Chapter 637 – Calamity Mutation
Mo Hua's pupils shrank.
This scene… was it the day the Xie Clan was exterminated?
Were these the soul remnants—memories left behind by the slaughtered cultivators of the Xie Clan, burned to death in agony?
Remnants of divine will?
Broad daylight, yet a sea of fire stretched before him.
Mo Hua forced himself to bear the discomfort, focusing his attention, trying to witness this cruel "slaughter" to the end—
He wanted to know what had truly happened to the Xie Clan.
The butchery of blood and flame continued.
The demonic cultivators, like monsters, grinned wickedly as they raised their butcher blades, slaughtering Xie Clan cultivators like livestock—one by one, cutting them down and dismembering them.
After being killed, the Xie cultivators' bodies were piled together…
And somehow—something began to stir.
Their limbs started to twist and deform.
They no longer resembled humans, but… something that devoured humans.
Mo Hua's "Heavenly Pattern Deduction" was something he had developed through fumbling exploration, based on his master's guidance.
Frowning, his pupils deepened into pitch black. His mind filled with eerie thoughts as he used Heavenly Pattern Deduction to continue peering deeper.
Perhaps sensing Mo Hua's gaze, the sea of fire suddenly erupted, flames blood-red and roaring skyward, engulfing both the butchers and the butchered—cutting off Mo Hua's view.
And Mo Hua lacked the power to see through this inferno.
Causality seemed to warp for a moment.
It was as if everything had burned down to ash.
Just then, a chill ran through Mo Hua's heart.
The mangled remains of the Xie Clan began to move—they were filled with resentment and unwillingness. Struggling, twisted, grotesque…
They stood up again.
They were "dead," and yet still **lived on—**as calamity incarnate.
What happened next felt… forbidden.
The blood turned thick, the sea of fire surged and drowned all sight.
The inferno boiled.
As if their very essence was wrung dry.
A gentle and doting face flashed through his mind…
But soon, the flames receded.
Mo Hua continued to stare intently.
Their corpses were discarded carelessly—unnoticed, unwanted.
Flames slithered like serpents, baring their fangs at Mo Hua—taunting him.
Like slaughtered beasts—bled dry.
Mo Hua frowned in confusion.
On the ground, eerie phantoms overlapped—Xie Clan cultivators, mutilated and stacked together after being brutally killed. Hundreds of them.
Maybe… his master had never truly taught him the real Heavenly Pattern Deduction.
The Xie Clan cultivators were completely gone—erased, as if both flesh and divine sense had been vaporized.
A sinister shift—a calamity mutation—suddenly surged, and the scene twisted again.
He saw that the Fire Buddha and other demonic cultivators… were gone.
"Demons?!"
Mo Hua's vision sharpened.
The sense of corruption intensified—a twisted aura rippled out…
He still couldn't pierce through the fire and see the truth of the cause.
The screams and wails became distorted, like broken records.
Mo Hua sighed softly. He understood—this was the power of veiled karma, too strong to overcome. His deduction simply wasn't refined enough.
The vision began to blur.
Yet… these things didn't dare touch him.
Formation deduction was fine. Deduction of heavenly secrets… now that was where he lacked.
The bodies that had once been human… were now warped. Cow hooves, horse limbs—becoming livestock-like monsters—no longer human.
And these… had turned into some kind of evil, aberrant "calamity creatures."
Mo Hua felt a faint pang in his heart.
There was something… hiding the karma. Preventing him from seeing what happened after the massacre.
His heart chilled.
The twisted, malformed demons that haunted Yu'er's dreams flashed into his mind.
Mo Hua scrutinized carefully, comparing them in his mind. Then his gaze froze.
"No…"
They were similar… but not the same.
The monsters in Yu'er's nightmares were manifestations of evil thoughts—a mental embodiment of demonic intent.
They were mental constructs—thought-entities.
But the "livestock transformation" of these Xie Clan cultivators…
It was more like a mutation of fate, a karmic aberration.
More precisely—
Dao Calamity?!
Mo Hua's heart turned cold, his expression heavy.
He could feel it…
Though faint and small in scale, this event before him was indeed a sign of "Dao-level Calamity Mutation."
