Chapter 727 – Beast-Taming Mountain
This was Mo Hua's fourth year in the Great Void Sect.
It was also the academic year of the mid Foundation Establishment stage.
From this year onward, Mo Hua would begin learning the mid-Foundation-level cultivation curriculum, including the second-rank intermediate levels of refining, alchemy, and talisman arts.
He would also begin delving deeper into second-rank high-grade array formations.
His goal? To raise his divine sense to nineteen threads within three years.
That was the modest target he set for himself.
He had thought about aiming for twenty threads, but deep down he knew… that was impossible.
Twenty threads signified Golden Core realm divine sense. With his current cultivation and growth rate, it just wasn't realistic in the short term.
After that, everything returned to routine.
"Even spirit beasts that eat only Spiritgrass and drink dew—from appearance alone, may not eat humans, but they will still kill."
"Most of you are from noble clans, pampered since youth. You've only seen tamed spirit beasts. You've heard of demon beasts, but few of you have ever actually seen one."
"A single slip in judgment, a moment of carelessness—and you could very well end up as beast food."
No matter how sheltered they were—raised in noble houses, insulated from wind and rain—their struggles were limited to family politics and personal ambitions. Life and death? They'd never faced the real dangers of the cultivation world.
Bounty missions were one approach—letting disciples confront evil cultivators, experience the darkness of human hearts.
That's why, years ago, an old ancestor of Qianxue Prefecture defied opposition and established this rule:
Once you enter a sect, your mindset must begin to shift.
"Hence, when hunting demon beasts, you'll go out in teams of five to ten. And you must remain extremely cautious. One mistake, and you could fall into a beast's jaws."
Yet Mo Hua's nervousness… stemmed from excitement.
"But once you enter Beast-Taming Mountain, the beasts are savage and inhuman. There is no reasoning with them."
"That's all I have to say. As for when you choose to enter the mountain—use your own judgment."
"It's not just our Great Void Sect—this is standard practice throughout Qianxue Prefecture."
The Cultivation Elder paused thoughtfully, then added,
"Beast-Taming Mountain is open now. But typically, students enter in the second half of the year—perhaps next year…"
He lifted his gaze to address the seated disciples, who all wore serious expressions now.
"This will become one of your main sources of merit during the mid-Foundation stage—aside from bounties."
"Bounty missions involve evil cultivators. While they won't reason with you either, they at least fear the sects behind you, or your noble lineage. Many won't dare go too far."
"But the second danger—Beast-Taming Mountain—exists to teach you the cruelty of demon beasts."
The elder's expression grew darker as his gaze swept across the room.
"Let me remind you again—Beast-Taming Mountain, as the name suggests, is a place for hunting beasts, honing your techniques, and refining yourselves."
"If you are ambushed by fellow disciples—whether from this sect or others—even the Four Great Sects—our sect will demand justice."
"But if you die simply because you were foolish or reckless and got eaten by a demon beast… the sect will not take responsibility."
"That's why—whether you are a sword cultivator, a refiner, an alchemist, or a disciple needing high-grade materials—Beast-Taming Mountain is a place you must go."
"But demon beasts are not like cultivators…"
This entire rule existed to instill risk awareness—to let disciples understand the fragility of life and the terror of death.
"Sharpening the blade never delays chopping wood—but don't let your ambition make you reckless. Or you'll pay the price."
Still, for those who truly sought advancement—there was greater pressure and fiercer competition.
"Besides, any demon beast captured and thrown into Beast-Taming Mountain by sect patriarchs—these aren't ordinary creatures. They're even tougher to deal with."
Thus, Mo Hua quickly adapted to life in the mid-Foundation academic year.
Beast hunting!
The Cultivation Elder stood before the classroom and said:
"The beasts in Beast-Taming Mountain are of many kinds, with unique bloodlines and great strength. Some rare materials from these beasts can't be bought even with spirit stones."
Mo Hua was a little nervous too.
"Wait until your cultivation stabilizes, your spirit tools and techniques align better with your realm—then go hunt beasts, harvest materials, and earn merit. It's not too late."
