Chapter 947: "Guests"
Chapter 947: "Guests"
The origin of the Heaven and Earth Contemplation Chart was too grand to fathom.
Mo Hua recalled his master's words about the chart during his travels. At the time, he hadn't experienced much, so he didn't fully grasp the significance. Now, as he carefully pondered the matter, he couldn't help but feel more and more shocked.
The so-called Contemplation Map reflected the divine consciousness of others or some other type of existence.
In other words, what could be contemplated in the chart was the "Dao" of others or the "Dao" of certain non-human entities...
Mo Hua, who had attained enlightenment through divine perception, realized the deeper he delved into the study of divine perception, the more he understood the profound and unfathomable mysteries within.
Up until now, every Contemplation Map he had seen was far from simple.
Not to mention the Earth Sect, one of the largest sects in Kunzhou, and its treasured artifact passed down for tens of thousands of years, no one knew what was sealed within.
Even the Earth Sect itself might not have a clear understanding.
It could be an ancient Dao essence, or perhaps something even more terrifying and unknown.
Mo Hua remembered his master's words about the Heaven and Earth Contemplation Chart. Although it was the Earth Sect's treasured artifact, the presence of the word "Heaven" in its name offended the Dao Court's taboos.
The Earth Sect, despite its size, was only a sect in Kunzhou, and could only pay homage to the "Earth Mother" but could not claim the "Heavenly Emperor".
Therefore, the Heaven and Earth Contemplation Chart was forcibly divided by the old monster of the Dao Court into the "Heavens Map" and the "Earth Map".
The "Heavens Map" was kept in the Dao Court, while the "Earth Map" was hidden within the Earth Sect.
After thousands of years of inheritance, the Dao essence within the Heaven and Earth Contemplation Chart was indeed terrifying.
But the true horror lay within the Dao Court, where ancient monsters with heavenly cultivation roamed, having lived for countless years.
Could it be that the ancient monsters in the Dao Court had surpassed the Void Penetration? Mo Hua's heart trembled at the thought.
The depths of the cultivation world were indeed profound, and the heights of cultivation were equally lofty. He wondered if he would ever reach such a realm in this lifetime...
And...
"I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to see the Heaven and Earth Contemplation Chart. If I can't see the Heavens Map in the Dao Court, I hope I'll at least have the opportunity to see the Earth Map in the Earth Sect..."
As for the complete Heaven and Earth Contemplation Chart...
His master's half-joking, meaningful words echoed in Mo Hua's ears once more:
"One day, if you can make the Earth Sect bow and submit, and stand on equal footing with the Dao Court, it's not impossible to reunite the Heavens Map and the Earth Map."
Mo Hua shook his head.
Before, he might have entertained such thoughts.
But now, after entering Qianxue Prefecture and witnessing the prowess of numerous powerful cultivators, his perspective had broadened, and he felt that this idea was too arrogant and impolite.
His master could joke, but he must not take it seriously.
Mo Hua dismissed the thought and turned his attention back to Mr. Pi.
"This Mr. Pi should be a rebellious disciple of the Earth Sect?"
After all, a true disciple of the Earth Sect would never engage in tomb raiding.
Why did he rebel against the sect?
Did he commit some wrongdoing and was expelled, or did he steal a heritage like Old Man Jiang? Mo Hua's eyes lit up, and he immediately searched through Mr. Pi's storage bag again.
"I was thinking too much..."
He had hoped that Mr. Pi's rebellion was due to stealing the Earth Map or at least some related clues.
It seemed like a wild fantasy.
Ordinary disciples of the Earth Sect probably didn't even have the qualifications to see the Earth Map.
However, without the Earth Map, Mo Hua discovered something else peculiar:
A tooth talisman.
This tooth talisman resembled a claw adorned with dark gold and light silver, or a polished tooth.
The front end of the claw was sharp and pointed, semi-transparent, emitting a faint glow. The back end was inlaid with gold and silver, and two characters were engraved on it:
"Gold-Snatching".
"Gold-Snatching Talisman?"
Mo Hua's heart skipped a beat, and he examined the tooth talisman carefully.
Unfortunately, he wasn't very knowledgeable in this area and couldn't discern much from it. He was certain, however, that this tooth talisman was extremely valuable, and that was why Mr. Pi had kept it at the very bottom of his storage bag.
Without hesitation, Mo Hua took the ancient Gold-Snatching Talisman and placed it in his treasure ring.
Regardless of its use, the item was now his.
As for the remaining formation diagrams, array books, and bronze brushes, Mo Hua hesitated but ultimately left them untouched, returning them to Mr. Pi's storage bag.
He didn't have enough time to examine them carefully.
