Chapter 1218

Mo Hua was shaken by this vast system of principles, unable to calm his thoughts for a long time.

The Taotie Principle is the prerequisite principle for transformation into a dragon.

First, Taotie must "devour" the demons, then ten thousand demons may "transform" into dragons.

First, Taotie must devour the patterns of ten thousand demons, then the Four Symbols Azure Long Zhen Diagram can exist—but why?

Mo Hua frowned, feeling there were still too many Dao patterns leaving him confused.

Taotie—eats arrays?

Is this really true?

Taotie is a ferocious beast—how could it eat arrays?

"Is it because Taotie is a Dao ferocious beast, capable of devouring all things under heaven and earth, naturally including 'principles'? And since principles manifest as arrays, devouring arrays is essentially devouring principles?"

"Or perhaps Taotie is not merely 'eating' principles."

"It merely follows instinct to devour flesh and blood. But all things under heaven and earth—including humans and other sentient beings—are born from heaven's will, inherently carrying a certain amount of principle. When devoured by Taotie, their flesh is refined, and the principle is naturally 'digested'—thus equivalent to devouring principles?"

But regardless of the underlying mechanism, at least in Mo Hua's understanding, devouring principles, devouring arrays—these things were largely explainable.

Devouring arrays, digesting them, produces "residual patterns"—

Then how should one understand these "residual patterns"?

It certainly can't be—Taotie's "feces," right?

Mo Hua looked disgusted, but after thinking, he felt that wasn't right.

For divine beasts or heavenly ferocious beasts, does "feces" even exist?

If Taotie devours array patterns imbued with principle, even if what it excretes truly is "feces," it is still feces of the Dao and principles.

It is far, far more precious than the vast majority of gold, silver, and treasures in this world.

The only question is, why does Taotie excrete these "residual patterns"?

Because these residual patterns are the "waste" of principles, the "defective products."

Or is it because, on the level of the Dao, they are repelled by Taotie, thus expelled from its body?

Or perhaps the opposite—after digestion, they are completely "assimilated," so they can no longer be absorbed by Taotie, and are therefore excreted.

Or perhaps this "excretion" of principles is entirely random—purely a matter of fate?

All these hypotheses have some possibility.

Mo Hua could not determine which one was correct.

After all, he was human, not Taotie—he had never "eaten" principles, never "excreted" principles, and had never even witnessed Taotie devouring principles.

Without direct experience, one cannot possibly understand.

Mo Hua temporarily set aside this stage and continued his contemplation downward.

Taotie devours principles, consumes arrays, digests them, and excretes "residual patterns"—

These "residual patterns" adhered to bones or ancient remains, collected by ancient barbarian cultivators, then reassembled and fused into certain "deformed" yet immensely powerful Four Symbols beast-pattern arrays.

And these arrays were the ancestral sacred-pattern inheritance system of the barbarians?

Was the Yuan Bone Heavy Armor of the Tie Shugu Clan also like this?

Did Mr. Tu's attempt at transforming ten thousand demons into dragons follow this same principle of inheritance?

Broadly speaking, this was the Great Wilderness's "transformation into dragon" principle?

Did ancient Great Wilderness array masters truly assemble these "residual patterns" into an actual "dragon"?

Mo Hua was inwardly startled, yet he still had one point he didn't understand:

Why must one first be devoured by Taotie, decomposed into "residual patterns," before one can assemble into a dragon—or any of the myriad bizarre Great Wilderness totem beast patterns?

Can't it be done without Taotie eating it?

Mo Hua thought for a moment and decided it couldn't.

Ten thousand demons, beasts, and all things are born from heaven and earth, yet each possesses individuality, fundamentally distinct.

Different species cannot interbreed.

Naturally, their Dao and principles are also vastly different.

The same applies to all demons and beasts.

Without being devoured once by Taotie, their flesh, principles, and the array patterns formed by those principles would likely never harmonize or merge into one.

"But after being devoured by Taotie once, why can they merge?"

Mo Hua felt another wave of doubt.

He calmed his mind, relying on his knowledge and understanding of principles, and continued deducing, then speculated:

All demons, beasts, sentient beings, array patterns, and heavenly principles are devoured by Taotie without distinction, undergo a cycle within Taotie's belly, then digested and decomposed.