Though the coursework had changed, the overall structure of the sect's system had not.
Those born to noble families could still slack off, indulge in luxury.
The elders and instructors hadn't changed either.
After two months, once everyone's cultivation stabilized, and life returned to routine—the sect informed Mo Hua and the others:
Beast-Taming Mountain is now open.
"Some bounties even require you to hunt demon beasts."
In Beast-Taming Mountain, if you died in a beast's jaws—you were simply dead.
And yet, Mo Hua could feel the dormant hunter's blood in his veins stirring.
There were so many things one could do in that forested mountain teeming with beasts.
But… would Elder Xun even allow him to go?
Mo Hua pondered quietly.
On the surface, Elder Xun's restrictions only prevented him from leaving Qianxue Prefecture.
Beast-Taming Mountain was within the prefecture, within bounds—should be fine, right?
But Mo Hua knew very well—Elder Xun's goal was to keep him safe, so he could focus quietly on studying array formations.
Beast-Taming Mountain was dangerous.
So Mo Hua decided to go ask anyway.
Unsurprisingly, the moment he brought it up, Elder Xun rejected him immediately.
With a stern face and serious tone—but also some care—he scolded:
"You little rascal, why go join the chaos?"
"You have no idea how dangerous those demon beasts are in Beast-Taming Mountain."
"Besides, you're not a body cultivator. Your physique is weak; your spiritual power is low, your spells aren't dominant; you don't refine spirit tools, so you don't need beast materials; you draw arrays all day—you're not lacking merit either…"
"So what business do you have in that mountain?"
Mo Hua was briefly stunned silent by the interrogation.
Though, in fairness, Elder Xun's words didn't entirely match reality.
Sure, his body was weak—but his footwork was excellent. His spirit power was low—but his spellcasting was fast. He didn't refine gear—but Master Gu made him some.
And yes, he did draw arrays daily—but he was absolutely lacking in merit points.
You can't ever have enough merit.
Even if you don't need to spend it, hoarding it is still satisfying.
The more he had, the more secure he felt. Mo Hua dreamed of stockpiling thousands of merit points—just so he could scroll through the merit store in the sect token and admire the options.
But still, Elder Xun wasn't wrong.
Strictly speaking—none of this was necessary right now.
Still, Mo Hua couldn't help feeling a little frustrated.
Elder Xun noticed and sighed inwardly. Though Mo Hua was calm and mature for his age—already a handsome and composed young man—he still had the curiosity of a child.
Especially now, when hundreds of disciples were gathering to form hunting parties, buzzing with energy.
But this kind of "excitement"... wasn't something he could join.
"Your talent in array formations is unmatched. Just focus on pushing that talent to its limit—you'll find your own path. No need to copy others."
"Some paths weren't made for you, and you don't need to walk them. The Dao of Arrays itself is already a grand and noble road."
Elder Xun spoke with heartfelt conviction.
"Oh…" Mo Hua nodded slightly.
But Elder Xun saw he was still a little upset. After a brief moment of thought, he flipped his wrist and took out a thick stack of array diagrams.
"You've more or less finished the Great Void Sect's seventeen-thread Eight Trigram Arrays. Now it's time to learn my set."
Mo Hua blinked, surprised.
"Aren't yours part of the Great Void Sect's too?"
"Not quite the same," Elder Xun said.
"The sect's arrays focus on inheritance, for teaching and passing on knowledge…"
"But what I'm giving you now—is true array research."
"These formations are still based on the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, but they're much more difficult than the ones you've studied so far."
Mo Hua's eyes lit up.
"Much more difficult?"
He respectfully accepted the stack and skimmed through it—and the more he read, the brighter his eyes grew.
These arrays… bore striking similarities to the formations preserved by the Shangguan and Wenren clans—but even more advanced.
"Thank you, Elder!"
Mo Hua beamed with joy.
Seeing him happy again, Elder Xun let out a breath and waved his hand.
"Go on, go study your formations."
"Mm-hmm!"
Mo Hua immediately stuffed the formation diagrams into his robes and scampered off in a jog.
