Chapter 786 – Tiger Mark
Dark clouds at the edge of the sky twisted like phantoms, distant mountains loomed like demonic spirits, blood flowed in streams along both sides, and the path beneath their feet was paved with white bones.
Mo Hua strolled casually, light on his feet.
Sword-Bone Head, on the other hand, followed with unease, every step hesitant.
After a while, Mo Hua turned his head, looking at Sword-Bone Head with some disdain in his tone:
"Didn't you say the Demon Refining Diagram was swarming with evil spirits?
So where are they?"
He had walked quite a distance, yet hadn't seen a single specter.
This Demon Refining Diagram… couldn't be a fake, right?
Wouldn't it be embarrassing if he'd made this trip for nothing?
Sword-Bone Head gave a sheepish look.
"How would I know…"
It was his first time entering this place too.
If he had a choice, he wouldn't want to enter it in his entire lifetime.
Mo Hua glanced around again, then shook his head, muttering to himself:
"Forget it. Let's focus on rescuing them first. The 'temple' is already here—how far could the 'monks' have gone?"
He cleared his mind and focused on sensing the auras along the bone-paved road.
Among them, there were some impure ones, tainted with demonic qi and evil thoughts.
But there were also a few strands of pure, righteous cultivator divine sense.
If Little Wood and the other two had been "sacrificed" into the Demon Refining Diagram, then this bone path was likely the route their captors had taken to drag them into its depths.
Mo Hua quickened his pace.
Though the scenery remained ominous, the journey was, fortunately, unobstructed.
Eventually, the bone road ended at the mouth of a valley—shaped like a monstrous beast's cracked jaws.
Mo Hua paused, frowning slightly.
He continued forward into the valley, finding a broad avenue lined with statues of demonic beasts, flanked by jagged peaks and winding ravines.
The more Mo Hua looked, the more familiar it seemed. After a moment's thought, realization dawned:
"The Ten Thousand Demon Valley!"
The terrain of the Demon Refining Diagram resembled the real-world Ten Thousand Demon Valley almost exactly.
There were differences, of course, but the overall layout seemed carved from the same mold.
Mo Hua recalled what Elder Xun Zixian had once said:
"The formations of Ten Thousand Demon Valley are woven from both illusion and reality…"
"They use some great power to mirror and merge the real world with divine sense, constructing it through formation arrays…"
Only now did Mo Hua truly understand what that meant.
Illusion and reality interwoven.
The real world fused with nightmare.
He thought of the River God Temple in the fishing village—it had been the same principle.
Using the tangible real world to construct a nightmare realm, which in turn could reach back and affect the real world.
"The real world is the foundation of the nightmare, and the nightmare in turn influences the real world?"
"Is this the high-level usage of evil god divine sense?"
Mo Hua looked around again.
The current nightmare realm of the Demon Refining Diagram had clearly drawn from reality—but its influence on the real world was still faint.
Was it because the Demon Valley's formation wasn't yet fully constructed?
Or was it because… the real Evil God hadn't yet awakened, and so its true divine power couldn't be used?
Mo Hua couldn't help thinking:
If the Great Wilderness Evil God truly awakens…
And actually succeeds in building a demonic hell somewhere in the world…
Wouldn't it be possible for that hell to descend directly upon the mortal world, powered by overwhelming evil will?
At that point, it wouldn't just be chaos—it would be true apocalypse. The mortal world turned into hell.
The very thought gave Mo Hua chills. A cold dread surged up within him.
Could an Evil God truly possess such terrifying power?
If so… if that god truly revived, and its evil will spread unchecked in the shadows…
Then even the seemingly prosperous cultivation world of the Nine Provinces, with its peaceful surface, could be torn apart in an instant—devoured by nightmares, ripped into shreds, littered with corpses.
Flourishing on the surface, rotting within.
Even the tallest tower crumbles in a single moment.
Mo Hua's expression grew solemn. After a long breath, he sighed.
The more clearly one sees the world's reality, the more horrifying it becomes…
Yet in times of such crisis, the average cultivator might still live in delusion, feasting and celebrating as if nothing is wrong…
"Born in hardship, die in comfort…"
He shook his head—but quickly turned his thoughts back.
After all, none of this was something he could fix right now.
If the sky falls, taller people will hold it up.
As a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, it wasn't his turn yet to worry about world-ending threats.
First priority: rescue the hostages.
Mo Hua consoled himself, shoved those dark thoughts aside, and resumed tracking the aura trails of the "sacrificed" trio.
