Chapter 911: Impersonation
Chapter 911: Impersonation
Mo Hua couldn't wait to begin studying the token.
Before doing so, he spent some time resetting his "Lightning-Magnetic Puppet."
He thoroughly washed away the Secondary Lightning Patterns left behind by the Black Robe Array Master on the puppet.
Only after ensuring the puppet was completely clean did Mo Hua feel relieved.
Then, he tried to connect the puppet to the Guest Scholar Token of the Black Robe Array Master.
To Mo Hua's surprise, the puppet effortlessly infiltrated the token.
This Guest Scholar Token was "open-source."
All its permissions were accessible.
Mo Hua pondered for a moment and soon understood the situation.
Strictly speaking, the Black Robe Array Master wasn't a cultivator from the Demon Sect.
After the incident with the inside informant, the Demon Sect was in a state of panic. Some suspected that there was a problem with the Demon Sect Token's underlying layer, so they specifically hired this Black Robe Array Master to resolve the issue.
To investigate the Demon Sect Token, they had to provide an "interface" for the Array Master.
This Guest Scholar Token was meant for the Black Robe Array Master to use the token's interface to intervene in the Demon Sect's Primordial Magnetic Composite Array and inspect the Lightning-Magnetism anomalies—specifically, the Lightning-Magnetic Puppet.
Being a fellow Array Master, the Black Robe Array Master naturally liked to grant himself permissions, just like Mo Hua.
Before his death, he didn't have time to destroy the token, effectively leaving all the "doors" open for Mo Hua.
Mo Hua felt a bit regretful.
If he had known that the Array Master was so "understanding," he would have let him die with more clarity.
Being beaten to death in such a confused state would leave him with some regrets in the afterlife.
Mo Hua sighed and then began to carefully study the "inheritance" left behind by the Array Master.
However, after studying for a while, he frowned.
These "doors" of permissions were special, with specific Lightning-Magnetic Patterns, and many of them were Third Rank, far beyond his array capabilities. Even the few Second Rank patterns were difficult to understand.
Mo Hua couldn't quite comprehend the Black Robe Array Master's Lightning-Magnetic Heritage.
"Looks like I'll need to spend some time studying this carefully..."
Mo Hua thought to himself, and then he focused his attention on thoroughly examining the Guest Scholar Token when suddenly, the Magnetic Patterns trembled.
A string of text was transmitted.
Mo Hua was startled.
"Someone's sending me a message?"
"No, wait, this is for the deceased Black Robe Array Master... Is it from the Demon Sect?"
Mo Hua's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately looked at the text:
"Mr. Yuan, I apologize for the intrusion, but may I ask how the investigation is going?"
Mr. Yuan? Mo Hua was taken aback. "This title sounds so familiar, why is that?"
He recalled that in the Demon Cave of Bishan, the lair of the Fire Buddha, there was an Array Master who was proficient in Primordial Magnetic Array Techniques and was also surnamed "Yuan." The Fire Buddha referred to him as "Master Yuan."
"Both surnamed 'Yuan,' could they be from the same family? Or perhaps they came from the same master and shared the same heritage?"
Mo Hua wondered.
Speaking of Master Yuan, he was also secretly located by Mo Hua, and then Uncle Gu and the two brothers, Gu An and Gu Quan, went to beat him up without any regard for martial etiquette...
Both of them died in a similar manner...
As Mo Hua was deep in thought, the Guest Scholar Token received another message:
"Mr. Yuan?"
The sender seemed to be unsure since Mo Hua hadn't responded.
Mo Hua's heart sank, but he hadn't decided how to reply, so he sent a generic response:
"Busy."
The sender replied, "My apologies for the intrusion. I'll bother Mr. Yuan again later..."
However, they didn't know that the current "Mr. Yuan" was no longer the original "Mr. Yuan."
The current "Mr. Yuan" was actually "Mr. Mo."
Mo Hua coldly replied, "Mm-hmm."
After that, no more messages were sent.
Mo Hua took a moment to relax and then began to think:
"I need to find a way to conceal that 'Mr. Yuan' is already dead..."
"Also, I need to somehow cover up the investigation of the Lightning-Magnetic Array."
After all, "Mr. Yuan" was already dead, and no one could investigate him anymore.
Moreover, "Mr. Yuan's" Guest Scholar Token was now in Mo Hua's possession.