Elder Xun couldn't help but chuckle slightly and shake his head.
For the time being, to not let Elder Xun's kindness go to waste, Mo Hua put the idea of Beast-Taming Mountain on hold and focused wholeheartedly on learning the new formations.
But… all formations eventually get learned.
When Mo Hua finished, he went to Elder Xun again and said he wanted to enter Beast-Taming Mountain.
To pacify him, Elder Xun could only hand him more formation diagrams—giving the boy something to do to settle that restless heart.
And just like that, nearly half a year passed.
Using Beast-Taming Mountain as an excuse, Mo Hua had "extorted" a large number of formation diagrams from Elder Xun—diagrams he probably shouldn't have received at this stage.
Meanwhile, Cheng Mo and the others had stabilized their cultivation foundations, adapted to mid-Foundation combat, and were already forming five-person teams to begin venturing into Beast-Taming Mountain.
As for Mo Hua—the certified professional beast-hunter—he could only watch longingly from the sidelines.
One day, while eating, Cheng Mo and his crew excitedly chatted about their Beast-Taming Mountain experiences.
"Disciples everywhere, beasts everywhere…"
"Tigers with claws longer than their necks, bears the size of small mountains when they stand, green-furred wolf monsters, and even a scarlet fire-luan!"
"Fighting demon beasts, you can go all out—no need to hold back your martial arts or spells. It's exhilarating!"
"A second-rank early-stage demon core alone is worth 300 merit points!"
"Then there's the fur, bones, blood essence, internal organs—everything's valuable!"
Cheng Mo spoke with animated gestures, eyes glowing.
But ten or so days later, after a few more trips to the mountain, Cheng Mo returned looking a lot less enthusiastic.
Mo Hua asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Cheng Mo sighed.
"Most of the people in Beast-Taming Mountain are senior brothers and sisters in the late Foundation realm. They're experienced, skilled, have deep cultivation, and use high-grade spirit tools."
"We couldn't even join their teams…"
"We formed a team of our own, five of us. Tried to take down a second-rank early-stage wolf demon—but that thing was really cunning. Took us half a day just to find it…"
"And?"
"We couldn't beat it…"
Cheng Mo looked thoroughly dejected.
Mo Hua nodded. He wasn't surprised.
Demon beasts were powerful.
Especially for disciples like Cheng Mo and the others, who'd never hunted beasts before and had zero real experience—getting beaten on the first outing was almost inevitable.
Beast-hunting isn't kind to rookies.
Mo Hua could only share some basic beast-hunting precautions as reminders.
As for more tailored advice—he couldn't give that right now.
After all, every situation was different.
Most of his beast-hunting experience came from Mount Dahei—a second-rank mountain range in Lizhou. Mo Hua had grown up there and knew its terrain and beasts like the back of his hand.
But this was Beast-Taming Mountain in Qianzhou.
He hadn't seen it with his own eyes and didn't know the conditions—so blindly copying methods from Mount Dahei would be foolish.
All he could do was give general-purpose beast-hunting advice:
Things like demon beast behavior during feeding, hiding, ambushing, nesting, or faking death; common hunter tactics like setting traps, coordinated kills, or vital strikes.
Cheng Mo and the others nodded repeatedly while listening.
Hao Xuan's eyes even sparkled.
"Little Senior Brother, you sure know a lot…"
"Just a little," Mo Hua replied modestly.
Cheng Mo did take his advice to heart.
But internalizing advice and successfully executing a hunt were two very different things.
Their early hunting attempts were still rough.
That said, over time, they slowly began to persevere.
After all, they'd been admitted to Great Void Sect—one of the top eight sects in Qianxue Prefecture. In their respective clans, they were all elite talents with pride and tenacity.
Time passed.
Everything was going relatively well—until Mo Hua saw Cheng Mo, now covered in bandages, arm in a sling, bruised and battered, barely able to move…
"Got smacked by a bear," said Situ Jian flatly.
Mo Hua's expression was complicated—he wasn't sure whether to laugh or feel sorry.
Cheng Mo, however, kept a stiff upper lip.
