Chapter 294

After Mo Hua left, after the time of a cup of tea, the Third Chief could no longer sense Mo Hua's spiritual awareness, so he returned to that secluded little grove.

Blood stained the ground everywhere, chaotic and messy.

Those cultivators of evil were indeed eaten—eaten clean—but blood was splattered all over the ground.

"The vessel was a child—how could anyone eat so messily?"

The Third Chief muttered to himself.

Then he noticed something wrong: the ground was covered in claw marks, bite marks, even bloody hairs.

The Third Chief froze, his brows slightly furrowing.

These cultivators, whose corpses were not whole, were not eaten by a person—but by a beast.

And the child whose body had been possessed was nowhere to be seen.

The Third Chief's gaze sharpened, sensing something amiss.

The Eighth Chief frowned.

But how did I destroy my contemplation map?

The Dao has its own rules; everything has its limits.

Mo Hua finally came to his senses, smiled at his mother, and turned his full attention to the small table of dishes.

If the Eighth Chief wants to wait by the stump for a rabbit, then let him wait.

"Food outside the home tastes better."

The Third Chief moved like the wind, hurrying toward the Great Heishan alchemy chamber.

Zhen Huixing smiled: "It's calculated."

My talent for arrays was low, and unlike other array masters, I labored day and night, painstakingly practicing.

But my contemplation map is ruined, and the cause is most likely beneath this great ghost. I must find this great ghost and demand answers.

Were these people not eaten by that little ghost?

That was Zhang Lan's suggestion.

The Eighth Chief's mind conjured Mo Hua's serene face and innocent smile—a bizarre suspicion arose in his heart.

I was nearly one step away from becoming a seventh-rank array master, but now that step has become impossibly distant.

I know those stories—they sound "boring," but they're all hiding danger.

Yet only this Great Dao Child is missing!

"Who destroyed your contemplation map?!"

Contemplation map!

Mo Shan beside him wore a serious expression.

Though the Eighth Chief is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, some of the arrays he drew weren't even as good as mine—I secretly stole many of his arrays, quietly dismantled many of his formations, and he still hasn't noticed…

And now, Mo Hua can also become a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Am I human or ghost? A possessed old demon? A demon wearing human skin? The Great Dao Child in the contemplation map? Or a hallucination of my own making?

Foundation Establishment…

When he reached the alchemy chamber, lifted the cushion, and found the hidden compartment already opened—empty inside.

The two night guards, due to a misunderstanding, killed each other.

Unless Dao Ting Si destroys Great Baishan, I won't bother going to see the silence.

But in my heart, the more I thought, the more it felt like—especially their smiles, equally innocent, equally tinged with a hint of malice.

Zhen Huixing suddenly frowned: "Was your trip outside Great Baishan not very proper?"

At this point, even if pretending to be a ghost or demon, I must not fear him.

The Eighth Chief exhaled in relief, cherished and valued as he opened the contemplation map—then his smile froze on his face.

For example, the chubby boy who fed the tiger—didn't pay attention, got bitten to death by a tiger.

In the contemplation map, the scenery remained unchanged, yet a Dao Child had appeared. Why had he not been there before? Where did he go?

And Mo Hua's next target? Foundation Establishment!

Mo Hua began telling another story.

If he is human, and possessed Foundation Establishment spiritual awareness at the Qi Condensation stage, he must have a secret method to strengthen his spiritual awareness—I must obtain this method;

The Eighth Chief's face gradually lost its color.

Lost and regained, the Eighth Chief was overjoyed.

The Eighth Chief's rage was uncontrollable; in his daze, he thought of Mo Hua.

The Eighth Chief thought carefully.

The Mo Hua the Eighth Chief was thinking of was now at home, savoring the meal his mother had made for him.

The Eighth Chief was both shocked and furious.

His spiritual energy was insufficient, so the amount of spirit stones needed for breakthrough was not particularly large—yet the spirit stones Mo Hua had saved were already enough.

Liu Ruhua gently stroked his head and said softly: "Eat your meal in peace."

The food at Great Baishan was too terrible—I won't eat there again.

That day, Mo Hua had thought about it before, but never imagined it would come so soon, so murky and real—as if truly within reach…

But no matter how many times he contemplated, he could no longer commune with the map's meaning; his spiritual awareness showed not the slightest increase.

The Great Dao Child in the contemplation map—if I seal him back into the map, the contemplation map will return to its original state. I can still contemplate it, strengthen my spiritual awareness, and cross the threshold into seventh-rank array master.

Cold dread and wary caution arose in the Eighth Chief's heart.

Zhang Lan is a "internal cultivator" of Dao Ting Si—he knows more truths than I do; I should heed his advice.

The Eighth Chief's eyes hardened with icy light, then clouded again with confusion:

Those who reveal too much are best kept at a distance.

"Did this big ghost destroy it?"

I think that kind of behavior is stupid.

