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Chapter 402: Eighth Layer
Chapter 402: Eighth Layer
"Who is this person? What is his name?"
"I should remember..."
"But why can't I recall it?"
"Why can't I remember?!"
Sun Yi mumbled in a delirious state, his face contorting in pain as he tried to recollect.
He covered his face with his hands, scratching his scalp vigorously, digging his nails into his flesh until blood flowed and his skin tore, yet he still couldn't unravel the mystery.
After a moment, he slowly stopped.
A glint of cold determination flashed in his eyes.
He dipped his finger in his own blood and, with a trembling hand, drew a strange, crimson array on his forehead.
The array was not a conventional one; it was a demonic rune of the Demon Sect, sinister and blood-red.
As the rune took form, it seemed to come alive, sucking away Sun Yi's blood essence and spiritual sense.
Sun Yi gritted his teeth as his blood energy gradually weakened, but his thoughts began to clear.
The fog that shrouded his memories started to dissipate.
Finally, he recalled something.
"There's one more...a junior apprentice..."
"Junior apprentice..."
"What's his name?"
Agony etched across Sun Yi's face as if he were undergoing torture. Bit by bit, he recalled:
"Mo..."
"...Hua!"
Mo Hua!
Sun Yi's eyes first lit up with excitement, then clouded with confusion.
"Why?"
"Why hide this name so deeply?"
"Who exactly is this person?"
A smiling face emerged in Sun Yi's memory.
It was the cheerful smile of a young cultivator, innocent and endearing.
At the same time, his understanding of Mo Hua gradually became clearer.
"Qi Refining Seventh Layer, First-Rank Array Master, Foundation Establishment spiritual sense..."
Sun Yi's heart trembled.
Foundation Establishment spiritual sense?
So that was it...
"Such terrifying talent, no wonder he was kept hidden..."
Sun Yi sneered, but as he continued to smile, his expression gradually faded.
"What was I just thinking about?"
"Who erased my memories?"
Sun Yi's anger simmered, and despite the excruciating pain in his sea of consciousness, he persevered, once again searching for the truth hidden within the mist of his forgotten memories.
Once more, he recalled Mo Hua's name.
And once more, he beheld Mo Hua's smiling face.
His understanding of Mo Hua became clear again.
"Qi Refining Seventh Layer, Foundation Establishment spiritual sense..."
But before he could react, this memory stuttered and then vanished.
Sun Yi's gaze turned icy.
This child had been hidden so deeply...
"Brother, what are you trying to do?" he muttered to himself as he tried to think and remember.
"Qi Refining Seventh Layer, Foundation Establishment spiritual sense..."
But to his surprise, every time he reached this point, his memory would be erased.
With each erasure, the memory faded a little more, becoming fuzzier and less distinct.
After countless repetitions, only the vague concepts of "Qi Refining Seventh Layer" and "Foundation Establishment..." remained.
"Qi Refining Seventh Layer, not yet at Foundation Establishment..."
Sun Yi nodded to himself.
Then he realized that this was obvious.
Of course, a cultivator at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer wouldn't have reached Foundation Establishment yet.
But when he tried to think further, his mind clouded over, and he couldn't come up with anything.
"Is he just a token junior apprentice?" Sun Yi muttered.
He decided to stop worrying about it and focused on remembering Mr. Zhuang, Gui Lao, and the Bai siblings. With that, he nodded in satisfaction.
Sun Yi took off his outer garment and wiped away the blood stains from his face and body.
Then, he stripped the dirty, old Daoist robe from Sun Ji's corpse and put it on himself.
"This fits me now," he remarked.
Sun Ji had been tall and slender, while Sun Yi was of medium build and slightly plump. The Daoist robe fit him perfectly.
Sun Yi reopened the door and stepped out into the dimming light of day. The disciples of the Sun family stared at him in astonishment.
His appearance, clad in the old Daoist robe, was peculiar to say the least.
Some of the disciples greeted Sun Yi, but he acted as if he didn't see or hear them, continuing on his way with an uneven gait.
