Chapter 1394: Earth Sect
The main hall of the Earth Sect…
Mo Hua’s thoughts stirred, and many matters surfaced in his mind.
True-Person Rong asked, “Is there any problem?”
Mo Hua pondered for a moment, then shook his head. “No problem. I’ll go.”
True-Person Rong let out a slight sigh of relief.
Her words had merely been to seek Mo Hua’s opinion.
She had to give an explanation to the Earth Sect side, as it had been agreed upon beforehand.
But Mo Hua’s opinion was something she had to respect. If this “monster youth” refused, she would be in a difficult position.
Now that Mo Hua agreed to go to the Earth Sect, it couldn’t have been any better.
“In three days, I’ll take you there,” True-Person Rong said. After a moment’s thought, she added, “As for what to say, consider it carefully yourself.”
Mo Hua nodded and cupped his hands. “Many thanks, True-Person Rong.”
True-Person Rong gave a slight nod, then left.
Mo Hua returned alone to his room, focusing his mind in deep contemplation.
Since leaving Tōngxiān City and venturing into the cultivation world, he had come into contact with quite a few secrets of the Earth Sect. Among them, the one that left the deepest impression was the ancient “Visualization Diagram” his master once mentioned, passed down for ten thousand years:
Imperial Heaven Sovereign Earth Diagram.
This diagram connects above to Imperial Heaven and below to Sovereign Earth. It is the supreme treasure of the Earth Sect. Because its reputation was too great and violated the Dao Court’s taboo, it was forcibly split into two.
The Imperial Heaven Diagram was taken by the Dao Court, while the Sovereign Earth Diagram remained within the Earth Sect.
In other words, barring any surprises, within the current Earth Sect lies this ancient and long-standing Sovereign Earth Diagram, perhaps even deeply tied to the very Dao essence of the earth itself.
Aside from the Sovereign Earth Diagram, the Earth Sect’s formation inheritance was also extremely unique.
Especially the Profound-Earth Absolute Formation, which was connected to the aura of the earth.
This Absolute Formation was something Mo Hua had obtained while traveling with Mr. Zhuang. It could nourish land and nurture spiritual plants. Though it possessed no killing power, its utility was immense.
Unfortunately, what Mo Hua currently held was only the First-Grade Profound-Earth Formation.
He did not know whether the Earth Sect possessed the subsequent Second-Grade or even Third-Grade versions of the Profound-Earth Absolute Formation.
Besides that, there was also one person related to the Earth Sect: Mr. Pi.
This Mr. Pi was one of the grave robbers hired by Shentu Ao during the Shen Family corpse mine incident in the Qianxue Prefecture. He was an Earth Sect traitor proficient in “Earth Formations.”
From his exchanges with Mr. Pi, Mo Hua learned that so-called Earth Formations were a rather niche category of formations—somewhat obscure—lying between the Five Elements Earth Formations and the Eight Trigrams Kun Formations.
In addition, Mo Hua had obtained a Treasure-Searching Talisman from Mr. Pi.
This talisman was refined from the claw of a burrowing exotic beast, inlaid with gold and silver, with a texture like ancient jade. It was rumored to be a token of the Earth Sect’s secret division.
As for its exact use, Mo Hua had yet to figure it out.
“The fragmented Imperial Heaven Sovereign Earth Diagram, the Profound-Earth Absolute Formation, Earth Formations, the Treasure-Searching Talisman…”
There were truly many secrets related to the Earth Sect, and none of them were ordinary.
Especially that half of the Sovereign Earth Diagram. Every time Mo Hua thought about it, he felt an irresistible urge.
He truly wanted to see what exactly was depicted in that ten-thousand-year-old diagram, what mysteries it contained... so much so that even the Dao Court had tried to seize it by force.
“In three days, I’ll scout the Earth Sect… and see the situation.”
Mo Hua thought silently.
However, he also knew that the most troublesome part of this trip might not be the Earth Sect itself.
Why would the Earth Sect suddenly want to see him at this point in time?
Although his injuries had improved somewhat, why now of all times? There must be something suspicious behind it.
Thinking of the sincere “blessings” within those encrypted jade slips over the past few days, Mo Hua could not help but sigh.
...
The next morning at dawn, Mo Hua got up early, draped in the morning glow, and began wandering around XiaoLuan Mountain, strolling about casually. Whenever he saw grass—no matter what kind, spiritual grass, exotic grass, or wild grass—he would casually pluck a few strands.
