Chapter 1206: Reverse Swallow

Beyond the Great Wild, the Dao Court's Dao soldiers were locked in battle with the Great Wild's barbarian armies.

Within the Wild, famine raged, and large-scale civil war had begun to sprout.

War and famine proceeded side by side.

The Dao Court and Wang Ting, locked in ceaseless combat, likely knew nothing of what transpired within the Wild.

The tribes within the Wild were closed and narrow-minded, unaware of the external situation.

The two regions were relatively isolated.

Yet Mo Hua had crossed from the Dao Court, traversed Li Province, crossed the Sand Sea, passed through Damao City, reached Fengbo Ridge, pierced through Chi Bi, entered the heart of the Wild, and infiltrated a barbarian tribe as Lord Wuzhu—from the ranks of the Dao Court's soldiers.

From the Nine Provinces to the Wild.

From Dao soldier to Lord Wuzhu.

He had walked this path himself, seen more than others, and participated more deeply than others.

At this moment, Mo Hua faintly sensed that this matter was far more complex than mere rebellion in the Great Wild.

The rebellion was only the beginning; what followed was famine, internal chaos among the barbarians, tribal warfare, mass deaths of living beings, and the rise of malevolent celestial thoughts…

The Wang Ting and Dao Court had poured nearly all their energy into the frontline battles.

They would not inquire into affairs within the Wild—perhaps they did not even wish to.

After all, they were merely savage tribes fighting and killing, some starving to death, others dying in battle—nothing that threatened the rule of the Wang Ting or Dao Court.

Yet the wise perceive disaster before it takes form.

Mo Hua could feel that if this disaster truly unfolded…

It would surely be the true beginning of "Heaven and Earth's Great Chaos."

In Mo Hua's eyes, he seemed to see war and famine spreading across the land, terrifying demonic gods descending into reality, preaching amid a world of despair…

Yet none of this—from beginning to end—could possibly be coincidence.

It was far more likely that someone was using the Great Wild as a chessboard, playing a grand game.

Who could this person be?

"It couldn't possibly… be…"

Mo Hua's pupils trembled; he immediately cut off the thought.

He looked up again at the solemn, deadly presence of the Bi Fang tribe's main encampment, then silently departed.

He harbored suspicion, but dared not pursue it further.

Everything now was still merely in its early signs—perhaps it was only his conjecture.

How the situation would develop, whether it would inch step by step into an irrevocable abyss—he, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, could not foresee it, nor control it.

The urgent task now was to resolve Seeing Dan Zhu's "great ill omen."

Surrounded and hunted by the Bi Fang tribe, even if Seeing Dan Zhu were a genius, escape would be extremely difficult.

Mo Hua knew well that while Seeing Dan Zhu's combat power was strong, his survival tactics were shockingly poor.

He was a young master, a genius, trained only in orthodox lineages.

He could hardly have spent every day studying concealment and movement techniques—pure survival arts—as Mo Hua had.

Though the Zhu Que Xuan Huo Ling Yi was also "hard," offering strong defense, precisely because of this, it was prone to breaking under excessive rigidity.

A cultivator's techniques are always limited by realm.

Before realm, there is no absolute strength.

Seeing Dan Zhu was merely at the early stage of Jin Dan; no matter how hard his treasures, he could not directly withstand the killing blows of a host of Jin Dan cultivators, let alone mid- to late-stage barbarian cultivators of that realm.

Moreover, Seeing Dan Zhu carried his entire retinue with him—he could not simply fight or flee as Mo Hua could.

Mo Hua, still concealed, left the valley, reunited with Chifeng, returned to Seeing Dan Zhu's encampment, and gave a general account of what he had seen.

Everyone's expressions grew solemn.

Elder Bashan frowned in angry confusion: "Has the Bi Fang tribe gone mad? How dare they deploy their main tribe's forces to encircle and exterminate our Dan Que tribe's young master?"

Generally, enmity between tribes did not specifically target each tribe's young master.

Even when conflicts arose, they were small-scale, often settled by single combat.

Even when troops were deployed, they consisted only of personal retainers or small squads of barbarian soldiers.

Deploying large forces of a main tribe to hunt down one man was profoundly "dishonorable."

"Could it be Bi Jie?" Elder Bachuan frowned. "He suffered a great defeat at the young master's hands and fears his talent, so he seeks to end all threats in one stroke?"

Mo Hua remained silent, saying nothing.

Chifeng, experienced and grave, said:

"It may be more than that. Even if they wished to kill Seeing Dan Zhu, there was no need to deploy the main tribe's strength. Their action may aim to capture the young master and threaten the Grand Chief, thereby… launching an assault on the Dan Que tribe…"

Elder Bashan's face paled. "The Bi Fang tribe… they intend to wage war? Then…"

Chifeng shook his head. "It's only a possibility. No one knows what the Bi Fang tribe truly intends."

