Chapter 630: The Fire-Lord (Huā Lángjūn)
This name radiated a suppressed savagery, as if steeped in flames and blood. Compared to the other rogue cultivators on the list, Fire Buddha felt… different.
It was as though he was operating on a completely higher level of "evil."
Mo Hua frowned.
"Just who was Boss Jiang…?"
"And where did he get this list from?"
These various notorious criminals listed… were far beyond the reach of a mere low-level human trafficker at early Foundation Establishment stage.
Let alone someone like the mysterious and extraordinary Fire Buddha…
And yet, this kind of list had been buried in Boss Jiang's diary.
Something didn't add up.
What kind of background did Fire Buddha have? What was his cultivation level? How old was he? What kind of cultivation technique did he practice?
Meanwhile, in another scene…
Gu Changhuai's brow twitched.
Maybe this sneaky little Mo Hua was waiting here on purpose just to catch him.
"Yeah right, keep bluffing…"
He probably had a bunch of little cronies too.
And let's be honest—even if you were actual blood brothers, if you were completely useless, nobody's dragging you along.
Mo Hua thought for a while, found no leads, and decided to set that puzzle aside temporarily to continue focusing on Fire Buddha.
He'd spoken very modestly about the whole thing.
But within the sect, he'd already asked Senior Sister Murong, Senior Brother Xu, Senior Brother Feng from Tai'a Sect, and even Sister Qianqian from Hundred Flowers Valley.
They all noticed the same thing: Mo Hua's eyes shone with joy and determination.
"Yeah," Mo Hua said, "It was mainly Senior Sister Murong and the others who did the work. I just tagged along and helped out…"
Determined to dig deeper, during his ten-day break, Mo Hua asked Murong Senior Sister to help him take on more Dao Court missions.
He even asked random senior brothers and sisters who did the occasional missions—
But none of them had ever heard of the name Fire Buddha.
That meant Fire Buddha… was at least some kind of leader.
"Uncle Gu! What a coincidence!"
Sect merit was important, and sect missions were serious business.
Gu Changhuai seemed to have just come in from outside. Though tired, he held his head high with pride—looking like a peacock with swagger.
"Could this list… not actually belong to Boss Jiang?"
He didn't think this was a coincidence at all.
This Fire Buddha—was like a ghost. He simply didn't seem to exist.
When Murong Caiyun went to the Dao Court to file a request to view the case files, Mo Hua tagged along to "casually" stroll by, hoping to accidentally bump into Uncle Gu.
All Mo Hua currently had… was a name: Fire Buddha.
It felt like he was being watched by a sly little fox with bad intentions…
And Fire Buddha wasn't just any leader.
Whatever forbidden technique he possessed that related to "fireball fusion"—
Mo Hua was dying to find out what it was.
"But if it wasn't Boss Jiang's list, then whose was it? And why was it hidden in his diary?"
Gu Changhuai, being a busy clerk of the Dao Court, was hard to track down. Mo Hua had already made three trips and missed him each time. It wasn't until the fourth time that they finally met.
In the entire Dao Court of Qianxue Province, the only person Mo Hua had any "connection" to… was Uncle Gu.
"That's your senior sister, not your real sister. Why would she take you along for no reason?"
Gu Changhuai snorted.
The Murong and Ouyang families—on the surface they were polite and gentle, but inside, they were all proud children of prestigious clans.
If you didn't have any real skills, who would let you tag along?
No matter how cute you were—that wasn't enough!
Still…
Gu Changhuai stared at Mo Hua for a few moments, filled with doubt.
"This kid… what can he even do?"
Weak spiritual roots, weak body, low cultivation—barely Foundation Establishment stage…
He looked like a total deadweight.
"What help could he possibly offer on a mission?"
Unable to figure it out, Gu Changhuai shook his head and asked dryly:
"What kind of mission are you 'tagging along' for this time?"
Mo Hua replied:
"Catching a perverted cultivator."
"What cultivation level?"
"Only mid Foundation Establishment."
Gu Changhuai: 😑
"Only" mid Foundation?
Aren't you yourself only early Foundation?
And you talk like catching a mid-stage Foundation guy is like chasing down a chicken…
He thought of his cousin's reminder and sighed.
"You don't need my help, right?"
Mo Hua was surprised.
Uncle Gu… was this enthusiastic?
He always thought Uncle Gu was wary of him and a little stingy with favors.
Turns out… he was the stingy one.
