Her deliberately regretful expression fell into Huo Jinchuan's eyes, and his chest burned with fury.
And whose fault was it that he had fallen to this point?
Who else but Song Wanníng and her people!
He forced down the rage in his heart, and soon a twisted smile returned to his lips.
"So sharp-tongued," he sneered.
"But… you won't be smiling for long. Not just you—every last one of you will die! Hahahaha…"
His laughter rang out, unrestrained and manic, a sound that made him look entirely deranged.
Elder Murong noticed something off about him and cried out, "You've succumbed to demonization?"
The words sent a jolt through everyone present. A demonized cultivator had no shred of humanity left.
"Huo Yang, you—"
He turned to Huo Yang, only to see him glaring intently at Song Wanníng. Murong's eyelid twitched.
At a time like this, Huo Yang still had the mind to fixate on her?
He bumped Huo Yang's shoulder. "What's wrong with your son? Think of something, now! If he truly goes mad, we're all done for!"
This formation was strange. His heart had been pounding ever since they were trapped inside, and an ominous premonition gnawed at him. If it continued like this, something truly terrible might happen.
"What can I do?"
Huo Yang withdrew his gaze with a scowl, shooting Elder Murong a glare before finally looking toward Huo Jinchuan.
"Huo Jinchuan, open the formation. Let us out, and I will help you resolve this matter. But if you remain stubborn, don't blame me for turning my back on you as a father."
Even as he spoke, he was frantically searching for a way to break the formation. He had already tried before, but no matter what he did, there was no response.
What he did not realize was that the formation was already active—only it was draining everyone's Luck, which made it invisible to the naked eye.
Huo Jinchuan's lips curved upward. His gaze locked on the stream of Luck above each person's head, and the madness in his eyes deepened. He scoffed at Huo Yang's words.
"Still trying to play the role of the benevolent father, even now?
Wasn't it you who poisoned me to slow my cultivation? Wasn't it you who hunted me down and threatened my life? How laughable."
The words struck like a hammer. The formation fell into absolute silence. Every pair of eyes turned toward Huo Yang in shock.
The entire Central Domain knew how much Huo Yang valued Huo Jinchuan… was it all a lie?
"What's wrong? Are you angry now that I've exposed you?"
The sight of Huo Yang's clenched teeth filled Huo Jinchuan with vicious delight.
"For centuries I lowered myself before you just to survive, yet you still beat and cursed me at every turn. You poisoned me so I advanced at a crawl. If not for you, I would have ascended long ago."
With his Luck and the identity of a transmigrator, there was no reason he should have been trapped here. Hatred flickered in his eyes—he wanted to tear Huo Yang apart.
"But now… it's not too late."
A strange smile spread across his face, one that made the skin crawl.
"What have you done? Let us out at once!"
"These are your personal grudges with Huo Yang. There's no need to involve us outsiders!"
Many cultivators began to panic. An eerie sensation was creeping into their bodies, chilling them to the bone.
"No," Huo Jinchuan said with a slow shake of his head, his smile widening. "You are the most important stepping stones for my ascension. How could I possibly let you go? Ha ha ha!"
The group quickly erupted into chaos. More and more cultivators threw themselves at the formation, but their efforts were useless.
The scene descended into utter disorder.
Taking advantage of the confusion, and under Song Wanníng's cover, Baili Shang began altering the formation. He had already simulated this hundreds of times in his mind, so his movements were smooth and precise, without a single misstep.
In moments, the array's structure shifted.
The formation that had been draining Luck suddenly reversed its flow.
Now, with so many of them acting as one, the difference in strength between their side and Huo Jinchuan was like night and day.
In the blink of an eye, the crimson radiance of Huo Jinchuan's Luck shifted to a murky black-purple.
The change was so abrupt that his smug expression froze. Terror and disbelief filled his eyes.
He stared at the crowd within the array, then looked up at himself. His face changed drastically.
"How… how could this happen? No! Impossible!"
He roared in rage, his face a whirlwind of expressions.
Then, without warning, a massive boulder plummeted from above, smashing straight into him.
Boom!
"Argh!"
The impact drove Huo Jinchuan deep into the ground, the tremor leaving everyone stunned. Before they could make sense of it, he clawed his way out from under the boulder, his expression twisted in fear and madness.
"No… impossible! I've planned this for centuries—centuries! How could it fail?"
His reason snapped completely.
The heart demon devoured what remained of his mind, leaving nothing but madness and hate. Instinct drove him into a frenzy.
With a crazed snarl, he flung the formation wide open and charged at Song Wanníng.
"It's you! All because of you! My centuries of planning, all ruined because of you! I'll kill you! Kill you!" He lunged at her, intent on dragging her into death with him.
Song Wanníng and Baili Shang struck back without hesitation. Neither showed the slightest fear.
A fierce clash erupted between them.
Huo Yang seized the chance to join in, striking at Huo Jinchuan and trying to pull Song Wanníng into the fight as well.
In only a few exchanges, Huo Jinchuan was knocked to the ground, gravely wounded and unable to rise. He lay twitching, spitting blood, the arrogance from before long gone.
Song Wanníng looked down at his deranged state. It was hard to connect this broken man with the spirited, high-born young master of the Huo family she had once seen at the alchemy competition.
But now his Luck had hit rock bottom, and the Heavenly Dao of the Mùsù star system could no longer help him. For him, there was only one fate left—death.
"You…"
Huo Jinchuan's bloodshot eyes locked on the three standing before him.
They were the makers of all his tragedies.
They had destroyed his hope.
But the one he hated most was still Huo Yang.
If not for him, he would never have become like this.
So when he saw Huo Yang making a move against Song Wanníng, he didn't hesitate to activate the parasite in Huo Yang's body.
In an instant, Huo Yang's spiritual power went into violent turmoil, and his aura collapsed.