Chapter 566

Both Senior Brother and Senior Sister have left.

Mo Hua was now alone.

Without his master, without Old Gui, without Senior Brother, and without Senior Sister, the path ahead would have to be walked by himself alone…

After a period of desolation, Mo Hua rallied his spirits.

He was going to begin preparing for Foundation Establishment.

After enduring these successive upheavals, Mo Hua deeply understood that cultivation level was the foundation of a cultivator.

To learn the array of "Stealing Yin and Yang, Seizing Creation, Reversing Life and Death," he needed sufficient cultivation level.

Only with cultivation as his foundation could he seek the Dao, learn arrays, and carve out a sliver of hope from the dead end of fate, alter his master's Zhao Tianming, and reverse death into life…

And Foundation Establishment was the first step toward establishing the Dao.

Before Foundation Establishment, Mo Hua carefully considered everything, even made a written list, striving to cover every detail and prepare thoroughly…

First, spirit stones—there must be plenty.

Mo Hua already had a considerable number of spirit stones.

These spirit stones totaled tens of thousands: saved for him over the years by his parents, earned by himself through drawing arrays, and secretly slipped to him by Senior Brother and Senior Sister.

The better one's elemental roots and the higher the rank of one's cultivation technique, the more spirit stones Foundation Establishment requires.

Mo Hua's elemental roots happened to be poor, so his expenditure would be less—and these tens of thousands of spirit stones were more than sufficient.

In addition, Mo Hua had purchased some pills and spirit items in Xiancheng, for emergencies.

These were not for breaking through bottlenecks, but to prevent damage to his foundation during breakthroughs—to replenish blood and spirit, warm and nourish the meridians, and stabilize his life force.

These might seem unnecessary.

But one's life is only once—never take it lightly.

Next, he needed to find a safe, quiet place, undisturbed by others, to undergo Foundation Establishment.

After Foundation Establishment, he would return to Tongxian City to surprise his parents.

But before that, one matter weighed heavily on Mo Hua…

Mo Hua turned his head, glanced at the old man beside him, leisurely sipping tea, and asked in confusion:

"Sister Situ, why are you still here? Aren't you returning to Xuanji Valley?"

True Person Situ slowly sipped his tea and let out a long sigh:

"No rush. It's rare to get out once—let me relax a bit before going back. The valley is stifling, full of annoying matters—I don't need to return yet…"

For decades, it was rare to step out even once.

Of course he needed to rest, to enjoy the scenery.

But most importantly, he had used Xuanji Valley's Qiankun Qingguang Lamp as a perpetual lantern, lighting it to prolong Mr. Zhuang's life…

It would probably be ruined within decades, or perhaps a century.

It was Xuanji Valley's most treasured artifact…

He needed to think of an excuse first, to deceive them, before he could return.

No need to rush this.

"Oh." Mo Hua nodded.

True Person Situ glanced at Mo Hua, saw the neatly written, meticulously detailed list of pills and spirit items, and asked:

"You're preparing for Foundation Establishment?"

"Mm." Mo Hua looked at True Person Situ, who now seemed idle and unoccupied, and whispered softly:

"Sister Situ, are you busy right now?"

"Not particularly. What is it?"

Mo Hua's eyes lit up. He took out the paper slip and respectfully handed it over, speaking with great courtesy:

"This is my preparation for Foundation Establishment. Could you please review it? See if there's anything I've missed or overlooked?"

Mo Hua's large eyes were bright and innocent, his words and tone always polite.

True Person Situ nodded slightly; he did not mind at all.

This child, Mo Hua, had left a deep impression on him.

To be honest, he quite liked this child…

Though his elemental roots were weak, he was cute, well-mannered, pleasant to speak with, intelligent, and deeply respectful to his master—a truly good child.

Otherwise, Bai family's two haughty children would never have gone to such lengths to protect their little junior brother…

Besides, he had nothing else to do.

"Let me see…"

True Person Situ took the paper slip from Mo Hua's hand, glanced at it once, understood at a glance, then idly traced a few strokes with his fingertip—inkless, yet characters appeared—adding several spirit items and a few pills to the back.

"These are for unblocking meridians, activating the body, and calming the mind. Though auxiliary, they greatly aid Foundation Establishment—and they're not expensive…"

Mo Hua looked and thanked him: "Thank you, Elder!"

