Chapter 1057: Great Wilderness Sacred Artifact
"Impossible!" Shangguan Wang's face darkened. "Absolutely impossible!"
He sneered coldly, "How could that brat possibly have a Life Preservation Talisman of his own destiny?"
"If he can fool others, how could he possibly fool me?"
"He was admitted into the Tai Xu Sect through connections from my Shangguan family. He's clearly just a poor, obscure lone cultivator from a small place in Lizhou, nothing more. The whole 'Sect Leader's illegitimate son' or 'the Grand Ancestor's direct grandson' is just an empty boast, a facade to give him a false sense of prestige."
"What kind of family background does he have? What foundation? That utterly worthless spiritual root — how could it possibly have been born of a high-level cultivator?"
"In such circumstances, where would a high-level master or an ancient ancestor come from to plant a Life Preservation Talisman on him?"
"Unless it's a demonic ancestor sacrificing everything to seize his body, no high master would waste their source energy planting a Life Preservation Talisman on some brat without blood ties. That would be madness!"
Shangguan Wang's expression was full of derision.
Mr. Tu did not refute him; in fact, deep down he also thought Shangguan Wang's reasoning made sense.
The Life Preservation Talisman was a supreme treasure only eligible to be implanted on the most direct, outstanding, and favored heavenly prodigies from top-tier great families ranked fifth grade or above. It guaranteed their path to cultivation — it was like a second life to them.
Such a precious thing, Mo Hua simply did not qualify for it.
Even if he was the world's foremost array master with unparalleled talent in formations, he still didn't qualify.
Because he had no ancestral Dongxu (Void Cavern) ancestor with a blood connection.
Bloodline is crucial.
No matter how extraordinary your talent, you won't have a crowd of Dongxu ancestors scrambling to plant a Life Preservation Talisman on you.
Generally, a Dongxu ancestor—even when the Dao is lost and their lifespan nearing its end—would only pass their Life Preservation Talisman to their most direct and beloved bloodline descendants.
Without blood ties, without kinship, why would anyone plant one for you?
Given Mo Hua's background, it was simply impossible that there was such an "ancestor" to plant a Life Preservation Talisman for him.
But Mr. Tu still frowned.
Even if it wasn't a Life Preservation Talisman, there was a faint aura on Mo Hua's body that made his heart skip a beat.
It felt as if, the moment he killed Mo Hua, something terrifying would happen.
This premonition was less about his own instinct and more like a revelation from the "Divine Lord."
Was it divine protection?
Was it a treasured protective artifact left behind by the Tai Xu Sect?
Or was there some other major cause and effect attached to him?
Mr. Tu's eyes grew cold.
Seeing Mr. Tu silent for a long while, Shangguan Wang urged, "There's no way that brat has a Life Preservation Talisman, so why don't we…"
Mr. Tu interrupted coldly, "Then Elder Wang, why don't you personally kill him yourself?"
Shangguan Wang was startled, thought for a moment, then fell silent.
He did want Mo Hua dead, truly.
But now, when it came to actually striking the killing blow himself, Shangguan Wang suddenly realized that as an Elder at the Ascended Realm, he actually… didn't dare to kill Mo Hua with his own hand.
He didn't know what unexpected consequences killing Mo Hua would bring.
But one thing was certain: once he killed Mo Hua, all cultivators of Tai Xu Sect from top to bottom would regard him as a "mortal enemy."
To the disciples of Tai Xu Sect, he would be killing their junior senior brother;
To the elders of Tai Xu Sect, he would be killing their top array master.
Moreover, Mo Hua was extremely favored by the Tai Xu Sect's ancient ancestors.
Killing Mo Hua would be tantamount to deeply offending the Dongxu ancestors of the Tai Xu Sect, who would surely list him as a target for eradication.
Tai Xu Sect's Elder Xun was a fifth-grade array master, appearing as an old scholar but with unfathomable strength.
The other ancestors were no better to deal with.
Not to mention, in the forbidden lands of the sect's back mountain was an even more terrifying sword Dao ancestor…
Thinking of this, Shangguan Wang felt his guts about to burst.
He wanted Mo Hua dead.
But as an Ascended Realm immortal, it seemed… he really didn't dare to touch a single hair on Mo Hua.