"Then what should we do now?" Elder Bashan asked.

Elder Bachuan pondered: "We… protect the young master, carve a bloody path out, break through their lines, and reunite with the main Dan Que tribe—inform the Grand Chief of the Bi Fang tribe's movements as soon as possible?"

Chifeng's own thoughts likely aligned with this.

Though such a direct charge would inevitably cause heavy casualties.

Yet these seasoned barbarian generals, veterans of countless battles, had long since placed life and death beyond concern, understanding that war could never be fought without death.

But Chifeng said nothing; instead, he turned to look at Mo Hua.

He had grown accustomed to "when in doubt, ask the Lord Wuzhu."

There was no help for it—Lord Wuzhu's "divine oracles" were too reliably accurate.

Seeing Dan Zhu also looked at Mo Hua.

He was a good young lord, and the most important thing about being a good young lord was knowing how to "listen."

Knowing whose words to heed, and having no idle pride — listening when one ought to listen.

Mo Hua was also deep in thought.

He actually had quite a few methods.

But upon reflection, not all of them were necessarily the most suitable.

Mo Hua then said with a solemn face, "I must pray to the Divine Lord, beseeching the Divine Lord's blessing and guidance."

Seeing Dan Zhu and the others grew even more reverent, treating Mo Hua with the same respect as the Divine Lord, and they all cupped their hands and said:

"Thank you for your trouble, Mr…."

"Thank you, Lord Wuzhu, for your hard work…."

Mo Hua nodded, rose and left, returned to his own room, laid down a formation to block sight and sound, then knelt on a meditation cushion, appearing on the surface to be praying to the Divine Lord, but in fact thinking things through himself.

After all, there was no real "Divine Lord" to give him guidance.

Every revelation from the Divine Lord was something he had obtained through his own efforts — through analysis and derivation.

The current situation could only be resolved by his own thinking.

First of all, if Mo Hua crossed the Bi Fang barbarian soldiers' blockade alone, it was actually very simple.

His divine sense had grown stronger again; with his body concealed, as long as he was a little careful, every person of the Bi Fang tribe would be "blind."

He could walk right along the battle line, openly and directly, and the vast majority of the Bi Fang tribe's barbarian soldiers would be unable to detect him.

Taking Seeing Dan Zhu along was also no problem.

He only needed to craft a cloak or mantle for Seeing Dan Zhu to conceal himself, and let him follow along.

Even bringing a few more people would be no problem.

But the problem was that Seeing Dan Zhu currently had five or six hundred people under his command, and outfitting them all with concealment formations and cloaks of invisibility would be far too costly — Mo Hua could not afford it right now.

Even if he made them, it could not be done right now.

And the most crucial point — Mo Hua also did not particularly want to reveal the fact that his "concealment arts" were so advanced.

After all, though Seeing Dan Zhu looked kind and good… in truth, he was still quite clever inside.

If he displayed such advanced concealment arts in front of him — advanced to the point that even a Jin Dan could not detect them —

he might well connect it to the time he had once, in the middle of the night, secretly slipped to his bedside and, in the name of the "Divine Lord," whispered "private words" to him.

That would damage his own dignity as "Lord Wuzhu."

Moreover, any cultivator whose concealment arts were formidable would inevitably arouse Gu Caiyi in others, and find it hard to gain their trust.

After all, no one knew what wicked deeds one might have secretly done in the dark using concealment arts.

As Lord Wuzhu, what he needed was others' reverence, not others' suspicion.

Therefore, although he often practiced concealment himself, he absolutely could not reveal it lightly to others.

With this in mind, the path of "stealth" was a dead end.

Then what about a direct forced breakthrough?

Mo Hua did indeed have a way — use a formation to blast open a path, then let Seeing Dan Zhu and the others charge through.

In fact, Mo Hua felt a little restless stir inside him.

It had been a long time since he had used a formation to blow something up.

His hands were truly itching.

But a large-scale formation blast against the mountain would certainly kill people, and that would dirty his own "reformed" hands.

Even if no one died, after blasting the mountain and charging through — then what?

Mo Hua twiddled his fingers, and without even needing to divinate carefully, he could know what would follow.

The mountain blown open, Seeing Dan Zhu and Chifeng led their men and broke through the blockade.

The Bi Fang tribe's barbarian soldiers would surely close in and pursue to kill.

And the Bi Fang tribe's main force's Jin Dan cultivators — to say nothing of more, a dozen or twenty were certainly present.

These Bi Fang tribe Jin Dan cultivators pursuing Seeing Dan Zhu — Seeing Dan Zhu might not die, but the five or six hundred followers he had painstakingly cultivated to campaign with him would inevitably, in the course of things, become "cannon fodder," dying one after another at the hands of the Bi Fang tribe's Jin Dan cultivators.

