Chapter 401: Eighth Layer

"Who is this person? What is his name?"

"I should remember…"

"But why can't I recall?"

"Why can't I recall?!"

"Sun Yi" raved deliriously, racking his brain in agony.

He pressed both hands over his forehead, clawed at his scalp, scratched and tore with all his might—until his scalp bled and his face was scraped raw—yet still could not puzzle it out.

After a moment, he slowly stopped.

A flash of cold, resolute determination passed through his eyes.

With trembling fingers, he dipped them in his own blood and, shaking, drew a formation pattern on his own forehead.

The pattern was sinister and bright red—not a conventional formation, but a demonic rune of the Mo Sect.

Once the demonic rune took shape, it seemed to come alive, feeding on Sun Yi's blood and divine sense.

Sun Yi gritted his teeth; his blood and qi gradually weakened, but his thoughts grew clearer and clearer.

The fog shrouding his memory slowly dispersed.

He finally remembered something.

"There was also… a little disciple…"

"Little disciple…"

"What was his name?"

"Sun Yi"'s face twisted in agony, as if undergoing some great torture, and bit by bit he finally recalled:

"Mo…"

"Mo… Hua!"

Mo Hua!

"Sun Yi"'s gaze was first excited, then puzzled.

"Why?"

"Why was this name hidden so deep?"

"And who exactly is this boy?"

In Sun Yi's memory, a smiling face surfaced.

It was the smiling face of a little cultivator of about ten years old.

Innocent and artless, yet warm and endearing.

At the same time, his understanding of Mo Hua gradually became clear.

"Qi Refining seventh layer, first-rank formation master, Foundation Establishment divine sense…"

"Sun Yi"'s heart trembled.

Foundation Establishment divine sense?

So that's how it was…

"With such terrifying talent, no wonder it had to be hidden away…"

"Sun Yi" gave a cold laugh, but as he laughed, the smile gradually faded.

"What was I just thinking?"

"Who erased my memory?"

"Sun Yi" was faintly angry, but endured the searing pain in his sea of consciousness and once again sought the truth he had just forgotten amid the fog.

Once again, he recalled Mo Hua's name.

And once again, he saw Mo Hua's smiling face.

His understanding of Mo Hua became clear again as well.

"Qi Refining seventh layer, Foundation Establishment divine sense…"

Before he could react, this memory glitched and was lost once more.

"Sun Yi"'s gaze turned cold and fierce.

To hide this child so deeply…

Junior brother, what exactly are you trying to do?

He tried once more to think, to remember.

"Qi Refining seventh layer, Foundation Establishment divine sense…"

But he hadn't expected that even here, the memory would be erased.

Each time it was erased, the memory faded a little more; each time it faded, it grew a little vaguer.

After who knows how many times, only two hazy notions remained—"Qi Refining seventh layer" and "Foundation Establishment…"

"Qi Refining seventh layer, hasn't reached Foundation Establishment yet…"

"Sun Yi" nodded.

Then he thought again—wasn't that just stating the obvious?

Qi Refining seventh layer naturally meant he hadn't reached Foundation Establishment.

But when he tried to think more carefully, everything was hazy and he could recall nothing.

"Just a little disciple to make up the numbers?"

Sun Yi muttered.

He simply stopped bothering with it, keeping only Mr. Zhuang, Elder Kui, and the siblings of the Bai family in mind, then nodded.

Sun Yi took off his outer robe and wiped the blood from his face and body.

Then he tore off the dirty, worn Daoist robe from the dead Sun Ji and put it on himself.

"This fits now."

Sun Ji was tall and thin; Sun Yi was of average build, slightly fat.

The Daoist robe fit him perfectly.

"Sun Yi" pushed open the door again; the sky was dimming, and he walked out alone.

The Sun family disciples saw him and all froze.

Because he wore the old Daoist robe, he looked extremely strange.

Some disciples bowed and greeted him, but he acted as if he saw nothing and heard nothing, continuing to walk outward, his steps uneven.