Uncle Gu was actually a cold-face, warm-heart kind of guy!
Mo Hua was touched.
"Catching the pervert is easy, I don't need help with that. But…"
He smiled bashfully.
"I do have something else I wanted to ask you about…"
Gu Changhuai's eyelid twitched.
Every time this kid smiles like that… it's never a good sign.
"Go on, what is it…" Gu said flatly.
"Uncle Gu," Mo Hua said softly, "Have you ever heard of… Fire Buddha?"
As soon as Mo Hua finished, he looked up—
Gu Changhuai's body stiffened slightly, a chill emanated from him, and a trace of killing intent flashed in his eyes.
He stared coldly at Mo Hua.
"Where did you…"
He paused. His voice low and hoarse:
"…hear that name?"
Mo Hua froze.
He hadn't expected such a strong reaction from Uncle Gu.
Could it be… Fire Buddha had some old grudge with him?
He definitely couldn't mention Boss Jiang's list…
So Mo Hua half-lied and said:
"I overheard a rogue cultivator mention it. He said Fire Buddha practiced some powerful fire technique, and no one in hundreds of miles could match him…"
Gu Changhuai stared sharply into his eyes.
Mo Hua's expression was calm, clear, and sincere. Like a still lake—no ripples.
"Which rogue cultivator?" Gu asked.
Mo Hua shook his head.
"I don't know him. Just happened to overhear a few words. They left quickly, and I didn't dare follow."
Gu Changhuai clearly didn't believe him. His expression was tense and silent.
Mo Hua, sensing this, asked gently:
"Uncle Gu, is Fire Buddha that powerful? Did he… have a conflict with you?"
Gu Changhuai was startled.
Seeing Mo Hua's genuine curiosity—his tone and expression didn't resemble someone who knew the old story. Nor did he seem like someone with any connection to Fire Buddha.
Finally, Gu relaxed a little, though his brow remained furrowed.
"This isn't something you should be asking about."
He seemed to recall something from the past. His expression darkened, and his tone grew cold.
Mo Hua knew then—there was definitely a story behind this.
But clearly, Uncle Gu wasn't going to share it.
So he didn't press. He quietly made a mental note to try asking someone else later.
Gu couldn't see through Mo Hua's thoughts, but just from that curious look on his face, he knew—
Even if he didn't say anything, Mo Hua was still going to dig.
Gu Changhuai sighed.
Fire Buddha was drenched in bloodshed—a taboo.
If Mo Hua really was hiding some dark identity and scheming against the Shangguan clan and Yu'er, then fine—
If he went poking into Fire Buddha's secrets and ended up dead, that would be deserved.
But if he really was just an innocent bystander who saved Yu'er by chance—then he was her benefactor.
If Gu said nothing, and Mo Hua ended up dead… that would be his sin.
And Mo Hua… was still so young. Barely over ten years old. To die now would be too tragic.
After a long silence, Gu finally sighed and said:
"These matters… I really shouldn't be telling you."
"But I'm afraid you don't know how deep the waters run. If you go poking your nose where it doesn't belong, you'll get caught up in things you shouldn't, provoke someone you really shouldn't… and end up throwing your life away for nothing."
Mo Hua was surprised.
"Who exactly is this Fire Buddha?"
Gu Changhuai's eyes narrowed slightly.
"He's a vicious, heinous heretic."
Mo Hua's heart tensed.
"Golden Core?"
"Late Foundation Establishment," Gu replied.
Mo Hua frowned.
"Late Foundation… and no one's caught him?"
Gu Changhuai sighed.
"Fire Buddha is cautious by nature. He never stirs up trouble outside second-grade provinces. His cultivation is deep, and his spells are frighteningly powerful…"
"The Dao Court has tried many times to wipe him out…"
"But he's cunning, ruthless, and extremely deadly. With the might of his spells, he's massacred cultivators left and right. Anyone below Foundation Establishment is basically helpless against him."
"Even when we deploy Golden Core cultivators… due to heavenly law restrictions, they can't use their core-bound treasures. So even if they can beat him, they can't kill him…"
"And once he escapes, he vanishes completely. Lies low for a while… then resurfaces to kill again when things quiet down."
Mo Hua understood now.
Golden Core officials at the third rank didn't have time to chase him down. Even if they did, heavenly restrictions limited them.
Second-rank Dao Court enforcers… were the ones who died chasing him.
"That powerful fire technique Fire Buddha uses… is it a forbidden technique?" Mo Hua asked.
