Chapter 699: Exploitation
Chapter 699: Exploitation
Mo Hua surveyed the River God Temple before him once more, his thoughts stirring.
Several hundred years ago, that sword cultivator with the long eyebrows had arrived at the River God Temple alone and killed countless evil beings within. He even pierced the River God's chest with his sword.
Fearing the sword cultivator, the River God dared not inhabit the outer temple again. Instead, he constructed a "void" River God Temple in dreams to dwell in, preventing other sword-wielding cultivators from finding and attacking him again.
This "dream" temple was almost completely isolated from the world.
Aside from the true followers of the evil god, no one likely knew of its entrance or how to enter.
This Master She was probably not an ordinary follower. Otherwise, he wouldn't have control over the real temple's entrance and the dream-entering array.
Mo Hua looked around.
Not only was he affected, but Gu An, Gu Quan, and the other Gu family cultivators, including Yu Dahe, had all been pulled into the dream and were still unconscious.
The two men in black were gone.
Their spiritual senses had been sacrificed by Master She to open the door.
Xiaoshuanzi and Xiaoshunzi were also missing.
The souls of the two children had probably entered the River God Temple long ago, but it was unknown if they had been "eaten" by the River God...
Mo Hua sighed.
"I need to find a way to get into the River God Temple and have a look."
The door to the River God Temple was closed, but there was no lock.
Mo Hua stood before the temple, about to push the door open, when his expression changed slightly, his gaze focused, and his figure gradually disappeared.
On a circular empty ground paved with stone bricks in front of the River God Temple, Master She's figure gradually appeared.
He looked around, his gaze cold and his expression triumphant as he laughed loudly:
"A bunch of pigs and cattle! You insulted me repeatedly along the way, and now you've finally fallen into my trap."
"I am the priest of the River God, and in this fishing village, I have the protection of the God Lord. What can you do to fight me?"
"All along this journey, I have endured humiliation and waited for this moment."
"I will slaughter all of you in this dream, and your spiritual senses will be destroyed. Your physical bodies will rot away eventually..."
Master She took out a blood-colored sacrificial dagger, intending to slash Gu An and the others' necks.
However, he stopped before carrying out his action, frowning, "No, this is too cheap for you..."
"Just killing you and letting you die without knowing it won't wash away my humiliation or ease the hatred in my heart."
Master She thought for a moment and then laughed sinisterly.
"That's it. I'll plant blood fish in you, turn you into sacrifices, and offer your faith to my God Lord. After squeezing out your spiritual senses, I'll refine you into half-human, half-demon monsters..."
Master She's eyes shone with excitement as he finished speaking.
He used the sacrificial dagger to cut his wrist, and the blood that flowed out condensed into an ugly, bloody monster fish in the air.
Master She grabbed the monster fish and tried to insert it into Gu An's forehead.
However, Gu An's forehead array flashed, and something seemed to protect his spiritual sense, preventing the fish from entering.
"What's going on?"
Master She frowned.
"Why can't I plant the evil thing? Who set up divine protection on them?"
A trace of anxiety arose in Master She's heart.
He always felt that something was amiss.
"Did I... forget something small?"
He looked at the people who had entered the dream again, and his expression changed slightly, "Where's that damn brat?"
"Are you looking for me?"
A crisp voice sounded from behind him.
Master She's expression changed, and as he turned his head, he felt his neck being gripped by a small but iron-hard pair of hands.
"What is this?!"
Master She's eyes widened as he tried to break free, but he found that he couldn't break free no matter what.
Although the hands were small, the force of the spiritual sense behind them was immense.
Master She gritted his teeth and stabbed the sacrificial dagger into his arm, exploding a cloud of blood that shook off the hands on his neck, barely escaping.
After stabilizing himself, Master She turned back and saw Mo Hua with a mocking expression.
However, Mo Hua seemed younger than he had appeared before, as if he had aged backward by a few years.
"Brat..."
Master She's expression was filled with disdain, but before he could finish speaking, his expression changed again, "No, who are you? Why is your spiritual sense so condensed? Why are you still conscious after entering the dream?"
Mo Hua smiled but did not answer.
Master She's expression kept changing, and finally, his gaze darkened as he coldly laughed, "Fine, brat. If you don't want to speak, don't blame me for being impolite."
Mo Hua replied with interest, his voice crisp, "Do you want to fight me?"
"Fight?" Master She twisted his mouth into a smile, "How arrogant of you... I am a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with eighteen spiritual sense threads. In this dream woven by the River God, dealing with a mere early-stage Foundation Establishment brat like you is as easy as breathing. You..."