How could he possibly investigate himself? Mo Hua sent a message:
"The Primordial Magnetic Composite Array has been thoroughly inspected. The underlying Magnetic Patterns are intact, and there are no issues with the Lightning-Magnetic sensors..."
Mo Hua was about to send the message when he shook his head and deleted it.
"This won't do... It's too obvious."
Putting himself in the Demon Sect's shoes, they must have suspected something to invite Mr. Yuan.
And Mr. Yuan must have sensed something, which is why he took so long to investigate.
If he simply said, "No issues," it would not only arouse the Demon Sect's suspicions but also make "Mr. Yuan" seem incompetent, unable to find any problems.
"I can't say it like this..."
Mo Hua deliberated for a moment and then replied:
"I was busy just now..."
"According to my investigation today, there's a very peculiar Secondary Lightning Flow hidden in the Primordial Magnetic Sea. It's mysterious and cautious, occasionally surfacing but quickly submerging again. I've found some clues, but it will take more time to investigate further..."
Mo Hua sounded very professional.
These details were something that only a Lightning-Magnetic Array Master would understand, and most of the content was factual.
There was no need to hide the obvious.
After sending this message, it wasn't long before a reply came:
"As expected of Mr. Yuan, we entrust this matter to you. After its completion, our sect will offer a generous reward."
Mo Hua coldly replied with another "Mm-hmm."
But at the same time, he was thinking that given the Demon Sect’s methods, would they really give "bountiful gifts" after the task was completed?
Or would they try to find this "Mr. Yuan" and either kill him to silence him, eating his flesh and drinking his blood, or force him into servitude, making him draw array patterns for the Demon Sect for the rest of his life?
By comparison, he was quite "kind," at least giving this Mr. Yuan a quick death.
Mo Hua sighed and remarked, "So, an Array Master must always stay on the right path and must never ally with Evil Cultivators. Otherwise, one might not notice until it's too late, and everything will be irretrievably lost."
Mo Hua took this as a lesson to himself.
After that, the Demon Sect didn’t send any more messages, and Mo Hua managed to get away with it.
But he still needed to be cautious for now...
Mo Hua thought for a moment and sent a letter scroll to Gu Changhuai, saying, "Uncle Gu, the matter of the Black Robe Array Master being killed by the Dao Prefecture Office must be kept confidential. Don’t let it leak out for now."
Currently, it seemed that the Demon Sect and the Black Robe Array Master were in single-line contact.
The Black Robe Array Master had hidden himself very well. As long as he didn’t say anything and the Dao Prefecture Office didn’t leak the information, no one should know that he was already dead.
Gu Changhuai replied, "Alright, I understand."
Mo Hua was quite reassured by Uncle Gu’s actions.
After that, things became much easier.
Now, the token causing the problem and the token solving the problem were both in his hands. He could play both sides, and the Demon Sect wouldn’t know, making his actions much more convenient.
Mo Hua began to consider his next move.
First, he still needed to continue killing Evil Cultivators.
Not many more, just two more Golden Core Demon Lords, and he could break through to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.
But now, the Bloodthirsty Demon Sect had become more alert, and the Disciple Token couldn’t be used to steal more secrets.
The only method left was the Guest Scholar Token.
The Guest Scholar Token had many permissions, but he hadn’t figured out all of them yet.
And there was also the biggest issue: the "target" was too obvious.
There were hundreds or even thousands of Disciple Tokens, so minor actions wouldn’t easily be noticed.
But Guest Scholar Tokens for Elders were very rare, and any small action could be detected.
Let alone the one in the hands of this Lightning-Magnetic Array Master, which would definitely be closely guarded by the Demon Sect.
So, this Guest Scholar Token wasn’t as useful as he thought, with too many restrictions at this stage.
"If I can’t steal permissions, then I can only... play ‘character roles’?"
Mo Hua pondered.
"I could play the role of ‘Mr. Yuan,’ causing trouble in the shadows, and find a chance to take down two Golden Core Demon Lords, completing my mission."
Mo Hua nodded slightly.
Since he was playing a role, the first priority was to gain others' trust.
He needed the Demon Sect to believe that he was truly "Mr. Yuan," working for them, so he could act in the shadows without arousing suspicion.
Otherwise, if he wasn’t trusted and tried to frame someone, he would be the first to be suspected.
"Gaining the trust of the Demon Sect..."
