Chapter 711 – Divine War
A few days later, in the forbidden area's secret chamber—
Mr. Tu, now stripped of his genteel and scholarly human disguise, knelt trembling before the statue of the horned deity, his expression filled with dread. His face was pale as death, skin flayed open and limbs twisted, crumpled powerlessly on the ground.
His divine sense was trapped within the boundless inferno of the Great Wilderness, suffering tongue-ripping, finger-snipping, chest-piercing, steaming torture, and all manner of cruel punishment.
He hovered at the brink of despair.
This… was divine punishment.
Punishment from the Lord of the Great Wilderness, unleashed because he had failed in his duties.
The altar had been taken, divine authority stolen, and the demon army suffered heavy losses.
The wrath of the God Lord this time was unlike any before.
As he endured this hell, Mr. Tu still heard the thunderous roar of the God Lord echoing in his mind, his soul trembling.
Finally, after an eternity of agony, the torment ended.
His divine sense was redeemed from the purgatory of the Great Wilderness, no longer tormented by hopeless pain.
His blood began to circulate again, and his skin slowly healed.
But the pain of divine punishment—like a searing brand—was etched into his soul. It would never be forgotten, not in this life, or the next.
Mr. Tu struggled to kneel upright, barely breathing, and reverently whispered:
"Whether thunder or blessing, all is divine grace…"
"Thank you, God Lord… for your chastisement…"
The violent, oppressive aura in the chamber calmed slightly.
Mr. Tu took a deep breath, barely holding his voice steady as he murmured:
"The majesty of the gods is as high as the heavens… human life is as lowly as ants…"
"Mortals… cannot fathom the divine, cannot covet godhood, let alone steal divine authority…"
"Yes… no one could…"
He muttered in terror.
He could not imagine anyone—or any means—by which a mere mortal could usurp a god's throne or wield divine power.
No one. No method. It should have been impossible!
Even the very words "steal divine authority" were already a blasphemy of the highest order. Not to mention actually doing it—just thinking it was already an act of sacrilege!
Yet… the divine authority had indeed been stolen.
The dignity of the God Lord had truly been defiled.
His servants had suffered catastrophic losses.
And so, Mr. Tu dared to form a bold theory.
Still kneeling, he clenched his teeth, trembling with fear and fury:
"No 'human' could commit such a blasphemous act!"
"This can't have been orchestrated by mere mortals."
"It must have been another deity… No—most likely, a 'dark god'!"
"This dark god has turned against the God Lord—scheming in the shadows, defiling the altar, usurping the God Lord's authority!"
"Only a god… can contend with another god!"
"That 'dark god' is the true hand behind the scenes!"
Suddenly, the room's evil aura surged violently.
A storm of furious, tyrannical will filled the chamber.
Mr. Tu prostrated himself, not daring to utter a word or even move—only his fingertips trembled faintly.
After a moment, the wrath dissipated, and calm returned.
The God Lord did not rebuke Mr. Tu.
It seemed… the Lord had accepted his theory.
Since the true enemy was a dark god—this was the scheme of another divine being.
Then Mr. Tu, a mere mortal—even with the highest cultivation or deepest faith—could not possibly be a match for such an adversary.
Nor could he be expected to anticipate the countless insidious tricks of a rival god.
Just as Mr. Tu was trembling in fear, he suddenly felt a surge of dark power flood into his sea of consciousness.
His divine sense—now bloodier, more twisted, more chaotic—had become even stronger.
And within it… fragments of profound formation knowledge began to emerge.
These were living inheritances, forcibly extracted from the minds of formation masters!
Mr. Tu's pupils quivered.
This was a blessing from the God Lord.
Though still dormant and not yet awakened, the Lord had bestowed this power—entrusting Mr. Tu to handle matters in the meantime.
Especially now, with a potential dark god opposing them and fate unpredictable.
Thus, divine power descended, gifting him with knowledge and strength to ensure nothing went wrong.
The God Lord's grand plan could not afford even a single misstep!
With tears of gratitude, Mr. Tu kowtowed deeply, then slowly lifted his head. His gaze grew resolute.
"The Great Void Sect… are followers of the dark god."
"The Gu Clan—Gu Changhuai—is the dark god's claw and fang."
"This will become a 'Divine War'—forged with mortal flesh and blood!"
"The God Lord's authority shall begin its descent upon Qianzhou… from the Great Wilderness!"
Meanwhile, the one Mr. Tu now viewed as a "dark god"—Mo Hua—was lazily basking in the sun on a grassy field.
Yu'er had just finished her daily lessons and was happily rolling around beside him.
Mo Hua had already "eaten" a large chunk of the demon horde from the Great Wilderness.
The pressure in Yu'er's nightmares had lessened considerably. She now slept peacefully each night and was becoming much more cheerful.
