Chapter 1222: Deal and Cursed Death

The battle in the Wusha Mountains lasted until nightfall, with the Bifang and Shuguo clans both suffering heavy casualties by dusk.

Bi Jie henceforth harbored a grudge against Lugu.

He remembered how Lugu and Seeing Dan Zhu had colluded to frame him.

Could the Shuguo and Danque clans even "borrow" their ancestors' battle armor to wear?

Two tribes with no connection whatsoever were feuding on the surface, yet behind the scenes had already put on the same pants.

Bi Jie sneered inwardly, growing even more contemptuous of Lugu, silently cursing:

"For all he's a general of the Shuguo clan, he's a cowardly traitor who betrays his ancestors' legacy, fawns over the Danque clan, and consorts with Seeing Dan Zhu."

On the other side, Lugu listened to his subordinates' embellished reports.

He learned that Bi Jie had secretly attacked Shuguo clan soldiers, seized resources that rightfully belonged to his Shuguo clan, and attempted murder to cover it up after the deed was exposed.

Lugu was furiously enraged, shouting:

"Bi Jie, you brat! Short-sighted fool! For all you're the heir of the Bifang clan, you're a despicable scoundrel! A child unworthy of counsel!"

In the Wildlands, forming alliances is hard, but making enemies is far too easy.

Not to mention the "demon" Mo Hua meddling in between.

The Bifang and Shuguo clans indeed "fought" one another, each losing many men.

Thus, the Shuguo and Bifang clans broke ties.

Lugu and Bi Jie became "enemies."

The two clans ignored the Danque and Wutu clans entirely and turned on each other, engaging in no fewer than seven or eight battles.

Mo Hua also instructed Seeing Dan Zhu to strike opportunistically—not killing Shuguo clan members, but secretly coordinating with them to encircle Bi Jie.

Bi Jie found himself caught in a pincer attack, and his doubts vanished entirely.

This had been from start to finish a blatant "trap"!

The Shuguo clan's ancestors carried the blood of "criminals" and "You Clan," their bones inscribed with "betrayal"—their oaths were not worth a single word.

Their reputation was shit.

Bi Jie seethed with rage but had no recourse; he could only lead the remaining Bifang elite forces to temporarily retreat to the edge of the Wusha Mountains.

He did not leave, but lurked like a starving wolf, waiting for another chance.

Thus, within the Wusha Mountains, only Mo Hua and Lugu remained as opposing forces.

The situation had changed again.

Mo Hua considered for a moment, then secretly sent someone to deliver a letter to Lugu.

The messenger was none other than the "traitor" Tie Shuguo.

Tie Shuguo did not know whether Mo Hua had guessed his secret moves, or simply chose him because of his former position as Shuguo clan's commander.

But he dared not refuse.

Tie Shuguo delivered the letter to Lugu.

The letter's contents were simple.

Mo Hua said he was willing to represent Seeing Dan Zhu in making peace with Lugu and Lugu's Shuguo elite forces, forming an "alliance" to stand together.

For a moment, Lugu thought Mo Hua was joking.

Only recently they had been clashing with swords and spears—now suddenly sending a letter to make peace and form an alliance?

Such childish, hollow posturing was only for fools to believe.

Lugu had no idea what schemes Mo Hua harbored inside.

But after thinking it over, he still agreed to "meet."

No matter what tricks this demon-shaman might be playing, he had to meet and speak face to face.

Moreover, after all that had transpired, Lugu had developed a deep sense of "wariness" toward this shaman, and he very much wanted to see up close this mysterious figure—possibly even a demon reborn—who called himself "Lord Wuzhu."

They agreed to meet atop Wufeng Ridge.

Three days later, Wufeng Ridge.

On a cliff where cold winds howled.

High-ranking members of the Shuguo and Danque clans met for negotiations.

Lugu saw the heroic and imposing Seeing Dan Zhu.

He also saw behind Seeing Dan Zhu, surrounded by fierce barbarian generals like Chifeng, Elders Bashan and Bachuan, Tie Shuguo, and over a hundred imposing, heavily armored Yuangu soldiers—all Jin Dan cultivators—protecting Mo Hua.

The display was immense.

Lugu's expression turned solemn, yet his heart sank.

Could this demon-shaman truly be only a Foundation Establishment cultivator?

Lugu stared again at Mo Hua.

This near-demon Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared, outwardly, as a handsome, Bai Xi youth, even radiating an aura of solemn sanctity.

But knowing his deeds, Lugu would never believe that.

