Chapter 723: Trouble Arises

Cheng Mo and the others were puzzled. "Little Brother, what do you need these things for?"

Mo Hua said seriously: "This concerns Dao Ting Si secrets—I can't tell you yet, and without studying the items, I'm not even certain myself…"

Dao Ting Si secrets!

The disciples were struck with solemnity.

No wonder he's Little Brother—he even knows Dao Ting Si secrets.

"But," one disciple asked hesitantly, "encrypted letters make sense, but blank jade slips, messages erased from transmission tokens… shouldn't they be useless?"

"No problem—I have my own methods," Mo Hua said calmly.

"Oh oh."

The disciples nodded, somewhat bewildered.

The Yuan Ci array is an unconventional offshoot, a branch of the Eight Trigrams Thunder array, but exists outside the orthodox, universal Five Elements and Eight Trigrams array lineage.

Grand Void Gate doesn't teach it; most of us disciples rarely encounter it and know little about it.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then added: "If you find clues, you can post rewards through Dao Ting Si—everyone can join in and earn some merit."

Post rewards through Dao Ting Si!

Everyone was stunned.

Cheng Mo was unfazed—he knew Mo Hua had connections within Dao Ting Si.

The other disciples, stunned yet delighted, looked at Mo Hua with entirely new eyes, even showing a trace of respect.

Aristocratic youths relying on family influence to get favors from Dao Ting Si isn't unusual.

But within the sect, personally forging a link with Dao Ting Si to post rewards means something entirely different.

Moreover, good rewards are rare treasures—everyone fights to claim them.

You don't just compete with your peers—you fight senior disciples too.

Often, we juniors can only take on simple tasks or leftovers others reject.

The merit we earn is naturally meager.

"Little Brother, leave it to us!"

The disciples all agreed eagerly.

In the following days, fellow disciples frequently came to Mo Hua "offering treasures":

"Little Brother, Little Brother, I used your method to catch a bandit with excellent water affinity—he had this bone, looks like a water demon's. Check if there's anything strange…"

"Little Brother, your Eight Trigrams Mountain Stone Armor really works—those cultivators practicing demonic arts, with immense strength, punched and kicked us but didn't even hurt. Here are some jade slips they carried—Dao Ting Si checked them, found nothing. Little Brother, take a look…"

"Little Brother, I picked up a broken sword—wonder if it's useful…"

"I caught a flower thief and got a jade slip—please, Little Brother, examine it…"

…

Within half a month, Mo Hua had gathered a pile of items.

All sorts of junk.

Some were indeed demonic artifacts, but after demonic cultivators were captured, most storage bags were seized by Dao Ting Si.

Items with obvious demonic aura couldn't be brought into Grand Void Gate.

So what Mo Hua received were only fragments, minor scraps of demonic artifacts.

These artifacts were useless.

Yet Mo Hua could, through divination, faintly perceive blood-colored karmic traces clinging to them.

It seemed a vicious demonic cultivator had recently used these artifacts to coldly slaughter other cultivators.

There were also some goat horns.

But they were just ordinary goat demon horns—unrelated to the Great Wild Evil God.

No sect tokens either…

In Mo Hua's estimation, if these demonic cultivators could gather together, they weren't acting spontaneously—they must have had at least a small organization, or perhaps a branch of the Mo Sect.

If so, they'd almost certainly have Mo Sect tokens.

Mo Sect tokens, in principle, should resemble Grand Void Gate or other sect tokens, built on Yuan Ci array foundations with expanded functions.

Basic ones have communication capabilities.

More advanced ones might even contain a "Merit Hall" storing the sect's treasures, like Grand Void Gate's…

If one could obtain such a token, there'd be far more to "study."

Mo Hua's anticipation grew.

Unfortunately, such sect tokens had yet to be found.

Instead, Mo Hua obtained one transmission token.

A few days later, Yang Qianjun handed Mo Hua a transmission token and said:

"Cheng Mo and I were on a mission near Qianxue Province's border, in a second-class minor Xiancheng called Qingping City. After completing the task, on our way back, we saw a cultivator acting suspiciously—he clearly wasn't from Qingping City—so we asked him a few questions."

"He answered perfectly, but his gaze occasionally avoided us—he was hiding something."

"I sensed something odd, pretended to leave, then secretly followed him. Eventually, I discovered he was wearing a human skin mask, disguised as someone else, plotting something."

"Cheng Mo and I teamed up and captured him, delivered him to Dao Ting Si. Everything else was confiscated—only this transmission token had all its contents erased, so I brought it back for you…"

Mo Hua took the transmission token and examined it.