While playing with Yu'er, Mo Hua casually flipped through his Great Void Token.
He was looking for a few Tier-Two, Seventeen-Rune array techniques to study.
Preferably ones based on the Five Elements or Eight Trigrams systems—those were his specialty, and easier to ease into before progressing toward more advanced arrays.
Lying comfortably in the soft grass, Mo Hua picked through the lists for a while—then sighed and shook his head.
"Too expensive…"
Most Tier-Two Seventeen-Rune formations cost four to five hundred merit points.
Mo Hua currently had 2,000 points—which, for a Foundation Establishment disciple who'd only recently joined, was already quite a lot.
He had actually saved up even more over time.
By drawing formation diagrams, completing bounty tasks, and occasionally running errands for the Dao Tribunal (thanks to Uncle Gu), he earned more merit than most disciples.
But learning formations consumed a lot of resources.
So while he earned a lot, he spent a lot too.
Two thousand points looked impressive—but it would only net him four or five Seventeen-Rune formations. Not exactly extravagant.
He could buy them, yes—but then he'd be almost broke.
Coming from poverty, Mo Hua felt uneasy unless he had at least a thousand merit points stashed in his token.
"Merit points…"
Suddenly he remembered—he still had a reward pending at the Dao Tribunal.
The one for helping catch the Fire Buddha. Uncle Gu had promised to secure it for him.
But that merit had been crawling through the Tribunal's bureaucratic process for what felt like forever.
So slow…
Mo Hua sighed.
Before, he hadn't really needed it and didn't press the matter. But now that he could study Seventeen-Rune formations, the cost had skyrocketed.
He needed that merit, and soon.
So, he decided to send a little nudge.
Uncle Gu was always busy during the day, running Dao Tribunal affairs—not ideal to disturb him.
So after evening class, Mo Hua sent him a message:
"Uncle Gu, any word on that merit yet? Still not here?"
Uncle Gu took about the time of one incense stick to respond. He must've finally found a free moment between work:
"Which merit?"
Mo Hua's face darkened. > "The Fire Buddha merit!"
"Oh."
Only then did Gu Changhuai remember.
"Should be soon. I'll go push it tomorrow. It should be approved and transferred to the Great Void Sect in a couple of days."
Mo Hua instantly brightened and replied sweetly:
"Thanks, Uncle Gu~!"
"Mm."
Gu Changhuai responded calmly.
"By the way," Mo Hua thought for a moment and asked, "what's going on with that Young Master Jin?"
Gu Changhuai was silent for a while.
Mo Hua added, "Just tell me a little, that's enough…"
He knew some matters had to be kept confidential by the Dao Tribunal and couldn't be disclosed.
Gu Changhuai sighed. "Telling you a bit won't hurt…"
After all, catching Jin Yicai's group had been largely thanks to Mo Hua—he'd played a key role.
Gu Changhuai said, "Xie Liu is currently imprisoned in the Dao Prison. The charge is assaulting a Dao Tribunal Inspector. The rest of his crimes haven't been confirmed yet…"
"The other disciples from the Broken Gold Sect are also being detained. The sect is trying to pull strings behind the scenes to get them out. The outcome's still uncertain."
"As for that Young Master Jin—the Dao Tribunal issued a special order. He's been released already."
"He's been released?!" Mo Hua was stunned.
Gu Changhuai sighed. "That young master is named Jin Yicai, a direct scion of the Broken Gold Sect. As he claimed, his great-grandfather was once the sect master. His grandfather is the current Grand Elder, his father is the Deputy Sect Master, and his mother is an Inner Sect Elder…"
"His father's side has been in the sect's upper echelon for generations. His mother's family is connected to one of the Seven Halls of the Central Dao Court—quite influential in Dao Prefecture."
"Jin Yicai is the product of a major political marriage between two powerful families."
Gu Changhuai sneered. "Yet the 'child' born of this union turned out to be a damn beast—spoiled from birth, arrogant, and now completely lawless."
Mo Hua frowned. "But this Jin Yicai—he definitely broke Dao law, didn't he? Trafficking cultivators, refining human pills… doesn't the Dao Tribunal care?"
"That's exactly where the problem lies…"
Gu Changhuai sighed. "He shifted all the blame. Said he didn't know about the trafficking. That the human pill refining had nothing to do with him."
"His father used his Broken Gold Sect connections to beg for leniency."
"His mother used her own family ties to apply pressure via the Central Dao Prefecture and discreetly influence the Qianxue regional authorities."
"She even personally came to the Dao Tribunal and claimed that Jin Yicai was 'young and ignorant, still just a child—how could he possibly understand anything? If he did something wrong, someone must have framed him or incited him in secret…'"
"She even said, 'This child was raised under my watch. He's always been upright, diligent in cultivation, filial to his parents and respectful to elders. Even his maternal grandfather and several elders of Dao Prefecture are fond of him…'"
Gu Changhuai's expression was full of sarcasm, but ultimately turned helpless.
