Chapter 1262: Stealing the Formation Art

The path of spiritual awareness may well be one of the indispensable foundational structures within the entire cultivation system.

Yet this "foundational" structure has been stripped away—like pulling the firewood from under the pot.

Is it because spiritual awareness is invisible, inaudible, intangible, and untrainable, so it was naturally excluded from the cultivation system by most?

Or did someone deliberately do this—?

Someone is intentionally altering the entire cultivation system of the sect world—.

Mo Hua's perception is refined, his mind as delicate as hair, and he faintly sensed that something enormous and treacherous might be hidden here.

This pit, even many cultivator elders, and even masters of the Void-Exploration Realm, likely could not detect it.

Because they never cultivated the path of spiritual awareness.

They never walked the path of spiritual awareness foundation establishment, so they could never feel the subtle yet profound differences within it.

Mo Hua stood frozen in thought for a long while.

Lord Yan Zhu assumed his words had struck Mo Hua's soul, awakening in him reverence for the Wang Ting witch lineage and a longing to ascend to the rank of Upper Witch and receive a "Zhu name."

A faint smile appeared on Lord Yan Zhu's face as he asked Mo Hua:

"What do you think?"

"I—" Mo Hua was still dazed.

Lord Yan Zhu's voice carried a hint of seduction: "Do you—want to become a witch officially appointed by Wang Ting? Do you want to earn worshipers' reverence, legitimized and lawful?

Do you want, one day, to have your own 'Zhu name'?"

Mo Hua snapped back to awareness; a flicker of longing appeared in his eyes, along with a trace of "inferiority." "Can I—really?"

These small emotions all fell within Lord Yan Zhu's sight.

As a Lord Wuzhu, Lord Yan Zhu had seen countless souls and understood human hearts—he knew exactly what these small emotions revealed.

Lord Yan Zhu shook his head. "Not yet."

Mo Hua's eyes appropriately dimmed with disappointment.

Lord Yan Zhu smiled slightly. "Not yet—but that doesn't mean never—"

Mo Hua looked at Lord Yan Zhu again, eyes filled with hope.

Lord Yan Zhu's expression softened; he patted Mo Hua's shoulder and pointed out the path:

"The deity you currently revere is merely a minor god—though possessing some power, it can never rise to true grandeur. From now on, you must abandon darkness and embrace the light: forsake the petty path and devote yourself to the great divine tradition, pledge loyalty to Wang Ting, and with time, you will surely tread the true path of divinity."

"This—" Mo Hua's face twisted in conflict; clearly, the choice was difficult.

Lord Yan Zhu knew faith was not easily changed—he should show kindness gradually, and proceed slowly.

His tone softened slightly: "You need not rush to decide. Take your time—it's never too late. But—"

Lord Yan Zhu fixed his gaze on Mo Hua, his voice grave: "You must first do something for me, to prove your sincerity. You're skilled with sacred patterns—so I entrust them all to you. I have great faith in you. Paint them according to my intent."

"When this battle ends, after defeating the Wu Jiao tribe and halting the Wu Jiao god's descent, when my mission across the Wilds is complete, I will personally bring you back to Wang Ting. At that time, you will see what true imperial grandeur looks like, what true divine orthodoxy truly is—."

Mo Hua nodded. "I'll think about it—"

Though he said so, the hope in his eyes was unmistakable.

Lord Yan Zhu smiled and nodded.

Lord Yan Zhu encouraged Mo Hua a few more words, then turned and left. After walking a while, when he reached a place with no one around, his gentle smile faded, growing cold.

"Lucky little brat—"

He, a Lord Wuzhu who had devoted his life since childhood to revering the gods—how come he never had such fortune?

Lord Yan Zhu felt resentment, shook his head—then suddenly, a hoarse female voice spoke beside him:

"You're lying again—"

Lord Yan Zhu turned and saw, amidst a shimmering silhouette, a pale-faced, graceful woman standing there—it was Lord Qing Zhu.

Lord Yan Zhu sneered. "What? Want to steal my recruit again?"

Lord Qing Zhu shook her head. "Wild divine-favored ones may have some talent, but they're too young, their blood too weak—I have no use for them. You can have him. But—Dan Ling, you can't take her."

Lord Yan Zhu smiled, saying nothing.

Lord Qing Zhu's narrow eyes narrowed. "Don't think I don't know your intentions. You worship the Candlefire God, follow the 'Fire' path—your inner yang fire burns too fiercely. You need a woman with Zhu Que blood as your furnace, to merge through the rite of union, blending blood and flame to forge your divine path. Dan Lie is the Grand Chief—he may nod, but he won't truly agree."

"Dan Ling is beautiful and clever—she won't be blind to your vile intentions. She won't let you do as you please. Give up this idea now."