True Person Situ hesitated, then said: "Just 'Elder'—don't add 'old'…"

As one grows older, one becomes sensitive to being called "old."

"Oh oh."

Mo Hua nodded rapidly, though inwardly he thought: Sister Situ is strange—he gives me the honor of calling him elder, yet he's annoyed by it…

True Person Situ drank another sip of tea, finding it tasteless—after all, this was a third-grade state, and third-grade spirit tea was bland on the tongue…

Suddenly he froze, staring at Mo Hua, puzzled: "None of these spirit items or pills are for breaking bottlenecks, are they?"

"Mm." Mo Hua nodded.

His bottleneck had already been broken.

It was my senior uncle who broke through for me…

But he didn't say it outright, only vaguely added: "My elemental roots are poor, and my cultivation technique is average. Though I gather little spiritual energy, the bottleneck is simple—I can break through it easily, just like that…"

Sister Situ nodded, didn't press further, but secretly pondered…

Unlikely!

This brat is definitely lying to me…

He's Master Zhuang's disciple; even if his elemental roots are terrible, given Master Zhuang's strictness and refusal to take on mediocre students, he would never let him choose a technique with a "simple bottleneck" that can be broken through so casually.

This is too casual—it doesn't resemble something Master Zhuang would do.

Unless… this technique doesn't require spiritual items or pills to break through the bottleneck…

If it doesn't require spiritual items or pills, then the bottleneck is probably not in the dantian or meridians…

Not in the dantian or meridians?

Then where else could it be?

It can't be in the spiritual awareness…

Sister Situ suddenly froze.

She was a True Person of the Transformation realm, the senior elder of the Mystery Valley, an expert in divination, had lived for countless years, and had seen much—yet suddenly, a very unfamiliar, obscure, yet absurd term surfaced in her mind…

"Spiritual Awareness Ascension…"

Spiritual Awareness… Ascension?!!

Sister Situ trembled, her eyes widening abruptly.

No way?

Is there really someone so ambitious as to use spiritual awareness—something that cannot be strengthened through cultivation techniques—to achieve Ascension?!

Sister Situ glanced at Mo Hua.

Poor elemental roots, faint blood qi…

Why did Master Zhuang take such a disciple?

With Master Zhuang's celestial and terrestrial talent, what path could he possibly have planned for this disciple?

There was only one answer…

Spiritual Awareness Ascension!

Sister Situ recalled again that day, when she sensed on Mo Hua's person a spiritual awareness far stronger than befitting his age or realm…

The more she thought, the more plausible it seemed.

"Spiritual Awareness Ascension…"

Sister Situ was stunned.

Mo Hua noticed Sister Situ staring wide-eyed, frozen for a long time without reaction, and felt puzzled; he asked with concern:

"Elder, are you alright? Did hot tea choke you?"

Sister Situ snapped back to herself, looked at Mo Hua, and silently thought:

"Not choked by hot tea—choked by you…"

Spiritual Awareness Ascension…

One dares to teach, one dares to learn…

This is beyond human.

Could this child really become the second "Deviant Daoist"…?

Sister Situ felt a faint chill, but after thinking, she shook her head.

Spiritual Awareness Ascension is still very different from demonic thoughts and deviant Dao…

Moreover, if this child truly had a flawed character, Master Zhuang's nature would never have taught him Spiritual Awareness Ascension.

"Let nature take its course, observe quietly…"

Sister Situ silently thought.

Suddenly she clicked her tongue, curiosity stirring again.

"Can this child truly achieve Spiritual Awareness Ascension?"

She very much wanted to see it…

In all her long life, she had never met a cultivator who had successfully cultivated Spiritual Awareness Ascension to any notable level…

Sister Situ suddenly became enthusiastic, and said to Mo Hua:

"If you have any questions about Foundation Establishment beyond this, ask me freely."

Mo Hua's expression brightened, but he still politely asked: "Won't I be disturbing you?"

Sister Situ waved her hand: "No problem—I've nothing better to do."

Mo Hua then didn't hold back—he asked every detail of Foundation Establishment, every concern he had, no matter how small.

Sister Situ, as a True Person of the Transformation realm and a senior elder, understood Foundation Establishment completely.

