Chapter 291: Gains and Losses

On the way back, Mo Hua silently summarized the gains and losses of this journey.

This infiltration into Great Heishan was, overall, tense but without fatal danger; yet upon closer reflection, many of the situations he faced were still perilous.

Especially eavesdropping on the Foundation Establishment cultivators, spying beneath their very noses, and finally stealing the visualization chart of the Third Chief—only to be caught red-handed by him…

These actions were tantamount to plucking teeth from a tiger's mouth or snatching chestnuts from the fire.

Although in the end, Mo Hua managed to deceive them all, and every crisis was narrowly averted.

But one ought to seek benefit and avoid harm; such dangerous acts should be minimized next time, and if absolutely necessary, they must be planned with far greater care.

Mo Hua let out a faint sigh.

His actions were insufficiently thorough, his considerations insufficiently comprehensive, his methods insufficiently meticulous.

Most importantly, he had made everyone—his parents—worry.

Mo Hua took this as a solemn warning to himself.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be endangered in a hundred battles.

Before obtaining the secret manual, Mo Hua had already taken it out of his storage bag and examined it closely.

The more important part here was the visualization chart.

Even just silently watching Mo Hua, one's heart felt somewhat reassured.

Mr. Zhuang is the smallest, hidden poison within Great Baishan; if removed, all of Xiancheng would face immense peril.

Only then did Mo Hua realize he might know nothing at all about that Dao Stele.

Bloodthirsty, icy, cruel, and evil.

Mo Hua had lived his entire life within Xiancheng, growing up in a life that, though humble, was harmonious among neighbors, with cultivators aiding and supporting one another.

That old man Zeng Zhuangqi might have thought of it too.

Nothing could be drawn below, yet in the end, nothing could be left out.

If one does not know the enemy's strength and weaknesses, and rashly engages in combat, Zeng Zhuangqi would be many times more treacherous.

Mo Hua's heart grew grim.

That Dao Stele was less like a stele and more like a "blank slate"—drawn upon, erased, drawn upon again.

Secret manuals specializing in a single type of technique were also rare; ordinary cultivators simply had no such lineage.

Ultimately, cultivation is the cultivator's foundation, arrays are the basis of survival, and techniques are the weapons of defense.

Knowing Mr. Zhuang's true strength makes planning and strategy easier; confronting Mr. Zhuang will also be somewhat easier.

I must use arrays to comprehend the Dao and benefit all beings, and cultivate my strength to master techniques and slay demons.

Mo Hua felt a quiet sense of pride, wondering whether his return would shock Great Heishan.

That Dao Stele might be far more powerful than he imagined, and its origins likely terrifying.

Thick mist obscured everything, a vast, hazy void.

Mo Hua had no way to ask Zeng Zhuangqi.

All three are indispensable.

So Mr. Zhuang must be eliminated sooner or later; conflict with him is unavoidable.

To kill these evil cultivators, no clever schemes are needed—just a single Fireball Technique is enough to burn them to ashes.

This is a world of "man eating man."

Liu Ruhua smiled with relief, her gaze soft as water.

Having summarized his losses, Mo Hua now calculated what gains he had made on this journey.

Although he trusted Great Heishan deeply, the Dao Stele's origins were obscure and its significance immense—the fewer who knew, the better; only he should know.

Unconsciously, everyone had already left Neishan and walked onto Lishan's mountain path.

Liu Ruhua walked beside Mo Hua, watching his expression shift—sometimes pained, sometimes furrowed, his large head lost in thought, until finally he seemed to make a decision, his demeanor turning serious.

As for the secrets of the Dao Stele, he would study them more thoroughly later.

Second, Mo Hua obtained a secret manual on the Fireball Technique from the pale-faced evil cultivator.

As Mo Hua had suspected, the manual, though in the pale-faced cultivator's possession, was likely not his own—probably stolen, seized, or acquired by chance.

With his weak cultivation, he could not save the cultivators Mr. Zhuang had wronged, but could only watch helplessly as they were persecuted to death by evil cultivators.

