Chapter 755 – Divine Dao Forest
Great Void Sect.
Mo Hua spent his days cultivating and attending lessons—while quietly waiting.
Waiting for Elder Xun to come looking for him.
Logically, he'd already reported the matter of the demonic cultivator to Elder Song, and Elder Song had passed it on to Elder Xun.
Elder Xun was the duty elder for Demon-Taming Mountain.
Whether in principle or in practice, he should have come to question Mo Hua and ask for more details.
After all, demonic cultivators were no small matter—especially when they were hiding inside Demon-Taming Mountain.
But Mo Hua waited and waited… and nothing happened.
The entire sect seemed to be treating it like it was no big deal.
Elder Xun didn't come to see him at all.
Mo Hua stroked his chin, lost in thought.
There were two possible explanations for this.
First possibility: Elder Xun was just a slacker who ignored his duties and couldn't care less about Demon-Taming Mountain.
But… that was unlikely.
Demonic cultivators were too dangerous. Even the laziest elder wouldn't overlook the severity of the situation.
Not to mention—his surname was Xun, and he was a junior of Old Mister Xun.
With how strict Old Mister Xun was, if this junior were truly incompetent, he wouldn't have qualified to be an elder at all.
Which brought Mo Hua to the second possibility:
Elder Xun already knew about the demonic cultivator.
In fact… maybe he'd been watching the whole time.
That would explain why he didn't need to question Mo Hua—he already knew everything.
And that… matched Mo Hua's suspicions.
Mo Hua's eyes flickered with light as he began to plot…
Demon-Taming Mountain, Sect Hall
It was the start of the 10-day hunting cycle. Disciples from all sects were gathering to enter the mountain and hunt beasts.
Elder Xun Ziyou was already on duty early.
Normally, within the hour, Mo Hua would show up, sometimes in a small group, sometimes alone, and leisurely stroll into the mountain.
Once inside, he'd either hunt, train in swordsmanship, or tinker with some bizarre ideas.
For now, Elder Xun had some free time to steep some tea, admire the scenery, and read the Dao Court Bulletin to check how the war in the wilderness was going.
He sat down, poured his tea, looked out the window—only to jerk in surprise and spill tea everywhere.
There, at the window, hung a handsome head.
Mo Hua was leaning against the windowsill, staring straight at him with gleaming eyes.
Elder Xun took a deep breath, twitching with irritation.
"Kid, what are you doing this early in the morning?"
He had just gotten comfortable with his tea—he certainly hadn't expected to find Mo Hua peering in like that.
Mo Hua rested both hands on the sill and said seriously:
"Elder Xun, I have something very important to tell you!"
Elder Xun was stunned. He sighed and beckoned.
"Come inside, then."
Mo Hua jumped down from the sill and entered the room.
"Want some tea?" Elder Xun asked.
Mo Hua nodded.
"Sit," Elder Xun said, pouring him a cup. "Alright, what's this important matter?"
Mo Hua took a sip—nice flavor, a bit hot—and set the cup down. Then he spoke with grave seriousness:
"Elder Xun, there's a dangerous demonic cultivator inside Demon-Taming Mountain!"
Elder Xun blinked.
…That was it? He had made it sound like the sky was falling.
"Oh," Elder Xun replied lightly.
"Elder, you already knew?" Mo Hua's gaze was clear, intense, and searching.
The way he stared made Elder Xun feel a bit uneasy. Reflexively, he blurted:
"I… didn't know yet—"
"But," Mo Hua said with a flash of understanding, "didn't Elder Song already tell you?"
Elder Xun froze.
Ah… crap. He'd forgotten about that.
Elder Song had mentioned it to him.
But he'd already known the situation, so he brushed it off at the time.
Now that Mo Hua brought it up, his own story contradicted itself.
But he couldn't reveal that he'd been secretly tailing Mo Hua, so he couldn't act like he already knew about the demonic cultivator…
But since Elder Song had told him, he was supposed to know…
Elder Xun's head started to ache.
Damn it. This kid set me up!
He thought quickly, then said with stern dignity:
"Yes, Elder Song mentioned it—but it's a dangerous matter, and not something disciples like you should be involved in. That's why I didn't tell you."
Then he glanced at the time.
"It's getting late. You should enter the mountain. Go early, come back early…"
He was trying to shoo Mo Hua away.
"Okay," Mo Hua nodded, drained his tea, and stood up to leave.
Elder Xun breathed a sigh of relief.
"This kid's just a teenager—why does talking to him feel like dealing with an old fox?"
Still, he thought he had managed to fool him.
But halfway out, Mo Hua stopped.
He turned back, gaze deep and thoughtful.
Elder Xun tensed.
"…Now what?"