As he was frowning in contemplation—
The half-human, half-beast calamity demons suddenly turned their blood-red eyes toward him.
They died with hatred—and now, they craved blood.
And Mo Hua… was the only living person present within this karmic layer.
One by one, the mutated "demons" twisted, groaned, rose to their feet—and all locked their vicious gazes on him.
Mo Hua stood silently, face calm.
In an instant—killing intent surged.
The demons snarled, bellowed, and lunged forward on all fours, mouths agape, claws bared—charging straight at him.
Mo Hua quietly watched, with a hint of pity in his eyes.
At that moment, behind him—a blood sea surged.
A mountain of corpses rose into view.
Endless numbers of grotesque walking corpses and iron corpses filled the land.
At the summit, a towering, majestic Corpse King, eyes glowing crimson and exuding a terrifying aura, reigned supreme over the horde.
The mutated demons, eager to devour Mo Hua, suddenly froze in fear.
The Corpse King's gaze was cold and indifferent.
To it, these weaklings—only mildly tainted by calamity and numbering in the mere hundreds—were nothing but ants.
A moment later, the Corpse King let out a deafening roar.
The corpse horde roared in unison. The calamity demons panicked.
Then—the blood-drenched corpses surged forth like a tidal wave. In the blink of an eye, they tore through the demon horde, ripping them to shreds.
The trace of calamity at the Xie Clan… was wiped out completely.
But after the massacre, the corpse horde became restless. They howled to the heavens, bloodlust surging skyward.
The sea of blood on the mountain grew even redder.
The Dao Calamity's aura grew stronger.
Beneath the sky-darkening blood sea, the Corpse King's aura turned even more violent.
Its savage red eyes glowed brighter—it was on the verge of breaking free, and undergoing a deeper calamity mutation.
Just then—a crisp, authoritative command rang out:
"Stand down!"
The raging corpse mountain instantly fell silent.
The undead bowed their heads—none dared to defy.
The Corpse King, its eyes brimming with killing intent, glared at Mo Hua—its so-called "young master"—with a murderous fury.
Mo Hua met its gaze without flinching.
His eyes were calm, yet radiated the commanding pressure of a true sovereign.
His look said: "Don't make me repeat myself."
The Corpse King trembled with rage.
Just as it was about to resist, a burning pain erupted deep in its body—the seal flared.
Pale blue runes shimmered across its form like laws of the Dao, chains of karma—binding it completely.
Terrified, the Corpse King finally backed down.
Its eyes still glinted with savagery and defiance—but its body submitted.
The blood sea receded, the corpses returned to their slumber, and the mountain of the dead faded.
Only the Corpse King, just before vanishing, shot Mo Hua one last vicious look—
As if to say:
"I'll be back…"
After that, the corpse mountain and blood sea fully withdrew, karmic sins dispersed.
The Xie Clan's calamity was erased.
The raging sea of fire… slowly died down.
Mo Hua's vision blurred again. The crimson hues of fire and blood faded—
Replaced by dazzling daylight, so intense it made him squint in a daze.
...
"Mo Hua?"
"Mo Hua!"
An urgent voice rang out.
Mo Hua blinked, dazed, then slowly opened his eyes—only to find himself lying next to Gu Changhuai.
Gu Changhuai was frowning deeply, calling his name repeatedly.
Seeing Mo Hua wake up, he finally let out a breath of relief.
If something really happened to this kid, he honestly wouldn't know how to explain it to his cousin—or to Yu'er.
But immediately after, his mind was full of questions.
The earlier scene was still vivid in his memory.
Right when Mo Hua stepped into the annihilated Xie Clan estate, his expression shifted, his face went pale, and then his eyes lost focus. He shut them and fainted right then and there.
It was as if… he had seen something he wasn't supposed to see…
What was stranger—after Mo Hua passed out, the entire Xie Clan estate suddenly turned cold and oppressive.
It was as if something terrifying was beginning to mutate.
Something evil was growing.
Under broad daylight, a chill seeped into the bones.
Even Gu Changhuai, a Golden Core cultivator, felt suffocated and anxious, as if something terrible was looming.
