Chapter 705: Demonic Bones
That thought—instilled by Mo Hua's words and twisted logic—took root in Master She's mind, branded deep into his divine consciousness.
For a brief moment, his eyes lost focus.
Something seemed to be germinating inside him…
Mo Hua, for his part, didn't even realize that when he'd spoken earlier, he had unconsciously used a rudimentary version of the "Demonic Seed in the Dao Heart" technique.
Of course, this wasn't the same terrifying spell the Trickster Daoist used—planting a true "demonic thought" in another's heart.
Rather, it was a subtler version: a divine-consciousness technique that used words to shake a person's Dao heart, planting a faint and distorted "seed" of perception deep inside their mind.
A method both obscure and profound.
The old Mo Hua couldn't have used something like this at all.
But after devouring large amounts of divine essence, his divine sense had transformed, and his divinity and humanity had begun to blend into his Dao heart.
Now, Mo Hua could instinctively use some of the divine arts he'd once seen, even if he'd never consciously studied them.
Like this shallow, demonic-seedless version of "Dao Heart Planting the Demon."
"I'm a traitor."
Master She's gaze wavered, pupils unfocused. Moments later, he returned to normal—but the thought had already lodged itself in his mind, and he believed it completely.
"I've already become a traitor."
"I've betrayed the God Lord."
"I must not let the God Lord find out."
"And I absolutely cannot mention that little devil… or the God Lord will know I led the wolf into the temple…"
Yes, the little devil was right.
Whether intentional or not, deliberate or accidental—he had become the one who led the tiger into the mountain.
And for people like that—death is deserved.
The God Lord wouldn't reason with him. Wouldn't hear his explanations.
If it found out, the punishment would be far worse than death.
In that moment, Master She finally understood everything.
Keeping the little devil's secret… was the only way to keep himself alive.
"Understand now?" Mo Hua asked.
Master She's face was pale, voice hoarse—but firm.
"I understand."
Mo Hua was pleased.
This old bastard was at least self-aware. And there might be more cause-and-effect entangling him… so sparing his life was acceptable.
So long as he kept his mouth shut.
Mo Hua was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and turned back.
"Hand over the Divine Dao formation."
Master She stiffened.
Mo Hua's gaze sharpened.
"You've got it on you, don't you?"
After all, there were clear traces of Divine Dao formations in and around the fishing village.
And throughout their journey—opening doors, raising altars, conducting sacrifices, entering dreams—it had all involved array patterns. And those patterns were all under Master She's control.
Clearly, Master She wasn't just any ordinary dark array master.
Besides brewing evil pills, he likely also managed and maintained the dark and divine formations here.
Which meant—he very likely had a complete Divine Dao formation diagram in his possession.
Faced with Mo Hua's penetrating gaze, Master She dared not lie. He gave a bitter laugh.
"I really don't have it."
Mo Hua was unconvinced.
"Then where'd you learn those evil formations from?"
Master She, clearly resigned, no longer tried to hide anything. He spoke with a trace of reverence:
"They were passed to us… through dreams. The God Lord lent us His will, letting us learn and draw using His great divine consciousness."
"Without His help, I could never grasp such advanced formations on my own."
Mo Hua frowned.
Passed on through dreams?
Borrowing divine will to draw arrays?
Was this one of the Great Desolate Evil God's techniques?
He glanced at Master She—his fearful expression seemed genuine. Still, something about the story felt… off.
Divine Dao formations were meant to suppress gods.
Why would an evil god teach something like that?
And weren't gods supposed to not know formations?
Also… how did one even borrow an evil thought?
So that meant… that River-crossing Dragon's unsealing blood array at the well was also likely drawn by borrowing some kind of "evil thought"?
"Borrowing evil thought…"
Mo Hua's thoughts tangled into knots.
Master She, seeing Mo Hua fall into deep contemplation again, felt a chill run through him. He had no idea whether Mo Hua was thinking of some grand revelation—or some terrifying scheme.
Fortunately, Mo Hua didn't continue questioning. He just said blandly:
"Let's go."
Master She breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The group left the River God Temple and began the journey back.
On the way, they found the fishing village… had changed.
The oppressive atmosphere had lightened noticeably.
The scent of fish and blood had begun to dissipate.
The many flesh-and-blood monsters within the sacrificial ground now seemed… dazed. As if their souls had been sucked out—nothing but walking corpses, struggling instinctively in place.
