Chapter 713: Divine War

Several days later, in the secret chamber of the forbidden zone.

Having shed his refined, scholarly facade, Mr. Tu revealed his true form, kneeling before the ram-headed idol, his gaunt face deathly pale with terror.

His skin was split open, flesh exposed; his limbs twisted and collapsed upon the ground.

His soul-essence was sunk in the boundless wasteland hell, enduring tortures such as tongue-pulling, finger-cutting, chest-piercing, and steaming in cages.

In agony, he teetered on the brink of despair.

This was divine punishment.

It was the divine punishment bestowed by the Lord of the Wasteland, for his failure in duty.

The altar had been seized, divine authority stolen, and the demonic army suffered catastrophic losses.

The Lord's wrath was unlike anything before.

As Mr. Tu endured the torments of hell, the Lord's roars echoed in his mind, shaking him with dread.

"This evil god opposes the Lord, secretly covets His divine throne, desecrates His altar, and usurps His authority!"

It seemed He agreed with Mr. Tu's speculation.

"This 'evil god' is the true mastermind behind it all!"

"Rain and thunder, all are the Lord's great grace…"

"Man… cannot fathom the gods, cannot covet the divine throne, and certainly cannot steal divine authority…"

"This is not the work of any 'man' secretly orchestrating treason."

Thus, Mr. Tu made a bold conjecture.

"Yes… no one could possibly…"

He knelt prostrate, teeth clenched, yet trembling with terror:

This was a cultivation lineage, forcibly ripped alive from the minds of certain array masters!

The Lord's servants also suffered heavy casualties.

Mr. Tu struggled, prostrated himself upon the ground, breath faint as a thread, and devoutly whispered:

A furious, bestial will filled the surrounding air.

After prolonged torment, the torture ceased.

Especially now, facing what might be another 'evil god,' the heavenly patterns were unpredictable.

Mr. Tu lay face-down, not daring to speak or move, his fingers only trembling slightly.

After a moment, the bestial will faded, and the atmosphere calmed.

Just as Mr. Tu trembled in fear, he suddenly felt a powerful evil thought flood into his soul-essence.

"'Man' could never commit such a monstrous, insane act!"

No one, by any means, could possibly do it!

Even the four characters "steal divine authority" were a grave insult to the Lord—let alone actually doing it; merely thinking of it was blasphemy, an act of 'desecration!'

Yet the Lord's authority had indeed been stolen.

Since the mastermind was an evil god, all of this was the scheme of another 'evil god.'

"But rather, it is a god—no, very likely, another 'evil god!'"

And it was impossible to anticipate the myriad evil tactics of another 'evil god.'

Moreover, within it, there seemed to be even deeper array memories.

Mr. Tu was merely a mortal; no matter how high his cultivation or how deep his faith, he could never be a match for an 'evil god.'

This was the Lord's blessing!

The Lord sleeps, not yet awakened, so many matters must still be handled by oneself.

Mr. Tu muttered in fear.

Thus, He bestowed great power, granting this lineage to ensure absolute certainty.

The Lord did not rebuke Mr. Tu.

Mr. Tu's soul-essence was redeemed from the Wasteland Hell, freed from the torment of despair.

In the chamber, the oppressive, bestial evil thought slightly subsided.

The Lord's majesty had indeed been defied.

Mr. Tu took a deep breath and forced a trembling whisper:

"The gods' majesty is as vast as heaven; mortal lives are as insignificant as ants…"

He could not imagine any person, nor conceive any method, by which a mortal body could steal the divine throne or wield the Lord's authority.

Yet the pain of divine punishment burned like a red-hot iron, seared deep into Mr. Tu's soul-essence—he would never forget it, not in this life or the next.

His blood flowed back, his flesh and skin gradually restored.

Mr. Tu's gaze trembled.

His soul-essence, though bloodier, more sinister, and more chaotic, was now stronger.

"Thank the Lord for His punishment…"

"Only a god can oppose a god!"

The evil thought within the chamber surged abruptly.

The Lord's grand plan must not suffer the slightest mishap!

Mr. Tu, overwhelmed with gratitude, bowed his head in worship, then slowly lifted his gaze, deep and solemn:

"The Grand Void Gate are followers of the evil god."

"The Gu family, Gu Changhuai, are the evil god's henchmen."

"This will surely become a 'divine war,' forged from the blood and flesh of mortals!"

The authority of the Divine Lord must begin in Dahuang and descend upon Qianzhou!

……

At this very moment, Mo Hua, whom Mr. Tu regarded as a "demon god," was lazily basking in the sun on the grass.

Yu'er, having finished her lessons, rolled happily beside him.

Mo Hua had devoured a large number of demons from Dahuang.

Yu'er's nightmares had also lessened significantly; she slept well each night and grew increasingly cheerful.

