Chapter 608: Marrow of the Bone
Chapter 608: Marrow of the Bone
Swept by Mo Hua's gaze, the hearts of all the demons and evil spirits quivered in fear.
They were afraid of being "devoured."
The black water paled slightly, as if it had exhausted its energy and the effort of "giving birth" to the Pig-Headed Demon, now devoured, had wounded its vitality.
From within the black water, a strong anger emerged.
Never before had a "human" dared to show such disrespect.
Moreover, this human was just a young and naive child, still wet behind the ears.
However, at the same time, a deep wariness grew in its heart.
Although devouring this child would be a great boost to its power, if it expended too much energy and damaged the source of its divine master, it would be a net loss...
Mo Hua's thoughts stirred, sensing that the "black water" was hesitating. He blinked, a clever idea coming to mind, and he straightened his chest and held his head high, assuming an extremely arrogant posture.
Mo Hua's eyes were filled with contempt.
At the same time, he provocatively licked his lips.
It seemed as if he was treating this clump of black water as a "snack."
The black water paused for a moment, then trembled violently, as if greatly angered by Mo Hua's actions.
An even stronger murderous intent emanated from within the black water.
This time, it would not hold back.
The dignity of the divine master must not be infringed upon.
The majesty of the divine master shall not be desecrated.
It would "devour" this half-step divine fetus child and offer the most delicious and pious sacrifice for the awakening of its divine master!
In Mo Hua's sea of consciousness, the atmosphere turned icy cold, and the filthy black water spread, dirtying the entire space.
The black water swelled, transforming into black mist that churned violently.
Soon, the black mist dissipated, revealing a multitude of demons and ghosts, each with a hideous and deformed appearance.
On their chests was a clump of black water, pulsating like a heart, drawing on the evil and filthy black aura as their blood, enhancing the power of the demons.
This time, the black water had incubated even more demons, and they were clearly stronger.
Before Mo Hua could react, the horde of demons and ghosts pounced like mad, seemingly intent on leaving Mo Hua no room to resist. They wanted to tear Mo Hua apart and devour him alive.
Mo Hua frowned, beginning to dodge with the Flowing Water Steps as before, while using his small fists to sneak attacks, occasionally controlling them with the Water Prison Technique or finishing them off with Fireball Technique.
But these demons were obviously stronger.
His punches could only break their bones, disfigure them, or disable them, but he couldn't explode them anymore.
And the demons' arrogance only grew.
They did not fear death or pain. They fought desperately, wanting only to tear a piece of flesh from Mo Hua's body.
After fighting for a while, Mo Hua grew tired, and his arms and legs began to ache. He could only sigh.
"It's so tiring to be a body cultivator..."
It was exhilarating, but after fighting for a long time, it also became a bit boring.
Mo Hua punched, twisting the face of a horse-faced demon; with a backhand kick, he broke the waist of a wolf demon; then he grabbed the horn of a bull demon and swung it, knocking down a large group of demons...
Taking advantage of this gap, Mo Hua pointed his feet and retreated a few steps, creating some distance.
"I'm bored now..."
Mo Hua said indifferently, then spread his arms, his pupils instantly turning pitch-black.
The aura around him instantly transformed from innocent and clear to profound and mysterious.
Strange black patterns emerged from his body, intertwining densely and condensing into a water and ink daoist robe that draped over him.
The horde of demons instantly paled.
From within the black water, a piercing angry roar emerged, twisting into a terrified human voice:
"Heavenly Mystery Devilish Dao?!
"You are..."
"Devilish..."
"...Just who are you?!"
Mo Hua didn't feel like wasting time talking. His divine sense reached its peak, his eyes filled with shadowy figures, and the robe on his body was covered in intricate patterns.
His divine sense inclined and emerged, and in his sea of consciousness, at an extremely fast speed, it instantly condensed into a huge array that enveloped all the demons and monsters.
"Mountain Cremation Array!"
This was an array that Mo Hua had fiddled with in his free time. It was a second-rank initial-stage array, a combination of the five elements and the eight trigrams, using the fire element and the Li (Fire)
trigram to burn together, and using the Gen (Mountain)
trigram to trap the enemy. It was a killing array.
This array was created by Mo Hua under the guidance of Master Xun, using his own insights into the construction of the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Grand Array and attempting to fuse the five elements and eight trigrams array systems.
This array was difficult.
In reality, there were many limitations.
With Mo Hua's current level of divine sense, it was very strenuous to draw it.
