Chapter 1092: The Ancient Barbarian Formation
"Great Wilderness script... how do I learn it?"
Where could he learn it?
Who would teach him?
Mo Hua frowned and thought for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.
Mr. Tu probably knew how.
If Mr. Tu were still alive, and if Mo Hua were still with him in the Blood Sacrifice Formation, learning from him and "working" under him during that period when their relationship was still amicable, maybe he could have indirectly asked Mr. Tu about the ancient script of the Great Wilderness.
But the problem was, Mr. Tu had already been crushed to death.
That possibility was completely erased.
Mo Hua once again placed the bone slip against his forehead and tried to sense its contents, but it was still utterly confusing.
This kind of thing—"writing"—was inherently abstract. If you didn't know it, you just didn't.
Without a systematic inheritance, he couldn't begin to understand what kind of mindset the ancient tribes of the Great Wilderness had when creating and recording this kind of script.
And the bone slip only contained obscure and ancient writing—no diagrams of formations at all.
Who knew where the so-called Barbarian Ancient Formation diagram was hidden?
In such an unclear situation, Mo Hua didn't dare act rashly. He was afraid his divine sense might be too strong or his movements too rough, damaging the bone slip.
So things reached a deadlock.
"…Should I consult Old Mister Xun?"
Mo Hua pondered in his heart.
But for the next several days, Old Mister Xun seemed busy with something important and never showed up.
Mo Hua was under house arrest and couldn't go out. He could only stare blankly at the bone slip.
About five days later, Old Mister Gou finally came to see Mo Hua, checked his injuries, and saw that Mo Hua looked much better—clear eyes, stable fate—and nodded slightly.
But Old Mister Xun wore a frown the whole time, looking utterly exhausted.
Mo Hua noticed and, struck by curiosity, asked, "Mister, have you been busy with matters related to the Blood Sacrifice Formation?"
Old Mister Xun paused. He hadn't planned to say much. But considering that, while Mo Hua was young, he had already been involved in far too many major events—many of them closely tied to him—it wouldn't hurt to share some secrets.
Old Mister Xun nodded and sighed lightly.
"The Blood Sacrifice Formation… it was a great catastrophe. Though the calamity has passed, the damage it caused is immeasurable, and there's a great deal of aftermath to handle…"
"The fallen cultivators must be buried. Corpses must be burned to prevent plagues or corpse transformations."
"The Dao Court officials, the clan disciples, and those from the sects who died in battle must all be honored and compensated."
"The land polluted by demonic energy and blood essence must be purified."
"The mountains that collapsed, were twisted, or outright destroyed must be rebuilt."
"Cities with broken formations must be repaired. Countless homeless rogue cultivators must be resettled…"
Killing and destruction—these violent acts—are sometimes easy to carry out.
But rebuilding after the destruction, providing shelter to the displaced, and helping people survive again—those seemingly trivial and mundane tasks are far more complex and difficult.
And they would certainly require massive amounts of spirit stones.
Seeing Mo Hua frowning, Old Mister Xun comforted him:
"You don't need to worry about these things. You've already done more than enough. Your merit is great…"
(Though the amount of killing was just as great.)
Old Mister Gou thought silently, then continued to instruct Mo Hua:
"All you need to remember is: don't tell anyone what you did. Don't let it bring trouble upon you."
"I won't be suspected?" Mo Hua asked.
Old Mister Xun replied, "There are countless mighty cultivators and hidden experts in this world. As long as you keep your head down, someone else will take the blame for any strange happenings."
Indeed, this Blood Sacrifice calamity might have had hidden masterminds—powerful and elusive figures—manipulating events from the shadows.
But everyone involved was still inside the game, unable to see the bigger picture.
Old Mister Xun had a feeling about this.
Even Mo Hua faintly sensed it.
"Mm." Mo Hua nodded. Then he suddenly remembered something. "Right, Mister Xun, what happened with the Sword Debate Assembly?"
"Did our Great Void Sect win?"