Gu Changhuai's gaze sharpened. But thinking Mo Hua was a disciple of the Great Void Sect, he figured the boy must already know something about forbidden techniques.
He nodded.
"Yes. It's forbidden."
"But what he practices is an incomplete forbidden technique."
"After cultivating it, the fire energy stirs the blood, making the user violent and bloodthirsty."
"That killing intent becomes… uncontrollable."
"So this monster… often lashes out uncontrollably, unleashing the forbidden technique to go on killing sprees. Slaughters innocent people just to vent his 'bloodlust.'"
"To this day, no one knows how many cultivators he's burned alive—how many died in agony under his spell…"
Gu Changhuai's eyes burned with rage. His knuckles were clenched, bone white.
"That kind of monster… deserves to be cut into a thousand pieces."
Mo Hua was a little stunned.
This was the first time he'd ever seen Uncle Gu show such raw, bone-deep hatred.
So he tried to comfort him:
"Don't worry, Uncle Gu. Heaven has eyes. Evil never escapes retribution. People like him will definitely die with no grave to be buried in!"
Gu Changhuai gave a bitter, self-mocking smile.
"'Heaven has eyes…' huh."
He looked like he wanted to say more, but then his expression changed—
He suddenly realized he'd said too much to this little rascal without even noticing…
Some things… really shouldn't have been shared.
"Enough. No more," Gu said with a wave of his sleeve. Then warned:
"I'm only telling you this so you understand—Fire Buddha is extremely dangerous. You're just a snot-nosed little cultivator. Stop poking around where you don't belong."
Mo Hua pouted.
"I'm not little. I'm fifteen already!"
Gu snorted.
"I'm over a hundred."
Mo Hua gasped.
"Uncle Gu, you're that old?!"
Gu nearly cracked a tooth. He wanted to grab Mo Hua's ear and twist it.
"Over a hundred—so what?! I'm a Golden Core cultivator! That's still young!"
"Okay, okay!" Mo Hua quickly calmed him down.
But in his heart, he muttered:
"If you're young at a hundred-plus… then I'm definitely still a little kid…"
He thought for a moment… then sneakily asked another question.
This was a rare chance. If he didn't ask now and Uncle Gu got grumpy later, he might not get another chance.
"Uncle Gu… do you know where Fire Buddha is right now?"
Gu Changhuai didn't answer.
Mo Hua got the message.
"So you don't know…"
"Then will the Dao Court issue a bounty for him?"
Still silence.
But from Gu's darkening expression, Mo Hua could guess the answer:
"No."
"Would the bounty be expensive?"
"Looks like… very expensive."
"Does Fire Buddha have accomplices?"
"Probably. Otherwise how could he escape the Dao Court again and again?"
"Has he been laying low for a long time?"
"Seems like it…"
Mo Hua stared at Gu Changhuai's face, reading his expressions as he interrogated himself out loud.
Gu finally couldn't take it anymore.
He grabbed Mo Hua by the collar and started dragging him away.
"Back to the sect. Go cultivate. Stop asking all this nonsense!"
Mo Hua's legs dangled in the air as he flailed—couldn't break free—so he gave up and let himself be hauled along.
But his mouth kept going:
"I have to wait for Senior Sister!"
"I still have a mission!"
"I have to catch the flower thief before I can go back!"
Gu had no choice but to dump Mo Hua in the front hall and warn him:
"Wait here. And stop bugging me."
"Okay~" Mo Hua replied sweetly.
Gu turned to leave—
"Uncle Gu!" Mo Hua suddenly called out.
Gu turned back. Mo Hua beamed.
"Can I ask one last question?"
Gu was about to say no, but then remembered his cousin's instructions. He sighed.
"Fine. Ask."
"What does Fire Buddha look like?" Mo Hua asked.
Gu frowned.
"Didn't I say—stop asking about him?"
Mo Hua replied:
"But what if I accidentally run into him? If I know what he looks like, I can run away faster."
"What are the odds you'd just randomly bump into him?"
"I said what if!"
Mo Hua emphasized,
"What if I do run into him, don't recognize him, and even stupidly try to get chummy—then get killed? What then?"
Your train of thought… is truly something else.
Gu Changhuai roasted silently in his heart.
But for the life of him, he couldn't come up with a rebuttal.
After all, avoiding danger does require knowing what it looks like in the first place. If you're in danger and don't even realize it—how do you dodge it?
