Chapter 1193: Death and Life

The blood of defeat drains away, while the qi of Yi Wood swells within.

The Blood Fang Poison drives one from life to death, step by step toward demise.

The Reviving Array restores one from death to life, gradually reviving vitality.

And as these two intertwine—moving from death to life, then from life to death, endlessly entangling and contending—they form a wondrous, contradictory causality, mirrored in Mo Hua's mirror-like eyes.

Mo Hua was struck by an indescribable shock, so evident that it showed plainly on his face.

"Mr. Wu?" Dan Zhu looked at Mo Hua in surprise. "Is something wrong?"

Chifeng and the others also turned to look at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua suppressed his inner shock, smoothed his expression, and shook his head slowly.

"Nothing. I'm merely—moved by the Divine Lord's compassion and astonishing divine power. With the Sacred Glyph bestowed by the Divine Lord, these bleeding barbarian soldiers are saved."

Upon hearing this, Dan Zhu sincerely thanked him:

"Thank you, Divine Lord. Thank you, Mr. Wu."

Around them, the Dan Que tribe's soldiers and wounded all gazed with reverence, bowing to Mo Hua and chanting:

"The Divine Lord is eternal. Lord Wu is wise."

Even Chifeng, a barbarian general at the mid-Jin Dan stage, bowed to Mo Hua in respect.

Mo Hua's expression was solemn yet gentle as he accepted their reverence, but his peripheral vision still watched the wounded, observing the alternation of blood qi and wood qi, the flow of death qi and life qi—and inwardly he was stunned:

There's a problem…

This Yi Wood Reviving Array is definitely flawed!

This cannot possibly be a simple medical array.

But what exactly is wrong? How does it differ from ordinary medical arrays?

Mo Hua couldn't quite figure it out.

Afterwards, the Dan Que tribe's wounded were gradually placed upon the Yi Wood Reviving Array to be treated, using Yi Wood qi to alleviate the Blood Fang Poison's toxicity and suppress the continuous loss of vitality.

Their injuries gradually improved, and all praised the Divine Lord's might and thanked Mo Hua, the Lord Wu, for his grace.

Mo Hua, however, found a quiet corner alone and secretly studied the Yi Wood Reviving Array.

In a corner of the Shi Dian, an unmanned corner of the wall.

Mo Hua sat on the stone steps and, using a stick he picked up, drew the Yi Wood Reviving Array on the ground, stroke by stroke, without a single error.

He then compared his drawn array with the original diagram inscribed on the jade slip awarded at the Sword Debate.

He suspected the Yi Wood Reviving Array was no ordinary array—it must conceal something.

First place in the Qian Xue Sword Debate, bestowed by the Dao Court, honored by the Tian Shu Pavilion.

Qian Xue. Dao Court. Tian Shu Pavilion.

These are the supreme forces of the cultivation world; the karmic weight behind them is immense. The reward from all three combined could never be ordinary.

Mo Hua had originally thought so.

But when he first received the Yi Wood Reviving Array, it had seemed utterly ordinary.

This had left Mo Hua disappointed.

He had endured immense hardship to win first place in the Sword Debate, only to receive a reward so mediocre it fell far short of his expectations.

Thus, he had long sealed away this array.

Now, Mo Hua realized he might have been "superficial."

The Yi Wood Reviving Array only sounded ordinary, looked ordinary, and seemed ordinary to learn.

But in actual use, it was anything but ordinary,

and carried a peculiar, inexplicable strangeness.

This strangeness could only be perceived by someone who truly obtained the array diagram, studied it earnestly, drew it by hand, and used it to save lives.

Yet this "strangeness," Mo Hua found hard to grasp clearly.

He couldn't tell whether this "strangeness," which involved the flow of life and death, bordering on some law-like transformation, stemmed from a flaw in the Yi Wood Reviving Array itself.

Or whether it was simply because the array was used to heal the living.

Does healing always involve life-and-death change, unrelated to the array's design?

Mo Hua was not a Dan Master; he had never used medical techniques to save lives, so he could not distinguish between the two.

Mo Hua looked again at the Yi Wood Reviving Array he had drawn.

From the array lines, the array pivot, to the structure of the array core—there was nothing unusual; it was plainly an ordinary "healing" array.

From the perspective of array theory, no anomaly could be detected.

Mo Hua frowned.

With no insight from medical or array knowledge, he turned to the level of causality.

