Chapter 654: Divine Seat (Bonus Chapter for Ally Yumu the Great!)

The altar was ancient and majestic, yet carried a hint of malevolence.

A jade path led straight up to the altar.

On either side of the path knelt two rows of demonic statues, their faces grotesque yet filled with devotion.

Yet atop the altar—there was nothing…

No candlestands, no lanterns, no offerings, no objects of veneration.

Only a lavish, ornate offering table.

Upon the table stood a smaller pedestal, equally empty.

Either the altar was never completed, never furnished with offerings.

Or Huo Fotuo knew his scheme had been exposed, so he removed the offerings, destroyed the tributes, and erased all traces.

"This Huo Fotuo… is far too cautious…"

Mo Hua muttered under his breath.

"And so stingy…"

He rummaged around again, finding only the immovable rock formations and demonic statues—everything else was gone.

Spotless, as if licked clean by a dog…

Mo Hua felt deflated.

This Huo Fotuo was truly miserly—he hadn't left so much as a single thing behind…

No spirit stones, no spirit artifacts, no Fallen Fire Technique scrolls.

Not even anything to "eat"…

He'd broken into a house and found nothing.

Mo Hua sighed.

This grand altar had nothing to steal…

"What should I do now?"

Going back felt unsatisfying.

Mo Hua frowned.

He turned back to glance once more at the altar.

The altar gave him a strange sense of familiarity.

Mo Hua circled it twice, then, on impulse, leapt onto the altar and sat down upon the pedestal, as if it were his rightful throne.

In a daze, an ancient, sacred aura descended upon him.

A faint golden glimmer flashed in Mo Hua's eyes, unseen by any.

The altar shone with solemn grandeur.

Small in stature, Mo Hua sat upon it.

Before him stretched a jade-paved avenue, flanked by snarling demons bowed in submission.

The bronze labyrinth, the primal mountain array.

A mystery within a mystery, an array within an array—endless divine mysteries converged at the altar's center, "offering" Mo Hua's sacred seat.

Mo Hua blinked in confusion.

He felt his spiritual awareness was somehow different.

But he couldn't say exactly how…

Mo Hua looked down.

This altar clearly belonged to someone else—yet in his daze, he felt as if it had been built for him alone.

He sat upon the pedestal, utterly at ease.

His spiritual awareness felt serene, even a little hungry—for offerings…

"Offerings…"

Mo Hua looked around.

Nothing…

Not a single offering to be found.

The altar stood bare, utterly empty.

Mo Hua sighed again.

His stomach growled, but there was nothing to eat.

Suddenly, he understood the loneliness and despair of his "good friend" Huang Shanjun—the destitute mountain spirit in the ruined temple, with no incense, no offerings, drinking rainwater leaking through the roof and eating stale buns from who-knew-where.

"I should bring some wine and meat someday and visit Huang Shanjun at that ruined temple…"

A fallen mountain spirit, with no one to visit—how pitiful.

Mo Hua mused over Huang Shanjun's plight, without caring whether Huang Shanjun even wanted to see him.

"Since there are no offerings on the altar, forget it…"

Mo Hua didn't linger—he rose and leapt down from the altar.

Yet as he jumped down, Mo Hua suddenly froze.

"Offerings…"

Why did I just think of offerings?

And…

What exactly are my offerings?

He glanced at the two rows of bowed demonic statues, then back at the empty pedestal—his expression darkened in thought, then he recoiled in shock at his own realization.

Mo Hua quickly shook his head, burying those impolite thoughts deep in his heart.

Right now, the most important thing is Huo Fotuo's Meteor Fire Art!

If I don't steal it now, this powerful forbidden art will forever be out of my reach.

My goal of improving the forbidden art will be ruined.

"Where exactly is the Meteor Fire Art scripture…"

Mo Hua attempted to use Heaven's Mechanism Deception, blending it with Heaven's Mechanism Derivation, to deduce the altar.

But within the altar, some ancient aura seemed to have obscured the heavenly patterns and causal threads—Mo Hua deduced nothing.

"Heaven's Mechanism Derivation won't work…"

Mo Hua felt a pang of regret, then immediately realized it wasn't that Heaven's Mechanism Derivation failed—it was his own ability that was insufficient.

He couldn't trace the causal thread of the Meteor Fire Art.

But Mo Hua had a gut feeling: the Meteor Fire Art was hidden somewhere within the altar.

"Where could it be hidden?"

Mo Hua frowned.

He leapt back onto the altar and began meticulously searching—from the corners of the table, its edges, its rim, all the way up to the offering platform.

Mo Hua checked everywhere, but found not a single trace of any array.

At that moment, Mo Hua heard a loud "Boom—" from outside.

It seemed some shocking change had occurred within the hall.

Mo Hua froze for a moment.

"Has a victor been decided?"

"Or have Huo Fotuo and the others set another trap?"

While Mo Hua was still puzzled, the entrance to the altar opened, and a powerful, scorching spiritual energy surged forth.