Mo Hua's inheritance was limited; most of his questions were basic—but Sister Situ still patiently, thoroughly answered them all…

She also told Mo Hua:

"Foundation Establishment depends not just on effort, but on Zhao Tianming…"

"Even so, perfecting every detail increases the probability of success by a fraction."

"Thus, this 'Zhao Tianming'—if understood well enough—can also be altered by human will…"

…

Mo Hua gained greatly.

He recalled overhearing Sister Situ and his uncle say that the Mystery Valley's Qiankun Qingguang Lamp was what helped his master lock karmic ties and extend his life.

The Xuanhuo Changming Array was also set up personally by Sister Situ, the True Person.

Without Sister Situ, my master might truly have had not even a thread of hope…

Mo Hua felt profound gratitude and bowed solemnly.

"Your kindness, Elder, Mo Hua will never forget!"

Sister Situ, seeing Mo Hua's young face so serious and earnest, couldn't help but smile faintly.

You're just a little kid in the Qi Refining realm—what use is your gratitude to me…

But he didn't say it aloud; suddenly, his heart gave a sharp pang.

Mo Hua bowed.

Sister Situ's heart trembled—he felt, as if in some unseen force, some karmic thread had begun to turn…

"Proof through Spiritual Awareness…"

"No way… could it really be that sinister?"

Sister Situ opened his mouth, then immediately changed his words:

"Good! Very good! Knowing gratitude—that's a good child!"

His face remained calm, but he bit down very heavily on the four words "knowing gratitude," afraid Mo Hua wouldn't hear clearly and forget him…

After that, whenever Mo Hua had a question, he went to ask Sister Situ.

Sister Situ answered each one.

Once his doubts were cleared and all the spiritual items and pills were ready, Mo Hua began his formal Foundation Establishment in a rented cave dwelling in Liyuan City.

This cave dwelling was large, very quiet, and extremely luxurious.

It was a cave dwelling Mo Hua could never afford.

This cave dwelling had been specially rented by Sister Situ for Mo Hua's Foundation Establishment.

Mo Hua felt a little embarrassed.

Sister Situ put on a stern face: "I am your elder, Lu Tangtang, the True Person of Liu Yuhua, Grand Elder of Xuanji Valley—this is a trivial matter, a mere gesture. Why are you being so formal with me?"

"Thank you, Elder!"

Mo Hua said with a smile, silently storing Sister Situ's kindness in his heart.

Sister Situ nodded in satisfaction and added:

"Foundation Establishment isn't complicated—just prepare well. If it goes smoothly, everything will follow naturally; if it doesn't, don't be discouraged—try again next time."

"For scion disciples, Foundation Establishment isn't hard—it's hard to forge a good Dao Foundation."

Mo Hua asked: "Will forging a good Dao Foundation produce signs?"

The idea of Foundation Establishment signs was something Mo Hua had heard from others.

They said that certain clans or sects had once-in-a-thousand-years geniuses whose Foundation Establishment summoned celestial phenomena—auspicious light filled the sky, dragons and phoenixes circled and sang, directly proving the Dao…

"It's not that exaggerated…" Sister Situ sighed. "These claims are fabricated by clans to flatter their own disciples—mostly empty show and mystification…"

"Foundation Establishment signs aren't that obvious, but they do exist."

"Generally speaking, if your Foundation Establishment is solid and your Dao Foundation complete, there truly will be some special signs…"

"Just focus on your Foundation Establishment—don't think about such nonsense…"

Sister Situ warned.

"Yes, I understand," Mo Hua nodded.

After that, Mo Hua began meditating inside the cave dwelling to establish his Foundation.

He calmed his mind, held his breath, focused his spirit, and proceeded step by step…

First, he took some pills to warm and nourish his meridians and activate his bones and sinews; then he burned incense to quiet his mind and spirit; once his body and mind were unified and his thoughts undisturbed, he began refining Spirit Stones.

As Foundation Establishment began, his Qi Sea surged wildly, like a great mouth devouring spiritual energy nonstop.

One by one, Spirit Stones were instantly refined.

Streams of spiritual energy flowed into his dantian Qi Sea.

Tens of thousands of Spirit Stones were consumed like water.

Mo Hua's spiritual power grew stronger with each Zhou Tian, and his Qi Sea slowly thickened…

Thanks to Sister Situ's guidance and Mo Hua's thorough preparation, the process went remarkably smoothly.