Lord Yan Zhu looked at Lord Qing Zhu, sneering. "I have ill intent? Then what are you? Do you think you're any better?"

Lord Yan Zhu's gaze sharpened, as if trying to pierce through Lord Qing Zhu. "You worship the Leng Qingqiu divine path, engage in foxish tricks, live your entire life on your beauty. When you were young, your robes were as thin as cicada wings—you wanted to expose everything, whether it should be shown or not. And now?"

Lord Yan Zhu's eyes swept over Lord Qing Zhu's body, coldly laughing:

"—Realizing you're aging, your skin wrinkling, yellowing, growing ugly, ashamed to be seen—so you wrap yourself up tightly, only exposing your face, painted with powder?"

Lord Qing Zhu's eyes revealed clear murderous intent.

But she ultimately suppressed her urge to kill Lord Yan Zhu, saying only: "This time is different."

Lord Yan Zhu said, "How is it different? I need to drain yang; you need to preserve your beauty. I may be vile—but aren't you just as base?"

Lord Qing Zhu's pale face twisted in fury.

Lord Yan Zhu's gaze was indifferent. "We are Lord Wuzhu. Our personalities are determined by the 'divine essence' we worship. That is fate."

With that, Lord Yan Zhu ignored Lord Qing Zhu and turned to leave.

After a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned back to her.

"Don't forget—we're both trapped here in this wild land by famine. Solve the Wu Jiao tribe's threat quickly, find a way back to Wang Ting—that's the real task. Otherwise, all this squabbling is meaningless."

"We are Lord Wuzhu, serving Wang Ting. Even if we die, we must die in Wang Ting."

Lord Yan Zhu said coldly, then left. Only Lord Qing Zhu remained, alone in place.

Lord Qing Zhu stood silently for a long while, then softly sighed: "Yes… even if we die—we must die in Wang Ting—."

"But this time… really is different—"

Lord Qing Zhu stroked his own lower abdomen, his expression complex as he murmured, "This is my lifetime—my final chance—."

In the months that followed, warfare between the tribes continued, the battles fierce.

But these events had little to do with Mo Hua.

The slaughter was others' business; he was only responsible for constructing arrays from behind the lines.

This included building array structures for barbarian war machinery, optimizing the array designs of siege weapons, and engraving and repairing internal arrays in barbarian armor and weapons used in tribal warfare.

Previously, barbarian warfare had not fully embraced array applications.

But now, after Mo Hua's improvements, arrays had nearly permeated every corner of the Buluo Alliance's warfare.

This was Mo Hua's first large-scale practical application of arrays in war.

How to systematically apply arrays across larger scales, greater forces, and broader fronts—to enhance troop strength and tip the balance toward victory.

How to use his lifetime's vast and intricate knowledge of arrays to drive warfare, optimize war tools, from macro to micro—from massive war machines down to tiny barbarian armors—enhancing every aspect: offense, defense, warning, concealment.

All of this was what Mo Hua had to do.

Strictly speaking, this wartime array practice did not meet Mo Hua's expectations.

After all, this was the Great Wasteland, where resources were limited and constraints numerous; he could not unleash his full potential without restraint.

Yet it provided Mo Hua with immense practical experience, offered feasible pathways for him to later create and iterate more advanced Daoist war array systems, and laid a solid foundation.

Dan Lie, the Grand Chief, as the Alliance's leader who personally oversaw the war, felt these changes most deeply.

This was a barbarian war unlike any he had experienced in his entire life.

Though outwardly it looked the same—siege engines, barbarian troops charging and slaughtering—the underlying array-driven mechanisms and entire system had been utterly transformed.

Other Grand Chiefs, including Lord Yan Zhu and Lord Qing Zhu, sensed something was different, if only slightly.

But either they led charges with fierce bloodlust, or they had other agendas, their ambitions strong; they themselves were not sensitive to sacred runes or arrays, and had no clear idea what Mo Hua had attempted here.

Moreover, the Wu Jiao Tribe was simply too powerful.

The Wu Jiao Heir was a rare talent—sharp in strategy and formidable in combat—and the tribe boasted countless Jin Dan experts.

The Alliance's Grand Chiefs were under immense pressure, all they wished for was stronger armor, sharper weapons, and more powerful machinery; they thought of nothing else.

They did not realize, in a certain sense, they were all Mo Hua's "test subjects."

They were Mo Hua's "experimental equipment" for array trials.

And as the struggle intensified.

The slaughter between both sides grew even more brutal.

Combat had nearly reached a fever pitch.

The major tribes grew ever busier, pouring vast wealth and manpower into a decisive battle against the Wu Jiao Tribe.

Mo Hua himself, however, suddenly became "idle."

Because he had already established the overarching array framework.

All problems solvable by arrays had been standardized; many array runes had been fixed in form.

As an array master, he had done all he could; the bloody, grueling work now fell to others.