He felt this Foundation Establishment "shaman" appeared righteous on the surface, yet everywhere exuded an inexplicable "evil" quality.

He looked both divine and demonic…

And Lugu stared at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua was also studying Lugu.

Lugu's appearance matched Mo Hua's expectations.

Most barbarian cultivators were robust and tall, but Lugu was even larger, resembling a "little giant."

His face was resolute, his gaze sharp as a hawk's, his hands cracked and calloused—clearly a hardened, formidable barbarian warlord.

His cultivation level was late Jin Dan.

A general at the late stage of Jin Dan, his personal strength was extremely formidable.

If not for this being the Second-Rank Mountain Realm, Lugu's full strength could not have been unleashed even by one-tenth, and Mo Hua would have had no good way to restrain him.

Mo Hua's thoughts shifted slightly, and he spoke bluntly to Lugu: "Let's make peace."

Lugu's expression turned hostile. "Why should I make peace with you?"

Mo Hua cut straight to the point: "Let's trade. We exchange your ancestors' heavy armor for an alliance."

Lugu's pupils dilated slightly, and he spoke coldly: "So you really stole the casting method of my Shu Bone ancestors?"

Mo Hua shook his head, speaking with unshakable confidence: "If you had it and I took it, that would be 'stealing.' But if you didn't even know your own casting method, and I found it out—how is that stealing?"

Lugu was left speechless.

Their own ancestral casting method, which they themselves didn't know, had been learned by someone else—just mentioning it was humiliating.

After a moment of thought, Lugu nodded: "Fine. Bring me the Yuan Bone casting method, and we can make peace."

But Mo Hua shook his head: "I can only give you the heavy armor. I won't give you the casting method."

Lugu's face twisted with fury. "Are you trying to monopolize my Shu Bone ancestors' legacy?"

Mo Hua remained calm. "It's not that I want to monopolize your Shu Bone tribe's legacy—it's because I genuinely don't know what your Shu Bone ancestors' casting method actually was."

"All of this is the Divine Lord's blessing."

"It was the Divine Lord who showed me, and only then did I know. If the Divine Lord hadn't shown you, I couldn't make you know either..."

Lugu felt Mo Hua was lying through his teeth.

But Mo Hua's demeanor was so serious, so utterly solemn, that Lugu began to doubt whether Mo Hua was lying at all.

Could it be... that the Divine Lord truly granted him divine revelation and bestowed upon him the Wildlands legacy?

Otherwise, how could he speak such nonsense with such a calm, unblinking face?

Lugu frowned.

Mo Hua asked him: "Will you trade the Yuan Bone heavy armor for an alliance between our two tribes?"

Lugu sneered: "Tribal wars only decide life or death. Your Dan Que tribesmen's blades are stained with the blood of my Shu Bone tribesmen; your Dan Que tribesmen's spears have pierced the hearts of my Shu Bone people... Between our two tribes, there is blood debt. Can such grievances and sins be settled by just a few pieces of heavy armor?"

Mo Hua said: "Not a few. Ten."

Lugu fell silent.

Mo Hua asked him: "Will you trade?"

Lugu said nothing.

"Fine, don't trade," Mo Hua rose to leave.

Lugu immediately said: "Let's talk again!"

Ancestral heavy armor—these were treasures passed down from our forefathers. Over the years, each lost piece was one less.

Their internal structure was nearly divine; impossible to repair or recast.

Such ancestral legacy—whether offered freely, stolen, murdered for, or seized by force—it had to be obtained.

"Ten isn't enough," Lugu said. "Twenty."

Mo Hua shook his head. "Ten."

Lugu weighed his options, then spoke: "Eighteen."

Mo Hua said: "Eight."

Lugu blinked in shock, thinking he'd misheard. Furious, he shouted: "How are you lowering it further?!"

Mo Hua said: "That's how I bargain."

Lugu had no recourse; he gritted his teeth: "Fifteen!"

Mo Hua said: "Five!"

Lugu's scalp prickled with rage; he opened his mouth to retort, then suddenly remembered something and clamped it shut—afraid that if he said another word, Mo Hua would drop even the "five" offer.

Mo Hua repeated: "Five!"

Lugu's face darkened—he clearly refused to agree.

Seeing this, Mo Hua rose to leave, casually saying:

"Fine, don't trade. Your Shu Bone tribe isn't just you alone. Your Shu Bone tribe doesn't have only one commander. If you refuse, others will accept. If you won't trade, plenty will."

These words struck straight into Lugu's heart.

His face turned icy. "Stop."

