Chapter 363: Ripples

Mo Hua rested for several days, felt no serious harm, and went to visit Mr. Zhuang.

Mr. Zhuang was leaving.

Mo Hua had previously planned to master Divine Sense Derivation, then surprise Mr. Zhuang.

Now it seemed this "surprise" might be too big…

But Mr. Zhuang didn't seem to care at all—not even asking.

Mo Hua felt puzzled and asked:

"Master, won't you ask what happened?"

Mr. Zhuang glanced at Mo Hua and shook his head slightly:

"What I know, you need not tell me; what I don't know, you need not tell me either—and tell no one else. Let no one know."

Mo Hua paused, then nodded.

Every cultivator has their own fate; how much more so, that great cultivator without fate—still my disciple.

Gui Lao said, "He knows perfectly well—why do you need to say it?"

"Those who can meet…"

Mo Hua ate alone, gave some to Xiao Hu and us, and used the rest to share with Zi Sheng's jade slip.

"If you must use it…" Mr. Zhuang said coolly, "then ensure no living soul knows after you've used it."

"You want… to take Mo Hua as your direct disciple."

Bai Zisheng sighed softly: "Yes."

So the worst approach isn't knowing everything from the very start.

Mo Hua thought he understood, then asked: "What about his father?"

No demonic tribulation had emerged; it took the form of Wu Xiaoyao, named Feng Xi.

It was a strange feeling.

That bit of Gui Lao had a rebuttal, but only sighed and asked:

Who built this for us? Who was the main array master?

And the worst way to keep a secret is to know it yourself.

Mr. Zhuang's days flowed calmly, but the Tian Shu Pavilion of the Dao Court stirred unrest.

Bai Zisheng sighed.

Eight people sat facing a table piled high with cakes, meats of all kinds, and fermented wines.

Tong Xiancheng watched Mo Hua silently, saying nothing, but her eyes, like autumn water, held even deeper envy.

"Didn't he himself say he had no father?"

Shen Shen Shen Shiyan sighed, "You're so big—let alone food, even a cup of water your mother never boiled for you…"

Mo Hua nodded. "No father? Fine, no father."

"These things aren't for your realm to learn—if anyone finds out, they'll covet them and bring fire upon yourself."

"If you're injured, will Aunt Liu make you good food?"

The great one surnamed Zhuang had acted.

Bai Zisheng shook his head. "No—he has great fortune!"

"I wonder whether I'm dead or whether my identity can't be revealed…"

Gui Lao scoffed: "Bullshit fortune. The birth gate was calculated by me; the tribulation thunder was never meant to kill me—these things each have their own karmic cause, unrelated to some vague, ethereal fortune."

Is array disintegration something even a master arrayist could do?

Summoning tribulation thunder—you're playing too big…

I've heard many things from Shen Shen Shen Shiyan about my mother.

Bai Zisheng knew Mo Hua must have had some ordinary opportunity, and he'd long sensed it—yet that opportunity might be even greater than he thought.

Shen Shen Shen Shiyan sighed: "I don't know who my father is; my mother never said, and no one else in the family will speak of it."

Especially with a child like this, parents would likely cradle them in their hands for fear of melting them—overjoyed, how could they be cold and distant…

Though outwardly, his appearance and bearing remained unchanged from before.

"Master, aren't you about to leave…?"

When did the great one surnamed Zhuang become so cold-hearted?

All these were made by Liu Ruhua, out of love for Mo Hua.

Gui Lao thought, as expected, his tone grew even harsher:

On the big locust tree, Mo Hua was sharing food with Shen Shen Shen Shiyan and Tong Xiancheng.

How could such a great array be built so easily? Just built and done?

Just hearing it made one's palms sweat.

How could the great array have disintegrated again?

"Heaven's tribulation thunder"—that goes without saying.

Shen Shen Shen Shiyan shook his head. "Nothing."

Seeing he couldn't fool Gui Lao, Bai Zisheng said:

After so long together, Mo Hua still felt reluctant to part.

The great array disintegrated…

After Mo Hua left, Gui Lao's figure appeared, frowning at Ye Yanjun:

North of Lizhou, within the seventh-rank Great Baishan border—Mr. Zhuang.

Ge Lao shook his head slightly, frowning in thought, and after much deliberation, only one explanation came to mind:

He wants to die himself—don't drag that child into it. My family is humble; we shouldn't be entangled in such a tiny karmic thread.

But Mo Hua was perceptive, and having spent so much time with Bai Zixi, he faintly sensed that Bai Zixi's aura was gradually fading.

Bai Zixi saw the resolve in Mo Hua's eyes, as if he had made up his mind; his tone grew irritable, yet hesitated:

The elder in the lower pavilion of Tian Shu Pavilion, also a Pavilion Elder, now held a Bai Zixi in his hand, reading its contents, his brows knotted into a "川" shape.

"Feng Xi is dead"—this event, once the most unexpected, now seemed the most expected of all…

Those words seemed to strike a nerve in Shen Yi Yan; his expression shifted, then he blurted: "I have a father!"

Shen Yi Yan ate heartily, then suddenly remembered something and asked Mo Hua:

Bai Zixi recalled the scene at Great Baishan and added:

In the cultivation world, such great Xianchengs number in the millions, or at least hundreds of thousands—why would he care so much?

Bai Zixi fell silent, then his eyes flickered slightly and he said:

…

What was written on the Bai Zixi was the sequel to Mr. Zhuang's Dao Nai:

Mr. Zhuang's tone was extremely serious.

Moreover, Bai Zixi's aura grew fainter day by day.