This was a bit challenging and might require the cooperation of the Dao Prefecture Office, especially Uncle Gu.
Mo Hua thought for two days and roughly outlined a plan in his mind.
Then he sent a letter scroll to Gu Changhuai, "Uncle Gu, the Demon Sect is on alert, making it hard to gather intelligence. We need your cooperation to stage a few performances to gain the trust of the Demon Sect."
"Performances?" Gu Changhuai was taken aback.
Mo Hua explained briefly.
Gu Changhuai was stunned for a moment, then sighed and said, "Alright."
After that, Mo Hua continued his routine, using both the Guest Scholar Token and the Disciple Token to steal information from the Demon Sect.
Of course, there was little information about Elders now, mostly about ordinary disciples holding "Blood Banquets" and "Power Transmission."
The Demon Sect was bloodthirsty, relying on drinking the blood of cultivators to practice their arts. If they didn’t drink blood for a while, they would become restless and might even suffer from a loss of mental clarity.
The "blood drinking" in the Demon Sect was hierarchical.
The Golden Core Elders could maintain their cultivation by drinking the blood of disciples.
The disciples, with no one lower to drink from, had to kill and drink blood outside.
If caught by the Dao Prefecture Office, they would die; if they didn’t drink blood, they would go mad and die.
Thus, during tight times, the Demon Sect’s Elders could temporarily go into hiding.
But the ordinary disciples, once their bloodthirsty desires were aroused, couldn’t be restrained.
They would frequently kill and drink blood, or hold "Blood Banquets" on a certain scale.
Mo Hua found a slightly larger "Blood Banquet" and leaked this information to the Dao Prefecture Office, having Uncle Gu lead the operation to surround and eliminate these Demon Sect disciples.
Then, he sent a letter scroll to the Demon Sect’s "Elder You."
This Elder You was the one who had previously sent him a letter, or rather, sent a letter to the deceased "Mr. Yuan," inquiring about the progress of the Lightning-Magnetic investigation.
Mo Hua later verified that this "Elder You" had the Quadrant Dog Pattern on his body and was the "Dog Head Strategist" he had previously investigated.
His cultivation didn’t seem particularly strong, but he was a confidant of the Demon Sect’s leader, skilled in strategy, and many things were secretly pushed forward by him.
Within the Demon Sect, due to the dog pattern on his body, he was called "Dog Elder," but his surname seemed to be "You."
Even within the Demon Sect, only a few high-ranking members knew his surname.
Mo Hua sent a message, "Elder You, I’ve found it. There’s a problem with the Primordial Magnetism."
Elder You quickly replied, "Thank you, Mr. Yuan. What is the problem?"
Mo Hua said, "At the bottom layer of the Primordial Magnetic Composite Array, there is a hidden Lightning-Magnetic flow. It seems to be stealing information and transmitting it outward."
Elder You: "Could Mr. Yuan please elaborate further?"
Mo Hua said, "In other words, someone is stealing the sect’s internal secrets and transmitting them outward through a special Lightning-Magnetic method."
Elder You nodded slightly.
This was largely in line with his earlier speculation.
The Demon Sect's "inside informant" was not communicating with the Dao Prefecture Office in the usual way but was using highly advanced Lightning-Magnetic means to leak the Demon Sect's intelligence.
However, Elder You was intrinsically suspicious by nature, and at this moment, he was still not fully convinced. "Mr. Yuan, do you know who the informant is?"
As he spoke, he was unaware that he was currently chatting with the very "informant" he was referring to.
Mo Hua said, "There are too few clues, and it's not easy to determine yet. All I can find out for now is a section of the Magnetic Pattern that he leaked out."
"Magnetic Pattern?" Elder You asked.
Mo Hua sent a section of the Magnetic Pattern to Elder You.
Elder You took a glance and, after a moment, said slowly, "Mr. Yuan, I... can't understand..."
Mo Hua could now judge that this Elder You was neither a Primordial Magnetic nor a Lightning-Magnetic Array Master.
Perhaps he had come into contact with such Array Masters and had some understanding of the related Lightning-Magnetic principles.
But he had never studied them personally or drawn them himself. He knew the principles but not the reasons behind them, making him a half "outsider" or an impractical 'Cloud Array Master'.
Mo Hua roughly assessed his capabilities and sent him some "Standard Magnetic Pattern Annotations."
