Chapter 1250: Transference of Cause and Effect

Transference of Cause and Effect—

For some reason, those four characters made Mo Hua's heart tighten.

The Ancestral Shu Gu then explained one by one to Mo Hua:

"Cause-and-effect curse-killing involves finding the life-thread and death-thread within another's causal web, severing their life-thread, manipulating their death-thread, extinguishing their vital energy, and forcing them onto the path of death."

"Cause-and-effect divination employs specific artifacts and methods to locate the past causal threads of a person, an event, or an object, or to project their future causal trajectory."

"Cause-and-effect defense entails gathering one's own causal threads into a tight bundle, forming a causal barrier to prevent others from probing or attacking."

"Cause-and-effect fate-altering means, after comprehending one's destined path, using powerful methods, unyielding willpower, indomitable resolve, extraordinary perseverance, and unity of knowledge and action to forge great karmic merit, forcibly twisting one's own causal threads to redirect one's entire life toward another destiny—this is called fate-altering."

"Cause-and-effect avoidance involves deliberately evading certain dangerous external causal threads, or concealing, hiding, or sealing away one's own critical causal threads."

"And cause-and-effect transference—"

The Ancestral Shu Gu said solemnly, "is transferring one's own particular cause-and-effect onto another person or object. It can be used to transfer good fortune to bless, or to transfer misfortune to—ward off disaster."

Cause-and-effect transference—transfer misfortune to ward off disaster?

Mo Hua's heart leapt sharply.

He felt this cause-and-effect art must be of immense significance, so much so that his own destiny-pattern began to tremble.

Mo Hua couldn't help asking the Ancestral Shu Gu: "Do you know the art of cause-and-effect transference?"

The Ancestral Shu Gu shook his head. "I do not."

Mo Hua was deeply disappointed and frowned. "Isn't this your own insight? If you don't know it, how could you have insight?"

The Ancestral Shu Gu said: "I may never have eaten pork, but I've seen pigs run. This is my own reflection, based on the records of cause-and-effect methods left by generations of Shu Gu ancestors."

Never eaten pork, but seen pigs run—so you think your Shu Gu ancestors were all "pigs"—

Mo Hua thought to himself.

But the remark was somewhat impolite, so Mo Hua politely kept it to himself.

The Ancestral Shu Gu sighed, his expression filled with reverence:

"The art of cause and effect is vast and profound. Ordinary cultivators spend their entire lives studying just one or two aspects to mastery—and that alone is already extraordinary. No one can possibly master it all."

"I am most skilled in 'cause-and-effect curse-killing' and 'cause-and-effect avoidance'; the rest I only know in broad outline—"

Mo Hua asked doubtfully: "Are you truly skilled in 'cause-and-effect avoidance'?"

You couldn't even avoid me—how can you claim skill?

The Ancestral Shu Gu felt a tightness in his chest and could only say: "I can only avoid those causal threads that are avoidable. Some things are simply fate—no avoidance can change them."

Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up. He asked:

"Suppose—I mean, suppose someone is hunting me, and suppose that someone is you—how could I avoid your pursuit?"

The Ancestral Shu Gu hurriedly said: "I dare not."

Mo Hua said sternly: "I tell you to dare, you dare."

The Ancestral Shu Gu had no choice but to follow Mo Hua's line of thought. After careful consideration, he said:

"If I were hunting you, your task would be to conceal all your causal threads, ensuring I find no trace."

Mo Hua asked: "Be more specific."

The Ancestral Shu Gu said: "Your true name, birth date and hour, origin and lineage, quality of your spiritual roots, your master's identity, your closest kin, your cultivation partner, your path of Dao, your practiced arts, cultivation methods—everything of this sort contains causal threads. Anyone with intent can trace a thread to harm you."

"And among these, the most lethal are lineage and foundation—never reveal them lightly."

Mo Hua was surprised. "The most lethal isn't your birth date and hour?"

The Ancestral Shu Gu shook his head. "That's the view of those who don't understand cause and effect. What relevance does a birth date and hour have? If knowing it could kill someone, murder would be too easy."

"Cause and effect is not mysticism—it is grounded in reality."

"For the lowly, it's different—they drift like floating weeds, heavily influenced by their birth destiny. But the higher a cultivator's realm, the stronger their personal power, the stronger their causal force, and the less bound they are by birth date and hour."

"Throughout a cultivator's life, the strongest causal threads are their cultivation realm and the arts, methods, pills, arrays, talismans, and artifacts derived from it."

"The higher the realm, the greater the power, the stronger the causal force."

"For one who seeks the Dao, a cultivator's foundation is the greatest causal thread—more important than any other."

"Therefore, the roots of your arts, the depths of your methods, the strengths and weaknesses of your lineage—never reveal them lightly. If a cause-and-effect master discovers your weaknesses through your cultivation foundation and seizes the critical thread, you are in grave danger."

Mo Hua's heart grew solemn. He nodded.