Mo Hua, while playing with Yu'er, flipped through the Grand Void Token.

He wanted to find a few Level-Two, Seventeen-Stripe arrays in the Grand Void Token to study.

Ideally, he'd choose the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams arrays he knew best—easier to start with, and better for gradually advancing to other high-level Level-Two arrays.

Lying on the soft grass, Mo Hua browsed for a while, then shook his head and sighed.

"Too expensive…"

A typical Level-Two, Seventeen-Stripe array cost four to five hundred merit points.

Mo Hua currently had two thousand merit points—plenty for a beginner Foundation Establishment disciple.

He had actually saved even more.

He earned merit by drawing arrays, taking on commissions, and occasionally doing tasks for the Dao Ting Si, squeezing extra points from Uncle Gu.

His ways of earning merit far exceeded those of ordinary disciples.

Yet his array studies consumed heavily, so he spent just as much.

These two thousand merit points looked substantial, but in truth, they could only buy four or five Seventeen-Stripe arrays—neither much nor little.

And even if he exchanged them, he'd be left with almost nothing afterward.

Mo Hua came from poverty; keeping over a thousand merit points in the Grand Void Token always made him feel secure.

"Merit…"

Mo Hua suddenly remembered—he still had another sum of merit waiting at the Dao Ting Si.

It was the merit Uncle Gu had promised to secure for him after helping capture Huo Fotuo.

That merit was still stuck in the Dao Ting Si's tedious bureaucratic process.

It was simply too slow…

Mo Hua sighed.

Previously, his merit had been sufficient, so he hadn't rushed—but now that he could study Seventeen-Stripe arrays, his consumption had surged.

He was now stretched thin and urgently needed this merit to ease his immediate crisis.

Mo Hua decided to press for it.

Uncle Gu was busy with Dao Ting Si affairs during the day; it wasn't convenient to disturb him.

After evening classes, Mo Hua sent him a message:

"Uncle Gu, has my merit arrived yet?"

Uncle Gu waited a full incense stick's time, seemingly occupied with something, before finally replying:

"What merit?"

Mo Hua's face darkened. "The merit for Huo Fotuo!"

"Oh."

Uncle Gu finally remembered.

"It's almost ready. I'll push it tomorrow—should be approved and transferred to the Grand Void Gate in a couple days."

Mo Hua's heart leapt; he instantly changed tone. "Thank you, Uncle Gu."

"Mm."

Uncle Gu replied coolly.

"By the way," Mo Hua thought for a moment, then asked, "How's the matter with Young Master Jin?"

Uncle Gu fell silent for a while.

Mo Hua said, "Just tell me a little…"

Some matters were confidential at the Dao Ting Si; Mo Hua understood that well.

Uncle Gu sighed. "I can tell you a little…"

Mo Hua had played the leading role in capturing Young Master Jin's group.

Uncle Gu said, "Xie Liu is currently detained in the Dao Prison, charged with assaulting the Gu Diansi; other crimes remain unproven…"

"The other Duanjin Gate disciples are also detained. Duanjin Gate is secretly working to free them—the outcome is still unknown."

"As for Young Master Jin himself, the Dao Ting Si has issued an order—already released him."

"Released?!" Mo Hua froze.

Uncle Gu sighed. "Young Master Jin's name is Jin Yicai—he's the purest bloodline of Duanjin Gate. As he claimed, his great-grandfather once served as Duanjin Gate's Sect Leader; his grandfather is now the Grand Elder; his father is the Deputy Sect Leader; his mother is a True Transmission Elder of Duanjin Gate…"

"His father's line has held Duanjin Gate's upper echelons for generations; his mother's line is tied to the Seven Pavilions of the Central Dao Court and holds great influence in Daozhou."

"Jin Yicai is the child of two powerful families' alliance."

Uncle Gu sneered. "Yet this alliance produced Jin Yicai, a beast—spoiled since childhood, arrogant, now utterly lawless…"

Mo Hua frowned. "But this… Jin Yicai clearly violated Dao Law—trafficking cultivators, crafting human pills—how can the Dao Ting Si do nothing?"

"The problem lies right here…"

Uncle Gu sighed. "He dumped all blame. Claims he knew nothing of trafficking cultivators; claims he had nothing to do with human pill alchemy."

"His father used Duanjin Gate's connections to plead with the Dao Ting Si."

"His mother leveraged her maternal clan's ties, pressuring the Qianxue Prefecture through the Central Daozhou."

She personally went to Dao Ting Si and said Jin Yicai was "just a child, too young to know anything. If he did something wrong, it must be because someone framed him or secretly incited him..."

She also said, "This child has been raised under my eyes since infancy—his character is upright, he cultivates diligently, he respects his parents and elders; even his maternal grandfather and some elder ancestors of Daozhou greatly favor him..."

