Chapter 1195: Art and Dao

The Art of Cause and Effect, the Art of Cause and Effect—its greatest fallacy lies in this word "art."

I have relied too heavily on "art."

And I naturally assumed that mastering the Art of Cause and Effect would allow me, through my spiritual awareness's computational power and the Art's methods, to perceive reality, to calculate all secrets and causes I wished to know.

But this understanding is wrong.

And profoundly wrong.

Mo Hua's pupils trembled as he focused intently, reflecting on all his cause-and-effect divinations since entering the Great Wilderness, and gradually a clarity dawned within him.

The Art of Cause and Effect is a great Dao method that consumes spiritual awareness to deduce the causes and effects of things.

In cultivation, this falls under the category of "emptiness."

And "emptiness" must always be built upon the foundation of "reality."

Without reality, there is no emptiness.

In other words, one must first know the objective, concrete state of all things before using the Art of Cause and Effect to deduce future outcomes, misfortunes, and auspiciousness.

Without understanding the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth, without knowing the concrete reality, relying solely on the Art of Cause and Effect to deduce can never yield correct causes.

"Art" is important.

But "art" is merely a bridge—a tool to move from reality to emptiness, and ultimately achieve the unity of reality and emptiness.

To place absolute faith in "art" is worse than having no art at all.

Excessive superstition in "art," the delusion of relying on the method of cause and effect to make false deductions in order to perceive all things, is merely fantasy, ultimately leading only to arrogant self-deception.

Mo Hua reflected briefly and quickly realized that his own calculations of the "Three Talents"—Heaven, Earth, and Man—had fallen into this very flaw.

He sat alone in Shi Shili, never stepping outside.

Believing his spiritual awareness was supreme and his Art of Cause and Effect superior, he thought he could directly deduce the timing, terrain, and morale of the Bi Fang tribe's attack.

This was no different from "armchair strategizing."

It was also a kind of "arrogance" born of blind faith in art.

Mo Hua took this as a warning and continued his contemplation.

Following this line of thought, the true "Three Talents"—Heaven, Earth, and Man—might not be deduced at all through the Art of Cause and Effect, locked away in empty calculation.

They must be observed firsthand in reality, personally examined, then continuously reflected upon and summarized, using "reality" as the medium, aided by spiritual awareness's computational power, until gradually deduced.

This is the true path: from reality to emptiness, the unity of reality and emptiness in cause-and-effect deduction.

Not merely relying on "divination art" to construct illusions in isolation.

"From reality to emptiness, using 'reality' as the medium, using 'emptiness' as the method…"

"Observe the timing of heaven, examine the terrain, understand the hearts of men, deduce the causes…"

Mo Hua murmured these words, and all his doubts suddenly cleared; the deeper his insight into cause and effect, the brighter his eyes grew.

Then Mo Hua looked up at the sky, then at the surrounding terrain, and without another word, chose a path and walked forward.

He would test his understanding of cause and effect according to his own ideas.

Chifeng watched Mo Hua—sometimes suddenly freezing in place, lost in thought, muttering to himself; sometimes filled with self-reproach, sometimes suddenly enlightened, eyes blazing—and felt puzzled.

"Are all Lord Wuzhu's kind this erratic?"

Chifeng frowned, then continued following him.

Mo Hua walked through the valley of Shu Gu tribe, sometimes looking up at the sky, sensing the flow of time, observing wind and clouds shift, miasma spreading; sometimes studying mountain and river formations, every blade of grass, every tree, every clod of earth, every stone—and etched all of it, perfectly and completely, into his mind.

Thus, after half a day's walking, the timing of heaven and the terrain around him were fully clear within him.

But knowing only the timing of heaven and the terrain was not enough; Mo Hua turned and looked back at Chifeng, asking:

"What is the Bi Fang tribe's military structure? What type of barbarian armor do they wear? What are the barbarian soldiers' dispositions, combat habits, methods of killing? And…"

"A few days ago, when, where, and by what means did they launch their ambush? What exactly happened? And from where did they retreat?"

The barbarian general Chifeng did not understand, but he answered every detail truthfully.

Then, fearing Mo Hua would not grasp it, he stood atop a cliff, looking down, and pointed out every location where the Bi Fang tribe had launched their night raid.

He showed exactly where the Bi Fang tribe had struck, where they turned when blocked, and where they ultimately withdrew.

Mo Hua followed Chifeng's gestures, seeing and memorizing every detail.

Thus, Heaven, Earth, and Man were all complete.

Mo Hua's gaze grew solemn as he turned to Chifeng and said: "Chifeng, my lord, guard me."

Chifeng paused, then nodded: "Understood."

Mo Hua sat cross-legged on the ground and slowly closed his eyes.

In his mind, his powerful spiritual awareness began to activate.

