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Chapter 295: 294: Unfathomable_1
Chapter 295: 294: Unfathomable_1
Chapter 295: Chapter 294: Unfathomable_1
After Mo Hua left, a cup of tea’s time passed, and the Third Householder could no longer sense Mo Hua’s divine sense, so he returned to the secluded grove.
Blood was everywhere, a complete mess.
Those evil cultivators had indeed been eaten, and quite cleanly at that, but the blood was all over the place.
“The vessel is a child, how on earth did it eat people to create such a mess?”
The Third Householder muttered to himself.
He then noticed something was wrong: there were numerous claw marks, bite marks, and even hairs with blood on the ground.
The Third Householder was taken aback, his brows furrowing slightly.
The evil cultivators, whose bodies were mutilated, were not eaten by a person but by monster beasts.
And the child who had been possessed by another’s spirit, had also vanished without a trace.
The Third Householder’s gaze sharpened as he sensed something was amiss.
Were these people not eaten by that little ghost?
Or was it that the little ghost was not some old demon possessing a body, but a monster beast wearing human skin?
But that didn’t seem right either. Without possession, how could it have only the Qi Refinement cultivation yet possess the divine sense of Foundation Establishment?
The Heavenly Dao has its own rules, and everything has its limits.
The divine sense of a Qi Refinement cultivator, no matter how strong, could not possibly transcend those limits, to be comparable to Foundation Establishment.
The Third Householder could not understand and suddenly was struck by a great shock—he had forgotten something crucial:
The Contemplation Map!
The little ghost had been meditating on his meditation cushion, and underneath that cushion was the Contemplation Map he had stolen from his sect!
The Third Householder, moving as fast as the wind, hurriedly made his way to the Pill Room at the Black Mountain Stronghold.
When he reached the Pill Room and lifted the cushion, he found the secret compartment had been opened, and it was as empty as could be.
A chill ran down the Third Householder’s spine as he was frantic and lost in his thoughts, believing the Contemplation Map to have been stolen, but then he spotted a chart not far off. It was made of a material that was neither entirely skin nor paper; it depicted Qingyan Stream amid the rocks—it was his Contemplation Map.
Overjoyed by the return of his lost treasure, the Third Householder was ecstatic.
Someone had opened his hidden compartment and pulled out his Contemplation Map but failed to recognize the true value and discarded it aside.
This was the Contemplation Map—treasure that countless Formation Masters dream of!
The Third Householder breathed a sigh of relief and unfolded the Contemplation Map with utmost care, but his smile suddenly froze on his face.
The map was still the same map, the mountain still the same mountain, the rock still the same rock, even the stream by the rock and the moss on the rock remained identical to before.
But the one thing missing was the little Taoist Child!
The Third Householder’s hands trembled. He promptly placed the map back, seated himself in the lotus position, forcibly suppressed his mind, and contemplated the map once more.
But no matter how many times he contemplated, he could no longer connect to the essence within the map, nor did his divine sense grow in the slightest.
The Third Householder was both shocked and furious.
The Contemplation Map was ruined! It could no longer enhance his divine sense.
The Third Householder’s complexion gradually lost its color.
Without the Contemplation Map to enhance his divine sense, advancing his formation knowledge would be very difficult.
He had been just one step away from becoming a Second Rank Formation Master, but now that step seemed infinitely far away.
“Who destroyed my Contemplation Map?!”
The Third Householder, unable to contain his anger, thought of Mo Hua in a daze.
“Was it the little ghost who did it?”
But how did he manage to destroy the Contemplation Map?
The Third Householder pondered deeply.
In the Contemplation Map, the scenery remained, only the Taoist Child was missing. Why had the Taoist Child disappeared, and where had he gone?
The image of Mo Hua’s elegant face and innocent smile came to the Third Householder’s mind, and an incredible speculation emerged.
“Could that little ghost actually be the Taoist Child from the Contemplation Map…”
“No, this is impossible!”
The Third Householder shook his head repeatedly.
Yet in his heart, the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, especially the similarity between their smiles—both innocently cheerful and faintly carrying a hint of mischief.
A chill rose in the Third Householder’s heart, along with a sense of dread.
That little ghost, he was beginning to see through him even less.
Was he human or ghost, an old demon that had possessed a body, or a demon monster wearing human skin, the Taoist Child from the Contemplation Map, or just a figment of his own imagination?
“I must capture that little ghost and find out the truth about his origins…”
The Third Householder silently resolved.
It’s best to keep a respectful distance from those whose depths you cannot see through.
But his Contemplation Map was ruined, and most likely, that little ghost was to blame. He had to find that little ghost and get to the bottom of it.
Without the Contemplation Map, his divine sense would grow slowly, and to make a breakthrough in formation and become a Second Rank Formation Master would be very difficult indeed.
The Third Householder frowned.
His talent for formation was not high, and unlike other Formation Masters who would toil tediously, day and night in practicing formations, he found such behavior foolish.
Formation upheld the Heavenly Dao and required enlightenment, not something that could be achieved by mere hard practice.
Even though he had taken a crooked path, utilizing a Contemplation Map filled with ill intents to enhance his divine sense, his advancement in formations was much faster than that of average Formation Masters.
Hard practice offered no way out.
The Third Householder was certain in his mind.
Hence, the Contemplation Map became ineffective, cutting off the growth of his Divine Sense and also barring his way to advancing in Formation techniques.
“I must find that brat!”