Sure enough, after a while, faint footsteps could be heard in the distance. Although they were light, the auras were complex, as if a group of people had arrived.
Mo Hua was surprised.
Could it be that Mr. Pi's so-called "guests" numbered more than one? Did tomb raiding require so many people? As he pondered, the group drew closer, and Mo Hua saw that there were seven people at most.
Among them were the three tomb raiders, including Ash Sir, and four others dressed in black robes.
Two of the men were tall and robust, their large frames almost forcing them to lower their heads as they walked through the passage.
There was also an elderly man and a young man.
All four were shrouded in black robes, their auras concealed. However, the young cultivator's face was exposed, his complexion fair, and his features handsome. There was a hint of frivolity in his brows, suggesting a life of privilege, possibly from a noble family.
Mo Hua didn't recognize him, and the black robes blocked their divine perception. Still, Mo Hua's intuition told him that they were all Golden Core cultivators.
Four Golden Core cultivators...
Mo Hua's heart sank, but he was also puzzled.
These "guests" seemed peculiar, and he couldn't quite grasp their relationship.
Were these black-robed cultivators a young master with three bodyguards, or an elder from a clan, guiding his disciples in training?
As Mo Hua wondered, the group approached.
Ash Sir led the way, politely assuring them, "Rest assured, esteemed guests, everything is prepared. We just need to wait for Mr. Pi to open the tomb gate..."
Before he could finish, Ash Sir froze, staring at the tightly shut tomb gate. Only Mo Hua, shackled, and Shen Qingsheng, chained, were visible. Mr. Pi had vanished without a trace.
"Where's Mr. Pi?" Ash Sir scanned the area, asking Mo Hua.
"It seems... he's dead," Mo Hua whispered.
Ash Sir opened his mouth, his mind momentarily blank.
No... he's dead? How did he die?
Why would he die? Just a moment ago, they had just welcomed their guest, and this Mr. Pi suddenly died without a word?
For a moment, he didn't know what expression to use to face this absurd fact.
Ash Sir frowned and asked Mo Hua, "How did Mr. Pi die? Where did he die?"
Mo Hua pointed to the passage beside them with his finger.
Everyone followed the direction and only then noticed that at the end of the passage, in the darkness, there was a stone roller.
Mr. Pi had been crushed into a bloody pulp, his blood almost congealed...
"Mr. Pi was trying to decipher the formation. Suddenly, there was a strange noise from the end of the passage. Then, Mr. Pi seemed to be bewitched and walked towards the passage on his own. After that, he triggered a mechanism and ended up like this..."
Mo Hua said with a sorrowful look, telling a lie he had just made up.
Everyone found it hard to believe for a moment.
Ash Sir and the other two were even more incredulous.
"Mr. Pi is no ordinary person; it's impossible for him to die so easily."
"Go check the body and see how Mr. Pi really died. There must be some marks on him."
"That's a tomb mechanism. Do you want to die like Mr. Pi?"
"I'm a Golden core cultivator."
"So what? The things in the tomb are not that simple..."
While they were arguing, the tomb raider called "Rat" suddenly said, "No, something's off," pointing at Mo Hua, "This kid is definitely not telling the truth. For all we know, Mr. Pi might have been killed by him."
Mo Hua silently raised the shackles on his arm, implying that with shackles on, how could he have killed anyone?
Rat's eyes narrowed.
Ash Sir also said in a deep voice, "What skills does Mr. Pi have? Do you think he could be killed by a kid?"
Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.
"But..."
Ash Sir turned to look at Mo Hua, suspecting that Mo Hua was definitely not telling the truth. After some thought, he turned to Shen Qingsheng, pinching his neck, and asked in a deep voice, "Tell me, how did Mr. Pi die?"
"I... I..." Shen Qingsheng stammered.
Mo Hua glanced at Shen Qingsheng without showing any signs.
Shen Qingsheng immediately trembled with fear and said, "I... I don't know. I fainted and didn't see anything..."
At this point, how could Shen Qingsheng not understand?
Everyone in this tomb was a villain.
Mo Hua seemed innocent, but he was as sinister and cruel as these golden core bandits. If he could kill Mr. Pi, he could just as easily kill him.
At this point, the only way to survive was to insist that he knew nothing.
And he was still useful, so Ash Sir wouldn't really kill him for now.
"Damn..."
Seeing Shen Qingsheng's fearful and timid appearance, Ash Sir couldn't help but curse, feeling frustrated.
He never expected that they would encounter such a setback, not even entering the tomb, and the most crucial person, Mr. Pi, would die first.
Rat moved closer to Ash Sir and, looking at Mo Hua, said, "Second Sir, I still think this kid is not being honest. Should we use some torture to make him tell the truth?"