Gu Changhuai's expression turned sarcastic, then dissolved into helplessness.

"Duan Jin Men is one of the Twelve Schools of Qian Xue; to some extent, it represents the face of Qian Xue's prefecture—it cannot be tainted by such a scandal."

"Dao Ting Si is constrained by many forces, burdened with concerns—this case is hard to pursue further."

Mo Hua's expression was complex.

Jin Yicai, whether sincere or feigned, might appear as a "upright, respectful child" before his parents and elders.

But to other cultivators, he was a complete beast.

Such a massive matter could be suppressed.

Anyone who entered Dao Ting Si could be pulled out.

For a moment, Mo Hua couldn't tell whether the true evil was the "Evil God" or "human hearts."

"Be careful—Jin Yicai holds grudges and has already met you. He may seek revenge for this humiliation."

After speaking, Gu Changhuai felt apologetic.

If Jin Yicai could be dealt with by Dao Ting Si, Mo Hua wouldn't have to face these risks.

Unfortunately, he was only a Diansi, not a Zhangsi.

If he were Zhangsi, with sufficient authority, he would have executed Jin Yicai first and reported later—that little beast!

"Yes yes, Uncle Gu, don't worry," Mo Hua said.

He wasn't afraid of Jin Yicai.

Once he learned the Seventeen-Stroke Array, he'd be even less afraid of him.

He just needed to watch out for Duan Jin Men's henchmen.

But that was easy to handle.

From now on, he'd either stay in his sect or only visit second-grade prefectures—in second-grade prefectures, if he was careful, Duan Jin Men couldn't touch him.

It was Uncle Gu who might be hated by Jin Yicai, the Jin family, and most of Duan Jin Men—and perhaps even by other Evil God's agents.

"Uncle Gu, you be careful too," Mo Hua warned.

"Mm," Gu Changhuai replied coolly.

Mo Hua didn't know whether he even understood the seriousness of the situation.

But no matter what, Uncle Gu was at least a Jin Dan and a Dao Ting Si Diansi—it wasn't his place as a mere Foundation Establishment disciple to worry about him.

After speaking with Gu Changhuai, Mo Hua focused on learning arrays.

From the Tai Xu Token, he specifically chose a second-grade, seventeen-stroke array: The Array of Subduing Metal.

It was an array that suppressed the Five Elements' qi.

The Array of Subduing Metal, as the name suggests, restrains the flow of Metal-element spiritual power, weakening Metal-based spells or sword techniques.

"Start simple—learn this version of the Array of Subduing Metal as backup..."

"If Duan Jin Men dares provoke me later, I'll learn more—even build a full set of arrays to counter their Metal-element sword arts!"

Mo Hua thought silently.

After midnight, Mo Hua's spiritual sense sank into his mind sea, practicing the Array of Subduing Metal repeatedly on the Dao Stele.

This was the first second-grade high-level array Mo Hua had ever learned.

The Array of Subduing Metal was difficult—Mo Hua didn't master it that night.

The next day, after class, he was about to resume practice when a disciple came to find him: "Mo Hua, I just passed the Merit Pavilion—the Merit Elder wants you to see him."

"Merit Elder?"

Mo Hua froze, then his eyes lit up.

Could it be that Huo Fotuo's merit had been credited!

"Thank you!" Mo Hua bowed to the disciple and immediately ran happily to the Merit Pavilion.

The Merit Pavilion Elder was waiting for Mo Hua specifically.

Seeing Mo Hua enter, the Merit Elder gave him a suspicious look: "What arrays did you draw for Dao Ting Si?"

Mo Hua paused, then understood.

Uncle Gu was still thorough—he'd used the old "array-drawing" excuse to avoid drawing trouble for Mo Hua.

"Many, many arrays," Mo Hua said.

The Merit Elder snorted. "Nonsense. No matter how many arrays, you couldn't earn this much merit."

"How much?"

Mo Hua's face glowed with excitement.

The Merit Elder glanced at Mo Hua and sighed. "Eight thousand."

Eight thousand?!

Mo Hua's eyes widened.

So much!

Huo Fotuo was truly valuable!

Mo Hua's fair little face broke into a radiant smile.

The Merit Elder explained: "This reward wasn't normally posted—it was specially allocated by Dao Ting Si, so it had to be verified by the sect first before being transferred to you."

"Yes yes!"

Mo Hua nodded eagerly.

But he didn't care about the details—he just wanted the merit to be credited.

The Merit Elder hesitated, but said nothing more, following procedure: he had Mo Hua sign and affix his seal, then transferred the merit to his Grand Void Token.

Mo Hua signed, affixed his seal, received the merit, bid farewell to the Merit Elder, then walked away, face beaming and steps light.

