Chapter 295: Unfathomable
Chapter 295: Unfathomable
After Mo Hua left, San Dangjia waited for a moment before he sensed that he could no longer detect Mo Hua's spiritual sense. He returned to the secluded grove.
Blood was everywhere, and the place was in shambles.
Those evil cultivators were indeed eaten, devoured cleanly, but the ground was soaked with blood.
"How could a child's body eat people like this, leaving such a mess?" San Dangjia muttered to himself.
Then he realized something was amiss. There were claw marks and bite marks on the ground, even strands of bloody fur.
San Dangjia frowned slightly, his brows furrowing.
These evil cultivators, whose deaths left no whole bodies, were not eaten by humans but by beasts.
Moreover, the child whose body had been snatched was also nowhere to be seen.
San Dangjia's gaze sharpened as he sensed something amiss.
Were these people eaten by that little ghost?
Or was that little ghost not an old demon who had snatched a body, but a beast in human skin?
But that didn't make sense either. If it wasn't a case of body snatching, how could a cultivator at the Refining Qi level possibly possess the spiritual sense of a Foundation Establishment cultivator? There are limits to everything in the Daoist way.
No matter how strong a Refining Qi cultivator's spiritual sense is, it shouldn't surpass the limits and rival that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
San Dangjia was puzzled and then suddenly alarmed as he remembered something important: the visualization chart! That little ghost had been meditating on his meditation cushion, and beneath it was the visualization chart he had stolen from the sect!
San Dangjia's movement technique was as swift as the wind as he rushed back to the elixir room in Black Mountain Fortress.
When he arrived and lifted the meditation cushion, he found that the hidden compartment had been opened, and it was empty.
A chill ran down San Dangjia's spine, and he panicked, thinking that the visualization chart had been stolen. But then he noticed a piece of material that looked like paper or leather with a depiction of green rocks and a flowing stream—his visualization chart—not far away.
Having lost and found it again, San Dangjia was overjoyed.
Someone had opened his secret compartment, found the chart, but not recognizing its value, had discarded it.
This was a visualization chart, a treasure coveted by countless formation masters!
San Dangjia breathed a sigh of relief and carefully unfurled the chart, but his smile froze on his face.
The landscape was the same—the mountains, the rocks, even the stream by the rocks, and the moss on the stones—all unchanged.
Except for one thing: the young Daoist disciple was missing!
San Dangjia's hands trembled as he carefully put away the chart and sat cross-legged, trying to calm his mind and focus on the image of the chart.
But no matter how many times he tried to visualize, he could no longer communicate with the chart's essence, and his spiritual sense showed no signs of growth.
San Dangjia was both shocked and furious.
This visualization chart was ruined! It could no longer enhance his spiritual sense!
The color drained from San Dangjia's face.
Without the chart, it would be difficult for him to improve his spiritual sense, and his progress in formations would be greatly hindered.
He had been almost on the verge of becoming a second-rate formation master, but now that step seemed impossibly distant.
"Who ruined my visualization chart?!" San Dangjia's anger knew no bounds, and in his confusion, he thought of Mo Hua.
"Could it have been that little ghost?"
But how did he ruin the chart?
San Dangjia thought carefully.
The scenery in the visualization chart remained the same, except for the absence of the young disciple. Why was the disciple gone? Where did he go?
Mo Hua's clear-cut face and innocent smile floated into San Dangjia's mind, and an incredible speculation emerged.
"Could that little ghost be the young Daoist disciple in the visualization chart...?"
"No, that's impossible!" San Dangjia shook his head repeatedly.
But the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became, especially since their smiles were identical—innocent, playful, and with a hint of mischief.
A chill ran through San Dangjia's heart, and he felt a sense of wariness.
That little ghost was becoming more and more unfathomable.
Who or what was he—a human, a snatcher of bodies, a beast in human skin, the young disciple from the visualization chart, or just a figment of his imagination?
"I must catch that little ghost and find out the truth. I need to know his origins..." San Dangjia thought to himself.
It was best to be cautious around people whose true nature was unclear.
But with his visualization chart ruined and the likely culprit being the little ghost, he had to find him and get to the bottom of this.
Without the chart, his spiritual sense would improve slowly, and it would be challenging to make further breakthroughs in formations and become a second-rate formation master.
San Dangjia furrowed his brows.
His talent in formations was not exceptional, and he was unwilling to practice formations day and night like other formation masters.
He found such behavior foolish.
Formations followed the Daoist way and emphasized insight. It wasn't something one could master through mere hard work.
Even though he had taken a shortcut by using a visualization chart imbued with evil thoughts to enhance his spiritual sense, his progress in formations was still much faster than that of ordinary formation masters.
Hard work alone would not lead to success.
San Dangjia was convinced of this.
Therefore, with the visualization chart now ineffective, his path to improving his spiritual sense and advancing in formations was blocked.
"I must find that little ghost!"
If he was human and had the spiritual sense of a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the Refining Qi level, he must have a secret method for enhancing his spiritual sense, and San Dangjia was determined to get his hands on it.