This aura was thick with malevolent energy.

Mo Hua's expression changed.

Huo Fotuo!

He's back!

Mo Hua immediately activated the Five Elements Concealment Technique, then skillfully flipped behind the altar and climbed to the top of a massive demonic statue, using it to hide his form.

Moments later, Huo Fotuo returned, his robe torn, his face pale.

His arms were covered in bloody gashes torn by wind blades.

His aura had weakened considerably; the two flame hearts in his chest flickered faintly, showing signs of overexertion.

"Fuck Gu Changhuai!"

"One day, I'll peel your skin, burn your blood dry, and turn your flesh to ash to quench my hatred!"

"Damn it…"

…

As Huo Fotuo walked toward the altar, he cursed continuously.

With no one around, his fury overwhelmed him—he no longer cared for decorum or wore the false facade of Buddhist piety; his words were crude.

But instantly, the malevolent energy on his body intensified.

Huo Fotuo trembled all over, unable to suppress the violent malevolence within—his lips turned white, his breath chaotic, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins.

He could only stop, sit cross-legged on the spot, clasp his hands, and chant, "Amitabha."

"The Buddha is compassionate, deliver me from suffering…"

"All worldly things are empty; beings cycle through birth and death…"

"Even if one has killed countless lives, laying down the butcher's knife brings redemption…"

…

After repeating this self-hypnosis several times, Huo Fotuo finally calmed his mind, drawing the malevolent energy back into his body, his face expressionless.

He slowly rose again and continued toward the altar.

Arriving before the altar, Huo Fotuo knelt respectfully.

"The great undertaking remains incomplete, undone at the final step—please, Lord, forgive my sin…"

"Ignorant, deluded fools, unaware of the world's truth, have ruined the Sacred Hall's grand work…"

"They will pay the price…"

"But before that, this place shall be sealed away; someday, when it reappears, it shall again offer tribute to the Lord…"

"Lord, forgive my sin…"

Huo Fotuo bowed his head again.

Mo Hua listened silently behind, his brow tightly furrowed.

Why "Lord"?

Who is this "Lord"?

He had thought this was the altar of the "Lord of Dahuang."

Because he only knew one evil deity: the Lord of Dahuang.

Is this "Lord" another name for the "Lord of Dahuang"?

Or is he some other heavenly demon?

As Mo Hua was still puzzling over this, he suddenly saw Huo Fotuo lowering his head, rummaging through the ground.

After a moment, he tapped his fingers against a stone tile on the floor.

A faint glow flashed from the brick, and in Huo Fotuo's hand appeared a thick, ancient book.

Mo Hua stared in shock.

The Secret Scripture of Meteor Fire!

That ordinary-looking brick was a storage space?

Mo Hua's heart turned bitter.

I was careless!

How did I not think of this?

He had assumed Huo Fotuo would seal his belongings with an array.

But he never imagined Huo Fotuo would simply use a single storage brick to hide his secret scripture.

Mo Hua was helpless.

He had been undone by his own mastery of arrays.

He always thought to solve everything with arrays.

He never considered the difficulties of cultivators who didn't understand arrays.

Those who swim well drown; those skilled in arrays also make one mistake.

Mo Hua silently vowed to take this as a warning.

Before Mo Hua's eyes, Huo Fotuo unfolded the Meteor Fire Secret Scripture; its pages were densely filled with technique essentials, accompanied by detailed illustrations.

Mo Hua stared, envious.

Too bad it was only a fleeting glance—he couldn't make out a single word on the scripture.

Mo Hua was desperate.

This emotional fluctuation was instantly sensed by Huo Fotuo.

He was naturally suspicious and cultivated murderous qi, making him acutely sensitive to human emotions.

"Who?!"

Huo Fotuo exclaimed.

Mo Hua immediately pulled his head down, held his breath, and stilled his spirit.

Huo Fotuo stood up, extended his spiritual sense, and searched everywhere around the altar.

Mo Hua was initially worried, but after a moment, seeing no movement from Huo Fotuo—not even a sweep of spiritual sense near him—he grew suspicious.

Mo Hua stole a glance and saw Huo Fotuo's face dark with murderous qi, searching everywhere.

Yet he dared not approach within a zhang of the altar, only pacing back and forth beyond it.

As if the altar were an absolute forbidden zone.

Not only could no one step on it—even looking at it, or probing it with spiritual sense, was forbidden…

Mo Hua muttered to himself:

"This Huo Fotuo… is he really this afraid?"

"It's just an altar—I've sat on it and nothing happened…"

Mo Hua thought again and came up with an excuse for Huo Fotuo.

Huo Fotuo was part of the demonic cultivator 'system' and had to bow to the 'Lord's' authority.

He himself was not a demonic cultivator—he was outside the system—so he didn't need to obey these hierarchies…

Huo Fotuo searched for a while and found nothing.

Mo Hua's hands and feet were clean.