The evil things in the blood leech swamp had all shriveled and died.
The swamp was now just a regular swamp.
Gods take material form through objects.
But once the "god" dies—the "object" will gradually decay as well.
This entire fishing village—or rather, this evil god's preaching ground—was already beginning to wither.
But Mo Hua had no intention of letting this preaching ground off the hook.
When they came, they'd had to tread carefully.
But now? The nightmare was gone. The temple collapsed. The River God slain. The evil god's avatar… devoured.
There was no one left in this village—no man, no god, no thing—that could threaten Mo Hua.
So he grew bolder.
Like a locust swarm, he began to scavenge everything.
Anything suspicious—into his storage ring.
Tiles, pillars, plazas, roads—not even the faintest trace of a formation was left untouched.
He even had the team dig up the ground.
Under Mo Hua's command, the Gu Clan cultivators—even Master She—started excavating inch by inch, turning the village upside down.
One by one, formation lines were discovered, recorded, and eventually pieced together into a complete array.
And just like that, through his own methods and his solid knowledge of formation theory, Mo Hua began to reconstruct a comprehensive Divine Dao Formation—complete with lines, cores, and anchors—a self-contained system of divine suppression.
The Gu Clan cultivators were full of admiration.
"No wonder Young Master Mo is already so respected by Lord Changhuai at his age…"
So practical, so studious—taking every opportunity to dive deeper into formations.
Only Master She looked on in disbelief.
He knew this shouldn't be possible.
Divine arrays—taught by a god—weren't something you could reverse engineer like a puzzle.
It wasn't just about collecting lines and putting them together.
He had never heard of any array master being able to reconstruct such a thing through sheer deduction.
There had to be… something deeper.
Some profound, esoteric knowledge hidden in this youth's understanding of formations.
Master She was shaken to his core.
"This young lord… his mastery of formations is far more terrifying than I ever imagined!"
"Not only is he a divine sense prodigy—he's also a formation freak!"
Fear took root in Master She's heart. He dared not entertain any other thoughts. His attitude grew even more respectful, tinged with a trace of humility.
Mo Hua, meanwhile, was in a fantastic mood after reconstructing a complete formation diagram.
The fishing village had been thoroughly scavenged—its surface now looked as if it had been plowed with a rake. There wasn't anything useful left.
Mo Hua was satisfied.
The group retraced their steps, crossing the small bridge and returning to the large fish house near the front of the village.
Several Gu Clan cultivators were stationed there, guarding Guo Jianglong and a few other black-clad men. Since they'd been posted at a distance, they'd remained safe and sound.
After regrouping, the party didn't hesitate. They took the captives and headed straight out of the village.
A short while later, they entered the dried-out well path again, where a deep pool blocked their way—the one where the powerful water fiend had dwelled.
One of the Gu Clan cultivators tried to repeat their earlier trick, tossing in a dead spotfish.
Mo Hua waved it off.
"No need for that."
On the way in, they'd been too cautious and ended up chased across the river by that water fiend—Mo Hua even took a spill.
He still held a bit of a grudge about that.
"I'll draw a formation to evaporate the water first—then we'll all go in together and slaughter that beast!"
A gentleman does not let yesterday's grudge last overnight, Mo Hua thought silently, then began setting up the array.
He didn't make a show of it—just used his divine sense to control his brush. He first laid several subterranean fire formations with a formation plate, then personally painted several Blazing Fire Arrays onto the stone tiles.
Once activated, the formations surged with heat and light—blazing fire roared and scalding air rushed out.
The entire pool began to boil. Steam thickened into clouds as the water heated up.
Moments later, an enraged roar echoed from the bottom of the pool.
The water fiend thrashed and howled within the bubbling cauldron. But while the boiling water pained it, its tough hide made it nearly immune—it was only suffering, not injured.
Less than half an hour later, the water had completely evaporated.
And there it was—the hideous, savage water fiend, sprawled at the bottom of the pool, glaring furiously at them with its yellow-green eyes.
Mo Hua gave a wave, and more than ten Gu Clan cultivators immediately surged forward.
They hadn't forgotten how this water fiend had chased them on the way in—or how one of their comrades had been bitten, nearly losing half a leg. They still held a bellyful of rage, and now took it out with full force.
With no water to empower it, the water fiend's strength plummeted.
