Chapter 1211: A Pair of Eyes

"Devour everything in heaven and earth, letting all living things return to chaos..."

This thought surfaced.

An extreme hunger, so intense it drove one mad, instantly flooded Mo Hua's heart, filling him with a soul-rending "hunger," craving to devour everything—humans, demons, ghosts, monsters, gods... devour them all...

"No good!"

Mo Hua's heart trembled.

The Law of Taotie was assimilating him; no, more accurately, it was "polluting" him, "devouring" him...

He immediately closed his eyes, withdrew his spiritual awareness back to his mind sea, severed all distractions, and blocked all interference.

The hunger still persisted; Mo Hua was full, yet still driven by the hunger to eat something.

Anything would do.

Even the flesh and blood of the living made Mo Hua's mouth water.

Mo Hua could only force himself into deep meditation, restraining his mind and guarding his heart.

Let his spiritual awareness dwell above his physical body.

Spiritual awareness was the master; the physical body was merely a puppet of his spiritual awareness.

Thus, all scattered thoughts and greedy desires, sinking into muddiness, were mere illusions—reflections of inner emptiness, not concrete realities.

This was the Dao-heart method Mo Hua had cultivated over years of devouring evil spirits and purifying them through meditation.

It also incorporated a portion of the Supreme Detachment Dao of the Celestial Demon Path.

Supreme Detachment could sever emotions, and could also sever evil thoughts.

Under the firm foundation of his resilient Dao-heart, the power of Taotie's Law gradually receded, and the hunger slowly faded.

After a while longer, when Mo Hua turned his gaze inward, he found his mind like still water—devoid of desire or thought—and slowly opened his eyes.

His expression was very solemn.

"Taotie... is terrifying..."

He hadn't even seen it with his own eyes; merely by contemplating the ancient, unknown-origin array markings, he had glimpsed a glimpse of Taotie's birth—and nearly been swallowed whole by the overwhelming hunger...

Even now that the hunger had faded, recalling it still sent shivers down Mo Hua's spine.

This was a hunger capable of devouring all reason, erasing all conscience.

"Hunger..."

Mo Hua furrowed his brows; a flash of insight made his heart leap:

"Could the Great Desert's famine... also be connected to 'Taotie'?"

Mo Hua recalled the violent vision that had surfaced in his mind just now, silently deducing:

"On the land of the Great Desert, famine raged, corpses stretched for ten thousand li, the dead piled into mountains; extreme hunger accumulated, resentment rose to the heavens, twisting the Laws—thus giving birth to the terrifying beast of heaven and earth... Taotie?"

This was a beast born of great calamity, imbued with the power of Law. Thus, it itself meant "calamity."

"Then... how did the Taotie markings arise?"

Mo Hua focused his thoughts, and more images surfaced before him.

Corpses across heaven and earth, flesh evaporated, skin clinging to bone, dead upon the earth, stained by resentment, resembled countless black "array markings," merging into heaven and earth's Laws, converging to form the ultimate monstrous beast—Taotie...

This scene resembled...

"Is Taotie a beast born from an array?"

Mo Hua was startled, thought for a moment, then shook his head.

On the surface, it certainly seemed so.

Taotie's aura was too overwhelming, its ferocity swirling, its face obscured; the black mist hovering around it formed grotesque patterns, constituting the Taotie markings.

This made Taotie itself appear like a "array beast."

But that was not precise.

Rather, it should be...

Mo Hua frowned, analyzing the vision he had just seen, expending spiritual energy to deduce and synthesize, until he finally grasped a little:

"Taotie is a monstrous beast born from countless corpses of the starved, acting as array materials, merging long-term with the Laws, and under extreme conditions, undergoing some unknown transformation and reaction."

The array markings—or Taotie markings—are the abstracted and manifested patterns of the Laws.

Array markings are, at their essence, the external manifestation of the Laws.

It is the Laws that gave rise to Taotie—not the array markings that created this beast.

Taotie is not a "array beast," but a "Law beast," saturated with the power of Law.

Then...

Mo Hua frowned.

What exactly did the "Law" on Taotie's body refer to?

Was it "hunger"?

Or was it "devouring"?

How should one understand it?

Because of the famine, many fell into extreme "hunger."

They all wanted to "eat," but heaven and earth were barren, with nothing to eat.

In the end, all perished in extreme hunger, their strongest final obsession being "to eat."

Not just humans—countless living beings who died of famine held this obsession.

