Chapter 859: The Malevolent Fetus
Chapter 859: The Malevolent Fetus
With Mr. Wu's divine soul extinguished, the remnants of his divine consciousness, tinged with a bloody hue, dissipated into the surroundings.
This could have been "consumed," but Mr. Wu, though transformed into a night-fork, was still human at heart. Moreover, he had a taste for human flesh, which made Mo Hua somewhat reluctant to eat him. With no appetite, he condensed a fireball and incinerated the remaining divine consciousness.
Such corrupt fare was of little consequence.
There were far better things waiting for him.
He had to save his appetite for the main course!
Now, with Xie Liu, Shui Yanluo, Xiao Zhenhai, and Mr. Wu all dead, almost all the enemies in the Dragon King Temple had been eliminated.
Under the guidance of the "loyal" believers of the God of Great Wasteland, Mo Hua, as the "sacrifice," finally ascended to the altar of the Great Wasteland God.
The divine essence within Mo Hua began to flow, and a faint golden light enveloped his body. His eyes turned dark gold, exuding an aura of authority and depth, making him appear like a deity.
He then seated himself on the altar.
The altar welcomed the false "god," who, despite being a fraud, bore a striking resemblance to the Great Wasteland God.
In fact, he had once truly stolen part of the Great Wasteland God's authority, exercising power on behalf of the deity. Now, standing on the altar, he felt as if he had returned home.
The altar, adhering to its "loyalty," bestowed authority upon this false god.
In that instant, countless laws of the Dao, like a rain of stars, cascaded down.
The light converged, transformed, and wove together, forming an endless, vast stream of light.
The light stream rose like a towering tree, branching out and covering the entire world.
The Tree of Divine Authority!
Seated on the altar, Mo Hua's clear eyes once again witnessed the exquisite and terrifying flow of Dao laws, merging and intertwining, reaching from the heavens to the earth.
He had seen this scene before, but it still left him in awe and longing.
"The gods are born from the Dao, and the great Dao they embody, the divine authority granted by heaven, is merely a branch of this towering divine tree."
"If one day, I could fully comprehend the entire Tree of Divine Authority, mastering the myriad Dao laws that flow like meteors, all converging in my heart, would that mean I could... achieve immortality?"
Mo Hua thought, somewhat whimsically.
Of course, he understood that this path was still long and arduous.
His understanding of the laws of the universe was still only a superficial glimpse.
The divine authority of the Great Wasteland God seemed boundless, and he could not fully comprehend or control it, let alone the legendary "Tree of Divine Authority" that stretched from heaven to earth.
The path to immortality was long and arduous.
Mo Hua gathered his thoughts.
"Let's focus on getting a full meal first..."
Using his divine consciousness, he communicated with the altar, locating the Tree of Divine Authority of the Great Wasteland God within the intricate web of cosmic laws.
Mo Hua stole the divine authority and took control of the Great Wasteland God's Tree of Divine Authority.
In that moment, the divine authority connected with his consciousness.
The branches of the Great Wasteland's divine tree unfolded, with each node lighting up one by one. Within these nodes, the myriad demons and evil spirits, nurtured by the malevolent god, came under his control.
Of course, the top of the Tree of Divine Authority remained shrouded in mist.
This was because Mo Hua was at most a young "god" and lacked the divine power to dispel the mist and touch the highest authority of the Great Wasteland God.
However, this was enough.
Why would he need such great power just to order a meal?
Mo Hua, perceiving the demonic nodes, began to search for "Yu'er."
Yu'er was easy to find.
In the divine system of the Great Wasteland God, Yu'er's status was unique, and her node was brighter than the others.
Her aura was purer, devoid of the corrupt and bloody stench of the other nodes, and instead, carried the innocence of a child.
Mo Hua found Yu'er almost instantly.
But as he looked at her node, he frowned.
"It seems... darker than before. The aura of innocence has faded, and the aura of strangeness has intensified..."
Why?
Yu'er had been with him, happy and carefree, like a little sparrow, running around every day. How could her aura be worse than before?
Was it an illusion?
Or had he been killing fewer demons recently, allowing Yu'er's nightmares to be oppressed again?
Mo Hua sighed. "No choice. For Yu'er's sake, I'll have to force myself to eat more this time..."
With renewed vigor, he began to order his meal.