The Gu cultivators moved in a coordinated assault, switching seamlessly between offense and defense. In just the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the beast—despite being a peak second-grade water fiend—was slain.
Gu An stepped up and sliced open its abdomen.
The stench was overwhelming, and inside were half-digested human bones—clear evidence that this monster fed regularly on people. No telling how many cultivators had died at the bottom of this well.
Its death was a public service.
At Mo Hua's signal, the Gu cultivators pinched their noses and began to dismember the water fiend.
They weren't professional beast-hunters, so they followed Mo Hua's instructions on how to harvest materials.
Mo Hua directed them in detail—where to cut, where to flay, where to strip bone or remove flesh.
Eventually, the water fiend had been fully skinned, boned, and gutted—its materials cleanly extracted.
Gu An handed Mo Hua a pale blue demon core and a long, gleaming white spine.
"A peak second-grade water fiend's core—once purified in a pill furnace to remove its demonic taint—can be used in medicine. It'll fetch a good price."
"This spine too—it's rich in water energy and incredibly tough. Excellent material for forging a spirit sword."
Mo Hua blinked.
"Forge a spirit sword?"
Gu An nodded.
They weren't beast hunters, so they weren't familiar with material harvesting. But as officials under the Dao Court and descendants of an old clan, they were well-versed in spirit beast materials and their uses.
"To forge a spirit sword, you need a sword embryo. Most are made of metal or stone—but high-quality beast bones are also excellent."
"Metal is easy to come by. But top-tier demon spines? Very rare."
"This water fiend's spine—being second-grade peak and likely very old—is perfect for a sword embryo."
A sword embryo…
Mo Hua's eyes lit up.
He'd always wanted to become a sword cultivator, but had no proper inheritance, weak sword qi, no money, and no decent sword.
But now, he'd learned the "Sword Manifestation" technique that turned divine sense into a blade—he was technically in the door, and maybe someday could walk the path of a half-baked sword cultivator.
Especially since "Sword Manifestation" was built upon actual sword techniques.
Which meant—he needed a good sword.
Still…
Mo Hua glanced at Gu An.
"You don't want the demon core or the spine?"
Gu An replied evenly:
"We're just following orders. The Dao Court pays our salaries and rewards us with merits. We're not supposed to covet side loot."
"And besides, this mission only succeeded thanks to your keen instincts, formidable knowledge of formations, and superb command. These rewards are rightly yours."
Mo Hua felt a little embarrassed by the praise.
But he also understood—Gu An, Gu Quan, and the other Gu cultivators were being this polite for Uncle Gu's sake. They were giving him face—and giving Mo Hua the rewards.
Still, these were just regular clan disciples.
Gu An and Gu Quan likely had higher status in the family, but probably weren't core members either.
And for ordinary cultivators like them, building up merit was hard work. Earning spirit stones for cultivation probably wasn't easy.
Besides, Mo Hua knew he'd still need their help in the future.
After a moment's thought, he accepted the spine.
"Alright. I'll take the spine—it might come in handy if I forge a spirit sword someday…"
"As for the demon core—Brother An, sell it and split the spirit stones among everyone. Use it for cultivation—or to buy everyone a drink."
Gu An blinked, as if unsure whether to refuse.
But Mo Hua cut him off.
"That's final."
Gu An paused, then smiled and cupped his hands.
"Then I thank Young Master Mo on everyone's behalf."
The other Gu cultivators all lit up and bowed in gratitude.
"Many thanks, Young Master Mo!"
A peak second-grade demon core was quite valuable. Once sold, each of them could get a good chunk of spirit stones.
And Mo Hua had guessed right.
Though aristocratic clans might be grand, they had many mouths to feed.
For ordinary clan disciples like these, day-to-day expenses, socializing with fellow cultivators, and training all consumed spirit stones. They weren't exactly rolling in wealth.
Missions from the Dao Court Division were dangerous and heavily regulated—so any chance to earn a little extra was rare and hard-won.
One Gu Clan cultivator grinned, "Young Master Mo, if you need anything next time, just say the word."
The others chimed in:
"Indeed, we'll give it our all!"
"Mm-hmm."
Mo Hua beamed, eyes squinting in delight.
The group then left the bottom of the well and returned to the fishing village.
The depths had been gloomy, never seeing the sun—shrouded in perpetual gray. But outside, it was already daylight. Sunlight spilled across the village, bright and clear.