However, in his own sea of consciousness, Mo Hua's divine sense was unrestrained, and the manifested array was as he willed, without any scruples.
Mo Hua intended to use this array to "stew" all these demons and monsters into a pot and fill himself up.
As soon as the array was formed, the black water sensed a terrifying aura.
It never expected that it was just looking for a snack, yet it encountered such a monster that could instantly form an array with a half-step divine fetus by borrowing the devilish path!
But it was too late now.
Mo Hua's eyes shone with killing intent, and he clenched his small hand, saying crisply, "Kill!"
Instantly, the Mountain Cremation Array was activated.
The mountains manifested by his divine sense rose up, their ruggedness intertwining to form a mountain stone prison, trapping all the demons within.
Then the flames of the five elements surged, and the Li fire of the eight trigrams enveloped the top, intertwining with each other like molten lava flowing between the mountains.
The entire array resembled an erupting volcano.
The demons and monsters were trapped within the volcano, scorched by the blazing flames and engulfed by the molten lava.
Their flesh and skin turned black and charred, turning into flying ashes.
In the boundless fiery hell, countless deformed and hideous demons wailed and screamed in pain.
And the "embryo" of black water was also incinerated by the flames, evaporating into black mist.
Then it was further refined by the Li fire, forming a white-green qi.
Mo Hua stood atop the Mountain Cremation Array, looking down at the countless demons and ghosts suffering and wailing in the array, turning into black ash. He couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.
Occasionally showing off his martial arts and exercising his "limbs", playing around was fine, but relying on his own haphazard and rudimentary understanding of cultivation techniques to slay demons and eliminate evil was just too inefficient.
Mo Hua sat cross-legged, ready to "eat".
He activated the Mountain Cremation Array, incinerating the demons and purifying them of their demonic energy, refining them into white qi.
Mo Hua sat beside it, "roasting" and "eating" at the same time.
Strand by strand, his divine sense entered his belly, continuously strengthening his divine sense.
However, by the time Mo Hua finished "eating", his divine sense had only reached the fifteenth strand, a significant improvement but still short of a breakthrough.
The Mountain Cremation Array, after cremating the horde of demons, gradually faded away.
All the demons had been slaughtered.
All the black water had been evaporated.
Only one remained...
It seemed to have been hiding in the deepest part of the black water, concealed by it, leaving no trace.
But now that the demons had been killed and the black water burned, it could no longer stay hidden.
This was a...
Mo Hua narrowed his eyes, "Sheep head?"
A human skull with a sheep's horns, its appearance was hideous, and though it didn't seem very large, about the height of an average cultivator, it was much shorter than the other demons.
Mo Hua asked curiously, "What are you?"
The sheep-horned demon, its face a skull, roared in anger at the question, spouting unintelligible words. Seeing Mo Hua's confused expression, it switched to a clumsy and sinister human voice:
"You insolent brat!"
"Killing a few divine slaves doesn't make you so great!"
"I am the envoy of the Divine Master..."
"You dare to offend the Divine Master, you deserve to die a thousand times. If you kneel and beg for mercy, pledging your allegiance to my master, perhaps I will show you mercy and spare your life..."
Mo Hua flashed with the Flowing Water Step, closing in on the demon. He clenched his fist and punched it squarely in the face.
The demon had no power to resist and was sent flying by Mo Hua's punch, tumbling across the ground like a torn sack before trying to escape.
Mo Hua extended his right hand, forming golden array patterns that locked the demon in place, then with a wave of his small hand, he dragged it back in front of him.
Mo Hua punched again, sending it flying, then pulled it back and punched it again...
After repeating this three more times, the demon lay paralyzed on the ground.
Mo Hua walked over and stepped on it, a puzzled look on his face, "Are you an idiot? Don't you understand the situation?"
He was already so strong.
The demon offspring it had incubated had all been cremated by his array, roasted and eaten by him.
Why was this demon so arrogant and fearless? Mo Hua kicked it and asked,
"Envoy of the Divine Master, what is that? Are you a lackey of an evil deity?"
"And what is this Divine Master? Is it an evil god?"
The sheep-horned demon flew into a rage, "You dare insult the Divine Master, you..."
It wanted to say "you should die", but seeing Mo Hua raise his small fist, his face full of "malice", it dared not speak.
Mo Hua looked at the demon, stroking his chin, confused, "You seem... unafraid of death?"
The demon let out a cold laugh:
"Sacrificing myself for the Divine Master is the greatest honor, and besides..."