A question arose in Mo Hua's mind:

Who created this array—and who bestowed it?

The Dao Court?

"Dao Court" is a broad term; any organization or individual within it attributes its actions to the Dao Court.

More precisely—is it the Tian Shu Pavilion?

Which member of the Tian Shu Pavilion?

Mo Hua did not know the Tian Shu Pavilion well, but he knew that many of its external decrees were issued personally by the "Jian Zheng."

This array, given as a Sword Debate reward, must have passed through the Jian Zheng's hands.

The Jian Zheng knew.

Then, besides the Jian Zheng, who else might know?

The highest position in Tian Shu Pavilion belongs to the Pavilion Elder. Does the Pavilion Elder know?

Rumor says the Pavilion Elder of Tian Shu Pavilion is an ancient, unfathomably deep old man—does he know the mysteries within this Yi Mu Hui Chun Array?

Was it approved by the Pavilion Elder to use this array as the prize for the Sword Debate?

Could this even be the Pavilion Elder's own decision?

Mo Hua's heart gave a slight leap, but then he frowned:

"It shouldn't be— the Pavilion Elder holds high rank and great power, orchestrating affairs from afar, burdened with countless duties; how could he possibly concern himself with such a trivial matter?"

"But— what if?"

"What if it truly is the Pavilion Elder? What then is his intention?"

Mo Hua frowned again, recalling— and suddenly his heart froze as he remembered: once, when he used Tian Ji Yan Suan, he had briefly calculated the karmic threads of this Yi Mu Hui Chun Array.

Then, in a hazy vision, his master's figure appeared before him.

Majestic above heaven and earth, defiant and unrivaled,

yet when he looked at Mo Hua, his expression softened, eyes holding a faint smile and deep reluctance.

"Master—"

The Yi Mu Hui Chun Array is tied to his master's karma.

Could the Pavilion Elder also know this?

Mo Hua's heart trembled slightly.

Could it be— precisely because he knew this, that the Pavilion Elder of Tian Shu Pavilion set this Yi Mu Hui Chun Array as the prize for the Sword Debate?!

Is all of this, planned by that Pavilion Elder?!

Mo Hua drew in a sharp breath.

Before, he might not have thought this way—he wouldn't have been so arrogant as to believe the entire world was targeting him.

So many high-level experts were scheming against this tiny shrimp.

But after suffering a major defeat at the hands of his senior uncle over the Ming Sha matter, Mo Hua had become more cautious.

When you peer into karma, karma peers back at you.

It's very likely that every move you make has already been noticed by certain high-level experts.

You simply remain unaware.

But—

The Pavilion Elder? Scheming against me?

Mo Hua always felt he was being a bit "overly self-important."

That was the Pavilion Elder of Tian Shu Pavilion—could such a person really scheme against him?

What could a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like himself possibly offer that would warrant the Pavilion Elder's scheming?

Mo Hua shook his head.

And fundamentally, he didn't even know who the Pavilion Elder was or what he looked like—he'd never even met him—how could it be—

At this thought, Mo Hua's heart leapt again, and a figure surfaced in his mind.

It was an old man with snow-white hair, looking half-asleep.

In Xiao Yunducheng, beyond Qian Xue Province's border, he had played chess with this old man.

The two were evenly matched, and had played with great joy.

Mo Hua froze.

No way—

Could this old man really be the Pavilion Elder?

Impossible.

Mo Hua shook his head repeatedly.

How could the mighty Pavilion Elder just wander to a ferry crossing to play chess with me? That's impossible.

Mo Hua flatly refused to believe it.

"But— what if he is?"

Mo Hua's heart trembled slightly.

That would mean, without doubt, he had been within the Pavilion Elder's field of vision.

Everything he had done in Qian Xue Province was likely fully known to the Pavilion Elder.

Further still,

every action he had taken had been "tolerated" by the Pavilion Elder.

All the conflicts that followed, and the shifts in Qian Xue Province's power structure, were entirely under the Pavilion Elder's control.

Even the final outcome of the Blood Sacrifice Array might have been foreseen by the Pavilion Elder—or at least, welcomed by him?

And when they parted, the Pavilion Elder's glance at him was truly meant to personally confirm the mental state of this "pawn" who had resolved the Demon God threat?

Was he, in truth, merely a "pawn" manipulated by the Pavilion Elder to control the Qian Xue situation?

Mo Hua connected all these dots—and a chilling dread washed over him.

The air inside Shi Dian grew cold.