"These are Magnetic Pattern annotations. Elder You can use them as a reference to decipher it yourself. I still need to monitor the Primordial Magnetic Composite Array and can't afford to be distracted."
Mo Hua feigned busyness.
He sent the Magnetic Pattern and the annotations to Elder You, letting him decipher it himself.
The answers one finds themselves are more easily believed.
"Okay..." Elder You had no choice but to decipher the "Magnetic Pattern" himself.
As he was not a Primordial Magnetic Array Master, deciphering it was extremely laborious. Those seemingly similar Magnetic Patterns, with subtle differences, were densely packed, making his eyes dizzy and his scalp numb.
"Array Masters are indeed a group of eccentric geniuses..."
Elder You thought to himself.
He persevered and, after much effort, finally deciphered the Magnetic Pattern that Mo Hua had given him, one by one.
After deciphering the Magnetic Pattern, it transformed into text, revealing intelligence about a Blood Banquet.
Elder You's heart trembled.
Indeed!
Someone was secretly leaking the sect's movements to the outside world.
Elder You frowned and sent the text to Mo Hua, asking, "Mr. Yuan, I don't know if this Magnetic Pattern has been deciphered correctly?"
Mo Hua was a bit impatient, "Didn't I send you the Magnetic Pattern and annotations? Whatever you decipher is what it is."
Elder You said, "So, this informant leaked the information about a Blood Banquet that my Demon Sect is going to hold soon to the Dao Prefecture Office..."
"Oh."
Mo Hua showed a disinterested look.
Elder You understood and didn't say more.
The problem had been found, the Magnetic Pattern located, and the necessary actions had been taken by this "Mr. Yuan." The rest was naturally not his concern.
Array Masters were eccentric by nature.
Moreover, it was normal for a capable Array Master like him to be aloof and cold.
Elder You began to make plans according to his wishes.
The subsequent events were simple.
First, Mo Hua leaked the intelligence to the Dao Prefecture Office, allowing them to hunt down the Demon Cultivators based on the information.
Then, Mo Hua revealed it to the Demon Sect, letting them guard against the Dao Prefecture Office's ambush.
As a result, both sides merely exchanged glances.
The Dao Prefecture Office caught a whiff but ended up empty-handed.
The Demon Sect received the news and evaded the ambush.
No incidents occurred between the two sides, but they both confirmed the accuracy of the intelligence.
Gu Changhuai was furious and ordered his men to burn the Demon Sect's Blood Banquet base to the ground.
Of course, his "anger" was an act.
Mo Hua had already informed him of the plan, and he was one of the few who knew about it.
His display of anger was purely to make the Demon Sect believe that the Dao Prefecture Office was genuinely unaware, and the escape of the Demon Sect disciples was completely unexpected by the Dao Prefecture Office.
The escaped Demon Sect disciples reported the situation to Elder You.
Elder You couldn't help but nod.
Since the Demon Sect had been troubled by the "inside informant," this was the first time they had thwarted the Dao Prefecture Office's plan.
The Primordial Magnetic Dao was indeed profound, and it was not in vain that he had spent so much effort deciphering that section of the "Magnetic Pattern."
This "Mr. Yuan" indeed had real skills.
"After this, we must find a way to keep this Mr. Yuan and make him work for us..."
Elder You, eager to retain talent, thought to himself.
From then on, Elder You became even more polite to Mo Hua, who was impersonating "Mr. Yuan."
Mo Hua also devoted himself to "serving" the Demon Sect.
He knew that trust was not built in a single instance but through multiple "collaborations," establishing deep camaraderie.
It also required multiple practical experiences to continuously consolidate and deepen Elder You's perception of the Demon Sect's "inside informant."
Mo Hua used his old trick again, intercepting some of the "inside informant's" stolen Magnetic Patterns—these Magnetic Patterns were the ones that this "inside informant" had revealed to the Dao Prefecture Office beforehand.
Then, Mo Hua sent these Magnetic Patterns, along with the annotations, to Elder You, letting him decipher them himself and increasing his sense of involvement.
In this way, Mo Hua gradually planted a thought in Elder You's mind: these Magnetic Patterns, though given to him by "Mr. Yuan," were deciphered by Elder You himself, with great effort, using the annotations as a reference.
It was Elder You himself who, through his own hard work, obtained this intelligence.
He believed in himself, not others.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
