Chapter 671

Someone who eats a god?!

The golden evil eye's pupils shrank sharply, then its eye sockets trembled violently, golden blood vessels bulging with overwhelming terror.

It finally understood what it had been fearing, what it had been dreading…

Humans are merely the livestock of gods, the straw dogs of gods.

How could livestock dare eat a god?

"Absurd!"

"Ignorant!"

The golden evil eye's voice was shrill and twisted.

"How dare you desecrate the dignity of the god!"

"Foolish brat, you have no idea what you're doing—what terrible taboo you've violated!"

Mo Hua looked puzzled:

"I just said it offhand—why are you so worked up? You're supposed to be a 'god'—you've got no decorum at all…"

The blood vessels on the golden evil eye bulged even more grotesquely.

It was used to devotees bowing and kneeling before it, cultivators humbly praising it—it could not tolerate such insolent mockery from a mere human brat.

"I will kill you eventually…"

"I will drain your flesh and blood, rip out your organs, suck dry your spiritual consciousness, and use your sea of consciousness as a breeding ground—turning you into a 'god slave,' enslaved by me for all generations, forever trapped, never to be liberated…"

The golden evil eye shrieked.

Mo Hua froze.

This evil god is so cruel, so quick to hold a grudge…

I wonder what its true nature really is…

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then his eyes brightened slightly. He feigned arrogance, glanced at the evil eye with disdain, and said in a tone of utter contempt:

"You?"

"You're my defeated foe—your demonic body was shattered into a thousand pieces, your big eyeball was plucked out by me, and you're about to be 'eaten' by me. What right do you have to threaten me?"

Upon hearing this, the golden evil eye suddenly grew calm.

It regarded Mo Hua with icy, cold eyes, its voice hoarse and dry, thick with fury:

"In the endless wilds, countless divine corpses…"

"A million demons, all beings as straw dogs…"

"Lowly creature, you have desecrated the gods—you will one day die without even a grave to bury you!"

Mo Hua's gaze trembled slightly.

Endless wilds… countless divine corpses?

What does that mean…

Does it mean the gods of the wilds split into countless fragments, leaving behind innumerable divine remains?

Is this eye merely one of those remains?

Is the Lord of the Wilds that powerful?

Mo Hua frowned.

Did I just… make a huge mess of things?

But… this was probably unavoidable—the evil god wants to kill me, and I can't just stand there like livestock, letting it slaughter me without resistance.

Besides…

If something is handed to me, not 'eating' it seems impolite.

"Forget it…"

Mo Hua decided to eat the golden evil god's "big eyeball" first.

Lord of the Wilds, countless divine corpses.

If there are so many, one more or one less shouldn't matter much.

If I secretly eat one, He probably won't even notice.

But how do I eat it? Just bite into it?

Mo Hua stared at the ugly golden evil eye and found it hard to bring himself to take a bite.

Mo Hua stared at the evil eye for a while longer, then suddenly froze—he noticed something odd.

The golden evil eye was tightly gripped in Mo Hua's hand, unable to escape, as if resigned—but deep within the eye, a faint, obscure gleam still swirled.

Without careful observation, it would be utterly unnoticed.

"Something's off…"

Mo Hua furrowed his delicate brows.

This big eyeball still has tricks up its sleeve—it's still plotting something.

But what could it be plotting?

Mo Hua thought hard, but found not a single clue.

It is a remnant of an evil god, carrying a portion of the god's will—what methods, what hidden cards it possesses, I know nothing of.

My knowledge of gods is extremely lacking.

If I 'eat' it and get corrupted by the evil god's will, poisoning my Dao heart, things won't be good at all.

Gods are not like demons.

A god's spiritual essence contains divine marrow, fundamentally different from ordinary demons.

While I can maintain my inner resolve and suppress demonic thoughts through meditation, I'm not sure I can suppress a god's will.

Moreover, this deity was a "Evil Deity."

No matter how you look at it, the risk is still very high.

"Under these circumstances, it's better to be cautious..."

Mo Hua nodded slightly.

He gripped the Jin Se Evil Eye and walked toward the center of his consciousness sea.