The demon's voice turned manic, its eyes feverish, "I am the envoy of the Divine Master, protected by the Divine Master's will. You can insult me, hurt me, but you will never, be able to kill me!"
"As long as the Divine Master is immortal, I shall never die!"
Mo Hua was slightly taken aback, realizing that despite all the punches he had landed on the demon's skull, there were no cracks, and its sheep horns remained unbroken.
And even though the Mountain Cremation Array had burned away the black water, it had not harmed the demon at all.
"How strange..."
Mo Hua's eyes sharpened as he examined the demon.
Though the demon boasted, being stared at by Mo Hua filled it with dread.
Suddenly, Mo Hua's eyes lit up, "Sheep horns!"
He reached out and touched the demon's horns, tugging at them, but found that he couldn't break them.
Looking closer, Mo Hua's expression changed.
"It's solid..."
Ordinary divine sense was insubstantial, like mist.
Mo Hua's divine sense was as dense as mercury.
And this demon's sheep horns, no, not just the horns, its entire skull, was almost like a "solid object", incredibly sturdy.
"From void to solid..."
Mo Hua was shocked.
His expression, filled with surprise, was seen by the demon, which smirked, "Now you know the power of the Divine Master... what will you do now??!"
Before it could finish, Mo Hua opened his mouth and bit down on the "sheep horn".
Unfortunately, he couldn't pierce it.
Mo Hua punched the horn a few times, but still couldn't break it...
"Indeed, a hard bone..." Mo Hua muttered.
The demon sneered, "Now you know..."
But Mo Hua's competitive spirit was ignited, and he was determined to smash this bone to pieces.
Boiling big bones for soup, makes one strong and robust! What if I chew on this hard bone, wouldn't my divine sense become even stronger?
Maybe I could directly break through to the sixteenth strand, or even approach the seventeenth?
Mo Hua's eyes lit up with excitement, and then, amidst the demon's terrified gaze, he tried various methods, using array formations, magic techniques, and finally pounding it with his small fists.
But no matter what, the sheep horn skull remained unbroken.
Mo Hua's brows furrowed deeper.
The demon, however, gradually relaxed.
"As expected! The protection of the Divine Master is unbreakable!"
Even this monstrous little freak couldn't do anything to it.
The sheep-horned demon, despite being tortured, felt proud because of its devotion and the blessings of the Divine Master.
It let out a mocking laugh, "Don't waste your energy, you milk-drinking brat, you mongrel, how can you understand the might of the Lord of the Wastelands?
The demon was taken aback, and it would never believe that Mo Hua actually intended to show it something "good."
The demon coldly harrumphed, "Don't play any tricks. In front of the Divine Master, everything..."
But Mo Hua paid no heed to its words and, without waiting for it to finish, grabbed the back of its neck and dragged it over to the Daoist stele.
It was already past midnight, the time when the stele could manifest its power.
Mo Hua pressed the demon's head against the stele and commanded, "Take a look."
Although the demon didn't believe there was anything that could break through the protection of its Divine Master, it still felt a lingering fear toward Mo Hua and kept its eyes tightly shut, refusing to look at anything.
Mo Hua thought for a moment before speaking, "Your Divine Master is a rat, sneaking around, cowardly and shameless..."
"Whenever there's trouble, it hides in the background like a tortoise with its head shrunk in."
"No, you said it hasn't awakened yet, so it's probably hibernating..."
"Living for so long..."
"Is your Divine Master a soft-shelled turtle or a tortoise?"
The sheep-horned envoy was trembling with anger. Under Mo Hua's relentless barrage of "sweet words," it finally lost its patience.
It abruptly opened its eyes, only to be stunned by what it saw.
Before its eyes was a scarlet-red, lifeless array pattern.
The anger in the sheep-horned demon's heart instantly dissipated, replaced by boundless fear.
Tribulation lightning...
Tribulation lightning??!
Its eyes widened in disbelief.
What kind of monster was this child?! How did he have tribulation lightning sealed within his sea of consciousness?!
"You?!"
Before the sheep-horned envoy could finish its sentence, the lightning pattern flashed slightly, releasing a faint breath of lightning that instantly erased its consciousness.
At the same time, the "indestructible" sheep horn, which it had obtained from the protection of the Great Wilderness Master, also had its "immortal" intention instantly erased.
Cracks appeared on the sheep horn skull.
Mo Hua quickly pulled it away from the lightning pattern, and with a slight twist of his hand, he easily broke the skull into pieces. From within, a faint, golden liquid divine thought flowed out...
