Chapter 1201: Conquest

In the blink of an eye, a blade of light flashed past, and the head of something fell to the ground.

Tie Shuguo did not know what this "something" was.

But he was certain of one thing: this "thing" that could have its head cut off by a single sword strike could never be Lord Manshen.

Lord Manshen was Lord Manshen precisely because of his mighty divine aura, his immense strength, his immortality.

Could a Lord Manshen lose his head to a single sword strike?

Was there even a being in this world capable of severing Lord Manshen's head with one blow?

Tie Shuguo himself found the thought absurd.

Yet his mind thought this, his body still trembled, his head bowed to the ground, eyes tightly shut, daring not to look up.

He was having a nightmare.

In reality, he was the Shuguo chieftain, a revered Jin Dan.

But in this inexplicable dream, within the Divine Path, he was merely a frail, pitiful, helpless "Jin Dan."

Moments later, a searing heat spread around him, as if someone had unleashed a divine art, manifesting a sea of fire that burned something.

Then, Tie Shuguo heard the sound of "inhaling."

It seemed the powerful mental force permeating the surroundings was being sucked entirely into the mouth of some terrifying "monster."

Even this single inhale seemed ready to drag his soul away as well.

Tie Shuguo's heart filled with terror; he curled into a ball, wishing he could bury himself in the earth.

Fortunately, this terror did not last long.

The dream's master had died—been "eaten"—and the dream shattered with him.

Everything began to fade, the scenery twisted, as if a vortex of solidified illusion and reality tore at his mind.

When he opened his eyes again, the great hall was still before him, the offerings dim and lifeless.

Tie Shuguo turned his head toward Mo Hua and saw Mo Hua's face flushed with excitement and satiety—clearly fair and handsome, yet radiating a fierce glare, as if wearing the innocent "skin of a man" over a "demon of this world."

Tie Shuguo involuntarily shuddered.

Mo Hua looked at Tie Shuguo.

In just a few breaths, all the malevolent and sinister expressions vanished from his face; he became again delicate as a painting, gentle and sacred.

This transformation sent even greater dread through Tie Shuguo; he quickly lowered his head, daring not to look at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua said nothing.

Tie Shuguo dared not speak either.

He felt the air in the hall had frozen solid, each second an agony.

Finally, after who knew how long, he heard a clear, youthful voice:

"You did well. You may withdraw."

Tie Shuguo felt as if granted pardon, his voice trembling, "Yes, yes… Lord Wuzhu."

Tie Shuguo bowed and withdrew.

Mo Hua silently watched Tie Shuguo's figure until it vanished beyond the hall, then suddenly frowned.

A strange sense of dissonance suddenly arose in his heart.

He felt he had overlooked something.

But the feeling vanished as quickly as it came; Mo Hua did not understand why he felt this dissonance.

And why did this dissonance come from Tie Shuguo?

"Could it be that I tormented Tie Shuguo too harshly, and now I feel guilty?"

"No… that can't be."

Mo Hua shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

Of course, he had no time to think—he had more urgent matters to attend to.

Mo Hua immediately sat cross-legged on the ground, sank his consciousness into his mind sea, summoned the Dao Stele, and using the Thunder-Curse runes, eradicated the Manshen's will—skilled as ever in "detoxifying."

The Manshen of the Shuguo branch had not truly "become a demon god."

But Mo Hua, out of caution, still used the Thunder-Curse to erase it once more, lest he fall prey to some unknown "trick."

One setback, one lesson learned.

Since suffering a major defeat at his senior uncle's hands, Mo Hua had grown increasingly cautious about divine thoughts and karmic matters.

Better to kill ten thousand by mistake than let one slip away.

Then Mo Hua opened his mouth wide and let out a loud "Aowu!" as he swallowed all the purified mental force.

As the Shuguo branch's Manshen was devoured and slowly digested by Mo Hua, he suddenly remembered something:

"What did this Manshen I just ate look like?"

He strained to recall—it had seemed to have a bull's head, quite terrifying, with armor made of white bones.

But it died at first glance, then was "burned," and now had been turned to smoke—he had forgotten its appearance entirely.

Mo Hua frowned, then shook his head.

"Forget it. It's already in my belly—what it looked like doesn't matter."

"You don't pick your food by its face…"

"As long as it nourishes my consciousness!"

Mo Hua resumed his focus on refining.

The Manshen's mental force was slowly absorbed, strengthening his soul, while his consciousness steadily pressed against the peak of the Twenty-Two Rune bottleneck.

The aura upon Mo Hua's consciousness avatar surged and trembled continuously.

This power of the Divine Path—like that of a god—was immensely vast and profound.

