novelraw Chapter 990: The Tournament Is Stopped
Chapter 990: The Tournament Is Stopped
The tournament finally ended, but not with cheers, not with champions, not even with blood.
It ended with fear.
The third day after the Patriarch’s decree had barely reached noon was when the entire Slaughtered Moon Divine Blood Sect suddenly trembled.
WOOOONG!
A pressure descended.
It came from beneath Heart Peak.
Han Yu was still seated within his pavilion with several Core disciples around him when his expression changed.
Everyone felt it.
The air became heavy as the Blood Qi clouds around the sect churned violently, the Bleeding Moon above the sect flickered, then three voices echoed, ancient and deep. Their words felt like mountains pressing upon the soul.
Every disciple across the sect froze instantly.
The voices seemed to come from underground itself.
"THE TOURNAMENT..."
"IS HALTED."
"UNTIL THE INVESTIGATION IS COMPLETE."
BOOM!
The sky shook.
Formation screens cracked.
Several weaker Outer Court disciples coughed blood merely from hearing those words.
Han Yu stood up immediately.
The Core disciples around him had pale expressions.
"W... What was that?"
"Who spoke?"
"That aura..."
One disciple fell to his knees.
Han Yu narrowed his eyes.
’Just who?’
He had felt Patriarch Hong Tianyue before.
But these voices were stronger... Far stronger.
Even the pressure hidden beneath their words exceeded the Patriarch.
At Heart Peak chaos had already broken out.
The High elders had all stood.
Peak Heads appeared in the skies.
Several old monsters that had not shown themselves in decades revealed traces of their auras.
Only a handful among them knew the truth.
That those voices... Belonged to the true foundation of the sect.
The Hidden Ancestors.
The beings who remained beneath Heart Peak.
The monsters who had survived countless generations.
People whose names had faded from history itself.
Even many Peak Heads had never seen them.
Han Yu felt a chill.
His plan had gone farther than expected. He only wanted to weaken the sect. He never imagined he would force these old creatures out of seclusion.
Heart Peak soon issued another order.
This one came directly from the Patriarch.
"The sect is sealed."
No one enters.
No one leaves.
Every disciple froze.
The order spread instantly.
HUALA
Massive formations activated as the skies darkened and pillars of blood light rose from every major peak and connected into a dome over the entire sect.
Han Yu immediately sensed it.
The space itself felt different.
Heavy.
Locked.
Even the flow of spirit Qi had changed.
The next moment his communication jade slips all dimmed.
One after another.
Crack.
Silence.
Crack.
Silence.
Han Yu quickly checked another.
Nothing.
Another.
Still nothing.
He tried contacting Meng Jueyan.
No response.
She was only a few rooms away.
Yet even that failed.
Han Yu finally understood the scale.
The sect had severed communications entirely.
Only approved channels remained.
Outside the sect...
Silence.
He immediately tried contingency methods.
Number Eight.
Number Twelve.
Fear Jiangshi moved through shadows carrying message slips.
They reached the outer boundary.
Stopped.
Han Yu sensed their connection shake.
The giant formation surrounding the sect simply rejected them.
Even his special hybrids could not leave.
"A full lockdown..." Han Yu muttered.
He estimated the strength of the array.
Even Dao Treading cultivators might fail to break through.
The sect had truly panicked.
Thankfully... He still had contingencies.
Han Yu took out Lady Rot Rose’s token.
Unlike everything else... It glowed brightly. And the moment he activated it voices exploded within.
Everyone was already gathered.
"What the hell is happening!?"
Daoist Blood Pool sounded furious.
"I waited ten years for this tournament!"
"Ten years!"
"And now it ends like this?"
Another voice answered.
"Shut up. People are dying."
"Three Nascent Soul disciples yesterday alone."
"What if Core disciples start dying?"
Silence followed.
Someone quietly said.
"...What if Legacy disciples can be affected too?"
The token went silent.
No one laughed.
No one denied it.
Han Yu listened quietly.
Daoist Blood Pool spoke again though his tone had lost all humor.
"If even Legacy disciples become targets..."
"No one is safe."
Another person spoke and Han Yu recognized the voice to be Daoist Snake Face.
"Do you think this thing only works during tournaments?"
That question chilled everyone.
Because nobody knew.
The deaths only happened in the tournament so far.
But what if that changed?
What if disciples began killing each other outside?
In peaks?
Homes?
Cultivation rooms?
What if elders became targets?
A Mistress Love Wine spoke quietly.
"My master already sealed our peak."
"Disciples cannot move alone anymore."
Daoist Swamp Leech added in his slimy voice.
"The Healing Hall stopped outside visits."
"The Alchemy Hall too."
"They fear poisoning."
The paranoia had already spread.
Han Yu leaned back quietly while listening.
Across the sect similar discussions happened everywhere.
At the Blood Beast Peak...
Disciples gathered in groups.
No one cultivated alone.
At Curse Peak...
People checked each other for curses every few hours.
At the Healing Hall...
Lines stretched endlessly.
Everyone wanted inspections.
Everyone feared hidden influence.
Rumors spread wildly.
"It’s a curse."
"No, it’s possession."
"It’s the founder punishing us."
"Someone found an ancient inheritance."
"The orthodox infiltrated us."
"The dead disciples became ghosts."
The theories only grew crazier.
Meanwhile the elders were no better.
Within Heart Peak emergency meetings happened nonstop.
Han Yu later learned through the token that more than seventy high ranking elders had gathered.
Peak Heads.
Hall Masters.
Ancient Elders.
Everyone.
The discussion was intense.
One elder slammed the table.
"We stop all combat!"
Another disagreed immediately.
"The disciples will panic more!"
A third shouted.
"They already panic!"
Someone suggested memory checks for everyone.
Rejected.
Too many disciples.
Someone proposed soul inspections.
Rejected again.
Resources impossible.
Then came the worst suggestion.
"Kill all suspicious disciples."
Even that was discussed.
The room reportedly fell silent after.
Because no one knew who was suspicious anymore.
Everyone looked normal.
Everyone passed inspections.
Yet people still died.
Back in Lady Rot Rose’s channel the discussion continued.
Daoist Blood Pool sounded miserable.
"I prepared everything."
"I even bought pills."
"I was going to reach top three this time."
Mistress Love Wine laughed bitterly.
"You should be happy you’re alive."
"Look at the Inner Court."
"They lost elites."