Ye Yanjun sighed, then enviously said: "You're lucky."

Originally, there was no object—where could dust settle?

Ye Yanjun froze, then asked: "How could a person have a father?"

Was it unknown whether, after triggering the Tribulation Thunder, he would die or not—or whether the one who died was even a man, or merely a puppet…

The Pavilion Elder sighed again.

That was truly something he never could have imagined.

But after the events of "constructing the great array," "the array's collapse," and "triggering the Tribulation Thunder," Feng Xi's death now seemed almost inevitable…

"He really meant to do it?"

Moreover, both had exceptional talent and came from prominent clans—such leniency was understandable…

That Bai Zixi was concise and to the point.

Mo Hua nodded silently.

It wasn't that there were no good karmic threads—it was that… all of them were evil causes and bitter fruits…

Bai Zisheng and the jade slip looked very handsome; their mother must have been beautiful too.

Mo Hua nodded. "Of course."

But why was his attitude so cold?

But Bai Zixi did not wish to delve deeper.

Moreover, it was the collapse of an entire great array—could that possibly be the work of an ordinary array master?

How could he possibly have constructed the Seven-Line Massacre Demon Array?

"Shen Yi Yan can be used, but keep it low-key—don't let anyone notice. If they do, find a way to conceal it…"

Even now, recalling it, Bai Zixi still felt a faint chill in his heart.

After all, he didn't know what dangers lay ahead—if disaster struck, he couldn't just sit and wait to die.

The Pavilion Elder drew a sharp breath, looked up at him, his gaze sharpening, and murmured softly:

A person's spiritual sense is intangible and elusive.

After all, Bai Zixi had left quickly, and so had our two provisional disciples.

Mo Hua said, somewhat disappointed.

Who triggered the Tribulation Thunder? And what was it trying to erase?

But now, he found the document too terse—it left him confused.

Who else could have constructed the great array? Who else could have caused its collapse?

The Pavilion Elder flipped through the Bai Zixi again, and at the very end, saw another line of large characters:

Especially the Tribulation Thunder—even at our realm, it was a thing that struck fear into hearts, a touch meant death, something one hated to avoid.

Mr. Zhuang warned him again:

Once known, it would inevitably be observed and probed.

Mo Hua's heart tightened, and he nodded again.

Mo Hua had originally planned to tell Bai Zixi about the Tribulation Thunder and the array patterns, but since Bai Zixi had said that, it was better not to mention it yet.

Mo Hua remembered another matter and asked:

The Pavilion Elder had once instructed Tian Shu Pavilion's scribes to be as concise as possible—no empty words.

It was just a very large Xiancheng.

"What do you mean by 'too many things'?"

…

…

"As for the collapse of the array—never use it again!"

Afterward, the two set aside their thoughts, ate their fill, practiced their cultivation for a while, then returned home.

For a low-tier Xiancheng like Mr. Zhuang's, to unite and kill the Dao Nai was unthinkable…

"The great array collapsed, Tribulation Thunder descended—and yet he lived! What great fortune!"

"This is troublesome…"

Mo Hua was curious. "What was their mother like?"

"Very beautiful!" The spiritual sense murmured, then added, "Not cold and icy, and it's very lenient toward you and the jade slip."

But even if the spiritual sense is illusory, it still leaves no trace.

"What if… you're forced to use it?"

Especially when the formation collapses.

That kind of inheritance is the most secret of secrets.

Mo Hua hesitated, then whispered:

After all, the small formation learned itself, the Fengxi matter is resolved, and Bai Zixi seems to have reason to stay on…

"So we need to find a way… to keep him from being tainted by those karmic ties."

Bai Zixi felt bitterness in his heart, sighed faintly, then gazed into the distance:

"Your noble family's affairs really are simple…"

Appendix: Local cultivators built a Seven-Row Demon-Slaying Formation (Note: Rank One, Eleven Patterns); later, the formation collapsed, summoning Heavenly Dao's retributive lightning, and Fengxi died…

As if Ye Yanjun's very existence was slowly dissolving.

"The formation collapsed…"

"A single Fengxi… why make it so extreme…"

Mo Hua asked, "Does your mother make things for you to eat?"

"What's the real situation like?" Mo Hua asked curiously.

"Does your body carry any good karmic ties?" Master Puppet reminded him.

Master Puppet frowned.

Mo Hua didn't understand, "What's good about it?"

"That's not about luck, but at least he has a Dao heart—though young, his Dao heart is vast and resolute."

Master Ge immediately felt puzzled.

"Will you still be able to see you in the past?"

Bai Zixi wanted to keep Mo Hua's secret.

The spiritual sense felt a hint of envy; its eyes toward Xiancheng also showed a trace of admiration.

Bai Zixi nodded slightly.

Luck is something even cultivators who don't understand can be fooled by, but fooling Master Puppet is a stretch.

Could it be… that there's some reason I don't know about?

"Fengxi flesh and blood, Dao heart planting demons, the suspicious Daoist causing trouble…"

I only taught Mo Hua Bai Zi Xi's calculations to help him glimpse the threshold and better comprehend formations—but I never expected he'd collapse an entire large formation…

Master Ge understood every sentence, but when strung together, he still didn't understand.

"That's just angry talk!"

Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua, his expression softening:

"Don't do unnecessary things."

Under the restrictions of Heavenly Dao's laws, it's nearly impossible to slay a Dao tribulation—even if one could, it's only possible within the territories of noble clans.

Thank you to patrons Han Baobao, Great Shark, Wuai2021 for your rewards~

Something came up, so I'm late—sorry.