This time, he had more experience.
Which demons were strong, which were weak;
Which demons were "fatty," which were "lean";
Which demons seemed strong but were easily defeated with a single punch;
Which demons looked weak but were troublesome to kill...
Some demons were too malevolent, appearing fat but yielding little pure consciousness after their evil thoughts were refined.
Others looked lean, but their malevolence was concentrated in their heads. Decapitating them left a surprising amount of pure consciousness after a bit of refinement.
These were all insights he had gained from his long experience in "hunting," "refining," and "tasting" the consciousness of demons.
Unfortunately, he had no fellow cultivators to share these insights with, which was somewhat regrettable.
Mo Hua shook his head and continued to order his meal.
Compared to before, his appetite was much greater this time.
His nineteen-strand divine consciousness was nearing the peak of the Foundation Stage. Even without considering the qualitative change from divine consciousness, the sheer quantity of divine consciousness already gave him a significant advantage over most second-tier demons.
This meant that most second-tier demons were no longer enough to satisfy his "appetite."
And to advance from nineteen to twenty patterns of divine consciousness, he would need to consume an enormous amount of demons and evil spirits.
Therefore, he had to make the most of every opportunity to "order a meal."
"Start with a thousand bovine demons..."
"Five hundred wolf-headed demons."
"One hundred pig-headed demons... not enough?
"Then fifty should do for now."
"The Ram Horn Executor, a bit too few, let's make it seven..."
"This node looks good, so let's do all of them..."
...
On the altar, Mo Hua was like a rat in a rice granary, happily selecting the offerings.
But as he went on, he suddenly froze, sensing something amiss. It seemed someone, or something, was watching him from behind.
Mo Hua slowly turned his head, his pupils narrowing.
Indeed, there was something behind him.
It was an infant, covered in black blood, as if it had just hatched from an embryo. Blood and amniotic fluid clung to its body, making it look dirty and bloodstained.
Its eyes were pitch black, and it had two ram horns on its head, exuding an ancient, powerful, and obscure aura.
It stared at Mo Hua with an empty, indifferent gaze.
Their eyes met.
A golden divine child looked at a newly hatched black-blooded infant.
The air around them became deathly silent.
A sense of foreboding crept into Mo Hua's heart.
"Damn, I seem to have run into a big one..."
The next moment, the black-blooded infant, resembling an "evil baby," spoke in a baby-like, muddled voice, filled with a hint of cruelty.
Mo Hua frowned, unable to understand its words.
The black ram-horned evil infant continued to watch Mo Hua with cold, vacant eyes, a hint of confusion in its gaze.
It seemed to have just been born and was trying to recall something. After a moment, a glimmer of understanding appeared in its eyes. It looked at Mo Hua and spoke in a halting, unfamiliar voice:
"You are... meant for me... to eat..."
Mo Hua's expression changed, and he felt a warning in his heart. He immediately darted away.
As he moved, a black, demonic claw descended, striking the spot where he had been. Dark energy surged, as if tormented souls were tearing at the air.
If that claw had caught him, his divine soul would have been damaged.
Mo Hua's expression turned cold, and he pointed a finger, sending a fiery ball hurtling toward the ram-horned evil infant.
The evil infant merely raised a hand, effortlessly blocking the fireball.
A look of anger appeared on its deformed, youthful face.
"Eat..."
In the next moment, it slowly stood up, dark thoughts swirling around it, transforming into a black mist that rushed toward Mo Hua.
"Just born, and you want to eat me?"
Mo Hua's face darkened, and he didn't hold back. Golden light surged from his body, clashing with the dark, evil aura.
Around the altar, the two powerful divine consciousnesses collided, sending shockwaves that knocked over tables, shattered offerings, and cracked the statues.
At the center of the shock, the golden Mo Hua and the black-blooded evil infant engaged in battle.
Fist against fist, foot against foot.
This was the most basic and essential clash of divine consciousness.
Each exchange of blows caused the altar to shake.
The evil infant grew more brutal with each strike, while Mo Hua became increasingly fierce.
Fists and feet collided, golden and black light intertwining. For a moment, the two divine consciousnesses were evenly matched, neither able to gain the upper hand.
The evil infant's expression grew increasingly stern.
Mo Hua became increasingly alarmed.
He couldn't win...