Mo Hua pondered a bit, then asked:
"Elder Xun, that demonic cultivator ran into a patch of forest. I'm planning to check it out. Want to come along?"
Elder Xun's eyelid twitched. He hesitated, then sighed.
"Alright."
This kid had too many tricks. If he really wanted to go, no one could stop him.
Better to go along—safer that way.
Besides, Mo Hua had formally invited him.
As Elder Xun, accompanying him to investigate the demonic cultivator was totally reasonable.
Not as a secret bodyguard, no sir.
So technically, he wasn't leaking anything. He wasn't disobeying the ancestor's orders.
Elder Xun reassured himself.
"Let's go then, Elder Xun," Mo Hua said, striding confidently ahead.
Elder Xun followed behind, watching Mo Hua's upright, open stride… and felt uneasy again.
"Could he have guessed my identity?"
"…No way, right?"
Elder Xun furrowed his brows.
Inside Demon-Taming Mountain
Mo Hua led the way. After half an hour, the two reached the dense forest.
Now that he had a "bodyguard," Mo Hua was brimming with confidence.
Looking at the forest ahead, Elder Xun tried to act the part and asked:
"Are you sure that demonic cultivator went into this forest?"
Mo Hua simply looked at him in silence.
Elder Xun felt awkward under that gaze and sighed inwardly.
"…Forget it."
He asked again:
"Can you track that demonic cultivator down?"
Mo Hua shook his head.
"Not yet."
His eyes swept across the dense forest.
"There are formations hidden in this forest. I'll need to first deduce and reverse-engineer them before I can find a path deeper in—and then locate the demonic cultivator's whereabouts."
Elder Xun nodded slightly.
He had suspected as much.
This forest was indeed covered in formations—ones that blocked spiritual sense.
"Do you know what kind of formations they are?" he asked.
Mo Hua nodded.
"They're a special type of Divine Dao Array—using base-level formation patterns to transform spiritual perception, suppressing and sealing divine sense."
Elder Xun stared blankly.
Divine Dao Arrays?
In all the existing formation inheritance systems—be it Two Elements, Three Talents, Four Symbols, Five Phases, Six Lines, Seven Stars, or Eight Trigrams—where had there ever been something called a "Divine Dao" array?
Even if he wasn't an expert in formations, that didn't mean he knew nothing at all.
Especially since his own ancestor was one of the Great Void Sect's top-grade fifth-rank formation masters—one of the rarest in the entire Qianxue Province.
Being around someone like that all his life, even if he'd never laid a formation himself, he'd at least seen them done often enough to recognize their origins.
But in all his years of cultivation, he had never once heard of the term "Divine Dao Array."
Not even his ancestor had ever mentioned it.
Elder Xun Ziyou looked at Mo Hua, who was explaining so seriously and with such conviction, and for a moment he almost believed this little Foundation Establishment disciple was solemnly talking nonsense to his face…
As Mo Hua continued, he happened to glance up and notice Elder Xun's strange expression.
He blinked and asked:
"Elder, have you heard of Divine Dao Arrays before?"
Elder Xun was caught off guard.
He hesitated for a moment, then cleared his throat and replied lightly:
"I've heard a little… in passing."
Mo Hua nodded approvingly:
"As expected of an elder—you really know so much."
Elder Xun didn't feel proud at all.
He was a grand late-stage Golden Core elder, and yet he had to resort to little white lies just to save face in front of a junior…
Mo Hua, completely unaware of Elder Xun's internal suffering, continued:
"As for the specifics of the Divine Dao Array, I'm still unclear. I'll need to find where the formations are embedded in this forest, copy the array patterns down bit by bit, and then study them…"
Hearing that, Elder Xun couldn't help but feel a wave of admiration.
This… is what a real formation master looks like.
He nodded and said:
"Alright. I'll go in with you. Just focus on finding the array. I'll handle the rest."
Mo Hua beamed.
"Thank you, Elder Xun!"
With a late-stage Golden Core cultivator acting as his bodyguard, he felt completely at ease—free to go "harvest the goods" in peace!
Mo Hua stepped confidently into the forest.
Elder Xun followed close behind.
The two wandered for nearly half an hour, but then Mo Hua's brows began to furrow.
"Nothing…"
According to his spiritual sense, Divine Dao arrays were all over the forest.
But after searching for so long, he hadn't found a single array medium.
Even Elder Xun was puzzled.
If there was supposed to be a formation here… where was it?
The forest was empty. His divine sense swept through again and again, but found nothing.
Elder Xun turned to Mo Hua, just about to say something, when he saw the boy suddenly freeze, then stride toward a large tree, eyes full of contemplation.
Elder Xun followed and looked at the tree.
It was a second-grade ancient tree, several hundred years old. Its bark was mottled, its canopy lofty, and it was thick enough that it would take five people linking arms to encircle it.