Ash Sir's expression changed.
Mo Hua mentally noted this "Rat" down.
You little shorty, causing trouble.
Seeing Ash Sir somewhat moved, seeming to really want to use torture, Mo Hua said, "You can't use torture on me!"
"
"Why not?" Ash Sir raised an eyebrow and asked.
Mo Hua countered, "Do you have an array master?"
Ash Sir frowned, "What do you mean?"
Mo Hua said, "Mr. Pi was the only array master, right? He's dead, and you have no one else who knows array formations. Without array knowledge, how will you open the tomb gate, and what will you do if you encounter other formation killing formations after entering the tomb?"
Ash Sir was speechless. He looked at Mo Hua and said, "Mr. Pi's formations are not ordinary formations. Don't tell me that you, a young age, have already learned them?"
"I understand a bit," Mo Hua said.
"Nonsense Rat sneered, "These are Mr. Pi's unique formations. How could you know them?"
"You said it yourself, it's a 'unique' formation, not an 'exclusive' one. Formation Art is vast and intricate, with complex origins. His formations are not something only he knows," Mo Hua argued confidently.
Ash Sir and the others fell silent.
Formation Art was always handled by Mr. Pi, and they indeed understood little of it.
Mr. Pi treated his heritage as a treasure, never revealing any formation secrets to them.
Currently, the only one who knew formations was Mo Hua.
But Mo Hua was still an outsider and looked too young...
Ash Sir hesitated.
At this moment, one of the black-robed cultivators, the handsome young master, spoke up, "Can you still open this tomb gate?"
His tone was cold, revealing some dissatisfaction.
Ash Sir's heart trembled, knowing that their negligence had made these important guests unhappy.
This was a big deal.
And these important guests had significant clout and background, and they could not be offended.
Forget it...
Ash Sir looked at Mo hua and asked, "Can you open this tomb gate?"
Mo Hua replied confidently, "Of course."
"Good..." Ash Sir nodded, but then the one called "Rat," with a sharp face and known as "Rat," the golden core cultivator, moved closer to him and whispered something in his ear.
Ash Sir's expression changed, and he nodded.
Rat then walked to mo Hua, taking Mr. Pi's storage bag from his hand.
Right before Mo hua, Rat thoroughly searched the storage bag but seemed to not find what he was looking for. His face turned grim, and he asked mo hua, "Kid, where is that thing?"
Mo Hua looked bewildered, "What thing?"
Rat's gaze turned even more sinister, "That... the Gold-Snatching Talisman."
Rat swallowed his words.
"What?" Mo hua asked.
Rat's eyes turned even more venomous, "It must be you who stole it. Hand over your storage bag for me to search."
Mo hua protested, "What right do you have to search my storage bag?"
Rathen, ignoring mo hua's objections, snatched the storage bag.
Inside mo hua's storage bag mostly were formation diagrams and books.
Ratcouldn't understand a thing.
besides, there were some pills, spirit stones, and small gifts.
Rat searched through everything, didn't find what he was looking for, and looked at ash sir.
Ash Sir frowned, then glanced at the four black-robed Cultivators beside him, their faces filled with apprehension. Finally, he spoke, "Fine, business comes first. We'll talk about that thing later."
Rat could only give up.
Mo Hua said, "Give me back the Storage Bag."
Rat let out a cold laugh and returned the Storage Bag to Mo Hua, but before doing so, he took out the Spirit Stones and some valuable Spirit Tools from the bag, keeping them for himself.
Mo Hua's expression remained calm, but inside, he was seething with anger.
Ash Sir took out a pot of wine and poured it on the ground in front of Mr. Pi's corpse, muttering, "Life and death are destined, Mr. Pi. May you rest in peace."
His voice was deep and somber.
In this line of work, emotions were often subdued, and true friendships were rare.
When they were alive, they drank and feasted together. Now, with one less person, there was also one less share of Spirit Stones.
At most, there might be some sadness akin to the grief of a fox for a dead rabbit, but it wasn't overly sentimental.
After paying their respects to Mr. Pi, the group put the matter behind them. Ash Sir turned to Mo Hua and said, "Open the tomb gate. If you can open it, we'll ensure your safety. But if you can't, you'll have to join Mr. Pi."
A useful Array Master was a good Array Master.
If he couldn't help, he was just a dead man.
So, under the watchful eyes of the group, Mo Hua approached the tomb gate and began to attempt to decipher the formation on the gate.
The tomb gate's formation was unfamiliar to him, and he stood there, motionless for a moment. Then, he turned to Ash Sir and asked, "Give me Mr. Pi's Storage Bag."
Ash Sir's eyes narrowed slightly, "What do you need it for?"