Mr. Tu understood Shangguan Wang's thoughts and sneered inwardly, but didn't want to quarrel with this Ascended Elder, so he said:
"This matter will be decided once the Divine Lord awakens."
"With the Divine Lord's mighty power to protect him, whether Mo Hua is to be killed, refined, preserved, or corrupted, no more worries need be had."
Shangguan Wang's pupils trembled slightly as he cupped his hands: "The Divine Lord is supremely wise. Let all be decided by the Divine Lord."
Mr. Tu nodded, "All according to the Divine Lord's will."
Shangguan Wang also said, "All according to the Divine Lord's will." Then he said nothing more, just glanced once at Mr. Tu and left.
After Shangguan Wang left, Mr. Tu remained where he was, his deathly pale face expressionless and icy cold, but heavy worries weighed in his heart.
He knew that Shangguan Wang's worries were actually justified.
Mo Hua carried too many karmic consequences on his body, leaving him a great hidden danger.
Moreover…
Mr. Tu frowned.
He had pondered Mo Hua's case for a long time, but the more he pondered, the more confused he became, the less he could see through him.
Mo Hua was like a "hedgehog," covered in sharp thorns, difficult to handle.
Even in Mr. Tu's heart, it was hard to form a clear impression of Mo Hua.
Was he a lone cultivator with poor spiritual roots but lucky enough to be admitted to a great sect?
Was he the most favored disciple of the Tai Xu Sect, one of the Eight Great Sects?
Was he a prodigious array master?
Or a peerless sword contest prodigy who could defeat five at once?
Was he a spiritual cultivator? A sword cultivator? An array master?
All of these seemed somewhat true, but all were only partial.
Mr. Tu's expression grew dark and fierce, his blood-colored eyes started moving irregularly as Mo Hua's every karmic thread flowed in his mind and was pieced together bit by bit.
After thinking for a long time, Mr. Tu's eyes slightly opened, a flash of blood color passing through them as he suddenly understood everything:
"All laws interconnect, body technique superb, remote sword control, array prodigy… it all seems changeable and multifaceted, but ultimately boils down to two words…"
"Divine Consciousness!"
"All that this boy relies on is his divine consciousness!"
"No…"
Mr. Tu's pupils shrank abruptly, his gaze growing stern.
Perhaps it all came down to a single word:
Divine!
…
The next day.
In the Great Wilderness Prison, inside a dungeon.
The sky had already brightened, but the prison remained dark—too dim to tell day from night, and thus impossible to distinguish white from black, human from demon.
Mr. Tu, dressed in a pitch-black demon robe, carried an ancient bronze box as he stepped into the eerie, terrifying dungeon. His eyes immediately fell on Mo Hua, who was sleeping soundly under a small blanket, his eyelids trembling slightly.
He stood there holding the box, motionless like an old servant waiting for his "young master" to wake up and wash, but his gaze grew increasingly cold.
After some time, Mo Hua woke up.
Under Mr. Tu's icy gaze, it was nearly impossible to fall back asleep.
Mo Hua opened his mouth, sat up straight, stretched, then got out of bed. After folding his small blanket, he turned to Mr. Tu and greeted, "Sir, good morning."
Mr. Tu said nothing.
Feigning ignorance, Mo Hua asked, "By the way, I still don't know your surname, sir?"
"Tu," Mr. Tu answered coldly.
Mo Hua nodded, "Good morning, Mr. Tu."
Mr. Tu looked at Mo Hua indifferently. "I've brought you a gift."
"A gift?" Mo Hua was momentarily surprised.
Mr. Tu opened the bronze box, revealing a pale white bone ring inside. On the ring rested a milky-white tooth, carved with blood-red ancient script, cracked and weathered beyond knowing what beast it came from or how many years it had existed.
"This is a supreme treasure personally forged thousands of years ago by a master of my Great Wilderness clan. I am giving it to you now—try wearing it," Mr. Tu said coldly.
Mo Hua stared at the ancient pale bone ring, his expression solemn. "This gift… is far too precious. No merit, no reward—I cannot accept it."
Mr. Tu said, "When a senior bestows a gift, it cannot be refused."
Mo Hua humbly replied, "I am not worthy."
