Chapter 643

Mo Hua was slightly surprised. "You remember me?"

Jia Ren's eyes blazed with fury as he gritted his teeth.

"You little devil who deserves a thousand deaths—I'd recognize you even if you were reduced to ash…"

Gu Changhuai, beside him, was also taken aback and asked Mo Hua:

"What did you do to him? Why does he hate you so much?"

This Jia Ren had originally seemed like a hardened criminal, indifferent to life or death—yet after seeing Mo Hua, he erupted as if he'd been tossed into a vat of boiling oil.

Mo Hua frowned in confusion. "I don't know either…"

He thought back:

"That mission—Elder Murong and Brother Feng were the ones who captured him. I just tagged along, lent a tiny, insignificant hand. I don't know why he hates me so much…"

"Probably because he's a bully who picks on the weak. He couldn't fight back against Brother Feng and Elder Murong, so he targeted me because I'm young and low in cultivation…"

Gu Changhuai looked unconvinced.

Upon hearing this, Jia Ren spat out a mouthful of blood. "You—you—"

But seeing his "enemy," he was so enraged his head spun and he couldn't speak.

Mo Hua, however, showed no mercy—he dropped the "iron plate" onto the ground and ordered:

"Kneel…"

The moment the words left his mouth, Mo Hua froze—he suddenly remembered.

Wasn't this very Jia Ren the first "victim" of this iron plate?

Back then, his body had still been that of a giant man.

Unfortunately, back then, Mo Hua's skills were crude, and the iron plate was poorly made.

So when Jia Ren knelt on the iron plate then, he clenched his teeth and said not a word.

When Mo Hua asked him, "Does it hurt?" he'd stared at Mo Hua with eyes blazing like fire—yet still refused to speak.

Mo Hua remembered it clearly.

From that moment on, Mo Hua vowed to "improve" the iron plate, iterating and optimizing it again and again.

He aimed to ensure every criminal kneeling on it would eventually "confess and be treated leniently," speaking the truth.

And now, the opportunity had returned—the fated moment had come again…

Mo Hua's eyes lit up. "Hurry up—kneel again…"

"Since the last time you knelt on this plate, I've revised the array dozens of times—made many improvements…"

"Kneel on it again now—see if there's any difference from your first time."

"How does it feel?"

"Do you feel an urge to tell the truth?"

Mo Hua's tone held curiosity, a touch of innocence, and genuine sincerity.

There was not a trace of mockery.

But Jia Ren's eyes were already streaked with bloodshot veins.

Gu Changhuai sighed—he immediately understood why Jia Ren hated Mo Hua so much.

As if he bore a grudge for the murder of his father, he longed to devour Mo Hua alive.

He even understood it.

This little brat could sometimes drive a person to madness.

Yet Gu Changhuai was also curious—just how effective was this "iron plate"?

So he gripped Jia Ren's shoulders, ignored his struggles, and forced him down onto Mo Hua's "iron plate."

The array on the iron plate activated instantly.

Mo Hua's latest array revision had returned to simplicity—he'd abandoned the Eight Trigrams entirely, relying solely on the Five Elements array, using their mutual generation and restraint cycles to construct a complex array.

It resembled the basic "killing array" principle of the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array.

But it was much smaller in scale.

And its purpose wasn't to kill—it was to use the Five Elements' cycles to imbue gold, wood, water, fire, and earth with distinct forms of spiritual pain.

Gold needles, wood poison, water torture, fire burn, earth suffocation.

The Five Elements deepened, pain cycling endlessly.

To avoid the flaws of excessive rigidity leading to collapse or unbearable pain causing unconsciousness, this Five Elements punishment array delivered milder sensations.

It employed the method of slow, dull blades cutting flesh.

First, a few shallow cuts—then gradually increasing the pain, wearing down the criminal's will until his mental defenses shattered and he confessed…

Thinking of this, Mo Hua sighed.

He was, after all, a kind-hearted cultivator.

But these criminals—each worse than the last, each more stubborn than the next.

Forced him, helplessly, to study such punishment arrays.

He was truly not acting of his own free will…

Mo Hua sighed inwardly.

Then his gaze sharpened as he watched Jia Ren's reaction.

As soon as Jia Ren knelt, though his face was filled with rage, his expression remained calm—he even seemed slightly contemptuous, glaring at Mo Hua and letting out a cold snort.

As if to say: "Is this all?"

"This is your improvement?"

The more you improve, the worse it gets.

But soon, his expression changed.

Because the pain gradually intensified, and the Five Elements Array cycled through layers, delivering a rich, intricate torment that never ceased to ravage his flesh.

And bit by bit, it eroded his will.

After just a moment, Jia Ren's face turned deathly pale.

It was like drinking aged liquor.

Smooth on the tongue, but with an unexpectedly fierce afterburn.