Even if Seeing Dan Zhu ultimately escaped, it would still be a loss outweighing any gain.

"Is there a perfect method, one that lets everyone survive?"

Mo Hua's brows knit tightly.

He pondered for a while, then derived for a while, but no matter how he chose, the final outcome did not seem to be good.

If they waited in place, they would have to endure the ever-spreading threat of the "Famine Calamity"…

"Famine Calamity…"

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then his heart suddenly leapt, and his expression abruptly grew solemn.

He had overlooked a very crucial matter:

The Wu Tu tribe!

It had been over a year since he left the Wu Tu tribe and came to the Dan Que tribe.

In that year-plus, he had to play-act as Lord Wuzhu, "deceive" Seeing Dan Zhu, learn the inner affairs of the tribe, derive the situation, comprehend formations, subdue the Shu Gu tribe, devour the barbarian god, strengthen his divine sense… and so on and so forth.

There were too many things; Mo Hua had been busy all along, his divine sense constantly in operation, with almost no time to rest.

This had also caused Mo Hua to nearly forget about the matters on the Wu Tu mountain realm side.

And now, the Famine Calamity had begun to spread; disaster was coming.

What, then, would happen on the Wu Tu mountain realm side?

Were they also suffering the Famine Calamity?

Elder Zhamu, how was little Zha Tu? And those children he had taught in the name of "Mr." — would they encounter danger?

Mo Hua grew more and more worried as he thought about it.

Famine is merciless, reality is cruel; if Wutu and Wusha Mountain Realms were also engulfed by famine, all he had done before would turn to ashes.

Those children might not survive a single one—they would all starve to death.

Mo Hua's heart turned cold; without hesitation, he immediately cast another divination, calculating the safety of Wutu Mountain Realm and the fates of Xiao Zatu and the others.

But the divination result was subtly ambiguous.

It could not be called good, yet it was not utterly dire either.

He had been away from Wutu Mountain Realm for some time, knew nothing of the specific situation, and could not deduce more detailed causal chains.

Mo Hua could not help but feel deeply anxious.

He very much wanted to return to Wutu Mountain Realm and take a look.

But he could not neglect Dan Zhu here.

If he did not return to Wutu Mountain Realm and Xiao Zatu and the others met with misfortune, Mo Hua would never find peace—he would likely carry guilt for life.

And if he did not use the Causal Art to protect Dan Zhu, and Dan Zhu died in the tribe's internal strife, all future plans would become empty talk.

These two choices left Mo Hua torn; the more he thought, the more anxious he became.

Suddenly, Mo Hua had a flash of inspiration and thought of a solution that was not really a solution:

"What if we just 'kidnap' Dan Zhu and take him to Wutu Mountain Realm?"

That way, we could protect Dan Zhu while also checking the situation in Wutu Mountain Realm—wouldn't that be perfect?

But after thinking it over, Mo Hua shook his head; the idea felt overly optimistic and impractical…

Wutu Mountain Realm is a second-grade mountain realm; Dan Zhu is a Jin Dan—he could never possibly go to a second-grade mountain realm.

Moreover, he is the third-grade Zhu Que Mountain Realm's young master—what would he be doing in such a backwater?

But…

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then suddenly realized: wouldn't Dan Zhu be safer in a second-grade mountain realm?

In a third-grade mountain realm, Dan Zhu, as a beginner Jin Dan, would face threats from mid- and late-stage Jin Dans.

But in a second-grade mountain realm, Dan Zhu's cultivation would be "top-tier"—he would be the "strongest."

As long as he restrained himself and did not unleash his Jin Dan power, he'd be fine.

And Bi Fang's massive military mobilization could not possibly be aimed solely at Dan Zhu—it would inevitably lead to a great war.

This war would likely engulf the entire third-grade Zhu Que Mountain Realm, forcing most Jin Dans into deadly battles.

Under such circumstances, a second-grade mountain realm would actually be safer.

As for what Dan Zhu should do in a second-grade mountain realm…

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered Mr. Tu, and the Wilderness Feng Tianxue Sacrifice Array.

Mr. Tu's concept for the Wilderness Feng Tianxue Sacrifice Array was to link low-grade small state realms through a blood-sacrifice demonic array, forming a grand demonic array to blockade the fifth-grade Qian Xue State Realm.

This was a method of linking low-grade state realms under the constraints of heavenly dao principles, to blockade a higher-grade state realm.

Mr. Tu was dead.

But his concept, Mo Hua could borrow.

Let Dan Zhu lead troops to the second-grade mountain realm to "develop," using it as a "base" to forge armor and train soldiers, and once their strength grew, turn around and "surround" the third-grade mountain realm.

Use small mountain realms as footholds to swallow larger ones.

Such a thing, Mr. Tu could do—and he had actually succeeded, though Mo Hua had ruined it.

When three walk together, one of them is bound to be my teacher.