Since he had embarked on the path of divine consciousness and swallowed divine marrow, achieving a small success in his Dao, he had always dominated in divine consciousness battles, defeating evil spirits and monsters with a single punch.
There was no monster he couldn't defeat with one punch.
If not, then two.
But in this short time, he had already exchanged nearly a hundred blows with the little black ram-horned infant and still couldn't subdue it.
Worse, Mo Hua vaguely sensed that this ram-horned "evil infant" might be stronger than him in terms of divine soul.
Its weakness lay in the technique of divine consciousness.
It seemed to have just hatched, with "memories" yet to fully return, leaving it with only the instinct to fight, but its combat techniques were very clumsy, and it had no special abilities.
However, as it battled Mo Hua, it gradually learned, adapted, and regained its memories.
Its gaze became more cunning.
Its combat techniques became smoother.
The "memories" etched into its divine soul gradually awakened.
Even more frighteningly, during the exchange of blows, it began to use other techniques, summoning dark clouds, evil mists, blood hands, ghost chains, soul-piercing spikes, ram-bone spears, and demonic formations.
These techniques were varied, dark, and cruel.
Mo Hua felt the pressure increase, and he could only counter each move, channeling divine consciousness to manifest fireballs, water blades, flowing sands, wooden traps, and earth burials, interspersed with various elemental and trigram formations.
On the divine consciousness altar, dark clouds covered the sky, evil mists surged, and various elemental spells and formation patterns bombarded each other.
This was a true battle of deities.
Even with Mr. Wu's strength, had he not died earlier, he would have died dozens, if not hundreds, of times from the mere aftereffects of this battle.
After hundreds more exchanges, the ram-horned evil infant, seemingly guided by an unseen force, suddenly grasped something. It summoned a giant ram-horned demonic statue from behind, and with a massive hand, it struck down at Mo Hua.
Mo Hua hadn't expected this move. Caught off guard, he could only set up an Iron Wall Formation for protection and then channel golden light to cover his body, enduring the blow of the demonic statue.
The giant hand descended, blocking out the sky.
Then a thunderous boom echoed.
The Iron Wall Formation glowed, holding for a moment before shattering. The giant hand struck Mo Hua.
For a moment, evil mists surged like a tide, and golden light shattered.
The clash sent divine consciousness rippling out like river waves.
When everything settled, Mo Hua still stood, his divine consciousness unshaken, but his face was slightly pale.
The evil infant did not make another move.
After battling Mo Hua, its instincts were triggered, and its innate memories seemed to have recovered significantly. Its eyes were now more animated.
Now, as it looked at Mo Hua, its once empty eyes held more thought and confusion:
"You are very strong... like a deity, but you are not one."
"You have humanity, but you are not entirely human."
"You lack divine abilities, but you use formations..."
"Strange... in my memory inheritance, there seems to be... no existence like you..."
Its voice was halting and hoarse, clearly young but very dark, with a hint of a tearing sound.
Finally, he turned to Mo Hua, solemnly saying:
"Submit to me, and I will forgive your sins."
"Submit to me, and serve me with all your heart."
"Once I fully awaken, I will bestow upon you supreme divine power, a revered status, and unparalleled authority..."
Mo Hua’s eyelids twitched.
Fully awaken...
Could this demonic infant be one of the Great Wasteland Evil God’s “bodies”?
Or perhaps, it is a true “divine embryo” of the Great Wasteland’s ruler?!
"This is bad..."
MoHua’s divine soul throbbed with pain.
His previous “Divine Spirit Sword” had been used too many times, first to kill Water Yama, then to intimidate Xiao Zhenhai. The accumulated injuries were now bursting forth.
Now, in a hurried battle with this near-divine embryo, the little black lamb, after so many rounds, he had even been struck by the lamb’s magical image. Despite his strong divine consciousness, he was struggling to hold on.
More dangerously, if this little black lamb was truly a “divine embryo”...
That would mean it was born with the innate memories of the Great Wasteland’s evil deity.
He had only lived for twenty years, while the Great Wasteland’s evil deity had lived for countless millennia. The knowledge, power, cunning, and abilities of the deity were far beyond his own.
MoHua had just realized this.
This little black lamb, in the process of battling him, was gradually awakening its innate memories, learning its inherited “legacy.” Not only was its divine consciousness growing stronger, but its methods were becoming more diverse.