Mo Hua was about to nod, but feared his mother would worry, so he said: "Still bad—you have no concealment technique, yet you eavesdrop, spy, and steal food; we've already caught you…"

"If you're hungry, you must eat it, no matter how terrible it tastes."

Now that I think of it, Mo Hua has stopped telling us those 'boring' stories just to spare us worry.

That visualization map is ruined! There's no way to strengthen the spirit sense anymore.

A full small table of dishes, perfect in color, aroma, and taste.

The bottleneck of the Great Expansion Technique lies in the spirit sense; Mo Hua's spirit sense has now reached Foundation Establishment, far exceeding expectations—surely it's enough.

The Third Chief couldn't understand, then suddenly gasped in alarm—he had forgotten something crucial:

It's not yet true that all is ready except the east wind.

The Eighth Chief was certain in his heart.

It's impossible to breach Great Baishan Shanzhai in such a short time, and Mo Hua certainly won't retreat back into Shenshan again.

"No, that's impossible!"

"We must capture this big ghost, question him thoroughly, and find out exactly who he is…"

That's a visualization map!

Mo Hua has a middling-high-grade spiritual root, cultivates the ancient Great Expansion Technique, which counts as a middling-high-grade technique, and his Qi Zhou Tian is merely middling-high.

Mo Hua nodded vigorously. "Mother, he knows—the food at Great Baishan Shanzhai is awful."

The Eighth Chief murmured silently to himself.

He gripped a small bun in his right hand, clutched a chicken leg in his left, his cheeks bulging, eyes narrowed into crescents, thinking:

"Eat less."

He can no longer rely on visualization to strengthen his spirit sense; thus, his array techniques can hardly advance further.

The Eighth Chief's hands trembled; he quickly placed the map down, sat cross-legged, suppressed his mind, and visualized the image.

Or perhaps this little ghost isn't some soul-stealing ancient demon at all, but a beast wearing human skin.

Thus, the visualization map failed, cutting off his spirit sense growth and blocking his path to array advancement.

Seeing Mo Shan felt a touch of emotion, and a touch of relief.

This big ghost—he's becoming harder and harder to understand.

Wait until I successfully establish my Foundation, then become a seventh-rank array master, and then deal with him.

"Could this big ghost be the Dao Child inside the visualization map…?"

But what he told Elder Yu was different—he only told 'boring' things.

As soon as I reach the peak of Qi Refining fourth layer, I can break through at once and become a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

"There's plenty of awful food, and even more awful food."

"We must find this big ghost!"

Liu Ruhua saw him wolfing down his food, thought of the days he spent in Shenshan, surely starving and suffering, and felt a pang of pity—she added another chicken leg to his plate and warned:

Xiancheng has only a few Foundation Establishment cultivators, let alone us scattered cultivators; for years, we've relied solely on Elder Yu's Foundation Establishment level to stand against the Qian Clan and fight for scattered cultivators' justice.

Hard practice leads nowhere.

No matter how strong a Qi Refining cultivator's spirit sense becomes, it can never surpass the limit to rival Foundation Establishment.

He had long saved enough spirit stones.

Liu Ruhua smiled: "So you ate it after all?"

A treasure sought after by countless array masters.

But that doesn't make sense—if not soul possession, how could he possess a Foundation Establishment spirit sense while only being Qi Refining?

The Eighth Chief shook his head repeatedly.

The Eighth Chief's heart turned cold; in panic and confusion, he thought his visualization map had been stolen—until he noticed a map nearby, made of something between skin and paper, depicting green rocks and a stream, exactly his visualization map.

Array techniques follow the Dao, relying on insight—not mere hard practice can yield achievement.

The map was still the same map, the mountain still the same mountain, the rock still the same rock; even the stream beside the rock and the moss beneath it were identical to before.

But Dao Ting Si's wool can be stored for now, kept for future need, and plucked later when required.

The Eighth Chief likely noticed something suspicious and has been watching him, but Mo Hua has no intention of returning to Great Baishan Shanzhai.

Mo Hua was lost in thought.

Even if he took a heretical path, using a visualization map tainted with dark thoughts to strengthen his spirit sense, his array advancement still lags far behind ordinary array masters.

Then Mo Hua froze, remembering his mother's warning, and shouted loudly:

"Where exactly is this big ghost now…?"

With the visualization map, his spirit sense grew rapidly; now, to break through and become a seventh-rank array master, it's very feasible.

Once, when he hunted demons in Great Baishan, he did the same—cutting out the dangers, telling Mo Hua only 'boring' stories.

That little ghost sits cross-legged on his cushion, and beneath that cushion lies the visualization map he stole from his sect!

Who opened his secret compartment and dug out his visualization map? But they didn't recognize true treasure, and tossed the map aside.

Nancheng's alchemy and artifact shops give him a share; Fushan Restaurant outside the city gives him dividends; at Dao Ting Si, he can also pluck some wool.

"Can there be more awful food?"

Liu Ruhua listened intently, and indeed, her mood grew tense.

"We're all good people—you eavesdrop a bit, spy a bit, steal a little food—shouldn't that count as doing good?"