Plucking one or two, or just a couple of types, wouldn’t have mattered.
But he plucked too much, and his sneaky demeanor was far too obvious. Eventually, someone couldn’t stand it anymore.
“What are you doing?”
Mo Hua was lowering his head, pulling grass, when he heard a faint voice by his ear. Looking up, he saw the expressionless True-Person Rong.
After all, the Small Blessed Land belonged to her, and what Mo Hua was plucking was all her property.
When Mo Hua saw her appear, not only did he feel no guilt of being caught, his eyes lit up instead. He asked,
“True-Person, is this all the grass in the Small Blessed Land?”
True-Person Rong was a bit displeased. What did he mean “only this grass”? Wasn’t this already enough for you to pluck?
“No. Only this,” she replied coldly.
Mo Hua felt a bit regretful.
True-Person Rong frowned. “Why are you plucking grass for no reason?”
Mo Hua thought for a moment and didn’t hide it much. One should be sincere, and True-Person Rong wasn’t a bad person.
“I’m making a few straw figures... to block killing intent.”
The killing intent from women was too heavy; he might not be able to withstand it.
At first, True-Person Rong didn’t pay much attention, but upon thinking more carefully, her expression changed slightly.
“Avoiding Karmic killing intent? You even understand this kind of karmic technique?”
Mo Hua said, “Only a little…”
True-Person Rong nodded slightly.
Mo Hua looked at her and asked, “True-Person Rong, do you also understand karmic techniques?”
True-Person Rong recalled her well-worn copy of Introduction to Karmic Techniques and said, “A little…”
Mo Hua nodded.
At the Feathered Ascension realm, becoming a True-Person, cultivators at this level more or less realized the importance of heavenly secrets and karma.
Although such matters were outside the mainstream cultivation system and not something every True-Person could study...
True-Person Rong was powerful and the master of a Small Blessed Land. She must have profound attainments in Karmic Causality.
Yet she only said “a little,” showing how humble she was.
Mo Hua looked at her with a bit more respect.
True-Person Rong couldn’t help but ask again, “These straw figures… can they really block baleful influence?”
Mo Hua nodded, then shook his head. Pointing at the lush vegetation of the Small Blessed Land, he said regretfully,
“These grasses won’t work.”
True-Person Rong asked, “Why not?”
“Maybe… they’re too precious.”
“Too precious?”
Mo Hua nodded slightly and said softly, “The mountains and waters of the Small Blessed Land are too good. These grasses grow here, living in comfort. They can’t bear the cruelty of fate, nor the unpredictability of karma…”
True-Person Rong was stunned. Her thoughts churned. After a moment, she asked,
“If precious ones won’t work, then you need lowly ones?”
Mo Hua was about to say “yes,” but after thinking, he shook his head again.
“Extremes reverse. When something becomes extremely noble, it becomes lowly. In this world, nothing is truly noble or lowly. The noble is the lowly, and the lowly is also the noble.”
True-Person Rong frowned. Mo Hua was young, yet his words sounded mystical and hard to grasp.
But upon deeper thought, they seemed to contain some unusual truths.
Unable to fully understand, she asked, “What kind of grass do you want?”
Mo Hua thought for a moment and asked, “Outside XiaoLuan Mountain’s Blessed Land, are there vast stretches of wild grass?”
True-Person Rong shook her head. “Not far outside the Small Blessed Land lies Houtu City. The ground is paved with gold and stone, towers stand in dense rows, stretching for thousands of miles. Even soil is rarely seen... where would you find vast fields of wild grass?”
Mo Hua was a bit surprised. Houtu City was actually that large?
Then he grew puzzled again. Since it was called Houtu City, how could there not even be soil?
(TN: Houtu = Earth / Mother Earth / Sovereign Earth)
Without soil, where would he find large amounts of the most humble wild grass?
Mo Hua felt troubled.
Seeing him sink into thought, True-Person Rong didn’t disturb him. After waiting for a long while and seeing he still hadn’t reacted, she finally asked,
“You don’t need the grass in the small blessed land anymore, right?”
Mo Hua came back to his senses and nodded. “I don’t.”
True-Person Rong said calmly, “Then stop pulling them. These spirit herbs are quite valuable and not easy to grow.”