Sun Yi strode out of the Sun family's main gate and onto the main road of Qianjia Town, never once looking back as he headed toward the distant mountain peaks, eventually disappearing from view.
This was the last time the Sun family disciples would see their master.
Rumors spread among the spiritual farmers of Dongshan Village that Sun Yi, the master of the Sun family, had left wearing a dead man's Daoist robe, limping as if his soul had been lured away by something.
Most people speculated that Sun Yi had violated the family precepts and had been dragged to the underworld by the ancestral spirits of the Sun family to face punishment.
Sun Yi never returned after that day.
Nor was he ever seen again.
...
As "Sun Yi" calculated Mo Hua's identity, Mr. Zhuang, inside the carriage, opened his eyes.
"Master, would you like some tea?" Mo Hua asked in a crisp voice.
Mr. Zhuang enjoyed taking naps, and upon waking, he liked to sip a cup of tea.
Mo Hua was well aware of his master's preferences.
Mr. Zhuang nodded slightly.
Mo Hua poured him a cup of tea.
Mr. Zhuang seemed a bit weary, but after drinking the tea Mo Hua had prepared, his spirits lifted, and he asked, "Mo Hua, how do people die?"
Not only Mo Hua but also Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi were taken aback by the sudden question.
They didn't understand why Mr. Zhuang would ask such a thing.
"Er...if you're killed, you'll die?" Mo Hua replied quietly.
"Starvation and old age can also lead to death," Bai Zisheng added.
"But ultimately, what is the root cause?" Mr. Zhuang probed.
Mo Hua recalled what Mr. Zhuang had told him about cultivators' spiritual power, blood essence, and spiritual sense, and ventured a response, "For cultivators, death can result from the depletion of their physical body's energy, the destruction of their qi sea, or the annihilation of their spiritual sense..."
"So, the root causes of a cultivator's death are related to these three aspects?" Mr. Zhuang inquired, nodding slightly.
"Indeed. If someone wants to kill you, they will target these three aspects. They will either damage your physical body, shatter your qi sea, or destroy your spiritual sense."
A chill ran down Mo Hua's spine, and he asked, "Master, is there someone who wants to kill me?"
Mr. Zhuang shook his head. "It's always good to be prepared."
"Oh." Mo Hua nodded, pondering this for a moment before asking, "Master, I understand how to kill through damage to the physical body and the qi sea, as ordinary cultivation techniques and spells often involve destroying the body, corrupting the meridians, or damaging the qi sea. But how does one kill through the spiritual sense?
"Additionally, these types of techniques are ancient secrets, and they require a certain level of talent, so they aren't easily learned."
"The second method is spiritual parasitism, where you divide your spiritual sense and parasitize another cultivator's body."
"This is a demonic path, so you must not learn or use it."
"The third method is spiritual pollution, using ancient remnants of indescribable unholy thoughts from the primordial era to contaminate another's spiritual sense, causing their will to fall into depravity, their spiritual sense to go awry, and eventually, their sea of consciousness to collapse, turning them into something neither human nor ghost..."
"This method is akin to borrowing a knife to kill. But when you pollute others, you are also polluting yourself."
"When their spiritual sense is tainted with filth, yours won't remain pure, even if you're unaware of it."
"So, it's best not to use this method either."
"There are other ways to kill with spiritual sense, but most are obscure and unconventional, and I don't know much about them." Mr. Zhuang finished, his gaze settling on his three disciples as he cautioned them.
"The reason I'm telling you this is that I want you to be vigilant."
"Most means of harming the physical body and spiritual power are visible;"
"But dangers to the spiritual sense are often invisible."
"In this world, there are many great terrors that are unseen and indescribable, but because cultivators' spiritual senses are weak, they remain unaware of them."
"So, you must be extremely cautious when it comes to matters concerning the spiritual sense."
"Do not peer into what should not be seen, be it a person or an object."
"If you encounter someone strange, do not speak to them, do not entangle yourself with them, and do not look into their eyes..."
The three disciples nodded solemnly, their expressions grave.