This is, in fact, also a process of "assimilation."

After being devoured and digested by Taotie, the remaining "demon patterns" naturally acquire certain Taotie-like qualities, possessing a certain "unity."

With this unity, the demon patterns formed by different demonic beasts' principles gain the possibility of merging into one.

In other words, they gain the possibility of "transformation into dragon."

Mo Hua couldn't help thinking that his own previous attempts at transforming ten thousand demons into dragons had failed precisely because of this.

He lacked a "prerequisite principle."

Without being devoured and digested by Taotie, the principles had not been endowed with unity among the different demon patterns.

Thus, these opposing demon patterns could not merge into one, nor evolve into true "dragon patterns."

Taotie devours demons, digests, decomposes, assimilates, leaves behind—only then can it transform fragments into unity, demons into dragons.

Mo Hua felt an indescribable tremor within him.

He was shaken by the principles of heaven's great Dao—its intricate, grand, and naturally seamless array logic—his emotions surging, unable to calm for a long time.

Mo Hua deeply felt the obscurity of the Dao's principles and the profundity of the Great Dao.

But precisely because of this, there existed an ineffable "beauty of cosmic order."

And this beauty of cosmic order was hidden within the arrays.

Without exhausting one's mind, without agonizing thought, without spending day and night immersed in the arrays, without countless nights of devotion, one could never glimpse this

grandeur and splendor of the Great Dao and its principles.

Mo Hua's expression remained stunned for a long time.

Yet after this deep shock, Mo Hua suddenly fell into brief confusion.

He had grasped the great principles.

He had barely entered the threshold of the grand logic of the principles.

But then what?

What should he do? Specifically, how should he comprehend it, and how should he apply it?

His master had said: learn to apply.

If one comprehends the Dao and understands the principles but fails to apply them, isn't it all for naught?

But the principles related to the Can Tie were far too ancient and vast; the interconnections among the principles, the dependence between arrays and laws, the myriad transformations—far too complex.

Mo Hua's mind grew chaotic; after thinking for a while, he took out paper and brush and tidied things up slightly.

He began from the level of the arrays.

He reorganized several arrays from the beginning.

He renamed the arrays according to the logic of the principles.

Second-rank, twenty-stroke: Yuan Gu "Hualong" Array.

Second-rank, twenty-one-stroke: Four Symbols Azure Long Zhen.

Second-rank, twenty-three-stroke: Can Can "Tunhua" Array.

Second-rank, twenty-four-stroke: Twelve Meridians Can Can Spirit Bone Array.

All of these were absolute arrays without exception.

Among them, the Yuan Gu "Hualong" Array and the Can Tie "Tunhua" Array were both found by Mo Hua himself.

He did not know what they were originally called in the Dahuang lineage.

But that didn't matter.

Mo Hua, according to his own understanding, comprehended the principles, organized the system, and constructed his own array framework.

All methods under heaven, the myriad paths of arrays, were at his disposal.

What these Dahuang arrays were originally called in their lineage meant nothing.

Right now, whatever name he gave them, that was what they were.

And now, Mo Hua had not comprehended the inner principles of any of these four absolute arrays.

Therefore, he could not use any of these four absolute arrays.

If he were to learn them—

Mo Hua tried to begin with the first one, the seemingly most "simple" second-rank, twenty-stroke Yuan Gu Hualong Array.

To master this absolute array engraved within the ancestral heavy armor of the Shu Gu tribe, one must comprehend the "Hualong" principle.

But the problem was, Mo Hua could not comprehend the "Hualong" principle.

Because "Hualong" had prerequisite principles.

One must first comprehend Can Tie's "Tunhua" principle, before using the "Hualong" principle to fuse the residual strokes left after Can Tie's "devouring" and "assimilation."

And the array containing Can Tie's "Tunhua" principle was the second-rank, twenty-three-stroke Can Tie Tunhua Array, obtained from the head statue of the Shu Gu barbarian god.

That is to say, learning the second-rank, twenty-stroke Yuan Gu Array first was impossible.

One must first master the second-rank, twenty-three-stroke Can Can Tunhua Array, understand Can Tie's "Tunhua," before returning to learn the second-rank, twenty-stroke Yuan Gu Array.