It was a pale green token, steeped in the scent of pills and blood.

When his spiritual sense sank into it, it was indeed blank—everything had been erased.

To ordinary eyes, yes.

But Mo Hua's eyes narrowed; his deep gaze swept across it, revealing beneath the blank surface: chaotic, irregular magnetic patterns, fixed, standardized magnetic formations, and subtle, indelible sub-thunder markings.

Rain leaves traces; geese leave sounds.

Beneath all appearances, there are traces—only some cannot see them.

"Will this transmission token really work?" Yang Qianjun asked, curious as he watched Mo Hua's intense focus.

"Mm." Mo Hua nodded. "Thank you, Brother Yang."

Yang Qianjun smiled. "If I can help, that's enough. Little Senior Brother, no need to be formal."

Yang Qianjun was a few years older than Mo Hua; they addressed each other by their own terms.

Mo Hua called him "Brother," and he called Mo Hua "Senior Brother."

After returning to the disciples' quarters, Mo Hua began restoring the transmission token.

He was already thoroughly familiar with the entire process.

On the brightly lit desk lay an array plate, array paper, ink, and brush.

Mo Hua first dismantled the transmission token, transcribed the fixed magnetic patterns, then meticulously recorded the secondary thunder patterns, and simulated them on another array plate.

From Master Xun, he had received a copy of "Annotations on Fixed Magnetic Patterns," and understood that the seemingly abstract and complex fixed magnetic patterns were, in essence, a form of "indicative script" in array markings.

Although the "Annotations on Fixed Magnetic Patterns" was not comprehensive, containing only a few general annotations, it was currently sufficient for Mo Hua's needs.

Through the magnetic pattern annotations, Mo Hua could now grasp roughly seven or eight tenths of the meanings of these fixed magnetic patterns.

He first redrew the fixed magnetic patterns onto the array plate.

Then, upon that foundation, he simulated the secondary thunder patterns to independently reconstruct the erased characters within the transmission token.

As the magnetic patterns were restored, the array flowed, and one by one, the vanished characters gradually reappeared.

"April… fourteenth…"

"Fellow sect members, gather at Qingping City…"

The characters that followed were missing—whether due to an error in reproducing the fixed magnetic patterns or a flaw in the secondary thunder patterns, he could not tell.

Mo Hua continued his deduction downward.

"Gather at Qingping City… exterminate…"

Exterminate?

Mo Hua froze, his gaze turning solemn; a sense of unease stirred within him.

He continued his deduction; the final two characters slowly emerged.

"Whole family…"

Mo Hua froze, linking all the characters together:

"April fourteenth, fellow sect members, gather at Qingping City, exterminate… whole family?"

Mo Hua drew in a sharp breath of cold air.

Extermination of the entire family!

The scenes from Bishan City—the fire, the massacre of cultivators, their dismembered bodies, their cries, their struggles, their agony—flashed again through Mo Hua's mind.

Mo Hua found it hard to believe.

These demonic cultivators were still plotting extermination!

But… whose entire family?

The key characters on the transmission token had not been restored.

Mo Hua examined the sentence again and again, cross-checked the fixed magnetic patterns, inspected the secondary thunder patterns, and spent hours tinkering—but to no avail.

He knew only that the demonic cultivators' target for extermination lay within Qingping City, but he had no clue which family or clan it was.

Mo Hua frowned.

Extermination…

Were these demonic cultivators also the Evil God's lackeys?

What was the purpose of their exterminations?

Mo Hua recalled every detail of the events in Qianxue Province, gradually connecting the dots.

The second-rank Bishan City, the Xie family, had been exterminated.

Near Bishan City, a Bishan Demon Temple had been built, and within it stood an altar.

Along the Zhihe River, the former fishing village had also been exterminated.

The village had become a preaching ground for the Evil God, where nightmare and reality merged, and a River God Temple had been erected, its deepest chamber housing yet another altar.

So, did "extermination" serve as a prerequisite for constructing Mo Sect temples and Evil God altars?

Why?

Mo Hua reconsidered every detail of his experience in the small fishing village, and a hypothesis formed in his mind.

To establish an altar, one must raise demonic beasts.

After extermination, the flesh and blood of cultivators were used to forge flesh-and-blood demonic beasts.

The residual spiritual souls of cultivators were used to forge demonic spirits and evil entities.

Moreover, certain arrays, rivers of flesh, walls of bone within the demon temples also required "human" as "building material."

The fishing village was no exception.

Before the Dao Ting Si stormed the Bishan Demon Cavern, Huo Fotuo had already destroyed most of the temple's secrets; few clues remained.