So strong was this obsession that it "twisted"—or more accurately, "polluted" and "altered"—some Law of heaven and earth, thus birthing Taotie.

But what was the core of this Law? Was it "hunger," or "devouring"?

And was it truly this simple?

Is there a deeper meaning?

How should one comprehend it? And after comprehension, how to apply it?

How can this comprehension be unified with the "Taotie Pattern," and ultimately with the "Taotie Array"?

How can one transform the Dao's principles into an "array technique"?

Or conversely, how can one use array techniques to verify the Dao's principles?

Mo Hua's brows furrowed tightly, forming a deep crease.

This "Taotie Array" is undoubtedly the oldest, most complex, and most difficult and deadly ultimate array he has ever encountered.

It is far more obscure than the earlier Reverse Spirit, Thick Earth, Spirit Pivot, and Five Elements Origin Arrays.

Moreover, it is the most "complete" set of principles tied to heaven and earth, to humanity, and to great calamity.

In scale and magnitude, it is vastly grander.

This was the first time Mo Hua clearly perceived the concrete form of "principles," and the first time he felt a tangible sense of how "principles" and "array techniques" co-generate.

But Mo Hua's comprehension was still merely "skin-deep."

His understanding was unclear and incomplete; within its profound mystery, he could not be certain what he had grasped, nor could he verify whether it was right or wrong.

He had merely cracked open a slit in the door of "principles," allowing him a glimpse of what lay within.

As for entering the door, let alone truly stepping inside and mastering it, he was still far away.

But this was normal.

Mo Hua sighed.

The "Taotie" was such a colossal being, a heavenly and earthly "principle beast," its body covered in array patterns, concealing countless powerful principles.

He had merely glanced at it for an instant—how could he possibly understand it?

An ant peering into the ocean, expecting to comprehend the Dao in a single glance—this was too arrogant, too delusional.

The Dao is long and endless; only through lifelong study and relentless pursuit can one achieve deeper comprehension.

But at least, he had finally begun…

Mo Hua exhaled, feeling a measure of relief.

Since obtaining the Twelve Meridians Taotie Spirit Remains Array, so much time had passed, and he had wandered clumsily through the Great Wilderness for so long—yet the "Taotie" remained as misty and elusive as ever.

Now, at last, he had found a lead, glimpsed some of the "Taotie's" karmic threads.

The first step is always the hardest.

With a lead, with clues, he could now slowly explore and study further.

Thinking of this, Mo Hua felt a flicker of joy.

But he had not rejoiced long before his face suddenly paled, and a strange tremor stirred within him.

For the Dao Stele in his mind sea had trembled slightly, as if warning him of something.

At the same time, Mo Hua sensed a pair of eyes.

Those eyes were watching him.

As if right behind him!

Mo Hua's pupils contracted sharply, the hairs on his neck stood on end, and he spun around instantly, golden light flashing like lightning through his gaze as he scanned the surroundings.

But behind him lay only darkness—no one was there.

His spiritual sense perception revealed not the slightest anomaly.

It seemed as if everything had merely been his illusion.

Yet Mo Hua's heart remained extremely heavy.

He cultivated the Path of Heavenly Destiny, and always trusted his intuition.

Even if his intuition were wrong, the Dao Stele's resonance could not be false.

This was nearly the first time since he could remember that the Dao Stele had "resonated"—like a "hint," a "warning," telling Mo Hua that he was being watched by someone, or something…

Mo Hua's heart tightened slightly; after regaining his composure, his thoughts raced:

This place was a second-grade prefecture.

Cultivators above Jin Dan level were too powerful; under normal circumstances, they could never enter a second-grade prefecture.

A cultivator below Jin Dan's surveillance would surely be detected by his spiritual sense.

If not a person, then it must be a malevolent spirit…

Mo Hua walked the Path of Spiritual Sense Enlightenment; his eyes shimmered with Dao-transformed golden light, within which malevolent spirits and phantoms could not hide.

Thus, it was unlikely to be a malevolent spirit.

If it were a demonic god, Mo Hua could smell its overwhelming stench from afar.

Yet there was truly nothing around him.

Mo Hua's pupils deepened in focus, his eyelids twitching slightly.

"Who—or what—is watching me? So subtly… that I only noticed because of the Dao Stele's warning?"

And why now?

Was it because I studied the Taotie Array, peered into the Taotie's principles, and disturbed some karmic thread, thus drawing attention?

