Chapter 862 – Dragon Bone
Gu Changhuai thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
He knew Mo Hua always had his own reasons for doing things.
Even if Gu Changhuai couldn't figure out exactly what Mo Hua was aiming for, based on past experience, going along with him usually didn't turn out badly.
Besides, the Dragon King Temple did indeed need to be thoroughly searched.
The sooner, the better. If they delayed and someone else got involved, who knew what this place would become.
"Same as before?" Gu Changhuai asked. "Dig three feet deep? Leave no brick or tile untouched?"
He knew Mo Hua's style.
"Mm." Mo Hua nodded—then halfway through, shook his head vigorously. "No… not this time. We need to be more gentle."
"Gentle?" Gu Changhuai was startled. "Why?"
Because now this Dragon King Temple… is mine.
Mo Hua thought to himself.
But of course, he couldn't say that out loud.
So his eyes rolled once, and he said:
"I suspect… there might be some 'filthy things' hidden in here."
"Filthy things?"
"Stuff on the level of divine consciousness—like ghosts or evil spirits. That Mister Wu, remember how he kept chanting about the 'Divine Lord'? Even if that being isn't a true evil god, it's still a major malevolent presence. So we need to tread carefully—if we stir up something unknowable, it might bring disaster…"
Mo Hua spoke with an extremely serious tone.
Gu Changhuai hadn't believed in evil gods much before.
But after spending time around the constantly mumbling, ominous Mo Hua, he'd been tainted by the man's superstitions.
He now found himself in a weird state of "half-believing, half-doubting."
Especially since certain things he'd seen… did, in fact, defy ordinary understanding.
"Alright," Gu Changhuai nodded.
And so, under Mo Hua's guidance, a group of Dao Court Division cultivators—along with inner disciples from the Gu and Xia families—began the "cleansing" of the Dragon King Temple.
"This is an ancient temple. Be gentle, be meticulous—don't damage a single brick or tile…"
"Those filthy pieces of flesh—clean them up…"
"Those tainted evil arrays—dismantle them and keep them as evidence…"
"If it can't be removed, then don't force it. Just leave it for now."
…
Mo Hua gave instructions through Gu Changhuai.
These tasks were too much for him to handle alone—and once he left the temple, he wouldn't be able to gather this many helping hands again.
So, he borrowed the Dao Court Division's labor… to tidy up his temple.
Inside the Dragon King Temple, flesh and blood were cleaned out, evil formations dismantled, shattered walls cleared—bit by bit, the place was restored.
After about half a day, the entire Dragon King Temple looked brand new.
It wasn't exactly pristine or majestic, but compared to the previous gore and gloom, it was much improved.
Mo Hua took this chance to do a complete inspection of the temple.
Based on various clues, it truly was a very old temple, having existed for many years.
It might have even predated the Great Wilderness Evil God's establishment of the altar.
This Dragon King Temple was not originally built to host the Evil Fetus—
It had, in fact, once been dedicated to the worship of the River Dragon King.
The Great Wilderness Evil God had simply usurped the nest, occupying the temple in the Yan Shui River and using it to nourish its divine fetus.
But by now, the temple had already become dilapidated.
Even before Mo Hua arrived, many halls had been destroyed.
Linking this to what Mister Wu had said earlier, Mo Hua guessed that the true enemy of the so-called "Divine Lord"—himself—had been foreseen.
So the mastermind chose to scorch the earth, ordered the destruction of everything, killed all people present and refined them into blood corpses.
Even Mister Wu willingly sacrificed himself, transforming into a Yaksha.
Although they failed to stop Mo Hua, this meant that very little was left behind in the Dragon King Temple.
Mo Hua went to examine the Bone Maze again.
This labyrinth was based on a special puzzle array.
Its runes, array cores, and structural principles were surprisingly similar to those in the Bronze Maze from the Bìshān Devil Caverns.
Mo Hua even suspected these two arrays were actually derived from the same overarching array system—just two branches of a larger whole.
There might be more similar puzzle mazes scattered around the region of Qianxue Prefecture.
But this particular formation… he still couldn't fully comprehend.
And there wasn't enough time. He couldn't afford to stay here researching the array forever.
He had something more important to look into.
The dragon.