Threads of spiritual awareness transformed into rocks, trees, and forests, constructing the entire terrain of Shu Gu Valley within Mo Hua's consciousness, precisely as he had observed.

After the terrain was built, the spiritual awareness became ethereal and formless, transforming into the sky.

Above, the sun and moon divided day and night, stars arranged in patterns, clouds surging like seas.

Mo Hua, using spiritual awareness, perfectly "copied" this entire realm of heaven and earth as it was before him.

And within this spiritually copied realm, past events were also restored by Mo Hua.

Bi Jie led the Bi Fang barbarian soldiers in attacking Dan Que tribe.

Dan Zhu and Chifeng were intercepting them.

The elite warriors clashed; barbarian soldiers fought in the mountains and forests.

As time passed, terrain shifted, people changed—some were wounded, some died.

All of this was conjured by spiritual awareness, and within Mo Hua's mind, driven by his powerful spiritual awareness's computational power, it spontaneously deduced and replayed.

Like a true "shadow puppet play."

This was the "replay" of the past.

And as time passed, this repetition of the "past" gradually reached its end.

Because the flow of time had now merged with the present.

All events that had occurred in the past had already been revealed.

What would happen next, however, remained unknown.

The world formed by divine thought had frozen.

But Mo Hua did not cease his deduction.

His divine consciousness still strained to turn.

Vast, Dao-transformed divine thought, like a golden river, surged into his fabricated divine thought world, propelling cause and effect forward.

On Mo Hua's body, a hidden, profound, and terrifying godlike aura suddenly radiated.

Chifeng's face changed; his chest suddenly felt a hint of Qi Zhixi.

Time still flowed; Mo Hua's aura continued to grow mysterious and ethereal.

Chifeng sat in stunned silence, while the vast divine thought was still being consumed at breakneck speed by the Heavenly Mechanism's calculation.

Finally, with a "Boom—," the computational "supply" of divine thought breached a certain critical threshold.

In the world Mo Hua had simulated with divine thought, cause and effect finally unthawed; time began to flow forward.

Winds and clouds moved in the sky; grass and trees swayed on the ground.

The figures within heaven and earth all crossed the limit of the "present" and began new actions.

This was a simulation, a deduction, and even a more advanced form of calculation.

The "people" in the divine thought world, based on current cause and effect, acted autonomously on what came next.

Mo Hua finally saw the "future."

He saw the sun set and the moon rise, jagged mountains and rocks, the Bi Fang tribe appearing in unfamiliar lands never seen before, then sneaking toward the Dan Que tribe to kill.

He saw Dan Zhu and Bi Jie locked in a desperate battle to the death.

He saw Dan Zhu's body covered in scales of wounds, saw Bi Jie's arrogant smile.

He saw one after another Dan Que tribesman fall to Bi Fang's ambush.

He saw a poison more potent than Blood Fang Poison devouring the lives of Dan Que's barbarian soldiers.

He saw Chifeng's body also poisoned, held back and drained by another Bi Fang Jin Dan mid-stage, his face filled with fury…

Amidst splashes of blood, barbarian slaves died one after another like ants…

Then all images abruptly ceased.

The world formed by divine thought began to collapse.

The threads of cause and effect snapped.

Mo Hua suddenly opened his eyes, clutched his head with both hands, his skull splitting with pain, as if ten thousand knives were slicing his consciousness sea.

His divine thought was exhausted.

His computational power was overdrawn.

He had borne a Heavenly Mechanism calculation method far beyond his capacity.

Even his forehead began to emit black light; wisps of death-black aura drifted around his body.

Chifeng's pupils shrank sharply, "Lord Wuzhu!"

Mo Hua looked up at Chifeng.

His eyes were black, cold, cruel.

That glance made Chifeng, a Jin Dan mid-stage, feel his five viscera freeze, daring not to move a muscle.

Mo Hua quickly realized something was wrong; he immediately closed his eyes, calmed his breath and spirit, used the meditation his master had taught him to steady his consciousness sea, and employed Supreme Severance of Emotion to discard distracting thoughts.

In his mind, he thought of his parents, his master, his senior brother, his senior sister, and all the elders and friends he had known since childhood, to anchor his humanity and preserve his memories.

This entire process of divine thought management sounded complex.

But Mo Hua had done it many times before, so it took only a few breaths before it began to take effect.

The demonic backlash triggered by the momentary exhaustion of divine thought and overdrawn computational power was not as severe as the aftermath of killing.

It had not yet reached the point where the backlash truly "spun out of control."

After roughly a cup of tea's time, Mo Hua stabilized his spirit.

His divine thought slightly recovered; his consciousness sea gradually calmed; the surrounding backlash dispersed, and the black in his eyes receded.

