Chapter 233

The number of cultivators arriving from Xiancheng gradually increased.

Two months later, Mo Hua sat on a rock in the inner mountain, frowning at the South-Pointing Compass in his hand.

Previously, when the compass lit up, Mo Hua would rush over—most often finding hunter-killers hunting beast-beings, or beast-beings fighting over territory; very rarely did cultivators clash in battle.

Occasionally, there were unfamiliar hunter-killers, dressed differently, practicing different Dao methods and wielding spirit tools unlike those of Xiancheng—they must have come from afar, but their numbers were few, and encounters were rare.

But now it was different.

In the inner mountain of Great Heishan, Mo Hua frequently saw unfamiliar faces.

When the South-Pointing Compass lit up, many of the battles involved outsiders.

Fights between cultivators had suddenly increased.

Some fought over beast-beings, some over petty quarrels, and others clearly provoked conflict on purpose.

Worse still, there was outright murder and plundering!

Mo Hua once saw a cart—its cargo gone, the ground around it splattered with blood, limbs of cultivators scattered everywhere.

From the traces nearby, it was clear a group of merchants had been ambushed and slaughtered by cultivators, their goods stolen, everyone killed.

Afterwards, beast-beings, drawn by the scent of blood, came and devoured the corpses.

The scene was a mess, the deaths gruesome.

Mo Hua felt uneasy, his heart ached, yet he couldn't help sighing.

The days ahead in the inner mountain would likely be turbulent.

Fortunately, the hunter-killers of Xiancheng were growing stronger, their numbers increasing, most clad in iron armor, wielding Grade-One blade tools—among the nearby immortal cities, their strength stood unmatched.

These outsider cultivators dared not easily provoke the local hunter-killers.

But who could say what would happen later?

Let Elder Yu worry about that—he'd better gather more spirit ink, practice arrays, strengthen his spiritual sense, and see if he could reach Foundation Establishment.

Mo Hua calmed his thoughts, then ate some dried meat and drank some juice pressed from wild fruits.

He had chilled this juice using a Cold Qi Array—it tasted sour, sweet, and icy in his mouth.

Mo Hua's mood improved considerably.

Soon after, the South-Pointing Compass lit up again; Mo Hua packed his things, activated the Flowing Water Step, and moved lightly through the forest and rocky terrain toward the source.

From afar, Mo Hua released his spiritual sense, gave a quick scan, and felt disappointed.

Again, cultivators fighting.

Mo Hua sighed.

Mo Hua usually ignored cultivator brawls.

He was only at Qi Refinement Seventh Layer; his offensive spells were limited to Fireball Spell—he was extremely skilled in the Flowing Water Step, enough to protect himself, but he had no desire to invite trouble.

Besides, disputes between cultivators were often hard to judge as right or wrong—even if you just passed by and glanced once or twice.

The weak weren't necessarily good, and the strong weren't necessarily evil.

Someone with a fearsome face wasn't necessarily wicked; someone who looked kind wasn't necessarily good.

You can know a person's face but never their heart—people cannot be judged by appearance.

Mo Hua decided to do as usual: sneak a quick look or two. After all, he had nothing else to do.

With his spiritual sense, Qi Refinement cultivators couldn't detect him.

Mo Hua climbed onto a rocky outcrop, suppressed his aura, and used the foliage for cover as he peered silently.

On a narrow, rugged mountain path, two groups of cultivators were battling.

Both sides were mostly at Qi Refinement Late Stage.

One side had only four: three men and one woman, defending several crates of luggage, barely holding on.

The other side had seven, dressed differently, unfamiliar faces, surrounding and attacking the four.

Their assault was growing fiercer—the four were unlikely to hold out much longer.

Robbery?

Mo Hua frowned, kept watching, then realized something was off.

He thought he recognized those four cultivators.

One middle-aged cultivator had several faint scars on his face—he had been close friends with Mo Hua's father, Mo Shan, and had even visited Mo Hua's home.

Mo Hua remembered his name: Ji Qingbai; Mo Hua called him Uncle Ji.

