Chapter 711: Divine Battle
Chapter 711: Divine Battle
Several days later, in a secret chamber within the forbidden land...
Mr. Tu, having shed his polite and cultured facade to reveal his true form, knelt before the horned god statue with a terrified expression on his emaciated face, which was as pale as death.
His body was flayed and torn, his limbs twisted and contorted as he lay prostrate on the ground.
His spiritual sense was also submerged in the boundless Great Desolation Purgatory, enduring various tortures such as tongue extraction, finger clipping, chest piercing, and steam roasting.
In his agony, he was on the brink of despair.
This was divine punishment.
It was the wrath of the Lord of the Great Desolation, inflicted upon him for failing to accomplish his tasks satisfactorily.
The altar had been occupied, the divine authority usurped, and the demon army had suffered heavy casualties.
The fury of the Lord was unprecedented.
As Mr. Tu endured the torment of the purgatory, the roar of the Lord still reverberated in his mind, causing him to tremble in fear.
After a prolonged period of torture, the punishment finally ceased.
Mr. Tu's spiritual sense was redeemed from the Great Desolation Purgatory, no longer subjected to the agonizing torment of despair.
His blood flowed back into his body, and his flesh slowly began to heal.
However, the pain of the divine punishment was like a red-hot branding iron, searing deep into Mr. Tu's sea of consciousness, something he would never forget in this life.
Struggling, Mr. Tu knelt on the ground, his breath faint and his voice filled with piety:
"Thunder and rain, all are the great blessings of the Lord..."
"Thank the Lord for the chastisement..."
In the secret chamber, the oppressive malevolent thoughts gradually subsided.
Mr. Tu took a deep breath and forced himself to murmur in a trembling voice:
"The majesty of the gods is as high as the heavens, while human life is as insignificant as an ant..."
"Humans... cannot fathom the gods, covet their divine positions, nor dare to usurp their authority..."
"Yes... no one could possibly do such a thing..."
Mr. Tu muttered in fear.
He couldn't think of anyone, nor could he fathom any means by which a mere mortal could steal the exalted position of a god and wield the power of the Lord.
No one, no matter what means, could possibly achieve such a feat! Even the very thought of "usurping divine authority" was a grave insult to the Lord. To actually attempt it would be blasphemy!
Yet, the authority of the Lord had indeed been stolen, and His majesty had been offended.
The Lord's servants had also suffered heavy casualties.
Thus, Mr. Tu dared to make a bold speculation.
Kneeling, he gritted his teeth and spoke with a heart filled with dread:
"A 'human' could never commit such an outrageous act!"
"This is not the doing of a human plotting in the shadows."
"It is the work of a god, no, more likely, an 'evil god'!"
"This evil god is an enemy of the Lord, secretly coveting His position, desecrating His altar, and usurping His authority!"
"Only a god can contend with another god!"
"This 'evil god' is the true mastermind behind all of this!"
The malevolent thoughts in the room suddenly surged.
A furious and violent will permeated the surroundings.
Mr. Tu prostrated himself, not daring to utter a word or move, his fingers trembling slightly.
After a moment, the violence subsided, and the atmosphere calmed.
The Lord did not reprimand Mr. Tu.
It seemed that He had acknowledged Mr. Tu's speculation.
Since the mastermind was an evil god, then all of this was the scheme of another "evil god."
Mr. Tu, merely a mortal, regardless of his cultivation or devotion, could never be a match for an "evil god."
It was even more impossible for him to anticipate the evil schemes of another "evil god."
As Mr. Tu trembled in fear, he suddenly felt a powerful malevolent thought enter his sea of consciousness.
His spiritual sense became more bloody, more sinister, more chaotic, and yet, stronger.
Moreover, it seemed to contain deeper understandings of formation techniques.
These were formation techniques forcibly extracted from the minds of certain formation masters!
Mr. Tu's eyes trembled with excitement.
This was a blessing from the Lord!