Mo Hua was surprised. "This is... marrow?!"
Golden marrow!
Mo Hua stared at the "marrow," hesitated for a while, but still couldn't resist. He dipped his finger into it and licked it.
There wasn't much taste.
But the texture was excellent...
Although the contained divine thought wasn't strong, after ingesting it, he felt a very mysterious sensation.
It was as if he had become completely different from all the living beings in the world.
He was a lofty deity residing above the nine heavens, his divine might overwhelming, looking down upon all living beings.
And these living beings were all like ants and dogs.
They were his sacrificial offerings...
Mo Hua quickly shook his little head to dispel these absurd and bizarre thoughts, then carefully examined himself.
He discovered that his divine sense body had, at some point, gained a few strands of faint golden blood.
Although it was very faint, so faint that only he could notice it.
Mo Hua furrowed his brows.
"This golden marrow, could it be the true 'divine' thought?"
Could this strand of "divine blood" come from the "Great Wilderness Master," the so-called Divine Master these demons spoke of?
Why were these demons after Yu'er?
Were they... planning to use Yu'er as a sacrificial offering?
Mo Hua's gaze turned slightly solemn.
In his heart, he felt that a huge conspiracy loomed over Yu'er, the Official family, and even the entire Qian Province...
But as to what exactly it was, he was still clueless.
"Never mind, one step at a time..."
He should just focus on doing what he needed to do...
Following the principle of "not wasting anything," Mo Hua drank up all the remaining golden "marrow."
After all, having been struck by tribulation lightning, even if this "marrow" contained the "divine" thoughts of a "wild god," they would have been erased, leaving only pure and slightly divine consciousness.
It was a great tonic! Mo Hua held the sheep horn skull, drank up the "marrow," licked the corners of his mouth, and felt extremely satisfied. The faint golden traces in his body had also increased slightly.
Thus, all the demons had been thoroughly devoured by him, leaving not even their bones intact.
Having eaten his fill, and having eaten well, it was getting late, so Mo Hua decided to leave.
...
As Mo Hua withdrew from his sea of consciousness, he opened his eyes to find a soft blanket covering his body.
A gentle woman, Wan'er, was by his side, looking anxious.
In the distance, several elders were arguing in low voices.
"It must be an evil spirit!"
"How could there be an evil spirit in the Gu family, with so many powerful cultivators guarding it?"
"You don't understand..."
"Evil spirits are different from evil spirits..."
An old man coldly harrumphed, "Don't try to confuse me. I've lived for hundreds of years. What haven't I encountered? Where would there be an 'invisible' evil spirit?"
"It's not that it's 'invisible,' it's that spiritual sense can't perceive it..."
"Absurd! Can't even a Golden Core or an immortal's spiritual sense detect it?"
"You're talking nonsense. I can't get through to you..."
"... Heavenly secrets and cause and effect..."
"Then what about this child..."
"His cultivation must have gone awry..."
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"... It must be an evil spirit invasion, injuring his sea of consciousness and invading his intellect. Look, his forehead is dark, his complexion is gloomy, and he's unconscious. If we don't treat him soon, I'm afraid the situation will be grim..."
The man's words were cut short as he suddenly noticed that Mo Hua had woken up...
The others were also stunned and couldn't speak.
Only the worried Wen Renwan showed a look of relief. "Mo Hua, are you alright...?"
Mo Hua nodded, "I'm fine."
A complex expression appeared on Wen Renwan's face, unsure of what to say.
The elders beside them also wore varied expressions.
Some remained expressionless, treating Mo Hua's words as mere dream talk; some shook their heads and smiled, thinking Mo Hua was speaking like a child; while others sneered, believing Mo Hua was making things up.
Not a single person thought that Mo Hua was telling the truth...
Mo Hua saw the looks on their faces and felt helpless.
There was no helping it; in this day and age, no one believed the truth.
Wen Renwan still worriedly asked, "Are you... really alright...?"
Mo Hua smiled, "Don't worry, Aunt Wen. Moreover..."
He turned his head to look at Yu'er, who lay on the bed with a relaxed expression and a calm demeanor. Mo Hua softly said, "... Yu'er also had a good night's sleep."
Wen Renwan was taken aback, then followed Mo Hua's gaze to look at Yu'er. Her expression softened, her eyes as gentle as flowing water, and the rock that had been weighing on her heart finally fell away.
"Yes, Yu'er finally... had a good night's sleep..."
She turned to Mo Hua, gratitude in her eyes.