The young, refined cultivator beside him was Ji Qingbai's son, Ji Li.

The father and son were also hunter-killers, but not from Xiancheng—they came from the neighboring Qingxuan City.

Qingxuan City was far from Xiancheng, and the route passed through the inner mountain of Great Heishan, so cultivators between the two cities rarely traveled between them.

Another cultivator, a burly man, wore a wolf pelt around his waist and wielded a fearsome wolf-tooth club, its surface covered in sharp, jagged spikes.

Mo Hua remembered: when he had clashed with Qian Xing, this giant had intervened and blocked the Qian family's Qi Refinement Ninth Layer cultivator.

Mo Hua recalled this giant had deep cultivation and was also a fierce cuss.

Now he fought three at once without losing ground—grayish spiritual energy coiled around his wolf-tooth club, each swing producing a thunderous wind, clearly heavy and powerful.

At the same time, he kept cursing: "You bunch of scum," "Cowards who strike from ambush," "If you've got guts, fight one-on-one, you pathetic bullies!"

Of the four, the only one Mo Hua didn't recognize was the female cultivator.

She looked about Ji Li's age, injured, lowest in cultivation, struggling the hardest—luckily, Ji Li was beside her, shielding her.

But her entire sleeve was soaked in blood; if this continued, she wouldn't last.

Based on Mo Hua's long experience observing battles in the inner mountain:

The giant with the wolf-tooth club could definitely escape; Uncle Ji would likely escape too—but whether he did depended on whether the attackers pursued; if chased, his chances were slim.

Ji Li couldn't escape—he had Qi Refinement Eighth Layer, but little combat experience; now surrounded by so many, he was overwhelmed, with no way out.

As for that female cultivator, she was most likely doomed to die.

Perhaps dying was the best outcome for her...

Mo Hua sighed inwardly.

What should he do?

There were seven people on the opposing side — a bit too many. Even if Mo Hua joined the fight, he might not be able to save all of them.

Mo Hua couldn't beat them, but he could run.

But Ji Li and that female cultivator probably couldn't escape.

Ji Li couldn't get away, and Ji Qingbai, for the sake of his son, would certainly be unwilling to leave either.

That big fellow looked like a man of guts and loyalty — he would probably fight to the death as well.

"Best case, I can save them. People alive is better than anything."

Mo Hua's mind made up, he took out a section of bamboo tube. The tube was red, with a fireworks array painted inside.

This kind of bamboo tube was simple to make, and the fireworks array inside was specially drawn by Mo Hua — basically every demon hunter entering the mountain had one.

Once something unexpected happened, triggering the array would release fireworks, and demon hunters nearby, upon hearing the news, would rush over to provide support.

Mo Hua channeled spiritual power to activate the fireworks array, and a beam of fire shot up into the sky.

Both sides fighting on the mountain path saw the fireworks and were all Sun Yi Leng.

Mo Hua then used his Passing Water Steps to swiftly run off into the distance, triggered another firework, then ran toward the hilltop on the left, and at a different spot, released yet another firework.

These three positions, from near to far, released fireworks in sequence, creating the illusion that three waves of demon hunters had received the news and were rushing to provide support.

"They're demon hunters from Xiancheng!" an outsider cultivator exclaimed in surprise.

"Big brother, what do we do?"

"There are too many of them, and they have iron armor — we're no match for them."

The leading cultivator frowned, hesitating for the moment.

They were so close...

They had already been fighting for half a day, and it looked like they were about to kill these few cultivators, seize the goods, and abduct that female cultivator back.

If they retreated now, all their efforts would be wasted!

Seeing that they weren't leaving, Mo Hua raised his right hand and launched another fireball.

This fireball spell was both fast and accurate, striking an outsider cultivator in an instant. That cultivator stumbled and fell to the ground, crying out in pain from the burning of the fireball.

A Qi Refining seventh-layer spell might not amount to much against demon beasts, but when it hit a cultivator, its power could not be underestimated.

"A spell?!" The leading cultivator was greatly alarmed.