The Lord was still dormant and had not yet awakened, so many matters still depended on him.
Especially now, facing a possible "evil god," the future was unpredictable.
Hence, the Lord bestowed His power and granted this inheritance to ensure absolute success.
The grand plan of the Lord could not afford even the slightest mishap!
Overwhelmed with gratitude, Mr. Tu kowtowed and knelt, then slowly raised his head, his eyes deep with determination as he said:
"The Great Void Sect is the evil god's follower."
"The Gu family, Gu Changhai, is the evil god's minion."
"This will be a 'divine battle,' forged with the blood and flesh of mortals!"
"The authority of the Lord shall begin in the Great Desolation and descend upon Qian Province!"
...
At this very moment, Mo Hua, whom Mr. Tu considered an "evil god," was lazily sunbathing on the grass.
Yu'er, having finished her homework, rolled happily by his side.
The demons of the Great Desolation had suffered heavy losses at Mo Hua's hands.
The pressure in Yu'er's nightmares had lessened significantly, and she slept soundly every night, her personality becoming more cheerful.
Mo Hua played with Yu'er while flipping through the Great Void Token.
He was looking for a few two-star, seventeen-pattern formation techniques to study.
Ideally, he wanted to find some from the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams system, which he was most familiar with, making it easier to start and gradually progress to other advanced two-star formation techniques.
Lying on the soft grass, Mo Hua browsed for a while before shaking his head and sighing.
"Too expensive..."
A typical two-star, seventeen-pattern formation technique cost four to five hundred merit points.
Mo Hua currently had two thousand merit points, which was already a lot for a newly initiated Qi Refining Stage disciple.
In fact, he had accumulated even more.
He earned merit points by drawing formations, taking on bounties, and occasionally doing tasks for Uncle Gu, who would slip him some extra points.
Mo Hua had far more ways to earn merit points than the average disciple.
However, learning formation techniques was also costly, so he spent a lot.
These two thousand merit points seemed like a lot, but they could only buy four or five seventeen-pattern formation techniques, which wasn't a small number but also wasn't abundant.
And while he could exchange them, he would be left with very few merit points afterward.
Coming from a poor background, Mo Hua didn't feel secure unless he had over a thousand merit points saved up in the Great Void Token.
"Merit points..."
Mo Hua suddenly remembered that he had some merit points pending at the Dao Court.
It was the reward Uncle Gu had promised him for helping to capture Huo Fotuo.
That reward was still going through the tedious processes of the Dao Court.
It was taking far too long...
Mo Hua sighed.
Mo Hua planned to send a reminder.
During the day, Uncle Gu was busy with the affairs of the Dao Court, so it wasn't convenient to disturb him.
After his classes in the evening, Mo Hua sent him a message:
"Uncle Gu, what about my merit points? Have they arrived yet?"
Gu Changhai took the time of a stick of incense to reply, as he was busy with something. Finally, he responded:
"What merit points?"
Mo Hua's face darkened, "The merit points for Huo Fotuo!"
"Oh."
Only then did Gu Changhai remember.
"It should be soon. I'll go remind them tomorrow, and it should be approved and transferred to the Great Void Sect in a couple of days."
Mo Hua was delighted, and immediately changed his expression, saying, "Thank you, Uncle Gu."
"Mhm."
Gu Changhai replied indifferently.
"By the way," Mo Hua thought for a moment and then asked, "What about that Jin young master's matter? "
Gu Changhai remained silent for a while.
Mo Hua said, "Just tell me a little bit..."
There were some things that the Dao Court had to keep confidential and could not be revealed, which Mo Hua was also clear about.
Gu Changhai sighed, "Telling you a little won't hurt..."
Since they had caught Jin Yicai and his group, Mo Hua could also be considered to have made a great contribution.
Gu Changhai said, "Xie Liu is temporarily being held in the Dao Prison, charged with attacking the Dao Court's Dian Si. As for the other crimes, we are still unable to confirm them..."