The once-silent Jin Se Evil Eye suddenly sensed something amiss and demanded:

"Brat, what are you doing?"

"I'll show you something amazing!"

Mo Hua said as he walked.

The Evil Eye's unease grew stronger.

It felt something unbelievable.

Could this brat be hiding some secret? One that made it instinctively fear him?

Moments later, a profound, ancient aura spread out.

The Jin Se Evil Eye froze instantly.

It seemed to sense the presence of an extremely ancient being, imbued with the Dao, akin to a "Divine Entity."

Then it saw—sometime during this, a broken stele had appeared within its consciousness sea.

The Evil Eye's pupils widened in shock.

A stele?!

Mo Hua, keenly noticing the Evil Eye's odd reaction, whispered: "Do you... recognize this stele?"

The Jin Se Evil Eye studied the Dao Stele, calmed its emotions, and sneered:

"Just an ancient, broken stele..."

Mo Hua's clear, large eyes stared suspiciously at the Evil Eye.

The Jin Se Evil Eye trembled slightly but showed no further sign of disturbance.

It truly did not know the origin of this broken stele.

At least, this stele differed from the ancient steles in its primordial divine heritage...

Mo Hua's suspicion deepened.

The Jin Se Evil Eye shuddered, yet only revealed a trace of contempt, coldly saying:

"So, this is what you wanted me to see?"

Mo Hua looked again at the Jin Se Evil Eye, his gaze deep and thoughtful, then suddenly smiled brightly:

"No—it's something even better!"

The Jin Se Evil Eye felt something was wrong.

Mo Hua held it with both hands and pressed it against one corner of the Dao Stele.

Caught off guard, the Jin Se Evil Eye saw a flash of red.

That red was brighter than blood, redder than sunlight, more terrifying than anything.

Terrifying Lei Ting surged across it, embodying cold, heartless cosmic laws, carrying the heavenly will to annihilate all.

"Jie... Jie Lei?!"

The Jin Se Evil Eye screamed in disbelief.

Its eye sockets trembled, veins bulged, and it struggled fiercely—but Mo Hua's small hands held it tightly.

A scarlet lightning flash.

Moments later, the Jie Lei completely erased the Jin Se Evil Eye.

The Jin Se Evil Eye melted into a pool of golden fluid, while within it, a pure golden, majestic, terrifying ram-horn phantom writhed, roared, and dissolved into nothingness, filled with resentment.

Mo Hua thought: As expected.

Though he didn't know what this pure golden ram-horn phantom was, it must be connected to the will of the Da Huang Evil Deity.

If he had unknowingly "eaten" it along with the Jin Se Evil Eye, he might have left himself a lingering danger.

Evil Deities like this had existed for who knew how long—their divine power and methods were unfathomable.

If he wasn't extra careful, he'd never see the threats coming.

Fortunately, he used Jie Lei to "detox" it...

Otherwise, if it was impure, it would surely rot his mind.

"Jie Lei is really useful..."

Mo Hua praised inwardly.

The Jin Se Evil Eye was shattered outright by Jie Lei; its inner Evil Deity will was erased, leaving behind only a pool of pure "Divine Marrow."

This Divine Marrow's golden hue had faded considerably.

It seemed part of its origin, along with the Evil Deity's will, had been destroyed by the Jie Lei.

The remaining Divine Marrow was both qualitatively and quantitatively much reduced from before.

But this Divine Marrow was pure, clean, and unconscious.

Not only was it safe and healthy, but also easier to "digest."

Less is less, but it's fine.

"I wonder what my consciousness will become after 'eating' this..."

"Will it break through?"

Mo Hua's eyes lit up, filled with anticipation.

Then the small mouth opened wide and sucked in with a sudden force, drawing all the divine essence into its mouth.

In an instant, an ancient and mysterious divine thought surged into Mo Hua's mind sea.

Streams of divine essence, like blood threads, seeped into Mo Hua's divine awareness avatar.

These "divine essence blood threads" wove layer upon layer in a recondite pattern, subtly aligning with the array patterns of the Mi Tian Great Array, solidifying Mo Hua's divine thought.