Mo Hua halted and turned to look at Lugu's expression. After a moment, he said:

"This is my final offer: six. If you accept, we form an alliance."

"I've never raised my offer after lowering it in my life. Six is already a massive concession, made only because you're a general."

Mo Hua spoke as if Lugu had just won a fortune.

Lugu took a deep breath, then slowly said: "Fine..."

Mo Hua nodded. "Then it's settled. Your Shu Bone tribe provides the bone materials..."

Lugu's face stiffened. "You want me to provide the materials too?"

Mo Hua replied calmly: "Naturally. I have no bones left. Outside, there's famine, and tribes are at war—I have no way to obtain these materials. So you must provide them..."

Lugu asked: "How much?"

Mo Hua said: "Twenty heavy beast-ghost spinal bones—like those of bears and boars; thirty medium beast-ghost tibia bones—like wolves and leopards; plus fifty to sixty other bones—radius, claws, and so on..."

This quantity was, of course, fabricated by Mo Hua.

The beast-ghost materials within Wu Tu Mountain Realm had already been exhausted; the casting of Yuan Bone heavy armor had already ceased.

Mo Hua could only siphon off some materials through this trade with Lugu to cast armor for himself.

Thus, by casting six for Lugu, he could still cast twelve for himself.

Of course, he "skimmed" a bit too much.

Lord Lugu didn't think much of it.

He knew well the difficulty of ancestral armor forging; the success rate was certainly low, especially with sacred patterns—errors were intolerably rare, and massive bone material loss was inevitable.

Mo Hua's "quote" was actually not excessive.

Lord Lugu nodded: "Fine."

Mo Hua observed his expression and knew at once he'd quoted too low.

Even though he'd already been extremely "heartless," he still lost out.

"My face is still too thin… Next time, I'll quote higher—otherwise there's no room to haggle, and I'll get cheated again…"

Mo Hua silently took this as a warning.

Though he felt regret, Mo Hua did not raise his price further.

After all, this was his first deal with Lord Lugu—he had to offer some "discount."

And he was Lord Wuzhu; he had to preserve some dignity. Words spoken in public must be honored, not casually changed, or he'd appear unrefined.

Mo Hua nodded. "Then it's settled."

He then outlined specific terms:

"From the day materials are delivered, within six months I shall forge these six sets of ancestral armor from the Shu Bone Division and deliver them to you—one per month on average. During this period, your Shu Bone Proper Division, the Dan Zhu-led Dan Que Division, and the tribal alliance of Wu Tu Mountain Realm shall temporarily form an alliance, refraining from mutual aggression. Should an external enemy attack, you must aid each other and fight together…"

Mo Hua spoke clearly, every word precise.

Lord Lugu listened, absorbing each word.

After pondering these words and finding no flaw, Lord Lugu finally nodded:

"Fine."

Thus, the Shu Bone Division—having just broken ties with Bi Fang—officially allied with the Dan Que Division and the Wu Tu Division through Mo Hua's maneuvering.

And the first act after their alliance was to strike at Bi Fang.

To prove their "friendly" alliance and demonstrate mutual sincerity.

This time, it wasn't "acting."

Nor was Mo Hua sowing discord.

The Dan Que and Shu Bone tribes were truly "colluding in evil."

Once the false became real, the distinction between true and false no longer mattered.

"Dan Zhu, Lord Lugu… you two bastards!"

Bi Jie burned with rage, wanting to flay them, strip their sinews, grind their bones to dust, and scatter their spiritual souls into the endless abyss.

But he could only rage helplessly.

Under the dual assault of Dan Que and Shu Bone—especially the crushing pressure of their Yuan Bone elite troops—Bi Jie's Bi Fang Zheng Division had no chance to resist. After over a hundred casualties, Bi Jie finally gave up, retreating in bitter defeat and fleeing in disgrace from Wu Sha Mountain Realm.

He now regarded Dan Zhu and Lord Lugu as mortal enemies.

From now on, Bi Jie and Lord Lugu had virtually no chance of ever allying.

Mo Hua learned much:

"First, sow discord and interfere, forcing enemies to turn on themselves and further divide them."

"Then, befriend distant foes while attacking nearby ones—intimidate, bribe, win over some enemies, strike others, until the powerful enemy splits and dissolves into nothing…"

It seemed simple, but in practice, it required great subtlety—and worked extremely well.

Mo Hua nodded in satisfaction, feeling he had gained much.

…

Bi Jie was defeated and retreated; Lord Lugu had been "bought." The threat from Wu Tu Mountain Realm was now eliminated.