If he was the young disciple from the visualization chart, all he needed to do was seal him back into the chart, and it would be restored to its original state.
Mo Hua, the object of San Dangjia's obsession, was currently at home, indulging in a hearty meal prepared by his mother.
The table was filled with dishes, each more delicious than the last.
He held a large bun in his left hand and a juicy chicken leg in his right, his cheeks puffed out as he savored the food, his eyes curving into crescents. It's true what they say about a mother's cooking being the best, he thought to himself.
The food at Black Mountain Fortress was terrible, and he vowed never to eat there again.
That San Dangjia had probably caught on and was keeping a close eye on him, but Mo Hua had no intention of returning to that place.
Unless the Daoting sect decided to take down Black Mountain Fortress, he wouldn't risk going back.
However, it was unlikely that the fortress would be breached anytime soon, so Mo Hua naturally wouldn't venture into the deep mountains again.
If San Dangjia wanted to wait for him like a toad under a tree, then so be it.
He would wait until he successfully achieved foundation establishment and became a second-rate formation master before dealing with him.
By then, even without any tricks up his sleeve, he wouldn't have to fear that old fox.
Mo Hua's next goal was clear: foundation establishment!
He had already saved up enough spirit stones for the endeavor.
He had shares in the alchemy and pill shops in the south of the city, received dividends from the Fu Shan Lou restaurant, and could even scrape some resources from the Daoting sect when needed.
However, he decided to leave the sect's resources as a backup for now and only tap into them if an urgent need arose in the future.
This was Zhang Lan's suggestion, and given his position as an "insider" in the Daoting sect, Mo Hua knew he had valuable insights.
With a middle-lower grade spirit root and cultivating the ancient Tian Yan Jue, which was also considered middle-lower grade, the number of spiritual cycles he cultivated was only slightly above average.
Due to his limited spiritual power, the amount of spirit stones required for his breakthrough was not extraordinarily high, so the stones he had saved up were more than sufficient.
Additionally, the bottleneck of the Tian Yan Jue was in the spiritual sense, and now that Mo Hua had achieved spiritual sense foundation establishment, far surpassing expectations, he should have enough to succeed.
Everything was in place, and he was ready to take the final step.
As long as he cultivated to the ninth layer of Qi Refining and perfected it, he would be able to break through and become a foundation establishment cultivator!
Foundation establishment... In all of Tongxian City, there were only a handful of foundation establishment cultivators, let alone among the loose cultivators. Over the years, it was Elder Yu, a foundation establishment cultivator, who had stood up against the Qian family and fought for the rights of loose cultivators.
And now, Mo Hua was on the cusp of becoming one himself.
He had thought about this day before, but he never imagined it would come so soon and feel so tangibly within reach, as if he could grasp it with his own hands...
Mo Hua's thoughts drifted as he became lost in contemplation.
Liu Ruhua gently patted his head and said softly, "Focus on your meal, dear."
Snapping back to reality, Mo Hua offered his mother a smile before eagerly digging into the feast before him.
Seeing her son devour the food, Liu Ruhua thought of the hardships he must have endured during his time in the deep mountains and felt a pang of heartache. She added another chicken leg to his plate and gently urged, "Eat more."
Mo Hua nodded eagerly. "Mom, you won't believe how terrible the food at Black Mountain Fortress is."
"How bad could it be?" she asked.
"It's as bad as bad can be," he replied.
Liu Ruhua smiled. "Well, you must have eaten it anyway."
"When you're hungry, you'll eat even the worst food," Mo Hua said.
Liu Ruhua's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she asked, "Was it very dangerous inside Black Mountain Fortress?"
Mo Hua was about to nod but stopped himself, not wanting to worry his mother. "It was okay. I have my stealth technique, so I could eavesdrop, spy, and even steal food without them noticing..."
Then, remembering his mother's instructions, he added in a soft voice, "They're all bad people, so I don't think eavesdropping, spying, and stealing a little food counts as doing something wrong, does it...?"
"No, it doesn't," Liu Ruhua reassured him.
Mo Hua then proceeded to tell her other stories, but unlike the ones he shared with Elder Yu, these were lighthearted and "interesting."
For instance, the story of how the food distributor, a big fat man, was eaten by a tiger when he wasn't paying attention.
Or the tale of two bumbling guards who ended up killing each other due to a misunderstanding.
Even though San Dangjia was a foundation establishment cultivator, some of his formations weren't as good as Mo Hua's. He had secretly dug up many corners and quietly dismantled several formations, and San Dangjia might not even realize it yet...
Liu Ruhua listened attentively, and her mood indeed lightened as she heard these stories.
Beside them, Mo Shan wore a complicated expression.
He knew these stories, but while they sounded "interesting," they concealed the underlying dangers.
Once, he had gone into the Great Black Mountain to hunt demons and had shared similar stories with Mo Hua, omitting the perilous details and only highlighting the "interesting" parts.
Now, it seemed that Mo Hua was doing the same for them, sparing them from the full extent of his experiences to ease their worries.
Mo Shan felt a mix of emotions—a touch of sadness and a hint of relief.
(End of Chapter)
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