Ever since merging with the Evil Fetus and temporarily becoming the Dragon King Temple's "master,"
Mo Hua could faintly sense a powerful karmic resonance related to "dragon" deep within the temple.
Following that thread of karma, he left the maze, circled around the inner sanctum, and found—on the far side of the temple—
a side door, hidden beneath ruined walls.
This side door was sealed with a massive boulder.
Mo Hua asked the Gu Clan's cultivators to clear it away.
Once the stone was removed, they discovered a large white bone door, blocked by complex formations and deadly mechanisms.
The array was intricate, the traps were vicious, the door was sturdy—and there was no key.
For outsiders, opening it would be nearly impossible.
But Mo Hua wasn't an outsider.
He was the master now.
He simply gave it a gentle push—
And with dust crumbling down, the heavy white bone door slowly opened to welcome its true owner.
Behind the bone door was a giant, towering hall.
It was larger than any temple Mo Hua had ever seen.
Yet inside… it was empty.
Completely bare.
The murals had been wiped away. The statues torn down. The floors repaved.
Carvings and ornamentation all covered with stone dust.
It was clear—someone had gone to great lengths to erase all traces.
Mo Hua stood silently, a guess forming in his heart.
This grand hall… was most likely the true Dragon King Hall.
Because it was built to honor a dragon king, it needed to be massive, grand, and awe-inspiring.
"But where's the stuff inside?" he frowned. "They destroyed all of it?"
The evil god had truly squandered a treasure—ruining a perfectly good dragon shrine.
And worst of all… it didn't even leave Mo Hua anything.
Frustrated, he circled the hall again, found nothing, and was just about to leave—
When he suddenly sensed a faint fluctuation of divine soul—ancient and tinged with a holy aura.
His heart leapt.
He turned his gaze sharply in that direction.
The soul wave came from a nondescript little corner of the great hall.
It looked completely empty—nothing visible at all.
Mo Hua's brows furrowed even deeper.
He slowly walked toward the corner—
But just as he approached, he froze in place, scratching his head in confusion.
"Wait… what was I doing here again?"
His mind blank, he shook his head and turned to leave.
But only two steps later—
He suddenly snapped awake and spun back around, staring at that corner with wide eyes.
Something's wrong.
That spot was hiding something big.
It had even tricked him—
To the point it could distort the perception of someone who was half-human, half-god… and even half-evil god.
Unwilling to give in, he walked toward the corner again.
But as soon as he got close—his face turned blank once more, and he forgot why he was there.
Then started walking away again.
Then again—he snapped awake, turned around, and headed back.
Nearby, a few Gu Clan cultivators following Gu Changhuai's orders watched in confusion.
They saw Mo Hua circling back and forth like a ghost stuck in a loop.
They glanced at each other—but none dared to interrupt.
After all… Young Master Mo had always been a bit weird.
After repeating the loop several times, Mo Hua knew this couldn't continue.
So he began implanting mental suggestions into himself—
planting a directive in his Dao heart:
"Go to the corner… go to the corner…"
"Don't turn back… don't turn back…"
He repeated this silently, then began walking forward again.
Sure enough—this mental trick worked.
Whenever he stopped, confused, a voice in his heart would echo, "Go to the corner."
And whenever he tried to turn back, another voice would insist, "Don't turn back."
Step by step, Mo Hua turned himself into his own puppet—
faithfully executing his will.
Stumbling forward, stopping and restarting—
He finally made it into the corner.
The moment he crossed the threshold—
all mental fog and divine interference vanished.
Mo Hua's eyes cleared.
And there—in that insignificant little corner—he spotted a small statue, lying quietly.
Made of white bone.
Mo Hua narrowed his eyes.
Then—his expression changed drastically.
This wasn't just any bone.
It was pure, lustrous, curved in an elegant spiral, covered with faint cloud-like markings, and radiating a powerful, ancient, and sacred aura.
This wasn't human bone.
It was…
Dragon Bone!
A dragon bone statue!
Mo Hua's heart was shaken to the core.
A statue forged from dragon bone…
His thoughts surged chaotically for a while, before a term finally resurfaced from the depths of his memory:
Lifebound Divine Idol.
This… was a Lifebound Divine Idol!
And it was very likely the Lifebound Idol of the Dragon God once worshipped in this ancient Dragon King Temple!
Mo Hua took a deep breath.