Everyone continued to keep watch by Yu'er's side.
Mo Hua's situation had been a false alarm, and as they couldn't discern anything amiss, they stopped asking questions.
Only a few elders looked at Mo Hua with focused gazes, deep in thought.
As dawn broke, the sky was painted with morning glow, streaming in through the window.
Yu'er slowly opened his eyes, his gaze a little hazy. Then, as if remembering something, he turned his head and saw that Mo Hua was indeed by his side as promised.
A brilliant smile blossomed on Yu'er's face.
Mo Hua returned the smile gently.
...
After a peaceful night's rest, Yu'er's complexion improved, and he even had an appetite. But after eating a few mouthfuls, he would look up at Mo Hua and then close his eyes with a smile.
It seemed that being by Mo Hua's side made him feel much safer.
Mo Hua didn't draw any arrays this time but instead took the time to play with Yu'er for most of the day.
That night, Mo Hua stayed by Yu'er's side again.
The night was calm and peaceful.
Mo Hua felt relieved, yet also a little regretful.
He was glad that Yu'er could sleep soundly again, but he regretted not having any "food" for his divine sense.
Little Yu'er slept soundly and sweetly again that night, and his spirits improved even more. His face wasn't as pale as before.
However, the next day, Mo Hua had to return to the sect.
The bi-monthly break was only for two days.
Yu'er hung his head dejectedly, reluctant to part with Mo Hua, and saw him off all the way to the door.
Mo Hua promised to visit again when he had time, which finally cheered Yu'er up.
Wen Renwan sent Mo Hua off with many delicious treats and some array books and writing tools as a token of her gratitude, but she seemed to have something on her mind. She hesitated for a long time before finally speaking up: "Mo Hua..."
But she didn't know how to continue.
Mo Hua understood what Wen Renwan was worried about and smiled, "Aunt Wen, if Yu'er has nightmares again, I'll come and see him..."
Wen Renwan was taken aback, then breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at Mo Hua with even more gratitude.
...
Afterward, Mo Hua rode the Gu family's carriage back to Tai Xu Gate.
Upon returning to the sect, he spent two days absorbing and refining the group of demons and monsters, as well as the evil thoughts of the sheep horn envoy.
He then meditated to stabilize his Dao heart.
Mo Hua's divine sense finally broke through to the next level and reached sixteen strands!
Sixteen strands was the limit of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage for divine sense.
Seventeen strands would be the late-Foundation Establishment stage.
Advancing from sixteen to seventeen strands was extremely challenging, with a thick barrier in between.
However, Mo Hua wasn't in a hurry. His current level of divine sense was already very high, and he could take some time to consolidate it.
With sixteen strands, he now had enough divine sense to learn the second-grade, sixteen-strand 'Beacon Fire Primordial Magnet Array'!
But the problem now was that he didn't have enough merit points to exchange for the array.
"I need to work hard and earn more merit points..."
Mo Hua decided to ask Murong Caiyun for help.
Murong Caiyun thought for a moment and said, "There is indeed a task that isn't too difficult and offers about eighty merit points. If you want to go, we can go together."
Mo Hua nodded repeatedly, "Thank you, Senior Sister Murong!"
Eighty points was quite a lot.
It was definitely more than what he could get from drawing a first-grade array.
Murong Caiyun said gently, "The location of this task is at Bishan City, outside the boundary of Qian Xue State. The mountains there are steep, and there are many surrounding hills and rivers..."
"I'll send you the map and the task details later."
"If you have time, you can take a look at the mission details in the Tai Xu Token..."
"Okay!" Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.
Bishan City...
After he returned, he looked at the task details and studied the map of Bishan City, thinking about what he needed to prepare...
As he looked at the map, Mo Hua suddenly paused.
He recognized one of the mountains outside Bishan City.
Mo Hua recalled for a moment and realized that this mountain was the broken mountain of the "Yellow Mountain Lord."
The dilapidated mountain god, Huang Shan Jun, had his ruined temple located at the peak of this mountain.
"Xuan Ku Mountain..."
Mo Hua silently memorized the name of the mountain and decided to visit Huang Shan Jun at Xuan Ku Mountain after completing the task to find out what he was hiding about the Tai Xu Divine Thought Sword Manual.
There was something he needed to ask clearly!
Thank you all for your support and accompanying me on this cultivation journey~
Yesterday, I originally intended to let Little Mo Hua eat his fill, but I couldn't write any more, so today, I'll let him eat well...
(End of Chapter)
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