Chapter 479 - 486: Changing the Array

When Huo Jinchuan saw her feigned look of pity, a fire of rage ignited in his heart.

’Whose fault is it that I’ve ended up like this?’

’It’s all because of Song Wanning and her people!!!’

He suppressed the rage in his heart and soon began to look pleased again.

"Quite the sharp tongue."

"But... you won’t be smiling for long."

"Not just you. All of you. Every single one of you will die! HAHAHAHA..."

With that, Huo Jinchuan burst into unrestrained laughter. No matter how you looked at it, he seemed utterly mad.

Elder Murong saw that something was off with Huo Jinchuan and immediately exclaimed, "Have you succumbed to a Heart Demon?"

His words shocked everyone. After all, those who succumbed to a Heart Demon were known to lose all humanity...

"Huo Yang, you..."

He then looked toward Huo Yang, only to find him glaring daggers at Song Wanning. The elder’s eyelid twitched.

’Even at a time like this, Huo Yang still has the mind to worry about someone else.’

He nudged Huo Yang. "What in the world is wrong with your son? You need to think of a solution, and fast! If he truly goes mad, we’re all going to pay the price!"

This Array was deeply unsettling. A knot of unease tightened in his chest; he had a very bad feeling about this.

If this kept up, something terrible was bound to happen.

"What am I supposed to do?"

Huo Yang snapped his gaze away from her, shooting Elder Murong an irritated glare before finally turning to Huo Jinchuan.

"Huo Jinchuan, open this Array at once! If you let us go, I can help you find a way to resolve all this."

"But if you insist on this folly, then don’t blame me—your father—for not helping you!"

Even as he spoke, he was desperately trying to figure out a countermeasure. The main issue was that this Array was truly sinister; he had already tried to break it, but nothing he did had any effect.

In truth, the Array was already active. However, what it was draining from everyone was their fortune, so no one could perceive it.

A smile played on Huo Jinchuan’s lips as he stared at the streams of fortune above everyone’s heads, the madness in his eyes intensifying.

He sneered at Huo Yang’s words.

"What, still trying to keep up your loving-father persona, even now?"

"Weren’t you the one who poisoned me to slow my cultivation? Weren’t you the one who hunted me down and threatened me?"

"How ridiculous!"

The moment he spoke, a dead silence fell over the Array. Everyone instinctively turned to look at Huo Yang, their eyes filled with utter shock.

The high esteem in which Huo Yang held Huo Jinchuan was known throughout the entire Central Domain. Could it all have been an act?

"What’s the matter? Angry now that I’ve exposed you?"

Seeing Huo Yang grinding his teeth in fury, Huo Jinchuan felt a surge of immense satisfaction.

"For centuries, I groveled and humbled myself before you just to survive. Yet you still beat and cursed me at every turn. You even poisoned me, crippling my cultivation speed! If it weren’t for you, I would have ascended long ago..."

’After all, with my immense fortune and status as a transmigrator, there’s no way I should have been trapped here.’

A flash of pure hatred crossed his eyes. He wished he could tear Huo Yang limb from limb.

"But, well, it’s not too late."

Huo Jinchuan suddenly smiled, but it was a chilling expression that made one’s skin crawl.

"You—what have you done? Let us out of here, now!"

"This is a private grudge between you and Huo Yang! There’s no need to drag outsiders like us into it!"

Many of the Cultivators began to panic as a strange sensation involuntarily washed over them.

A chill ran down their spines.

"No."

Huo Jinchuan shook his head with a smile. "You are all the most important stepping stones for my ascension. How could I possibly let you go?"

"HAHAHA—"

The crowd quickly erupted into arguments. More and more Cultivators tried to break the Array by force, but all their efforts were in vain.

The scene descended into utter chaos.

Meanwhile, Baili Shang took advantage of the chaos and the cover provided by Song Wanning to begin altering the Array.

He had already run through this scenario hundreds of times in his mind, so his movements were fluid and flawless.

Soon, the Array had been stealthily altered.

The Array, which had been absorbing everyone’s fortune, was now completely reversed.

And with their vast numbers in stark contrast to the lone Huo Jinchuan, the speed of absorption was worlds apart.

In the blink of an eye, Huo Jinchuan’s fortune, which had been a vibrant, aggressive red, shifted to a sickly black-purple.

The change was so sudden that the triumphant expression on Huo Jinchuan’s face instantly froze, his eyes filled with terror and disbelief.

His eyes widened as he stared incredulously at the people inside the Array. When he looked back up at his own fortune, his expression changed dramatically.

"How can this be?"

"Impossible!!!"

He roared in fury, the expression on his face a spectacular mixture of emotions.

But in the next second, a massive boulder plummeted from the sky, crashing straight down on him.

"CRASH—"

"AHH—"

Huo Jinchuan was smashed into the ground by the boulder. The massive tremor left everyone inside the Array completely stunned.

Before anyone could figure out what had happened, they saw Huo Jinchuan struggle to crawl out from beneath the boulder, his face a mask of terror and madness.

"Impossible! This is impossible!"

"I’ve been planning this for centuries! Centuries!"

"How could I possibly fail?"

His expression was utterly crazed. The last thread of his sanity had finally snapped.

His Heart Demon consumed his mind, leaving behind only endless madness and hatred, which instinctively drove him into a frenzy.

He madly tore open the Array and charged straight for Song Wanning.

"It’s all your fault! All your fault—"

"My plan, centuries in the making, ruined because of you! This is all your doing! I’ll kill you!!!"

"I’ll kill you!!!"

Huo Jinchuan shrieked, his only thought to drag Song Wanning down with him.

Song Wanning and Baili Shang retaliated without a moment’s hesitation, showing no fear of Huo Jinchuan whatsoever.

Instantly, a fierce clash erupted between them.

Huo Yang, seeing his chance, also joined the fray. He attacked Huo Jinchuan directly, while also trying to drag Song Wanning into the mess.

After only a few exchanges, Huo Jinchuan was gravely wounded and collapsed to the ground, unable to rise again.

He twitched uncontrollably, spitting up bloodfoam. He was on the brink of death, all of his earlier arrogance gone.

Song Wanning stared at his demonic state, finding it hard to reconcile this man with the high-spirited, imperious young master of the Huo Family from the Alchemy Dao competition.

Unfortunately for him, with his fortune now at rock bottom, even the assistance of the Wood Sculpture Realm’s Heavenly Dao was useless.

The only fate that awaited him was death.

"You—"

Huo Jinchuan’s bloodshot eyes stared death at the three people before him.

They were the architects of all his tragedies.

It was they who had destroyed his every hope.

But the one he hated most was still Huo Yang.

If not for him, he would never have ended up like this.

Therefore, upon seeing Huo Yang attempt to strike Song Wanning, he activated the parasite inside his father’s body without hesitation.

In the next instant, the Spiritual Power inside Huo Yang’s body ran rampant, and his powerful aura immediately collapsed.