Yet the moment Mo Hua opened his eyes, it all disappeared…
Gu Changhuai stared at Mo Hua and asked gravely:
"What exactly… did you see?"
Mo Hua rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. In his mind, he quickly replayed the cause and effect of everything he'd just witnessed.
The sea of fire… the Xie Clan… the massacre…
That fog-shrouded mystery buried beneath flames…
The signs of Dao-level calamity mutation…
But none of this could be spoken aloud.
If he talked, it would bring serious trouble upon himself.
Especially the matter of "Dao Calamity"—that was an absolute taboo in the Dao Court.
After thinking for a moment, Mo Hua replied:
"I've been studying formations too intensely… drawing too many diagrams. Overused my divine sense. Sometimes I just faint—it'll pass soon."
Gu Changhuai could immediately tell Mo Hua was full of nonsense.
Just a moment ago, this kid was energetic, eyes bright and sharp—how could his divine sense suddenly burn out and cause him to faint?
Clearly, he was hiding something…
Gu Changhuai gave him a long look and asked:
"So… do you still want to inspect the Xie Clan?"
Mo Hua nodded. "I do."
Gu Changhuai said nothing more. He simply spent the next hour with Mo Hua, walking a full circuit through the charred remains of the Xie estate.
The entire estate had been reduced to ash.
Everything was burned to cinders.
After a thorough round, Mo Hua didn't uncover anything new.
Every minor clue he did find—Gu Changhuai had already known about them.
With his deep cultivation, rich experience, keen perception, and innate instinct as an investigator, Gu Changhuai had already identified everything Mo Hua might reasonably spot.
And what Mo Hua couldn't see—Gu Changhuai had likely figured out already as well.
When it came to investigation, Gu Changhuai was highly professional.
Mo Hua followed him, checking every inch of the ruined estate.
The Fire Buddha and his group had cleaned up very thoroughly.
From people to buildings, the Xie Clan was scorched into blackened earth, leaving behind no extra clues.
Aside from that sea of fire Mo Hua had seen—there was truly nothing else to go on.
Mo Hua felt a tinge of disappointment.
Gu Changhuai wasn't surprised by his expression.
The Dao Court had already combed through this place countless times. If anything important were here, it would've been found long ago.
There was no way they were waiting for Mo Hua to come discover something new.
"Let's head back…" Gu Changhuai said coolly.
He wanted to take Mo Hua home to the Gu clan and hand him over safely to his cousin. That way, his task would be done.
No more dragging this little brat around, risking complications or unexpected trouble.
Like what just happened…
"Alright," Mo Hua nodded.
He hadn't found anything. He could only go back for now.
But just as he turned to leave—he suddenly froze, then turned back to glance at the ruins of the Xie Clan. His brows furrowed slightly.
Gu Changhuai was a bit surprised. "What is it?"
Mo Hua hesitated, then said:
"Uncle Gu, do you have the architectural layout of the Xie Clan compound?"
Gu Changhuai nodded. "I do."
"Can I take a look?" Mo Hua asked.
Gu Changhuai's eyes narrowed slightly. "Why?"
"I want to find… a spot."
"A spot?"
Gu Changhuai frowned and thought for a moment. Then, without pressing further, he nodded:
"Alright."
He found a relatively clean area, pulled a scroll from his storage pouch, and spread it out on the ground.
"This is the architectural blueprint of the Xie Clan estate."
The blueprint detailed the estate's layout, buildings, and even the array formations embedded into the structures…
Mo Hua was very familiar with this kind of diagram.
He focused intently, searching the architectural diagram bit by bit...
In the earlier vision of the sea of fire, the Fire Buddha had gathered the corpses of the Xie Clan cultivators together after killing them.
The crucial scenes afterward had been shrouded by the flames, concealing the cause and effect—Mo Hua couldn't see what happened next.
Even though he didn't know what the Fire Buddha had done after the killings, couldn't pierce the secrets veiled beneath the flames—he could still vaguely recall the surrounding scenery.
That scenery… was clearly somewhere within the Xie Clan estate.
Yet, during his walk earlier, Mo Hua hadn't seen anything matching that memory.
"There must be a place I overlooked…"
Mo Hua replayed the fiery scene over and over in his mind, then carefully compared it to the map of the Xie Clan—trying to find a match.