A shuddering pain surged straight to the crown of his head.

Jia Ren's face twisted, his whole body trembling like a sieve.

Yet the pain hovered at the edge of endurance, preventing him from fainting—forcing him to drown in the ocean of agony, struggling helplessly…

Gu Changhuai, beside him, watched with twitching eyelids.

Dao Ting Si's "tortures" were not unheard of.

He had used all manner of instruments of punishment.

But never had he seen such a torture—so gentle, yet so cruel, so ingeniously devised…

This child Mo Hua, looking so innocent, but his mind is full of wickedness…

"How does it feel?"

Mo Hua asked, his voice crisp.

As if he had cooked a dish and was asking for feedback on the flavor…

"Brat, one day I'll kill you—ah—"

Jia Ren couldn't help but let out a hoarse scream.

Mo Hua's face showed pity. "If you don't speak, the pain will only grow worse…"

Then he silently increased the spiritual energy supply to the "Iron Plate" array…

Jia Ren's features contorted.

After an indeterminate time, under the dual torment of the Iron Plate's pain and Mo Hua's psychological anguish, Jia Ren's Dao heart finally shattered.

Jia Ren's voice trembled, resigned:

"I… I'll speak! I'll speak…"

He could die and be done with it, but he could not endure this torment and agony.

Mo Hua's expression brightened.

Jia Ren's willingness to speak proved that his recent optimizations and improvements to the "Iron Plate" had been highly effective.

And he had gained the approval of his first test subject!

Gu Changhuai lifted Jia Ren up, and Mo Hua asked him the same questions again.

"Where is Huo Fotuo?"

"Why did you exterminate the Xie family?"

Jia Ren, sweating profusely, gritted his teeth: "I can't tell you these things…"

Mo Hua's face hardened. "Are you playing me?"

Jia Ren felt cold sweat pour down his back, his knees aching—he hurriedly said: "No, I dare not…"

He swallowed hard. "I can't say these things out loud…"

Mo Hua frowned. "What do you mean?"

Gu Changhuai's gaze sharpened. "A tongue-sealing spell…"

Mo Hua looked puzzled. "A tongue-sealing spell?"

Gu Changhuai said: "It's a sinister technique, cast through spiritual incantations, that forbids a cultivator from uttering certain specific words. Violate it, and the spell backlashes—damaging the throat, even the spiritual core…"

"So such a technique exists…"

Mo Hua was startled, then his mind turned.

"What if he writes it down?"

The spell seals speech—it doesn't say anything about writing.

Gu Changhuai shook his head. "Writing won't work either…"

"If it were that easy to exploit, wouldn't the technique be stupid?"

"The purpose of a tongue-sealing spell is to ensure the cultivator keeps the secret—no speaking, no writing, nothing."

Mo Hua nodded. "That's true…"

Then they could only probe indirectly, asking around the edges.

Nothing related to "Huo Fotuo," "Xie family," or "extermination."

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then asked Jia Ren:

"Where did you hide your true storage bag?"

Jia Ren froze, his eyes trembling with shock.

Gu Changhuai was also taken aback.

Seeing Jia Ren reluctant to answer, Mo Hua's gaze grew increasingly dangerous.

Jia Ren's expression darkened, and finally he sighed: "In Bishan City, at the rouge shop, behind the secret chamber, third hidden compartment…"

"Rouge shop, secret chamber, hidden compartment…"

Mo Hua silently memorized it, and as he turned his head, he caught a flicker of cold malice in Jia Ren's eyes.

That flicker vanished instantly.

He was once again a picture of fearful submission.

Mo Hua sneered inwardly.

"Playing such petty tricks before me…"

Soon, several Dao Ting Si enforcers arrived.

They were not enforcers from Bishan City, but from Qianxue Prefecture.

And they were not ordinary enforcers—they all bore the Gu surname.

The Gu family was only a fourth-rank clan, but their status in Qianxue Prefecture was far from low, for generations of Gu disciples had served in the Dao Ting Si.

Their students, former subordinates, and old friends spread throughout Qian Prefecture.

Though Gu Changhuai had a bad temper, he had grown up in a Dao Ting Si family, steeped in its ways, and his investigative skills were exceptional; with his family's backing, his prestige within the Dao Ting Si was high.

The matter of Huo Fotuo was extremely secret.

Gu Changhuai was not yet ready to trust other enforcers with it—he trusted only his own Gu family members.

These enforcers approached Gu Changhuai and bowed respectfully.

"Young Master."

Gu Changhuai gave a slight nod and pointed at Jia Ren. "Watch this man. Don't let him run, and don't let him die."

"Yes!"

The Gu family enforcers bowed and accepted the order.

Gu Changhuai nodded, then returned with Mo Hua to the rouge shop in Bishan City.