Old Mister Xun was just about to answer when he paused, looked at Mo Hua, and instead asked:
"This matter… how would it have played out in your original deductions?"
Mo Hua froze. "You want me to say?"
Old Mister Xun nodded. "Go ahead."
Seeing that his gaze was calm, Mo Hua explained,
"At the time, when I swung that sword, there were several likely outcomes."
"First, it could have directly wiped out the divine senses of Shen Linshu and the others—killing them."
"But that outcome was unlikely. They had Longevity Talismans."
"So most likely, that sword only shattered their Longevity Talismans."
"And after that, several possibilities remain:"
"One, their sea of consciousness would be crippled, and they'd remain comatose until the end of the Sword Debate."
"Two, their 'true forms' would be exposed…"
Mo Hua paused, then continued slowly:
"Those so-called prodigies like Shen Linshu… they've done shameful things in secret. They've all boarded the Rouge Boat. Their sea of consciousness would inevitably be tainted—corrupted by the will of evil gods—only sealed away with advanced techniques."
"That sword, even if it didn't cripple them, would have broken into their minds and exposed the evil karma inside. Once that was discovered by any Ascended Real Person or Void Realm Patriarch, they'd definitely be judged and disqualified from the Sword Debate."
"At worst, even if I failed to cripple them or expose their corruption, at the very least I'd have shattered their Longevity Talismans and left them severely weakened."
"As long as the four great sects' top prodigies were severely weakened, the rest of the debate would be completely under my control. Victory would be in our Great Void Sect's hands."
"There was also another possibility…"
Mo Hua thought a moment and added,
"If my sword shattered their talismans and triggered the appearance of a Void Realm Manifestation, then that Manifestation would attack me. But I'm a participant of the debate—the Grade Five Dao Discussion Mountain Array would certainly protect me, triggering a battle with the Manifestation."
"A battle between a Void-level array and a Void-level Manifestation would shake heaven and earth, flatten mountains and overturn seas. The entire Sword Debate venue might be destroyed."
"In that case, the rest of the debate would be forcibly canceled."
"If that happened, then the final rankings would be based on current scores."
"Our Great Void Sect had an excellent performance early on. In the Asura Trials, most of our disciples survived to the end. I was the final survivor. So, in terms of points, we surely came out on top…"
"I've considered all these scenarios carefully."
"All the karma involved, and the potential variables—were more or less under my control."
"So long as I could destroy the Longevity Talismans of Shen Linshu and the others with one sword—then the title of champion would surely belong to our Great Void Sect."
Mo Hua spoke clearly and methodically, his eyes sharp and composed, calmly recounting every cause, effect, and variable he had considered.
Old Mister Xun was stunned.
He looked at Mo Hua—still a youth in appearance—with eyes deep as still water, holding a mastery of karma and strategy that left him quietly moved.
He had suspected Mo Hua must have planned things out.
But he didn't expect his considerations to run this deep.
This boy, with barely twenty years of life experience, already possessed such meticulous thought and monstrous intellect.
If he lived for a hundred years, a thousand years—his cultivation growing ever higher, his deductions sharper, and his understanding of cause and effect even deeper… what kind of monster would he become?
Old Mister Xun sighed inwardly.
Heaven and earth are like a chessboard. All living beings are but pieces.
And Mo Hua, with such terrifying talent, was clearly born to be a chess master. No wonder… the fortune of Heaven, and the Dao of the land, would gather around him.
No wonder that person took him as a direct disciple.
But still…
Old Mister Xun furrowed his brow.
"Was it because that person took him as a disciple, that Mo Hua awakened such insight and destiny?"
"Or was it because Mo Hua already had that insight and destiny, that person chose to take him as a disciple?"
"Or… was it neither? Just a coincidence—karma in motion, guided by the mysteries of fate?"
Old Mister Xun fell into deep thought.
After a while, Mo Hua asked, "Mister, was I right?"