Mo Hua slowly opened his eyes.

Chifeng looked at Mo Hua with a solemn expression and said gravely, "Lord Wuzhu, are you alright?"

Mo Hua shook his head. "I'm fine."

Chifeng's gaze remained wary. "You just…"

Mo Hua's heart gave a slight jolt—he knew Chifeng had seen his demonic appearance. He quickly turned his head and wore a deep, serious expression.

"Just now, I prayed to the Divine Lord for divine revelation, hoping He would tell us what to do."

"But halfway through, I was obstructed by heretical demons; I fought them in bloody combat and nearly lost my sanity."

"Fortunately, the Divine Lord protected me—I ultimately defeated the demons and did not betray His trust."

Mo Hua spoke with perfect seriousness, his words logical and coherent.

He turned his breakdown into a battle against "evil."

Chifeng frowned, thought for a moment, and actually found… it made sense.

As a Lord Wuzhu who reveres the gods, encountering heretical demons was natural.

Demon interference naturally caused mental instability and various strange phenomena.

Yet now, Lord Wuzhu's gaze was clear, his expression normal—he had clearly defeated the demons and preserved his true heart.

Thinking this, Chifeng felt a solemn respect and sighed:

"The Path of Faith is fraught with peril; one misstep leads to utter ruin. Master Wu's resolve is unshakable—no wonder he became Lord Wuzhu."

Mo Hua nodded, deeply agreeing.

Chifeng added, "I wonder if the Divine Lord has given any instructions?"

"Yes," Mo Hua exhaled in relief and nodded. "The Divine Lord has given me instructions."

Chifeng's eyes lit up. "Please, Lord Wuzhu, reveal them."

Mo Hua extended his Bai Xi palm and pointed toward a steep cliff to the left-front, declaring with iron certainty:

"At the end of Yin hour tomorrow, at dawn, the Bi Fang tribe will launch a surprise attack from here. Forty men, led by a Jin Dan beginner. This is the vanguard."

Then he pointed to another dense forest on the right:

"Half an hour later, the Bi Fang tribe will feint east and strike west, launching their main assault from here. Bi Jie leads them—eighty men total."

"One hundred barbarian slaves on each flank, meant to die."

"This surprise attack is no small matter. The entire Bi Fang tribe will wear barbarian armor, wield sharp blades, and fight to the death."

"They will also use a stronger poison. This poison is colorless and odorless; contact with flesh causes rot, inhalation through nose or mouth induces dizziness."

"Not just third-grade poison—second-grade poison too. Their goal is to target you and Seeing Dan Zhu…"

…

Mo Hua recounted in detail all the causal chains he had perceived through divine insight, weaving the fabric of heaven and earth and human action.

At first, Chifeng paid little heed, but as he listened, his expression changed, and he was plunged into shock.

How could he know such things?

So meticulously detailed… in war, this wasn't "instructions"—it was an "open-book exam."

Chifeng stared at Mo Hua's clean, sacred face, his expression unmistakably stunned.

…

The next day, at Chou hour, before dawn broke.

Outside Shu Gu's camp, in the shadowed mountains.

The Dan Que tribe lay hidden in the hills, preparing to ambush and kill the Bi Fang tribe before they could strike.

They split into two groups: Seeing Dan Zhu and Elder Bachuan in one, Chifeng and Elder Bashan in the other.

At this moment, Chifeng and Elder Bashan led their unit to guard a critical pass in the valley.

All of them wore barbarian armor, tightly wrapping their flesh; beneath it lay tough leather armor, and their skin was coated with herbal ointments to slow poison's corrosion and paralysis.

On the barbarian armor, Mo Hua had hastily drawn wood-element arrays to absorb toxins.

Their ambush positions had been carefully chosen.

The entire ambush plan had been meticulously devised.

This was an "open-book exam"—the questions had been fully revealed in advance by Mo Hua.

A battle-hardened barbarian general like Chifeng had no reason not to prepare thoroughly.

Still, Chifeng harbored doubts.

Not just Chifeng—all of Dan Que's warriors felt confused and uncertain.

"Can we really fight like this?"

Elder Bashan's bulky frame hid in the forest. As night grew dark and wind howled, he couldn't help asking Chifeng:

"General Chifeng, is what Master Wu said true? Can he really foresee the future? True, Wang Ting's Lord Wuzhu can divine fortune and misfortune—but never this precisely? It's as if he's stripped the Bi Fang tribe's pants and seen their testicles clearly…"

Chifeng gave Elder Bashan a solemn look.

Elder Bashan immediately fell silent.

The surroundings grew quiet; the night wind rustled. After a moment, Chifeng shook his head. "I don't know… whether Master Wu's words are true or false."

In his years commanding troops, he had encountered mystics, hidden witch cultivators, even orthodox Wang Ting Lord Wuzhu.