Mo Hua recalled again that pair of eyes watching him.

He did not know what those eyes looked like, what color their pupils were, because he had never "seen" them directly.

But those eyes gave Mo Hua the feeling of profound depth—so deep it was terrifying—as if gazing at him across endless ancient time, across the river of ages…

"Whose eyes are these?"

Mo Hua's expression turned solemn; he thought for a moment, then dared not think further.

But this doubt took root deep in Mo Hua's heart, lodging like a thorn in his throat—he could not sleep, nor could he calm his mind to draw array patterns.

Several days passed like this, and Mo Hua could not help but grow restless and irritable; he realized this approach was useless, draining his spirit and wasting precious time.

Time was tight; he had no room to squander it like this.

He must attain insight into the Gluttony Principle, master the Gluttony Array, and lay the groundwork for Golden Core formation.

Moreover, the situation in the Great Wilderness left no room for complacency.

Mo Hua forced himself to forget those "eyes."

Whoever they belonged to, they were beyond his current cultivation and capabilities to oppose.

Those who peer into cause and effect are themselves watched by cause and effect.

It was impossible to allow oneself to peer at others while forbidding others to peer at oneself.

And if those eyes came again to spy on him, the Dao Stele should still react.

As long as the Dao Stele remained silent, it was likely "safe"—no need to add unnecessary worry.

Mo Hua exhaled softly, yet his sense of urgency grew stronger, and he felt more acutely his own "insignificance," and his helplessness before certain great beings and great karmic forces.

"The Gluttony Principle..."

Mo Hua's gaze grew dim as he murmured softly.

In the days that followed, Mo Hua continued day and night, studying the twenty-three-mark Gluttony Array.

He had drawn the Gluttony mark hundreds of times.

Yet he gained no further insight.

The strange phenomenon of the Gluttony's birth that night had not reappeared since.

Of course, this might also be a good thing; Mo Hua feared that if he saw too much of the "Gluttony's form," he might lose his inner resolve and be "corrupted" by the Gluttony's power, becoming a "man-eating demon"—that would be disastrous.

The complete, monstrous form of the Gluttony carried too potent a principle.

At his current level, he could not yet comprehend it.

Seeing it too often was not beneficial.

All he could do was approach it from the perspective of a single "array," progressing gradually from shallow to deep, from few to many—analyzing the principle step by step, starting from surface array marks, moving to deeper array principles, until he ultimately grasped and mastered the Gluttony's power.

This could not be rushed.

If he advanced recklessly, he might be devoured by the principle itself, doomed to eternal ruin.

Yet Mo Hua's conception was sound; reality, however, was fraught with obstacles.

At this stage, even relying solely on the Gluttony marks within the array, he could not extract any further insights.

The Gluttony mark was the mark of the Gluttony Principle, the vessel of the Dao, the embodiment of the principle.

From "Great Dao," to "Principle," to "Array Mark"—this was a descent from top to bottom, from essence to manifestation.

But reversing this path, to trace upward, was immensely difficult.

Especially since Mo Hua's realm was low, and his understanding of what the "Gluttony Principle" truly meant remained shallow; even exhausting his spiritual sense and employing Heavenly Mechanism calculations, he could not deduce anything deeper.

After all, this was no ordinary array.

It was not even an ordinary supreme array.

It was the Great Gluttony Supreme Array of the Great Wilderness, symbolizing "calamity."

"Then I must try another direction..."

After long, bitter contemplation, Mo Hua recalled another matter:

Famine.

From the overwhelming resentment manifested at the Gluttony's birth, one could roughly infer that the Gluttony arose from famine.

Or more precisely, the Gluttony was born from a colossal famine, countless years ago in ancient times, so vast and catastrophic it nearly exterminated the entire Great Wilderness.

Mo Hua had confirmed this with Seeing Dan Zhu, Chifeng, Elder Zhamu, and several other tribal elders.

Not only among large tribes like the Danque, but even among smaller tribes such as Wutu, Wusha, and Heijiao, legends of that ancient famine still circulated.

This famine was so severe that it had a special name:

"The Great Famine."

Indeed, the very name "Great Wilderness" may have originated from that ancient catastrophe—the Great Famine.

Famine became calamity, extinguishing humanity; thus, this land was called "Great Wilderness."

Of course, this was legend.

Legends always have one flaw: truth and falsehood are indistinguishable, and details are vague.

The timing is uncertain.