It was a pity; after pushing for so long, the bottleneck still hadn't broken.

His spiritual sense realm remained at the peak of twenty-two lines, though it had grown slightly more refined than before.

Mo Hua slowly exhaled, opened his eyes, and in his clear gaze there was no discouragement—only a brighter gleam.

This was exactly what he had anticipated.

A barbarian god that hadn't degenerated into a "semi-demon god" was merely a larger "demon affliction," one that had consumed incense offerings and thus gained better nourishment.

Such a barbarian god was clearly incapable of helping him break through the twenty-two-line spiritual sense bottleneck.

But Mo Hua could feel his spiritual sense had grown significantly stronger.

Even the bottleneck had noticeably loosened.

This meant his spiritual sense had indeed improved considerably, but this "quantitative" increase had not yet accumulated enough to trigger a "qualitative" leap capable of breaking the bottleneck.

Mo Hua had a strong premonition.

If he consumed two or three more barbarian gods of similar size, the quantitative change would reach its limit.

And he would then break through the bottleneck, elevating his spiritual sense to twenty-three lines!

Twenty-three lines! Spiritual sense at the peak of Jin Dan early stage!

It was almost within reach, even faintly within grasp.

Mo Hua's gaze burned brightly.

And once he reached twenty-three lines, he could do something even more important:

That was to unravel the unknown, second-grade twenty-three-line Taotie array hidden within the barbarian god statue's head.

This was the thing Mo Hua had been most eager to accomplish in recent days.

It was a brand-new ultimate array.

More precious still, this twenty-three-line barbarian god Taotie array seemed different from the second-grade twenty-four-line Twelve Meridian Taotie Spirit Remnant Array he had obtained from the Great Wilderness demon god statue.

Both were Taotie arrays, yet they felt vastly different to Mo Hua.

The patterns of the array lines and their practical applications showed clear distinctions.

They looked different, yet both arrays employed "Taotie lines," falling within the category of the Four Symbols' Taotie ominous patterns.

This was highly peculiar—and gave Mo Hua profound inspiration.

A single Taotie array was certainly hard to comprehend.

But if two different Taotie arrays were compared and mutually verified, they would surely deepen his understanding of the ancient demonic beast and his insight into this ancient demonic pattern.

Whether he could master the Taotie array directly affected whether he could forge his core array and successfully form a Jin Dan.

Thus, Mo Hua grew even more eager for the twenty-three-line spiritual sense realm.

He looked forward to the day he could glimpse the essence of the Taotie array.

He also looked forward to discovering just how powerful his array mastery could become if he mastered the Taotie array.

"Twenty-three lines…"

To reach twenty-three lines, he naturally needed to consume more.

Mo Hua had entrusted all tribal governance to Seeing Dan Zhu, who handled it well—no need for him to worry.

Thus, Mo Hua's current concern was simply to consume enough to reach twenty-three lines.

But the problem was, he couldn't reach twenty-three lines by himself alone.

The only place currently offering a chance to consume "barbarian gods" was the Shu Gu tribe.

The Shu Gu tribe was already chaotic; now, with famine striking, it would only grow worse.

He needed a strategy—to break into other Shu Gu tribes during the chaos, seize their shrines, and consume the "barbarian gods" they worshipped.

External tribes and small clans wouldn't do; their power was too weak to sustain a third-grade "great god."

It had to be a Shu Gu off-shard, or a higher-level roaming tribe.

Only then might he get a proper meal.

But such forces would inevitably have a Jin Dan guardian and numerous barbarian soldiers.

He couldn't storm fortresses or seize strongholds alone—he needed allies.

After considering, Mo Hua sought out Chifeng, a mid-stage Jin Dan.

Chifeng was a barbarian general and the strongest cultivator in their group, both in cultivation and combat power.

Seeing Dan Zhu had superior talent and top-tier artifacts, but in cultivation level, age, and battle experience, he still fell far short of Chifeng.

Yet Mo Hua knew such a "risky" endeavor might not win Chifeng's agreement.

…

Inside the Shu Gu off-shard shrine.

Mo Hua didn't hide his intent—he told Chifeng outright.

Chifeng frowned. "Mr. Wu, you wish to… continue campaigning against the Shu Gu tribe?"

Mo Hua nodded. "General Chifeng, do you have any reservations?"

Chifeng hesitated a moment, then warned:

"The Grand Chief sent me with Seeing Dan Zhu to ensure the young master's safety, to help him complete his mission and gain experience—not to… do things like this."

Mo Hua countered: "What better way to gain experience than by campaigning against the Shu Gu tribe?"

Chifeng smiled bitterly. "That's not what I meant…"

This wasn't the kind of thing Seeing Dan Zhu should be doing.