"This tree… is there something wrong with it?"
"Yes." Mo Hua nodded firmly. "If I'm not mistaken, the array is hidden inside this tree. And not just in the usual way."
If it had been a standard concealment method, he would have spotted it long ago.
Mo Hua mused:
"It's possible the array was engraved when the tree was still young. Over time, as the tree grew, the array merged into the wood, making its aura blend completely with the tree—so others wouldn't detect it."
Elder Xun was shocked.
Such a meticulous array-setting method?
And Mo Hua… this kid actually figured that out?
Also…
Elder Xun's eyes narrowed slightly.
If that were true, it would mean someone had begun setting these formations in Demon-Taming Mountain hundreds of years ago.
Mo Hua had clearly reached the same conclusion and asked:
"Elder Xun, can you estimate how old this tree is?"
He'd never grown trees himself, so he had no idea.
But Elder Xun, as an elder stationed at Demon-Taming Mountain, should know more than him.
Elder Xun studied the towering tree, then after a moment's thought, replied slowly:
"Judging by its appearance… probably four to five hundred years."
"Four to five hundred years…" Mo Hua frowned deeply.
That was a long time.
Seeing his troubled expression, Elder Xun asked:
"Are you thinking something?"
Mo Hua thought a moment, then nodded:
"Four to five hundred years ago… that means someone started laying these Divine Dao arrays a very, very long time ago. They hid them in this forest and used them to cover their tracks—perhaps even to provide shelter for demonic cultivators."
"What I still don't understand is: what were they trying to accomplish by doing this?"
Elder Xun's face turned grim, clearly deep in thought.
Mo Hua glanced at him, thinking:
"That's as far as I can go in warning him."
He couldn't say any more.
Elder Xun silently memorized the situation, planning to investigate further once they returned.
But the more immediate concern… was Mo Hua's so-called "Divine Dao Array."
Elder Xun asked:
"Want me to split the tree open so you can see the formation inside?"
"No need," Mo Hua replied. "That would make too much noise. This forest's array likely uses spiritual will as its core and the trees as nodes. They're interlinked—if one is disturbed, the whole array could react. If we chop this tree, it could disrupt the flow of divine sense and alert whoever controls the array."
"There's also a chance the trees are the array mediums. If they're severed, the formation might collapse."
Elder Xun nodded, half-understanding.
"So… we don't chop the tree. Got it."
"Then what will you do?" he asked. "If you can't cut it down or see the array lines, how do you learn the formation?"
"Just need to look," Mo Hua replied calmly.
"Look?" Elder Xun blinked.
How?
Just as he was puzzling over it, he saw Mo Hua sit cross-legged, pull out brush and paper, and stare intently at the large tree.
At the same time, a strange and profound aura radiated from Mo Hua.
It was completely different from how he usually felt.
Elder Xun's pupils shrank.
This aura…
Elder Xun was, after all, one of "his own," so Mo Hua didn't hide some of his methods.
Of course, Elder Xun wasn't a formation master, nor did he cultivate along the path of divine sense. So even if Mo Hua used some techniques related to divine consciousness, Elder Xun likely wouldn't be able to see through them.
Mo Hua began merging Heavenly Secrets Decryption with Heavenly Secrets Deduction, his gaze shifting between black and white, finally blending into one—focused entirely on the great tree in front of him, analyzing the array that was now one with it.
The array's aura was wrapped deep within the wood's natural essence.
Multiple layers of barriers were laid over it.
Mo Hua began deducing bit by bit, his divine sense infiltrating layer by layer.
Eventually—who knew how long had passed—Mo Hua finally sensed faint, pale white energy.
This wasn't the spiritual energy of plants or the power of a formation.
It was the aura of divine consciousness.
However, it wasn't refined divine sense, but rather a pale white mist-like divine will—regular cultivators' divine sense, not yet transformed.
Moreover, despite its faint color, the aura was cold and eerie—distinctly sinister.
Clearly, the cultivator who had laid these formations was not some upright person.
And buried within it… was even a faint trace of the Great Wilderness Evil God's aura.
That aura was extremely well hidden—barely perceptible.
If Mo Hua hadn't spent so much time fighting with the Evil God of the Great Wilderness, consuming offerings, divine remains, and even the Evil God's incarnations—and absorbing more than a few strands of divine marrow—he wouldn't have noticed it either.
"As expected… on the surface, there's no trace of the Evil God of the Great Wilderness, but in the shadows… His presence is everywhere…"
Mo Hua let out a quiet sigh.
Then he calmed his thoughts, continuing his deduction while copying down the array patterns.
Elder Xun stood silently behind him, vigilantly watching the forest around them—alert for any signs of demonic cultivators or dangerous beasts that might threaten Mo Hua's safety.