But after a moment of quiet reflection, Mo Hua slowly exhaled.

He thought he might still be a bit "overly self-important."

It couldn't be that people's motives were so "malicious."

The Pavilion Elder must be extremely busy.

Sitting in that position, high above all, lonely and cold, he must oversee all Nine Provinces, manage the grand picture—how could he possibly fix his gaze entirely on a tiny Foundation Establishment like himself?

He knew himself, at most, only knew.

He "calculated" himself, at most, only calculated.

As for "pawns," it was probably just adapting to circumstances, using a "bait" to lure him, with benefits for all.

The Grand Secretary probably didn't intend to harm him.

Otherwise, back in Yundu City, when he was leaving Qianxue Province, the Grand Secretary wouldn't have shown himself in person to play chess with him.

Of course, Mo Hua didn't know that the Grand Secretary never intended to "appear," nor ever planned to "accompany" him in chess.

It was Mo Hua himself who "took the initiative," going to the Grand Secretary to play chess.

"Moreover, all this is merely my speculation—"

Mo Hua thought to himself.

The old man who played chess with him might not truly be the "Grand Secretary."

Even if he truly was the Grand Secretary, he likely bore no ill will toward him.

Mo Hua could still sense this.

Moreover, someone who could match him in chess skill was, like himself, merely supremely intelligent—and absolutely could not be a treacherous, underhanded man.

Mo Hua nodded, finding this reasoning sound.

Then he lowered his head and looked at the Yi Mu Hui Chun Array before him.

All that had just happened was merely his "calculation" based on traces.

Whether it was true or not, there was no way to verify it yet.

But if it were true, then this array was certainly no ordinary thing.

With abundant wood-blood and the flow of life and death, it was intimately tied to his master's karmic threads, and even contained a profound, unfathomable array principle.

He must study it thoroughly, unravel its meaning.

Right now, merely observing the array patterns and array pivots revealed nothing—he must apply what he learned.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then asked Elder Bashan for a clean stone chamber, and pretended to pray to the Divine Lord, invoking the Divine Lord's power.

But no "Divine Lord" granted blessings.

Because Mo Hua had no "Divine Lord" at all.

He could only rely on his own strength and painted six more Yi Mu Hui Chun Arrays.

After finishing, Mo Hua had Elder Bashan and others bring in the other wounded soldiers and place them on the Yi Mu Arrays for healing.

Dan Zhu felt gratitude.

The Dan Que tribe members were overwhelmed with emotion, some weeping bitterly.

They never expected Lord Wuzhu to care for them so deeply.

Within just one hour, he had exhausted his spirit to pray to the Divine Lord, seeking the Divine Lord's grace, inscribing sacred patterns to heal their wounded.

Such great kindness was beyond repayment. Mo Hua didn't think so much—he moved among the Yi Mu Arrays and wounded soldiers, observing the array's operation and the wounded's blood depletion and wood abundance under the pretext of "assessing injuries," studying the transformation between life and death, and comprehending the mystery of the "Yi Mu Hui Chun Array."

Thus, the wounded of the Dan Que tribe gradually stabilized.

Mo Hua's mastery of the Yi Mu Hui Chun Array, and his understanding of the mutual transformation between deathly qi and vital energy during healing, deepened gradually.

And in Daozhou.

In a remote courtyard within a fifth-rank province.

An elderly man with white hair wore a straw hat and fished beside a small pond.

He called it fishing, but it was more like napping.

He half-reclined on the grass, a small wooden table before him, holding a teapot and a half-finished game of chess.

To his right, a fishing rod hung in midair, its line without a hook, sinking straight into the water—naturally, no fish bit.

To others, the old man had never won a game of chess.

He had never caught a fish either.

Yet the old man remained content.

As the Grand Secretary of Tian Shu Pavilion, burdened by labor and thought, now retired and returned home, such quietude was rare.

Until a golden little fish licked his line, then surfaced, peering at the Grand Secretary with its head above water.

The Grand Secretary awoke in surprise.

But when he opened his eyes and turned back, the fish immediately plunged with a splash, vanishing without a trace.

The Grand Secretary was puzzled, muttering softly:

"Too clever—how will I ever catch him now?"

The water surface remained as still as a mirror.

The Grand Secretary slowly rose, moved the fishing rod—but the rod had no hook, only stirring ripples.

The ripples disturbed some large fish with blank stares.

