Head,

he had even secretly infiltrated human tribes, slaughtering several of them to the last man and devouring an unknown amount of flesh and blood.

That karmic force had already reached an utterly terrifying level.

If he obeyed Xuan Liu's command and entered the Heart-Questioning Formation,

then the karmic fire that covered heaven and earth would absolutely burn him, a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, into the dregs of the world in an instant!

"No... This seat painstakingly cultivated to become a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal. I still have to break through to Great Luo in the future. I cannot die here, absolutely cannot!!!"

Ma Yuan was terrified out of his wits, with none of his usual arrogance remaining.

He sharply glanced at the sealed void above, his gaze turning ruthless.

Behind his head, a massive, bone-white skeletal hand several zhang long abruptly tore forth as though from nothing.

Ma Yuan activated the most profound escape art in his entire body, concealed his form, and transformed into an almost imperceptible streak of evil light.

He fled madly toward his cave dwelling.

Golden Ao Island had now been completely sealed.

Escaping in a short time was virtually impossible.

He could only return to his cave dwelling first and avoid the sharp edge.

Only then could he gain an extra thread of hope for survival.

However.

Before Xuan Liu, who held the Green Duckweed Sword and had reached the late stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal,

he had no chance whatsoever of escaping alive.

At this moment, Xuan Liu had already completely noticed him.

This was...

Ma Yuan, a breath of immortal qi?

Trying to leave?!

Not so easily!

"Hmph!"

Xuan Liu snorted coldly, his tone unfriendly. "Trying to flee at the critical moment before this poor Daoist.

"Ma Yuan, you truly do not place our Interception Sect's laws in your eyes."

"Thunder Emperor Secret Art!"