In short, it was "concealing brilliance and biding time."

Never reveal your trump cards to others, nor expose your true strength for momentary pride. He had always acted this way before, but only out of his master's teachings.

Now he saw these practices had deeper meaning in terms of cause and effect.

Of course—reveal more, invite more danger.

Knowing your true name is bad enough, but if your origin, parents, relatives, cultivation partner, masters, and sectmates are all known, then you become vulnerable to harm.

These are not the most lethal.

Once your entire cultivation realm and lineage are fully exposed, others can easily use cause and effect to scheme against you, to kill you.

The best swimmers drown; the finest riders fall.

The same principle applies.

So you must have many identities—learn to wear "masks."

You must have many methods—create illusions, never let anyone uncover your true nature.

This is how you preserve yourself through cause and effect.

It may also be the only way to avert disaster and secure a sliver of survival in the coming great calamity.

But what truly interested Mo Hua was still the decree of "cause-and-effect transference."

Mo Hua asked the Ancestral Shu Gu again: "You truly don't know the art of cause-and-effect transference?"

The Ancestral Shu Gu said: "I do not."

"Who else in the Shu Gu tribe knows this technique?" Mo Hua asked.

"There is one—" the Shu Gu ancestor said, "but this transfer technique is among the most difficult to master of all karmic laws."

"Even in those days, among the high cultivators of the Shu Gu ancestor generation, very few could master the transfer technique."

"Anyone who achieved even slight proficiency in the transfer technique was invariably a fourth-grade or higher Laozu—and all of them are now deceased."

Mo Hua asked: "Are they all buried in the White Bone Mausoleum?"

The Shu Gu ancestor nodded. "Yes."

Mo Hua instinctively turned his head, gazing at the White Bone Mausoleum behind the Shu Gu ancestor, his eyes flickering with an unusual light.

The Shu Gu ancestor felt this gaze was dangerous and couldn't help saying: "Friend, you—"

Mo Hua said: "Wake these people up. I have some questions for them."

The Shu Gu ancestor was horrified: "No!"

Mo Hua thought for a moment and insisted: "If you're too embarrassed to do it, I'll try? After all, I'm a 'guest'—sometimes I don't have to follow etiquette."

The Shu Gu ancestor's soul nearly fled in terror: "No, no—it won't work—they can't be awakened—"

"How can you know without trying?" Mo Hua's mind raced—he had already considered "blowing up the tomb."

The Shu Gu ancestor urgently said: "Truly, it won't work—without direct blood descendants, you cannot awaken other ancestors. And this is within a third-grade realm—if you awaken a fourth-grade ancestor's corpse, you may leak heavenly secrets. No one knows what terrible things might happen—"

Seeing the Shu Gu ancestor's fearful expression, Mo Hua asked: "Really?"

"Really." The Shu Gu ancestor nodded repeatedly.

Mo Hua felt a pang of regret. He also thought blowing up someone else's ancestral tomb was wrong, so he said: "Then forget it."

The Shu Gu ancestor finally sighed in relief.

But Mo Hua still wasn't satisfied. He thought again and asked: "Do you know anywhere else where one might learn the karmic transfer technique?"

"This—" the Shu Gu ancestor frowned, "perhaps the Wang Ting of the Great Wilderness holds such karmic transmissions. But the problem is—this was when I died. Now, countless years have passed. Whether the Wang Ting still exists, or whether the transmission still survives, is uncertain."

Mo Hua asked curiously: "Does your Wang Ting still hold many valuable things?"

"Naturally," the Shu Gu ancestor said. "The Wang Ting is the heartland of the Great Wilderness's Wang Zu—the very foundation of the Great Wilderness, gathering all superior transmissions and esoteric arts capable of transforming one's essence and defying fate—"

The Shu Gu ancestor, pride glowing on his face, suddenly asked Mo Hua: "By the way, friend, I've been sealed underground for untold ages—how is the Great Wilderness's Wang Zu now?"

Mo Hua's expression grew complex. He didn't know whether to tell it that the Wang Zu had already perished.

The Wang Zu had already fallen before.

Though it now seeks restoration, it faces suppression by the Dao Court's armies, famine spreading within, clans secretly exploiting the people, constant tribal wars, and my senior uncle sharpening his blade, preparing to enclose land and breed Dao Deviants.

No matter how you look at it, it's already dead.

"The Wang Zu—still holds on—" Mo Hua said. "No longer as powerful as before, but the bloodline still endures."

"Is that so—still alive, that's good—" the Shu Gu ancestor murmured, a touch of nostalgia and faint relief in his voice.

It seemed loyalty to the Wang Zu was etched into the bones of these tribal ancestors.

Even after being dead so long, these obsessions could not be erased.

At this point, Mo Hua suddenly found nothing more to say.

He had asked all he needed to. He had "exchanged" much insight on karma.

Though most of it came from the Shu Gu ancestor, while he had merely started the conversation, both had clearly benefited greatly.