After an unknown length of time, his Qi Sea stabilized, and his spiritual power grew thick and viscous, like flowing mercury.

Spiritual energy condensed—spiritual power like mercury!

This was Foundation Establishment spiritual power!

Mo Hua opened his eyes, feeling the mist-like concentration of Qi in his Sea, its flow smooth as water, its depth heavy as mercury—he was overjoyed.

His spiritual power had finally achieved Foundation Establishment!

He was now, truly, a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

But Mo Hua knew this wasn't enough.

For him, true Foundation Establishment had only just begun…

He walked the path of "Proof through Spiritual Awareness"—the strengthening of his Spiritual Awareness was the core.

As his master had said, when a cultivator achieves Foundation Establishment, his spiritual power undergoes a qualitative transformation, and his Spiritual Awareness doubles.

His spiritual power had already transformed.

Next came the doubling of his Spiritual Awareness!

His current Spiritual Awareness, at fourteen-pattern Foundation Establishment mid-stage, might break through its limit and surge forward to reach the seventeen-pattern Foundation Establishment late-stage realm!

This was the true Dao Foundation Mo Hua sought to forge!

Mo Hua felt a touch of anxiety—but mostly anticipation.

Moments later, his mind sea trembled, and Mo Hua felt his fourteen-stripe consciousness rapidly growing!

As if from an endless Dao, boundless consciousness continuously sprouted; as Mo Hua gained sudden insight, his spiritual sense surged like a spring, endlessly flowing into his mind sea, strengthening his consciousness!

Mo Hua's mind sea also gradually expanded.

Enhanced consciousness inevitably accompanies the expansion of the mind sea.

Only with a vast mind sea can it hold more consciousness.

Mo Hua had not deeply felt this before, because his previous increases in consciousness had mostly been gradual, accumulated day by day.

But now, having broken through to Foundation Establishment, his consciousness had doubled, and he clearly sensed his mind sea rapidly expanding…

At the same time, the consciousness flowing into his mind sea also grew ever more abundant.

A hundred rivers flow into the sea…

Mo Hua's consciousness realm also slowly rose…

From fourteen stripes, it climbed to fifteen stripes.

Then it reached sixteen stripes.

Sixteen stripes was the peak of Foundation Establishment mid-stage consciousness…

After that, further growth in consciousness would hit the bottleneck of Foundation Establishment late-stage.

This bottleneck, too, was as deep as a chasm, impossible to overstep.

But Mo Hua's consciousness had an extremely solid foundation; after doubling, it surged like a river, ceaselessly pouring into the chasm, striking against the bottleneck.

Mo Hua's mind sea also faintly stung.

Yet he endured it, calming his mind in meditation, discarding distractions, and holding fast to his Dao heart.

He would prove the Dao through consciousness!

Finally, after who knew how long, Mo Hua's mind sea suddenly opened wide.

The bottleneck shattered, the chasm filled.

Torrents of consciousness poured into his mind sea, and Mo Hua's consciousness reached… seventeen stripes!

Seventeen stripes was Foundation Establishment late-stage consciousness.

And it was not yet done.

Mo Hua's consciousness continued to grow, climbing higher and higher, bit by bit, strand by strand, converging into a river, gathering sand into a tower…

Eventually, it stabilized at eighteen stripes!

Foundation Establishment late-stage, eighteen-stripe consciousness!

Mo Hua was stunned, then overjoyed, and let out a long breath of relief.

His master was right.

It really was possible… to prove the Dao through consciousness…

He had just entered Foundation Establishment, yet already possessed a full eighteen stripes of consciousness—only one step away from the nineteen stripes of Foundation Establishment perfection!

"I have finally not disappointed my master…"

Mo Hua's heart felt both joy and melancholy.

Eighteen stripes was already extremely strong!

Mo Hua nodded, and just as he was about to end his meditation and conclude his Foundation Establishment, his expression suddenly changed.

He sensed something was wrong.

A solemn, majestic Dao energy permeated his mind sea, as if he had committed some transgression, violating a "taboo" of the Dao…

When he had shattered the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array and slain Feng Xi, when the lightning had hovered above his head, he had felt this same sensation.

What taboo?

Was it because his consciousness was too strong?