Gu Changhuai rubbed his temples, finally sighing:
"Tall. Kind-looking face. Blood-red kasaya. A fiery scar pattern on the top of his head. Skin slightly flushed red…"
Mo Hua quietly memorized it all.
Gu turned to leave again, but Mo Hua suddenly remembered something and called out:
"Uncle Gu!"
"What now?"
"Let me ask one more question!"
Gu's brow twitched.
"Didn't you just say the last one was the last?!"
"No, no, this one is the real final question!"
Mo Hua swore up and down like a kid promising not to touch the cookie jar again.
Gu sighed, clearly out of patience:
"Fine! Ask!"
Mo Hua blinked innocently, then lowered his voice:
"Uncle Gu… what's the name of the technique Fire Buddha cultivates?"
Gu immediately tensed up:
"That's not something I can tell you."
"I swear this is really the last one!"
Gu stared at him suspiciously.
"If you tell me, I won't pester you anymore!" Mo Hua added.
Gu raised a brow.
"You mean it?"
"Mhm!" Mo Hua nodded solemnly.
Gu shook his head.
He didn't really believe him, but after thinking about it… just the name of a technique shouldn't cause too much trouble.
It was a forbidden technique after all.
No way this little brat would actually go and cultivate it, right?
And if he did try, well… Gu would personally drag him to Dao Prison and lock him up.
He made a mental note of that.
Seeing Mo Hua's eager puppy-dog eyes, Gu finally sighed and relented:
"The forbidden technique Fire Buddha practices is called…"
"Falling Fire Art (Yǔn Huǒ Shù)!"
Mo Hua froze—then his eyes lit up, practically glowing.
"Falling Fire Art?!"
Gu stared, dumbfounded.
A bad feeling began to rise in his gut.
This brat…
Surely he wouldn't be that reckless… trying to study a forbidden technique…
He can't be so crazy as to set his sights on Fire Buddha himself, right…?
Gu felt very uneasy. He frowned and reminded him:
"That's a forbidden art. You'd better not try learning it."
Mo Hua nodded obediently.
"Don't worry, Uncle Gu, I won't."
(Just gonna reference it a little… borrow some ideas… maybe "plagiarize" the spell structure a teeny bit. That doesn't count as learning, right?)
Gu, unaware of Mo Hua's mental gymnastics, gave a nod and finally left.
Mo Hua was delighted.
All those trips had paid off—Uncle Gu really did know about Fire Buddha!
Forbidden technique.
Falling Fire Art.
Just the name sounded powerful. And "Falling Fire"… even sounded somewhat related to his own Fireball Technique.
If only he knew where Fire Buddha was…
Dao Court had no leads either.
Looks like this would take a long-term plan…
Mo Hua waited for Senior Sister Murong, then later met up with the tardy Brother Feng and the others outside the Dao Court. Together, they rode off to Second-Grade Luanshan City to hunt the flower thief—Young Master Hua.
Luanshan City lay north of the second-grade city Bishan.
In the city lived several small clans. Recently, some of their female disciples had become pale, thin, and weak.
When their families looked into it, they discovered the girls had been cultivation-harvested.
The culprit? The infamous flower thief wanted by the Dao Court: Young Master Hua.
These female cultivators had all been fooled by his sweet words, voluntarily became his furnaces, and were harvested of their life essence. Severely weakened, they still clung to delusion, saying things like:
"He really loves me…"
"Even if I was harvested, I was willing…"
"It was consensual! None of your business…"
Those were the exact words Murong Caiyun brought back after gathering intel and reporting to Mo Hua.
Mo Hua was… enlightened.
Some cultivators these days… judged only by appearance, totally ignoring good or evil.
Someone comes to suck your blood dry, steal your life force—and you're grateful for it?! Even enjoying it?!
Thankfully, Dao Law remained cold and unbending.
Harvesting was still a crime.
Young Master Hua flitted between several women in Luanshan City—enjoying himself and managing his time exceptionally well.
Too well, in fact.
Because of his overbooked schedule, when things blew up, he didn't have time to flee and instead hid… somewhere in a brothel or the lavish residence of some noble.
But wherever people go, they leave traces.
And when you leave traces in front of Mo Hua, don't even dream of getting away.
Mo Hua swept his divine sense across the city, made careful observations, and deduced karmic connections—and soon enough, he found signs of Young Master Hua.
The group followed the trail—
Right into the boudoir of the matriarch of the largest second-grade clan in Luanshan City—the Wang Family Patriarch's first wife.
(End of this Chapter)