Now, Mo Hua could perfectly emulate Mr. Tu's approach.

The more Mo Hua thought about it, the more sense it made; he even faintly felt this might be the most suitable path for the current situation—and the most suitable path for himself.

Of course, the specific implementation still needed further consideration.

Mo Hua pondered all night and calculated the entire night, preparing every route and plan thoroughly.

At dawn the next day, Mo Hua gathered Dan Zhu and the others, speaking with utmost solemnity:

"The Divine Lord has given me a revelation: we cannot return to Zhu Que Main Tribe—ahead… lies a path of no return!"

Dan Zhu and the others were startled.

"A path of no return?" Chifeng's expression turned solemn.

"Yes," Mo Hua nodded, speaking gravely, "According to the Divine Lord's revelation, if we press forward and force our way through Bi Fang's blockade, we will be annihilated—not a single barbarian soldier will survive, and even Young Master Dan Zhu… will lose his head to Bi Jie…"

Everyone turned pale.

Elder Bashan's face twisted in terror, his voice trembling: "Lord Wuzhu, what should we do?"

"Following the Divine Lord's command, only by avoiding this deathly calamity can we seek survival…"

Mo Hua spread out the map and pointed to a corner in the southeast, "This direction is the 'path of life' indicated by the Divine Lord—the only path to survival from death."

Dan Zhu and the others followed his finger and frowned in confusion, "This place… is a second-grade mountain realm?"

Mo Hua nodded.

"But… how can we survive in a second-grade mountain realm?" Elder Bachuan asked. "Moreover, according to the Great Wilderness ancestral edicts, Jin Dan cultivators never enter second-grade mountain realms."

Mo Hua declared firmly: "Precisely because the ancestral edicts say so, we must do the opposite—that is how we survive from death."

Dan Zhu and the others exchanged glances.

Entering a second-grade mountain realm was utterly unexpected—they had never even considered such a thing before.

But "Mr. Wu's" words seemed very reasonable.

Moreover, this was the Divine Lord's guidance.

Along the journey, Mr. Wu had repeatedly proven to them: the Divine Lord's guidance was true and real, and every single one of the Divine Lord's instructions had been correct.

This time, it should not be wrong either.

Of course, they did not know that this time the "Divine Lord" had told a small lie.

The situation was not as serious as Mo Hua had trumpeted.

Nor did they necessarily have to go to the second-grade mountain realm.

It was their "Divine Lord" Mo Hua who had deliberately guided them in this direction.

And after such a long time together, Mo Hua had already accumulated enough "prestige."

Seeing Dan Zhu pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "We shall follow the Divine Lord's guidance in everything; please, Mr., lead the way."

Chifeng and the others had no objections either.

Mo Hua also nodded gladly. This way, the two forces under his command could formally "merge."

……

And so, the Bi Fang tribe sealed off the front.

Mo Hua, taking Dan Zhu and the others, simply made a turn and marched southeast.

After trekking for half a month and braving some dangers, they finally left the third-grade Zhu Que mountain realm and arrived at the second-grade Wucha mountain realm, which Mo Hua knew far better.

Seeing the scene before him, Mo Hua let out a quiet sigh of relief.

To his relief, the famine had not yet spread here.

This meant that the true "upheaval" had not yet reached the Wucha and Wutu mountain realms.

But Mo Hua was not exactly happy either.

Because the current state of the Wucha mountain realm was not much better.

The Wucha mountain realm had originally been a remote, small second-grade mountain realm on the eastern edge of the wilderness.

This mountain realm had previously had no fixed name.

After it was conquered, Lord Wuzhu Mo Hua specially granted the Wulu tribe's chieftain permission to name it after himself—"Wucha"—as a reward for Wucha's achievements in waging war on all sides.

Though this Wucha mountain realm bore the name "Wucha," its true "master" was in fact still Lord Wuzhu Mo Hua.

Under Mo Hua's governance, this mountain realm should have developed along the path he had envisioned.

But now, a year had passed, and the Wucha mountain realm was still the same as before—if anything, a little worse.

Mo Hua extended his divine sense, sweeping over the surroundings in a glance. He saw that some tribes were still in hardship; many low-level barbarian cultivators were still going hungry; some children, wandering by the roadside, had still not received the heritage education of the Dao.

Meanwhile, the mountain realm's barbarian soldiers, clad in barbarian armor, ran rampant, bullying others and extorting property.

In the Wucha mountain realm, many tribes—clearly destitute, their clanspeople in tatters and starving—were nevertheless forced to spare no manpower or resources to carve fine stone and build exquisite statues.

The statues, towering above, bore the very face of the Wulu tribe's chieftain: "Wucha."

Any barbarian cultivator who passed by had to kowtow and pay respects to Wucha's statue—an air of strict, rigid authority.

Mo Hua's gaze gradually turned cold.