"The other few Duan Jin Men disciples are also being detained. Duan Jin Men is trying to get them out, but it's all being done in secret, so the outcome is unknown."
"As for that Jin young master, the Dao Court has issued a document and already released him..."
"Released him?! " Mo Hua was taken aback.
Gu Changhai sighed, "That Jin young master, his name is Jin Yicai, and he is from the main lineage of Duan Jin Men. Just as he said, his great-grandfather used to be the sect master of Duan Jin Men, his grandfather is the grand elder, his father is the deputy sect master, and his mother is a true-passing elder..."
"His father's lineage has held high positions in Duan Jin Men for generations, and his mother's lineage has connections to one of the Seven Gables of the Central Dao Court, making them quite influential in the Dao State."
"Jin Yicai is the child of the union of these two great families..."
Gu Changhai sneered, "However, the union of these two great families produced this Jin Yicai, a despicable and arrogant child who has no regard for anyone and is now utterly lawless..."
Mo Hua frowned, "So this... Jin Yicai, he has clearly violated the Dao Laws, trafficking cultivators and refining human pills. How can the Dao Court just let him go?"
"That's where the problem lies..."
Gu Changhai sighed, "He pushed all the blame onto others. He claimed that he knew nothing about the trafficking of cultivators, and that the private refining of human pills had nothing to do with him."
"His father used Duan Jin Men's connections to plead with the Dao Court."
"His mother used her family's connections to pressure the Dao State through the Central Dao Court."
"She even went to the Dao Court herself and said, 'Jin Yicai is young and ignorant, just a child. How could he know anything? If he did something wrong, either someone framed him or someone instigated him in secret...'
She also said, 'I've watched this child grow up since he was little, and he has always been well-behaved, diligent in his cultivation, filial to his elders, and even the elders of the Dao State hold him in high regard...'"
Gu Changhai's expression was filled with ridicule, but it eventually turned into helplessness.
"Duan Jin Men is one of the twelve streams of the Qian Xue State, and to some extent, it also symbolizes the face of the Qian Xue State. We can't let such a big scandal be exposed."
"The Dao Court is constrained by various factors and is very cautious, so it's difficult to proceed with this case."
Mo Hua's expression became complex.
Whether it was true or false, Jin Yicai might be a "well-behaved and filial child" in front of his parents and elders.
But in the eyes of other cultivators, he was a despicable animal.
Such a big incident could be suppressed.
Anyone who entered the Dao Court could be rescued.
For a moment, Mo Hua couldn't distinguish whether the true evil lay in the "evil god" or in the "human heart".
"Be careful, Jin Yicai holds grudges and has seen you before. After this humiliation, he might seek revenge on you."
After saying this, Gu Changhai felt apologetic.
If they could have dealt with Jin Yicai in the Dao Court, Mo Hua wouldn't have to face these risks.
Unfortunately, he was just a Dian Si, not a Palm Si.
If he were a Palm Si with sufficient authority, he would have executed Jin Yicai, this little animal, without hesitation!
"Mhm, Uncle Gu, don't worry," Mo Hua said.
He wasn't afraid of Jin Yicai.
Once he learned the seventeen-pattern formation techniques, he would be even less afraid of him.
He just needed to be careful of Duan Jin Men's lackeys.
However, that was also manageable.
In the future, he would either stay in the sect or only visit second-rate states, being careful in the second-rate states would keep him out of Duan Jin Men's reach.
On the other hand, Uncle Gu would likely be hated by Jin Yicai, his family, and most of Duan Jin Men, and perhaps even targeted by the claws of other evil gods.
"Uncle Gu, you also be careful," Mo Hua advised.
"Mhm." Gu Changhai replied nonchalantly.
Mo Hua didn't know if he truly understood the seriousness of the situation.
However, no matter what, Uncle Gu was a Jin Dan and a Dian Si of the Dao Court, so it wasn't Mo Hua's place, as a small Qi Refining disciple, to be concerned about him.