But Mo Hua suspected the truth was much the same.

All things follow rules; the Evil God's preaching, sacrifices, and altar construction must also adhere to a certain process.

"To treat all things as straw dogs, to treat all living beings as 'livestock'—this is the Evil God's Dao…"

Mo Hua's gaze turned icy; he sighed deeply.

Yet he felt a lingering doubt.

To do such a thing right under the Dao Ting's nose, there must be a mole inside the Dao Ting Si.

At the same time, to lead these unruly and frenzied demonic cultivators in annihilating whole clans without anyone noticing, there must also be a demonic mastermind of the same realm, with extremely powerful cultivation and ruthless methods, to take the lead.

Previously, it was Huo Fotuo, who was at the peak of Foundation Establishment and practiced forbidden arts.

But now Huo Fotuo is already dead — so who would do such a thing?

Mo Hua couldn't figure it out.

"April fourteenth — four more days…"

Four days from now, another household would be wiped out by demonic cultivators, no one knew which.

A chill crept into Mo Hua's heart.

But he had already been placed under "house arrest"…

After a brief thought, Mo Hua immediately sent a message to Gu Changhuai: "Uncle Gu, in Qingping City, four days from now, demonic cultivators will annihilate a clan…"

On Gu Changhuai's end, there was a long silence before a reply came back:

"How do you know?"

Mo Hua was about to answer when he suddenly froze.

Uncle Gu had asked, "How do you know?" — not "How did you find out?"

This meant he had already known about this beforehand.

Mo Hua was somewhat surprised:

"Uncle Gu, you already knew?"

Gu Changhuai sounded somewhat helpless. "We caught a few criminal cultivators, interrogated them harshly, and got some leads…"

Then Gu Changhuai asked again: "How did you find out?"

He was the Gu Diansi of the Dao Ting Si, responsible for the surrounding public order. Capturing criminal and demonic cultivators was his duty — knowing these things was nothing strange.

But Mo Hua, a mere sect disciple who never stepped outside, how did he know the demonic cultivators' plot?

Clearly, he himself had only learned of this news two days ago.

Gu Changhuai's brow furrowed slightly.

Mo Hua told the truth: "I restored a transmission talisman and saw it on there…"

A transmission talisman, huh…

Gu Changhuai sighed, thinking it was just as he expected.

Array masters really were too outrageous.

The cultivators under him in the Dao Ting Si had worked themselves to the bone tailing suspects, dutifully gathering intel, and interrogating day and night — only to painstakingly pry this little bit of information out of a few demonic cultivators' mouths.

And yet this kid Mo Hua, just by getting a transmission talisman, decoding it, restoring it, knew everything…

Comparisons between people were truly maddening.

Of course, Gu Changhuai understood in his heart.

What the Dao Ting Si did was "grueling work"; what Mo Hua did was "technical work."

Especially Mo Hua's kind of technical work, involving tricky and profound formations — the actual difficulty was far, far greater than their staking out, tailing, and interrogating.

Gu Changhuai sighed again.

He didn't even dare imagine how unfathomably advanced Mo Hua's formation skills would become when this kid grew up.

"Don't tell anyone else, or word will leak and alert the enemy." Gu Changhuai instructed.

"Mm, mm, I understand." Mo Hua nodded in agreement, then asked, "Uncle Gu, do you know which family the demonic cultivators want to annihilate?"

Gu Changhuai hesitated briefly, then replied: "Haven't found out yet."

"Then what does the Dao Ting Si plan to do?" Mo Hua asked.

Gu Changhuai was silent.

Mo Hua then said: "You don't have to say much — just give me a hint of what you can."

Gu Changhuai was dazed for a moment, then sighed:

"Which family they wipe out doesn't matter…"

Mo Hua understood at once. "Lay down a dragnet, catch them in a jar — as long as the demonic cultivators enter the city intending to kill and annihilate a clan, you turn around and encircle and annihilate them."

"So exactly who they want to wipe out, whether you know or not, doesn't matter."

"Is that right, Uncle Gu?"

Gu Changhuai: "…"

You've already said everything — what am I supposed to say?

"More or less." Gu Changhuai said vaguely.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then suddenly said: "Uncle Gu, Qingping City is a second-grade Xiancheng, not small — your Dao Ting Si doesn't have enough manpower, right…"

Gu Changhuai said warily: "What are you trying to do?"

Mo Hua said quietly: "Can I find you some help?"

Gu Changhuai said dismissively, "You don't need to worry about this kind of thing. Stay put in the sect, cultivate properly, study more formations, and don't go thinking about all this nonsense."