Mo Hua was stunned, and before he could think further, he felt his consciousness brush against some barrier—as if… the boundary of Heaven's Dao.

The Dao seemed… unwilling to allow him such powerful consciousness…

Soon, Heaven's restriction descended; Mo Hua's expanding mind sea was suddenly compressed, as if squeezed by unseen force.

Mo Hua's head throbbed with unbearable pain, but what stunned him more was that his consciousness realm was plummeting rapidly.

From eighteen stripes, it dropped to seventeen stripes…

Then from seventeen stripes, it fell to sixteen stripes…

And still it did not stop…

Sixteen stripes, fifteen stripes… all the way down to his original fourteen stripes!

Mo Hua's heart turned cold.

But it wasn't over.

After the realm fell, came even more excruciating pain: his mind sea cracked, his consciousness shattered.

Mo Hua suddenly realized: though his mind sea had shrunk and his consciousness realm had dropped, the enhanced consciousness remained!

These consciousness strands, compressed by the shrinking mind sea, were squeezed to the extreme.

Thus, the mind sea, crushed by consciousness, gradually cracked; and the consciousness, crushed by the mind sea, gradually shattered…

What to do?!

In desperation, Mo Hua summoned quick wit: enduring the agony, he meditated to stabilize his spirit, discarded the pain, used Heavenly Mechanism Calculations to maintain his shattered consciousness, and simultaneously employed Heavenly Mechanism Deceit to accelerate its consumption.

But this could not go on…

He would eventually destroy his mind sea entirely, and his consciousness would vanish into ash!

At the critical moment, within Mo Hua's mind sea, vast, boundless, densely layered array patterns suddenly emerged.

These array patterns flickered between light and dark, appeared and vanished, coalescing into a single whole, as if branded into Mo Hua's mind sea—profound and mysterious.

Is this... the Mi Tian Great Array?!

Is this the bottleneck of the Tian Yan Jue?

Mo Hua froze.

As soon as the Mi Tian Great Array appeared, the divine senses—restricted by Heaven's Dao, squeezed by the mental sea, with nowhere to settle—began to coalesce, strand by strand, along the array's patterns.

One by one, layer by layer, within Mo Hua's mental sea, woven from his own divine sense, they retrace and reweave into a single form—

The Mi Tian Great Array!

Mo Hua was stunned, and slowly, a dawning understanding arose within him.

"This is... the secret of the Tian Yan Jue..."

"This is the true meaning of the Mi Tian Great Array—the very bottleneck of the Tian Yan Jue?"

"Reconstructing divine sense?"

"Reconstructing divine sense using the Mi Tian Great Array?!"

What kind of "heaven-crafting, devil-smithing" feat is this?

Mo Hua had never heard of such a thing—not even imagined it...

Heaven's restriction, the mental sea's contraction, the divine sense forced and shattered, yet automatically seeping into the previous Mi Tian Great Array's patterns, coalescing into an array, reconstructing the divine sense...

This was a passive process.

The only problem: reconstructing divine sense was excruciatingly painful...

And the Mi Tian Great Array was vast—generating it bit by bit was far too slow...

Mo Hua gritted his teeth and held on, but he was still young, and feared he could not endure it.

"I need a way..."

Mo Hua endured the pain, and his mind stirred.

Passive generation was too slow—then what if... he actively constructed the Mi Tian Great Array himself?

His senior uncle had unraveled this Mi Tian Great Array using Heavenly Mechanism Deception—so why not reverse the method, and now use Heavenly Mechanism Deception to reconstruct it anew?

The great array's scale would consume immense divine sense.

But in Mo Hua's mental sea, fourteen to eighteen lines' worth of divine sense remained—plentiful, nearly inexhaustible, with no fear of depletion.

And during construction, could he use Heavenly Mechanism Derivation to penetrate the very structure of the Mi Tian Great Array?

That would mean he was "learning by doing"—relearning the Mi Tian Great Array, with its myriad transformations and unfathomable profundity?!

The Mi Tian Great Array!

Mo Hua's heart leapt, then his eyes gleamed.

No time to waste—he immediately began, using his clumsy, unfamiliar grasp of Heavenly Mechanism Deception, attempting to divide his divine sense, pursuing multiple threads at once, accelerating the formation of the Mi Tian Great Array—and accelerating the reconstruction of his own divine sense!