It was as if, upon the foundation of Dao transformation, divine essence served as bricks and stones, building a staircase to godhood.

Suddenly, Mo Hua felt a delusion.

One foot had already stepped into the forbidden realm of the gods.

All things under heaven and earth, countless living beings, were but straw dogs in his eyes, dust beneath his feet,

They worshipped him, paid homage to him, and were subject to his dominion and enslavement.

The clarity and liveliness in his eyes gradually faded.

In their place arose a solemn, cold pale gold.

This pale gold, nourished by divine essence and flowing through his eyes as windows, slowly spread, seeping into Mo Hua's divine awareness avatar and merging with his divine thought body.

Around Mo Hua, a faint golden glow subtly shimmered, making him resemble a "Divine Being."

His adorable face gradually grew stern; his eyes grew ever deeper with pride and coldness…

Meanwhile, his humanity was slowly being "extinguished"…

At that moment, the Dao Stele suddenly vibrated.

A primordial, clear, and resonant sound echoed throughout the mind sea.

Mo Hua's expression jolted; he snapped back to awareness and immediately sat in meditation, searching within the fog of thoughts being assimilated by the "God" for his true heart.

His Dao heart was illuminated by divinity, yet remained barren.

Mo Hua strained in meditation, tracing back to his true heart.

Bit by bit, every memory from his childhood onward began to revive.

The people he had met, the events he had experienced, reappeared one by one.

His parents, Elder Yu, his childhood friends, his master, Puppet Old Man, Little Senior Brother, Little Senior Sister…

Joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, grief, separation, reunion—emotions surged upon his heart.

Mo Hua's barren inner world, as if watered by spring rain, saw his humanity gradually revive.

The cold, solemn pale gold in his eyes slowly faded; clarity and liveliness once again filled his gaze.

After an unknown length of time, Mo Hua's gaze returned to normal.

All those pale gold divine essences retreated inward, gathered within his divine awareness avatar, merging into the "flesh and blood" of his divine consciousness…

Mo Hua looked at his own hands and frowned.

His divine awareness had not strengthened.

Or rather, it had strengthened slightly, but not by much—it remained stuck at the Sixteen Pattern realm.

Yet his divine awareness seemed to have undergone a slight "qualitative change."

Deep within his divine thought body, faint, threadlike strands of pale gold "divine blood" now existed.

This was his own, ingested and refined, golden "divine essence!"

He felt that his divine awareness now possessed, for the first time, a true "quality" difference.

This was the divine awareness of a "God."

His divine awareness had grown stronger.

But this strength did not manifest in realm advancement, but in "divine quality."

This seemed to be two entirely different dimensions of divine awareness.

It was the difference between a cultivator and a god.

Mo Hua felt confused, and a little uneasy.

The sensations he had just experienced still lingered in his heart; the divine essence he had swallowed had nearly extinguished his "humanity" and nearly assimilated his "Dao heart."

He had nearly forgotten everything of being "human," seeing himself as a lofty god gazing down upon all living beings.

This was only from "eating" one "sheep's eye."

If he ate more, would he forget who he was entirely, becoming nothing but a cold, lifeless infant "god"?

Mo Hua frowned.

His master had told him to "cultivate Dao through divine awareness," but had never said he should "seal himself as a god" through divine awareness…

Were these two different paths?

Mo Hua was confused; his heart was muddled, his mind a tangled mess.

"Ultimately, it's because my understanding of gods is too limited…"

Mo Hua sighed.

"Forget it. I've already eaten it—worrying now is pointless."

Besides, his divine awareness had indeed strengthened, just not in realm.

But one must be content; one cannot be greedy.

He was currently at the early Foundation Establishment stage, yet his divine awareness had already reached the upper limit of mid-Foundation Establishment.

If he broke through further, he'd reach late-Foundation Establishment divine awareness—what then?

Mo Hua felt a tinge of regret, but calmed his mind.

He would have to find time later to learn about "divinization."

All fear stems from the unknown.

He knew so little about "gods" that he worried so much.