After a moment's thought, Mo Hua quietly asked, "Master, if someone's spiritual sense is parasitized by another, is there a way to kill the invading spiritual sense?"
Mo Hua thought back to the little ghost from the visualization diagram.
It had leaped into Mo Hua's sea of consciousness, attempting to usurp his spiritual sense's home.
Although Mo Hua had suppressed the little ghost with the help of the Daoist stele and eventually 'consumed' it after a series of twists and turns, he still felt confused and unclear about the whole ordeal.
While the Daoist stele was useful, he couldn't rely on it too much.
If the stele failed him someday, and he was parasitized by a ghost again, the consequences could be dire.
Thus, Mo Hua wanted to know if there was another way to deal with parasitic spiritual senses without relying on the stele.
Array formations seemed like a possibility, but drawing them was slow, and one had to remain within the formation, making it a rather passive option.
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi gave Mo Hua curious glances. Their little junior disciple certainly had an unusual train of thought.
However, Mr. Zhuang was not surprised and simply nodded, "There is."
Mo Hua's eyes lit up, "Then..."
"I can't teach it to you yet."
Mo Hua sighed, a hint of disappointment fleeting across his face before he eagerly asked, "When can you teach me, Master?"
Mr. Zhuang's gaze was profound, "When your spiritual sense becomes stronger, I will teach you."
"Stronger?"
Mr. Zhuang nodded, "All means of countering spiritual attacks are founded on the strength of your spiritual sense..."
"As long as your spiritual sense is powerful enough, spiritual dangers will no longer be a threat."
"With a mighty spiritual sense, you shall be invulnerable to all evil!" Mr. Zhuang declared in a deep voice.
"A mighty spiritual sense, invulnerable to all evil..." Mo Hua murmured to himself, nodding eagerly, "Yes, Master!"
...
From then on, Mo Hua applied himself even more diligently to his study of array formations.
Without the aid of the Daoist stele, he could only practice whenever the carriage stopped, drawing the Thick Earth Formation on the ground.
Along the journey, traces of his array formations could be found on rocks and soil.
He even brought some soil into the carriage to practice with.
Over and over, he practiced the first-rank Thick Earth Formation with its eleven array marks.
Through this, Mo Hua constantly honed his spiritual sense.
He faintly sensed a sense of urgency.
Mr. Zhuang would not bring up the topic of spiritual sense without reason.
His warning about spiritual attacks must mean that he foresaw some danger.
Killing with spiritual sense...
That meant someone might try to kill him using their spiritual sense.
In that case, he had to prepare in advance.
A mighty spiritual sense, invulnerable to all evil!
The stronger his spiritual sense, the safer he would be...
Mo Hua practiced tirelessly, day and night, and his spiritual sense grew noticeably, but he was still a bit away from reaching twelve array marks...
Moreover, no matter how much he practiced array formations, his progress seemed minimal.
Mo Hua felt helpless.
One day, Mo Hua woke up early and began his usual morning cultivation, basking in the warm sunrise.
Suddenly, his qi sea trembled.
Mo Hua was taken aback for a moment before a delighted smile spread across his face.
He quickly took out a spirit stone and began absorbing spiritual energy, refining it into spiritual power, circulating it through his meridians, and storing it in his qi sea.
After an unknown period, the spiritual power condensed, and his aura strengthened.
Mo Hua opened his eyes, a brilliant smile on his face.
He had reached the eighth layer of Qi Refining! And that wasn't all.
Breaking through to a new realm would also enhance his spiritual sense.
Although his spiritual sense was at the Foundation Establishment level, his current realm was only at the Qi Refining stage, so the increase in his spiritual sense wasn't significant.
However, this slight boost was enough to push his spiritual sense past the threshold, successfully reaching twelve array marks!
The morning sun painted the mountains and Mo Hua in a golden light.
At this moment, Mo Hua was fourteen years old, at the eighth layer of Qi Refining, with a Foundation Establishment spiritual sense capable of twelve array marks!
(End of Chapter)
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