Mo Hua smiled awkwardly and stuck the half-withered spirit herbs in his hand back into the ground.
True-Person Rong shook her head, turned, and left, disappearing within a few breaths.
Mo Hua remained where he was, still frowning in thought.
Without wild grass, he couldn’t weave straw figures.
Without straw figures, he couldn’t use the Great Wilderness Straw-Dog Fate Art technique.
And to Mo Hua, that technique was extremely important.
Back in the Great Wilderness, for the sake of the Royal Court’s Dragon Pool scheme, he had worked day and night to weave six straw-dogs in total.
Killing the Demonic Flood Dragon Mountain Lord of Myriad Demons Mountain, the Silver Corpse Elder of Yin Corpse Valley, and the Ghost-Child Wanderer of Skull Cave had already consumed three of them.
In the Endless Abyss Marsh, his Martial Uncle had patted his shoulder once, which cost him another.
Now, only two remained.
Strictly speaking, two straw-dogs weren’t few... after all, in terms of karmic causality, they were equivalent to two extra lives, already a great luxury.
But for Mo Hua, it still wasn’t enough.
Especially with the upcoming trip to the Earth Sect. He had to guard against all kinds of risks.
Under normal circumstances, as long as he didn’t cause trouble, the Earth Sect shouldn’t do anything to him.
But unfortunately, there was also his Little Senior Sister’s karmic entanglement involved. There were quite a number of women who wanted him dead.
Matters involving women couldn’t be judged by common logic; anything could happen.
Mo Hua needed to prepare more straw-dogs, just in case.
Moreover, aside from that, the straw-dogs had another, even more important use: Killing people.
One straw-dog could take one life.
Mo Hua didn’t know what state the Fate-Bane Karmic killing setup his Martial Uncle had given him was in now, but to be safe, he still needed straw-dogs to take lives.
And now, his Divine Sense had become extremely, extremely strong. If he used the Great Void Divine Sense Sword Manifestation True Art, anyone below Feathered Ascension could be slain with a single thought.
Which meant he couldn’t hold back, once he made a move, it would be lethal.
Even if he used the Divine-Dread Sword, which focused on “shock,” his Divine Sense might still be too overwhelming, his mental aura too terrifying, causing others to fall into fear, their Sea of Consciousness shattering to death.
Thus, Mo Hua had to be extremely cautious.
He also felt this couldn’t go on. Killing with every move made him seem too much like a great demonic overlord, not fitting for his refined and elegant image as a formation master.
Moreover, there was an even bigger drawback:
Being too powerful and brutal made it easy for others to remember... and to guard against and target him.
A trump card unknown to others was a true trump card.
If he kept killing with Divine Sense every day, once others learned of it, they could prepare treasures to defend against him and counter him everywhere, rendering that trump card half useless.
The stronger one’s Divine Sense, the less one could afford to appear strong in it. Otherwise, one would surely stumble because of it.
Those skilled at swimming drown; those skilled at riding fall; such was the principle.
“I need to learn some commonly used methods that won’t kill people outright… to conceal my heaven-defying Divine Sense…”
But what exactly to learn, and which path to take, required careful consideration.
Mo Hua frowned.
And right now, the hardest problem to solve was actually the straw-dogs for his fate technique.
If True-Person Rong’s words were true, then not only the XiaoLuan Mountain Blessed Land, even the entire Houtu City might not have the wild grass he needed.
In the Great Wilderness, wild grass grew everywhere, yet now it had become something he couldn’t obtain even if he wanted to.
Mo Hua had actually anticipated this somewhat and had stored quite a few wild grass in his storage bag beforehand.
But in the Endless Abyss Marsh, they had all been destroyed along with the bag.
Since it was just wild grass, he hadn’t thought to store it in his precious Storage Ring.
Now, not even a single grass remained.
Mo Hua could only sigh.
...
Over the next two days, he wandered around the small blessed land again, but still couldn’t find suitable wild grass. In the end, he had no choice but to give up.
Fortunately, he still had two straw-dogs left.
He could only hope that during this trip to the Earth Sect, no one would actually try to kill him…
It wasn’t that he feared being killed, he just feared wasting his straw-dogs. Once a fight broke out, whether he acted or was forced to act, his already scarce supply would become even more strained.
...
Just like that, three days passed in the blink of an eye, and the day to depart for the Earth Sect arrived.
True-Person Rong was about to depart with Mo Hua.