Mr. Tu shook his head. "Among all cultivators in the entire Qianxuezhou region, and among all the followers of the divine masters in this entire temple, you alone are worthy of this supreme treasure."
His tone was admiring, and his attitude left no room for refusal.
Though Mo Hua felt it was a generous offering hard to decline, he did not want this "bone frame" of an evil artifact. So he quietly asked Mr. Tu:
"What… exactly is this? What is it used for?"
Mr. Tu's tone softened, "You'll know once you wear it."
Mo Hua didn't want to put it on, but seeing Mr. Tu's expression, it was clear that if he didn't, Mr. Tu wouldn't let it go.
Reluctantly, Mo Hua tried to fasten the tooth amulet bone ring onto his head.
The moment it clicked into place, the bone ring trembled as if a demon beast were baring its fangs, "biting" into Mo Hua's head, embedding itself at key acupuncture points: Tiānchōng (Heaven's Rushing), Fúbái (Floating White), Fēngchí (Wind Pool), Tiānzhù (Heavenly Pillar), Yùzhěn (Jade Pillow), Bǎihuì (Hundred Meetings), and others.
The ancient tooth amulet, like a fang of a primeval ferocious beast, bit precisely at Mo Hua's Shéntíng (Divine Courtyard) acupuncture point at the forehead.
A surge of primeval power burst forth, completely suppressing Mo Hua's consciousness sea.
His divine consciousness couldn't emerge, and even his divinity was suppressed.
Mo Hua could no longer remain calm; his face turned pale with fright as he looked at Mr. Tu and cried out:
"What is this? Why—why me…"
Mr. Tu gave a half-smile, half-sneer. "Because… you cannot communicate with the 'deity' in your consciousness sea?"
Mo Hua's face suddenly went pale, lips tightly pressed. One sentence—
He dared not speak.
Seeing this, Mr. Tu nodded slightly, roughly confirming his earlier suspicion.
The Great Void Sect had a "Fierce God," the sworn enemy of the divine master.
The Fierce God was also a deity, and as such, must have a "host vessel" or a "parasitic" person.
Ordinary deities inhabit objects in heaven and earth, build shrines, nurture followers, remain unmoving like mountains, and rarely move about freely.
But the Fierce God of the Great Void Sect was different—it was far too "active."
It was everywhere.
Mr. Tu suspected this Fierce God resided in a flesh-and-blood body—one might even say it was "co-born" with a divine human.
The most suspicious was naturally this divine consciousness supreme-rank Array Master—Mo Hua.
But matters concerning deities were serious and required utmost caution.
After much thought and deep reflection yesterday, Mr. Tu finally made a grim decision: he had to use this ancient sacred artifact, passed down from the Great Wilderness since antiquity, used to suppress evil gods.
With this "sacred object," Mo Hua's divine consciousness would be sealed, and the deity residing within him suppressed.
Deities arise from the principles of heaven and earth. Regardless of rank, their very existence is on a different level from human cultivators.
Moreover, the Great Void Sect's deity was a Fierce God that had committed countless killings.
Their brief encounter in the Ten Thousand Demons Valley had left a deep shadow on Mr. Tu's mind.
Without the divine master's power, even Mr. Tu could do nothing against this Fierce God.
Fortunately, this Fierce God had a fatal weakness—it relied on Mo Hua as its host.
Controlling the host meant controlling the deity.
The parasitic host was both the deity's "puppet" in the world and its most critical "seal."
Now that Mo Hua was "sealed," the Fierce God could no longer cause trouble.
On the other hand, cutting off the Fierce God also effectively "disabled" Mo Hua.
Mr. Tu looked at the anxious Mo Hua and sneered slightly.
This was one very lucky brat.
Who knew what strange fate he had encountered that allowed him to receive the deity's favor from a young age and thus be "co-born" with a deity?
This is a very lucky brat.
No one knows what kind of strange fate he encountered that, while still young, he gained the favor of a deity and thus "coexisted" with the god.
Everything about him was bestowed by the deity on his body.
The god granted him talent, granted him comprehension, and also granted him powerful divine awareness.
It was precisely because of this divine awareness borrowed from the god that his divine sense became strong enough to reach the super level, allowing him to have mid-foundation cultivation and defeat a group of prodigies in formation arts, earning the title of the top formation master in Qianxue with an almost impossible "monster" stature.