Mo Hua couldn't help muttering a curse under his breath.

Using a twenty-three-stroke principle to block comprehension of a twenty-stroke array.

Without mastering the twenty-three-stroke array, one cannot comprehend the twenty-stroke absolute array.

This damn Dahuang place—its principles were so tangled and convoluted it was absurd on top of absurdity, absurd to the extreme. There was no choice; Mo Hua could only set aside the Yuan Gu absolute array and turn to the twenty-three-stroke Can Tie Tunhua Array.

Learn the hard one first, then come back to the easy one.

It sounded absurd, but right now, there was no other way—

"But how should one comprehend the twenty-three-stroke Can Can Tunhua Array?"

Mo Hua frowned, sinking into deep thought.

He had nearly finished pondering the broad logical issues of the principles.

But this comprehension of principles was "virtual," was "empty."

The current problem was the "concrete" level—the practical issue: how to fuse "law" with "array."

Only then could he use the "array" to actually apply Can Tie's "Tunhua" law.

Only then could Can Tie devour the array, assimilate and digest it, extract the homologous residual strokes as material for Hualong.

But how could one make Can Tie eat an array?

Feed other Four Symbols demon-stroke arrays directly into the twenty-three-stroke Can Tie Tunhua Array?

Would that even work?

Mo Hua frowned, uncertain, and decided to test it himself.

Reality is the manifestation of principles.

Whether it could work or not—only by trying could one know.

Mo Hua immediately drew a Four Symbols demonic pattern, but as soon as he finished, he froze again.

The Cannibal Array is not the true Cannibal Beast—it does not actively consume anything, let alone an array.

How do you feed it an array?

Or even if you do feed it, will it "consume"?

Moreover, I have not yet comprehended the Cannibal Principle, and cannot truly activate the Twenty-Three Pattern Cannibal Devouring Array.

Even if I feed it the "demonic pattern," what then?

An inactive array is merely a dead array—

Mo Hua sighed deeply.

In the span of these few thoughts, problem followed problem.

This thing called the Absolute Array—truly no human should learn it—

Mo Hua could only grit his teeth and methodically seek solutions; comprehending an array is itself a process of continuously discovering and resolving difficulties.

Once all difficulties are resolved, the array is comprehended.

Therefore, encountering a "difficulty" proves that I am already on the path toward "comprehension."

Mo Hua's mindset became far more positive.

He pondered for a long while, and gradually found a way:

"The Cannibal Devouring Array I drew has form but no principle—it is inherently dead."

"But the one inside the Tie Shugu Barbarian God's skull should be 'alive'—there must be living Cannibal Devouring Principles circulating within it."

Mo Hua recalled how he previously used the principles of life and death to suppress the Famine Calamity, and studied the Cannibal Force contained within the Famine Calamity.

This method could also be referenced here:

"Use the Four Symbols Demonic Array to form a compound array, generating demonic force principles to attack the Cannibal Principle."

"The Cannibal Principle, born of instinct, will inevitably 'devour and digest' other principles—"

"Thus, once the principles begin to operate, I can observe, analyze, and comprehend their transformations through Heavenly Mechanism Calculations and Dao-Infused Divine Awareness."

"As long as I observe enough, analyze deeply, and comprehend profoundly, I will naturally comprehend the Cannibal 'Devouring' Principle."

These complex processes gradually became clear in Mo Hua's mind.

He had kept the Tie Shugu Secret Division's Barbarian God statue all along, foreseeing its use.

At this moment, Zhong Mingren brought it in and placed it inside the room.

He then selected from his Four Symbols Demonic Pattern Array several patterns that were clearly more "plump" and formed a compound array.

Afterward, he painted these demonic pattern compound arrays onto the Barbarian God statue.

He used these patterns to "attack" the Cannibal Array.

Like throwing meat buns at a dog.

The Cannibal Array, true to instinct, began devouring these demonic patterns infused with demonic force, slowly consuming and digesting them.

These principle transformations do not exist within the physical eye.

In the real world, ordinary cultivators cannot see them; even their divine senses struggle to detect them.

But in Mo Hua's near-"divine" divine awareness, the traces of these principles were crystal clear.