"It was my own carelessness. Just a mere second-rank bear—once I recover, I'll fight that brute for three hundred rounds, chop off its paw, and avenge this humiliation!"
Situ Jian dryly added,
"If your bones were half as tough as your mouth, you wouldn't have eight fractures right now."
As he spoke, Cheng Mo winced in pain.
"You've changed, Situ! You weren't this mean before—you've definitely been corrupted by Little Senior Brother!"
But Situ Jian had already lost interest in responding.
Mo Hua asked, "How long until he recovers?"
Situ Jian shook his head.
"Elder Murong took a look—said that bear hit too hard. He's got tendon and bone injuries, needs at least half a month to recover—then we'll see."
Mo Hua asked, "Doesn't that leave your team short?"
Normally, losing one person wasn't too bad.
But Cheng Mo was a body cultivator—with strong blood energy and powerful axe techniques. He was their tank and frontliner.
Now that he was down, a replacement wasn't easy to find.
Situ Jian sighed.
"We'll take a break for now. Honestly, with our current strength, maybe we did enter Beast-Taming Mountain a bit too early. We've barely earned any merit—it's starting to cost more than we gain…"
"Better to prepare more and go again next year when our cultivation's stronger."
Mo Hua asked, "What about the other disciples?"
Situ Jian shook his head.
"Same thing all around. Beast-Taming Mountain's tough. Beast-hunting? It's really not an easy way to make a living."
He sighed again.
Mo Hua shook his head inwardly.
Looks like… he might need to personally lead them.
So Mo Hua gave it some thought—then went to find Elder Xun again.
"Going to the mountain again?"
Elder Xun frowned.
Mo Hua presented his pre-prepared excuse:
"I've learned a lot of formations. I want to test them out—engrave them onto spirit tools and see how they perform. Beast-Taming Mountain is the best testing ground."
"Where are you getting these spirit tools?"
"There's a third-rank artifact refiner from the Gu family—Master Gu. He's helping me refine them."
"Gu family?"
Elder Xun was a little surprised, a contemplative look in his eyes, but he didn't say anything.
Mo Hua quickly added, "I'll just draw formation diagrams, enhance spirit tools, and stay behind others. I won't fight myself."
Elder Xun still had concerns. "Beast-Taming Mountain is full of savage beasts…"
"It's fine," Mo Hua straightened his back proudly and declared,
"Elder, to be honest, I was born into a line of beast hunters. I've been dealing with demon beasts since I was a kid—my beast-hunting skills are passed down through generations!"
Elder Xun was stunned by this line.
What the heck…
Beast hunter?
He glanced at Mo Hua—fair-skinned, with skinny arms and legs. There was nothing about this kid that looked remotely like a beast hunter.
A "beast feeder", maybe—good bait for beasts.
Mo Hua saw that Elder Xun didn't believe him and doubled down,
"It's true! Really!"
Elder Xun looked at him quietly. Though he still didn't quite believe it, he also trusted Mo Hua's character—this wasn't a child who would tell wild lies to his face.
As ridiculous as it sounded, maybe there was some truth to it.
"…Alright then." Elder Xun sighed.
Mainly because—he had no more formation diagrams left to pacify the kid.
Everything within the seventeen-pattern range had already been given to Mo Hua. The rest either required higher spiritual sense that Mo Hua didn't yet have…
…or they were forbidden formations that simply couldn't be passed on.
In any case, he needed to give the boy something to do.
Besides, formations must be practiced. Studying without applying is no different from those old, dusty scholars and their useless theories.
Suddenly, Elder Xun remembered something—that person from long ago, who had once discussed formation theory with him, had said something similar:
"Learning, thinking, and applying form the cycle of formation cultivation. Among them, applying knowledge is the true essence of the Dao."
"Learning is the entry. Application is the foundation."
"Apply what you learn, and you'll learn better. Let learning and use feed each other—only then can you achieve unity between knowledge and action, walk the path unwavering, and glimpse the true essence of the Dao of Formations…"
Those words still echoed in his ears.
But the person who had spoken them—brilliant and enviably gifted—was no longer in this world.