Finally, Mo Hua's eyes lit up.
On the blueprint, in a remote corner of the Xie Clan's backyard, there was a secluded loft pavilion. In front of the loft was an open courtyard, somewhat spacious, surrounded by side rooms and flower pots set in ornamental urns.
The layout and furnishings were exactly like the scene in his memory.
Mo Hua pointed at the courtyard on the blueprint and said,
"Uncle Gu, let's check this place out."
Gu Changhuai gave Mo Hua a surprised glance but nodded slightly.
The two followed the map, walking along ruined paths and stepping over ashes, finally arriving at the location of the loft.
The surroundings had collapsed—burned wooden beams and crumbled walls blocked the way.
No wonder Mo Hua hadn't noticed it earlier.
Gu Changhuai pulled out a paper fan and waved it casually—sending a surge of spiritual energy forward that cleared the path.
Mo Hua continued ahead, stepping into the courtyard in front of the loft.
This spot was tucked away in a quiet corner, secluded and hidden.
The loft had also been completely burned down. In fact, the fire here seemed even fiercer than elsewhere—very little of the original structure remained.
The courtyard was desolate, charred black like the rest of the estate—nothing out of the ordinary at first glance.
The two of them searched the area but found nothing unusual.
Gu Changhuai turned to look at Mo Hua.
Mo Hua frowned, deep in thought for a long time.
"No traces at all…"
"That doesn't make sense…"
Mo Hua released his divine sense. Within the void of his perception, there was only emptiness—just residual fire-element spiritual energy from the ruins. Nothing special.
"Nothing?"
His frown deepened. Suddenly, he froze. He instinctively sniffed the air.
"Uncle Gu… do you smell something?"
"Smell?" Gu Changhuai sniffed too, frowning. "Burnt wood?"
"No…" Mo Hua replied. He sniffed again, eyes narrowing.
"It's faint…"
"Refreshing, but with an odd texture… slightly thick, a little viscous, strangely smooth…"
Gu Changhuai gave him a baffled look and muttered:
"Are you describing a smell with your nose… or a flavor with your tongue?"
"A flavor in the mouth…?"
Mo Hua froze—then his eyes widened in shock.
He remembered now!
This was…
The scent of golden marrow!
Divine Sense Marrow—the kind used by the Ram-Horn Enforcer!
This was… the aura of an Evil God?!
Mo Hua's spirit instantly sharpened. He flared his nostrils again and followed the faint "scent" of divine marrow to a corner of the courtyard.
He sniffed around, then began digging—soon unearthing a pile of charred black residue.
Gu Changhuai stepped over, examined it, gave it a sniff, even scanned it with his divine sense. In the end, he looked slightly disappointed:
"Just ordinary burnt residue. Nothing special."
"No idea what got burned here…"
Mo Hua shook his head, expression solemn.
"This… is not ordinary."
He had smelled the Evil God's scent on it.
Although he couldn't identify what this pitch-black residue had originally been—he could tell it was no trivial thing.
This was a remnant left behind after the fire concealed the truth—after some unknown being veiled the karma. The ashes it left behind were extraordinary.
A shocking secret might be buried within.
Seeing the usually playful and sharp-eyed Mo Hua now showing such rare seriousness, Gu Changhuai grew solemn as well.
He took out a storage pouch, carefully split the residue into two samples, and sealed them away with care.
"I'll take this back and have the Dao Court's forensic division analyze it—figure out what exactly these ashes came from."
"A spiritual artifact, a spiritual material, a pill… or maybe…"
"Human flesh and blood."
Mo Hua nodded and asked,
"If you find out…?"
Gu Changhuai sighed,
"If we find anything, I'll let you know."
"Mm."
Mo Hua looked up again at the burned remains of the Xie Clan.
Slaughtered to the last. Corpses erased.
Karma concealed.
Traces of calamity mutation.
And now…
The Evil God's aura clinging to the charred remains…
Mo Hua's brows tightened.
He had originally thought this was just another brutal atrocity committed by the Fire Buddha and other crime cultivators.
But now, it seemed…
There might be something far, far deeper here…
…
(End of Chapter)