This thing… was terrifying.
He immediately tried to store the Dragon Bone Idol into his storage ring, but after a few attempts, he found it simply wouldn't go in.
A Lifebound Idol was a god's source.
Its karma was too immense, its interference too strong—it instinctively rejected the laws of spatial storage and refused to be put away.
"So what now? Just… carry it around?"
With no better option, Mo Hua reached out and touched it.
The idol trembled slightly, and an ancient aura surged outward—but the moment it brushed against Mo Hua, it dissipated on its own, showing no resistance to him.
Mo Hua sighed in relief, picked up the dragon bone statue, and cradled it in his arms as he walked out of the hall.
Some Gu family cultivators saw this and looked confused.
"Young Master Mo, why are you walking like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like… you're holding something…"
Like…
Mo Hua's expression changed. "You guys… can't see it?"
"See what?"
Mo Hua looked down at the dragon bone statue in his arms, then glanced at the confused expressions around him and calmly said:
"Nothing."
He adjusted his posture, straightened the idol in his arms, and hugged it more naturally—at least now, it didn't look like he was cradling anything.
Thankfully, the statue wasn't too large or heavy, so carrying it like this wasn't a burden.
"Young Master Mo, do you still want to investigate this hall?"
"No, no need…" Mo Hua waved it off.
He already had the good stuff in his arms—what was left to check?
"The place's been cleaned out—nothing left. Let's go," he said, feigning regret.
No one suspected anything, and they all followed him out of the Dragon King Hall.
Once outside, Mo Hua had a thought and ran over to Gu Changhuai, shaking his shoulders a bit.
Gu Changhuai looked at him and asked, "You done investigating?"
"Almost," Mo Hua replied.
Gu Changhuai nodded and said no more.
Mo Hua studied him, and now he was certain:
"Uncle Gu can't see it either…"
Apparently, only Mo Hua himself could see the Lifebound Dragon Bone Idol in this entire Dragon King Temple.
Should he tell Uncle Gu about it?
After all, they were "on the same side," and both Gu Changhuai and Magistrate Xia had helped him a lot here.
But after a brief moment of thought, Mo Hua decided—nah.
They couldn't see it anyway. Telling them would be pointless.
Besides, he was the master of the Dragon King Temple now.
By rights, everything inside the temple should be his.
Mo Hua, with a clear conscience, claimed the Lifebound Dragon Bone Idol as his own.
He found a cloth wrap, bundled the idol up, and casually slung it over his shoulder.
Even then—no one noticed a thing.
It was as if everyone instinctively ignored both the statue and its wrappings.
A concealment akin to celestial obfuscation.
Unseen to the eye, unheard to the ear.
This only confirmed Mo Hua's suspicion:
This idol… had an extraordinary origin.
After that, Mo Hua wandered the area a bit more, but didn't find anything else. So he prepared to return.
Before leaving, he controlled the Bone Maze and hid the altar.
That altar was still useful—he couldn't destroy it yet.
And now that the altar had been exposed, the Lord of the Great Wilderness probably wouldn't use it again anyway. Most likely, they'd cut off the connection entirely, to prevent Mo Hua from hijacking more divine authority.
With the Bone Maze acting as a barrier, even if the Dao Court Division came back to inspect it, they might never reach the inner altar.
Gu Changhuai also accepted Mo Hua's "suggestion" and sealed off the main doors to the inner sanctum, to prevent anyone from accidentally stumbling into the Bone Maze and becoming either food for blood corpses—or sacrifices for some evil entity.
With that, things at the Dragon King Temple were temporarily settled.
Mo Hua was ready to leave.
He'd stayed in the temple long enough.
Everything was in order—it was time to return to his sect and prepare for the feast.
Still a bit worried that Mo Hua might suddenly cause trouble again, Gu Changhuai decided to personally escort him back to the Great Void Sect, just to make sure nothing went wrong on the road.
Also traveling with them was Magistrate Xia.
He too needed to return to the Dao Court Division to handle the aftermath of the Rouge Boat incident, the Dragon King Temple, and the matter of Xiao Zhenhai.
Xiao Tianquan was on the same boat as well.
Thus, the group boarded a small boat and departed from the Dragon King Temple, sailing onto the misty, expansive waters of the Smoke-Water River.
