Chapter 292: Intelligence

The group marched back in force to Tongxian City; Elder Yu dismissed everyone else, keeping only Mo Hua, Seeing Mo Shan, Yu Chengyi, Yu Chengwu, and Zhang Lan of Dao Ting Si.

Elder Yu led them into the parlor of the Nancheng Armory, where no one else was present and the chamber was shielded by arrays, offering relative secrecy.

Everyone knew what Elder Yu intended to do, and their expressions grew solemn.

Elder Yu sipped his tea, then asked Mo Hua: "Are there indeed criminal cultivators inside Shenshan?"

Mo Hua acts with restraint; having lingered so long in Shenshan, he must have discovered something.

Recalling earlier speculations about Shenshan, Elder Yu suspected that what Mo Hua had previously said was likely true—that the depths of Great Heishan harbored a group of criminal cultivators, and their power was probably considerable.

But Mo Hua shook his head. "Not criminal cultivators."

Elder Yu blinked in surprise, then exhaled in relief.

Not criminal cultivators… that's good…

"They're demonic cultivators," Mo Hua said.

"How many?"

"But you're an array master—my arrays made it harder for you to discern direction."

The map was detailed yet careless: the demonic cultivators' dwellings, their prison cells, even their kitchen were marked below.

"Still not done?" Zhang Lan couldn't help saying, "How much intelligence has he gathered? He hasn't even finished… Hasn't he mapped out every inch of Shanzhai?"

Zhang Lan nodded, thinking it was fortunate Mo Hua was an array master; otherwise, how could we have known about Shenshan's thick mist and its reasons?

Mo Hua nodded. "The eldest master of Shanzhai is a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator."

"About five."

Zhang Lan felt a surge of awe.

"There are seven." Mo Hua replied.

And this map was drawn by Mo Hua right under the demonic cultivators' noses—making it all the more remarkable.

"With just you, you can't possibly defeat them."

Seeing Mo Shan and the others looked stunned; Zhang Lan's expression turned grave as he asked:

Elder Yu's demonic cultivator is too weak; even if all the beast-hunters joined forces, they might still not be a match—so the only solution now is to request Dao Bing.

Zhang Lan had nothing more to say.

Mo Hua nodded. "It's Elder Yu's terrain map."

Mo Hua had never seen Dao Bing, but he'd heard they were extremely powerful, their presence awe-inspiring.

"The eldest master founded the stockade—his cultivation is the deepest, his seniority the highest, but his depth is unfathomable and impossible to gauge; the second master is bloodthirsty and violent, currently killing outside the stockade, not within; the third master is a formation master who can draw demonic formations; the fourth master is newly promoted and fond of drinking blood—human blood isn't enough, so he goes out at night to drink beast blood…"

Mo Hua then recounted all the intelligence he'd gathered on the seven masters of Shanzhai.

Demonic cultivators differ from ordinary cultivators—they cultivate demonic arts, forbidden by Dao Ting, but these arts usually advance faster, are more powerful, and possess bizarre, inexplicable effects, making them extremely hard to counter.

Mo Hua paused, then added bit by bit:

Zhang Lan understood.

Five to six hundred demonic cultivators!

Though he'd already known beforehand, Zhang Lan still found this unbelievable.

Zhang Lan felt he ought to be shocked, yet he simply couldn't be shocked anymore—he'd grown numb; deep inside, he felt that no matter how absurd an event, if it happened to Mo Hua, it somehow didn't seem absurd at all…

The Xiūmò Si's wanted demonic cultivators were always solitary; many traveled in pairs, but no one expected that deep within Great Baishan, there were five to six hundred demonic cultivators.

Dao Bing, as the name implies, is a military force of cultivators, subordinate to Xiūmò, directly governed by Xiūmò.

Zhang Lan nodded, then suddenly realized something was wrong: "You saw them with your own eyes, counted them yourself—how could they just let you watch like that?"

The rear stockade map was detailed, but the front stockade section was sketchy—likely because the front stockade was safer, and Mo Hua knew less about it.

Great Heishan frowned deeply.

Everyone exchanged glances, their expressions growing even more grave.

This boy, Mo Hua, had truly gathered intelligence under the noses of five to six hundred demonic cultivators—and escaped unharmed.

Time was critical; Zhang Lan rose to leave, but Mo Hua called him back.

"That's the demonic cultivators' pill chamber," Mo Hua said.

Zhang Lan's face darkened. "What kind of pills do demonic cultivators refine?"

"I haven't finished reporting yet."

The map was divided into rear stockade and front stockade.

Including Elder Yu, everyone drew a sharp breath.

Mo Hua, seeing their reactions, asked: "Great Heishan, can you defeat them?"

Mo Hua said: "I saw them with my own eyes, counted them myself."

"I drew it."

Mo Hua explained: "The mist in Shenshan wasn't naturally this thick—it was because the third master of Shanzhai set up a mist array, making direction hard to discern…"

For a moment, gloom settled over everyone's faces.

"It's not that exaggerated…" Mo Hua smiled, then pulled out another map and spread it on the table.

Mo Hua pulled out a map showing two lines.

Mo Hua frowned slightly—Xiūmò Si didn't have many personnel—but he immediately realized Great Heishan meant "Xiūmò," not "Xiūmò Si."