Old Mister Xun was dazed for a second before snapping out of it. Realizing what Mo Hua meant, he sighed and nodded:
"…That's more or less correct."
"In the end, no matter how things are calculated, our Great Void Sect should have secured the title of 'Sword Debate Champion.'"
"But it's not that simple."
"The major sects and clans of the Dry Doctrine definitely won't concede so easily. Especially the four great sects—they'll stir up all kinds of trouble, both openly and in secret."
"Our Great Void Sect won't sit idle either. There'll be negotiations and tug-of-war before any final result."
"But still—" Old Mister Xun looked at Mo Hua, his tone both emotional and full of comfort. "You've done more than enough. Let me handle this. You just rest and stay out of the turmoil."
"Mm." Mo Hua nodded.
Old Mister Xun fell silent for a moment. His gaze darkened, and he suddenly asked:
"That sword…"
Mo Hua's heart skipped a beat.
Old Mister Xun's old and deep eyes stared into Mo Hua's clear ones. In a low voice, he asked:
"…Who taught you that?"
"This…"
Mo Hua fell silent. After a moment, he sighed.
At this point, he could no longer keep it hidden.
At the Sword Contest, under the eyes of the masses, he had already used this move.
Others might not understand the foundation behind the divine consciousness sword transformation, and so might not see through it, but who was Elder Xun? As soon as this move was revealed, he definitely saw it clearly.
Although Patriarch Dugu had specifically instructed him not to tell anyone, given the current situation, staying silent was impossible.
"It's…" Mo Hua whispered, "Patriarch Dugu… taught me…"
Elder Xun's eyelid twitched; sure enough. Then he frowned and said, "He's imprisoned in the Sword Tomb Forbidden Grounds — how did he teach you?"
Mo Hua said, "Every seven days, Patriarch Dugu breaks through the void, pulls me into the Forbidden Grounds, and personally teaches me sword techniques."
Elder Xun suddenly understood, but was still shocked.
His senior brother was a prodigy, arrogant and indifferent, and when it came to passing down sword techniques, others always begged him on their knees, but he was always dismissive.
Never before had he actively brought someone before him to personally teach swordsmanship.
Unexpectedly, even after being stubborn all his life and halfway buried in the ground, he broke his own rules and gave this "personal delivery" style of teaching.
However…
Elder Xun frowned again, puzzled.
The Sword Tomb Forbidden Grounds were so far from the Outer Mountain disciples' residence, with little interaction. How exactly did his senior brother discover Mo Hua?
He even went so far as to use his already limited cultivation to break through the void and personally teach swordsmanship?
Was there some other cause and effect behind this?
Most importantly… Mo Hua had no sword foundation at all.
Before entering the Tai Xu Sect, he probably had never even touched a sword.
And yet, his senior brother was able to teach him?
The more Elder Xun thought about it, the stranger it seemed, so he asked Mo Hua, "How did you learn this divine… sword formula?"
Mo Hua felt it was hard to explain.
The process was too complicated.
From the causal premonition before choosing the sect, to the clues he heard from Lord Huangshan, to gaining causality at the Blood-Red Little Fishing Village, then Patriarch Dugu's teaching.
Based on all that, step by step deduction, step by step pondering, and modifying his cultivation method according to his weak swordsmanship but strong divine path.
Overcoming each difficulty along the way, plus the accumulated insights and practice…
And also various sword formations, sword flows, and the "big hodgepodge" of the Path of Cutting Affection.
Only then was he barely able to learn it.
All in all, it was truly… hard to explain. Mo Hua could only say, "I worked hard to learn it, and as I kept learning… I just learned it…"
Elder Xun was speechless.
The Tai Xu Divine Consciousness Sword Transformation Secret Technique—is this something you can learn just by trying hard?
What kind of "effort" is this?
The power of willful desire?
However, seeing Mo Hua's complicated, troubled expression, Elder Xun roughly guessed that this matter definitely involved many inconvenient details.
Moreover, if the senior brother taught him this sword formula, he must have warned him not to reveal it to anyone.