Before long, he arrived at a stone pathway and his divine sense stirred.
"Found them!"
The ground bore clear traces of demon cultivators passing through—thick with evil qi.
There were also lingering traces of cultivator divine sense.
Mo Hua looked up.
In the distance, on a wide stone path, a few demon cultivators were carrying three jet-black, rune-covered, coffin-like constructs, walking steadily forward.
At the front of the group walked a tall demon cultivator, clearly the leader.
And this leader—was none other than Jin Gui.
Or more precisely: Jin Gui's demon cultivator divine soul.
Mo Hua made no attempt to hide himself.
Sword-Bone Head didn't bother concealing his aura either.
The two sides immediately noticed one another.
Jin Gui, at the front, suddenly raised a hand.
"Stop!"
Then turned around, his eyes locking not on Mo Hua—but on the imposing Sword-Bone Head.
Though he had been groveling before Mo Hua, Sword-Bone Head had once been a master of evil swordcraft—a sinister old demon cultivator in life.
After death, he was reborn as a demonic skeletal sword spirit: towering, bone-laden, radiating malicious qi—a true Sword Demon.
Even his appearance screamed "terrifying."
A flicker of fear passed through Jin Gui's eyes. But he did not back down. He sneered:
"The Young Master said there was a rat stirring up trouble in the Ten Thousand Demon Valley, trying to sabotage his great plan…
I didn't expect… it was you, and that you'd actually make it this far."
His glare burned with suspicion as it fixed on Sword-Bone Head.
Sword-Bone Head stood stiffly for a moment—then his empty eye sockets blinked metaphorical confusion.
A rat?
Who?
Me?
"No, no, I'm just the guide… This has nothing to do with me…"
He wanted to explain.
But with Mo Hua standing right beside him—and not having spoken up—it was obviously not his place to talk either.
More importantly, he glanced at his own tall, menacing skeletal figure… then at Mo Hua—just a tiny kid-like figure next to him.
Any claim that he was "just the guide" would be laughable.
Let's be real: Mo Hua looked like the sidekick.
He looked like the evil mastermind.
Sword-Bone Head felt like a massive scapegoat had just slammed onto his bony head.
As expected, all the demon cultivators' gazes turned dark and hostile—aimed right at him.
He nearly blacked out.
Then again… his eye sockets were hollow. They were always black.
Jin Gui's eyes stayed sharp on the unmoving Sword Demon. Seeing no movement, no speech, he felt confused.
Only then did he spot the "insignificant-looking" Mo Hua beside him.
He gave Mo Hua just a passing glance at first.
A Sword Demon paired with a kid—odd combo, sure, but nothing unmanageable. Just kill them both and problem solved.
But then he paused. Did a double take.
Suddenly stunned, he pointed at Mo Hua, voice rising in alarm:
"You… don't you have a brother?"
Mo Hua blinked, caught off guard.
Jin Gui gritted his teeth:
"Your brother… is he called Mo Hua?!"
Mo Hua: "..."
Jin Gui squinted, studied him again.
And then—his eyes widened in shock.
"No, wait—you're him!?"
Jin Gui scrutinized Mo Hua again, and suddenly his eyes widened in shock.
"Wait… no!"
"You… are Mo Hua!"
He had finally recognized him.
But then, he frowned again.
"You… why did you get smaller?"
Mo Hua's gaze turned cold.
Jin Gui stared at him for another moment, then suddenly understood and muttered:
"This place isn't the real world… We exist here in the form of our divine sense. That means…"
He let out a chilling laugh:
"No matter how old you are, or how your appearance changes—your inner self is still that same naive, childish brat who'll never grow up!"
Mo Hua looked at him with eyes as cold as death, as if staring at a walking corpse.
But Jin Gui remained oblivious.
He was still immersed in the memory of his past "grievance."
He remembered clearly: back then, he had taken a group of junior brothers to hunt a boar demon.
Unfortunately, that boar demon somehow ended up in the hands of a few little disciples from the Great Void Sect.
So naturally, he "took it back"—and as a result, suffered a humiliation he'd never forget.
That brat Mo Hua, along with his fellow disciples, had schemed against him.
Not only had they stripped him of his clothes and hung him from a tree, they'd even drawn a turtle on him, making him a public joke.
"Mo Hua…"
That brat—even if he turned to ashes—Jin Gui would never forget him.
Unless he carved him up a thousand times and scattered his divine sense to the winds, how could he ever relieve this hatred?
"Good… good!" Jin Gui's expression twisted, his sneer sinister.
"Searched high and low, only to find you here with no effort at all!"