Mo Hua moved like thunder and threw a punch.
The punch was extremely fast and heavy.
Master She didn't even have time to react before he felt a heart-wrenching pain in his abdomen, and his eyes nearly popped out.
He couldn't help but cover his stomach and slowly knelt before Mo Hua.
Mo Hua grabbed his neck and ordered, "Old fool, lead the way to see your master."
Master She's face twisted with shock, and his heart surged with disbelief.
What the hell is this brat?!
I'm a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator! How can I not even withstand a single punch from him? Is there no more respect for the rules of the Grand Dao?!
"Who... who are you?"
Master She asked through gritted teeth, enduring the pain.
Mo Hua increased the force in his hand, "Do you have the qualifications to ask me questions?"
Master She's neck was almost broken by Mo Hua, and he hurriedly said, "Little ancestor! Spare my life! I'll lead the way!"
Only then did Mo Hua let go.
Master She took a long breath and glanced at Mo Hua from the corner of his eye, his heart turning cold.
Damn, I misjudged him.
This brat is the most troublesome of all the dogs from the Way Court.
On the outside, he had the lowest cultivation, the weakest strength, and acted like a typical arrogant and brainless young master of a noble family.
But who would have thought that once he entered the nightmare, his spiritual sense would become so terrifying?
What the hell is going on?
Master She frowned, unable to figure it out no matter what.
On the other side, Mo Hua was getting impatient, "Hurry up and lead the way!"
Only then did Master She come back to his senses and repeatedly nodded, "Yes! Yes!"
Then he lowered his eyebrows and eyes and walked to the front of the River God Temple, reaching out to push open the door.
"Wait." Mo Hua suddenly said.
Master She's hand trembled, and he dared not move.
She DaShi replied, "Not yet. Entering the dream is the River God's ability. I merely set up the altar and borrowed his power; I don't have the ability to send these people out of the nightmare."
Mo Hua looked at him silently.
She DaShi's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly explained, "I really can't. I only paid my respects to the River God, offered incense at the altar, and bowed three times reverently to exit the nightmare."
"The altar..."
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed slightly as he nodded, "I understand. Lead the way."
She DaShi didn't know what Mo Hua had figured out, but he dared not ask and could only resign himself to pushing open the large doors of the River God Temple.
As the vermilion doors swung open, the interior of the River God Temple was finally revealed.
This River God Temple within the dream was even more grand and majestic than what they had seen outside.
The temple's interior was also much more spacious.
Mo Hua stepped into the temple, and before him lay a long path of white stone, flanked by intricately carved beams and painted rafters adorned with various fish demon patterns.
Walking straight ahead, after traversing some distance, they passed through the front hall's doors and arrived at the temple's square.
Upon entering the square, Mo Hua's pupils constricted in shock.
The square was filled with kneeling "people"! Moreover, these people looked vaguely familiar, and upon closer inspection, they turned out to be the fishermen and their families from the small fishing village.
Even Old Yu was among them.
Their figures were ethereal, kneeling with their heads bowed towards the depths of the River God Temple. At the same time, a hideous blood fish swam within their minds, as if swimming in water, occasionally sucking on something, causing their figures to become even more translucent.
The kneeling fishermen all wore expressions of agony, as if enduring countless nightmares within the dream, endlessly cycling through torment and offering their suffering as faith to the evil god.
Mo Hua's gaze softened with pity.
For these fishermen, happiness was fleeting, and pain lasted a lifetime.
Whether it was the noble families or the evil god, they viewed these people as mere "tools," exploiting everything they had to offer.
However, Mo Hua was puzzled by the state of these fishermen.
They were likely just ordinary cultivators who didn't follow the path of spiritual sense cultivation and wouldn't have independent "divine consciousness" incarnations.
These kneeling fishermen seemed more like...
Projections of their consciousness within the nightmare? But Mo Hua wasn't entirely sure, so he asked She DaShi, "What's the deal with these fishermen?"
She DaShi's eyes shifted, and he replied in a solemn tone, "These commoners are of low birth and live in misery. That's why they pray to the River God, beseeching him for mercy and blessings."
Mo Hua remained silent.
Seeing that Mo Hua wasn't satisfied with the answer, She DaShi continued, "To make them appreciate his grace, the River God created this dream, allowing them all to kneel and pray here, day and night without end."
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed slightly, and he understood what was happening.
Ordinary cultivators didn't possess divine consciousness.
So, the evil god wove a dream.
Within the dream, the spiritual senses of all cultivators could manifest themselves.