Mo Hua followed his senior brother's order, which was only natural.
As for showing off this world-shaking sword at the Sword Contest—it was for the Tai Xu Sect, to fight for ranking in the contest, and to seek the sect's most fundamental interests for all the sect disciples inside and outside.
Therefore, he couldn't be blamed for it.
Not only that, but he should be highly praised.
Thinking this, Elder Xun felt relieved and turned a blind eye to some matters, but solemnly said:
"This sword formula harms both others and yourself. In the future, don't use it lightly unless it's a matter of life and death."
"Especially now, with your heavy killing karma and death calamity fate, you must not recklessly use divine consciousness to kill, causing your sea of consciousness to be overdrawn, or else it will draw in evil energy, corrode your Dao heart, and easily lead to calamity."
Elder Xun's expression was serious.
Mo Hua's face was pale, clearly realizing the severity of the problem, and nodded earnestly.
Then he suddenly recalled something and asked Elder Xun:
"Elder, what about Patriarch Dugu? Is he alright? I haven't seen him in a long time, and he hasn't come to teach me swordsmanship in a very long time either."
Mo Hua looked worried.
Elder Xun was startled, then sighed deeply:
"Your senior brother is like a candle flickering in the wind, still bearing calamities… he…"
Elder Xun hesitated, then finally only showed a look of melancholy and said to Mo Hua, "Don't worry about this matter."
"Oh…" Mo Hua nodded, but still felt somewhat worried about Patriarch Dugu, his expression anxious.
Elder Xun looked at Mo Hua with a gentle gaze, "You should rest. Remember, during this time, do not waste your spirit, do not overdraw it, and most importantly, do not let murderous intent arise in your heart."
"All right." Mo Hua promised.
After saying this, Elder Xun turned and left.
Though his figure was old and his steps slow, his speed was not slow.
Seeing Elder Xun's figure about to disappear at the door, Mo Hua's heart jumped. Suddenly remembering he had one important thing he hadn't asked, he hurriedly said:
"Elder!"
Elder Xun turned around and looked at Mo Hua, "You have something else?"
Mo Hua nodded and told Elder Xun about the matter of the Great Wilderness ancient text.
Elder Xun was somewhat surprised, "Great Wilderness ancient text? Why are you studying that?"
Old Master Xun was somewhat surprised, "Great Wilderness ancient script? Why are you studying that?"
Mo Hua said, "Mr. Tu and the secret of the Great Wilderness Evil God involve some ancient secrets of the Great Wilderness. I want to take advantage of the free time now to learn more, to prepare ahead, so that in the future if I encounter the Great Wilderness' conspiracies, I won't fall into their trap."
Old Master Xun guessed half of what Mo Hua meant but didn't press further. He had always been indulgent toward Mo Hua and didn't dig too deep.
After a moment of contemplation, Old Master Xun slowly said:
"The various provincial realms' ancient records, their scripts, are actually a kind of cultivation knowledge. Because they are just 'knowledge' or 'learning,' most cultivators don't value them, but their rarity and value are actually no less than some high-grade cultivation methods or Dao teachings."
"However, these scripts are very important and sometimes contain great secrets. That's why most deep-rooted sects keep some records."
"In the Taixu Sect, there indeed are some ancient writings from the Great Wilderness era, records and interpretations of various races' ancient scripts. But these are all kept inside the Inner Mountain's Scripture Pavilion and are not open to Outer Mountain disciples."
Mo Hua eagerly asked, "Old Master, may I take a look?"
Seeing Mo Hua's eager expression, Old Master Xun found it hard to refuse and sighed:
"I will give you a token. With this token, you may go to the Inner Mountain Scripture Pavilion and study the jade slips yourself."
"But remember, it's a strict point-to-point route — besides this cave, only the Scripture Pavilion is allowed; no other places."
"You may only borrow documents, scriptures, or jade slips related to the Great Wilderness ancient script. Do not borrow other things, or it will break the rules."