Moreover, this legend contained another question that puzzled Mo Hua:

If the ancient era's "Great Famine" gave birth to the legendary monstrous beast—the Gluttony—

Then what of the famines that followed?

After the legendary "Great Famine," the Great Wilderness continued to suffer frequent famines.

Such records appear repeatedly in the tribal scriptures of the Great Wilderness.

Were these later famines caused by the Gluttony?

Was it famine that gave birth to the Gluttony?

Or was it the Gluttony that caused the famine?

This seemed like a chicken-and-egg problem, and Mo Hua could not say.

Or perhaps...

Famine and the Gluttony were symbiotic?

And if so, then the famine now spreading across the Great Wilderness—was it not precisely caused by... the Gluttony?

At this thought, Mo Hua's heart trembled:

So the red-yellow famine Qi he had encountered before — the one that made people ravenously hungry, willing to cannibalize — was in essence actually…

The power of the Taotie?!

The Law Power he had been searching for had actually long since… presented itself before him, and was spreading all around him?

Was it the power of the Taotie, chasing after him?

Mo Hua let out a deep sigh.

Indeed, all the myriad phenomena of the world, the boundless multitude of things, each contained a different "Dao."

What people lacked was merely a pair of eyes that could perceive the "Great Dao" and the "Laws."

……

After that, Mo Hua did not hesitate. He arranged the affairs of the Wutu Tribe, gave Seeing Dan Zhu a few instructions, and then set off for the place beyond the Wusha Mountain boundary where the famine was spreading.

Before, he had to avoid the famine.

Now, he was instead going to chase after the famine — if "famine" truly meant "the power of the Taotie."

Five days later, Mo Hua arrived at a remote withered mountain, west of the Wusha Mountain boundary and slightly north of the Chimu Mountain boundary.

The grass and trees on the mountain had withered; the famine Qi was breeding.

This was the "front line" where the famine was spreading.

To observe the famine up close and study it, Mo Hua temporarily settled down in this withered mountain.

Elder Bachuan and five Dan Que barbarian soldiers pitched a tent for Mo Hua and stood guard over him.

Originally Mo Hua had intended to come alone — he was used to acting alone and disliked being a burden.

But he couldn't withstand Seeing Dan Zhu's worry for him, her fear that he might encounter danger, so she had Elder Bachuan, a Jin Dan cultivator, bring five Dan Que barbarian soldiers to look after him.

After all, Mo Hua was Lord Wuzhu's man, his status was noble, and he could not be allowed any mishap.

And Mo Hua did indeed need people to run errands and handle trivial matters for him. If danger arose, they had to step in for him as well.

After all, his hands were precious now — they must not be stained with human lives.

So Mo Hua agreed.

The original choice for the guard had been "Elder Bashan."

But Elder Bashan was a big fellow, talked a lot, and was somewhat noisy, so Mo Hua had the more steady Elder Bachuan serve as the guard instead.

Elder Bachuan was more taciturn, spoke little — basically whatever Mo Hua told him to do, he would silently do it; beyond that, he wouldn't really ask any extra questions.

Mo Hua was fairly satisfied.

In the days that followed, Mo Hua was stationed at the famine's front line, personally observing, analyzing, and studying the "famine" Qi, searching for the cause of the famine's formation and the characteristics of its spread.

After researching for a period of time, Mo Hua could basically be certain that the so-called "famine Qi" was indeed some kind of "power of the Taotie."

But where this "power of the Taotie" came from, Mo Hua couldn't say for sure.

Surely it couldn't be a "living" Taotie, walking across the Great Wasteland, spreading disaster everywhere…

Mo Hua felt this was unlikely.

A "living" Taotie would be far too terrifying — just by studying array patterns and comprehending the Laws, Mo Hua had once glanced at the "true form of the Taotie" and nearly lost his mind.

If a Taotie truly appeared in the world, the disaster could never be only at its current level.

The Great Wasteland would probably be utterly lost in an instant.

A true Taotie would be no different from an even more terrifying "Dao Calamity."

"But if it isn't a Taotie walking the Great Wasteland and bringing disaster, then what exactly is this famine…?"

Mo Hua gazed at the famine Qi before his eyes, constantly breeding and swirling, thought for a long while, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat:

"This couldn't be… also an array formation?!"

"Is someone using an array formation to catalyze the power of the Taotie, spreading famine across the Great Wasteland?!"

(End of chapter)