Chapter 10: The Obsidian Contingency and the Master's Thousand Arts
The air in the Coliseum of the Heavens had turned from celebratory to suffocating. The shifting of the stone pillars from pristine white to a bruised, oily black was not a subtle change. To the common spectators, it looked like a grand atmospheric effect for the final matches, but to the sensitive souls of high-level cultivators, it felt like a noose tightening around their necks.
Tian Mo stood at the edge of the Hung Kingdom's booth. His white robes were the only point of pure light in an arena slowly being swallowed by a manufactured twilight. Beside him, Princess Ling'er stood ready. Her Lightning Lizard, Xiao Lei, was no longer chirping; it was growling, its scales vibrating with a high-frequency electric hum that suggested a storm was brewing in its tiny lungs.
"Master," Ling'er whispered, her voice steady but her eyes searching Tian Mo's calm face. "The ground... it feels like it's drinking the air."
"It's drinking more than that, Ling'er," Tian Mo replied. He looked up at the VIP balcony where Alliance Leader Zhao Feng sat. Their eyes met across the vast expanse—one pair burning with the cold hunger of a predator, the other shining with the terrifying clarity of a librarian who had already read the enemy's ending.
[DING!]
[Divine Library Initiated. Warning: The 'Obsidian Contingency' is a Grade-4 Soul-Erosion Formation.]
[Target: All living beings within 5 kilometers.]
[Status: Activation at 75%. Flaws: 2,400.]
Tian Mo turned to Ling'er. "They have sent a 'Hunter' for you. Do not hold back. If the world wants to see a Princess, give them a Goddess."
The Hunter Manifests
"Next Match: Princess Ling'er of the Hung Kingdom versus The Nameless One of the Myriad Shadows!" Teacher Mo's voice echoed, though it sounded distorted, as if the black pillars were warping the very sound waves.
A figure drifted into the arena. He didn't walk; he seemed to bleed out of the shadows cast by the pillars. He was tall, gaunt, and wrapped in bandages that pulsed with a faint violet light. This was no student. This was a "Vessel"—a warrior possessed by the trace essence of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe.
As the match began, the ground beneath Ling'er's feet turned into black sludge. The Nameless One didn't use a sword or a spear. He simply raised a hand, and the sludge rose like thousands of hungry serpents.
"Die, little bird," the Hunter hissed, his voice a thousand whispers in one.
Ling'er didn't panic. She closed her eyes, remembering Tian Mo's training in the frozen mountains.
"Ling'er, your heart is a moon, but your power is the storm that protects it."
CRACK-BOOM!
A pillar of violet lightning erupted from Ling'er's body, instantly vaporizing the black sludge. She moved with the speed of a thunderclap. In the blink of an eye, she was behind the Hunter, her hand glowing with a crystalline blue frost.
"Heaven's Path: Glacial Thunder Strike!"
The Hunter spun around, his shadowy claws clashing with Ling'er's frozen palm. The impact sent a shockwave through the stadium, shattering the stone floor. But instead of being pushed back, the Hunter laughed.
"Your Qi is pure... perfect... the Ancestors will feast well on your soul!"
Suddenly, the black pillars around the stadium shot out thin, invisible threads of violet energy. They latched onto the contestants, the audience, and even the guards. People in the stands began to gasp, their skin turning gray as their life force was siphoned directly into the Obsidian Formation.
The Revelation of the Thousand Arts
"The harvest has begun!" Zhao Feng shouted from the balcony, his voice no longer hiding its madness. "Tian Mo! You may have hijacked the minor siphon, but can you stop the 'Obsidian Soul-Eater'? Today, the Myriad Kingdom Alliance becomes the gateway for the Great Return!"
The stadium was in chaos. Thousands were collapsing. The General, Ba Yuan, tried to draw his sword, but he found his Qi being suppressed by the sheer weight of the formation.
Tian Mo didn't look panicked. He stepped onto the railing of the booth, his silhouette framed against the darkening sky.
"Zhao Feng," Tian Mo's voice wasn't loud, yet it echoed in the mind of every person in the Coliseum. "You think you have built a cage. But a cage is only as strong as its weakest joint. And your cage... is full of holes."
Tian Mo jumped.
As he fell, the Divine Library in his mind began to process at a speed that would have melted a normal human's brain.
[Dual Certification Overload: Activating Master-Level Skills...]
[Apothecary Path: Synthesizing 'Anti-Void' Mist.]
[Formation Master Path: Identifying Core Nodes.]
[Beast Tamer Path: Commanding the Lightning Lizard.]
[Blacksmith Path: Reversing Inscription Logic.]
Tian Mo landed in the center of the arena, right between Ling'er and the Hunter. The Hunter lunged at him, his claws dripping with demonic poison.
Tian Mo didn't even look at him. He raised a single finger. "Apothecary Art: Internal Combustion."