"I want to study the formation diagram."
"Study the formation diagram?"
"Yes," Mo Hua nodded, "There are some formations I don't know, so I need to learn them."
Ash Sir was taken aback, "You're going to learn it now?"
Was this kid pulling his leg?
The formation on the tomb gate was completely unknown to him!
Mo Hua, however, remained confident, "What else? If I'm not born knowing it, shouldn't I learn it?"
Ash Sir was speechless. He pointed at Rat, "Give him the Storage Bag. Let him learn."
Rat's eyes flickered, but under the circumstances, he handed the Storage Bag to Mo Hua.
Mo Hua took Mr. Pi's Storage Bag and retrieved several formation books and diagrams from it. In front of the group, he began to study the contents.
Ash Sir and the others watched Mo Hua but said nothing.
Mo Hua was well aware that if he could decipher the formation and open the tomb gate, it would be fine. Otherwise, they would undoubtedly be the first to kill him.
Mo Hua calmed himself and patiently studied Mr. Pi's formation books.
When it came to formations, Mo Hua quickly grasped the essence of Mr. Pi's formation heritage.
The Earth Formation was related to the Earth itself, and among the Five Elements formations, the Earth Formation had some similarities with the Earth element formations.
The Earth Formation was simpler than the Earth element formations.
After all, the Earth carried all things, not just a single layer of 'Earth.'
The Earth Sect's Earth Formation was even more profound than the Earth element formations, and its principles were so profound that they approached the 'Kun' Trigram of the Eight Trigrams.
However, this type of Earth Formation was still slightly inferior to the true 'Kun' Trigram of the Eight Trigrams; otherwise, it would be called a 'Kun Formation' instead of an 'Earth Formation.'
The 'Kun' Trigram and 'Qian' Trigram of the Eight Trigrams were supreme formations that governed the layout of Heaven and Earth, and their related heritages were rarely passed down outside.
Learning the Earth Formation was much more intricate than the Five Elements Earth Formation.
This type of formation was related to the essence of the Earth, and while the entry wasn't difficult, truly understanding it was extremely challenging.
Mo Hua had studied the eleven-patterned Heavy Earth Formation, communicated with the essence of the Earth, and was proficient in the art of drawing formations on the ground. Whenever he had free time, he would practice drawing formations.
As a result, his affinity with the Earth was far beyond that of ordinary Cultivators.
The most challenging aspect of the Earth Formation for Mo Hua was the lack of heritage and formation diagrams, making it impossible to enter the field.
As long as he could learn the basics and cross the threshold of the Earth Formation, once he entered, he would likely progress smoothly.
This was the advantage of having a solid foundation in formations.
It was also the benefit of first encountering difficulties and then finding it easier, having communicated with the essence.
Half an hour later, Mo Hua's eyes lit up. He then imitated Mr. Pi's manner, studying the formation diagram while using the Bronze Formation Brush to draw on the tomb gate with Spirit Ink.
Ash Sir and the others didn't notice anything.
However, the black-robed young master stared at Mo Hua, his eyes wide with surprise, his pupils trembling.
Mo Hua used the Bronze Formation Brush to complete the formation on the tomb gate. After checking that everything was in order, he opened the formation book and, following the instructions, dipped the brush in ink and drew a few formation patterns to activate the formation.
A faint light flashed, and the sealing formation patterns lit up one by one.
The sealing formation patterns cracked inch by inch.
The tomb gate also trembled slightly.
After a moment, an ancient, rusty sound echoed as the bronze tomb gate slowly opened a crack, and a chilling aura seeped out from the gap.
"It really opened..."
Not only Ash Sir, but the three black-robed Cultivators were also surprised as they looked at Mo Hua.
Mo Hua calmly put away the formation book, diagram, bronze brush, and compass into his Storage Bag.
Then, with an air of authority, he took Mr. Pi's Storage Bag for himself.
Ash Sir and the others were taken aback but said nothing, including Rat, who didn't dare voice any objections to Mo Hua.
Cultivators always spoke with their strength.
Being able to understand formations, break them, and open gates was a display of power.
At this moment, the elder among the black-robed Cultivators spoke in a hoarse voice, "It's getting late. Let's open the gate."
With the VIP speaking, Ash Sir dared not delay. He approached the tomb gate and grabbed the bullhead and horseface door handles, pulling them to the sides.
The tomb gate slowly opened.
Beyond the gate, it was dark and empty, exuding a chilling aura that made one's heart palpitate. Accompanying this was a suffocating sense of oppression.
At the same time, a deep roar echoed.
Countless evil influences, the four black-robed Cultivators' situation was astonishing.
(End of Chapter)
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