"The Broken Gold Sect is one of the Twelve Schools of Qianxue. To some degree, it represents the face of this region. A scandal this big can't be allowed to explode."
"The Dao Tribunal is caught between pressures from all sides. It's extremely difficult to push this case forward."
Mo Hua looked conflicted.
That Jin Yicai—whether his virtue was real or just a façade—might truly seem like a "filial, respectful, upright child" to his elders.
But in the eyes of other cultivators, he was nothing short of a monster.
And even something this heinous could be swept under the rug.
Even someone who had entered the Dao Tribunal could be let out.
Mo Hua found himself uncertain…
Who was truly evil?
The "dark gods"?
Or the human heart?
"You'd best be careful. Jin Yicai holds grudges. You've crossed paths before. After what he's suffered this time, he might come after you for revenge."
Gu Changhuai spoke with guilt in his voice.
If Jin Yicai had been dealt with within the Dao Tribunal, Mo Hua wouldn't be facing these risks.
Unfortunately, he was just a Diansi—an inspector, not a chief adjudicator.
If he were a chief… with sufficient authority, he would've already executed that little bastard and reported it afterward!
"Mmhm, don't worry, Uncle Gu," Mo Hua replied.
He wasn't afraid of Jin Yicai.
Once he mastered the seventeen-rune formations, he'd be even less afraid.
He just had to be wary of the Broken Gold Sect's lackeys.
But that was manageable.
He could just stay within the sect or only travel to Tier-Two prefectures. In those, the Broken Gold Sect couldn't touch him easily.
If anything, he was more worried about Uncle Gu—who might now be resented not just by Jin Yicai and the Jin clan, but the entire Broken Gold Sect. Maybe even other dark forces had started to take interest…
"Uncle Gu, you be careful too," Mo Hua said.
"Mm," Gu Changhuai replied flatly.
Mo Hua couldn't tell whether he truly understood how serious the situation was.
But then again, Uncle Gu was a Golden Core cultivator and a Dao Tribunal inspector. It wasn't really Mo Hua's place—as a low-level Foundation Establishment disciple—to worry about him.
After chatting, Mo Hua focused back on his formation studies.
From the Great Void Token, he specially picked a Tier-Two, Seventeen-Rune formation called "Metal-Suppressing Array" to learn.
It was a formation designed to restrain one of the Five Elements, specifically metal.
As the name implied, it disrupted the flow of metal-element spiritual energy, weakening metal-based spells and sword techniques.
"Let's start simple—learn this Metal-Suppressing Array as a precaution…"
"If the Broken Gold Sect dares mess with me again, I'll learn even more. Heck, I'll build an entire system of arrays specialized in countering metal-element sword arts!"
Mo Hua vowed silently.
After midnight, he immersed his consciousness into his sea of awareness and began practicing the Metal-Suppressing Array over and over on the Dao Stele.
It was the very first Tier-Two Advanced formation he had ever studied.
It was quite difficult, and Mo Hua couldn't master it in one night.
The next day after class, just as he was about to resume practicing, a fellow disciple came looking for him.
"Mo Hua, I just passed by the Merit Hall. The Merit Elder asked for you."
"Merit Elder?"
Mo Hua blinked, then his eyes lit up.
Could it be… the Fire Buddha merit had finally arrived?
"Thanks!" Mo Hua said gratefully, then happily dashed toward the Merit Hall.
The elder was waiting specifically for him.
As soon as Mo Hua entered, the Merit Elder eyed him with suspicion.
"Just what kind of formation did you draw for the Dao Tribunal?"
Mo Hua was caught off guard for a second—but then understood.
Uncle Gu had covered for him. To avoid trouble, he'd used the "formation drawing" excuse again.
"A lot of formations," Mo Hua replied.
The elder snorted. "Nonsense. No amount of formations would earn this much merit."
"How much?" Mo Hua asked eagerly.
The elder gave him a look, sighed, and said:
"Eight thousand."
Eight thousand?!
Mo Hua's eyes widened.
That much?!
The Fire Buddha really was a golden goose!
Mo Hua's pale little face beamed with joy.
The elder explained, "This bounty wasn't publicly posted—it was a special reward granted by the Dao Tribunal. That's why it had to be confirmed by the sect before being transferred to you."
"Mhm mhm!" Mo Hua nodded enthusiastically.
"Mm-hmm!"
Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.
He didn't really care about the specific process—so long as the merit points made it into his account, that was all that mattered.
The Merit Elder hesitated for a moment, but in the end didn't say much more. He followed protocol: after Mo Hua signed and left his seal, the elder transferred the merit into his Great Void Token.