"I've long wanted to kill you quietly to wash away my past shame. Just never found the right chance."
"And now, you waltz right into my hands! Don't blame me for slicing you up, bit by bit, devouring your divine sense alive!"
Mo Hua's expression was calm, emotionless. He didn't even bother acknowledging Jin Gui's existence.
Jin Gui mistook this silence for fear. With a sinister smirk, he waved his hand:
"Kill him!"
The nearby demon cultivators set down the coffins and charged straight at Mo Hua.
Mo Hua stood motionless, arms behind his back.
He simply cast a glance toward Sword-Bone Head.
Sword-Bone Head froze.
Wait… you mean me?
This little ancestor wasn't even going to lift a finger?
Seeing the group of demon cultivators rushing in, Sword-Bone Head had no choice. He pulled out two bone swords, summoned waves of demonic qi, and leapt into battle.
After ten or so exchanges, the demon cultivators began to falter.
Sword-Bone Head paused again—startled.
Wait… am I… actually strong?
His battle with Mo Hua had nearly shattered his Dao heart.
He had almost convinced himself that he was a weak, useless piece of trash.
But now, facing these other demon cultivators, he suddenly realized:
Maybe I'm not too weak. Maybe… some people are just way too strong.
Reinvigorated, his demonic aura flared, and his momentum surged.
He reversed his grip and sliced one demon cultivator clean in half.
Then, his body expanded—his bone swords like writhing limbs—shredding another demon cultivator into ribbons.
Jin Gui's expression darkened.
He glanced again at Mo Hua, thinking:
No wonder this brat is so confident. He has a powerful "Sword Demon" acting as his bodyguard.
But wait…
Isn't this Sword Demon a demonic creature?
How can a righteous disciple of the Great Void Sect have a demonic being as a protector?
Has even the supposedly pure and noble Great Void Sect started to fall from grace?
Watching Sword-Bone Head about to finish off the rest of the demon cultivators, Jin Gui finally couldn't stand it any longer.
He still had the Young Master's orders to carry out—delivering the souls of the three captured disciples into the depths of the Demon Refining Diagram. He couldn't waste too much time.
Jin Gui's eyes flashed with murderous intent.
He let out a beastly growl that grew louder and louder—until it echoed like a tiger's roar.
A formation lit up beneath him—the Four Symbols Black Tiger Demon Array.
At the same time, his body began to transform—growing larger, covered in yellow-brown fur—as he turned into a ferocious, bloodthirsty tiger demon.
In the blink of an eye, a gust of foul wind stirred—and he pounced straight at Sword-Bone Head.
A tiger demon.
A sword demon.
The two demonic forces clashed violently.
Demonic qi and bestial aura surged.
Tiger claws met bone swords.
Roars of wind and wails of demonic energy filled the air—both sides unleashing their bloodlust, locked in a brutal stalemate.
Mo Hua quietly watched from the side.
Meanwhile, his mind was hard at work—calculating.
While Sword-Bone Head and the transformed Jin Gui fought fiercely, Mo Hua seized the chance to analyze the Four Symbols Tiger Mark on Jin Gui's back.
He'd had his eye on that tiger mark for a while now.
Tigers were kings of beasts, and among the many demon beast species, they ranked near the top.
A demon cultivator with a "tiger mark" was extremely rare—even in the Ten Thousand Demon Valley.
To date, Mo Hua had only seen one—on Jin Gui.
It was a rare demon tattoo.
To obtain it, he had two options:
Kill Jin Gui, strip his body, and copy the tattoo from his corpse.
Let Jin Gui activate it in battle, and carefully deduce and record its structure through observation.
Both methods were troublesome, and the timing had never been right—until now.
With Sword-Bone Head battling Jin Gui—two evil beings locked in evenly matched "chicken fight"—Mo Hua finally had the perfect window for deduction.
His gaze sharpened as he began calculating.
One became a Sword Demon, the other a Tiger Demon, clashing in a storm of energy like a death match.
They were still fighting when Mo Hua began his deductions.
And still fighting when he finished.
Mo Hua silently etched the entire Four Symbols Black Tiger Demon Pattern into memory.
When he looked back at the chaotic fight, he found it… boring.
Honestly, even a bit sleep-inducing.
Meanwhile, the two combatants were clearly starting to suffer…
Sword-Bone Head, having previously been "ravaged" by Mo Hua, still bore damage to its essence. It could hold its ground in a short skirmish, but in prolonged battle, its demonic power would run dry quickly.