Some sages indeed possessed the ability to divine fortune and misfortune.

But "fortune and misfortune" was always a vague concept.

Such divination paled beside Master Wu's "divine oracles."

He had foreseen the enemy's attack route, timing, location, numbers, methods, movements… down to the smallest detail.

Such "divine oracles" were simply too absurd.

Chifeng found it hard to believe.

Yet facts proved Master Wu never lied. His words mostly came true. His deeds were beyond ordinary human capability.

Thus, even with a sliver of possibility, it was worth lying in wait this night…

Chifeng said gravely: "Don't be distracted. Stay alert."

"Yes," Elder Bashan nodded, not daring to slacken.

The mountain wind was bleak; time slipped away.

Finally, at the end of Yin hour—the exact time Mo Hua's "divine oracle" had foretold—a faint trace of human breath came from the distant darkness.

Moments later, the forest rustled, and a group of ghostly barbarian soldiers emerged.

Each wore light gear, wielded sharp blades, moved with discipline, and their breaths were nearly imperceptible in the dark.

"They're here!"

Chifeng's pupils contracted. He scrutinized them closely—these soldiers matched Master Wu's description exactly.

Their marching time and route were flawless.

The battle hadn't even begun, yet Chifeng suddenly felt a strange familiarity—as if he'd already fought it once.

Elder Bashan was equally stunned.

"What Mr. Wu said was actually true? He can really foresee things like a god?"

"This young-looking Mr. Wu is truly 'strong' in a freakish way…"

Chifeng and Elder Bashan exchanged a glance, and the look in both their eyes gradually turned cold.

The fury from being raided and surrounded by the Bi Fang tribe over these past days surged up in their hearts.

The chance for revenge had finally come.

Killing intent emerged suddenly, like a wild beast.

The fire-red great saber tore through the darkness; the spiritual power of Jin Dan blazed like the hellfire of purgatory, and in an instant several Bi Fang barbarian soldiers were beheaded and dismembered.

Then the binding arrays set as traps detonated.

Quite a few Bi Fang barbarian soldiers were trapped by the formations—sinking into quicksand or sealed within stone prisons—and in a flash could not move at all.

The Dan Que tribe's barbarian soldiers charged forward and hacked them to death in a frenzy of blades.

"Kill! Kill!"

Bloodlust flared, and in an instant the Dan Que tribe's eyes turned red with slaughter.

This was a completely unexpected ambush; the Bi Fang tribe fell into sudden chaos.

At the same time, battles in every other place also drew back their curtains.

Seeing Dan Zhu's Zhu Que Mystic Fire Li Lingyi also lit up the night sky.

In the dark mountain forest, the glows of various formations, spiritual power, and bloodlust rose and fell one after another.

Killing intent shook the mountains and forests; the night wind already carried the smell of blood.

The two sides locked in slaughter remained the same, but the situation had changed—attack and defense, killing and fleeing had all changed.

Mo Hua sat on the roof beam of Shi Dian, steady and composed, gazing into the distance, watching the fire from across the mountain.

He observed the battle while also, in his heart, conducting an initial verification of his comprehension of the Way of the "Heaven, Earth, and Man" Three Talents, as well as a deeper understanding of the art of karma.

Karma is not a "mysterious" study, but is built upon a foundation of the "real"—a divine study that combines the virtual and the real.

Karma cannot be separated from the present world; it cannot be calculated in a vacuum, nor studied in a vacuum.

Karma has its arts, but "art" is indeed only a "medium," a "bridge."

One may use "art," but must not depend on "art."

"Art" is like a "raft"—a medium that helps one cross the sea of karma and reach the other shore to seek the "Great Dao."

The purpose of art is for the "Dao."

Mo Hua started, and in a daze recalled that when his master had first taught him formations, he had said something similar.

The formation patterns, formation hubs, and formation eyes of an array are all merely "form," mere appearances—mediums for comprehending the Dao.

One must study diligently and practice hard, contemplating the formations.

But the ultimate purpose is not to be attached to formations themselves, but through formations, to comprehend the Dao of formations, and even to seek the ultimate "Dao of Eternal Life."

Karma and formations are the same; the relationship between art and Dao is also the same.

The Great Dao is vast and myriad, yet all paths converge to the same goal.

The myriad arts differ in form, yet knowledge of one illuminates another.

Mo Hua's gaze trembled, and his spirit gradually became clear and bright.

He seemed to feel that all the jumbled formations and dharma methods he had learned, listened to, felt, and thought about over these twenty or thirty years were gradually drawing together, coalescing before him into the embryonic form of a Dao.

A Dao of his own, rooted in divine sense, capable of encompassing the myriad dharma methods.

(End of chapter)