Bai Zixi said, “I’ll go too.”
Mo Hua hesitated and said tactfully, “Little Senior Sister… maybe you shouldn’t come.”
He was afraid that once she appeared, the situation would spiral out of control.
But Bai Zixi said, “It’s fine. I’ll protect you.”
Mo Hua felt moved, yet also somewhat conflicted.
Although her protection touched him... without this connection to his Little Senior Sister, there probably wouldn’t be so many women wanting him dead either…
Afterward, Xiao Ju stayed behind to watch the house. True-Person Rong summoned a golden-stone puppet, which pulled a luxurious carriage carrying Mo Hua and Bai Zixi as they set off together toward the Earth Sect.
The Houtu Prefecture Realm was a Fifth-grade major realm, and its largest and most prosperous place was the Fifth-grade Houtu City.
Kun Province’s greatest sect—the Earth Sect—was located at the very center of Houtu City.
Seated inside the carriage, Mo Hua cast a sidelong glance out the window. What he saw in the heart of Houtu City was a landscape of golden towers and jade halls, brocade-like streets, and endless streams of carriages and horses... a scene of extreme prosperity.
With just that fleeting glance, it felt as if wealth flowed like silk, gold poured like water, and jade spilled like a cascade.
Kun Province was indeed a land of immense riches. Its reputation was well deserved.
Mo Hua couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.
As they traveled along, the sights of opulence and extravagance came one after another, almost too much to take in.
After about an hour, the carriage passed through the central gates of Houtu City and entered the mountain gate of the Earth Sect.
Mo Hua stepped down from the carriage and looked up at the entrance, astonished once again.
The entire Earth Sect covered an enormous expanse, stretching for countless miles. Within it, palaces, pavilions, terraces, and towers were scattered like a dense field of stars, with no end in sight.
Disciples moved through the grounds in vast numbers, like mountains and seas, too many to count.
Never in his life had Mo Hua seen a sect of such sheer scale.
Leaving aside the Earth Sect’s actual strength, just its land area and number of disciples alone likely rivaled the combined total of the Four Great Sects, Eight Gates, and Twelve Streams of the Qianxue Prefecture Realm.
But after thinking it over, Mo Hua realized such a comparison wasn’t entirely fair.
The nature of the sects was different.
The sects of Qianxue were typical cultivation sects, focused on imparting teachings and guiding disciples along the path of cultivation. Their students were spread across the world, so they didn’t require such vast territory.
The Earth Sect, however, was a true industrial sect.
Moreover, it was a colossal power that combined clan lineage, aristocratic authority, inheritance, industry, and merchant guilds all in one.
Within Houtu City—and even across all of Kun Province—it held an unparalleled monopoly.
Thus, the scale of the Earth Sect’s mountain gate was exceedingly exaggerated.
Mo Hua even had the faint feeling that the Earth Sect was like the “earthly emperor” of Kun Province.
Of course, he only dared think that in his heart, it wasn’t something to say out loud.
And yet…
Looking at the unimaginably vast sect before him, Mo Hua couldn’t help but feel troubled:
“With a sect this huge, where am I supposed to find the Sovereign Earth Diagram? Even if I do find it, the Earth Sect definitely won’t let me go…”
True-Person Rong glanced at Mo Hua, completely unaware of what he was thinking, and simply said:
“Let’s go. Quite a few people are waiting for you.”
Mo Hua nodded.
Bai Zixi, dressed in white, stood beside him.
Soon after, several elders from the Earth Sect arrived. Though their status was not low, they kept their heads bowed respectfully as they led the way for True-Person Rong.
The group passed through a resplendent path reserved for honored guests and arrived at the Grand Main Hall of the Earth Sect.
Outside the hall, the two Sect Masters of the Earth Sect, along with a group of elders, were personally there to welcome True-Person Rong, clearly showing her high status.
At the same time, unlike before, a group of aristocratic prodigies also stood outside the hall.
There were some male disciples among them, but the vast majority were young and beautiful women of noble clans, some naturally graceful, others exquisitely charming; some as radiant as blooming spring flowers, others as gentle as autumn moonlight upon water, altogether dazzling and resplendent.
The moment Mo Hua appeared, every woman’s gaze, like ten thousand swords returning to origin, shot straight toward him.
Being stared at by countless beauties…
Mo Hua felt a bit numb.
(End of Chapter)