Jin Gui, on the other hand, had realized that he had no chance of defeating this "formidable" Sword Demon in a short time.
He had to end this quickly.
Sweeping aside a strike from Sword-Bone Head with one claw, Jin Gui shouted:
"Fellow Daoist! With such strength, why submit to another's will, just to protect a brat like that?!"
Sword-Bone Head froze for a second, speechless.
What is this idiot even talking about?
Me? Having the ability to protect that little ancestor?
Just hearing it made him feel embarrassed for both of them.
But as a bundle of white bones, no matter how many emotions it felt inside, it remained outwardly cold and eerie—completely unreadable.
Jin Gui tried to persuade again:
"Fellow Daoist, why not abandon the darkness and embrace the light? Forsake the brat and join our Ten Thousand Demon Valley! Who knows—someday, you might become a great overlord, feared across the world!"
Sword-Bone Head sneered internally.
Ignorant fool… "Feared across the world"?
You know jack sht!*
Jin Gui frowned, inwardly impressed.
What loyalty! Even after all that coaxing, it didn't waver at all. It's truly dedicated to protecting that little brat.
Just what kind of background does this kid have, to command such unwavering loyalty from a Sword Demon?
If that's the case… I'll need to try something else…
With that, Jin Gui clenched his fangs and let out a roar like a raging tiger.
The tiger stripes on his body spread until they covered his whole frame, glowing blindingly bright. His demonic power surged, rippling beneath his skin, until blood began to ooze as it tore through his flesh.
Sword-Bone Head tensed.
This beast… is he going all out?
Dammit, what rotten luck! Ran into a total meathead! We've got no grudge between us, can't you just throw a few punches and call it a day? Why the hell go all in?!
Demon cultivators really are brain-damaged!
Muttering curses in his heart, he didn't dare slack off.
His demonic energy surged as his skeletal form transformed—entering the ultimate "Sword Demon" state.
This battle… would be one of life and death.
But just as Sword-Bone Head braced himself for a do-or-die clash…
He saw Jin Gui feint, then suddenly bypass him—charging straight toward Mo Hua like a pouncing tiger!
Sword-Bone Head stood there, stunned.
You're not gonna fight me to the death… and you're going after the little ancestor?!
He looked at Jin Gui with confusion, which then shifted into deep… admiration.
This reckless aura pouring off him… is this what they call "courage"?
Meanwhile, Jin Gui, sensing that Sword-Bone Head didn't pursue, thought smugly:
Just as expected. This Sword Demon may be strong, but there's no way it would truly bow to someone else.
Its "protection" of that brat must be due to some circumstance—maybe it has no choice.
In that case, I'll go straight for the master. Kill the brat first, and the Sword Demon might even thank me!
With that thought, his speed surged.
Mo Hua's infuriatingly calm little face was getting closer and closer.
Jin Gui's grin twisted with bloodlust.
He could already imagine the scene—that pretty little face, torn open by his claws, covered in blood.
He was almost upon him.
With a savage grin, his tiger claw swept toward Mo Hua, howling with a foul wind—
But the next instant, what he expected… did not happen.
Mo Hua remained completely unharmed—not even flinching.
Instead, a sharp pain exploded from Jin Gui's shoulder.
He turned to look—
—only to see that his entire arm had been sliced off!
He didn't even see how it happened!
"Who?!"
"Who cut off my arm?!"
Jin Gui's pupils shrank violently.
Then he saw it.
Mo Hua was standing right in front of him—face calm, eyes cold, looking at him like an insect.
A terrifying thought crept into Jin Gui's heart.
"Impossible…"
Mo Hua's voice was light, cold as snow:
"Out there in the real world, it might take a bit of effort to kill you…"
"But in here, killing you… is no harder than crushing an ant."
Then, Mo Hua lifted a single finger.
A golden thread flashed.
An inescapable killing force descended.
Jin Gui's hideous expression froze on his face—
—and in the next instant, golden light shredded him into countless fragments.
His entire soul was annihilated.
All of this happened in less than three breaths.
Jin Gui's divine soul—utterly obliterated.
Mo Hua hadn't even taken a single step.
Silence fell over the entire area.
Sword-Bone Head watched, every bone in his body trembling.
He and Jin Gui had been evenly matched.
But Mo Hua killed Jin Gui in three breaths.
Killing him would probably take… two at most.
Maybe just a single instant.
Sword-Bone Head stood solemnly, giving himself a silent warning:
"My attitude toward this little ancestor before… was far too arrogant."
"I must… be even more respectful in the future…"
(End of Chapter)