At the same time, he drew while learning.

Using Heavenly Mechanism Derivation, he gradually deduced, contemplated, and penetrated the fundamental nature of the Mi Tian Great Array.

Within Mo Hua's mental sea, the grand, ancient, obscure, and mysterious Mi Tian Great Array formed passively—while simultaneously being actively constructed by Mo Hua...

Mo Hua's divine sense, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, was rapidly consumed.

The pain in his mental sea, like spring rain melting frost, gradually eased.

Yet Mo Hua's divine sense was undergoing a miraculous transformation, step by step...

After an unknown length of time, the Mi Tian Great Array completed—and then slowly dissolved, merging into Mo Hua's mental sea, vanishing from sight.

Mo Hua opened his eyes.

He found his mental sea still remained at the Fourteen-Line realm.

But within it, mist and clouds swirled, hazy and indistinct.

Mo Hua activated his divine sense—and discovered it had become extraordinarily condensed, like mist, as if compressed by the mental sea and reconstructed by the Mi Tian Array, undergoing...

A qualitative change?

A qualitative change in divine sense?!

Mo Hua was utterly stunned; after a moment of contemplation, a sudden awakening pierced his mind.

The true power of the Tian Yan Jue lay in... causing a qualitative change in divine sense?!

Qualitative change in divine thought—solid foundation, naturally sharp control.

Divine sense manipulation was merely incidental.

The Mi Tian Great Array, though seemingly a bottleneck, was in essence the key to reconstructing divine sense and achieving qualitative change!

Qualitative change in divine sense...

Mo Hua looked at his small hands.

Divine thought was intangible; no matter how solidified, it still appeared as a mere phantom.

Yet now, the small hand he manifested—hazy, veiled in mist—seemed to carry a faint trace of... blood... that had solidified.

"This is... qualitative change in divine sense..."

Mo Hua stood frozen, lost in thought.

His divine sense was now utterly different.

And thus, he had laid the foundation for the supreme divine sense Dao!

Outside Mo Hua's Foundation Establishment cave, Sister Situ was puzzled.

"What's going on..."

Just now, he had sensed a surge of divine sense—weak to him, yet excessive for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

This confirmed his hypothesis: "Divine Sense as the Dao Path."

But for some unknown reason, that fluctuation quickly receded, was swallowed up, and vanished without a trace…

Mo Hua's divine sense aura didn't seem to have grown at all.

"Did it fail?"

Sister Situ furrowed her brow.

So he waited outside and waited…

After who knows how long, Mo Hua came out, his steps light and quick, even a little… bouncing along?

Clearly in a very good mood…

Sister Situ couldn't help but ask, "Did you reach Foundation Establishment?"

"Mm!" Mo Hua nodded with a smile.

Sister Situ fixed her gaze and sized Mo Hua up.

His aura had indeed condensed quite a bit…

But his spiritual power was so-so, and his blood qi was pitifully weak…

As for his divine sense, she couldn't probe it clearly, but the feeling it gave her seemed no different from his divine sense realm before Foundation Establishment…

Just like this… and he reached Foundation Establishment?

And besides…

"Why isn't there even a single phenomenon…"

Sister Situ was somewhat baffled.

Proving the Dao through divine sense—no matter what, there should be something, even a little would do, and she could have glimpsed some clue from it.

But it seemed there really wasn't a single bit.

Sister Situ shook her head, unable to quite make it out.

Yet Mo Hua was about to take his leave of Sister Situ:

"For all these days, thank you, Senior, for your guidance. I've been away from home a long time, and I'll be heading back tomorrow…"

Sister Situ nodded and said, "A trivial effort, don't mention it."

But she still urged him, "The Dao is long and endless. In the future, if you pass by Mysterious Mechanism Valley, remember to send a visiting card, so I can host you properly and show you around the heritage of our Mysterious Mechanism Valley…"

Mo Hua beamed and said, "Definitely!"

The two chatted on about this and that for quite a while.

The next day, Mo Hua set off to leave, a small figure walking along the great road, waving to Sister Situ from afar.

Sister Situ watched Mo Hua's figure and, quite suddenly, felt a bit reluctant. She couldn't help lingering a while longer, seeing Mo Hua off into the distance.

Mo Hua walked alone along the great road. Though his figure was small, his Dao heart was firm, fearless of anything, charging straight ahead.

