It had to be said that Wu Suowei's set of class skills was incredibly powerful. Aside from the long casting times, there were absolutely no drawbacks.
The casting time of Wu Suowei's skills was directly proportional to their strength. The more powerful the effect, the more time and materials were required for preparation.
As long as he was given enough preparation time and all the necessary materials, even a god would fall if they stepped into an area he had set up.
However, first of all, it was extremely difficult to gather the quantity and quality of materials that perfectly met the requirements.
Second, if he ever encountered an immediate, sudden battle, he could easily be killed.
Wu Suowei's exquisite mastery of array formations utterly astounded all the Heavenly Masters present.
After all, as far as they knew, Wu Suowei had never studied under any orthodox Daoist sect and was entirely self-taught.
To be self-taught yet capable of deploying a top-tier array that far surpassed those of many veteran Heavenly Masters—such talent was truly terrifying.
For a moment, many Heavenly Masters from the Association felt a strong urge to recruit him.
Some wanted to take him in as a disciple and nurture him, some wanted to invite him to join the Heavenly Master Association, and others were eager to discuss the profound mysteries of arrays and exchange insights on Daoist techniques with him.
Faced with the onslaught of goodwill and invitations, Wu Suowei merely shook his head calmly and politely declined them all.
“Thank you all for your high regard, but I've grown accustomed to a leisurely life. I don't like being bound by rules and regulations; I just want to follow my heart.”
His free-spirited nature was only part of the reason.
On the other hand, his ability to set up such a top-tier array relied heavily on his class skills and the enhancement of various related items.
His insights and understandings held absolutely no instructional value for NPCs.
Seeing this, the others could only give up with regret, though their respect for this young, clear-headed, and exceptionally talented junior only grew.
To the Heavenly Masters, someone in their thirties like Wu Suowei was still at an age where they could strive and conquer; he was still very young.
With the array in place and everyone positioned, all preparation work was complete.
According to the established plan, Bai Ci retreated to the outer array nodes along with several white-haired, white-bearded senior Heavenly Masters from the Heavenly Master Association.
These veteran Heavenly Masters were the true pillars of the Association in this region.
They were the only ones who had been fully briefed beforehand, knowing that today's mission was not to fight a malevolent spirit, but to expose the crimes of an evil Ghost Immortal.
Consequently, their expressions were extremely solemn. Their Daoist spiritual energy circulated silently, talismans and magical artifacts were fully prepared, and their auras were taut as they stood ready to respond to any sudden crisis at a moment's notice.
The other, younger Heavenly Masters only knew they were here to assist with a ritual to suppress a malevolent spirit, treating it as a routine exorcism mission with a relatively calm mindset.
Bai Ci stood quietly at the edge of the array node, listening to all the movements and progress in the core area through a dedicated communication device alongside the white-bearded elders.
The communication with the malevolent spirit was led by Mi Ke, who acted as the medium.
“The Moon.”
She took the initiative to play a Tarot card. Thanks to the dense canopy of the forest, using The Moon during broad daylight had become much easier.
Gentle, cool moonlight cascaded down, tenderly enveloping the entire area thick with yin energy, gradually easing the tense, hostile aura.
Mi Ke knew the tricks of communicating with malevolent spirits. The longer an evil entity harbored grievances, the more its mind was trapped by hatred. Going head-to-head would only escalate the conflict.
Therefore, only by first soothing the spirit's violence could its long-neglected rationality be awakened.
Within the dim mountain forest, the clanking sound of chains dragging across the ground rang out—heavy, hoarse, and carrying a deep-seated malice that had lingered for years.
The malevolent spirit, which bore the thousand-year feud of the Li family and had been imprisoned by evil arts for a century, slowly materialized.
Black mist surged around it, chains wrapped its form, and its malevolence was sky-high. Yet, under the soothing influence of The Moon card, it barely maintained a shred of sanity and did not immediately lash out to attack.
“What do you want to say?”
The hoarse voice carried endless exhaustion and deep-seated hatred.
Without any unnecessary prelude, Mi Ke spoke calmly. Through her medium ritual, she presented every single piece of evidence compiled by Zheng Gang, word for word, scene by scene, directly to the malevolent spirit.
At first, the malevolent spirit was entirely incredulous.
With a century of obsession and generations of feud, it had always believed that its suffering was inflicted by the Zhao family and that its battles were ordained by fate. It had survived carrying the hatred of its entire clan, engulfed by malice day after day.
Yet now, the pieces of concrete evidence and the fragments of buried truth completely shattered the reality it had always known.
It turned out it was not a victim of fate, but a sacrifice of human design.
It turned out the thousand-year, life-and-death struggle between the two clans had always been a meticulously orchestrated scam.
It turned out all the pain, slaughter, and torment it endured were merely to nourish someone hiding behind the scenes, reaping the benefits.
That person had even used the kindest facade to deceive it, harvesting the only sliver of goodwill it had left.
The very culprit behind all its suffering had been treated as a benefactor it could never repay.
How ironic.
How laughable.
The towering hatred instantly pivoted. Diverting away from the Zhao family, their hereditary enemy, it surged entirely toward the chess master who had remained hidden for a thousand years.
A wild wind suddenly whipped through the mountain forest. The black mist surged frantically, and the clanking of chains grew dense and piercing, carrying absolute fury and madness.
A century of mockery, a millennium of manipulation.
How laughable, how detestable!
The violent commotion echoing through the communication device made everyone on the periphery hold their breath in suspense.
This was the most critical step.
Whether the malevolent spirit would completely lose control under the provocation or turn into their most crucial ally would be decided right here.
Mi Ke steadied her mind and seized the opportunity to speak, striking right at the heart of the matter. “I know you hate him.”
“But you are not just bound by these chains. That mastermind has hundreds, nearly a thousand more years of cultivation than you. You cannot defeat him.”
“Not in this life, the next life, or the life after that. You will never be able to exact revenge with your own hands.”
“But now, there is one sole opportunity.”
“You don't need to lift a finger. You only need to act as a witness to this millennium-long scam, testifying as a firsthand victim. Join us in petitioning Heaven to thoroughly expose the truth of that evil Ghost Immortal utilizing resentment to cultivate and shifting his sins onto others.”
“The Heavenly Dao is just. Once the truth is revealed, all the karmic debt and sins he accumulated over a thousand years will backfire completely. At that time, the thunders of the nine heavens will personally strike down, destroying his body and forcing him to pay a blood price.”
“This is the only path of vengeance that will lead you to the end, and your only chance to break free from your shackles and escape the cycle of reincarnation.”
Mi Ke appealed to its emotions and reason, framing everything entirely from the malevolent spirit's perspective. It wasn't even a persuasion; she was merely offering a choice.
The malevolent spirit, imprisoned by hatred and unwillingness for a century, did not hesitate for a single second.
Its frenzied malevolence gradually subsided, and its hoarse voice carried a resolute obsession. “I am willing to testify. I want him... dead, his Dao destroyed! His divine soul obliterated!”
The situation became clear; the breakthrough was right before them.
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