It would even use its innate abilities instinctively, ones it didn’t even know it possessed.
And in the process, MoHua had become the “whetstone” for this lamb-angled demonic infant, this divine embryo of the evil deity.
MoHua’s face darkened.
He had always been the one grinding others.
He never expected to be the one being ground.
Being used as a “whetstone” was not something he would tolerate, for fear of breaking the blade.
MoHua inwardly sneered.
But he knew he needed to find a way to end this battle quickly and deal with this divine embryo.
Otherwise, once it fully awakened and mastered its inheritance, he would be no match for it with his current strength.
MoHua looked at the lamb-angled demonic infant and asked:
"Are you the ‘divine embryo’?"
The lamb-angled demonic infant sternly replied, "You should address me as ‘Lord.’ Submit to me, and you will live as long as the heavens and earth, enduring through countless calamities..."
MoHua inwardly scoffed.
He would have to be mad to believe the grand promises of the evil deity.
"Submitting to you is fine, but you must agree to one condition," MoHua said.
The demonic infant’s expression darkened.
Clearly, it did not like haggling.
For so many years, almost no one had dared to haggle with it, the revered evil deity.
Power, fame,disaster, and misfortune—all bestowed by the deity, and mortals had no right to refuse.
But the person before it was no ordinary mortal.
And its divine body had yet to fully awaken, its grand plans still incomplete.
This powerful semi-divine body, still in its youth, would become its sharpest divine sword once it submitted.
"What condition?" the demonic infant asked heavily.
MoHua said, "I have a big appetite and eat a lot."
The demonic infant recalled and then indifferently replied, "No problem. I have thousands of demons under my command, for you to devour."
MoHua shook his head. "My appetite has grown, and I look down on them. If you want me to submit, you must cut some of your divine marrow for me to eat every day."
Upon hearing this, the demonic infant was enraged, and the atmosphere around them became oppressively heavy.
Cut divine marrow?
What audacity!
This creature was heartless and wildly arrogant, not worth “taming.”
The demonic infant extended its ugly hand, intending to summon the evil deity’s magical image to suppress and slowly refine MoHua to death.
But before it could, MoHua raised his hand and silently said:
"Kill!"
As he spoke, a killing array abruptly activated.
Taking advantage of their conversation, MoHua had already gathered his divine consciousness and prepared. When the demonic infant let its guard down in anger, MoHua suddenly struck, manifesting the Fire Mountain Burial Array, which combined trapping and killing.
Rocks rose, forming a prison cage.
The Fire Mountain burned fiercely, flames like a sea.
The demonic infant was powerful, and the battle could not last long. To kill the enemy in one strike, MoHua held nothing back.
The vast divine consciousness-formed array burned the entire altar domain to ashes, the flames sweeping away everything.
When the flames subsided, the demonic infant’s figure slowly emerged.
Its body was scorched and blackened, black blood and ash mingling, covered in wounds.
Its body, burned by the powerful array, was grotesquely deformed, and its gaze was filled with rage.
This was a grave insult, a great humiliation!
It must be thrown into the three thousand great prisons, to be burned by hellfire and devoured by demons, suffering endless torment for eternity!
"Your array is indeed powerful, but do you think this can kill me?"
The demonic infant’s voice was fierce with anger.
"Of course not..."
MoHua’s clear voice rang out.
The demonic infant froze, suddenly turning its head to find MoHua standing behind it, his eyes gleaming with stunning golden light.
"This is..."
The demonic infant’s heart chilled.
"Divine Spirit Sword!"
MoHua whispered.
Then, intense golden sword qi surged around him, intertwining behind him to form a vast sword prison.
The sword prison was stern, and the sword qi was sharp.
In the moment it was stunned, the demonic infant found itself trapped in the sword prison, hundreds or thousands of majestic sword lights inch by inch flaying its divine body.
Terror seeped into its heart.
It tried to struggle but lacked the courage, as if it was guilty and deserved to be executed.
Taking advantage of the demonic infant’s shock and disarrayed divine soul, MoHua’s right hand condensed, forming a simple, ancient golden short sword with the “Sword Formation Style.”
He approached the demonic infant, gripping the neck of the Great Wasteland’s newly hatched “divine embryo,” and with a flash of golden light, he thrust the sword through its skull.
(End of Chapter)
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