Sun Yi walked all the way out of the Sun family's main gate.

Then he followed the main road of Qianjia Town, walking toward the distance without looking back, vanishing into the endless peaks.

This was the last time the Sun family disciples ever saw their patriarch.

The spirit farmers of Dongshan Village also spread rumors that Sun Yi, the Sun family patriarch, had walked away wearing a dead man's Daoist robe, limping, as if his soul had been dragged off by something.

Most people guessed that Sun Yi had violated ancestral teachings and had his soul taken to the Underworld by the Sun family's ancestral ancestor for punishment.

After that, Sun Yi never returned.

No one ever saw him again.

……

While "Sun Yi" was deducing Mo Hua's identity, Master Zhuang inside the carriage opened his eyes.

"Master, would you like some tea?" Mo Hua asked in a clear voice.

Master Zhuang liked to doze off; after waking, he always wanted a sip of tea.

Mo Hua remembered Master Zhuang's habits very clearly.

Master Zhuang nodded slightly.

Mo Hua poured him a cup of tea.

Master Zhuang seemed somewhat weary; after drinking Mo Hua's tea, his spirits improved, and he asked:

"Mo Hua, how does a person die?"

Not only did Mo Hua freeze.

Even Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi looked puzzled.

They did not know why Master Zhuang had suddenly asked such a question.

"Um… if you're killed, you die?"

Mo Hua said quietly.

"You also die from hunger, from old age…" Bai Zisheng added.

"Ultimately, what's the root?"

Mo Hua recalled Master Zhuang's words about a cultivator's Qi, blood qi, and spiritual awareness, and ventured:

"A cultivator dies when his physical body withers, when his Qi sea shatters, when his spiritual awareness perishes…"

"A cultivator's death, ultimately, all relates to these three?"

Master Zhuang nodded slightly.

"If someone kills you, they will target these three: either destroy your body, shatter your Qi sea, or ruin your spiritual awareness."

Mo Hua's heart tightened, "Master, does someone want to kill me?"

Master Zhuang shook his head, "Better safe than sorry."

"Oh." Mo Hua nodded, thought for a moment, then asked again, puzzled:

"Master, I understand killing through body and Qi sea—ordinary Daoist martial arts or spells all destroy the body, corrode the meridians, and damage the Qi sea—but how do you kill through spiritual awareness?"

"There are many methods," Master Zhuang said.

He looked at Mo Hua, then at Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi, and explained patiently:

"One is spiritual awareness spells—condensing spiritual awareness into spells to harm another's spiritual awareness."

"Such spells are extremely rare; do not learn or use them lightly. Prolonged use can damage your own spiritual awareness."

"Moreover, these spells are ancient secret transmissions, requiring specific talent—you generally cannot learn them."

"The second is spiritual awareness parasitism—dividing your spiritual awareness and parasitizing another cultivator."

"This is a demonic technique; do not learn it, and never use it."

"The third is spiritual awareness corruption—using ancient, sealed impure spiritual thoughts to corrupt another's spiritual awareness, causing their will to fall, their spiritual awareness to go mad, even their spiritual sea to collapse, turning them into something neither human nor ghost…"

"This is using someone else's blade to kill. But when you corrupt others, you also corrupt yourself."

"When another's spiritual awareness becomes tainted, yours will not remain clean—you simply won't realize it."

"So this method is best avoided too."

"There are other ways to kill through spiritual awareness, but most are strange and esoteric—I don't know them well."

After speaking, Master Zhuang looked at his three disciples and warned:

"I tell you this so you remain vigilant."

"Methods that harm the body and Qi are mostly visible;"

"but the dangers of spiritual awareness are often invisible."

"This world holds many unseen, unspeakable terrors—only because cultivators' spiritual awareness is weak, they remain unaware."

"Therefore, be extremely cautious with anything related to spiritual awareness."

"Do not peer at those you must not peer at. Do not peer at things you must not peer at."