This nightmare was a "collective dream realm" crafted by the River God, or more accurately, the Great Wilderness Evil God himself.
Through this dream realm, the evil god could covertly maintain his followers and feed on their faith, growing stronger.
She DaShi mentioned that this dream realm was "day and night"...
This implied that the dream realm wasn't merely a dream, not the kind that occurred only during sleep...
The fishermen of the small village were constantly experiencing this dream.
It was only at night that the dream realm would manifest.
And the medium for entering the dream, or rather, the medium tainted by the evil god, was the well water that contained the blood fish.
Mo Hua recalled how he had drunk fish soup not long ago and ended up having his spiritual sense polluted, resulting in a nightmarish dream.
In that dream, he and his junior sister had gone through countless partings and reunions, never finding a peaceful ending.
After waking up, he had immediately squeezed the fish demon to death within his sea of consciousness.
If he hadn't done that, his sea of consciousness might have become more severely polluted, and he could have ended up like these villagers, dragged into this "collective nightmare" one night, never to escape or awaken, forever becoming livestock reared by the evil god.
Of course, Mo Hua wasn't afraid.
While it was a bit dangerous, with his abilities, even if he couldn't defeat a second-rate evil god, self-preservation shouldn't be a problem.
But these villagers were different...
They were utterly powerless to resist.
They might not even be aware of what was happening to them.
Mo Hua sighed inwardly.
She DaShi stood by, secretly observing Mo Hua's reactions and plotting something in his heart.
Mo Hua asked, "Can these villagers get out of the dream?"
She DaShi was startled by the question and stammered, "Don't... Don't say such things..."
He glanced around and lowered his voice, "These villagers are the foundation of the River God. If you scheme against them and anger the River God, you might not live to regret it..."
Mo Hua scoffed.
She DaShi grew anxious and quickly advised, "Little... Little Ancestor, I don't know what kind of inheritance you possess to have such powerful spiritual sense abilities at a young age, but no matter how strong your spiritual sense is, you're still just one person. How dare you offend a deity?"
"If you truly anger the River God, not only will you die, but I might also be affected..."
She DaShi added silently in his heart.
The River God's temper has never been pleasant.
Mo Hua was curious, "Have you seen the River God?"
She DaShi's face paled, "I've... seen him, but also not really. I didn't dare to look. I just knelt on the ground, not daring to lift my head..."
Mo Hua found it dull and said indifferently, "Don't worry about it. Continue leading the way."
She DaShi hesitated for a moment before continuing forward.
Mo Hua walked a few steps and noticed that She DaShi had stopped, so he turned and frowned, "Why aren't you moving?"
She DaShi hesitated, "It's dangerous ahead. I think it's best if you don't go any further."
"Why?"
"It's too risky..."
"It doesn't matter. Lead the way."
She DaShi's eyes widened, "I don't want to go there..."
"Then are you planning to leave your life here?" Mo Hua threatened with an innocent expression.
She DaShi hated him with all his heart.
A tiger that falls to the plains will be bullied by a dog! You damn brat, just you wait!
Fine, if you want to court death, I don't mind showing you the way.
The back hall was locked with a huge lock.
An ominous aura emanated from behind the door.
Mo Hua glanced at She DaShi.
She DaShi gritted his teeth and took out the sacrificial dagger from his body. He stabbed it into his arm, allowing the dagger to fill with blood before inserting it into the lock.
The lock trembled as if a demon beast was opening its eyes, sucking in the fresh blood.
After a while, the lock finished absorbing the blood and automatically opened with a "creak."
She DaShi's hand trembled as he cautiously opened the lock.
As the door opened, a gust of cold wind blew towards them, carrying a putrid stench.
Mo Hua found the stench vaguely familiar.
As he stepped inside, Mo Hua was stunned, his expression filled with disbelief.
The back hall of the River God Temple contained countless iron cages, at least several hundred, each holding a captive that was either fish-headed, human-bodied, or pieced together with demonic claws.
These demons resembled the flesh-and-blood demons outside, but they were all evil spirits!
In that instant, Mo Hua's mind raced, and he suddenly understood many things.
He finally realized where the deformed and bizarre demons in Yu'er's nightmares came from.
He also understood why the evil god had been creating so many flesh-and-blood demons outside.
He knew how the evil god had been expanding his influence through his teachings and gaining followers.
The human traffickers were merely his lackeys.
The evil god's true power lay in the two terrifying types of demons under his command.
One was the flesh-and-blood demons, and the other was the evil spirit demons.
One was physical, and the other was spiritual.