"Besides," Chifeng paused, then spoke slowly, "Mr. Wu, the young master has been away from Dan Que tribe for some time now. It's about time he returned to the main tribe."

Mo Hua thought: "If you take him back now, how will I ever lure Seeing Dan Zhu out again to help me conquer territory?"

Mo Hua replied calmly, "No rush."

Chifeng frowned, "Master Wu, didn't you say this famine is extremely severe? The situation is urgent—if we don't return to the main tribe soon, we may encounter unforeseen disasters…"

Mo Hua had indeed said so.

The famine was indeed urgent.

But precisely because it is urgent, we cannot return now—otherwise, we are merely waiting to die.

Mo Hua said, "The Divine Lord will guide Dan Zhu Shaozhu and bestow blessings upon him. Dan Zhu Shaozhu will turn misfortune into fortune."

Chifeng looked at Mo Hua, fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Master Wu, are you suggesting… that you wish to cultivate and elevate Shaozhu to become Great Chief?"

This question, touching on tribal power struggles, was extremely sharp.

Mo Hua regarded Chifeng with calm eyes, neither affirming nor denying, but replied with a question:

"The Great Chief has four children. Chifeng, my lord—whom do you favor?"

Chifeng's gaze turned solemn. "I am the Great Chief's man. I serve only the Great Chief."

In other words, he would take no side—whether the Great Chief was this one or that one, it meant nothing to him.

He would simply do his duty.

Mo Hua's gaze grew piercing, a faint, knowing smile on his lips:

"Is this matter truly so simple? Do you truly believe you can remain untouched by it all?"

Chifeng said nothing.

Mo Hua continued softly: "Have you not realized that the Great Chief sending you to guard Dan Zhu Shaozhu has already marked you?"

"Even if you are utterly loyal to the Great Chief and believe yourself neutral, what of the First Shaozhu and the Third Shaozhu? What do they think of you?"

"Won't they assume you stand with Dan Zhu Shaozhu?"

"If they become Great Chief, will they trust you?"

"Can you truly extract yourself from this mire?"

Mo Hua's words were persuasive, low and possessing an inexplicable magnetism.

Chifeng's face grew darker, his expression increasingly solemn.

Yet he was a battle-hardened general—he did not follow Mo Hua's line of thought, but suddenly lifted his head, his gaze sharp as a blade toward Mo Hua:

"These are not matters a Lord Wu should concern himself with…"

Chifeng had killed countless foes; his blade-like gaze, thick with lethal energy, could chill even most Jin Dan cultivators, who dared not meet his stare.

Yet when his fierce gaze met Mo Hua's eyes, it sank like a stone into a deep pool—vanished without a trace.

Mo Hua's expression remained calm, his eyes deep and unfathomable as he spoke slowly:

"To serve the Divine Edict above and understand the hearts of men below—that is what a Lord Wu is. Chifeng, my lord, you do not believe serving the Divine Lord alone is enough, do you?"

"The Divine Lord cares for all living beings. The Great Chief holds absolute power—life and death rest in his hands, and the stakes are immense."

"If the Great Chief chooses wisely, the tribe will flourish and receive greater blessings from the Divine Lord."

"But if he chooses wrongly, leading to endless war and the suffering of countless lives…"

Mo Hua's face turned icy. "The Divine Lord will not bless you—he may instead unleash a Lei Ting divine punishment, annihilating the tribe entirely."

These stern words made Chifeng's heart tremble.

The faint but piercing, powerful divine will in Mo Hua's gaze filled him with momentary dread—as if that will contained the power to erase him utterly.

Chifeng was shaken.

"Is this… the power of one blessed by the Divine Lord?"

"He is only at Foundation Establishment, yet his eyes hold the Divine Lord's wrath—enough to terrify Jin Dan?"

Is this true divine power?

Or is it merely my illusion?

Chifeng frowned tightly, then slowly sighed. "I understand. I will aid Dan Zhu Shaozhu in campaigning against Shu Gu."

But Mo Hua shook his head, his expression solemn.

"Not to aid Dan Zhu Shaozhu—to aid Dan Que Tribe."

"Your loyalty should not be to Dan Zhu, nor to any Shaozhu, nor even to the Great Chief—but to the entire Dan Que Tribe."

"Use your own eyes to see."

"Who represents Dan Que's future? Who will bring prosperity to Dan Que? Who gains the Divine Lord's approval? That is whom you must serve."

"If it is Dan Zhu, serve Dan Zhu. If it is the First Shaozhu, serve the First Shaozhu. If it is someone else, serve that one."

"You serve the tribe. No one else is worthy of your loyalty."

Chifeng froze, gazed deeply at Mo Hua, then slowly nodded.