All his methods of Dao, body techniques, and formations relied entirely on his divine awareness, on the deity within him.
Being able to sleep peacefully in this fierce Great Wilderness Prison, untouched by all evils, was also thanks to the god's protection and his fearless confidence.
There actually exists someone in this world who has received such divine favor that even Mr. Tu felt a pang of jealousy.
But that was all.
Like him, this brat's current achievements all came from the "gift of the god."
With the god's gift, he is a Qianxue prodigy, the leader of formation arts.
Without the god's gift, he would only reveal his true self — a scattered cultivator from a poor small place, with poor spiritual roots, a weak body, and nothing going for him except a somewhat handsome appearance.
As Mr. Tu had predicted, once his divine sense was sealed and communication with the "deity" was cut off, losing his reliance, Mo Hua's face became full of panic and anxiety, no longer carrying any trace of calmness or ease.
Mr. Tu's expression was unreadable, but having gained control over Mo Hua gave him great satisfaction.
With the Great Wilderness sacred artifact locking his divine sense and sealing the deity, he could feel a little more at ease.
"Come with me again, I'll take you somewhere…"
Mr. Tu said to Mo Hua, pointing with a pale finger. A blood-patterned glow flashed, the prison door opened, and he turned to leave.
Mo Hua's face was pale, hesitated for a moment, sighed helplessly, and reluctantly followed Mr. Tu.
Leaving the Great Wilderness Prison, they climbed the stairs and walked into the temple of the evil god, continuing forward.
Along the way, Mo Hua still wasn't satisfied and whispered:
"Mr. Tu, what exactly did you make me wear?"
"What is this white bone tight hoop for?"
"Where are you taking me?"
But Mr. Tu's thin, demon-like figure kept walking straight ahead without a word.
Mo Hua could only be tactful and shut his mouth, then sighed as if resigned.
He seemed like a deflated balloon, no longer able to be arrogant.
Thus, the two kept walking forward, passing by various beams made of flesh and bone, demon carvings, stepping onto cold and solemn stairs, climbing higher and higher, the surroundings growing colder, the temple appearing more magnificent, the evil god statues becoming larger and more hideous, while the demons and evil cultivators below the temple grew smaller and more insignificant like ants…
Finally, Mo Hua followed Mr. Tu into a large hall at the top of the temple.
The hall was tall and solemn, its doors tightly shut.
Above the doors was a huge white bone ram's head statue, hollow-eyed, looking down on the tiny Mo Hua.
Mo Hua glanced at the ram's head indifferently, but Mr. Tu in front of him was extremely respectful.
First, he bowed to the white bone ram's head statue, silently chanting something, then reached out and pushed the doors open.
The huge doors slowly opened.
A chilling wind blew, accompanied by a strong smell of blood rising from inside the hall, along with loud sounds of struggling and roaring.
Mo Hua's pupils trembled slightly as he looked up.
Inside the hall sat many people, densely packed, without exception all powerful demons with deep cultivation, blood aura swirling, and a grim demonic energy, their cultivation all at least above Golden Core.
A long-forgotten word suddenly popped into Mo Hua's mind:
"Ten Thousand Demons Assembly."
Mo Hua's eyes narrowed.
"This is… the Ten Thousand Demons Assembly…"
According to demonic cultivation rules, a grand assembly where many powerful and bloodthirsty demons gather to discuss matters in order to achieve a certain goal is called the "Ten Thousand Demons Assembly."
The assembly carries great weight; nowadays with the decline of the demon path, such a large gathering of demon cultivators wouldn't happen unless it was a major event.
Mo Hua had even participated in such an assembly once before.
At Dali Mountain Prefecture, outside Lizhou City, on Dead Wood Cliff, inside a magic formation upside-down demon palace.
His senior uncle, the Deceptive Daoist, had once taken him to participate in a "Ten Thousand Demons Assembly" to discuss how to encircle and eliminate his own master.
Unexpectedly now, Mr. Tu also brought him to this "Ten Thousand Demons Assembly" amid the Great Wilderness Blood Sacrifice Grand Formation, where demons gathered…
This scene felt very familiar.
Mo Hua suddenly had a feeling as if it were another life.
Only now, his senior uncle was gone, leaving only himself.
(End of this Chapter)