Mo Hua nodded, considering whether to simply "consume" this Shu Gu ancestor. He looked up—and saw the towering, half-rotted corpse before him. Instantly, his appetite vanished.

Besides, to eat someone right after asking them questions was just uncouth.

Never mind—

Mo Hua stood up, glanced around, and found nothing worth taking.

After all, this White Bone Hall existed on the level of spiritual perception.

But there was one thing that caught Mo Hua's attention—

Mo Hua pointed at the already self-immolated "Tie Shu Gu" and asked: "He's not quite dead yet, is he?"

"This—" the Shu Gu ancestor seemed to understand Mo Hua's intent, looking troubled. "He has already offered his life force to me." Mo Hua said: "He killed himself to give you his life, hoping you'd kill me. Now you can't kill me—shouldn't you return the life force 'the same way'?"

Mo Hua added: "I still have use for this man."

The Shu Gu ancestor sighed. "Since you've asked, then—very well. I'll return his soul essence to him."

"One more thing—" Mo Hua thought again and said, "Instruct him to serve me faithfully from now on."

"And—you're an ancestor, right? When you get the chance, send a dream to the few Shu Gu tribe Jin Dan outside—especially the biggest one, named 'Lu Gu'—and tell them I'm a friend of your Shu Gu tribe."

Mo Hua glanced at the Shu Gu ancestor. "Tell them you're their ancient Shu Gu ancestor, a primordial Lord Wuzhu, alive for two—two thousand years, now descended into the mortal world to save them from calamity and revive the Shu Gu tribe."

The Shu Gu ancestor could barely hide his shock.

This young friend's ability to lie with a straight face was truly extraordinary.

In the blink of an eye, he claimed to have lived two thousand years.

"Any problem?" Mo Hua asked.

The Shu Gu ancestor hesitated.

He, as an ancestor, couldn't awaken and immediately lie to his descendants.

Mo Hua then said sternly: "I don't joke with the dead. You've been dead too long—you don't understand the current situation. The circumstances are dire. The Shu Gu tribe hangs by a thread. If I don't lead them, they'll all be wiped out."

The Shu Gu ancestor's lips twitched. He found this "childlike" friend utterly absurd.

Right before his eyes, the lies came in perfect, flowing sets.

But when he secretly pinched his fingers and calculated the Great Wilderness's fate, his face turned instantly terrified.

Was this a death calamity?

The Shu Gu ancestor looked at Mo Hua and nodded. "Then—I leave it to you, friend. I beg you to preserve a bloodline for the Shu Gu tribe. I am eternally grateful."

Mo Hua gave a slight nod in return.

Talking to a "Karma Person" was very relaxing—no need to waste too many words, they understood on their own.

The conversation ended, and for now there was nothing else to do.

Mo Hua glanced at the Bone-Gathering Ancestor once more. In the end, he still couldn't bring himself to kill, so he said, "Let me out, otherwise I'm afraid I'll get hungry and won't be able to control myself."

The Bone-Gathering Ancestor was startled and hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, this old one will send you out right away, Daoist friend."

"The matter I instructed you about?" Mo Hua asked.

The Bone-Gathering Ancestor said, "This old one will definitely carry it out."

Mo Hua nodded.

Afterward, the Bone-Gathering Ancestor formed hand seals, activated the blood-colored karma threads, and began to send Mo Hua out.

Under the pull of the karma threads, Mo Hua's figure gradually vanished within the White Bone Grand Hall.

Before leaving, he took one last look at the Bone-Gathering Ancestor, and his heart stirred slightly:

This Bone-Gathering Ancestor was by no means an ordinary figure.

The way it lightly tapped its fingers just now, manipulating the karma threads with exceptional skill—this was a technique only possible after years and years of deeply researching the principles of karma, done on pure instinct.

Just like how he himself, on instinct, used his divine sense to control Mo Hua's formations.

It looked ordinary, but in truth it was an extremely brilliant technique.

Moreover, all the "insights" it had just spoken—about dismantling the laws of karma based on the karma threads—could absolutely not be any ordinary profound meaning.

These inheritances could not possibly be comprehended by a mere Jin Dan, even if it was the ancestor of the Bone-Gathering Tribe.

And all these inheritances, if his guess was not wrong, very likely came from that one, almost buried in the history of the Great Wasteland, that no one dared mention...

"The Great Lord Wuzhu."

Mo Hua silently recited in his heart, then gathered all his thoughts, showing not the slightest abnormality on his face, and left just like that—simply and plainly.

After Mo Hua left, the half-decayed Bone-Gathering Ancestor also gathered the somewhat "fawning" expression on its face, its gaze turning cold and indifferent.

It walked step by step, slowly, to the body of the Iron Bone-Gatherer who had taken its own life, extended a white-bone fingertip, and tapped it on the Iron Bone-Gatherer's forehead, its voice hoarse:

"From now on, serve this Daoist friend loyally—"

"Do things for him—"

"Sparing no effort, follow by his side."