This was no ordinary architectural array diagram!

"You're an array master," Mo Hua said, as if it were obvious.

The other line was Mo Hua's escape route—from the main gate of Shanzhai, extending toward Shanzhai's edge, all the way to Neishan.

"You couldn't have mistaken them."

Zhang Lan found it hard to believe: "You could draw this too?"

If that's the case, then what Great Heishan said means, could it be that...

Zhang Lan only then remembered that Mo Hua had learned the Concealment Art.

Without Mo Hua, we simply couldn't have found out.

The paths, beast gates, blood arrays, the small hall, even the layout of the roof beams were all crystal clear, and in the middle of this small hall, there was even a pill furnace drawn, and even a pig.

Seven Foundation Establishment evil cultivators!

Great Heishan, meanwhile, was looking at the map carelessly, his heart equally astonished.

Although not entirely unexpected, those evil cultivators had plotted for so many years and must have had Foundation Establishment cultivators holding down the fort, yet he hadn't expected there to be as many as seven.

Although Zhang Lan knew Mo Hua was formidable, he still couldn't help but say:

Yan Guina...

Zhang Lan couldn't help but ask again: "Did you steal it?"

Great Heishan asked again: "What else do you know?"

Great Heishan asked: 'Of those seven heads, do you know anything else about them?'

"Do you know the location of Yan Guina?" Yu Chengyi asked.

Requesting Dao Soldiers is not something done in a day or two; weighing the evil cultivators' strength, the review of the Cultivation Oversight Bureau, and the deployment of Dao Soldiers all take time.

"Your nerve is really something..."

When local Cultivation Oversight Bureaus encounter threats they cannot resolve, they may directly submit a report to the Cultivation Oversight Bureau, requesting that it allocate Dao Soldiers to suppress them directly.

Zhang Lan's expression, however, grew solemn, and he said coldly: "They're refining a Human Longevity Pill!"

"What should we do then?" Mo Hua was also a bit troubled.

"Where is this?"

A situation map containing the structural design of a cultivation building and array formations, especially one of such a large scale, must be surveyed on-site, the layout analyzed, and one must also be well-versed in array formations...

Of course, those two evil cultivators had both been killed by my schemes long ago...

Seeing Mo Shan's expression hardened, "How many heads are there in total?"

The routes in the map were drawn by Mo Hua from memory; they may not be precise, but the general directions wouldn't be wrong.

Concealment Art...

Great Heishan looked and looked, then suddenly frowned and pointed at a spot:

And they were Foundation Establishment cultivators who had practiced evil Dao techniques.

Fine, you're the array master, you're impressive.

This kind of thing, only the array-savvy and quick-witted Mo Hua could see through.

"Worthy of an array master, your memory is really impressive." Zhang Lan clicked his tongue, then asked curiously, "But Shenshan has such thick fog, how did you know the route?"

Great Heishan shook his head and said decisively: "We can't win!"

"Several hundred."

"Dao Soldiers?" Mo Hua asked in surprise.

"We really can't win at all?"

Mo Hua shook his head. "I don't know, I only know they were using people to refine pills, the whole room was full of blood mist, and some herbs seemed to have come alive."

"Be more specific?"

This map is a simplified diagram of Shenshan, drawn by Mo Hua from memory. Of those two lines, one is the route Mo Hua took going in—a hidden mountain path between cliffs leading straight to Elder Yu's door.

Everyone looked at the map, momentarily somewhat astonished.

"I learned the Concealment Art, they can't see me."

Mo Hua nodded. "I only found out by eavesdropping on two evil cultivators chatting during the night watch..."

"Because I'm an array master."

As everyone listened, their expressions all grew solemn.

The more Great Heishan listened, the more astonished he became. This intelligence was already considered classified—not only the identities of the heads, but also their specialized evil techniques and cultivation habits.

Seeing Mo Shan heard this, but his expression shifted, and he asked: "The Third Head?"

Great Heishan looked at Zhang Lan, cupped his hands, and said: "We can only entrust this to Yan Gui."

Zhang Lan nodded slightly. "I'll head back now to find Zhou Zhangsi, explain the whole story, and ask him to submit a report to the Cultivation Oversight Bureau, request Dao Soldiers, and exterminate the evil cultivators!"

Zhang Lan pointed at the map, finding it somewhat hard to believe: "You wouldn't have..."

An evil cultivators' Shanzhai nestled deep within Great Baishan—those four words, Elder Yu, just hearing them gave one a sense of sinister aura.

Yan Guina frowned; he didn't know much about evil cultivators, nor did he know what kind of pill this was.

The map showed both Lin Li's buildings and elaborate array formations. At first glance it looked like an architectural array diagram of considerable scale. Zhang Lan examined it carefully, and his eyelid couldn't help but twitch.

Even knowing the thick fog was caused by an array, and that they weren't array masters and didn't know arrays, looking at Shenshan it was still a hazy expanse, impossible to see through its secrets.

But in the simplified map of the rear Shanzhai section, there was one area that was unusually detailed.

Elder Yu's heart, which had just settled, rose again, and he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "Evil cultivators?"

"The evil cultivators are all gathered in one Shanzhai, and the name of the Shanzhai is Elder Yu."

Mo Hua nodded.

Thanks to the readers for the tips~