Elder Xun felt a wave of wistfulness.
He turned to Mo Hua again and was suddenly struck by a strange emotion.
"He really does resemble him a little…"
Mo Hua didn't think that deeply. He just beamed with shining eyes,
"Thank you, Elder!"
Elder Xun nodded slightly but still reminded him:
"Be careful. Stay behind others. Just focus on formation study—don't fight."
"Mm-hmm!" Mo Hua agreed readily, then bowed respectfully and took his leave.
After Mo Hua left, Elder Xun's expression darkened slightly. He pondered for a moment, then summoned a young attendant.
"Call Ziyou here."
The attendant obeyed and left.
Before long, a man in an inner-sect robe of Great Void Sect—handsome, with a casual air—walked over and respectfully greeted:
"Elder Ancestor."
Elder Xun gave a small nod. "You know Mo Hua, right?"
The man replied respectfully,
"I do."
Mo Hua might not know him, but he definitely knew Mo Hua.
With Elder Xun's relationship to the boy, every elder and instructor in the sect knew who Mo Hua was—the one closer to Elder Xun than even his own great-great-grandsons.
Elder Xun nodded again.
"Mo Hua's going into Beast-Taming Mountain. That area falls under your rotation. Watch over him properly…"
He then gave the man a long look.
"If he loses even a single hair, you go kneel in the ancestral hall."
The man froze. His scalp tingled.
It felt like a disaster had fallen straight onto his head.
And one that could easily turn into a blame magnet.
Seeing no one else nearby, he lowered his voice and finally asked a question he had long wanted to ask—but never dared:
"Elder… this Mo Hua kid… he doesn't happen to share my surname 'Xun', does he?"
Elder Xun raised his head and gave him a cold look, replying calmly:
"Seems like you have a lot of spare time. After you're done with this task, I'll assign you more… to help you get some 'temperance'…"
That last word—"temperance"—was said with layered meaning.
The man immediately pulled a bitter face like he'd just swallowed bitter herbs.
Had he known this would happen, he'd have just shut his mouth.
A task from Elder Xun was never something easy. Even if it didn't kill you, it'd skin you alive.
Seeing him go quiet, Elder Xun finally waved his sleeve.
"Go. Remember what I said—if you break an arm, fine. But that kid? Not a scratch."
"…Yes, sir."
The man sighed deeply, full of resignation.
Now he was certain that the boy didn't carry the surname Xun.
Because if he did, he definitely wouldn't get this kind of royal treatment.
After the man left, Elder Xun remembered something else—and his curiosity rose again:
"Beast hunter by background?"
How could that be?
A beast hunter raised as a rogue cultivator…
Where would he even learn formation techniques?
Elder Xun frowned slightly.
Lizhou was far from Qianzhou.
And Mo Hua had come from Lizhou as a scattered cultivator.
Before this, Elder Xun hadn't bothered looking into Mo Hua's background—he simply didn't care.
After all:
"Heroes are not judged by their origins."
Anyone who made it into Qianxue Prefecture and joined Great Void Sect had already received fate's blessing.
As long as Mo Hua had a good heart, strong talent, and studied formations well, that was enough.
Elder Xun was not someone who cared about birth or family background.
And as a Grand Elder, he was far too busy to dig into some outer disciple's background.
But now…
Suddenly, he was very curious.
What exactly had this child done to grow up this way?
And what had he gone through to become a formation cultivator with such a solid foundation in the Five Elements arrays?
Elder Xun thought for a moment, then summoned another attendant.
His voice grew low.
"Go to the inner sect and bring me a disciple skilled in the 'Thousand-Mile Windwalking' movement technique."
"Yes, Elder Ancestor."
Soon, a disciple wearing inner sect robes arrived—light on his feet, swift and agile.
"Elder Ancestor!" the disciple bowed.
Elder Xun nodded.
"Get ready and set out as soon as possible. Head to Yundu City, then ride the wind ferry to Lizhou, and go to a second-rank state territory called Mount Dahei."
"I want you to investigate something for me…"
(End of Chapter)