"After studying, remember to return the token..."
Mo Hua was overjoyed; his eyes sparkled as he nodded, "Definitely! Thank you, Old Master!"
…
After that, Mo Hua went to the Scripture Pavilion every few days.
Mount Taixu was divided into three parts: Outer Mountain, Inner Mountain, and Rear Mountain.
The Outer Mountain was where Outer Mountain disciples lived, cultivated, and attended classes.
The Inner Mountain was for Inner Mountain disciples, instructors, and elders to live and cultivate.
The Rear Mountain was where the Deputy Sect Master, Sect Master, and sect ancestors' caves were located.
Within the Rear Mountain were also the sect's ancestral tombs, ancestral halls, and secret forbidden areas.
Generally, Outer Mountain disciples were not allowed to enter the Inner Mountain, much less the Rear Mountain.
But Mo Hua was special.
To keep a low profile and avoid attention or interference from various powers, Mo Hua's current recuperation place was Old Master Xun's cave in the Rear Mountain, as he was a sect ancestor.
The place Mo Hua needed to go was the Inner Mountain Scripture Pavilion, also a critical Inner Mountain area.
Of course, Mo Hua couldn't just roam around lawlessly.
The route from the Rear Mountain to the Scripture Pavilion was strictly assigned by Old Master Xun.
The Scripture Pavilion, the Rear Mountain cave, and a mountain path.
Truly just "two points connected by a line."
This was to prevent Mo Hua from "disappearing" and to guard against his curiosity making him wander all over the Rear Mountain and cause trouble.
Old Master Xun gave Mo Hua no loopholes.
So Mo Hua, who had originally planned to "wander around," gave up on that.
He felt a little regretful.
Of course, studying the Great Wilderness ancient script was the most important thing. Visiting the Rear Mountain could wait for another opportunity.
…
The Inner Mountain Scripture Pavilion was the sect's core repository of Daoist tradition.
This was the true heart of the Taixu Sect's internal transmission.
Compared with the Outer Mountain, the Scripture Pavilion was not only larger and more historic, but the collections of transmissions were incredibly rich.
Most texts were of grade three or above.
Countless books, ancient scrolls, jade slips, and pictorial records piled wall-high, magnificent, as far as the eye could see.
Mo Hua was amazed and personally experienced the real "cultivation depth" of the Taixu Sect.
However, he was only permitted to view documents related to the Great Wilderness ancient script.
Mo Hua carefully obeyed Old Master Xun's instructions, only searching through the vast collection for records related to the Great Wilderness script.
Once found, he recorded them one by one, then went to an elder of the Inner Mountain Scripture Pavilion to register the borrowings.
The Great Wilderness ancient script was complex and obscure.
The Taixu Sect had a long tradition, with heritage from ancient sects. The Inner Mountain Scripture Pavilion did have many records related to the Great Wilderness ancient script, including some decoded documents.
However, these documents were complicated.
Moreover, the commentaries on the ancient script were written by different senior cultivators, each with their own interpretation and slight differences in meaning.
Mo Hua could only patiently record, carefully compare, then combine with his own understanding to slowly study and comprehend.
This process was long and exhausting.
Fortunately, Mo Hua was an Array Master. The formations and array patterns he usually studied, read, and practiced were even more complex and obscure than these texts.
Therefore, studying these kinds of ancient scripts was actually quite interesting for him.
Like this, Mo Hua settled down, studying slowly and comprehending little by little.
After about half a month, he finally had a rough grasp and clumsily deciphered the first line of Great Wilderness ancient script on the bone slip.
Mo Hua glanced at it, his pupils suddenly contracting sharply.
At this moment, he finally understood what kind of ancient formation he had been searching for all along.
The Evil God Bone Slip, written in Great Wilderness ancient script, recorded an extremely fierce formation:
"Grade Two, twenty-four patterns, Barbaric Ancient Absolute Formation..."
"The Twelve Meridian Gluttonous Spirit Corpse Formation!"
(End of this Chapter)