He tapped the air. A microscopic bead of volatile Qi—a byproduct of his Alchemy mastery—hit the Hunter's chest.
BOOM!
The Hunter didn't just fall; he exploded from the inside out, his demonic essence being burned away by a flame that ignored physical armor.
Tian Mo then turned to the black pillars. "General Ba Yuan! Protect the students! I am going to 'Delete' this formation!"
Tian Mo pulled out a dozen silver needles. In the blink of an eye, he threw them. They didn't hit people; they hit the black pillars at specific, flawed intersection points.
[Physician Art: Acupuncture of the Earth.]
The needles acted as lightning rods, redirecting the siphoned life force away from the pillars and back into the ground. The gray-skinned spectators suddenly gasped, the color returning to their faces as their energy flowed back.
"STOP HIM!" Zhao Feng roared, jumping from the balcony, his Saint Sovereign power manifesting as a giant black hand.
Tian Mo looked at the descending hand and pulled out a simple ink brush and a scroll.
[Painter/Calligrapher Art: Reality Manifestation.]
With a flick of his wrist, he drew a single, bold character: [BREAK].
The ink flew off the paper, turning into a massive, golden sword of light that sliced through Zhao Feng's black hand as if it were made of paper.
"Impossible!" Zhao Feng landed on the arena floor, his face twisted in rage. "You are just a 3-Star Teacher! How can you use the 'Art of Manifestation'?"
"I am a teacher," Tian Mo said, his voice cold and absolute. "And today's lesson is: The Death of a Tyrant."
The Shadow's Final Strike
Tian Mo's shadow began to grow, stretching across the entire arena floor. From it, Kuro, the Shadow Sentinel, emerged, followed by a dozen smaller, flickering shadows—the 'Fragments' Tian Mo had collected during his midnight raid on the archives.
"Shadow Domain: The Silent Library!"
The entire stadium was plunged into a state of 'Anti-Magic'. Zhao Feng's Saint power sputtered and died. The obsidian pillars began to crack, the golden needles Tian Mo had placed acting like a virus, rewriting the demonic inscriptions into 'Heaven's Path' runes.
Ling'er and Li Feng stood behind their Master, their power reaching a crescendo.
"Finish it," Tian Mo commanded.
Ling'er channeled her Lightning Lizard's energy into Li Feng's spear. The spear turned into a bolt of pure, white-hot judgment. Li Feng threw it with every ounce of his 3rd Stage Saint Sovereign power.
SHING—!
The spear pierced the central Obsidian Pillar—the 'Heart' of the Alliance.
A blinding white light swallowed the Coliseum. When it faded, the black pillars had crumbled into white sand. Zhao Feng lay on the ground, his cultivation shattered, his "vessel" status exposed to the entire world.
General Ba Yuan stepped forward, his sword drawn. "The Alliance Leader... was a demonic puppet. Master Tian Mo has saved us all."
The half-million people, who moments ago were being drained of their souls, fell to their knees. A roar, louder than any before, shook the city.
"GRANDMASTER TIAN MO!"
"THE SAVIOR OF THE ALLIANCE!"
The Departure for the Sage Continent
As the sun set over the ruins of the Coliseum, Tian Mo stood with his students. The Myriad Kingdom Alliance was in a state of reform, with General Ba Yuan taking temporary control to purge the remaining corrupt elders.
Tian Mo looked at the iron key in his hand. It was no longer glowing; it had fulfilled its purpose by unlocking the secrets of the Void.
"Master, we won," Li Feng said, his voice weary but proud.
"We didn't win, Li Feng. We just survived a test," Tian Mo replied. He looked toward the horizon, where the great Sage Continent awaited. "The Alliance was just a gate. The real 'Flaws' of this world are waiting for us in the Sage Pavilion."
A majestic flying boat, sent by Queen Zhao Yan from the Hung Kingdom, descended from the clouds. The Queen herself stood at the helm, her dominating aura shining brighter than ever. Beside her stood the Royal Messenger, holding a scroll with a golden seal.
"Teacher Tian Mo," the Messenger proclaimed. "For your actions in saving the Alliance and mastering a thousand arts in a single day, the Sage Continent Headquarters has officially invited you. You are no longer a 3-Star Teacher of the Kingdoms."
The Messenger handed him a new badge, made of 'Ancient Spirit Jade'. It had seven stars etched into its surface.
"You are now a 7-Star Saint Teacher of the Sage Continent."
Tian Mo took the badge and tossed it casually to Janitor Lu, who almost fainted.
"Keep it safe, Lu. We're going to need a bigger classroom."
Tian Mo stepped onto the flying boat, his two students by his side and his Queen waiting for him. The Mortal Awakening Arc was over. The Sage Continent, with its 100 Schools of Philosophers and its ancient secrets, was about to meet the man who could see the flaws in the Gods themselves.