In the distance, thunderclouds were converging, within which hints of red could be seen.
Old Kui, in disbelief, said, "That is...?"
Mr. Zhuang's eyes went blank, and his voice trembled slightly as he said,
"Thunder Punishment?!"
In the outer mountains, Yang Jiyong also noticed the anomaly and said in fright,
"Zhang Lan, what is that?"
Zhang Lan looked up, his eyes filled with horror, "How is that possible?!"
It was the Heavenly Dao Thunder Punishment!
The unnamed, pitch-black spiritual power in this place was too powerful, having broken through the limits imposed by the Heavenly Dao Laws, and had drawn forth the eradicating thunder punishment that wiped out all things!
But what was this thunder punishment meant to eradicate?
Zhang Lan suddenly realized and hurriedly looked towards the deep mountains.
Within the deep mountains, the Great Formation had completely dissolved, peaks had crumbled, flora and rocks had turned to black ash, dissipating with the spiritual power.
Only one peak stood erect.
Around the peak, full of pits and hollows, it looked like a pillar eroded by time.
That was the Life-gate of the Formation.
And at the top of the peak stood a slender figure.
That figure was Mo Hua.
Mo Hua's face was pale, but his aura was calm.
It seemed he hadn't been affected by the terrifying spiritual power just now.
Mo Shan, Elder Yu, and all the others who had been worried about Mo Hua couldn't believe it, yet they were ecstatic. But before they could rejoice, they witnessed an even more terrifying sight.
Above Mo Hua's head, thunderclouds gathered, and the crimson thunder punishment, carrying an aura of extinction, circled above.
All hearts quaked with fear.
The target of the thunder punishment, was it Mo Hua?
The Heavenly Dao Laws were going to eradicate Mo Hua?!
Despair showed in everyone's eyes.
The Heavenly Dao Laws, supreme and inviolable. Cultivators could not contend with them; even the most powerful cultivators at higher realms were doomed under this thunder punishment!
Just as everyone was losing hope, the situation took another turn.
The crimson thunder punishment descended, but hesitated just as it was about to strike Mo Hua.
It seemed even the thunder punishment had not anticipated that the one who had triggered the Heavenly Dao Laws, the one to be eradicated by the Heavenly Dao, was just a child in his early teens.
Moreover, his cultivation was lowly, merely at the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.
There was no other sinister aura on him either.
The thunder punishment lingered by Mo Hua's side, as if confirming, hesitating, doubting, and finally seemed to decide there had been an error in the Formation, and slowly moved away from Mo Hua, returning to the thunderclouds…
As the thunder punishment vanished, the Great Formation completely collapsed, and peace returned to heaven and earth.
The terrifying fluctuations of the deep mountains disappeared.
Whether it was Feng Xi, the Great Formation, or the thunder punishment, none remained.
Within the deep mountains, there was only Mo Hua.
At this moment, all the cultivators who had witnessed such horrifying sights all turned their gaze towards the deep mountains, towards Mo Hua on the peak.
The Great Formation had collapsed, the world seemed destroyed, the deep mountains turned to ash, and only Mo Hua remained unharmed.
About him, the mountain rocks crumbled, all was desolation.
Big Demon Feng Xi, unrivaled in the realm, turned into nothing but dust at his feet, leaving only shapeless black ash remains.
The crimson thunder punishment that eradicated all things had gathered above his head, had encircled and hovered around him, but ultimately dissolved by his side.
Mo Hua stood atop the boundless Big Black Mountain, his form slight yet towering as if merged with the Heavenly Dao, surviving though heaven and earth crumbled and the thunder punishment fell without perishing.
This incredible scene deeply etched itself into the hearts of all the cultivators of Tongxian City.
At this time, Mo Hua looked up at the sky, his gaze trembling.
He saw a sight even more shocking.
He saw the thunder punishment, the thunderclouds, and above the thunderclouds, a Pattern of Formation!
The Heavenly Dao had sought to eradicate him, but it had not done so.
The thunder punishment came and went, and as it dissipated, it tore the sky open, and Mo Hua, gazing at the torn heavens above, laid eyes upon a Formation Pattern in the midst of the void!
It was just a single Formation Pattern.
Simple and primitive, grand and opaque, embedding the ultimate truth of heaven and earth, it also concentrated the power to eradicate all things, causing one's heart to palpitate and yearn.
Mo Hua took a fleeting glance, wishing to remember this Formation Pattern.
But his Divine Sense was too weak to comprehend the Heavenly Dao Formation. With just one look, his Divine Sense was exhausted in an instant, and excruciating pain of tearing spread through him, his Sea of Consciousness on the brink of collapse.
In that critical moment, the Taoist Stele suddenly emerged, protecting Mo Hua's Sea of Consciousness.
The Sea of Consciousness that was about to collapse was reconstructed.
Mo Hua's awareness gained a moment of clarity.
This brief clarity brought him an epiphany.
He understood that his Divine Sense was limited and couldn't memorize the Formation Pattern.
But the Taoist Stele could!
If his Sea of Consciousness couldn't remember, then inscribe it on the Taoist Stele.
Even if he couldn't remember the whole Formation Pattern, remembering just one stroke was sufficient!
The thunder punishment was about to vanish in an instant, and the sky was about to close.
Mo Hua looked up to the heavens, blood streaming from his eyes, and with all his might, he inscribed a stroke of the Formation Pattern onto the Taoist Stele within his Sea of Consciousness.
It was only one stroke!
But this one stroke of the Formation Pattern was profoundly mysterious and powerful!
It was derived from the Heavenly Dao Formation that penetrated heaven and earth, categorized as Immortal Grade, the true Immortal Pattern!