"The Dao Ting Si may not have abundant manpower, but it's not yet at the point of needing your help…"

Mo Hua said quietly: "Near the Qianxue State border, a second-grade Xiancheng, demonic cultivators gathering, plotting to annihilate a clan — they dare to do something like this…"

"There must be a mole inside the Dao Ting Si."

"Uncle Gu, do you really feel at ease using Dao Ting Si people?"

Gu Changhuai fell silent at Mo Hua's question.

The matter of moles — everyone understood without saying it out loud.

And if they were to set up an ambush in Qingping City and catch the culprits in a jar, they would inevitably have to deploy a large number of people.

Besides the Gu family cultivators, there must be other Dao Ting Si cultivators.

The Gu family cultivators are fine—I know their background—but the other Dao Ting Si cultivators, whether black or white, what they hide inside, is hard to say.

After a moment of thought, Gu Changhuai asked Mo Hua:

"Where did you get your people?"

He was genuinely curious.

Mo Hua said proudly, "They're all my fellow disciples from Grand Void Gate, close to me, and their backgrounds are clean—at least cleaner than Dao Ting Si."

And they all call me 'Little Senior Brother.'

Gu Changhuai stared, somewhat startled.

Mo Hua's connections and influence within Grand Void Gate were becoming harder and harder to understand.

But Gu Changhuai still worried: "No, too dangerous. Those demonic cultivators are all at least mid-to-late Foundation Establishment."

Mo Hua said, "It's fine—they won't engage directly. They just need to help form a net, hold the perimeter, and pick up the stragglers."

Direct, dangerous work must be left to Dao Ting Si Enforcement Officers who've been through countless battles and have ample experience.

Gu Changhuai nodded slightly.

That would be acceptable enough…

Gu Changhuai pondered a moment longer, then said: "Are you trying to get them merit points?"

"Of course!" Mo Hua replied firmly. "There's no such thing as a free chicken leg!"

Mo Hua added, "... Besides, I'm close to Uncle Gu. I've put up with free labor before, taken losses before—it's fine."

"But they're different—they're all scions of noble families, all proud. If they go out and earn no merit points, how could they justify it?"

Gu Changhuai snorted.

This brat talks nothing but nonsense.

He's never done free labor before, let alone taken losses—he's usually the one making others take losses.

"Fine," Gu Changhuai sighed.

Mo Hua asked cautiously, "How many merit points can you give?"

Gu Changhuai said, "Two hundred."

Mo Hua shook his head. "At least four hundred."

Gu Changhuai felt a headache coming on.

After a reluctant negotiation, the final merit points were set at three hundred.

Mo Hua had done his best.

As 'Little Senior Brother,' he could only go this far.

But for ordinary disciples, three hundred merit points was no small sum.

The next day, at lunch in the dining hall, Mo Hua quietly told Cheng Mo: "There's a big job—needs about fifty people. Three hundred merit points each upon completion."

Cheng Mo's heart jolted.

Fifty people, three hundred merit points each—that was a massive job!

"Little Senior Brother, where did this job come from?" Cheng Mo whispered, lowering his voice.

Mo Hua said, "I can't reveal the details yet—you'll know when the time comes. But this job is risky; you must find veterans."

Cheng Mo nodded. "Naturally."

"Also," Mo Hua thought for a moment, then added, "Find people you know well, people with clean backgrounds. No leaks allowed."

"Beyond that, try to find scions from outside Gan Province—those with little connection to Gan Province's local noble families."

"If they're from Gan Province's local families, they must be extremely close—like Hao Xuan."

Cheng Mo was puzzled, but he always trusted Mo Hua.

Whatever Mo Hua said was truth—he didn't ask unnecessary questions.

"Don't worry, Little Senior Brother," Cheng Mo patted his chest. "Leave it to me!"

Afterward, Cheng Mo secretly recruited fifty disciples.

Besides Si Tu Jian, Yang Qianjun, Hao Xuan, and Yi Li—those he knew well—the rest were also disciples he had ties with and could trust.

Three hundred merit points offered no reason to refuse.

They agreed without hesitation.

Mo Hua activated his spiritual sense, scanning them all, then nodded in satisfaction.

That was enough manpower.

Then, as before, Mo Hua colluded with Gu Changhuai inside Dao Ting Si, coordinating inside and out. With his extremely sharp spiritual sense, at the agreed time and before a crowd of senior brothers and sisters, he 'acted swiftly' and snatched a reward with massive merit points—but vague description and unclear purpose.

Like snatching a large chunk of meat from a pack of hungry wolves…

(End of Chapter)