In the future, find opportunities to inquire more about the origins and background of the gods; the more you know, the better your strategies will be to reduce the aftereffects of "eating" a god.

And that Great Desert Evil God—definitely a stingy miser; even though I only "ate" one of His eyes, He's surely holding a grudge.

I must be more discreet in my actions from now on.

I also need to think ahead: what should I do if the Great Desert Evil God finds out I stole and ate His eye?

Mo Hua pondered deeply.

Now, the Great Desert Evil God's eye had been erased by the tribulation lightning, leaving only its divine essence, which I had completely consumed.

The Great Desert Evil God shouldn't blame me.

After all, He's a mighty great evil god—he couldn't possibly be without restrictions.

It's unknown whether He is even still "alive" or merely in "slumber."

Even if He is "alive," with so many cultivators and great masters in Qian Province, He's unlikely to pay attention to some obscure Foundation Establishment cultivator like me.

Mo Hua nodded, finding this reasoning sound.

Besides, I still have the Dao Stele, and on it remains a single "tribulation lightning."

The Dao Stele guards the heart; the tribulation lightning traps "mortals."

As long as the evil god doesn't come in person, I shouldn't fear him.

Weaker ones, I can handle myself—even without calling upon the Dao Stele.

At most, after eliminating them, I can use the tribulation lightning to "disinfect" and the Dao Stele for a "hot iron grill"—clean, hygienic, and helpful for absorption and "digestion."

Mo Hua finally relaxed completely.

When lice accumulate, you stop itching; when debts pile up, you stop worrying.

I've already offended my senior uncle—I'm not afraid of adding one more evil god.

They're all too powerful; they probably won't notice a mere "tiny ant" like me—as long as I stay discreet…

Mo Hua inspected his mind sea and found no lingering evil thoughts or divine consciousness remaining; only then did he calmly withdraw from his mind sea.

In the desolate valley, Mo Hua opened his eyes, lying on the ground.

The mountains were gray and hazy; dawn had not yet broken.

Around him were traces of battle.

Fireball spells, formation marks, sword qi, and demonic energy—all remained.

Not far away, the corpse of the black-cloaked leader lay there.

But now, his corpse had been corrupted by demonic energy, melted into a pool of murky black water.

It hadn't decayed before, seemingly because of the evil eye.

Now that the evil eye had left his body, he shared the same fate as the other black-cloaked cultivators.

Demonic energy corroded the body, leaving no trace of bones or flesh.

But Mo Hua had memorized his appearance.

Though his face bore scorch marks from the Dispersing Fire Formation, his features were grim, his voice somber—he appeared to be quite young, perhaps only in his twenties.

And likely a scion of a prominent family.

Possibly even a disciple of a sect.

But Mo Hua didn't recognize him.

Mo Hua thought carefully and decided not to reveal this matter yet.

If he spoke out and word leaked, he would become the target of all these black-cloaked cultivators lurking in the shadows.

The Great Desert Evil God might also trace the trail back to him.

Those who traffic humans near Qianxue Province must have powerful backgrounds.

I might also be watched by these hidden powers behind the scenes.

Moreover, even if I spoke out, no one would believe me.

Now that the black-cloaked leader is dead, his flesh and blood turned to black sludge, his face unrecognizable—there's no living witness.

Without evidence, I'd be accused of spreading lies and slander, inviting trouble upon myself.

No matter how you look at it, it's extremely unwise.

Mo Hua shook his head.

Better to keep watch secretly, investigate clues, and when I have solid proof, quietly tell Uncle Gu.

Until then, I must not show my face.

Mo Hua rummaged through the black-cloaked leader's storage pouch; inside were only spirit stones and several common, mass-produced spirit swords.

There were also a few pills, but clearly demonic pills.

Nothing of real value.

Mo Hua first drew the Dispersing Fire Formation and burned the black-cloaked leader's corpse again.

Then he drew the Earth Burial Formation and buried his remains deep beneath soil and stone.

Mo Hua also altered the surrounding traces, erasing his own footprints.

The black-cloaked leader was now fully buried in this remote valley.

Even if someone came searching, they would never unearth his corpse.