After chatting with Gu Changhai, Mo Hua focused on studying formation techniques.
He specifically chose a second-rate, high-level seventeen-pattern formation technique called the "Metal Suppressing Array" from the Great Void Token.
This was an array that suppressed the five elemental energies.
As the name suggested, the Metal Suppressing Array inhibited the circulation of metal-attributed spiritual energy, weakening the power of metal-based spells or sword techniques.
"Let's start with something simple and learn this Metal Suppressing Array as a backup..."
"If Duan Jin Men dares to provoke me in the future, then I'll learn more, or even create a whole set of arrays specifically to counter metal-based sword techniques!"
Mo Hua thought to himself.
After midnight, Mo Hua's spiritual sense sank into his sea of consciousness, and he practiced the Metal Suppressing Array on the Dao Stele over and over again.
This was also the first second-rate high-level formation technique that Mo Hua had learned.
The Metal Suppressing Array was quite difficult, and Mo Hua didn't master it in one night.
The next day, after his classes, he was just about to continue practicing when a disciple came to find him, "Mo Hua, I just passed by the Merit Hall, and the Merit Elder asked you to come and see him."
"Merit Elder?"
Mo Hua was taken aback, and then his eyes lit up.
Even if one doted on Mo Hua, they shouldn't indulge and spoil him like this, pulling him along too quickly.
He was merely a disciple of the Great Void Sect, not your great-grandson! Not even a great-grandson deserves this!
The sect had its rules, and while it was fine to occasionally bend some rules, tampering with something as fundamental as the merit system that governed the entire sect's structure was unacceptable!
Elder Merits angrily marched to find Elder Xu.
Arriving at the Elder's residence, he knocked on Elder Xu's door. Once the attendant disciple had shown him in, he sat down and sipped his tea in silence.
Half a stick of incense time later, Elder Xu emerged from his inner room, deep in thought, only to be surprised by the sight of the disgruntled Elder Merits.
"Why are you here?" Elder Xu asked, his expression filled with surprise.
Elder Merits sighed, "Master Uncle, there should be a limit to spoiling a disciple. Some rules can be bent, but some must not be broken..."
"Without rules, there can be no order."
"What you're doing isn't showing love to your disciple; it's harming him..."
Elder Xu frowned, "Have you been training so hard that you've damaged your brain? What are you babbling about?"
Elder Merits sighed, "Don't play dumb with me."
He placed a letter stamped with the spiritual seal of the Dao Court on the table. "This merit reward, wasn't it you who pulled some strings with your old friends, the high officials of the Dao Court, to get it specially approved?"
Elder Xu slowly picked up the letter and glanced at it, his eyes widening in surprise.
Mo Hua?
Eight thousand merits?
Special approval from the Dao Court?
Elder Xu blinked, then read it again to confirm he hadn't misread, his heart suddenly filled with mixed emotions.
The Dao Court... Why would they give Mo Hua eight thousand merits? What has Mo Hua done? Or rather, what is the Dao Court up to?
Seeing Elder Xu's astonished expression, Elder Merits remained silent, his heart sinking as he realized he might have been too rash.
Elder Merits shifted uncomfortably and tentatively asked, "Master Uncle... This merit reward, did you not pull some strings..."
Elder Xu gave him an indifferent look.
Elder Merits quickly smiled apologetically, "It was my impudence as your disciple to suspect you, Master Uncle, with your noble character and impartiality..."
Elder Xu said, "If you continue to act without thinking, go to the back mountain and sweep the dust from your Master Uncle's sword tomb. As for the position of Elder Merits, I'll have it given to your junior sister."
Elder Merits broke out in a cold sweat and quickly said, "Master Uncle, spare me! I... The Merit Hall is very busy, and I won't disturb your cultivation..."
After speaking, he quickly got up, bowed, and then hurried off.
Elder Xu shook his head and then focused his gaze on the letter in his hand, deep in thought.
This child, Mo Hua, seemed a little different from the impression he had.
(End of Chapter)
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