After finishing the paperwork, Mo Hua thanked the elder and walked away with a beaming smile and a cheerful spring in his step.
The Merit Elder, however, watched Mo Hua's back with a complex expression.
Eight thousand merit points...
Even for inner sect disciples, that was a huge sum—let alone for someone like Mo Hua, who had only joined the sect less than two years ago.
Merit in the sect was not easy to earn.
In theory, this merit was officially approved by the Dao Tribunal, and at least on paper, it was "clean."
So he had no reason to pry further or investigate a disciple's private affairs.
And yet… the elder's heart was still full of doubt.
What on earth did this kid do to earn eight thousand points?
He's just a Foundation Establishment beginner. What kind of task or bounty could he possibly complete that would yield that much merit in one go?
It made no sense.
He had been managing merit affairs for centuries, and this was the first time he'd ever seen something like this.
The elder flipped through the documentation from the Dao Tribunal.
The text was vague, simply stating that Mo Hua of the Great Void Sect had assisted in a Dao Tribunal investigation with exceptional formation skills and was awarded eight thousand merit as recognition.
"No way it's that simple…"
The elder frowned in deep thought.
Then, as he went over everything he knew about Mo Hua… something suddenly clicked.
Mo Hua… Dao Tribunal… Formation skills…
Elder Xun!
The elder's eyes lit up.
"It has to be Elder Xun. He pulled strings and used his connections to get the Dao Tribunal to allocate those eight thousand merit points to Mo Hua so the kid could keep studying formations!"
After all, Elder Xun was an ancestor-level figure—even though he kept a low profile and served as a strict, no-nonsense tutor.
But his life span was long, his status high, and his network extended across the entire Qianxue Prefecture.
Only Elder Xun could possibly pull something like this off—quietly pushing the paperwork through the Dao Tribunal and funneling merit into the Great Void Sect.
But even so—no matter how well respected he was, this was over the line!
The Merit Elder was starting to fume.
Eight thousand merit was not some petty sum!
Even if he truly cherished Mo Hua, this was still a dangerous level of favoritism. It was spoiling the child, pulling up the seedling to help it grow.
Mo Hua was just a disciple—not even his own great-grandson!
Even if he was, it would still be wrong!
The sect had its rules. Some things could bend now and then, but merit—which directly affected the sect's entire structure and incentives—was not something to be trifled with!
Still stewing, the elder marched off to confront Elder Xun.
He stormed up to the elder residence, knocked on the door, and after being ushered in by a young attendant, sat off to the side—silently sipping tea, clearly disgruntled.
Half an hour later, Elder Xun emerged from his inner chamber, frowning thoughtfully as he finished his calculations. Upon raising his eyes, he immediately noticed the sour-faced Merit Elder.
Elder Xun blinked. "What are you doing here?"
The Merit Elder sighed.
"Martial grand-uncle, doting on a disciple is fine, but there must be limits. Some rules can be bent—but others should never be broken."
"Without rules, there's no order."
"What you did—it's not protecting the child, it's harming him…"
Elder Xun frowned. "Did you fry your brain during cultivation? What nonsense are you babbling about?"
The Merit Elder sighed heavily. "Don't play dumb with me…"
He laid a Dao Tribunal document stamped with a spiritual seal on the table.
"This merit—didn't you pull strings with your old friends among the Tribunal elders to get it approved?"
Elder Xun picked up the letter and glanced at it—his expression froze.
Mo Hua?
Eight thousand merit?
Dao Tribunal, special approval?
He blinked a few times, then read it again to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
His mind was now in turmoil.
The Dao Tribunal… Why would they grant Mo Hua that much merit?
What exactly had Mo Hua done?
Or… what exactly was the Dao Tribunal doing?
Seeing Elder Xun's stunned expression and silence, the Merit Elder suddenly felt his heart sink.
"Wait a minute…"
He slowly stood, a cold sweat starting to break out as he asked cautiously:
"M-Martial grand-uncle… So this merit… wasn't arranged by you?"
Elder Xun gave him a mild look.
The Merit Elder immediately forced a smile. "F-forgive me for being rash. I never should've doubted your upright, impartial integrity…"
Elder Xun said coolly:
"Next time you act without thinking, go sweep the Sword Tomb behind the mountain for your martial-uncle-ancestor. And let your junior sister take over Merit Hall."
The Merit Elder broke out in a cold sweat and immediately pleaded,
"Please spare me, Martial Grand-Uncle! I—uh—Merit Hall is super busy right now. I won't disturb your peace any longer!"
He bolted upright, bowed hastily, and fled like his life depended on it.
Elder Xun shook his head, then looked down again at the letter in his hand, his gaze growing sharp.
"This Mo Hua kid… seems to be very different from the impression I had of him…"
(End of Chapter)