Both released their spiritual senses to confirm no one was monitoring them, then stepped inside.

Inside the rouge shop, the furnishings were neat but sparse.

The air was thick with the scent of rouge, but after so long, it carried a strange odor.

Behind a screen in the back of the shop lay a hidden chamber.

Though concealed, it could not hide from Gu Changhuai and Mo Hua.

Gu Changhuai was a Jin Dan cultivator and Dao Ting Si Diansi, with profound cultivation and rich experience.

Mo Hua's spiritual sense was powerful, he excelled in arrays, and he was especially adept at finding hidden chambers.

But above the hidden chamber lay an array.

It appeared to be a second-rank array, used to seal the chamber door.

The array was not sophisticated, but it likely hid some tricks.

Gu Changhuai, skilled in criminal investigation but not in arrays, hesitated—should he call more Dao Ting Si array masters to examine whether these arrays concealed traps?

Yet in the blink of an eye, he saw Mo Hua pull out a brush, dip it in ink, and begin drawing strange array patterns on the outside of the hidden chamber.

Then, five-colored patterns flared suddenly across the chamber door, then faded one by one.

The sealing array had been undone.

The chamber door opened.

The technique was too fast, too practiced…

He hadn't even properly seen what Mo Hua had drawn…

Gu Changhuai stared at Mo Hua in shock. "You can also dispel arrays?"

Mo Hua nodded. "This one's simple."

Dispersing arrays—he had been learning since his Qi Condensation stage, used them often, and was thoroughly proficient.

And to remain discreet, he hadn't used his spiritual sense to guide the ink—he had carefully, painstakingly, drawn each line with the brush dipped in ink.

Otherwise, a single fingertip would have undone the array…

In front of Uncle Gu, that would have been too showy.

After dispelling the array, the chamber door stood open, dark within.

Mo Hua thought: "Uncle Gu, you go in first?"

Though it was a hidden chamber, in Bishan City, it was unlikely to hold any danger.

Huo Fotuo's many followers couldn't possibly be hiding inside.

But to be safe, Mo Hua still refrained from rushing in.

If the sky fell, Uncle Gu—the "big man"—would hold it up; there was no need for a lowly cultivator like him to risk himself.

Gu Changhuai nodded and stepped into the chamber.

After ten breaths, seeing no anomaly inside, Mo Hua followed.

As soon as he entered, Mo Hua looked up and saw Gu Changhuai standing in the center of the chamber, his expression solemn.

Mo Hua glanced around and saw the spacious chamber was cluttered with countless storage bags.

Some storage bags had already been opened.

Others were piled in the corner.

Around them lay bloodstained spiritual artifacts, and miscellaneous spiritual items seemingly looted from the Xie family.

It looked as though, after rummaging through them, they had bundled the "useless" items into storage bags, preparing to discard them.

This Jia Ren was doing the dirty work of cleanup.

He excelled at disguise and was best suited for such concealment tasks.

There was indeed a secret compartment in the chamber.

The area around the compartment showed no abnormality, but it must have been sealed with an array…

Gu Changhuai hesitated, wondering whether to summon more Dao Ting Si array masters.

But when he glanced at Mo Hua, calm beside him, he gradually abandoned the thought.

"What kind of array is this?"

Gu Changhuai asked Mo Hua.

Mo Hua was slightly surprised.

This was the first time Gu Changhuai had ever asked him a question about formations.

Mo Hua released his spiritual sense, examined the hidden compartment's structure several times, performed a few minor calculations, then said carefully:

"This is a second-rank, fourteen-stroke Earth-Sealing Formation, sealing the object inside and blending it with the earth and stone's qi, making it hard for cultivators to detect…"

"The Earth-Sealing Formation is normal."

"What's abnormal is that inside, there's faintly embedded another Magnetic Formation…"

"These hidden compartments all serve as formation mediums for the Magnetic Formation—they're also a kind of formation 'mechanism'…"

"If opened with incorrect technique, it will trigger the Magnetic Formation, transmitting information through subtle magnetic currents…"

"This message is probably…"

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said slowly: "To alert certain people that the hidden compartment has been discovered by an outsider, so they can be more cautious…"

This was exactly what Jia Ren had in mind.

Facing death, he still wanted to send word.

Gu Changhuai's expression remained calm, but his heart trembled involuntarily.

Just by looking, ordinary-looking hidden compartments could reveal so much…

So this is what a true formation master is like…

Seeing the minute reveals the grand.

Observing a single leaf, one can see the seasons.

After finishing, Mo Hua turned to Gu Changhuai and asked, "Uncle Gu, am I right?"

Gu Changhuai mumbled, "Hmm…"

He felt inexplicably guilty.

Now came the task of retrieving the contents inside the hidden compartment.