Meanwhile, he also tried to sneak a peek at what Mo Hua was recording.
But very quickly, he realized—he couldn't understand a thing.
These array runes were incredibly unique—completely different from any array system he'd ever seen.
Each stroke formed a coherent system, building up a logical structure for the array.
But to him, it was utterly incomprehensible.
Elder Xun suddenly felt a little… relieved.
Thank goodness I didn't stubbornly try to become a formation master when I started cultivating.
If he had gone down that road, only to one day discover that he couldn't understand a single line drawn by a mere second-grade formation disciple… his entire Dao heart might have shattered.
Elder Xun sighed, gave Mo Hua a deep glance, and then reined in his curiosity. Since he couldn't understand it anyway, he focused all his attention on guarding their surroundings.
He had previously thought his ancestor was overreacting—sending a late-stage Golden Core cultivator to secretly watch over a mid-stage Foundation Establishment junior.
But now… seeing Mo Hua's formation talent, he felt that the ancestor not assigning someone at the Nascent Soul level was already showing restraint.
Time passed—roughly the length of one incense stick burning.
Mo Hua had finished recording most of the Divine Dao array from the first tree. He put away his brush and paper, stood up, and said:
"Let's head to the next one."
Elder Xun looked around, then nodded.
Mo Hua walked forward, scanning his surroundings, and soon found another large tree. He sat down again and began deducing and recording more runes.
Elder Xun remained nearby, standing guard.
Just like that, the day passed.
By sunset, Mo Hua had filled an entire thick stack with recorded array patterns.
Throughout the process, nothing dangerous occurred—no demonic cultivators, no beasts, complete peace.
As the sun dipped behind the mountains and night approached, Elder Xun finally said:
"Let's head back."
"Alright," Mo Hua agreed.
Until the secret behind the dense forest was fully uncovered, it was best not to stay overnight.
The two made their way back.
Elder Xun personally escorted Mo Hua all the way to the mountain gate, then said:
"I still need to stay in the forest. You return to the sect on your own—be careful on the road."
"Mhm," Mo Hua nodded.
Elder Xun hesitated a moment, then added:
"Tomorrow is still a rest day. If you plan to return to the forest to copy more array patterns, come find me—I'll take you in."
Mo Hua's eyes lit up. He smiled brightly:
"Thanks, Elder Xun!"
Elder Xun gave a small nod.
Mo Hua then left Demon-Taming Mountain on his own and headed toward the Great Void Sect.
As he walked, his heart was filled with anticipation.
He couldn't wait to get back and start categorizing the thick stack of Divine Dao array runes he had copied—to see if he could reconstruct the complete Divine Dao array hidden in the depths of the forest.
Moreover, this array clearly surpassed the one he had found in the small fishing village. It was more advanced, more profound.
If his guess was right… this Divine Dao array might prove extremely useful to him.
Mo Hua walked with a smile on his lips and a spring in his step—until he bumped into a familiar face on the road.
It was Ouyang Mu.
And walking with him was another disciple from the Tai'a Sect—tall and thin, with a long face, seemingly from a higher generation.
Mo Hua greeted:
"Little Wood!"
Ouyang Mu turned at the sound, saw Mo Hua, and smiled in delight.
"Senior Brother Mo!"
The long-faced Tai'a Sect disciple looked surprised.
Mo Hua walked up, and Ouyang Mu introduced him:
"This is Senior Brother Ma from our Tai'a Sect—he's from the same generation as my older brother."
Mo Hua suddenly remembered—back when he'd just entered Demon-Taming Mountain, he'd seen this very "Senior Brother Ma" alongside Senior Brother Feng.
Mo Hua offered a polite greeting.
Senior Brother Ma returned the gesture.
"Senior Brother Ma brought me some pills, spiritual tools, and jade slips for cultivation—my brother sent them," Ouyang Mu explained with a smile.
Despite being constantly compared to his outstanding older brother and facing no small amount of scorn, Ouyang Mu still held deep respect and admiration for him.
He had just returned from Demon-Taming Mountain and was heading back to the sect, conveniently along the same road.
Mo Hua walked with him for a while, chatting about small matters from Demon-Taming Mountain.
Senior Brother Ma didn't speak much—his eyes, however, carried a hint of caution.
When they reached the fork in the road, Mo Hua bid them farewell.
Ouyang Mu and Senior Brother Ma continued toward the Tai'a Sect.
Mo Hua turned toward the Great Void Sect.
But just as he stepped through the mountain gate, his expression darkened, and his eyes took on a heavy seriousness.
Because just now…
From that so-called "Senior Brother Ma"… he had sensed a trace of—
The Evil God's aura.
(End of Chapter)