The Merit Elder watched Mo Hua's retreating figure, silent.

Eight thousand merit…

Even for some inner-disciple students, this was a "fortune," let alone Mo Hua, a student who had only joined two years ago.

Merit in the sect was never easy to earn.

Logically, this sum of merit, regardless of origin, had passed through Dao Ting Si's official channels—at least on paper, it was "clean."

He had no need to dig deeper or pry into a disciple's private affairs.

Yet the Merit Elder's heart remained filled with doubt.

What had Mo Hua done to earn eight thousand merit?

He was merely a Foundation Establishment beginner—what task had he completed, what bounty had he fulfilled, to earn eight thousand merit all at once?!

This defied all reason.

Having served as Merit Elder for centuries, he had never encountered such a case.

The Merit Elder flipped through Dao Ting Si's documents.

The text was vague, merely stating: Grand Void Gate disciple Mo Hua, proficient in arrays, assisted Dao Ting Si in an investigation and was hereby rewarded eight thousand merit as recognition.

It couldn't be this simple…

The Merit Elder frowned, lost in thought.

He reconsidered every detail about Mo Hua—and suddenly, a flash of insight struck him.

Mo Hua… Dao Ting Si… arrays…

Mr. Xun!

The Merit Elder understood.

It must be Mr. Xun—he pulled strings, used his connections, and had Dao Ting Si allocate these eight thousand merit to Mo Hua so the boy could study arrays!

Mr. Xun was a patriarch-level figure, though outwardly, he was merely a meticulous "old instructor."

But his lifespan was long, his status exalted, and his network across the Qian Xue Province vast.

Only Mr. Xun possessed such influence to navigate Dao Ting Si's bureaucracy and redirect merit to Grand Void Gate.

But no matter how of high virtue and great prestige, he shouldn't do such a thing!

The Merit Elder grew angry.

Eight thousand merit—this wasn't a trivial sum.

Even if he cherished Mo Hua, he shouldn't indulge him like this, shouldn't force his growth.

He's merely a disciple of Grand Void Gate—not your own blood grandchild!

Not even a blood grandchild would be allowed!

The sect has its rules. Occasionally bending them elsewhere may be harmless, but merit—this concerns the very structure of the sect—how could it be treated as a joke?

The Merit Elder stormed off to find Mr. Xun.

At the Elder's residence, he directly knocked on Mr. Xun's door. After the acolyte led him in, he sat aside, sipping bitter tea.

Half an hour later, Mr. Xun emerged from his inner chamber, having finished his calculations, frowning in deep thought—then he looked up and saw the Merit Elder's displeased face.

Mr. Xun's expression froze. "Why are you here?"

The Merit Elder sighed.

"Senior Grandmaster, while you may favor your disciples, there must be limits. Some rules may be bent, but some must never be crossed…"

"Without rules, nothing takes proper form."

"What you've done isn't affection—it's harming him…"

Mr. Xun frowned. "Have you trained so long you've damaged your brain? Come here babbling nonsense?"

The Merit Elder sighed. "You're pretending not to know."

He placed a letter bearing Dao Ting Si's spiritual seal on the table. "This merit—wasn't it specially approved by those old Zhangsi you're close with at Dao Ting Si?"

Mr. Xun slowly picked up the letter, glanced at it—and froze.

Mo Hua?

Eight thousand merit?

Dao Ting Si's special approval?

Mr. Xun blinked, read it again, confirmed he hadn't misread—his thoughts churned.

Why would Dao Ting Si award eight thousand merit to Mo Hua?

What had Mo Hua done?

Or rather—what was Dao Ting Si doing?

Seeing Mr. Xun's stunned expression, the Merit Elder fell silent—and his heart lurched. He realized he'd acted rashly.

The Merit Elder grew uneasy, slowly rising, and asked tentatively:

"Senior Grandmaster… this merit… wasn't arranged by you…"

Mr. Xun gave him a cool glance.

The Merit Elder immediately smiled apologetically. "I was reckless—I shouldn't have doubted you, Senior Grandmaster, whose noble character and impartial integrity are beyond reproach…"

Mr. Xun said: "If you ever act without thinking again, go to the back mountain and sweep the grounds of your Senior Grandmaster's Sword Tomb. The Merit Pavilion's Elder will be given to your junior sister."

The Merit Elder broke into a cold sweat. "Forgive me, Senior Grandmaster! I… the Merit Pavilion is extremely busy—I won't disturb your cultivation!"

He immediately rose, bowed hastily, and fled.

After saying that, he immediately rose, hastily saluted, and then slipped away like his feet had been greased.

Old Mr. Xun shook his head, then his gaze sharpened as he looked again at the letter in his hand, muttering to himself.

This child Mo Hua seems a little different from the impression he had of him…

(End of chapter)