Seeing Gu Changhuai didn't object, Mo Hua took action himself.

He followed the old method: first, with extreme care, he used a formation brush to draw formation lines and dismantled the second-rank "Earth-Sealing Formation."

Then, cautiously avoiding all Magnetic Formation "mechanisms," he extracted a storage pouch from the hidden compartment.

Like a small mouse silently stealing "fat meat" from a trap.

Mo Hua handed the storage pouch to Gu Changhuai.

Gu Changhuai hadn't expected it to be this simple; he sighed helplessly, opened the pouch, and examined its contents one by one.

Inside were many spirit stones.

There was a scroll of cultivation technique titled "Blood and Flesh Transformation Art."

It was a heretical cultivation art; after practicing it, the cultivator would abandon their original appearance, transforming their entire body into blood and flesh, freely changing shape and disguise.

But during this process, the cultivator's self-identity would gradually become chaotic.

Slowly, they would forget whether they were male or female, tall or short, fat or thin—even whether they were "human" at all.

Once their blood and flesh lost control, it would twist and deform.

They must drink human blood to maintain human form.

Mo Hua glanced at it a few times, shook his head with a clicking sound.

He had originally wanted to learn this "disguise technique," but now, seeing how heretical this art was, he realized he couldn't learn it.

What if, after learning it, his parents, his master, his junior brothers and sisters couldn't recognize him anymore?

Besides, he'd have to drink human blood…

He wouldn't drink it.

Besides the "Blood and Flesh Transformation Art," there were a few other heretical techniques—though strange, they held nothing special.

Finally, there was a jade slip.

Mo Hua recognized this jade slip at a glance.

"It's a Message Token!"

Gu Changhuai's gaze sharpened instantly.

Jia Ren hadn't carried this Message Token on his person; before his downfall, he didn't know he was being watched, so its contents were likely untouched.

And this Message Token might contain clues to Huo Fotuo's hiding place!

Gu Changhuai focused his gaze—and froze.

Inside the Message Token was a blank, white expanse—not a single character.

"This is…" Gu Changhuai frowned.

"Sealed?" Mo Hua said beside him.

Gu Changhuai looked at Mo Hua, his expression numb:

"You don't mean… you can also unseal it?"

"Sort of," Mo Hua nodded. "I know a little…"

"How do you unseal it…?"

When it came to formation principles, Mo Hua came alive.

Unsealing and decrypting—he had studied it for a long time, and now he could finally show off.

"The principle of sealing is built upon the magnetic line principles of the Magnetic Formation…"

"Fixed magnetic lines, through some agreement, adapt to variable magnetic lines; this agreement itself is a magnetic current, and once the magnetic current flows, it generates secondary thunder lines…"

"So unsealing means finding the secondary thunder lines that serve as the seal lines, then using them to act in reverse upon the variable magnetic lines, dispelling the 'magnetic ink mist,' thereby breaking the seal and restoring the obscured text…"

……

Gu Changhuai's entire body went numb.

He felt he understood every single word, but when strung together, he understood nothing at all.

Mo Hua's voice was crisp and orderly, yet the things he said were deeply confusing.

All this talk of "magnetic fields" and "patterns" flowed in like magnetic currents, densely packed, entering his left ear and exiting his right.

He remembered nothing; his mind was like a field buried under heavy snow—blank, white, utterly bewildered.

"The principle is more or less like this…"

Mo Hua finished and asked Gu Changhuai: "Uncle Gu, did you understand…?"

Gu Changhuai paused, then forced himself to remain calm and said:

"Mm, I understand…"

In front of Mo Hua, he could only pretend he understood.

Though in truth, he understood not one bit…

Afraid Mo Hua would go on, Gu Changhuai quickly said:

"There's no time to waste—let's first break the 'sealing patterns' on the jade slip…"

"We must catch the Fire Buddha…"

"Mm-hmm." Mo Hua nodded vigorously.

For some reason, Gu Changhuai silently exhaled a breath of relief.

Then he saw Mo Hua, intensely focused, gazing at the jade slip while continuously sketching strange, bizarre array patterns on paper, occasionally muttering under his breath…

"This isn't…"

"Not it…"

"It's somewhat like…"

"Not it…"

……

Mo Hua's face was utterly absorbed; within his eyes, light swirled like stars.

Gu Changhuai's gaze trembled; he involuntarily slowed his breathing, afraid of disturbing Mo Hua.

After an unknown length of time, a flash of light passed through Mo Hua's eyes.

"Unlocked!"

Gu Changhuai was inwardly startled, yet also found it hard to believe.

"What does it say inside?"

Mo Hua sank his spiritual awareness into the jade slip.

Inside the jade slip, it was empty—only eight characters remained:

"Bishan Demon Cave, Celestial Realm Beyond Heaven."

(End of Chapter)