Taking advantage of this phase—when both sides were locked in a white-hot battle, brains nearly spilling out, with no attention for anything else—Mo Hua began nursing his own quiet schemes.

First, he collected arrays, especially the internal arrays of tribal barbarian armors.

Initially, the barbarian armors Mo Hua handled were all "ordinary" ones.

These armors were no secret.

The true secret core array runes of barbarian armor were entirely inaccessible to Mo Hua.

Not just the Bi Fang Tribe—even the Dan Que Tribe, Yan Yi Tribe, Hong Luan Tribe—all Zhu Que Mountain tribes—refused to expose the core array runes of their armor to Mo Hua.

They guarded against Mo Hua as if he were a thief.

History proved they were right: Mo Hua was indeed a thief—and a great one.

At first, they had indeed blocked him.

But as the war grew fiercer, many things were no longer under their control.

Ordinary barbarian armor, even mass-produced, could not stand against the Wu Jiao Tribe.

The major tribes were forced to hand over to Mo Hua their most prized high-grade armor forging methods, especially their core arrays, for centralized management and engraving.

Though these Grand Chiefs had sealed these arrays with various safeguards and demanded Mo Hua swear not to spy on or leak them.

But they still did not realize how terrifying Mo Hua's array mastery truly was.

The arrays they delivered to Mo Hua were like fish placed before a cat.

That carefully prepared "seal" was no thicker than paper to Mo Hua.

As for oaths, Mo Hua did swear.

He swore before the "Divine Lord" that if he stole these secrets, the "Divine Lord" would punish him severely.

The Divine Lord was Mo Hua himself.

The Divine Lord punishing Mo Hua was Mo Hua punishing himself.

And Mo Hua did punish himself—he ate an extra bowl of rice.

Thus, the major tribes nearly dumped all their current core barbarian armor arrays into Mo Hua's hands.

And even more than that.

Each tribe also hoarded a collection of ancestral barbarian armors passed down from antiquity.

These ancestral armors were priceless; normally never used, but now, facing the Wu Jiao Tribe as a formidable enemy, they had no choice but to deploy them.

Once deployed, these ancestral armors would inevitably suffer damage—or be destroyed.

Thus, another batch of damaged or ruined ancestral barbarian armors fell into Mo Hua's hands.

Mo Hua then "embezzled" them, using his already-researched Gluttony Devouring Principle to "deconstruct," and the Four Symbols Dragon Transformation Principle to "reconstruct."

Thus, one deconstructs, one reconstructs.

Mo Hua effectively "stole" the ancestral armor array lineages of the various major tribes of Zhu Que Mountain.

And these arrays, because they involve the "Dragon Transformation" principle, are all without exception twenty-pattern or even twenty-one-pattern Four Symbols Ultimate Arrays.

Mo Hua acquired a batch of "Ultimate Arrays" with barely any effort, lying back and collecting them.

And the Four Symbols Ultimate Arrays within these ancestral barbarian armors were the barbarians' ancestral secrets—these tribal chieftains and elder chiefs might not even know of them themselves.

Mo Hua felt a quiet pang of reflection.

No wonder highly skilled array masters have always been heavily guarded targets.

Because if you associate with them, before you know it, your entire family's secrets are uncovered—and you remain utterly unaware.

Now, the entire array heritage of these great tribes has been "stolen" by Mo Hua.

This battle, while raging on the front, saw Mo Hua quietly amassing great wealth behind the scenes.

By overseeing the construction of war arrays, Mo Hua took full control of nearly all array lineages tied to barbarian armor across Zhu Que Mountain's third-grade tribes.

Crucially, not a single person knows.

And beyond barbarian armor arrays, Mo Hua also had the chance to deeply study another array:

Yi Mu Hui Chun Array.

War inevitably brings massive casualties.

And casualties must be treated.

Under the guise of "Divine Lord," Mo Hua gathered array materials from the various major tribes and constructed a dense network of Yi Mu Hui Chun Arrays in a vast valley.

Thereafter, large numbers of wounded barbarian soldiers were sent to the valley for treatment via the Yi Mu Hui Chun Arrays.

Their blood qi was nourished.

The continuous loss of vitality was halted.

The growing death qi also receded.

Tens of thousands of wounded gathered together, their vitality replenished after loss through array healing.

As death qi spread, it was continuously restrained by the arrays.

Their lives flowed constantly between life and death, gradually approaching a subtle balance.

To ordinary eyes, these people were merely wounded soldiers undergoing healing.

But to Mo Hua, they were "simulators" of the life and death principles.

In his spare time, Mo Hua stood atop the mountain peak, constantly observing the flow of vitality and death qi within each body in the valley, comprehending the myriad principle changes within, and deepening his understanding of the Yi Mu Hui Chun Array.

So that one day, he could apply it to himself during Golden Core formation.