These large fish floated on the surface, staring fixedly at the Grand Secretary, seemingly unafraid and unaware they should dive beneath the water.

The Grand Secretary watched, growing irritated.

Why were fish in this world so different?

Clever fish were too clever—in an instant, not even a shadow remained.

Foolish fish were too foolish—even at death's door, they still exposed their heads above water.

Yet in this world, clever fish were too small.

Foolish fish were all huge.

The Grand Secretary frowned, but after a moment, his expression softened.

"Almost forgot—I'm retired. I needn't trouble myself with such trivial matters—"

The Elder tapped a finger in midair.

The teapot rose on its own, swayed its belly, then tilted its spout, and the brewed tea poured itself into the cup.

The cup then delivered itself before the Elder.

The Elder took the cup, sipped the tea, squinted his eyes, and slowly reclined on the bamboo chair, basking in the sunlight above the clouds, breathing the mountain breeze through the woods. No human voices to jar his ears, no paperwork to weary his body—the whole man seemed to have grown several hundred years younger.

When a person is utterly worn out by toil, "leisure" becomes the most extravagant thing of all.

The Elder indulged for a while, savored a moment of leisure, but in the end slowly opened his eyes once more.

He raised his head, looked at the sky, and his heart, in the end, still could not settle.

Clever people can often see things that others cannot.

Once you have seen certain things, it is hard not to mind them.

But so many things are fated by unseen cause and effect, leaving one powerless.

It is as if—when a person is meant to die, they will die.

The vitality of flesh and blood, if it fades, can still be saved by medicine—but the vitality of cause and effect, once severed, is the true dead end with no life—

Even if one escapes the calamity of flesh and blood for a time, one cannot ultimately escape the death of cause and effect.

The Elder gazed at the clear sky, and at last heaved a deep sigh, placing a white stone on the board.

But in an instant, the white stone was swallowed by the black stones.

The black stones on the ruined board linked into a terrifying black mist, as if about to devour every white stone whole.

The Elder's gaze turned solemn as he murmured:

"You must be a little cleverer, learn a little more—"

"Whatever you do—don't die in this tribulation."

The three thousand lands of the Savage Wilderness.

In the stone hall of the Art-Bone Secret Division within Zhu Que's mountain boundary.

Mo Hua was still bent over studying the various transformations of the Yi Wood Spring-Returning Array when his heart suddenly gave a throb, and he could not help raising his head to look at the sky.

But he was inside the stone hall—raising his head meant the ceiling, and he could not see the sky at all.

Mo Hua muttered uneasily to himself. After thinking for a while, he shook his head and went back to studying the Yi Wood array and the transformations of life and death.

He wanted to break through this unfamiliar and obscure array transformation as soon as possible.

But before he had studied for long, the Bi Fang Division came attacking once more.

This time, Bi Jie led the raid in person.

Bi Jie once again attacked the surrounding small tribes, seized a pile of savage slaves, then ordered these slaves to the front as cannon fodder to assault the Art-Bone Secret Division.

The elites of their Bi Fang Division still hung back, resting at their ease, waiting for a chance to cut down the Dan Que Division's savage soldiers.

Battle was about to erupt.

The two sides fought for a while, then each withdrew.

Quite a few of the Dan Que Division's savage soldiers were again struck by Blood-Fang poison, bleeding without stop.

Then, after a day's gap, Bi Jie led his men to attack again, using the same trick and inflicting more casualties.

He truly meant to "wear down" the Dan Que Division to death.

Once the savage soldiers were gone, he would use his numbers against their few, lead troops to encircle and annihilate Seeing Dan Zhu.

Seizing their military supplies would then be a simple matter.

That was what Bi Jie had originally planned.

But what he found hard to understand was that things had not developed at all as he had foreseen.

The Dan Que Division's savage soldiers simply had not "died" in any great number.

In fact, many of the savage soldiers struck by Blood-Fang poison reappeared on the battlefield a few days later.

That was absolutely impossible!

Bi Jie's gaze turned icy.

This poison was one he had treasured for a long time, with virtually no antidote. Once afflicted, one's blood qi and vitality would continuously drain away.

Even with medicine to replenish them, how could so many soldiers poisoned by Blood-Fang possibly be replenished in time?

"What on earth is going on? Which beast is ruining my plans?"

Bi Jie's face twisted savagely. A pure, sacred face suddenly surfaced in his mind.

On the other side, Mo Hua also wore an unfriendly expression.

He knew that going on like this was no solution either.