Mo Hua saw a visualization chart for the first time, glimpsed its secrets, and encountered the hidden dangers within.

Mo Hua turned back and glanced once more at Shenshan.

The world contains both diligent cultivators who uphold the Dao, and evil demons who defy Heaven and are saturated with sin.

Mo Hua hoped everyone could live safely—no deaths or injuries were best; if unavoidable, casualties must be minimized.

Mo Hua felt a faint joy.

Mo Hua nodded.

That jade pendant was possessed only by the main branch of the Kong family; it carried great symbolic value and could currently only be exchanged for spirit stones, but if kept, perhaps one day it could be used to trick the Kong family.

When everyone fights Mr. Zhuang, casualties will be several times fewer.

He was still young, his experience shallow, and he still lacked much—he would face many more events in the future and had much to learn.

He tricked the fat cultivator to death and obtained Kong Sheng's jade pendant.

Once facing Zeng Zhuangqi in direct combat, the intelligence Mo Hua had gathered would be critical.

First, he learned the truth of Shenshan, found the entrance to Great Heishan, probed its strengths and weaknesses, nearly mapped out the entire stronghold, drew a detailed map of Great Heishan, and even glimpsed one of Mr. Zhuang's deepest secrets.

Finally, the most important matter was the Dao Stele.

At that time, all cultivators of Xiancheng—including his parents, and his acquaintances among the beast-hunters, artifact-smiths, and pill-refiners—might all be unexpectedly slain by the evil cultivators' poison.

Some cultivators did not merely kill—they drank human blood, absorbed human Qi, treating people not as humans, but as spirit slaves, blood slaves, living spirit stones.

Mo Hua's thoughts grew increasingly murky, his gaze slowly turning uncertain.

That was what Mo Hua wished to see.

Aside from the information about Mr. Zhuang, the rest were Mo Hua's personal gains.

But Mo Hua knew that Mr. Zhuang resided deep within this small mist, enduring for two hundred and eighty years.

Yet before his journey with Zeng Zhuangqi, before he saw the contemplation map, before the Green-Faced Great Ghost pierced his mind sea, before he endured such peril and narrowly escaped it.

The spirit slave was emaciated, his furnace body as good as dead, and the cultivated cultivators who had been abducted suffered immense torment.

But it was still too soon; Mo Hua planned to return and ponder it more carefully afterward.

Mastering that secret scripture should enhance the power of the Fireball Technique, compensating for his lack of agility, his insufficient adaptability, and his weak offensive capabilities.

Only now did I truly see the other side of the cultivation world.

It felt as though I faced the greatest terror of the world—the true terror of bodily death and Dao annihilation.

If one's actions contain any oversight, one must reflect deeply; only then can one gain benefit, and only then can future actions become more secure.

I still remember the expression of terror on the Green-Faced Great Ghost's face.

The miasma around him thinned, the mist thinned, the scenery around him was no longer oppressive, and the demonic beasts along the way grew significantly stronger.

Thanks to the contemplation map, Mo Hua's spiritual sense surged, now rivaling that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he had drawn a Grade-One Ten-Stripe array, a reversal of Heaven's design—a Spirit-Reversal Array.

The cultivation world is vast and boundless; the path of Dao is long and endless.

Regarding the contemplation map, I have faint suspicions, but cultivation knowledge is limitless; I cannot yet confirm it—I must seek guidance from Great Heishan.

Mo Hua had long used the Dao Stele to practice arrays and hone his spiritual sense.

The Dao Stele did nothing at all—it did not glow, nor did it manifest any marvels; merely a few wisps of aura burned the Green-Faced Great Ghost into green smoke.

And if my cultivation base were sufficient, I could comprehend even stronger arrays, even draw the Great Earth-Fire Array, causing the entire Mr. Zhuang's domain to ascend to heaven.

Outside the fortress lay mountains of corpses and seas of blood, demons dancing in chaos.

Mo Hua understood: learning arrays alone was not enough.