Sister Situ said silently in her heart:

"I hope you, child, have boundless prospects on the Dao!"

"If fate allows, we'll meet again…"

……

After seeing Mo Hua off, Sister Situ, too, should return to Mysterious Mechanism Valley.

But before leaving, something still nagged at her heart.

"How could it be… not a single phenomenon?"

"Did I misread it?"

She hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked into the cave dwelling where Mo Hua had reached Foundation Establishment.

Inside the cave dwelling, the furnishings were splendid.

Spirit-wood tables and chairs, auspicious-cloud screens, spirit-embroidered porcelain… everything one could want, but all just as before, no different from before.

"That's not right…"

Sister Situ swept her divine sense over the place and suddenly froze.

She reached out and lightly touched that piece of spirit porcelain, ornamented with patterns of blue from spirit stone and red from vermilion copper.

The instant she touched it, the porcelain shattered.

At the same time, cracks appeared in all the bricks, stones, and furnishings around her, and their insides had long since turned to fine powder!

There was no trace of blood qi.

There was no force of external strength.

There was no lingering spiritual power.

Then that meant… divine sense?

These bricks and stones, these porcelains and wares—had they been ground to dust by divine sense unconsciously overflowing?

Sister Situ drew in a sharp breath.

Divine sense… grinding to dust…

What on earth kind of foundation did this little cultivator build?!

……

At this very moment, in an unnamed, void-like place.

Wraiths shrieked, and eerie qi permeated the air.

Remnant souls carpeted the ground, weaving together a colossal, heaven-shaking net.

This giant net blotted out the sky and the earth, like a monstrous, sinister grand array filling the heavens, containing endless uncanny Dao algorithms and an aura of deathly stillness that annihilated all.

At this very moment, a terrifying black shadow opened its eyes.

In those eyes, there was nothing but pitch-black darkness.

As if countless sinister array runes had solidified in his eyes.

"I've obtained the Return to the Void Heavenly Burial…"

"But my Dao-heart seed of demons… has lost… a thread of its origin…"

"Who… erased it…?"

"Or was it… eaten…?"

He did not speak, yet countless yin spirits seemed to speak for him.

A jumble of voices intertwined, indistinguishable in gender, eerie and unfathomable, with piercing, shrill tones that harmed the spiritual sense.

"Demon god… or heavenly demon… dare you eat… my demonic thoughts?"

The shadow pinched his fingers in calculation; a void Dao robe surfaced on his body, densely covered in swirling sinister patterns.

A name emerged…

"Mo… Hua…"

"…Who is that?"

The shadow's pitch-black gaze hardened; he calculated again, but the heavenly fate was obscured, veiled in clouds and mist, blurred and indistinct.

"Is it… my younger brother…?"

"But you… are already dead… you cannot hide it anymore…"

The shadow's gaze turned fierce; countless yin spirits around him, writhing in terror, were swallowed by the void Dao robe and turned to ash, while the sinister heavenly calculation deepened further.

Faintly, he was about to see a small human face…

At that moment, a corpse king whose aura had twisted and corrupted leapt out from the obscure web of cause and effect, its eyes blood-red, its face cruel, and it bit the shadow hard.

That bite swallowed countless yin spirits and severed the karmic thread.

The shadow froze, a flicker of disbelief.

"Is this… my cultivated Dao-tribulation?"

"It… is biting me?"

This corpse king, hidden within the obscure web of cause and effect, seemed both to "protect its master" and to "protect its food."

It would not allow anyone to covet its "master," nor anyone to covet its "food."

A flicker of malice surfaced in the shadow's eyes, then gradually faded.

A Dao-tribulation is a thing born of the Dao's corruption.

It both aligns with and opposes the Dao.

Hidden within cause and effect, it is perilous and unfathomable.

This Dao-tribulation, cultivated by himself, cannot yet be killed…

The shadow fell silent; the heavens grew deathly still. Then his sinister patterns vanished, he retracted the Dao robe, and returned to normal.

"We will meet again…"

His pitch-black pupils, mottled with sinister patterns, flickered between light and dark.

In the void realm, countless yin spirits, grotesque and wailing, shouted together the name whose cause and effect was unknown:

"Mo Hua."

—

(The Cloud-Wandering Volume ends)

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