Mo Hua extended his divine sense, surveying the condition of the village.
The fishermen's divine senses had already awakened from the nightmare. Their expressions were no longer blank or dazed, though most were pale and clearly lacking in energy.
This was the look of divine sense exhaustion.
Because they had worshipped an evil god, their divine senses had been partially consumed. The loss was expected—some rest would restore them, and there shouldn't be any major issues.
Mo Hua swept over them one more time, double-checking. Only after confirming there were no lingering problems did he relax completely.
Yu Dahe carried his two children home, laid them on the bed, fed them some Clarity Pills and Qi Circulation Pills, and channeled spiritual energy to clear their meridians.
After a while, the two children slowly regained consciousness and murmured:
"Dad... Grandpa…"
Old Yu was overjoyed and full of gratitude toward Mo Hua.
Yu Dahe pulled the two kids up, about to kowtow and offer thanks.
Mo Hua quickly stopped them.
"No need to be so formal…"
He gave them a warm smile—but then, as he turned his head and extended his divine sense, he suddenly paused. His expression grew slightly serious.
Something was… off about the two children.
On the surface, they looked no different—unharmed physically.
But on their cheeks and limbs, there were faint, whitish divine sense imprints—very unusual.
With every breath, those imprints rippled, like the gills of a fish fluttering underwater.
Ordinary cultivators would never detect such a thing.
Mo Hua's brow furrowed. His mind drifted back to the nightmare—those two children kneeling before the altar, being assimilated by two strange fish demons, their cheeks growing gills, hands and feet turning into fins…
It seemed that even after being rescued from the nightmare, the children had still been affected by the River God—undergoing some unforeseen transformation.
Whether this change was a blessing or a curse remained unclear.
Mo Hua sighed internally, pondered for a moment, then pulled a few manuals from his storage pouch.
One was White Wave Art, which included a body technique called White Wave Step, and another was Water-Rejection and Demon-Repelling Technique.
These were water-type inheritances Mo Hua had obtained from Guo Jianglong.
To him, they were just ordinary techniques and cultivation arts.
But to poor waterfolk cultivators like those in this village, they were practically top-tier cultivation inheritances.
These villagers lived by the water, so water-based body techniques and defensive arts were especially valuable.
"Here—take these. Have the two kids study them seriously," Mo Hua said.
Yu Dahe took the manuals with trembling hands.
Old Yu's eyes reddened with emotion. He didn't even know what to say, only repeating gratefully:
"Thank you, young lord... thank you…"
Mo Hua added,
"It's best to have them train in secret—don't let these techniques leak out. But that demon-repelling method, you can teach it to the rest of the village. It's a defensive art, meant to keep them safe from water demons."
"Yes, yes—we'll do whatever Young Master Mo says!"
The father and son nodded repeatedly, bowing to Mo Hua with heartfelt gratitude.
With that, matters in the fishing village came to a temporary close.
Master She, the black-clad men, and Guo Jianglong would all be escorted back to the Dao Court Division by Gu An and the others.
Mo Hua didn't need to worry about any of that.
His job here was done. It was time to return to the sect for his "takeout delivery."
But just as they were leaving the fishing village and reaching the roadside—about to part ways—Mo Hua suddenly remembered something Master She had said earlier:
"…Just another half day, and the pill will be done. You can deliver it to the Young Lord, and I'll have fulfilled my duty…"
Pill, ready to be delivered... to a "Young Lord"?
Mo Hua turned to Master She and asked,
"Who was that pill meant for?"
Master She froze for a moment and shook his head.
"I don't know... I only know it was for the 'Young Lord.'"
"But I only handle the alchemy. I've never met him."
Mo Hua nodded slightly and swept his gaze over the others—finally landing on Guo Jianglong.
Guo Jianglong looked calm, but his divine sense was restless.
Mo Hua narrowed his eyes and asked,
"Do you know… who this 'Young Lord' is?"
Guo Jianglong dared not answer.
Mo Hua pressed again,
"Who delivers the pills to him?"
Guo Jianglong's face twitched. His fingers trembled uncontrollably.
That was all the confirmation Mo Hua needed.
He stared at Guo Jianglong and calmly ordered:
"Then right now… you're going to deliver that completed pill to the 'Young Lord.'"
Because Mo Hua wanted to know—who exactly is this so-called Young Lord?
(End of Chapter)