At the same time, within a sect that resembled a palace of jade towers and crystalline halls...
Mister Tu—usually refined and scholarly, currently wearing human skin and using the alias "Elder Shen"—sat in his elder's quarters, fidgeting with a ram bone compass, his face dark and murmuring to himself:
"I schemed with all my might, laid out the grand plan… and yet, it still turned out—less than ideal."
"I sealed off the Dragon King Temple, cut off outsiders, killed all the temple keepers, refined them into blood corpses, transformed Mister Wu into a Yaksha… even had the divine fetus descend—and still couldn't stop him. Couldn't capture this vengeful god either… truly baffling…"
"That vicious god is… terrifying beyond belief."
Mister Tu's eyes gleamed coldly, and he let out a slight sigh.
"But… no matter. Though things are grim, they are still within expectations."
"The Evil God's Fetus is nearly indestructible."
"So long as one is parasitized by it, their soul will gradually become corrupted, transformed, and eventually assimilated into a hatchling for the Divine Lord."
"No one is exempt. Be they mortal or divine."
A ghastly grin spread across Mister Tu's face, revealing deathly pale teeth.
He still remembered clearly how a trace of his split soul had been hunted through the Ten Thousand Demon Valley by this nameless god wielding a golden sword—the fear and helplessness still fresh in his mind.
But now—karma had reversed.
Even this vengeful god had finally been outmaneuvered by him.
Just this one trap alone had already inflicted serious injuries to the spirit and soul, likely beyond recovery.
Even if that vengeful god somehow resisted the "corruption" and "pollution" of the divine fetus and didn't fall into depravity, he would still be unable to use his divine soul powers for years—perhaps decades, or even centuries.
Unable to roam the world.
Forced to hide like a rat, either in the Great Void Sect or some secluded temple, nursing his wounds in fear and anxiety, never again able to hinder the Divine Lord's grand plan.
By the time He awakened, the entire Qianxue Prefecture would already be a sea of blood and hellfire.
As for that so-called "false god"… he would be eternally suppressed by the resurrected Divine Lord!
Mister Tu let out a cold laugh like a ghost owl in the dead of night.
But midway through laughing, his heart began to ache.
Especially when he looked at the ram bone compass—its surface filled with countless marks representing demons and monsters under the influence of the false god's divine authority, all doomed to die.
Raising monsters wasn't easy.
These creatures had taken him years of effort to cultivate.
Apparently, once that "vicious god" realized he'd been played, his wrath was indeed terrifying.
Still—it was all worth it.
Mister Tu inhaled deeply, a cold light flashing in his eyes.
"Now that that god is dealt with, the next phase of the plan can proceed."
"We've abandoned the Dragon King Temple—no great loss. It's been searched for centuries and had nothing left of value."
"The altar's link is also severed to prevent any further leakage of the Divine Lord's authority."
"A shame about the Rouge Boat… but once it was exposed, it was bound to be lost. You can't wrap fire in paper forever."
"Now that the Xia family's involved, we must toss them a bone—let them earn a bit of merit. Otherwise, there's no calming that passing tiger."
"The real drama… is just beginning."
A wicked, self-satisfied grin slowly curved across Mister Tu's lips.
On the Smoke-Water River.
Mo Hua sat on the small boat, gazing at the reflection of the moon rippling in the water, still pondering over the Rouge Boat, the Dragon King Temple, and especially the Dragon Bone Idol he had just obtained.
The others on board were all lost in their own thoughts. No one spoke.
The little boat glided silently onward.
No one knew how much time had passed when Mo Hua's divine sense stirred. He suddenly raised his head and looked into the thick night ahead, his expression turning vigilant.
"A boat?"
"A big one?"
Gu Changhuai and Magistrate Xia also sensed it. Both slowly stood and rested their hands on their weapons.
Moments later, a luxurious spirit vessel, its lanterns glowing dimly, sliced through the waves and approached from the dark horizon.
High above the ship fluttered a banner, embroidered with a bold, regal character: "Xia"—its presence emanating quiet authority in the night.
Magistrate Xia let out a breath of relief. "That's my uncle's ship."
"Uncle?" Mo Hua blinked in surprise.
Gu Changhuai's face grew a little more serious. "The Xia Inspector… from the Central Dao Court—an Ascension Realm Inspector."
(End of Chapter)