If he is human and possesses a Foundation Establishment level Divine Sense despite being in the Qi Refinement Realm, he must have some secret technique to enhance Divine Sense, and he must get his hands on it;
If that brat is the Taoist child in the Contemplation Map, he only needs to seal it back into the map, and then the Contemplation Map can be restored to its original state. He would still be able to use it to strengthen his Divine Sense and step into the threshold of becoming a Second Rank Formation Master.
A cold light condensed in the Third Householder’s eyes, and then he was engulfed in confusion:
“Where could that brat be right now…”
Mo Hua, whom the Third Householder was brooding over, was at his home at the moment, heartily enjoying the meal his mother had personally prepared for him.
A full table laden with dishes, all appealing to the eye and palate.
In his left hand, he clutched a large bun, and in his right, he gripped a big chicken leg, his cheeks bulging, his eyes squinted into crescents, thinking to himself:
“Nothing tastes better than home-cooked food.”
The food at Black Mountain Stronghold was too poor; he would never eat there again.
It seemed that the Third Householder had gotten wind of something and had set his sights on him, but Mo Hua had no plan to enter the Black Mountain Stronghold again,
unless the Taoist Court took action against it, and only then might he go to watch the excitement.
But in the short term, penetrating the Black Mountain Stronghold was impossible, and naturally, Mo Hua had no chance of re-entering the deep mountains.
If the Third Householder wanted to wait for him, let him wait forever.
Wait until he had successfully established his Foundation and then become a Second Rank Formation Master before he would bother with him.
By then, even without tricks and deceptions, he wouldn’t need to fear him any longer.
Now, Mo Hua’s next goal was to establish his Foundation!
He had long since saved up enough Spirit Stones.
He had his share in the Refinery Shop and the Alchemist’s Business in Southern City, a dividend from the Fulu Food Building, and he could also fleece some wool from the Taoist Court.
However, the wool from the Taoist Court could be saved up, kept for unexpected needs, and only taken when he was in urgent need of it later.
This was Zhang Lan’s advice.
Zhang Lan was an “inner cultivator” of the Taoist Court and certainly knew more than him; his advice was to be heeded.
Mo Hua had a mediocre Spiritual Root and was cultivating the ancient Heaven Yan Jue technique, which was also considered mediocre, so the cycles of Spiritual Power he cultivated were somewhat below average.
Since he didn’t have a lot of Spiritual Power, the number of Spirit Stones needed for a breakthrough wasn’t particularly high; thus, the Spirit Stones Mo Hua had saved were already sufficient.
The bottleneck of the Heaven Yan Jue lay in the Divine Sense, and Mo Hua now had a Foundation Establishment-level Divine Sense, far exceeding expectations, which should also be sufficient.
Now, it could be said that everything was ready, lacking only the opportune moment.
As long as he cultivated to the perfection of the ninth level of Qi Refinement, he could make a break through and become a Foundation Building Cultivator in one fell swoop!
Foundation Establishment ah…
There were not many Foundation Building Cultivators in the whole of Tongxian City, let alone those like him, a Loose Cultivator. Over the years, it was only Elder Yu, a Foundation Building Cultivator himself, who had steadfastly supported them, opposing the Qian Family, and seeking justice for Loose Cultivators.
And now, Mo Hua could become a Foundation Building Cultivator too.
He had thought about this day before but hadn’t expected it to come so soon, and so vividly real, as if it was truly within reach…
Mo Hua was somewhat lost in thought.
Liu Ruhua then gently touched his head, softly saying, “Focus on your meal.”
Mo Hua came back to his senses, smiled at his mother, and began earnestly to tuck into the lavish spread before him.
Seeing him eat voraciously, Liu Ruhua thought about how he must have been starving in the mountains these past days, and felt a pang of heartache. She grabbed another big chicken leg for him and reminded him:
“Eat more.”
Mo Hua nodded repeatedly, “Mother, you don’t know, the food at Black Mountain Stronghold is really awful.”
“How bad can it be?”
“As bad as it gets.”
Liu Ruhua chuckled, “Yet you still ate it?”
“When the stomach is empty, even if the food is bad, you have to eat.”
Liu Ruhua suddenly frowned, “Your trip to the Black Mountain Stronghold, was it very dangerous?”
Mo Hua was about to nod but then worried his mother might fret, so he said, “It was okay, I have my Concealment Techniques; I can listen in, watch, and eat without them noticing…”
Then Mo Hua hesitated, remembering his mother’s admonitions, and spoke quietly:
“They are all bad people, so listening in, watching a bit, or stealing a bite shouldn’t count as doing a bad deed, right…?”
Liu Ruhua smiled, “No, it doesn’t.”
Mo Hua then recounted other stories.
But unlike the ones he told Elder Yu, all were “interesting” little things that seemed fun to listen to.
Like the fat man who fed the animals, carelessly being bitten to death by a tiger.
The two fools on guard duty, who, due to a misunderstanding, ended up killing each other.
Although the Third Householder was a Foundation Building Cultivator, some Formations weren’t drawn as well as his; he secretly undermined many and quietly dismantled many Formations without the Third Householder even realizing it to date…
Liu Ruhua listened attentively, indeed feeling much lighter.
Mo Shan, sitting nearby, however, had a complex expression.
He knew these stories were only “interesting” to hear, but in reality, they were fraught with danger.
Once, when he ventured into Big Black Mountain to hunt Monster Beasts, he would also omit the dangerous parts and tell “interesting” tales to Mo Hua.
Never had he expected that now, Mo Hua, not wanting them to worry as parents, began to tell them these “interesting” tales too.
Mo Shan felt a mix of emotions, both poignant and reassuring.