And all these principle transformations were being profoundly deduced and analyzed by Mo Hua's Heavenly Mechanism Calculations—the Twenty-Three Pattern Cannibal Devouring Array was passively devouring.

Thus, this principle force did not manifest strongly.

But for Mo Hua, it was already enough.

As long as he had a trace of principle, he could unravel it thread by thread, gradually comprehend it, deepen his understanding, verify his own principle logic, and construct his own array system. This was another period of research and comprehension, oblivious to day or night, forgetting food and sleep.

When Mo Hua's divine awareness was exhausted for the fiftieth time or more—

He finally simulated within his mind the complete process of the Cannibal Principle devouring demonic force, digesting it, assimilating it, and extracting residual patterns.

He had comprehended this principle.

In that instant, Mo Hua felt a terrifying, earth-shattering roar echo within his mind.

It was the Cannibal's roar.

It was the sign of the Cannibal Principle beginning to fuse with his divine soul.

At the same time, a deep hunger surged within Mo Hua's heart.

But this "hunger" was different from before.

It was not hunger for food, for flesh and blood.

It was hunger for the Dao, for principles.

Mo Hua developed an extremely intense, deeply Dao-born "hunger" for the Dao, for the principles governing all things under heaven and earth.

He desperately wished to seek the Dao, to explore the principles of heaven and earth.

He even longed to "devour" every principle in this universe—

This was an extreme, insatiable craving for the Dao of heaven and earth, for the principles of all things—a "Cannibal Heart."

Without attaining the Dao, without understanding heavenly principle, without comprehending myriad laws, one is never satisfied.

Even now, Mo Hua felt an intense inner emptiness, an unbearable hunger.

He desperately wished to approach certain principles.

He even began unconsciously shoving array diagrams into his mouth, hoping to relieve his craving for "principles" by "eating arrays."

Fortunately, Mo Hua snapped back to his senses and forcibly stopped this unhuman behavior.

At the same time, through meditation and self-discipline, he forcibly suppressed the "hunger" in his heart.

After his emotions settled, Mo Hua exhaled slowly, his brow slowly furrowing.

He could feel that he had indeed comprehended the "Cannibal" Principle.

This is a good thing.

But the accompanying problem is that the "Tian Tie" law is far too fierce and powerful.

As a result, his spiritual soul and temperament have, to some extent, been "assimilated" as well.

Previously, when he saw Tian Tian's manifestations, he felt hunger for flesh and blood.

Now, he feels a deep longing for Dao and laws.

Cultivators pursue Dao and need a strong desire to seek it—this is normally a good thing.

But now this desire is too intense; the inner "hunger" makes Mo Hua suffer greatly.

Wanting to eat laws, wanting to eat arrays—this carries an air of strangeness and malevolence—

Mo Hua looked again at the arrays scattered before him and barely suppressed the urge to shove them into his mouth. "Regardless, I've now comprehended the Tian Tie assimilation law."

"I've also learned the Twenty-Three Rune Tian Tie Assimilation Array."

"Now I can begin, from difficult to simple, reverse-engineering the Yuan Bone Transforming Long Zhen—unraveling the secrets of the Shu Gu clan's ancestral array..."

Mo Hua nodded slightly, then took out paper and, as a first trial, drew a second-rank, Twenty-Three Rune Tian Tie Assimilation Array.

Previously, when he drew these array runes, he was like a walking corpse—form without spirit.

Now, as he drew again, the Tian Tie runes seemed to come alive, radiating a ferocious and violent aura; each rune opened its gaping maw, as if eager to devour something.

Even Mo Hua himself was startled by the sight.

Then, beside the Tian Tie Assimilation Ultimate Array, he drew the Yuan Bone Transforming Dragon Ultimate Array, passed down by the Shu Gu clan's ancestors and renamed by Mo Hua.

The moment he finished drawing this ultimate array, an extraordinary scene occurred.

The Tian Tie Assimilation Array seemed to truly come alive like a living Tian Tie, its body writhing and expanding outward.

Finally, the Tian Tie runes opened their "gaping mouths" and forcibly "swallowed" the entire Yuan Bone Transforming Long Zhen—

Though he had anticipated it, Mo Hua could not hide his shock at witnessing this firsthand.

The arrays were truly "eating" other arrays.