Even if they did find his corpse, this matter had nothing to do with Mo Hua.

No one would believe that a lowly Foundation Establishment beginner could single-handedly kill a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, a ruthless demonic cultivator.

Mo Hua had handled everything properly; he felt utterly secure, and nodded.

He silently thanked Uncle Zhang Lan.

"Thanks entirely to Uncle Zhang Lan's guidance back then—I gained the experience to kill and bury bodies without leaving traces or trouble!"

Afterward, Mo Hua hurried back and rejoined Cheng Mo and the others.

He deliberately took a longer route, changed direction, adjusted his mindset, and imagined a scenario where he was being hunted by the black-cloaked leader, frantic and barely escaping death, before returning.

Before he even neared the abandoned armory, his spiritual sense detected Cheng Mo and the others.

They had scattered, their expressions anxious, all calling out "Mo Hua."

At the time, they had been engulfed by the Bloodlight of the Evil Eye; though immobilized, they had vaguely sensed Mo Hua luring away the vicious black-cloaked leader.

Only then had they barely survived.

So when Dao Ting Si's officers arrived, both groups split up and scoured the mountains like a net, searching for Mo Hua.

They feared Mo Hua had fallen victim to the black-cloaked leader, filled with worry and guilt, so they shouted his name with all their strength.

Mo Hua felt a touch of emotion and waved to them from afar.

"I'm back!"

Cheng Mo and the others were overjoyed, especially Cheng Mo—such a big man, his eyes nearly red.

"Mo Hua, are you alright?"

"Are you hurt?"

"What about that black-cloaked man?"

Each of them asked in rapid succession.

"I'm fine," Mo Hua nodded, then wore an expression of lingering dread:

"That black-cloaked man was terrifying—I had no chance against him…"

"He chased me; I could only flee, then found a chance to hide atop a giant tree…"

"It was too dark, the terrain too complex—he grew careless and didn't spot me."

"Then he seemed afraid of being discovered by Dao Ting Si and left. I stayed hidden on the tree, waited out the danger, then came back to find you…"

Mo Hua recited the pre-scripted story with perfect seriousness.

Plain and unadorned, yet plausible.

Cheng Mo and the others had no doubts; they all exhaled in relief, "Thank goodness…"

"You're incredibly lucky!"

"I was so worried…"

"That black-cloaked bastard—if I reach Foundation Establishment mid-stage, next time I meet him, I'll crack his skull open…"

"Dream on—you'll be mid-stage, but he might already be late-stage Foundation Establishment…"

…

Their moods lightened, and their talk grew livelier.

Mo Hua smiled slightly.

What followed was simple—no need for Mo Hua to worry.

Dao Ting Si's officers rescued the abducted cultivators and returned them to the nearby Dao Ting Si.

They also examined each corpse of the black-cloaked cultivators.

Mo Hua and the five others then rode in a carriage, escorted by Dao Ting Si's officers, toward Grand Void Gate in Qianxue State.

Mo Hua had originally intended to visit his old friend Huang Shanjun.

But time was tight, and at such a moment, it was better to avoid trouble—returning to Grand Void Gate by carriage was wiser, to prevent complications.

Dao Ting Si's carriage was spacious, but not particularly comfortable.

Still, Cheng Mo and the others fell into deep sleep.

They had been hunted, then counterattacked, then jointly ambushed a dozen black-cloaked men in the abandoned armory, and finally spent hours searching the mountains for Mo Hua—they were utterly exhausted.

Now that they had relaxed, they couldn't help but fall asleep.

Mo Hua leaned against the carriage window, gazing at the scenery outside, his thoughts swirling.

Human traffickers, demonic qi, Evil Eye, demonic deity…

Qianxue State clearly had long been unstable.

Beneath the facade of prosperity, evil karmic threads had long been stirring—what they had glimpsed was merely a tiny corner.

What else lurked in the shadows…

Mo Hua's gaze grew solemn.

…

Amid the "clip-clop, clip-clop" of hooves, the carriage, jolting and swaying, carried Mo Hua and the others back to Grand Void Gate.

(End of Chapter)