The flesh-and-blood demons could harm cultivators' physical bodies and contaminate their meridians and spiritual energy seas.
The evil spirit demons could invade cultivators' seas of consciousness and, within the nightmares woven by the evil god, devour their spiritual senses with impunity.
With this realization, Mo Hua suddenly felt a sharp pain in his spiritual sense.
Cruel scenes flashed through his mind, like a carousel, flickering through his thoughts...
The bloody fishing village, the kneeling fishermen worshipping, their faith corrupted by the fallen River God.
Their suffering became the foundation of their faith.
Their faith, in turn, nourished the evil god.
The evil god devoured the fishermen's faith.
Once their faith was completely devoured and their spiritual senses exhausted, the evil god raised his butcher's knife, using the black-robed men as his pawns to annihilate the entire fishing village.
The dead villagers' bodies, mixed with demonic beast flesh, were refined through an evil array with blood, forming deformed and terrifying flesh-and-blood demons.
This blood array was extremely cruel and caused immense pain and resentment.
This pain and resentment, combined with the blood-and-flesh demons, would give birth to "evil spirits" in their true form.
Mo Hua drew in a cold breath.
These poor fishermen...
Their living faith was used to nourish the evil god.
After their faith was drained, they were slaughtered, and their mutilated bodies were used to create demons.
Even after death, their lingering spiritual senses were fermented with blood refinement to give birth to evil spirits.
In life and death, they were exploited to the very last drop.
Mo Hua's chest tightened, and a surge of murderous intent rose within him.
On the other side, She DaShi saw that Mo Hua was standing still, seemingly lost in thought. He sneered inwardly and quietly gripped the sacrificial dagger in his palm.
The blade cut into his palm, and the blood that dripped onto the ground formed strange blood-colored patterns.
The demons sensed the blood and became restless.
She DaShi was fearful, but he clenched his teeth and continued to bleed, creating more patterns.
These patterns, like keys, flowed along the ground and into the cages, unlocking the doors.
In no time, demonic energy filled the air.
The hideous demons emerged from their cages, their eyes glowing red as they stared at Mo Hua.
Mo Hua snapped out of his thoughts and regarded the demons with a calm expression.
At the same time, She DaShi suddenly stabbed the dagger into his chest, causing a large amount of blood to burst forth and rush towards Mo Hua. As it neared, the blood condensed into a blood-colored array, trapping Mo Hua in place, immobilizing him.
She DaShi's face turned pale, and his figure became slightly translucent, but he couldn't hide his smug smile as he said, "Little brat, you never expected this, did you? I'm actually an array master!"
"This is a gift from the God Lord. I've spent my entire life researching blood sacrifice arrays. Within the dream woven by the God Lord, this blood sacrifice array, using blood as ink and dreams as a medium, is invincible."
"You will be trapped here, torn apart and devoured by these demons, piece by piece..."
"They've been hungry for a long time..." She DaShi finished and turned to leave.
He had to escape before the demons finished eating Mo Hua; otherwise, these ravenous demons might turn on him as well.
Aside from the God Lord, these demons listened to no one.
She DaShi's retreating figure was filled with panic. However, before he had gone far, he felt a strange aura behind him, and he turned his head, his pupils shaking.
He saw hundreds of demons with formidable auras surrounding the young boy, layer upon layer, leaving no space for escape.
Despite their menacing appearance, the numerous hideous demons only dared to snarl and drool from three feet away, their eyes glowing with greed but not daring to approach, as if they were... afraid of something.
No, not afraid.
These demons were on high alert, and they were... terrified of something!
Terror?
She DaShi's heart turned cold.
Then he saw Mo Hua, who was surrounded by the demons. His eyes turned cold, and his body was enveloped in a strange spiritual aura. In an instant, three layers of ink-black shadows appeared, like three layers of robes draped over his body.
Mo Hua spread his arms, and the shadows followed his movements, leaving afterimages.
In the blink of an eye, his spiritual aura surged.
On the ground, intricate array patterns appeared like rising tides, spreading wildly like vines.
In just a few breaths, a majestic and overwhelming mountain fire killing array was formed.
Mo Hua's eyes were pitch-black and pure, and he murmured, "Kill!"
His spiritual aura boiled, and the array exploded, sending a fierce flame hurricane toward the demons, incinerating them all in an instant.
She DaShi's eyes widened in horror, and his legs turned soft, causing him to fall to the ground. He struggled a few times but couldn't get up.
When he looked up again, he saw Mo Hua standing in front of him.
"Try any more tricks, and I'll squeeze you to death."
(End of Chapter)
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