Moreover, key items around the altar had already been destroyed; there was nothing left to leave traces.

Huo Fotuo frowned.

"The murderous qi is chaotic, so suspicion has grown stronger…"

"Of course…"

Huo Fotuo murmured, "This is the Lord's altar—no outsider could have touched it, nor would it allow any desecration…"

"Of course…"

Huo Fotuo gradually calmed his emotions.

He closed the Meteor Fire Secret Scripture, intending to tuck it into his robe, but after thinking, he placed it instead into the storage floor tile beneath him.

Fighting was inevitable soon.

Beneath the Lord's altar was the safest place.

Then Huo Fotuo sat down, took from his robe a crimson flesh pill, swallowed it, and slowly refined it.

His flesh slowly writhed and regenerated.

His aura also slowly grew stronger.

Mo Hua's heart tightened.

What kind of pill is this? Such a powerful recovery effect?

A demonic pill?

What if he regains his strength quickly and Uncle Gu can't defeat him?

Will Uncle Gu really be killed by him…?

Most importantly, if he refuses to leave, how can I steal his things?

"I need a way to lure him away…"

Mo Hua immediately sent a message to Gu Changhuai:

"Uncle Gu."

Gu Changhuai: "Where are you? Huo Fotuo is gone—"

Mo Hua: "I know where Huo Fotuo is."

Gu Changhuai's expression changed, then he immediately said:

"Where?"

Mo Hua: "At the back of the hall, on the mural—bottom right corner, ten steps left, there's a mountain path entrance—just push and you're in…"

"Once inside, follow the path—many forks: right, right second, right, left…"

"Keep going until the end—you'll see the altar."

"Huo Fotuo is healing inside the altar…"

Gu Changhuai opened his mouth, then remembered something, disbelief creeping in:

"You're not… inside the altar too, are you?"

Mo Hua: "I am. I'm watching Huo Fotuo swallow pills right now…"

Gu Changhuai's scalp prickled slightly.

This kid's nerve was too great!

And how the hell did he even find this hidden path?

But the situation was dire—Gu Changhuai had no time to ask.

He immediately said: "Stay hidden. Don't let him see you. I'm coming in to seize Huo Fotuo."

"You find a way to slip out while you can…"

Mo Hua: "Mm-hmm."

Then Gu Changhuai fell silent—probably racing over.

Mo Hua waited patiently.

After a stick of incense had burned, a familiar, windlike aura came from the entrance far beyond the altar.

Mo Hua's eyes lit up.

Huo Fotuo, meditating to recover, also sensed it.

His expression flickered with shock.

Gu Changhuai?!

How is that possible?

How could he possibly have found this altar?

Of all the demonic cultivators in the Sacred Hall, only I knew the location of this deepest altar.

No—those who built the altar also knew.

But every one of those demonic cultivators was silenced—none of their corpses were even taken to be turned into undead; all were simply tossed into the Rotting River, dissolved into sludge.

This altar is the core secret of the Sacred Hall.

Absolute secrecy. Absolute safety!

How, then, did Gu Changhuai—a Dao Ting Si Diansi—find his way here?

Huo Fotuo's pupils trembled, thoughts racing.

After a moment, he stood slowly, face expressionless.

"Whoever knows of this altar… must die."

"Even if I can't kill him, I won't let him get close—desecrating the altar…"

Huo Fotuo's eyes blazed red, his cassock crimson, and he activated his movement technique, becoming a blinding streak of fire, charging toward Gu Changhuai.

Gu Changhuai also saw Huo Fotuo.

He didn't know where Mo Hua was, but if he could hold Huo Fotuo off, Mo Hua's cleverness would surely find a way to escape.

Besides—he wanted to kill Huo Fotuo right here, eradicate this menace once and for all!

The two met without a word—immediately unleashing devastating spells.

Fire rain like crossbow bolts and wind blades like feathers clashed violently, shredding each other, spiritual energy surging, light flickering.

The surrounding rocks shattered inch by inch.

In the instant Huo Fotuo left to confront Gu Changhuai,

Mo Hua, long waiting, leapt down from the top of the giant demonic statue, stepping lightly upon the altar Huo Fotuo revered as divine.

On the other side, Gu Changhuai and Huo Fotuo fought fiercely.

Mo Hua, relying on memory, reached the brick where Huo Fotuo hid his things, tapped thrice with his pale little hand, and tugged with his spiritual sense.

Sure enough, two scrolls were pulled out.

Mo Hua had no time to examine them—he shoved them all into his Nai Zi Ring.

Once inside the Nai Zi Ring, they were his—no one could find them!

Mo Hua's heart swelled with joy.

The Secret of Falling Fire—obtained!

Mission accomplished!

This task was already half-successful—now he just needed to find a way to trap Huo Fotuo…

Mo Hua stole a glance at Huo Fotuo, locked in battle with Gu Changhuai, a sly glint flashing in his eyes.

His mind overflowed with mischief…

(End of Chapter)