The brief alliance between Shu Bone and Dan Que also brought much greater harmony to the mountain realm; the previous tension and grimness had vanished.

Even among the tribes, occasional exchanges of goods began.

Wu Tu traded grain for Shu Bone's bone materials.

Wu Tu had no shortage of food, but Shu Bone did.

To cope with food shortages, some "excess" barbarian slaves from Shu Bone were traded to Wu Tu Mountain Realm, partially compensating for Mo Hua's lack of "manpower."

Everything seemed stable.

But Mo Hua knew: "Born in hardship, die in comfort"—this truth was eternal.

If things remained this stable, disaster would arrive in an instant.

Mo Hua had no choice but to seek breakthrough.

After deep deliberation, he felt the current situation allowed him to attempt a "counteroffensive" against Zhu Que Mountain Realm.

To retreat when you shouldn't, to cower when you shouldn't—always fighting and seizing is "reckless advance."

Likewise, to advance when you shouldn't, to fight when you shouldn't—always clinging to a corner is foolish "conservatism."

Zhu Que Mountain Realm is a third-grade mountain realm—larger territory, more tribes, more chaotic, and far more dangerous.

It is the domain of Jin Dan; under the curse of fate's calamities, where large-scale arrays like "Mountain-Crushing, Clan-Annihilating" cannot be used, it slightly exceeds Mo Hua's control.

Controlling cause and effect, fortune and misfortune, is also extremely difficult.

The entire process will certainly not go smoothly.

But if he doesn't try, if he doesn't take step by step, the current situation can never change, and his power will never truly grow.

Moreover, by now, Mo Hua must seriously find a way to "consume" another twenty-four patterns.

He had vaguely felt that relying solely on "consumption" for his spiritual sense was not a good method.

This technique of amplifying spiritual sense by devouring external thought-energy always seemed "unorthodox."

The spiritual sense gained this way was inherently unstable; his foundation was not as solid as the one he had painstakingly forged through array cultivation.

But Mo Hua truly had no other choice.

Proving the Dao through divine sense was already an extremely obscure path of cultivation, and this path had obviously been led astray by Mo Hua himself.

This resulted in the amount of divine sense he needed to advance his realm being unusually high.

So high that it was simply not the standard for a "person."

Without relying on "eating," he might really never be able to form a Jin Dan in his entire life.

First, exhaust every possible means to form a Jin Dan, then consider the matter of his divine sense foundation.

This was also a choice born of helplessness.

"I just don't know whether the third-grade Zhu Que Mountain realm, where I once stood alone and weak and could only 'taste but stop,' has any hidden 'big fish' that could fill my stomach…"

Mo Hua silently hoped in his heart.

If he could directly eat a twenty-four-pattern one, that would be wonderful.

He might be able to directly form a Jin Dan…

One month later, Mo Hua had roughly considered all his plans, then wrote a jade slip and ordered someone to deliver it to Lord Lugu within the Wusha Mountain realm.

Along with the jade slip were two newly forged Abyss Bone Heavy Armors.

This was the promised reward, and also a "sweetener" for Lord Lugu.

Mo Hua wanted to bring Lord Lugu back to the third-grade Zhu Que Mountain realm together.

Lord Lugu was a great general of the Art Bone main division, a late-stage Jin Dan cultivator, and his strength would be even greater in a third-grade mountain realm; if he could truly "win him over," he would certainly be an enormous help.

With Lord Lugu's assistance, his plans in the Zhu Que Mountain realm would surely be twice as effective with half the effort.

When Lord Lugu saw the Abyss Bone Heavy Armor, he was overjoyed. He also expressed agreement with Mo Hua's proposal.

After receiving Lord Lugu's reply, Mo Hua breathed a sigh of relief, but then furrowed his brow, feeling that Lord Lugu's agreeing so readily seemed somewhat off.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then took advantage of the night and concealed himself to go to Tie Shugu's tent.

……

In the night, inside Tie Shugu's elder's camp tent.

Tie Shugu was sneakily "sending messages" to Lord Lugu.

Mo Hua stood right behind him, craning his neck, silently watching him chat with Lord Lugu.

This was not the first day Mo Hua had done this.

During this period, Mo Hua often sneaked at midnight to spy on Tie Shugu and Lord Lugu's "private chats."

The "message-sending token" they used for private communication was a special bone fragment.

Tie Shugu used blood to write on the bone fragment, and Lord Lugu on the other end could receive the message and reply to Tie Shugu.

Tie Shugu originally did not have this bone-message token.