"When encountering strange people, do not speak to them, do not entangle with them, and never look into their eyes…"

All three disciples nodded solemnly.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then whispered quietly:

"Master, if someone's spiritual sense takes root inside you, is there a way to kill that intruding spiritual sense?"

Mo Hua thought of the little demon from that visualization diagram.

It leapt into Mo Hua's spiritual sea, seeking to usurp it, using Mo Hua's spiritual sea as its breeding ground.

Though Mo Hua had used the Dao Stele to suppress the demon, after much Zhou Zhe, he ultimately "ate" the demon.

But he himself was still vague, unclear about how it had happened.

The Dao Stele was useful, but he couldn't rely on it too heavily.

Otherwise, if the Dao Stele failed, he'd be as vulnerable as before—another demon could take root in him, and that would be dangerous.

So Mo Hua wanted to know: was there any other way to deal with an intruding spiritual sense without relying on the Dao Stele?

Formation arrays seemed possible, but drawing them was slow, and you had to stay inside them—still too passive.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zi Xi both glanced at Mo Hua in surprise.

Their little junior brother's thinking was truly… unusual.

Mr. Sun Yi Leng wasn't surprised, however; he nodded and said: "Yes."

Mo Hua's eyes lit up. "Then…"

"I can't teach you yet."

Mo Hua sighed, slightly disappointed, then looked up hopefully:

"Master, when will you teach me?"

Mr. Sun Yi Leng's gaze was profound:

"When your spiritual sense grows stronger, I'll teach you."

"Stronger?"

Mr. Sun Yi Leng nodded. "All methods of countering spiritual sense attacks must be built on the strength of your own spiritual sense…"

"As long as your spiritual sense is strong enough, spiritual dangers cease to be dangers."

"A strong spiritual sense repels all evil!"

Mr. Sun Yi Leng said solemnly.

A strong spiritual sense repels all evil…

Mo Hua murmured it silently, then nodded eagerly:

"Yes, Master!"

…

After this, Mo Hua trained in formation arrays even harder.

Without the Dao Stele, he had to use every moment to practice the Thick Earth Formation.

Whenever the carriage stopped, he drew formations on the ground.

Along the journey, rocks and soil bore his formation patterns.

He even carried some soil into the carriage to draw on.

Again and again, he practiced the Grade-One Eleven-Line Thick Earth Formation.

Through this, Mo Hua continuously honed his spiritual sense.

He faintly sensed a growing urgency.

Mr. Sun Yi Leng never spoke without reason.

The fact that Master mentioned spiritual sense meant he had foreseen something.

Spiritual sense killing…

That meant someone might try to kill him with spiritual sense.

If so, he must prepare in advance.

A strong spiritual sense repels all evil!

Every bit stronger in spiritual sense meant one bit safer…

Mo Hua trained obsessively; his spiritual sense grew noticeably, but he still fell just short of the Twelve Lines…

And no matter how much he practiced formations, the results were minimal.

Mo Hua felt helpless.

One morning, Mo Hua rose early and trained under the rising sun.

Suddenly, his Qi Sea trembled slightly.

Mo Hua froze, then smiled with delight.

He quickly pulled out Spirit Stones, absorbing Spirit Qi, refining it, circulating it through his meridians, and accumulating power in his Qi Sea.

After some time, the Spirit Qi solidified, his aura strengthened.

Mo Hua opened his eyes and couldn't help but beam.

Qi Refinement Eighth Layer!

And it wasn't just that.

When one breaks through a realm, spiritual sense grows too.

Though compared to his Foundation Establishment-level spiritual sense, his current realm was only Qi Refinement, so the increase was small.

But that slight boost filled the gap—his spiritual sense crossed the threshold and successfully reached Twelve Lines!

Morning glow spilled over the mountains, bathing Mo Hua in light.

At this moment, Mo Hua was fourteen, Qi Refinement Eighth Layer, with Foundation Establishment Twelve-Line spiritual sense!

(End of chapter)