"I will follow every word of Master Wu."

…

He had finally persuaded Chifeng—and planted, in Chifeng's heart, the first seed of a new concept of "loyalty."

Afterward, Mo Hua summoned Tie Shu Gu.

Tie Shu Gu was the leader of the Shu Gu tribe's roaming faction.

To campaign against Shu Gu, one naturally needed Tie Shu Gu's help.

This was within Mo Hua's plan.

Tie Shu Gu came to meet Mo Hua.

Mo Hua revealed his intent.

Of course, he did not say it so "nakedly"—he merely asked Tie Shu Gu to guide him to nearby Shu Gu offshoots or other small-to-medium tribes in the area.

This request was somewhat "excessive."

After all, it amounted to asking Tie Shu Gu to betray his own tribe.

And as everyone knows, "Elder Tie Shugu" in the barbarian language means "iron bones ringing loud."

But Mo Hua hadn't expected Tie Shugu to agree so readily; he bowed and said:

"I am willing to guide Lord Wuzhu."

This surprised Mo Hua.

Did Tie Shugu truly believe, deep in his heart, that Mo Hua was "Lord Wuzhu," and thus sincerely submitted and devoted himself?

Or was it that the Tie Shugu clan was in chaos, with no real bonds between its members?

Did Tie Shugu even hope his "ally" would die?

Mo Hua muttered to himself.

But regardless, Tie Shugu's "cooperativeness" was a good thing—it saved Mo Hua from having to argue further, and spared him from using the Dao Heart Seed Demon technique.

Using Dao Heart Seed Demon on a Jin Dan was still exhausting.

And the success rate was low; occasionally, there was a risk of "loss of control."

Unless absolutely necessary, or unless the groundwork was thorough and foolproof, Mo Hua still preferred not to use this method.

He had not forgotten that Dao Heart Seed Demon was something he stole from his senior uncle.

Mo Hua nodded and said to Tie Shugu:

"Good. The Divine Lord will remember your loyalty. Go prepare and mark out all the surrounding Tie Shugu clan forces. We depart in two days."

Tie Shugu bowed: "Yes, Lord Wuzhu."

…

Two days later, after everything was largely organized, Mo Hua's group set out on their campaign.

The group numbered roughly three hundred.

There were three Jin Dan: Chifeng, a Jin Dan mid-stage; Dan Zhu, a Jin Dan early-stage; and Tie Shugu, also Jin Dan early-stage, who served as guide.

In addition, one hundred barbarian soldiers were from the Dan Que clan.

Some had been lost in the earlier conflict with the Bi Fang clan—regrettably.

But fortunately, Mo Hua used the Yi Mu Hui Chun Array to heal many, so casualties were not heavy; additional troops were later recruited, bringing the total to exactly one hundred.

The remaining two hundred or so were the "elite" of the Tie Shugu clan.

Strictly speaking, these Tie Shugu elites were not truly elite.

After all, they were barbarian soldiers from a remote branch, most only at Foundation Establishment early-stage, with few even reaching Foundation Establishment mid-stage.

Yet these two hundred Tie Shugu barbarian soldiers were already the cream of the crop.

Mo Hua brought them along partly to reduce casualties among the Dan Que clan in the coming campaigns.

Also to cultivate a group of "disloyal elements" who could be turned to his use.

Lastly, to reduce the risk of unrest in the Tie Shugu branch.

While Mo Hua and Dan Zhu and Chifeng were away campaigning, Elders Bashan and Bachuan remained to hold the Tie Shugu branch.

Though the deterrent might of the Golden Core was strong, their numbers were too few.

If the Tie Shugu clan attempted rebellion, it could still spark major chaos.

Thus, by removing the "elite" barbarian soldiers from the Tie Shugu branch all at once, the risk of rebellion was reduced.

Elders Bashan and Bachan could also rest easier.

And because "Tie Shugu," the former Tie Shugu leader, was guiding them, the other Tie Shugu elites felt less resistance.

After all, Mo Hua had never mistreated them.

In fact, during Mo Hua's "rule," their lives as Tie Shugu barbarian cultivators had improved even compared to before.

Whoever feeds you is your father; whoever gives you milk is your mother.

At least for now, they had no thoughts of rebellion.

Thus, three hundred strong, they marched for three days until they reached the nearest nearby outpost of the Tie Shugu branch.

This outpost also enshrined the Barbarian God.

Mo Hua had already faintly sensed the scent of the Barbarian God's spiritual power.

He felt that the Twenty-Three Mark was drawing closer to him…

Mo Hua gave Dan Zhu a glance.

Dan Zhu nodded, raised his hand, and said solemnly:

"Kill!"