But ever since Mo Hua had split them apart to win them over, allied with the Art Bone division, improved the relationship between the Art Bone division and the Dan Que division, the two sides' relations had eased and they had begun exchanging visits.

Tie Shugu must have at some unknown point secretly "met" with Lord Lugu, reached some agreement, and exchanged bone-message tokens to collude in private and secretly pass messages.

Mo Hua also quite enjoyed watching them collude and chat, and would come by from time to time to "spy," keeping track of the progress of their collusion.

Tie Shugu had not failed to suspect that his behavior might be discovered by Mo Hua.

But he and Lord Lugu had "privately chatted" many times, and Mo Hua had shown not the slightest reaction, so over time, Tie Shugu let down his guard.

In his heart, Mo Hua was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and also a ferocious demon.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator could not silently detect the movements of a Jin Dan like him.

And if Mo Hua had discovered his "betrayal," then as a ferocious "demon," he would surely be enraged and kill him, even flaying him and pulling out his tendons, eating his organs — that would not be excessive.

The fact that he was not dead now clearly meant that his movements had not been discovered by the "demon."

So Tie Shugu thought.

But he had clearly underestimated Mo Hua's ability, and also underestimated Mo Hua's magnanimity, and his tolerance for a "traitor" like him.

He had even underestimated Mo Hua's insidiousness and dark sense of humor…

In the white bone-message token, the two were "secretly" chatting.

"Can you really confirm that this Foundation Establishment realm Mr. Wu is a demon?"

Lord Lugu was once again confirming Mo Hua's nature with Tie Shugu.

Clearly, the contact during this period had given Lord Lugu a different perception of Mo Hua, and also more doubts about the nature of Mo Hua's existence.

Tie Shugu, however, said with great certainty: "This person is treacherous — he must be a demon, without a doubt!"

Although in his heart, he had not been unshaken.

Especially after seeing Mo Hua's "fairness" and "benevolence" toward the barbarian race, as well as the various incredible "divine powers" bestowed like gifts from the gods, Tie Shugu had at one point suspected that Mo Hua might not be a "demon" at all.

But shaking one's inner convictions was also a characteristic of demons.

Tie Shugu quickly steadied his perception through self-criticism.

All fairness and benevolence were merely illusions wrapped in human skin.

The so-called "divine power" was merely "demonic power" wrapped in a golden coat.

On this point, there was no doubt.

The struggle against demons was a long and arduous task, fraught with peril, and there must not be the slightest slackening or hesitation.

Lord Lugu sent a message: "Then have you found a method to slay this demon, to make it suffer eternal damnation, dying without rebirth?"

Mo Hua raised an eyebrow, displeasure rising in his heart.

This Lord Lugu — he had just sent him two sets of heavy armor as a "gift," and the next moment he wanted to take his life, and even wanted him to "suffer eternal damnation"?

Here in the wilderness, there really were hardly any "good things" — everywhere were ungrateful wretches.

Tie Shugu frowned tightly, clearly facing an enormous dilemma:

"I have observed up close for a long time. This demon's flesh-and-blood body is full of flaws. Its spiritual root is low-grade, its flesh is frail, it looks as if a gust of wind could knock it over — it is a negligible Foundation Establishment cultivator, one palm strike could kill it."

"But if you truly want to kill it, these flaws seem as if they don't exist at all. I have no idea how to kill it, let alone whether I can kill it."

"Moreover, there may not even be a chance to make a move now."

"This demon is extremely skilled at bewitching hearts. The entire Dan Que Tribe worships it as a god, the Young Master reveres it as a teacher, Jin Dan follows its commands, and over a hundred elite Yuan Gu soldiers seem to be its 'private troops.' Under layers of protection, there's simply no way to make a move…"

"I've thought it over and over, and there's only one… a method that isn't really a method…"

By the time Tie Shu Gu wrote to this point, his face had gone somewhat pale.

Across from him, Lord Lugu was also using blood characters, transmitting word by word: "You mean… the Summoning of Death art?"

Tie Shu Gu's hands trembled slightly as he wrote with his own blood:

"…Go to the White Bone Tomb of the Shu Gu ancestors, awaken a deceased Shu Gu ancestor, and have the ancestor use the great shamanic art of Communing with the Underworld to 'curse' this demon to death…"

By the time Tie Shu Gu wrote to this point, his lips were pale, as if harboring immense fear.

Mo Hua's gaze, however, trembled slightly.

White Bone Tomb.

The great shamanic art…

(End of this chapter)